MSH.21 JAN 2011.Khutbah.PREPOST.ENG

The Power of One Ant

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

21 January 2011    Burton, Michigan

Jumu`ah Khutbah at As-Siddiq Mosque

Ayyuhal mu'mineena al hadhiroon fi taqullahu wa`atioo. Inn Allaha ma`al-ladheena taqa wal-ladheenahum muhsinoon. Qaala Rasoolillahi, sallAllahu ta'ala `alayhi wa `alaa saahbihi wa sallim,`alaa ukhdiruhum bi ahli 'l-jannah.

Prophet (s) is asking his Sahaabah (r), "Do you want me to tell you about the People of Paradise?" and of course everyone likes to hear who the people of Paradise are. Everyone today says their house is like a paradise, which in the mind is something that has no limits; whatever you do, however nice, compared to Allah's (swt) creation of Heavens and Earth, it does not compare! So when Prophet (s) asked, "Do you want me to tell you who are the People of Paradise"? of course they want to know, because they want to achieve that, they want to try to be like that, they want to give up anything they can--their souls, their love to Allah and His Prophet, their souls to Allah and His Prophet (s)--they will do anything to achieve Paradise. He did not say reaching Paradise is by doing an act of violence, but he said, kullu da`eefin mutada`af, as narrated by Haritha bin Wahb (r):

أَلَا أُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِأَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ؟ كُلُّ ضَعِيفٍ مُتَضَعِّفٍ لَوْ أَقْسَمَ عَلَى اللهِ لَأَبَرَّهُ. أَلَا أُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِأَهْلِ النَّارِ؟ كُلُّ عُتُلَ جَوَّاظٍ مُسْتَكْبِ

'Alaa unabba-ukum bi ahli 'l-jannah? Kullu da`eefin mutada`afin. Law aqsama `ala Allahi 'l'abarrahu...

Shall I inform you about the people of Paradise? (They will be) every weak and oppressed person. When he swears by Allah, he fulfills his oath. (Bukhari and Muslim) 

He said that everyone who tries to humble himself more and more to Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s), to Islam, to Muslims, to humanity, to the whole of what Allah has created, to humble himself to anything, Allah will give him Paradise. When Sayyidina Sulayman (a) came with his followers, his students, his army, towards Saba, toward Sheba, to bring her to Islam. He was passing through a valley and one ant spoke:

حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَوْا عَلَى وَادِي النَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ لَا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَانُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

Hatta idha ataw `ala wadi annamli qaalat namlatun yaa ayyuha an-naml udkhulu masaakinakum laa yahtimannakum sulaymaanu wa junooduhu wa hum laa yash`uroon.

Till, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant exclaimed, "O ants! Enter your dwellings unless Solomon and his armies crush you, unknowingly." (an-Naml, 27:18)

O ant! That ant knew itself; it knew it is an ant. What do you want lower than an ant; it is so small. You look at it and say, "Ah, what is this ant?" and children might step on it and kill it. It does not say "no"; it surrenders to Allah’s will. So ants know they are the lowest. There may be lower than them, but for the sake of our discussion here of what Allah (swt) gave to them, (we say ants are the smallest creatures). However small it was, look at how much it was able to speak, because when you are so humble Allah will give you a voice that can be heard from east to west! But you need people with ears (to hear you). We are deaf, we are not hearing anything. Sayyidina Sulayman (a) heard because he was a thankful, rich prophet (s). They say, "Why is this imaam or shaykh rich?" It is a wrong idea that an imaam or shaykh must not be rich. Historically, prophets were rich. Sayyidina Khadijah (a), the wife of Prophet (s), was one of the richest. It is not the degree of wealth that distinguishes if you are humble or not. Prophet (s) said:

الغنى الشكر خَيْرٌمن الفقير العابد

Ghaneeyun shaakir khayrun min al-faqeeryou 'l-`abid.

The thankful rich person is better than the poor worshipper. 

A thankful rich person is better than a poor worshipper, because he is a humble person. Although he has power in dunya through his wealth, he is still humble, looking after everyone. There are still people like that looking after the community. Allah (swt) said that one is more loved than a worshipper who has nothing, who can help no one but himself, because that rich one can help citizens and countries. Today you see rich people; they don't know when they may have to run away from their countries and how to take their money, which is being confiscated by governments. Some rich ones steal from people and are tyrants, so Allah sends others to take revenge on them, and then they can't take their money anymore. You can see this in North Africa today. Every tyrant's time is coming, so we must be away from tyranny. 

So one ant was speaking; for its humbleness, Allah (swt) made that ant speak. Ants have countries, governments, kings, queens, and Allah is giving this example in Holy Qur’an: qaalat namlatun, "One ant said, 'O ants! I care for you! My colleagues, my citizens! Run and enter your homes before the footsteps of Sulayman's army trample you!'"

Sayyidina Sulayman (a) heard that and went into prayer, saying, "O Allah! Forgive me. I am thankful to You for what You have given me." He was a prophet with all the treasures of dunya and akhirah! What he built for Sheba, Queen of Yemen, were such things she had never imagined, because he had jinn building all kinds of palaces of glass and mirrors, where you can see your image everywhere and think you are walking on water. When she saw that, she realized her kingdom was nothing. She knew that when a king walks into a village he destroys it, and he was a king. He was powerful, but he did not show his power as he wanted to attract them to Islam. 

If Allah (swt) wants to give you a paradise, don’t think He will give you like what Sayyidina Sulayman (a) showed to Bilqees (Sheba), although jinn were building it and also brought her throne to him. That is still nothing compared to the paradise that Prophet (s) is mentioning to Sahaabah, `alaa ukhdiruhum bi ahli l-jannah, "Do you want me to tell you of the people of Paradise?" The paradises Prophet (s) mentioned have no comparison with paradises on Earth, or with the paradise of Sayyidina Sulayman (a) that his jinn built. In comparison, you would not accept one ornament on her throne! But what do you need to do? One thing that Prophet (s) is asking is to be humble: kullu da`eefin mutada`af. 

Everyone is weak in Allah’s Presence: it means to be humble, and try to humble oneself to not have a personality such as, "I did this, I did that! They didn't give me respect! They threw this on me! We are slaves, we are servants!" No, be happy (with your life) as a slave is never questioned! They go to Paradise without questioning, because a servant will not come against his Lord. You cannot say to Allah, "No, I don't want to obey!"

Allah (swt) said:

 أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ

Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.

Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (an-Nisa, 4:59)

Obey those whom Allah appointed over you. Who is that? `Ool 'l-`amr, authorities. And there are always two authorities with you: one on the right, one on the left. Let us make them happy by making istighfaar. The one on the left cannot write a sin before 24 hours have passed; he will give you a chance to repent. So every night before sleeping, say, "Yaa Rabbee astaghfiruka wa 'atubulayk, astaghfirullah `adheem wa tubulayhi," and Allah will erase and forgive all your sins; He will not allow the angel on the left to write anything! But we forget. In Arabic, the word insaan, "human being," comes from the word nisyaan, "to forget." We are human beings who forget, we don’t remember. Don’t forget! Allah (swt) is always reminding us in Holy Qur'an:

لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ 

Wa la'in shakartum la-azeedannakum
If you thank Me, I will give you more. (al-Ibrahim, 14:7)

Allah is reminding us, idhkoroonee, idhkuroonee! Remember Me, remember Me!

فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُواْ لِي وَلاَ تَكْفُرُونِ

Fadhkuroonee adhkurkum, washkuroolee wa laa takfuroon.
Remember Me, I will remember you. Give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful towards Me. (al-Baqarah, 2:152)

"Remember Me, I remember you!" Remember Him! So what to say? Either salawaat on Prophet (s), because "salloo `alayh" is an order (the imperative form of the verb):

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

inna-Llaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabi, yaa ayyuha 'l-ladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was sallimoo tasleema. 

Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him. (al 'Ahzaab, 33:56)

Or make istighfaar, or recite asmaullahu 'l-husna, or read Qur’an, or read hadith; then you are remembering Him. Washkuroo lee wa laa takfuroon, "When you remember Me, I remember you. When I remember You, you have to thank Me, because I mentioned your name in a Presence better than your presence." When you see today, if the president mentions your name because you did something nice, you send him a thank you letter. He is only like you and me, and president for five or six years and then he is gone, but you try to approach him as much as you can. What about Allah, the Creator?

O Muslims! Be thankful to Allah! Be humble, and you will be from the People of Paradise. 

Aquloo qawlee hadha wa astaghfiruka al-`azheem wa lakum wa li saa'iri 'l-mustaghfireen fa ya fawzan li 'l-mustaghfireen astaghfirullah.