Jummah Khutbah: The Best Communal Investment

Khutbat al-Hajjah — The Sermon of Need

We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and the evil of our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomsoever Allah allows to be led astray, none can guide.

And I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah, who is Exalted. And that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is His last messenger and servant.

O you who believe, fear Allah, and die not, except in a state of submission to Him alone.

O humanity, fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul, and from that created his mate, and from that scatters many men and women. O humanity, fear your Lord, and do not cut off relations with your kin, with your relatives. Indeed, Allah is al-Raqib — He is the ultimate monitor over you.

O humanity, fear your Lord, and speak the truth. In return, Allah will rectify for you your affairs and forgive you of the sins that you may have committed. And whoever obeys Allah and His messenger has indeed achieved the greatest achievement.

As to what follows — indeed, the best speech is the Qur'an. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And of the worst affairs in our doctrinal system of Islam are the newly invented ones. For every newly invented affair in this religion is an innovation. And for every innovation is a form of going astray. And for every form of going astray is in the fire of hell.

Brothers and sisters, what was just recited to you is what many of you may know as Khutbat al-Hajjah — it is the sermon of need. And many times you may have heard me say this because the Prophet ﷺ used to say this all the time.

The Prophet ﷺ Arrives in Al-Madinah

As a matter of fact, when he migrated from Mecca to Al-Madinah, and he established Masjid Quba upon arriving on the southern part of Al-Madinah — the border of Al-Madinah — he performed the first Jumu'ah, not even in a masjid. But when he performed this Jumu'ah, he recited these words: Khutbat al-Hajjah. And he gave the khutbah which was no more than about five minutes. This Khutbat al-Hajjah was something that a man named Dumad al-Azdi, upon hearing it, embraced Islam. The Khutbat al-Hajjah is something that is immense in the life of the Muslim, because the Prophet ﷺ would continuously make this khutbah, this sermon.

And after this Khutbat al-Hajjah, after he performed this Jumu'ah, he proceeded on to Al-Madinah. And when he arrived in Al-Madinah — actual Al-Madinah — he decided to build a masjid. But what happened in particular is that when he was on his naqa, on his camel, his camel was going in a certain direction and people were trying to pull his camel — as in some riwayat, people were trying to pull his camel because they wanted the Prophet ﷺ to reside and to stay with them.

A long story short, the camel resided — or stopped — right on top of or around some dry dates, a marbad or mirbad. And when the Prophet ﷺ asked who these dry dates belonged to, they were for ghulamayn yatimayn — two orphan boys. The Prophet ﷺ offered to pay for that land and they refused. But the Prophet ﷺ insisted on giving them their haqq. Whereupon he started to build the masjid, while he was staying with Abu Ayyub al-Ansari — which is today Masjid an-Nabawi.

So we see that the Prophet ﷺ established a central location, which was an establishment of the identity of Muslims in an area where there was no central location. But the first thing that he did upon his arrival was establish a place of the remembrance of Allah. Now this is very important.

The Wisdom Behind Allah's Commands

When we see even Ibrahim ﷺ was ordered to establish the Baytullah — the house of Allah. And what we have to understand is that when Allah orders something, or prohibits us from something, or recommends us to do something, the maqasid — the objectives, plural — behind it, we as human beings will never be able to encounter all of them. He may tell us some of the ilal, some of the reasons behind some of the rulings. But when He orders something, we should automatically know within our hearts, because of our iman, that there are many treasures behind it.

When I say treasures, there are many forms of rectification for the human being — individually and collectively. When we see Allah through His shari'ah ordering five pillars — arkan — a pillar is that which its absence will compromise the structure. So the absence of one of those pillars, within your heart and believing and hoping that you can perform all of them, and within your actions, is compromising the structure of your Islam. So when Allah orders something, we have to try our level best — through learning the religion of Islam and being in an environment that is conducive to that learning — to understand there are so many treasures behind it. And what's up to us only is to try our level best to do, or to stay away from.

Understanding that the One that loves us more than — subhanAllah — we may even love ourselves, only wants good for you. Not just you as a Muslim, but for you as a human being. Everyone on the earth, Allah wants good for them initially.

So when seeing the Prophet ﷺ establishing this masjid, you see some of the wisdoms behind it. There was an individual around 20 years ago trying to find his purpose in life. He wanted to understand what was the purpose of life. And he heard from one of his friends at college about this religion, Islam. So one day he is driving and he sees Mecca Masjid. He stops at this masjid and he starts to ask questions to the imam. And when he asks questions, the more questions that he is asking, the answers that are being given are so profound to him. But he said, after embracing Islam and meeting this imam: "It was from Allah that I saw this masjid — that I saw this location, especially in the area that I was in. I had never seen it. But seeing it now was a means for me to come in — being scared — coming in and asking you about Islam."

We see that is what happened with the Prophet ﷺ and throughout Islamic history — that the presence of the masjid is a central location for the identity of the general community of Muslims. And that is what Allah has established.

Quran 9:18 — Those Who Establish the Houses of Allah

When Allah says in chapter number 9, verse number 18 — and I mention the numbers because I hope that all of us, at Maghrib tomorrow, for the rest of our lives insha'Allah, when we remember the number and the subject matter, we can sit at the dinner table with our children, we can sit at the lounge at work, we can sit in any place where we want to represent ourselves as Islam and Muslims, and we remember what our Lord, the Creator, says about this issue initially.

Chapter number 9, verse 18 — the chapter of Tawbah, the chapter of forgiveness and redemption — where Allah says, after seeking refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan:

Verily, the ones that establish or maintain the houses of Allah are the ones that believe in Him and the Last Day, and they establish the prayer, give the zakat, and they fear none except Allah. Perhaps they will be of the rightly guided ones.

The Word "Ya'muru" — Bringing Life

Let's ponder over this verse. Firstly, Allah says innama — verily — in Arabic, innama is to specify what comes after it, from the action or the noun. So: verily, the ones that preserve or maintain. The verb He uses here is ya'muru. And as we mentioned before, it means long life or lifespan — or to bring life to something. So if someone's name is Omar, it means may they have a long lifespan. It is to have good thoughts, to be optimistic about their life and that which is good.

So when Allah says ya'muru, it may mean building the masjid — taking the pillars and building the masjid as the Prophet ﷺ did with the companions when building the masjid in Al-Madinah. And it also may mean that even when the structure is built, it may be empty — there may not be people in it. But what's important is that there are inhabitants of the masjid on a consistent basis. What makes it a masjid is that the prayers are established. So prayer, dhikr, reciting Allah's name, reading the Qur'an — this is the basis of the actions that should be done in a masjid, thus making it a masjid. That is ya'muru masajid Allah — they are the ones that, from their actions, are bringing life to the masjid.

Just as all of you coming here is bringing life to the masjid. How do you feel after Jumu'ah when you give salams and you greet someone that you don't know? You've seen them for so many weeks and then you find out that you may work at the same company — you may even be related, have a distant relative. You may have gone to the same college. You pray together. This brings the hearts closer. And that is bringing life to the masjid. But in actuality, it's bringing life to the community. And when I say community, not only the Muslim community — you are creating inclusion by being an added block to the building of diversity in your locality. So that when people — such as the one that saw the masjid and had questions — come in and have questions, they may not want to become Muslim, which is fine, but they want to know who their neighbors are. And that is bringing life to the community. Getting involved.

So ya'mur masajid — how eloquent it is that Allah chose to use this expression in this verse. Then Allah says masajid Allah — the houses of Allah. We know the word masjid means the place of sujood, the place of prostration. But Allah associates this noun with His name. And as we know generally, when Allah associates a noun with His name — showing possession — it shows nobility, greatness, the magnificence, or the importance of that thing. So when Allah says masajid Allah — the houses of Allah — just like He says Baytullah, house of Allah; Rasulullah, messenger of Allah. Who is he? Is he not magnificent? When your name is Abdullah, it is optimistic that you will be a slave and servant of your Lord. So when Allah says masajid Allah, it shows the greatness of the ones that do the action of maintaining this great thing — which is a house amongst the houses of Allah.

The Characteristics of Those Who Maintain the Masjid

But then — who are they? What are their characteristics? مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ — those who believe in Allah and the Last Day. And we see the Prophet ﷺ has given this characteristic numerous times in his sunnah:

Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him say good — let him or her say good, or don't say anything at all. You should only say that which is khair. That is the action of someone that believes in Allah and the Last Day. The Last Day being the Day of Judgment — the day when there is no return, the day when everything will perish, and you will stand in front of your Lord and be asked about the good that you have done and be rewarded for that.

So when we see this, yawm al-akhir — Allah is giving this characteristic. But not only that. Because you notice here He mentions iman — belief in the heart. But then He shows the actions: وَأَقَامَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ — they establish the prayer and give the zakat — the charity or alms that, if they are eligible, they pay once a year: 2.5% of their surplus wealth. These are the characteristics. Two pillars of the five pillars of Islam — praying and establishing the zakat. And even iman — the first pillar of Islam.

So when seeing this, Allah is giving the characteristics of those people. This is very important when understanding that the actions of protecting the community are not by just anyone — they are by people that Allah has enabled and who made the choice to do this action because they believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they do actions to exemplify that.

But also — وَلَمْ يَخْشَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ — they don't fear anyone except Allah. And this is another important aspect for us as Muslims to understand. As we see nowadays, a lot of times we rely on the tangible — we rely on things that we can see, touch, feel. And unfortunately, sometimes, with our youth especially, in certain environments, they are being tested on the foundations of their religion, being that it cannot be proven factually by tangible things. But we as Muslims believe in the unseen. We believe that there are unseen forces, if you will. Allah Himself — we cannot see Him. But we believe in Him. The Prophet ﷺ — we cannot see him. But we believe in him. And it is a pillar of our existence as Muslims. So when we have fear of something that we cannot see, this is profound — meaning that it is well beyond what you can see.

But what's amazing is that you do actions with tangible items — such as building a masjid, using your money to establish a place of worship. Before this masjid was established here, it was an empty building, or it was occupied by people that may not have had that belief. But when people that believed in Allah and the Last Day — with hopes of making this a place to establish the prayer, maybe to collect the zakat, and fearing only Allah — what happens? You receive the reward.

As we see countless mentionings in the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ: coming to the masjid and praying in congregation receives 25 or 27 blessings; the one that sits in the masjid from prayer to prayer, it is as though they have prayed the entire time and their du'a is accepted; the one that makes du'a between the adhan and the iqamah — it is accepted; the one that sits in the masjid and cries for the sake of Allah; and the ones whose heart is attached to the masjid — they are from the seven people that the shade of Allah will shade on the Day when there is no shade, the Day of Judgment.

So many virtuous things are connected to — we can say masjid — but put in your mind: house of Allah. Just think about that. The most blessed places on the face of the earth are the houses of Allah. If you were to just say that in your mind, it makes sense. When you say masjid, unfortunately, because of the actions of people, the word masjid can be disenchanting to some of us. But it does not change the importance of the action of building it. This is very important — which leaves a responsibility upon ourselves as human beings to fulfill the purpose of the masjid.

So when Allah talks about those that fear none except Allah, He says: and perhaps they will be of the muhtadeen — they will be of the rightly guided people. But here, asa — "perhaps" — is tahqiq. It really means: they are the rightly guided people. They are.

So going back — look at the ones that establish and keep the houses of Allah alive, the ones that come to the salah on a consistent basis. Just coming to the salah, just to pray and to go back home. You don't have an appointment with someone — you leave your home just to come and pray and go back. Bringing life to the masjid, staying in the masjid and sitting, and reciting Qur'an — this is bringing life to the masjid. Establishing the masjid in a place where there is no representation of Islam and Muslims — this is where this verse, chapter number 9, verse number 18, is talking about.

May Allah make us from those that bring life to the masjid and bring life to buildings and turn them into masajid for the adequate representation of Islam and Muslims.

The Importance of Inclusive Representation

It is very important that when we mention establishing places of worship for Allah, we know that worship is manifested in different ways. One thing that the Prophet ﷺ would do is that with the structures of Islam, the symbols of Islam, were always something that was inclusive — maintaining the integrity of their identity but making sure that people knew who you are and what you represent, and including other individuals to have knowledge of that. And this is very important, especially in America, when establishing a masjid — when establishing a house of Allah, a place of worship and remembrance of Allah.

When we see in Islam, as I mentioned before, that establishing these places of worship of Allah gives you a central location for the representation of Islam. You should always remember that it goes beyond this life. And the motivation behind the action should be something of the next life. The motivation, as we all know, should be to receive the reward from Allah — if not in this life, in the next life. As we see with the Prophet ﷺ, he would always raise us and remind us that things are beyond this life, that this life will end, and we will receive our reward from what we've done in this life.

The Hadith of 'A'ishah — What Remains

With the hadith of 'A'ishah, that is in al-Tirmidhi and it is sahih — when 'A'ishah mentioned in one narration that the Prophet ﷺ, or that they were given a sheep, and the Prophet ﷺ used to love the shoulders of the animal, of the sheep. So 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, when she would receive anything from the community, she would automatically distribute it. So she distributed the meat to the people.

When the Prophet ﷺ entered, he asked, "Is there anything?" She said, "Everything is gone except the shoulder." But listen to the answer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And this answer should be paramount for us when we do an action in this world for the sake of Allah.

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2470 — graded Sahih)

The Prophet ﷺ said, "No, 'A'ishah — baqiya kullu shay'in ghayra katafiha — everything is still here except the shoulder." What does that mean? What you gave away in sadaqah — not wanting anything in return, not following up, giving for the sake of Allah to help people because you know Allah loves it — you're doing what Allah loves and it is helping people and you're not worried about the results. Your intention was to help the religion of Allah, to help Islam, to help the people. That is what is still here for you in the next life. But the shoulder — we will consume. So he flipped it. He reminded her that an action in this life will serve as something that is good for you and heavy on the scales of good deeds for the next life.

Do we understand how the Prophet ﷺ is raising us? So if we put two and two together — establishing a place for the remembrance of Allah, where Islam and Muslims can have the strongest opportunity to be adequately represented — this is something that is blessed. But it leaves a responsibility on us to act in accordance with the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when it comes to our actions toward our neighbors, when it comes to our children, when it comes to assisting people and including them within these structures of the remembrance of Allah.

Building a Masjid — A Reward Beyond Measure

So when looking at this hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, it always reminds us about the next life — doing good deeds that will reward you in the next life. That is something that is great. When we see Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, when he decided to expand Masjid an-Nabawi, some of the companions were hesitant on the expansion and they started to talk. Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, got on the minbar and said: "You have spoken a lot about this issue. Do we not remember the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ?"

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 450; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 533)

Whoever builds a masjid wanting the pleasure of Allah, Allah will build for him a masjid — or a house — in Jannah.

This is very important. There is something as we know called reciprocity — you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. You do something for me, I'll do something for you. But it is only within our capabilities, and it may be kafaa — you give me five, I give you five. And if I give you six or something greater, that is ihsan — a good deed from me — that extra one or two. But when it comes to Allah, it is totally different. In return, it is going to be much more — number one, in this life. And number two, it may be in this life and in the next. Allah can give whatever He wants, how much He wants, to whoever He wants. So when you do something for Him, do not domesticate His actions. His actions are not confined to your intellect. But understand: you try — and that is all He wants from you — and He will reward you. That is a manifestation of the names ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim — the Merciful.

So when seeing — building the house of Allah — in another narration, the Prophet ﷺ said: even if it was the place of a nesting area of a bird — even if it was that small. And scholars said: even if it was a place of prostration, to show that the smallest thing that you can do — a place of remembrance of Allah — this is what is recommended for your existence as Muslims in this life.

So for us to understand, brothers and sisters, that if there is a place and there is a masjid that people want to establish, we should remember the virtue of having that. We should understand the importance of the representation of Islam as Muslims. And Islam starts when people can have their iman in a place just to think about Allah. It is definitely worth establishing that masjid. So in understanding the importance of establishing this place and realizing that this is one of the greatest actions that can be done, we should not be negligent of the fact that it is more than just something that we see on a daily basis. It goes beyond that, and the things associated with that object start to be activated when you establish the remembrance of Allah by establishing one of His houses.

So we ask Allah to make us of those that continually bring life to the masjid. We ask Allah to make us of those that continually call people, in a conducive fashion, back to the place where Islam started — to believe in Allah and the Last Day and to do actions that are conducive to that.

Announcement — Masjid Fundraiser in Coppell

Brothers and sisters, many of you might not know there is a masjid in Coppell — it is north of here, about five minutes away. I am the imam of that masjid. We are planning to have a fundraiser on December 1st. And as I mentioned before, we wanted to establish the remembrance of Allah. So we ask Allah to make us of those that continuously remember Him and do actions of khair.

Closing

Indeed, Allah commands justice, good conduct, and giving to relatives, and He forbids immorality, wrongdoing, and oppression. He admonishes you so that perhaps you will be reminded.

Remember Allah and He will remember you. Be thankful to Him and He will increase you. And the remembrance of Allah is the greatest thing. And Allah knows what you do.

Wa aqim as-salah.