In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
[Introduction to the sermon]
A man from West Africa once visited me.
He then asked me a question.
Then he wept bitterly.
I asked him, "Why are you weeping?"
He said, "I was a priest in my country."
"I used to hold the Gospel in my hand,"
"And trample the Qur'an under my feet."
"Yet my Lord has guided me to Islam."
"Will Allah accept my Islam?"
"And will Allah forgive me for the sins I have committed?"
"Is there a way to repent?"
A sermon by the honorable Sheikh,
Khalid al-Hammudi, may Allah preserve him.
Praise be to Allah in the beginning and the end.
Praise be to Allah for His blessings, both hidden and manifest.
Praise be to Allah for His abundant favors.
And for His successive bounties.
Praise be to Allah, who encompasses all things in knowledge.
“That He may know that they have indeed conveyed the messages of their Lord. He surroundeth all their doings, and He keepeth count of all things.” (72:28)
Praise be to Allah, to the number of all things.
And filling all things.
Praise be to Allah, and we cannot enumerate the praise due to Him.
He is as He has praised Himself.
And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone.
He has no partner.
“All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifieth Allah; unto Him belongeth Sovereignty and unto Him belongeth praise, and He is Able to do all things.” (64:1)
And He is capable of all things.
He chooses what is best for His servant.
If you look toward the heavens in supplication,
And hope that your Lord will fulfill your aspiration,
Yet you see something other than what you hoped for in your prayer,
And you think that sorrow has extinguished your hope,
Do not despair of life and its constraints.
Far be it from the Most Merciful of the heavens to let you down.
If you could see the unseen and its subtleties,
You would know that the good lies in what He has chosen for you.
Yes, by Allah, the good lies in what He has chosen for us.
O Allah, make us content with Your decree,
So that we do not wish to delay what You have hastened,
Nor hasten what You have delayed.
And I bear witness that our master, our Prophet, and our beloved, Muhammad, is the servant of Allah and His Messenger.
His chosen one and His intimate friend.
He was compassionate and merciful.
He would visit the sick and call upon the poor.
And he would answer the calls of the enslaved.
He grew up an orphan,
Until he became a great conqueror.
Say to the heart, now that its grief has persisted,
"Why do I see you sleepless and anxious?"
Do you not know that your Lord has said:
“Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation.” (33:56)
Through it, every heavy burden is relieved,
And it becomes a great treasure for the Hereafter.
He rewards you tenfold for your prayer once,
And you attain lasting honor in this life.
May Allah send blessings upon the Beloved by His grace,
And grant him a high status among all creation.
O you who hope for his intercession,
“Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation.” (33:56)
O Allah, send blessings, peace, and increase in favor,
Upon Your servant, Messenger, Prophet, and beloved, Muhammad,
And upon his family and his Companions,
And those who are guided by his guidance,
And follow his Sunnah and tread his path,
And grant him abundant peace until the Day of Judgment.
To proceed, O servants of Allah:
I advise you and myself to have taqwa (fear/consciousness) of Allah.
"O you who have believed, fear Allah"
"as He should be feared."
“O ye who believe! Observe your duty to Allah with right observance, and die not save as those who have surrendered (unto Him)” (3:102)
O community of believers,
I will not speak today
About what is called Christmas,
Or the New Year's holiday.
No, I will not speak about that.
Do you know why?
Because I am absolutely certain
That you have already been spared that by me,
Through your knowledge of its ruling and its lack of legitimacy,
Based on the fatwa of the Council of Senior Scholars.
But I will speak about another topic.
A personal situation I experienced
Before the Corona pandemic,
Approximately five years ago.
A man from West Africa visited me.
Then he asked me a question.
Then he wept bitterly.
I asked him,
I asked him,
"Why are you weeping?"
He said,
"I was a priest in my country."
"I used to hold the Gospel in my hand,"
"And trample the Qur'an under my feet."
"Yet my Lord has guided me to Islam."
"Will Allah accept my Islam?"
"And will Allah forgive me for the sins I have committed?"
I said to him, "Ease your heart."
"Ease your heart."
"Who can stand between you and repentance?"
Then I mentioned to him the saying of Allah, the Exalted in His Majesty:
"Say to those who have disbelieved,"
"If they cease,"
“Tell those who disbelieve that if they cease (from persecution of believers) that which is past will be forgiven them; but if they return (thereto) then the example of the men of old hath already gone (before them, for a warning).” (8:38)
He rejoiced,
And was greatly heartened.
And he became, after that,
One of the callers to Islam in his country.
And many have embraced Islam at his hands.
And praise be to Allah.
I remembered this situation, O servants of Allah,
Yesterday,
After a call I received
From a friend there in that country.
He mentioned the name of that man.
So I remembered that situation
Which occurred with him.
I said to myself,
"How beautiful is repentance!"
"And how beautiful is speaking about repentance!"
"And how beautiful are the repentant!"
O Allah, make us among the repentant.
Allah, the Almighty, says, O servants of Allah:
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed.” (24:31)
"O you who have believed, that you may succeed."
And it has been narrated in the Sunnah
About that old man,
The elderly one,
Whose back had become bent,
Whose hair had turned white,
And whose eyebrows had fallen over his eyes.
He dragged his steps toward the Chosen One,
Peace be upon him.
He was overcome with sorrow,
His heart was filled with hope.
He stood before the Prophet, peace be upon him,
And said, "O Messenger of Allah,"
"A man who has betrayed and transgressed,"
"He left no need nor desire,"
"But he seized it with his own hand."
"If his sins were divided"
"Among the people of the earth,"
"They would destroy them."
"Is there any repentance for him?"
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
"Have you embraced Islam?"
He said, "As for me,"
"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,"
"Alone, with no partner,"
"And that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
"Then Allah"
"Will forgive you"
"As long as you are like that,"
"And He will replace your bad deeds with good ones."
He said, "O Messenger of Allah,"
"And my betrayals and my transgressions?"
He said, "And your betrayals and your transgressions."
The man turned away,
Proclaiming the greatness and oneness of Allah,
Out of sheer joy,
Until he disappeared from the sight of the people.
Narrated by al-Tabarani and al-Bazzar,
And authenticated by al-Haythami and al-Albani.
O blessed beloved,
O noble sister,
O noble brother,
No matter how often you hear about repentance,
And no matter how often it reaches your ears,
And your eyes see the words of exhortation,
Do not be annoyed,
And do not be weary.
Rather, the best and most excellent thing
Is to rejoice
In the call of the Most Merciful and His gifts.
All of us, without exception,
Are in need of repentance.
We are in need
Of someone to remind us of Allah,
Of someone to polish our hearts,
Of someone to bring us closer,
Of someone to bring us closer,
To our Lord more and more.
Allah, the Glorified, says
In this verse,
An address to us all
From the Lord of Might, the Glorified,
Containing such beauty
That the tongue is unable to describe it.
Contemplate the saying of Allah:
"O My servants."
And that tranquility
Which emanates
From between the letters and the words.
So no matter what your sins are,
And no matter what your slips are,
Do not despair,
And do not despair of the forgiveness of Allah.
Just turn to Allah,
And seek His forgiveness,
You will find Him Forgiving and Merciful.
He, the Glorified, said:
"And whoever does a wrong"
Or he wrongs his own soul.
Then he seeks the forgiveness of Allah.
“Yet whoso doeth evil or wrongeth his own soul, then seeketh pardon of Allah, will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful.” (4:110)
And the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says:
O son of Adam.
You have answered my call.
And you placed your hope in me.
I have forgiven you for what you have done.
And I do not care.
O son of Adam.
Even if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky.
Then you sought my forgiveness.
I have forgiven you, and I do not care.
O son of Adam.
If you were to come to me
with sins filling the earth
Then you met me.
“And (remember) when We prepared for Abraham the place of the (holy) House, saying: Ascribe thou no thing as partner unto Me, and purify My House for those who make the round (thereof) and those who stand and those who bow and make prostration.” (22:26)
I would have brought you its equivalent in gold.
I would have come to you with a near-equivalent of it in forgiveness.
O Allah.
How noble you are.
How noble you are.
And how magnificent You are.
O blessed brother.
No matter how preoccupied you may become with worldly affairs.
And no matter how numerous your deeds may be
And your connections are numerous.
No matter how much the worldly life preoccupies you.
with its brilliance
and its adornment
And its beauty.
There are two nights.
There are two nights.
It is incumbent upon every one of us.
That he should keep both of them before his eyes.
A night spent in his house.
Bestowing blessings.
Joyful.
Sa'id
with his family, his children, and his companions.
In health and well-being.
In good health.
And a life of ease and comfort.
And the night that follows it.
There is no place for weakness where there should be strength.
And sorrow takes the place of joy.
The moments of agony will take the place of the moments of laughter.
For neither does strength avail the strong.
Nor does intelligence avail the intelligent one.
Nor does wealth avail the wealthy.
The Exalted says:
“And be not ye as those who forgot Allah, therefor He caused them to forget their souls. Such are the evil-doers.” (59:19)
And He caused them to forget their own selves.
Those are indeed the defiantly disobedient.
They are not equal.
The people of the Fire
And the people of Paradise
The people of Paradise
They are the successful ones.
“Not equal are the owners of the Fire and the owners of the Garden. The owners of the Garden, they are the victorious.” (59:20)
The people of Paradise
They are the successful ones.
Servants of Allah
We all know our sins.
And we acknowledge our sins.
And we recognize the evil deeds.
which we practice
And we shall perform it.
We should increase our performance of it and make it a constant habit.
So, what is incumbent upon us?
Except that we turn our hearts toward Allah.
Except that we must turn our hearts toward Allah.
And we cast ourselves down in humility before Him.
We ask Him for pardon and forgiveness.
And pardon and security.
And forgiveness and excellence.
And repentance
The manifestation of its lights.
The darkness of wrongdoing and disobedience.
For our Lord
He is the All-Merciful, the All-Generous.
He is the All-Forgiving, the Bestower of bounties.
He rejoices at the repentance of His servant.
When he repents to Him.
Seek the forgiveness of your Lord.
Then repent to Him.
“Ask pardon of your Lord and then turn unto Him (repentant). Lo! my Lord is Merciful, Loving.” (11:90)
And the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, says:
Indeed, Allah accepts
The repentance of the servant.
until the soul reaches the throat.
Meaning, his soul departs.
And we do not know, O servants of Allah.
When will death come to me?
Let us be prepared.
Let us be prepared.
We must not delay repentance.
For the heart can fall ill.
The body and its healing through repentance.
And how beautiful it is
The name of Allah, al-Tawwab (the Ever-Relenting).
He grants the sinner [the opportunity to repent].
He dictated it so that he might begin.
Once again, the situation speaks for itself.
And the discourse
O Lord, I seek Your pardon.
Do not hold our slips against us.
And forgive us, O Lord.
a sin that we have committed
O Allah, to You we complain.
our heedlessness, and we repent.
I present to you what I have done.
to our hands
And our own selves have committed it.
And we seek Your forgiveness for what we have come to know.
for our sins
And that which we did not know
I say what you have heard.
And I seek the forgiveness of Allah.
I seek the forgiveness of Allah.
For me and for you.
And for all the rest of the Muslims.
from every sin and transgression.
“And unto (the tribe of) Thamud (We sent) their brother Salih. He said: O my people! Serve Allah, Ye have no other Allah save Him. He brought you forth from the earth and hath made you husband it. So ask forgiveness of Him and turn unto Him repentant. Lo! my Lord is Nigh, Responsive.” (11:61)
Indeed, He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah.
All praise is due to Allah for His benevolence.
And we offer thanks to Him for His guidance and His grace.
And I bear witness
That there is no god but Allah.
And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
To proceed, O servants of Allah:
Many a person among us
One day, he looked out from a high vantage point.
Or he nearly fell into an incident.
And perhaps
He was afflicted with a severe illness.
He thought that his demise lay within it.
and his destruction.
And he may have witnessed his father.
Or his brother.
Or someone close to him while he is breathing his last.
And perhaps a person might place
He placed his hands upon his head one day from among
The days
He thinks that he is at the end.
His days and his nights.
Or during his final hours.
and the precious moments of his life.
Then Allah saved him.
Among these examples is that
However, the heart, after that,
It only increased in hardness.
And the soul has increased in its longing.
except for turning away.
“Then, even after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or worse than rocks, for hardness. For indeed there are rocks from out which rivers gush, and indeed there are rocks which split asunder so that water floweth from them. And indeed there are rocks which fall down for the fear of Allah. Allah is not unaware of what ye do.” (2:74)
They are like stones.
Or even harsher in hardness.
It is fitting for you, O servant of Allah.
That you seclude yourself for a moment.
And you may wonder
These exhortations
which she heard
The greatest of these are the exhortations of our Lord.
Mighty and Majestic is He.
These are the exhortations that you have heard.
Rather, these exhortations which
I saw
Where was her final destination?
Where was her ultimate destination?
Did it increase the servant in nearness?
Is it from Allah, has it increased?
Insight within his own soul.
Did it increase his fear of Allah?
Did it increase his longing for Paradise?
Did it increase him?
Out of fear of the Fire, does he...
It increased her devotion to
Did his obedience increase him?
turning away from disobedience
Everyone who
Let us hasten, O servants of Allah, let us hasten before we depart, for the cases of Corona have increased.
It began to rise after having fallen, and by Allah, the best remedy is repentance.
Repentance, while simultaneously taking all necessary preventive and remedial measures; therefore, repent, O servants of Allah, repent.
Allah, for we are all prone to error, and the best of those who err are those who repent; turn in repentance, turn in repentance before the gates are closed.
The answer lies in seizing the opportunity, for it is a prize that has no substitute and nothing can equal it.
The value of this is that whoever wakes up or goes to sleep without having repented is in grave danger, as he said:
Glorified is He, and those who do not repent, it is they who are the wrongdoers; it is necessary, O servants of Allah, that we break
...from repentance, and that we return to Allah; the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to repent in...
He would do so more than a hundred times a day, and he is who he is—the one whose sins, both past and future, were forgiven.
Whatever of our sins has passed and whatever is yet to come, we are more deserving and entitled to His forgiveness, for we are the weak and the destitute.
It is more fitting that we repent to Allah at every moment; O Allah, accept our repentance, O Allah, accept our repentance.
O Allah, accept our repentance, turn toward us, O Lord, wash away our sins, and forgive our transgressions.
And conceal our faults; O Allah, grant us repentance before death, martyrdom at the time of death, and after it.
Death is a garden and a blessing; O Allah, forgive the sins that You have veiled, and erase the misdeeds that only You know.
O Allah, You know our faults, so conceal them, and You know our deeds.
Accept it from us, know our needs and fulfill them, O Fulfiller of needs; O Allah, relieve the distress of those who are distressed.
Relieve the distress of those who are suffering, settle the debts of those who are in debt, and grant healing to our sick and to the sick of the Ummah.
O Allah, have mercy on our deceased; O Allah, have mercy on our deceased and the deceased of the Muslims; O Allah, have mercy.
O Ever-Living, O Sustainer, grant our parents health and well-being, and forgive our parents.
And our mothers, O Allah, have mercy upon them just as they raised us when we were small; O Allah, for those among them who are still living,
Grant them the enjoyment of health and well-being in Your obedience, and for those among them who have passed away, O Allah, reward their good deeds with further excellence.
And with regard to our misdeeds, grant us pardon and forgiveness; O Allah, just as You have gathered us upon these carpets, gather us beneath Your Throne.
As brothers who love one another, upon couches, facing one another; O Allah, lift this epidemic from us, O Allah, lift this epidemic from us.
O Allah, lift this epidemic from us, protect us, preserve us, and place us within Your sanctuary, Your security, and Your guarantee, O All-Preserving, O All-Knowing.
O Allah, grant us security in our homelands, rectify our leaders and those who govern our affairs, and grant victory to our soldiers at the borders.
Grant victory to our oppressed brothers everywhere, and rectify the conditions of the Muslims in every place.
We have called upon You, our Lord, as You have commanded us, so answer us as You have promised us; exalted is your Lord, the Lord of Might, above what they describe.
And peace be upon the messengers, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.