FRIDAY KHUTBA OF TOKYO CAMII “TO BE A FAMILY: A DIVINE BLESSING”

TO BE A FAMILY: A DIVINE BLESSING

Honorable Muslims!
Our Almighty Lord (swt) has created us as men and women. And then He (swt) blessed us with the gift of being a family so that our souls would find peace and our hearts would be uplifted. To be a family is for a man and a woman to establish a home through a legitimate act of marriage. To be a family means two lives becoming one whole, and two hearts becoming one soul. Protecting the family is as important as being a family. Protecting the family means that spouses are committed to each other with compassion, mercy and loyalty. It entails that spouses prevent each other from all kinds of sins and haram, and protect their chastity and honor.

Dear Muslims!
We live in an age where all kinds of destructions not fit for human nature and against the family institution are spreading rapidly. The idea that the family restricts one’s freedom and that it is more attractive to live alone without assuming responsibility is encouraged. However, being a family is a commandment of our Lord (swt), part of our Prophet’s (saw) sunnah, and a necessity of human nature. In this regard, our Lord Almighty (swt) states in the Holy Qur’an as follows, “And one of His signs is that He created for you spouses from among yourselves so that you may find comfort in them. And He has placed between you compassion and mercy. Surely in this are signs for people who reflect.”¹ The Messenger of Allah (saw) encourages us to start a family as follows: “Marriage is part of my sunnah, and whoever does not follow my sunnah has nothing to do with me.”²

Dear Believers!
Let us all hold fast to the life-giving principles of our sublime religion Islam. Let us strive to live a decent family life in accordance with Allah’s (swt) commandment and our human nature. Hand in hand, heart to heart, and with all our strength, let us strive to keep the institution of the family and its values alive. We should not forget that a healthy, strong and peaceful society is only possible with a family established by a man and a woman in a legitimate act of marriage.

I would like to conclude this Friday’s khutbah with the following supplication we are taught in the Holy Quran: “Our Lord! Bless us with pious spouses and offspring who will be the joy of our hearts, and make us models for the righteous.”³

[1] Rum, 30/21.
[2] Ibn Majah, Nikah, 1.
[3] Furqan, 25/74.

FRIDAY KHUTBA OF TOKYO CAMII “TO BE A FAMILY: A DIVINE BLESSING” (PDF)