Begin the Hijri year with sincere effort
“What Allah wants is someone who tries, not someone who's perfect.”
A sincere, hard-working beginning to the Hijri year, grounded in dua, self-examination, gradual improvement, and reliance on Allah’s forgiveness, offers hope for a fruitful life, ending, and resurrection.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Uses the importance of beginnings to frame personal and spiritual success.
- Connects Muharram and the new Hijri year with an opportunity to reset.
- Explains the new-moon dua as a prayer for safety, peace, faith, Allah’s pleasure, and protection from Shaytan.
- Argues that daily living shapes one’s death and resurrection, illustrated through Qari Ismail and Imam al-Bukhari.
- Acknowledges distraction and imperfection, encouraging gradual repentance and self-improvement.
- Closes by urging listeners to identify weaknesses, remember the dua, and seek a fruitful year.
In the khateeb's words
“Beginnings are always important. Depending on how you begin a thing, your mentality, your psychology and often even your success can hinge on the way you start.”
“Islam doesn't negate the external. But it makes us think two dimensional, internal and external.”
“What Allah wants is someone who tries, not someone who's perfect.”
For the dinner table
The khutbah presents the beginning of the Hijri year as a chance to reset with intention. A good reset includes outward safety and goals, inward peace, stronger faith, better character, and hope for Allah’s pleasure. The khateeb reminds us that our everyday habits shape how we leave this world, so we should keep turning back to Allah when we fail. We are not expected to be perfect; we are asked to keep trying and trust Allah’s forgiveness. This week, we can choose one weakness to work on, improve prayer or Qur’an reading, and recite the dua for protection and blessing.
- What is one good habit you would like to begin or strengthen this Hijri year?
- Which distraction makes it hardest to do what is right, and what could help you handle it?
- What might “trying, not being perfect” look like in our family this week?
More on the Islamic calendar
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