 نحمده ونستعينه ونستأخيره ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات عمالنا ما يهده الله فلا مُدِلَّ لَا وَمَيْ يُدْلِلْ فَلَا هَدِيَ لَا وَشَلُوَنْ لَا إِلَا هَإِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدُهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَا وَشَلُّ أنَّا سَيْدِنَا وَحْبِيْبِنَا مَولَانَا سَيْدِنَا مَحْمِنَا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ خير نبي اجتبه وهدل العالم ارسله ارسله الله بدين الحق ليوذع دين كل ولو كره الكافرون اللهم صلي وسلم وبارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وأزواجه ومورية وصحابه وتابعين وتابعين بإحسان إلى يوم الدين أما بعد عباد الله أذكركم وإياية بتقو الله سبحانه وتعالى أذكركم بقوله سبحانه وتعالى في القرآن كريم حيث يقول يا أيها الذين آمل تقو الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون أذكركم وإياية بالحفظ القرآن كريم وسنتي سيدنا محمد صلى الله عليه وعليه وصحبه وسلم تسليم كثيرا يا رب العالمين السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته سأبدأ هذه الخطبة مع الدعاة وعليها ليس عادة ولكن أريد أن أexplain شيئ لك وفي هذه الكثيرات قبل أن نبدأ أن هذا كان دعاة أريد أن أقرأ بعضها إن شاء الله أقول يا الله أردنا المساعدة من all those who are present in absent and all those who intended to come but could not make it we are here for your sake do not turn us away we seek your gentleness and yellow teeth O Allah grant us courage, wisdom and sincerity and compassion to be the answers of the prayers of others you are the one who responds to the دعاة المجيب the all hearing of Samir free our hearts of anxiety, anguish or unwanted anger or any bitterness, jealousy and to touch our hearts from loving anything that causes harm or gives us complacency in our Dean you are the source of peace and the one who enriches O Allah envelop us in your divine love and help us to build a love for ourselves we are weak and imperfect but the perfection of your love stems from its embracing of us despite our being imperfect we are the loving one the compassionate one free us from oppression including depression by our own selves and keep us from being oppressive including oppressing against our own selves this is a supplication that was sent out at the beginning of our Hajj and however I found it appropriate because this khutba is almost like the beginning of or the end of a year tomorrow will most probably be the first of Muharram and we will site the moon and I think about this in stages that if we had to talk about Hajj you really have to talk about Ramadan because Ramadan the scholars have said is a spiritual preparation for the Hajj and if Ramadan is a spiritual preparation for the Hajj then what is the Hajj is a preparation for Hajj is a preparation for the ultimate meeting that we have with our Creator الله سبحانه وتعالى so what I think about in this new year in this new beginning and reflections that I had from the Hajj that I will share with you is really this concept of change we have all of these new year's resolutions at the beginning of the Gregorian calendar الحمد لله it's a non-issue we should be thinking about what type of changes we will make in our lives as this new year approaches i.e. Allah you have given me 360 days if we are talking about the lunar calendar and I pray that you will give me another 360 so that I may change what I see in myself that is displeasing to you and I may be increased and enhanced in the things in which I do in which you are pleased with me I'm reflecting on this what I saw for those of us who have children that are starting the school year be they an elementary school or whatever level they are or college was this reflecting on the Hajj and the beginning of this academic year and I found some striking similarities on the 8th of the الحجة the حجاج move from Mecca to Meen known as يوم التاروية this day was known as the day of quenching the thirst يوم التاروية why it was given this name because the pilgrims were instructed to drink water and fill their containers in preparation for the long journey ahead the journey to Meen Arafat was the Mecca the Jamarat and then back to Mecca again and they would also make their animals make sure their animals were properly hydrated to allow them to reach their destination يا رسول الله هل عقل و توقل على الله قال تقوى على الله ثم عقل عقل ثم توقع على الله أفهم يا رسول الله هل we trust in Allah or do we tie our camel tie your camel then trust in Allah قال صلى الله عليه وسلم the first similarity that I think about is this similarity that we send our children to reach their thirst and that's the thirst of knowledge let that be the goal when we send our children out for education all of the accolades that will come with that and all the prestige and all of that will come because Allah سبحانه وتعالى will facilitate that in their lives if their heart is pure if they are seeking to gain knowledge for the sake of Allah to benefit humanity not for a selfish interest when Allah سبحانه وتعالى will take care of every affair after that may Allah give us the courage to trust in His promises may we be inspired to understand and supplicate when Abdullah Ibn Mubarak who went to Mecca one of the great scholars of Islamic history when he went to the well of Zamzam and he drank from it and he faced the Ka'bah and he said إبن الموالي نارated from محمد إبن مقذر عن جابه ر. الله عنه قال الرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم that the Prophet ﷺ had said that water of Zamzam is for whatever it is drank for and here I am drinking it to prevent the thirst on the day of judgment and then he drank it this is a heart that is alive this is a heart that is alive now the other thing that I thought was very interesting and struck me this year standing in front of the Ka'bah and drinking Zamzam is that the supplication for Zamzam starts off with اللهم إني أسألكه ألم النافع ورزبا واسعا وشفا من كل داع 3 things the Prophet ﷺ asked for Zamzam is for whatever it is drank for whatever we want to make you off for and what does the Prophet ﷺ begin with I ask you for beneficial knowledge which means what not all knowledge is beneficial and how is it to turn from the scholars it is the knowledge that will increase you in your journey to finding الله سبحانه وتعالى and the pleasure of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and entrance into Jannah now it doesn't mean that it will only be Islamic knowledge because the things that we do can lead us into that as well too from other sciences I'll leave that there I ask الله سبحانه وتعالى to quench our collective thirst from the water of Zamzam and from the river of Kauther أمين quickly here talking about this what are the similarities here when we came to Mina I was struck with the two qualities of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and these two attributes became very clear to me his attribute of Al-Pabil and Al-Balsak the constrictor and the expander when we entered the tent into Mina it was a space that was maybe to that first pillar and out to here for those of you that have been and in that space you will find about 250 men and the women will be on the other side of the tent in the same condition when we moved from the expansion of luxury hotels in Mecca a world class buffet to the constriction of the tents of Mina and processed food in box lunches but once we're able to overcome the materialism and see this for what it is then this is when the understanding came to me probably about 3 5 4 5 days into it I'm a slow learner that when we are faced with this constriction when our nofs is squeezed sleeping next to someone who's snoring all night I can't sleep served a food when I'm really hungry but I have to eat some white bread and have some milk that is not refrigerated with some corn flakes Allah has decreed our risk for us 50,000 years before we were even created so this all exists in the knowledge of Allah سبحانه وتعالى but then I ask this question one of the scholars in our tent said if Hajj is Arafat the Prophet ﷺ said meaning that Hajj is Arafat if you only make the Arafat I'm sorry for a portion of this day then you can make up the other aspects through a kafara through a dispensation he said if Hajj is Arafat then why do we spend so much time in Mina and this is a valid question and he said that the wisdom of spending the time in Mina can be found in our being exposed to fighting the temptations within ourselves as was the struggle of Ibrahim ﷺ and I thought this was profound because Ibrahim ﷺ in Mina is a separation for the Hajj as we said for Arafat but if we don't free ourselves of the temptations that exist within us then what is the reality of our supplication in Arafat and what is the reality of our stoning of the jamarat and I thought what is the test of Ibrahim the test of Ibrahim ﷺ is one of separation first the separation of his father the second the command to separate from his wife and the third to separate himself from his son what type of temptation do you think that might exist inside of us if Allah ﷻ told us and commanded us to separate ourselves from our father to separate ourselves from our wife to separate ourselves from our son and the manner in which it was done take your wife to a barren land and leave her there and then to have her with the courage that she faces the courage that she faces asking Ibrahim ﷺ he walks away from her and she says and this is in the Ibn Kathir she asks him أمر ربك بيحاذا أمر ربك بيحاذا and he says in the commentary the question was so tough Ibrahim ﷺ could not turn around she asks him a second time he does not turn around she asks him the third time and he turns around and affirms it she says that my lord will never leave me may Allah ﷻ give us Iman may Allah ﷻ increase our Iman and then as we know the separation of the son yes we look at Ibrahim ﷺ's to sacrifice his son but we also have to look at this sacrifice that the son is ready to be sacrificed for the sake of Allah ﷻ the first separation that happens between his father is inal-ebbat it's forever so he doesn't know will that separation be the same for his wife and then for his child but he doesn't hesitate and that's a lesson that's being taught for us that Shaitan appears to him in multiple places this is what it came to me Shaitan appears in multiple places in Mina and that's what signifies this multiple stoneings of the jamarat that each one of those places where Shaitan is coming to tell him to disobey the order of Allah ﷻ that's when he's stone and that's what we're following to stone the things inside of us that call us to the disobedience and not following the orders of Allah ﷻ that's the reality of the stoneings so what we should take from that is that this test will continue if you look at the test of his father is that not sufficient and then the test of his wife is that not sufficient and then the test of his son is that not sufficient and then cast into a fire is that not sufficient the test will continue and continue until we meet Allah ﷻ if this is a prophet of Allah ﷻ and then read the seerah of our beloved Mustafa who is حبيب الله and the test that he endured then who are we so then from Mina time is short here I thought about this temptation الحج أشهروا معلومات فمن فاردة فيهن الحج فلا رفثة ولا فسوقة ولا جدا الله says in the Qur'an and I thought if Mina is about temptations and look at this verse Allah ﷻ talking about the Hajj in Surat Al-Baqara ayat 197 He says Hajj is during the well-known months so whoever has made an obligatory upon himself يعني you are performing the Hajj فلا رفثة no sexual relations ولا فسوقة no disobedience ولا جدا and no arguing and I thought to myself why these three things and the first thing that came to me on the first with relations الله says in the Qur'an beautiful for mankind is the love and the joys that a man has for a women and offspring and Allah continues for the other things so what does that mean الله ﷻ is addressing our nature our nature that is inside of us to the things that will distract us i.e. tempt us Mina is about dealing with our temptations so the first one لا رفثة the second one لا فسوقة no disobedience to Allah ﷻ when you enter into the state of Ihram لا فسوقة and Imam Muslim begins in his book in the chapter of the book of Paradise in its descriptions, its bounties and its inhabitants in his Sahih he has a Hadith in which Anas Ibn Malik and Abu Hurayna ر. الله عنه who both report from the Prophet ﷺ the Hadith that says حفة الجنة بالمكارة وحفة النار بشهوات and then the last one as we said جنة النار is surrounded by the shahwats and then the last one لا ايجداله no argument no argument no argument no argument no argument no argument no argument no argument right? no argument no arguing and again looking at this essence لقد صرفنا في هذا القرآن للناس من كل مثل وكان الإنسان أكثر شيء جدلا we have made everything clear in this Qur'an and Allah says we have made everything clear in this Qur'an presented through every description for people but man but man is ever prone to disputation so literally Allah is saving us from the things within ourselves because of what we're standing there for the essence of the Hajj is what it's absolute forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى so Allah is telling you that if you want my absolute forgiveness then yes deal with my constriction deal with my expansion deal with Mina deal with Mus Delefa deal with Arafat deal with the stunning of the Gemorat and deal with the realities that exist inside of yourself and I will forgive you like the day that you were born that's the hadith of Hajj Mabroor when the Hujaj return the du'a Hajj Mabroor and the Prophet ﷺ says what is a Hajj Mabroor it says Hajj Mabroor is an absolute acceptance from Allah سبحانه وتعالى in which the Hajji returns with no sin when they were born Allah make us from these people and the gratitude that is expressed and following the actions of our mother and I thought about this quickly in the Jidala but the Prophet ﷺ regarding Layatul Qadr he says I came out to inform you about the night of Layatul Qadr but as so and so and so quarled its knowledge was taken away and maybe it was better for you so now look for it in the seventh ninth and fifth nights and the last ten nights if argumentation between three Muslims cause the knowledge of Layatul Qadr to be separated removed from the Prophet ﷺ's knowledge then Allah سبحانه وتعالى is telling us his displeasure with that knowledge and then in this verse as well too may Allah give us the openings of the Hajj may Allah allow us to see the realities lived out in our life after the Hajj إنه هو غفور الرحيم إنه الحمد لله الحمد لله كثيرا كما أمر واشر ونا إله واشر وأننا سيدنا محمد عبده ورسوله وإبار الله وذكركم بتقوى الله سبحانه وتعالى وذكركم بقوله سيدا محمد صلى الله عليه وعالى وصحبه صحبه في القول في الحديث وذكركم بإن شايف المكان مصطفة صلى الله عليه وعالى وصحبه في قولاتنا في القرآن الكريم إن الله هو ملائكته يصلونه على النبي يا أي بلدين آمنوا صلوا عليه وسلم تسليما الله سبحانه وتعالى وصلنا مبارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى آل سيدنا محمد كما برقت وصليت على سيد إبراهيم وعلى آل سيد إبراهيم إن كهامي دول مجيل very briefly just closing a young brother who was on the Hajj his first time ever on Umrah or Hajj visiting the Haramane I asked him how was your Hajj and he said it's powerful he said Allah will break you down he removes your dunya from you and then continues to remove your dunya from you and then throws you in the dirt I said what you mean he said coming from Mecca we had to take less stuff in Mina and then coming to Mina coming to Muzdelifah from Mina they took more stuff from us and then we had to sleep in the dirt and I thought to myself that's our journey that's our life all of our dunya will be stripped from us and we will be thrown into the dirt may Allah have mercy upon us may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet may Allah have mercy on our Prophet إنك أنت بنا رحيما يا رب العالمين والصلاة اللهم على سيدنا محمل وعلى آله صحبه السلام سبحان ربك رب عزيزة من السفول وسلام المرسلين والحمد لله رب العالمين أقيم السلام يا رحمني يا رحمكم الله