In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Echoes from the pulpit.
The treasures of Allah are vaster than human imagination.
A sermon by the honorable Sheikh,
Khalid Ibn 'Abdullah al-Hamudi,
May Allah preserve him.
Praise be to Allah, who created in the most perfect way,
And perfected all that He fashioned.
Everything bows in submission to His might,
And yields to His greatness.
Glory be to Him and praise; in His mercy lies hope,
And in His pardon lies our longing.
Praise be to Allah; how much bounty He has poured forth,
And how much harm He has averted.
There is no preventer of what He gives, and no giver of what He withholds.
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with 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)
Our Lord is Allah,
Our Provider is Allah,
Our Creator is Allah.
The God of the first and the last,
And He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
It is right for creation to take pride,
That their Master is Allah, the Generous.
It is right for them to take pride, all the pride,
That He is the Most Gracious and the Merciful Lord.
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.
The chosen Messenger,
And the selected Prophet.
May my father and mother be sacrificed for him, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Indeed, sending blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad,
Erases sins and raises one's rank,
Removes worries from the heart of the sorrowful,
And replaces tears with smiles.
May Allah send blessings upon him, for how he revived among us,
The loftiest meanings in the Lord of the verses.
And may He reward him on our behalf with the best reward given,
To the messengers of guidance for their call and their sermons.
O Allah, send peace, blessings, and increase,
Upon Your servant, Your messenger, Your prophet, and Your beloved, Muhammad,
And upon his family and his Companions,
And those who are guided by his guidance,
Follow his Sunnah, and tread in his footsteps,
And grant him abundant peace until the Day of Judgment.
Now then, servants of Allah,
I advise you and myself to fear Allah.
“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 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,
Today we shall speak of a long journey in a short time,
Concerning a man who was one of the scribes of the revelation,
And suddenly, the man disbelieved.
I will pause at this point.
Yes, let us learn his story,
So that we may know that the treasures of Allah,
Are vaster than human imagination.
And this is our subject:
The treasures of Allah are vaster than human imagination.
This man is the Companion,
'Abdullah Ibn Sa'd Ibn Abi al-Sarh.
A Qurayshi who shares lineage with the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
He was the foster brother of 'Uthman Ibn 'Affan.
He was ten years old when the Prophet was sent.
He reached maturity and embraced Islam,
Then he migrated to Medina after his conversion.
He could read and write,
And he was one of the scribes of the revelation.
Then, under unknown circumstances,
'Abdullah Ibn Sa'd disbelieved,
And apostatized from Islam,
And returned to Mecca.
He would sit with the disbelievers of Quraysh,
Saying, "Muhammad does not know what he is saying;
I am being inspired,
Just as he is being inspired."
Some of the salaf were of the view,
That this verse refers to him:
"And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah
Or says, 'It has been inspired to me,'
While nothing has been inspired to him."
“Who is guilty of more wrong than he who forgeth a lie against Allah, or saith: I am inspired, when he is not inspired in aught; and who saith: I will reveal the like of that which Allah hath revealed? If thou couldst see, when the wrong-doers reach the pangs of death and the angels stretch their hands out (saying): Deliver up your souls. This day ye are awarded doom of degradation for that ye spake concerning Allah other than the truth, and used to scorn His portents.” (6:93)
When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, conquered Mecca,
He did not pardon everyone in Mecca,
As some people think.
Rather, he declared a group to be liable for execution,
And demanded their killing,
Even if they were clinging to the curtains of the Ka'bah,
Due to the extent of their harm.
Among them was 'Abdullah Ibn Sa'd
Ibn Abi al-Sarh.
'Abdullah went,
He went to 'Uthman,
And said to him, "O my brother,
My crime is the greatest of crimes,
And I have come repentant and remorseful,
So intercede for me with the Messenger of Allah,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
And 'Uthman Ibn 'Affan,
Refused to let his brother perish,
So he brought him, holding his hand,
To the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
Seeking pardon.
He extended his hand to the Messenger of Allah,
To shake it in pledge of pardon and Islam,
But the Messenger of Allah refused to shake his hand,
He refused to shake his hand.
When the matter dragged on,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, extended his hand,
And pardoned him.
'Abdullah embraced Islam,
And the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, wished,
That the Companions had noticed,
His delay in shaking hands,
So that one of them might have stood up and killed him.
He rebuked them for this,
And 'Abbad Ibn Bishr said to him,
"By the One who sent you with the truth,
I was following your gaze from every direction,
Hoping that you would signal to me,
So that I could strike off his head."
He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"It does not befit a prophet,
To have the treacherous eyes."
The Islam of
Ibn Abi al-Sarh became excellent,
And he fought alongside the Messenger of Allah,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
And fought alongside his successors in all the battles.
'Uthman Ibn 'Affan appointed him,
As governor of Egypt,
When it was conquered after 'Amr Ibn al-'As.
He was the first governor of Egypt,
In the time of 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab.
'Abdullah Ibn Sa'd took over,
The command of the army in Egypt,
And he was the commander of the first naval victory for the Muslims,
In the Battle of Dhat al-Sawari.
He led the conquests of the Maghreb,
And had the honor of opening them,
And he died a martyr in its battles.
Glory be to Allah, O servants of Allah,
Glory be to Allah.
If you had seen 'Abdullah,
On the day he was writing the revelation,
You would have said, "How can I attain the status of this man?"
And if you had seen him on the day he lied about the Prophet,
You would have said, "How can this man ever believe?"
But the treasures of Allah,
The treasures of Allah,
Are vaster than human imagination.
The waves of life,
Lower a person and raise him,
And a person's deeds,
Can raise him or cause him to fall.
There is no day in which you see,
That you are the worst of creation,
But that the opportunity is still there,
To become among the most beloved of creation to Allah.
Allah does not grow weary,
Of extending His hands to us,
Until we grow weary of turning to Him.
“And Allah would turn to you in mercy; but those who follow vain desires would have you go tremendously astray.” (4:27)
And whoever does evil,
Or wrongs himself,
Then 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)
"Inform My servants..."
“Announce, (O Muhammad) unto My slaves that verily I am the Forgiving, the Merciful,” (15:49)
“And that My doom is the dolorous doom.” (15:50)
O Allah, accept our repentance,
And keep us firm upon Your religion,
Until we meet You.
And let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us,
And grant us from Yourself mercy,
Indeed, You are the Bestower.
May Allah bless me and you with the Great Qur'an,
And benefit me and you with what is in it.
“This (which) We recite unto thee is a revelation and a wise reminder.” (3:58)
I say what you hear,
And I seek the forgiveness of Allah for me and for you,
So seek His forgiveness,
For He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
Praise be to Allah,
And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,
And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,
May Allah send peace and blessings upon him.
Now then, servants of Allah,
Indeed, the treasures of Allah, as we mentioned,
Are vaster than human imagination.
So trust in Allah, O servant of Allah,
And be content with Him, and be content with what Allah has decreed.
Allah took charge of the affair of Yusuf,
So He made the caravan in the desert need water,
To bring him out of the well.
Then He made the Aziz of Egypt need,
Children, so that he would adopt him.
Then He made all of Egypt need food,
So that he would become the Aziz of Egypt.
If Allah takes charge of your affair,
He prepares for you the causes of happiness,
While you do not even realize it.
So entrust your affair to Allah,
And trust in Allah.
And O servant of Allah,
O my blessed brother,
Do not hesitate to return to Allah,
No matter how great your sins may be,
He who shielded you while you were under the roof of disobedience,
By Allah,
By Allah,
Will not abandon you under the wing of repentance.
O Allah, we have placed our trust in You,
And we have turned our backs to You for refuge,
And we have entrusted all our affairs to You.
You are the Succorer,
And You are the Generous,
And You are the Merciful,
And You are the One who answers the desperate,
And removes all harm.
Have mercy on us, O Allah,
With a mercy that makes us independent of the mercy of anyone other than You.
O Allah, have mercy on us with a mercy that makes us independent of the mercy of anyone other than You.
O Allah, keep us steadfast upon Your religion until we meet You.
O Allah, let us taste the sweetness of humility in prayer,
And increase our submissiveness to You.
And accept our humbleness before You in prostration and bowing.
O Allah, grant us abundant gifts,
And forgive our transgressions,
And grant us a life of contentment.
O Allah, we seek refuge in You from the loss of Your favor,
And the change of Your well-being,
And the suddenness of Your retribution,
And all that incurs Your wrath.
O Allah, fill our lives with joy, happiness, and delight,
And with tranquility, serenity, and gladness.
O Allah, grant us a good ending,
And take our souls while You are pleased with us.
Protect us from the evils of tribulations,
Both those that are apparent and those that are hidden.
Grant us security in our homelands,
And rectify our leaders and those in authority over us.
And grant victory to our soldiers at the borders.
And accept the Hajj of the pilgrims,
And reward their efforts,
And forgive their sins,
And do not deprive us of their reward.
And return them to their families and homes,
Safe and successful.
O Allah, we have called upon You as You commanded us,
So answer us as You promised us.
And do not deprive us of the best of what You have because of the worst of what we have.
“Glorified be thy Lord, the Lord of Majesty, from that which they attribute (unto Him)” (37:180)
And peace be upon the messengers,
And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.