2 Authentic Khutbahs of Prophet Muhammad sws

[From Selected Speeches [khutab Mukhtaarah] Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: General Administration for Research, Ifta’, Da’wa, and guidance, 1987, p 27, 31] Reproduced here from “Speaking for Change” by Wael Alkhairo. Amana Publications, Beltsville, Maryland, 1998. 

The Prophet's First Khutbah in Madinah

All praise is due to Allah. I thank Him and seek His aid. I ask His forgiveness, and seek His guidance. I believe in Him and do not deny Him. I am the enemy of those who reject belief in Him. I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship, other than Allah, Him alone, without partner; and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger whom He sent with guidance, true religion, light, and advice after a long gap of time when no messengers were sent, knowledge was little, people were misguided, and time appeared to have stopped as the Day of Judgment approached.

Whoever obeys Allah and His messenger is wise and whoever disobeys them is astray, wasted, and has lost his way far from the true path. I advise you to fear Alláh and be conscious of Him. Be conscious of what Alláh warned you of Himself. There is no better advice than that or a better reminder. It is a shield for those who follow this advice carefully and cautiously and it is an aid, and the truth that will get you what you aspire for on the Day of Judgment. Whosoever establishes a good relationship between him and Allah, secretly and openly, only to seek the pleasure of Allah, will benefit in this life and be saved in the afterlife when he will be in dire need of the good deeds he earned before death. Man will then wish that there were a great distance between him and anything else other than taqwa.

Allah warns you about Himself and He is kind to his servants. Allah, who has spoken the Truth and fulfilled his promise, has said: "I do not change My words and I do not oppress My servants" (50:29). Fear Allah in your present and future affairs, in secret and in the open for (Allah has said:) "Whosoever fears Allah, his sins will be forgiven and his reward will be many fold" (65:5) and "Whosoever fears Allah will achieve great success." Having taqwa (fearful awareness of Allah) protects man from Allah's anger, protects him from His punishment and protects him from His wrath. Taqwa illumines the face, pleases the Lord, and elevates the rank.

Take what is determined for you and do not neglect your relationship with Allah. He has taught you His book, laid down for you His path so that He will know which of you are the truthful and which of you are the liars. Therefore, do good, just as Allah has done good to you, and be enemies to His enemies, (for Allah has said:) "And strive in the way of Allah sincerely for He has chosen you and named you Muslims" ( and "That those who have died (striving in His way) might die after a clear sign (had been given to them), and those who go on to live might live after a clear sign (had been given to them)" (8:42). There is no strength other than by Allah, thus increase the remembrance of Allah, and work for what will come after death, for whosoever builds a good relationship with Allah, Alláh will protect him from the harm or need of people. Allah surely decrees what is destined for mankind, whereas they have no control over Him, and He has in store for them what they cannot have in store for Him. Allah is great. There is no power except by Allah, Elevated, the Great.

[End of first khutbah.]

The Prophet's Speech on the Importance of Knowledge.

Mu'ath bin Jabal narrated that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said the following.

Acquire knowledge, for surely it leads to fear of Allah. Seeking it is an act of worship ('ibadah); studying it is praising Allah; seeking it is jihad; teaching it to whomever doesn't known it is an act of charity (sadaqah); and giving it to its people draws one closer to them. Knowledge points to the permissible (Halaal) and the forbidden (haraam); and it is a shining light pointing the way to paradise It comforts the lonely, befriends the estranged, and talks to you in seclusion. It is a guide through prosperity and adversity; it is  a weapon against enemies; and it is the best of friends. With knowledge, Alláh raises people to high stations, making them leaders in goodness, whose steps are traced. Their example is emulated, their opinion followed. The angels like to sit with the people of knowledge, surrounding their wings; and everything dry or wet, -fish of the sea and animals on land, - will ask Allah to forgive them. Knowledge gives life to the heart in the midst of ignorance, and illumines vision in the darkness. With knowledge, God's servants become the elite and reach the highest degrees in this life and in the hereafter. Contemplation with knowledge is equivalent to fasting (sawm); spending time to study it is equivalent to standing at night in prayer (qiyam); duties to relatives are fulfilled by it; and through it the halaal and haraam are known. Knowledge precedes action ('amal) and action always follows it. The fortunate ones attain it and the miserable ones are deprived of it.

[From Selected Speeches [khutab Mukhtaarah] Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: General Administration for Research, Ifta’, Da’wa, and guidance, 1987, p 27, 31] Reproduced here from “Speaking for Change” by Wael Alkhairo. Amana Publications, Beltsville, Maryland, 1998. 

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