Jumah Khutbah: The Corrupt Heart by Qari Zakaullah Saleem
By Qari Zakaullah Saleem | 2026-06-11T20:04:26.374557+00:00 | Topic: Purification
Jumah Khutbah: The Corrupt Heart
By Qari Zakaullah Saleem
Opening — First Khutbah
O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except as Muslims.
O ye who believe! Fear your Lord, Who created you from a single soul, and created from it a wife, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for mercy, for Allah is ever a Watcher over you.
O ye who believe! Fear Allah, and speak a firm word. He will amend for you your deeds, and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, he has certainly attained a great success.
As for the rest, the best hadith is the Book of Allah. And the best guide is the guide of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of things are its newly-invented matters, and every newly-invented matter is a creation, and every such creation is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
The Most Dangerous Disease of the Ummah
As for the rest, dear brothers and sisters in Islam, every one of us knows and admits that the Ummah of the last Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, as a whole, has fallen into and is experiencing many diseases. And every disease and ailment within itself has its sour effect and impact on the Ummah. And the consequences of these diseases would be dire if we do not try to heal them.
Although these diseases are many in number, I would like to bring to your attention today the most dangerous, the most harmful disease — the disease that destroys the soul, the disease that is the basis of all other ailments, and the cause of destruction in the Hereafter. This disease is the disease of the heart.
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, don't be amazed if I say the majority of the Ummah is affected by this disease, and those suffering from this disease, from this ailment, discuss it and talk about its cure without diagnosing the reality and the cause of it.
My dear brothers and sisters, isn't it true that most of us complain about the hardness of our hearts? If we cannot recognize this hardness within ourselves, then we truly are lost. If we are immune to the hardness of our hearts, then our hearts are dead.
Symptoms of the Hard Heart
Some of us cannot prevent his sight from haram, and others cannot attain tranquility and khushu' in salah, while others complain of congestion in their chest if they read the Quran for prolonged periods. There are further complaints of not being able to give up on haram despite knowing and acknowledging the gravity of those sins, whilst others amongst us cannot stand up for two rak'ah at night regardless of our desire to do so.
Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, these are all symptoms of this disease. But have we ever stopped to ponder on the causes of this disease? As you are all aware, prevention and cure is only possible when we are aware of the causes of the problem and thus take the necessary precautions.
The Root Cause: Making Excuses Against Allah's Commands
Dear brothers and sisters, if we contemplate on the verses of the Book of Allah and the Ahadith of the Messenger of Allah, we come to know that there are many causes of this disease — the hardness of the heart. Some of them are major and very serious, while others are minor.
I would like to bring to your attention the basic and the most destructive cause of this disease. And this is our attempt to escape and to get away from acting on the commandments of Allah and the commandments of the Messenger of Allah by making invalid excuses — excuses that are not acceptable in the Shariah of Allah.
Once we start making excuses against accepting the truth, our hearts become hardened and then we lose the fear of Allah in our hearts. We may well practice the Deen, yet fail to feel any happiness and on the contrary consider it a burden upon us.
The Story of Bani Israel and the Cow
Allah mentions the story of Bani Israel in Surah Al-Baqarah when Musa, peace be upon him, told his people to act upon the commandment of Allah of slaughtering a cow. They tried to run away from accepting this commandment by first of all accusing their messenger Musa, peace be upon him, of making a joke of them. Then they started asking very futile questions.
They said, "O Musa, ask your Lord to explain to us what kind of cow we should slaughter." Musa, peace be upon him, said that Allah says it should not be too old nor too young but in between — a middle-aged cow. "So now do what you have been commanded to do." Then they asked another question: "O Musa, ask your Lord what colour it should be." Musa, peace be upon him, again replied that Allah says it should be a yellow cow, bright in its colour.
They continued asking for more description and making excuses of being confused with the clear description of the cow. Musa, peace be upon him, replied giving a more detailed description, and then at the end of the story Allah says:
They slaughtered the cow, but they were about not to do so — they were not willing to do so. And then later, in the next ayah, Allah says:
And after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or even worse in hardness. For indeed there are rocks out of which rivers gush, and indeed there are rocks which split apart so that water flows from them, and indeed there are rocks which fall down for the fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.
And in Surah Al-Hadid, Allah says:
Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe to be affected by Allah's reminder — meaning the Quran — and that which has been revealed of the truth? And that they should not become like those to whom was given revelation before — meaning the Jews and Christians — but long ages passed over them so their hearts became hard.
Common Excuses We Make Today
Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, reflect on your actions. Reflect on your attitude towards the commandments of Allah and the commandments of His Messenger. When you are advised to be more regular in your five daily prayers, you make excuses such as not having enough spare time for salah or being too busy with your job. When it is said that the job you are doing is haram and should be given up in favour of a halal alternative, the excuse is you can't live on a low-paid job.
If you are told that getting a mortgage is a major sin in Islam, your excuse is that it is a necessity and you don't have a choice but to take it. My brother, if you are advised that growing a beard is an obligation upon you, your excuse is that it irritates you and that you can't keep it due to the conditions of your job, or because of the position you hold within your company. My sister, if you are advised that covering oneself with hijab is a religious obligation, your excuse is that it causes suffocation.
My dear brothers and sisters, if you continue refusing and rejecting and making pitiful excuses one after another against the commandments of Allah and the commandments of His Messenger, then your heart will become hard to the extent that you will read the Quran but it won't have any impact on you. And you will read the verses which mention the torment of the Hellfire yet you won't feel any fear. You will experience no anguish in regard to the mention of the punishment of the grave or the punishment of the Day of Judgment.
The True Believer: "We Hear and We Obey"
Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the true believer is the one who responds by following Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, when called to Allah and His Messenger. Allah says in Surah An-Nur:
The only saying of the faithful believers when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them is that they say: "We hear and we obey."
Dear brothers and sisters, the true believer is the one who submits himself and his desires to his Creator. He is always ready to obey Allah and His Messenger. Whenever they order him with something, he does not make excuses. He is like an obedient camel, as it is said in the hadith:
The believer is like a reined camel — if it is commanded to walk, it walks, and if it is commanded to stay still, it stays still.
So whenever you are called to Allah and Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, you must answer their call. There is no choice between acceptance and rejection. Allah says in Surah Al-Ahzab:
It is not for a believing man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter, that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed into a clear error.
The Example of the Companions
Self-reflection and contemplation is required while reading many verses of the Quran and many ahadith of Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, to highlight areas of severe neglect and rejection of obligatory responsibilities and duties — all on the pretence of baseless and unacceptable excuses.
Let us all pledge to our Lord Allah while we are in one of His houses, and determine that we will not make any excuses against the commands of Allah and Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him. If we make this solemn pledge, then insha'Allah success is guaranteed in this life and in the Hereafter.
Dear brothers and sisters, look at the absolute obedience of the companions of Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, and their haste towards acting upon his orders. Our mother Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
May Allah have mercy on the first and foremost migrant female companions. When Allah revealed the ayah commanding the women that they must draw their head coverings over their bosoms, they cut their waist sheets at the edges and covered themselves with the cut pieces.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4758)
And Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, says: When the ayah of the prohibition of alcoholic drinks was revealed, I was standing offering drinks to Abu Talha and others in that gathering. A man came and said, "Has the news reached you?" They said, "What is that?" He said, "Alcoholic drinks have been prohibited." They said, "Spill the contents of these pots, O Anas!" Then they neither asked about it nor returned to it after hearing the news from that man.
And in another narration it says: Alcoholic drinks were seen flowing in the streets of Madinah.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4617; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1980)
The Hypocrites: A Warning from the Quran
Dear brothers and sisters, the companions of Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, were so obedient to Allah and His Messenger. They were very soft-hearted. They would cry when they stood in salah in front of their Lord, the Creator of all mankind. They would shed tears when confronted with the mention of the grave, the Day of Judgment, Hell, or Paradise.
On the other hand, there were also some hard-hearted people. These individuals would make excuses whenever they had been commanded to do something. They would find it difficult to act upon whatever the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered them to do. They were declared hypocrites. Their hearts were so hard that Allah humiliated them throughout His Book. He revealed a full surah by the name of Surah Al-Munafiqoon — cursing them and labelling them liars, sealed-hearted, arrogant, transgressors, and foolish.
Surah At-Tawbah is also full of their disgrace. In ayah 54, Allah says:
They come not for salah except in a lazy state, and they spend not in the way of Allah but unwillingly.
In Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah says:
In their hearts is a disease of doubt and hypocrisy, and Allah has increased their disease.
In Surah At-Tawbah again, Allah says:
And whenever there comes down a surah from the Quran, some of them say: "Which of you has had his faith increased by it?" As for those who believe, it has increased their faith and they rejoice. But as for those in whose hearts is a disease of doubt, disbelief and hypocrisy, it will add suspicion and doubt to their suspicion, disbelief and doubt. And they die while they are disbelievers.
Allah compares the hypocrites with the true believers, the latter of which acted fully upon the commands of Allah and His Messenger. Dear brothers and sisters, these Quranic verses point out that the munafiq is the one who does not wish to act upon the commandment of Allah, whereas the true believer is the one who obeys Allah with complete submission.
Conclusion and Pledge
Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, in order to achieve and maintain softness within our hearts and to prevent them from becoming hard, we have to follow the basic principle of accepting and following the commandments of Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, without making baseless excuses.
I ask Allah to guide us to the straight path, and may He fill our hearts with the light of Iman and safeguard our hearts from the evil of hypocrisy and disbelief.
Second Khutbah
All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him and seek His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, there is no partner to Him, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are all aware of the fact that the Muslim Ummah is currently suffering from various diseases, various trials and adversities. If we list those diseases and hardships, they are numerous. But there are some diseases which need to be treated immediately — if they are not treated, the disease spreads to the point of death. And the disease which I want to mention is not a physical disease, but it is the disease of a believer's soul, the disease of his Iman. If his Iman is affected, it leads him to hypocrisy.
We are all aware of this disease and many of us complain about it. It is the disease of our hearts. When we recite the Quran, we do not fear Allah. When we stand in front of Allah in prayer, we do not have fear in our hearts. The recitation of the Quran does not affect us, there is no fear in prayer, and we do not feel joy in obeying Allah's commands.
After all, what are the causes of this disease? If we look at the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Prophet, there are many reasons. But the first and fundamental reason is making excuses for Allah's and the Prophet's commands in order to get rid of them — excuses that we supposedly cannot follow the commands given the society we live in, while other Muslims who live in the same society and environment do follow the commands of Allah and the Prophet. And it is possible to do so.
But when a person makes excuses for Allah's and the Prophet's commands to get rid of them, his heart begins to harden. And if someone reaches a level where he rejects the commands of Allah and the Prophet and does not even feel that he is doing the wrong thing, then it means that his heart is not only hard but also dead. There is no faith left in him — that he feels happy by rejecting the commands of Allah and the Prophet.
Allah has mentioned the attributes of believers in the Quran — that a believer is one who listens to Allah's commands and immediately bows his head. A true believer does not make excuses. Rather, he bows his head in front of the command of Allah and the Prophet.
My brother, all of us together — think about your situation and change your approach. In front of Allah's and His Messenger's commandments, instead of making excuses, take on that character and that disposition which Allah has described in the Quran:
"We have listened. We have obeyed." Now we have bowed. We have nothing further to say. And Allah has said in Surah Al-Ahzab that a true man and a true woman do not include their own will when Allah and His Messenger give a command — for to do so would be the opposite of their faith.
Du'a — Closing Supplication
O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family. O our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
O our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. And if You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will be among the losers.
O our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us, and bestow upon us mercy from Yourself. You are the Bestower.
O Allah, You who turn hearts — fix our hearts on Your religion and obedience. O our Lord, accept from us. You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. And accept our repentance, for You are the All-Repentant, the All-Merciful.
May Allah enable us to understand the religion and to act upon it. May Allah fill our hearts with the light of faith, create tenderness in our hearts, and save us from the hardness of our hearts. And may Allah enable us to bow our heads and our necks to every command of His, to accept it, and to become true believers and true Muslims. Ameen.