Friday Khutbah (Mufti Azeemuddin) - 11/21/2025

Opening

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Alhamdulillahi wa kafa wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulullah.

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu.

The Power of Good Thoughts (Husn al-Dhan)

Beloved listeners, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given all of us a very powerful tool, a very powerful element that we carry with us and if it is used appropriately and properly, it can bring goodness beyond our expectations. And that tool and that powerful element that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us is something to do with our heart. It is a certain state of mind, it is a certain emotion that once done properly will open up doors of goodness from Allah and doors of goodness from His creation.

What is that emotional state and what is that feeling that if we use it properly Allah has placed within it unbelievable amount of doors of khair and goodness? That is حسن الظن (husn al-dhan), that is to have good thoughts about others. Husn al-dhan, to have good thoughts about Allah and to have good thoughts about the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Good Thoughts About Allah

The Prophet alaihissalaatu wasalaam has said أحسنوا الظن بالله (ahsinoo al-dhanna billah), have good thoughts about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

(Hadith Qudsi - Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam has said in a hadith Qudsi, Allah Azza wa Jal says: "I treat a servant based on his thoughts of Me." The positiveness that we carry in our relationship with Allah, you will see response from Allah in that manner.

When a person has this attitude that Allah is going to get me through this difficulty, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is going to allow me to be successful in this endeavor, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will allow me to pull through this calamity that I'm faced with, I don't have the capacity to handle this calamity, I don't have a capacity to reach the top of where I'm headed, I do not have the capacity to be able to win this struggle, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will give me that strength, that fortitude to be able to achieve that. When this person has husn al-dhan with Allah, Allah will give him that.

من تصبر صبره الله - Whoever tries to remain patient, Allah will give him patience.

Two Attitudes Toward Trials

It is a state of mind. When something happens, a calamity befalls us, a person is asked how are you dealing, how are you handling it, there are two attitudes to it. A person throws the towel in and says forget it, that's it, I'm done, I'm finished, there's no way I can take this, everything has broken loose, there's no way I'm gonna be able to get through this, there's never gonna be a happier day after this, there's never gonna be a smile on my face again, my life is ruined, that's one attitude.

Another attitude could be: this is a tough day and I'm going through a serious challenge at work, at home, personal life, or private life, or national issues, etc. It's a very tough day. However, that Allah who brought the previous days of happiness, He will bring a day of happiness as well. That Allah that gave me beautiful days in the past, why is He not capable of giving me beautiful days in the future? Why should I write off Allah? Why should I become despondent? There's no benefit I get by throwing in the towel and saying it's all over.

Instead, the way a person should approach is to say Alhamdulillah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has always been kind to me, and this is a test that I have to go through, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, since He loves me more than my mother, and more than my father, and more than any creation, most definitely there is some hidden, beautiful gift in this test.

Tests Are Hidden Gifts

That is why the ulema mentioned a beautiful point, they say, المحنة منحة خفية (Al-mihna minhatun khafiyah), that a test is a hidden gift. The word Al-mihna and minha are very similar. Same root letters, it is just they are readjusted, one has meem, noon, ha, one has meem, ha, noon, but one means a gift and one means a test. So a test is a hidden gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if you want it to be like that.

But if a person has an attitude that, no, why me, why now, how come, etc., that doesn't mean that that test will all of a sudden disappear, that doesn't mean that the calamity all of a sudden will disappear, that doesn't mean that the challenge will all of a sudden disappear. It will remain as is, rather it will become even much, much more harder to handle, to take on, and at the end there is no reward, and at the end there is no light at the end of the tunnel because of the attitude that a person had with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So husn al-dhan with Allah is not just the fact that Allah is forgiving and Allah is merciful, of course that's there as well, but along with that in any situation, a person needs to have this hope that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will get me through this difficulty. Even in good times, when you're enjoying a happy moment, the husn al-dhan with Allah is that this is not just one moment I have, insha'Allah Allah will give me many more opportunities to smile, many more opportunities to enjoy life.

Have this husn al-dhan, do not always be thinking what's next, probably these blessings are not gonna last too long, I don't think this happy moments will last long. That's that pessimistic negative attitude that will then actually, it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy, that when a person has a negative attitude towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and towards his life, what happens? It actually ends up happening the way he's expecting it.

So we learn from the beautiful deen of Rasulullah ﷺ, Sunnah, that have good thoughts with Allah, Allah Azza wa Jal will ensure that He treats you based on that.

Good Thoughts About Allah's Creation

Then the next is the creation of Allah, that we have to have good thoughts with all creation, that instead of allowing ourselves to entertain wasawis and whispers of shaitan about other people, when we see someone doing something wrong, or we think they did something wrong, or they actually did something wrong, we have to ensure that we force ourselves to give excuse for them.

We have to tell ourselves that there's no benefit I'm getting by carrying around a grudge, by carrying around hate in my heart for a certain individual. Someone did wrong to Allah, that's one thing. They did wrong to the Prophet ﷺ, that's one thing. They did wrong to their spouse or their children, that's wrong that they may go with, if they don't get forgiven they'll face the punishment of that.

But I should not allow their wrong to translate into having me create unnecessarily sins for myself by harboring evil and hatred, rancor, jealousy, frustration about other people. This makes our life for no reason more challenging than it needs to. Walking around with a clean heart that is not carrying around grudges, subhanAllah, is beautiful. It's a feeling that you have no stress on your shoulders, no stress on your mind, because those who carry the weight of other people's problems, meaning they are looking at someone doing something wrong, and after that they begin to hate them.

Or someone has done you wrong 20 years ago, and every single time you remember that, and you get all irked up and frustrated about that, and you get angry, this is something that actually pulls us down and does not allow us to lead, subhanAllah, a meaningful life. That stress that comes with it.

The Heart in Paradise

The Prophet ﷺ speaks about, rather the Qur'an speaks about the gifts of Jannah, one of the gifts. Allah says:

That in Jannah, anyone who's going to Jannah, Allah says we are going to remove any type of hatred and anger towards one another from the hearts. Because you cannot enjoy Jannah if you have hatred. You cannot enjoy Jannah if you have jealousy. You cannot enjoy Jannah if you're upset about other people.

Just like we cannot enjoy Jannah with all of that, similarly a person cannot enjoy this life either. A beautiful home, a beautiful spouse, beautiful children, beautiful career, beautiful community, a beautiful day. None of these things can be enjoyed if we're carrying around loads of frustration, anger at other people.

Shaitaan's Strategy

So how do we handle that? You say but I have been oppressed or bad things have happened to me, how can I just let it go? The Qur'an teaches us in multiple places where evil is attributed to Shaitaan. Allah Himself attributes evil towards Shaitaan. For example, Allah says, that indeed Shaitaan is the one who instigates between them argumentation, fighting, misunderstandings. And why does he do that? Indeed Shaitaan is a very clear enemy for the human being.

So as an enemy, he wishes to divide and conquer. He divides the home, he destroys the house by making the husband and wife fight. And the children are very easy fodder. They're like little munchkins that he'll just eat up very quickly because he's got the husband and wife going at each other. And so now the kids are very easy fodder.

When you look in the wild or look at National Geographic, what happens? When a predator goes after an animal for lunch or dinner, what happens? He focuses on the younger ones. He focuses on the younger small fawn or a buck. But he wants to get him at a time where the parents are distracted. And that's when they snap him. If the mom and dad are around that little baby, they don't want to waste their time on that. Because they don't want to go for a fight. They want to go for an easy meal. What's an easy meal? An easy meal is when the baby animal is separated from the mom and dad.

So this is same thing for Shaitaan. Shaitaan looks at those families and says, these mom and dads are just sitting there fighting and arguing because he's instigated them. They're going at each other's throats. And who's an easy fodder? The little child, the high school boy and girl who every time they come home, all they see is their mom and dad arguing, fighting over things. Every weekend, long weekend is coming. Long weekend is not something to look forward to because it's more fights and more argumentation and more bickering and more vendetta being spewed. Whether they are living together in the same house or not.

Children, subhanAllah, get harmed by this tremendously. And Shaitaan uses that for every little excuse. We have a fight. We have an argument. And subhanAllah, not only is he destroying the relationship and destroying our hereafter, but he is also attacking our kids.

The Example of Prophet Yusuf (AS)

So now how do you move forward? You say, my spouse has done this to me. My mom and dad have done this to me. My children have done this to me. My ex-business partner or my ex-wife or husband has done this. Qur'an, subhanAllah, in the story of Yusuf alayhi al-salam, 40 plus years approximately of separation. Of leaving Yusuf alayhi al-salam to be dead, thrown into a dry well, hoping he died. And then moving there to be sold into slavery. And then after that, living as a slave in a palace. And then from there, moving down into the dungeons for years.

His life is filled with challenges and difficulties, of course, until he ascends to the throne. But these many decades long of challenges and difficulties, how does he have closure when his brothers come in front of him? When his mom and dad come in front of him? How is he supposed to move forward?

This difficulty of Yusuf alayhi al-salam that is so beautifully mentioned in Qur'an as the best of stories. None of us can honestly match that story. Our challenges are there, but we cannot match the difficulty of what Yusuf alayhi al-salam went through. And he's not a normal human being. He is a prophet, son of a prophet, son of a prophet, and a lineage of prophets. How is that, subhanAllah, Yusuf alayhi al-salam who comes from the most pure of blood, from the most highest of backgrounds, how is he supposed to handle all of this?

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions what he said:

Allah has been so kind to me, وَقَدْ أَحْسَنَ بِي. My Rabb has been so kind to me, إِذْ أَخْرَجَنِي مِنَ السِّجْنِ when he took me out of prison. He didn't say who got me into prison. He didn't say how did he land in there.

The Power of Good Thoughts (Husnul Dhan)

He's only focusing on the positive points of his life. He says, I want to attribute the beautiful day when I came out of that dungeon. Allah brought me out of that dungeon.

And then Allah was so kind that he brought you out from the desert. He brought you out from the faraway villages to the city. And now we're together as one joint family living a life in the city. Then what does he, how does he wrap up the previous decades of absolute difficulty?

After Shaitaan came and instigated arguments and jealousy and misunderstandings between my brothers and I. He attributed all that oppression straight to Shaitaan. This is the way you heal yourself. That you do not look and say, you know what, you all have the guts to come to me when I'm a king and asking me for food, asking me for rations, asking me for mercy. Do you all know? And of course, he knew. They didn't know who he was but he knew exactly who they were. He remembered every single thing what they did to him. But how was he able to move forward? You can't just say because there's a prophet. That doesn't, you know, what quality did he have? The quality he had is how he attributed all that nonsense and that oppression towards Shaitaan. And said, you guys are my blood brothers still. I am gonna, I'm going to learn how to differentiate what you did from who you are. I am going to attribute the filth that you did towards Shaitaan. That's the only way this relationship can heal. And this is the only way we can move forward.

The Gift of Having Good Thoughts

Beloved friends, this is part of the حُسْنُ الظَّن (Husnul Dhan). That a person says, I have good thoughts about you. I know you did a lot to me. Horrible things I've suffered. But I'm gonna attribute that not to you. I'm gonna attribute that to Shaitaan. And now I have good thoughts that MashaAllah, moving forward from today, you're not gonna be the same. Because you've come repenting. You have said, I'm gonna change. You have acknowledged your mistakes. I am not gonna keep on mentioning and remembering what you did for the past decades. That doesn't help you. And it definitely doesn't help me. And definitely doesn't help our relationship.

If a person can utilize this gift of حُسْنُ الظَّن (Husnul Dhan). Having good thoughts about Allah. And good thoughts about the creation. My beloved friends, we can have a glimpse of paradise right here on this earth. And we will be able to lead lives in a much more fruitful and much more meaningful manner.

Dealing with Islamophobia Through Good Thoughts

Last but not least, the verse of the Quran that I recited at the beginning. Allah جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ mentions, that most definitely you will hear, okay, most definitely you will hear, from those who commit shirk, from those who've been given the book. From people who claim to follow a religion. And from those who are polytheists. Allah says, most definitely you're gonna hear hurtful things excessively. A lot of hurtful things. You're gonna hear it, you're gonna face it. Islamophobia. What do you do? That if you remain patient and if you attain taqwa, then this is the best course of action.

It is challenging when someone is acting with you in that Islamophobic manner. But Allah is challenging us. That yes they're pushing all the buttons. Your job is to remain patient and to use the high road, high ground. Have taqwa within your life. And I may add, this how I connected with today's talk, is to have حُسْنُ الظَّن (husnul dhan). That inshallah, just like Shaitaan made my ex do what he did, she or he did, or made someone of my relatives do what they did. Similarly, this individual was a non-Muslim. The way they're acting, they're being instigated by Shaitaan. As Allah has mentioned in so many different places in the Qur'an, and so forth. That Shaitaan instigates the disbelievers.

My beloved friends, let's have good thoughts about our fellow Islamophobes. And what I mean, you don't just, what I mean by that, I mean engage them. Talk to them. Meet with them. If someone even curses you out, meet with them. Take gifts for them, just like Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ did. He did not write off Abu Jahl on the first day. Allah had already willed for him to go to hell. And Abu Lahab. But the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, every single day, every morning, went to these people as though they had never mistreated him. With hope and حُسْنُ الظَّن that today may be the day of their guidance.

The Example of Wahshi

If Wahshi, the killer of Hamza رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, who chewed up, subhanAllah, the uncle of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, and he created so much pain that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, if you ever have to come here, please cover up your face. Just looking at your face makes me go back and think about Hamza رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ and I feel so much pain. That man who killed Hamza أَسَدُ اللَّهِ, the lion of Allah, what happens? That same man, after some time, Allah gave him the gift of Iman. And not only the gift of Iman, he ended up serving Islam in a unique manner.

So we can never write off anybody. We can never write off anybody. Have حُسْنُ الظَّن. Have good thoughts about all of those people. Your neighbors, your co-workers, who may not at times be nice, let's take blame for ourselves. To say, you know what, I have not been a good representative of Islam. I have not been a good representative of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, and this is why they have a misunderstanding about our deen. I need to use this Islamophobic act as a motivation to not go online and bash them. That doesn't help. To open up a lawsuit against your neighbor, that doesn't help. It's I'm gonna go now serve them. I'm gonna do khidmah for them. I am gonna literally go out of my way to treat them in a manner that their own relatives have not treated.

Repelling Evil with Good

And I swear Allah Himself says, Evil cannot be compensated, it cannot be equal with goodness. Repel evil with goodness. All of a sudden, that individual between you and him was huge amounts of animosity. Because you repelled that evil with goodness, He will not only forgive and forget, not only you'll move on, he will become your best friend. Best friend. وَلِيّ is already friend. حَمِيم is someone whose face turns red when you are spoken ill about in your absence. He gets mad when someone speaks about you. That's called حَمِيم. Like hammam or hot water, or what happens when you have hot water and hot shower, your face becomes red. Similarly, this man, his face becomes red with blood, angry when you are spoken ill about. Allah is saying in the Quran, repel evil with goodness. This is how Allah will change the hearts.

Concluding Du'a

I ask Almighty Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ that He makes you and I from amongst the best representatives of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. May He inculcate the qualities of the Sahaba within our hearts. And may Allah make you and I and our loved ones from amongst those who have great and beautiful thoughts about Allah. And beautiful thoughts about the creation of Allah. And may Allah allow us to see the manifestation of His promises in front of our own eyes.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 145)

And the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, "Indeed, the religion began strange, and it will return strange. So be kind to the strangers, those who amend what the people have corrupted from the Sunnah after me."

I say this and ask Allah's forgiveness for me and for you and for the rest of the Muslims from every sin. So ask forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

And establish prayer. Please fill in the rows. Move forward. Inshallah, I'm sure there are no gaps in between. Sisters as well, inshallah, try your best to ensure there's no gaps in between the stand shoulder-to-shoulder as we also there is going to be a Salatul Janaza after the between the two between the two Jummahs here inshallah so those of us who can stay back please stay back it's a great reward alhamdulillah right after the Fajr Salat Jummah Salat will have the Salatul Janaza details Imam Asfar inshallah will share additionally inshallah.

Announcement

I just want to make a quick announcement as the winter holidays are coming there's very important for us to spend quality time with our children and doing beneficial things I just want to our annual winter intensive takes place December 20 21 22 this year Alhamdulillah this is an annual program every winter we have 40 minutes away from here at Darussalam Alhamdulillah it's a three-day program for the entire family for men women youth it's an academic program as well as you know child care and things that are appropriate for younger kids so please check out our website there's some flyers on the way out December 20 21 22 at Darussalam inshallah in Lombard.

We have a young man, 43 years old, Mother Haris Faruqi with two young children, he passed away. His janazah is right now, so if you could please stay that would be greatly appreciated and attend the burial. One of the family members, Dr.

Janazah Prayer Procedure

Amr Jameel will be leading the janazah salah. As for the procedure for the janazah salah, there are four takbirat. You will make the intention for the forgiveness of the deceased.

First Takbir

After the first takbir, you recite the thana:

If you follow the other madhahib, you may recite Surat al-Fatiha.

Second Takbir

After the second takbir, you will recite salat al-Nabi:

Third Takbir

After the third takbir, you will recite du'a al-mayyit. If you don't know it, learn it.

Fourth Takbir and Conclusion

After the fourth takbir, we will conclude with the salams. Once again, we will have the burial at the usual place where we do.

Remembrance of Death

I was told that this brother is a musafir from India. So please do your best, not just for him, but for your own sake. As the Prophet ﷺ mentioned, when we visit the graveyard, when we remember death, this is one of the things that will destroy all of our false desires.

Allah Akbar