Small daily deeds help resist Shaitan
“Jahil is a form of childishness.”
Jahl is not merely ignorance but the gradual abandonment of known good, and resisting Shaitan requires mature judgment, self-awareness, receptivity to correction, reminders, consistent small deeds, and nightly self-accounting.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Recaps Shaitan’s gradual deceptive strategies and defines aql and jahl as wisdom versus childish failure to act on known good.
- Reframes jahiliyyah as moral decline rather than lack of intelligence, using infanticide and the abortion debate as examples.
- Applies the concept to idol worship, smartphones, and AI as modern dependencies that can override judgment.
- Urges listeners to examine their spiritual and media influences and protect fixed religious principles.
- Encourages muhasabah, accepting sincere criticism, regular reminders, and continual improvement.
- Closes with consistent small deeds, refusing to minimize sins, and nightly written self-review.
In the khateeb's words
“It's rather a gradual waning of the aqab. It's a gradual process by which they're pulled further and further away from what they know they should be doing.”
“So jahil is a form of childishness. It's a form of, you know, immaturity of the mind. And I would say aqal is a form of maturity of the mind.”
“The decision you make, that settles the debate. That's what, that's who emerges from the battle on top.”
“So just get a notebook every night. Just write down what, you know, the sins that you're hoping to avoid and the good deeds that you're grateful for that you hope that Allah continues and increases, inshaAllah.”
For the dinner table
Today's khutbah was about the difference between aql, the wise and mature mind, and jahl, which means not doing what we already know is right. Dr. Zargar explained that Shaytan rarely pushes us into something huge all at once. He whispers, makes it feel like our own idea, and pulls us down one small step at a time. He gave an example from today: we all know endless scrolling on our phones makes us unhappy, yet we keep doing it. To fight back, he said we should welcome friends who kindly point out our mistakes, keep listening to reminders even when we've heard them before, and do small good deeds every day. Best of all, he said, is to take a few minutes each night to write down what we did well and what we want to improve, so that every day is a little better than the one before.
- Can you think of a time when waiting patiently, like the marshmallow test, got you something better?
- What's one small good deed you could do every single day this week?
- If a friend kindly told you about a mistake you made, how would you want to react?
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