Allah rewards you by opening the door to a higher level of truth. Every time you fight your ego to perform a good deed, Allah makes the next good deed easier for you to achieve.

 الخطبة الأولى (The First Khutbah)

• By Ibrahim Aweda Abdulrahmon

As-salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.

الحمد لله رب العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء المرسلين، نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين. أما بعد:

My dear brothers and sisters, look closely at how we interact with knowledge in this digital age. We live in a time where information is cheap, but transformation is rare. You can open your phone right now and access thousands of lectures, look up any Quranic verse in seconds, or read countless reminders. We are swimming in a massive ocean of religious content. Yet, if we look at our communities, our homes, and our own hearts, we must ask an uncomfortable question: Why is our behavior not changing? Why are we accumulating knowledge in our heads, but remaining completely stagnant in our spiritual growth?

The truth is, many people treat divine guidance like a consumer product. They listen to a reminder to be entertained, or they read a post just to cross it off their daily checklist. But the Quran was not revealed to merely fill your brain with facts; it was sent down to revolutionize your soul.

Turn your hearts to a beautiful, life-altering law that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala establishes in the Holy Quran. Listen to this magnificent formula for spiritual elevation in Surah Muhammad (47:17):

وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱهْتَدَوْاْ زَادَهُمْ هُدًى وَءَاتَىٰهُمْ تَقْوَىٰهُمْ

"And those who are guided - He increases them in guidance and grants them their righteousness."

Let these words anchor your mind today. Look at how Allah sets up this relationship. He says: Walladhina ihtadaw—"And those who are guided," or more accurately, "those who take the first steps to guide themselves." Notice that Allah does not say guidance drops from the sky onto a lazy, careless heart that is actively running toward sin. No! You must show Allah that you want it. You must make the conscious decision to move your feet toward the light.

And when you take that single step, what is the divine reaction? Zadahum hudan—He increases them in guidance! This is a dynamic, compounding law of the universe. Guidance is not a static line; it is an upward spiral. Every single time you act on a piece of truth you know, Allah rewards you by opening the door to a higher level of truth. Every time you fight your ego to perform a good deed, Allah makes the next good deed easier for you to achieve.

But look at the final, crowning jewel of the verse: Wa atahum taqwahum—"and He grants them their righteousness (their Taqwa)." SubhanAllah! This means that Taqwa—the ultimate shield against hellfire, the ability to resist temptation, and the deep consciousness of your Master—is not something you can manufacture by your own willpower alone. It is a divine gift that Allah places directly into your heart as a reward for your sincerity.

Let me give you a practical example so everyone sitting here can fully comprehend this reality. Imagine a man who is trapped at the very bottom of a dark, steep, winding mountain trail during a heavy fog. He cannot see the peak, and he doesn’t know the way up. But in his hand, he has a tiny, fragile flashlight that only lights up a single step directly in front of his shoes.

Now, imagine if that man stands at the bottom, crosses his arms, and complains, "This flashlight is useless! It doesn't show me the whole mountain. It doesn't show me the peak. I am not going to move until the fog completely clears." What happens to him? He stays trapped in the freezing dark forever.

But what happens if he trusts the guide, exercises faith, and takes that one single step that is currently lit up? The moment his foot lands on that first step, the flashlight naturally moves forward and lights up the next step. He takes the second step, and the third step becomes visible. By simply acting on the small amount of light he has, step by step, the path unfolds before him until he safely reaches the brilliant sunshine at the top of the mountain.

My dear congregation, that tiny flashlight is the basic knowledge of Islam you possess right now! You already know that the five daily prayers are mandatory. You already know that backbiting is a sin. You already know that honesty in business is required, and that cutting off family ties is displeasing to Allah. You do not need a Ph.D. in Islamic studies to start changing your life today.

The tragedy of our time is that we are waiting for a massive spiritual epiphany or a sudden burst of perfect motivation before we start practicing properly. We say, "I will start praying consistently when my heart feels more connected," or "I will stop this bad habit when life gets less stressful." You have it completely backward! You must take the step in the dark first, and then Allah will clear the fog from your heart. If you refuse to use the small light Allah has already given you, why should He grant you more?

Let us leave this first part of the sermon by auditing our sincerity. Look at the last reminder you heard or the last verse you read. Did you implement it, or did you just let it pass by? The path to ultimate guidance starts with the single choice to obey right now.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم.

الخطبة الثانية (The Second Khutbah)

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ. الحَمْدُ للهِ حَمْداً كَثِيْراً طَيِّباً مُبَارَكاً فِيْهِ كَمَا يُحِبُّ رَبُّنَا وَيَرْضَى، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لا إِلَهَ إِلا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ. صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيماً كَثِيْراً إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّيْنِ. أَمَّا بَعْدُ:

My dear brothers and sisters, welcome back your hearts to this reminder. We must understand the terrifying flip side of this divine law. Just as acting on guidance increases your light, choosing to ignore the truth actively blinds your soul. If you repeatedly hear the call to prayer and choose to stay on your phone, or if you know a financial transaction is haram but you do it anyway, a layer of rust settles over your heart. Eventually, the light goes out completely, and you find yourself unable to feel the beauty of Islam anymore.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ left us with an absolute golden standard to measure our spiritual momentum. In a profound Hadith Qudsi, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ explicitly details how Allah responds to our movement toward Him. Allah says:

مَنْ تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ شِبْرًا تَقَرَّبْتُ إِلَيْهِ ذِرَاعًا، وَمَنْ تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ ذِرَاعًا تَقَرَّبْتُ إِلَيْهِ بَاعًا، وَإِنْ أَتَانِي يَمْشِي أَتَيْتُهُ هَرْوَلَةً

"Whoever draws close to Me by the length of a hand, I draw close to him by the length of an arm. And whoever draws close to Me by the length of an arm, I draw close to him by the length of a fathom. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running." (Sahih al-Bukhari).

SubhanAllah! Look at the overwhelming generosity of your Master. Allah does not demand that you become a perfect scholar overnight. He does not expect you to climb the entire mountain in a single leap. He simply wants to see the effort. He wants to see you walking toward Him.

If you give Allah a few minutes of sincere concentration in your salah, He will give you hours of peace in your day. If you drop a small amount of haram wealth for His sake, He will open up massive doors of halal provision that you could never calculate. If you make the intention to step away from a toxic environment, He will surround you with righteous companions who lift your soul.

My dear congregation, let us look at ourselves honestly as we prepare to leave this masjid. What is the one concrete step you are going to take today to activate Surah Muhammad, ayah 17 in your life? Do not let this Friday pass by as just another routine gathering.

If your morning prayers have been slipping, make the firm, unbreakable intention right now that tomorrow at Fajr, your alarm will ring, your feet will hit the floor, and you will stand before your Creator. If there is a hidden sin that you have been making excuses for, drop it right here on the carpet of this masjid before you step outside.

Take the first step. Grab onto the rope of guidance with an honest, desperate heart. Show Allah that you are trying, and watch how He floods your life with Zadahum Hudan—an increase in light, an abundance of clarity, and the beautiful gift of Taqwa that will carry you safely through the storms of this world all the way to the gates of Jannah.

عِبَادَ اللهِ، إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ.

اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسْلِمِينَ، اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسْلِمِينَ، وَأَذِلَّ الشِّرْكَ وَالمُشْرِكِينَ.

اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلِ القُرْآنَ العَظِيمَ رَبِيعَ قُلُوبِنَا، وَنُورَ صُدُورِنَا، وَجَلَاءَ أَحْزَانِنَا، وَذَهَابَ هُمُومِنَا وَغُمُومِنَا. اللَّهُمَّ زِدْنَا هُدًى وَتُقًى وَعَفَافاً وَغِنًى. اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِمَّنْ إِذَا هُدُوا اهْتَدَوْا، وَزِدْنَا نُوراً عَلَى نُورٍ يَا رَبَّ العَالَمِينَ.

رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ.

عِبَادَ اللهِ، اذْكُرُوا اللهَ العَظِيمَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ، وَاشْكُرُوهُ عَلَى نِعَمِهِ يَزِدْكُمْ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ، وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ.