Am'ma Baad 5 | Annual Khatib Program 2025 | EPIC Masjid

Amma Ba'ad 5 | Annual Khatib Program 2025

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. I think we can do a little better than that. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. There we go, alhamdulillah. I hope everyone is doing well. My name is Abdullah Mumandy, and inshallah I will be the MC for tonight's event.

If everyone is not familiar with what's happening tonight, tonight is the fifth annual khateeb competition called Amma Ba'ad. To give a little summary of what it's about, the Amma Ba'ad competition is a program, not just a competition, but a program that was started about five years ago. And it was built to train and mentor the future khateeb of our next generation, inshallah, and of our current generation.

It's not something that we just say, oh, it's going to do this and this. It's something that actively has results. All of the winners from the previous competitions are actively going out and actually giving khutbas around the DFW area, inshallah.

I want to first give a big jazakumullahu khairan to, first of all, the board, for being able to facilitate and have everything ready for this event to take place, alhamdulillah. All the things that you guys see, from the basic things of the lights being on in the masjid, to all the little details that happen in the background, that's all possible, first, because of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala giving the permission for it to happen, and second, because the board and the people behind the scenes are actually doing what needs to be done in order for it to happen.

And I want to give another big jazakumullahu khairan to our ustad, dear, beloved Ustad Bajoor, for starting this program and heading it, and all the guidance that we were able to learn, and all of the advice that we were able to take from him along these couple of years. And me, personally, ever since I was a little kid, walking into ustad Bajoor's office, whenever there was questions I needed asked or I couldn't ask in other settings, I was able to ask the shaykh.

Just again, I want to give you guys a little breakdown of the rules of the competition, inshallah. The competition will be judged off of presentation and content. So it will be judged based off of what is happening in the actual khutbah, what is being said, how well they are able to develop the actual subject they were given into a khutbah, and the presentation, from hand movement to how deep it actually affected you as the audience. And then, last but not least, how much time was actually given to the khutbah. The khutbah is supposed to be under six minutes.

So you as the audience, this is your role, you'll be judging. We're not going to have any specific judges that will be there testing everyone. You as the audience will be the judge. So I ask everyone, even if you didn't come for this event, if you can please stay back and listen to it and give your feedback, inshallah, so we'll be able to decide the winners, inshallah.

Without further ado, inshallah, we will go directly into the competition. I would like to first call up Amar Ziaullah. Amar is a senior at Goodtree Academy and is 17 years old. Allahumma barak.

First Khutbah: Amar Ziaullah - Tadabbur of the Quran

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

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

The Quran is His greatest miracle. There is no other book like it. It's the direct word from the creator to the creation. It establishes social justice and moral values. It comforts us in our grief.

SubhanAllah, yesterday I was watching an interview from a boy from Gaza who's 16 years old. He's younger than me. His name is Yusuf. He's asked, what helps you stay optimistic? What gives you hope in these circumstances around you? And SubhanAllah, his answer is amazing. He says, I turn to the Quran and the ayahs. Allah does not burden a soul more than it can handle. Indeed with hardship comes ease. These ayahs give me comfort. They keep me going. They motivate me.

One of the things that I think we are missing and neglecting as an ummah is tadabbur. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in surah As-Saad.

This is a blessed book which we have revealed to you so that they may contemplate its verses and people of reason may be mindful.

We must reflect on its verses and understand them. The Quran is not meant to just do hifz of it and khalas. No. The Quran is much more than that. Sometimes we even know the meaning of a verse but we don't contemplate it.

I'll give you an example. We all say surah Fatiha 17 times a day, right? We know the meaning of surah Fatiha inshallah, right? We say, Allah is the owner of the day of judgment. But when was the last time we seriously thought about the day of judgment? The day that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will ask us about what we did with our time. How we prayed our salah. How we spoke for the oppressed. The day that the mother will run away from her newborn baby. But we don't understand this. We understand the meaning of the Quran but we don't do tadabbur of it. So this is something that we as an ummah need to focus on.

Now the golden question is how do we do tadabbur? We pointed out a problem but now we need to find a solution. So I have a checklist of things that we can do to do tadabbur of the Quran. But for the sake of time I can't elaborate too much.

So the first thing we need to do is understand the meaning of the Quran. Then it's good to look at the tafsir for the context of the verse. Think about what that verse means to you and your circumstances. Like Yusuf from Gaza is using those verses to apply it to his circumstances. We need to apply the circumstances of the Quran to us.

Like an ayah that should comfort us is:

Allah is not unaware of what the oppressors do.

The beauty of the Quran is it can hit differently on different days. But the most important thing that I will leave you with in this khutbah is if you don't take anything from this khutbah, take this. The Quran is a marathon, not a sprint. Even if you take one verse a day and do tadabbur of it, you're still better.

Abdullah ibn Umar, the son of Umar ibn al-Khattab, he memorized surah Baqarah in four years according to the Muwatta of Imam Malik. This shows that he took each set of verses and understood them, applied them, then he moved on. The Quran should be like that for us. We should understand and implement the Quran.

We all know the famous hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

The most beloved of deeds to Allah is the most consistent, even if they are small.

We must make the Quran a daily meaningful part of our life. And I'll leave you with one hadith. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

The best among you are those who learn the Quran and teach it.

Takbeer. Takbeer. Takbeer. Takbeer.

Jazakumullahu khairan Amar for the beautiful khutbah. Inshallah now we will move on to the next participant which is Yahya Safouri. He is 18 years old and a sophomore at Cullen College undergraduate for electrical engineering. That's like my same bio right there.

Second Khutbah: Yahya Safouri - True Success

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

He says, Exalted is He, in His Noble Book:

And He said, Exalted is He:

SubhanAllah, not too long ago, I was thinking that I had it all figured out. I had a plan and I was chasing the things that I thought were gonna make me successful. Money, fame, recognition, validation. Until one day, SubhanAllah, in the blink of an eye, it was all gone. And I was left broken and lost, asking myself one question. What do I do now?

Alhamdulillah, that led me back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now I look back and I realize that success is not about gaining the whole dunya. Success is about maintaining and not losing your iman, especially when things get tough.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in Surah Al-A'la:

Successful are the ones who purify themselves, remember the name of their Lord and pray.

He also said in Surah Al-Mu'minoon:

Successful are the believers. Basically summarizing the whole idea about success and indicating that being a Muslim, praying our salah, doing dhikr, doing the good, is success in itself.

SubhanAllah, now that doesn't mean that we should not care about our dunya at all. Balance matters, brothers and sisters. That's why we all say in a du'a, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he narrated in a hadith in Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim)

Successful is the one who accepted Islam as his way, and Allah has provided him with just enough, and Allah has made his heart content with what he has been given.

Now, I want everybody to think, are we grateful for what we have? Are we constantly chasing more and more and more, while staying ungrateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Because look at our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Wallahi, they're grateful for every single grain of bread that they can find. They're grateful for the peaceful sleep they can get, if there's no missiles in the sky, while they're still sleeping in the ruins.

Are we chasing what this world has made success to be? Or are we chasing what Allah made success to be?

Allah talks in Surah Al-Haqqa about when we're going to receive the Book of Deeds. Some are going to receive in their left hands, meaning they're going to Jahannam. Some are going to receive in their right hands, meaning they're going to Jannah.

Now, Rasulullah ﷺ, he predicted that there will be a day where holding on to our deen will be like holding on to a burning piece of coal. Now, imagine, we worked so hard, rejected the fitnah, stood steadfast upon our deen, did the good things, and forbade the evil. And when we die, we are resurrected, we receive our Book of Deeds in our right hands. This is success, brothers and sisters.

Inshallah we ask Allah to make us of those who succeed, not by the standards of this world, but by His standards. We ask Allah to not make this dunya our main goal. We ask Allah to make Jannah our true goal. We ask Allah to grant us the good of this world and the good of the next. Ameen.

Takbeer. Takbeer.

Jazakumullahu khairan for the beautiful khutbah, inshallah. And we're going to now move on to the next participant, inshallah, who is going to be our beloved Yazid Shaheed. Sheikh Yazid Shaheed. He's 17 years old. Well, I would never guess. And a senior at Vanguard High School, inshallah.

Third Khutbah: Yazid Shaheed - Opening

O 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 say the right words. He will correct your deeds and forgive your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great triumph.

As for what comes next, the best hadith is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And the worst of things are its innovations. And every innovation is a creation. And every creation is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

Allah says: Indeed, we created man in hardship.

The Story of Prophet Yunus

And one of the most powerful examples of dealing with hardship and stress is the story of a prophet who was all alone, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Prophet Yunus Alayhi Salaam. He left his people out of frustration. He felt hopeless. But when he was trapped in the darkness of the night, in the darkness of the ocean, in the darkness of the whale, he turned back to Allah. And what did he say?

There is no God except You. Glory be to You. I have certainly done wrong.

Then Allah answers him. And he says: So we rescued him from his distress. And that is how we rescue the believers.

Now notice something powerful here. Allah didn't just say that He saved Yunus Alayhi Salaam. He said, وَكَذَلِكَ نُنجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ. And that is how we rescue the believers. This means that you and me, when we are in the dark, not the darkness of the ocean, but the darkness of stress, of anxiety, of hardship. The same formula applies. Turn back to Allah.

The Travelers in the Cave

In an authentic hadith, there were three travelers who stayed in a cave. A boulder fell down from the mountain and blocked the entrance of the cave. So they said, the only way that they'll be saved from this is if they call upon Allah with a sincere good deed that they have done. So each one of them mentioned a sincere good deed that they have done saying, O Allah, if I did so for Your sake, then relieve the stress caused by the boulder. And the boulder moved.

So we learned from this that we have to make dua, istighfar, dhikr, salat, sadaqa, isti'ana to relieve stress.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى مَنْ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ

يَا صَاحِبَ الْهَمِّ إِنَّ الْهَمَّ مُنْفَرِجٌ أَبْشِرْ بِخَيْرٍ فَإِنَّ الْفَارِجَ اللَّهُ

O you who is burdened with worry, indeed that worry will soon be relieved. Rejoice in goodness for the one who brings relief is Allah.

The Hijrah Example

Ya ikhwan, as humans, we have to face problems in this life. And another example of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in the journey of the hijrah with Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه when they were in the cave of Thawr and Abu Bakr was worried because the kuffar were very close to the entrance. So the Prophet ﷺ told him, what do you think of two whom the third is Allah.

When he told Abu Bakr, do not worry, Allah is certainly with us.

Du'a for Our Ummah

And with all of these problems that we face in this life, we cannot forget our brothers and sisters across the globe, in Gaza and Sudan and Yemen and wherever they are oppressed. And I ask Allah to be with them.

The Value of Time

One day, al-Hasan al-Basri was reflecting on the people he used to live among. He said, I lived with people who valued their time more than you valued gold and silver. Then he added with sadness, The most painful thing for me is a day that passes without growing in my good deeds. A day that takes me closer to my grave, but not closer to Allah.

Allah says in the Quran: By time, indeed mankind is in loss.

Allah only swears by things that are great and full of wisdom. And here, He swore by time itself to show us how precious it really is. Then immediately He tells us that mankind is in loss. Not because of money or health, but because they waste their time. Only those who believe, do good, and use their time wisely will succeed.

Those who obey Allah and those who disobey Him. Everyone has the same 24 hours. But the difference is, how do we use them? النَّاجِحِينَ, the successful are those who see every minute as a blessing from Allah. They use it in prayer, knowledge, and good deeds. But others, they waste their time in distractions and sins. And they only wake up when it's too late to fix anything.

The Prophet ﷺ also reminded us that every person will be questioned about five things before they leave this world. And one of them was his life and how he spent it.

My brothers and sisters, do we really realize that every hour, every minute of our life will be questioned? Today, many of us spend hours scrolling on social media and wasting time on our phones. Then, when it's time for the prayer, which is the most important use of our time, we rush through it without focus.

Yes, all of us prayed Isha here in this masjid, alhamdulillah. But let me ask you a question. How was that prayer? Was it a prayer that truly honored your time? Was it a prayer that you would be proud to stand in front of Allah and be asked about?

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

How to Get Barakah in Time

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَحْدَهُ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى مَنْ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ أَمَّا بَعْدُ

My dear brothers and sisters, the time that we can use to worship Allah is one of the greatest blessings we have. But also one of the easiest to waste. When our time is wasted in distractions, we lose the barakah that Allah places in it. So how do we preserve this barakah?

If you want barakah in your time, start your day after Fajr.

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 2606)

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, Oh Allah, bless my nation in the early mornings.

If you want barakah, keep your tongue busy with dhikr and use your time for what pleases Allah and He will bless it.

Oh Allah, bless our time. Help us use it in your obedience. And make us among those who succeed in both this life and the next.

Khutbah on Honoring Parents

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

People who are obedient, compassionate, and merciful towards their parents, may Allah make us from them.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَاسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah - Honoring Parents

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَحْدَهُ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى مَنْ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ يَا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ

Allah says in His Noble Book: In this ayah, Allah commands that we worship Him alone, without shirk, without any partners. And it goes without saying that shirk is the worst sin that anyone can commit, so severe that the one who dies upon it will never be forgiven. And what does Allah say right after this? وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا And to treat your parents with ihsan, excellence. Excellence in what? Excellence in everything.

How to Show Excellence to Parents

Now you may ask, how can we show ihsan towards our parents? Allah answers this directly within the ayah.

Firstly, when He says إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِنْدَكَ الْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَا أَوْ كِلَاهُمَا If either one or both of your parents reach old age, عِنْدَكَ meaning with you, within your care, not within the care of a retirement home, where they'll be depressed, alone, crying, weeping, because you left them. Brothers and sisters, this is the least of what we can do.

There is a man who did all of hajj with his mother on his back. He went and asked Ibn Umar, have I repaid my debt to my mother? Ibn Umar رضي الله عنه, he said no. Not even for a single moment of pain within her pregnancy. SubhanAllah.

Secondly, Allah says فَلَا تَقُلْ لَهُمَا أُفٍّ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا And never say to them even the word Uf or yell at them. SubhanAllah. Nowadays we'll find children who talk back to their parents, being argumentative, running their tongues like scissors in disrespect. وَاللَّهِ بِاللَّهِ This is a despicable act. And the one who does this should take heed of the words of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم when he said the one who disrespects his parents will never enter Jannah. لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ May Allah protect us from this.

Thirdly, Allah says وَقُلْ لَهُمَا قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا Rather, address them respectfully, meaning with kindness, calmness, mercy, and love. يَا أُمِّي يَا أَبِي What can I do for you? Please let me rub your feet. Please let me make tea for you.

Brothers and sisters, follow the way of Ibrahim عليه السلام when he said to his father قَالَ سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكَ سَأَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكَ رَبِّي إِنَّهُ كَانَ بِي حَفِيًّا Ibrahim عليه السلام responded Peace be upon you. I will pray to my Lord for your forgiveness. He has truly been the most gracious to me.

Ibrahim عليه السلام said this to who? His father. The same father who was a mushrik and threatened to stone him to death. So what excuse do we have when our parents are Muslims? اللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ

Summary

To summarize, brothers and sisters:

Number one, keep your parents within your care.

Number two, do not talk back to them.

Number three, address them respectfully.

With all of this in mind, let us strive. Strive towards excellence with our parents like how Uwais was with his mother and how Ibrahim عليه السلام was with his father. Honoring them, respecting them, and being from those who make dua for and not against.

May Allah allow us to practice ihsan with our parents who are alive. قولوا آمين

May Allah have mercy on our parents who have passed away. قولوا آمين

May Allah make our parents a means for us to enter Jannah and not a means for us to enter Jahannam. قولوا آمين

May Allah grant us all success.

Now let's bring up all the participants here, inshallah. We have Ammar, Yahya, Yazeed, Nasser, and Aliyan. Just line up there and we'll see, inshallah.

Is everyone standing? Inshallah, just be careful Yazeed - my dad has a weapon, just wanted to let you know! Choose carefully, choose carefully!

Alright, the results are here. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. The results are here. This was very difficult, inshallah. I want to thank all of them from the bottom of my heart. You don't know what they went through. Do you think it's easy to stand up there? It's not easy at all. May Allah bless them and protect them, and inshallah make them better than me in the future, and make them go to all the mosques and explain the religion clearly. آمين يا رب العالمين.

Competition Results

Alright, we have three participants in third place. Three participants in third place: Nasser, Yahya, and Ammar. تكبير! الله أكبر!

Now for second place - let's leave that for tomorrow. Second place: Aliyan!

And first place: Yazeed! تكبير! الله أكبر! Now the weapon really worked! الحمد لله رب العالمين.

May Allah bless them all. We have a small gift from myself and the community: for first place, 200 dollars. Second place, third place - may Allah bless them all. Keep them in your du'a.

Reflection on the Program

Subhanallah, I do this only once a year. 25 people competed, and it was very difficult to choose the five. Trust me, from the five we selected, you saw how difficult it was to choose from these five. May Allah bless them all and protect them. We learned a lot from this, and I thank you very much.

We always talk about our children and our future. All we ask is five hours in the year. Let the children participate. Of course, some people have excuses and need to go somewhere else, but subhanallah, sit and support the children. We're not asking you for money - just sit and support them.

Many of them sit and talk about other things. Please, before you leave, think about other things. Please, before you leave, consider supporting our future leaders in this way.