Love for Allah puts others first
“When you love for the sake of Allah you are removing yourself from the center and you are loving somebody not because of how closely they orbit around you.”
Faith is inseparable from loving fellow Muslims, and that love grows through recognizing goodness, expressing affection, welcoming others, smiling, and relieving burdens.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Opens with Quranic exhortations to taqwa and the hadith linking faith, mutual love, and entry into Jannah.
- Explains loving for Allah's sake as valuing people by their closeness to Allah rather than personal benefit.
- Urges listeners to notice people's positive qualities instead of fixating on faults.
- Calls listeners to communicate love directly, especially to family members.
- Encourages spreading salam to acquaintances and strangers and welcoming newcomers through smiles.
- Concludes by seeking ways to bring happiness, relieve hardship, and lighten others' burdens, followed by dua.
In the khateeb's words
“but when you love for the sake of Allah you are removing yourself from the center and you are loving somebody not because of how closely they orbit around you”
“do not assist shaytan against your brother cursing him out belittling him he loves Allah and his messenger”
“your homework from this khutbah is that today inshallah ta'ala you are going to tell a family member that you love them”
“the spreading of the salam can make the south side of Chicago feel like home but the lack of salam can make the most beautiful masajid feel foreign and unwelcoming”
For the dinner table
The khutbah teaches that faith should lead us to love and care for other Muslims. Loving for Allah's sake means noticing a person's connection to Allah rather than only what they do for us. We can grow this love by seeing people's good qualities, saying that we love them, offering salam, smiling, and helping them through difficulties. Small acts of encouragement or service can bring real happiness and count as worship. The family challenge is to practice one of these acts today and make someone feel welcomed and valued.
- Who could you welcome with salam this week, especially someone you do not know?
- What good quality can you notice in a family member instead of focusing on a frustration?
- What small act could bring happiness or remove a burden for someone?
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