Islamic lessons

Allah al^Aliyy al^Azeem revealed an explicit verse whose meaning is: {O you whobelieve, fear Allah and let every soul look at what it has prepared for tomorrow. Bepious towards Allah,indeed Allah is informed of what you do}1Brothers in faith!Taqwaaor piety are easily saidbythe tonguebut their realityhasgreatwaitonthe scales. Itis locatedin the heartand the Prophet–salla-llahu ^alayhi wasallam-pointed to his chest three times, saying, [attaqwaa haahunaa! attaqwaa haahunaa!]2,which means: [Piety is here! Piety is here!].The heart is the commander of the body parts, if it is sound, so is the rest and the personbecomes pious but if it iscorrupt,the person becomes a sinner;so be pious towardsAllah and make provisions for the otherworld, for {a day when neither property norchildren will be of any use(88)except for anyone who gives accountsto Allahwith a sound heart(89)}3Mybelieving brother, you must reform your heartby living up to the standards ofbehaviour set by religion, whether is public or in private... Cure your heart,for the heartsuffers from illnesses which medical practitioners of this worldhave no cure for. If yourheart becomes sound, so will your whole body and you will be safe in theHereafter,whereas if your heart becomes corrupt, so will yourwhole bodyand your situation withregards to your religion will worsen, for the heart is thecommander of the limbs andthey follow its orders.Among these illnesses, brothers in faith,is ostentation, called “riyaa””, which is for aperson to perform acts of obedience so people can see and praise him.But Allah ta^aalaarevealedan explicit versewhose meaning is: {And they have been commanded nomore than to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion...}41Sura alHashr59:18.2Reported by'Ahmad in his Musnad and by Muslim with the expression “haahunaa” once3Meaning of sura ashShu^araa'26:88-89.4Part of suraalBayyinah 98:5.

Khutbah.An illness of the heart: ostentation.2Purify your intention my believing brother,for the sake of Allah ta^aalaa, all the time.Do not act to be noticed and listen with me to thehadeeth of'AbuHurayrah–radiya-llahu^anhu-when the Messenger of Allah–salla-llaahu^alayhi wasallam-informed us that Allahta^aalaa said:['anaa 'aghna_shshurakaa'i ^ani_shshirk; man ^amila^amalan 'ashraka feehima^ee ghayree, taraktuhoo washirkahu]5, which means: [I am in no needwhatsoever of any associate, so whoever does an action for someone else's sake aswell as Mine, I will abandon him andwhomeverhe associated with Me.]Themessage in thishadeethis thatit is unacceptable to attribute partners to Him.My Muslimbrother, if you do something seeking reward from Allah while seeking also praise frompeople, Allah will notacceptyour deed.The action of a person who wantsto getattention has noreward;instead he is falling into sin through his ostentation.Look intoyourself my Muslim brother and watch your heart.If you restrict your prayers toobligatorysalaats when you are on your own and perform therawaatib, thesunnahsattached to fardprayers when you are among people, question yourself about the reasonof your behaviour.If, when you pray alone your hurry through it and just perform the pillars whereas whenyou are in public you pray at length and display godliness,offeringyoursalaat in the mostbeautiful way, question yourself about the reason of your behaviour. Are youafterhonour and rank increatures’ hearts?Isthis more important for you than the ranktheCreatorgives you?People are createdand soare you, they cannot createanything usefulor harmful to you;they will neither assist nor hurt you, unless it is Allah’s will.Allah isthe One Who guides the hearts to perform acts of obedienceorprevents hearts fromperforming them.What is the purpose that makes you prefer to be blamed by Allahta^aalaain order to be praised by them when their praise will not delay anybody’s lastmoment, when they will be of no use to you on the day of Judgement; so cure your heartfrom ostentation andchoosetheapproval of the Creator of good and evilasyour aim.Offer Allah a pure intention and do not preoccupy yourself with people’s criticism orcongratulations,for all good comes by Allah’s approval.Listen with me, my Muslim brother, what Muslim reported fromSulaymaan ibn Yasaar,whosaid what means: “People left 'AbuHurayrah alone and then Naatil from the peopleofShaamtold him: “sheikh, tell me ahadeeth you heard from the Messenger of Allah–salla-llaahu ^alayhi wasallam”.He said “alright, I heard theMessenger of Allah–salla-llaahu^alayhi wasallam-say: [The firstpersonagainst whom judgment will bepronounced on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who diedlikea martyr. Hewill be brought andAllahwill make known to him His favours and he willrecognise them.Godwill say: ‘And what did you dowiththem?’He will say:‘Ifought for Your sakeuntil Ifellasa martyr.’He will say:‘youlie,youonly foughtso it might be said:“He isbrave.”and soit was said.’Thenan order will be given5Reported by Muslim.

Khutbah.An illness of the heart: ostentation.3for himto be dragged along on his face until he is cast intohellfire. Another willbe a man whoacquiredknowledge and taught it and who used to recite theQur'an. He will be brought andAllahwill make known to him His favours and hewill recognise them.Godwill say:‘And what did you dowiththem?’He will say:‘Iacquiredknowledge,I taught it and I recited the Qur'an for Your sake.’He willsay:‘youlie,youonly acquiredknowledgesoit might be said:“He is learned.”And youonlyrecited the Qur'ansoit might be said:“He is a reciter.”And so itwas said.’Then an order will be given for him to be dragged along on his faceuntil he is cast into hellfire.Another will be a man whomAllahhad made rich andto whom He had given all kinds of wealth. He will be brought andAllahwillmake known to him His favours and he will recognise them.Godwill say:‘Andwhat did you do with them?’He will say:‘I left no path untrodden in which Youapprovemoney to be spent without spending in it for Your sake.’He will say:‘You lie,youonly didsothatit might be said:“He is openhanded.”And so it wassaid.’Then an order will be given for him to be draggedalong on his face until heis cast into hellfire.]My believing brother, when you pray, do so for Allah’s sake. When you give alms, do sofor Allah’s sake. When you improve your character, do so out of devotion to Allah.Ifyou learn, do so out of devotion to Allah. If you teach, do so out of devotion to Allah. Ifyou obey Allah, do so seeking reward from Him and if you do not, what alossyour lifehas beenand what a waste of your time!Allaahumma purify our heartsof ostentation, teach us what we are ignorant of and makeuseful to us what you teach us, grant us the ability to act according to what You taught usand grant us sincerity in all of this.This is it and I ask for forgiveness from Allah on your behalf andmine.