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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالمُرْسَلِينَ، نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا كَثِيرًا، أَمَّا بَعْدُ.
My brothers and sisters, we are all in a race. Allah ﷻ said:
وَسَارِعُوا إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
“And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous.” [Surah Ali ‘Imran 3:133]
Allah did not say walk; He said sāri‘ū—hasten, race towards the forgiveness of your Rabb, Jalla Jalāluhu. We are all in a race, and as we know, who wins and who loses is decided only at the finish line. Only when you cross the ribbon at the end of the race is it decided who won, who came first, and who fell behind.
When you start a race, your equipment, your shoes, and your running clothes make no difference to the outcome. The race is not decided on the basis of whose running shoes are the most expensive, nor on who looks the most handsome or beautiful. There is a super-ultramarathon run in Australia through the outback—a five-day race. One year, an elderly local sheep farmer, Cliff Young, entered and won that race running in gumboots (galoshes). When asked why, he explained that he was used to running after sheep across his paddocks. While the younger competitors stopped to sleep each night, he ran straight through for five days and nights. Allah gave him that strength, and he won. When he crossed the finish line, nobody cared what shoes he was wearing.
We are in a race that ends only in the Ākhirah. But Shayṭān attempts to sabotage this race by deceiving us into believing the race is about the Dunyā—that it is judged by your material equipment, your outward appearance, your wealth, and your social standing. True intelligence is recognizing where the whisper is coming from. Listening to an enemy whom Allah has clearly defined as our open adversary is the height of foolishness:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
“O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.” [Surah Al-Baqarah 2:208]
Allah commands us to enter into Islam completely—kāffah—not partially, not selectively, and not only when convenient. Look at the criteria we use for decision-making in our lives, because these criteria will stand as a proof (ḥujjah) against us on the Day of Judgment.
When it comes to worldly education, we demand strict excellence. If a child skips school, fails classes, or takes twenty years to finish schooling, parents would be deeply distressed. Yet what is our attitude regarding the Dīn? How many parents are genuinely embarrassed if their twenty-year-old son or daughter cannot recite the Qur’an with proper tajwīd, or cannot recite Surah Al-Fātihah correctly? Without correct recitation, a person makes errors that can invalidate their Ṣalāh.
Years ago, when I was a school teacher, I went to a local masjid for Jumu‘ah. As the bayān was about to start, the mu’adh-dhin was running around in a panic. He ran up to me and pleaded, “Please come and deliver the khutbah.” I asked why, since the masjid had an appointed Imam. He said the Imam was stuck in traffic and hadn’t arrived. There was a whole congregation of men present, yet no one was prepared or knew how to lead Jumu‘ah. Jamil Sahib, a senior elder, told me to step up, so I led the prayer. The point is not about me leading Jumu‘ah—it is that every Muslim man should be able to give the Adhān and Iqāmah, lead Ṣalāh properly with decent tilāwah (such as in Fajr where the Prophet ﷺ recited lengthy passages), and know the foundational aḥkām of Jumu‘ah and Janāzah.
Consider the funeral rites (aḥkām al-janāzah). When a Muslim passes away—from the moment of death to the ghusl, the kafan, the Ṣalāt al-Janāzah, and the burial (dafn)—these are fundamental obligations of our education. If your children do not know this, and if you do not know this, make it your priority to learn. How often do we see a father pass away, and at the Janāzah the Imam asks the son, “Ijāzat hai?” (Do I have your permission to lead?), and the son nods yes because he cannot lead the prayer for his own father! Your parents spent their entire lives raising and nurturing you, yet you cannot wash your father or mother, or lead their funeral prayer?
Let us put things into perspective. If you win a game of Monopoly or Snakes and Ladders, what have you truly achieved? It is merely a game. Regarding this Dunyā, Allah ﷻ did not even dignify it as a real achievement—He called it Matā‘ al-Ghurūr (an illusion of deception). The Prophet ﷺ said that if this Dunyā had the value of even the wing of a mosquito in the sight of Allah, He would not have given a disbeliever a single sip of water from it.
We must weigh our lives honestly: how much time, energy, and effort do we invest in this fleeting Dunyā, and how much do we genuinely invest in the Ākhirah? Who is advising your choices?
رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الأَبْرَارِ. رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنْفُسَنَا وَإِنْ لَمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ. لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنَّا كُنَّا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ. رَبِّ اغْفِرْ وَارْحَمْ وَأَنْتَ خَيْرُ الرَّاحِمِينَ. وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى نَبِيِّهِ الْكَرِيمِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ. بِرَحْمَتِكَ يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.