Khutbahs
100 / 217
The 3 Keys to Human Excellence | Khutbah
How is excellence described in the Qur’an?
Visualizing and consistently striving for Paradise, being generous when it's easy and difficult, suppressing our anger and pardoning others, and turning to Allah for forgiveness when we sin all play a role.
Support free resources. Become a Yaqeen Sustainer today.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. All praise and glory be to Allah. We thank him and we seek his help and his guidance and his pleasure and his forgiveness. Just as we seek protection with Allah from the evil whispers within ourselves and from the evil consequences of our misdeeds. For whomever Allah Azawajal guides, no one can ever lead astray and whomever Allah leaves astray, none can ever guide. And we testify that no one is worthy of our worship and our devotion and our love and obedience in the absolute sense but Allah and Allah alone without any partners, the true supreme king. And that the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was in truth without doubt, his prophet and his servant and his messenger. And after reminding myself anew of the taqwa of Allah, to live consciously of Allah and dutifully towards him, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and consistent in your loyalty, in your allegiance, in your love, in your submission to him, subhanahu wa ta'ala. There is a very famous passage, my brothers and sisters, in Surat Ali Imran, that encapsulates the summary of how to arrive at your maximal or maximum potential, the best version of yourself. And that is a set of four verses where in Allah Azawajal first says, وَسَارِعُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
And race, take this life seriously, be serious and determined in racing, in competing for the forgiveness of your Lord, at the end of the day this is what matters. And a paradise as wide, as expansive as the heavens and the earth, rather wider and more expansive than the heavens and the earth, that has been prepared for the people of taqwa, has been prepared for the pious, those who live consciously of Allah. And this is the first quality of truly successful people, the people who got Allah's forgiveness at the end of the day for living by taqwa and wound up in paradise. And that's so important, because many a times it is parroted at our ears at every turn, that this is what success is, and that is what success is, and so when I say name a successful person, the average person, even Muslims may say, this businessman or that entrepreneur. This is what jumps to mind. Fame, wealth, power, these are success. Allah is saying no, stay focused and race, here where it's worth it, towards the forgiveness of your Lord that everything else is eclipsed by. Then notice that he says a paradise wider than the heavens and the earth. He doesn't just say race for paradise and the ayah keeps it moving. Why is it so many times throughout the Quran, when Allah mentions Jannah, he qualifies it, he interjects in the middle of the sentence, so many descriptions of Jannah, various descriptions of Jannah. Because unless you're able to visualize what Jannah is like, if you can't dream it, how can you chase it, right? If you cannot visualize what is in that paradise, what awaits a person. For example, in this verse, just how vast it is. It's massive size. It's boundless size.
You know it is not just vast physically, if we can use the word physical here. It is vast in every respect. It is vast in the emotions it has to offer us. You think you felt happiness? You've never felt happiness. There's a wider version of happiness, a more vast emotion in paradise that this world cannot contain. It is even vast in its flavors. You think you've tasted all the flavors. There's a much wider selection of flavors in the fruits and in the rivers and otherwise. So visualizing the vastness of paradise is a part and parcel of being able to chase it correctly. Because if you cannot always be able to put a goal in your mind at least and reorient yourself on your goal, you will not be able to race. You will not be able to stay determined. Nothing will make you weaker in the race than being disoriented about the goal, than having blurriness about this goal of yours. And then the verse continues to say what, not just that it's so wide, it says, it has been prepared. It's already ready for the people of taqwa. As Ahmad ibn Harb, he used to say about this concept in the Quran. He used to say, وَعَجَبًا لِمَن يَعْرِفُ أَنَّ الْجَنَّةَ تُزَيَّنُ فَوْقَهُ وَالنَّارُ تُسَعَرُ تَحْتَهُ كَيْفَ يَنَامُ بَيْنَهُمَا It's really odd, he says, that someone is told that Jannah is actively being prepared and decorated on top of him and the fire is currently being stoked and kindled under him. How does he sleep between these two places? I mean, he should at least be spiritually awake, right? Humans have to sleep. But how do you fall asleep in the race? How do you sleep in your competitive instinct when you know this? So that is the first part of human excellence, racing in the right direction and racing at
a, you know, a respectable pace by having the visual ahead of you, having your eyes on the prize. Once you have that, go to the next verse in this passage, Allah Azzawajal says, what is the description of these متقين for which this vast prepared paradise is awaiting? He says, الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ The متقين, and then Allah does not just describe any متقين. He describes basically the highest tier of متقين and he says, those who spend, whether in good times or in difficult times, and those who are able to suppress their rage and pardon people. And then he says to summarize it, والله يحب المتقين, and Allah loves, they are very cherished by Allah, the محسنين, he says now. You see these people, to the extent of their taqwa, to the extent of them visualizing the home that they're chasing, the abode of the people of taqwa, will be the extent of their consistency and their strength in the race. And so he describes the fastest of them in this ayah, to start you at the top, to aim for that. And he speaks about things, if you reflect, they're not even mandatory, right? Those who spend in good times and in hard times, well you don't have to spend in hard times, Islamically speaking, you get spent on, right? And it says, those who suppress their rage and pardon the people, not just suppress it, no, suppress it to the point of suppressing your rage to keep you fair and just in anger, that's mandatory.
But to suppress your rage in the point where you dismiss your right for justice, for demanding justice, for equal retribution, for equal vengeance, this is not mandatory, right? To forgive someone who wronged you is not mandatory. So what does this tell you? It tells you these are people of ihsan, these are people who they do not look anymore because they see Jannah so clearly, it being prepared, it being so wide, then they don't, whether I have to do it or I don't have to do it, is no longer a factor for them. They are muhsineen, they are people of ihsan, people of such excellence, such excellence that good is their habit, even if it is not a duty on them. They just see themselves at this point and how could I give up this opportunity, give up this opportunity for another act of good, to chase another level of Jannah. And so to the degree of your ability to visualize will be the strength of your ability to race and you will rise above even that, where is the red line mentality, that concept of like, will I be punishable? Is it sinful if I do this or not? Do I have to? Is off the table, it's gone. And before I move on to the next ayah, we need to always remember that when I say the people of ihsan are people who good has become their habit regardless of the ruling. The Prophet ﷺ cautioned us to make sure you build up to this state gradually. He said when you build your habits, even if they're few, that is fine, but make sure you're consistent. Some people, they just grab a little bit from anywhere and it doesn't work, right? In other words, know that if you want Allah to love you, remember first that Allah loves consistent deeds, even if they're small. So to build up to this level of true ihsan, have small good deeds that will accelerate
you little by little. Don't get overtaken by the visual and say, I have to do the greatest good deed now, and then you burn out. How many people fall into this trap? You are what you habitually do, what you repeatedly do, Aristotle used to say. Excellent is a habit. It's not an act. How do you build that habit? By the little things first. Always remember that. You know, so many Qur'an experts tell you every student I've had who memorized the entire Qur'an began with a line or he'll say a page a day, and by the time they progress, they're now doing four and five and ten pages a day. Started small for the sense of accomplishment, for the motivation. You know, subhanAllah, there is so much less excellence in our age in the corporate world or in any type of fields. People are all complaining about the lack of excellence, the lack of productivity, the lack of perfectionism that once existed, the lack of expertise. One of the reasons is what this incoherent just hustle, just grind, just keep pushing in every direction and doing a thousand things at once, as opposed to that valuable gift he tells you. No, no, no. Focus. Start small and scale it carefully because you only get one shot at this. We only live this life once. So that's priceless advice. He told us, subhanAllah, 1400 years ago, you want to be a person of Ihsan so that Allah may love you. Allah loves consistent deeds. Start them small. The third now ayah, quickly, Allah Azawajal then speaks about the people of excellence in a very unexpected way. He says, after spending in good times and evil and those difficulty and those who suppress their rage and pardon people and Allah loves the people of Ihsan. He says, further describing these mutaqeen that will inherit paradise. وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهُ
And they are also those that when, not those who are committing evil deeds, that when they commit evil deeds, so there's a sense here that it is not a habit of theirs or it is not a frequent habit of theirs. They spend in good times and hard times, pardon people who wronged them. And if they commit evil deeds, Allah says, so they commit, just not that frequently. وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهُ They are those that when they commit an indecent act or wrong themselves, major and minor sins basically. ذَكَرُوا اللَّهُ Allah comes to mind فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ And so they seek forgiveness for their sins وَمَنْ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ And who else? They recall this. Who else will forgive my sins but Allah وَلَمْ يُصِرُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ And they do not persist adamantly in what they used to do. That sin they fell into while they know. They may become absent minded. They may slip time and again, you know, inshallah, few and far apart, but they're not actively adamantly going back to the sin carelessly while they're trying to be careful. Even if you cannot be perfectly careful. لَمْ يُصِرُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ They do not insist or persist in the sin while consciously doing that. أُولَٰئِكَ جَزَاءُهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ مِّنْ رَبِّهِمْ Even these people, Allah said, even after starting at the high level, He said, these people, their reward will be a forgiveness from their Lord. What He told you to race for two verses ago, they too will get the forgiveness from their Lord. أَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ And gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein eternally, وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ And how excellent is the reward of those who put in the work, the reward of those who do work. أَقُولُ قَوْلِ هَذَا وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ لِي وَلَكُمْ
الحمد لله وحده والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعد أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ونبيه ورسوله So what does this third verse teach us about the people of excellence? We said the first verse said to us that you have to lock your eyes on the prize or else you will not be able to race. The second of them is that you are a person of habitual good, right? Person of ihsan. This third one is, it's a fundamental part, a fundamental part of this is to a person who is able to overcome their letdowns, overcome obstacles, to not hold yourself to a high standard that Shaytan will use against you to demotivate you in the race. This is part of what you need to be a person of excellence. You know when the Prophet ﷺ said to you, if you never committed sins, I would have feared for you something even more dangerous, which is ujb, becoming conceited. He's teaching you to say, take the sin as an opportunity to learn that I'm not that great. I'm a failure without Allah, but so long as he's on my side, I can continue to have chances every time I repent. In another hadith, he said, had you not committed sins, Allah would do away with you and bring about another creation, another human race, if you will, that sins, so it seeks his forgiveness, so he forgives them. This is not telling you to just like belittle sins or embolden you to go ahead and sin. This is telling you be resilient when you fall, be resilient when you stumble, have hope when you sin, and just get back up every single time. You know many people, they just feel like they're at rock bottom before they actually are.
You know a wise man in the English language at least, he used to say that when you tell yourself I'm at rock bottom, like I failed again, all my accomplishments are gone. He says rock bottom is the best foundation to build something on. And in our tradition, this is also true. The brokenness when you fall in your attempts is one of the ways to accelerate you, one of the shortcuts to Allah. As Ibn Al-Qayyim used to say, do you think Adam was the same in his relationship with Allah after the sin? No, he was closer to Allah after the sin because he repented and experienced a new name of Allah, Al-Ghafoor, the most forgiving that he would not have experienced had he not sinned. You know speaking of Adam Alayhis Salaam, and I will wrap up with this, there is a hadith in Sahih Al-Bukhari and elsewhere where the Prophet ﷺ said one time Allah permitted Musa Alayhis Salaam to debate with Adam Alayhis Salaam and he said to him, oh Adam, how could you do it? How could you sin? You are the father of humanity and Allah created you with his own two hands and he blew into you from his spirit. How could you do this to us? You got us kicked out of Jannah. And so Musa Alayhis Salaam says to him, are you not Musa who Allah wrote for you the Torah with his hands and Allah spoke to you, distinguished you with speaking to you directly, he said how could you blame me for something that was written on me 50,000 years before the heavens and the earth? You see Adam Alayhis Salaam was not blaming destiny for committing his sins because we know from the Qur'an, he said, oh Allah forgive me, he owned it. But after the fact that you owned accountability, responsibility, it is ultimately part of Allah's Qadr. Allah will destine that we will not be perfect and so part of that is something to be capitalized on. We can cite the Qadr of Allah about a calamity and so long as you've repented from your sin,
you can just consider it another calamity, something to be rewarded for. That is the idea. As the Prophet Alayhis Salaam said, follow up the bad deed with a good deed so that you can erase it, work on it. And he said, you know, just stay on the good deeds and seek help from Allah and don't ever give up, don't ever give in. To overcome setbacks is of the qualities of the people of Ihsan who inherit this Jannah, may Allah make us and you of them. May Allah help us and you lock the prize in our hearts and in front of our eyes. May Allah help us people who become upon habitual good and time and time again refuse to stay down when we have setbacks, when we find obstacles, when we get tripped up, Allahumma Ameen. Allahumma Ameen.
Welcome back!
Bookmark content
Download resources easily
Manage your donations
Track your spiritual growth
1 items
1 items
1 items
25 items
50 items
9 items
