- Sermons
- /
- Friday Sermons
The first Khutba:
The bitter truth is better than the soothing illusion:
Dear brother, man sometimes flatters himself thinking that he is in the highest degree of faith, and this illusion soothes him in his search for his real or imaginable comfort zone.
With regard to faith, every common Muslim thinks that he has the deepest faith, while if you test his faith according to an objective standard you will find that as far as the earth is from the heaven, so far is he from faith, and when he comes face to face with the falsehood of this soothing illusion when his life comes to an end, it will be too late.
So it is a real triumph to accept the bitter truth because it is a much better than the soothing illusion.
Man sometimes complains lacking subsistence and is unsatisfied by his financial situation, but the wonder of wonders is that he is satisfied with his faith and mind without paying any effort to increase his faith, nor to strengthen it with new faith-based facts, so you find him avoiding seeking knowledge. Whenever he has a dialogue with any knowledge seeker he claims that he has deeper faith than the latter, and he is relieved by this soothing illusion. However, the bitter fact is a thousand times better than that soothing illusion. Consider the example of someone who has a forged check of one hundred thousand dollars in his pocket, so it is better for him to know earlier that this check is forged than living in a dream and in false hopes, because if he knows the truth earlier he will pay effort to earn real money. So I wish that every believer keeps away from flattering himself.
Superficial belonging to Islam is useless:
Superficial belonging to Islam is like when someone commits great sins in his house, heinously violates Allah’s orders, attends meetings that do not please Allah, goes to parities to mix with friends who are so far away from being Muslims, earns money in which there is a suspicion of usury, trades in illicit goods, has improper business relationships, and deals in usury, nevertheless, he comes to mosque, performs the five prayers and thinks that he has a very deep faith. Actually, Man always flatters himself, but the real triumph is to face the truth rather than deny it, and the bitter truth is a thousand times better than the soothing illusion. I think that the population of Muslims in the world, according to the latest census, is about one billion and eight hundred millions and they possess a fabulous wealth that only Allah knows its amount. In other words, the largest population of people in the world who have wealth are Muslims while they are at the same time the poorest nations in the world, and their situation is heart breaking, so we should look for the reason (behind this situation). In fact, when you read any Hadith of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, you, as a Muslim or a believer, should firmly believe that it is right and is revealed from Allah the Almighty. One of these Noble Ahadith is:
"Twelve thousand people will not be defeated because of their small number"
If twelve thousand believers will not be defeated, then how about one billion and eight hundred millions (why are they defeated)? This means that there is a serious problem, those people are Muslims in title yet they are not entitled to be real Muslims, because their belonging to Islam is just superficial, which is ineffective. To clarify, consider the following Ayah:
"It is those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah and worship none but Him Alone) and confuse not their belief with Zulm (wrong i.e. by worshipping sh3er besides Allah), for them (only) there is security and they are the guided."
They confuse their belief with wrongdoing in acts like oppressing the wife, treating children unjustly, and deceiving the customer by selling him local product as an imported one. So, when you find that Muslims are far from Allah, that means they are heinously violating Allah’s orders. The least Muslim should do is to apply Islamic principles in his house, in his relationships, in his meetings, in his activities, in his movements, in the way his daughters and his wife dress (to ensure that they dress the Islamic clothing), and should perform prayers perfectly, this is how the real Muslim should be, while it is wrong to think that it is sufficient for Muslims to attend the Friday Khutba (Sermon), and to perform the five prayers like most of them do, while the Islamic principles are not applied in their homes, their relations, the way they earn their money and the way they spend it. Actually, a believer has a goal and a mission in his life (to worship Allah), while the disbeliever does not have that and his main concern is to eat, drink, and enjoy life, and he does not have a mission in his life, therefore he does not seek knowledge, and his main concern is to eat, drink, enjoy, and to be distracted by false hope. Their description is mentioned in the Ayah below:
"Leave them to eat and enjoy, and let them be preoccupied with (false) hope. They will come to know!"
It is mandatory for a believer to worship Allah:
Dear Brother, Allah has not created us but to fulfill a mission which is mentioned in the Ayah bellow:
"And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me (Alone)."
The worship is to be obedient to Allah. Now how could you obey Allah if you do not know His Orders and His Prohibition? So, one of the prerequisite of worship is to know the Orders and Prohibitions of Allah. We know for sure that Salah is an obligatory act of worship, but why wudu (ablution) is an obligatory act? In fact, wudu is not a mean of connection to Allah, it is only washing parts of your body, however it is an obligatory act because Salah, which is an obligatory act, is not valid without wudu. In other words: as long as Salah is obligatory and as long as wudu is one of the prerequisite of Salah, Wudu is obligatory too. Now, man must worship Allah, consider the following Ayah:
"And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me (Alone)."
How can you worship Allah if you do not know His orders and His prohibitions?
Bad effect of false Fatwas and wrong interpretation:
The problem is that there are too many Fatwas, that legitimize what is forbidden and forbid what is lawful, thus the enemies of Islam are bashing it because of false Fatwas, wrong interpretation and forged Ahadith. Actually, religion is in the depths of every normal human, so it is impossible to abolish religion from earth because the human being’s need for religion is like his need for air. So, religion cannot be abolished. Therefore, the enemies of Islam practice some deception to abolish it through false Fatwas, improper interpretation, and forged Ahadith. So when someone comes to one of the houses of Allah (to a mosque) anywhere on earth he is practicing something that goes along with the purpose of his existence. For example, what is the importance of attending lectures for a student in a university? It is the first priority for him because he attends to learn, while if he considers attending lectures as something unimportant, which is against his benefit, then he will receive poor education. So when you seek knowledge you are fulfilling the reason behind your existence.
Quranic ayahs describing the believers:
That was an introduction, dear brother, and I want in this Khutba to look in the Qur'an for the Ayahs that begin with "The believers are only those who…"
First of all: "innama" (are only) is a limiting and exclusive particle; i.e.: if you say for example that Shawki is only a poet, that means he is a poet and nothing else, it is his personality because he is only a poet. In comparison with this example, the Phrase: "the believers are only those who…" is followed with the characteristics of real believers, and, to be frank, whoever does not possess these characteristics is not a real believer. Actually, there are four Ayahs in the Noble Qur'an start with the Phrase: "the believers are only those who…" and they are really accurate and critical ones. The first Ayah is when Allah the Almighty says:
"The true believers are only those who believe in (the Oneness of) Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad)"
"Who believe" think about someone says to you that he holds a PhD, while he has not attended any school in his life; he has not attended any lesson, and has not heard any lecture, what a funny thing!
Who are the true believers?
When did you become a believer? Have you ever attended any Islamic lecture? Have you ever reauthord the Noble Qur'an? Have you read the biography of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace? Have you ever read the commentaries of the Noble Quran? When did you become a believer? Someone may think that being born to Muslim parents and performing the five prayers is enough for him (to prove his faith), of course not, the matter is more serious than that:
"The true believers are only those who "
Who are the real believers?
"The true believers are only those, who believe in (the Oneness of) Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad)"
They believe in Allah as a Creator, as Lord, and as a God, and they believe in His Best Names and His Virtue Attributes, and they believe that all affairs are under his command:
"And to Him return all affairs (for decision)"
They believe that there is no movement or stillness except by His Permission, they believe in Allah in every sense of the word, they believe that Allah exists (without place or direction), that He is The One, The All-Perfect, and they believe in each and every one of His Best Names. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
((Allah has ninety-nine Beautiful Names, one hundred less one, whoever comprehends them will enter Paradise))
When someone manages his time and has time for everything; there is time for his lectures, for his meetings, for his evening parties, for managing the affairs of his company, for meeting his business partners, and for travel, so he has time for everything, but does he have any time for (strengthening or increasing) his faith?
The believer belongs to a community:
Allah the Almighty says:
"The true believers are only those, who believe in (the Oneness of) Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and when they are with him on some common matter,"
Which means: You belong to a community because there is no one who lives alone:
"The true believers are only those, who believe in (the Oneness of) Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and when they are with him on some common matter, they go not away until they have asked his permission"
You belong to a community as a supporting group, and you are one fellow in a group, all for you and you for all. To use a contemporary term, it is called (the belonging to the community). In fact, I have traveled to most of the world's countries one of which is Chicago where you find the highest building in the world, I visited that building and I was told that it was designed by a Muslim Pakistani architect. Also, the greatest space scientist, Farouk El-Baz, is a Muslim. Astonishingly, there is an amazing Islamic excellence, but it is accomplished by individuals not by nations; we are considered as underdeveloped nations with rare individual excellence cases.
Link between faith and contributing to the community:
By the way, Allah distributes intelligence and stupidity equally to all nations and peoples; the ratio of geniuses people to the total population in the most underdeveloped countries is similar to that of the most developed ones, so intelligence and stupidity are distributed equally among all peoples and nations. However, genius people in underdeveloped countries have no place in life as their place is taken by sh3er (unqualified individuals), which is a very great problem. What I want to say is that real believers, according to the Ayah below, are:
"The true believers are only those, who believe in (the Oneness of) Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and when they are with him on some common matter, they go not away until they have asked his permission. Verily! Those who ask your permission, those are they who (really) believe in Allah and His Messenger."
There is a connection between believing in Allah and contributing to your community. Actually, there are general problems, civilization’s challenges, and there are problems which Muslims experience in their countries, and they will not be solved unless Muslims act as a whole to solve them, because achievements are done by individuals in Muslim countries, thus they achieve individual excellence not general one. For example: a small country like Malaysia with a population of twenty-two millions and which I happened to visit once, exports to the world what exceeds the exports of the entire Arab world, including the oil, they have a hundred billion dollars financial surplus, they do not know where to exploit it, and there country is very strong, very rich, and developed, while Arab countries are underdeveloped, are suffering poorness and their wealth is not excavated yet. I hope that this point is clear to you; it will not happen (solving our problem) unless we contribute to our community. Actually, you should feel while you are in your office that you are executing a mission to your nation, so by mastering your business or your industrial work you are achieving this mission. I hope that we move from selfishness to contributing to the community.
True Muslims care for their nations:
Allah the Almighty says:
"The true believers are only those who…"
Exclusively those who believe in Allah and His Messenger:
"The true believers are only those, who believe in (the Oneness of) Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and when they are with him on some common matter, they go not away until they have asked his permission. "
I want to give you this simple real life example; I have met many electricity and water officials, they said to me that by turning off only a one hundred watt lamp by every citizen, we are able to spare enough money to buy a generator of five hundred million dollars worth that needs another five hundred million dollars worth of oil for annual consumption, which means we can spare a thousand million dollar of our expenses if each citizen turn off only a hundred watt lamp according to an accurate account that takes into consideration how many houses that have power meters, so if each house with a power meter switch off only one lamp we will spare a lot of expenses.
As for water; the consumption of it in Damascus is seven hundred thousand cubic meters, while the production is four hundred thousand cubic meters, and we can reduce the water consumption to half without affecting our life at all. Actually, there is no contribution to the community in our lives; consider the example of someone who is washing his car with large amounts of drinking water which is the distinctive water of Feigeh (the main source of drinking water for Damascus and its suburb), so there is no contribution to the community in such act. Another example: When you, as an employee, take a business stationary piece of paper, and you use it as a towel to dry your hands, what have you done? You have consumed something expensive because you have not got a handkerchief in your pocket. Thus you are not a real believer, according to this Ayah, unless you contribute to your community, unless you care for the economization and the reduction of consumption, and unless you care for your nation's problems. Furthermore, the way of dumping trash is a kind of belonging to the community. By the way, I have visited many European countries; the cleanliness there is something unbelievable and is above extent because they follow laws and regulations.
Serving one’s nation means serving its citizens too
Allah the Almighty says:
"The true believers are only those, who believe in (the Oneness of) Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and when they are with him on some common matter, "
A matter which is a concern to the whole community, a holistic matter, and how many holistic matters are we suffering from? For example we have an industrial challenge and our enemies are lurking as they will never be satisfied unless we either import or consume their products, so they hamper our industrial business by all kinds of barriers because they want us to consume their products, and the minute we start to manufacture our own products they declare war against us. The significant industrialist is he who offers products at accepted rates making availability of job opportunities to a thousand workers in the process not to mention that the price of a local product is one tenth of a similar imported one.
Therefore you are offering quite considerable service by contributing to your community via your agricultural, industrial, and commercial business, so:
" And when they are with him on some common matter, "
A matter which is concern to the whole community:
"They go not away until they have asked his permission. Verily! Those who ask your permission, those are they who (really) believe in Allah and His Messenger. "
Things of a common benefit are known by nature:
The indication here is that this Ayah establishes a connection between faith and belonging yet contributing to the community, and this instinctive contribution can be available under uncountable domains the least of which is to turn off the tap during your wudu (ablution) when you come to answer an important telephone call for example. There are too many mistakes committed in our homes, like in water consumption, in electricity consumption, in dealing with public accommodation which is always in bad situation. For instance, in public gardens, many chairs are broken, why do people do that? Why do we damage public accommodation and we enjoy doing that? This is a big problem and that is inherited from the time of French colonialism, when citizens used to creatively annoy the French ruler who was considered as the enemy of the nation at the time, this is related to the 1940th and is over now; but nowadays when you spoil anything like an electricity column for example you ought to repair it from your own money.
A believer is a good citizen:
Dear brother, I want you to be a good citizen because this is the state of a believer, and this Ayah is a sufficient proof of that:
" And when they are with him on some common matter, "
Of course, this Ayah has too many meanings, and when I apply it in our daily life, that narrows its meanings:
" And when they are with him on some common matter, "
A matter which is a concern to the whole community:
"They go not away until they have asked his permission. Verily! Those who ask your permission, those are they who (really) believe in Allah and His Messenger. "
The real believer fears that his deeds might be not accepted:
This is a second relevant Ayah:
"The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts"
Which is the fear of Allah, the real believer fears that his deed is not accepted, he fears that Allah is not pleased with him, and he has what I called ' Noble fear', and this is the situation of a believer. So, you do not find a real believer but fears that Allah is not pleased with him in this life. Actually, whoever feels secure in this life against the punishment of Allah, Allah will make him feel scared on the Day of Resurrection, and whoever fears the punishment of Allah in this life, Allah will make him feel secure on the Day of Resurrection. Thus, you should be worried and you should ask yourself: Is my deed accepted? Does it please Allah the Almighty? Do I apply Islamic principles in my home? Is my marriage based on sound basis? Am I raising my children properly? If you feel no worry at all that means things are happening against Islamic laws; your children are badly raised, your wife does not adhere to Allah's orders, and there is a suspicion of usury in your income, nevertheless you perform Salah! You will not be able to reap the fruit of this prayer with all these sins; you will not reap it except with uprightness. Allah the Almighty says in this Noble Ayah:
"The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts"
Dhikr (the remembrance of Allah) causes a tremor, fears, and worries in you, which is a sign of faith:
"And when His Verses (this Quran) are reauthord unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone);"
Every believer should have a faith-based scale:
I hope that whenever you reauthor the Ayahs in the Noble Quran, in which there is description of real believer, you should have courage to ask yourself this question: am I like these believers? If you are so, then praise Allah, and if not, try to be like them:
"The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (this Quran) are reauthord unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone);* Who perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and spend out of that We have provided them. * It is they who are the believers in truth. For them are grades of dignity with their Lord, and Forgiveness and a generous provision (Paradise)."
which means that you should not value your faith according to your own scales but according to a scale derived from the Ayahs of the Noble Qur'an, so do not do that according to your own scale but to a faith-based one.
Physical diseases end at death while soul’s agony starts after it:
So there are four Ayahs which are considered as a faith-based scale, the first one is: "When Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts" Have you ever cried while reciting the Noble Qur'an? Have tears ever filled your eyes while performing Salah? Have you ever felt closeness to Allah the Almighty? If a person performs Salah, reauthors the Noble Qur'an, and mentions Allah and does not feel anything, he should know that he has no heart (he lacks faith), and he has a serious problem. In fact, there is a painful disease which is not serious at the same time, like the fracture which heals after a period of time, yet its pain is unbearable. On the other hand, the cancerous tumor causes no pain at all, and it may last for a month or even a year with no symptoms at all, but suddenly it turns into a blocking mass. Thus, the most serious diseases are those that cause no pain at all, while the one that causes pain to you is easily diagnosed and treated, so where does danger hide? It hides in diseases which you do not feel. I want to tell you these accurate words: Soul’s illnesses have no symptoms, but when does their devastating effect occur? That happens after death, while physical diseases have severe pain from which you suffer in your life, and it ends after death, like when someone who has a catastrophic terminal illness, it will end after death, while the diseases of the soul exist after death and cause misery for human forever and ever. Therefore, this matter is a very serious:
"The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (this Quran) are reauthord unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone);* Who perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and spend out of that We have provided them. * It is they who are the believers in truth. For them are grades of dignity with their Lord, and Forgiveness and a generous provision (Paradise)."
The most superior relationship is the brotherhood in faith:
The third relevant Ayah is:
"The believers are nothing else than brother (in Islamic religion)"
By Allah, when I find disunity, disagreements, jealousy, and exchanges of accusation among the believers, it hurts me a lot. Furthermore, I think that they are all far away from faith, because Allah describes them as brother, and the most superior relationship on earth is the relationship of brotherhood in Faith:
"The believers are nothing else than brother (in Islamic religion)"
However, if a dispute erupts between two noble brother, then Allah the Almighty says:
"The believers are nothing else than brother (in Islamic religion). So make reconciliation between your brother, and fear Allah, that you may receive mercy.* O you who believe! Let not a group scoff at another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former; nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former, nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How bad is it, to insult one's brother after having Faith [i.e. to call your Muslim brother (a faithful believer) as: "O sinner", or "O wicked", etc.]. And whosoever does not repent, then such are indeed Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)."
The rational person takes Allah into account:
Dear Brother:
"Only those are the believers who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and afterward doubt not"
The fortuneteller and doctor both claimed
that the dead will not be raised up to life. I said: Listen!
If that which you say is true, I shall not be a loser.
But if my words are true, great loss shall be yours.
* * *
This is not a real belief, the real belief is:
"Only those are the believers who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and afterward doubt not"
For example: when you cut a steel wire that is lifting one ton of cement, you know for sure that this ton will fall, and when your belief in the facts of faith resembles this example, then you are a real believer.
Do you thing that he who earns his money in unlawful ways will get away with it? Absolutely not, as this money will be perished.
When you are aware of divine laws you will stay away from violating them because you know for sure that Allah will take revenge.
Once, one of my brother in faith told me that his aunt, who is a lawyer, bought a house with her brother on equal shares, but the house was registered in her name, so she managed to expel him from the house, and she put it up for rent in return for an astronomical large amount of money, and she gave her brother only one percent of the rental money, I said to him: Your aunt will face a terrible fate. His aunt was young, strong, and a lawyer, while her brother is helpless in front of her so she took the house from him. What happened a month later was that his aunt had a cancer, I know someone who had a cancer and he lived for two years after it so she may live for a relatively long time, but she died after only one month and I went to that house (after he retrieved it) to console him.
So there is a Great God and the real triumph and cleverness is to take Allah into account, like every rational person or a believer does. Once a man wanted to test the belief of a shepherd, he said to him: 'sell me this sheep and take the price of it.' 'But I don’t own it' He answered. He said: 'Say to its owner that it died' He said,: 'By Allah, I am in desperate need for its price, and if I told its owner that it died or a wolf ate it he would believe me because he is convinced of my sincerity and my fidelity, but where is Allah then? (But Allah is watching me)'. So when you believe for sure that Allah is watching you, By The Lord of the Ka'bah you are a real believer, and when your faith prevents you from taking what does not belong to you, you are then a real believer. On the other hand, when you perform the five prayers while you earn illicit money, then you are so far away from being a real believer.
Dear brother, call yourselves to account before you are called to account, and weigh your deeds before they are weighed against you, and know that the Angel of Death has passed over us to reach sh3er, and will pass over sh3er to reach us, so let us be cautious. It is the clever one who condemns himself, and works towards what is after death; and the incapable is the one who follows his desires, and then expects to be rewarded by Allah.
* * *
The second khutba:
Praise be to Allah, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Prophet Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, His great creation, O Allah, bless him and bless our master Muhammad and his family and companions.
We benefit of (religion) only when we follow the right path:
Dear brother, once I asked a merchant: Could you summarize all the transactions of trade in only one word? Of course there are too many kinds of transactions and he was confused by the question, I said to him: the word is: profit, because if you do not receive benefit from your trade you are not a successful merchant. In comparison to this, the principles of Deen come down to one word. In fact, the Deen comprises: creeds, acts of worship, the science of inheritance, Fiqh, the principles of Fiqh, the comparative Fiqh, the history of Fiqh, and I can also name too many sciences and references of Deen. However, the whole Deen comes down to a single word which is uprightness, because unless you are righteous you will not reap anything of the fruits of Deen which will turn into culture, heritage, folklore, customs, and traditions. Actually, Islam is respected among all Muslims as a heritage, customs, and history, therefore you find a billion and eight hundred million Muslims have the largest wealth, nevertheless they do not have the upper hand; five Muslim countries are occupied, and their wealth is possessed by their enemies. So a billion and eight hundred million Muslims do not have the upper hand, they do not have control over their matters, and their enemies have too many ways to triumph over them. Thus, we have a serious defect, and if we do not try to identify and correct it then the way to our honor and dignity comes to a dead end.
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.
