Doing your duties brings Allah's special love
“As a Muslim, you should never have anything in your heart against another Muslim.”
Allah grants a special protected friendship (wilayah) to His servants who draw near through obligations and voluntary deeds, and because every believer shares a general wilayah, Muslims must never harbor enmity or do harm to one another.
The khutbah in 9 steps
- Introduction of the named hadith 'Hadith al-Wilaya' (Bukhari; Nawawi's 40 Hadith #38)
- Explanation of 'wali' as one close to Allah in status, not proximity
- The instruction manual: obligations first, then voluntary deeds, until Allah loves the servant
- Rebuttal of the borrowed belief that Allah loves all creation equally
- Theology of 'I become the hearing with which he hears': tafweed vs. figurative interpretation
- All believers share wilayat al-amma, so enmity toward any Muslim is forbidden
- Condemnation of ethnic/tribal gatekeeping of Muslim brotherhood as jahiliyyah
- Muslim-on-Muslim violence (gang life, genocide) mirrors the lizard-hole prophecy of following Jews and Christians, with the Egypt/Copts example
- Closing duas for love of the believers and elevation to awliya status
In the khateeb's words
“the beautiful thing about this hadith is that Allah tells you what He does for His Walid. And then He tells you how to become one.”
“And don't think that just because Allah created you and me, that Allah loves us.”
“But if you are a believer, and you said, "La ilaha illallah, Muhammad al-Rasulullah," you have some portion of this.”
“As a Muslim, you should never have anything in your heart against another Muslim, because that person said, "La ilaha illallah, Muhammad al-Rasulullah."”
For the dinner table
This khutbah was built on a famous hadith called Hadith al-Wilaya, about Allah's protected friends. Allah says that whoever shows enmity to His friend, He declares war on that person. The imam explained that we draw close to Allah first by doing what He obligated, like salah, and then by extra voluntary deeds, until Allah loves us. He also reminded us that every single Muslim who says La ilaha illallah already shares a general protected friendship with Allah. Because of that, we must never hold hatred in our hearts toward another Muslim, no matter their country, ethnicity, or neighborhood. Hurting, stealing from, or fighting other Muslims is not Islam, it is ignorance, and we should ask Allah to fill our hearts with love for all believers.
- Why do you think the imam said doing the required prayers matters more than doing extra deeds?
- What should change about how we treat a Muslim who comes from a different country or neighborhood?
- What do you think it means that Allah 'declares war' on someone who hates His friends?
More on Community & unity
There is no such thing as a nobody.19:44Masjid Fulton · Sacramento, CA · Oct 10, 2026No one should feel forgotten
The question is how do we disagree without destroying our relationships and our communities?14:27Al-Misbah Islamic Centre · Toronto, ON · Oct 3, 2026How to disagree without hostility
ICNYC · Greenwich Village, NY · Sep 26, 2026True faith serves people and Allah“We have a comprehensive and holistic understanding of this deen that goes beyond just benefiting ourselves to benefiting humanity at large.”