Ramadan 2009 – Cape Town – Jumuah Greetings

Salam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh

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All praise is due to Allah subhanho wa Taala blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam We ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to bless every single one of us, and to grant every single one of us every point of mercy. And may Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us from evil and our offspring, and may He make us from amongst those who can help one another. May He protect us really, from those who are evil and from evil deeds, I mean,

on a dilemma, beloved brothers and sisters and dearest listeners,

we are very blessed to be from amongst the oma of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And indeed,

We sometimes take it for granted

that we have so much goodness that is taught to us in this religion.

Allah subhanho wa Taala has not left anything without having given us instructions in each regard.

If we take a look at the Quran, and how deep it is, coupled with the Sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam.

We would be amazed.

I have chosen this afternoon to go through one topic that is connected to every single one of us many times during the day and the night.

It is the topic of the Islamic greeting.

The topic of the Islamic greeting Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

May the peace of Allah subhanho wa Taala be upon you and his mercy and His blessings. That is the greeting

and that is the sooner greeting. So what does the Quran have to say about this greeting?

We will be looking at the Quran

not because we do not believe in the sooner no we adopt the sooner equally

but at the same time it is the month of the Quran. We are looking into the verses of the Quran at this particular moment and during this particular month to try and derive lessons from these verses.

And therefore if we take a look at the Quran,

we will come across many verses where Allah subhanho wa Taala has spoken of this greeting of a Salaam salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.

The first thing I'd like to make mention of is the meaning of this term.

I told you moments ago, may the peace of Allah be upon you,

and His mercy and His blessings. However, that is a very shallow translation.

It is a very quick way of translating it.

The deeper meaning as we are taught by Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam.

When it comes to peace, if someone is to tell you may peace be upon you, from what, from my harm to start with, which means I guarantee you I won't harm you. So when you tell someone Assalamu alaikum, you are telling them, my guarantee to you is not harm, I will never do anything to harm you. So hon Allah, what a powerful greeting it is. And yet we take it for granted. We don't even think what we are saying when we say it.

And Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us, at times we become hypocritical.

We tell somebody assalamu aleikum.

Without realizing that we've just told them, I guarantee you I won't harm you. And as soon as they turn their backs, we begin to harm them. May Allah subhanho wa Taala really never make us from those who are hypocrites.

And this is why when you greet a Muslim or when you greet an individual, it is up to you never ever to harm them or to make sure you have not harmed them

over and above the issue of harm and the fact that the greeting is actually a guarantee that you will not harm an individual or a group of people.

You are invoking the blessings of Allah upon that individual or

upon the group of people that you have greeted.

So when you say warahmatullahi you are saying May the beast May the blessings of Allah be upon you. I asked Allah subhanho wa Taala to bless you. May the blessings of Allah be upon you well

Baraka to Subhan Allah the mercy, the Rama and the Baraka, the blessings. So we are making dua for the blessings, as well as for the mercy.

Could there be a better greeting than that Subhana Allah?

Could there be a better greeting?

Then every time when you meet a person, you tell them, I won't harm you. I'm not going to harm you. I promise you, I won't harm you. No harm from you. Not only that, the greeting includes a prayer a dua, to say, may you be at peace even with your own creator, Subhana Allah, may you be at peace in your soul? May you be at peace in your mind, may you be at peace

within the organs of your body, may you be at peace with your own creator. May you be at peace in your social life. May you be at peace in your economic life. All that is included in one greeting Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. And this is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was instructed

that don't ignore people when you see them

invoke the blessings of Allah upon them.

Or either

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Abu Salah Aleikum, wa

rahmatullah

when the believers come to you, or Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam when they come to you, you start off by saying, may the peace of Allah be upon you, may peace be upon you, and everything we discussed a few moments ago is included in that term. And let them know that Allah has prescribed mercy upon himself. Allah has dictated that he will be merciful, He is merciful, he has written the mercy for himself

and give them hope. This is what Allah Subhana what Allah says in Surah, two lanahan.

In fact, if we take a careful look, we are taught in Islam in the Quran in surah, Nisa that when somebody greets you with a greeting, it is your duty to respond to that greeting, either equally or better, it SubhanAllah.

In fact, the Quran says your first duty is to come up with something better than they came up with.

And if you can't, because they got to the maximum, then at least you must return the greeting.

And this is why it is very important as an act of worship, that when we say Assalamu alaikum, we say it very clearly, we pronounce the letters very clearly because the greeting in Islam is an act of worship, you are rewarded for it and you are punished, if it is not there, or you may be sinful if you have intentionally not greeted someone without a valid Islamic reason. But before I continue further, let me tell you when people don't greet you, please, it is an Islamic to jump to a conclusion to think that this person is ignoring me maybe they didn't see you.

And sometimes if you know for a fact that they have seen you, maybe it is time for you to go to them and to ask them look, have I done anything wrong and to make amends because if a person is corrupt, and if a person's harm is more than their good, then there are some instances where we can ignore them May Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us I will get to that inshallah later on this afternoon.

So Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us in order to Nyssa or either UI

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So when someone says, may peace be upon you, you need to say and May peace be upon you Wa Alaikum wa salam, and upon you as well, May that same Peace be

and if someone says As salam o Alaikum It is your duty to try your best to add to those words were aleikum wa salam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh 10 rewards for the first part 10 rewards for the second part 10 rewards for the third part. Why is it that we then cut it down?

Imagine three rewards we are earning just by greeting people. SubhanAllah and if someone tells you a Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah. It is your duty to respond to Allah como salam wa Taala. And if someone greets you As salam o Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. It is your duty to respond. la cama de la Mata Mata la hora cattle, and that is as far as it goes, we ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to grant us all the understanding of the power of this greeting. Let's take a look at where else. The Quran has spoken about the peace of Allah.

And this greeting, Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about the pharaoh when Moses Musa alayhis salam was sent to him, Allah subhanho wa Taala told Musa alayhis salam and his brother Harun alayhi salam.

And this is mentioned in Surah Taha

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was Salam O Allah Manny de

la hakuba. Allah says, Go to Freetown remember who was around he thought he was God. He used to say he was God. He told Musa alayhis salam, I am the God. He told his people look, I am the one. I am the giver of life and the taker of it. And he took four prisoners, he freed two of them and said I gave him life. And he executed another two and said I took away this life. How cheap. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us protection.

And may He make us from those who have sound intellect and who are not foolish like Brown and his cronies. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says, go to that man.

Tell him We are the messengers of the Creator Himself.

And we have come to you with certain science.

And may the peace of Allah be upon those who follow the guidance Subhana Allah so we did not negate the greeting from him. But we said, if you want to follow the guidance, the peace will be upon you. Because if you had to say Peace be upon you to a person life around, you would actually be lying. May Allah protect us all.

You would actually be lying because you are telling him the peace of Allah is upon you. May Allah subhanho wa Taala Peace be upon you, I guarantee you I won't harm you and at the same time, you will be in this piece and that piece he won't. It is Allah subhanho wa Taala who has decided where peace belongs. And if there is a person who is oppressive, there is no peace in his life, Allah will remove the peace from that person's life. Because when a person is oppressive, that oppression, eradicate the opportunities of peace coming in his direction. And this is something we need to realize May Allah protect us from oppression. So here the greeting is a salam, O Allah, Manitoba

alhuda May the peace be upon those who are following the guidance. And this verse, it is mentioned that it is a lesson for all of us to say the true peace will only come to you in every aspect when you follow the guidance May Allah subhanho wa Taala make us not from amongst those who read the guidance but don't follow it. rather read it as well as following many of us Mashallah we claim to be Muslims Alhamdulillah we read the Quran Mashallah. But sometimes our lives are an embarrassment to the deen itself. Sometimes our lives are led in such a way that really when people look at us they think to themselves Is this what this religion is all about? May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant

the sole protection May he make us exemplary Muslims. Let's take a look at yet another greeting that Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about in the Quran. When you enter the houses and the homes It is your duty to greet before you start before anything you need. You have an obligation to do two things.

And Allah subhanho wa Taala says in order to know

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O you who believe do not enter homes that do not belong to you until and unless you first make it known that you are their number one, and then you greet aloud with the greeting As salam alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh then you have permission to enter.

When a house is not yours, then you cannot just enter it open the door and go in. No, you need to knock first. You need to clear your throat so people know you are there. You need to maybe make a little bit of a sound so people can realize you are there and they permit you to enter the house. Then you greet them with a Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah

Hey yo barakato

those are the etiquettes of entry into the homes Subhana Allah so if you are not permitted you need to go away without feeling bad they may be enjoying a private moment that you have come to disturb May Allah protect us yes the Quran speaks of that will

kill Allah Kumar como gee Oh gee Oh as

if you are told to go back to go away from the door go away it is better for you without feeling bad. You don't know what was going on in that house May Allah protect us

And nowadays Mashallah, we have so much communication we have the mobile phone, we have different types of communication Mashallah, we have Bluetooth, Allah grant us understanding.

We have the Bluetooth and we have what what not so Han Allah communication has progressed to the degree that one wonders where it will still get to.

I think we will probably soon be having a small chip in our ears, where if someone wants to talk to you, they get through to your ear, not only your phone.

Together with oldest communication, it's our duty to let the people know that we are coming to your house. That is part and parcel of the etiquettes of Islam, rather than just pitch up the last minute and then disturb their private moment whether it was a meal, they are embarrassed to let you come in. Only Allah knows they might have been sitting together as a family and maybe you would have destroyed that particular gathering.

May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to understand the Islamic etiquettes so it is part of the etiquettes of visiting people to let them know that you are there the time when there was no communication, the bare minimum or sometimes when you don't know the numbers or when you haven't had the opportunity to call your passing and so on. the bare minimum is you knock and you ask can I enter or you make sure that when you knock people will open the door and welcome you. I hope we are not a burden in people's homes May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us all protection.

That having been said to entertain a guest who comes to your house is a very very great reward. To entertain someone who comes to your house is part of a man it's part of your belief in Allah subhanho wa Taala you respond to their greeting welcome them in the house even if it means for a few minutes. May Allah subhanho wa Taala make us from amongst those who strike the balance.

So Allah subhanho wa Taala says thereafter that if you have entered the home that belongs to you, number one, or you have entered the home where there is no body and you have permission to enter it because your goods are inside that house, your belongings are in the house or you have been granted the keys of that house. And even when you are entering your own homes. Allah subhanho wa Taala instructs us again in Surah to know

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and when you enter those homes, you should greet even if the greeting is returning just to yourself. So you enter an empty home of your own greet as you enter a Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Even though that greeting might be returning upon yourself, why don't you make a prayer for the blessings of Allah upon yourself and the peace of Allah upon yourself. As you enter the house, the house will be full of blessings, full of Baraka, full of mercy, full of peace that we invoke, when we enter our own homes and we greet with that greetings from Allah. Many times people complain in our house, there is no peace, there is disaster. There is no mercy. When we enter we

want to exit as soon as possible. In fact, when we get to the door, we think to ourselves, I don't want to go in possibly we don't even greet ourselves. We don't even greet our own folks. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us understanding.

So we need to invoke Allah blessings and mercy upon us. And we need to ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to bless us in this way, the way of the greeting. Let's take a look at Ibrahim alayhi salatu wa sallam. Some strangers came to him they were actually angels. He did not recognize that they were angels immediately. But he was very very hospitable as they came in without even asking them who are you and what you doing when you came and when you're going? No, he didn't ask them that.

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has the news come to you of the honored guests of Ibrahim. They were honored by Ibrahim and Allah subhanho wa Taala says if Dr. Nuala Eva kalu Salah when they entered his door, he welcomed them saying a Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. May the peace of Allah subhanho wa Taala be upon you. Hi, you won't be harmed by me. And over and above

That I asked Allah peace to be upon you in every single way that that term peace can be interpret, interpreted, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. And they entered his home. He told them hang on, just wait a minute, I'm coming just now. You people have not eaten because I know at this time of the day, you wouldn't have eaten and coming with a little bit of food. He went to the back and slaughter the calf. And he cooked it and roasted, roasted it quickly and came back with a whole calf to feed three people Allahu Akbar, may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us protection. Some of us might think that there is extravagance yet, in that particular time that was hospitality. It was

hospitality. Today's era law we cannot offer the guest one glass of water. We cannot offer the guest one glass of water and the lady says, Man, can you do me a favor Lucretia? Whoever truly believes in Allah and the Last Day must honor his guests. honor his guests in every single way. Try to give your guests some time. That having been said when we are guests at someone's place, let's not waste their time. Let's not waste their time. And let's not engage in futile discussion involving other people and involving Riba backbiting and slander and gossip. Because if that's the case, then our journey will not be a successful one and our visit will be a flop.

So here we have Allah subhanho wa Taala telling us about Ibrahim Alayhi. Salatu was Salam. Why he is telling that to us, many reasons, one of them, for us to learn a lesson to say, even when people visit you, you greet him with Salam.

Then Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about the hypocrites, a Hippocrates he who greets you, but deep down he knows he still wants to harm you. He who smiles at your face the broadest smile from ear to ear all the way around. In fact, may Allah grant us protection all of us and they know that the smile is just a plastic smile. It's just a plastic smile. It doesn't really have any weight in it. This man is my enemy. Allah subhanho wa Taala not make us from those. So Allah subhanho wa Taala wounds Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that some people come to you and this is what they do. They greet you with a greeting that nobody else greets you with. Not even one and yet they are the

hypocrites. They are the ones who harm you, in your front meaning in front of you. They praise you to the degree that you will think this person here worships me and behind your back they stab you to the degree that no one has stabbed you with them that those are the hypocrites. So Allah describes them in Surah Allah Mona Poon in certain wujud Allah, Allah says, or either

Olga Hey, yo, Gabby mallam yohei Gabi Hill.

When they come to you, they greet you with such a powerful greeting that even Allah has not used to greet you.

imagined and yet they are hypocrites. Allah says this.

They are greeting you with a greeting that Allah has not even greeted you with a Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato, Masato, whatever, whatever and was this and well, that's and whatever, Allah protect us.

If there is a genuine greeting, no problem. But the problem here, Allah is mentioning the hypocrites that when they come to you, they greet you with such a powerful greeting. Now, the lesson we have is twofold. One is, we should recognize people who are not genuine mela makers from those who can recognize those who are not genuine. Hold them at an at an arm's length. Do not disrespect them, yes. But at the same time, be careful and be warned the Prophet was being warned. But more important than that, let us look into ourselves are we from amongst those who are hypocritical even with one person where we greet them and we smile in their faces and thereafter, behind their backs, one

wonders only what happens May Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us from that type of behavior. here Allah has exposed the hypocrites.

And this is why Allah subhanho wa Taala says, When such ignorant people who are full of nonsense, who are worth nothing, who are full of trouble and problematic people who only have disgust in them, people who have filth and dead on their mouths and tongues, people who have no good in them at all, when they come in your direction. You can just greet them with Sallam and you walk away, do not engage in extra discussion with those who have those type of qualities, no extra discussion because if that happens, not only will they put words in your mouth, but they would actually create problems for you.

They would create a lot of problems Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us in Sudoku fun what either fatorda homolka halona Carlos Allah when the ignorant who have the qualities that I mentioned moments ago, when they are being spoken to or when

They are speaking, then all the good believers should say is salam, which means peace, peace upon you. Don't worry, I'm walking away and they walk away. Sometimes and I mentioned this at the beginning of this talk, when a person is really harmful, it is dangerous to speak to them because of the harm that they have. It may be correct, to move away without even greeting, just look down and carry on walking because you know, this person is extremely dangerous. Allah subhanho wa Taala says, who the laugh wah wah

wah wa bonnyville Jaylene.

Learn to forgive people, number one, or forgive the people

and enjoying that which is good, and turn away from those who are sinful those who are bad and evil people. If someone is evil, you just turn away from them. Don't even waste your time greeting May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us understanding.

Obviously, in our case, we don't have revelation to tell us who is evil and who is not. So anyone who greets us, it's our duty to respond the greeting but where you know that someone has absolutely no good in them.

Nowadays, what happens? Sometimes you have a person who claims to know you who doesn't even know you, and they put words into your mouth, and they have never spoken to you. And they accuse you of this and that. Not only that, if it is a president for example, there are a lot of people who say I know the President I know him very well. He was on the phone with me the other night you want to see an SMS from him. SubhanAllah why like for what

is this how we will achieve the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala just to portray that we are big important people you know, we know the president, may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us understanding we need to know Allah before everybody else and before anyone else. We need to recognize our own creator and know him and develop a link with him. Then inshallah we will be from amongst those who are proud. So Allah subhanho wa Taala then wants us again, after telling us that you turn away from you turn away from those who are evil. Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us about the father of Ibrahim alayhi salatu wa sallam, his name was Azur when Abraham or Abraham May peace be upon him.

Told him stop worshipping these idols. Stop carving these idols. What happened? He says, Are arriba de la hajiya Ibrahim la inlanta tehila Oh Jomon Naka journey Melania Oh, Ibrahim, you are turning away from our gods, the gods of our forefathers. We are going to stone you if you're not careful, we're going to be stoning you very soon. We will eradicate you, we will actually chase you out of our own community. So Ibrahim Alayhi Salam went away before they could actually do anything Subhana Allah, they try. But before something anything meaningful happened. We know that he was put into the fire and the fire was actually a means of coolness for him. They tied him and threw him into the

fire. Allah says the fire burned the ropes but didn't burn him. It actually freed him. That was a miracle of the Prophet Abraham May peace be upon him. And Allah subhanho wa Taala says He looked at his father and he says, Solomon la Peace be upon you. I'm going away. I'm out. This was a duel for his father to say May the peace be upon you but obviously definitely when Allah subhanho wa Taala told Ibrahim alayhi salatu wa sallam that your father is from amongst those who are going to be cast into hellfire. At that point, obviously it was not even allowed for him to have invoked Allah subhanho wa Taala his blessings upon his own father, according to the Quran, because once a person

is declared by Allah as being an outright enemy, there is no goodness or it is would be incorrect for us to now tell Allah No, no, no, no change your mind. May Allah subhanho wa Taala not do that to us.

So Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us about the greeting of the people of Jenna. Now we enter Paradise. When we enter Paradise, the real peace is now inshallah within us and around us and in every way encompassing us. And this is why Allah subhanho wa Taala says in many places in the Quran, Allah says

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Akbar Allah says, those who believed and did good deeds when they enter or they will be made to enter Jannah forever and ever they will dwell there in when they meet their Creator, they will be greeted by Salah from their own creator.

Subhana Allah.

In fact, the angels of death

When they are taking the soul of a believer away they start off with a greeting Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. So the minute an angel greets you when he is coming to take your soul away, you have every reason to smile, you know, Mashallah, that's good news. Alhamdulillah but by that time, even if it was bad news, it would have been too late. May Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us.

So Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us again,

in alladhina, amanu amilo Saudi hottie de Morocco, Imani him, those who believe in do good deeds. Allah subhanho wa Taala will guide them to Jenna by their good deeds, and Allah subhanho wa Taala will guide them towards what they believed in which is Jenna.

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and how

they will be in goodness of Jenna. And underneath them they will be rivers flowing rivers of pure honey rivers of pure milk rivers of pure water, rivers of your juices. And Allah subhanho wa Taala says on that day, and from that day, whenever they greet one another, they will be greeting each other with Salah

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every point of goodness they will notice they will say Subhana Allah, all praises due to Allah look at this goodness. And this is why it's important that we in this dunya also increase the statement Praise be to Allah Subhana Allah Al hamdu Lillah Allahu Akbar these are powerful means of remembering the creator and mentioning his name.

And Allah says And on that day, and from that day, they are greeting in general will be the same greeting As salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Let me end by making mention of two Hadith from amongst the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam The first is he tells us, Allah do lucuma Allah amarin, either for ultimo, hota habitude, should I not show you? Should I not show you a greeting? Or should I not show you an action? If you were to fulfill it? It would result in the increase of love amongst you and between you.

So the companions were listening, he says up to Salama by Unicom, spread this greeting between you genuinely, genuinely meaning, not just say Salaam Alaikum, Salaam Alaikum everyone you see As salam o Alaikum. Think about what you're saying, I will not harm you and stop harming people. And Allah says it will increase and promote the love of Allah, I guarantee you it will. If the Prophet said it, then he definitely has to. And if we are greeting people, and it's not promoting love and peace, then we should know there's something wrong with our greeting. And this brings us to the next ad

for the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, of Shu Salama spread the Salam Salam includes not only the greeting but the peace in every single way. guarantee people you won't harm them and stop harming them and make dua for their peace and their blessings of Shu Salama, that's the first action spread this peace spread the Salaam of Shu Salama Akuma Tama and feed people food, which means honor your guest and feed the poor even feed the rich no harm in sending them a plate of food Subhanallah so long as it's good food Mashallah.

What up Mr. Palmer was our hammer and maintain your family ties going to resolve problems, make sure that you go and you are the one who tries and bring family members together. Well, Sal Lubin lighly one Estonian and find yourselves in prayer whilst everybody else is sleeping because then you are genuine, you are not showing anyone you are showing your own creator. And the end of the Hadith says that Hulu Jonathan have become be Salam. If you do that, you will enter the heaven of your own rub but with very much ease with a lot of ease and with a lot of peace. So we ask Allah Subhana Allah, Allah to grant us every form of peace, and every form of goodness, I have, in a nutshell, clustered

together the verses within the Quran that have made mention of this greeting of peace, its importance and its value, when to greet, how to reply, how to greet and when you have the right not to greet May Allah subhanho wa Taala make us from amongst those who can promote peace in every single way. And who can promote love, and who can actually learn during this month of Ramadan, that when we fulfill the greeting, we will be getting a reward of a fire of deed, because it is a Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam the reward of it is multiplied, therefore, increase the greeting. And remember the greeting is not necessarily with the hand. So sometimes if we were to

greet with the hand, yes, it is the completion of the greeting. But if you can't shake the hand of a person at least greet them from a bit of a distance, may Allah subhanho wa Taala grow

This old protection and make us from those who can take heed or sallallahu Salama albaraka ala nabina Muhammad