Be Free by Being a Slave of Allah - Khutbah by Ustadh Farzan Parupia
By Ustadh Farzan Parupia | 2026-08-12T19:30:56.083724+00:00 | Topic: Allah
Opening — Khutbah of Need (Khutbat al-Hajah)
All praise is due to Allah, Whom we praise, Whom we ask for help and forgiveness, and in Whom we believe and upon Whom we rely. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is none to misguide him, and whomsoever He forsakes, there is none to guide him.
And we bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And we bear witness that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger. Allah sent him as a guide and with the religion of truth, to make it prevail over all religion — and Allah is sufficient as a witness. And peace and blessings be upon him, and many, many greetings.
To proceed: the most authentic speech is the Book of Allah. And the best guidance is that of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of affairs are innovations. And every innovation is a newly invented matter, and every newly invented matter is a misguidance, and every misguidance leads to the Fire.
Allah says in His holy book — and I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan — in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
O Allah, open my heart and facilitate for me my affair, and grant me eloquence of tongue that my speech may be understood. O Allah, grant us to die with lā ilāha illallāh on our lips. O Allah, make us from the believers of this religion and the righteous. Guide us with truth and grant us patience. InshaAllah.
The Most Important Relationship
In this brief reminder today — for myself and for all of you, inshaAllah — I want to discuss a very important yet easy-to-understand topic. I want to discuss a relationship today. And this is more important than any relationship that you are a part of. It is more important than the relationship with your siblings, with your parents, with your children, with your spouse. This relationship is more important than any of these other relationships, and that is our relationship with Allah.
What does it mean to have this relationship? What is the context of this relationship? What are we expected to do as human beings in the eyes of Allah? What are our responsibilities in this position?
Understanding Surah al-Fatiha — The First Three Verses
The verses that I recited at the beginning — we all know these verses. They are so powerful, and they have so much meaning and eloquence. Yet we pass through them in the prayer almost like a routine, because we do it so many times.
That is Surah al-Fatiha. And the first three verses are so amazing and significant. Let us look at what they mean, and what implication this has for our relationship with Allah.
1. Alhamdulillah — All Praise Belongs to Allah
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, Rabb al-'Alameen — Master of all people. In typical translations, you hear "Lord of all peoples." The reason I want to talk about this is because when we understand these verses, we don't always understand them completely.
The first part, alhamdulillah — all praise and thanks are due to Allah. From the phrase itself, we learn that no matter who is praising Allah, praise still belongs to Him. Praise belongs to Him no matter what.
Then the second part: Rabb al-'Alameen — Master of all people. Typically when you hear the translation of the word Rabb, you hear "Lord." But "Lord" doesn't really mean much to us nowadays. It is very old English and hard to understand. If you ask an average person what "Lord" means, they won't be able to answer clearly.
The more appropriate word is Master, because that helps us understand what it really means. And Rabb — "Master" — is a relationship word. When you hear it, you immediately think of something else. If I say "parent," the first thing you think of is "child." If I say "teacher," the first thing you think of is "student." In the same way, when you think of "master," what is the first thing you think of? Slave.
So it is a relationship word. And Allah could have used any of His magnificent names. He could have said alhamdulillah al-Rahman, alhamdulillah al-Malik. But He chose this specific word. And the significance of it is that He is developing and showing us this relationship right from the start. In the very first verse, He is humbling us.
Because what does a slave mean? A slave is someone who is supposed to be humble in the eyes of the master. The master is the highest position one can possibly hold. And the slave is the lowest. So when we are on the floor bowing before Allah in our prayer, we say Subhāna Rabbiya al-A'lā — How perfect is my Master, the Most High. And we are on the floor. Is it not striking how we are at the lowest point yet we are calling Him the highest? That is humility. And that is what we learn.
2. Al-Rahman al-Raheem — The Master Is Not Oppressive
Now, in this relationship, you might think: "Slave" — that is a very harsh word. And from what we have learned throughout history, slaves were oppressed. Slaves had no rights. Slaves were abused, and the master was abusive and would do whatever he wanted with the slave.
But Allah knew that some of us would think this. And so an interpretation of the next verse is that He is clearing up this misconception. He says: Al-Rahman — you think a master is abusive and harsh? No. Allah, the Rabb al-'Alameen, is the Most Merciful. Al-Rahman, Al-Raheem.
He is unimaginably merciful. And both of these words come from the root word Rahm — the same word as the mother's womb in which she carries her child. The mercy that a mother has for her child — think of that mercy. But Allah's mercy is way beyond that. We cannot even fully imagine a mother's mercy for her child. So what about Allah?
Al-Rahman is like a vast ocean — how wide, how enormous it is. That is Al-Rahman. And Al-Raheem is the fact that it just keeps going. Allah's mercy keeps going no matter what. Whether you praise Him, whether you are a good slave of His or not — you are still alive. That in and of itself is a mercy from Allah. Whether you are Muslim or non-Muslim, His mercy is upon you. Al-Raheem — think of an ocean, you cannot see the end of it. That is how His mercy is. It is just vast, and you cannot see the end of it.
3. Maliki Yawm al-Din — The Master Is Also Just
Now a person might think: "Oh, okay, Allah is all-merciful. So that means I can do whatever I want. I can mess up, make mistakes, sin, go ahead — and Allah is so merciful, He will forgive me. It is all good, right?"
But Allah addresses this misconception in the very next verse. He says: Maliki Yawm al-Din — He is the King, the Owner of the Day of Recompense, in which every single one of us will be given exactly what we deserve.
The Parable of the Master and the Slave
This reminds me of a story. Imagine a farmer — think of him as a master. He just acquired a slave. He has a big patch of land, a farm. And so he tells the slave the conditions:
"The first condition is that you must stay inside this boundary. I will mark out a space for you — a fenced-in area — and you can do whatever you want within it. Just do not go outside. But if you do go outside, every single time you cross this boundary, I will give you one lash."
The slave thinks: "Okay, cool. Easy enough. I have so much space, I can do whatever I want."
One day, the master wants a drink. He is sitting on the very edge of the boundary and calls the slave over. The slave rushes to get some water. As he is bringing it to the master — because the master is sitting right at the edge — he slips and steps just barely across the line. Just a little bit. He is frightened because he remembers the condition.
The master sees him and says: "It is okay. It was a mistake. Do not worry about it." The slave is relieved, gives him the drink, and things move along.
A few days pass. The slave looks at all the space outside his boundary and thinks: "There is so much space out there. And I remember that one time when I accidentally crossed the line — the master did not punish me like he said he would. So let me see..." He teases the line. He steps a little bit over. The master sees him and says: "It is okay, do not worry about it."
A few more days pass. Now both feet are outside the line. The master says: "Do not worry about it, it is okay."
Where do you think he is after all this? He is outside — far outside. The lines do not even exist for him anymore.
Years pass by. And then one day, the master calls the slave and says: "Do you remember that day when I told you that every single time you crossed the line, you would get a lash?" He says: "Yes." The master says: "Well, I have counted every single time you did it throughout all these years — and I have decided to give you all your lashes today."
SubhanAllah.
This is not a story about an ordinary master and slave. It is an analogy for our own lives. Allah is the master in the story, and we are the slave. Allah has set boundaries for us. Before we were even born, before we even entered this life, we made a contract with Allah. We agreed to the terms.
And many of us — there is so much that is halal, so much that is permissible. Very, very little is haram. Yet what we do is we stop caring about the border. Because we just want to have fun. And so we push the border away.
Who Controls the Terms?
A significant point from this story is: who made the terms of this relationship? The master did. In any master-slave relationship, the one who controls the conditions is the master. So when Allah says pray five times a day, we pray five times a day — whether it comes early or late. He says for the woman to wear hijab — and we do not start saying, "I Googled it and some scholar said I don't need to," as if we as slaves can renegotiate the conditions.
We have to remember: the one who controls the terms of this relationship is Allah. And when you think about it, people say: "Islam is so hard. There are so many conditions. How do you pray five times a day? How do you fast for thirty days from sunrise to sunset?" And even we as Muslims think: "It is really, really hard. I am in school — can I not just make it up later?"
But think about it. Think about food — what are we told not to eat? A very small list: pig, dead animals, a handful of things. And what can we eat? Fruits, vegetables, all kinds of meats. Everything is laid out in front of us — yet a person says: "Why can't I eat just this one thing?"
Think about drinks. We have all different types of juices, water, milk, everything. Yet a Muslim says: "Alcohol — it seems like people are having so much fun. I just want that one thing." We only think about that one thing we do not have, and we forget about everything we do have.
The Cause — Lack of Gratefulness
One of the primary causes of not being a good slave of Allah is the lack of gratefulness. If we are not grateful, we will be disobedient, and we will forget the mercy that Allah has spoken of — the Rahman and the Raheem. We forget this when we forget to pray. We go home and if there is only one type of juice — and not the one we like, because our wife forgot to get it — we complain. We are outraged. We start pointing out each other's mistakes. And that shows the lack of gratefulness.
To be a good slave of Allah, you have to have that quality of being grateful and thankful to Him. Because when you are, then you will say: "That haram thing? I do not need to worry about it. Allah has given me mercy. Allah has given me guidance. I have enough."
Being a Role Model — The Example of Ibrahim (AS)
A very important point: most of us sitting here are parents. And a huge part of being a parent is being a role model for your child. The word Muslim itself means one who submits — Islam is submission to Allah. And so if you as a parent are watching filthy movies at home, missing prayers at home, not attending the masjid — what do you expect from your children? You put them in Sunday school, in hifz school, and you want them to be the best. But what about you?
You cannot tell a child to be a good slave when you are not a good slave yourself.
The best example of a person who was submissive and devoted to Allah was Ibrahim (AS). If you look at his life, he was the very epitome of submission. Think of all the tests he went through. When everything is going well — business is good, family is good — it is easy to be a good slave. But when the tests come, that is when your true nature shows.
Ibrahim (AS) was tested so many times. First, he was told to leave his family in the desert — no food, no water. Basically a death sentence. Think about how worried you are when your family is waiting at the airport and you are an hour late — and that is inside, air-conditioned, secure. Now imagine leaving your family in an open desert with nothing. Yet Ibrahim (AS) submitted to Allah.
Then he was told to jump into a fire. And he did that too. Then finally, he was told to sacrifice his son. He had been away from his son, not building that relationship — and just as the father-son bond was growing and strengthening, Allah said: sacrifice him, for My sake. We would think it was crazy. We would never even consider it. Yet Ibrahim (AS) moved forward — and his own son Ismail (AS) said: "If Allah said so, then do it."
Ismail (AS) learned submission from his father. His father was his role model. And he said: "That is what I want to be." Did Ibrahim (AS) ask any questions when given these tests? Did he say: "O Allah, I do not really see the benefit of jumping into a fire. Can you explain it to me?" No. He just submitted fully.
When his Master said to him: "Submit" — he said: "I submit to the Master of all people." Right away. No hesitation. And notice — he again uses the word Master.
Yet nowadays we are told to do small things — pray, wear hijab — and we say: "Why do I have to follow this process? Can I not be modest without something on my head? I do not understand the wisdom." We ask these questions. We have to look at the example of Ibrahim (AS). He never asked questions. He just submitted fully and completely.
If You Are Not a Role Model, Someone Else Will Be
If you are not a role model for your kids, someone else will be. A child, a youth, a teenager will always look up to someone. For the guys who love sports, they look up to LeBron, they look up to Kobe. "I want to be like them. They are making millions." But these are people with troubled personal lives. These are the people our children are looking up to — because we are not there for them.
Your children do not see your marriage. They do not see the love between you and your spouse. So why would they want to get married? For the fathers in here especially — you have to show your daughters love. Because if you do not, and you are not a role model for them, then they will fall for some person off the street who tells them they are special — and you know what that leads to.
You have to be there as a role model. When you are truly submissive as a slave of Allah, your marriage should reflect that. If your children see love and happiness in your marriage, they will say: "I want that. My parents look so happy together — I really want to get married." Work towards that.
And when Ibrahim (AS) was given the title of Imam over all people — after all his tests, after being granted this great honor — the first thing he said was:
"And what about my children, O Allah?" He had been blessed, he had passed the test, he had been given the highest status — yet he cared more about his children. He cared more about his offspring than about himself.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) — The Supreme Slave
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, cared more about us than he cared about himself. He was guaranteed Jannah. The prophets were guaranteed Jannah. Yet why did he do what he did? Why did the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, stand in prayer all night until his feet cracked and bled? For us. He did it for us. He was a supreme slave of Allah for the sake of his children — for the sake of us, his offspring in faith. And so let us look up to him.
Do Not Give Up on Allah's Mercy
Even though we are slaves and we make mistakes — the slave in the story crossed the line so many times that it was as if the line did not exist anymore — the Master, Allah, is merciful. Al-Rahman. The Master did not punish him every single time. Every single time we commit a sin, Allah has the ability to do anything He wants. He does not — because He is the Most Merciful. But that does not mean He is not fair. He gives us opportunities to repent. He gives us opportunities to ask for forgiveness.
No matter how bad of a slave you are, no matter how bad of a slave I am, I still have the mercy of Allah, Al-Rahman Al-Raheem. His mercy is there no matter what. It is yours to take. And so we should take it.
Even when you make mistakes — and you say, "Ya Allah, I am not going to miss my prayer again," and then you miss it the next day, and you say the same thing again with all your heart — you try, and you fight. You do not give up on the mercy of Allah. You do not give up on the hope of Allah
That is especially true for all the youth. Because the tests that youth face today are unbelievable. Many parents — you think you know the full picture. You do not. You do not know what happens in public school. You do not know what happens to these young men and women in high school and college. There is no sense of shame, no sense of values, no ethics, nothing. It is like a jungle out there. And they are being attacked from every direction. So they fall into mistakes. I fall into mistakes. You as parents fall into mistakes.
But Allah's mercy is there. Do not say: "I am so bad — there is no way Allah will forgive me." Never say that. That is an insult to Allah and to His forgiveness and His mercy. Allah is always there for you. Remember that. Allah is always there for you.
True Freedom Is in Being a Slave of Allah
People who are enslaved to entertainment, to money, to status, to popularity, to social standing — they never get anywhere. They are not happy. Ask anyone who is rich. All these people with billions of dollars — they are not happy. Getting divorced left and right, breakups, troubled lives. They do not have a happy life.
But if you go to someone who is a true slave of Allah, he is happy. He is content. And that is because when you are a slave of Allah, you are free from slavery to everything else. The only true way to be free as a person is to be a slave of Allah.
Closing Summary
So we talked about:
First — the relationship: we are the slaves and Allah is the Master. He is the one who controls the conditions of this relationship, and our role is one of submission and gratitude.
Second — parents must be good role models for their children. Because if you were not a good role model for your child, then when he grows up, his children will not be good either. That is why when Ibrahim (AS) was given the title of Imam, the first thing he asked was: "And my children, O Allah?" He cared most about his offspring.
Third — if we are not role models, our children will find other role models and become enslaved to things other than Allah. And a person enslaved to anything other than Allah will never find true happiness or freedom.
Du'a — Closing Supplication
I pray that Allah gives us all the ability to be true slaves of His. May Allah forgive us for all the mistakes and sins that we have made in the past. May He give us the ability to be true slaves. May He give us the ability to be true role models for our children, and may we be counted among those great role models who came before us — especially Ibrahim (AS), and all of the prophets and messengers. May Allah help us to sustain our youth and our children, and help them grow to be true slaves of Allah in the society in which we live today.