Being the English Rendition of the Text of Khutbah Delivered by Al-Ustaadh Tawfeeq Olanrewaju (Aboo Hanoon) on Friday 20th Rabiuth-Thaanee, 1440 (28th December, 2018) at Masjid Tawheed, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria.
Translation and Transcription by Aboo Ubayy Hamzah Sharif
All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, we seek His help and we seek His forgiveness, we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves, and from the sins of our actions. Whoever Allah guides (to the straight path), there’s none who can lead him astray, and whoever Allah leads astray, there’s none who can guide him (to the straight path). I bear witness that there’s none worthy of worship except Allah and that the Prophet Muhammad (Sallaahlaahu ‘alayhi was salaam) is Allah’s slave and messenger.
(Allaah the Mighty says (in the meanings of the original words): “Oh you who have believed, fear Allah as he ought to be feared, and do not die except as muslims. [in submission to Him]. ”
(Allaah the Mighty says (in the meanings of the original words): “Oh mankind, fear your Lord, who have created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another and the womb. Indeed, Allah is ever, over you an observer. ”
(Allaah the Mighty says (in the meanings of the original words): “Oh you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly succeeded, a great success. ”
Thereafter, O Slaves of Allaah, Let us endeavour to fear Allaah in private and in public and let us also endeavour to do what will please Allaah at all times during our lifetime.
From the blessings of Allaah on His slave is that He created us upon a sound human nature, the law in which man's existence is placed is a good one, free from errors and it is what is being referred to as Al-Fitrah (base instincts).
The Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - made us know that every human being; every child that is given birth to is born upon this sound base inclination.
In another narration, the Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - said every child is born upon a sound human inclination but it is the parents - who give birth to this children - that turn them into something else.
Some parents will turn their child to a Jew - one who only believes in prophet Musa and does not believe in other prophets-, likewise some parents will turn their children to a Christian who will be calling upon Jesus and he won't worship Allaah who created him and won't follow the last Prophet (Muhammad) Allaah sent to him. Some parents will turn their children to a fire-worshipper, the one who worships two gods while there is none worthy of being worshipped except the Creator, Allaah.
From the foregoing; O slaves of Allaah, Allaah has created us upon a sound natural inclination. What is the meaning of this Fitrah)? The Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - in one of his hadeeth said: 'The statement of sincerity - Laa ilaha illa Allaah, the path of Islaam, the path of Prophet Ibraaheem, the path that is free from shirk is the Fitrah. All the aforementioned is what is referred to as Al-Fitrah.
Allaah commands all those who tread this path to meet Allaah in a good way, with the pleasure of Allaah. Allaah says:
فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَٰلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
'Then set your face upright for religion in the right state-- the nature made by Allah in which He has made men; there is no altering of Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know.'
From the foregoing, being on this path is divided into two ways:
The first one is : Treading it with sincerity and wholeheartedliness which is the hidden state.
The second one is the obvious natural inclinations.
The hidden state involves taking care of one's faith in Allaah, likewise having total reliance on Allaah without relying on another person, the one whose love is for Allaah and he loves someone for the sake of Allaah and he also hates for the sake of Allaah. One whose total acts of worship are for Allaah alone, whosoever does all these is the one on Al-Fitrah.
One who has taken care of the hidden inclination must also take care of the obvious inclinations.
Scholars said the obvious natural inclinations are many but part of it is what the Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - said; and it is upon the Muslims to take care of it and it is also the path of the past prophets.
The Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - said In an hadeeth collected by Muslim, An-Nasaa'ee and others which was narrated by Abu Hurayrah:
'Five things are the acts of Fitrah: circumcision of a new born - scholars said it is compulsory and preferable especially before a child knows pain and wouldn't cause more harm to the child and it will make the parts heal quickly (if done at that tender age); shaving the hair of the private parts, plucking the hair under the armpits (scholars said plucking it is the best as it would prevent it from growing but if it is not possible to pluck, then there is nothing bad in shaving it), cutting the nails, and reducing the moustache (when it overgrows till it overlaps the lip).'
The Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - mentioned these five in the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah.
But In the book of Muslim, the Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - said in another narration that these natural inclinations which all Muslims will take care of thereby using them to emulate the Prophets of Allaah are ten, some scholars said this particular hadeeth is weak, as seen in one of the words of the Taabi'een who said the ten actions are part of the sunnah as seen in an hadeeth collected by Imam An-nasaa'ee. The Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - said: Ten actions are from the sunnah; these are the sound human inclinations which a Muslim must take care of: using the tooth-stick - which is compulsory when the mouth (odour) changes and if the odour of the mouth does not change; it is part of the Sunnah of the Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - to use the chewing stick whenever we want to pray.
The Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - said in another narration that Had it not been that he did not want to cause inconvenience for his ummah, he would have made chewing stick compulsory for them whenever they want to pray.
From the foregoing, using of Siwak (chewing stick) is part of the Sunnah, likewise rinsing of the mouth, inhaling and exhaling of water from the nose, leaving the beard is also part of his Sunnah; some thing also points to it that it is the practice of all the prophets of Allaah including Prophet Muhammad - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam, Prophet Eesa and all the pious successors that followed them.
Whosoever wants to tread the path of the prophets of Allaah must hold on to these sunnah: Keeping the neard. Whenever our past predecessors like Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Alee who were the prominent companions of the Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - are being described, they do describe them with the hugeness of their beards.
For this reason, treading the path of the aforementioned people is better than treading the path of the kuffar who are known for shaving their beards and leaving their moustache.
Among the sunnah that one will take care of which is part of the natural human inclinations is to pluck the hairs of the nostrils; to shave the pubic hair, to circurmsize, likewise to wash the anus, cutting of nails and plucking the hair under the armpit as we have explained in the previous Hadeeth.
Al-Imaam Muslim in his saheeh reported from Anas ibn Maalik that the Prophet - sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam - set us a time limit of no more than forty days for trimming the moustache, clipping the nails, plucking the armpit hair and shaving the pubic hair. He said these four things must not exceed the time limit of forty days.
Scholars said it is highly encouraged to cut any of the above hair that grow before the forty days limit especially the finger nails that has covered the finger.
All the hair must not go more than forty days on the body of a human being especially a Muslim. These are the natural inclinations a Muslim must be upon as someone who is treading the path of the prophets of Allaah.
