Sermon Details
Ayat Al – Kursi
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ خَاتَمِ النَّبِيِّينَ وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ.
All Praise is due to Allah, we praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Allah, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, peace and blessings on him, is His servant, and His messenger.
Dear Brothers and Sisters …
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Indeed, Allah Almighty revealed this Quran and made it a source of guidance. And a path to success in this world and the afterlife for the one who believes in it, reads and reflects on its verses and acts according to it:
Al Isra (17) 9: Indeed, this Qur’ān guides to that which is most suitable and gives good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a great reward
He did not say “guides to the proper path” but rather He the Almighty said: “guides to that which is most suitable”. That is in every matter, it guides to what is the best and most excellent.
Let us pause briefly on a great verse form its verses and consider its meanings and virtue. And what should be learned about it. It is the best verse in the Book of Allah Almighty as was narrated by Abi bin Ka’b (أبيُّ بن كعب), may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet ﷺ asked him:
Ubayy b. Ka’b said: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: O Abu’ al-Mundhir, do you know the verse from the Book of Allah which, according to you, is the greatest? I said: Allah and His Apostle (ﷺ) know best. He again said: Abu’l-Mundhir, do you know the verse from the Book of Allah which, according to you, is the greatest? I said: Allah, there is no god but He, the Living, the Eternal. Thereupon he struck me on my breast and said: May knowledge be pleasant for you, O Abu’l-Mundhir! Sahih Muslim 810
Allah – there is no deity except Him
has all the meanings of Godship. Nothing is worthy of Godship and Worship except He. Thus, worshipping other than him is shirk, misguidance, injustice and invalid.
The Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining
He is characterized by all the complete meanings of life in a manner befitting His Majesty and Grandeur. He sustains Himself and is in no need for all of His creation. And He sustains everything that exists. He brought them in existence and sustained them. And provided them with everything needed for their existence and survival. Thus, they are in need of Him and He is in no need of them. And there is no subsistence for them without His command:
Ar-Room 25: And of His signs is that the heaven and earth stand [i.e., remain] by His command.
And from His Ever living and Self-Sustaining is that:
Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep.
Because drowsiness and sleep exhibit in the created as they are characterized by weakness, helplessness and deterioration. And they do not exhibit in the One of Glory, Greatness and Majesty. Thus, the Almighty does not experience shortcomings, negligence, or diversion from His creation. Rather He:
Ar-Rad (13) 33: The maintainer of every soul, [knowing] what it has earned
Witnessing everything. Nothing at all escapes Him. And no secret is hidden from Him.
To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth
He is the Owner and everything else is owned, and he is the Creator, Provider, the Master, and everything else is created, sustained and maintained creature who does not possess for himself or anyone else the weight of an atom in the heavens or the earth. And from His great dominion and great authority is that no one dares to intercede for anyone else except through His permission:
Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?
All of the notables and intercessors are slaves to Him. They do not set forth to intercession until He permits them:
An-Najm (53) 26: And how many angels there are in the heavens whose intercession will not avail at all except [only] after Allah has permitted [it] to whom He wills and approves.
And Allah does not give permission to anyone to intercede except whom He approves. And He does not approve except those implementing Tawhid (Divine unity) and following His messengers. So, whoever is not described by this will not have any share of intercession.
He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them
This is evidence that His knowledge encompasses all beings. Past, present and future. For He knows what is in front of the creatures of future matters without end. And the past matters behind them without any limitations.
You can imagine how many events happen on Earth in a minute. Rather how many happen in one second. How many leaves fall. And the rain that falls. And the people that die. And the infants that are born. And what the wombs hold. And what creatures move. And what birds fly. And even the air that the people and animals breathe. And the steps that they take. And the water that they drink. And the food that they eat. All of this does not happen except through the decree, knowledge and command of Allah the Almighty!!
In contrast to Allah’s great knowledge, He informed about His creation saying:
and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge
And what He revealed to them of the religious and worldly matters. And it is a small imperceptible portion of the knowledge of Allah. As the most knowledgeable messengers and angels said:
Al Baqarah (2) 32: They said, “Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise.”
His Kursi (chair) extends over the heavens and the earth
If this is the state of the Kursi (chair), it encompasses the heavens and the earth with their greatness and the greatness of those in them-and the Kursi (chair) is not the biggest creation of Allah. Rather the Arsh (throne) is larger than it. And the thoughts get baffled and dazed by the greatness of these creations.
And their preservation tires Him not.
He is not tired by preserving the heavens and the earth and what is in them and what is between them.
Then He concluded the verse with:
And He is the Most High, the Most Great.
High in His Self over all His creation. And He is supreme in His Great attributes. And He is the Most High, the One who prevails over the creation. And everything in existence subjugates to Him. And the difficult matters submit to Him. And the necks bow to Him. And He comprehensively has all the attributes of greatness, pride, glory and magnificence. The One Whom the hearts love. And the souls venerate. And the ones with knowledge knows that the greatness of everything vanishes next to the greatness of the Most High, Most Great.
The verse of al-Kursi is the greatest verse in the Quran. From what it contains of great meanings in affirming the tawhid (Divine unity) of Allah Almighty and His description. For this reason it is a protection from the shaytan that the Muslim reads before he sleeps and it safeguards him by the permission of Allah Almighty. As came in the Hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah in al-Bukhari that the shaytan said to Abu Hurairah:
When you go to your bed, recite Ayat al-Kursi. Indeed, there will continue to be with you a guardian appointed over you from Allah (who will protect you during the night), and the shaytan will not come near you until morning. Sahih al-Bukhari 3275
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3275
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2311
And the Prophet ﷺ confirmed this.
And it came in another Hadith that reading it will be a cause of entering paradise. As was related in the Hadith of Abu Umaamah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Whoever recites Ayat al-Kursi at the end of every obligatory prayer, nothing but death will prevent him from entering Paradise. [An-Nasai reported it and Ibn Hibban graded it as authentic].
https://sunnah.com/bulugh/2/220
Al Ahzaab (33) 56: Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [ Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [ Allah to grant him] peace.
Allahumma Sallai Al’a Muahmmad’n wa’aila Muhammad
Remember Allah, the Great – He will remember you. Thank Him for His favours – He will increase you therein. And seek forgiveness from Him – He will forgive you. And be conscious of Him – He will provide you a way out of difficult matters. And, establish the prayer.
BY IMAM MCCIRLAM MAHBOOB RASOOL