 الحمد لله رب العالمين قيوم السماوات والأرضين مدبر الخلائط أجمعين باعك الرسل رحمة للعالمين اللهم صل وسل مبارك على سيدنا ونبينا محمد للطل العظيم على آله وأصحابه والتابعين والتابعين لهم بإحسان وهدا إلى يوم الدين اللهم آت نفوس نتقواها وزكها أنت خير من زكاها أنت وليها مولاها يا رب العالمين الحمد لله it is a tremendous blessing that we should never take for granted that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has gifted us with this gift of Friday and the Friday prayer which is an opportunity to congregate to be reminded of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and to worship Allah سبحانه وتعالى with other believers and it is a tremendous blessing of Allah سبحانه وتعالى of the countless blessings of Allah which as Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in the Quran that if you are even to try to enumerate all the blessings of Allah upon you you would fail to be able to do so and so it is upon us as believers to be thankful to him for all that he has blessed us with and one of the duties that Allah has placed upon us is the duty of reflection that we reflect and one of the things to reflect on is to reflect on what Allah سبحانه وتعالى has blessed us with and one of the best times to do that and to express our appreciation and to make our commitment to be truly thankful is on Fridays in general but particularly before and after the Friday prayer one of the other tremendous gifts that Allah سبحانه وتعالى that he has given us through his blessed messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم is that he has granted us an encompassing yet easy religion an encompassing religion in that there is nothing off the affairs of this life that falls outside our relationship with Allah سبحانه وتعالى yet with that it is an easy religion in that the way of living our life and actions and worship for Allah does not require some unusual effort and there is a hadith that we will relate that tells us about one of these tremendous gifts of Allah سبحانه وتعالى a gift that is important to appreciate because it deals with a lot of the problems that we have of the false duality that sometimes we imagine between worldly concerns and religious concerns and this hadith is related in the Muattah of Ammanik and elsewhere by Abu Idris Al-Khaoulani one of the one of the generation after the companions of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and normally a hadith tells us is what the Sahabi noted or heard of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم but the words related from the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم have a context which Abu Idris Al-Khaoulani mentioned he mentioned that he went to Damascus and there he went to the mosque of Damascus Damascus at that time had many mosques but this is the central mosque which later came to be known as the Umayyad mosque and there he saw a young man and whose teeth were radiant and people were sitting around him and it was very unusual because even older people were sitting around him and everyone had a sense of deference to this young man and if they discussed anything they would listen to what he had to say and if he said something people would all agree with what he said and defer to it but he was very young so the narrator of Abu Idris he asked someone who is that man and he was told معاذ بن جبل say the معاذ بن جبل the companion of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم who is one of the most learning of the companions of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and along with that he has particular love from the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم one day told say the معاذ oh معاذ by Allah I love you and I counsel you oh معاذ not to be saying after every prayer اللهم أعيني على ذكرك وشكرك وفسن عبادتك and say the معاذ his concern as well was very high and he went to the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and said one day يا رسول الله tell me about actions that will make me enter paradise and keep me away from the fire and said you've asked about a tremendous matter but it is easy for whoever Allah makes it easy for and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم described the ways of good and towards the end of the hadith we know the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم يا معاذ should I not tell you what all of this depends upon say the معاذ said do tell me a messenger of Allah so the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم took his tongue in his hand and then said restrain this say the معاذ say يا رسول الله are we taken to account for what we say and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told him and literally what the hadith means is do you not understand literally the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said but this is one of those expressions that the literal meaning is not meant what's meant by it is wonder and amazement like don't you get it because say the prophet love say the معاذ and don't you get it and that's just one of the expressions in Arabic at that time don't you get it don't you understand are people dragged to hell for other than what they're tongues have harvested so say the معاذ was very special to the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and he was one of the most distinguished companions and he narrated many many hadiths to the prophet عليه وسلم yet he died in his early 30's he was very young so at the time of the narration of this hadith he was probably in his late 20's after the time of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he lived on a number of years after the time of the prophet عليه وسلم so all that distinction was in his youth عليه وسلم ورضي عنه so the narrator asked who is that man and they said معاذ him in Jabal so Abu Idris the narrator was like I want to get this know this man closely at that time there's all these people sitting around him so he said you know there's no opportunity to go and greet him so he said I'm going to come early to the masjid tomorrow and this was just a given that if someone was righteous where would they be they would be in the masjid and if you wanted to set up an appointment with a righteous person what would you do you just show up for Fajr early because that's where they'd be and when I was overseas there's scholars you could set the time with about when they'd be at Fajr for the Fajr prayer at the masjid for the Fajr prayer because if that went they were already there and to work towards such religious concern so Abu Idris said I went very early to the masjid at Fajr time and he said but he got there before I did I said the Mu'ad was already there and he was already in worship he was already in worship he said so I so he sat and waited for him to finish and when he finished Abu Idris went around because that's how you show respect you don't the proper matters if you're going to see someone you don't walk for them and say because they're wondering where are you the end of this that you go face to face and then greet because it's sunnah to greet people but also sunnah to do things in the right way and that's one of the things we often ignore about the sunnah and that there's a sunnah of following the sunnah of the Prophet which is to follow the sunnah in the right way it happened once that there's a man who heard about the virtue of using the siwak before prayer so he was using the siwak but he had his teeth showing and he was looking at people while doing it so one of the companions of the Prophet asked him are you preparing to eat us because yes it's sunnah to brush your teeth but there's a right way of doing it if you're around people you turn your head away or you lower your head you cover your mouth you do it in a way that's not unbecoming and that's always important that's one of the dangers of just learning the deen on your own that you read things but you don't know how to apply it in the right way so there's some people the more they learn they have another tool and they ask harm they learn something new and they tell other people about it and they use it to control the relationships but any understanding of the deen that causes harm is not a sound understanding of the deen so so so so and he was just amazed because he'd heard all these things and he'd noted that this young man who all these learned people and all these righteous people were deferring to and he made a special effort to get early to the masjid and he was already there and he noticed how he was worshiping so he told him he loved him and he told him I love you for Allah to say in the muadim in jeban said Allah says and Allah says but it said for extra emphasis and amazement like really by Allah so so so then really by Allah and he said Allah so say the muadim asked the third time Allah really by Allah and so then say the muadim made it dramatic he grabbed because he was standing a comfortable distance away so say the muadim grabbed what abudish was wearing and told him closer to him he said I have heard the messenger of Allah say that Allah mighty and majestic says واجبت محبتي للمتحابين في و that Allah says and this is a hadith qudsi حديث qudsi which is divine speech inspired to the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that he related to us but it is not quran because many things were inspired to the prophet by Allah and his whole example is ultimately inspired or confirmed by Allah and then the scholar differed is it inspired in meaning and words from Allah or was it a meaning placed in the heart of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that then he expressed in words but it is divinely these are divinely inspired words either way ascribed to Allah so say the muadim said the reason he asked him three times is because he heard the messenger of Allah say that Allah says واجبت محبتي للمتحابين في my love is incumbent on those who love one another for my sake و المتزاورين في and those who visit one another for my sake و المتجالسين في and who sit with one another for my sake و المتبادلين في and who spend on one another so this is why I said مواند wanted to ask him are you serious you love me because this is a big deal it's a big deal it's not a small thing but that love for another person if rightly directed is a means and an expression of attaining unto the love of Allah it's not just that Allah loves those who love one another for his sake and the hadith of Allah says واجبت محبتي my love is incumbent upon those who love one another for my sake and who visit one another for my sake and who sit with one another for my sake and who spend on one another for my sake this is your social relations there's people that you like and there are people you like or you should like meaning family and you have your friends you have other people you have relations with and these are social relations what do you do you have relations you visit them you spend time with them you exchange gifts and spend on one another you cook for them they cook for you all these things these are worldly mundane relations but these matters become of tremendous and transformative spiritual consequence what is the spiritual consequence that these become means of earning the love of Allah my love is incumbent واجبت because nothing is necessary upon Allah there's some sects of Islam that said that Allah has to do the good because we don't limit Allah by anything as the author of one of the great texts of Islamic scholarship he said وقولهم they're saying that God must do good is a blatant lie there's nothing that God must do you do not limit God by human considerations good and bad relate to human actions and choices not to Allah they have not esteemed Allah as he deserves to be esteemed Allah is the creator of everything he has rights over his creation creation has no rights over Allah because what is creation Allah chose to create it did he have to create it no did he have to create it he sustains creation at every moment did he have to sustain it no he gave us all that we have and if you reflect on the perfect balance that is creation who placed it did he have to do that no what he does with his creation is up to him we don't limit Allah by anything but we recognize that Allah is the merciful he is the wise his actions are invariably characterized by mercy if rightly understood and whatever happens to the human being whether apparently good or bad if they respond to it right it is nothing but good for them it's from the mercy of Allah but the action itself you do not say it's good or bad why did that little child and the example they use in the text of Islamic theology do they not see what wrong did the child do the child is born with certain health conditions did Allah wrong that child absolutely not but did he wrong the parents absolutely not it's how they respond to what Allah granted them or where Allah placed them that is good or bad that is worthy of reward or punishment of praise or blame in the hadith it says it's an incumbent meaning Allah has chosen that whoever does this I will love them it's not that he has to do it it's an important point because people get very confused why did something happen Allah does whatever he will but whatever he wills and does has wisdom in it and has good in it for whoever responds to it right it may seem how do you respond to it is the key and the believers understand that if you go to YouTube I actually saw it from Amzade because when it's almost 10 years ago now the tsunami happened in Indonesia the head of the church of England said this has shaken my faith in God whereas you see people whose houses are being swept away by the tsunami but they still had their video camera and they're recording and these people you look at their faces they're content they're saying they're making dua they have trust in Allah and that's nothing but good for them in this life because they have contentment and in the next life we believe that life is there's eternity there's hereafter life does not end in this life but the choices that we make are consequential so you could love someone for whatever reason why do you have friendship do you have a relationship with your uncle well I don't keep a relationship with my uncle my mother will be upset and mother will be upset she won't cook for me and if she doesn't cook for me I'll have to eat my wife's food and that's hard enough I can't do it or whatever the case may be or you know you can have because it's not worth the hassle or just because and so we have all these petty motives but if you maintain that relationship ultimately there's some good in it you ask why you're maintaining a relationship you keep asking the person well and because Allah tells us to maintain relations but that motive is very deep down and what happens when we have a purpose in why we do things how do we do them most of us in our relations with family in our relations with friends we have lifeless relations or you know they're kind of like soggy and wet like cereal if you leave it in the milk for too long that's not how relations are supposed to be relations are supposed to be meaningful why do you visit your family for the sake of Allah SWT why do you have friendship with those you have friendship with for the sake of Allah SWT why do you spend time with for the sake of Allah SWT why do you and even spending whether spending there on each other but more broadly any spending where often people do tremendous spiritual work someone finds out about some excellent project so they gave money you ask why do you give the money so well they made a good pitch so why do you give the money so well because it made sense you had the potential there of doing something that was tremendous in its consequence spiritually but instead you just did something that was kind of good and what the prophet has taught us in so many hadiths and here we have from this hadith kutsi this divine tradition is that raise your motives like in your relations don't just make them human relationships raise the motive you relate to people why seeking Allah SWT seeking the pleasure of Allah SWT and where does that begin it begins with family don't just visit your parents this weekend just because that's what I do on Friday nights or Saturday nights and Sundays is for the in-laws to add insults to injury you have to go back to work so Sunday night you visit in-laws and that's life and you just kind of show up because when you go without a clear sentence you kind of just show up but if you go I want to seek Allah SWT by visiting my parents that intention will transform your action because now you're going to go with an active concern so then you show up and you realize the house is a bit of a mess the parents are getting older you all just sit there and say oh well you know dad's a miser he won't get he won't get any kind of paid help or whatever instead you say okay let me see what I can do you notice your dad looks tired you try to help out your mom's cooking and you say okay I wonder what she's making you go try to help and so you'll be proactive and you'll be respectful so when an uncle starts talking about Bangladeshi politics and instead of getting annoyed you'll remember that I'm here visiting for the sake of Allah is going to change the way you respond to those awkward conversations you won't get into that conversation and because talking about Banglali politics or Pakistani politics or Egyptian politics is not a religious obligation but remaining respectful to parents so you change the subject you haven't visited the MCC recently but your dad does so you say what's going on in the MCC these days now you change the subject why? not just for an expedient reason that I don't like arguing maybe you do but instead because you want to seek the pleasure of Allah it'll transform your actions same with friends people develop routines so and so so now they invited us over and it just becomes a merely social network but these social relationships are meant to be deeply spiritual this is the beauty of our Deen that we worship Allah SWT not just through the five daily prayers we worship Allah not just through certain prescribed actions we strive to enter in a state of worship of Allah SWT in all that we do not just by making good intentions but that whatever we do we try to raise it to have the greatest intention which is I am seeking Allah by this people show up to work and people imagine that oh my goodness I wish I could just attend all these classes that happen at MCC but I have to work and I wish I could do this but I have to work and people imagine work is somehow separate from their spiritual life from their religious life but if someone understood the guidance that Allah SWT blessed our beloved messengers all of it can be an act of worship how? you don't head to work except that you go to work you love for Allah you work for Allah I am seeking Allah SWT through my work through multiple motives by earning Allah's living by being of service to others because whatever work you do is serving humanity either actually or potentially other people are able to earn their livelihoods and support their families to the work that you do people could use it for a lot of good maybe they don't but you intend the potential good that exists in your work any work that you do I just work at a grocery store well people feed themselves with this if they didn't feed themselves they'd die whatever work you do I work at a gas station how do I work at the gas station for the sake of Allah one because of the benefit you get from it but people are able to drive to work to their needs etc so you have a sense of purpose I am part of the preservation and promotion of good I work in tending to seek the pleasure of Allah by upholding good character in your relationships it gives you a sense of purpose you do nothing in life just for the sake of self after maybe you're going with some friends to some restaurant last week he took me out or she took me out no you're going to the restaurant why for the sake of Allah SWT you want to seek the pleasure of Allah why do you spend on whatever you spend on for the sake of Allah you're on amazon.com and you're about to order when someone came and thankfully interrupted me saved me a couple of hundred bucks but let's say you're on amazon and you're about to buy something why are you buying that bluetooth headset for the sake of Allah SWT and it also safeguards you from harm because if you ask yourself is this really for Allah because I already have two bluetooth headsets and I have wired headphones too that I can call using and I don't like to use the phone very much anyways maybe not or maybe if you ask yourself what will be pleasing to Allah maybe you'll go and buy your wife something instead or your husband so that motive and what you do it enables you to do what you do far more meaningfully and also protects you from harm because sometimes when you consider am I doing this for Allah so you go to local dairy queen and you got two scoops of ice cream for the sake of Allah to be thankful but you want to get two more and you say I'm having two more scoops of ice cream for the sake of Allah and he said you know what maybe I'll give this to someone and that's the power of making our intentions noble and this is particularly important in our social relationships because the human being is a social animal and in all these relationships if you want to have a purposeful marriage what do you do don't just be married well why did you marry Zubeda well she used to look good and I thought he was handsome but now he has bad breath and disheveled hair no why you marry for the sake of Allah why are you in the marriage you're in it for Allah and it could be at some point that if you ask yourself that what will be pleasing to Allah there's some situations where maybe leaving that marriage for the sake of Allah maybe the better thing for both parties it's the exception but sometimes that's the reality but the question to ask oneself is how do I make it for the sake of Allah similarly how do we improve our relations with our friends in the community to love others for the sake of Allah and all the things that you do like in this حديث that we mentioned that Allah Almighty says my love is incumbent for those who love one another for my sake and who visit one another for my sake and who sit with one another for my sake and who spend on one another for my sake meaning not just for reciprocation not for worldly motives but also for etiquette but rather for his sake and we should be thankful to Allah that He's given us this beautiful religion by which we can earn the pleasure and love of Allah in the daily business and concern of life and through that love for Allah we can become people who are not only beloved to Allah but whose actions are means of promoting love between people whose actions are means of promoting good and virtue and all that is praiseworthy May Allah make us sit with one another and spend on one another for the sake of Allah وصلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليما كثيرة الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى سيدنا ونبينا محمد للقدر العظيم وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليما كثيرةuda y sal develop taura us in many humans haney and many dhuwaz about the centrality of loving Allah Subhanahu wa ta'al and seeking be beloved by Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and one of the beautiful duwaz of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that you can find in any collection is the words of the prophet عليه وسلم that He taught us to say يا الله ، أعطيك لأسكتك لأسكتك ، وحب بمن يحبك ، وحب الآناتك ، وحب عملين يبليهني ، حبك ، والأسكتك من هذه الأشياء الذي سيجعلني إعتين إلى أسكتك. ومع this is a dua that Prophet ﷺ related and he mentioned. And he mentioned there a number of times. There's a whole number of different narrations of it. واحد من the reasons sometimes there's multiple narrations of a hadith is because the Prophet ﷺ if he said something he'd say it repeatedly and that repetition could sometimes be in the same gathering and it could be elsewhere but you repeat what he said because he only said that which was significant so he mentioned it a number of times and mentioned it in distinct ways and he also told us that this was from the dua of Sayyidina Dawood ﷺ say Allah I ask you for your love and that has two aspects right it is I ask you that I be of those who love you but more significantly than I be beloved to you and I ask you for the love of those whom you love that I love them right because if you love someone you want to be like them and if you try to be like those beloved to Allah like you if you love those beloved to Allah then you will try to be like them right and they're and keeping good companies the means of attaining unto the love of Allah ﷺ and the love of those you love and that they love me so they give me attention and you know don't turn me away and the love of those actions that will make me attain unto your love and some of the حديث of that are longer so this is something we should always be asking and always anything that we do try to make whatever you do in life a declaration of love for Allah ﷺ what is your marriage don't tell your spouse but your marriage is a is a love relationship with Allah ﷺ why are you patient with your husband because you love Allah and because you love you love your husband or at least have mercy on your husband right one of the imams of the early Muslims and it's mentioned by him he mentioned that you're the verse and he's placed between you love and mercy he said if you marry someone who you like or are married to someone you like Allah has placed love in your your relationship but if you're married to someone you don't like sometimes you marry for expedient reasons if I don't marry her I ain't getting married you never thought you're going to get married anyways but someone came around the corner and you know it's or he's that's all he's all I could get or he's wealthy and I have a lot of debts right or whatever reason they may be right but no it's not about any of these things right he said he said if you marry someone you don't like you have mercy with them meaning of course that whatever situation Allah places you in you try to make the most of it and what's how do you make the most of it by seeing how you can seek Allah his pleasure his love by the way you are and in some situations you will realize that maybe this is not the right direction to be pursuing or the right place to remain right you may realize you're at work and you're working for some terrible industry and there's some such industries in this area right and you realize that you know what I should transition to something more meaningful right because it will be more pleasing to Allah this is I may be making a lot of money but it's destroying my family life so it this is a very powerful means of of good may Allah make us of those who seek his love who seek his good pleasure in all that we do thereby finding meaning and contentment in this life and finding the good pleasure of Allah and closeness in the hereafter to him and to his beloved messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم إن الله و ملائكه يصلون على النبي يا إيه الذين آمنوا صلوا عليه وسلم تسليمه الله مصلي وسلم بارك على سيدنا و نبينا محمد القدر العظيم و على آبه و صحبه والتابعين والتابعين لهم بإحسان نهودا إلى يوم الدين الله مغفر لنا والمسلمين والمسلمات والمؤمنين والمؤمنات العحياء منهم والأموات ربنا إنك طريب سميع مجيب الدعوات يا أرحم الراحمين الله ما ردنا والمسلمين إليك ردا جميلا يا رب العالمين الله ما إنا نسألك حبك و حب نبيك و حب من يحبك و حب عمل يبلغنا حبك يا رب العالمين الله ما جعلنا من المتحاب دين فيك يا رب العالمين و من المتبادلين فيك و من المتجالثين فيك و من المتزاويرين فيك يا رب العالمين الله ما إنا نسألك الهدى والتقا والامفافة والغنة نسألك الله ما الدوفيق والإخلاص و داوم النعن يحسن الختام يا رحنان يا رحين يا دلقوة المتين يا رب العالمين اللهم إنا نسلك من الخيدي كله لنا هو للمسلمين عاجلا و آجلا كما سلاك للم عبدك و لم يك سيبنا محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم و نعود بك من خلاف ذلك يا رب العالمين يا أكرم الأكرمين اللهم أنسل المسلمين والمسلمان في جميع أنحاء العالم يا رب العالمين اللهم أنصرهم على أعدائهم و ثبتهم على كلمة الحق يا رب العالمين اللهم يسر أمورنا و أمورهم و أكشف عننا و عنهم الكرب و العصر يا رب العالمين اللهم إنا نسألك الجنة و مقرب إليها من قول المفعل و عمل و حال يا رب العالمين و نعود بك من خلاف ذلك يا أرحم الرحيمين يا حي يا قيوم برحمتك نستغيد فلا تكلنا إلى أنفسنا طرفت عين ولا أقل من ذلك يا نعم المجيب وصل الله على البشير النبي سيدنا و نبينا محمد و على آله و صحبه و سلم تسييم كثيره وأفر العوان من الحمد لله رب العالمين