Use your time before death arrives
“The believer is the one who takes account of themselves before being taken to account.”
Because life and death are in Allah’s hands and the afterlife is where justice and permanence lie, believers should treat every moment as potentially their last and use their opportunities for righteous deeds.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Announcements include event tickets, prayers for Gaza and those facing illness, and a request for donations.
- The khutbah praises Allah for His blessings, guidance, forgiveness, and mercy.
- Death comes at an appointed time, and the Hereafter is presented as better and more just than worldly life.
- Believers should examine themselves before judgment and repair wrongs while they still can.
- The hadith of using five opportunities before five losses is explained through youth, health, wealth, free time, and life.
- The khutbah closes by urging listeners to spend their final moments in goodness, since people will be resurrected according to how they died.
In the khateeb's words
“The believer is the one who takes account of themselves before being taken to account.”
“What can you do now that you won't be able to do in your death?”
“Because you're going to be resurrected the way that you died.”
For the dinner table
The khateeb reminded us that none of us knows when Allah will call us back, so every day should be lived with the Hereafter in mind. He taught that the next life is where Allah’s justice is complete, and believers should prepare through righteous deeds. A prophetic teaching was shared: use youth, health, wealth, free time, and life before they are gone. That can mean reading Quran, learning, praying, helping others, visiting the sick and relatives, giving charity, and repairing relationships. We should ask what we would want to meet Allah with if this were our last moment, and choose good now.
- What is one good thing you can do with your free time this week?
- Who could we visit, help, or forgive as a family?
- What would you want your final actions to show about your heart?
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