In the verse I have recited, Allah the Almighty states, "He is with you wherever you are. And Allah, of what you do, is Seeing."[1]
In the hadith I have read, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) says, "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you do not achieve this state of devotion, then (take it for granted that) Allah sees you."[2]
Dear Believers!
Allah the Almighty has not left human, as the apple of the eye of the universe, on their own and unattended. Human is always under a divine inspection and supervision. All our deeds keep being recorded for us to give an account of them when the time comes. This fact is referred to in the Holy Qur'an as follows: "Man does not utter any word except that with him is an observer prepared [to record]."[3]
Dear Muslims!
The world is the cropland of the Hereafter. Whoever comes here leaves one day and every servant of Allah reaps what they sow. So, whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it in the Hereafter.[4] Our Lord (swt) commands us to prepare for the Hereafter by stating, "O you who have believed, fear Allah, and let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow."[5] He (swt) calls on us to muraqabah (to be self-aware), namely question ourselves (through muhasabah) by turning to our inner worlds.
Muraqabah means to ask ourselves why we are created, where we come from, and where we are going. It means to put effort to keep a record of our mistakes and sins, and to make up for them. It means to live with the awareness that Allah is with us at all times. It means to derive strength from our faith, use our reason, and control our nafs. It means to always stay alert in order not to lose ourselves in Satan's traps and the world's unending desires. Muraqabah means to attach our hearts to Allah, worship sincerely, and race in benevolence and piety.
Dear Believers!
The capital of a Muslim's life is to live by knowing oneself and relying on Allah (swt). Those who draw lessons from the past, know today's value, and plan their future with faith and ihsan reach maturity. In this respect, Prophet Muhammad's following words call on us to self-questioning: "The feet of the son of Adam shall not move from before his Lord on the Day of Judgement, until he is asked about five things: about his life and what he did with it, about his youth and what he wore it out in, about his wealth and how he earned it and spent it upon, and what he did with what he knew."[6]
Dear Muslims!
As I conclude this Friday's khutbah, I would like to remind you that we also need to question ourselves about the fight against the pandemic disease. What falls upon us in this fight is to act conscientiously. This is because both the measures taken and our determination to observe them are critically important. Let us not fall into complacency and negligence. Let us heed the warnings so that we can be sure not to have violated the rights of other people. Let us not waste all the efforts made from the onset of the pandemic to the present. I would like to take this opportunity to pray that Allah the Almighty may accept all our brothers and sisters, particularly our health professionals, who have passed away during the fight against the pandemic, as martyrs, and wish that He (swt) may grant our patients speedy recovery.
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[1] Hadid, 57/4.
[2] Bukhari, Tafsir, Luqman, 2.
[3] Qaf, 50/18.
[4] Zalzalah, 99/7-8.
[5] Hashr, 59/18.
[6] Tirmidhi, Sifat al-Qiyamah, 1.
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