Title of the Sermon: The Trial of the Follower and the Followed
Elements of the Sermon:
The State of Misleading Imams and Their Followers in This World and the Hereafter.
Methods of Misguiding them and its Forms.
The Path to Salvation.
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah exalt and send peace to our Prophet Muhammad, the one who was guiding and the trustworthy one, and I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, the only One without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger. As for what follows:
Fear Allah, servants of Allah, and know that whoever fears Allah, He will make for him a way out of every concern and a relief from every hardship.
In a majestic scene from the scenes of the Day of Judgment, the Lord of the worlds will call creation and say, "Whoever used to worship something, let him follow it; so, those who worshiped the sun, and those who worshiped the moon, and those who worshiped tyrants will follow, and none who worshiped anything other than Allah, exalted be He, from idols and stones, except they will fall into the Fire" (Agreed upon).
And when they fall into the Fire, the followers and those followed will curse each other, and every followed one will disavow his follower. Allah Almighty said:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَتَّخِذُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَنْدَادًا يُحِبُّونَهُمْ كَحُبِّ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِلَّهِ وَلَوْ يَرَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا إِذْ يَرَوْنَ الْعَذَابَ أَنَّ الْقُوَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعَذَابِ * إِذْ تَبَرَّأَ الَّذِينَ اتُّبِعُوا مِنَ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوا وَرَأَوُا الْعَذَابَ وَتَقَطَّعَتْ بِهِمُ الْأَسْبَابُ * وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوا لَوْ أَنَّ لَنَا كَرَّةً فَنَتَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُمْ كَمَا تَبَرَّءُوا مِنَّا كَذَلِكَ يُرِيهِمُ اللَّهُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ حَسَرَاتٍ عَلَيْهِمْ وَمَا هُمْ بِخَارِجِينَ مِنَ النَّارِ
"And among people are those who take rivals besides Allah, loving them as they should love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah. If only those who do wrong could see, when they see the punishment, that all power belongs to Allah and that Allah is severe in punishment. When those who were followed disavow those who followed them, and they see the punishment, and cut off from them are the ties. And those who followed will say, 'If only we had one more chance to return, we would disavow them as they have disavowed us.' Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets upon them, and they are not to emerge from the Fire."
And our Lord, exalted be He, narrates to us what will happen between them of blame, exposing their disgrace and their regret for what they ended up in, saying:
"And those who disbelieved say, 'We will never believe in this Qur'an nor in that before it.' But if you could see when the wrongdoers are standing before their Lord, returning words among themselves. Those who were oppressed will say to those who were arrogant, 'If not for you, we would have been believers.' Those who were arrogant say to those who were oppressed, 'Did we avert you from the guidance after it had come to you? Rather, you were criminals.' Those who were oppressed say to those who were arrogant, 'Rather, it was your plotting by night and day when you were ordering us to disbelieve in Allah and to attribute equals to Him.' And they will all conceal regret when they see the punishment; and we put chains around the necks of those who disbelieved. Will they be recompensed except for what they used to do?"
In this world, Allah has clarified the truth from falsehood, and guidance from misguidance, but many people disliked the truth because it prevented them from following their desires, so they chose falsehood and strayed from the straight path of Allah.
And among these were misleading leaders followed, who led the weak-minded among the people of desires to falsehood, barring them from the straight path in this world, and leading them into the Fire on the Day of Judgment.
These followed ones, heads of misguidance, their forms and images and methods of misleading creation vary; they could be an individual or a group or an entity or a party or an idea, each of them has over his follower a tyrannical authority, with which the follower submitted to his misguidance until he fell into the depths of Hell.
This followed one might be a head of misguidance who has become arrogant and looks down upon his followers, belittling them and imposing his guardianship over them. He becomes their measure of right and wrong, thinking and seeing on their behalf. He is their standard of truth and falsehood; they see with his eyes and only act according to his thoughts and opinions.
Here is Pharaoh who led his people to the Fire, one of the vilest heads of misguidance and leaders of disbelief. He stood to say to his people, as our Lord recounted:
وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ يَا أَيُّهَا الْمَلَأُ مَا عَلِمْتُ لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلَهٍ غَيْرِي
"And Pharaoh said, 'O chiefs, I do not know of any god for you other than me'."
And he said to them:
مَا أُرِيكُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَرَى وَمَا أَهْدِيكُمْ إِلَّا سَبِيلَ الرَّشَادِ
"I show you only what I see, and I guide you only to the path of righteousness"
Why did he say that? It is the arrogance of the haughty leader towards everyone else, seeing himself as grand and significant, and others as insignificant and worthless, as Allah said:
فَاسْتَخَفَّ قَوْمَهُ فَأَطَاعُوهُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فَاسِقِينَ
"So, he made light of his people, and they obeyed him. Indeed, they were a people defiantly disobedient."
Then, the one who is followed becomes a tyrant who leads his followers into misguidance by scaring them from the truth and guidance, showing them that following the laws of the Merciful will lead to their loss in this world, as the elite and leaders among the people of Shu'ayb said to the believers:
لَئِنِ اتَّبَعْتُمْ شُعَيْبًا إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا لَخَاسِرُونَ
"If you follow Shu'ayb, indeed you then would be losers."
They did this knowing that most people are attached to their desires, their souls aspiring to fulfill them by any means. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned the first category of the people of the Fire, saying: "The people of the Fire are five: the weak who lack power, those who were excessively compliant, following others blindly without a true cause or wealth." (Reported by Muslim).
It refers to those weak in intellect, whose desires overpower their reason, becoming individuals whose only concern is to fill their stomachs by whatever means, without looking beyond that. They fear losing worldly gains, seeing the elite possessing them, and believing that obedience and submission to them are their only means to acquire such gains. If one of them sought to deviate from their obedience, they would enforce their falsehood upon him through force and violence. Thus, the followers will say to their leaders on the Day of Judgment:
قَالُوا إِنَّكُمْ كُنْتُمْ تَأْتُونَنَا عَنِ الْيَمِينِ
"Indeed, you used to come at us from the right."
Meaning with strength and violence.
And there's another followed, who was only followed by those similar to him due to the likeness of their hearts in misguidance. Each of the follower and the followed is enchanted by falsehood, enjoying its pleasures, as Allah Almighty mentioned about the poets of misguidance and ignorance:
وَالشُّعَرَاءُ يَتَّبِعُهُمُ الْغَاوُونَ * أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّهُمْ فِي كُلِّ وَادٍ يَهِيمُونَ * وَأَنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ مَا لَا يَفْعَلُونَ * إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَانْتَصَرُوا مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا ظُلِمُوا
"And the poets - [only] the deviators follow them; Do you not see that they roam in every valley, And that they say what they do not do? - Except those who believe and do righteous deeds and remember Allah often and defend themselves after they were wronged."
Indeed, a poet is skilled in crafting rhymed speech and beautifying it, weaving charm through eloquence. If corrupt, he stirs instincts, awakens dormant desires, and brings ecstasy to the souls. Sometimes he describes lovers and their madness, the corrupt and their conditions, satirizing this one and lamenting that one, exaggerating in praise and falsehood, portraying the generous and brave as cowardly and miserly, and making the noble and distinguished appear ugly and lowly.
This false amusement and its leaders from the people of singing, art, and stories are what the inverted souls love, making them prisoners to their cursed magic, leading them with it to every vice and returning them with it to every evil.
The most dangerous of these followed ones are those who mislead creation in the name of religion, the misleading imams, the successors of the Samiri. Have you not heard about the Samiri? Is it imaginable that a falsifier would present to the people of Moses a golden calf that makes sounds, claiming it to be Moses's god that he forgot, and they would believe him? Yes, the Samiri was able to deceive the Children of Israel with his ornate speech during Moses's absence, until they worshipped the calf instead of Allah.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, informed us about the most severe thing he fears for his nation, saying: "Indeed, what I fear most for you are the misleading imams." (Reported by Ahmad).
These are the ones who invent lies about Allah to mislead people with falsehood against Allah and His law. Allah, exalted be He, said:
فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا لِيُضِلَّ النَّاسَ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
"So, who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah to mislead people without knowledge? Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people."
But were the followers excused in their misguidance? The truth is that they desired misguidance and tyranny and inclined towards it, but souls vary, some being lower and more depraved than others.
They made themselves deformed beings following the leaders of misguidance, surrendering their minds and hearts to their falsehood. But regret will consume them when they ask them on the Day of Resurrection:
إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعًا فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُغْنُونَ عَنَّا مِنْ عَذَابِ اللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ
"Indeed, we followed you, so are you [now] availing us against the punishment of Allah at all?"
They will ask Allah on the Day of Resurrection to double the punishment for those masters, as He informed us, saying:
حَتَّى إِذَا ادَّارَكُوا فِيهَا جَمِيعًا قَالَتْ أُخْرَاهُمْ لِأُولَاهُمْ رَبَّنَا هَؤُلَاءِ أَضَلُّونَا فَآتِهِمْ عَذَابًا ضِعْفًا مِنَ النَّارِ قَالَ لِكُلٍّ ضِعْفٌ وَلَكِنْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
"Until, when they all have arrived [in Hell], their followers will say to their leaders, 'Our Lord, these are the ones who misled us, so give them a double punishment of the Fire.' He will say, 'For each is double, but you do not know.'"
For each is double the punishment. The misleading masters will bear
أَوْزَارَهُمْ كَامِلَةً يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ الَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ أَلَا سَاءَ مَا يَزِرُونَ
"their burdens in full on the Day of Resurrection, and [also] of the burdens of those they misled without knowledge. Oh, how evil is what they will bear."
And as for the followers, because they preferred misguidance over guidance and were transgressors, we ask Allah for safety.
May Allah bless me and you with the great Quran and benefit me and you with the verses and the Wise Remembrance. I seek forgiveness from Allah for me and for you, so seek His forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
The Second Sermon
All praise be to Allah as much as He deserves, and may Allah exalt and send peace upon His messenger and servant, and upon his family, his companions, and those who ally with him thereafter. As for what follows:
Fear Allah, O servants of Allah, with true piety, and be mindful of Him in secret and in confidence.
O servants of Allah:
Allah has made clear the path of salvation, commanding His servants to follow what He has sent down to them alone, without others, saying:
اتَّبِعُوا مَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ قَلِيلًا مَا تَذَكَّرُونَ
"Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord and do not follow other than Him any allies. Little do you remember."
Allah sent down His books as light and guidance, and He sent His messengers with truth and criterion, and commanded His servants to follow His law and to emulate His prophets, as He said:
ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاكَ عَلَى شَرِيعَةٍ مِنَ الْأَمْرِ فَاتَّبِعْهَا وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
"Then We put you on a straight path regarding the matter [of religion]; so follow it and do not follow the inclinations of those who do not know."
And He said about His prophets:
أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ هَدَى اللَّهُ فَبِهُدَاهُمُ اقْتَدِهْ
"Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, so from their guidance take an example."
In this guiding law, there is no absolute obedience except to Allah and His messenger ﷺ. Allah is the Greatest, the King of kings, to Him belongs the supreme command and the absolute decree, and no ruler or scholar is to be obeyed in disobedience to Allah nor aided in that, for they do not possess for themselves or others any benefit or harm.
Here is the Prophet ﷺ advising Ka'b ibn 'Ujrah, saying: "May Allah protect you, O Ka'b ibn 'Ujrah, from the leadership of the foolish," he asked, "And what is the leadership of the foolish?" He replied: "Leaders who will be after me, who do not guide with my guidance, nor do they follow my Sunnah. Whoever believes their lies and aids them in their injustice, then they are not from me, nor am I from them, and they will not come to my Pond. And whoever does not believe their lies nor aids them in their injustice, then they are from me, and I am from them, and they will come to my Pond." (Reported by Ahmad).
Islam has its beacons and landmarks, like the beacons on a path. The truth in it is clearer than the sun at midday; none deviates from it except the one who perishes. Here, there are two paths: either preferring the Hereafter and the pleasure of Allah alone, following His revelation and being guided by His messengers and prophets, then the outcome will be Paradise and satisfaction, or following desires and the leaders of misguidance to end up in Hell and loss.
O Allah, make us guides who are rightly guided, not those who go astray nor lead others astray. O Allah, we seek refuge with You from leading or being led astray. O Allah, protect us from the trials, those apparent and those hidden.
O Allah, support Your servants who strive in Your cause, destroy the murderous criminal Jews, and save with Your mercy Your weak servants.
O Allah, guide our leader to what You love and are pleased with, and lead him to righteousness and piety. Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
O servants of Allah: remember Allah with much remembrance, and glorify Him morning and evening, and our last prayer is that all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
