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A Unique Way Of Holding Yourself Accountable | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman
Of all the ways of Muhāsabah (holding ourselves accountable) this is the most unique. How do we work on ourselves before our own bodies speak on the Day of Judgment. Our limbs, our eyes, our hearing, our tongues, and even our desires are recording every step, every glance, and every word.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
We begin by praising Allah and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for Him. We bear witness that Muhammad is His final messenger.
We ask Allah to send His peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the Day of Judgment. We ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma Ameen.
Dear brothers and sisters, the concept of muhasaba, of holding yourself accountable has multiple categories. One of the most famous statements that we find in this regard is the statement of Sayyidina
Umar (رضي الله عنه) or Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) said, حَاسِبُواْ أَنفُسَكُمْ قَبْلَ أَنتُ حَاسَبُواْ Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable.
And one of the names of the Day of Judgment is Yawm al-Hisab, the day of accountability. It is a day in which there will be a great tribunal in which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will open all of our books and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will question us regarding His
favors upon us. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will question us regarding our good deeds and our bad deeds. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will question us in regards to how we treated everyone around us.
And the list goes on and on and on of that day when it comes to the questioning of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But of the sub-categories of al-Muhasabah, I want to focus on a very specific sub-category of holding yourself accountable today bi-idhnillahi ta'ala.
Obviously when you talk about Muhasabah, there is Muhasabah of Allah's Ni'm, of Allah's favors upon you. لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَ إِذِنْ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ You will be asked about His blessings upon you.
You have the Muhasabah, عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌ مَا قَدَّمَتْ وَأَخَرَتْ The Muhasabah of what you put forth, of good deeds and bad deeds, and what you left behind. So you have the Muhasabah of Allah's favors.
You have the Muhasabah of your deeds. You have the questioning of your intentions which only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows. Only Allah knows what you held inside of you.
Only Allah knows your agendas and your intentions. Only Allah knows what you hid from every person around you. Allah knows what even the angels cannot write. And so there is the Muhasabah of your intentions.
You have مُحَاسَبَةُ الْمَال The Muhasabah of your money, your wealth. And one of the ways that we prepare ourselves is by carrying out Zakah and then beyond Zakah الصدقة Right? To prepare ourselves.
But you also have the questioning of حَلَالٍ حَرَامٍ مِنْ أَيْنَكْ تَسَبَهُ وَفِي مَا أَنْفَقَ How did you earn your money and how did you spend it? You have مُحَاسَبَةُ الْوَقْت The accountability of your time.
How did you spend your time? If you were to take every minute that you have in a day, how much of it was spent in the obedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? How much of it was spent in sin?
How much of it was spent in uselessness, which cannot benefit you on the day of judgment? But the very specific subcategory of مُحَاسَبَة I want to talk about today is the مُحَاسَبَةُ of your limbs.
The مُحَاسَبَةُ of your limbs. And it's probably one of the most underestimated forms of مُحَاسَبَةُ. Your health, your faculties.
You know, the scholars call them وسال المعارف The means by which you get to know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ Allah gave you your hearing, your sight, and your ability to comprehend.
And if the أفئدة is gone and the ability to comprehend is gone, then you're not accountable in the first place. But so long as you have comprehension, you are accountable even for the slightest blessing that you still have in your life when it comes to your faculties.
And so from the faculties, from the faculties you have وسال المعارف, the means by which you get to know Allah. And then you have your arms, your legs, right?
The various movements that you have in your life, your body. وَيُسْأَلُ عَنْ جِسْمِهِ فِي مَا أَبْلَىٰ You'll be asked about your body and how you used it for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. How it was consumed on the day of judgment.
Now I want to pause here for a moment because subhanAllah in the last couple of years, we've seen more amputees, images of amputees than any time in our lives. Unless you're someone who is an amputee or is missing some limbs or you have a loved
one that's missing limbs. But for the rest of us, it's been on our screens every single day from the people of Gaza, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant them victory and steadfastness. Allahumma ameen.
But you see the missing limbs and you have the most child amputees in a single conflict, though we know it's not a conflict, but the most child amputees in the history of warfare
in what happened in the last two years with our brothers and sisters in Gaza. But you still see them saying alhamdulillah. You see someone I know personally, subhanAllah, 12 year old girl, wonderful girl with one
arm that functions and all she says is hamd, hamdulillah, hamdulillah, hamdulillah, hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma alwakeel, alhamdulillah. And with that one arm, which is actually even her left arm, right?
She pulls out her phone, she says the right thing, she's reading the right thing, she's she's praising Allah with the tongue that she still has. It's an incredible display of using whatever favors remain from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
upon you in a way that's pleasing to him. But for the purpose of muhasabah, when Allah azawajal says, Iqra kitabak kafa binafsika alyawma alayka hasiba
That on the day of judgment, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will say, read your book. Iqra kitabak kafa binafsika alyawma alayka hasiba Read your book. You are enough of an accounter for yourself.
Qatada rahimahullah, he comments on this. He says that this is one of the times that Allah azawajal directly intervenes to the person who's reading the Quran.
Just like when you say, or when you read, wa idha sa'alaka ibaadi anni fa inni qareeb When my servant asks you, oh Muhammad (ﷺ), about me, I am close.
Not qul, Allah azawajal directly answers. Here as well, Allah azawajal does not say, yaqulu iqra kitabak You know, it will be said to that person on the day of judgment, read your book.
It is enough of an accounting of yourself. Allah azawajal gives you the direct warning, the direct message. You will be told, iqra kitabak, be ready to hear those words.
Kafa binafsika alyawma alayka hasiba, you are enough to account for yourself. That there are certain deeds that you know that you did, and that you know that you're ashamed of, and you don't want to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with. Be prepared to read your book.
Be prepared, because it will happen. And it is undoubtedly a reality. It is the day of truth. Now, within that, iqra kitabak, kafa binafsika alyawma alayka hasiba.
If Allah azawajal looks to his abd, looks to his slave, with the lens of grace, alfadl, and rahma, and that is not a person who is combative with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
then that person will be able to see those deeds, even the ones that they're ashamed of, transformed because of their istighfar, bithni allahi ta'ala, what they sought forgiveness for, transformed into a good deed.
And that person will be brought near, and that person will be given the veil of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and the blessing of Allah azawajal, covering them, and forgiving them, and passing them through.
But if that abd is argumentative with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if that abd is the type that says, no, I didn't do this, and is used to making excuses, and is used to always finding
a way out, and say, no, I didn't do this, I didn't do this, I didn't do that, this is where the very particular scene of muhasabah comes in. Where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, yawma tashhadu alayhim al sinatuhum wa aydeehim
wa arjuluhum bima kanu ya'malun. The day that their tongues, and their hands, and their feet will testify against them. And the messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gives us the scene where a person
starts to say, I didn't do that, no, not this one, and he argues with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and this had a context, ya Allah, and this one, no, no, people didn't understand,
ya Allah, no, you're getting argumentative, jidal, right, with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is the person who will eventually say, la ujeeru alayya shahidan illa min nafsin.
This is the sentence that he will say on the day of judgment. I don't accept a witness against myself except for myself. Not the angels, not other people, only I understand it.
It's a scary, scary moment. So the prophet (ﷺ) says that Allah seals his mouth. And his tongue comes out. And his hands walk forward. And his feet walk forward.
And his arms walk forward. May Allah protect us from that day. And each one of them starts to testify of the deeds that that limb was made to do, that
you, the controller, made that limb do. Your arms, your legs, every single part of you starts to come forward and speak. Allah azawajal gives them the ability to speak on the day of judgment. And all you can do is watch.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, kafa bi nafsika liyawma alayka shahida in this riwayah. Here you're a witness upon yourself. You wanted a witness from yourself here. You are a witness upon yourself.
And so each one of the limbs starts to testify. And this is where I want to ask a question for each and every single one of us. How much darkness is contained within each limb and how much light is contained within
each limb that you have? The arm, the tongue, the eyes, every single thing that Allah gave you. If you could do a hisab on it, if you could do a debit and credit on it, a light versus darkness, what would you assign to every single limb?
Because the Salaf mentioned the practice of doing the muhasabah of your faculties every single night as well. And it's a powerful muhasabah. What do I have? min hasa'idil lisan, what the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned of the harvest of the tongue.
When this tongue speaks, will it speak of dhikr or will it speak of backbiting? Will it speak of uplifting people or will it speak of destroying people? What will this tongue say? When this hand is brought, when this leg is brought, when these eyes are brought, you
know, your vision weakens from the screen. SubhanAllah, there's a very particular image here. Every time you look at a screen, you're utilizing the capacity. Think of a battery bar on your eyes.
What did you drain the battery of your eyes on? Did you drain it on a mushaf? Did you drain it on reading something of good? Did you drain it on watching good? What did you drain the battery on your ears? Some people don't have that.
They won't be accountable for their hearing. They won't be accountable for their sight. But whatever faculty you have, think of it like the battery bar. What was drained? What was the usage on that particular limb that you have?
And realize that every day your limbs are already talking. The Prophet (ﷺ) says in the authentic hadith of Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (رضي الله عنه) anhu, qal, iza asbah ibn Adam fa inna al-a'adaa kullaha tukaffirul lisan.
That every single day when you wake up, the son of Adam wakes up, the limbs speak to the tongue.
And they say to the tongue, fear Allah regarding us. We are in accordance with your situation.
So if you, if you are upright, oh tongue, then the rest of us will be upright. And if you are crooked, then all of us will be crooked. Which is a very powerful message here. That your limbs already talk to each other every day.
Every day your limbs talk to each other. Think of like the chemistry of your body, just the way that your nerves communicate with each other and the way that your cells communicate with each other in a spiritual sense. Every day your limbs speak to each other. You are an operating system.
And they say to the tongue, because the tongue is the greatest aggressor of all of the limbs. Be mindful of Allah with us. Because if you're messed up, we'll all be messed up.
Because you are in accordance, or we are in accordance with your state.
Oh son of Adam, I swear by Allah that you have witnesses from you that cannot be accused.
That cannot be accused of being faulty on your own body. So be mindful of them. And fear Allah in private and in public.
And he says, that nothing is hidden from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And what is darkness to you is light to him.
And he says, and what is private to you is public to him.
So whoever amongst you can die while having a good opinion of Allah, then do so. And there's no strength except for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. What does that mean?
Allah Azza wa Jal did not give you these gifts to make you paranoid. He gave you them to be mindful. Taqwa. To think every day, how did I use this? How did I use this? How did I use this? How did I use this? How did I use this?
Allah Azza wa Jal gave it to you in that way and it's a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I want to give you a few du'as to pay attention to, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, the message of the Prophet (ﷺ) in this regard.
You know every day, like if you think about the du'a, Allah ma'afini fee badani, Allah ma'afini fee sam'i, Allah ma'afini fee basari. You ask Allah morning and evening to spare your eyes, to spare your hearing, to spare
your limbs. But do you just want to be spared from physical deformity? Is that your greatest fear? To have a physical deformity? Or is a spiritual deformity even worse? So pay attention. The truth is authentic.
From Shaker Ibn Humaid, an abihi (رضي الله عنه) qal, qultu ya Rasulullah, allimni du'a an taf'u bihi. Said I said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), O Messenger of Allah, give me a du'a that I can benefit from.
So he said, qul Allah ma'afini min sharri sam'i, wa basari, wa lisani, wa qalbi, wa sharri maniyi.
O Allah, protect me from the evil of my hearing, and the evil of my sight, and the evil of what is on my tongue, and the evil of my heart, and the evil of my desires.
Because to be spared from the spiritual deformity is much more important than being spared from the physical deformity. So when you're waking up in the morning and you're asking Allah to guard your sight, guard your tongue, guard your hearing, guard your faculties, make sure that you add this hadith as well.
min sharri sam'i, min sharri basari, min sharri lisani. I seek refuge in you, O Allah, from the evil of these faculties as well. And there's a particular notion here of darkness.
Now contrast that, and this is the hope that we have in Allah, to every part of your faculties engaged when you come to the masjid. And then think about the du'a of the Prophet (ﷺ) when he'd come to the masjid.
Allahumma ja'al fee qalbi noora, wa fee sam'i noora, wa fee basari noora. Right? Wa an yameeni noora, wa an shimali noora. And there are multiple narrations to this hadith if you look up the du'a of coming to the masjid.
Wa ja'al li noora, wa ja'al me noora. O Allah, put light on my tongue, put light in my ears, put light on my eyes, put light in the path ahead of me, put light to my right, light to my left, light behind me.
Grant me light, make me a light. It's a long hadith, the du'a of an-noor. And it's in multiple narrations, Bukhari, Muslim, and Nisa'i and others. Where the Prophet (ﷺ) asks Allah to put light in all of these things. And that's the thing here.
That you can use these faculties for noor, for light.
And on the day of judgement, you will have light on your heart, and light on your tongue, and light on your eyes, and light on your limbs in accordance with how you use those things for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So don't seek the dhulmah, don't seek the darkness of those faculties. Seek the light of them. Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant you light in all of these places that he's given you.
Ask Allah to protect you from the deformities of these faculties, the spiritual deformities of these faculties. And you do muhasabah every single night.
What did I listen to? What did I watch? What did I say? What did I use my health for? Because you can say I don't have money. You can say I don't have time, I work a demanding job.
But can you really make the claim to Allah azza wa jalla that you have no blessings of faculty to be able to use for him? Every day is an opportunity and a warning. May Allah azza wa jalla allow us to use all of what he has given to us in good.
And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from using it in evil. Allahumma ameen. Aqoolu qawli hadha wa astaghfirullah wa alaykum wa risala al muslimeen. Faistaghfiru anna huwa alghafur wa raheem.
Alhamdulilahi rabbil alameen. Wasalatu wasalamu ala rasulihi alkareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een.
Allahumma khfir lil mu'mineena wa lil mu'minat wa lil muslimeena wa lil muslimat. Al-ahya'i minhum wal amwat. Innaka sami'un qareebun wajeebu da'wat. Allahumma khfir lana wa rahamna. Wa'afu anna wa la tu'adhibna. Rabbana zalamna anfusana.
Allahumma khfir lana wa tarhamna. Lana kunanna minal khasireen. Allahumma innaka a'afuun kareemun. Tuhibbu al'a'afu wa fa'afu anna. Allahumma khfir liwalidina. Rabbil hamhuma kima rabbuna sigara. Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhurriyatina qurra ta'ayun.
Wa ja'alna lil muttaqina imama. Allahumma ansur ikhwanil mustad'afeena fi kulli makan. Allahumma ansur hum fi Falestin wa fi al-Sudan wa fi al-Yamani wa fi kulli makan. Allahumma alayka bi a'daika a'da deen. Allahumma arina bil zalimina. Allahumma ahlikil zalimina bil zalimin. Wa akhlajna wa ikhwana min bayni misalimin.
Ibadullahi y'amru bil adli wal ihsan. Wa ita'idil qurba. Wa yanha'anil fahsha'i wal munkari wal baghi. Ya'idukum la'alakum tazakkaroon. Fathkuru Allah yadhkurukum wa shukroohu a'anil ni'ma yazid lakum. Wala dhikru Allahi akbar. Wallahi ya'anumum ma tasna'oon.
Wa Aqeem al-salam.

































































































































































































































































































