\u201cAs-sal\u00e1mu ‘alaikum wa rahmatul l\u00e1hi wa barak\u00e1tuh!\u201d [Wait for adh\u00e1n]<\/p>\n
\u201cA-\u00fathu bill\u00e1hi minash shayt\u00e1nir rajeem. Bismill\u00e1hir rahm\u00e1nir raheem.<\/p>\n
I turn away from Shaytaan, the Cursed One. And , I begin, In the Name of All\u00e1h, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.<\/p>\n
Al hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta\u2019eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi, wana\u2019oothu Billaahi min shuroori an-fusinaa, wamin sayyi aati a\u2019maalinaa.<\/p>\n
All Praise is due to All\u00e1h, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds.<\/p>\n
May- Yahdillahu fa huwal muhtad, wa may- yudlill falan tajidaa lahu waliyan murshida.<\/p>\n
Anyone who is guided by All\u00e1h, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him.<\/p>\n
Wa ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-All\u00e1h, wahdahoo laa shareeka lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan \u2018abduhoo warasooluh\u201d<\/p>\n
I bear witness that there is no god but All\u00e1h, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, sws, is His servant, and His messenger.<\/p>\n
My respected Brothers and Sisters in Islam,<\/p>\n
Where is the greatest love of your life? Where do you lavish most of your affection and attention? Is it your wife, your husband, your child, your parents, your beautiful home, your nice car, your job, your hobby or sport? Is your most beloved person or activity, the most deserving of your love? And, very important, is your love reciprocated, or are you in an emotional 0ne-way-street? These questions hold the key to our success in this world and the life hereafter.<\/p>\n
Our khutbah today, is about love reciprocated; love that\u2019s given, and love that\u2019s returned. I have no doubt in my mind that every one of us here has felt the power and influence of love, in its many different forms, throughout our lifetime. We first experienced love at the very moment of birth. Seeing their newborn baby, our parents must have felt so much joy and gratitude to All\u00e1h. With our mother\u2019s warm embrace and that very first drink of our mother\u2019s milk, we must have looked up at her face, feeling her love and security as she gazed down, exuding love and satisfaction. From the first few minutes of life, we were enjoying our parents\u2019 love; at the same time we were showing them our love in return.<\/p>\n
As we grew up, we continued to love and be loved by our parents, but then, our relationships expanded horizontally and vertically. We now enjoy the love of brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, friends and wider relations. In time, we become parents and later, grandparents, and so the story of love moves on in ever widening circles, and repeating itself infinitely.<\/p>\n
The most important point about love is that it needs to be rewarded, returned, and reciprocated. This is the essence of love, that it is given and received, in equal measure. When love is given but not reciprocated, then it is as if a big light has gone out in our lives. Love always needs to be returned, to find completeness and fulfilment within itself. This is not a one-way street. No one enjoys loving, and not being loved. Can you imagine for a moment what it must be like to love someone, and not to be loved in return? Unreciprocated love, Love without love returned, leaves a sense of despair, depression, unworthiness, hollowness and emptiness. Love needs love, and love deserves love to enrich and complete itself. To love and to be loved puts meaning and value into our lives.<\/p>\n
Now think for a moment, as we sit here, that we are also enjoying a love of a different, deeper and yet subtler kind: the Divine love of the Creator for His creation. None of us can doubt that All\u00e1h, loves us. Whether we are tall or short, fat or thin, black or white, Muslim, Jew, Hindu or Christian, our Creator\u2019s love and provision reaches us all, and we owe Him a debt of gratitude. His sustenance reaches even those who deny His existence, even those who disbelieve in Him.<\/p>\n
In S\u00fara Yunus, [10] v 93 we read:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is not a moving creature on earth, but its sustenance depends on All\u00e1h, He knows the time and place of its definite abode, and its temporary deposit: All is in a clear record.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We depend so completely on All\u00e1h, and we owe him everything. He deserves our thanks, our obedience and worship. How do we show our gratitude to All\u00e1h? How do we show gratitude to anyone who has authority over us? At the very least, we show respect and obedience. The best way to show gratitude to our All\u00e1h, is to worship him, to obey him and to avoid displeasing Him. This is how we can reciprocate the divine love, to the One Who gave us life, and Who sustains us for every moment of our lives.<\/p>\n
If we can accept that love must always be rewarded, should we not then return the greatest of all loves, the unselfish love of Allah?<\/p>\n
Just think about it. How does it feel when you\u2019ve shown love, kindness and generosity to someone, and your reward is rudeness, ingratitude or indifference! Do you know the feeling? When someone repays your kindness with cruelty. Doesn\u2019t it make you feel angry? Why then, should All\u00e1h not be angry towards those who repay His love with disobedience, ingratitude and disbelief?<\/p>\n
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam, I would like to remind myself and you, about the secret of true love and true happiness. It is not simply to indulge the object of our love, leaving All\u00e1h aside, or to place our love for All\u00e1h right at the end of the queue. The way to real happiness is to place our love for All\u00e1h at the centre of our lives. Our love for All\u00e1h must be greater than any other love. It must come before our love for anyone or anything else. In fact, we only have the capacity to love and care for someone, because All\u00e1h gave us that capacity in the first place! All\u00e1h alone is the creator and author and facilitator of all love. Therefore, it follows that the first and most deserving love, should be our love for All\u00e1h. When we love All\u00e1h first, we give meaning, and purpose and balance and harmony to every other aspect of our life.<\/p>\n
In S\u00fara Al Baqara, v 165, we read:<\/p>\n
\u201cYet there are men who take [for worship] others besides All\u00e1h, as equals with All\u00e1h. They love them as they should love All\u00e1h. But those of Faith are overflowing in their love of All\u00e1h. If only the unrighteous could see the Penalty: that to All\u00e1h belongs all power, and All\u00e1h will strongly enforce the Penalty.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Look what happens when we fail to put our love for our Creator at the top of our agenda: Our loving nature loses its sense of proportion. It loses direction. Excessive love for oneself then becomes vanity, conceit and egotism. Excessive love for one\u2019s community or race becomes bigotry and racism, and excessive love for one\u2019s nation becomes arrogant Nationalism, or Fascism. Zionism, like Nazism and Apartheid before it, is a distorted Nationalism pretending to be a respectable political idea.<\/p>\n
It is only the Love of All\u00e1h that brings proportion and harmony to life, and illuminates all our other loves and relationships. If we can all remember this and live by it, we will go a long way towards making our lives happier and more meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlhamdu lillahi Rabbil \u2018Aalameen. Was-salaatu was-salaamu alaa Khairil mursaleen. Muhammadin-nabeey-yil Ummiy-yee, wa-\u2018alaa aalihee, wasah-bihee, aj-ma\u2019een.<\/p>\n
All praise is due to All\u00e1h, the Lord of all the Worlds; may the greetings and peace be upon the best messenger, Muhammad, the unlettered prophet; and upon his family and upon all of his companions.<\/p>\n
Ammaa ba\u2019ad:<\/p>\n
Innall\u00e1ha wa malaaikata yusall\u00fana alan nabi. Y\u00e1 ay yuhal latheena \u00e1manu sall\u00fa alayhi wasalli m\u00fa tas leema.<\/p>\n
Behold, All\u00e1h and his angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O you who believe! Ask for blessings on him, and salute him with a worthy greeting.<\/p>\n
Allahumma salli al\u00e1 Muhammad, wa ala \u00e1li Muhammad, kama salayta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali Ibrahim. Allahumma barik ala Muhammad, wa alaa \u00e1li Muhammad, kama barakta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali ibrahim. Fil \u00e1la meen, innaka hameedun majeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
O All\u00e1h! Send your greetings upon Muhammad and his family, just as you sent your greetings on Ibraheem, and his family. O All\u00e1h, send you blessings on Muhammad and his family, just as you blessed Ibraheem and his family. In both worlds, you are praiseworthy and exalted.<\/p>\n
Second Khutbah:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Sub\u2019 hanallahi wal hamdu lillah, wala hawla wala quwwata illah billah yu althi yual theem.<\/p>\n
Dear Brothers and Sisters<\/p>\n
How do we begin to place our love for All\u00e1h at the centre of our lives, at the top of our priority love-list? The short answer is Zikr, the constant Remembrance of All\u00e1h. Zikr is not just an optional thing we do after completing Salaah. Zikr is an integral part of Islamic worship. Remembering Allah must become a way of life.<\/p>\n
It is only through constant remembrance of All\u00e1h that human hearts will find true happiness and satisfaction, in good times and in times of distress. There is a beautiful verse no. 28 in S\u00fara Al-Ra\u2019d that confirms this:<\/p>\n
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem!<\/p>\n
\u201cAl-latheena aamanu, watat-ma-innu quloobuhum, be thikrullah. Alaa bithikrillaahi tat-ma-innul quloob.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the Remembrance of All\u00e1h; for without doubt, in the Remembrance of All\u00e1h do hearts find satisfaction.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We should train ourselves to be All\u00e1h-conscious during every waking moment. Some Sufis recite the Asma-ul-husna, the Beautiful Names of All\u00e1h, with every breath and every heartbeat. We can at least think consciously of pleasing All\u00e1h, and avoiding His displeasure, every time we make a decision or start an action. We must constantly ask ourselves, why am I doing this? Is this decision, this action going to bring me closer to All\u00e1h? Or, is this decision, this action going to arouse All\u00e1h\u2019s anger? If we do this exercise regularly, consistently, this attitude will transform our lives at the most basic level. Seeking to please All\u00e1h, instead of seeking to satisfy our own lusts, will transform us from mere humans beings, wandering aimlessly, to the true Believers that we Muslims ought to be.<\/p>\n
We must expect the going to be difficult at first, because this is a major turning point in our lives. But if we persist in our efforts, and we are patient, we will, in time, ish-All\u00e1h reap the rewards of returning All\u00e1h\u2019s love with our love and obedience.<\/p>\n
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam, let us ask All\u00e1h to make us all worthy and deserving of His love. Let us make the effort, and seek All\u00e1h\u2019s help, in completing the circle of love given and love returned. Let us show the Creator of love, that we have worked hard to bring our free will, and our heart\u2019s desires back into alignment with Him, the way He created our true nature before we were exposed to temptation. Let us teach our children that the way to live successfully is to recognise All\u00e1h\u2019s loving hand in everything we see around us, and to return that love with every good thought, every good word and every good action in our lives.<\/p>\n
O All\u00e1h, help us to purify ourselves in body, mind, heart and spirit. Help us to seek and find your good pleasure, and O All\u00e1h, remember us in the company of your beloved friends.<\/p>\n
Ameen! Aqeemus salaah!<\/p>\n
An English khutba by Arshad Gamiet at Royal Holloway College, University of London on 21st June 2002<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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