That is the invocation which Shaddad Bin ‘Aus (radiallah anhu) narrated that the Prophet (sal-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said the most superior way of asking for forgiveness from Allaah is to say: ‘Allahumma anta Rabbi laa ilaha illa anta, khalaqtanii wa ana ‘abduka, wa ana ala ‘ahdika wa wa ‘dika mastata ‘tu. A ‘udhu bika min sharri ma sana ‘tu, abu ‘u laka bini ‘matika ‘alaiya, wa abu ‘u laka bini ;matika ‘alaiya, wa abu ‘u bidhanbii faghfirlii fa innahu laa yaghfiru adh-dhunuba illa anta’.
(O Allaah, You are my Lord! None has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me and I am Your slave, and I am faithful to my covenant and my promise (to You) as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. I acknowledge before You all blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I confess to you all my sins. So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for nobody can forgive sins except You’. He (sal-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) also said “if one recites it during the day with firm conviction in it, and dies on the same day before the evening he will be from the people of Paradise; and if a person recites it at night with firm faith in it, and dies before the morning, he will be from the people of paradise.)
The Prophet (sal-Allaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) said no person would recite it, no Muslim would seek with it with a firm belief without being rewarded. This is the reason why we repeat some khutbaahs. The Prophet said the reciter must be a person of firm belief. We are attempting to translate a few points from the du’a for the benefit of the congregation so that you too would have a firm belief in it. And be steadfast in reciting it both morning and evening in worship for it to hopefully make you a person of Paradise. May Allaah bless you and I with it. Ameen!
The Prophet (alayhe salatu wa sallam) said ‘Allahumma anta Rabbi…’ According to scholars, its meaning is, “Yaa Allah! They changed ‘Yaa’ to Laamun’, it became Allahumma’. That’s why it won’t be right to combine Yaa and Allahumma and recite them together as Yaa Allahumma. The scholars disallowed this combination. That’s why we recite Allahumma but to recite it as Yaa Allahumma,’ never! Because they used the latter to replace it with the former.
It can’t be correct. That’s ‘O Allaah, Allahumma ‘O Allaah, anta Rabb. You are my Lord! You are my Lord! I hope you do hear these words. You are my Lord!’ This wording is huge – I do not have any lord except You. So if you are in tribulations whom should you consult? Your Lord! Stay on His commandments. But you accepted that He is your Lord yet still you keep on disobeying Him in the evening and disobeying him in the morning. And there is no point during the day when you will even take a break or you stop disobeying Him. Don’t you really believe that He is your Lord! He is the One Who created us! Allahumma anta Rabbi…laa ilaha illa anta – None has the right to be worshipped but You. For a Muslim, these are the declarations expected from him or her: none has the right to be worshipped but Him. None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, Who is the truth. The thing that has the right to be worshipped and is truthful is Allah Who created the heavens and earth. He is our Lord! Some people worship dry tree; some worship people who don’t deserved to be worshipped. They worship people who are self-made gods. Some worship people who have made themselves predictors of the future (fortunetellers). You must totally leave all of these in order to become true Muslims. If you fail to abandon them, you cannot be Muslims. Had it been that they know the future, people are in need these days, in fact, somebody phoned me to say that “fortunetellers should get up now” I asked him about the matter…and he told me that the Malaysian airline is still not yet found but they have remained silent. Is this true or not, I replied in the affirmative. The time has come for them to help us find it since the Americans have brought out their arsenal of tools (technological gadgets), used their planes, set out to sea and also went out on land in search but they couldn’t find it. Therefore, it is the turn of the fortune-tellers to get up and assist in the search. The plane has gone missing and up till today nobody has seen it. If we are faced with such preceding problem how come one can be able to say anything about the next word, to the point of guaranteeing people that you have Paradise in the next world.
Also, someone informed me that a particular marabout told him that if the marabout dies for 40 days all those who passed away would enter paradise. (Allah forbid)! I told him that if that particular marabout says that in my presence I will tell him that he is telling stories. Audhu billaah, May Allah protect us from it. The Prophet (Salalahu alaihe wa salam) told Fatima: “Fatima, Fatima. Yaa Fatima, ask me from my wealth and I will give you but what is with Allah, I cannot…unless what Allah has allowed for me. Paradise is not in my hands.”
When Uthamn ibn Mas’oob, passed away, a woman praised him until she bore witness that hewass in Jannah. The Prophet (salalahu alaihe wa salam) heard her and cautioned her: “You are the one saying such…that he is in heaven?”
He said: “Wallahi! I am the prophet but actually I don’t know what I would have tomorrow (in the next world)…” Look at that, he wanted to teach her that this is Allah’s business. One cannot put another into paradise except through Allah’s mercy. We want you to free yourselves from people’s status of subservience. And you return to the proper worship of our Lord Who has created the heavens and the earth but some have flatly refused this. They said they won’t do it! I know that when some of you leave here you will say that today he has insulted us. Is this an insult? Then I think we are serving Allah through insults. ‘Allahumma anta Rabbi laa ilaha illa anta… None has the right to be worshipped but Allah (subhanah). Nobody knows the secrets of the future, and please beware that all your affairs are in the hands of Allah, He didn’t give them to His servants. The Prophet (alayhe salatu wa salam) was angry during the War of Uhud’ when the enemies broke his tooth, he fell down, smashed his forehead, blood oozing, he said how can some people be safe, how could the ummah be safe when the messenger’s tooth is broken and his forehead smashed. Do you know what Allah had told him, He said: “Indeed the affair belongs wholly to Allah.” [Surah Al-Imran (The family of Imran) 3:154]
Inalilahi wa ina ilaihi.. Put these people where they belong! In fact you are the ones who had made them to be self-important since you usually believe in what they tell you. Let us not believe in these types of foolery. No matter how vast in knowledge a person is, he is a slave of Allah. Allah does not include people in the running of His Kingdom. He does not need anybody’s assistance. We are the ones who need people to be around us. But Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) is independent and self-sufficient. He is ever autonomous so He doesn’t need anybody’s help. When you are in agony, please do ask from Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). ‘Allahumma anta Rabbi laa ilaha illa anta …..O’ Lord…’O Allaah, You are my Lord! None has the right to be worshipped but You. I will not worship anyone except you. Believe in this. If you believe in this you will become a person of paradise. Believe in these invocations! Do not believe in anything except Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). Do not worship any human being, never! We do not worship any human being. Even if you fly up to the skies, and comeback again, we will tell you Bismillah, what the prophet has left us with is here, come, come let’s all practise it together. However, if you refuse, and you indicate that you brought your own new thing, we shall reject you totally. Wherever you are, keep to this so that you will be successful. May Allaah forgive me and all of you, for He is the Most Forgiving.
Second khutbah
All praise is due to Allaah again, the One who deserves all praises. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah, alone without any partner and I bear witness that Muhammad (sal-Allaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) is His slave and Messenger. Allah praises him and sends peace upon His Prophet Muhammad the son of Abdullah, and his companions and all those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment. Brothers! Success in this life is for those who are good, and they follow Allah and His messenger (alayhe salatu wa salam). Downfall in life is for those who heard warnings which are explicit, plain and with authenticity yet they turn their backs on it. They are the ones whose ending in this life will be the worst of all endings. May Allaah save us from the latter. Aameen!
Allahumma anta rabbi…laa ilaha illa anta khalaqtanii.. You created me…Allaah said: “Has there not been over man a period of time when he was not a thing worth mentioning” [Surah Al-Insan or Ad-Dahr (Man or Time 76:1]
Hey wallahi! “Verily, we have created man from drops of mixed semen (sexual discharge of man and woman), in order to try him: so We made him hearer and seer” [Surah Al-Insan or Ad-Dahr (Man or Time 76:2]
“Verily, We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful. [Surah Al-Insan or Ad-Dahr (Man or Time 76:3]
He is the one who created us, and we did not pay Him anything for that. Nothing! Not a butut. That’s why sometimes I become worried over some people, when they whine and moan saying, ‘I am really suffering! It seems that Allah has forgotten me’. Audhu billah! I heard a mother advising her son to wake up and pray. He retorted: “Ah! Allaah didn’t give me anything, how could I pray. Allah hasn’t given me anything! See me, I have nothing, even a dalasi, I don’t have!”
I said Subhanallaha! He has disbelieved in Allaah’s bounties. Allaah has created you and gave you eyes.” Can you pay for that gift? Allaah gave you feet, and you walk to and fro with while some people were denied legs, but you have them, can you pay for this blessing? This air… the air that you breath in and out.. can you pay for all these? Yet you said Allah did not give you anything. It could have pleased Allaah to create you as a donkey and we will be caning you always… What can you do about it? Look at the donkeys, look at them. Look at the donkeys, you can see a person on top of the donkey cart loaded with palm-rhun sticks and yet still he would be beating the donkey to hurry up… can’t you be grateful, for had it been that He made you a donkey what would you have done? Look at the other animals such as sheep. Occasionally, we slaughter them and eat them up, had it been that Allaah has made you one, we would have eaten you long since and by now you are gone and no more. Just because Allah did not give you a dalasi, is not good enough a reason to stop worshipping Him. Now what did you do for HIM for all these gifts He had bestowed on you? What did you do for Allaah! Your this Friday, can this pay Allaah? Just to leave your house for the Friday prayer, Aye! Brother fear Allah and be grateful for Allaah’s bounties. Qumuu! Let’s offer prayers!
By Ousman Bojang
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