Our comforts are tests and blessings
“Leave a mark in this world that can actually follow you in your grave.”
Recognizing that our comforts are tests and blessings should deepen taqwa and gratitude, moving us to relieve the burdens of less fortunate Muslims and leave lasting good behind.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Defines taqwa as conscious, Allah-centered decision-making and dying in submission.
- Recounts a Kenya visit and encounters with people risking their lives for clean water.
- Shares a bereaved teenager’s gratitude and Quran memorization amid severe hardship.
- Explains that ease and prosperity can be subtler tests than hardship.
- Highlights a hungry imam teaching 180 students while preserving the community’s faith.
- Calls listeners to relieve global burdens and sacrifice or send meat during the first days of Dhul Hijjah.
In the khateeb's words
“In the span of 30 minutes that I spent with this family, chatting with them, she said about 20 times, "Alhamdulillah."”
“Sometimes prosperity and ease and access to everything that you desire, access to the best health care, access to the best education, access to security, access to safety”
“ease could be a trickier ibtila, a trickier test than hardships.”
“Live beyond yourself. Leave an impact. Leave a mark in this world that can actually follow you in your grave.”
For the dinner table
The khateeb described visiting Kenya and seeing families who risk their lives to find clean water. He told the story of a teenager who had lost her parents but still repeatedly said Alhamdulillah and had completed memorizing the Quran. He reminded us that comfort, safety, and prosperity are also tests because they can make us forget Allah’s blessings. He also shared the example of an imam who taught 180 children while his own family struggled for food. The khutbah encouraged us to live beyond ourselves, help people in need, and, if able, send sacrificial meat during the first days of Dhul Hijjah.
- What blessing do we have that we sometimes overlook?
- How can our family help relieve someone else’s burden this week?
- What does it mean to leave a good mark that follows us after death?
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