How do you know if you have transformed from a master of wealth into a slave of material things? The Prophet ﷺ gives the exact symptom

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 the path your feet are walking today, and let us dissect the ultimate illusion that has captured the minds of billions in our modern era. We live in a world that suffers from extreme spiritual nearsightedness. We are completely surrounded by a culture that tells us that this immediate, visible life is the only reality that matters. From the moment we open our eyes in the morning, our environment conditions us to think exclusively about the next twenty-four hours, the next monthly paycheck, the next luxury upgrade, or the next business expansion. We have become masters of navigating the immediate horizon, but we are completely blind to the infinite ocean that lies right beyond it.

People spend their entire lifetimes accumulating assets they will leave behind in a wooden box, while completely ignoring the eternal estate they are sending forward to the grave. We treat the afterlife like a distant myth, a footnote at a funeral, or a philosophical concept that we only need to worry about when our hair turns gray and our bodies begin to fail. We live with our bodies anchored to the earth, but our hearts have become completely buried under the soil of this Dunya. We have fallen into a deep, chemical sleep induced by the temporary comforts around us.

But Allah, the Ultimate Reality, the One who initiated your existence and determines the exact second you will exit this world, shatters this collective delusion with a definitive, chilling description of spiritual bankruptcy. He doesn't just warn us about individual sins; He exposes the fundamental flaw in the human worldview.

Turn your hearts to the heavy, foundational verses of the Quran. Listen to this diagnostic evaluation of a lost soul found in Surah Yunus (10:7-8):

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَآءَنَا وَرَضُواْ بِٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱطْمَأَنُّواْ بِهَا وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَا غَـٰفِلُونَ (٧) أُوْلَـٰٓئِكَ مَأْوَىٰهُمُ ٱلنَّارُ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَكْسِبُونَ (٨)

“Indeed, those who do not expect the meeting with Us and are satisfied with the life of this world and feel secure therein and those who are heedless of Our signs—For those their refuge will be the Fire because of what they used to earn.”

Let these words shake the very foundations of your heart today. Look at the specific, chronological stages of spiritual decay that Allah outlines in this verse. He begins by identifying the root cause of all corruption: Innal-ladhina la yarjoona liqa'ana—"Indeed, those who do not expect, or do not look forward to, the meeting with Us."

This is the starting point of the collapse. When a human being removes the reality of standing before their Creator from their daily calculations, their internal moral compass shatters. If you don't truly believe that you will be held accountable for every dollar earned, every word typed, and every hidden intention, then your ego becomes your god. You start drifting into greed, pride, and injustice without a single drop of remorse.

And look at what happens naturally after a person forgets the meeting with Allah. He states: wa-radhoo bil-hayatid-dunya wat-ma'annoo biha—"and they are completely satisfied with the life of this world and they feel completely secure and tranquil within it."

Look at the choice of words: Radhoo—they are satisfied. They have looked at the cheap, temporary, flawed pleasures of this Dunya—the houses, the cars, the digital applause, the status—and they have said, "This is enough for me. I don't need Jannah. I don't care about the next world. Give me my heaven right here in the mud of this earth!" They have found total comfort (wat-ma'annoo) in a house that is actively burning down! They feel completely secure living inside a luxury hotel terminal, forgetting that their flight out is already boarding.

To help everyone sitting here truly comprehend the deep tragedy of this mindset, let us look at an original analogy from our daily human reality. Imagine a traveler who boards a massive, ultra-luxury cruise ship to cross a dangerous ocean to reach his true homeland, where his family, his palace, and his eternal inheritance are waiting for him. The ticket has been paid for, and the voyage is temporary.

But halfway through the journey, the traveler becomes completely mesmerized by the ship's entertainment decks. He looks at the gold-plated chandeliers in the dining hall, the soft carpets in the lobby, and the praise of the temporary passengers around him. He falls so deeply in love with the ship that he decides to spend all his life savings buying furniture to redecorate his tiny cabin on board. He stops looking at the horizon, he stops checking the navigation maps, and he completely forgets that he is on a moving vessel.

The captain places massive warning signs on the walls saying: "This ship is entering a volatile storm zone. Prepare your emergency gear. We are docking soon, and everyone must evacuate." But the traveler ignores the signs, mocks the crew, and locks himself in his cabin, saying, "Look at my beautiful room. I am safe here. I am satisfied with this ship." Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the ship hits an iceberg and begins to tear apart. The alarms scream, the water floods the lower decks, but because the man packed his room with heavy, useless furniture and refused to prepare his life jacket, he is trapped inside his luxury cabin and sinks straight to the bottom of the black ocean. Did his beautiful cabin save him? Did his expensive decor protect him? No. His satisfaction with the vehicle of transit caused his total destruction.

My dear congregation, this Dunya is that cruise ship, and your physical body is just a passenger in transit! Jannah is your authentic homeland, and the grave is the final docking station where every single soul must step off the vessel. The tragedy of our modern Ummah is that we have fallen in love with the cruise ship! We are exhausting our health, destroying our families, and breaking the laws of Allah just to decorate a temporary cabin that we will be forced to evacuate in a matter of seconds. We look at our bank accounts and feel secure; we look at our healthy bodies and feel permanent, while the warning signs of Allah—the grey hairs on our heads, the illnesses in our bodies, and the sudden deaths of our neighbors—are screaming at us to prepare our bags for the departure.

Allah describes the final state of these cruise-ship dwellers by saying: walladhina hum 'an ayatina ghafiloon—"and those who are completely heedless of Our signs." They can see the perfection of the sunrise, they can witness the changing of the seasons, they can read the verses of the Quran, but their hearts are spiritually dead. The signs do not register.

And what is the cosmic consequence of this choices? Allah delivers the final verdict in the next verse: Ula'ika ma'wahumun-naru bima kanoo yaksiboon—"For those, their final sanctuary, their ultimate refuge, will be the Fire because of what they used to earn."

Let that sink in. The word Ma'wa means a home, a place of shelter where a child runs to find comfort. Think about how terrifying it is when a person’s only remaining shelter from the terrors of the Day of Judgment is the fire of Jahannam! Because they spent their lives running away from the shelter of Allah's mercy, they will have no choice but to be gathered into the shelter of His justice.

Let us leave this first part of our sermon by breaking the dangerous spell of this worldly intoxication. Look at your attachments today. Are you building a permanent home on a temporary bridge, or are you using the bridge to walk safely to your eternal palace? Wake up your heart before the Angel of Death forces your eyes open.

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 heavy reminder. We must understand that the opposite of being satisfied with the Dunya is not to abandon the world completely and live in isolation. Islam does not demand that you stop working, close your businesses, or wear rags. The problem is not the Dunya being in your hands; the catastrophe is when the Dunya takes possession of your heart.

To help us calibrate our inner focus, let us turn to a beautiful and completely distinct supporting verse from the Quran where Allah details the exact mindset of the righteous when they interact with the material world. Listen to how Allah describes the elite servants of faith in Surah An-Nur (24:37):

رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَـٰرَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَإِيتَآءِ ٱلزَّكَوٰةِ ۙ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ ٱلْقُلُوبُ وَٱلْأَبْصَـٰرُ

"Men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which hearts and eyes will fearfully turn."

Look at the perfect balance! These are individuals who are actively engaging in the world. They run businesses, they engage in trade, they buy and sell, they generate wealth, and they build societies. But there is a massive line drawn in their psychology: La tulheehim—it does not distract them! Their businesses are in their hands, but the remembrance of Allah is anchored in their souls. When the call to prayer echoes through the marketplace, they drop the pen, they close the shop, and they slide out from behind the desk, because they understand that the transaction with the Creator is infinitely more profitable than any deal on earth. They are living in the Dunya, but their eyes are fixed on the Day when hearts and eyes will be turned inside out (yakhafona yawman tataqallabu fihil-quloobu wal-absar).

To show you how this manifests in the character of a true believer, listen to this powerful and authentic Hadith that acts as a flawless diagnostic mirror for your current lifestyle. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ gave us a severe warning regarding the spiritual currency we carry inside our chests. He said:

تَعِسَ عَبْدُ الدِّينَارِ، وَعَبْدُ الدِّرْهَمِ، وَعَبْدُ الْخَمِيصَةِ، إِنْ أُعْطِيَ رَضِيَ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يُعْطَ سَخِطَ

"Wretched is the slave of the dinar, the slave of the dirham, and the slave of fine clothing. If he is given, he is pleased; and if he is not given, he is displeased and angry." (Sahih al-Bukhari).

SubhanAllah! Look at the precise psychological analysis the Prophet ﷺ provides. He didn't say, "Wretched is the one who possesses a dinar." He said, "Wretched is the slave ('Abd*) of the dinar!"*

How do you know if you have transformed from a master of wealth into a slave of material things? The Prophet ﷺ gives the exact symptom: In u'tiya radiya wa-in lam yu'ta sakhit—"If he is given worldly wealth, he is happy and content with Allah; but if his wealth is restricted, or his business faces a trial, he becomes furious, bitter, and filled with resentment against his Master." His emotional stability, his faith, and his entire peace of mind are completely dependent on his material balance! If the world is smooth, he is a Muslim; if the world shakes, his faith shatters. He has become a slave to the vehicle instead of the Creator of the universe.

Let us cure this disease right here, today, before we step over the threshold of this masjid. We must radically realign our relationship with this life. True wealth is not the abundance of material assets; true wealth is the contentment of a soul that knows its destination.

When you go back to your offices, your marketplaces, and your homes after this Friday prayer, change the hierarchy of your desires. Use your wealth to build your Jannah. Let your trade be a means to feed the poor, support your families with halal provisions, and establish justice on earth. But never allow the cheap glitter of this cruise ship to distract you from the looming horizon of your meeting with Allah.

Make the remembrance of the afterlife your daily anchor. Stand firm in your prayers, guard your income from the toxicity of haram, and live every single hour with a desperate, sincere heart that says: "Ya Allah, do not make this Dunya the greatest of our worries, nor the ultimate limit of our knowledge, and make our final destination the safety of Your eternal pleasure."

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، وَدَمِّرْ أَعْدَاءَ الدِّينِ.

اللَّهُمَّ لَا تَجْعَلِ الدُّنْيَا أَكْبَرَ هَمِّنَا، وَلَا مَبْلَغَ عِلْمِنَا، وَلَا إِلَى النَّارِ مَصِيرَنَا، وَاجْعَلِ الجَنَّةَ هِيَ دَارَنَا وَمَأْوَانَا. اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلِ القُرْآنَ العَظِيمَ رَبِيعَ قُلُوبِنَا، وَنُورَ صُدُورِنَا، وَجَلَاءَ أَحْزَانِنَا، وَذَهَابَ هُمُومِنَا وَغُمُومِنَا.

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.