Back to Affirm Your Beliefs

First Khutbah:

All perfect praise is due to Allaah; I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger; may Allaah exalt his mention, as well as that of his family and all his companions.

Allaah commanded us to maintain piety; He sent this religion (i.e. Islaam) as a mercy to mankind; he sent the Messenger, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, as a warner and bringer of glad tidings; our Muslim nation is the best nation in the sight of Allaah and He made it a balanced, moderate and merciful one.

Our nation will be the first of all nations to be held for account on the Day of Judgment, and it will be a witness against all other nations; it will testify that their messengers have indeed conveyed to them the message from Allaah. Most of the dwellers of Paradise will be from the Muslim nation.

Allaah decreed that this nation will be afflicted in this life in order to expiate for their shortcomings and the sins they commit in life. One of the forms of expiation is the tribulations and afflictions, the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “My nation is one with whom Allaah will Be merciful. The best era for it is its beginning, but towards the end people will be trialed and afflicted” The era of the first generation is that of the Prophet’s, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, and his companions, may Allaah be pleased with them.

Islaam came to reform the community by guiding the people to unite their ranks and shun racism and any factor that may disunite them. The unity of this nation is on the bases of Tawheed (i.e. Islaamic monotheism). They worship the same Lord, their messenger is the same and their Book is the same. Allaah says:

وإن هذه أمتكم أمة واحدة وأنا ربكم فاتقون

which means: “And indeed this, your nation, is one nation (i.e. in having a unified collective way of life and course of conduct.), and I am your Lord, so fear Me.” [Al-Mu’minoon: 52].

The unity of servitude to Allaah alone is a main feature of the Muslim nation. Allaah says:

قل هو الله أحد

which means: “Say , “He is Allaah, [who is] One (i.e. single, unique and indivisible)” [Al-Ikhlaas: 1].

Allaah commanded this nation to unite saying:

واعتصموا بحبل الله جميعا ولا تفرقوا

which means: “And hold firmly to the rope of Allaah (His covenant and the Qur’aan) all together and do not become divided” [Aal ‘Imraan: 103].

Allaah also made this unity appear in their rituals: the call to the prayer is one; were the Muslims gather and line up in an organized manner behind one Imaam to lead them during prayer. Zakaah is legislated in order to unite the Muslims and the wealth is taken from the rich to be given to the poor, as if the poor is a partner who has a right, thus increasing the sense of brotherhood and strengthening its bond. Hajj is another rite that reflects the unity that Islaam calls people towards, as during it everyone wears the same thing, utter the same thing, gather in the same places and move together in a uniformed fashion. The Muslims fast collectively upon sighting the moon (i.e. the crescent) of the month of Ramadhaan, and end their fast together daily during this month and also finish their month together and collectively pray the ‘Eed prayer.

Furthermore, Islaam encourages people to gather collectively in order to pray Taraaweeh (i.e. optional night prayers) during Ramadhaan. Praying the Jumu’ah prayer comes as another command manifesting the collective united performance of another act of worship. Allaah says:

يأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءامَنُواْ إذا نودي للصلاة من يوم الجمعة فاسعوا إلى ذكر الله

which means: “O you who have believed, when [the Athaan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu’ah [i.e. Friday] then proceed to the remembrance of Allaah” [Al-Jumu’ah: 9].

The scholars, may Allaah have mercy upon them, have agreed that when a Muslim town is attacked by an enemy, they must defend themselves, and that it is mandatory for their fellow Muslim brothers to rush for their rescue, defense and support.

In Islaam, when a person dies and he has no heirs to inherit him, then his wealth goes in the Muslim treasury and the Muslim leader spends it on the general interest of the Muslim community.

To assure the unity of the Muslims, whenever the companions, may Allaah be pleased with them, used to settle in an area they would teach its residents the Arabic language. This is so, because it is not possible to understand Islaam without learning this language, as the Qur’aan was revealed in Arabic, and likewise were all the prophetic narrations.

The language of the residents of Levant and Egypt was Roman, while the language of the residents of Iraq and Khurasaan was Persian, and the residents of northern Africa spoke Berber, yet all of them learnt Arabic until it became the language predominantly used between the people of these areas. This is an accomplishment that can hardly be achieved by countries, but the companions, may Allaah be pleased with them, achieved it. Even after more than one thousand years, the residents of these countries still have Arabic as their mother tongue, but how was this achieved so easily by the companions, may Allaah be pleased with them? They were able to achieve this after they united people under the banner of Tawheed.

When the Muslims unite they will relive the honor and might that they enjoyed before, and the first step towards uniting them is spreading the language of the Qur’aan amongst them.

Slaves of Allaah! Unity is an Islaamic obligation because it is the means to regaining the dignity of the Muslims and their might. When did the Muslim nation weaken? This happened when we disunited, which is an issue that the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, informed us about and warned us against.

O Muslims! The scholars addressed the issue of having different schools of jurisprudence, and that this is not a form of disunity. Each scholar ruled based on the text that was available to him at the time of making his decision and passing the ruling. This is not the same as differing about matters of creed and belief. The issue of having different schools of jurisprudence becomes a source of disunity when prejudice approaches people, to the point that some refuse to pray behind others from a different school, and refuse marriage proposals with the pretext that the person follows a different school of jurisprudence.

Some major mosques in one of the Muslim countries witnessed the existence of four praying areas in the same mosque, one for each school of jurisprudence, where the followers of the other schools would not pray behind any Imaam except one from their own school!

This is prohibited and baseless and extremely strange, how can people deal with each other in such a manner? This disunity is what led to the Muslims being controlled and weakened and the only way to regain our position amongst the other nations is to shun this disunity and reunite again.

Second Khutbah:

All perfect praise is due to Allaah; I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger; may Allaah exalt his mention, as well as that of his family and all his companions.

Slaves of Allaah! Islaamic unity is a great matter to which Allaah commanded saying:

واعتصموا بحبل الله جميعا ولا تفرقوا

which means: “And hold firmly to the rope of Allaah (i.e. His covenant and the Qur’aan) all together and do not become divided” [Aal ‘Imraan: 103].

Any person who works towards the disunity of the Muslims will have Hell as his abode in the Hereafter. Therefore, Islaam dispraised the one who fights on the bases of racism for a tribe, a country or color, and the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, informed us that such an act is of the acts from the pre-Islaamic era.

Why does Islaam prohibit backbiting, tale carrying, proposing to a woman to whom another Muslim had already proposed and so forth? This is so because it leads to hatred and instigates spite that leads to the disunity of the Muslims.

Additionally, Islaam rewards people for reconciling between those in dispute, as Allaah says:

فأصلحوا بين أخويكم واتقوا الله لعلكم ترحمون

which means: “Reconcile between your brothers. And fear Allaah that you may receive mercy” [Al-Hujuraat: 10].

Allaah clearly states in the Qur’aan that disunity is the direct cause for weakness, loss of courage and failure. Allaah says:

وأطيعوا الله ورسوله ولا تنازعوا فتشلوا وتذهب ريحكم

which means: “And obey Allaah and His Messenger, and do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart” [Al-Anfaal: 46].

O Muslims! With the approach of the month of Ramadhaan, one must prepare himself to receive this month by knowing its virtues, and if he already knows them, then he should remind himself of them in order to receive the month with optimum zeal.

Longing to witness a season of worship is a sign of ones strong faith. Having the zeal to perform acts of worship and the readiness to increase ones rewards and expiate for his sins is also a sign of ones strong faith. Waiting for the arrival of this month and rejoicing for its arrival is a sign of loving Allaah, because Allaah Loves this act of worship.

A Muslim needs to put an end to certain acts he has been doing prior to the advent of this month. We all make mistakes and sin, but we must clear our records so that we can receive this month with pure hearts as much as possible, so that we can benefit from this season and get the maximum gain.

We must rush to repent from our sins and shun any type of disobedience in order to be able to take advantage of the great season of Ramadhaan. We notice that Allaah Has legislated obligatory acts and made other optional acts as introductions to them. For example, ablution is a prerequisite before one can perform his prayer, and the optional prayers come as a preparation to the obligatory act of worship.

Finally! We must prepare ourselves, our families and our houses to receive the great season of Ramadhaan. We must plan from now to utilize our time in a fruitful and beneficial manner.

From islamav.com