الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي جعل منفعة العلم في الأعمال، ونجاح العمل بالإخلاص فيه لله الواحد الفعال، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع 

الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.

 

A wonderful two weeks have come to an end, during which time Muslims from all four corners of the earth have gathered here in Cape Town with the single purpose of remembering Allah, of dhikr Allah. That dhikr has brought life to the hearts and light to the faces, but more than that it has given people renewed strength to act, to do what needs to be done. For dhikr as well, not only food and drink, is the fuel that enables action and we leave here fully stocked up, with our batteries charged to the max. And it is important we do not let any of that go to waste, for it is now that our capacity for action is at its highest. It is now that we can go on ahead and lead the way, for we are the mufarridun, the fore-runners, whom Shaykh Muhammad mentioned in his khutba two weeks ago.

Many of you will have noticed the lack of a fiqh conference this year. Well the reason for that is clear. As the Shaykh has said, the time for words is done, the time for action is here. We all already know what needs to be done, so we do not need to talk about it some more, we simply need to go ahead and do it. 

There is an unfortunate tendency amongst many Muslims to view these conferences, lectures and seminars as an end in themselves, to think that by attending them and sitting in them you have done something for your deen. The truth of the matter, however, is that that is not the deen, for the deen of Allah is one of deeds not words. It is not for nothing that belief is always accompanied by right action (‘amal salihun) in the Quran. At the end of the day, it is upon what we actually do that Allah will judge us, not upon what we say we are going to do. Allah says,

ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

 

the translation of which is, “Enter the Garden because of what you did.” It has been necessary to speak of things such as amirate, the minting of gold and silver and the establishment of halal instruments of trade in the past, for they were matters of which we knew nothing. But now we do know, until we become doers, further talk can only serve to dilute our niyya and disperse our himma There is nothing worse than saying things but not doing them. It is hateful in the eyes of Allah and breeds hypocrisy. Allah says in surat as-Saff:

 

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لا تَفْعَلُونَ كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ تَقُولُوا مَا لا تَفْعَلُونَ

 

the translation of which is, “You who believe! why do you say what you do not do? It is deeply abhorrent to Allah that you should say what you do not do.” And Abdallah ibn al-Mu’tizz said,

علم المنافق في قوله وعلم المؤمن في عمله

 

“The knowledge of a hypocrite lies in his words while the knowledge of a believer lies in his actions.” 

For action is the only path to real knowledge, not words and not study, as anyone who has studied the rulings of hajj will tell you. For no matter how much time you spend studying its rulings, you never truly know how to do the hajj until you do it. And the same is true for every other avenue of life and every other avenue of the deen. There is no substitute for experience, and the only way to gain experience is through action, is through implementing what you know, what you talk about. That must be the goal of knowledge, that must be the goal of words, otherwise they are of no value at all. 

Nowadays, we put those who have memorised much hadith or studied much fiqh on a pedestal and call them 'ulama. But that is a fundamental misunderstanding of what knowledge is. Ibrahim al-Khawwas said,

 

ليس العلم بكثرة الرواية، إنما العالم من اتبع العلم واستعمله، واقتدى بالسنن، وإن كان قليل العلم

 

“Knowledge is not simply a matter of knowing a large number of narrations. Rather, the alim is the one who follows what he knows, puts it into practice and holds to the Sunna, even if he only knows a little.” The word ‘alim applies more truly to one who knows a single aya, who knows a single fiqh ruling and puts it into practice than to one who knows a million and leaves the majority of them undone. The true ulama are those who teach by example, not those who teach by words. The true ulama are those who do, not those who tell others what to do. Allah says,

 

أَتَامُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

 

the translation of which is, “Do you order people to devoutness and forget yourselves, when you recite the Book? Will you not use your intellect?” Knowledge is not being able to debate the fine details of a particular point of fiqh in the majalis al-ilm, or  confound others with your intellectual prowess or quote from memory hundreds of ayas or hadiths. Al-Awzaai said,

إذا أراد الله بقوم شراً فتح عليهم الجدل؛ ومنعهم العمل

 

“If Allah wants bad for a people, he opens up for them the way to argumentation and prevents them from doing action.” Knowledge is but the blueprint for action. And anyone who possesses such blueprints but does not put them into practice opens himself up to the wrath of Allah. He is the true miser, for one does not give of one's knowledge simply by teaching it but rather by putting it into practice، Abu Hurayra said,

 

مثل علم لا يعمل به كمثل كنز لا ينفق منه فى سبيل الله

 

“The likeness of knowledge that is not translated into action is that of treasure that is not spent in the way of Allah.” It stagnates within him, corrupts him and makes him arrogant. That knowledge of his may be of benefit to others, but to himself it brings nothing but ruin and perdition. The Prophet said,

 

إذا علم العالم فلم يعمل كان كالمصباح يضئ للناس ويحرق نفسه

 

“If an alim has knowledge but does not act by it, he is like the lamp that gives light to others but burns up itself.” It is only knowledge that leads to action that is beneficial, all other types of knowledge leads to harm, as the great faqih of Madina, Ibn Uyaynah said. And it is for that very reason that Umar ibn al-Khattab took so long to memorise surat al-Baqara, taking twelve long years, for he wanted to ensure that every single thing he knew he was implementing fully in his life. And it is for that very reason that Luqman cautioned his son, saying,

يا بني لا تتعلم ما لم تعلم حتى تعمل بما تعلم

 

“My son, do not learn what you do not know until you have acted by what you know.” This is advice that all of us would do well to heed. We ask Allah to give us the strength to put into practice all the knowledge He has given us and protect us from knowledge that we do not act upon.

 

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم و لسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم.الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته. قال الله عز وجل في كتابه الكريم:

 

Allah says in His noble Book, the translation of which is, “As for those who do jihad in Our Way, We will guide them to Our Paths. Truly Allah is with the good-doers.” In his tafsir of this aya, al-Qurtubi mentions that Ibn Abbas said,

 

هي في الذين يعملون بما يعلمون. وقد قال صلى الله عليه وسلم: من عمِل بما علِم علّمه الله ما لم يعلم

 

“This aya is about those who act by what they know. The Prophet said, ‘If someone acts by what he knows, Allah will teach him what he does not know.’” Al-Qurtubi also mentions that Umar ibn Abdal-Aziz said,

 

إنما قصّر بنا عن علم ما جهلنا تقصيرنا في العمل بما علمنا، ولو عملنا ببعض ما علمنا لأورثنا علماً لا تقوم به أبداننا، قال الله تعالى: {وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ}

 

“It is only because we fall short in acting by what we know that we fall short in obtaining knowledge of what we do not know. If we were to act by some of what we know, He would bequeath us such knowledge that our bodies could not bear its weight. Allah says, ‘Have taqwa of Allah and Allah will give you knowledge.’” Allah has made this affair very easy for us. At any given moment, He only requires us to take the next step - to do that which we are easily capable of doing.

لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا

 

the translation of which is, “Allah does not impose on any self any more than it can stand.” When we look at the state of the world and look at the state we are in, and then look at how far we seem to be from a fully established deen, it is frightening and disheartening. When we talk about re-establishing the khalifa and putting the deen in place in all its glory in one fell swoop, we become bewildered and do not know what to do and thus we end up spending our lives theorising and doing nothing. This is the problem with groups like the Hizb ut-Tahrir. But Allah does not require us to paint the full picture, build the complete house all in one go, or even to know how to do so. We are not expected to comprehensively map out how the deen is to be established in its entirety, all He wants from us is to lay the next brick. And if we do that, He will teach us what to do next. That is what He promises us in the aya we quoted earlier. And that is something that every one of us is more than capable of doing. 

And it is how the deen was established in the first place, for the Quran was not revealed all at once but rather gradually over the space of twenty two years, ruling by ruling, law by law, confirming and abrogating until the deen was complete and every aspect of it could be put into practice. And it has, and continues to be, the case with all the projects we have done: we take the first step of denying usury, and Allah guides us to establish usury-free currency - Gold and silver. We take the next step of minting the gold and silver and Allah teaches us the integral role of fulus and so on. And so must we act with everything we know. We know the importance of amirate and leadership to the proper implementation of the deen, so we must make bay’a to an amir. And then, when we do that, Allah will show us the next step and the next until khilafa is restored. Instead of seeking to acquire more and more information, put all the things you already know into action. It is not your business what anyone else is doing, what they do is beyond your capacity, just do what you can do and do it fi sabil Allah. 

The whole affair is down to you. Do not wait for others to act, or you will be waiting for ever. You do not need anyone else, you only need Allah. Allah is enough for you and He is the best of guardians.

 

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ  أَجْمَعِينَ. 

وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ.  

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ (3) وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى.

رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ. 

اللَّهُمَّ لاَ تَدَعْ فِي مَقَامِنَا هَذَا ذَنْباً إِلاَّ غَفَرْتَهُ، وَلاَ عَيْباً إِلاَّ سَتَرْتَهُ، وَلاَ مَرِيضاً إِلاَّ شَفَيْتَهُ وَعَافَيْتَهُ، وَلاَ مَسْجُوناً إِلاَّ طَلَقْتَ سَرَاحَهُ، وَلاَ مُسَافِراً فِي بَرِّكَ وَبَحْرِكَ إِلاَّ سَلِِمْتَهُ وَغَنِمْتَهُ.

إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.