https://www.khutbah.info/community-is-goodness-and-guidance/ I advise you and myself to be conscious of Allah, the Almighty, and to be mindful of Him in private and in public, in anger and in delight, in ease and in hardship. Consciousness of Allah is the best provision for a believer, and through it, one attains closeness to Allah, and fear and sorrow vanish. Yunus (10) 62-63: (62) Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allah there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve (63) those who believed and were fearing Allah. The wise unanimously agree that unity is goodness and guidance, and that division is evil and misguidance. Two are better than one, three are better than two, four are better than three, and so on. A united people cannot be divided, and a divided people have never succeeded. It is not possible to break a spear if it is tightly bundled with other spears, nor does a lone spear remain intact when separated from the rest. Satan is with one and two people, but he is farther from three or more people. The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ ,نَحْمَدُهُ ,وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ , وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا ,مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ , وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ
لَهُ , وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
Verily, all praise is for Allah. We praise Him, we seek His assistance and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Him from the evils of our selves. Whoever Allah guides, none can misguide. Whoever He misguides, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Mohammad is His slave and messenger.
يَا أَيُّهَا الّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ – آل عمران:102
Al Imran 102 : O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.
Oh people:
I advise you and myself to be conscious of Allah, the Almighty, and to be mindful of Him in private and in public, in anger and in delight, in ease and in hardship. Consciousness of Allah is the best provision for a believer, and through it, one attains closeness to Allah, and fear and sorrow vanish.
أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ، الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَكَانُوا يَتَّقُونَ-يونس 62-63
Yunus (10) 62-63: (62) Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allah there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve (63) those who believed and were fearing Allah.
The wise unanimously agree that unity is goodness and guidance, and that division is evil and misguidance. Two are better than one, three are better than two, four are better than three, and so on. A united people cannot be divided, and a divided people have never succeeded. It is not possible to break a spear if it is tightly bundled with other spears, nor does a lone spear remain intact when separated from the rest. Satan is with one and two people, but he is farther from three or more people. The Prophet ﷺ said:
الرَّاكِبُ شَيْطَانٌ وَالرَّاكِبَانِ شَيْطَانَانِ وَالثَّلاَثَةُ رَكْبٌ-أخرجه أبوداود والترمذي والنسائي
A lone rider is a devil, two riders are a pair of devils, but three are a company of riders. [Sunan Abi Dawud 2607, Grade: Hasan (Albani)]
He ﷺ also said in another hadith:
عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْجَمَاعَةِ وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالْفُرْقَةَ فَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ مَعَ الْوَاحِدِ وَهُوَ مِنَ الاِثْنَيْنِ أَبْعَدُ مَنْ أَرَادَ بُحْبُوحَةَ الْجَنَّةِ فَلْيَلْزَمِ الْجَمَاعَةَ مَنْ سَرَّتْهُ حَسَنَتُهُ وَسَاءَتْهُ سَيِّئَتُهُ فَذَلِكَ الْمُؤْمِنُ
Adhere to the congregation, beware of division, for indeed Satan is with the lone individual, and is farther away from two. Whoever wants the best place in Paradise, then let him adhere to the congregation. Whoever is pleased with his good deeds and saddened by his bad deeds, then that is the believer. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2165, Grade: Sahih]
Our glorious Shariah, has given the utmost care to the interests of the community. For it has opened the pathways for what benefits it and closed the pathways for what harms it. It may even prioritize the group and the community over what is better for an individual. If everyone prioritized their individual interests over the general interest of the community, the community would not unite, nor would the community stabilize, and division would prevail, selfishness would be rampant, and everyone would only admire their own opinion, and everyone would claim that the truth is with them.
For all these reasons, Islam has decisively addressed anything that may divide the Muslim community, cause discord among them, or turn permissible diversity into prohibited conflict. The Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ أَتَاكُمْ وَأَمْرُكُمْ جَمِيعٌ عَلَى رَجُلٍ وَاحِدٍ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَشُقَّ عَصَاكُمْ أوْ يُفرِّقَ جماعتكم فَاقْتُلُوهُ
Whoever comes to you when you are united under one man, intending to undermine your unity or divide your community, then take his life. [Muslim 1852c]
Note how the broader communal interest is prioritized over the lesser personal interest of the individual, even if it necessitates taking the individual’s life, to safeguard the interests and unity of the Muslim community.
Consider, for example, someone who personally witnesses the crescent moon of Ramadan or Eid, but their testimony is not accepted. That individual is still obliged to follow the community in fasting and breaking the fast, disregarding what they themselves have witnessed. This is based on the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:
الصَّوْمُ يَوْمَ تَصُومُونَ وَالفِطْرُ يَوْمَ تُفْطِرُونَ وَالأَضْحَى يَوْمَ تُضَحُّونَ-الترمذي
Fasting is the day that you all fast, breaking the fast is the day that you all break the fast, and the day of sacrifice is the day that you all sacrifice. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 697, Grade: Hasan]
Scholars have said that this means that the beginning of Ramadan and the end of Ramadan are with the community and the majority.
Despite the abundance of textual and rational evidence on the importance of the community and the graveness of anything that harms it, there are still those who are obsessed with opposing it and distancing themselves from its ranks. They find no pleasure unless they distinguish themselves by opposing the community. They hardly agree with them on any matter. Their main concern is to take a different path than the community, to stand out—even at their own expense. If the community takes a right, they take a left. They love to say “no” when the community says “yes,” and to say “yes” when the community says “no.”
This is the behavior of the reckless, the stubborn, and the arrogant, who do not care about the majority of the community, no matter how many justifications they need to invent for their deviation and to justify their path. The wise and intelligent person aligns with the community when they are correct, and advises, is patient, and makes excuses for them when they err.
The occurrence of a mistake within the community does not justify an individual leaving the community entirely, because the agreement of the group in general is one of the greatest means to maintain harmony, foster love, and build a strong barrier against those who wish to breach it. Otherwise, it leads to enmity, hatred, deviation, and estrangement, and that is inevitable.
Although the community assures safety and a good direction, there may be times when safety may be found in isolation if the community becomes fragmented and its foundations vanish. Such occurrences are rare, and if they happen, the noble Shariah does not leave those affected without guidance but directs them to what rectifies their religious and worldly affairs. In Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim, and others, with the wording from al-Bukhari, Abu Idris al-Khawlani, heard Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman say:
كَانَ النَّاسُ يَسْأَلُونَ رَسُولَ اللهِ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- عَنِ الْخَيْرِ، وَكُنْتُ أَسْأَلُهُ عَنِ الشَّرِّ مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يُدْرِكَنِي، فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، إِنَّا كُنَّا فِي جَاهِلِيَّةٍ وَشَرٍّ، فَجَاءَنَا اللهُ بِهَذَا الْخَيْرِ، فَهَلْ بَعْدَ هَذَا الْخَيْرِ شَرٌّ، قَالَ «نَعَمْ»، فَقُلْتُ هَلْ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ الشَّرِّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ، قَالَ نَعَمْ، وَفِيهِ دَخَنٌ ، قُلْتُ وَمَا دَخَنُهُ، قَالَ قَوْمٌ يَسْتَنُّونَ بِغَيْرِ سُنَّتِي، وَيَهْدُونَ بِغَيْرِ هَدْيِي، تَعْرِفُ مِنْهُمْ وَتُنْكِرُ ، فَقُلْتُ هَلْ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ الْخَيْرِ مِنْ شَرٍّ، قَالَ: نَعَمْ، دُعَاةٌ عَلَى أَبْوَابِ جَهَنَّمَ مَنْ أَجَابَهُمْ إِلَيْهَا قَذَفُوهُ فِيهَا ، فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، صِفْهُمْ لَنَا، قَالَ نَعَمْ، قَوْمٌ مِنْ جِلْدَتِنَا، وَيَتَكَلَّمُونَ بِأَلْسِنَتِنَا ، قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، فَمَا تَرَى إِنْ أَدْرَكَنِي ذَلِكَ، قَالَ تَلْزَمُ جَمَاعَةَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَإِمَامَهُمْ ، فَقُلْتُ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ لَهُمْ جَمَاعَةٌ وَلَا إِمَامٌ، قَالَ فَاعْتَزِلْ تِلْكَ الْفِرَقَ كُلَّهَا، وَلَوْ أَنْ تَعَضَّ عَلَى أَصْلِ شَجَرَةٍ حَتَّى يُدْرِكَكَ الْمَوْتُ وَأَنْتَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ
People used to ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about good, but I used to ask him about evil for fear that it would overtake me. So I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we were in ignorance and evil, then Allah brought us this good; will there be after this good any evil?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Will there be after that evil any good?’ He said, ‘Yes, but it will be tainted.’ I said, How will it be tainted?’ He said, ‘People who guide by other than my guidance, you recognize some things from them and disapprove of others.’ I said, ‘Will there be after that good any evil?’ He said, ‘Yes, callers at the gates of Hell; whoever responds to them, they will throw him into it.’ I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us.’ He said, ‘They are from our people and speak our language.’ I said, ‘What do you command me if that happens in my time?’ He said, ‘Stick to the community of Muslims and their leader.’ I said, ‘What if they have neither a community nor a leader?’ He said, ‘Then withdraw from all those groups, even if you have to bite on the root of a tree until death overtakes you while you are in that state. [Bukhari 7084, Muslim 1847a]
Therefore, adhere to the community. Unite and do not be divided. Come together and do not turn against one another, be brothers. Beware, beware of anything that goes against this, for it is a loss without gain. Allah Almighty said:
وَمَنْ يُشَاقِقِ الرَّسُولَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الْهُدَى وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ نُوَلِّهِ مَا تَوَلَّى وَنُصْلِهِ جَهَنَّمَ وَسَاءَتْ مَصِيرًا-النساء 115
An-Nisa (4) 115: And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows a path other than that of the believers—We will turn him to what he has turned to and burn him in Hell—an evil destination indeed.
أَقُولُ مَا تَسْمَعُونَ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
I say what you have heard and I seek forgiveness from Allah for me and you from every sin. So seek forgives from Him, Verily He is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Second Khutbah
الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ, وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ , وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَاْ إِلَهَ إِلَّاْ اَللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَاْشَرِيْكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدَاً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ
All praise is to Allah, and peace and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Mohammad is His slave and messenger.
Oh Muslims:
One important point to emphasize when discussing the importance of adhering to the community and not deviating from it, is the obsession that some have in disagreeing on scholarly and cultural matters, whether they study, teach, or follow these subjects through forums and social media platforms. This is done by sharing, endorsing and spreading odd ideas, strange views and weak opinions that go against the consensus of the majority of trusted scholars and researchers.
Indeed, whoever holds and promotes aberrant views is neither successful nor virtuous. Instead, they bear a great deal of evil, as noted by many of our righteous predecessors. Abu Muhammad Ibn Hazm said:
Beware of disagreeing with your companion or going against the people of your time in matters that do not affect your worldly life or your hereafter, even if they seem insignificant. Such behavior only brings harm, alienation, and hostility, and may lead to conflicts and significant damage without any benefit at all.
We ask Allah Almighty to unite our hearts upon His guidance. Indeed Allah is All Hearing, Answering.
هَذَا وَصَلُّوا وَسَلِّمُوا عَلَى نَبِيِّكُم كَمَا أَمَرَكُمْ بِذلِكَ رَبُّكُمْ , فَقَالَ
I conclude with this and send prayers of blessings and peace upon your Prophet as your Lord commanded:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Al Ahzaab (33) 56: Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [ Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [ Allah to grant him] peace.
اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنا فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ وَعَافِنا فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ وَتَوَلَّنا فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ وَبَارِكْ لنا فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَقِنا شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ وَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ
O Allah, guide us with those whom You have guided, grant us well-being among those You have granted well-being, be an ally to us along with those whom You are an ally to, and bless what You have bestowed upon us, and save us from the evil of what You have decreed. For verily You decree and none can decree over You. He whom You support can never be humiliated. Glory is to You, our Lord, You are Blessed and Exalted.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ مَا عَلِمْنا مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ نَعْلَمْ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الشَّرِّ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ مَا عَلِمْنا مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ نَعْلَمْ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ خَيْرِ مَا سَأَلَكَ عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا عَاذَ بِهِ عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ النَّارِ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَنَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ كُلَّ قَضَاءٍ قَضَيْتَهُ لَنا خَيْرًا
O Allah, We ask You for all that is good, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know. O Allah, we seek refuge with You from all evil, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know. O Allah, we ask You for the good that Your servant and Prophet has asked You for, and we seek refuge with You from the evil from which Your servant and Prophet sought refuge. O Allah, we ask You for Paradise and for that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed, and we seek refuge in You from Hell and from that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed. And we ask You to make every decree that You decree concerning us good
عِبَادَ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
Servants of Allah. Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.
اُذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ واشْكُرُوهُ يَزِدْكُمْ واسْتَغْفِرُوهُ يَغْفِرْ لكُمْ واتّقُوهُ يَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَمْرِكُمْ مَخْرَجًا وَأَقِمِ الصّلَاة
Remember Allah, the Great – He will remember you. Thank Him for His favors – He will increase you therein. And seek forgiveness from Him – He will forgive you. And be conscious of Him – He will provide you a way out of difficult matters. And, establish the prayer.
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