Use summer free time to grow
“It's our free time that reveals a lot about us, about our personality, about our interests, about our values.”
Muslims should treat summer free time as a trust by building disciplined routines that deepen worship and learning while limiting harmful entertainment and cultivating healthy, helpful habits.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Free time reveals a person’s values, so summer should not be wasted in aimless inactivity.
- Islam emphasizes discipline, accountability, and resisting desires, including harmful media and sinful habits.
- Listeners should assess their spiritual condition and take small, deeper steps during the holidays.
- Salah should anchor daily routines through fixed timings, congregation, sunnahs, nawafil, and Quran recitation.
- Families should establish healthy routines for meals, sleep, devices, outdoor activity, chores, and religious learning.
- The khutbah closes with prayers for children, people facing hardship, the sick, and the deceased.
In the khateeb's words
“it's our free time that reveals a lot about us, about our personality, about our interests, about our values.”
“One summer, one summer holidays not spent correctly can actually take a student off trajectory and take them on a completely different pathway.”
“Devices should not even go into the bedrooms at nighttime.”
For the dinner table
The khateeb reminded us that summer free time shows what we value, so we should not let two months disappear into aimless entertainment. Instead, we can build steady routines around prayer, congregation, Quran, healthy meals, regular sleep, limited devices, outdoor time, and helping at home. He encouraged families to ask how they are growing spiritually and to make small, deeper steps in worship and learning. Even a short reminder after Maghrib can strengthen our understanding and practice. He ended by making dua for our children, people facing hardship, the sick, and those who have died.
- What does the way we spend free time show about our values?
- Which spiritual practice or routine could we strengthen during these summer holidays?
- How could praying together at consistent times help our family?
- What device boundary would help us sleep better and use free time wisely?
More on the Islamic calendar
7:52Dar Alnoor · Manassas, VA · Jul 11, 2026Use summer to grow closer to Allah“This opportunity can make me a great Muslim, a great human being, or it can make me a very bad person, depending on how we use the summer.”
Never miss a salah during this free time.16:04Muslim Neighbour Nexus · Mississauga, ON · Jul 25, 2026Use summer time for what matters
EPIC · Plano, TX · Jul 3, 2026Honor Muharram through fasting and justice“We cannot even enter into Jannah if I have violated someone else's rights.”