Khutbah: Be Proud to Be Muslim

All praise is truly Allah's. We praise Him, seek His help and ask His forgiveness. We take refuge in Allah from the evils of our selves and from the wrongs of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead him astray. And whomever He leads astray, there is none to guide him. I testify that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah alone, without any partner to Him. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May Allah's prayers and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, and upon his family and companions.

To proceed:

Dear brothers and sisters! Know that everyone is bound to something. Some are bound to money, some are bound to their job, some are bound to their having fun, some are bound to their popularity on social media, some are bound to their reputation. However, these are all creations, and being bound to creation makes you weak. But we as Muslims – we are bound and enslaved to someone greater. We are enslaved to the Creator of all creation. Allah says in His book:

هُوَ سَمَّىٰكُمُ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ

"He named you Muslims." (Qur’ān 22:78)

That's right, Allah Himself – the Creator and Sustainer of all that is in existence – named you as a Muslim, as a person who submits to the One who knows what's best for the human being better than the human being himself does.

Thus, my question is this: why feel shy to be Muslim? Why the need to feel ashamed about your Islam? Why feel shy to wear a kufi/topi or a jubbah out in public? Why feel shy about growing a beard? Why feel shy to wear the hijāb in public? Why feel shy to tell non-Muslim friends you don't eat certain foods or party or mingle because of your religion? Why feel embarrassed about offering ṣalāh in public when its time comes? Why?

Dear brothers and sisters! Understand that you have been given the best way of life, revealed from the Creator Himself. What more could you ask for? This Islam we have is a precious gift. Why feel ashamed of it? You see, a lot of us just want to fit in with everyone else. We want to be like everyone else. But dear Muslim, this might shock you, but a Muslim was never meant to just fit in with rotten apples.

Really.

The chosen people of Allah were meant to stand out. Did any of the prophets of Allah (blessings and peace be upon them all) fit in with the bad ways of their people? Do you read about the prophets in the Qur’ān trying to just fit in with their unbelieving people and be all snug and cosy?

No!

They all stood out. They were exceptional people. They didn't want to be like everyone else – they wanted to go further. They understood that Islam, being from the Creator Himself, was superior to other ways of life. They were proud of this precious gem and wanted to share it with those who drowning in darknesses.

Dear brothers and sisters! Today's society is clearly going further and further downhill. It has decayed to an all-time low. Yes, technology is ever-advancing, but that's about it. Children are becoming more rebellious, more and more families are crumbling, people are losing their sense of shame, violence and abuse is on the rise, foul language is as normal as saying “Hello”, people now take alcoholics, druggies and people with no respect for their bodies as role models, and the list goes on. It's all messed up. Whereas us – we have a way of life that saves us from falling into all this corruption! Our Islam grants us dignity and honour. Yes, some the laws may seem strict, but they're for your own good. It's like a mother who stops her thirsty baby from drinking soap (to Allah though belongs the highest example!). But yet, you have Muslim youth who see imitating the corrupt as being cool. Muslim youth who take these corrupt devils as role models. For God's sake, really? You wanna take them as role models? We have much better role models!

Our master Muḥammad (ﷺ) was abused, teased, thrown rocks at such that he bled so much that the blood glued his feet to his sandals, expelled from his own city, and even had people attempt to kill him – he endured hardship for 13 harsh years. And then 10 years later, he (ﷺ) and his companions marched into Makkah victorious. How did he deal with the people who previously oppressed him? Did he slaughter them? Finish them off? Exact revenge on them? Humiliate them?

No.

He forgave them.

He let them go.

Ṣalla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam (Allah bless him and give him peace).

That's what you call a role model.

Dear brothers and sisters! We talk about how our parents or teachers favour one kid over the others? Well guess what? Allah, the Creator, has favoured you in that He has selected you to be guided at this moment to His chosen religion. You're Muslim because the All-Wise and All-Knowing Creator willed for you to be from the people of Islam, the religion that guarantees your success in both this world and the next. So I want you all to walk out of this hall with at least this one message: be proud of your Islam.

Khutbah: Allah Knows What's Best for You

All praise is truly Allah's. We praise Him, seek His help and ask His forgiveness. We take refuge in Allah from the evils of our selves and from the wrongs of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead him astray. And whomever He leads astray, there is none to guide him. I testify that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah alone, without any partner to Him. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May Allah's prayers and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, and upon his family and companions.

To proceed:

Dear brothers and sisters! Do you believe that Allah is the All-Knowing? Do you believe that Allah is the All-Wise? He (ﷻ) was the one who created the entire universe, so how can He not be the All-Knowing and the All-Wise? Thus, one thing I hope you all take home from this khuṭbah is this: your creator knows you better than yourself. Thus, your creator knows what's best for you. Allah is wiser than you. Allah knows what's best for you.

Think about it: you as a human being, isn't your mind limited? Aren't your senses limited? Aren't your life experiences you've had limited? Do you really know everything about life? Don't you have your biases? Aren't you in need of guidance and help from people every now and then? So what makes you think then that you can come up with the best way to run your life?

Dear brothers and sisters! Allah, our merciful lord, has granted us a way of life which if we live by, we shall be successful, both in this life and the next. Remember that Allah (ﷻ) knows what's better for us. You see, people sometimes ask, "Why is this ḥarām?" or "Why isn't that allowed in Islam?" or "Why is Islam so strict on this?" Well, you've got to understand that Islam came from Allah. It wasn't some random person who came up with it, na‘ūdhu billāh. It's the religion that came from the Creator and Sustainer of everything in existence, transcendent and exalted is He. The one who knows everything inside out. The one who knows us better than we know ourselves. So when Allah prohibits something, you should realise that Allah has done it with a wisdom behind it. Allah knows that such things are not good for you. Yes, you may like and enjoy those things, but Allah (ﷻ) knows the bigger picture –  these things will end up harming you one way or another, often without you even realising. So when people go, "What's the harm in just 'having a chat' with the opposite gender?" or, "What's so bad about giving hi-fives to a person of the opposite gender?" or, "Why can't we play the derbakki?' or, "Why are all these yummy chips and sweets ḥarām?" or, "What's wrong with swearing? It's only a word," one thing they don't understand is the spiritual harm these things to them. They're no longer able to cry when making du`a. They can't concentrate in ṣalāh. Their skins do not tremble when they hear the book of Allah being recited. They don't know what it's like to love Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ). And unlike physical harm, emotional harm or whatever other kind of harm, this spiritual harm has its consequences not only in this dunyā but in the ākhirah too. Not such a good idea now to 'have that chat' or give those high-fives or play that derbakki, is it?

Brothers and sisters, think about it: you go to the doctor and he prescribes you some medicine, and then you take it, and it's got the most bitter taste in the world. Not only that, but it leaves this ugly after-taste for hours afterwards. And yet, you're still willing to take it two or three times a day. Why? Because your trust the doctor in that the medicine he's prescribed for you will cure you – it might not taste good but ultimately it's good for your health. Right? So if you can have this level of trust in a doctor – a limited creation just like you who's prone to error – then why have trouble having a higher level of trust in Allah, the creator limitless in knowledge and wisdom who knows you better than you do yourself and so is not prone to any error whatsoever?

I end with an āyah from the Qur’ān:

وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكْرَهُوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تُحِبُّوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ شَرٌّۭ لَّكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

"It may well be that you all hate something and it is actually better for you. It may well be that you all love something and it is actually worse for you. Allah knows. And you! You don't know!" (Qur’ān 2:216)

Khutbah: Prioritising What We Learn

All praise is truly Allah's. We praise Him, seek His help and ask His forgiveness. We take refuge in Allah from the evils of our selves and from the wrongs of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead him astray. And whomever He leads astray, there is none to guide him. I testify that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah alone, without any partner to Him. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May Allah's prayers and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, and upon his family and companions.

To proceed:

Dear brothers and sisters! Our religion teaches us that the most important of all knowledge is learning that which is obligatory upon every single Muslim to learn (farḍ ‘ayn), such as having a sound belief about Allah and His Messenger, as well as matters without which a Muslim cannot fulfil his obligatory actions such as wuḍū’ and ṣalāh. As such, learning these must be prioritised over anything else. However, you have people who have their priorities in the wrong order. You have some who are really smart and educated when it comes to the knowledge of the dunyā, but when it comes to religious knowledge they still don't know some of the ABCs. This is concerning. Yes, they may pass all their tests and exams, but what's the point when you've got no clue about what you need to know to pass the ultimate test – the test of this dunyā?

I'll give you a few examples. The first one is istinjā’. After using the toilet, it is very important that you clean yourself with water, such that you clean all the najāsah (filth) from yourself and so that you don't get any najāsah on your clothes. And if water is unavailable, then you still need to clean yourself, but with a dry material like toilet paper. Because: 1) it is sinful to stain your clothes with najāsah. 2) if you use the toilet, then right away pull your pants up and leave, when you pray later on, your clothes will still have najāsah on them. And you know that you can't pray with najāsah on your clothes or body. So for people who don't do istinjā’ after using the toilet, what do you think this means for all the prayers they've prayed in the past? All of them don't even count! So this is very important – a ḥadīth in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim mentions that there's even a punishment in the grave for the one who doesn't take care to avoid getting splashes of urine on himself. That's why the school has watering cans in the toilets, you know…. So this is a very important matter that every Muslim is obliged to know, yet many are unaware of it.

Another example: in wuḍū’, you're supposed to wash your face, arms and feet. You're not supposed to wipe them. But there are people who only wet their hands and then wipe the area without actually washing it – they don't make the water flow over these areas. And so the wuḍū’ is not valid.

One last example: ṭuma’nīnah (a.k.a. ta‘dīl al-arkān). In the ṣalāh, when performing rukū‘, i‘tidal, the two sujūds and the sitting between the two sujūds, it is obligatory to pause and remain motionless in each of these positions. However, you have many people who, for example, rise from rukū‘, their hands still swaying by their sides, and then they go down to sujūd before their hands even stopped moving. And then you have people who do rukū‘ and sujūd so fast it's as if they're birds pecking on the floor. Not taking care of ṭuma’nīnah can invalidate your ṣalāh. And what did the Prophet ﷺ say about the ṣalāh?

أوّل ما يحاسب به العبد يوم القيامة الصلاة، فإن صلحت صلح سائرُ عمله، وإن فسدت فسد سائرُ عمله

“The first thing that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Resurrection is the prayer. If it is good/sound, then the rest of his deeds will be good/sound. And if it is corrupt, then the rest of his deeds will be corrupt.” (Narrated by al-Ṭabarānī)

There are so many more examples, but I hope these ones show you how important it is to prioritise learning your farḍ ‘ayn, i.e. things without which you can't fulfil your obligations before Allah such as ṣalāh. Not learning these things could devastate your outcome in the ākhirah. This is more important than useless things like how to win some time-wasting game, how to do card tricks, how to trick people…. You must prioritise what you learn. Yes, when it comes to beneficial worldly knowledge, go have your share of it. But remember that the success achieved by this worldly knowledge isn't necessarily guaranteed. Whereas with the success you can achieve through your religion, this has been promised by the Lord of the Worlds. You may not live to sit your next exam, but be sure that your examination in the Hereafter has been promised by your Lord. I'll end with an āyah:

وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَيَخْشَ ٱللَّهَ وَيَتَّقْهِ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَآئِزُونَ

“And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, has awe of Allah and is mindful of Him – it is they who are the attainers of success.” (Qur’ān 24:52)

Khutbah: Admiration of the Rich and Famous – a Delusion and a Disease

All praise is truly Allah's. We praise Him, seek His help and ask His forgiveness. We take refuge in Allah from the evils of our selves and from the wrongs of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead him astray. And whomever He leads astray, there is none to guide him. I testify that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah alone, without any partner to Him. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May Allah's prayers and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, and upon his family and companions.

To proceed:

Brothers and sisters! I want to dedicate this khutbah to something I've noticed in many conversations, especially amongst the youth like you guys. It seems to be that whenever we have conversations, the topic time and time again is about other people who seem to be more successful in life. People who have the money, who have the fame, who have the followers, who seem cool. Whether it's soccer players, actors, CEOs, whatever. “Oh, you know this guy, he earns $4.5 million a year.” “This person earns in a day what others earn in a month.” “That person has 10 Lamborghinis and 5 mansions and 20 personal bodyguards and a private jet.” And so on. All this admiration of the rich and famous.

Dear brothers and sisters, let me tell you: this stuff – all this admiration – is not healthy. Wallāhi, it's not healthy for your hearts, for your spiritual health. It's not a healthy thing to admire these people. Yes, these people may have the wealth, the luxury, the fame, the good life, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're happy. Go search the internet and see how many of these "successful" and "lucky" people have family issues, violence issues, drugs issues…. How many of them live miserable lives despite their riches. How many of them have even taken their own lives. And they say money buys happiness….

And then they call them "stars"….

Well guess what? First of all, these guys aren't stars. But if we were to compare them to stars, then know that our Master Muḥammad ﷺ was a sun whose light outshines all other stars. Sayyidunā Muḥammad ﷺ was a sun whose light outshines all other stars. A sun whose light does not twinkle. True happiness lies in following him ﷺ, both in the next world and this world too. So the smart person should ask himself: “Whose light do I want to take from?”

It's a sad reality nowadays among Muslim youth. If you ask them, “Name for me ten footy players off the top of your head,” or, “Name for me ten movie stars,” or, “Name for me ten singers,” you'll hear the names flow from their tongues like water. But if you ask, “Name for me ten of the ṣaḥābah of the Prophet ﷺ off the top of your head”, or “Name for me ten members of Ahl al-Bayt (the family of the Prophet ﷺ),” or, “Name for me ten of the names of Allah,” you'll see them struggling to name even five. This is sad. Muslims – that's right, Muslims – having more love and admiration for kuffār, – people who outright reject belief in Allah and His Messenger ﷺ – the corrupt, and the sinners, than they have for Allah, – Lord of the worlds – His Messenger ﷺ, and the righteous. Muslims whose hearts and minds recognise and know more about the corrupt more than they do about the righteous.

Dear brothers and sisters! When it comes to worldly matters, don't look to those above you. Look to those below you. Those who live in poverty and in unsafe parts of the world. That way, you become content with what you have, and so you can feel rich without needing to be rich. Understand that admiring the rich and famous makes you lose focus of your reality in this world. This world isn't gonna last forever. We're only going to be here for a few years, then we'll all move on, whether we're rich or poor, famous or unknown. You can have all the wealth you want, but are you going to take any of it to your grave? You can dream all day about owning a nice, big home, but for how long are you going to live there? Sooner or later, you'll be moving into your new home 2 metres below the surface of the earth with the worms as your neighbours, a home which you'll probably stay in for much longer than any home you'll ever live in during this life. So which home do you seek to invest in? Wouldn't it be the smarter thing to work so that your grave – your only definite future home – may be a garden from the gardens of paradise?

Dear brothers and sisters! Realise that you have something most of these rich and famous people don't. And that's īmān. Such a valuable thing. Only with īmān can you earn the love of the Lord of all people, the One who has guaranteed Paradise for those who believe and do righteous actions. And by the way, the last and lowest-ranked man to enter Paradise will get equal to ten times what this world has, as per one narration. And that's forever. So who's more worthy of admiration and love then: the rich and famous of this temporary, worthless world, or the man whose guidance leads to the everlasting Paradise, ﷺ?

Khutbah: The Power of Intention

All praise is truly Allah's. We praise Him, seek His help and ask His forgiveness. We take refuge in Allah from the evils of our selves and from the wrongs of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead him astray. And whomever He leads astray, there is none to guide him. I testify that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah alone, without any partner to Him. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May Allah's prayers and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, and upon his family and companions.

To proceed:

Dear brothers and sisters! We've just left the month of Ramaḍān, a month where we further recognise our purpose in life: to worship Allah. Now, what we don't want is to be of those who slack off after the holy month. But how? Well, let me share with you something you can do where you can transform every single act of yours – the permissible acts that is, not the sinful ones – into rewardable acts of worship.

Now, before you do any action, think about your intention when doing it. Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” If you intend your everyday activities for the sake of Allah, you transform them into acts of worship, and so you actually get rewarded for them. So when you go to sleep, don't just say “I'm going to sleep because I'm sleepy.” Say, “I'm going to sleep to refresh my body for worshipping Allah tomorrow.” That way, you get ḥasanāt by literally doing nothing but intending your sleep to be for Allah's sake and then lying on your bed for six or so hours! How good is that? When you eat, don't just say “Well, I'm starving.” Say, “I'm eating to provide myself with energy to pray; I'm eating so I can express thanks over the blessings Allah has provided me; I'm eating because by body is a trust from Allah and so it's wājib for me to take care of my body.” And so when you intend these things, you get ḥasanāt for eating. Because, you're going to eat anyway, so you might as well get ḥasanāt for it, right? Even something like picking up a pen dropped by the person next to you. “Why am I doing it?” Don't just make it something you do out of habit. Intend it for the sake of Allah. Intend helping your Muslim brother/sister. Intend strengthening the brotherhood/sisterhood between the two of you. If the person's a non-Muslim, intend giving da‘wah via your good conduct. And Allah will reward you for each of these intentions, if you are sincere with them.

Ask yourself, “Why am I studying?” “Why am I picking these subjects?” “Why do I want this mark?” “Why am I aiming for this career after I leave school?” Don't just let your reasons be, “Oh, because I like it.” “Looks good.” “That job pays good money.” Sure, you can have these intentions, but have a higher intention. Your purpose in life is to worship Allah. The years you spend in your studies – you were always gonna go through them anyway. So why go through them without earning ḥasanāt from them? What a waste of a great opportunity! So have an intention when you approach your studies. “I'm studying to ensure that I can easily earn a halal income when I'm older” “I'm studying so that I can get into a career where I can serve the ummah and be a source of benefit for it.” “I'm studying so I can be a doctor, because there's a lack of and a need for Muslim doctors out there.” Or anything similar, and be sincere about your intentions.

Brothers and sisters, this is life-changing stuff. Just try this for one day where you do everything with an intention, and notice a deep change within you. A happiness, peace and joy within you. Everything you do that day – even your daily habits such as brushing your teeth, eating, drinking, charging your electronic device – will all be a source of ḥasanāt for you. Not a moment of your day will pass by without ḥasanāt rolling into your account. And the best thing is, you don't get tired from making intentions. So what do you have to lose?

I'll end with two calls to action. The next time you eat, ask yourself, “Why exactly am I doing this?” Intend it for Allah. That's the first call to action. The second one is that when you have time, sit down and think of something in your life that's important to you. Then write down the intentions you have in doing that important thing, and be sincere about them. Remember that your purpose in life is to worship Allah, and so just like how in an exam you wouldn't waste time you could use to score marks, likewise you don't want to have time pass by in this world without adding on to your ḥasanāt account.