https://www.khutbah.info/humility/ Humility is a praiseworthy virtue and a foundational element in building communities and a central pillar of healthy relationships. It arises from deep wisdom, while the traits opposite to it bring corruption and division. When humility is complete and sincere, Allah distinguishes through it the impure from the pure, and the truly upright from those whose hearts have darkened and have become closed off like a vessel that cannot hold anything. No Muslim should refrain from humility or shy away from practicing it. For through humility a person attains security, fosters affection, removes resentment, and helps everyone recognize the rights they owe to others and the rights owed to them. Indeed, when a person of dignity humbles themselves, it only increases their dignity. By humility, one enters the ranks of the servants of Allah whom He attributed to His Name, al-Rahman, indicating that they reached this noble station only through His mercy. Allah described their qualities as the most complete and their traits as the finest:
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:
Humility is a praiseworthy virtue and a foundational element in building communities and a central pillar of healthy relationships. It arises from deep wisdom, while the traits opposite to it bring corruption and division. When humility is complete and sincere, Allah distinguishes through it the impure from the pure, and the truly upright from those whose hearts have darkened and have become closed off like a vessel that cannot hold anything.
No Muslim should refrain from humility or shy away from practicing it. For through humility a person attains security, fosters affection, removes resentment, and helps everyone recognize the rights they owe to others and the rights owed to them. Indeed, when a person of dignity humbles themselves, it only increases their dignity. By humility, one enters the ranks of the servants of Allah whom He attributed to His Name, al-Rahman, indicating that they reached this noble station only through His mercy. Allah described their qualities as the most complete and their traits as the finest:
وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا
Al-Furqan (25) 63: And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily.
Imam Muslim narrated from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
وَمَا تَوَاضَعَ أَحَدٌ لِلَّهِ إِلاَّ رَفَعَهُ اللَّهُ
No one humbles himself for the sake of Allah except that Allah elevates him. [Muslim 2588]
The one lacking humility is enslaved by destructive arrogance and overwhelming self-admiration. They become stubborn and unyielding, and because of this their inner light fades and their steps falter. The one without humility has, in truth, lost sound judgment. For through their conceit and pride they elevate what is lowly and diminish what is precious. Like a vast sea in which pearls and gems sink to the depths while scum and debris float on the surface, or like a faulty balance that lifts up on the side containing what is heavy and valuable.
A person devoid of humility becomes numb in feeling, distant in emotion, and miserable in spirit. They take no lessons from witnessing others, and they forget that the ground they walk upon has been walked on by thousands before them, and that many others will come after them. Indeed, no one has ever abandoned humility and elevated themselves above those beneath them except that Allah afflicted him with humiliation before those above them. And whoever extends themselves arrogantly over others should never expect sincerity from them. Whoever grows arrogant and refuses to humble themselves falls into three blameworthy traits.
The first trait is that a person only becomes arrogant toward others after becoming impressed with themselves and believing that they are superior to others.
The second blameworthy trait is that they belittle people around them. A person only behaves arrogantly towards others when they regard them as insignificant. And what greater wrongdoing is there than to look down on someone whom Allah has honored with faith? How can a person imagine that they have the right to dominate others while their mothers gave birth to them as free?
The third is that they contend with Allah, Majestic and Exalted, in His attributes. For grandeur and majesty belong to Him alone. He Almighty says in the hadith Qudsi:
الْكِبْرِيَاءُ رِدَائِي، وَالْعَظَمَةُ إِزَارِي، فَمَنْ نَازَعَنِي وَاحِدًا مِنْهُمَا، قَذَفْتُهُ فِي النَّارِ
Pride is My cloak and majesty is My garment; whoever contends with Me regarding either of them, I will cast him into Hell-Fire. [Sunan Abi Dawud 4090, Grade: Sahih]
What makes so many people cling to pride and arrogance, keeping themselves far from humility and refusing to soften themselves toward others? Is it because they believe they were created with such a disposition, claiming it is innate, ingrained and impossible to change?
Never, by Allah.
For the Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ اَللَّهَ أَوْحَى إِلَيَّ أَنْ تَوَاضَعُوا, حَتَّى لَا يَبْغِيَ أَحَدٌ عَلَى أَحَدٍ, وَلَا يَفْخَرَ أَحَدٌ عَلَى أَحَدٍ
Allah has revealed to me that you must humble yourselves until no one transgresses another and no one prides themselves over another. [Muslim 2865]
Or is it some deficiency a person perceives within themselves. A void that they try to fill with self-admiration and pride as a way of deceiving themselves? This may be the case, but only for one who is ignorant of the reality of honor and elevation. For true honor lies in humility, not in fleeing from it under the pretext of covering a flaw or satisfying a desire.
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
We found generosity in piety, self-sufficiency in certainty, and honor in humility.
Whoever reflects upon the lives of those before us, foremost among them our Imam and our exemplar, the master of the children of Adam, the noblest in lineage and highest in honor, will see that he ﷺ slept upon a mat, smiled at the one who caused him pain, stood beside a woman in the road who came to him with a complaint, drank from the same vessel as his companions and was the last of them to drink, ate with the people of al-Suffah, entered Makkah on the day of its conquest in humility, walked in the markets while people surrounded him, ate from what they ate and drank from what they drank.
And his successor, al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, used to milk the sheep of the people of his neighborhood. When he was appointed khalifah, a young servant-girl said, “Now he will no longer milk our animals.” He heard her and said:
Indeed, I will still milk them for you, and I hope that what I have entered into will not change me.
And Omar bin Al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, gave the following address after becoming the khalifah:
Know that the hardness you knew in me has been softened, but it is only against those who commit injustice and transgression against the Muslims. As for the people of righteousness, faith, and moderation, I am gentler toward them than some of them are toward others. And after that sternness, I place my cheek to the ground before the people of chastity and modest means.
There is no deity worthy of worship but Allah! Is what we hear truly real, or is it something woven from imagination? Indeed, it is a truth embraced only by hearts that truly know what this worldly life is and Who Allah is.
Al-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim relate that Jubayr ibn Mutʿim said:
You speak of arrogance in me, yet I have ridden a donkey, worn a coarse cloak, and milked a sheep. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Whoever does these things has no arrogance in him.
Let those deluded by themselves and impressed with their status beware, those who carry themselves with outward pride and an air of superiority. If this is their state, let them not be deceived by what they possess, for the responsibilities upon them may be many times greater.
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:
Humility is a matter of great importance and profound weight. The people of knowledge and wisdom have spoken extensively about it, drawing upon every type of evidence from the sacred teachings to clarify its merits. They distinguished between praiseworthy humility and blameworthy humility.
Among the praiseworthy forms of humility is that a person refrains from showing superiority over the servants of Allah, avoids elevating themselves above them, and does not belittle them, even when they wrong then. For the Prophet ﷺ said:
وَمَا زَادَ اللَّهُ عَبْدًا بِعَفْوٍ إِلاَّ عِزًّا
Allah does not increase a servant who forgives others except in honor. [ Muslim 2588]
Another form of praiseworthy humility is to humble oneself before the religion and submit to the commands of Allah, without opposing them with personal reasoning, opinion, or desire, and without doubting the truth of any sound evidence from the faith. Such a person follows what the Seal of the Messengers ﷺ brought, worships Allah as He commanded, and does not allow custom or traditions to dictate their worship. They do not imagine that they are entitled to anything from Allah because of a deed that they performed. Rather, they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. And they know that they will not enter Paradise through their deeds, but only through Allah’s mercy
Among the praiseworthy forms of humility is to give up permissible desires and optional luxuries purely for the sake of Allah, and as an act of humility, even when one has the full ability and means to indulge in them, without being described as miserly, greedy, or stingy. For the Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ تَرَكَ اللِّبَاسِ تَوَاضُعًا لِلَّهِ وَهُوَ يَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ دَعَاهُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عَلَى رُءُوسِ الْخَلاَئِقِ حَتَّى يُخَيِّرَهُ مِنْ أَىِّ حُلَلِ الإِيمَانِ شَاءَ يَلْبَسُهَا
Whoever leaves off wearing certain clothes out of humility for Allah while able to wear them, Allah will call him on the Day of Resurrection before all creation and allow him to choose whichever garments of faith he wishes to wear. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2481, Grade: Hasan]
As for the blameworthy form of humility, it is humility that weakens support for the religion of Allah, the Exalted. It leads to negligence, abandoning sincere counsel, neglecting the command to enjoin what is right and oppose what is wrong, submitting before falsehood, and failing to stand with the wronged, by supporting them, as well as failing to stand with the wrongdoer, by advising them. Whoever behaves in this way becomes like an overturned vessel that recognizes no virtue and rejects no vice.
Among the blameworthy forms of humility is to humble oneself before someone of worldly wealth, status, or lineage in pursuit of something that they possess, to the point that one becomes helpless before temptation and is led astray by it.
Humility is among the greatest character traits that a person can develop. It is the totality and foundation of all noble manners. Indeed, there is no virtue in Islam except that humility has a share of it. Through it arrogance disappears, the heart finds ease, selflessness spreads, and harshness, selfishness, vengeance, and self-admiration fade away.
تِلْكَ الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فَسَادًا وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
Al-Qasas (28) 83: That home of the Hereafter We assign to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the earth or corruption. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous.
O Allah, we seek refuge in You from spite and envy. O Possessor of Majesty and Honor!
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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