Usuli Khutbah: "When the World Goes Silent: Reflecting on Loss," 28 Feb 2020

Dr. Abou El Fadl begins with the reason for the previous jumu'a’s cancellation - the loss of his hearing. He sees it as both a challenge and a blessing, as we should view everything we are dealt in life. If we reflect upon ourselves, we will see that everything that we enjoy, even the most minor coordination, the simplest thought, the way that we interpret every desire is a clear indication of God’s existence. However, the nature of human beings often is to not reflect until we experience loss, taking blessings for granted. Our ability to speak, to see, to perceive the world around us are experiences we engage in constantly but never pause to reflect upon the miraculousness of the act. It is immoral to take God out of our lives to enjoy our existence as if we owe nothing, as if we are not interconnectedly an extension of God. Seeing, hearing, thinking, and tasting are all divine marvels, but what is critical is how we choose to navigate those marvels, whether we navigate towards a fulfillment of the Divine or navigate away, towards the ungodly. Humans are masters of distraction, diverting our attention to avoid reflecting upon the constant marvels of divinity that we are intimately involved in. Your hearing stops, the world goes silent, and suddenly you notice what has been taken away from your life. The sound of the adhan is missed, and you reflect upon the times you were busy, so you turned off the adhan. You ponder, if your hearing returns, will you be more attentive to the adhan? Will it be given priority, or will old habits return and the adhan will once again be taken for granted? You miss your family calling for you. If your hearing returns, will you be more attentive to your family? When something is taken from us, we are willing to promise God the world, if only God would give us back what has been taken. But we must be honest with ourselves to avoid being liars, as many of us will fail to uphold our promises, ultimately breaching whatever commitments were expressed at a time of need. A wise person does not need to experience loss to reflect upon their relationship with Allah, but much of humanity exists in a state of oblivion. Every challenge is a blessing, because every blessing is an opportunity to think, reflect, reform, change and grow. Many people when struck by a challenge ask God, ‘Why?’. Instead of asking 'why', we should use the opportunity to reflect upon the ways that we may have failed ourselves and consider that loss as a moment to grow before time runs out and we have no more opportunities to work with. We should ask God to grant us the strength of consistency and to steer us away from hypocrisy, because our own hubris gives us a false strength of immunity. Sincerity reminds us that there are losses that we may be unable to bear, but God will stand by us as we persevere through any challenge or loss. We are in a constant state of grace and blessings, yet we are often not cognizant of it until something is drastically taken away from us.