Jummah Khutabh

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

All praise is due to Allah. We seek His guidance and His forgiveness and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and the whispering of our desires. Whom Allah guides, no one can misguide. And whom 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 that Muhammad ﷺ is His slave and His messenger and His perfect worshipper.

Taqwa Verses

To proceed, Allah says in the Qur'an:

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

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.

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.

The Arrival of the Prophet ﷺ in Medina

Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه says that the day that Rasulullah ﷺ arrived in Medina, everything lit up. There was no day brighter than the day that Rasulullah ﷺ, the Messenger of Allah, arrived in the city of Medina, having been expelled and migrating from his hometown of Mecca.

And everyone gathered outside of the city so that they could see him for the first time. Those who believed in him wanted to see the final Messenger of God. Those who didn't believe in him were curious to see who is this person that all of this commotion is about. This person who had been expelled by his people. This person who had caused for his community to have to migrate twice — one time to Abyssinia and another time to seek refuge, to be refugees in Yathrib.

Abdullah ibn Salam was one of those people. And he was the chief rabbi of Medina. And he narrates to us — as reported by al-Tirmidhi and others — that when he came out amongst the throngs of people outside of the city to get this first glimpse of Muhammad ﷺ, he said: "I saw his face and I recognized that his face was not the face of a liar." He had a truthful face ﷺ.

The Inaugural Address — Four Statements

And then the Prophet ﷺ addressed the people. It was his inaugural address. It was his first statement that he made to the community that he was now going to lead.

And every leader, when they give that first speech, when they give that speech at their inauguration, they want to chart out their vision for their community. It's a big moment. If you do it right, you get to be able to paint the picture of what your leadership is going to look like and the direction that you want your community to go in.

So you have famous statements like JFK who said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country." Something that resonated with the nation that he was leading.

Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, when he gave his first speech, people were worried that Umar was someone who was so harsh and so severe — how is he now going to lead this believing community? And so Umar رضي الله عنه, the first thing he wanted to do was still those fears. He said: "The strong of you is the weak in my eyes until I make them subjugated to the law. And the weak of you is the strong in my eyes until I secure for them their rights." Umar رضي الله عنه was painting the picture of a Khilafah of justice. That is what his leadership was going to be.

Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, before Umar, the first statement that Abu Bakr made was something that was incredibly crucial. He said:

(Seerah — Speech of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq upon assuming the Khilafah, reported in Musnad Ahmad and al-Bayhaqi's al-Sunan al-Kubra)

"Obey me as long as I obey Allah and His Messenger. But if I disobey Allah and His Messenger, then there is no obedience due to me."

Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه needed to create a break. Because the Prophet ﷺ was the leader before Abu Bakr, and the Prophet's ﷺ leadership is divinely legislated and ordained. If Rasulullah ﷺ goes right, that means the believers going right and doing what he said is in obedience to Allah. And Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه needed to make sure that the Muslim community no longer believes that by obeying the ruler absolutely, they are obeying Allah. Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه set the stage for every leader who would come after.

Alhamdulillah, the Muslim community never had an issue of believing that the decrees of their ruler were divinely ordained, and that is because Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه created such a distinction during his Khilafah.

Now — what did the Prophet ﷺ say in his first address? That's what our khutbah is going to be about. He says four statements. Just four.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2485; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3251; classed as Sahih)

He says: O people, O mankind — everybody. The Prophet ﷺ recognizes that he is going into a multi-religious, multi-cultural society. He says, "O people" — everybody.

First: Spread the Salaam — أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ

Spread peace. This Jannah that you and I are seeking — this paradise. How many Jum'ahs have we attended in our lives for Jannah? How many Salahs have we woken up to pray? How many Salahs have we stayed up to pray? How many Ramadans have we fasted? How many dollars have we given in charity? How many desires did we restrict ourselves from — because of Jannah?

And yet the Prophet ﷺ says: You will not enter Jannah — this Jannah that you fasted for and prayed for and given for — you will not enter Jannah until you believe. And you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not tell you something that if you do it, you will love one another?

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 54)

Spread the salaam amongst each other. This salaam — the Prophet ﷺ commanded for it to be spread. And when you spread the salaam, it becomes an ingredient of love for one another. And the Prophet ﷺ said: Allah is al-Salam. So spread the salaam amongst each other.

Now, even when you're coming into the masjid here — do you spread salaam? Do you say salaam alaikum to those who you know and those who you don't know? Do you say salaam alaikum to those out on the street? Out and about? Even beyond that — for those who are not Muslim, do you say good morning to them? Do you say hello to them? Do you spread greetings of peace to them?

In the South, it's something beautiful that's done. It's considered part of southern hospitality. People are very nice and welcoming and they say hi and good morning and things like that. So maybe we do that. But it's very important that a Muslim community be culture creators and not just culture consumers. Meaning that if I'm in Houston and everybody says hi, good morning, how are you — I say hi, good morning, how are you, because that's what everybody does around me. But if I go to Chicago and nobody says hi, good morning, how are you — I don't say it either.

I had an experience — after moving to Houston and getting used to this hi, good morning, how are you business — I went to New York and I started saying hi and good morning to people. And everybody was ignoring me. I said to myself, "This is becoming like a tourist." But then I thought to myself, is saying hello from Makarim al-Akhlaq? Is it good character? Yes, it is. And so if it is good character, then the believers have more right to it. And we should be vessels of beauty and goodness everywhere that we go. Not because it's the culture of those around us, but because it is our culture. It is our deen.

And so I thought to myself — no, I'm going to double down. I'm going to say hi and good morning loudly. Maybe I wasn't saying it loud enough. I'm going to say it louder now and make eye contact, and make sure that everybody around knows that I'm not talking to somebody on the phone — I'm talking to them directly. And so I did it. And over that weekend, when I made sure to be clear and loud and proud, every single person said good morning back to me. Every single one. The reason is because people's fitrah — people are inclined to good character.

And so the Prophet ﷺ says: أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ بَيْنَكُمْ. It is something that is incredibly disturbing — it is something that is incredibly disappointing — that we build beautiful masajid, we spend millions of dollars on masajid, but if you walk into that masjid and nobody responds to your salam, how do you feel about that masjid? It can be worth millions of dollars — I'm not going to come back. The salam makes people feel welcome. The salam makes people feel seen. The salam makes people feel beloved.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 54)

So make this our habit — that we don't simply say salam to those whom we recognize, but we say salam to those we know and those we don't know.

Second: Feed People — أَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ

Feed people. And I have a challenge as well. Anytime anybody goes anywhere in the Muslim world — whether they go to West Africa or East Africa, whether they go to the Arabian Peninsula, whether they go to North Africa, whether they go to Southeast Asia, whether they go to the Indian subcontinent, whether they go to Europe, go to Turkey — no matter where they go, what's one thing that everybody comes back raving about? Not just the food, but the hospitality. They will insist and feed you and feed you and feed you and feed you and feed you and feed you.

Now, we're 1% of the population here in the United States. Are we known for our hospitality? Are we known for feeding people? We're known for wrestling each other when we go to a restaurant — if I go with Ahmed to a restaurant, I'll fight with him over the bill. If I go with other Muslims, I will fight over the bill and I will do that. But does broader society recognize our hospitality and our generosity? And if not, then the question is why? Are we culture creators or are we simply consumers? If people don't pay, then we don't pay. And if that culture doesn't exist, we don't create it.

The Prophet ﷺ says: Feed people. And Allah says:

They feed the poor. And they feed the imprisoned. And they feed the orphan. And Surah al-Insan is a Meccan surah — how many Muslims were there in Mecca? There weren't that many. This is talking about a non-Muslim population that the believers are feeding.

Third: Connect the Ties of Kinship — صِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ

We love our friends. Friends are fun — we get to choose our friends. But Allah chose our family. And He obligated that you connect with those family members. Allah chose that uncle for you. Allah chose that cousin for you. Allah chose those parents and those grandparents. Allah chose your nieces and your nephews. Allah chose your children and your grandchildren. Allah selected them for you. And then He commanded that you connect the ties of kinship.

And the Prophet ﷺ said that it's not بِالْمُكَافَأَةِ — it is not reciprocity. You know, you have some family members who you send them a message and they respond back with flowers and hearts and all sorts of beautiful things — so you want to keep sending them messages. And then you have another uncle who you send messages to and he always leaves you on read. He never responds. You call them, they never respond back to you. And that's difficult. And you might feel — I'm going to stop reaching out. Like, I reached out to him a million times and he doesn't respond.

But the Prophet ﷺ said: no, الصِّلَةُ is not مُكَافَأَةٌ. Connecting the ties of kinship is not reciprocity. You're good to them and they're great to you — and that's wonderful. But connecting the ties of kinship is that you connect with those who cut you off. And it is a great, great act of worship. It is a beloved act of worship to Allah. And Rasulullah ﷺ says: صِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ.

Fourth: Pray in the Night — وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ

Pray in the night while the people are asleep. The first three things the Prophet ﷺ said have to do with our treatment of each other. And the fourth one has to do with our worship of Allah. That you make your audience Allah. The night prayer is the prayer that is the least expected to have any sort of riya — any sort of showing off. There's nobody else who sees.

People know if you come to Jum'ah or not. People know if you come to Dhuhr or Asr or Maghrib, to some degree Isha and Fajr — even though those are the hardest prayers on the munafiq because they have the least audience. But the night prayer — if a person prays the night, normally they've prayed their five prayers. Nobody prays the night unless they have their five prayers in order. And a person who prays the night is a person who is infused with love for Allah. This is a person who is seeking nearness to Allah.

There was a man who was very, very successful in his da'wah. And they asked him — and not just about da'wah, but this is also about family, this is about relationships — when he was asked why he was so successful, he said: "I talk to Allah." He said: "I talk to my people about Allah. And I talk to Allah about my people."

Summary of the Four Things

The four things are:

1. Spread the Salaam — أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ
2. Feed people — أَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ
3. Connect the ties of kinship — صِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ
4. Pray in the night while the people are asleep — صَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ

What will happen? He says:

You will enter Paradise in peace.

Closing Du'a

أقول ما سمعتم وأستغفر الله لي ولكم فاستغفروه إن الله غفور رحيم.