Congregational prayer earns rewards in the afterlife
“Surely a wolf devours a lonely sheep and the shaitan is the wolf of men.”
Attending Salat in jama'at at the masjid, especially Fajr and Isha, carries immense otherworldly rewards, while abandoning the congregation without excuse is spiritually dangerous, so we must spend our short earthly lives earning the akhira through the masjid.
The khutbah in 8 steps
- Opening reminder on gratitude (shukr) and Luqman the Wise
- Joy at the masjid reopening and mention of Bayt al-Ahud on King Street
- Continues last week's topic: rewards of Salat with jama'at, reading from Faza'il-e-A'mal
- Hadith on walking to the masjid in darkness and light on the Day of Judgment; vivid description of varying conditions on that Day
- More hadith: pulpits of light, masjid-goers as Allah's 'neighbors', masjids as dearest places to Allah, sins wiped out by wudu and walking
- Reproach for abandoning jama'at: salat at home without excuse, kufr/nifaq warning, firewood hadith, wolf-and-lonely-sheep hadith
- Practical benefits of jama'at: structure, community, physical health, dawah to family
- Closing duas and standard khutbah supplications in Arabic
In the khateeb's words
“A person subjecting himself to the inconveniences in the hours of darkness in this world”
“not because of our own deeds, but only because of the mercy of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.”
“And he will reply, "Those who used to frequent the masjids."”
“Surely a wolf devours a lonely sheep and the shaitan is the wolf of men.”
For the dinner table
This week's khutbah was about gratitude and the rewards of praying together in the masjid. The imam began by reminding us that we always have more to be grateful for than to complain about, and that Luqman the Wise earned his title by living in constant thankfulness to Allah. He then shared hadiths about how walking to the masjid, even in the dark for Fajr and Isha, brings light on the Day of Judgment, and how Allah calls those who frequent the masjids His neighbors. He also warned, through the words of the Prophet, that staying away from the congregation leaves us alone like a sheep exposed to the wolf, and he honestly admitted that praying at home while the masjid was closed left him feeling lonely. He ended by reminding us that this life is very short compared to the hereafter, and that in the end we enter paradise only by Allah's mercy, not by our own deeds.
- What is one small thing you used today that you would really miss if it disappeared tomorrow?
- The imam said people who go to the masjid are called Allah's neighbors, what do you think makes someone a good neighbor?
- If every step to the masjid earns a blessing, what is one 'step' you could take this week toward something good?
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