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.

Khutbah: A Glimpse of Judgement Day and Jahannam

All praise is truly Allah's. We praise Him, seek His help and ask His forgiveness. We take refuge in Allah from the bad of our selves and from the evil 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:

First and foremost, I advise you to fear Allah and be mindful of Him. And fear the day He has promised, when you will stand to be judged for what you made out of your life.

This is a day on which the entire humanity will be in a state of utter fear and regret. A day when some will flee from their parents, some from their brothers, some from their sisters, some from their children, some from their spouses, and some from their friends, out of extreme panic. People will be running around unclothed, but that'll be the least of their concerns when compared to the intensity of their horror and terror.

This will be a day of scorching heat. Right now, the Sun is 150 million km away, and yet when the temperature hits 35 degrees and our foreheads drip a couple droplets of sweat, we feel irritated, we complain, we rush to a room where the AC's on. But on this day, the Sun will be only a mile away – right above your forehead. People won't just be sweating two droplets – some will have sweat cover their ankles, some will have sweat cover their knees, some will have sweat cover their shoulders, and some will be even drowning in their sweat. Drowning in water is bad enough – imagine now drowning in your own sweat. And no, there'll be no fans or ACs on that day.

This is a day which has 50 stages. Each stage lasts for 1 000 years. That makes this one day 50 000 years in length. And for the kuffār, each stage will only get worse and worse and worse. If Allah had created death on this day, they would've died from the misery of the day. But no – there will be no death. Only misery upon misery upon misery.

Brothers and sisters! That was only the Day of Judgement. Actually, just a glimpse of it.

And then there's Jahannam. A place of torture upon torture upon torture. Punishment will come from above, below, left, right, front, and back. But there'll be no death. No relief. Every moment there will only get worse. As Allah says:

وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَهُمْ نَارُ جَهَنَّمَ لَا يُقْضَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ فَيَمُوتُوا۟ وَلَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُم مِّنْ عَذَابِهَا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى كُلَّ كَفُورٍ

"And for those who disbelieve will be the fire of Hell. Death is not decreed for them such that they may die, nor will its torment be lightened for them. Thus do we recompense every ungrateful one." (Qur’ān 35:36)

The fire of Hell is 70 times hotter than the fire of this world. Imagine being thrown right into a hot, roaring volcano, with lava at 1000 degrees, and left to drown. How quickly would you expect yourself to melt and die? Fifteen seconds? Ten? Five? Now imagine drowning in Hell, where not only is it 70 times hotter, but there's no longer such a thing as death any more. The people of Hell will have their skin roasted till it's gone, and then Allah will replace that with another set of skin, and then they'll be roasted again till that skin's gone, and then Allah will replace that skin with another one –  and this will continue on forever and ever.

And guess what food will be on offer in Jahannam? Thorns – nutrition-less thorns that will not fulfil hunger. Also, fruits which will be like the heads of the devils. Then once they've filled their bellies with that, they'll have as their drink boiling water, which will scald their faces and cut up their bowels. And as for cold drinks, there'll be Ghassāq: an intensely cold drink made up of the pus, sweat, tears and wounds of the people of Hell. And all you'll hear from the people of Hell is screaming, crying, wailing...

Brothers and sisters! Allah said:

نَبِّئْ عِبَادِىٓ أَنِّىٓ أَنَا ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ۝ وَأَنَّ عَذَابِى هُوَ ٱلْعَذَابُ ٱلْأَلِيمُ

"Inform My servants [O Muḥammad] that it is I who is the Forgiving, the Merciful. And that it is My punishment which is the painful punishment." (Qur’ān 15:49-50)

Brothers and sisters! We'll soon be entering the last ten days of Ramadān, the days of salvation from Hellfire. So use every moment you can during these days in doing acts that will lead to you being saved from Hellfire, even if by giving half a date in charity. Especially given that these "holy days" fall in the "holidays". And especially given that Laylat al-Qadr – a night better than 1000 months – is most likely to fall on one of these nights. Beg to Allah to spare you, out of His immense mercy and grace, from His intense punishment. And use this time to make a firm commitment for the rest of the year to avoid actions that will lead to His punishment.