Prepare for your own inevitable death
“Even if we were to imagine a world that is designed to last forever, you still have to leave it.”
Rather than obsessing over the signs of the end of the world, each Muslim should focus on their own inevitable death and prepare for a beautiful ending (husn al-khatima) by letting revelation-guided intellect govern their life.
The khutbah in 8 steps
- Two parallel endings: the dunya will perish, and each individual will die, most likely before the world ends
- The ummah is not taught to wait for Qiyama or the Mahdi; the Prophet's question was 'what have you prepared for it?'
- Infatuation with end-times videos is detrimental; even the Prophet was not given immortality, so we must focus on our own death and husn al-khatima
- The root of corruption, personal and governmental, is forgetfulness of the akhira and letting desire rule instead of revelation-guided intellect
- The ummah always rises again after decline (e.g., the Mongol invasion), and blessed are those who are part of that rise through focusing on their akhira
- Akhira-focus is holistic: relationship with Allah, self, kin, and society, not withdrawal from the world
- Death finds everyone wherever they are; therefore the question each morning and night is 'when will my hour come?'
- Community announcement: RCM's yearly theme is the Quran, with a Quran track, recitation circle, part-time adult hifz program, and Friday night Quran focus
In the khateeb's words
“we're not supposed to be infatuated by the idea of qiyama we're supposed to be overwhelmed and focused with my own”
“if the world was to give permanence if the world was to give immortality to anyone if anyone was deserving of this”
“every other nation every other umma once they decline and they hit rock bottom they never come back up”
“even if we were to imagine a world that is designed to last forever you still have to leave it”
For the dinner table
Today the khateeb reminded us that two endings are coming: the world will end one day, and each of us will die, and for most of us, our own death comes first. So instead of getting obsessed with videos and theories about the end of the world, we should focus on being ready for our own meeting with Allah and pray for a beautiful ending. He explained that even Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was not given immortality, so none of us will be. The root of the corruption we see, he said, is forgetting the hereafter and letting our desires rule us instead of our faith-guided minds. The good news is that this ummah always rises again, and we can be part of that rise by preparing ourselves, our families, and serving our community, which is why the masjid is making the Quran the center of this year's programs.
- If you knew you only had one year left, what is one thing you would start doing differently?
- Why do you think people find end-of-the-world videos more exciting than thinking about their own lives?
- What is one way our family could help our neighbors or community this month?
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