First Khutbah – Main Points
Opening from the Qur’ān:
كل نفس ذآئقة الموت – و إنما توفَون أجورَكم يومَ القيامة – فمن زُحزِحَ عن النار و أُدخل الجنةَ فقد فاز – و ما الحيوة الدنيآ إلا متاع الغرور
“Every soul shall taste death. You will be recompensed your due on the Day of Rising. As for the one that is distanced from the fire and is admitted to the Garden – he has triumphed. And as for this life: it is just the enjoyment of delusion.” [Q: 3: 185]
I wish to open the khutbah today but discussing death. Modern life balks at an earnest discussion about death. It is the 800-pound gorilla in the room. Popular culture propagates the illusion of eternal life with a hyper fixation on youth. The consequences are drastic. Not only are people unable to come to terms with the reality of death, it also has societal repercussions, namely the neglect of the elderly and the sick. Death is treated as an embarrassment – never to be looked in the eye. If Muslims are to not only adhere to lifestyles that are pleasing to God, but to engage in thought patterns that engender the type of reflection that leads to a God-pleasing lifestyle, then we must try and steer the discourse to include contemplation on our own deaths. (continue reading here…)
First Khutbah – Main Points
اقترب للناس حسابهم و هم في غفلة معرضون
“The Reckoning is ever drawing closer to Mankind, yet they are woefully heedless of it, turning away.” [Q: 21: 1]
The Hour is upon us all. At least that is the way we Muslims should always be perceiving the Hour. None of us knows when it will arrive, be it the Final Hour or our own demise. The previous āyah, from suwrah al-Anbiyā’ demonstrates the sense of urgency that man should have but often doesn’t. This is mainly due to ghaflah, or heedlessness. Interesting to note as well: This āyah does not distinguish between Muslim/non-Muslim. In other words, both Muslim and non-Muslim alike can fall victim to heedlessness - we must be vigilant in watching against it.
In the English language we have a saying: “Strike while the iron is hot.” This aphorism can serve as a great reminder to us all in this day and age. We should not be wasting any time in vain pursuits but rather in perfecting our Islam, our character. For as the hadith says:
أثقل ما يوضع في الميزان يوم القيامة تقوى الله, و حسن الخلق
“The heaviest thing to be weighed on the Scale on the Day of Judgment will be taqwā of God and goodness of character.”
In relation to the above, which clearly articulates the importance of taqwā and good character, we must bring these two aspects of Muslim life and morality into being. And as for striking when opportunity knocks, this is in accordance with the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet [s], where he says this about opportunity/charity:
لأن يتصدق المرء في حياته بدرهام خير له من أن يتصدق بمائة عند موته
“It is better for a man to give a single dirhām in charity during his lifetime than to donate a hundred at his demise.”
No time to waste – strike while the iron is before the Fire is hot!
So now that we’ve heard about taqwā we have to ask, what is it? Let’s examine a couple of aspects: (continue reading here…)
Dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, I greet you today with the greeting of Paradise, “as-Salaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu”.
First Khutbah – Main Points
اقترب للناس حسابهم و هم في ذلك غفلة معرضون
“The Reckoning is ever drawing closer to Mankind, yet they are woefully heedless of it, turning away.” [Q: 21: 1]
The times we live in are full of doubt, confusion and heedlessness. Many people, having capitulated to the false demands of science, have decided to bury their heads in the sand. Many varieties of philosophies abound about the nature of reality but none of them possess even the merest ability to launch out on this endeavor. Science is not wholly equipped to look for God, though some of God’s Signs [آيات] are detectable by science. One of the signs of this heedlessness is over the argument about the Hour, which for some has become either a joke or an unquantifiable determinacy.
One of the flaws that science has is that while it is capable of looking out, it cannot look in. Even when applied in microscopic terms [which may seem like looking inward but in reality it is not], it is still looking out; a “horizontal” activity. For Islam, the phenomenon of Revelation is a top-down one. One may even say that Allah’s relationship with the creation is “vertical”, a top-down relationship. Thus, for man, if he is to know his Lord, he must reflect, ponder, and use his heart and brain in tandem. While this process does involve looking out to the cosmos or up at the heavens or at the wonders in creation, ultimately the human being must turn inward if s/he is to understand their role in relation to God. (continue reading here…)
