The Goodness In Final Outcomes

By  Imam, Sheikh Dr AbdulKadir Al-Salman

 In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Ever-Living Who does not die. He created all things and decreed their passing away. He turns the night into the day and the day into the night. He ordained for all that exists a term between its beginning and its end, for nothing exists except that it has an appointed time for its commencement and its conclusion.

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner; the First without beginning, the Last without end.

And I send prayers and peace upon the one who guided mankind out of darkness, who toiled and strove seeking his Lord’s pleasure with earnest endeavour, and lived this world with its years as though it were but a single day, for the bounty of its reward is immense. Upon him, his family, and his Companions — the people of diligence and fidelity — be abundant peace.

First Khutbah

Servants of Allah, your Lord enjoins upon you those three saving verses; hold fast to them with your molar teeth:

“O you who have believed, fear Allah as He ought to be feared, and do not die except in a state of submission” [Aal ‘Imran 3:102].

“O mankind, fear your Lord, Who created you from a single 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”

[An-Nisa 4:1].

“O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment”

[Al-Ahzab 33:70-71].

Servants of Allah, _there is goodness in final outcomes_. The Chosen One, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said: _“Verily, one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is but an arm’s length between him and it, then the decree overtakes him and he performs the deeds of the people of Hell and enters it. And verily, one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Hell until there is but an arm’s length between him and it, then the decree overtakes him and he performs the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it”_ [Bukhari & Muslim].

Servants of Allah, this hadith was not recounted merely to be heard; it is a powerful reminder of the importance of the endings of deeds. There is no good in a deed whose beginning is fair but whose end is foul. All goodness lies in the conclusion.

Servants of Allah, behold — the fleeting days of this Hijri year have dawned upon us, announcing its close. Our Islamic Hijri year is drawing near to its departure, with scrolls of deeds and registers of actions being rolled up. It is leaving us just as it came, laden with what we placed into it: shortcomings, neglect, sins, and misdeeds. Those days have passed; today their burden remains, and tomorrow they will be a witness against us.

“On the Day when every soul will find what it has done of good present, and what it has done of evil — it will wish that between it and that evil there were a great distance. And Allah is Kind to His servants” [Aal ‘Imran 3:30].

Servants of Allah, _there is goodness in final outcomes_. Do not let hopes and aspirations lull you into thinking, “We will awake tomorrow if we retire tonight!”

How many a youth goes to sleep and never rises again, and he knows not that his shroud is already being woven. How many a sick person lived for a time, and how many a healthy person died without cause.

Servants of Allah, _there is goodness in final outcomes_, but it is not guaranteed. These remaining hours of this year, and the good deeds not yet promised — will you not repent and seize these fleeting days, that Allah may seal our year with goodness? Perhaps good deeds will efface misdeeds.

Servants of Allah, however great a servant’s shortcomings, slips, and turning away may be, his Lord is more merciful to him than a mother to her child. In the Sacred Hadith He says: _“I am as My servant thinks of Me. If he thinks good of Me, then good it is for him; and if he thinks ill of Me, then ill it is for him”_.

And al-Busiri said:

O soul, do not despair because of a sin that is grave;

For indeed, major sins are as specks of dust in the ocean of forgiveness.

And Allah the Almighty said in another Sacred Hadith: “O My servants! You sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, and I care not”.

Servants of Allah, the most resplendent manifestation of _goodness in final outcomes_ is that your beloved and intercessor, Muhammad sallalaahu alayhi wa sallam, was sent as the Seal of the Prophets. Your Qur’an was revealed as the final scripture, confirming what came before it from the earlier books. Consider the Islam of ‘Umar and Abu Sufyan ibn Harb — their conversion bore meaning only because of how their lives concluded.

Servants of Allah, strive in what remains of these nights and days, that they may be better than what has passed. Perfect the closing of this blessed year, for goodness lies in final outcomes. How often a tear shed by a servant, a repentance by which he returns, a night vigil that brings him mercy, and a turning away from falsehood and clinging to Allah in repentance — all of these draw him to good. And indeed, Allah is the Most Forgiving, the Especially Merciful.

Humble yourselves at the threshold of His door through acts of obedience, for He is the Most Generous, the Most Bountiful.

Second Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, the One, the Irresistible, Who causes the night to succeed the day. He created man and, despite the disparity of his states and stages, ordained for him laws and rulings, and adorned them with beginnings and endings as a means of admonition and reflection. He chooses from among His servants those who are sound in devotion, occupies them with remembrance at dawn and dusk, and rescues the sinner from destruction through righteous endings to deeds and lifespans.

I praise Him with praise that deserves increase, and I send prayers and peace upon the healer of hearts and the secret of existence — upon my Lord and Creator, Muhammad sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, a mercy to the righteous and the wicked. And upon his family and all who follow him from among those endowed with sound intellect and insight.

Servants of Allah, there is goodness in final outcomes.

The righteous are those who watch over the endings of their deeds. If the outcome is good, they ask Allah for steadfastness; if it is ill, they hasten to repentance. The best of them are those whose last deeds are the best of their deeds.

It has been said:

“The hearts of the righteous are attached to final outcomes; they ask, ‘With what will we be sealed?’”

And . “The hearts of those drawn near to Allah are attached to beginnings; they ask, ‘What has been decreed for us?’”

Some of the righteous wept at the time of death. When asked why, he replied: “I heard the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, say: ‘Allah created His creation in two handfuls, and said: These are for Paradise and I care not, and these are for Hell and I care not. And I do not know which of the two handfuls I am from.’”

Sufyan al-Thawri was overcome with anxiety over beginnings and endings. He would weep and say: “I fear that I may be written among the wretched in the Mother of the Book. I fear that faith may be snatched away from me at the moment of death.”

And Malik ibn Dinar would stand in prayer all night until his beard was wet with tears, saying: _“O Lord, You know the dwellers of Paradise and the dwellers of Hell — so in which of the two abodes is the dwelling of Malik ibn Dinar?”_

Servants of Allah, this was the concern of Allah’s righteous allies who grew old in obedience and devotion. So what then of those who fall short?

Servants of Allah, your days are five — so seal them with righteous deeds:

1. A day that is lost — your yesterday that has passed; make it up with sincere repentance.
2. A day that is witnessed — your today; soon it will bear witness for you or against you.
3. A day that is awaited — your tomorrow; you know not whether it will be among your days.
4. A day that is appointed — the last of your days in this world; keep it before your eyes.
5. An endless day — your Hereafter; it is either everlasting bliss or eternal torment.

Therefore, O servants of Allah, in these days let a person act as though he will not reach evening, and strive as though he will not return. Let him pass through this world like a wayfarer.

Turn to Allah in repentance before the decree of your lifespan overtakes you, O brother,

And do not feel secure from the vicissitudes of time.

Do not turn away from my supplication, for it is only to shield you from the burden of sin.

Address to those in authority

O you rulers and those entrusted with affairs, be diligent in doing good in what remains of your tenure before time runs out. Let the endings of your days in these positions be better than their beginnings. Many of you are now in the eighth and final year, and many in the fourth and final year. So rectify past mistakes with present action in these final days, that you may be saved from the punishment of Allah on a Day when neither wealth nor position will avail.

Fulfil trusts and rights to their owners. Desist from corruption, foremost among which is the embezzlement of public funds. And remember a Day when you will be called to account — an accounting far weightier than any questioning by the ICPC, EFCC, or DSS. It is a questioning before One from Whom nothing is hidden.

Allah the Almighty says:

“And gather those who committed wrong, their partners, and what they used to worship besides Allah, and lead them to the path of Hellfire. And stop them; indeed, they are to be questioned.

“What is the matter with you that you do not help one another?.

“But today they are submissive.

“And they will approach one another, inquiring of each other.

“They will say, ‘Indeed, you used to come at us from the right.

“They will say, ‘Rather, you yourselves were not believers.  “And we had no authority over you, but you were a transgressing people.

“So the word of our Lord has come into effect upon us; indeed, we will taste the punishment.

“And we led you astray, for we ourselves were astray.

“So indeed they, that Day, will be sharing in the punishment

“Indeed, that is how We deal with the criminals”* [As-Saffat 37:22-34].

Servants of Allah, O Nigerians — its leaders and its people — from this pulpit we offer congratulations to ourselves and to you on the occasion of our blessed National Democracy Day. We ask Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to restore security, safety, and stability to the lands of our beloved nation…

Supplication 

O Allah, seal our deeds with righteousness, and seal our lifespans with good. 

O Allah, make the best of our deeds their last, and the best of our days the day we meet You. 

O Allah, do not make this world our greatest concern, nor the limit of our knowledge. 

O Allah, grant us a good ending, and do not take our souls except while You are pleased with us.

Ameen, Ameen, O Lord of all the worlds.

• Imam, Sheikh Dr AbdulKadir Al-Salman, the Ubandoma of Ilorin Emirate, Imam and Khatib of the National Mosque of Nigeria, Abuja