Friday Khutba by Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed - 04/18/25

Friday Khutbah — Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

My job is to give good tidings and glad tidings. But my job is also a forewarner. And I am here to warn you of trials and tribulations that shall come in latter portions of this ummah. It's not always gonna be easy. It's not always gonna be a walk in the park. There are gonna be times when it'll be very nice and enjoyable and easy — where we will enter Jannah through the door of shukr and gratitude. But there will be times when things will get difficult and challenging, and people will have to enter Jannah through the door of patience and sabr.

The Prophetic Warning About Trials

So the Prophet ﷺ talked about trials that will come towards the latter portion of the ummah. He is speaking to his companions over 14 centuries ago. But most definitely, subhanAllah, the audience — we were there. Meaning he was looking at us. He is speaking to the Sahaba and he wanted them to convey it to those who will convey it to those who will eventually share it with us today.

And amongst those things he mentioned was that towards the end of times a trial will come. And first of all — what is fitna? When we say trial and tribulation, it means it's a sifting process. It's a speed bump. It is an obstacle course. It is a method where you sift — as they say — men from boys. A way to sift those who simply talk and those who walk the walk as well. Those whose speech is rosy only, from those whose speech and actions line up. Those who have لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ on the tip of their tongue, from those whose لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ is in the deepest part of their hearts.

Allah from time to time sends these tests and trials to separate them. As He has mentioned in many places in the Qur'an:

Allah is going to make His knowledge apparent to you. He already knows. But He is going to make His knowledge apparent to you — who are the truthful ones and who are the liars. When difficulty will come it will become obvious who are people who love Allah and His Rasul at all cost, and who are those who claim to love Allah and His Rasul — but when the price became too high, they decided to walk out.

The Auction Analogy

You have attended a fundraiser, I am sure, in the masjid or elsewhere. And you have an auction that happens at a fundraiser. There is a piece of art, there is a beautiful necklace piece that one of the sisters donated and they do the auction. This necklace piece will start at $5,000 — a beautiful necklace piece, probably worth much much more. Does anyone want to take it? You have 5–10 hands wanting to bid for this beautiful piece for $5,000. And subhanAllah, we say okay mashAllah, there are so many people.

You have a person who will say, "I will take it for $7,000." Sorry — who is ready for $7,000? From those 10 people who had their hands raised, you see those hands went down to 5 people now. Then the auctioneer says, okay mashAllah, we have a lot of people — who is going to take it to 10? Let's take it to 10 straight. From those 5, now you still got 3 people. The brother says, alright, let's go on to $13,000. From that 3, you got now 2 left. He says okay, from the 2, the guy said, "I will take it for $15,000." He looks at the other guy — you in? You ready for $15,000? You want to counter bid? He says, "No man, that's off, I can't do that." Gone to the brother or sister in blue for $15,000.

What happened? As the price rises, the number of people wanting to bid on it goes down. As the price rises, the number of people who are still eager to get it goes down — because the asking price is too much. That, in one way, is what you call a fitna. That's when paradise is auctioned. How many people want paradise when you don't have to do anything — you can eat whatever you want, sleep whenever you want, drink whatever you want, do whatever you want, work wherever you want, spend wherever you want? You will have the whole audience say "I am ready for this" with both hands.

But as soon as you start putting restrictions and you start saying, "Well, you can't do this and you can't do that," slowly but surely the number of people's hands raised will keep on coming down — less and less. Eventually you will have just a very few people who say: throw at us whatever price you want. These hands, inshAllah, are not going down. We are ready. Whatever is asked from us — the name of the game is sacrifice.

And Jannah and paradise most definitely is not free. There is no such thing as a free lunch, they say. And so how can you think paradise is free?

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2450)

The Prophet ﷺ said: The commodity that Allah is selling is expensive. سِلْعَةَ — that which you sell. That which Allah is selling is expensive. Listen — that which Allah is selling is paradise. You have to be willing to sacrifice whatever is asked from you.

So the fitna is when Allah turns the heat up. And as Allah turns the heat up, the number of people willing to continue to bid towards paradise goes down.

The Hadith on Cascading Trials

Now let's go back to the hadith. He said towards the end of times there's going to be a lot of trials. And whenever a trial comes, a believer —

The believer will say: "This is where I am going to be destroyed." Notice — the Prophet ﷺ did not say a human will say. He did not say a Muslim will say. يَقُولُ الْمُؤْمِنُ — a genuine believer will say: "I'm going to be destroyed."

Why is he making this distinction, more than likely? Is that the destruction that the believer is speaking about is not destruction in the face of a tsunami, in the face of an earthquake or a fire or an avalanche or something else — because these types of destruction will knock out believers, non-believers, animals, plants, humans, and everything else. The believer is not that much worried about physical destruction. What he is worried about is something that an animal doesn't think about, and of course a disbeliever doesn't think about. What he is thinking about is his faith — that at all cost I have to retain my faith. And any difficulty that comes upon my faith is genuinely a difficulty that knows no bounds, a difficulty that is unmatched.

One of the beautiful prophetic du'as:

"Oh Allah, do not put our difficulty in our deen."

Three Prophetic Du'as

"Oh Allah, do not make dunya the biggest of my worries, and do not make dunya the extent of my knowledge, and do not make dunya the extent of my desires." Allahu Akbar.

Look at these three things. Number one — Oh Allah, do not make dunya أَكْبَرَ هَمِّنَا. Wallahi, ask each one of us — I ask myself, you ask yourself — what is your biggest worry? Wallahi, ask yourself: Is your biggest worry your mortgage? Your job? Your son's and daughter's education? Your son's and daughter's college? Their summer internship? Or is it: "My son and daughter, on the other end of the country, who are in university right now — did they wake up for Fajr today or not?" My daughter at school, my son at school — are they guarding their gaze or not? When they're at work right now and they're getting invited to office parties, how are they handling themselves over there? What is the concern of every one of us here? Is it the drop of haram wealth coming into our bank accounts — is that something that is the biggest concern? Or is it simply the more the merrier?

The first du'a: Oh Allah, do not allow our dunya to become the biggest of our worries, because we will be a destroyed group of people if our biggest concern is materialism.

Number two — وَلَا مَبْلَغَ عِلْمِنَا: Do not allow the extent of my knowledge to be in the dunya. I don't think there is anyone adult sitting here who has a degree less than a bachelor's — master's and beyond. When it comes to liberal western education, we are of the most educated of people. But does it stop there? Or can we have an equal equivalency in Islamic teachings? How many of us can say I have studied one full year — out of my 60 years of my life I dedicated one year to studying the Islamic sciences? How many of us can say that my daughter and son, yes, they have got 28 years of formal education, but out of that 28 years, one year has been in Islamic studies? Asterisk of this question — how many of us fathers and mothers, elders sitting here, can say: if I die today or tomorrow, my son knows the du'as of Salatul Janazah and can lead my janazah? How many of us can say that I can perform my daughter's nikah? How many of us know the rules of salah when traveling, the rules of zakah, the rules of things related to our own life?

Ya Allah — the du'a: do not make dunya the extent of my knowledge. That you ask me about stocks, you ask me about investments, you ask me about cars — I'll go until Isha speaking. But don't you dare ask me about the seerah or the deen or the Quran, because then I'll have to point to someone else. This is the du'a — do not allow our dunya to become the extent of our knowledge, because we are one destroyed nation if all we have knowledge of is about material things and zero knowledge about our faith.

Number three — do not make the dunya the extent of our desires. What's your 20-year plan? Your strategic plan for your family? What's your goals? What's your retirement plans? Let's put all those goals and plans and dreams that you and I have — how many of those things are related to material success, and how many of those things are related to the first night in the grave? How many of those are related to the hereafter? How many of those plans that you and I have made for our kids and grandkids have anything to do with helping our children cross over Jahannam, over the sirat, into paradise? And how many of it is just simply success in this material world?

Three prophetic du'as — say Ameen:

Memorize this in your own words: Oh Allah, do not make dunya the extent of our knowledge, the extent of our desires, and the extent of our worries. And Ya Allah, do not put our difficulties in our deen.

We want no difficulty. But if you have to choose — I will take difficulty in dunya, not in deen. I can bear — clench my teeth and bear — a decrease in my pay, a loss of a job, physically getting sick. But I cannot bear watching my son and daughter leave Islam. I cannot bear myself indulging in war with Allah, committing haram. I cannot bear seeing my grandchildren being raised as people who don't know the faith. That is a day I don't want to see — where I lose, in front of my own eyes, my faith or the faith of my children.

What amazing prophetic vision that the Muslim Ummah must have in order to have the glory that the Quran and Hadith speak about. The glory that you want and I want — and the world is so desirous — comes from a certain way which we have thrown behind our back. And we go on towards a way which will never give us glory but only disgrace.

The Cascading Fitna

The Prophet ﷺ, after gathering them, said that a fitna will come where a believer will say هَذِهِ مَهْلَكَتِي — "This is my destruction." But what will happen? Destruction of what? Of his faith. Because he's not worried about other things — he's worried about his faith. That's how tough it will become. But after some time, what will happen? The fitna will cease. The storm clouds will pass over and you take a breath, a sigh of relief.

Just as you relaxed, you get hit with the next round of fitna. The Prophet ﷺ said — when the believer will look at this one — this is the reason I'm sharing this hadith — very powerful statement: تُرَقِّقُ بَعْضُهَا بَعْضًا — each latter trial will make the previous test look insignificant. Every new trial will make the previous one look easy peasy. Each one will make the previous one look light and easy.

And the believer will say, "This is my destruction — I won't be able to manage to remain a Muslim through this one." And after a few years, or a couple of months, or whatever it may be, that storm will come to pass. And you will take a sigh of relief, only to be faced with now a third fitna — a third round. And in each round, the hands are going down. In each round, the faith is leaving the people's hearts. In each round, the number of true believers — their numbers are decreasing.

The Fitna of Dajjal

Till when? These tests will come — to the biggest test of all — the fitna of Dajjal. The fitna of Dajjal, which the Prophet ﷺ said, there is absolutely no fitna that is more difficult on the believer than the fitna of Dajjal. And there is no prophet that has come into this world but that he has warned his nation about this fitna. Even those prophets that came thousands of years ago — way before the Prophet ﷺ — they warned their nations: "Just watch — towards the end of this earthly state, there is going to be the mother of all fitna, called the fitna of Dajjal."

That was not going to happen in the time of Nuh (alayhi al-salam). Not going to happen during the time of Lut, or Shu'ayb, or Musa, or anyone else (alayhim al-salam). It's meant to happen in this prophet's era — and of course not during the time of the Sahaba and Tabi'in, Tabi' al-Tabi'in — but towards the latter portion of the Ummah. And that's where we are headed.

Every fitna — every 15, 20, 25 years — something comes and you say, "We're not going to make it." Five years ago we went through a massive fitna — the fitna of COVID. And it destroyed — it killed, physically killed of course a lot of people, some of my own closest relatives, Allahu yarhamhum. But it also pushed a lot of people out of the faith, because people didn't go to the masjid for a couple of years. And subhanAllah, I've known people unfortunately who simply just drifted away. Now alhamdulillah we're back. But we're going through another fitna, and this fitna dwarfs the previous one — just like the COVID one dwarfed the one before it.

And I want all of us to be reminded that what the fitna is taking place is not just overseas — the fitna has come to our shores, come to our homes, come to our communities. And we will see, and we'll continue to see, things alarmingly changing. As we have seen in the past weeks and months, liberties that you and I thought we've always had and cherished so beautifully, proudly, thankfully — are being eroded, are being taken away in a moment, without a moment's notice. And different communities that you may think you're not part of are being extremely affected. But the noose is getting tighter.

And to be able to express our faith, to be able to preserve our faith, may actually become much, much more difficult. And you will see that when it comes to finding help and resources, the wealth of the Muslims and the collective educational backgrounds of the Muslims today unfortunately doesn't seem to be helping us. With over 55 Muslim countries across the globe and hundreds of billions in assets, thousands and thousands of scholars of all backgrounds — we seem to be in such difficulty that people do not have a solution to get ourselves out of the mess of disgrace.

The Hadith of the Platter: Nations Surrounding the Ummah

I want to share with you a powerful hadith that you should remember every single day. The Prophet ﷺ prophesized a time that will come — in another hadith, related by Thawban (radi Allahu 'anhu), mentioned in Sunan Abu Dawud, in the chapter of Kitab al-Malahim:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitab al-Malahim, Hadith 4297)

Soon a time will come where the nations of the world will invite one another to devour and attack the Muslims — just like people surrounding a platter of food invite one another to attack the food. You have a big kabsa or you have a big lamb leg roast, and now people come and cut it up and distribute it amongst those who hungrily are waiting around the platter of food. Similarly, the nations of the world, the Prophet ﷺ said, will gather around the Muslim Ummah. We saw at the end of World War I what happened to the Muslims — that was a hundred years ago — and we're seeing round two. That you are surrounded, helplessly looking at all these hungry mouths at us.

And then the Prophet ﷺ was asked by the Sahaba — they couldn't believe that this is happening — "Ya Rasulullah, are we going to be in few numbers? Is that why this is going to be happening — that our numbers are going to be very few, that they would have the audacity and the ability to surround us like this?" The Prophet ﷺ responded: "No, your numbers are not going to be less. You're going to be in massive, huge numbers." How much? 1.8 billion. 4.5 million people performed the 27th night Salatul Isha and Tarawih in the Haram this year. How much? 4.5 million — unprecedented. Even Hajj wouldn't be that much. You have one Tarawih together — that's how the capacity has now been built. 4.5 million.

The Prophet ﷺ said you'll be in huge numbers, but you're going to be as useless as the scum that flows on top of the river. Today I was visiting here, came this morning, saw the beach here, saw the scum — you see that's flowing on top of the ocean. It's nothing, it's got no value. The waves bring it in, you put your hand over it — it's gone. Even if you have a six-foot-type amount of scum, you put your hand in it, it's gone. That's what it means — it's scum. Useless.

Two Punishments: The Loss of Haybah and the Disease of Wahn

Two things Allah will do to you. Allah will snatch away your awe — your fear — from the hearts of your enemy. That they can kill a hundred kids per day and they won't have to worry about any repercussion. You'll kill two dogs, you'll be in big trouble. You'll kill thousands of Muslims, you'll devour them, you take away the honour of their women — no one's going to say anything. You don't have to worry about it.

Number two — and because of your neglect towards the deen and the knowledge of deen, and everything that we spoke about earlier — Allah punishes you by putting wahan in your heart. The Sahaba said, "Ya Rasulullah, what's wahan?" He said — linked to what I said, the du'a we made — love for material things and the fear of death. Love for material things and the fear of death will make us spineless. Like sheep looking right in the eye of the storm — "I can't do anything."

The ummah today — I think all would agree — subhanAllah — has the ability to do all sorts of things. But why have we become spineless? Because of our hearts. Because of our souls. Because of that love of dunya — that intoxication that has taken over my heart and the heart of our children. We're suffering.

The Path Forward: Internal Cleansing

Today I ask you to please roll up your sleeve and get ready to cleanse this heart. Focus on our internal cleansing. The genocide is happening on our souls. The genocide is happening in our heart. We must fight back and push materialism out of our hearts. We have to make akhira our goal. We have to teach our children by our own actions — not by our speech, but by our own actions — that your dad and mom value their own deen and your deen more than anything else.

Then this ummah will once again rise to the era of glory that we had before — not only leading in the hereafter but leading in this very dunya. You will have respect and honor and love from every sector of society. You will become once again leaders in every sector. But it requires that the direction of the heart needs to be towards the Creator, not the creation. Towards paradise and akhira — not towards material things.

I ask Allah to purify all of our hearts from intoxication in worldly things. I ask Allah to allow the means of this world to remain in our pockets and not in our hearts. I ask Allah to enable all of us to reset our priorities and make us amongst those who will have their hands raised — no matter how high the price will go. Ameen.

Quranic Reminder

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

Hadith on Ghurba

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 145)

The religion began strange and will return strange — so glad tidings to the strangers who make amends.

Second Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.

Allah and His angels pray upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, pray upon him and give him your blessings.

Oh Allah, pray upon our Master Muhammad and upon the family of our Master Muhammad, and bless our Master Muhammad and his wife and his progeny.

The Prophet ﷺ said: The most merciful of my Ummah is Abu Bakr, and the strongest in hope of Allah is Umar, and the most truthful of them in haya is Uthman, and the most noble of them is Ali — and all the companions.

Oh Allah, heal us and heal our youth and heal our women, and return us to Islam in a beautiful way. Oh Allah, we seek refuge in You from their evil. Oh Allah, heal our sick and the sick of the Muslims. Oh Allah, accept from us — You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing — and forgive us, You are the Forgiving, the Merciful.

O servants of Allah, may Allah have mercy on you — Allah commands justice, goodness, and giving to the nearest of kin, and forbids immorality, evil, and transgression. He warns you that you may remember. And remember Allah, the Most High, who remembers you, and ask Him — He will answer you. And remember Allah, the Most Great. And establish prayer.

Announcements

After Salatul Isha, there will be a youth bonfire event tonight here at MCC Masjid. We request all of you to bring the youth tonight for Isha Salah. The Sisters Halaqa is at 4:45.

Number two — today after Salatul Maghrib, one of my colleagues, mashAllah, a psychologist and therapist, Brother Farhan Ahmed, who flew in from Chicago with me — inshAllah from Ihsan Coaching — will be speaking about Raising Children in Turbulent Times, from Maghrib to Isha. After Maghrib is focused towards the parents; after Isha is for the youth — especially high school and college students.

Last — tomorrow, an in-person event to meet the Board of Directors election candidates at 2pm. Board of Directors election — and lunch is provided outside near the café. All proceeds go to the Masjid expansion project.

On your way out, please take a moment to stop by at the Darussalam Seminary booth. We are visiting from Darussalam Chicago. My name is Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed — I am one of the co-founders of the institution. My sons and some of my students and past graduates are there. Please stop by, learn about our programs. We have our annual retreat next weekend — and after the discussion we just had, it's going to be about the revivers of Islam in the past 14 centuries. We'll be studying the lives of the revivers — from Salahuddin Ayyubi to Imam al-Ghazali to Malcolm X — and what blueprints we can take from their lives for ourselves in these difficult times. That's going to be held in Chicago at our main campus. Details are at the booth. Similarly, we've got a selection of some beautiful books we brought for our community — consider taking a look. Last but not least, do scan the QR code to receive updates on all of our programs and lectures happening at Masjid Darussalam in Chicago.

Jazakumullahu khayran for being attentive. Ameen.