Your Friend Is Your Destiny

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillah, Assalatu Wassalamu ala Rasoolillah, Amma bad

Honourable judges, respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters, Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

So before I begin my speech I just want to know whether I am speaking to the right audience.

Whoever’s ultimate goal in life is to go to Jannah and attain the pleasure of Allah put your hands up.

Whoever thinks that they need a friend in life put your hands up

Whoever has been brought up in a Western country put your hands up.

Alhamdulillah! I have got the perfect audience. This speech is tailor made for you!

Today Im standing in front of you to deliver a speech on the topic of ‘Your Friend Is Your Destiny’. So when I first read the topic the immediate thought which came into my mind was that if I was the one who was responsible for my thoughts and actions which leads to my destiny then how can my friends be my destiny? I mean they can’t force me to do anything!

But when I did my research I was really shocked to come to the conclusion that your friends are your destiny.

Well who is a friend? According to the oxford dictionary a friend ids a person whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of family relations.

So in order for us to understand this concept deeply we need to understand what friendship is like in the society in which we live in today.

Friendship in our society is based on benefit. It’s called a self interest bond. Friends come together on mutual interest so that they can get comfort from each other and do things together. And when they have problems they can turn to their friends for advice.

So since friendship in our society is based on benefit it breaks up very easily. That’s why we see people that once their interest is completed they drift apart. So we can see that in order to maintain our friendship we’ve either got to fit in or please them. So how can we stick up to ourselves? It really won’t work like that! In both situations whether intentionally or unintentionally we are obliged to accept other peoples thought and actions. And because we spend so much time with our friends their concepts enter our thoughts, then it becomes our concepts, which leads to our actions which determine our destiny.

The Prophet (saw) said in a Hadith that, “The example of a good companion and a bad companion is like that a seller of musk and the one who blows the blacksmiths bellows. As for the seller of musk he’ll either grant you some or you buy some from him or at least you enjoy a pleasant smell from him. And as for the on e who blows the blacksmith’s bellows he’ll either burn your clothes or you’ll gain an offensive smell from him.” Reported by Sahih Bukhari and Muslim

Subhanallah! This is so true! Let us take ourselves for instance... Suppose we are with our friends and one of us starts backbiting... What do we do? We either add a comment... Laugh...or be silent. But do any of us actually stop them? And this is how peer pressure works.

This concept is even proven to you by science. Let me quote to you what Abialbon Paul who is a Physician into Pharmalogical research says about peer pressure, “In simpler terms Peer Pressure is a powerful force that compels people to do something or act in a certain way which would make them feel accepted amongst their peers.”

So my dear brothers and sisters, I have proven to you that you’re Friend Is Your Destiny through reality science and divine evidences. This is the fact! The important thing now is how we can make our destiny better? What is the way forward for us?

And I’d like you to reflect on the Hadith where the prophet (SAW) said, “A person is likely to follow the faith of this friend so look whom you befriend.” Reported by Sahih Abu Dawood

So now my dear brothers and sisters we need to take a step back and think about ourselves... Who are my friends? What do we do together? Is it something that pleases Allah (swt) or displeases him? What do we talk about? Is is something about Allah, Islam, something good and productive or is it about movies, guys, girls, fashion or gossip about who Taylor Swift has broken up with now! And I can see some of the honest people smiling down there! Anyway, Are we confident enough to encourage amongst ourselves Islam or not. And when we make a mistake, do our friends actually correct us or vice versa?

If the answers to these questions are positive, then Alhamdulillah! We can carry on this friendship. However if the answers to these questions are negative, we need to pause at this point and think... Are we going to please our friends in the expense of displeasing Allah (swt)? Are we still going to befriend someone whom you already know that they are just you friend for benefit? Is it worth sacrificing out eternal happiness just for a temporary one?

My dear brothers and sisters of we don’t question ourselves now and correct ourselves now, it’ll not only affect us in this life but also in the hereafter. Allah (swt) tells us what people will say about their friend in Surah Furqan verse 28.

يَـٰوَيۡلَتَىٰ لَيۡتَنِى لَمۡ أَتَّخِذۡ فُلَانًا خَلِيلاً۬

Which means:”Oh woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one as a friend!”

Subhanallah! This Qur’an Ayah is just so powerful and scary! And it adds to the concept that your friends are your destiny. May Allah (swt) safeguard all of us from these people. Ameen

So after listening to all this one may think of not wanting to have a friend. But it’s human nature of wanting to have a friend. And that’s why Allah (swt) has given us so many guidelines on how to choose and how to be a good friend.

S o in order for you to remember everything that I’ve said today, I have made an easy checklist by using the same letters of the word ‘FRIEND’.

Number 1: ‘F’ is to ‘Find Out’. So we need to find out... who am I? What’s the purpose of my life? What’s the ultimate goal of my life? And if we find the answers to these questions correctly, then we would know what the destiny we want to achieve.

Number 2:’R’ is for ’Righteous’. Which means that first of all we’ve got to be a righteous person and then find righteous people to befriend with. It doesn’t matter about their age, colour or race. Because Allah (swt) says in Surah Az-Zuckruf Verse 67:

ٱلۡأَخِلَّآءُ يَوۡمَٮِٕذِۭ بَعۡضُهُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوٌّ إِلَّا ٱلۡمُتَّقِينَ

Which means; “Close friends on that day will be enemies to each other, except for the righteous.”

N umber 3: ‘I’ is for ‘Intention’. Which means that our intention should be pure. Our friendship is only for the sake of Allah (swt), and there should not be any other hidden agenda.

Number 4: ‘E’ is for ‘Eternal’. Which means that our friendship should continue eternally.

Number 5; ‘N’ is for ‘Nice’. Which means that we should be nice to each other. Even when correcting and advising each other. Even when correcting and advising each other, it should be done in the best possible manner.

Last but least, ‘D’ is for ‘Destiny’. Which means that our friend is our destiny!

Finally I conclude my speech by asking Allah (swt) to make our destiny in this life and the hereafter beautiful through our righteous friends.

Ameen

Jazakallu Khairan for listening to my speech.

Wa’akhiru Da’wana Anil Hamudu Lillahi Rabbil Aalameen.

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقۡتَ هَـٰذَا بَـٰطِلاً۬ سُبۡحَـٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ Tafseer for the verse

 رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقۡتَ هَـٰذَا بَـٰطِلاً۬ سُبۡحَـٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ (١٩١)

This is the second half of ayah 191 of Surah Al-Imran. Its meaning is: “Our Lord! You have not created this without a purpose. Glory be to you! Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire!”  

First, let’s break it up. The beginning of the ayah (Our Lord! You have not created this without a purpose) refers to the fact that Allah has created nothing in vain. The word baathil literally means ‘in vain’. Everything He has created is with a purpose, and they all fulfil that purpose. Also, our very own lives have a purpose, and those who abuse their life will be punished and those who use it to do good will be rewarded.

In the previous ayah Allah says that this is a statement made by ‘men of understanding’ who are conscious of the reality of things. To understand who they are, we need to look at all the types of people there are in the world;

1.    Non Muslims who don’t believe in Allah, and don’t think about a Creator when they see the creation, they just go about their lives.

2.    Muslims, like us, who believe in Allah, and know that he is the Creator, yet don’t praise him when we see His beautiful Creation.

3.    Non-Muslims, like Richard Dawkins, Charles Darwin and David Attenborough, who spend their lives learning about Allah’s creation, yet never, ponder whether there is a Creator.

4.    Muslims, who believe that Allah has created everything, and praise Him every time they look at his Creation.

It is this last group of people that are making the statement in this ayah, and it is this group of people that Allah praises in the previous ayah.

They see the creation and at once they know that there is an All Powerful Creator behind all this. These are the people that, when learning about Allah’s creation, remember Allah. In Science class, Astronomy, Geography; if you’re a doctor, when you see the complexity of the human body; if you’re a chef, when you cut up the vegetables from the Earth. These are the people that Allah praises in this ayah.

This is a contradiction of what atheists believe; the world was made for a purpose and not a random chain of events that lead to the world we see around us today.

As we move on with the ayah, we see the word subhanaka, which has meanings but the most relevant is: Glory to you! This is a way of praising Allah, or doing Dhikr. The people who are saying this are praising the beauty of His Creation; every time they lay eyes on it (which is basically all the time) When we look through a telescope, and see the extent and Greatness of Allah’s creation, the beauty which we can’t even comprehend, we realise how Powerful and Mighty and Majestic Allah is. If we can’t even comprehend his Creation, how will we comprehend HIM? Seeing the universe around us makes us realise just how small and irrelevant we are compared to everything else.

Now we move on to the next part of the ayah (Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire.) This part shows us that the men of understanding know that the afore mentioned purpose of life is to ultimately go to Jannah. They also understand that no matter how many good deeds they think they’ve done, it’s up to Allah’s mercy and forgiveness whether we ultimately go to Jannah, so they ask for Allah’s protection and mercy on the Day of Judgement.

So, how can we live up to this ayah in our daily lives? How can we be the people that Allah praises in the Quran? First, we need to humble ourselves, and realise all that is around us. We need to praise Allah for what He has given us and His other Creations. We need to recognise Allah’s absolute Might, Power and Wisdom. Also, Allah has told us many, many times in the Quran to take some time to reflect on this world and Allah’s Creation, to look back on our life, to plan our future. Only then will we be truly successful and only then will we acquire our life’s purpose and go to Jannah.