Build your shade for the Day of Judgment
“Are your friends people that remind you of Allah azzawajal?”
The current heat wave is one of Allah's signs, a reminder of the far greater heat of Hellfire and the Day of Judgment, so believers should use it to reflect and to build their shade for that Day through charity, worship, justice, and righteous companionship.
The khutbah in 9 steps
- Opening praise and reminder of taqwa
- The heat wave as a divine sign not to pass without reflection
- Hadith: the intensity of heat is from the breath of Jahannam; the Prophet's habit of connecting experiences to the hereafter
- Hadith: this world's fire is one of seventy parts of Hellfire; Hellfire's two breaths in summer and winter
- Surah at-Tawbah and the hypocrites who avoided Tabuk because of heat
- The Prophet's repeated warning of the Fire; one dip erases all worldly pleasure
- Day of Judgment: sun one mile overhead, people sweating according to their sins, prophets declining to intercede over one sin
- Building your shade: charity, and the seven whom Allah shades, just leader, worshipful youth, heart attached to the masjid, love for Allah's sake, resisting temptation, secret charity, tearful remembrance
- Announcements: family night on death, Isha delay, family camp, Quran program, New Muslim graduation
In the khateeb's words
“He told them that the intensity of the heat, or the heat that you are facing right now, is min fayhi jahannam, is actually of the scorching breath, or it's like the intense heat of jahannam.”
“how many of us, how many of us remembers, or reminded themselves, during the current heat wave of the heat of the hereafter?”
“giving charity, giving sadaqa, donating, it's not benefiting the others, but in fact you are benefiting yourself”
“Look around you who are your friends. Are your friends people that remind you of Allah azzawajal?”
For the dinner table
This week's khutbah was about the heat wave we've all been living through. The imam taught us that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, used hot days to remind his companions of the hereafter, telling them the heat we feel is like a single breath of Hellfire, and that this world's fire is only one small part of seventy parts of the Fire. On the Day of Judgment the sun will come very close and people will sweat according to their deeds, but some people will be given shade: those who give charity, the just, young people raised in worship, people whose hearts love the masjid, friends who love each other for Allah's sake, those who resist temptation, and those who remember Allah until their eyes fill with tears. So instead of only complaining about the heat, we can let it remind us to prepare our shade for that Day, by giving, praying, being fair to our families, and choosing good friends.
- If feeling hot for a few minutes is so hard, what do you think we can do now to earn shade on the Day of Judgment?
- Which of the seven shaded people sounds most like you, or most like who you want to be?
- Who is a friend that reminds you of Allah, and how can you be that kind of friend to someone else?
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