PERSONAL AND PUBLIC RIGHTS
Honorable Muslims!
Our sublime religion, Islam, recognizes the rights of all humans as sacred and inviolable, regardless of religion, language, race, and gender. It commands us to be just in every field and under all circumstances, to uphold fairness, and to observe halal-haram sensitivity. It advises respecting personal and public rights and standing against injustice and oppression.
Dear Believers!
One of the most important responsibilities that encompass the entirety of our lives is to respect the rights of people. Respecting the rights of people is a requirement of our faith in Allah the Almighty.
The area where the rights of people concern all segments of society is the rights of the public. Public rights are not only the rights of those still alive, but also the rights of our children who have not yet been born, the orphans, the needy, the miserable, and the abandoned.
Violating public rights is a great sin. Our Lord Almighty (SWT) states in the Holy Qur’an, “Whoever defrauds, the defrauded will be held against them on the Day of Judgment.”1
Dear Muslims!
Our Prophet (saw) warns us as follows: “One should not take a span of land without having a legitimate right to it. Otherwise, Allah would make him wear (around his neck) seven earths on the Day of Resurrection.”2 Therefore, let us strongly avoid violating the rights of the people and the public in order not to be ashamed on the Day of Judgment, when there will be no privileges when the right and the wrong will be revealed, and everyone will be given their due in full for what they have done. If we have violated any rights, let us make certain to ask for forgiveness.
I would like to conclude this Friday’s khutbah with the following verse: “Be mindful of the Day when you will all be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be paid in full for what it has done, and none will be wronged.”3
[1] Al-i ‘Imran, 3/161.
[2] Muslim, Musaqah, 141.
[3] Baqarah, 2/281.
FRIDAY KHUTBA OF TOKYO CAMII “PERSONAL AND PUBLIC RIGHTS” (PDF)