Trust Allah and pursue excellence
“As believers, we're instructed to have ihsan in everything, whether that's worship or outside of worship.”
Trust in Allah must be paired with diligent effort, while ihsan calls Muslims to pursue sincere, complete, gracious, and correct excellence in worship and daily life.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Opens with praise, reminders about taqwa, and the reward for attentive Friday prayer.
- Explains tawakkul through tying the camel and prophetic examples involving Ayyub, Maryam, Musa, and Badr.
- Applies effort-plus-trust to campaigning, student responsibilities, and surrounding oneself with ambitious people.
- Introduces ihsan as excellence in worship, work, hobbies, family roles, and everyday conduct.
- Uses Hadith Jibril to define ihsan as worshipping Allah while knowing He sees you.
- Presents four components of ihsan: sincerity, completeness, tastefulness, and correctness.
In the khateeb's words
“There is still action that we need to do. Whatever action we're capable of, we should do it. And then let Allah handle the rest.”
“If you start memorizing a surah, maybe you had many years, many months, maybe you even forgot it. But come back to it. Don't give up and finish the surah.”
“So as believers, we're instructed to have ihsan in everything, whether that's worship or outside of worship.”
For the dinner table
The khateeb reminded us that trusting Allah goes together with doing our part, like preparing for an exam instead of only hoping for a good result. He explained ihsan as worshipping Allah as if we see Him and remembering that He sees us. That awareness can shape how we pray, treat our parents, help others, and handle everyday responsibilities. He described four parts of ihsan: sincere intentions, completing what we start, acting with kindness and care, and following the right method. We will sometimes fall short, but we can keep striving for excellence with hope in Allah’s mercy, including through quiet good deeds that only He knows about.
- What is one step you can take toward something difficult while asking Allah for help?
- How could you make an everyday chore an act of kindness done for Allah?
- What could help you return to something worthwhile that you started but have not finished?
The masjid
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