In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
BEING THE SECOND SERMON FOR THE MONTH OF JUMAADAL AKHIRAH DATED, 18TH JUMAADAL AKHIRAH, 1443 (21STH JANUARY, 2022)
EDUCATION: BETWEEN THE REALITY AND THE RESPONSIBILITY
All Praises belong to Allaah. We praise and thank Him and seek His assistance and we believe and trust in Him. Whoever is guide by Allah, nothing and nobody can mislead Him, and whoever is let astray, none can guide Him. I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone. He has no partner. He promised people of knowledge who also do good deeds in His Words: (وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَنُبَوِّئَنَّهُمْ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ غُرَفًا تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ نِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ) “And those who have believed and done righteous deeds – We will surely assign to them of Paradise [elevated] chambers beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. Excellent is the reward of the [righteous] workers” (Ankabut: 58). I testify also that Muhammad is His servant and messenger and His friend among His creation. He sent him with the Guidance and the religion of Truth so that He may make it prevail over all other religions, even if the unbelievers detest it. It has been related in Saheeh Bukaari from Nu’man ibn Basheer that the prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave this similitude: “The parable of those who respect the limits of Allah and those who violate them is that of people who board a ship after casting lots, some of them residing in its upper deck and others in its lower deck. When those in the lower deck want water, they pass by the upper deck and say: If we tear a hole in the bottom of the ship, we will not harm those above us. If those in the upper deck let them do what they want, they will all be destroyed together. If they restrain them, they will all be saved together.” May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon this prophet, his family, his companions and all those that follow their good example till the Day of Judgment.
Thereafter, dear listeners, fear your Lord, individually and collectively, and be steadfast with His commands and stay away from His prohibitions, and know that knowledge and conveying it are two huge trusts on your necks. Your Lord has indeed obtained a heavy covenant from the earlier generations of knowledgeable people, and He said: (وَإذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَكْتُمُونَهُ فَنَبَذُوهُ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ وَاشْتَرَوْا بِهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا ۖ فَبِئْسَ مَا يَشْتَرُونَ) “And [mention, O Muhammad], when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Scripture, [saying], “You must make it clear to the people and not conceal it.” But they threw it away behind their backs and exchanged it for a small price. And wretched is that which they purchased” (Al-Imran: 187).
And in the Tafseer of Ibn Katheer:”…This is a warning to the scholars to not follow their path, so that what has befallen them will not befall them, and they will go their way.” The scholars should use what they have with them of beneficial knowledge, in directing to good good deeds, and to not hide anything from it. It ha been related in the Hadith of Anas ibn Maalik, from the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) that he said: “I came across on the night of Al-Israa, people whose lips were clipped with scissors made of fire. Each time it is cut, the lip goes back to how it was. So I said, who are these people, Oh Jibreel? He said, “They are the speakers of in your Ummah who say what they do not do and they read the Book of Allah but do not make use of it” (Al-Bayhaqi)
The Relationship Between Knowledge And Deeds
Knowledge is closely related to deeds, as they are two interrelated matters, particularly when it concerns knowledge of the religion. Allah has indeed commanded that knowledge be accompanied with good deeds. Reducing religious knowledge to only talking without action is regarded as one of the things that brings burden on the owner of the knowledge, just as the a religious scholar going contrary to the moral system that Islaam enjoins by Islam, and his conduct the opposite is seen as one things that brings about severe torment on the Day of Resurrection. (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ ﴿٢﴾ كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ تَقُولُوا مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ) “It is severely hateful in Allah’s sight that you say what you do not do.” (As-Saf: 3). When our mother, A’aishah (may Allah be pleased with her was asked about the character of the Messenger of Allah, she said: “His character was the Qur’an.” And the Messenger himself says: “…and the Qur’an is an evidence for you or against you.”
Hasan Al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Knowledge is of two types: the knowledge of the tongue, and that is Allah’s evidence against the son of Aadam, and the knowledge in the heart, and that is the beneficial knowledge.” And Abi Al-Darda said: “I fear that it would not be that what my Lord would ask me about may be that He will say, “You knew but you did not do what you knew.”
And some of our predecessors used to say: “I am afraid that there will not remain a verse in the Book of Allah- the Most High – that commands or forbids but that it comes to me asking me for its due duty, and that did I abide by the commanded? And did I restrain from the restricted? I seek refuge in Allah from knowledge that does not benefit, and from a soul that is not satisfied, and from supplication that is not heard.”
A’aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) used to be keen on planting this understanding in the hearts of some of her family and those who ask her, the idea that a person does not move on to learning something new until after he works with what he knew, and to not gather a lot of knowledge without work. It is related from Atta that: “A young man used to go to the mother of the believers A’aishah. He asks her (questions) and she talks to him. So he came to her one day and asked her, and she said: “O my son, did you do what you heard from me? He said: No, by Allah, mother. And she said: My son, why do you wish to multiply Allah’s evidence against us and you?
The Blessing Of Knowledge That One Works With
Blessings came into the affairs of the earlier generations because they did not go beyond ten verses until they acted according to them. They knew that knowledge is a responsibility and a trust, and that it has a right and the right is to work with it.
Umm al-Darda’ said to a man: “Have you acted according to what you know?” He said: No. She said: Why did you increase Allah’s evidence against you? This is the import of the words of some of our predecessors: that the ignorant one is forgiven for seventy sins before the knowledgeable one is forgiven one sin. This is because the evidence was established against him and he did not act, and so would he be held accountable for his ignorance, but this is the one who knew and neglected to work.
Our Ummah Needs Responsible People
Allah Almighty has created His servants for certain objectives, and certain purposes that has to do with Allah’s message to humanity: His Taoheed (Monotheism) and worship, developing on the land and the purification of the human soul.. The development of the land cannot be achieved without the responsibility of the individual towards himself and the society around him.. The principle of responsibility has been one of the most important principles of the Sharre’ah of islaam, and also one of the most serious issues of the pristine religion.
The day that the sense of responsibility is became absent from the lives of people, values were lost, countries were occupied, tangibles became diluted, people became derelict in many of the principles and morals, people were ruled by their whims and desires, civilization was lost and became something on the footnotes of life, when the love of the world increased, and people forgot the meeting with their Lord.
Indeed man is social by nature, and he cannot live alone or isolated from society. Looking at the state of our Ummah today, one sees its children dispersed, its unity torn, its callers differing, and its scholars sitting aloof from work despite their much knowledge! Our Ummah has become afflicted in this our time by people claiming to belong to it who has lost the sense of responsibility and many of its adherents resort to selfishness and self-centred-ness (me and my money)
Some Forms of the Lacking Responsibility
Responsibility is involved in every aspect of our lives. Responsibility for oneself, for ones parents, children, spouse, for society, for the sinners, for the oppressed and the weak, for the sacred things, and the responsibility of the shepherd for his flock on every side and all areas, even responsibility for the animals! “Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. The leader of people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects. A man is the guardian of his family and he is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband’s home and his children and she is responsible for them. The servant of a man is a guardian of the property of his master and he is responsible for it. No doubt, every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock.” (Agreed upon)
THE SECOND SERMON
All praises are due to Allah, Who ordered us to pray for the deceased as He said: “And [there is a share for] those who come after them, saying, (“وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا فِي قَلْبِهِ وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ الْخِصَامِ ﴿٢٠٤﴾وَإِذَا تَوَلَّىٰ سَعَىٰ فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا وَيُهْلِكَ الْحَرْثَ وَالنَّسْلَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَسَادَ) “And of the people is he whose speech pleases you in worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness as to what is in his heart, yet he is the fiercest of opponents.“ May the peace and blessings be upon the messenger of guidance and light, Muhammad, his household, and all his companions.
O People, illegal mining and arms trade are among the corruption in the land and a threat to security in Northern Nigeria where some people illegally mine gold and exchange it for weapons from both external and internal collaborators. It is established in the internal report that more than 80% of the mining in the states of Nasarawa, Kogi, Niger, Kebbi, Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara and Plateau were done illegally. It is the responsibility of the government to enforce the right measure in order to ensure security of lives and properties in those states mentioned specifically and in the country at large in general. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, companions and all the followers.