By Imam Murtadha Gusau
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All thanks are due to Allah; The One Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the true religion to make it superior over all other fake religions, despite the polytheist’s hatred of it. I bear witness that there is no other deity but Allah. None is comparable to Him in His attributes, qualities or actions. He is Exalted and High above all that which the transgressors say. The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein glorify Him. Everything that exists glorifies him, but you do not understand the method of their glorification. Truly He is Ever Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving.
I testify that our beloved Prophet Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, the Prophet of guidance, piety, chastity and contentment. He is the Prophet of mercy and love, Allah sent him as a guide, a giver of glad tidings and as a warner to the world. Through him, Allah steered people through to the clear guidance. With him Allah sealed all His revelations and messages, perfected the best of manners and promoted all aspects of His religion. His words guide us all to the cures of all our ailments and stop enmity and hatred between us. He was sent with the commands from Allah that consist of obligations and prohibitions. He who follows him will surely succeed.
May Allah send His peace and blessings upon him, his righteous family and his companions who succeeded him. They reached the highest levels of virtue and good manners; they defended this religion and protected it from the fabricators; they were behind their communitie’s strong adherence to Islam. They were the soldiers of guidance on the gate of happiness, they deserved the support of Allah, Allah will grant them Paradise and more.
The best guidance is the guidance of our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), the best manners are his and that is why Allah says in His book (the Qur’an):
“You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the praise of Allah.” [Qur’an, 33:21]
Allah emphasised strongly on following the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), and honouring it. Following it leads to peace, unity, prosperity, salvation, and everything else that one could ever wish for. We ask Allah to grant us all prosperity in this life and the hereafter, ameen.
Dear brothers and sisters! Today, we are living in a very difficult and painful times, filled with insecurity, hardships, agonies, and calamities.
Indeed, the corruption of the Ummah and the population of people only happens by the corruption of the leaders, and the corruption of the leaders only occurs by the corruption of the Islamic scholars.
The defeat, the critical situation the Ummah faces and witnessing today is mostly because of some of the Islamic scholars, their selling out, their negligence to the mighty role they hold in this religion, the turning of their back towards their own people, their betrayal to this religion, their joining hands with the corrupt leaders, their betrayal of the poor masses, therefore the blame for the corruption and destruction of society is mostly on them.
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said:
“What I fear for my people is every hypocrite who speaks wisely and acts differently and unjustly!”
These people dress with the clothing of the Muslims, they beautify their tone with the speech of the Muslims, but in reality all they seek to do is to spread corruption and misguidance on this Earth, deceiving the Ummah.
Allah the Almighty said in the Qur’an:
“O you who believe, why do you say something which you do not do?!”
And the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said, on the day of resurrection, those hypocrites disguised as Islamic scholars, will be casted into the hell fire, and their intestines will come out of their rectal. The people of hell will be bewildered, they will go to them and say, O you sheikh, O you Malam, Oh you Imam, you used to teach us good things, why are you here? He will reply, I used to teach you good things, I used to ordain the good and prohibit the evil, but I did not do it myself.
That’s what has happened these days, some of the rotten corrupted Islamic scholars, they betrayed and turned their back on the Muslims, the Muslims sought answers from them in this time of dire need and every single day they come with a new and different verdict against Islam.
Likewise those who pose as Islamic scholars, possess little knowledge but speak about issues which even the giants of this religion feared speaking of, making takfir and labelling khawarij to those who upheld this religion and honoured the blood and striving of the Sahabah. The “modern social media scholars” as we see today, who in reality seek to tarnish and corrupt the people.
Respected brothers and sisters! Anywhere you find an Islamic scholar who is upon the truth, who is with the poor masses, hold firmly to him, because you have found a diamond in the desert!
Dear brothers and sisters! No doubt, wallahi betrayal hurts badly. It shatters the trust you had in others and leaves you feeling like you’ve done it all wrong. When a person close to you violates your trust, it calls everything into question and provides no easy answers. Put your trust in the Almighty to heal you.
Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime. Betrayal applies to any violation of a presumptive contract, trust or confidence to a person, a cause or one’s country whether in thought or deeds. The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said:
“Whoever bears arms against us and whoever cheats is not one of us.”
Islam views betrayal, disloyalty, cheating and deception as heinous sins, a source of shame to the one guilty of committing them both in this world and the next. Every traitor will have a banner on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said:
“This is the betrayer of so and so.”
There are four characteristics of a true hypocrite: one who betrays, lies, breaks promises and while disputing resorts to slander. Betraying does not end at betraying. The effects of betrayal include endless pain, shock, loss and grief, morbid preoccupation, damaged self-esteem, self doubting, anger and even worse like suicides or death. Betrayal can cause mental contamination like anxiety disorders. Motives of betraying are the Satanic emotions.
When the betrayers fail to realise the lowly and cunning trap of Satan they don’t stop their immoral behaviour instead Satan keeps them stirring up with an endless circle of misguidance and pollution making them lose their logic and the ability to reason. Noble Qur’an mentions it is a consequence of their violating the covenant that they are condemned and that is why their ‘Hearts are caused to Harden.’ With Satan’s justification of betrayal, betrayers think that Allah is not aware of their actions. And for believers, we are commanded to stand up for our rights in the face of any form of violation. Those who are betrayed are commanded by Allah to fight back equitably. Noble Qur’an mentions when you are betrayed you should mobilise against them in the same manner. Betrayers don’t realise that they are only betraying their own souls and they are destined to lose the battle. Allah has promised to defend those on the straight path. If they deceive us, Allah will suffice us.They think they only know plotting and scheming, but Allah is the most Wise. He has already plotted against them instead!
All perfect praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May the peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon our noble Messenger, Muhammad (Peace be upon him), and upon his family, his Companions and his true followers.
Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of: Nagazi-Uvete Jumu’ah Mosque; and Late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okene Mosque, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com; or +2348038289761.
This Friday sermon (Jumu’ah Khutbah) was prepared for delivery today Friday, 04 Jumadal Akhirah, 1446 AH (December 06, 2024).