https://www.khutbah.info/attending-congregational-prayer/ The disbeliever lives for this worldly life because he either does not believe in the hereafter or his beliefs regarding it are incorrect. However, the believer lives for the hereafter and he makes his worldly life serve this aim. Therefore, his life in this world is not for the sake of this worldly life. Rather it is for the hereafter. And even though he enjoys the worldly life through the good things that Allah Almighty has made permissible, it is a vehicle for him to the hereafter. The worldly life is a means and the aim of the hereafter is in front of him. And the believer’s belief emanates from his certainty in the reality of the worldly life and the reality of the hereafter that he received from the texts of the Quran and Sunnah. And based on that, the basic principle is that if a there is time or place conflict between a worldly deed and a deed of the hereafter, the deed of the hereafter is given priority over the worldly deed. Because the deed of the hereafter lasts. And the worldly deed vanishes. And every believer is convinced of that in terms of speech and theory, even if he violates it in terms of action and implementation. For the inner selves sometimes weaken. And the shaytan overpowers. Then the defeated give preference to the worldly deed over the deed of the hereafter. And the prayer is the greatest pillar after the two testimonies. And performing it in the masjed is the action of the believers. And forsaking it is the action of the hypocrites. Abdallah bin Massod (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ ,نَحْمَدُهُ ,وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ , وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا ,مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ , وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ , وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
Verily, all praise is for Allah. We praise Him, we seek His assistance and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Him from the evils of our selves. Whoever Allah guides, none can misguide. Whoever He misguides, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Mohammad is His slave and messenger.
يَا أَيُّهَا الّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ – آل عمران:102
Al Imran 102 : O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.
Oh people:
The disbeliever lives for this worldly life because he either does not believe in the hereafter or his beliefs regarding it are incorrect. However, the believer lives for the hereafter and he makes his worldly life serve this aim. Therefore, his life in this world is not for the sake of this worldly life. Rather it is for the hereafter. And even though he enjoys the worldly life through the good things that Allah Almighty has made permissible, it is a vehicle for him to the hereafter. The worldly life is a means and the aim of the hereafter is in front of him.
And the believer’s belief emanates from his certainty in the reality of the worldly life and the reality of the hereafter that he received from the texts of the Quran and Sunnah. And based on that, the basic principle is that if a there is time or place conflict between a worldly deed and a deed of the hereafter, the deed of the hereafter is given priority over the worldly deed. Because the deed of the hereafter lasts. And the worldly deed vanishes. And every believer is convinced of that in terms of speech and theory, even if he violates it in terms of action and implementation. For the inner selves sometimes weaken. And the shaytan overpowers. Then the defeated give preference to the worldly deed over the deed of the hereafter.
And the prayer is the greatest pillar after the two testimonies. And performing it in the masjed is the action of the believers. And forsaking it is the action of the hypocrites. Abdallah bin Massod (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
مَنْ سَرَّهُ أَنْ يَلْقَى اللهَ غَدًا مُسْلِمًا, فَلْيُحَافِظْ عَلَى هَؤُلَاءِ الصَّلَوَاتِ حَيْثُ يُنَادَى بِهِنَّ, فَإِنَّ اللهَ شَرَعَ لِنَبِيِّكُمْ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- سُنَنَ الْهُدَى, وَإِنَّهُنَّ مَنْ سُنَنَ الْهُدَى, وَلَوْ أَنَّكُمْ صَلَّيْتُمْ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ كَمَا يُصَلِّي هَذَا المُتَخَلِّفُ فِي بَيْتِهِ, لَتَرَكْتُمْ سُنَّةَ نَبِيِّكُمْ, وَلَوْ تَرَكْتُمْ سُنَّةَ نَبِيِّكُمْ لَضَلَلْتُمْ, وَمَا مِنْ رَجُلٍ يَتَطَهَّرُ فَيُحْسِنُ الطُّهُورَ, ثُمَّ يَعْمِدُ إِلَى مَسْجِدٍ مِنْ هَذِهِ المَسَاجِدِ, إِلَّا كَتَبَ اللهُ لَهُ بِكُلِّ خَطْوَةٍ يَخْطُوهَا حَسَنَةً, وَيَرْفَعُهُ بِهَا دَرَجَةً, وَيَحُطُّ عَنْهُ بِهَا سَيِّئَةً, وَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنَا وَمَا يَتَخَلَّفُ عَنْهَا إِلَّا مُنَافِقٌ مَعْلُومُ النِّفَاقِ, وَلَقَدْ كَانَ الرَّجُلُ يُؤْتَى بِهِ يُهَادَى بَيْنَ الرَّجُلَيْنِ حَتَّى يُقَامَ فِي الصَّفِّ”. رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ.
Whoever would like to meet Allah tomorrow (i.e. on the Day of Judgment) as a Muslim, let him preserve these five (daily) prayers when the call for them is given, for they are part of the ways of guidance, and Allah prescribed the ways of guidance to your Prophet. And if you were to pray in your houses as this man who stays away prays in his house, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet, and if you were to abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet, you would go astray. And there is no man who purifies himself and does it well, and then walks to a masjed from these masjeds, but for every step that he takes, Allah will record one good deed and raise him in status one degree, and remove one of his sins. And I remember (a time) when no one stayed behind from the prayer except a hypocrite who was known for his hypocrisy. And I have seen a man coming supported by two others until he was set up in the row. [Muslim 654b]
Ibn Masoud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated the prevailing view among the Companions regarding congregational prayer. And that it from the ways of guidance. And this indicates its great importance in that community which was illuminated by the lights of the revelation and prophethood. Just as he (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates their view of the one who forsakes the congregational prayer. And the view of him is that he is on the path of misguidance. And that he could deviate to the darkness of hypocrisy. Because the hypocrites are the ones who forsake the congregational prayer.
And if this was the only hadith that frightens against forsaking the congregational prayer, it would have sufficed to admonish against that. For Ibn Massod (may Allah be pleased with him) did not speak about congregational prayer out of his judgment or opinion. He is expressing the view regarding congregational prayer of the best community among mankind. And their view of those who forsake it. Meaning it could be said to the one who forsakes congregational prayer: this is the view of the community of companions (may Allah be pleased with them) regarding you. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was among them and did not reject this view regarding those who forsake congregational prayer. So what a loss it is for those forsaking congregational prayer that the best and purest society viewed them in this awful way.
And more astonishing than those who forsake the congregational prayer, are those who dissuade the people from performing it. They argue for forsaking it by saying that it is not obligatory. And they pay more attention to the sayings of some jurists than they do to the hadiths. And they urge people to not close their shops or to not stop working at prayer time with the pretext that congregational prayer is not obligatory in spite of the numerous textual evidences mandating it.
And Allah Almighty described those who establish the masjeds through congregational prayer as stopping their business and trade for its sake. And He praised them for it and he did not choose a different description for them. Allah Almighty said:
رِجَالٌ لَا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ القُلُوبُ وَالأَبْصَارُ-النور: 37
An Noor (24) 37: [Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about –
And Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated: That he was in the market and the prayer time was called, so people closed their shops and entered the masjed. Then, Ibn Omar said: Regarding them this verse was revealed:
An Noor (24) 37: Men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah.
And Matr Al Warraaq ( مَطَرٌ الْوَرَّاقُ ) -may Allah have mercy upon him- said: As for them, they used to buy and sell, but when one of them heard the call of prayer and his scale was in his hand, he would lower it and proceed to the prayer.
Therefore, these are the sayings of the companions, their followers and the followers of their followers regarding interrupting work and business at the time of prayer and proceeding to the masjeds and continuing work and buying and selling after prayer. And this was the way of the state of the Prophet ﷺ and the state of the rightly guided caliphs and those after. And it is a practical consensus of this ummah (nation) on venerating the matter of prayer and cherishing the congregational prayer. And stopping work, buying and selling for the sake of attending it in the masjeds. And performing it with the Muslim congregation.
And experience has shown that if a person misses congregational prayer, then prayer becomes heavy for him. And if he offers it, he does so hastily, And he leaves the sunnah prayer before and after it. And he neglects the associated remembrances due to other matters occupying him from it. In contrast to the one who attends it in the masjed – For he has prepared for it and freed himself from everything for its sake. So he offers it with a tranquil heart. And he performs its sunnah prayers and remembrances.
أَقُولُ مَا تَسْمَعُونَ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
I say what you have heard and I seek forgiveness from Allah for me and you from every sin. So seek forgives from Him, Verily He is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Second Khutbah
الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ, وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ , وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَاْ إِلَهَ إِلَّاْ اَللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَاْشَرِيْكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدَاً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ
All praise is to Allah, and peace and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Mohammad is His slave and messenger.
Oh Muslims:
One of the greatest things that a believer earns from coming early to congregational prayer is accustoming and training himself to have deliberation and calmness in performing acts of worship. And giving it the time, effort and care that it deserves. And fulfilling its conditions, pillars and obligatory and recommended aspects. And whoever trains himself to come early to prayer is one of the most complete people in prayer. For people vary greatly in their prayers. As was narrated in the hadith of Ammaar bin Yaaser who related that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَنْصَرِفُ وما كُتِبَ له إلا عُشْرُ صَلَاتِهِ تُسْعُهَا ثُمْنُهَا سُبْعُهَا سُدْسُهَا خُمْسُهَا رُبْعُهَا ثُلُثُهَا نِصْفُهَا
A man returns after performing prayer while one tenth, or a one ninth, or one eighth, or one seventh, or one sixth, or one fifth, or one third, or one half of it is recorded for him. [Ibn Dawood 796]
And what prevents people from coming early to the congregational prayer is laziness or occupation with this worldly life. And the cure for laziness is seeking refuge in Allah. And striving against the shaytan in this regard. For he calls to laziness.
And as for occupation with the worldly life, one should know that coming early to congregational prayer is better than the entire worldly life and what it contains. And no matter how much his profits or business increases, they will only be a small part, barely mentionable, of the whole world. So how can he neglect what is better than the world and what is on it for the sake of a small part of it?
Allah Almighty said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللهِ حَقٌّ فَلَا تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا وَلَا يَغُرَّنَّكُمْ بِاللهِ الغَرُورُ-فاطر: 5
Fatir (35) 5: O mankind, indeed the promise of Allah is truth, so let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver [i.e., Satan].
We ask Allah Almighty to make us among those whose aim and focus is the hereafter. And make us among those who pray with concentration, humility, and tranquility. Indeed Allah is All Hearing, Answering.
هَذَا وَصَلُّوا وَسَلِّمُوا عَلَى نَبِيِّكُم كَمَا أَمَرَكُمْ بِذلِكَ رَبُّكُمْ , فَقَالَ
I conclude with this and send prayers of blessings and peace upon your Prophet as your Lord commanded:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Al Ahzaab (33) 56: Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [ Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [ Allah to grant him] peace.
اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنا فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ وَعَافِنا فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ وَتَوَلَّنا فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ وَبَارِكْ لنا فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَقِنا شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ وَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ
O Allah, guide us with those whom You have guided, grant us well-being among those You have granted well-being, be an ally to us along with those whom You are an ally to, and bless what You have bestowed upon us, and save us from the evil of what You have decreed. For verily You decree and none can decree over You. He whom You support can never be humiliated. Glory is to You, our Lord, You are Blessed and Exalted.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ مَا عَلِمْنا مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ نَعْلَمْ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الشَّرِّ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ مَا عَلِمْنا مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ نَعْلَمْ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ خَيْرِ مَا سَأَلَكَ عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا عَاذَ بِهِ عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ النَّارِ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَنَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ كُلَّ قَضَاءٍ قَضَيْتَهُ لَنا خَيْرًا
O Allah, We ask You for all that is good, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know. O Allah, we seek refuge with You from all evil, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know. O Allah, we ask You for the good that Your servant and Prophet has asked You for, and we seek refuge with You from the evil from which Your servant and Prophet sought refuge. O Allah, we ask You for Paradise and for that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed, and we seek refuge in You from Hell and from that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed. And we ask You to make every decree that You decree concerning us good
عِبَادَ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
Servants of Allah. Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.
اُذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ واشْكُرُوهُ يَزِدْكُمْ واسْتَغْفِرُوهُ يَغْفِرْ لكُمْ واتّقُوهُ يَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَمْرِكُمْ مَخْرَجًا وَأَقِمِ الصّلَاة
Remember Allah, the Great – He will remember you. Thank Him for His favors – He will increase you therein. And seek forgiveness from Him – He will forgive you. And be conscious of Him – He will provide you a way out of difficult matters. And, establish the prayer.
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