ICICE AL-NOOR MASJID KHUTBAH FOR FRIDAY 12TH JULY, 2019

WARNING AGAINST LOOTING

All praise is due to Allah, we seek His help and forgiveness, we seek refuge with Him from the evils of ourselves and our evil deeds. Whoever Allah guides cannot be misguided by anyone and whoever Allah sets astray cannot be guided by anyone. I bear witness that none deserves the right to be worshiped except Allah alone who has no partner and I bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and messenger.

“O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].” [03:102]

“O mankind, fear your Lord, who 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 wombs. Indeed, Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.” [04:01]

“O 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 attained a great attainment.” [33:70-71]

O servants of Allah, fear Allah the exalted and be conscious of Him in secret and the open, be conscious of him a consciousness of the one who knows that his Lord listens and sees him. We should seek for Allah’s protection from shame and disgrace on the day of regret (Resurrection). Indeed, one of the things that cause disgrace on the day of Judgment is looting, which means taking funds and rights of people without a just cause, Allah says: “and whoever betrays (loots), [taking unlawfully], will come with what he took on the Day of Resurrection.”

Whoever betrays or loots, no matter how meagre the loot is, would definitely come along with what he/she looted, carrying it along on the day of resurrection, and this serves as disgrace for looters before the entirety of servants.

It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira who said:

One day the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stood among us (to deliver a sermon). He talked about looting (or the misappropriation of booty), and declared it to be a serious matter and a grave sin. Then he said: I shouldn’t find that any of you should come on the Day of Judgment with a growling camel mounted on his neck, and should appeal to me for help saying:” Messenger of Allah, help me.” and I should say: I have no authority to help you; I already communicated to you. I shouldn’t find that any of you should come on the Day of Judgment with a bleating sheep mounted on his neck, and he should say to me:” Messenger of Allah, help me,” and I should say: I have no authority to help you; I conveyed to you. I shouldn’t find that one of you should come on the Day of Judgment with a person crying loudly mounted on his neck, and he should say to me:” Messenger of Allah, help me,” and I should say: I have no authority to help you; I conveyed to you. I shouldn’t find that any one of you should come on the Day of Judgment with fluttering clothes wrapped round his neck and he should say to me:” Messenger of Allah, help me,” and I should say: I have no authority to help you; I conveyed to you. I shouldn’t find that any of you should come on the Day of Judgment with a heap of gold and silver placed on his neck and he should say to me:” Messenger of Allah, help me.” and I should say: I have no authority to help you; I already conveyed to you (the warning from the Almighty).

When we study the aforementioned hadith, it is apparent that servants have no excuses left, because the messenger (peace be upon him) had explained, advised and warned, therefore, a servant should be wary of shame and disgrace on the day of resurrection and not take this matter lightly. Don’t take the unlawful acquisition of people’s money for granted, verily whoever takes the entitlement of people no matter how small will surely be brought on the day of resurrection carrying it so that such is disgraced before everybody.

O servants of Allah, it is mentioned in Sahih Al-Bukhari on the authority of Abdullahi Ibn Amr Ibn Al-Aas, he said: A man named Kirkirah, who was in charge of the personal effects of Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) passed away and the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “He is in the (Hell) Fire.” Some people went to his house looking for its cause and found there a cloak that he had stolen.

Looting is of different types, it is mandatory upon us to abstain from them all. One of these is taking (unlawfully) from the booty. It is mentioned in Sahih Muslim on the authority of Abdullahi Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him), he said: when it was the day of Khaibar a party of Companions of the Apostle (peace be upon him) came there and said: So and so is a martyr, till they happened to pass by a man and said: So and so is a martyr. Upon this the Messenger of Allah remarked: “Nay, not so verily I have seen him in the Fire for the garment or cloak that he had stolen from the booty.”

Another type of looting is taking from the givers of Zakat by the employees responsible for collection, In Sunan Abi Dawwod on the authority of Abu Mas’ud Al-Ansari, he said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) appointed me to collect sadaqah and then said: Go, Abu Mas’ud, I should not find you on the Day of Judgment carrying a camel of sadaqah on your back, which rumbles, the one you have taken by unfaithful dealing in sadaqah.

Another type of looting is the collection of gifts by workers, and workers are those employees who earn salaries commensurate to their responsibilities, so, them taking gifts from clients (and so on) is a type of looting.

On the authority of Abu Humaid As-Saa’idi: Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) employed someone (to collect Zakat). The employee returned after completing his job and said, “O Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him)! This (amount of Zakat) is for you, and this (other amount) was given to me as a present.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him, “Why didn’t you stay at your father’s or mother’s house and see if you would be given presents or not?” Then Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) got up in the evening after the prayer, and having testified that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and praised and glorified Allah as He deserved, he said, “Now then! What about an employee whom we employ and then he comes and say, ‘This amount (of Zakat) is for you, and this (amount) was given to me as a present’? Why didn’t he stay at the house of his father and mother to see if he would be given presents or not? By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad’s soul is, none of you will steal anything of it (i.e. Zakat) but will bring it by carrying it over his neck on the Day of Resurrection. If it has been a camel, he will bring it (over his neck) while it will be grunting, and if it has been a cow, he will bring it (over his neck), while it will be mooing; and if it has been a sheep, he will bring it (over his neck) while it will be bleeding.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) added, “I have preached you (Allah’s Message).”

Furthermore, another type of looting is the embezzlement of public funds, on the authority of Uday Ibn Umairah Al-Kanady, he reported: Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “Whosoever among you is appointed by us to a position and he conceals from us even a needle or less, it will amount to misappropriation and he will be called upon to restore it on the Day of Resurrection”. (‘Adi bin ‘Umairah added:) A black man from the Ansar stood up – I can see him still – and said: “O Messenger of Allah, take back from me your assignment.” He (the Prophet (peace be upon him)) said, “What has happened to you?” The man replied: “I have heard you saying such and such.” He (peace be upon him) said, “I say that even now: Whosoever from you is appointed by us to a position, he should render an account of everything, big or small, and whatever he is given therefrom, he should take and he should desist from taking what is unlawful”.

Brothers and sisters! The matter is very dangerous, you should be wary of it and fear Allah the most-high as you are still present in the house of deeds (worldly life) before you meet Allah the exalted with a case of looting.

Finally, fear Allah O servants of Allah, and know that you have a golden opportunity to repent and return what is due for people, repent while you are still in the world of disregard before meeting Allah on the day of resurrection holding above your neck looted funds. This is a very expensive opportunity for a person to regret and return to his Lord now, it is an opportunity to clean one’s self from looting before death gives a surprise. We should know that a wise man is the one who calls himself to account (and refrains from doing evil deeds) and does noble deeds to benefit him after death; and the foolish person is the one who subdues himself to his temptations and desires and seeks from Allah the fulfilment of his vain desires.