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Khutbah: By Saeed Ahmed Shaikh (S.

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Ultimate Success: Can you save yourself from the (Hell) fire?

Today’s khutbah is little unusual. I won’t give it a title now, but leave you with a question to
ponder, at the end of khutbah, Insha’Allah. I will use parallels from the life of a firefighter,
Insha’Allaah, to comment on our condition, or rather what a Muslim should be all about. And at
the very beginning, I pray to Allah (SWT) that He blesses all of us to draw some positive lessons
from this.

Not every one can manage to be a firefighter as it requires certain skills and characteristics which
can be very challenging and demanding. Not every one can manage to be Muslim as it requires
certain skills and characteristics which can be very challenging and demanding as well. There are
certain features of a firefighter which are essential in order to be a successful firefighter. For
example: Firefighter (FF) maintains effective and pleasant working relationships with his
superior and colleagues. He is flexible, not rigid, in his thinking. He is a self-motivated
individual. He has empathy and he is supportive of others in time of need. He knows that there is
a chain of command and that following established process and procedures is an important part
of doing his job. That he works as a team player and conscious of the fact that his success is
joined at the hip with team’s success. FF shows good judgment and so on. There are certain
features of a Muslim which are also essential in order to be a successful Muslim. All the
characteristics that I just listed for a FF, and more, are applicable to a Muslim as well. A Muslim
maintains effective and pleasant working relationships with his superior that is Allah (SWT) and
colleagues that is Ummah at large. A Muslim is flexible, and cannot be rigid, in his thinking
because rigidity leads to extremism and Muslims are required to be a “middle-of-the-road”
community by Allah Himself. A Muslim has to be a self-motivated individual, especially these
days. A Muslim has to have empathy and he has to be supportive of others in time of need. A
Muslim knows that there is a chain of command and that following established process and
procedures is an important part of doing his job that is of Allah’s khalifa, a representative, on this
earth. The chain of command we are talking about leads to Allah and the established process and
procedures we need to follow are the Qur’an and Sunnah of R(S) via commands and prohibitions
decreed upon us through Shari’ah. That a Muslim works as a team player and conscious of the
fact that his success is joined at the hip with team’s success. Here we are talking about individual
and collective responsibility and individual and collective morality as teams and team players.
The western societies talk a lot about individual freedom but very little about collective
responsibilities and moralities. That’s why there is collapse of family structure. Not in Muslim
societies. Not for Muslims. Even after having an onslaught of derogatory impacts on Muslims’
life for centuries, a Muslim family structure is preserved far better than a non-Muslim family
structure. Because Muslims are better firefighters. Because Muslims show good judgment.
Because Muslims are far closer to their deen. Because Muslims are more mindful of Allah and
more mindful of Hereafter and more mindful of consequences…

First of all, a firefighter has a great personality and has to maintain good relationships with his
fellow colleagues as they all work in teams and groups. Same thing: a Muslim has to have a great
personality and have to maintain good relationships with his fellow human beings as they all
work in teams and groups. Don’t we? We are teams: a team of father, mother, brothers, sisters,

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relatives; a team of wife and husband; a team of students and teachers; a team in the
neighborhood; a team in the town, city, nation; a global team. I am sure you get the sense. It is
important to get along with every one else and work together. A firefighter has a lot of stamina
and is physically fit as the job requires lifting heavy things and extinguishing fire. I believe, as a
Muslim, it is also very important to get along with every one, Muslim or otherwise, and work
together with everyone. A Muslim has to have a lot of stamina and has to be physically and
otherwise fit to do heavy lifting of life and extinguish fires of all sorts. In a sense, the sum total
of life is nothing but a series of firefights. The smallest of it is perhaps jealousy as a child for not
having that something that the other sibling has. The biggest of it is perhaps having an ego of the
size of an elephant. And everything in between. A Muslim has to fight them all to be a successful
firefighter.

A firefighter is intelligent and uses his common sense in saving people's life including his own.
A Muslim also has to be intelligent and use his common sense in saving people's life including
his own. It starts with saving “his own life” first, because if you cannot save yourself, you won’t
be able to save others. And then saving others to the extent possible. The firefighter should be
alert and focuses with a lot of patience and should be capable of fighting stress and tension
periods. So does the Muslim. In Islam, patience, that is sabr, is a virtue. The great Surah Al-‘Asr
from the Qur’an reminds us to remind each other, to have patience among other things, to be
successful. If we as Muslims have patience, we would be capable to fight stress and tension. And
then show gratitude, shukr, to Allah (SWT). Because sabr and shukr go hand-in-hand. The
firefighter should be self motivated, confident, brave and have the power to make quick
decisions. The Muslim should also be self motivated, confident, brave and has to have the power
to make quick decisions. Some of the problems we as Muslims are facing today are due to the
fact that are not self-motivated, that have lost confidence in our great heritage, that we have
become timid, and we never take any decision or action…just talk, talk and nothing but talk.
That is not a sign of being a Muslim.

It is important for a firefighter to have a good heart and be empathic towards other people along
with the power to maintain emotional control. It is more than important for a Muslim to have a
good heart and be empathic towards other people along with the power to maintain emotional
control. It is must. Having a good heart is especially important for Muslims. Because Muslims
believe that the seat of the niyyah that is intention is heart; and intention is half the ‘ibadah that is
worship. Why only “half” is a subject by itself and a topic for some other day; however, it is
important to know that it’s a huge chunk of righteousness. A righteousness heart is empathic to
others. A righteousness heart is in possession of emotional control. Brothers and sisters, it’s part
of Taqwaa.

Since the FF’s job requires listening to a supervisor, a firefighter should not have any ego
problems and should be very obeying. Since being Muslim requires listening to the ultimate
Supervisor called Allah (SWT), a Muslim should not have any ego called nafs and should be
very obeying. Obeying to Allah makes us Muslims. That’s the very definition of being Muslim!
For a Muslim, killing ego is also called Jihad al-Akbar, the greater striving for the purification of
soul. And purification of soul leads to removing diseases of the very heart we were just talking
about. Diseases, such as arrogance, anger, envy, jealousy, tale-carrying that is namima, and so
forth. Does it make a sense? A purified heart would be a righteous heart and a righteous heart

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would be an obeying heart and an obeying heart would be a successful heart. Why? Because
Allah (SWT) reminds us in Surah As-Shams that “Qad aflah man zakkah waqad khab man
dassah,” meaning “Indeed he succeeds who purifies his oneself, and indeed he fails who corrupts
his oneself.” And scholars have determined that in this ayat, success is meant to be obeying
Allah with His Commands and Prohibitions and failure is meant not obeying Allah and His
Commands and Prohibitions. Subhanallah!

The firefighting job can be very monotonous and tiring too, so a good sense of humor is great for
firefighters. The job of being Muslim can also be very monotonous and tiring. Just think about
only one thing: five daily salat. The whispers of the shaitan tell us about its monotony. Some
people think that there is no such thing as shaitan. That it is a construct of human mind. But they
themselves go into self-doubt, and bizarre behavior and anger that they cannot explain to
themselves. Remember, a human construct or not, the burden is on them to prove that when we,
the normal people, say for example, that anger is a tool of shaitan, that he is made of fire, we
mean it. They have to prove that that’s not the case. Going back to monotony, yes, a Muslim’s
life is a disciplined life, like that of a FF, like that of a soldier. It’s an organized life. It’s a
predictable life. It’s a responsible life. It’s a reliable life. And a Muslim has to have a good sense
of humor, especially these days, otherwise you will go crazy. Muslims can be funny, and
laughing. Laughing is NOT haram in Islam. Repeat, laughing is NOT haram in Islam. There is a
catch, however. Too much laughing is not encouraged. A chuckle here and a chuckle there is
very tonic. It’s kosher, brothers and sisters! A fire fighter should be determined and courageous
and not be afraid of heights and fire. A Muslim should also be determined and courageous and
not be afraid of heights of challenges of life and fire of temptations. Those who are not
courageous become conforming and loose identity. Those who are courageous influence others
to become like others, by inspiration. A FF provides hope and inspiration and so does a Muslim.

One of the most satisfying, humanly job is that of a firefighter, who serves for other people and
risks his life to save the lives of other people. The same thing applies to a Muslim. It is one of the
most satisfying things for a human being to be a Muslim, who serves others and risks his life to
save the lives of other people, starting with his family. As a matter of fact, Allah (SWT) reminds
us in the Qur’an this way:

“Yaa ayyyhalladhina ‘aamanoo qoo anfusakum wa-ahleekum naaran wa qooduhannaasu


walhijaaratu ‘alayhaa malaa-ikatun ghilaathun shidaadul laa yaa’soonallaaha maa amarahum wa
yaf’aloona maa yoo’maroon.”

“O ye who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones,
over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who flinch not (from executing) the
Commands they receive from Allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded.” [Holy Quran:
Tahrim (The Prohibition) 66: 6]

This ayah in Surah Tahrim places an extremely heavy responsibility on the head of household. If
all the people, especially those responsible for their wife and children, paid close attention to this
ayah, then a large portion of family problems would be solved. There would be no more tension
or insecurity in the house and all things would get settled easily. The problem is that sometimes

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all members of the family are not cooperative. May Allah (SWT) help us all to unite our families
and help us save our families from the fire, Ameen.
Like the profession of a nurse or doctor, firefighter’s career is also one in which a person helps
other people whose life is in danger. The job of a firefighter includes saving people from fire,
burning buildings, caring for their medical requirements, extinguishing fires in people's home
and helps people stay away from fire. The same way, a Muslim’s job is also of helping others
whose life is in danger or not. It includes saving people from all sorts of harms and hurts, shall
we say fires, burning buildings, shall we say families or societies, and caring for those who are
affected, medically, shall we say holistically! Holistically here means total or comprehensive.
That includes religious, political, economical, social, and so forth. A Muslim’s job is to help
others who are in need, and without any precondition, without any discrimination, especially
those whose lives are in jeopardy. The job has to be selfless without and pride and prejudice.

Every firefighter willingly goes to work and looks forward to save people's life. Every Muslim
willingly needs to go to work and look forward to save others’ life. Firefighters are like a whole
family, who work side by side, each other in helping and saving people's life. Muslims are like a
whole family, shall we call Ummah, who work side by side with each other in helping and
saving people's life. They, meaning firefighters, or shall we call them Muslims, have a pride in
their duty, and the overall mental satisfaction is amazing. A sense of achievement. A sense of
fulfillment. A sense of success. For all of us, the ultimate question of the day is this. And by the
way, it is also the title of today’s khutbah: Can you save yourself from the fire? What I mean is:
Can you save yourself from the Hellfire? Because that is the ultimate success.

Aqulo quali hadha wastaghfirullah, lee walikum wali saairil muslimeen; min kulli zanbin
festaghfiruh, innahu huwal ghafurur Raheem.

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