Indeed, all praises and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His Help and and we seek His Forgiveness. And we take refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the bad of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. And I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May blessings and peace be upon him, and upon his family and companions.
To proceed:
It was narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited the statement of Prophet Ibrāhīm:
فَمَنْ تَبِعَنِي فَإِنَّهُ مِنِّي وَمَنْ عَصَانِي فَإِنَّكَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
"So whoever follows me - then he is of me; and whoever disobeys me - indeed, You are [yet] Forgiving and Merciful." (Qur’ān 14:36)
and the statement of Prophet ‘Īsā:
إِنْ تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ وَإِنْ تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
"If You should punish them - indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them - indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise." (Qur’ān 5:118)
Then he (ﷺ) raised up his hands and said, "O Allah! My
ummah, my
ummah!" and wept. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: "O Jibrīl! Go to Muḥammad – though your Lord knows fully well – and ask him: 'What makes you weep?'"
Dear brother. Dear sister. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cried for you and me. He cried for
you and me fearing for
us the punishment of the Fire. This man who was a mercy to all of creation, a man who was already guaranteed forgiveness by Allah – his tears would roll down his blessed cheeks and wet his beard for
you and me. He cried for his
ummah – the vast majority of whom were people he'd never even met, like you and me. He cried for
us. He (ﷺ) was more merciful to us than we are to ourselves! He cried due to the mercy he had for us and his fear for us. Thus, going back to the incident, Jibrīl went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked him what made him cry, and so he replied that he was crying about his
ummah. So Allah Most Exalted said: "O Jibrīl, go to Muḥammad (ﷺ) and say: 'Verily, We will please you with regard to your
ummah and will not displease you.'"
Dear Muslims! Here we have the best of mankind crying for his
ummah out of compassion for them and fearing for them the punishment of Allah. He (ﷺ) cried out of concern for us while we don't even cry for ourselves. He (ﷺ) cried fearing for us the punishment of Allah while we lack that fear for themselves. He (ﷺ) cried for our sins while we don't even cry about our own. Here, we have a man who would cry the nights for his
ummah yet the
ummah is in a deep sleep. Heedless. Heedless of obedience, falling into sins. They have become busy with this worldly life, obeying their desires and lusts. They do not remember the intensity of the heat on the Day of Judgement. They do not remember the intense heat of the Hellfire. They do not remember standing for judgement by Allah on that tough day.
I want to leave you with three things:
1) Remember that our Beloved (ﷺ) would cry the nights for us. He would fear for us the punishment of Allah. He was concerned for us until his final breaths. So it is more appropriate that we cry for ourselves. The righteous ones before us would soak their clothes with tears. Remember the punishment of Allah and the magnitude of your sins, and cry. But at the same time, don't lose hope in His mercy. Strive for what He has prepared for His righteous slaves. Cry that you haven't done enough to deserve that. And on a side note, crying isn't an expression of weakness. People whom Allah has soften their hearts are easily touched and moved to the extent that tears fall from their eyes.
2) Uphold the
sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He underwent much struggle and sacrifice to ensure his message reached us. His noble body was hurled rocks at. He was verbally hurt by his own relatives. He once bled so much that the blood glued his feet to his sandals. All that so the message of Islam could spread and reach us. Now you have people who just want to scrunch it up and throw it away. But no. Stick to his teachings. Stay firm upon his
sunnah.
3) Don't delay anything. Don't delay your prayers, your seeking forgiveness of Allah, your
tawbah, your quitting a bad habit, your acts of worship. You never know when you will die. Recently we heard the news of the cricketer Phil Hughes who died at at age of just 25. So young. Before that day, death would have been one of the last things on his mind. Yet, when his time came, his time came, and no one could prevent it. So don't feel so secure about yourself that death will meet you when you're 70 or 80. Prepare now, and don't delay.
