Character & conductFrom the masjid's own video, Oct 24, 2026.
Put others and Allah’s pleasure first
“We prefer the pleasure of Allah over our own pleasure.”
In one sentence
True ithar means preferring others, and Allah's pleasure, over one's own needs, desires, and comforts, even when sacrifice is difficult.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- The khutbah introduces the Quranic praise of those who prefer others over themselves and recounts the Prophet's search for a host for a needy man.
- An Ansari family sacrifices its only food, allowing their guest to eat while they and their children go hungry.
- The speaker defines ithar as self-sacrificing generosity and distinguishes it from ordinary charity, citing Ibn Taymiyyah.
- Stories about the Prophet giving away new clothing and serving milk to the Ahl al-Suffa illustrate how he modeled and taught ithar.
- The speaker applies ithar to preferring Allah's pleasure through difficult obligations and avoiding prohibited desires.
- Listeners are asked to identify a concrete sacrifice involving money, time, comfort, opportunity, or space for someone else.
Try this week
Go home and identify one way to prefer someone else over yourself.
Prefer Allah's pleasure by fulfilling difficult obligations such as Fajr or Jumu'ah and avoiding what Allah dislikes.
Quotes
In the khateeb's words
“Ithar is the idea of preferring someone over yourself it's not just charity it's not just giving”
“if we want to do something but we know that that's something that Allah dislikes that's something that Allah has told us not to do then we prefer the pleasure of Allah over our own pleasure”
“what can I give up what can I sacrifice for someone else it may be money it may be time it may be some other comfort”
Talk about it at home
For the dinner table
The khutbah teaches that ithar means putting another person's need before your own, especially when giving costs you something. The Ansar showed this by feeding a guest even though their own family went hungry, and the Prophet modeled this spirit through his clothing and milk stories. We should also prefer Allah's pleasure over our own desires when obedience is difficult. This week, we can choose one concrete sacrifice of money, time, comfort, opportunity, or space to help someone else.
- What is one comfort you could willingly give up to help someone else?
- When is it hard to choose Allah's pleasure over what you want?
- How could our family practice ithar this week?
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