Repent now before facing judgment
“Has not the time come to us to repent to Allah Ta'ala and get our act together.”
The time for repentance is now: Muslims should reform their worship, wealth, sexuality, speech, relationships, and self-accountability before meeting Allah and facing judgment.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Opens by warning that delayed repentance hardens the heart and breeds attachment to worldly life.
- Calls Muslims to establish prayer, pay zakat, affirm tawhid, reject grave worship, and follow the Sunnah.
- Urges avoiding fornication, lowering the gaze, riba, unpaid debts, theft, and intoxicants.
- Warns against backbiting, gossip, tale-carrying, lying, and harming others because good deeds may be transferred on Judgment Day.
- Redirects attention from rulers and other people's sins toward protecting one's family and auditing one's own soul.
- Closes by urging immediate tawbah and fear of the grave, Judgment Day, Hellfire, and loss of Paradise.
In the khateeb's words
“Has not the time come to us to repent to Allah Ta'ala and get our act together.”
“Has not the time come to protect our good deeds more than we protect our money.”
“So if that is good, he shall be saved, he shall succeed and be saved. And if that is corrupted, he shall fail and be destroyed.”
“And then he looks back at himself and he is more upset with his own soul.”
For the dinner table
Today the imam asked one big question again and again: 'Has not the time come?' He said that thinking we have plenty of time makes us lazy about doing good and about saying sorry to Allah. He reminded us that our prayer is the first thing we will be asked about, and that we should pay our debts and our zakat and stay away from things Allah has forbidden. He also warned us about hurting people with our tongues: making fun of others, gossiping, spreading stories without checking them, and lying about people. He told us about a person who arrives on the Day of Judgment with many good deeds but has to give them away to everyone he wronged, so we should guard our good deeds even more carefully than our money. Most of all, he asked us to worry about fixing our own mistakes instead of counting other people's, because the time to turn back to Allah is now.
- If someone tells you a story about a friend, what should you do before you believe it or pass it on?
- What is one good habit you could start today instead of waiting until 'later'?
- Why do you think the imam said we should protect our good deeds even more than our money?
The masjid
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