- Sermons
- /
- Friday Sermons
First Khutba
Every human is concerned about his existing and his safety
Dear Brother, to start with, I like to introduce a serious term which is "something fateful," which means something crucial that your safety and your happiness depend on doing it if it is an order, and your misery depends on avoid committing it if it is a prohibition. To clarify, you may eat fruit or not, but if you drink poison this will cause death. So, poison is totally different from fruit. Thus, there are some deeds that if you perform them you will be pleased forever and ever, while if you leave them you will be in misery forever and ever. When something is fateful in the sight of religion, it is an extremely crucial matter, because no human being on earth except that he has a naturally concerned about his existing, its safety, perfection and maintenance. Actually, the six thousand millions people who are on the five continents, or even every human from Adam until the Day of Resurrection are concerned about that. Where does misery come from? It comes from ignorance which is the worst enemy of human. Verily, the harm that ignorant causes to himself is really greater than that done by his enemy; therefore, the serious problem of the people of Hell-fire is the ignorance:
"And they will say: "Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!"
Friday Khutba is one of the greatest acts of worship
So, the greatness of this religion is that the Friday prayer is one of its greatest worship. In addition to that, the most important thing in the Friday prayer is the Friday Khutba which is an instructional worship, i.e.: even if you do not attend any Islamic lecture, the attendance of the Friday sermon it imposed on you, in which you may listen to the interpretation of an Ayah or Hadith. Moreover, scholars of interpretation when Allah the Almighty ordered us to hasten to the Friday prayer:
"Come to the remembrance of Allah [Jumu'ah religious talk (Khutbah) and Salat (prayer)] and leave off business (and every other thing),"
The scholars said: the remembrance of Allah is the Friday Khutba. As for he who comes after the end of the Khutba and feels satisfied because he has caught the Friday Prayer, it is not enough because the wisdom of this prayer is in its sermon.
Sins are of different kinds
Dear Brother, today the subject we are talking about is related to what we called: 'fateful issues'. Injustice as the Prophet peace be upon him said is darkness on the Day of Resurrection. For that reason, scholars said: there are many kinds of sins; major and minor sins. A believer may fall into error and commit minor sin, while major sins are very dangerous and are the way to destruction.
However, there is a fully comprehensive Hadith from the Prophet peace be upon him in which he said that there is just one sin that leads its doer to the Hell, and there is just one sincere act that leads its doer to Paradise, so these two positions are extremely serious, one leads to Paradise while the other leads to Hell:
((Abdullah bin Masood may Allah be pleased with him said that the Prophet peace be upon him said that Truthfulness leads to Al-birr (righteousness) and al-Birr (righteousness) leads to paradise, a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes known as a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fujur (wickedness-evil-doing), and al-Fujur leads to the hell fire, a man keeps on telling lies until he is written as a liar before Allah))
A believer cannot be betraying or lying
Dear Brother, I repeat this Noble Hadith due to its critical importance:
"The believer may acquire all sorts of characteristics except treachery and lying"
A believer may be introverted who prefers isolation, may be extroverted who enjoys being with other people, may like travelling or prefer residing, may be sociable or unsociable, may be highly fashionable or not, or may be nervous or calm. So there are too many inborn characters, moreover, every human being has his own nature:
"The believer may acquire all sorts of characteristics except treachery and lying"
So if he lies or cheats sh3er, then he is not a real believer:
"The believer may acquire all sorts of characteristics except treachery and lying"
Lying is the altering of facts; i.e. first of all there was injustice, but when people protest against it, killing took place, then when they wanted to express this problem, laying took place. So there are injustice, killing, and lying which is fairly serious because it converts truth:
"The believer may acquire all sorts of characteristics except treachery and lying"
So whoever betrays his trusts, his conscience, his religion, his convictions, and his nation is not a real believer:
"The believer may acquire all sorts of characteristics except treachery and lying"
The worst kind of lying is to utter a lie against Allah
Dear brother, the exact truth is what I mentioned before:
((Truthfulness leads to Al-birr (righteousness) and al-Birr (righteousness) leads to paradise, a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes known as a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fujur (wickedness-evil-doing), and al-Fujur leads to the hell fire, a man keeps on telling lies until he is written as a liar before Allah.))
Dear brother, there are many kinds and degrees of lying. For example, a man may lie to his wife about the price of something, which is surly a lying, or you may say to your son: Come and take this (you hide something in your hand). The Prophet peace and blessing be upon him once saw a women doing so, he said: What do you want to give him? She answered: a date, then the Prophet peace and blessing be upon him said: if you had not done that, it would be registered as a lying against you. Actually, this advice is for parents and teachers: if a woman strongly advised her daughter about honesty then she lies to her husband while the daughter knew the truth, then all her speech will become invalid because people learn through their eyes not their ears, which means: too many advice about any subject will become meaningless due to a contrary behavior to it, so:
"The believer may acquire all sorts of characteristics except treachery and lying"
Therefore, the most dangerous types of lying to utter a lie against Allah. Allah the Almighty says:
"And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rejects His Ayat"
This is the worst kind of lying, or to be precise, to give an advisory opinion (fatwa) contrary to what you know; you know the correct fatwa, So when you do that for your benefit or due to being biased to a strong party, you have done a big mistake and have committed a serious sin:
"And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rejects His Ayat"
In some sayings:
((Whoever helps an oppressor, Allah will turn the oppressor on him))
((Whoever helps in killing a Muslim even by just a part of a word, he will meet Allah with the written phrase on his forehead “Despondent of Allah’s Mercy.))
So tell the truth even if it is bitter. It is said that Abu Jafar al-Mansur (who was a ruler) met Abu Hanifa, he said: O Abu Hanifa why do not you visit us? He answered: why do I do that while I fear you of nothing! No one comes to your palace except who fears you. If you honor me you will tempt me, and if you drive me away you will humble me
It is a great sin to say against Allah what ones doesn't know
Dear brother, I will talk about a precise subject: the first ayah is:
"And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rejects His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, revelations, etc.)? Verily, the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.) shall never be successful."
But there is another ayah in which our Lord the Almighty arranged sins in ascending order; first he mentioned Al-Fahsha' (i.e. great sins of every kind )and Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism), the oppression and aggression, the polytheism, the Kufr (disbelief) and finally He mentioned at the top of these sins:
"And that you should say against Allah what you know not"
Therefore, some scholars said: if common people committee major sins, then it is easier than to say against Allah what you do not know because when you do that, you are reassuring the disobedient, and frightening the repentant. " O Ibn Omar your den is your flesh and blood, follow those who stood firm on Allah's order and don not follow those who deviated from it."
In every age there is man who exalts it
Dear brother, what should we do? Allah the Almighty says:
"So ask the people of knowledge if you know not."
Allah the almighty ensured that in every age there will be men on the right, they might be many or few, but you must look for them. So in each era there is someone who will exalt it. Actually, life is not free from honest, faithful and pious people who fear Allah, people looking and to God the mean. So you must search for people of right who never ask you for a wage:
"He said: "O my people! Obey the Messengers;*Obey those who ask no wages of you (for themselves), and who are rightly guided"
Asking is the key to work
Dear Brother:
"So ask the people of knowledge if you know not."
Asking is the key to work. Actually, I always say: There is no shame in being ignorant but in remaining ignorant. Also, there is no shame in being wrong, but in remaining at fault:
"So ask the people of knowledge if you know not."
You must believe, I am not exaggerating, that if Allah the Almighty sees that you are seeking truth sincerely, He will guide you to the right without you notice that:
"So ask the people of knowledge if you know not."
If you want to know whether an action, a situation, selling something or buying it is legal or illegal, then:
"So ask the people of knowledge if you know not."
The Qur'an and the Sunnah are the standards
It is not a shame to say: I do not know, but to say: I know while in fact you do not. Once, a delegation came to Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal in Baghdad after a four months walking travel, they asked him thirty question and he just answered seventeen ones and said that he did not know the answers of the rest, they were astonished and said: Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal does not know?! He said: Yes, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal does not know!!. This harmonizes with the saying:[ the half of knowledge is to say: I do not know] which is the problem of many scholars because some of them find it unreasonable to say I do not know (the answer of a question) instead, they invent answers. So [ the half of knowledge is to say: I do not know] Once, when we were at university, one of our professor taught us a valuable lesson, he instructed us to write a subject, one student wrote it depending on the professor's words, but the professor said to him: Did you make sure of these words? I went back on my words. Verily, believer has a scale; which is the Noble Qur'aan and Sunnah of the Prophet:
((I have left among you two matters by holding fast to which, you shall never be misguided: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet))
"O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger (Muhammad), and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority."
Who are those in authority? Imam Shafi'i said: they are both scholars and rulers: scholars give instructions and the rulers carry them out. So there are legislation and execution bodies, and nowadays we have legislative and executive power.
Which means the ruler should obey the scholar's order because the latter knows the truth, while the former has the power, so if they work together they will complete each other.
Do your scales match those of the Quran?
Dear Brother, there is a an extremely accurate point: the fault in scales is uncorrectable, while the error in weight is unrepeatable; i.e. if you have an incorrect balance, there is always a difference of two hundred grams between the two dishes of it, if you use it a million times each weight is wrong, is not it? On the other hand, if you once used a correct scales and thought that two hundred kilos are one kilo, this happened just one time. So again, the error in the balance cannot be corrected, while the error in weight will not happen again. Consequently, it is a thousand times better to err in the weight than to have an incorrect balance. So the heroic act is to have a proper balance. In fact, Allah the Almighty gave us scales in our world like: the powerful man is feared, the rich man gains a lot of attention, and man naturally likes perfection, beauty, graces, the benevolent, the beautiful, and the perfect fellow. Whoever, as I said earlier, the heroic act is that your scales are like those of the Noble Qur'an:
"They are the successful."
Look for the scales of the Qur'an:
"And whosoever is saved from his own covetousness, such are they who will be the successful."
"Those who believed (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism), and used to fear Allah much (by abstaining from evil deeds and sins and by doing righteous deeds)."
Look for the scales of the Noble Qur'an and ask yourself this embarrassing question: does my balance match that of the Noble Qur'an ? If so, then congratulations to you, if not, then you are in great danger.
Whoever asks someone other than Allah loses his humanity
Dear Brother, people have a false illusion that if a man performs Hajj shortly before he dies, Allah will forgive all his last sins. I swear by Allah to you that this is a false illusion. Also they think that if a man fasts Ramadan, Allah will forgive all his last sins. Actually, there is an unforgivable sin which is Shirk (polytheism):
"Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases"
Consider the following example as an expression of this idea; if a man wants to travel on train to Aleppo in order to receive a large amount of money, he may commit many mistakes, he may buy a card from the first class and ride a vehicle in the third degree, this is a mistake, but the train is on its way to Aleppo, there is no problem. Also, he may feel extreme hunger for five hours while there is carriage for food in the train but he does not know that, this is another mistake. Also, he may ride with rude young men whose dirty jokes bother him, this is another mistake but the train is on its way to Aleppo. However, the fairly unforgivable big mistake is to ride a train going to Dar'a (to the south) while the amount of money is in Aleppo (to the north), which means he reached a dead end:
"Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases"
If you ask anyone other than Allah you will not receive any help because you ask a poor slave who fears like you and who might be selfish or a liar. So if you ask him for help this is the biggest mistake you have ever committed in your life, why? Because man is created in order to worship Allah the Almighty, so you are created to obey Him, and He created the whole universe to honor you( He created everything for your benefit). In conclusion, if you ask help from anyone other than Allah, you lose your humanity.
Man has a free will, it is a foundation of Islamic doctrine
Dear brother, the precise matter is to know that when man thinks that Allah forces him to do something, then this is the largest error in Islamic doctrine. Quite simply, the matter of free will and obligation is: once, a drinker was brought to our master Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) and he ordered to inflict the legal punishment on him. The drinker said: By Allah, O Commander of the believers, it is my predestination. (Allah decreed that matter). Like when ignorant common people say: counted cups in definite places (Allah decrees that someone will drink a specific number of win cups in a specific place) or Allah decreed misery on that man, of course This speech is contrary to Islamic doctrine. Caliph Omar said: inflict the legal punishment on him twice, once because of drinking alcohol, and another because of inventing a lie against Allah. Then he said to him: Woe to you!, Allah's predestination never makes you lose your free will and puts you under obligation:
"Then whosoever wills, let him believe, and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve."
"Verily, We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful."
"For every nation there is a direction to which they face (in their prayers)."
Verily, man has the power of free choice, and the moment you think that you are forced to perform your actions, you breach the largest axis of the Islamic doctrine. Moreover, Allah the Almighty never punishes except the guilty. Once I bought a book, on the first page of it the author wrote in his handwriting: 'O Lord, all my sins are due to Your predestination. These words means that he disbelieve in the Perfection of Allah the Almighty, is it reasonable that Allah decrees something on you then punishes you for it? It is just like when the poet said:
He threw him in the sea hand-tied up and said to him:
Beware! Beware! Never get wet with water!
***
will the Creator of the universes do that? of course not
Dear Brother, once again:
((Truthfulness leads to Al-birr (righteousness) and al-Birr (righteousness) leads to paradise, a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes known as a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fujur (wickedness-evil-doing), and al-Fujur leads to the hell fire, a man keeps on telling lies until he is written as a liar before Allah.))
I say these words, and ask Allah the Almighty's forgiveness for me and you; so ask Him His forgiveness and He will forgive you, and you will gain a lot by doing that.
The second khutba
Praise be to Allah, and I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, the Protector of the righteous; and I bear witness that Prophet Muhammad, whose character is exalted, is His servant and His Messenger. O Allah, grant Your peace and blessing upon sayyidina Muhammad and his family, and Companions altogether.
Kinds of ayat in the Noble Qur'an
1-Ayat about universe
Dear Brother, scholars said: ayah means sign. So when Allah the Almighty says:
"They disbelieved in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah"
Which means they disbelieved in what guides them to Allah. Some scholars divided these ayat to three types: First, there are ayat of universe:
"Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.* Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire."
These are ayat about universe which is a silent Qur'an, and the Noble Quran is a speaking universe, and the Noble Prophet was a moving Quran. So the ayat about universe let us know about Allah the Almighty.
Ayat about Allah's actions
And Allah has ayat about His Actions, His actions are signs of Him. Once, one of my brother in faith told me that he was in a car with someone on their way to the airport, the driver of the car wanted to make fun by running over a little puppy, he could brilliantly crush its forelegs, he kept on driving and let out a loud laugh because he was able to crush just its forelegs. My brother in faith swore to me that in the next week and in the same place, one of the car's wheels broke down, so that driver removed the wheel's screws and pull it, but the car jack broke down which caused the vehicle to fell above the wheel, and caused the wheel to fell on his hands, he was taken to hospital, and after two hours, his both hands were cut off. My brother swore by Allah that last Saturday that driver cut the forelegs of the little puppy, and the next Saturday his hands were cut off, this is one of His actions' signs.
Another brother told me that during the execution of a killer, that killer said: Before you hang me I will tell you my story: I have not killed that man whom you accused me to kill, but I killed another man thirty years ago, I was the chief of a police station, a criminal fled from my station, so I brought an innocent nomad and put him in his place, and on the next day the innocent man was executed. Thus, Allah the Almighty has universe's signs His actions signs.
Once, a man was circumambulating the Kaaba and was saying: O My Lord, forgive me for my sin and I think You will not do that! A man behind him said to him: O You! Why do you lose hope of Allah's mercy ? he said: I committed a great sin, he asked: What is your sin? He said: I was a soldier in the suppression of sedition in a town, after we succeeded we were allowed to steal whatever we want from that town, I entered a house and I saw a man, his wife, and his two children, I killed that man, and I said to his wife: Give me everything you have, then I killed her first son, when I was about to kill her second son, she gave me a golden shield which pleased me a lot, l looked at it carefully, there were two lines of poetry written on it, when I read them I fall unconscious, the two lines are:
If the prince and his assistants were unjust to people
And if the world's judge made a partial judgment
Then woe to, woe to, woe to
Woe to the world's judge from the Heaven's Judge
* * *
I say these words to all parties; shedding the blood of an innocent human being is an absolutely dreadful mistake:
Then woe to, woe to, woe to
Woe to the world's judge from the Heaven's Judge
* * *
On the day of Resurrection, a mother may see her son and may say to him: O My son, I fed you from my breast, I carried you in my womb, and I let you sleep in my lap, can you grant me only one good deed of yours so that I can benefit from it? Her son will say to her: O my mother, I wish I could. I am suffering from the same suffering as yours:
"Then, when the Trumpet is blown, there will be no kinship among them that Day, nor will they ask of one another."
When Abu As- Sa'ib, one of the Prophet's companions, died the Prophet peace be upon him came to his house which was shrouded in his bed. The Prophet heard a woman behind the curtain saying:
"May Allah be merciful to you, O Abu As- Sa'ib! I testify that Allah has honored you'. The Prophet said, 'How do you know that Allah has honored him?' I replied, 'O Allah's Messenger! Let my father be sacrificed for you! On whom else shall Allah bestow His honor?' The Prophet said, 'No doubt, death came to him. By Allah, I too wish him good, but by Allah, I do not know what Allah will do with me though I am Allah's Messenger. ' the woman said:' By Allah, I never ascribe purity to anyone else after that.'
The heroic act is to stand firm on Allah's orders
The Prophet peace be upon him said:
((Allah does not punish the individuals for the sins of the community until they see Al-Munkar (the abominable act) in their midst and they are able to disapprove it but they never do that, so when that happen, Allah will punish individuals for the sins of community))
"And no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another "
This is a very critical words, the Prophet peace and blessing be upon him said:
((Allah does not punish the individuals for the sins of the community until they see Al-Munkar (the abominable act) in their midst and they are able to disapprove it but they never do that, so when that happen, Allah will punish individuals for the sins of community))
And the proof of that is in this ayah:
"And fear the Fitnah (affliction and trial, etc.) which affects not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong (but it may afflict all the good and the bad people)"
"Those who reject Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), We shall gradually seize them with punishment in ways they perceive not.* And I respite them; certainly My Plan is strong."
Allah likened His Plan to a rope in terms of durability, the resistance to stretch forces, and hardness, the resistance to pressure forces. In fact, diamonds is the most durable element and steel is the hardest element, certainly My Plan is strong."
So whoever has a false illusion that he is strong, is actually under the Domination of Allah the Almighty, He may destroy him at any time. Verily, the heroic act is to stand firm on Allah's orders.
Invocation
We beseech you Allah to show us the way of rightness among those whom You showed, and give us good health among whom You healed, and be our patron like those whom You became their patron, and bliss what You bestowed us, and save us from the traumas that you destined for You rule in rightness and You are never judged, and he whom You patron shall never be in humiliation and whom You make as enemy shall never be lofted, blessed and dignified are You, and we thank You for what you destined, we ask Your forgiveness and we repent to You, Allah please lead us to the good deeds for no one leads to them but You, please lead us to the good manners for no one leads to them but You, please Allah make us do well in the religion which is our dignity, and make our lives good for it is our living, and make us safe on the day of judgment for it is our final destination, please make the life our supply for all good things and make the death a rest from every evil, our master the Lord of all worlds, please make me with what You have made lawful needless of what You have made unlawful and make me with Your benevolence independent of all sh3er, and make my obedience to You turn me away from my disobedience,., please by Your generosity and mercy make the word of rightness and religion high and lead Islam to victory, and make the Muslims dignified in every place on earth..show us Your strength against Your enemies. O Allah..the most generous.
