Friday Khutba of Tokyo Camii “Wahn: The Great Obstacle to Our Unity and Solidarity”

Dear Muslims!
In one of his hadiths, our Prophet (saw) said to his Companions, “The people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their dish.” One of the Companions asked, “Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?” The Messenger of Allah (saw) replied, بَلْ أَنْتُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ كَثِيرٌ، وَلَكِنَّكُمْ غُثَاءٌ كَغُثَاءِ السَّيْلِ “No, you will be numerous at that time. But you will be scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent.” and continued, “Allah will take fear of you from the breasts of your enemy and last wahn (enervation) into your hearts.” When a Companion asked, “O Messenger of Allah! What is wahn?”, our beloved Prophet (saw) said, حُبُّ الدُّنْيَا وَكَرَاهِيَةُ الْمَوْتِ “Love of the world and dislike of death.”¹

Dear Believers!
Our Prophet (saw) reminds us in this hadith that Muslims can safeguard their existence by embracing unity and solidarity. They can maintain their noble and virtuous attitude when they act with ‘ummah consciousness. They can retain their dignity as long as their hearts beat as one. They can strengthen the bonds of brotherhood when they do not allow sedition, corruption and dissension to take place. However, if Muslims forget the purpose of their creation, death, reckoning, heaven and hell and become overly inclined to the world, they will lose their power and fall into weakness. If they put in their hearts the love of wealth and worldly possessions, position and status, fortune and fame, rather than the love of Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw), they will be scattered like leaves in the wind. If they choose to put their personal interests, luxuries and comforts above spreading the word of Allah (swt), they risk being divided and disintegrated.

Dear Muslims!
From time to time, we happen to become distracted by worldly concerns and ignore the life-giving principles of Islam. We happen to ignore our responsibility to our Lord (swt), the environment and the people, and turn our full attention to the world. We happen to forget about our servitude to Allah (swt) and remove human and moral values from our lives. However, Allah the Almighty warns us in the following verse, “You believers settled with the fleeting gains of this world, Allah’s aim for you is the Hereafter.”² , and recommends that we live on without neglecting our eternal home in the Hereafter. According to our sublime religion, Islam, this worldly life is temporary, empty and no more than play and amusement compared to the Hereafter. This is not to say that the world and its blessings are bad, worthless, or insignificant. What is bad is the worldliness that leads a person away from Allah and from His approval. Let us not forget that the world is the cropland of the Hereafter. It is where heaven is deserved. It is the place where we are put to the test of servitude to Allah, and where it will be determined which of us will do better deeds. What our religion demands of us is neither abandonment of the Hereafter for the world nor abandonment of the world for the Hereafter.

I would like to conclude this Friday’s khutbah with the following verse in the surah el-kasas Allah the Almighty stated, “Rather, seek the reward of the Hereafter by means of what Allah has granted you, without forgetting your share of this world.”³

[1] Abu Dawud, Malahim, 5; Ibn Hanbal, V, 278.
[2] Anfal, 8/67.
[3] Qasas, 28/77.

Friday Khutba of Tokyo Camii “Wahn: The Great Obstacle to Our Unity and Solidarity” PDF