04: Eid al-Adha 2025 | Prayer & Khutbah - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem
By Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem | 2026-07-06T19:00:41.518825+00:00 | Topic: Quran
Eid al-Adha 2025 — Khutbah
Delivered by Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem
Opening — The Prayer
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. Sovereign of the Day of Recompense. The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, not of those who have incurred Thy Wrath, nor of those who have gone astray. Ameen.
Faces, that Day, will be pleasant, content to strive for it, in a lofty Paradise, where they will hear no idle talk, but a flowing spring, in which will be raised couches, and cups laid down, and cushions arranged in rows, and carpets spread out. Will they not look at the camels, how they are created, and to the sky, how it is raised, and to the mountains, how they are placed, and to the earth, how it is spread out? So remind! You are only a reminder. You have no control over them — except those who turn away and disbelieve, and Allah will punish them with the greatest punishment. Indeed, to Us is their return, then upon Us is their reckoning.
Khutbah — Opening Reminders
And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.
O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.
O you people, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul, and created from it its mate, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for help and mercy. Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you.
O you who have believed, 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 has certainly attained a great victory.
Celebrating Eid al-Adha with Gratitude
Alhamdulillah, by the grace and the mercy of Allah, we are in the day of Eid al-Adha, the second of the two Eids in the religion of Islam. And we begin this day by celebrating this day, and by thanking Allah. By thanking Allah through His glorification, praising Allah, worshipping Allah. This is what the religion of Islam teaches us — that whenever we celebrate any kind of joy and happiness, we thank Allah. We glorify Allah.
That is why our Prophet has instructed us to begin this day by saying: "Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest. There is no god but Allah, and Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest." This is the best way of celebrating your joy and happiness. This is the best way of celebrating your Eid.
And this should be the general attitude of the Muslim — that whenever you are given good news, and whenever Allah blesses you with something good, you prostrate before Allah. You thank Allah. You glorify Him, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram.
Surah Al-Kawthar — Celebrate by Praying and Sacrificing
Allah says in the Qur'an, in Surah Al-Kawthar, to his Nabi:
We granted you Al-Kawthar — Al-Kawthar means a lot of goodness and khair. And Kawthar is also the name of a river in Paradise. Allah says: We have allocated that river to you, O Muhammad. And in order to celebrate this ni'mah and this blessing of Allah, pray for Allah and sacrifice for Him, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram.
Surah Al-Nasr — Glorify Allah in Moments of Victory
When Allah blessed our Nabi with the victory and he conquered Mecca, Allah revealed the Surah in the Qur'an that is known as Surah Al-Nasr:
When the help of Allah and the victory comes, and you see people entering into the fold of Islam in large groups and numbers — glorify Allah with His praise and seek His forgiveness. Whenever in our life Allah blesses us with any ni'mah, any favor, we need to glorify Allah, we need to praise Allah, we need to thank Allah.
The Greatest Blessing — Islam
And the greatest blessing and ni'mah of Allah for us is none other than the religion of Islam. The religion of Islam, about which Allah said in the Qur'an — when Allah revealed this ayah on the day of Arafah, on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, the day that just passed yesterday, the day of Arafah, when our Nabi was performing Hajj and he was in Arafah:
This day I have completed for you your religion, and I have perfected upon you all of My blessings, and I am pleased with Islam as your religion.
We believe as Muslims that the greatest blessing of Allah we have in our life is none other than Islam. The religion of Islam. The word Islam comes from salam and aslama yuslimu islaman — showing your obedience to Allah, submitting your will to Allah. You submit yourself to Allah, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram. And in order to celebrate the ni'mah of Islam, we express our gratitude to Allah, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram, by showing our obedience to Allah.
Eid Is a Day of Joy — Not Sadness
And this is the second point I would like to highlight in today's khutbah — that we, being Muslims, submit ourselves to Allah, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram, to our Creator, our Lord. So whenever we are ordered by Allah, by our Nabi, to celebrate and to show and express our joy and happiness, we have to do it. We have to do it.
The day of Eid is the day of happiness, and it is not the day of sadness and grief. Therefore I would like to highlight a very important point here that we see unfortunately in our community — that on the day of Eid some of us start remembering our deceased ones, our beloved ones. And some even take the next step and try to take a time out to visit the graveyard and cemetery — because my father passed away, my mother passed away, my brother passed away, some of my relatives have passed away recently. So I remember them on the day of Eid and I show sadness and grief.
No, this is not the way of Islam. Islam means — as Rasulullah said — a believer is like a camel who is reined. Whenever he is made to walk, he walks, and whenever it is asked to stop and sit down, he sits down. This is the true meaning of Islam. The day of Eid is the day of celebration, happiness and joy. And we enjoy this day and we celebrate our happiness by thanking Allah and showing our obedience to Allah.
The Blessing of Sacrifice — The Legacy of Ibrahim
Another great blessing of Allah is the blessing of sacrifice. The slaughtering of the animals for the sake of Allah, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram. And this sacrifice, the qurbani, it reminds us of our beloved Prophet, Sayyiduna Ibrahim, Khalilullah, about whom Allah says in the Qur'an:
Ibrahim was a Muslim. When Ibrahim was asked by his Lord, Aslim — O Ibrahim, submit everything to Allah — he said: I have submitted.
We need to study the life and the seerah of Ibrahim, how he submitted himself to Allah, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram. That is the true meaning of Islam. That is the true meaning of submitting yourself to Allah. When you submit yourself to Allah, you give Allah and His Nabi and His religion preference over everything. And if you do so, then Allah blesses you with ni'mah, just as Allah blessed Sayyiduna Ibrahim, Khalilullah.
About whom Allah says:
Peace be upon Ibrahim. And We left his remembrance amongst the people who would come after him. And Allah raised his rank. And Allah made him an Imam.
He became an Imam by submitting himself to Allah, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram. By sacrificing for Allah. Sacrificing his home town. Sacrificing his family. Sacrificing his children. Sacrificing his father. Sacrificing his nation. He sacrificed everything, to the point that he was alone, proclaiming the oneness of Allah.
And Allah named him Ummah. Ibrahim alone was an Ummah. When he was about to be thrown into the fire, he said: O Allah, You are alone in the heavens, and I am alone to preach Your Tawheed and Your oneness on the face of this earth. Yet Allah called him Ummah — a nation. He himself alone was a nation.
Stand for Truth Regardless of Numbers
Which gives us another lesson — that we need to stand for truth, and stand by truth, regardless of your number. The quantity does not matter in the sight of Allah. This is another lesson that we learn from the life of Sayyiduna Ibrahim.
The Days of Tashreeq — Remembering Allah
I conclude by thanking Allah, and by saying these Takbirat that we need to continue chanting and saying today, this day, the day of Eid, and the three following days — tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, and until the end of Monday. About which Allah says, and the Prophet said:
(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1141)
The days of Tashreeq — the three days after Eid al-Adha — are the days of eating and drinking, and also of remembering Allah. Again, on the following days, when you express your gratitude to Allah, you remember Allah and you remember those who are deprived from the blessings of Allah.
Du'a — Closing Supplication
May Allah accept our worship. May Allah accept our fast that we kept yesterday. And may Allah give us tawfiq and ability to remain firm and steadfast on the religion of Islam. May Allah enable us to thank Him for all the blessings and ni'am and favors that we enjoy on a daily basis. And may Allah give us tawfiq and ability to remain firm and steadfast on the path of Islam until the last breath of our life. May Allah accept our worship.