Alhamdulillah, like I told you last week I shall deliver a series of sermons on the attributes of Allah. Before starting to prepare this sermon several weeks before, like usual I pray to Allah for guidance and Allah at once made me understand that I should talk a bit on His attributes and this is indeed a divine grace that each time when Friday comes and I have to deliver the sermon (Khutba Jumu’ah), Allah (swt) guides me on a particular subject. All these of manifestations and signs of Allah and show how Allah directs His Chosen Servant. Alhamdulillah.
So, as per what Allah (swt) has made me understand, and maybe before my time also, Allah may have guided His other prophets, His chosen ones and showed them the same explanations. That is why we say that the Messengers of Allah are like a chain, whereby each link is attached to another link and all links form a chain, and to enhance that chain, to make it more beautiful and attractive, and to give it its real value and splendour, a medallion is needed. So, without the medallion, the chain does not have its true value and it loses all its splendour. So all of us prophets of Allah are one family who speak the same word, revive the true value of each prophet that Allah (swt) sent to earth and all prophets [indeed] revive the true value of each prophet that Allah (swt) sent to earth and all the prophets, we all gather behind our chief master. And the chief master of all prophets is Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).
This is why with his coming and before also, the prophets who came before him had praised him and prophesied about his coming, so that we know his value and greatness, whereby his advent encompasses all the divine teachings which were brought or existed before through the prophets (as) before him. That’s why the Quran told us that Hazrat Muhammad (saws) is the Rahmat-ul-lil-Aalameen; a blessing for all the universe, for all people and his message and the religion he brought are for all of humanity. And to give true value to this medallion whereby all the time it will remain shiny, pretty, attractive, then every time there is a need for someone who comes from Allah to revive His pure and truthful teachings whereby there is no innovation; such teachings which shall lead [the people] directly to one God and win His love.
So, now let’s take a look at the attributes of God: When you analyze all the attributes of Allah, their source comes from these four main attributes that are found in Surah Al-Fatiha. When you analyze a certain attribute, such as Hamid, it is not related to the four attributes mentioned in Surah Al-Fatiha, that is: Rabbul Aalameen, Rahman, Rahim and Malik-e-Yawmid-Deen. But we must not forget that Surah Al-Fatiha begins with Hamd. And the attribute of Hamd has an equal connection with Allah and the other names of Allah. It is directly linked with all of these four attributes equally. And in the Arabic language it is perfectly correct to make the word Hamd apply equally to all four attributes.
So instead of mentioning the word Hamid, there is the mention of the word Hamd instead which has a connection with all these other attributes. And this was also necessary because any attribute that is deprived of Hamd, would not be a complete and perfect attribute because the subject of Hamd itself requires that a thing be completely pure and that all evil disappears. So Hamd is a very broad and deep subject and the way it is mentioned in Surah Al-Fatiha demonstrates the purity it contains. So the one who is Rahman but who is not Hamd means that there must be some failure in him. He [that one] is not worthy of all the praise. And in the world we have a lot of this kind of Rahman; those who exceed all limits in their pity, who keep no balance. For example, mothers who love their sons to the extreme will spoil them; as well as dads who love their daughters, etc. So how good even an attribute is, as long as the attribute of Hamd isn’t applied perfectly on that attribute, then there will be some shortcomings in that attribute. So Surah Al-Fatiha has shown us that the word Hamid applies to all the names of Allah. Without it [the word Hamid/ Hamd of Allah], there can be no conception of any other attribute of Allah.
Aside from this, there are still other attributes that if you look for them, you will find that they have a deep connection with the attributes [of Allah being in] Surah Al-Fatiha. And if Allah (swt) grants you this blessing [this opportunity] and this clairvoyance and if He gives you this knowledge from the heavens, then at that time, you will find that there is not an attribute only which was mentioned in Surah Al-Fatiha [apart from the four already mentioned]. If we look at the attribute Al-Haqq, it is such a name of Allah which means that Allah personifies the truth. Haqq means the truth. Truth is only an attribute but when we say Al-Haqq, then it means such a Being Who is filled with truth. There can be no lies in Him. The highest introduction you can make of the truth is included in the word of Al-Haqq. Now the question is: Where has the word Al-Haqq been mentioned here? In which of the four attributes is there the mention that Allah is The Truth / The Truthful?
So in this context I want to put certain things [explanations] in front of you. It is not a knowledge debate but it is necessary that we reflect well on our connection with Allah and His attribute of truth so that we create a deep truth in the Jamaat, so that we adopt this attribute within us.
When a person analyzes all of this, he will see why he is lying. And when he hurts himself [due to all his lies], he will know that without his establishing a connection with Allah The Truthful (Al-Haqq), then he will be deprived of the favours of Allah. When this subject becomes clearer to those kinds of people, then by their own will they will make the necessary efforts to increase their level of truthfulness. Among the reasons why people lie, one of them is because they are looking for false praise. People who like to receive praises, who like flattery and who don't get it, they start to lie. Speaking of this subject, Allah (swt) says in the Holy Quran in Surah Al-Imran, people who like to receive praise, who insist that they are flattered for things they have not done, adopt the lie. So, among the countless reasons behind the lie there is the desire to receive praises.
So when you are saying 'Alhamdulillah', then at the same time you are testifying to Allah (swt) being such a Being Who is clean of all falsehood and lies. He does not need any lie or falsehood to obtain praises because He is truth and all the best praises belong to Him alone. The root itself of falsehood/ lies is absent in Him. We can never conceive the thought of falsehood and lies in connection with the praises of Allah, otherwise it would have become a contradictory subject. But as people are not the masters of Hamd, and they do not possess a perfect Hamd, thus they adopt lies to “drive away” their weaknesses and they relate “beautiful” imaginary tales to attract false praises of the people on them. Or, they love that others relate amazing false tales on them.
All flatteries, false tales and felicitations, all of this are the embodiment of evils which have poisoned our society. You can reflect on all this, and see much havoc it has caused society, be it at familial and other levels. For the sake of false praises, they lie through their teeth and finally you see fights and disorders arising due to them. When this happens, such a person loses his dignity; when he talks, other people turn their faces away from him and begin to say that he is just fibbing and telling lies. So, people already know that such a person is used to flattering himself and telling lies etc., and such person loses his honour with his own children.
Someone told me quite recently that there was a meeting and there were a lot of people. So a man started talking and his own son who was in that same meeting turned away from him [his father] and signalled people not to take him seriously because he was just fibbing. So through his own child [son], this man lost his honour. People of his kind receive false honours and if he receives any honour at all, then that honour is only temporary because the truth is quick to come out and people will see what kinds of falsehoods these types of people throw into society and how they are living a life of imagination; a life of daydream.
For today I’m stopping right here. Insha-Allah, next week I will continue to develop the same subject. May Allah bless you all and give you the capacity to understand the subject of this sermon and that you reflect in yourselves these qualities, these attributes of Allah so that you progress spiritually and materially, both in this life and in the hereafter. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
----Friday Sermon of 21 February 2020 ~26 Jamadi’ul Aakhir 1441 AH delivered by Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir. A. Azim (atba) of Mauritius.