Sermon: Seasons of Mercy and the Certainty of the Monotheist: From Allah's Month of Muharram to the Sea of Moses

Seasons of Mercy and the Certainty of the Monotheist: From Allah’s Month of Muharram to the Sea of Moses

This Friday sermon, delivered at the opening of the month of Muharram, is built around six themes: how Allah keeps returning to His servants with seasons of mercy; the standing of Muharram among the sacred months and the virtue of fasting it and the day of Ashura; the reality of love, namely that what matters is not that we love Allah but that Allah loves us; Allah’s greatness and self-sufficiency, the covenant of the fitrah, and the establishment of proof through the messengers; the certainty and trust of the monotheist as shown in the story of Moses and Pharaoh; and the fruits of tawhid and trust in a Muslim’s life.

The First Sermon

Seasons of mercy. The sermon opens with Allah’s command to Moses: “And remind them of the days of Allah” (Ibrahim 14:5). Out of His perfect mercy, and although He has no need of His servants, Allah does not leave us to ourselves. He follows one act of worship with another, so that whenever a servant grows heedless, slackens, or falls short, one of the days of Allah knocks on his heart and he returns quickly to his Lord. These seasons are recharging stations for hearts and waystations of mercy on the path of the traveller.

They are a mercy because the lives of this Ummah are short. The Prophet ﷺ said that the lifespans of his Ummah are between sixty and seventy years (reported by al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah). Compare that with Noah, who called his people “a thousand years minus fifty years” (al-Ankabut 29:14). Allah compensated for our short lives by multiplying rewards in blessed seasons. The preacher then walks through the year: Sha’ban, which the Prophet ﷺ used to fast except for a little of it; Ramadan, with its fasting by day, its night prayer, and “The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months” (al-Qadr 97:3); Shawwal, whose six days following Ramadan make it “like fasting for a lifetime” (reported by Muslim); Dhu al-Qa’dah, when pilgrims prepare; the first ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah, of which the Prophet ﷺ said that no days are more beloved to Allah for righteous deeds, not even jihad, except for a man who went out with himself and his wealth and returned with nothing; then the Day of Sacrifice and the days of Tashriq, when Muslims draw near to Allah with their sacrificial animals, reviving the Sunnah of Abraham and honouring the symbols of Allah. (A footnote explains that the well-known hadith about shedding blood on the Day of Sacrifice being the most beloved deed is weak in its chain and was therefore not relied on, while the sacrifice itself is an emphasised Sunnah established by the Prophet’s practice and command, and honouring Allah’s symbols is a Qur’anic principle: “And whoever honors the symbols of Allah - indeed, it is from the piety of hearts” (al-Hajj 22:32).) When Dhu al-Hijjah ends, Allah’s month of Muharram arrives and the cycle of seasons is complete. An Ummah whose Lord looks after it like this, the preacher asks, how can it be heedless?

The month of Muharram and the virtue of fasting it. Muharram is one of the four sacred months: “Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred. That is the correct religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them” (at-Tawbah 9:36). The Prophet ﷺ named them: three in succession, Dhu al-Qa’dah, Dhu al-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab of Mudar between Jumada and Sha’ban (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim). Allah honoured this month by attributing it to Himself as “the month of Allah”, and whatever is attributed to Allah is of the highest honour. Whoever missed the previous seasons, or whose worship weakened, should seize this month: when asked which fasting is best after Ramadan, the Prophet ﷺ said, “The best fasting after Ramadan is Allah’s month of Muharram” (reported by Muslim). Within it lies the day of Ashura, whose story is held over for the second sermon.

Not that you love Allah, but that Allah loves you. In the hadith qudsi, Allah says that whoever shows enmity to a friend of His has been given notice of war; that nothing by which His servant draws near to Him is more beloved to Him than what He has made obligatory; and that His servant continues drawing near through voluntary deeds until Allah loves him, and when He loves him He becomes his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks (reported by al-Bukhari). The most beloved means of nearness is fulfilling the obligations, and voluntary deeds then complete and repair them until the servant reaches the rank of being loved.

All of us love Allah. How could we not, when He created us from nothing, gave us hearing, sight, hearts and minds, made us Muslims born to Muslim parents in lands where the rites of Islam are upheld, and gives us food, drink, spouses and children beyond what we ask? “And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them” (an-Nahl 16:18). The real question is whether Allah loves you: whether you have established tawhid sincerely for Him and keep His greatness, His command and His favours before you, or whether you merely perform the movements of worship with an absent heart. The sermon stresses the need for khushu’, citing the hadith of Ammar ibn Yasir that a servant may pray and have recorded for him only a tenth of his prayer, a ninth, an eighth, and so on down to a half (reported by Abu Dawud), and the saying of Ibn Abbas: “You have of your prayer only what you were mindful of.” Tawhid is a spirit and worship is a heart, not just an outward form.

Allah’s greatness and self-sufficiency, and the mercy He decreed upon Himself. Allah has no need of any of us. Had He willed, He could destroy everyone on earth without concern: “He is not questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned” (al-Anbiya 21:23). Had He willed, He could have been content with the covenant of the fitrah taken from us before we existed: “And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes, we have testified.’ [This] - lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, ‘Indeed, we were of this unaware’” (al-A’raf 7:172). Yet “He has decreed upon Himself mercy” (al-An’am 6:12): He sent messengers, revealed scriptures, legislated laws, and kept sending season after season, so that the guided increase in guidance and the stray return. He does not punish until proof is established: “And never would We punish until We sent a messenger” (al-Isra 17:15), “so that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the messengers” (an-Nisa 4:165). The first sermon closes with a call to take heed: “What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe?” (an-Nisa 4:147); “Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves” (al-Baqarah 2:222); “O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true” (at-Tawbah 9:119).

The Second Sermon

Ashura and the cry of the monotheist. On the tenth of Muharram came one of the greatest of the days of Allah. Allah had sent Moses, with his brother Aaron as a prophet, to the most tyrannical man on earth, Pharaoh, who said, “I am your most exalted lord” (an-Nazi’at 79:24) and “I have not known you to have a god other than me” (al-Qasas 28:38), in order to bring the Children of Israel out of oppression and slavery to a land where they could worship Allah. Even toward the tyrant the divine command was merciful: “Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed. And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]” (Ta-Ha 20:43-44).

Pharaoh was arrogant, and his chiefs incited him: “Will you leave Moses and his people to cause corruption in the land and abandon you and your gods?” (al-A’raf 7:127). The preacher notes a sound reading from Ibn Abbas, wa ilahataka, meaning “and your worship”, for Pharaoh was worshipped and did not worship; he made himself a god. His answer was oppression: “We will kill their sons and keep their women alive; and indeed, we are subjugators over them” (al-A’raf 7:127), “slaughtering their [newborn] sons and keeping their females alive” (al-Qasas 28:4). The Children of Israel endured terrible suffering and were patient. Here the preacher pauses: we are commanded to ask Allah for well-being and not to humiliate ourselves by exposing ourselves to destruction, but when trial comes for the sake of Allah, patience and seeking Allah’s help become obligatory. No one should think he is strong in himself; all power belongs to Allah alone: “And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know” (Yusuf 12:21).

Moses came with the signs: “And We had certainly given Moses nine evident signs” (al-Isra 17:101), yet Pharaoh and his chiefs did not believe. Allah commanded him: “Set out with My servants by night. Indeed, you are to be pursued” (ad-Dukhan 44:23). With him was a weak minority, “no one believed Moses, except [some] offspring [i.e., youths] among his people, for fear of Pharaoh” (Yunus 10:83), with no army and no equipment. Pharaoh overtook them with his soldiers. With the sea ahead and the enemy behind, the Children of Israel panicked as human nature panics and cried, “Indeed, we are to be overtaken!” (ash-Shu’ara 26:61). The monotheist who trusts in Allah did not hesitate or need to think; he answered at once with the certainty of a believer: “No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me” (ash-Shu’ara 26:62).

This, the preacher says, is the state of one travelling to Allah: as long as you obey Allah, know with certainty that He will make a way out for you, even if that way out is death in His path, and how noble a death that is, since every person must die. Relief came: “strike for them a dry path through the sea” (Ta-Ha 20:77); the sea split “and each portion was like a great towering mountain” (ash-Shu’ara 26:63). They walked on dry ground between two mountains of water, the monotheists were saved and the tyrants drowned. Allah could have blinded Pharaoh to Moses or kept him asleep in Egypt, but He willed a dazzling sign that neither the Children of Israel nor those after them would forget, to show Muslims in every age that the laws of the universe change by Allah’s command for the people of tawhid. So realise tawhid sincerely, walk the path of Allah and do not turn around, not to a Pharaoh behind you, nor to Iblis discouraging you, nor to the world trying to stop you; Allah will split your sea and make a way out for you if you single Him out and trust in Him. “O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet” (Muhammad 47:7).

Because of this great day its fasting was legislated. When the Prophet ﷺ came to Madinah he found the Jews fasting Ashura, and said, “This is a day on which Allah saved Moses and his people; we are more entitled to Moses than you,” so he fasted it and commanded that it be fasted (reported by Muslim, with its basis in al-Bukhari). He said of its virtue that he hoped from Allah that fasting the day of Ashura expiates the year before it, and he said, “If I remain until next year, I will certainly fast the ninth” (both reported by Muslim). The congregation is urged to fast it and to fast the ninth before it, as a way of differing and for added good.

The fruits of tawhid and trust in your own life. These lessons are not a story to be told but a call to be lived. Are you still hesitating to repent? Still afraid to pull your money out of a riba-based dealing, thinking provision will only come through the forbidden? Still attached to what Allah has forbidden you, such as coming late to the congregational prayer, smoking, or looking at what is forbidden, telling yourself you cannot give it up? That is exactly Satan’s promise: “Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty” (al-Baqarah 2:268).

Do not make this world your only goal, and ask no one but Allah for it; when you ask, ask Him for this world and the next together: “And among the people is he who says, ‘Our Lord, give us in this world,’ and he will have in the Hereafter no share. But among them is he who says, ‘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’” (al-Baqarah 2:200-201). The word for “good” here is indefinite so that it includes every good. Nor should you measure your faith by worldly fortune, thinking that whoever has plenty is on good and whoever has little is on evil: had the world been worth a gnat’s wing to Allah, He would not have given a disbeliever a drink of water from it (reported by al-Tirmidhi). This world is only a passage to the Hereafter, and “Indeed, Allah defends those who have believed” (al-Hajj 22:38).

The sermon ends with an urgent call to sincere repentance before leaving the mosque, since none of us is guaranteed tomorrow, recalling the master supplication for forgiveness: “O Allah, You are my Lord; there is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant, and I abide by Your covenant and promise as best I can” (reported by al-Bukhari). If you fall or fall short, get up quickly and return to Allah’s covenant as best you can; hold fast to tawhid, entrust your affairs to Him, be His sincere servant, fear none but Him and associate nothing with Him. The closing supplication asks Allah to make the Qur’an the spring of our hearts, to keep us firm on pure tawhid, to grant knowledge, action and acceptance, to forgive our parents, bless our families, grant success to students in their examinations, ease lawful marriage, relieve debtors, protect Muslim lands, support the oppressed and the monotheists everywhere, and not to make this world our greatest concern.