https://www.khutbah.info/travel/ People often travel for various reasons, whether material or moral. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ traveled many times during his youth before the prophethood, and after his prophethood between Hajj, Umrah, campaigns, and trade. Travel often removes masks that conceal people’s true natures, and it is called “safar” (travel) in Arabic because it reveals (yusfir) the character of individuals. Therefore, traveling upon the earth and contemplating the wonders of creation increases a person’s knowledge of their Lord, the Almighty, and certainty that this universe has an Administrator and that there is no Lord other than Him, and that there is none rightly worshipped besides Him.
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:
People often travel for various reasons, whether material or moral. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ traveled many times during his youth before the prophethood, and after his prophethood between Hajj, Umrah, campaigns, and trade.
Travel often removes masks that conceal people’s true natures, and it is called “safar” (travel) in Arabic because it reveals (yusfir) the character of individuals. Therefore, traveling upon the earth and contemplating the wonders of creation increases a person’s knowledge of their Lord, the Almighty, and certainty that this universe has an Administrator and that there is no Lord other than Him, and that there is none rightly worshipped besides Him.
The traveler contemplates and then reflects and then fears, when they see the marvelous work of Allah and His great power:
صُنْعَ اللَّهِ الَّذِي أَتْقَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ ۚ إِنَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَفْعَلُونَ-النمل 88
An-Naml (27) 88: [It is] the work of Allāh, who perfected all things. Indeed, He is Aware of that which you do.
Allah Almighty denounced those who lost this delicate sense by saying:
وَكَأَيِّنْ مِنْ آيَةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ يَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهَا وَهُمْ عَنْهَا مُعْرِضُونَ-يوسف 105
Yusuf (12) 105: And how many a sign within the heavens and earth do they pass over while they, therefrom, are turning away.
Travel has praiseworthy elements as well as difficulties. So, leaving behind boredom, weariness, discomfort, and stress caused by people and place, to contemplate the creation of Allah, or to seek beneficial knowledge, or to maintain ties with a relative or a brother in faith, are praiseworthy.
At the same time, travel is a source of hardship and difficulties because the heart becomes distressed and the mind preoccupied due to the separation from family and loved ones. Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ said:
السَّفَرُ قِطْعَةٌ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ يَمْنَعُ أَحَدَكُمْ نَوْمَهُ وَطَعَامَهُ فَإِذَا قَضَى نَهْمَتَهُ مِنْ وَجْهِهِ فَلْيُعَجِّلْ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ
Traveling is a portion of torment. It deprives one of his food, drink, and sleep. So when one of you has accomplished his purpose, let him hasten back to his family. [Bukhari 5429 and Muslim 1927]
The meaning of torment, is the pain arising from the hardship of riding and travelling, leaving behind what is familiar. Some scholars, like Al-Khattabi and others, have said that the exile of an adulterer is a form of punishment – and travel is a type of torment. A scholar was asked, why is travel considered a portion of torment? He immediately replied, because it involves separation from loved ones.
So know, that travel at this time is different from travel in past times. Roads have been paved, and various types of vehicles are available. People move on land, or fly in the air, or sail through the sea as they desire. Time has also shortened. What used to take months with great difficulty can now be accomplished in a few days or even a few hours with minimal effort. A person may sneeze in the East, and another in the West may respond with “Alhamdulillah.” This confirms the saying of the Prophet ﷺ that the shortening of time is one of the signs of the Hour, as narrated in Sahih Al-Bukhari.
And despite the ease and comfort of travelling, the dangers scattered here and there have not vanished. In the air, one rides a plane through the expanses of the air suspended between the heavens and the earth and flirts with doom. One’s fate may hang upon, by the command of Allah, a loose screw, malfunctioning electronics or a damaged engine. This underscores the need to seek refuge in Allah and to anticipate His grace, which is expressed by adhering to the etiquettes of travel and avoiding disobedience of Allah in His air, between His heavens and His earth. This necessitates the removal of evils from airplanes and the avoidance of sins and immorality, such as watching obscene movies or listening to lewd songs.
And if you are amazed, then marvel at what the polytheists of the Prophet’s ﷺtime used to do by turning to Allah at times of distress.
فَإِذَا رَكِبُوا فِي الْفُلْكِ دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ فَلَمَّا نَجَّاهُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ إِذَا هُمْ يُشْرِكُونَ-العنكبوت 65
Al-Ankabut (29) 65: And when they board a ship, they supplicate Allah, sincere to Him in religion [i.e., faith and hope]. But when He delivers them to the land, at once they associate others with Him
Yet, in our times, some sinners are the same at times of ease and distress. How shameful, the polytheists of the Prophet’s ﷺ time had more knowledge of “There is none rightly worshipped but Allah” than them.
Moreover, one of the greatest benefits of travel and its most significant connection to Allah is recognizing His greatness and power by looking at the marvelous creations He has made, beautiful and wondrous, of animals and inanimate objects, of stationary and moving beings, and the various forms He has placed in the depths of the earth, its crevices, and its prominent mountains, as stakes and valleys. There are streaks of white and red of varying shades and raven black, and winged creatures of different kinds and various forms:
إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَعِبْرَةً لِمَنْ يَخْشَى-النازعات 26
An-Nazi’at (79) 26: Indeed in that is a lesson [i.e., warning] for whoever would fear [Allah].
He created them after they had not existed, in marvelous visible forms, and arranged them in their diversity with His subtle power and precise craftsmanship. Some have a single color, untainted by any other color, and some have multiple colors and patterns:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ وَالدَّوَابِّ وَالْأَنْعَامِ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ كَذَٰلِكَ ۗ إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ-فاطر 28
Fatir (35) 28: And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors similarly. Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge.
So, glory be to Him who established clear signs of His greatness and power, to which minds submit, acknowledging Him and surrendering to Him. It becomes clear to them that the Creator of the ant is the Creator of the palm tree.
Woe, all woe, to those who deny the Creator and reject the Administrator. They claim that they are like plants with no cultivator and no maker for their different forms. Despite their advancements, this reality escaped their confused thoughts and disturbed minds, while a simple Bedouin richly expressed:
A sky with constellations, an earth with paths, and seas with waves, and a footprint indicating travel, and dung indicating the presence of a camel. Does all this not indicate the Subtle, the All-Aware?
إِنَّ اللَّهَ فَالِقُ الْحَبِّ وَالنَّوَىٰ ۖ يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَمُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتِ مِنَ الْحَيِّ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمُ اللَّهُ ۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُؤْفَكُونَ ﴿95﴾ فَالِقُ الْإِصْبَاحِ وَجَعَلَ اللَّيْلَ سَكَنًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ حُسْبَانًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ-الأنعام 95-96
Al Anam (6) 95-96: (95) Indeed, Allah is the cleaver of grain and date seeds. He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living. That is Allah; so how are you deluded? (96) [He is] the cleaver of daybreak and has made the night for rest and the sun and moon for calculation. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.
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:
Be conscious of Allah, and know that Islam has given great importance to travel, with specific rules, including sunnahs, etiquettes, obligations, prohibitions, and disliked actions that every traveler should not neglect. It emphasizes reviving the forgotten sunnahs when traveling, such as the farewell remembrance by saying when bidding farewell:
أَسْتَـوْدِعُكُـمُ اللَّهَ الَّذي لا تَضـيعُ وَدائِعُـه
I place you in the trust of Allah, whose trust is never lost. [Sunan Ibn Majah 2825, Grade: Sahih]
And the supplication for riding an animal, and saying Takbeer (Allahu Akbar) on every elevation, and Tasbeeh (Subhan Allah) when descending into a valley, and mentioning the coming of night during travel by saying:
يَا أَرْضُ رَبِّي وَرَبُّكِ اللَّهُ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شَرِّكِ وَشَرِّ مَا فِيكِ وَشَرِّ مَا خُلِقَ فِيكِ وَشَرِّ مَا دَبَّ عَلَيْكِ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شَرِّ كُلِّ أَسَدٍ وَأَسْوَدَ وَحَيَّةٍ وَعَقْرَبٍ وَمِنْ شَرِّ سَاكِنِ الْبَلَدِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ وَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ
O earth, my Lord and your Lord is Allah. I seek refuge in Allah from your evil, the evil of what is in you, the evil of what was created in you, and the evil of what moves upon you. I seek refuge in Allah from the evil of every lion and serpent and snake, from the evil of every scorpion and the inhabitants of the land (jinn), and from the evil of the parent (satan) and what he has begotten (his offspring of devils) . [Al Hakem 1657, Grade: Sound chain]
And saying when one stops at a place:
أَعُوذُ بكَلِمَاتِ اللهِ التَّامَّاتِ مِن شَرِّ ما خَلَقَ
I seek refuge in the Perfect Words of Allah from the evil of what He created.[Muslim 2709]
For nothing will harm them until they depart from that place.
It is also recommended for the traveler, if dawn breaks upon them while traveling, to say what has been confirmed from the Prophet ﷺ when dawn broke upon him:
سَمِعَ سَامِعٌ بحَمْدِ اللهِ وَحُسْنِ بَلَائِهِ عَلَيْنَا رَبَّنَا صَاحِبْنَا وَأَفْضِلْ عَلَيْنَا عَائِذًا باللَّهِ مِنَ النَّارِ
He Who listens has heard that we praise Allah for the good things He gives us. Our Lord, be with us and bestow Your favor upon us. I seek the protection of Allah from the Fire. [Muslim 2718]
There are many other sunnahs that time does not allow mentioning. However, the Prophet’s ﷺ recommendations on the etiquettes of travel, including remembrance, Takbeer (saying “Allahu Akbar”), and Tasbeeh (saying “Subhan Allah”), imply that it is as if the entire traveling journey is in a state of prayer. These acts make glorifying Allah the occupation of the traveler. And remembering Him and praising Him brings tranquility to the hearts. Consequently, the journey feels shorter and easier for the traveler and they escape its hardships and distress.
We ask Allah to make all of our travels and journeys praiseworthy and full of His remembrance. 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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