Being Dutiful to the Most Merciful - Mufti Ismail Menk
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-10T15:16:47.638642+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Being Dutiful to the Most Merciful - Mufti Ismail Menk
Opening Khutbah
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلَا أَنْ هَدَانَا اللهُ وَأَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْهُ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ إِمَامُ الْمُتَّقِينَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَفِيَّهُ وَخَلِيلُهُ وَخِيرَتُهُ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ صَلَوَاتٌ رَبِّي وَسَلَامُهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى الْآلِ وَالصَّحْبِ الْكِرَامِ أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ عِبَادَ اللَّهِ وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا تُرْجَعُونَ فِيهِ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
Introduction
My beloved brothers and sisters in Islam, the first reminder that Allah has instructed us is to be able to develop a relationship with Allah, to remind each other about the relationship with Allah, to be dutiful unto Allah to fulfill your duty unto the maker who made you and who made entire creation.
So I remind you by saying: (اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى - be conscious of Allah), develop your relationship with Allah and Allah will grant you success.
My brothers and sisters, the reminders of the Quran have repeated themselves in more than one place because the almighty says: "Remind and continue reminding, for the reminding benefits those who truly believe."
Don't ever be upset when someone continues to repeat the same thing and the same reminder because that is the plan of Allah. When Allah speaks of prayer in the Quran, He does not say it only once but He mentions it many times: "Establish your prayer and give charity or alms to the poor." Allah repeats that so many times in the Quran. The same applies to the reminder of being conscious of Allah - it is repeated many times.
In this beautiful place, this lovely masjid, in this wonderful city of Kampala, in this blessed country of Uganda, I ask Allah to grant us all forgiveness. I ask Allah to bless you and your loved ones and to grant you goodness, calmness, contentment and happiness. May Allah alleviate the suffering of those who are struggling not only here but across the globe.
The Mercy of Allah
Remember we are those who worship Allah and one of the greatest qualities of Allah is that He is most forgiving, most merciful. Remember that this is why the mercy of Allah is the first of the qualities and names of Allah that He has chosen to commence the Quran with, in such a way that even before reciting the Quran you and I need to say:
"In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful"
- or the most beneficent, the most merciful. We ask Allah to grant us from His mercy.
Don't ever lose hope in the mercy of Allah.
The Worshippers of the Most Merciful
We are also aiming to be the best of the worshippers of He who is the most merciful. One is to say (عَبْدٌ اللهِ) meaning the worshipper of Allah, (أَمَةُ اللهِ) the worshipper of Allah, but higher than that would be a quality of Allah where He says (عِبَادُ الرَّحْمٰنِ) - Ibadurrahman.
If you take a look at the names that we give our children, the prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says: "The most loved of the names that you could give your children unto Allah, the most loved unto Allah are the names (عَبْدُ اللَّهِ) and (عَبْدُ الرَّحْمٰنِ) - the worshipper of Allah and the worshipper of the most merciful."
(Sahih Abu Dawud Hadith 4950)
As for the worshipper of Allah we have understood, but when we say the worshipper of the most merciful, why did Allah not have another name besides that that He says is the most loved unto Him? Why is it (عَبْدُ الرَّحْمنِ) - the worshipper of the most merciful? In order to highlight to you and to I and to everyone else that the quality of mercy is a quality you should focus on.
Focus on the mercy of Allah. Allah does not have mercy upon he or she who does not have mercy on the rest of the people. "Have mercy upon those on earth and the one in the skies or in the heavens will have mercy on you" - that's a hadith.
(Sahih At-Tirmidhi Hadith 1924)
Qualities of the True Worshippers
So if you look at Surah Al-Furqan towards the end, Allah describes those who are the worshippers of the most merciful in the true sense. What is meant by the true sense? Those who are focused on the mercy of Allah and their actions and statements would be such that they will receive the mercy of Allah.
One is to say I want the mercy of Allah, but two is to do that which will help you to achieve the mercy of Allah. I want to know what are those qualities, how can I get the mercy of Allah?
1. Humility
The true worshippers of the most merciful are those whom - what do you think the first quality Allah mentions is? Those whom when they tread the earth, when they walk on the earth, they walk with humility.
"And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily"
Be humble - you will achieve the mercy of Allah. Don't be arrogant, don't be proud, don't think that you are better than everyone else around you. No, you are a slave of Allah. You want his mercy? Walk with humbleness, humility. Be humble, treat people with respect and Allah will grant you his mercy.
That's the first quality Allah makes mention of: the true slaves of Allah are those who are humble, they are not arrogant, they are not haughty, they are not proud - the pride that destroys the good deeds.
2. Peaceful Response to Ignorance
Immediately after that he says the next quality of those who are trying to achieve the mercy of Allah by worshipping the most merciful in the correct way - the next quality is when they are addressed by the ignorant, they say peace and they walk away.
"And when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace."
That statement is so powerful, it teaches us many things:
Number one: don't be from among the ignorant so that others have to treat you that way that they stay away from you. When our statements are bad, when we utter abusive words, when we say that which is hurtful and ignorant, when we swear at others, when we lie, when we cheat, when we use our tongues to harm people, they will stay away from us.
Definitely as believers we should not do that because we are taught that when someone else does it to us we should say "(سلاماً)" - peace - and walk away.
What does it mean when Allah says "(قَالُوا سَلَامًا)" - they say peace? Don't let the abuse of others make you begin a war. Don't let the harm of others make you harm them back. Don't let the bad habits of others make you lose focus from your good habits. Don't ever give up your good qualities because of the bad qualities of others.
In fact you should smile: "سلام" - peace my brother, peace my sister - and walk away. Don't ever let the negativity of another make you lose your positivity because you are a slave of the most merciful, you will achieve the mercy of Allah, the contentment and the happiness as you walk away.
3. Night Worship
"And those who spend [part of] the night prostrating and standing before their Lord"
Only after those two qualities Allah then says the true believers, the worshippers of the most merciful, those who spend their nights worshipping the almighty. They are conscious of their relationship with Allah.
Allah started off with the relationship with other human beings and then he says: watch out, if you are truly seeking the mercy of Allah, spend a portion of the night worshipping Allah.
What about us my brothers and sisters? We don't even spend a portion of the day worshipping Allah with our five daily prayers. Surely if you want the mercy of Allah, you need to have your duties unto Allah intact and volunteer to get up at night, sometimes volunteer to get up at night, sometimes to worship Allah, to cry to him, to call out to him, to seek from him and Allah's mercy will definitely come in your direction.
Those of us who get up very early and we cry out to Allah and worship him in the early hours of the morning pre-dawn, we immediately feel the contentment because Allah blesses us. Try it out, I encourage myself and yourselves to make an effort to get up early in the morning to pray because that will bring about contentment and happiness - a calmness that you have never tasted before.
So Allah says the true worshippers are those who spend their nights standing in prayer and in prostration.
4. Fear of the Hereafter
"And those who say, "Our Lord, avert from us the punishment of Hell. Indeed, its punishment is ever adhering""
In a nutshell, those who call out to Allah, asking him to protect them from hellfire and the punishment of the hereafter. It means those who believe in the day of judgment and they are conscious of the fact that they need the help of Allah.
My brothers and sisters, when you are conscious of what is going to happen to you after you die, you become a better person. If you are worried about your hereafter and your meeting with Allah and the day of judgment, you will have your act in order.
In order to have that in the proper place, you definitely need to seek the forgiveness of Allah. You need to ask Allah: "O Allah, save us from hellfire." Constantly ask Allah.
If I were to ask you my brothers and sisters what is the most important supplication you could call out to Allah with, the answer is:
"Guide us to the straight path"
That is by far the most important prayer that you could ever supplicate by asking Allah for guidance. Constantly ask Allah for guidance.
If you look at Surah Al-Fatiha, we repeat it so many times during the day, so many times during the night, every day and every night, in every prayer. Your prayer is not complete unless you have fulfilled that surah
known as Surah Al-Fatiha. What is it all about? It has in it one dua, one supplication, one prayer, only one prayer: (اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ) - "Guide us to the straight path."
Why do we need to keep repeating "O Allah guide me to the straight path"? Because guidance is in the hands of Allah. Keep asking your maker: "O my maker guide me to the straight path. O my maker, open my doors of guidance, you are the owner of guidance" and you become conscious.
Thereafter continue to call out to Allah: "O Allah, make it easy for me in my grave, make it easy for me on the day of judgement, save me from hellfire, grant me ease the day I meet you, let it be the best of my days." May Allah grant us the sweetness of the hereafter.
5. Balanced Spending
Thereafter Allah says - and look at the beautiful order:
"And [they are] those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly but are ever, between that, [justly] moderate"
Those whom when they spend they are neither miserly nor are they extravagant, but they budget, they are moderate in their spending. They are conscious that wealth is actually a trust entrusted to you by the almighty.
Don't abuse it, don't be extravagant, use your wealth in a good cause if Allah has given you. Learn to earn your paradise through spending from what Allah has given you.
How much are you going to amass? Those who have the millions will not be happy until they have tens of millions. Those who have tens of millions will not be happy until they have hundreds of millions. Those who have hundreds of millions will not be happy until they have billions and those who have billions will not be happy and so on until they will die being unhappy.
If I were to tell you will you be happy if Allah gave you 1 million, many people will say yes, but when you have 1 million you are now aiming for 2, and when you have 2 you are aiming for 3, and when you have 3 you will aim for 4, and before you get the 4 you have already died and you meet with Allah in an unhappy state. You were busy running behind the dollar and the pound not realizing as much as that is important to a certain degree.
Don't let it make you lose focus that you are actually going to leave this world and meet your maker. So prepare for it and seek the help of Allah.
When you are spending don't be miserly and hold back because you will die not having spent even on your own family members, and don't be so extravagant because you may lose focus of the hereafter.
When your life becomes too comfortable, you don't even want to worship Allah at times. Some people when Allah gives them a lot, they forget Allah. So that is why Allah takes away things.
When you are too healthy and you've never had a health problem, sometimes you might forget Allah. So Allah takes away the health. Allah tests you with some challenge.
Something happens that's not according to what you want. That's a plan of Allah. He wants you to come back to him.
He wants you to bear patience, to pray to him. If we all had no needs at all, why would we then be praying to the maker? He has kept it such in His divine plan that we will need things and we have to call out to Him. It's part of the plan of Allah.
Call out to Allah, my brothers and sisters. May Allah protect us from hellfire. May Allah grant us good health. May Allah give us wealth. May Allah make us wealthy. May Allah grant us alleviation of our struggles.
May Allah help those who are in financial difficulty by alleviating their difficulties. Those who are in debt, may Allah help you to pay back those debts with ease, Ameen.
6. Pure Monotheism
Three things that He has mentioned one after the other: The true worshippers of the most merciful who will achieve the mercy of the almighty are those who do not associate partners in worship with the almighty.
They worship Him alone. Whoever made me, I owe all acts of worship to Him and Him alone, no one else.
As a Muslim, I am not allowed to render any act of worship to anyone besides He who made me, He whom I'm going to return to, He alone.
I will put my head on the ground for and declare: "Oh you who made me, you are the greatest, oh you whom I'm going to return to, you are the greatest" and I will worship none other than the maker, the nourisher, the cherisher, the sustainer, the provider, the curer, the one in whose hands lies absolute control of every aspect of existence. He is the only one worthy of worship.
That is why we say (لا إله إلا الله - la ilaha illallah) - there is none worthy of worship besides He who made me, Allah.
7. Respect for Life
So Allah says they worship none besides Allah, none besides their maker, none besides He whom they are going to return to. And they do not commit murder.
They do not commit murder. A true believer never commits murder.
We don't harm others. If you're a true believer, you realize the giver of the life is Allah. Who are you to take that life that Allah gave away? Allah gave life, Allah gave all those who are seated here life, all those on earth, Allah gave them life.
Who gave me the right to take away the life that the giver of life who gave me my life has given? If it was your right to take away the lives of others, it would be their right to take your life away and that would mean Allah created us for chaos, which is not true. Common logic, my brothers and sisters, and Allah says it in the Quran, they do not commit murder in a nutshell.
8. Chastity and Moral Conduct
And after you have respected Allah and respected the creatures of Allah, Allah says respect yourself. They don't engage in immorality.
They don't fornicate. They don't commit adultery. Amazing. Look at the order, how beautiful Allah has placed these pieces of advice.
You want the mercy of Allah? Respect Allah. You want the mercy of Allah? Respect other people. You want the mercy of Allah? Respect yourself.
Amazing. How do I respect others by acknowledging that their life is sacred to begin with - and it's a long topic, but I'm only mentioning the brief. How do I respect myself? By carrying yourself with the highest of morals and values.
You don't swear, you don't abuse. We spoke about that already, but on top of that, maintain the protection of your private parts.
The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has said:
(Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 6474)
"Whoever guarantees me the correct use of his tongue and the correct use of his private parts, I guarantee him paradise."
Amazing, which means all problems, difficulties, hardships on earth are connected to your tongues and your private parts. May Allah help us to protect ourselves.
Those who have fallen in abuse, those who have fallen into adultery and fornication, it's not too late. Seek the forgiveness of Allah and remember you can fulfill your sexual desires in a permissible way, but you need to regularize it according to what the almighty has taught.
Amazing. So Allah teaches you when you have developed these sexual feelings out of your base nature, Allah says: "You know what? We will give you a permissible channel to actually fulfill those desires in a respectful way. You have respected yourself."
May Allah grant us honor, may Allah grant us dignity, may Allah not expose our sins. May He grant us the ability to seek forgiveness and may He forgive us and may He strengthen us such that we respect ourselves in the highest possible way.
The Mercy of Allah for Those Who Repent
My beloved brothers and sisters, your maker loves you. He loves you so much. Look at how beautifully He's advising you. You want the mercy? Well, this is how you get mercy: respect others, respect the almighty by worshipping Him alone, respect yourself by carrying yourself with the highest level of morals and values.
And this is why those who have fallen into adultery, those who have succumbed to the pressures of their own desires, Allah says He speaks about how those who commit evil acts deserve the punishment. Then He says:
"Except those who seek forgiveness, they turn back to their maker, they do good deeds thereafter, they change their lives in a good way. Allah says for them, we will convert the bad deeds into good deeds and Allah is most forgiving, most merciful."
Imagine Allah says: "I won't only forgive you, on top of the forgiveness, the bad deeds that you did in the past life, I will grant you such expiation that I will convert the value into good deeds because you quit it solely for my sake, for my pleasure."
Why did you quit adultery and fornication, immorality and evil? Why did you quit it? You quit it for your maker. Allah says: "I love you so much. Your reward is quadrupled with me and even more."
That's Allah, the mercy of Allah. Nobody can compete with the mercy of Allah. So don't let anyone con you that Allah is not merciful. He is most merciful. Amazing.
Additional Qualities
Allah says you must be warned of something: Don't bear false witness and don't waste your time, be productive.
My beloved youth in this beautiful country of Uganda and across the globe, use your energies in the right direction. Go out and volunteer for a good cause, spend your time, your effort, your energies and your resources to serve humanity, to serve Allah by serving humanity.
Go out and help the widows and the orphans only for the pleasure of Allah. Go out and assist in the causes of those who are struggling solely for the pleasure of Allah. Use your time productively, do something constructive, benefit yourself, increase yourself in education, serve your nation and develop it in a positive way.
Don't be a liability rather be an asset. May Allah grant us the ability to be assets to our communities, societies and our nations.
We have it, we have the energies, we have the resources, we have the brains, we have the opportunities. And if you don't have an opportunity, don't sit back and say I don't have an opportunity, create the opportunity by the help of Allah, it will work.
Allah says don't waste your time with futile discussion. When you pass by that which is irrelevant, unnecessary, that which is a waste of time, you should pass it with honor, let it pass.
I'm not going to be a part of people who are creating disunity, people who are creating hate, people who are wasting time because I am a worshipper of the most merciful. To get His mercy I will reach out to others.
Caring for Others and Family
Those who are sick, have you visited them? Have you prayed for them? Those who are in need, have you helped them? When you help them, you will find Allah. When you assist them, you will find the mercy of Allah. That is the plan of Allah.
Those who concentrate on their families to begin with, many people they love to reach out to others, but they have not yet reached out to their own family members.
Their children are struggling because they don't participate in the lives of their own children. Their wives or husbands are struggling because there is no meaningful relationship. How many of us have gone home and said "I love you" to your own children or your spouse?
Allah says those who are concerned about their family members, those who say:
"Our Lord, bless us with family members, with spouses, with offspring, who will be the coolness of our eyes and make us leaders of the righteous."
How can you be a leader of the righteous when you haven't even led your own family in righteousness? I plead with you my beloved brothers and sisters to spend time with your family members, to make sure that you have made amends, resolve your petty disputes amongst one another.
It will help you, really. We have a lot to do. We want to earn the mercy of Allah.
The Final Reward
And at the end Allah says those who have these qualities, the qualities I have mentioned today in Surah Al-Furqan, at the end Allah says:
Those are the ones who will have a reserved special place in paradise known as Al-Ghurfa. They have the mercy of Allah in this world and in the hereafter they will have a greater mercy of Allah. They are the ones who will have the Ghurfa because of their dedication, their forbearance, their patience.
And Allah says they will be greeted with peace, peace, peace, just like they greeted the ignorant with peace. On this occasion, it will be a blessed greeting of peace.
Closing
May Allah bless every one of us. May Allah grant us the ability to be dutiful to the Most Merciful and may we achieve His mercy in this world and the next.