25:37 this bad environment…
Repentance & taqwaFrom the masjid's own video, Sep 26, 2026.

Unchecked desire can weaken your faith

Al Manara

“I need to put the phone away so I will not stay late at night.”

The khateeb, at 24:54

Watch the khutbahFamily kit
In one sentence

Following hawa, unchecked desire, can quietly become a form of worship that damages faith, so believers must practice patience, resist small compromises, and seek Allah’s help to follow His guidance.

The khutbah in 6 steps

  1. Defines hawa as vain desire competing with reason, faith, and obedience.
  2. Contrasts short-term pleasure with the lasting joy promised through patience.
  3. Explains how desire produces greed, arrogance, showing off, excuses, and wasted time.
  4. Warns that repeated small sins become habits and stain the heart.
  5. Prescribes self-discipline, healthier environments, phone boundaries, and good company.
  6. Closes with Quranic hope, supplications for protection, and congregational prayer.
Try this week
Practice patience by going to bed earlier and putting the phone away at night.
Avoid harmful friends, online content, and environments that normalize wrongdoing.
Resist small sins before they become ingrained daily habits.
Ask Allah for protection from evil deeds, character, and desires.
Study the deen and submit to Allah’s commands and the Prophet’s guidance.
Sources the khateeb cited
Surah 45The speaker used taking one’s desire as a god to frame the danger of following hawa.
Quotes

In the khateeb's words

“this bad environment showing us wrong things is ongoing struggle like every minute in the day a person can go stray”
Al Manara · Ballwin, MO
Play from 25:37
Talk about it at home

For the dinner table

The khateeb reminded us that we face a daily struggle between following wrong desires and choosing what pleases Allah. Small wrong choices can become habits, especially when we keep making excuses for them. He explained that this struggle also includes arrogance about what we know and doing worship to gain praise from others. He encouraged us to learn our deen and practice patience, like strengthening a muscle, through everyday choices such as putting our phones away and sleeping earlier. We can ask Allah for help and protection while being careful about the friends, surroundings, and online content that influence us.

  1. What could help you put your phone or another distraction away when it is time to sleep or pray?
  2. How can we listen kindly when someone reminds us to do something better?
  3. What small act of patience could we practice together this week?
Where it was given

The masjid

Al Manara Masjid (Al Manara Academy & Mosque)929 Big Bend Road, Ballwin, MO 63021Jumu'ah 1:10 PMArchiveAll khutbahs at Al Manara28 khutbahs
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