Sermon's Title: Servitude to Allah
Themes of the Sermon:
The concept of servitude to Allah, and its importance.
The honor of servitude to Allah.
Servitude of the Prophet (ﷺ) to his Lord.
Qualities of a true servant of Allah.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the all worlds, and may Allah exalt and send peace to the best of all messengers and prophets, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and companions.
O servants of Allah, fear Allah, as He should be feared, and be mindful of Him in secret and public, as Allah said: “O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims.”
O servants of Allah! Worshiping Allah is the purpose for which Allah has created the jinn and mankind, and for which He has sent down the Scriptures, sent the Messengers and has created this world and the Hereafter. Allah (ﷻ) said: “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”
Servitude to Allah means full submission and surrender to Him, based on love and glorification, as He is the All-Mighty Lord, the Creator and the owner of everything; He is the Omnipotent, the All-Powerful, the Most Compassionate, the All-Merciful, the Forgiver, and the Most Generous. He is the One beloved for his perfection, beauty, and great graces.
All servants of Allah are in need of Him in all their affairs. They did not exist before He created them, and without His provision, they would not have had food, drink, or something to wear. Also, without His guidance they would not understood, been guided; and without His Mercy, they would have gone astray.
Imam Muslim recorded a Hadith reported on the authority of Abu Dharr (t) from the Prophet (ﷺ), that Allah said:
“O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance from Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food from Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing from Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness from Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you can never attain any harm Me in a way that I would be harmed, and will never attain any benefit to Me in a way that I would take benefit. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My dominion in anything. O My servants, of the first and the last amongst, the humans amongst you and the jinn amongst you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My dominion in any way.”
Dear Brothers!
A person’s servitude to Allah honors and dignifies him. The noblest characteristic of a Muslim is to be a servant of Allah. This is why Allah, the Almighty, described His righteous servants with this title. Allah said: “The servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk humbly on the earth.”
Allah described his prophets with this description. For example, Allah says: “And remember Our servant, Dawud”, “And remember Our servant, Ayyoub!”, Allah also said: “The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of Allah, nor would the Angels who are close to Him.”
Also, Allah (ﷻ) gave the Prophet (ﷺ) the title of a “servant” when speaking about one of his noblest ranks, and that is when Allah described the incident of the Prophet’s al-Isrāʼ (night journey). Allah said: “Glory to Him Who made His servant travel by night from the sacred place of worship to Al-Aqsa Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed.” Also, Allah described our Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) as His servant when speaking about his mission in calling to Allah, saying: “Yet when Allah’s Servant [Prophet Muhammad] stood up to pray to Him, the pagans almost swarmed over him.” Allah also described the Prophet (ﷺ) as His servant when speaking about the descent of His Revelation upon him, saying: “Exalted is He who has sent the Criterion (i.e. the Qur'an) down to His servant.”
The Prophet’s (ﷺ) submission to Allah was a result of him glorifying Allah and surrendering to Him, to the extent that he preferred the status of servitude to Allah over kingship. Abu Hurayrah (t) said: “Once Gabriel came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and looked at the sky. Then, an angel descended. Gabriel said to him: 'This angel has not descended since his creation till this moment'. When the Angel came, he said: 'O Muhammad! Your Lord sent me to you. [He Asks you: would you like to be] a king who is a Prophet or a servant who is a Messenger?' Gabriel said to him, ‘Humble yourself to your Lord, O Muhammad!’ He (ﷺ) said, ‘A servant who is a Messenger.’” [Reported by Imam Ahmad].
Among the manifestations of His servitude to Allah, the Prophet (ﷺ) hated to eat while leaning. Rather, he (ﷺ) used to eat while sitting on the ground, and he said: “I eat as a servant eats, and I sit as a servant sits.” [Narrated by al-Baghawi; Al-Albani rated the Hadith as authentic].
The Prophet (ﷺ) used to pray at night until the skin of his feet swollen. Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “O Messenger of Allah, you do this (in spite of the fact) that your earlier and later sins have been pardoned for you?” He said: “O Aishah! Should I not be a thankful servant [of Allah]?” [Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim]
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “O Allah, You hear my words, You see my place, You know my secrets and the things which I do openly and none of my affairs are hidden from You. I am wretched and poor, and I am a seeker of aid and a seeker of protection (from You), apprehensive and fearful (of Your Wrath): I acknowledge and admit my sins. I ask You as a needy person does, and I pray with humility of a wretched sinner and I supplicate to You with the supplication of a fearful blind man, whose neck is bowed to You and whose eyes overflow (with tears) to You and whose will is subordinate to You.” [Narrated by al-Tabarani].
He (ﷺ) used to supplicate to Allah by saying: “O Allah, cause me to live poor and cause me to die poor, and gather me among the poor.” [Reported by al-Tirmidhi]
By this, he meant to be humble and submissive to Allah, and not to be arrogant and haughty. May Allah save us from that.
May Allah make His Book, the Glorious Qur'an, a blessing for you and me, and may He make us avail from its verses and reminders contained in it. With that said, I ask Allah’s forgiveness for me and for you and for all the Muslims. So, you also should ask for Allah’s forgiveness, as He is the All Forgiver, the All Merciful.
Second Part of the Sermon:
All praise be to Allah, and may Allah exalt and send blessings to His Prophet, and upon his household, companions, and all his supporters.
Dear Fellow Muslims!
Servitude is not something a Muslim can claim with his tounge. Rather, it is a meaning that fills one’s heart and causes it to be submissive to Allah and surrendering to Him. As a result, the limbs of the body follow the heart and they also become submissive, humble and surrendering to Allah and His Law, following His commands and accepting His Decree.
The true servant is the one who searches for the will of his Lord and Master, ponders over the Qur’an, reads the Sunnah, and asks the scholars, so that he may know what his Lord loves and is pleased with.
The true servant is the one who performs his worship with his soul before doing it with his body. So, he stands in prayer concentrated, prostrates himself to Allah with humbleness, gives charity very willingly, and observes fasting for the sake of Allah, surrendering to His Glory.
The true servant is the one who believes in the speech of Allah. Thus, considers lawful all that which Allah stated as lawful, and considers prohibited all that which Allah stated as prohibited. He never opposes the speech of Allah and His revelation with his opinion, and his limited intellect.
When a true servant of Allah experiences a feeling of desire for something prohibited, he fears his Lord. Thus, he restrains himself from the wicked desires; he does not give primacy to his whims over the commands of Allah. Rather, he submits his own self to Allah's command.
A true servant does not consider that he has a right over his Lord, no matter which righteous deeds he performed, because these righteous deeds are just a result of Allah guiding him. So, the reward that Allah gives him is just a favor from Allah.
When Allah, the Almighty, blesses a servant with a worldly blessing, this servant has to respond with gratefulness and thankfulness, not by transgression and obliviousness. Also, when Allah, the Almighty, afflicts a servant with difficult circumstances, he has to realize that Allah has wisdom in His judgements. Allah is not to be questioned about His deeds, and His decrees are not to be objected to. All His Decrees should be a means to increase one’s servitude and surrender to Allah.
The true slave does not surrender to anyone other than his Creator and Owner. He does not accept to surrender to any being no matter how mighty it may be. He does not resort to a righteousness person or a saint, and he does not supplicate to a dead righteous person nor swear by a prophet. He does not enslave himself to this world, a leader, nor a lust that will surely end and disappear, leaving behind its sins and punishment.
Surely, Allah protects such servants against Satan and his deception, as He said: “Indeed, you will have no power over My servants.” Allah guards such servants with His mercy, and alleviates their worries about this world or the Hereafter, as Allah said: “Is Allah not sufficient for His servant?” Finally, Allah with give glad tidings for such servants in the Hereafter, as He (Glory be to Him) said: “[They will be told, ‘O My servants! There is no fear for you Today, nor will you grieve; [those] who believed in Our signs and submitted to Us. Enter Paradise, you and your spouses, rejoicing.” May Allah make us all among them.
Dear brothers! Ask Allah to exalt and send peace upon our Prophet Muhammad. May Allah exalt and send peace to His Prophet, and upon his household and companions.
O Allah, we ask You for all that is good, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know.
O Allah, we seek refuge with You from all evil, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know.
O Allah, we ask You for the good that Your servant and Prophet has asked You for, and we seek refuge with You from the evil from which Your servant and Prophet sought refuge.
O Allah, we ask You for the Paradise and for that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed, and we seek refuge in You from Hell and from that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed.
O Allah, O Allah! Guide our leader to that which pleases You, direct him to righteous and good deeds.
“Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”
O servants of Allah, remember Allah often, and glorify Him morning and evening, and our last supplication is: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
