Sh.Ammar Alshukry

Khutbah Opening

أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His guidance, and we seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, no one can misguide. And whomsoever He allows to be misled, no one can guide.

And I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah alone, having no partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad ﷺ is His slave and His messenger and His perfect worshipper.

Allah says in the Quran:

O you who believe, fear Allah as He deserves to be feared and do not die except in a state of Islam.

And Allah says:

O mankind, fear your Lord who created you from a single soul and produced from that soul its mate and made from their combination many men and women. So fear your Lord whom you ask each other by, and by the ties of kinship. Verily, Allah is ever watchful over you.

And Allah says:

O you who believe, fear Allah and say that which is correct — He will correct for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His messenger, then they are indeed victorious.

To proceed.

The Command to the Family of Dawood: Gratitude

Allah tells us of His command to the family of Dawood (David). He says:

O family of Dawood, perform gratitude. Perform shukr.

And Allah says:

And very few of My servants are those who are exceptional in their gratitude. Very few of My servants are exceptional in their gratitude.

Sulaiman's Gratitude: The Ants

We fast forward into the life of Sulaiman (Solomon) عليه السلام. Sulaiman seeks to fulfill that command that was obligated on him — being the son of Dawood, from the family of Dawood. And so you see in the story of Sulaiman incredible gratitude to Allah. When Sulaiman encounters the blessings of Allah, you see it reminding him of the importance of showing gratitude.

And so when Sulaiman is traveling with his army, and he experiences hearing the conversation of ants, Allah says:

That Sulaiman laughed smiling because of what he heard of the conversation of the ants. And he said:

He said: My Lord, allow me — give me the ability to encompass showing gratitude to You for what You have granted me and bestowed upon me and on my parents. Give me the ability to show gratitude to You because of what You've bestowed on me and on my parents. And give me the ability not just to show gratitude, but to do righteous deeds that You are pleased with. And allow me to enter into the host of Your righteous servants — count me amongst Your righteous servants, include me in Your righteous servants.

So we see that Sulaiman عليه السلام — he encounters the blessings that he experiences with the request to show gratitude to Allah. He is not unaware. He is not someone who has become so normalized to the blessings that Allah has given him. He's mindful of those blessings. He realizes that hearing the conversations of ants — something that has been gifted to him — is not something that's normal. And so he meets those beautiful experiences, those blessings, with gratitude, or with the request to have gratitude to Allah.

And so the question that we have to ask ourselves always is: Do I show Allah gratitude for all of the blessings that I experience?

Allah says:

If you were to count the blessings of Allah, you wouldn't be able to do it. We understand that. But when I do notice blessings, do I try to be mindful of them? I'm not going to be able to encounter all of them, I'm not going to be able to count all of them — but do I become mindful of the blessing of health? Do I become mindful of the blessing of wealth? Do I become mindful of the blessing of beautiful relationships with my family? Do I become mindful of the relationship that I have with my parents?

Am I mindful of the blessings that my parents experienced as well? And that I request from Allah His assistance in showing gratitude for those blessings.

Do Not Let Your Sins Stop You From Asking Allah

We see that Sulaiman عليه السلام did not let what he encountered of mistakes stop him from asking Allah for more blessings. I can't tell you how many people I've met who — because of the sins that they've committed at some point in their life — feel shy to ask Allah from His bounty.

"I'm too embarrassed to ask Allah. So you make du'a for me. Brother, please make du'a for me."

Why don't you make du'a for yourself? "I'm embarrassed to approach Allah knowing what I know of myself." I've met people who are embarrassed to even pray because of their sins. "I'm not good enough to pray."

And yet that person is making an audacious statement — as if to say that the people who pray only pray because they are somehow good enough to stand in front of Allah, as if anybody is good enough to stand in front of Allah. Who is good enough to stand in front of Allah?

We don't stand in front of Allah because of who we are. We stand in front of Allah because of who He is. We don't ask Allah because of who we are. There is no one who is righteous enough to be able to ask Allah. But we ask Allah because of who He is, not because of who we are. We ask Him because of His generosity, not because of our righteousness. We ask because of His benevolence, not because of our greatness. We ask because of His greatness.

Sulaiman's Prayer in Surah Sad: Forgiveness and Dominion

And so Sulaiman عليه السلام beautifully — in Surah As-Sad — in a single verse he sums up this concept when he says:

He says: My Lord, forgive me. And where so many people would stop — "if I can just get forgiveness, I don't want to ask for more" — he understands that he is speaking to someone who is Kareem. He understands that he's speaking to a Lord who is Rahman. He understands that he's speaking to a Lord who is Al-Wahhab, a bestower, someone who loves to bestow.

And he says in the same breath: Grant me a kingdom the likes that no one will ever have after me. He doesn't just stop at "forgive me." No, no. "Forgive me, but give me something that no one else will ever have. Give me a kingdom the likes of which no one will ever have." Are you serious? Yes. And Allah says — and we gave it to him. We gave him the wind, flowing, taking him wherever he wants.

And we gave him the devils as well. He had control over every builder and every diver. Allah gave him the kingdom the likes of which no one ever had.

The Horses: Letting Go of What Distracts from Allah

Sulaiman عليه السلام, realizing the blessings that Allah gave his family and the blessings that Allah gave him as well, tries to match it with a gratitude that is also of the highest level. And so we see in Surah As-Sad where Sulaiman عليه السلام, when he is presented with horses in a military campaign — until he becomes distracted by looking at these horses until the setting of the sun. The horses distract him. He becomes distracted by this military campaign, staring at them, until the sun sets.

He said: I have been distracted by the love of goodness, the love of this wealth — from the remembrance of my Lord. Until the sun set.

Sulaiman عليه السلام then commanded for those horses to be brought back. And Allah says: and then he wiped over their necks and their shins. The mufassireen understood this to mean a number of things. Of them is that Sulaiman simply released them — he wiped over their necks, he wiped over their shins, and he let them go for the sake of Allah. If these blessings that Allah gave me became a source of distraction — then I let it go.

Some beautiful blessing that I have becomes a distraction — it prevents me from praying Salatul Asr, it distracts me from praying Salatul Maghrib, it distracts me from Isha, it distracts me from the obligations that Allah has placed on me. Then my gratitude to Allah should make me look at what Sulaiman did. He let go of those blessings.

That's one interpretation. Another interpretation — which is even more severe — is that Sulaiman slaughtered them. He slaughtered them all for the sake of Allah. And that's not something that is incomprehensible when you see the level of gratitude that Sulaiman عليه السلام tried to showcase to Allah — that if this is something that distracted him from a single prayer, then this be something he never wants to see again.

The Throne of the Queen of Sheba: Recognizing the True Source of Blessings

Of the third manifestations of Sulaiman's showcasing of gratitude to Allah is that he recognizes that behind every blessing is the Lord of that blessing. And he would not be distracted by the one who was merely an instrument of that blessing.

We see in Surah An-Naml, Sulaiman summoning his court. He had been corresponding with the Queen of Sheba. And he says:

Which one of you is going to bring me the throne of the Queen of Sheba — from Yemen, Sheba in Yemen, to Palestine, to Jerusalem — before she comes to me in submission? She was on her way. And Sulaiman tells his court: which one of them will be able to bring me her throne before she arrives?

One of the jinn said: I will bring you her throne before you get up from your place. And then Allah says, the one who had knowledge of the Book said:

I will bring it to you before you are even able to blink.

And so Allah says: فَلَمَّا رَآهُ مُسْتَقِرًّا عِندَهُ — when he saw, when Sulaiman, in that moment, he saw that throne in front of his eyes — what would the immediate response of so many of us be? "That was amazing, how did you do that?" When somebody does something amazing, you become impressed with the person. How many people are impressed with Mbappé right now? How many people are impressed with Messi right now? How many people are impressed with any athlete? People become impressed by them. And you become infatuated by them. Whoever it is, in whatever industry — people become infatuated with personalities.

But Sulaiman's immediate response is not the personality. Sulaiman عليه السلام says:

He says: This is from the bounty of my Lord to test me — am I going to be grateful or am I going to be ungrateful?

Meaning that behind that athlete that people are so mesmerized by, behind that entrepreneur, behind that orator, behind whatever talent it is — whatever skill it is, whatever blessing it is — that people become infatuated by, Sulaiman عليه السلام is directing us to a higher level of gratitude. And that is to recognize that behind that individual is the Lord who gave him those qualities in the first place. And so you don't see that person as being amazing as much as you see Allah as being amazing — that He gave him those qualities.

And whoever shows gratitude, they're only showing gratitude for themselves — it's only benefiting yourself. And whoever shows ingratitude, then Allah is Ghaniyyun Kareem — Allah is not in need of our gratitude and He is perfect in His qualities anyway.

We ask Allah to make us of the grateful.

Second Khutbah: Four Ways to Increase in Gratitude

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

I want to end quickly with a number of ways that a person can increase in their gratitude to Allah.

1. Ask Allah for the Ability to be Grateful

The first, of course and the greatest, is always that a person ask it from Allah — just like Sulaiman عليه السلام asked it from Allah. He said:

My Lord, give me the ability to show gratitude to You.

And the Prophet ﷺ told Mu'adh ibn Jabal: "Mu'adh, I love you. So don't forget to say after every Salah:"

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1522; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22119)

O Allah, assist me in remembering You and showing gratitude to You and worshipping You beautifully. After every Salah a person says this. That's number one.

2. The Morning and Evening Dhikr of Gratitude

Number two: the Prophet ﷺ tells us that whoever says in the morning:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 5073; Ibn Hibban, Hadith 861)

O Allah, whatever blessing I have woken up to this morning — or any of Your creation have woken up to — then it is from You alone, having no partners. The Prophet ﷺ says: whoever says that in the morning they have fulfilled gratitude for that day. And whoever says it in the evening they have fulfilled gratitude for that evening.

3. Increase in Voluntary Acts of Worship

The third is that a person increases in their voluntary actions, their voluntary good deeds. The scholars said that the difference between a servant who is shakir (شَاكِر) and a servant who is shakoor (شَكُور) — one of the differences is that the shakir is a basic level of gratitude. That's the person who fulfills the obligations. A person who prays Jumu'ah, a person who prays Dhuhr, a person who prays Isha — that's a basic level of gratitude. But a person who continues to try to fulfill voluntary acts of worship will ascend in their gratitude to Allah through these voluntary actions.

And hence Allah says:

There are very few of My servants who are exceptional in their gratitude.

And so when the Prophet ﷺ would pray until his feet swelled, and the companions asked him about that — they asked him: "Why do you pray so much when your sins have been forgiven?" He said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4837; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2820)

Should I not be a servant who is exceptional in his gratitude to Allah? And so that exceptional gratitude led to exceptional worship.

4. Use Allah's Blessings in the Way He Loves

And the fourth — and I'll end with this — is that a person shows gratitude to Allah for His blessings by doing with those blessings what Allah would love for them to do. So if Allah has given a person money, that they spend it in the way that Allah loves. If Allah has given a person strength, that they use it in the way that Allah loves. If Allah has given a person knowledge. Or if Allah has given a person beauty — that they showcase that beauty to whom Allah loves for them to showcase it to, and that they don't showcase that beauty to whom Allah would not love for them to showcase it to.

We ask Allah to make us of ash-shakireen. We ask Allah to allow us to hear the speech and follow the best of it.

Closing Du'a

O Allah, we ask You for Paradise and what is nearer to it in words and deeds. And we seek refuge in You from the Fire and what is nearer to it in words and deeds.

O Allah, let our souls come to fear You. Purify them — You are the best of those who purify. You are their guardian and their protector.

O Allah, divide for us from Your fear that which You place between us and Your disobedience. And from Your obedience that which You convey us to Your Paradise. And from the certainty that which You make easy for us through the difficulties of this world.

And grant us, O Allah, full use of our hearing, our sight, and our strength for as long as You keep us alive. And make it our inheritor. And make our recompense against those who wrong us. And do not make our calamity in our religion. And do not make this world the greatest of our concerns. And do not let our knowledge surpass our deeds. And make Paradise our abode by Your mercy, O Most Merciful.

O my Lord, have mercy on our parents as they had mercy on us when we were young. O Allah, have mercy on the deceased Muslims. And heal the sick among the Muslims. And may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Master Muhammad ﷺ.