True richness comes from gratitude
“If something good happens to him he's grateful and that is good for him and if something bad happens to him he's patient and that is good for him.”
True richness comes from iman, gratitude, and reflective attention to existing blessings, enabling believers to meet both ease and hardship with gratitude and patience.
The khutbah in 5 steps
- Opens with Qur'anic calls to taqwa and introduces basic provision as equivalent to possessing the whole world.
- Contrasts endless wanting with gratitude through Abu Muhammad's declaration that he was king of the world despite losing the lower half of his body.
- Reframes sickness, inconvenience, and calamity as possible blessings, including four reasons to praise Allah during hardship.
- Explains reflection as applying knowledge, then encourages noticing ordinary freedoms and comparing oneself with those who have less.
- Concludes that worship, guidance, and richness of heart outweigh material wealth, asking Allah to grant grateful faith.
In the khateeb's words
“I'm the king of the world Allahu Akbar he says I'm the king of the world and he says soon I will go to Allah”
“if something good happens to him he's grateful and that is good for him and if something bad happens to him he's patient and that is good for him”
“our perspective is not a knowledge issue we know that we have doorknobs we know the fact that we can come out but the way that we're looking at it is not the same”
“the only wealth and riches there is is the richness of the heart and the only poverty there truly is is the poverty of the heart”
For the dinner table
Today’s khutbah taught that real richness is not having everything we want; it is recognizing Allah’s blessings and having a grateful heart. The speaker shared Abu Muhammad, who had lost the lower half of his body yet called himself the king of the world because he still had faith and hoped to meet Allah as a Muslim. We were encouraged to reflect on ordinary freedoms, such as opening a door, and to compare ourselves with people who have less rather than people who have more. When hardship comes, we can praise Allah that it was not worse, ask for patience, remember that we belong to Allah and return to Him, and be grateful that our faith remains. The believer responds to ease with gratitude and hardship with patience, finding good in both.
- What is one everyday blessing you used today without noticing?
- When have you compared yourself to an imagined better version, and what did you already have?
- What could gratitude in good times and patience in hard times look like this week?
More on Gratitude
ICI · Irving, TX · Oct 24, 2026Thank Allah in ease and hardship“Even in moments of difficulty, when it feels like there's nothing going your way, there is always something to be grateful for.”
Either we're receiving a blessing, which calls for shukr, or we're going through a hardship, which calls for sabr.13:29Al-Ittehad · Vista, CA · Sep 19, 2026Gratitude and patience carry believers through life
Real gratitude is not a feeling.16:14London Muslim Mosque · London, ON · Sep 11, 2026Gratitude means using blessings well