MSH.26 FEB 2010.Khutbah.PREPOST.ENG

Power of the Night Prayers
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

26 February 2010     Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Jumu`ah Khutbah at Bilal Mosque
with Shaykh ul-Islam, Imam Koudous Idris Kone
2010 Africa Tour Series

Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah, nasta'eenuhu nastaghfirullah wa nastahdi bihi wa natawakalu `alayh, wa na`oodhu billah min shuroori anfusina wa min sayyiaati `amaalina. Man yahdillah fa laa mudilla lah wa man yudlil fa laa haadiya lah wa ashhadun an laa ilaah ill-Llah wahdahu laa  shareeka lah, wa nadheera lahu wa laa matheel lahu  fee `uloowi shaanihi wa ashhadu anna sayyidina wa mawlana Muhammadan `abduhu wa habeebuhu wa rasooluh. arsalahu min arjaahi 'l-`arabi meezaana wa awdahahaa bayaanan wa afsahahaa lisaanaan, fa awdahat-tareeqata wa nasaha'l-khaleeqata sall-Allahu ta`ala `alayhi wa `ala aalihi wa saahbihi wa sallam...

Ayyuha' lladheena mu'minoon al -haadiroon it-taqulLah wa ati`ooh. Innallaha ma` alladheena taqaw wa'lladheena hum muhsinoon....Wa nash-hadu an la ilaaha illa-Llah wa nashadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa habeebahu wa Rasooluh...ayyuhal muminoon al-hadiroon itaqullah wa ati`ooh inna Allah ma` Lladheenat-taqaw w'alldheena hum muhsinoon.(du`a).

 

O Muslims, believers, we are here today in this great masjid, nahnu fee haadha 'l-masjid al-kabeer fee `alaamatillah, al-kabeer fee mahabatillah, al-kabeer fee mahabati Rasoolullahi (s). Nahnu nashkuriullaha `azza wa jall `ala annahu sharafana an na'tiya ila hadihi 'l-muntaka min al-bilaad. We are thanking Allah (swt), that He brought us in this great masjid of lovers of Prophet (s), and to this country to be with the great imaam, Shaykh Koudous.

 

As-shukruhu amrullah wa shukruhu amru Rasoolullahi (s). We are thanking the people of this masjid, especially the organizers to give us the opportunity to speak on this Friday. Wa bi shukri tadoomu ni`am, by thanking Allah (swt) and saying, Yaa Rabbee, shukrun laka, Allah (swt) will keep His favors on us, Allah will provide for us, Allah will give us health, Allah will give us wealth, Allah will give us good opportunities when we are thanking Him and saying, "Yaa Rabbee, we are thanking You. You are the greatest that You can feed us and You can provide for us."

 

Sayyida Ayesha was always seeing Prophet (s) pray at night, not only Salaat ul-Fajr but before Salaat ul-Fajr, after midnight. He would stay up all the night until his feet were swollen. And Sayyida `Ayesha said, "Yaa Rasoolullah, O my beloved! Allah (swt) has forgiven and protected you, anta ma`soomun yaa Muhammad (s)! Why are you praying so much? Allah has forgiven you. He said, Alaa akoonu `abdan shakoora? "You don't want me to be a thankful servant to my Lord and to say, 'Thank you Allah (swt)?'"

 

To pray at night is very important for Muslims, to wake up after midnight, not to sit until morning and then sleep, to watch TV, videos, soccer, football and then say, "Oh, I am only watching, it is not haraam, it's a football game." That will prevent you from waking up at night  to pray before Fajr, because you will be sleeping late and you cannot wake up. And the hadith of the Prophet (s) has mentioned that, according to Sayyidina `Ali (q), who narrated that after midnight, before Fajr, the Prophet (s) would pass by the door of Sayyidina `Ali and knock at the door to check about `Ali and Fatimah, what they were doing. And he would say, "Are you not praying?" as narrated by Bukhari and Muslim. He wanted to make sure that Sayyidina `Ali and Sayyida Fatimah az-Zahra were up praying Salaatu 't-Tahajjud, Salaatu 't-Tasabeeh, Salaat ush-Shukr, Salatu 'l-Layl, qira'atu 'l-Qur'an, dhikr and doing `ibaadah.

 

Whoever does not say "thank you" to people is not saying thank you to Allah (swt). Sayyidina `AbdAllah ibn `Umar al-Khattaab (r) narrated that the Prophet (s) said, "The best of men is he who wakes up before Fajr at night and prays." After the Prophet (s) mentioned that hadith, `AbdAllah never slept before Fajr, he was always up from midnight to Fajr. So waking up and praying is important.

Look to that hadith of Prophet and ibn Masud (r), who said, "It was mentioned in front of Prophet (s) that a man slept until he woke up after Fajr." He didn't pray Fajr because he slept late, so he missed his Fajr. Listen very well to what the Prophet (s) said. Listen and open your ears. May Allah protect us! That is why I am saying, sleep early. I know many shuyookh who do not stay up at night so late, they sleep early, one or two hours after `Isha, and they wake up after midnight by one hour and they stay up until ishraaq. Are you praying Fajr? Let us say to ourselves, sometimes people don't pray Fajr. Prophet (s) said, "Shaytan has urinated in this man's ears."

 

Abi Hurayrah (r) narrated that the Prophet (s) said, "The best month to fast after Ramadan is Muharram, and the best after the obligatory prayer is Salat ul-Layl (night prayers)." When everyone is sleeping, everyone is snoring, everyone doesn't care, and you are standing up and saying, "Yaa Allah! I am coming to Your Divine Presence, accept me." That is what Allah (swt) likes, that is what Prophet (s) likes, that is what Islam likes, that is the message of Islam: to pray when everyone is sleeping and not to show off. Today people run to mosques to show themselves, they go to places to show themselves, but Allah (swt) likes for us not to show ourselves. And when is the time not to show ourselves? It is at night before Fajr, because everyone is sleeping; you stand by yourself and no one is seeing you except your Lord, Allah (swt).

 

`AbdAllah ibn Salam (r) narrated that the Prophet (s) said, "O human beings, you want to enter Jannah? O People! Don't have hate in your heart, and when you see your Muslim brother or sister, say As-salaamu `alaykum.'" Because when you make salaam, it makes peace, when you make salaam, it makes relationships between each other. So first is to make the relationship, and to establish a good brotherhood relationship, you have to say, "As-salaamu `alaykum," then the other one will say, "Wa alaykum as-salaam, yaa `AbdAllah." That is the first condition to make Allah happy with you.

 

When you build a relationship by saying "as-salaamu `alaykum," what do you have to do now? You have to offer food, you have to make that person to eat from your food, to share in your relationship. That is why Prophet (s) said, afshoo as-salaam wa ati`mu 't-ta`am. When you offer food, Allah (swt) is happy with you, and Prophet (s) is happy with you. What do you have to do now? Wa salli bi 'l-layli wa 'n-naasu niyaam, "Pray when people are sleeping." You made salaam, you offered food to those friends of yours, you feel happy, you go to sleep and when everyone is sleeping, you pray your Salat ul-Layl. So what will happen now? Tadkullil-jannah bis-salaam. You will enter Paradise in peace, no questions, no account, by Allah's mercy, by the shafa`at an-Nabi (s), you will be seeing yourself in Paradise, as narrated by Tirmidhi.

 

O Muslims! I will end with this hadith of Prophet (s) and inshaa-Allah we will be able to wake up at night, and to follow the procedures that Prophet showed us and was doing. When Sayyida `Ayesha asked him, "Why are you doing it?" he said, "I have to be a grateful servant." Be a thankful servant to Allah (swt)!

Abu Hurayrah (r) narrated that the Prophet (s) said, "Shaytan ties three knots on your head and says to you, 'Sleep for long.'" Some people also take tablets to sleep because they don't want to wake up, they want to keep sleeping, from laziness. Shaytan wants us to be lazy so he makes three knots on our heads as Prophet (s) said. Shaytan says, "Sleep long, don't worry, I will support you." He will tell you, "Oh I am your friend, I will help you, don't worry." So that person sometimes puts an alarm clock to wake up, and then the alarm comes on and he says, "Oh, it is still early, I will close it and wake up after five minutes," and he listens to Shaytan and he will never wake up until Fajr comes and sunrise comes. Some people say, "O Shaykh, we are putting our alarm near us and we close it and don't know what to do." I say put it far away from the bed so you have to get up and close it!

Some people may wake up and say, "Oh, it is still early for Fajr let us see the news on the TV," so they open the TV and then forget Salat ul-Layl and then Fajr comes. What did the Prophet (s) say? "If he opened his eyes, the only way to wake himself up is by mentioning Allah (swt) by saying, la ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah, the first knot will be dissolved. That la ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah is like a lamp or light in his heart making him to be awake! Try it and you will see! (When you make a fresh wudu, the second knot of Shaytan will be dissolved.) When you pray two raka`ats, the third knot of Shaytan will go completely and you will be like a horse, very active, very strong, like a lion that conquering the kingdom of Shaytan and devils, and entering the kingdom of Allah (swt)! If he doesn't do that, he will wake up lazy, tired, cannot do anything, his day will become so bad that he will come in the evening and complain to his wife saying, "My day was wrong, my day was bad, I was not able to do anything." Look what you have done! Shaytan is with you; instead of ar-Rahmaan with you, you are taking Shaytan to be with you!

 

Ayyuhul Mu'minoon, ayyuhul-Muslimoon, these are the ahadeeth of the Prophet (s) that we have mentioned today and all of them are fully correct ahadeeth, so make sure you follow the procedures that the Prophet (s) has shown to us.

 

Aqoolu qawlee haadha wa astaghfirullahi 'l-`azheem lee wa lakum wa li-saa'iri 'l-mustaghfireen fa yaa fawzan li 'l- mustaghfireen, astaghfirullah.

 

Salawaat and du`a.