IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL
BEING THE THIRD KHUTBAH FOR THE MONTH OF SHA’BAAN 17/SHA’BAAN /1444AH (10 /MAR/2023CE)
TOPIC: SAY: “O ALLAH! POSSESSOR OF THE POWER
THE FIRST SERMON
All praises are due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, who says in the Revelation: (قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَنزعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْرُ إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ) Say: “O Allah! Possessor of the power, You give power to whom You will, and You take power from whom You will, and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are able to do all things. (Al- Imran: 26) We praise Him Glory be to Him, the Exalted, We thank Him, we believe in Him and put our trust in Him. We seek refuge with Him from the evil our souls and evils of our actions. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except alone withour partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is his servant and Messenger, who said: “Religion is founded upon (sincere) advice.” We (attending Companions) said: “To whom O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “To Allah, His Messenger and His Book, and to the leaders of the Muslims as well as their common folk.” O Allah, bestow peace and blessings on him, his family, companions, and those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.
Thereafter,
Dear servants of Allah, I admonish you and myself on the fear of Allah in the secret and the open, (وَلَقَدْ وَصَّيْنَا الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ أَنِ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَإِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأرْضِ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَنِيًّا حَمِيدًا) “Indeed, We have commanded those given the Scripture before you, as well as you, to be mindful of Allah. But if you disobey, then ˹know that˺ to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. And Allah is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.” (An-Nisaa: 131)
Brothers in faith, this is the third meeting in the month of Sha’ban, and it is a known fact that we were preparing for the second round of the elections, when suddenly the news came to us last night that the Electoral Commission had postponed the exercise to the following week – the Saturday after tomorrow – March 18, 2023, and we hereby recommend that you should not view it as an evil thing to you, rather, it is better for you. (وَمَا تَشَاءُونَ إِلا أَنْ يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا) “But you cannot will ˹to do so˺ unless Allah wills. Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.” (Al-Insan: 30)
Dear servants of Allah, our conversation today is about some of the benefits that we benefited from the two noble verses in Surat Al-Imran, where Allah. the Almighty says:
(قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَنزعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْرُ إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (26) تُولِجُ اللَّيْلَ فِي النَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِي اللَّيْلِ وَتُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَتَرْزُقُ مَنْ تَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ (27))
26. Say: “O Allah! Possessor of the power, You give power to whom You will, and You take power from whom You will, and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are able to do all things. 27. You make the night to enter into the day, and You make the day to enter into the night, You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living. And You give wealth and sustenance to whom You will, without limit.
Shaykh Wahba al-Zuhaili classified the two verses under the title – Evidence of Allah’s Power and Greatness, His Disposition of His Creation, and Delegation to Him
Ibn Kathir said: Allah says, (Say) O Muhammad , while praising your Lord, thanking Him, relying in all matters upon Him and trusting in Him. (O Allah! Possessor of the power) meaning, all sovereignty is Yours, (You give power to whom You will, and You take power from whom You will, and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will.) meaning, You are the Giver, You are the Taker, it is Your will that occurs and whatever You do not will, does not occur.
Then he said, continuing: In this verse, there is a warning and an instruction on the appreciation of the favours of Allah Ta’alah on His Messenger (may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him), and on this Ummah. This is because Allah diverted the prophethood from the children of Israel to the unlettered, Makkan, Kuraysh, Arab Prophet, the seal of prophets in general and messenger of Allah to the entire mankind and Jinns, in whom Allah combined all the goodness of others that came before him, and singled him out with special privileges that He did not give any of the prophets and messengers, in knowledge about Allah, His Law and His knowledge of the past and future unseen.
Then he said, continuing: In this verse: “This Ayah encourages thanking Allah for the favors He granted His Messenger and his Ummah. Allah transferred the prophethood from the Children of Israel to the Arab, Qurashi, Makkan, unlettered Prophet, the Final and Last of all Prophets and the Messenger of Allah to all mankind and Jinn. Allah endowed the Prophet with the best of qualities from the prophets before him. Allah also granted him extra qualities that no other Prophet or Messenger before him was endowed with, such as granting him (more) knowledge of Allah and His Law, knowledge of more of the matters of the past and the future, such as what will occur in the Hereafter. Allah allowed Muhammad’s Ummah to reach the eastern and western parts of the world and gave dominance to his religion and Law over all other religions and laws. May Allah’s peace and blessings be on the Prophet until the Day of Judgment, and as long as the day and night succeed each other. This is why Allah said:
(قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ)
Say: “O Allah! Possessor of the power,” meaning, You decide what You will concerning Your creation and You do what you will. Allah refutes those who thought that they could decide for Allah,
(وَقَالُوا لَوْلا نزلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ)
“And they say: “Why is not this Qur’an sent down to some great man of the two towns (Makkah and Ta’if)” (Az-Zukhruf: 31)
Allah refuted them by saying,
(أَهُمْ يَقْسِمُونَ رَحْمَتَ رَبِّكَ نَحْنُ قَسَمْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ مَعِيشَتَهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَرَفَعْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجَاتٍ)
Is it they who distribute your Lord’s mercy? We ˹alone˺ have distributed their ˹very˺ livelihood among them in this worldly life and raised some of them in rank above others so that some may employ others in service. ˹But˺ your Lord’s mercy is far better than whatever ˹wealth˺ they amass. (Az-Zukhruf: 32)
Meaning, “We decide for Our creation what We will, without resistance or hindrance by anyone. We have the perfect wisdom and the unequivocal proof in all of this, and We give the prophethood to whom We will.” Similarly, Allah said, (اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ) (Allah knows best with whom to place His Message) and Allah also says:
(انْظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَلَلآخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَاتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلا)
“See how We have favoured some over others ˹in this life˺, but the Hereafter is certainly far greater in rank and in favour.” (Al-Israa: 21)
It was narrated among the causes for the revelation of the verse: that when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him planned for the (battle of) the trench in the year of the alliance and allocated forty cubits for each group of ten, and they started digging, a rock appeared at the bottom of the trench like a great hill which the pickaxes could not break, so they directed Salman to inform the Messenger of Allah, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. So he (PBUH) took the pickaxe from Salman and strike it with a blow that cracked it, and a lightning flashed from it that lit up between its two ends, like a lamp in the hollow of a dark house. He (PBUH) said Allah, “Allaahu Akbar (i.e. Allaah is The Greatest)! and the Muslims said “Allaahu Akbar (i.e. Allaah is The Greatest)!, then he said: “The palaces of the ancient Syria was lit for me like they were the fangs of the dogs.” Then he strike it the second time and said: “The palaces of the Humr in the land of the Romans”, then he hit it the third time and said: “The palaces of the Sana’ was lit for me.” Jubril informed me that my nation shall conquer them all, so give good tidings. So the Hypocrites said: “Don’t you wonder, that he entices you and create false promises, and he tells you that he sees from Yathrib the palaces of al-Hirah (ancient Syria) and the cities of Persia, and that you will conquer them, and you are here only digging the trench, and you cannot overcome, so the verse was revealed. (Al-Bayhaqi and Abu Naim included it in the ‘evidence of prophecy’)
O Muslims, this verse is intended to entertain the Prophet, peace be upon him, in the face of the position of the polytheists and the People of the Book who denied his call as mentioned in previous verses, and to remind him of His ability, the Almighty, to support his religion and exalt his word. The polytheists used to deny prophethood of a man who ate food and walked in the markets, and the People of the Book denied prophethood of anyone other than the Children of Israel.
What is meant by the Power, is the authority and ability to dispose affairs, and that He, the exalted is the owner of absolute authority in managing affairs and achieving balance in the creations. Allah gives whomever He wills, either prophecy only like Hud, and Lut, or kingship only like the kings of the past and the contemporary ones, or kingship and prophecy like the family of Ibrahim, including Dawud and Sulaiman.
(فَقَدْ آتَيْنا آلَ إِبْراهِيمَ الْكِتابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ، وَآتَيْناهُمْ مُلْكاً عَظِيماً)
“Or do they envy the people for Allah’s bounties? Indeed, We have given the descendants of Abraham the Book and wisdom, along with great authority.” (Surat An-Nisaa: 54)
{وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ} [آلِ عِمْرَانَ: 54]
“And the disbelievers made a plan ˹against Jesus˺, but Allah also planned—and Allah is the best of planners.” (Al-Imran: 54)
Hence, we hereby advise every candidate who either nominated himself or was nominated by others and is not satisfied with the results of the presidential elections, to proceed to the courts, as it is the basic legitimate path for he who feels he was wronged in the past elections, as this is the only way to safeguard the safety of the people and the country and for the preservation of the rights of everyone in the homeland.
As for claims, provoking anger and inciting people, and calling them to non-peaceful marches and demonstrations, which may lead to successive strife and may spread to the whole country, as we saw during the ENDSARS saga, all such things are unacceptable in the Sharia and reason, and they are forbidden in Sharia because they are a kind of corruption in the land.
We equally wonder at those who expressed satisfaction with some electoral results, especially where they were victorious, at the same time are expressed dissatisfaction where they failed and lost. Their situation fits within the words of Allah thus:
)وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَلْمِزُكَ فِي الصَّدَقاتِ فَإِنْ أُعْطُوا مِنْها رَضُوا وَإِنْ لَمْ يُعْطَوْا مِنْها إِذا هُمْ يَسْخَطُونَ (58) وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ رَضُوا مَا آتاهُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَقالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ سَيُؤْتِينَا اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ وَرَسُولُهُ إِنَّا إِلَى اللَّهِ راغِبُونَ (59)
“(58) There are some of them who are critical of your distribution of alms ˹O Prophet˺. If they are given some of it they are pleased, but if not they are enraged. (59) If only they had been content with what Allah and His Messenger had given them and said, “Allah is sufficient for us! Allah will grant us out of His bounty, and so will His Messenger. To Allah ˹alone˺ we turn with hope.”
وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ
“And the disbelievers made a plan ˹against Jesus˺, but Allah also planned—and Allah is the best of planners.” [Al-Imran: 54]
Dear servants of Allah, some of what we learnt from the two verses are as follow:
– To affirm the sovereignty and power of Allah, the Almighty, and He exalts whomever He wills and humiliates others, not by the will of man, but by the power of Allah the Exalted.
– Correcting the misconceptions that lead (people especially politicians) to the use of forbidden means in order to reach the positions of the leadership.
– Submission, and contentment to the will of Allah in the outcome of the past and upcoming elections
We beseech Allah to complete everything in safety and peace.
SECOND SERMON
All praises are due to Allah alone who made the month of Ramadan a month of forgiveness, guidance, mercy and glad tidings for the believers who act according to their faith. Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ (183) ” {البقرة : 183}
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous (183).We praise and thank Him, seek His help and guidance, forgiveness and repentance. We seek refuge in Him from the evil of our souls and deeds. Whoever Allah guides is guided and whoever He misleads none will mislead Him. I bear witness there is no god but Allah alone without partner, and that Muhammad (pbuh) is His servant and Messenger who says: “When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained.” (Bukhari). May Allah bless him and his families and all his companions, and those who follow them in righteousness until the day of recompense.
Thereafter,
O honorable Muslims, be aware that Ramadan is an extraordinary season for those who trade with Allah, the Almighty, because they know the virtue of the month and the greatness of its position, as it is a great month that should be related with in complete special manner, for it has the known merit.
The conditions of people differ with respect to Ramadan:
– Some people consider the coming of this month a heavy burden on them, that they wish for its end, and they only see deprivation in it .. For those group of people, Ramadan came to them and then left without leaving a trace on them or would cause them any remembrance.
– And some of them felt its value and strove and worked hard to perform the greatest amount of obedient activities without concern for the presence of the heart in these activities … and did not look at the supreme goal that fasting aspires to achieve. There is no doubt that these people feel a good effect in their hearts .. but this effect will disappear soon after the end of Ramadan in a few days.
– There is a group of people who considered Ramadan a rare opportunity to revive the heart and awaken it from its rest and ignite the fuse of piety and the fervor of faith in it. This group of people knew that the month of Ramadan did not come except to bring people closer to their Lord and increase their closeness with Him, and cut off their hearts from the connection to this world, as it provides the hearts with more goodness. There is no doubt that the last category is the biggest gainer from Ramadan, they rectify their hearts through it, and they set out with it on the path of those who thread the path to Allah.
How does a Muslim prepare for the month of Ramadan?
Among the types of preparations for the month, we shall mention as follows:
1- Psychological, Mental and practical readiness:
2- Financial preparation
3- Educational preparation:
4- Health or physical preparation: