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:
I advise myself and to you to uphold the consciousness of Allah. Fear Allah in private and in public, in moments of anger and contentment, and in times of ease and hardship.
وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَخْشَ اللَّهَ وَيَتَّقْهِ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَائِزُونَ
An-Nur (24) 52: And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and fears Allah and is conscious of Him – it is those who are the attainers.
Maintaining a pure heart and consistent character, both in private and in public, is a quality that many struggle to achieve. Such is the nature of precious matters. Although they are high in value, they are rare to find. Anyone who searches for this precious commodity in an era where selfishness has increased and souls are prone to greed will find few who possess this quality, except for those upon whom Allah has shown mercy, and they are indeed few.
Our Ummah is in the greatest need, especially in the age of selfishness and when everyone is pleased with their own opinion, for harmony, for finding excuses for one another, and for overlooking what can be overlooked. We must never lose sight of the generosity of Allah, the Exalted, Who grants those who strive a reward even if they err and forgives their mistakes.
It is the duty of every Muslim to have a sincere intention toward his Lord and then toward people. One should make more room for thinking well of others than for thinking ill of them. For if a person errs in thinking well of someone, they will not incur the sin of wrongly thinking ill of them.
Through this, a sincere person can gauge themselves by the scales of the Sharia in their dealings with the mistakes of others. They can effectively restrain themselves from falling into the pit of fault-finding and tracking the private flaws of others, guided instead by knowledge and justice.
However, there is a vast difference between hunting for mistakes and correcting them. The former stems from a desire to shame, expose, and seek personal satisfaction, while the latter stems from offering sincere advice based on truth and calling others to it. There is a wide gulf between shaming and advising, just as there is a wide gulf between what is done for personal ego and what is done for the sake of Allah.
مَا عِنْدَكُمْ يَنْفَدُ وَمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهَ بَاقٍ
An-Nahl (16) 96: Whatever you have will end, but what Allah has is lasting.
Experience has established that those who shame others and publicize their mistakes will have the tables turned upon them. They often fall into the very pits they dug for those that they shamed, for shaming is a just disease that inflicts the shamer just as it did the shamed. The recompense is of the same nature as the deed.
It was mentioned in a hadith narrated by Al-Tirmidhi that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
مَنْ عَيَّرَ أَخَاهُ بِذَنْبٍ لَمْ يَمُتْ حَتَّى يَفْعَلُهُ
Whoever shames his brother for a sin will not die until he commits it himself. [Tirmidhi 2505, Grade: Hasan (Al-Albani)]
Shaming involves a sense of malicious joy that turns a person away from noble matters toward the trivialities. It is mentioned in the hadith:
لَا تُظْهِرِ الشَّمَاتَةَ لِأَخِيكَ فَيَرْحَمَهُ اللَّهُ وَيَبْتَلِيكَ
Do not express malicious joy at your brother’s misfortune, for Allah may have mercy on him and afflict you with it. [Tirmidhi 2506, Grade: Hasan]
A mature mind has no doubt whatsoever that a person’s tongue and pen are the expression of their reality and their true character. Just as there are people with tongues of truthfulness, restraint, and deliberation, there are those with tongues of falsehood, intrusiveness, and recklessness.
For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ said:
إِذَا أَصْبَحَ ابْنُ آدَمَ فَإِنَّ الأَعْضَاءَ كُلَّهَا تُكَفِّرُ اللِّسَانَ فَتَقُولُ: اتَّقِ اللَّهَ فِينَا فَإِنَّمَا نَحْنُ بِكَ،فَإِنْ اسْتَقَمْتَ اسْتَقَمْنَا، وَإِنْ اعْوَجَجْتَ اعْوَجَجْنَا
When the son of Adam wakes up in the morning, all of his limbs humble themselves before the tongue and say: Fear Allah for our sake, for we are dependent upon you; if you are upright, we are upright, and if you are crooked, we are crooked. Tirmidhi 2407. Hasan (Al-Tirmidhi).
Reality proves that a person’s tracking of the slips of others stems either from poor knowledge or a bad intention. The first is a corruption in understanding, while the second is a corruption of the heart, and the latter is more dangerous and a greater sin. If the intention is corrupt, the tongue cannot rectify it; however, a sound intention and purpose can make up for a slip of the tongue.
As the poet said:
How many find fault with a sound statement, while the problem lies in their own poor understanding.
Life is shorter than any of us hope. It is wronging oneself when a person spends a large portion of their time tracking others incurring no benefit but possibly incurring harm. Like an arrow that blinds the eye but fails to kill the prey. Such behavior increases one’s sins and diminishes one’s rewards. This causes one to look back too often during their journey. And whoever looks back too often will be delayed in arriving. The one who tracks the prey becomes distracted, and the one who fixates their eyes on the flaws of others becomes blind to their own flaws, thus combining two sins against themselves.
Furthermore, people are human beings, they are neither infallible nor angels. They eat food and walk in the markets, they make mistakes and they get things right, and usually, their correct actions outweigh their mistakes. Why, then, do some insist on being like flies that only land on wounds, or like a mosquito that is only satisfied by blood and might even draw blood from the eye of a lion?
Why do some people only find comfort in backbiting, slandering, tale-bearing, and casting abuse, questioning intentions and trying to split open hearts to see what is inside?
Why do some prefer to live bankrupt in their speech and hearts, rather than living rich in them? As the poet described such a person:
Even if a slanderer lived in Yamama, and my home was in the furthest reaches of Hadramaut, he would still find his way to me.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said one day to his companions:
أَتَدْرُونَ مَا الْمُفْلِسُ؟ قَالُوا الْمُفْلِسُ فِينَا مَنْ لَا دِرْهَمَ لَهُ وَلَا مَتَاعَ فَقَالَ إِنَّ الْمُفْلِسَ مِنْ أُمَّتِي يَأْتِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِصَلَاةٍ، وَصِيَامٍ، وَزَكَاةٍ، وَيَأْتِي قَدْ شَتَمَ هَذَا، وَقَذَفَ هَذَا، وَأَكَلَ مَالَ هَذَا، وَسَفَكَ دَمَ هَذَا، وَضَرَبَ هَذَا، فَيُعْطَى هَذَا مِنْ حَسَنَاتِهِ، وَهَذَا مِنْ حَسَنَاتِهِ، فَإِنْ فَنِيَتْ حَسَنَاتُهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُقْضَى مَا عَلَيْهِ أُخِذَ مِنْ خَطَايَاهُمْ فَطُرِحَتْ عَلَيْهِ، ثُمَّ طُرِحَ فِي النَّارِ
Do you know who the bankrupt one is? They said: “The bankrupt among us is the one who has no dirham and no goods.” He said: The bankrupt one of my Ummah is the one who comes on the Day of Resurrection with prayer, fasting, and zakat, but he comes having insulted this person, slandered that person, consumed the wealth of this person, shed the blood of that person, and hit this person. So his good deeds will be given to this one and that one, and if his good deeds are exhausted before his accounts are settled, some of their sins will be taken and cast upon him, and then he will be thrown into the Fire. [Muslim 2581]
How many are bankrupt! How wretched they are in this world, and how great is their reckoning in the Hereafter!
خُذِ الْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ (199) وَإِمَّا يَنْزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ نَزْغٌفَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Al-A’raf (7) 199-200: Hold to forgiveness, command what is right, and turn away from the ignorant. And if an evil suggestion comes to you from Satan, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is Hearing and Knowing.
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:
Fear Allah and know that the command to guard the tongue, cover the faults of others, and refrain from tracking their slips does not mean one should not offer them advice. If an error becomes apparent, it should be addressed through the recognized methods of sincere advice, which are distinct from shaming and publicizing.
There is no good in one who does not offer advice, and there is no good in one who does not accept it. Every son of Adam makes mistakes, and the best of those who make mistakes are those who repent. It is not a shame to make a mistake, for making mistakes is part of human nature. Perfection belongs to Allah alone, and infallibility belongs to His Messengers. However, the ultimate shame is to refuse to accept advice regarding a mistake.
Furthermore, the fact that a person has made a mistake does not justify you attacking them with all of your might, launching an all-out assault and drawing the daggers of “advice” as if you were in a duel with an enemy. Indeed, kindness is not found in anything except that it adorns it, and it is not removed from anything except that it disgraces it.
فَأَمَّا الزَّبَدُ فَيَذْهَبُ جُفَاءً وَأَمَّا مَا يَنْفَعُ النَّاسَ فَيَمْكُثُ فِي الْأَرْضِ
Ar-Ra’d (13) 17: As for the foam, it vanishes, [being] cast off; but as for that which benefits the people, it remains on the earth.
Beware, beware of seeking victory for your own ego, even if you are in the right, for it erases sincere intention and consumes it just as fire consumes wood. And beware of hating advice or the one who offers it, for that is the way of the enemies of the Messengers.
Ibn al-Qayyim said that Allah Almighty has condemned the one who rejects the truth when it is brought by someone he dislikes, and accepts it when it is brought by someone he likes.
Imam Abu Abdullah bin Battah said: “Your feeling of distress at someone else being correct is a form of dishonesty within you and an evil intention towards Muslims. Know that whoever hates the truth coming from another and defends his own error cannot be trusted. It is feared that Allah may strip away the knowledge he possesses and make him forget what he remembered. For whoever hears the truth and rejects it after knowing it is among those who are arrogant toward Allah.”
Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful.
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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