Are You Giving Allah Your Leftovers? | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman

When was the last time you actually showed up for Allah?

Allah says in Surah Al-Ahqaf: "We accept from them the best of what they did." Not the most. Not the longest. The best.

Ihsan is excellence in action and showing up for Allah the way He deserves, with your full heart, not whatever energy survived the day. And khushu in salah isn't a gift some people are born with. It's something you have to choose to give.

In this jummah khutbah, Dr. Omar Suleiman reflects on what ikhlas in worship actually looks like, why you can go through the motions of salah for years without ever really arriving, and how one moment of true presence with Allah can outweigh a lifetime of routine.

If your worship has started to feel empty, this is where you start.

00:00 Introduction & Opening Praise
00:25 The Trial of Ibrahim (AS)
02:49 How Allah Receives Our Deeds
04:41 The Du'a at the Kaaba
07:52 Am I Giving Allah My Best?
08:48 The Condition for Acceptance
09:58 Allah's Mercy Multiplied
11:06 Acceptance on the Day of Judgment
15:05 Prioritizing Allah with Your Time
17:16 Giving What You Love Most
18:45 Closing Du'a & Prayer

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment, we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allah Ma'amen. Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to imagine the moment that Ibrahim alayhi save rejection from his father. And it's a powerful moment because the rejection of the father of Ibrahim alayhi sums to him after he gives us a masterclass in how to speak to your parents and how to do da'wah to someone with kindness. It's in that section of Surah Maryam, verse 40 onwards, where Allah Azza tells us about Ibrahim alayhi salam, make mention in the book of Ibrahim alayhi salam, verily he was a man of truth and a prophet. And Allah says, when he said to his father, now when he said to his father here, could be an independent sentence, or where his sidq, his truthfulness, is particularly emphasized as he's speaking to his father. Inna Uqana Suddiq al Nabiyya, because you have to be a man who lives by the truth, who abides by the truth, who holds himself accountable to the truth, if you're going to be able to endure the test that is to come with the sincerity and grace that you do. So Wetkurfid Kitabi Ibrahim, remember when Ibrahim spoke to his father? And he called his father to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the most beautiful of ways, profound of ways. You can't get better at respecting a person and acknowledging their right upon you and giving them your best behavior while still delivering the message. And his father responds to him and says, Are you finding something more befitting other than our gods, O Ibrahim? Have you turned your back on our gods, O Ibrahim? If you don't stop, I'm going to stone you, and get away from me. Get out of my face. Because if you're not out of my face, then I'm going to kill you. At that point, Ibrahim could have said, That's it, old man. I gave you the da'wah, I did it in the best way, and this is how you responded to me. And how dare you speak to me this way, and now I'm going to move on. But Allah says, He says, Salamun Aik, sa'astahulakarabi. Peace be unto you. I will seek forgiveness from my Lord for you. And here is where I really want to come to. Allah always is so attentive, loving in how He receives me. Hafiyah refers to the quality of how you receive someone when they come to you. And that often shows the level of love and reverence that someone has for someone else just based on the reception. I'll give you an example, by the way. When a head of state travels to another country, they often assess the greeting in micro detail. What type of red carpet was out there? Did the president himself go out to receive his counterpart? Or did he send a minister or someone else? Did he walk up to the stairs or did he wait for the person to come down the stairs and walk the carpet? Did he walk with him all the way? How was it a hug initially? Was there some were there some words that were exchanged? Right? The reception is analyzed in micro detail because the reception says a lot about how you feel about that person. Now, in the case of diplomats, about what you want from that person, but usually when it comes to normal human relations, the way you receive someone says a lot to someone that's watching from the outside. And Ibrahim does not say that my Lord will receive me with kindness. Inna who can abiyya, my Lord always celebrates me. And he's saying that to his father, who should have such a love and compassion for him, but he doesn't because he's blinded by his own idolatry and his own ego. He's saying that to his father that if you reject me, my Lord never rejects me. Innahu canabi. He celebrates my return. Every time I turn back to him. Now, fast forward from that conversation in Al-Iraq to Mecca, where Ibrahim ala is now building the Ka'bah with his son. And as they're putting the bricks one by one, one by one, one by one, and raising the foundations all alone in the hot desert. And they raise their hands to make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. What does Ibrahim alay say to Allah Azwajal? Rabban taqabbal minna. Ismail alayhi salam stands next to him and says, Ameen, Ameen, Ameen to his du'az. Our Lord accept this from us. Accept this deed from us. And subhanAllah Azduma of tafsir mentioned how incredible of a request for that to be the first thing that comes out of his mouth. Abdun maqsus, fi maqanin maqsus, li Amrin Mahsus, a special servant in a special place, who's been given a special command. And with all of that, he asks Allah for what? Kabul. Just accept it, oh my Lord. With humility, with this sense of vulnerability that if you don't accept it, oh Allah, it doesn't matter how tired I got, it doesn't matter how hot it was, it doesn't matter if anyone else saw it. If you don't accept it, then it doesn't matter if billions of people come later on to this house in a sign of acceptance for my act. I want you to accept it, oh Allah. And this shows you the type of relationship between Al-Rahman and Khadir al-Rahman, the most merciful and his Khadil, his chosen friend, Ibrahim alayhi salam. Not just a servant, not just a prophet, his friend. That this relationship is dual, that Allah Azza wa Jal receives Ibrahim alayhi salam in a beautiful and special way. And Ibrahim alayhi salam tries to perform deeds for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to go to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the most beautiful and special way. And that's why his concern is, Ya Allah, did you like it? Ya Allah, did you accept it? Ya Allah, is this good enough for you? And Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala responds with praise of Ibrahim alayhi salam. Right? The same word is used by the way, Arahibun, Ibrahim alayhi's father, said, Do you desire something other than our gods? And Allah Azza says, whoever desires a way other than Ibrahim a-islam has soiled themselves, has ruined themselves. And we chose him in this dunya. And in the hereafter, he is certainly from the righteous. What a beautiful relationship. A friend to his Lord, trying to please him constantly. Did you like it, Ya Allah? This was my best, Ya Allah. I tried my best. Which brings me to the question that each and every single one of us should always ask themselves, did I give Allah my best? Did I give Allah my best prayer? Did I give Allah my best charity? We just came out of Ramadan and the greeting that we would give to each other is, Taqabbalullah. May Allah accept from you and I. Did I give Allah my best Ramadan? Did I give Allah my best fast? Did I give Allah my best energy? Did I give Allah my best character? When Allah was watching me and other people were not, did I give Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala my best performance? Was that the best that I could do for Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala? Because the Prophet says, In Allaha Tayyibun, Allah is pure and He only accepts that which is pure. Allah is good and He accepts that which is good. But if you notice the way Allah talks about kabul in the Quran, acceptance in the Quran, He doesn't talk about the deed per se. He talks about the type of person that performs that deed, whether they emulate Ibrahim a in the performance of that deed. And so he says, for example, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala innamayata qabbarullah min al-muttaqeen. Verily Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepts from the people of taqwa, the people of God consciousness, those people that are so concerned, because taqwa yields a sense of concern to not disobey me, to not fall into a sin that would disqualify them from my mercy and my grace if it goes unrepented for. They're so concerned. Who does Allah accept from? He accepts from those type of people. And that's why Sayyidina Ali radiallahu ta'ala anhu said, do not concern yourself so much with just the performance of the deed, but the acceptance of the deed. Because in the ma'a taqabalullah, Allah accepts from the mu'taqen, Allah maja'anna min al-mutaqeen, Allah ma'ameen. May Allah make us amongst those people. Allah ma'amen. And there's something very beautiful about what Allah accepts and how Allah accepts. You see, the way we do math with each other, yesterday Shaykh Dawood was talking about this and we were reflecting on this idea of what the imagination can capture and how we can't comprehend Allah's mercy because of the limits of our own mercy. We can't comprehend Allah's grace because of the limits of our own grace. We can't comprehend Allah's forgiveness because of the limits of our own forgiveness. And so when you do the math of good deeds and bad deeds, none of us would treat each other that way to where when someone does good for you, you reward it by 10 to 700 up to infinity. And when they commit a mistake, then you only treat that mistake as one. And if they apologize for it, then it's as if they never committed the mistake. Can you imagine how amazing our marriages would be, our relationships would be with our children, with our parents, with our friends, with our communities, if that's how we treated each other? But that type of math doesn't work for us as human beings. It's only with Allah Azzawajal. It's a math that is beyond the capacity of our mercy. And so, what does that have to do with the concept of kabul? One of the most beautiful ayat of kabul in the Quran, of acceptance in the Quran, is an ayah that has a powerful context to it. Ibn Abbas, he narrates from anin nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, anir ruh il-amin alayhi salam. Ibn Abbas and Ibn Abihatim narrates that, Ibn records that Ibn Abbas narrates from the Prophet who narrates from a Ruh al-Ameen, Jibreel Alayhi Salaam, that Jibreel Alayhi said that on the day of judgment, when Allah Azza weighs the good deeds and the bad deeds, then he will settle the good deeds and the bad deeds amongst each other. Meaning what? You have some sins that you committed that cancel out some of your good deeds, you have some good deeds that cancel out some of your sins, and then ultimately you also have the way that those good deeds and sins become currency for all the wrongdoings that you did towards other people or that were done towards you. And so people come and they take your good deeds or they put their sins on you, or you're, if you're fortunate enough, you're on the other side of that equation, you're receiving someone else's good deeds and you're putting your sins on someone else who wronged you in this world. But the point is, there's a whole process here with the good deeds and the bad deeds. And then he says, If he just has one good deed left at the end of that, Allah will make space for him in paradise. And he recited the ayah. Allah Azza mentioned in Srut al-Aqqaf that they are the ones that we accept the best of what they do. That they are the ones who Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala accepts. We accept the best of what they did. And we overlook their sins, they will be entered into paradise, and this is the promise of truth that they were given. The promise that they were given. We talked about Wa'adallah yesterday and all the implications of Wa'adullah, the promise of Allah, the promise of Allah. What does this ayah mean? On the day of judgment, dear brothers and sisters, when Allah Azzawajal analyzes your salah and he analyzes your Siam and He analyzes your sadaqah and he analyzes all of your different things. It's not like he takes the average and then judges it based on the average. He says that Ya taj'awaz anil kathir mina zalal. Allah overlooks so many of your slips, your sins, those little sins, over and over and over and over again. At taj'awaz. Allah overlooks them. The sins between Juma'a'a and Juma'ah, the sin from Salah to Salah, the sins from Ramadan to Ramadan. Ya taj'awa's anil Qathir mina zalal. And he says, And he accepts the smallest good deed that you do and he magnifies it. Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he elevates a single good deed to where it's accepted. Meaning what? Allah finds the most sincere salah that you did, the most sincere fast that you had, the most sincere moments that you had. And Allah elevates that, captures that moment for you, and rewards you in accordance with it. It's one of the most hopeful ayat in the Quran. Allah capturing that for you. And Ya Tajawas, Allah Azza overlooking so many of the sins and the shortcomings in the process. And Allah says that's the promise of Allah. Why does Sudqhladikanu you wait? That's His promise to you. Now here's the question that I want us to ask ourselves, inshaAllah ta'ala. And I want you to really, really, really assess yourself. Are you giving Allah your best? Are you giving Allah your best salah? You know, when you come to your prayer, if you are detaching from something immediately before your salah, delaying it to its very end, if you're even performing it on time, and by the time you get to it, you're thinking about all types of other stuff, and you were deep in something else. And then you get into your salah and you never even focused in your prayer. And then as soon as your salah was over, you went deep in khushur into whatever else you were doing. Who are you giving your best to? And if so, who means more to you? Because you are receiving Allah Azzawajal when you go to salah and giving to Allah Azzawajal when you go to salah. There is a relationship that is being established here, that's meant to be established here. Who do you give the best of your time to? Who do you give the best of your energy to? You know, subhanAllah, one of the things that destroys families is when a person gives the best of themselves only to the outside of their homes. And what they bring back home is a tired, angry, agitated, beat up version of themselves. The worst version of themselves. That's what they bring home. The best version of themselves, they store up that energy for work. They store up that energy for what they have to give to the outside. Is that what you give to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? As Al Hafdibn Rajabrahimullah is a beautiful page where he collects narrations of the salaf of how you perform your good deeds in secret with Allah Azzawajan. And he narrates from Abu Jandal, in quantum ta'aunna and Allah Ya Rakum, if you see that Allah doesn't see you in the first place, then you've disbelieved in him effectively. If you don't believe Allah sees you anyway, then you don't actually believe in him. If you see that he sees you, why are you reducing Allah to the lowest of your observers? Why are you reducing Allah as it's just like, oh, it's just Allah watching me right now? I don't have to be the best version of myself. I don't have to give the best of myself. When it comes to your sadaqah and what you give, you will not achieve righteousness until you give of what you love. And that's why Abu Talhar, when he heard that from the Prophet, he said, I thought about the thing I love most. And he gave the Prophet that garden in front of Medina. This is the best of what I can give to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, rabbana taqabbal mina. Not with arrogance, not like Ya Rasulullah, I'm donating this. No, Ya Rasulullah, this is the best. Lantanal dur, I heard the verse. This is the best of what I can give. This is the most precious of my possessions. And that's why the Prophet said that one dirham of charity surpasses a hundred thousand dirhams of charity. Because the person that gave that one, that was the best they could do, and they meant it. That was their best effort and they meant it. And Allah accepted it. Give Allah the best of yourself. Give Allah the best of your salah. Give Allah the best of your sadaqah. Let it be taib. Let it be something that's pure, something that's good. And the real question that you ask yourself is if I'm not giving Allah my best energy, then who am I giving it to? And if I'm not giving Allah my best effort, then who am I giving it to? And if I'm not giving Allah the best of my health and the best of my time, who am I giving it to? What am I giving it to? Then you take a step back and you say, Where is the attachment of the heart? And what is it that the heart actually worships? May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to give the best version of ourselves to Him. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala judge us only in accordance with the best of our deeds. And may Allah overlook our sins and not judge us by our lowest moments. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala embrace us with His mercy and not with our performance. Allah Ma'amina Kulukabriada wash always.