True Islam means obeying Allah's commands
“The slavery to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is an honor.”
True Islam means obeying Allah's commands, like the Eid sacrifice, with sami'na wa ata'na (we hear and we obey), without rationalizing, questioning, or hunting for loopholes, as perfectly embodied by Ibrahim and Ismail.
The khutbah in 7 steps
- Gratitude for the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, Arafah, and Eid; framing the khutbah around the spirit of sacrifice
- The Quran is Allah's word; the believer's only posture is sami'na wa ata'na, slavery to Allah is honor, unlike slavery to humans
- Sha'air Allah: honoring the prescribed rituals (safa, marwa, tawaf, qurbani) is a sign of taqwa of the heart
- Against rationalizing commands: pork is haram simply because Allah said so, no scientific justification needed
- Meat and blood do not reach Allah, only taqwa, established by obeying the command itself
- Riba as the test case: shopping for convenient fatwas to circumvent clear commands violates the covenant of Islam
- Nothing in the Quran is vain or random; attributing randomness to Allah's words is the thinking of the kuffar
In the khateeb's words
“the slavery to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is an honor the more we accomplish our slavery the more we fulfill our slavery the more Allah honors us”
For the dinner table
This khutbah, given during the days of Tashriq after Eid al-Adha, is about what it really means to say 'we hear and we obey.' The imam explained that Allah's rituals, the sacrifice, the Hajj rites, Eid itself, deserve honor simply because Allah commanded them, and that honoring them is the true sign of taqwa in the heart. He warned against needing scientific reasons for commands, like justifying the pork prohibition, because the command of Allah is reason enough. He also cautioned against hunting for easy fatwas to make interest permissible just because it is convenient. The example to follow is Ibrahim and Ismail, who both surrendered to Allah's command without hesitation, and because of that perfect submission, Ibrahim is the one who named us 'Muslims.'
- Ismail was a teenager when he told his father to do what Allah commanded, what would you have said?
- Can you think of a rule you follow just because you trust the person who made it?
- Why do you think the imam said obeying Allah is an honor instead of a burden?
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