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Wasted Potential | Khutbah
In this khutbah Dr. Omar Suleiman discusses the rhetoric of the Quran and Sunnah that speaks to the idea of wasted potential and unused blessings so that we may live up to our own.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. We begin by praising Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la by bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma Ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, I want to begin with two scenes. One of them, the scene of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in Mecca, watching two of his persecutors and seeing the potential in his persecutors and making du'a to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to guide the more beloved of the two of them to Islam. The vision of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was so beautiful and encompassing that not only could he see past the blows and see past the insults, he could actually see the potential blessing and benefit through some of those very same people that were casting the blows and casting the insults towards his way Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And he raises his hands and he makes the du'a Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, Allahumma Aizzal Islam, O Allah give victory to Islam Bi-Ahabbil Umarayni Ilayk with the more beloved of the two Umars to you, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu or Amir Ibn Hisham Abu Jahl. O Allah give victory to Islam through one of these two and specifically the more beloved of the two to you. And SubhanAllah in those moments, neither one of them was living a life that would make them beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But surely Allah knows what good exists in a person and what potential exists in a person.
And Allah answered that du'a as we know with Umar Ibn Al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu. That's the du'a in the beginning. Now SubhanAllah, fast forward and look at the end of these two men. Both of them laying down with their wounds flowing. And you know they say that your life flashes before your eyes before you die. If you think about the last moments of Abu Jahl versus the last moments of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu. Abu Jahl laying on the battlefield in Badr and his wounds flowing. And Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu Anhu who used to humiliate in Makkah, who he once stomped on in Makkah, climbs on top of him. And the last thing Abu Jahl sees is Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu Anhu standing on top of him. And he asks Ibn Mas'ud, who's winning? Now first says, لقد ارتقيت مرتقا صعبا يا رويع الغنم that you have climbed a difficult mount, O shepherd of sheep. Who do you think you are to climb on my chest? His ego is still strong, even though he's on the battlefield on the ground laying down about to die. But he's saying, لمن الغلبة? Who's winning? And then Mas'ud radiAllahu Anhu tells him that victory belongs to Allah و لرسول الله and to Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, the messenger of Allah, O enemy of Allah. And he ends him. In the last moments, Abu Jahl saw everything crumble before his eyes. You died for a false cause, a humiliating death. And all of that potential was cast into a ditch alongside you when you passed away. So much could have come out of this man. But what he became was literally a discarded piece of garbage that goes down in the history books
as the Firaon of this Ummah, as the Pharaoh of this Ummah, a complete waste of flesh, a complete waste of potential. That's Abu Jahl's death. His wounds are flowing. His last moments, he is humiliated. SubhanAllah, go to the death of Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu. Umar radiAllahu Anhu was stabbed, leading the salah in the masjid of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam as a khalifa who is now globally acclaimed for what he had done to spread al-Islam and to spread the ethics of Islam and to give glory and victory to al-Islam as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam made du'a for him. And when Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu Anhu was laying and because of his strength, his stab wounds, he did not succumb to them for some time. As people are praising him and remembering all that he had done for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and for this Ummah, I want you to ask yourself if there was a single person in Medina who didn't look at Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu with an eye of awe, with an eye of glory, with a complete certainty that this man had lived up entirely to his potential. That this man had accomplished everything that he could have possibly accomplished through that du'a of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. That Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu wafaa, he did his job. He lived up to exactly what he was asked to live up to. And the only person that would be questioning whether or not he did enough at the moments of his death would be Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu himself. Every other person around Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu is saying, jazakAllahu khaira ya ameer al-mu'mineen. May Allah bless you for what you have done. Look at this. Look at what you've achieved. And the only person still questioning
whether or not he left anything on the table is gonna be Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu. Connect the du'a of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam when he saw the potential in these two men, the humiliating end of Abu Jahl laying on the battlefield in Badr, cast aside like trash, Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu in his last moments with an ummah surrounding him with gratitude and honor until today when you go and you visit al-Madinah al-Munawwara and you say assalamu alayka ya Rasulullah, assalamu alayka ya Aba Bakr, assalamu alayka ya Umar. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la be pleased with the companions of the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. That's what you called fulfilled potential. Now when Abu Jahl left this world, he had next to him Ikramah ibn Abu Jahl. Ikramah his son radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu. The shock of Abu Jahl on the day of judgment when Abu Jahl is cast into the depths of the fire and his son is a shaheed. Al-Waleed left this world thinking he was humiliating the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. The shock of Al-Waleed cast into hellfire and seeing his son Khalid radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, the sword of Allah ascending the ranks with legions of believers that can't wait to meet him and surrounds him. All of these people who lived on to be the potential of what their fathers never were. And when you hear the beautiful stories of fathers and sons and mothers and daughters being joined in a higher level in Jannah, you also have the story of the fathers that are cast into the pits of the fire while their sons chose a different path. There are going to be many what ifs on the day of judgment. If only I would have. And every single person
who enters into the fire of hell will see the potential palace and paradise that they would have had. Imagine the regrets of Fir'aun. SubhanAllah, can you imagine if Fir'aun would have become Muslim? If Fir'aun would have listened to the da'wah of Musa alayhi salam and said this kingdom is all for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and I have repented to Allah. Imagine the palace that Allah would have given to him in exchange for the one he would have given up in this life. But instead, Fir'aun on the day of judgment before he is cast into his place in hellfire. We'll see what could have been of that palace while Asiya alayhi salam enters into the palace that she saw while she was still being persecuted by Fir'aun in this dunya. What could have been? It could have been this. It could have been that. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about this phenomenon on the day of judgment of the what ifs. Alimat nafsun ma qaddamat wa akharat On that day, as everyone sees the proceedings of the day of judgment taking place, everyone will know what they have put forth and what they left behind. Some of the Mufassireen, they say what they have put forth of sins and what they have left behind of opportunities to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That when you look at that day as it is unfolding before your eyes, you'll remember the many days that you could have done something more. The many blessings that you could have used for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. All the what ifs. There are a lot of laws, a lot of what ifs that are quoted in the context of the day of judgment when you look through the Quran. And subhanAllah, the best of you comes out when you see the worst of consequence. And that's why Allah azawajal says that when the people of hellfire, aw taqoola heena tara alAAadhaab
law annalee karratan faakoona minal muhsineen When people see hellfire, when they're finally about to enter, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala not make us amongst those people that enter into the fire. May Allah spare us from it entirely. Allahumma ameen. When the people enter into the fire, they would say, law annalee karra. If I had another chance, I would not just be from the Muslims. I wouldn't just be from the believers. Akoona minal muhsineen. I would be from those who excel. I would be from the best of the best. I would be from the people who prayed more, the people who fasted more, the people who gave more, the people who dedicated more. If I had another chance, Allah would see what I'm truly capable of, what I truly could have. But at that point, it's too late. You see, there are a lot of people that lived in life of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam that had a moment where they could have made a choice. There are many people left behind in Mecca who probably at some point thought about becoming Muslim. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam made hijrah after that decade of difficulty. There are many people who we will never know who probably thought about it when they heard the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and said, you know what, not worth it. Not worth the risk. Let me stay behind and see how this plays out. And perhaps they didn't live to see Fatah Mecca. They didn't live to see the end of that story. And so their what if becomes a source of regret rather than a source of relief on the Day of Judgment. On the other hand, think of all the people on the Day of Judgment who say, Alhamdulillah, I listened. Alhamdulillah, I heeded that advice. Alhamdulillah, I heard that khutbah when I heard it. Alhamdulillah, I heard that lecture when I heard it. Alhamdulillah, I listened to that friend when I listened to that friend. Alhamdulillah, I took into consideration that proper introspection when I did
and I didn't wait until it was too late. Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah. And so the motto of the people of paradise is Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah. The motto of the people of hellfire is Ya Hasrata. Oh, how I regret. All praises be to Allah for enabling me. Oh, how I regret not doing what Allah enabled me to do when I was in dunya. The people in Jannah are remembering the good deeds that they did. The people in hellfire are saying, No, if I had another chance, I would have done those same deeds. Wasted potential, wasted blessings. Now, here's the thing. When we talk about this concept of muhasabah, this concept of holding ourselves to account, you ask yourself, what made Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu capable of achieving his full potential? And again, no one would doubt that he achieved this full potential except for him radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Was that Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu used to do al-muhasabah. He used to do self-accounting, self-accountability. حاسبوا أنفسكم قبل أن تحاسبوا Hold yourself accountable before you are held to account. Weigh yourselves before you are weighed. And so you have to think to yourself, if I could get a master class from Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu on muhasabah, if I could watch Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu in his private moments before he went to sleep at night, and he thought to himself what he could have done better. Where he fell short that maybe no one else caught but him. And what he thinks he could have done better. Imagine that thought process. Because it's one thing to do muhasabah of your dhunub. It's one thing to take into account your sins and to say this is where I sin, this is where I sin. A lot of us probably don't even do that, right? Where at least at night, can you imagine if you took a few minutes every night and you went back and you replayed the tape for that day? And you said I backbited here. I messed up here.
I did this sin. And you sought Allah's forgiveness every night for that? What a person of ihsan would do as well, what a person of excellence would do in that muhasabah is they would also replay the tape and say I could have done this and I could have done this and I could have done that. The opportunity costs. Where I could have outperformed. I missed the moments where I could have pleased Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. I missed an opportunity where I could have pleased Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. You see one of the beauties of ihsan, one of the beauties of excellence is that you set your own standards and you set them in accordance with what Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala has given you. And you're not waiting for anyone else to set an expectation for you to do better. You're not waiting for anyone else to tell you about how great you could potentially be. You're not waiting for anyone else to invite you to a higher degree of Jannah. You're not waiting for anyone else to tell you that you don't need to live a life where you're merely getting by and you're being a bystander to the imperative of da'wah that we have in this country. To spread the message of la ilaha illallah muhammadan rasool Allah. That you don't need to be a bystander to the Islamic work and capacity building and the relief work and the khidmah and the service. You don't need to just be a bystander that opens a YouTube video every once in a while or watches something here or does something there. But you also can be a part of it and you're not waiting for someone else to tell you to be a part of it. You invite yourself into those rooms. You invite yourself into those efforts because you have a standard that you set for yourself and you're not going to wait for anyone else to push you into Jannah. The call is there. The call is there. And subhanAllah, one thing I'll end with here and reflect upon. You know, I always found it very interesting that when you read about the rich companions of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And by the way, I'm going to make this disclaimer from now. I'm not fundraising today. If you thought that's why I'm here giving the khutba. There's no fundraiser today whatsoever.
But I always thought to myself when I went to Medina, where is the palace of Abdur Rahman Ibn A'uth radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu? Where's the palace of Uthman Ibn Affan radiAllahu Anhu? Where are the palaces of these rich companions? Where are their old, you know, grounds where they used to have this and they used to have that? Isn't it amazing that none of that is locatable at this point? The wealth that Abu Bakr radiAllahu Anhu had in Mecca. The best properties, where are they? Where did they go? They don't exist anymore because they have been converted into sources of continuous charity for those people. You won't find a palace for Uthman radiAllahu Anhu, but you'll find palm trees and gardens that are funded by his initial donations and awqaf, potential. And I guarantee you that's going to be far more beloved to him on the Day of Judgment than a palace that he gave up for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But you know what Allah did leave? Allah azawajal left the dwellings of some of these arrogant, powerful people, masakinah. Go ahead and look at them. Go ahead and look at them. Allah left these incredible, exquisite, architectural forms of genius and innovation that were put forth by his blessing through a people who never acknowledged the source of that blessing. So you could look at them. You see the palaces, you see the fortresses of those who rejected the Prophet Saisam in Medina. You see the palaces, you see the dwellings and the stone carvings of some of the destroyed peoples in that region. What benefit does it give them on the Day of Judgment? And can you imagine the source of regret when they see that on the Day of Judgment and say, that could have been something so much more. That could have been a palace in Jannah. Now, it's not just wealth because wealth is the easiest quantifiable example. It's time. It's time. You know, people ask me subhanAllah about fundraising.
I'm saying, I wish I could fundraise for volunteers. It's time. There is a notable decline across efforts across North America and many places of people that want to give time for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Like, you know what? I want to dedicate myself to a cause. People are too comfortable being bystanders. Don't let your potential go to waste because everything that Allah gave you of a unique quality, a unique potential is a unique opportunity for a special place in Jannah. Don't let it be a source of your regret on the Day of Judgment. You want to have as little laws, if-only's at the time of your death because there are people that Allah azawajal mentions that when they're dying, they're saying that. As little of those as possible when the Day of Judgment is established and you know that things just got much more serious. And none of those at the border of hellfire where hopefully you will not enter bi'ithnillahi ta'ala. You want to have as little of those laws, of those ifs as possible at the time of your death on the Day of Judgment and at the time of your entrance into whatever destination Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has decreed for you. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la let us be amongst the people of Al-Firdaws Al-A'la of the highest degree of paradise. May Allah guide us to that which is pleasing to Him and then grant us sincerity in pursuing the means to please Him and then grant us steadfastness upon that path of guidance and then grant us entrance into the abode of His pleasure. And may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allow all of the blessings that He has given to us in this life to be converted into blessings in the afterlife as well. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la use us for that which is pleasing to Him. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la forgive us for our sins, forgive us for our shortcomings. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la make us amongst those whom He is pleased with and make us amongst those Al-Muhsineen,
those who excel in being pleasing to Him. And may Allah Azawajal count us amongst those who love Him and who are beloved to Him and who surround His beloved one, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, fil Firdaus Al-A'la. Allahumma Ameen. Aqoolu qawli hadha wa astaghfirullahi bi hurmati al-Mursaleen, wa astaghfiru innahu al-Ghafoori al-Raheem. Al-hamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen wa l-'adwana ila ala al-Dhalameen wa al-'aqiba ila al-Muttaqeen Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barak ala abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman kathira Allahumma kuffri al-mu'mineen wa al-mu'minat wa al-muslimin wa al-muslimat al-ahya'i minhum wa al-amwat innaka samee'un qareebun wajeebu al-da'awat Allahumma kuffri lana wa arhamna wa a'afu anna wa la tu'addibna Rabbana dhalamna anfusana wa in lam takfir lana wa tarhamna lanakoon lana min al-khasireen Allahumma innaka a'afuun kareem wa intuhibbu al-a'afu wa fa'afu anna Allahumma kuffri liwalideena Rabbirhamhuma kamara abduh Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhriyatina qurrat a'ayun wa ja'alna lilmuttaqina imama Allahumma ansur ikhwana al-mustad'afina fee mashariki al-ardi wa magharibiha Allahumma izzal al-islam wa al-muslimin wa dhillal shirk wa al-kathibin wa damr a'daa al-deen Allahumma ahliki al-dhalimeen wa bil-dhalimeen wa akhrijna wa ikhwana min bayn al-msalimeen Ibadullahi Allah ya'mur bin al-albi wa al-ihsan wa ita'id al-qurba wa yanha'an al-fahsha'i wa al-munkari wa al-baghi Ya'uzukum la'al lakum tadhakkaroon fathkurullahi yadhkurukum wa shkuruhu ala ni'ma yizid lakum wala dhikrullahi akbar wallahu ya'anu ma tasna'oon Waqeem al-salam
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