If you want to know if your submission is real, don't ask how you feel; look at how your actions align with these two sources

 - 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 around you today. The world we live in is filled with thousands of conflicting ideologies, philosophies, and paths. Every nation, every culture, and every generation tries to invent its own version of ultimate truth. People spend their entire lives wandering through intellectual mazes, chasing systems created by human minds that fail them time and time again.

But Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the One who fashioned your soul and knows exactly what it needs to survive, cuts through all the worldly confusion with one definitive, uncompromising declaration in the Holy Qur'an. Turn your hearts to Surah Ali 'Imran, where He says:

إِنَّ ٱلدِّينَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلۡإِسۡلَٰمُۗ وَمَا ٱخۡتَلَفَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ إِلَّا مِنۢ بَعۡدِ مَا جَآءَهُمُ ٱلۡعِلۡمُ بَغۡيَۢا بَيۡنَهُمۡۗ وَمَن يَكۡفُرۡ بِـَٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ سَرِيعُ ٱلۡحِسَابِ

"Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who were given the Scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them - out of jealous animosity between themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the verses of Allah, then indeed, Allah is swift in [taking] account." (Surah Ali 'Imran, 3:19)

Let these words settle deep into your chest today. Allah does not say Islam is simply one of many options on a spiritual menu. He states with absolute, cosmic finality: Inna ad-deena 'inda Allahi al-Islam—the only system of life, the only worldview, the only path of submission accepted by the Creator of the Universe is Islam.

But what does "Islam" truly mean in this context? It is not just a cultural identity or a label on your passport. The word itself stems from submission, surrender, and finding peace by aligning your will entirely with the will of Allah. It is the unbroken chain of truth preached by every single prophet from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, down to the final seal, Muhammad (peace be upon them all).

So, if the message was always one, why is the world so fractured? Why is there so much religious division? Allah exposes the raw reality in the very next part of the verse. He says the people of the previous scriptures did not divide because they lacked information. They didn't drift away because the truth was blurry. No! They split illa min ba'di ma ja'ahumu al-'ilmu—only after the clear knowledge had already come to them.

And why did they do it? Baghyan baynahum—out of rivalry, stubborn pride, envy, and the desperate desire for worldly power.

Let me give you a practical example so everyone sitting here can fully comprehend this human flaw. Imagine a group of travelers lost in a harsh, deadly desert. The sun is scorching, their water is gone, and they are on the verge of death. Suddenly, a master guide arrives and hands them a perfectly clear, flawless map that shows the exact route to the only life-saving oasis.

But instead of thanking the guide and walking together to safety, the travelers start fighting. One person wants to hold the map because it makes him look important. Another person tears off a piece of the map out of jealousy because he didn't want the first person to get the credit. They divide into angry factions, arguing over who owns the map, while completely refusing to actually walk the path. What happens to them? They perish in the desert—not because they lacked a guide, but because their own pride and ego blinded them to the salvation right in front of their faces.

My dear congregation, that is exactly what humanity has done with divine revelation over centuries. People took the pure water of guidance and muddied it with their personal desires, political ambitions, and sectarian arrogance. They weaponized the faith to serve their egos.

But Allah finishes this powerful verse with a chilling warning that should make every heart tremble: Wa man yakfur bi-ayati Allahi fa-inna Allaha saree'u al-hisab—"And whoever disbelieves in the verses of Allah, then indeed, Allah is swift in taking account."

Do not think that because the sun rises every day and your pulse keeps beating, that your choices do not matter. Time is moving at a terrifying speed. The seconds are slipping away. Your life is an exam, and the Creator is watching how you treat His signs. When a person turns their back on the absolute truth of Islam to chase their own desires or worldly philosophies, they are stepping onto a collapsing bridge. Allah’s accounting is not a distant, lazy event; it is moving toward us with absolute swiftness.

Let us leave this Friday with a profound sense of gratitude and urgency. Look at your life today. If Allah has guided your heart to Islam, He has handed you the ultimate key to success in this world and the Next. Do not treat this gift lightly. Do not let cultural pride, personal grudges, or the petty distractions of this Dunya divide our ranks or weaken our submission. Hold fast to this pristine faith, live it with pure sincerity, and let the truth of Islam navigate you safely to the ultimate oasis of His eternal pleasure.

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, step back for a moment and look at the gravity of what we just discussed. If Islam is the only path accepted by the Creator, and if human pride is the very trap that fractures our salvation, then how do we protect ourselves? How do we ensure that we do not become like those travelers who perished in the desert, fighting over the map instead of walking the path?

The answer is simple, yet it demands everything from you: you must realize that Islam is not a part-time hobby. It is an all-or-nothing commitment.

Listen to how Allah addresses us directly in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:208):

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ

"O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely and perfectly, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy."

Look at the command: Udkhulu fis-silmi kaffah—enter into Islam completely.

Allah did not say take what you like from Islam and leave what challenges your lifestyle. He did not say be a Muslim inside the masjid, but a secular materialist when you walk out into the business world. He did not say submit to Allah when it aligns with your culture, but follow your desires when the divine law inconveniences your ego.

Entering Islam halfway is an illusion. When you pick and choose, you are not worshipping Allah; you are worshipping your own desires! And that, my dear congregation, is exactly how Shaitan exploits our weakness. He doesn't always ask you to abandon your faith on day one. He simply whispers to you to take one small step outside the boundary. A little compromise here in your finances, a tiny shortcut there in your character, a little drop of pride in your interactions with your brothers and sisters. And before you know it, you are miles off the path, completely lost in the desert.

To protect ourselves from this trap, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ left us with a baseline standard—a flawless spiritual diagnostic tool to check our hearts every single day. In a powerful Hadith narrated by Al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

أَلَا إِنِّي أُوتِيتُ الْكِتَابَ وَمِثْلَهُ مَعَهُ

"Lo! I have been given the Book (the Quran) and something like it with it (the Sunnah)."

SubhanAllah! The Prophet ﷺ explicitly warned us centuries ago about a time when people would try to detach the Quran from his example, or try to interpret the divine speech according to their own modern whims. He anchored our security in two unshakeable pillars: the Quran and the Sunnah.

If you want to know if your submission is real, don't ask how you feel; look at how your actions align with these two sources. When a dispute arises in your family, when pride flares up between you and another Muslim, or when an ideology on your phone challenges the modesty of your children, you do not look to the shifting cultural trends of the day. You drop your ego, you look at the Book of Allah and the living example of the Messenger ﷺ, and you say: "We hear, and we obey."

Let us leave this gathering today by renewing our covenant with our Creator. We are the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ. We cannot afford to be divided by petty worldly competitions or blinded by intellectual arrogance. If Allah has blessed you to be a Muslim, you have already been given the ultimate prize. Act like it. Live it with absolute sincerity, guard your unity fiercely, and let the light of pure submission govern every single second of your life.

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 يَا مُقَلِّبَ القُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قُلُوبَنَا عَلَى دِينِكَ. اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِمَّنْ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً، وَلَا تَجْعَلْنَا مِمَّنْ تَتَّبِعُ خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ.

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.

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