Knowing Allah brings help and friendship
“Only Allah combines all of these elements of friendship together in one.”
Truly knowing Allah through His beautiful names, Ar-Rahman, Al-Barr, Al-Wali, Al-Mawla, reveals Him as the only constant and reliable friend, and talking about His greatness is the way to increase iman and attract His help.
The khutbah in 8 steps
- Opening: to Allah belong the most beautiful names; call upon Him as Allah or Ar-Rahman
- Allah's mercy: Ar-Rahman over the Throne, 'My mercy has overpowered my anger', Adam's welcome, the 100 portions of mercy, the mother-and-child hadith
- Ar-Rahman vs Ar-Rahim vs Ar-Ra'uf: general mercy, special mercy for believers, the highest tenderness
- Guidance (hidayah) as Allah's greatest gift: the straight-path parable, duas for firmness of heart, Allah as An-Nur bringing believers from darkness to light
- Allah as the perfect friend: Al-Barr, the hadith qudsi of wilaya (faraid then nawafil), the story of Yusuf's ever-changing companions
- The higher rank of khullah granted only to Ibrahim and the Prophet; the awliya's shade on Judgment Day
- Allah as Mawla and Nasir: Zubair's debts paid through dua, Nuh's plea, Umm Salama's calamity dua answered beyond imagination
- Closing call: humanity's crisis is not knowing Allah; revive the sunnah of gathering to speak of His greatness so iman and Allah's help return
In the khateeb's words
“Forgiveness is more beloved to Him than vengeance. On the Arsh of Allah, Allah has written on a tablet that is attached to His Arsh,”
“And hidayat and hadiyah, they share the same root in Arabic. And when someone gives us a hadiyah, someone gives us a gift, then our hearts, they incline towards that person.”
“So Imam Ghazali rahimahullah says that only Allah combines all of these elements of friendship together in one.”
For the dinner table
Today's khutbah was about getting to know Allah through His beautiful names, especially Ar-Rahman, the Most Merciful. The khateeb told us that Allah wrote above His throne that His mercy overpowers His anger, and that all the love we feel in this world, even a mother's love for her child, comes from just one portion out of a hundred portions of His mercy. He described the straight path like a road between two walls, where the Qur'an calls us to stay on it and our conscience warns us away from the doors of sin. He also reminded us that people we love may disappoint us, but Allah is the only true friend who never leaves us, loves when we turn to Him, and becomes the companion of those who remember Him. The khutbah ended with a challenge: we talk so much about money, houses, and news, but the Companions used to sit together just to grow their faith, and that is a sunnah we should bring back into our homes.
- If all the love in the whole world comes from just one portion of Allah's mercy out of a hundred, what do you think the rest is like?
- The khateeb said our conscience is like a caller from above warning us, when was a time you felt that little voice inside you?
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