Khutbah for 2nd October 2009
October 2, 2009 at 11:25 | In Khutbahs | Leave a CommentAssalaamu’alaikum!
Masya’Allah, the khutbah for the Friday prayers today is amazing… and it really stroke a chord with me…
Do read =)
Being good neighbours in Islam
My dear brothers,
The Eidul Fitri is still being celebrated, through visits to one another, as a practice of our Singaporean Muslim community. This act of visiting one another can help strengthen our relationship, whether as a family, or even broadly as Muslims.
Part of these visits also include visiting our neighbours, as we often meet them more than other people in our lives today. As such, Islam places importance to neighbours, and accord them rights that must be fulfilled accordingly.
Allah s.w.t mentions in Surah al-Nisa’ verse 36:
“Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers (far), the companion by your side, the wayfarer (that you meet), and what your right hands possess: For Allah love not the arrogant, the boastful.”
My dear brothers,
Why are our neighbours given this high status in Islam? It is clear that they are the closest people to us, in terms of dwelling. In times of difficulties or crises, they are the ones who can react fastest or those who first know about what may have happened to us. They are the earliest people who can help us when we need help.
As such, being good to neighbours is taught to us by our beloved Prophet s.a.w:
“Whoever believes in Allah and the hereafter, will do good to his neighbour.” (Narrated by Muslim)
This hadith clearly shows that having good relations with neighbours is an important Islamic teaching, to the extent that it reflects upon one’s faith.
Therefore, Islam strongly forbids Muslims from mistreating their neighbours, as mentioned in a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah r.a where the Prophet s.a.w said:
“I swear by Allah that one does not have faith, I swear by Allah that one does not have faith, I swear by Allah that one does not have faith! The Prophet was then asked “Who is he who does not have faith? The Prophet s.a.w. replied “One whose neighbour is not safe from his ill-doings/harm.” Hadith narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
My dear brothers,
Among the things that we can do to enhance further our relationship with neighbours are as follows:
First : Be aware of, and concerned with, the conditions of our neighbours. As good Muslims, we should be close to our neighbours and know their basic conditions, such as the education of their children, their work and health conditions, so long as none of these are private matters that they do not want others to know. The point of knowing is so that we are able to offer help where relevant.
Second: Communicate with them in a respectful and warm manner, and offer them good words, and to Muslim neighbours, we should offer our “salam” to them.
It is not difficult to offer the “salam”, because we only need to express it verbally, yet, when we say it sincerely, it is immensely useful and beneficial, as noted by Prophet Muhammad s.a.w:
“By He who holds my life in His hand, you do not enter paradise until you have faith, and you do not have faith until you love each other. Would you like me to show you how you can love one another? Spread the “salam” among yourselves.” Hadith narrated by Muslim.
Third: Offer gifts and help where affordable, whether in the form of food or other household items.
The Holy Prophet s.a.w said to his companion Abu Zar: “O Abu Zar, when you prepare food, prepare more (by adding more water/ingredients) and share it with your neighbours.” Hadith narrated by Muslim.
My dear brothers,
With the presence of this month of happiness and celebrations, let us take the opportunity to visit and help one another, and let us establish good relations between us, as a sign of deeper bonds of brotherhood.
May our efforts lead to a more united community, one that helps us collectively strive to overcome all challenges, big or small.
May our good relations with neighbours lead to a harmonious community life that constantly gets the blessings, mercy and protection of Allah, Amin Ya Rabbal Alamin.
Beautiful, Masya’Allah… just beautiful…
Khutbah [24 July 2009]
July 25, 2009 at 01:23 | In Khutbahs | Leave a CommentTags: islam, Muslims, friday prayers, khutbah, sermon, MUIS, singapore, friday, khalifah, tawadhu, humility
Assalaamu’alaikum!
I’m just..
Grateful for this week’s khutbah
Do take some time to read through it =)
All khutbahs are wonderful of course, but this stroke a chord with me, especially about handling teenagers =)
Wallahu’alam =)
Humility (Tawadhu’) As An Attribute of a Leader
My dear brothers,
Allah s.w.t has ordained the main responsibility of man as a khalifah on earth. Allah s.w.t says in surah Al-Baqarah, verse 30 :
And when your Lord said to the angels, I am going to place in the earth a khalifah, they said: What! Will you place in it such as shall make mischief in it and shed blood, while we celebrate Your praise and extol Your holiness? He said: Surely I know what you do not know.
Here, khalifah means one who develops the world to the mutual benefit for all. This means that the responsibility that has been thrust upon mankind is not limited only to humanity alone, but is all-encompassing.
Our beloved Prophet s.a.w. has also stated in a hadith:
“Everyone of you are leaders, and everyone of you will be accountable for those whom you lead; an Imam is the leader of his people, and is responsible for them. A husband is a leader of his family, and is responsible for them. A wife is the leader of the household and she is responsible for the people in her care.”
My dear brothers,
Even as individuals, we all have our own unique responsibilities of leadership. No matter how small that position of leadership is, we need to observe and understand the required attributes that we should have, in order to carry out our responsibilities well.
One of these important attributes is humility. Allah s.w.t. says in surah al-Hijr, verse 88:
“and lower your wings (i.e. be humble) to the believers.”
It is clear from this verse that Allah s.w.t. has told us to be humble, in all places and towards all people.
This attribute, of tawadhu’, tells us that we are not perfect; that we have weaknesses and shortcomings. Thus, by practising tawadhu’, we have to be open-minded towards any criticisms or complaints and treat them as opportunities to improve ourselves. We should not dismiss the critics as being overly critical or to think badly of them, without reflecting on the merit of their words.
When asking for feedback or in listening to criticism, we also need to be humble, and not to be obsessed with our position or status, and therefore dismissing others.
For example, in our family life, a husband has to be willing to accept a rebuke from his wife and not use his position as head of the family to ignore his wife’s opinion or dismiss her suggestion.
Likewise, at work, the supervisor has to listen to the workers if he truly wishes to improve the work environment. In addition, with an improvement to the work environment, he will find that productivity will rise, as will the quality of work, in general.
As a leader, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the people under us, in order to feel and empathise with their needs. As our beloved Rasulullah s.a.w. has said in a hadith narrated by Ad-Dailami which means: “The leader of a people will always serve his people.”
Saiyidina Omar r.a. has also said:
” The head of a people is their khadam (servant).”
This is also the idea of service leadership. Thus, a leader needs to feel that their role as a leader is that of service. We should serve those under our charge, in executing our leadership role. We should not lead just to feel powerful, to feel what it is like to have power over people. In the end, such leaders will only do petty things to show that they are in power, while hoping to get monetary rewards or praise, rather than helping their people. A leader who knows that he is doing a service to the people will be more humble and will not be power-hungry. This is the best of leaders.
My dear brothers,
As parents, a father who has a teenage son or daughter needs to understand the teen’s position, to listen to their problems, and not to compare his teenage son’s or daughter’s experiences with his own. Heed these words of wisdom: “Raise your children for their time, for they live in a different time from you.”
Being ready with a listening ear is also important for a humble leader. This is what is meant by the adage: “Try to understand before wanting to be understood.”
Maybe the reason why teens feel it is easier to talk to their friends rather than their parents is that they understand each other more, understand their friends’ needs and mostly, think that their friends will be more ready to listen to them, to take the time to listen, unlike their parents.
Beloved brothers,
Leadership is a duty and a responsibility upon us. This duty and responsibility has to be carried out to the best of our abilities, because the outcomes of what we do is truly great. Not only that, we will be judged on how we have carried out our responsibilities on this earth by Allah s.w.t. in the hereafter.
Let us together strive to act in humility to those we have under our care. Let us place ourselves in their position, to try to understand, to take the time to care about their problems and to spare the time to listen to them. Let us be more willing to accept criticisms or rebukes. Let us all continue to improve ourselves and carry out our duties and responsibilities to the best of our abilities, Amin.
Khutbah for 3rd April
April 3, 2009 at 20:58 | In Khutbahs | 3 CommentsTags: allah, companions, friday prayers, friday sermons, hadith, islam, khutbah, maulidur rasul, muhammad, muslim, Muslims, Prophet, rasulallah, Rasulullah, sahabah, sunnah
Assalaamu’alaikum!
Masya’Allah I haven’t the time to do a proper blog post. It’s really partly due to having to manage another blog. Amongst other commitments. Heheh.
Well, that blog I shall not reveal here, for obvious reasons. But I set it up mainly for the sake of Allah swt. Really =)
Well anyway, worry not, the objective of that blog is different from this blog.
Here’s today’s Khutbah! Haha yes, I haven’t been posting Khutbahs for quite a while now.
I cried while hearing it, Masya’Allah. It wasn’t the first time that I heard of that hadith about Sayidina Abu Bakr’s (r.a.) generosity, but it made me desire to have that kind of ability. I mean I probably can, but I just can’t afford to. I don’t know if any of us can, judging by the world we live in now =)
Ok, here you go:
A Good Muslim Will Always Make Contributions
Dear blessed congregation,
I remind myself and all brothers to further strengthen our iman and taqwa to Allah s.w.t. Let us rise to perform all our duties diligently, refrain from all prohibitions, and strive to do good in all forms.
As Muslims who are conscious of Allah, we will strive to do good at all times, and in all conditions.
Allah s.w.t. says in surah al-Mukminun verses 57-61:
Surely they who from fear of their Lord are cautious, And those who believe in the revelations of their Lord, And those who ascribe not partners unto their Lord, And those who dispense their charity with their hearts full of fear, because they will return to their Lord;- They race for the good things, and they are the earliest to do the good things.
My dear brothers
Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab r.a. reported that “One day, the Prophet s.a.w. asked us to contribute (to the path of Allah), and I had some wealth to contribute at that time. So I told myself, “Today, like never before, I can compete with, and overcome, Sayyidina Abu Bakar in his contributions.So I brought along half of what I had, to the Prophet s.a.w.
The Prophet s.a.w asked me, “What do you leave behind for your family? I replied, “I left for them half of what I own.”
Then Sayyiduna Abu Bakr r.a.w came with all his wealth. The Prophet s.a.w. asked him, “What do you leave behind for your family?” He answered “I leave for them Allah and His Prophet.”
I could only say to myself “I will never be able to overcome the scale of the goodness of Sayyidina Abu Bakar.” (Narrated by al-Tirmizhi)
Such is the healthy competition among the companions of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. to do good and contribute at all times and at every opportunity. They did not live in the comfort of our lives today, yet they were unrelenting in contributing whatever they had for a good cause.
My dear brothers,
The spirit of competing to do good and contributing is part of our Muslim identity. The Prophet s.a.w encouraged this noble deed, to the extent that he asked of us to contribute when we are in hardship.
As narrated by Abu Hurairah r.a, “A man asked the Prophet: O Prophet, which is the best contribution?” The Prophet s.a.w. replied “When you are in real need (of the wealth) yourself, and you desire to be rich.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari & Muslim)
My dear brothers,
The spirit of doing good and contributing to others are not restricted to the financial realm. In fact, we can contribute our skills and experience to uplift our community.
As a first step to inculcate in us the value of sharing and helping others, we can work together with voluntary organisations in their efforts to help the needy. There are initiatives which require financial contributions, whilst others which require time, and some others which require expertise. All these are excellent opportunities for us to manifest the values of doing good as taught to us by the Holy Quran and the Prophet s.a.w.
My dear brothers,
A good Muslim will not let any opportunity to do good slip past him. For example, in our current economic climate, we can optimise all opportunities that were hard to come by previously. We read in the papers recently that there has been an increase of around ten thousand visitors to the National Library since the financial crisis started.
The crisis has created some extra time for us to do other things. Reading and learning is a good initiative. The strive to seek knowledge and expand our horizons and experiences are important. When we go to the library, we will also know our society better, and we can relate to others well. We may also find opportunities to offer our help and contributions.
Allah s.w.t says in the Holy Quran:
And say: Work; so Allah will see your work and (so will) His Messenger and the believers; and you shall be brought back to the Knower of the unseen and the seen, then He will inform you of what you did. (Surah al-Taubah verse 105)
InshaAllah, when we contribute and offer our help, we will be closer towards the mission of becoming the best ummah that always strive towards goodness, Amiin.
Fi Amanillah =)
Khutbah on 20 Feb 2009/24 Safar 1930H
February 20, 2009 at 20:30 | In Khutbahs, islam | Leave a CommentTags: allah, friday prayers, friday sermons, khutbah, muhammad, Prophet, Rasulullah, sermon
Striving to Preserve Our Faith
My respected brothers,
Iman is the greatest blessing from Allah s.w.t. Our status in Allah’s measure is through our iman. Allah s.w.t. says in surah al-Hujurat verse : 13
إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ
Which means : “Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.”
Taqwa and confidence will bring about a positive impact to our lives, whether in our religious practices, in our behaviour and personality, as well as in our relationship with others.
My dear brothers,
Let us ask ourselves, how profound is our iman to Allah s.w.t.? Are we among those who have true faith in Allah s.w.t.?
We live in this world guided by the objectives that Allah s.w.t. has stated for us, that is to lead our lives in the most complete manner. There are many responsibilities required of us, to see who among us are the best in their actions. These responsibilities include those that are due to Allah, and due to our community, society and environment.
To gain Allah’s blessings, we must obey His orders. And part of His orders is to encourage others to do good and preventing them from doing wrong. We had discussed this in the past few weeks. Today, we need to ask ourselves, have we done something about it? Do we still think this is a duty only for certain people, such as for the religious teachers?
My dear brothers,
This is a role and duty that we all share. It is an ibadah that will increase our iman. We should try to do this as individuals or collectively, in small or big ways. However, we must base this effort in knowledge and a wise approach (i.e. with hikmah).
For a start, we can accustom ourselves to offering others our salam when we meet them, to smile cheerfully to others, and to visit one another, in the bid to encourage and call others to do good.
When we see something wrong (mungkar), we should try to advice those involved. Imagine if we take the approach of “that is not my problem”, then what will happen to the community as a whole, because no one is interested to advice those who do wrong.
In a hadith narrated by Imam -Tirmizhi, the Prophet s.a.w said,
” By He whom my life is in His hands, you shall call others to do good, and stop them from doing wrong. Or (if you do not do so) Allah s.w.t will bring to you a punishment and then you ask for His help and your prayers will not be answered.”
My dear brothers,
This hadith of the Prophet s.a.w. means that the whole community should develop together to become one which is prosperous and successful. To become a community in which good acts thrive, and bad acts diminish and disappear totally. So let us continue to advice one another. Surely, we will like to see our Muslim brother or sister do good, and we will not be pleased to see our brother or sister do wrong.
As such, I would like to call upon all brothers to work hand in hand and be committed to the path of inviting others to do good, and advising them from doing wrong. We must also ask Allah s.w.t. so that we remain steadfast in our iman to do so. Strengthened by our confidence and tawakkal to Allah after our efforts, InshaAllah, there will be a positive change and let us start now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ameen.
I think this week’s khutbah is a little different. It makes the listeners question themselves, which is good, because I myself have discovered that it’s only through constant reflection that you learn from your mistakes, and learn in what ways you can improve. It’s also a good way to get closer to Allah swt, believe me.
It’s very motivating, this week’s khutbah. But you know, I think the best people for us to start with is our families. Didn’t Rasulullah s.a.w.started spreading Islam through his relatives first? (:
It’s the hardest, but we’ve got to do it anyway, because if we try so hard to guide ourselves and our friends, but if we leave our own families unguided, we’re going to suffer in the end. Because family truly is the backbone of society.
Let me show you this verse from An-Nisaa’:
وَاعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَلاَ تُشْرِكُواْ بِهِ شَيْئًا
وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَبِذِي الْقُرْبَى
وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ
وَالْجَارِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْجَارِ الْجُنُبِ
وَالصَّاحِبِ بِالجَنبِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ
وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ
إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ
مُخْتَالاً فَخُورًا
[4:36] (Asad) And worship Allah [alone], and do not ascribe divinity, in any way, to aught beside Him. And do good unto your parents, and near of kin, and unto orphans, and the needy, and the neighbour from among your own people, and the neighbour who is a stranger, and the friend by your side, and the wayfarer, and those whom you rightfully possess. Verily, God does not love any of those who, full of self-conceit, act in a boastful manner;
And this verse from Al-Baqarah:
وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ
لاَ تَعْبُدُونَ إِلاَّ اللّهَ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَاناً
وَذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى
وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَقُولُواْ لِلنَّاسِ
حُسْناً وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلاَةَ وَآتُواْ الزَّكَاةَ
ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّنكُمْ
وَأَنتُم مِّعْرِضُونَ
2:83 (Asad) AND LO! We accepted this solemn pledge from [you,] ‘ the children of Israel: ”You shall worship none but God; and you shall do good unto your parents and kinsfolk, and the orphans, and the poor; and you shall speak unto all people in a kindly way; and you shall be constant in prayer; and you shall spend in charity.”And yet, save for a few of you, you turned away: for you are obstinate folk!
Do you see how our obligations towards our parents and our family comes first before any other person in our lives?
Okay, except Rasulullah s.a.w. of course, but what I mean is the people currently living and breathing around us right now.
I’ve been trying it myself, and believe me, it’s hard, because I’m so used to letting my family see the negative side of me. It’s about time I increase the positive and slowly erase the negative. It’s gonna be a long jihad, and I know it won’t end here, it’ll continue if Allah swt were to Bless me with a family of my own, Insya’Allah (:
Okay, I have to draw up a lesson plan for my youngest bro now. (:
Hope this post has benefited you!
Fi Amanillah!
Sabr
Assalaamu'alaikum! (:
I testify that I believe in:
1. Allah swt
2. His Angels
3. His Holy Scriptures
4. His Messengers (p.b.u.t)
5. The Day of Judgement
6. Qada' and Qadar
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Syukran!-
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