الحَمْدُ للهِ، الحَمْدُ للهِ الذي ألّف بين قلوبِ أهلِ الإيمان، وجعل من أفرادِهم أرصَّ البُنيان، وأَمَرَهم بالاجتماع على عِبادةِ الرحمان، في أحسنِ بِقاعِ الأرضِ وأشرفِ العُمران، نَحْمَدُهُ تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، مَنْ يَهْدِ اللهُ فلا مضل له، ومَنْ يُضلِلْ فَلاَ هَادِيَ لَهُ، ونَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ  وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ، له الملك وله الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير، ونشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا ومولانا مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُه وَرَسُولُهُ، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدّى الأمانة ونصح الأمّة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحقّ، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعَلَى آلِهِ وأَصْحابِهِ ومَنْ تَبِعَهم بإِحْسانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّيْنِ.  أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَيَا عِبَادَ اللهِ اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون، يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا، يُصْلِحْ لَكُم أَعْمَالَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا، يا أيها المسلمون اتقوا الله فيما أوصى وأمر، وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر. قال الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز بعد أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم: “فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ فِيهَا بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآَصَالِ رِجَالٌ لَا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ،”

 

Allah, may He be exalted, says in His mighty Book, the translation of which is: “In houses which Allah has permitted to be built, and in which His name is remembered, there are men who proclaim His glory morning and evening, not distracted by trade or commerce from the remembrance of Allah and the establishment of the prayer and the payment of zakat.” 

 

وقال الله تعالى: “وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ”

Allah, glory be to Him, also says, the translation of which is, “Help each other to acts of goodness and taqwa, and do not help each other to wrongdoing and enmity.”

The Muslims are an ummatun wahida – a single nation and a unified community – and so we should act as such, remembering that we are part of a single body. 

عَنِ النّعْمَانِ بْنِ بَشِيرٍ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: “مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَوَادّهِمْ وَتَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَتَعَاطُفِهِمْ، مَثَلُ الْجَسَدِ. إِذَا اشْتَكَىَ مِنْهُ عُضْوٌ، تَدَاعَىَ لَهُ سَائِرُ الْجَسَدِ بِالسّهَرِ وَالْحُمّىَ”

An-Nu‘man ibn Bashir narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “The likeness of the believers in terms of the mutual love and mercy and kindness with which they treat one another, is that of the human body: if one part of it complains of pain then the rest of the body shows solidarity with it by suffering from sleeplessness and fever.” We Muslims are not just individual beings making our way through life in our own individual ways, but are part of an umma, a brotherhood of men and women, united in love of Allah and love of His Messenger. We are a community, working together and helping one another to acts of goodness and taqwa. We are a jama‘a - and how blessed we are to have a Lord who made us such and joined our hearts together.

 

قال الله تعالى: “هُوَ الَّذِي أَيَّدَكَ بِنَصْرِهِ وَبِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ، لَوْ أَنْفَقْتَ مَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا مَا أَلَّفْتَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ، وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ أَلَّفَ بَيْنَهُمْ، إِنَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ”

the translation of which is, “It is He who supported you with His help and with the believers , and unified their hearts . Even if you had spent everything on the earth, you could not have unified their hearts. But Allah has unified them. He is Almighty, All-Wise.“ 

The benefits that we obtain from gathering, meeting and working together are too many to count, and strengthen us inwardly and outwardly. This is not something that is hard to see or understand, for when we meet up with people of like mind, people who are following the same path as ourselves, we cannot help but feel that we are part of something greater – we cannot help but feel a sense of belonging. This feeling strengthens our resolve, renews our intention, and reminds of our Lord and of our task in this consumerist world in which everything around conspires to make us forget our Lord and neglect our role as Muslims. 

 

Gathering together for the purposes of goodness and taqwa causes love to blossom in the hearts and enables us to help one another through any problems we may be having. After all, a burden that is heavy for the individual becomes light when it is carried by the group.

The Mosque is the main place where this gathering takes place and the best form of gathering in the Mosque is the prayer.

 

عن ابن عمر رَضيَ اللَّهُ عَنهُ أن رَسُول اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: “صلاةُ الجماعة أفضلُ من صلاةِ الفذِّ بسبعٍ وعشرينَ درجة”

Ibn ‘Umar narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, “Prayer in jama‘a is twenty seven times better than prayer alone” Some of the people of knowledge interpreted this as referring specifically to the congregational prayer in the mosque.

If this is how well-rewarded prayer is in the mosque, then why are we not hurrying to the mosque at every prayer-time, grasping every opportunity eagerly with both hands. If two shops were selling the same produce and one shop was giving you two for the price of one, would you not rush to the shop offering you the bargain? I have seen people travel huge distances and go to extraordinary lengths to get their hands on bargains when it comes to material things, so is it not time that they and we exerted at least the same degree of effort when it comes to spiritual matters? 

Furthermore, we do not merely get two for the price of one, we get twenty seven for the price of one. One prayer in jama‘a is the equivalent of more than five whole days of praying by one’s self. The Salaf were acutely aware of this and made it their business to never ever miss a prayer in jama‘a in the mosque. It did not matter where they were or what they were doing, they dropped everything and rushed to the mosque when they heard the adhan. Indeed, it is narrated that the salaf used to condole themselves for three days if they missed a takbiratu-l-ihram in the mosque and condole themselves for seven if they missed a prayer. They knew that by missing it, they had lost something huge and irreplaceable:

 

قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: “مَن صلى أربعين يوماً الصلواتِ في جماعةٍ لَا تفوتُه فيها تكبيرةُ الإحرامِ كَتَبَ اللهُ له براءتَين: براءةً مِن النفاقِ وبراءةً من النار”

The Prophet said, “If anyone prays forty days in jama‘a, without missing a single takbiratu-l-ihram, Allah will write down two exemptions for him: a exemption from hypocrisy; and a exemption from the Fire.’

But even that was not enough for these great men. They understood the blessed  nature of the time that is spent in the mosque between the adhan and the prayer, and they did not want to miss a single second of it. So they made sure they were already sitting in the mosque before the muadhdhin had commenced his call to prayer.  Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib, the great tabi‘i and one of the seven fuqaha of Madina said:

 

“ما أذّن مؤذِّنٌ منذُ عشرين سنةً إلا وأنا في المسجد.”

“During the last twenty years, the muadhdhin never once called the adhan, except that I was already in the mosque.” He knew that the secret to becoming intimate with Allah was to become intimate with His houses, as was confirmed by the Messenger of Allah when he said,

 

“من أَلِفَ المسجدَ أَلِفَهُ اللهُ تعالى”

“If someone becomes intimate with the mosque, Allah will become intimate with him.” So we ask Allah to make us a people who fully appreciate the gift of jama‘a and take advantage of it. And we ask Him to give us an intimate relationship with Him by granting us the success to have an intimate relationship with His houses. Amin.

أقول قولي هذا و أستغفر الله لي و لكم و لسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم

الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.

 

If what we mentioned in the first khutba about the rewards and secrets for praying jama‘a in the mosque are not enough for you, then be warned. The consequences of not going to the mosque are grave, both for you personally and for the community in which you live:

 

عن أبي هريرة رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنهُ أن رَسُول اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: “والذي نفسِي بيدِه لقد هَمَمْتُ أنْ آمُرَ بِحَطَبٍ فيُحتَطَبَ، ثم آمُرَ بالصلاةِ فيُؤَذَّنَ لها، ثم آمُرَ رَجُلاً فَيَؤُمَّ الناسَ ثم أُخالِفَ إلى رجالٍ فأُحرِقَ عليهم بيوتَهم”

Abu Hurayra narrated that the Prophet said, “By the One who holds my soul in His hand, I wanted to command that firewood be gathered together and brought to me, then command the adhan to the prayer be called, appoint a man to lead the people in prayer, and then go to the houses of those who were not there and burn their houses from under them.” The Messenger of Allah did not actually do this, but rather said it in order to warn people what a terrible thing it was to not attend the jama‘a prayer in the mosque. The people he was referring to in the hadith, who stayed at home and did pray in the mosque, were the hypocrites. That was one of their characteristics. So, by not attending the jama‘a, we are emulating the hypocrites, harming the unity and cohesiveness of the community and bringing down the anger of Allah and His Messenger upon our homes. And there can be no baraka and no good in a home that is the subject of His anger. And if that was not enough, we also give Shaytan power over ourselves:

 

عن أبي الدرداء رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنهُ قال سمعت رَسُول اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: “ما من ثلاثةٍ في قريةٍ ولا بَدْوٍ لا تُقَامُ فيهم الصلاةُ إلا قد اِستحْوَذَ عليهم الشيطانُ؛ فعليكم بالجماعةِ فإنما يأكلُ الذِئبُ من الغنمِ القاصية”

Abu-d-Darda’ narrated the Messenger of Allah said, “If any group of three people or more live together in a city or village without establishing the prayer, Shaytan will gain mastery over them. You must be with the jama‘a, for the sheep that strays far from the flock will be eaten by wolves.” This hadith makes it clear that anyone who does not attend the jama‘a prayer cuts himself off from his community and gives Shaytan a way in: Shaytan then uses that opportunity to sow the seeds of hatred, spite and envy into his heart, as well as causing him to develop a bad opinion of his Muslim brothers.

From these hadith and others, we can see that not attending the prayer in jama‘a harms both the individual concerned and the wider community, by breaking its unity and leading to a negative opinion of the Imam. But it also damages the reputation of Islam in general, for imagine how a non-Muslim who is interested in the Deen would feel if he came into the Mosque at a prayer time and found it completely empty and devoid of worshippers?

These people’s actions in not attending the congregational prayer in the mosque or preventing others from doing so, also lead to its destruction, for an unused mosque is merely a husk of a building and a ruin.

 

قال الله تعالى: “وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ مَنَعَ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ يُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ وَسَعَى فِي خَرَابِهَا”

Allah says, the translation of which is, “Who could do greater wrong than someone who bars access to the Mosques of Allah, preventing His Name from being remembered in them, and thus goes about destroying them.” So I invite every person sitting here today to take something upon themselves that is not particularly trying or difficult, but will, in fact bring ease and happiness to their lives. I invite them to become a part of the jama‘a of this mosque, not just on Jumu‘a, but throughout the rest of the week.

Now, as you know, there are five daily prayers that Allah has made incumbent upon every sane, Muslim adult, male or female, and the doors of this mosque are open for all of them.

So, I ask each of you, especially those who live nearby to the Mosque, to choose, at the very minimum, one prayer a day, and pray that prayer here in jama‘a. And, please invite other Muslims who are not here today to do the same - there is space here for both men, women and, indeed, children, provided that they are well-behaved. For it is important to instil the love of the mosque and jama‘a in our young. And, even if you live out in the suburbs, I would still ask you to come to the mosque as often as you are able and not just on Jumu‘a. It is not for my sake that I ask you to do this nor even for the Mosque’s sake: It is for your own sakes - do not pass up on one of the best bargain’s you will ever be offered - twenty-seven for the price of one! Our lives here in this world are short and are over in an instant, so these opportunities are too precious to be missed. The mosque is the beating heart of every Muslim community, so make sure that you, its lifeblood, flow through it on a constant basis. It is your attendance that keeps it alive! I would like to draw your attention especially to the Maghrib prayer, for every day after we pray it, we will, inshallah, be reciting half a juz’ of Qur‘an and then studying the tafsir of some of the ayats that we read. We will begin on Sunday, inshallah, with the first hizb of Qur’an. Make sure you are there, for the Prophet has said, as is transmitted by Muslim:

 

“ما اجتمع قوم في بيت من بيوت اللَّه، يتلون كتاب اللَّه، ويتدارسونه بينهم إلا نزلت عليهم السكينة وغشيتهم الرحمة وحفتهم الملائكة وذكرهم اللَّه فيمن عنده”

“No people gather together in one of the Houses of Allah to recite the Book of Allah and study it amongst themselves, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy envelops them, the angels surround them and Allah mentions them to those who are with Him.”

I ask Allah to place us among the ranks of those who are not distracted by trade or commerce from the remembrance of Allah and the establishment of the prayer and the payment of zakat. I ask Allah to make us from among those whom He has guided; those about whom He said, 

 

إِنَّمَا يَعْمُرُ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ مَنْ آَمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآَخِرِ وَأَقَامَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآَتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَلَمْ يَخْشَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ فَعَسَى أُولَئِكَ أَنْ يَكُونُوا مِنَ الْمُهْتَدِينَ

the translation of which is, “The only ones who frequent the mosques of Allah are those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and establish the prayer and fear no-one but Allah. They are the ones most likely to be guided.”

 

إنَّ اللهَ ومَلائِكَتَهُ يُصلُّونَ على النَّبِي يَا أَيُها الذينَ آمنوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وسَلِّمُوا تَسْليماً. اللهمَّ صَلِّ وسَلِّم وبارِك عَلَيْهِ وعلى آلِهِ وصَحْبِهِ  أجمعين. 

وارض اللهم عن الخلفاء الراشدين المرشدين الحنفاء ساداتنا وأئمتنا أبي بكر وعمر وعثمان وعلي ، وعن سائر الصحابة أجمعين، خصوصا الأنصار منهم والمهاجرين، وعن التابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

اللهم اهد أولات أمور المسلمين لما يرضيك ولاتباع سنة نبيك صلى الله عليه وسلم  وثبت أقدامهم على الصراط المستقيم وأصلحهم يا رب العالمين.

اللهم بارك على شيخنا، و على أميرنا، وعلى جميع أمراء وزعماء المسلمين.  

اللهم بارك على المسلمين في هذه المدينة ووفقهم لما تحبه وترضاه يا أكرم الأكرمين. 

اللهمّ أَعِزَّ الْلإسلامَ والمُسِلمينَ (3)  واَخْذُلِ الكُفْرَ والكافِرينَ، وانْصُرِ المُجاهِدينَ في سَبِيلِ اللهِ. واجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وكَلِمَةَ الكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلى.

ربنا ءاتنا في الدنيا حسنة وفي الأخرة حسنة وقنا عذاب النار. 

ربنا ءاتنا من لدنك رحمة و هيئ لنا من أمرنا رشدا. 

ربنا هب لنا من أزواجنا وذريتنا قرة أعين واجعلنا للمتقين إماما.

ربنا اغفر لنا ذنوبنا وإِسرافنا في أمرِنا وثبت أقدامنا وانصرنا على القوم الكافرِينَ.

إن الله يأمر بالعدل والإحسان وإيتاء ذي القربى وينهى عَنِ الفحشاءِ والمُنكَرِ والبغي، يعظكم لعلكم تذكرون، ولَذِكْرُ اللهِ أكبر والله يَعْلَمُ ما تَصْنَعُون. وقُومُوا إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يرحمكم الله