Love Allah above every other love
The purpose of creation is not burdensome ritual but loving submission to Allah, and healthy love for people must remain centered on Allah and the hereafter so that it guides, corrects, and steadies us through loss.
The khutbah in 5 steps
- The khutbah introduces love as the force behind creation and reframes ibadah as loving submission rather than burdensome ritual.
- It explains how love makes obedience sweet, using parenting and Eid gifts as examples.
- It warns that misdirected love of people, money, family, or nation can become servitude, self-erasure, or moral compromise.
- It presents prophetic love as balanced: prioritize Allah and the akhirah, say no when needed, correct gently, and leave the door to tawbah open.
- It closes by showing how faith in Allah and the hereafter gives grief meaning and sustains hope of reunion in Jannah.
In the khateeb's words
“Love makes obedience sweet. A lover, the best thing for him is when Allah tells him, Do something.”
“The problem is not that I love my wife or my kids. It's that that love becomes what? The love. The center.”
“If your love for me makes you not tell me my flaws, that's not proper love.”
“So because I love Allah and I believe in the hereafter, even that pain can have meaning.”
For the dinner table
Our khateeb taught that Allah created us to worship Him, but worship is not meant to feel like a burden when it is rooted in love. Loving Allah and His Messenger gives our other loves a healthy center, so we can care deeply for family without obeying wrong requests or losing ourselves. Proper love sometimes says no, corrects gently, and cares more about a person's lasting faith and akhirah than immediate comfort. Grief after losing someone is real, but belief in Allah and the hereafter can give that pain meaning and keep the relationship alive through dua and good deeds. We can show this love by guiding our families with kindness and helping one another return to Allah.
- How can saying no sometimes show that we really love someone?
- What could we do for someone we love after they have died?
- How can loving Allah help us handle sadness or loss?
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