Waz-zaakiriinallaaha kasiiraww-wa zaaakiraati ‘a-‘addallaahu lahum-maghfirataww-wa ‘ajran ‘aziimaa.
… men and women who remember Allah often—for (all of) them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward. (Al-Ahzab 33 : 36)
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) as saying that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, thus stated: “I am near to the thought of My servant as he thinks about Me, and I am with him as he remembers Me. And if he remembers Me in his heart, I also remember him in My Heart, and if he remembers Me in assembly I remember him in assembly, better than his (remembrance), and if he draws near Me by the span of a palm, I draw near him by the cubit, and if he draws near Me by the cubit I draw near him by the space (covered by) two hands. And if he walks towards Me, I rush towards him.”
Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, Allah (swt) gave me the Tawfiq to continue my sermons on the subject of “Duahs” and today is the 8th part. All this is by the grace of Allah (swt) and His blessing and where He is pouring these duahs on me so that I can present them in front of all the brothers, sisters and children in Islam as well as all my dear disciples around the world. Ya Allah, Ya Azim, Ya Ghaffar, Ya Rabbul Aalameen (O Allah The Almighty, The Indulgent, The Master of all worlds), thank you for all Ilm (knowledge) that You pour out on me so that I lead Your servants on the right path. Ameen.
We pray that Allah (swt) will grant mercy, salvation and blessing to our prophet Muhammad (pbuh), as well as to his family and all of his companions. Ameen.
It is thanks to this great prophet Rahmatul-lil-Aalameen (who is a mercy to the whole universe) that we know these duahs. Allah taught us the duahs that His Nabi Kareem (pbuh) used to address to Him, and especially under what circumstances they should be recited. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself is this perfect guide and model, and we have no guide except the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). [That is to say] It is from him that all people take example in order to perfect their own Islam and Iman (faith).
So, I put before you the duahs of our beloved prophet (pbuh):
Allahumma inni a’udhu bika min adhabil qabri laa ilaaha illaa anta.
O Allah! I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave. There is none worthy of worship but You. (Abu Dawud, Al-Hakim)
Allahumma inni a’udhu bika mina-sh-shiqaaqi wan nifaaqi wa su’il-akhlaqi.
O Allah! I seek refuge in You from dissension, hypocrisy and all bad manners. (Abu Dawud, An-Nasaï)
‘Allahummaj’al fi qalbi nuran wa fi lisaani nuran wa fi basari nuran wa fi sam’i nuran wa ‘an yamini nuran wa ‘an yasari nuran wa min fawqi nuran wa min tahti nuran, wa min amami nuran, wa ‘an khalfi nuran waj’al li finafsi nuran wa a’zimli nuran.
O Allah, place light in my heart, light in my tongue, light in my seeing, light in my hearing, light on my right, light on my left, light above me, light beneath me, light before me, light behind me, and place light in my soul and make the light greater for me. (Bukhari, Muslim, An-Nasaï)
Allahumma-qsim lana min khashyatika maa yahulu, bainana wa baina ma’aasika wa min ta’atika maa tuballighuna bihi jannataka, wa minal-yaqini maa tuhawwinu bihi ‘alaina musibatid-dunya, wa matti’na bi-asmaa’ina wa absaarina wa quwwatina maa aḥyaytana, waj’alhul-waaritha minna, waj’al tha’rana ‘alaa man zalamana, wansurna ‘ala man ‘adaana, wa la taj’al musibatana fi dinina, wa la taj’alid-dunya akbara hammina wa la mablagha ‘ilmina, wa laa tusallit ‘alaina man la yarhamuna.
O Allah, apportion for us, fear of You, that shall come between us and disobedience of You, and of obedience to You, which shall cause us to obtain Your Paradise, and of certainty, which shall make the afflictions of the world easy for us, and enjoyment of our hearing, and our seeing, and our strength as long as You keep us alive, and make it the inheritor of us. And let our vengeance be upon those who have wronged us, and aid us against those who show enmity towards us, and do not make our affliction in our religion, and do not make this world our greatest concern, nor the limit of our knowledge, and do not give power over us to those who will not have mercy on us. (Tirmidhi)
Allahumma inni as’alukal-huda, wat-taqaa, wal-’afafa, wal-ghina.
O Allah! I beseech You for guidance, piety, chastity and self-sufficiency. (Muslim, Tirmidhi)
Allaahummak-finii bihalaalika ‘an haraamika wa ‘aghnini bifadhlika ‘amman siwaaka.
O Allah, suffice me with what You have allowed instead of what You have forbidden , and make me independent of all others besides You. (Ahmad, Tirmidhi)
Allahumma inni a’udhu bika minal-’ajzi wal-kasali wal-jubni wal-bukhli wal-harami wa ‘adhabil-qabri wa fitnatid-Dajjal.
O Allah, I seek refuge in You from helplessness, laziness, cowardice, stinginess, weakness of old age, the punishment of the grave and the trial of the Dajjal. (Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi).
Allahumma inni as’alukal-jannata wa ma qarraba ilayha min qawlin aw ‘aamalin, wa a’udhu bika minan-nari wa maa qarraba ilayha min qawlin aw ‘aamalin, wa as’aluka an taj’ala kulla qada’in qadaytahuli khayran.
O Allah, I ask You for Paradise and for that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed, and I seek refuge in You from Hell and from that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed. And I ask You to make every decree that You decree concerning me good. (Ibn Majah)
In a Hadith in Bukhari, Al-Bara ‘bin ‘Azib (ra) narrates that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said to him, “Whenever you go to bed perform ablution like that for the prayer, lie on your right side and say, “Allahumma aslamtu wajhi ilaika, wa fauwadtu ‘amri ilaika, wa alja’tu zahri ilaika raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika. La malja’a wa la manja minka illa ilaika. Allahumma amantu bikitabika-l-ladhi anzalta wa bi-nabiyika-l ladhi arsalta”
(O Allah! I surrender to You and entrust all my affairs to You and depend upon You for Your Blessings both with hope and fear of You. There is no fleeing from You, and there is no place of protection and safety except with You O Allah! I believe in Your Book (the Qur’an) which You have revealed and in Your Prophet (Muhammad) whom You have sent). Then, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) told him: “If you die on that very night, you will die with faith (i.e. or the religion of Islam). Let the aforesaid words be your last utterance (before sleep).”
In a Hadith quoted by Bukhari, Jabir bin ‘Abdullah narrated that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) has said, “Whoever after listening to the Adhan says, “Allahumma Rabba hadhihi-d da’ watit-tammati, was-salatil qa’imati, ati Muhammada nil-wasilata wal-fadilata, wab’ as-hu maqaman mahmuda nil-ladhi wa’adtahu”
[O Allah! Lord of this perfect call (perfect by not ascribing partners to You) and of the regular prayer which is going to be established, give Muhammad the right of intercession and illustriousness, and resurrect him to the best and the highest place in Paradise that You promised him (of)], then my intercession for him will be allowed on the Day of Resurrection”.
Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) narrated in another Hadith in Sahih al Bukhari that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: “When the Imam says: ‘Ghair-il-Maghdubi ‘alaihim Walad-Dhallin’ (i.e. not the path of those who earn Your Anger, nor the path of those who went astray (Al-Fatiha 1: 7)), then you must say, ‘Ameen’, for if one’s utterance of ‘Ameen’ coincides with that of the angels, then his past sins will be forgiven.”
Still from Bukhari Shareef, Rifa’a bin Rafi’ Az-Zuraqi (ra) narrated: “One day we were praying behind the Prophet. When he raised his head from bowing, he said, “Sami’ al-lahu liman hamidah.” A man behind him said, “Rabbana wa lakal-hamdu, hamdan kathiran taiyiban mubarakan fihi” (O our Lord! All the praises are for You, many good and blessed praises). When the Prophet completed the prayer, he asked, “Who has said these words?” The man replied, “I.” The Prophet said, “I saw over thirty angels competing to write it first.”
Furthermore in Bukhari, it is reported that the Sahaba (companions) heard the Holy Prophet (pbuh) seeking refuge in Allah against the chastisement of the tomb (Qabr). Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) narrated that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) used to invoke Allah in this way: “Allahumma ini a’udhu bika min ‘adhabil-Qabr, wa min ‘adhabin-naar, wa min fitnatil-mahya wal-mamat, wa min fitnatil-masih ad-dajjal.”
[O Allah! I seek refuge with you from the punishment in the grave and from the punishment in the Hell fire and from the afflictions of life and death, and the afflictions of Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal.]
A narration again by Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) in Sahih al Bukhari where he narrated that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) has said: “When one of you sneezes, he should say, ‘Alhamdulillah’ (Praise is to Allah) and his (Muslim) brother should say to him, ‘Yarhamuka Allah’ (May Allah have mercy on you). When he says this to him (the last phrase), he should reply, “Yahdikum Allah wa yuslaha balakum” (May Allah guide you and grant you well being).”
Reported in Bukhari, Muslim & Tirmidhi that Ibn ‘Abbas (ra) narrated: The Prophet (pbuh) said, ‘If anyone intends to have sexual intercourse with his wife, he should say: “Bismillah! Allahumma janibnash-Shaitana, wa jannibish-Shaitana ma razaqtana.”
(In the Name of Allah, O Allah! Keep us away from Satan and keep Satan away from what You have bestowed upon us). Then, if it is destined that they should have a child, then Satan will never be able to harm him.”
I stop here for today. I pray to Allah (twa) to give me the Tawfiq to continue on the same subject – the duahs of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) – next Friday. Insha-Allah.
May Allah enable each one of us to delve into the meaning of these duahs of our noble and great prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and to make them an integral part of our lives. The more we invoke Allah, we seek His help, support, mercy, love and blessings, the more Allah will be pleased with us and help and bless us with His absolute power, His compassion and affection.
When we talk about Muharram, we also recall Ashura, the 10th of Muharram which also reminds us of the sacrifice of Hazrat Imam Hussain (ra). In this month devoted to Allah, Islam has given Muharram its true value because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) revealed to us the greatness of the Yaum-e-Ashura which is found in this month. On this day, one of the greatest acts of worship (Ibadat) is to fast or do a lot of duahs, Istigfaar, and reading the Qur’an with translation and also make Nafil Salat. Many major events took place on this date.
In a Hadith in Musnad Ahmad, narrated by Hazrat Abdullah ibn Abbas (ra), the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: “Fast the day of Ashura but distinguish yourselves from the Jews by fasting a day before and after.”
As I told you, one can also do Tawbah (repentance) and Istighfar (ask for Allah’s forgiveness) because it is also reported that it was on this day/ date that Allah (swt) accepted the repentance of Hazrat Adam (as) and it was on that day that Hazrat Musa (as) gain victory over the Pharaoh.
So on the day of Ashura, you can read a lot: “Subhanallah Walhamdulillah Wa Laa illaaha illallah Allahu Akbar Wala Hawla Wa La Quwata Illah Billah Hil AliyilAzim”.
[Glory to Allah, All praise belongs to Allah, No one is worthy of worship except Allah, Allah is Great, There is no Power and Might except from Allah, The Most High, The Great].
And read Nafil Salat (voluntary prayers) for your own benefit, to connect yourselves more with Allah, and fully enjoy God’s blessings.
Remember, that you should honour the life that Allah has given you by helping the cause of Allah in whichever capacity you are able to. Make sure your intentions and acts are always pure and sincere. Remember Allah a lot and remember His presence and help to His messengers and to the sanctity of Islam. Remember the sacrifices of those men of God who against all odds, with the help of Allah, they were able to gain victory over evil. Each thing, each event has a specific time destined. We, Muslims should remove the root of evil from our hearts. We should always begin with ourselves and then little by little help to remove the bad weeds of disbelief and confusion in matters of Deen.
Remember, that there shall continuously be all kinds of evil Pharaohs and people like Yazid bin Mu’awiya. It is for us to take a stand and become an Imam Hussein bin Ali (ra). We should never back out from our spiritual duties, those same duties which Islam has conferred upon us. Whatever Allah has reserved for us, good or bad, we should submit to the will of Allah, for Allah knows the past, the present and the future. He is Omniscient, and He is the Absolute Power. Without his help, we cannot bring about the spiritual revolution, to bring the lost souls back to the fold of Islam.
Therefore, it is of paramount importance that we never forget Allah. We should never forget to invoke Him and seek His help so that He can support us and render the enemies of His true faith powerless. When our faith will be absolutely solid, it is then that Allah will blow away all the havockers and enable the victory of Islam to unfold and be magnificent. Insha-Allah.
So, may Allah help us to help His cause in excellent ways. Allah has sent us, His chosen servants in the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam to work towards that blessed goal. So, we have a lot of works to do. But first of all, you should reform yourselves in splendid ways so that the light of Islam may shine in you, and through you many lost souls receive the true guidance. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 28 August 2020~08 Muharram 1442 AH delivered by Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (atba).