Friday Khutbah of Masjid Otsuka

September, Friday 15. 2023

All praise is due to Allah Who sent down the Qur’an with which He guided us to the straight path. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, having no partners, and Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

O servants of Allah! Anas ibn Malik narrates that he was sitting with the Messenger of Allah SAW and he SAW said: “A man among the inhabitants of Paradise will appear before you.”  And a man from the Ansar appeared before them. The next day, the Prophet SAW said the same thing and the same man appeared again, and this happened on the third day too. So Abdullah bin Amr decided to follow that man. So he asked him to host him three nights in his house, and the man welcomed him. Until when the three nights passed by, Abdullah ibn Amr said to him: I heard the Messenger of Allah SAW say three times.; “A man among the inhabitants of Paradise will appear before you.”   And you appeared on each of those occasions three times, so I wished to stay with you, in order to look at what it is you actually do [that makes you such a person]?  Hence I followed you but did not see you do many acts of worship. So what is it that you do that allowed you to reach what the Prophet SAW told us?  So the man responded: I do not do much except what you saw other than the fact that I do not find in my heart hatred and rancor against any of the believers. And I am not jealous against any of them for the good that Allah may have given them. So this tremendous companion of the Prophet SAW was of those who never envied nor hated another. He ensured there was nothing in his heart that would lead to enmity against another human being. Rather his way was of forgiving and letting be, to pardon and to be tolerant and magnanimous. So he ensured that he never slept except that his heart was free of rancor and full of contentment. Being pure of spirit, his mind was at rest and free of worries. The doers of good are those loved by Allah, for the purity of their hearts. Allah will reward them for their pardon and benevolence. In other words if you forgive others Allah will forgive you. He shall reward them with a great reward.

O servants of Allah! The opportunities for pardoning encompass all aspects of our lives. What a beautiful thing it would be to bring and infuse the moral trait of pardoning into our interactions and behavior in both our social and family life. Thus, each of the married spouses pardons the shortcomings and pardons the faults of the other. This way of pardoning creates an atmosphere filled with compassion and love and a culture imbued with tranquility and affection. Which in turn produces peace and love, enabling happy children, and a well-knit and bonded family and successful married life. Allah the Almighty addresses the husbands and wives. Amongst the various forms of pardoning is the pardoning that exists amongst siblings (brothers and sisters) and next of kin. How often do you see two brothers engaged in lengthy arguments between them, each one believing that he is right. But then when one of them hastens to show pardon, the other matches him with forgiveness and love and relinquishes his right out of affection for him and desiring to maintain family ties. This happens when the act of pardoning removes the veil of aggression and animosity from the hearts. And then pure love and true affection emanate from them. So then pure love and true affection emanate from them. The circle of opportunities to exercise pardon is spacious and wide to encompass relatives, neighbors, friends, work colleagues fellow students, and all people in all walks of life and all levels of relationships. In other words if there comes upon them anger they contain it, and forgive and pardon whoever it was that wronged them. And by this they attain unto the love of Allah and His pleasure, who in turn raise their rank and hence they increase in respect and honor. Therefore, let us make pardoning a clear and obvious feature in our lives. And let none of us go to sleep except that he has shown pardon to others, forgiven all those who have wrong him, and purified his heart and mind (from malice and enmity), so he can be like this noble companion. Let us reinforce that in the moral character of our sons and daughters, because its reward with Allah is tremendous, and its recompense is the Gardens of Bliss.

May the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon prophet Muhammad SAW, his family and all of his Companions. May Allah be pleased with the Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and all those who will follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.

O Allah! Accept our prayers and all our ibada and also all our good deeds for the sake of Your pleasure.

O Allah! Guide us to the right path and accept all our worships

O Allah! Accept all our good deeds and forgive our sins.

O Allah! Accept all of us Dawah worker in Japan

O Allah! Give rizq in abundance to all Muslims in Japan

Oh Allah! Grant safety and security to everyone here in Japan as well as all over the world. Aamin ya Rabbil Aalamin.