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A Treasure of Paradise: The Benefits of La Howla Walaa Quwwata Ila Billah | Virtual Khutbah
Dr. Omar Suleiman describes affirming Allah’s complete power and your own complete vulnerability.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. All right, everyone. I want to welcome you all back. This is, of course, subhanAllah, as the weeks are going by. Some people have been able to get back to their masajids and some people have not. But I do want to start off before I get into the subject, which is actually a very dear subject considering the circumstances. Some of you saw the posting about Brother Omari Gray a few days ago. And subhanAllah, the outpouring of love and support for him after his tragic accident has been really beautiful and I think a testimony to his character and the way that he treated people and the way that he has always shown such a beautiful spirit to his community and to everyone around him. So I want to encourage everyone to continue praying for his shifa. Ask Allah subhanAllah to heal him fully, to return him back to his family, to restore his full health. Allah is the worker of all miracles. You never know, subhanAllah. Allah is the worker of all miracles and Allah subhanAllah has all power in his hands. And I want to encourage everyone to continue donating to the Launch Good campaign that's been set up for his family, for his wife and nine kids. Please do keep him in your dua, keep that beautiful family in your dua and continue to support them in any way that you can, bismillah ta'ala. So let's begin inshaAllah ta'ala as it ties into the subject today. You know, there are so many athkar, there are so many remembrances that we say either too hastily or we limit ourselves to the translation. And so if I was to pull up la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah, this word of la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah, this phrase, typically most people will say it when they see something tragic happening.
And so it's a means of expressing frustration sometimes. It's a means of saying that maybe Allah can change the situation. And also the translation of it tends to be there is no power or might except by Allah. And so there's almost no distinction between hawl and quwwah, la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. And so I think it's important to really step back and to immerse ourselves in this. And a few weeks ago, maybe a few months ago now, time is really hard to keep up with these days. You know, we talked about ya hayyu ya qayyum bi rahmatika astaghif aslih li shatni kulla wa la takilni ila nafsi tarfa ta'in You know, that dua from the Prophet ﷺ ya hayyu ya qayyum, O ever-living, O ever-sustaining, rectify all of my affairs, do not leave me to myself even for the blink of an eye. We talked about what that means in terms of gaining a sense of strength in Allah. But this phrase, this particular treasure is one that I hope inshallah ta'ala we're going to gain an entirely new appreciation of by the end of this virtual khutbah inshallah ta'ala or these reflections that we'll share today. Abu Musa radiallahu ta'ala anhu he narrates that the Prophet ﷺ heard him saying la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah there is no power or strength except with Allah and he said to Abu Musa shall I not tell you of a word which is one of the treasures of paradise kanzun min kunuzil jannah a treasure of the treasures of paradise and I said yes O Messenger of Allah and he said say la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah in another narration from Abu Huraira radiallahu ta'ala anhu which is also authentic the Prophet ﷺ said akthir min qawli la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah continue to be plentiful in your recitation and your repetition of this phrase la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah and he said ﷺ for verily it is
fa innaha kanzun min kunuzil jannah the same thing he told Abu Musa verily it is a treasure from the treasures of paradise when you think of the athkar the remembrances of Allah that we repeat on a frequent basis subhanallah, alhamdulillah, la ilaha illallah those are more common but la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah to actually engage yourself immerse yourself in its repetition as you are about to engage in a task in which you will inevitably and always need Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and need the power of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on your side as you are in the midst of feeling vulnerable and feeling weak and in recognition of your incapacity recognizing the full capacity of Allah that you don't have after something has happened when something happens in front of you that reminds you of the powerlessness of man and the power of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the overwhelming, the overbearing the compelling power of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala all of these things are moments for us to reflect in the entire COVID-19 era everything that's happening around us la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah and so inshallah ta'ala we'll spend some time with this number one if you remember in the angels series as you're leaving your house the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam mentioned that a person says bismillah, tawakkaltu ala Allah wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah that they say bismillah in the name of Allah I put my trust in Allah la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah and there is no power or might except with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the prophet peace be upon him said that the angels will accompany you in that process and you know hudita wa kufita wa waqita that you have been guided your steps have been guided you will be guided for the day you will be sufficed meaning defended against anyone that comes your way
wa waqita and protected from any type of harm so sufficed in all of your affairs defended from any one of your enemies guided in all of your actions and we said that this is what the angels say in response as they accompany you at the command and the order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so it's something that we do say as we're leaving our home every single day or we should be saying as we're leaving our home every single day and particularly as it relates to the angels these are the words that the angels say upon their creation or upon their coming into existence as in the narration of Safwan ibn Sulaym that every angel rises from the earth saying la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah meaning as they are being created as they are being brought into existence what they say as they're coming into existence is la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah and that's very powerful because these are creatures that don't disobey Allah la ya'soon allaha ma amarahum wa yafa'aluna ma yu'maroon they don't disobey Allah they don't have to worry about the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah has power over all things but in the sense that they are not subject to hisab the way that we are subject to hisab they're not subject to accountability because they don't have choices they don't have free will they don't have those things that would put them in the process of accountability in the first place they will only do what Allah commands them to do but there's a recognition as they're coming into existence la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah even as they're coming into existence the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam he said shall I not inform you of a statement that is under the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in paradise so it is a high place in paradise and it is of the treasures of al-jannah so this gives you an even greater appreciation and reverence for the statement that it is not just one of the treasures of paradise but it is in a high place in paradise
floating under the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in paradise the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah and not just that but every time you say it and this should inshallah ta'ala hopefully make this one of your go to athkar your favorite athkar every time you say it Allah responds in a certain way Allah responds in a certain way now before I say what Allah responds with let me remind you that in surah al fatiha you enter into a dialogue with your lord right, because the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said when you say alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen Allah responds my servant has praised me when you say ar-rahman ar-rahim maliki yawm al deen, iyaka na'budu wa iyaka nastaeen throughout that the very famous hadith about surah al fatiha Allah responds to each ayah in surah al fatiha as you recite it likewise la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah which is this complete affirmation of faith in Allah in the power of Allah and our powerlessness the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam says that when you say it Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala responds aslama abdi was taslam aslama abdi was taslam subhanallah that my servant has completely submitted in all of their affairs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala they have completely submitted in regards to anything that falls within the realm of their doing that the ultimate doing and the ultimate power refers to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala they have submitted themselves in recognition of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's power and strength and hence they will find what they are seeking in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala aslama abdi was taslam subhanallah it's a beautiful idea that every time we say and I want everyone to actually say it la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah and to just
realize the beauty and the wonder of the fact that as you utter that word from your heart it reaches the highest levels of paradise immediately and so what does this mean? I mean why is this such a blessed and virtuous saying? What is the meaning of hawl and what is the meaning of quwwah? How do we differentiate between the two to not just make them interchangeable statements and really just reduce it to an affirmation of Allah's power in an abstract sense How do we get the depth of these words? Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiallahu ta'ala anhu he spoke about this saying in the following way he said la hawla means la hawla an ma'asiyatillah illa bi ismati because hawl means to change a condition so there is no turning there is no change of condition ok quwwah refers to strength the ability to carry out that change hawl refers to the change itself there is no changing of condition there is no hawl, there is no changing of condition nor strength except for that which is with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so he said la hawla an ma'asiyatillah illa bi ismati wa la quwwah ala ta'atillah illa bi ma'unatihi that there is no turning away from the disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala except with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's refuge and protection and there is no strength to carry out the obedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala except with Allah's divine aid in doing so and so I can't turn away from those things except with Allah's help and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepting me and turning me back to him, now Allah will never turn away a person who turns towards him sincerely but that turning I am completely in need of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to turn me back to him as I make the attempt, as I express my desire, as I take the
steps to turn back to him and I am completely dependent upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepting my repentance and his forgiveness and his mercy in turning me back in a sincere form of repentance and I cannot make the changes in my life in the sense that there is no way that I will be able to find the strength to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and to be steadfast in the worship of Allah except with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as aiding me in doing so and so the sahaba spoke about this and so I cannot turn from sin to repentance except by Allah's hawl and quwwah except by Allah's changing the condition and Allah's power, I cannot change from a place of sickness to health except by Allah, I cannot go from weakness to strength except by Allah, I cannot go from sorrow to joy except by Allah I can't even turn my heart towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala except that Allah turns my heart ya muqallibal quloob, thabbit qalbi ala deenak O turner of hearts keep my heart firm on your path, keep my heart steadfast, keep my heart firm ya muqallibal quloob a complete, O Allah you are the turner of hearts now again, it starts with a place of desire, a place of looking for that strength from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah does not turn away the sincere seeker, but there's something so powerful and beneficial about this that even my heart in my chest, I don't own, subhanAllah, I don't even own this heart of mine, I don't even own this heart of mine, and if you think about it in the physical sense, imagine if Allah entrusted us to ourselves with keeping our hearts beating, and so our spiritual hearts, now falamma azaghallahu quloobahum those who turned away, Allah turned away their hearts, Allah turned away their hearts, so when we express that repentance to Allah, we're
turning back to you ya Allah, ya Allah help us turn back to you, ya Allah help us turn back to you, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala turns that heart and that's why the most frequent dua of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was ya muqallibal quloob, thabbit qalbi ala deenak, which heart loved loved Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala more than the heart of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, but still O you, O Allah O you turner of hearts O you turner of hearts, make my heart steadfast on your path, on your way even the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam whose heart was full of love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was that O turner of hearts, make my heart firm on your path so again, I can't switch from a place of sin to repentance except by Allah's power, I can't switch from a place of sickness to health except by Allah's help, I can't go from weakness to strength except by Allah's help, I can't go from sorrow to joy except by Allah's help and you know, this is really encapsulated in other forms of afqar as well so as we said, the most famous form of remembrance, ya muqallibal quloob thabbit qalbi ala deenak also, what the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam told Mu'adh radiallahu ta'ala as he was sending him to Yemen that O Mu'adh, I love you and do not forget to say at the end of every prayer Allahumma a'inni ala dhikrika wa shukrika wa husni ibadatik O Allah, enable me a'inni, enable me Allahumma a'inni ala dhikrika O Allah, enable me to remember you, help me remember you better O Allah, help me to remember you better, Allahumma a'inni ala dhikrika wa shukrika and help me to show gratitude to you properly enable me to have a greater recognition of your blessings upon me and enable me to have a greater form of gratitude for those blessings that you've bestowed upon me wa husni ibadatik, enable me to worship you properly O Allah, I can't stand for prayer without you helping me stand
I need you O Allah, I need you to gift me with the ability to worship you and then I need you to help me worship you properly O Allah and I'll always fall short because of who I am but O Allah, help me, help me to worship you properly, help me to pray qiyam al-layl, O Allah, help me to wake up and someone might think, you know isn't this a you know, a negation of our own devices here and the answer to that is absolutely no, it's not a negation of our own efforts, it is an affirmation of Allah's strength and Allah's power and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being the one that turns us when we seek that from Him, being the one that accepts us when we turn towards Him, being the one that enables us when we seek Him enabling us that's why, you know, Imam al-Taymiyyah rahim Allah ta'ala talked about this du'a Allahumma ya'inni ala dhikrika wa shukrika wa husni ibadatik as being a du'a that is of the greatest forms of du'a I mean the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam telling Muad say this at the end of every one of your prayers and there's a difference of opinion by the way amongst the scholars whether you say this before you do taslim, before you finish your prayer or after your prayer and Allah knows best but, you know, as some of the scholars have mentioned that the that the du'as that are in the prayer that it fits the du'a in the prayer before the end of taslim it fits with the other types of supplication without going into too much detail the du'a, the nature of the supplication after the prayer is different from the nature of the supplication within the prayer but either way it's fine inshallah ta'ala that a person say Allahumma ya'inni ala dhikrika wa shukrika wa husni ibadatik at the end of their prayer but the idea here is that you are completely, completely, completely at the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us to recognize in that that our efforts
should be as maxed out as possible on our end while our recognition of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has limitless power and our complete dependence upon him and so when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said no one enters Jannah except by the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that was the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam also matching that with standing up at night until his feet would swell seeking that mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala so let's think about this a little bit deeper going even further when Allah says when the mu'adhin says come to the prayer come to success and the response that we have in our athkar right, that I cannot even be brought to the prayer, I cannot be brought to success except by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala every time you ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for that turning, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grants it to you every time you ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for that forgiveness, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgives you so long as you're sincere, every time you ask Allah to assist you in your good deeds, there's going to be a translation of that into the strength to perform those good deeds and to stay consistent and persistent you will not seek these things from Allah except that you will find the effect of it in your own life and that's actually the powerful part of this and the most beautiful way that this translates in our lives but in order to get there, there has to be a negation prior to the affirmation and so if you think about the negation in la ilaha illallah there is no god la ilaha illallah affirmation Except for Allah, La ilaha is negation, there is no God, illa Allah, except for Allah La hawla wa la quwwah, there is no changing of condition and there is no power, negation
illa billah, except with Allah, except in Allah, which is the affirmation part of this And so your strength, wa ma tawfiqi illa billah There is no success that I find in life except from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala I completely turn back to Him, I completely turn back to Him And in order to turn back to Him, I have to really turn away from the things that distract me from Him I have to lose hope in other things even if I take them as means Even if I take them as means, I have to lose hope in the power of those things Even if I take them as means to turn back to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Okay, and so this is the way that we find this for example when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says Antumul fuqara illa Allah, you are all in need, you are all desperate, destitute in need of your Lord Wallahu huwa al ghaniyu al hameed, and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is self-sufficient and always praised Praiseworthy whether you praise Him or not That doesn't mean you stop earning money, that means that you become more responsible in how you earn it And more ambitious in how you spend it, right, in the sense of sadaqah and charity and spending upon good things It doesn't mean if I'm faqeer illa Allah and the money comes from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and I have no power That means that I'm not going to do anything, that means that I'm going to use my best efforts to seek true wealth To seek true purpose, to seek true fulfillment in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, right, who is self-sufficient So I'm going to do more and activate myself even more towards Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in recognition of that And you know tonight inshaAllah Ta'ala when we do Quranic healing Dr. Zuhair and myself are going to be talking about this concept of redemption inshaAllah Ta'ala tonight And it does tie into this because a lot of times people feel stuck in their sin
Because you know, they feel like Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala would not forgive them And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala would not have mercy on them Wa ma yakhfiru dhunuba illa Allah, but who forgives except Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala La taqnatu min rahmatillah, don't despair in the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Inna Allaha yakhfiru dhunuba jamee'a, because Allah forgives all sins Not because your sin is not that big of a deal, not because you shouldn't, no Because what's going to cause your repentance to be accepted or not is not the gravity of the sin It's the sincerity of your repentance, because Allah's mercy overwhelms that sin no matter how grave it was And when it comes to your good deeds, when it comes to your good deeds You know, you will find strength in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in ways that you would not have expected of yourself You would not have asked of yourself, you would not have thought was even in the realm of possibility That I could have never got to this point, I could have never been able to pray I could have never been able to push myself this way And it's only by the aid of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala turns you on to that good deed And supports you upon that good deed and strengthens you and enables you as you seek to perform that good deed And it's all in Allah, it is in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Now what does this mean in regards to our day to day outside of our realm of worship? It's the same mentality, the same mindset It is a complete affirmation of the power of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala While completely exhausting our own efforts to do what's most pleasing to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala And I know that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala knows best and I know that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's power is overwhelming And SubhanAllah we see that so many times in our lives where the best human effort falls short And where the sloppiest human effort seems to find massive success
And the reality is that the success was always with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala The strength was always with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala And so just as every treasure of paradise leads to paradise in the heart in the form of tranquility, in the form of certainty La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah which is this treasure in paradise This negation of everything, you know, everything else having true strength or true power Except Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the affirmation of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allows us to have tempered hopes, allows us to have tempered fears You know, allows us to be more measured in how we approach things Allows us to not become so volatile and vulnerable in regards to everything else shifting around us Because what we find strength in is so stable and immovable, right That even when the world seems to be shifting in ways that we cannot comprehend We know that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala never is shifted or moved by what happens in this world And the things that seem to be out of place or out of order in our lives Everything is contained with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in his divine wisdom and his divine power And so it's affirmation, constant affirmation, illa billah Hasbi Allah wa ni'mal wakeel, Allah is sufficient for me My success is in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala When I repent, I feel confident in my repentance Not because it comes from a place of arrogance or because I feel like I deserve to be forgiven Because Allah is so merciful And so husna banan Allah, my good expectation of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala when I repent is that he will forgive me The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said don't say inshit to Allah if you want to forgive me No, he will forgive me if I'm sincere in seeking his forgiveness Because it's Allah's mercy I'm putting my trust in, not my own self
And when I, you know, seek Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's help to be able to enter into good deeds To be able to be steadfast with my good deeds It's from this recognition that good deeds are the greatest gift of good that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala could bestow on a person The greatest thing that Allah could give you is a path back to him The greatest blessings that Allah could give you are al-baqiyat wa al-salihat Are these everlasting forms of remembrance and good deeds that will last you for eternity The greatest thing that Allah could bestow upon you is qiyam ul-la'il You know, Allah giving you the blessing of waking you up at night Allowing you to wake up at night and to worship him in seclusion What a blessing from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that he gives you that path, that he gives you that access And then Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala enables you to do that The very famous saying of Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah when he was asked How come we cannot, we find ourselves unable to wake up and to pray at night He said, la ta'asihi fil naha yuqibuka bil-la'il, don't disobey him in the day He will wake you up at night, Allah will wake you up at night Subhanallah, so it's not escaping our own responsibility to set our alarm clocks And to be responsible with our sleep habits and things of that sort And then when you know, we sleep through we say, well Allah could have woken us up It is a recognition that qiyam is a gift, that the night prayer is a gift And that if I want to be given that gift, then I need to express my desire to be woken up at night To be amongst those that are aware at night seeking Allah's pleasure and forgiveness By staying away from the things during the day that would compromise That would compromise that access, that path back to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala And that would compromise being amongst those who are favoured by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
And so we turn back to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala While affirming la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah That there is no change of condition and no power except for that which is with him We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to change our condition for the better in this life and in the next We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to change our condition from being amongst those that are persistent In their disobedience of him to those that are persistent in their pursuit of his pleasure And in asking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for his power to enable us to be amongst those That find strength in him Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala when everything else around us seems to weaken us We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to make us amongst those that are sufficed by his remembrance That are sufficed by his praise, that are sufficed by his way as manifested in the way of our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for forgiveness for our own shortcomings And we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for his entire mercy to embrace us in this life and in the next Allahumma ameen Jazakum Allah Khayran We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to have mercy and to heal our brother Omari And we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to make it easy for all of those that are suffering around the world And we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to change our condition and to change the condition of our Ummah The Ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Wherever it is, we pray that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala does not allow us to lose sight of them May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgive us, may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala enable us to pray Qiyam Al-Liht And let's please Insha'Allah Ta'ala keep the Ummah in our duas, keep the people in our duas at night Keep each other in duas at night should Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gift us with the ability to wake up and to pray
Jazakum Allah Khayran, Wasalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
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