Love, Care and Kindness
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-10T15:51:29.918165+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Love, Care and Kindness
By Mufti Menk - Ankara, Turkey
Opening Khutbah
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Surah Al-Fatiha
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment. Master of the Day of Judgment, it is You we worship and You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path, the path of those You have blessed, not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.
Ameen. In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah.
And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and upon his family and all his companions. We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم), his household, his companions.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless them and to bless every one of us. My brothers and sisters, I am very, very happy to be here in your midst in Ankara with Asma Kopru International Students Association. May Allah bless every one of you.
And truly, I started off with Surah Al-Fatiha. There is a reason. I started off with Salam. There is a reason. We are speaking about love. Something that is necessary for civilizations.
Something that is necessary for us to be able to live on earth. Something that is necessary for us to be able to fulfill the duty that Allah has placed on our shoulders. Before I continue, I want to explain why I am speaking slowly and with Tajweed.
The reason is there are translators that are translating what I am saying concurrently. And before I started, we had a short meeting where the brother said, please have mercy on me. So, I said, no problem.
I will use simple language and I will speak with the proper Tajweed by the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We are speaking about love. Love is connected to kindness, connected to mercy, connected to caring.
The Unity of Mankind
When we care for one another, the intention is very important. Let's go back right to the beginning of the creation of mankind. Every time you feel like you don't like someone, go back to the beginning of mankind and ask yourself, where did we start?
Quranic Verse
O people, Allah is saying, O people, not just O Muslims, "Ya ayyuhan-nasu", O people, we have created you from a single male and a single female. And from the two of them, we have caused a multitude of you to spread across the whole globe, subhanAllah. We have made you into different tribes and different people in order that you can recognize one another. So I am different in color than others.
I am different in perhaps ethnicity than others. We are different from one another, not because we should hate one another, not because I should think I am superior to one another, but because we are taught by Allah that He made us this way to recognize one another. If we were all exactly the same, that was possible for Allah.
But it would be so boring because we would need perhaps just like motor vehicles have a number plate all the white Toyotas look the same, we would need number plates on our forehead because we would all be the same. So it's important for us to recognize that Allah made us differently so that we can know each other. This one is from Africa, this one is from Turkey, this one is from Europe, this one is from, subhanAllah, Southeast Asia, this one from Australia, this one I forgot to mention, so forgive me, mashallah.
And some are fortunate to be a mixture. When you go to the restaurant, you order mango juice, or you order orange juice, or you order banana juice, or you order a cocktail. Most of us like the mixture more than any other drink.
Am I right? The same way some of us, we have blood that is mixed completely, we have totally different blood from the East and the West altogether because our parents were from different parts of the world.
So Allah says, the best and the most loved and the most honored to Allah from all of you are those who have the best relation with Allah.
The most honored to Allah from all of us are the ones or is the one who has the best relationship with Allah.
When we say taqwa, the Qur'an is full of the word taqwa.
We've heard it so many times in the Qur'an, right? Taqwa actually means to develop your relationship with Allah. That is the meaning of taqwa that is very broad.
It refers to the love of Allah together with the fear of Allah. Why? When we say fear Allah, we don't want people to become scared and start shaking and thinking that Allah is not merciful, but we want you to be conscious of Allah, fear earning His wrath or His anger. You should fear the anger of Allah because you love Allah and because Allah loves you.
When you love someone so much, you don't want them to be angry. You don't want them to be upset with you. When you have two people who are in love, they try their best to make sure that no one is angry, right? The one does not become upset with the other.
The love of Allah is the highest level of love. It is the highest level that one could have in terms of love. Surely we should develop a good relationship with Allah and Allah will open our doors.
The Creation of Adam
So I was saying if you go back, you will realize Allah made us from one human species. Allah created him. Who was he? What was his name? Adam a.s. He was the father of all humankind.
It was amazing how Allah made him. He was not born. Adam a.s. was not born.
He was created. Allah made him and Allah blew the life into him so he got life. And when he got life, Allah taught him in a unique way.
You know, we are born through mother and father. Allah creates in four different ways. He created Adam with no mother, no father. He created Eve through a male without a female. Eve is who? Hawwa, our mother. He created Jesus.
May peace be on him. Isa a.s. through a female without a male. And the fourth one is you and I. He created us through male and female.
This is Allah. This is the creator. He is showing us all four possibilities and probabilities.
I have shown you. I am capable. I will do it.
I have done it. That is Allah. So Allah created Adam with no interference of another male or a female.
When we are born, we cannot speak. As the child grows older, they start saying a few words, right? The first words sometimes, they are either Allah or mama or baba, right? These are the words that a person says when they are little babies. They say one word.
If they say Allah as the first word, we are so happy, right? We say, look, look, my baby is saying Allah. Subhanallah. If you want your children to say Allah, you need to say Allah.
If you want your children to read salah, you need to read salah. If you want your children to be proper, you need to be proper. If you want your children to say clean words, you need to say clean words.
If you want your children to give up bad habits, you need to give up bad habits. That is just a side piece of advice. So going back, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when He creates us, we know nothing.
Quranic Verse on Knowledge
When Allah removed you from the wombs of your mothers, you knew nothing. You did not know how to speak. You did not know how to talk.
The one who knew how to talk at birth was Isa a.s. Jesus may peace be on him. Allah says in surah Maryam that:
Quranic Verse about Jesus
The mother of Jesus, may peace be upon them, when she pointed at the baby saying, I'm not going to speak, this child spoke. What did he say? He said, "I am Abdullah, the worshipper of Allah. He has given me the book and made me a messenger." If I'm going too fast, you can give me a speeding fine, okay?
I'm speaking to the translator. Sorry, he hears what I'm saying.
So, this was Isa, Allah taught him from a young age. But before that, it was like a computer chip. If it is put into a device, that device already knows everything.
If you have a program of 5 million books in one SD card, and you take the SD card and put it into your phone, you will find automatically the phone has all the information. It happened with Adam, Allah taught him everything.
Allah says, Allah taught Adam, the names of everything.
He was not born as a baby, he was created as an adult, subhanAllah. We're talking about love. Why did I start with Adam? Because if you know who was Adam, you will love your brothers and sisters.
You are from one mother and one father. Every time you don't like someone, tell yourself, that is my sister from another mother. That is my brother from another mother.
We come from one root, Adam a.s. Just like you love your own brother, you need to love the rest of humankind who are also brothers and sisters. That is why whenever there is a disaster, a natural disaster
or a problem or a war or famine or a drought, it is only the human inside you connected to the maker that will make you feel for those who are suffering. And Allah says, I will reward you if you reach out to them, whether they are Muslim or not, whether they are your race or not, whether they are your nationality or not.
Hadith on Helping Others
(Sahih Muslim 2699)
Allah says, I will reward you for reaching out to another human being. At the time of need, reach out to them. "Allah will help a servant as long as the servant is helping his brother."
If you are helping another person, Allah will always help you. If you want the love of Allah, reach out to others with a love. Allah did not send you and I on earth to hate each other, to kill each other, to fight each other.
Allah did not send you and I to the dunya to live a life of hatred, of fighting, killing, destroying. No, Allah sent us here to build. Allah sent us here to show that we are good character, we are good conduct.
Hadith on Good Character
(Sunan at-Tirmidhi 2002)
The best from amongst you are those who have the best character, the best conduct, the best morals, the best values. If you have that, you are the best of humankind. So Allah sent you and I here in order to prove that we are the best possible version of who I am.
I call on you, my brothers, my sisters to search your heart, to remove from it the malice, the hatred, the jealousy, the envy, the dirt that is in the heart. Subhanallah. May Allah cleanse us and purify us.
The Story of the Man Who Urinated in the Mosque
Even if someone is doing something wrong, think about your own child or your own brother. If they were doing something wrong, would you not correct them with love? If your child happens to urinate on your lap or in the public, if your child happens to mess or vomit, may Allah protect all of us. In the aircraft or in the motor vehicle or in the mall, what will you do? What will you do? That is your child.
You might smile if you're a good parent, you will be happy. To say, my child is okay. They were not injured, they were not damaged. It's okay, they made a mistake. Children will make mistakes. We will correct them, we will help them.
When they grow older, they will not make the same mistakes, inshallah. You correct them with love. There was a man who entered the masjid of Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). He entered the masjid of Rasulullah
صلى الله عليه وسلمand he decided without knowing the sanctity or the level of holiness of the masjid, he urinated in one corner, he relieved himself in one corner.
What happened? Imagine today, if someone goes into the masjid, and they urinate in one corner. In our language we say, they pee in one corner, right? What would happen? I think there will be a small qiyamah that will happen in that masjid. Yes, I think there will be a small day of judgment because everyone will stand up like the trumpet was blown, and they will try to bash this person because how can you come in the masjid and urinate in one corner? What do you think you are doing? This is the house of Allah.
But I want to tell you:
Quranic Verse about Prophet's Mercy
"And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds."
Allah says to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم," We have sent you as a mercy to all العالمين everyone and everything. You are a mercy." Look at what he did, the love that he has, the care that he has, the kindness that he has, the beauty that he has.
When the sahaba, companions رضي الله عنهم when they decided to scold and shout this man, he told them keep quiet, leave him. One narration speaks about how he stopped them from stopping him. Now you might laugh at what I'm going to say, but I need to say it.
One narration speaks about how he stopped them from stopping him, because when he started to urinate, they wanted to stop him. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says, leave him. Why leave him? Any of you, while you started to urinate, if someone says, stop, what will you do? Can you think of it? What will you do? You will get sick.
You try to hold your stomach and tighten your muscles, nothing, you will get sick. The mercy of Rasulullah, the love of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلمthe care and kindness. He said, leave him, already he is doing it, let him finish.
One problem, don't create another problem, okay? Subhanallah. Wallahi, beautiful thinking, look at this. This is rahmatul lil'alameen, mercy, true mercy, love, kindness.
Then you know what he said? He told his companions, go and get water. They went to get a bucket of water. When they were busy, he spoke to this man.
He told him, hey, listen, subhanallah. This is a house of Allah. It is for dhikr, salah, tilawatul Qur'an, and it is for worshipping Allah. It is not for this type of thing. It is not for this type of thing. The man, I can imagine he was probably thinking, on one hand, they wanted to hit me.
On the other hand, the main person is telling me, look, you finish your business, don't do this again. The house of Allah is not for this thing. It is for good things, ibadah and worship.
He was so happy. Imagine Umar ibn Khattab wanted to beat him up. Imagine, who is Umar? Imagine they wanted to hit him. And he said, no, no, no. He looked at Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam, and I wonder what was going through his mind. He said:
"Oh Allah, have mercy on me. Have mercy on Muhammad, peace be upon him. But do not have mercy on anyone else."
Now there is a new problem. What's the new problem? He's making another mistake. What is the mistake? How can you make so small the mercy of Allah? It is so big.
The kindness, the love of Allah is huge. You cannot bring it to two people only. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam again answered him beautifully.
He said, you are trying to make narrow something which is very very broad. You are trying to make small something which is very very big. And the problem was solved.
This is the mercy. This is the love. In the same way that when we see our brothers, our sisters, be they Muslim or non-Muslim, when they are making a mistake, when they are doing something wrong, you need to correct them with love.
Not with hate. Remember that. You need to keep reminding them with love.
Not with hate. The problems we are facing on the globe today is we are trying to combat hate with hate. So it brings about more hate.
We are trying to combat a mistake with a bigger mistake. It brings about a bigger problem. We need to change that.
The Story of the Man Who Gave Water to a Dog
My brothers and sisters, we should all be speaking about the kindness of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. At this stage, what we are going through on earth is very very sad. Wherever we look, we are seeing people being destroyed.
In the name of religion, I always say, in the name of the one who gave the life, we are taking it away. Have you thought of that? Who gave the life? Allah. Allah is the giver of life.
We use His name to take away that life. How can that be okay? If Allah wanted, He would not have given that life. He would have not given it in the first place, or He would have taken it away Himself.
Allah gave the life. Just like He gave your life. Same, He gave the other lives.
I want to show you the rahma, the mercy and the love of Islam. It goes beyond human beings. It goes to animals.
You know the story of a man who was very thirsty on a hot day in the desert. He went down the well. He drank water.
He came back up. As he is going away, he noticed a dog. When he saw the dog, he saw that the dog was trying to sniff the sand and the dust, looking for water as well.
He said to himself, this dog is feeling how I was feeling before I went in the well. Look, he is looking at the dog with mercy. There is an element of love and kindness in his heart.
A heart that does not have love cannot think like this. You know, as Muslims, when you are trying to be in the presence of a dog, or when you are associating with a dog, there are a few more rules, right? You have to be conscious of a few more rules. So, a dog is an animal you cannot eat. That's what I was going to say.
A dog is an animal you cannot eat, right? Which means you can't say, Bismillah, Allahu Akbar, and you think I'm eating the dog. No, a dog you cannot eat. But the man who gave water to the dog filled the water in his shoes.
Look at your shoes today. What do you wear? Maybe a beautiful brand, right? Will you ever take your shoes, fill it with water for a dog? I don't want you to answer because I have to answer myself. I'm wearing clogs by the way.
But the question I mean is, would you ever take your shoe and fill it with water for a dog? The man who did it, Allah says, we forgave him, khalas. Because why? Love, he has love in his heart. When you love for the sake of Allah, when you love the maker, you love the creatures of the maker.
Subhanallah. When you love the maker, you realize who is the maker. Who is the maker? He gave the life. So if I respect the life he gave, he will love me. Subhanallah. That's why Allah says we forgave this man.
Look at how Islam teaches you to be kind to a dog. Subhanallah. You know the word dog is used sometimes in a derogatory way. If someone wants to swear you, they can say dog, right? Yeah. But in English, sometimes when you love someone, you can use doggy, doggy, you know. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us.
The reason I say this is to show you that subhanallah, as much as it is an animal that we are not associated to, but you are kind to it. We don't eat the pig, but are you allowed to harm the pig and throw stones at it or just cause damage to it or inflict pain on the pig because it is a pig? The answer is no. You cannot say that.
You cannot do that. It is a pig, but it is a creature of Allah. We won't eat it, we won't consume it because we are Muslim and Islam doesn't allow that, but we will be kind.
We will be kind. Remember what I'm saying. Why are we kind? Because of the love of Allah.
You see? Because of the love of Allah. He is the maker. When you love Allah, you arrive at a new level of calmness because you realize everything and everyone was created by Allah.
If I want to show my love to Allah, I will be kind to all the creatures of the same Allah. Now I go back to the start of my lecture. I started off by saying, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
And I remember the brother who came before me, he repeated it three times. Because he said, the response is not loud. Am I right? Then he said it again.
He said, it is still not loud. And still he was not happy. Third time, he was okay with it.
The Importance of Salam
He was okay with it. Do you know, Islam is the most beautiful religion with the most beautiful teachings. When you see someone, the first thing you should do as a Muslim is to pray for him or her.
The first thing, if I see you while I'm walking, the first thing that I have to do as a Muslim, if I'm a true Muslim, is to pray for you. How? May peace be on you. As-salamu alaykum.
I ask Allah to give you peace. That's the meaning of peace be on you. So when you see someone, Islam teaches you, peace be on you.
Why? Because civilizations cannot grow without peace. Countries and nations cannot grow without peace. Families cannot grow without peace.
No business, no community, no nation, no city, no country, no continent can ever grow without peace. The most important thing to grow is the peace. Peace comes about with love.
When you love one another, you will be peaceful. When I say may peace be on you, subhanallah, it is an act of worship. By right, I should be saying maybe, may Allah grant me that peace.
And on top of that, the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him, it says that you can add to that:
May the blessings, may the mercy of Allah and the blessings of Allah be on you, subhanallah. As soon as I see you, I pray for you. So the question is, why is there so much problems on earth, even among the Muslims? Do you know what I say? We don't think of the meaning of salam when we are greeting the people.
We just say, salam. Salam. We don't even mean it.
Some people say, sa'ika. Have you heard that? Yes. They don't even know what they are saying.
Like they don't want to say it. But if you say, assalamu alaikum, and you think for a second, what am I saying? Peace be on you. And the brother or the sister says, wa alaikumussalam.
And peace be on you too. And peace be on you, and the mercy of Allah, and the blessings of Allah. Ameen, ameen, ameen.
Mashallah, mashallah, mashallah. Imagine, 1 billion, 2 billion people are making dua for peace of each other, but where is the peace? Where is the peace? We need to think of the meaning. Be genuine.
There is no point in the plastic smile. You know what is the plastic smile? When you are smiling, how are you brother? And behind you are stabbing in the back so badly. That is called a plastic smile.
Subhanallah. The best smile is that with no teeth. The old person who doesn't want to show him, he is still smiling.
That is really the best smile. Because he has nothing to show you. But he loves you so much that he is trying his best to smile.
Subhanallah. May Allah grant us that love. You know when you check old people smiling, you can google it if you want.
Not now, but later. Old people, toothless, smiling. There will be some mercy in your heart.
You see, ah, mashallah, mashallah. Look how cute they are looking. You know when we are babies, we are cute.
When we get very old, we also become cute again. I hope so. Some people when they become old, they are a big problem.
So, the hadith says:
Hadith on Love
(Sunan Abu Dawud 5193)
Did you hear that? Should I not show you of something? If you are going to do it properly, you will love one another. It will increase the love. We are talking of love.
Why go so far when we have not even started with salam? The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says, Should I not show you something? If you are to do it, the love will increase. So, the sahaba were very inquisitive. They wanted to know what is it.
He says:
Spread the salam between you and amongst you. Spread it. It is ibadah.
It is an act of worship. And Allah says in the Qur'an:
Quranic Verse on Greetings
"And when you are greeted with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return it [in a like manner]. Indeed Allah is ever, over all things, an Accountant."
Reference: Quran 4:86
When you are greeted with a greeting, you must reply with a better greeting. Or same greeting.
Why better? You must prove I'm a better person. Yes.
Allah created death and life. Which means He made you exist on earth to test you who has better deeds.
Do you have good deeds? How many deeds? I always give the example of football. I think here in Turkey also, people are crazy about football.
Am I right? MashaAllah. See, they're already showing me the sign of their team. In 90 minutes, you have to score goals.
As many as possible. If I score 1-0 in 5 minutes, can I say, right guys, we can sit, we're winning. Is it okay? No.
2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0, right? 10-0, 20-0, we're breaking a world record, right? But we're not going to sit until the whistle is blown. We will keep doing the good we have to. What is the good? Just keep on going back to the goal and try to score.
Back to the goal post, try to score. Back to the goal post, try to score. Forever, until the game is over. Sometimes, in life, as Muslims, it is similar. You start off at one point. You will end when your whistle is blown.
Keep doing good. And keep proving who you are. Score 1 goal, 2 goals, 5 goals, 20 goals.
How many ever goals? Every single day. Do not let shaitan score 1 goal. Why? You may lose.
Some of you already, maybe, shaitan is winning 5-0. No problem. How many of your teams were losing 5-0? At the end, they won 6-5.
It can happen, right? So, inshallah, with us also, we can win 6-5, 7-5, no problem. Shaitan scored in the past. We will not allow him to score anymore.
My brothers and sisters, in our lives, we forget that I need to maximize, do many, many deeds, good deeds, as far as possible. Spread the love, spread the peace, spread the goodness, respond to people, be kind. Look, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam says, the best of you is the one who is best to his wife, or to her husband, or to their family.
You start with the family, then the community, and then you build from there more and more, until you can reach out to all of the people in your life. Ramadan is coming. The Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam was very generous in Ramadan.
He used to meet Jibreel a.s. with the Quran. The hadith says, he was very generous.
Hadith on Prophet's Generosity
أَجْوَدُ مِنَ الرِّيحِ الْمُرْسَلَةِ
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 6
He was more generous than the wind which was blowing.
Now, what is the meaning of wind which was blowing? If the wind blows now from here in that direction, who will get the wind? Every single one of us. We will feel the wind, right? Because the wind is generous. It does not come to one person and leave out the other people.
It comes to everyone. That is the wind. So, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam's goodness, his smile, his character, his conduct, his generosity, it reached everyone who saw him, who mixed with him, who interacted with him, and even those who didn't mix with him.
How many of us are true followers of the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam? Do we want to reach out to people? Are we good to our wives? Are we good to our husbands? Are we good to our children, our parents? Are we kind? We speak of love, but if there is no love in the home, there will be a problem with the people of the home regarding their love outside the home. Many times if you study the mind of those who are filled with hate, there is a problem in the house. That is why they are filled with hate.
Do you understand what I'm saying? Communication is no longer. Why? Because I love WhatsApp. That's why.
I love Facebook. I love my phone more than my children. We are all facing the challenge.
Be disciplined. Put your phone away when you are eating your meal. Put your phone away when it is family time.
Put your phone away every day at a certain time. Control yourself. If you don't control this, there will be a problem in your home because you didn't communicate with your own family.
You did not show them love. So they don't know how to show love. I always say, some of you who might have read some of my quotes, you might have read the quote where I said, if people use LOL, you know what is LOL? When you are laughing.
If people can use LOL without laughing, they can use I love you without loving. Right? Did you hear what I said? How many of you on your phone you put LOL? LOL. You show the emoticon of laughter.
A man laughing or a little yellow face laughing. You show that and you send it to someone. But you were not laughing.
You were not laughing. Yes. I did it sometimes.
Astaghfirullah. Astaghfirullah. I'm just being honest.
It happens to all of us, right? You send the emoji laughing, but you didn't laugh. So many times people can say, I love you, but they are not loving. Right? But sometimes our children and us, we can think they are laughing, they are not laughing.
We can think they are loving, they are not loving. True love starts in the house. Yes, it will go further.
Maybe some people might be telling you the truth, but more important than saying I love you, is showing I love you. My father, my mother, your grandfather, your grandmother. I don't think you ever heard them say to each other, I love you.
Did you hear that? Never. But their love for each other was more than you and I. We say I love you to the wife 20 times. When I was sitting there, I was typing I love you already so many times.
Yeah? Yes. But their love was stronger, because they knew, I don't need to say this, we care for each other, we live for each other, we are kind to each other, we are there for each other. I don't need to say it, I just need to prove it.
But the new generation, subhanallah, we need reassurance. Why? Too much fake things happening outside. Too much fake things.
So you need to say it so much, subhanallah. Yes, it is important. But I want to show you, if you have true love in the house, your children will be so happy to run back from school to hug you.
Do you hug each other in the house? Do you show affection to the children? And so on. Many of you don't have children. May Allah bless you with children.
May Allah bless you with children. MashaAllah, that's better. I think the first ameen was quiet, because you must be thinking, I'm not even married yet.
But I want to tell you, when you say, may Allah bless me with good children, that is... Let me explain. That is two in one. Because if that dua is accepted, it means Allah will first give you a good spouse.
Then He will give you good children. Before we used to buy shampoo and conditioner. Now there is two in one.
So the same rule applies, when you say, oh Allah, give me good children. Don't worry about marriage. If that dua is accepted, you have two in one.
You understand? May Allah accept from us. I'm just covering my back. So the care and the love starts in the home.
It starts with salam. It starts with goodness. And then I started with surah al-fatiha.
Allah is the Source of Love
Why? Look, my brothers, my sisters. Allah is the source of love. He created love.
Allah created this. He made it, He knows it. We know that He can punish.
We know that He can hold accountable, and He will hold accountable. But when He decided to start the Qur'an, which is His book, His word to us. It is His word to us.
When He decided to open it, to start it opening. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. That's how it starts.
What does it mean? In the name of Allah, ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Two qualities. Ismāni mushtaqqāni mina ar-rahmati.
Two qualities of Allah, taken from His mercy. Why? Why did Allah not say, in the name of Allah, the one who punishes. In the name of Allah, the one who is fierce.
In the name of Allah, the one who will get angry. Why? Why didn't He say that? He decided, no, no, no. The mercy, the beneficence of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, His mercy is the most important.
If you don't believe in the mercy and forgiveness of Allah, you will be depressed. You will be sad. Because I have done things that I perhaps I'm not proud of.
I have done things, if I was given a chance, I will not repeat them. Right? You have done things that maybe you can do better. If it was not for the mercy of Allah, we would be depressed.
But Allah says, I am Rahman ar-Rahim. I am the most forgiving, the most merciful, that is Allah. Then He repeats it again.
He says, Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. He created, He provided for, He is the one in control of everyone in creation, and everything in creation.
Allah is in control. Immediately after Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, again He says, Ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Second time.
One was in the Bismillah, and two is second verse of Al-Fatiha. He is speaking about His mercy, His love, His compassion. Mercy comes from love.
You cannot be merciful without love. So Allah is showing us, I am the source of love, part of love is to show mercy. Be merciful, I am merciful.
Who is more powerful? You and I or Allah? Definitely Allah is more powerful. The most powerful is the one who's saying, I will forgive you, I will have mercy on you, I will provide for you. Why are we not showing mercy on others?
Hadith on Showing Mercy
(Sunan Abu Dawud 4941)
The Prophet, peace be upon him says, "Have mercy on those on earth, and the one in the heavens will have mercy on you."
Subhanallah. You want mercy? Show mercy. In another narration, very easy words in Arabic:
Beautiful, right? "Whoever does not show mercy, will not be shown mercy."
Straight. And I told you, mercy is from love. One of the names of Allah is Al-Wadud.
What is the meaning of Al-Wadud? It's a very high level of love. It's His name. High level of love.
Allah is loving. You want to hear the beautiful names? Listen to this. Al-Tawwab, Al-Ghaffar, Al-Ghafoor, Al-Raheem.
Subhanallah. Al-Wadud, these are the names of Allah that have so much of mercy in them. They have goodness, kindness, compassion.
Where are we? So in Surah Al-Fatiha, that's how Allah starts. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us, He is the owner of the day of judgment. You be careful.
Don't perform a small day of judgment every time you see people. Yes, sometimes we see someone, look at that one, he's arrogant. Why did you say that? Where is your love? Look at them and say, mashallah, they are trying.
I have a major problem with a lot of people. When you see someone outwardly, we sometimes judge them on what is outside. Yes, we judge them on what is outside, without knowing their struggles.
What are their struggles? Maybe they are struggling. Maybe they are going through something. Maybe their environment is difficult. Maybe the circumstances they are living in are tough. Don't judge people, help them. When you see someone astray, you need to have love first.
Then you will make dua for them. Then you will try to help them. Then you will keep on trying to help them.
If they come to the right path, alhamdulillah, if they don't come to the right path, you already have your full reward with Allah. Because you did it for Allah. I teach you something today that is very interesting.
Quranic Verse on Allah's Love
In the Qur'an, Allah says, "Allah loves those who do good. Allah loves those who are kind." If you look at that verse, it is connected to the people who do kindness and to Allah.
It is not connected to who you are doing the kindness to. The third party is not mentioned here. Allah says only two parties. Allah and the one who does good. Allah loves them. Allah loves those who do good.
So many of us, we do good to those who we think deserve the good. I repeat that. Many of us, we do good to those whom we think deserve the good.
Someone is a nice person, do good to them. Someone, perhaps they did good to me, I do good to them. But do you know, we should not do good to people thinking that I am doing good because they deserve the good.
No. I am doing good because Allah loves those who do good. Whether they deserve it or don't deserve it, I don't mind.
Look at the example of the dog. Look at the other examples of anything else. There is an example of a woman who was punished by Allah because she was unkind to a cat.
Look at that example. So Allah is telling you, don't worry about who you are doing good to. You keep doing good.
That's all. Whether they deserve it or they don't deserve it. Even if your enemy needs help, try to help them.
It might change that enmity. Maybe it's in the hands of Allah. But with Allah, Allah will love you.
This is true love. True love is your love for Allah. That is true love.
That love will make you love others in the true sense. When you don't love Allah, the rest of the love that you have is fake. You understand? When you don't love Allah, the rest of the love you have is temporary. It is fake. It will not stand for long. People love wealth.
They love money, right? People love money. It's okay to love money. But the limit of love of money.
Don't love money more than you love Allah. The love that you have even for yourself. You know, I want to tell you something about my father.
A Personal Story About Love for Allah
When I was young, first time I went for Umrah, when I was maybe 10 years old or 11. And we are young, we love our hair. You know, when you are young, you love your hair.
Please love it now because there will come a time you won't have it. When you are young, you love your hair. You make a hairstyle.
You like to do your hair nicely. Everything is good. It's okay, right? We went for Umrah.
Now you know in Umrah, you can either shave your hair or you can cut your hair short, right? You can do, it's okay. But the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) made the dua three times for the one who shaves. And he also made dua for the one who didn't shave, okay? So, I was young.
I didn't really want to shave my hair, right? Because I'm thinking I'm going to go back to school. I'll look like Kojak, you know? So, I'm thinking to myself, what will happen and so on. Now there is a hairstyle, no
hair.
Now, you know, the world is always turning. So, now if you don't have hair, it is cool. But before when you don't have hair, they laugh at you, okay? So, we were young.
And my father told me something that I always remember. It is very powerful. I told him, you know, I was small and we always look up to my father.
I was a little bit scared of him also. I told him, I said, what should I do? Can I shave or can I cut it? You know what he said? Make sure that you don't love your hair more than you love Allah and then do what you want. Subhanallah, subhanallah.
Make sure you don't love your hair more than you love Allah. And then to do shaving or no shaving, that is not the point. The point is, who do you love more? Your hair or Allah? That is the point.
I just looked at him. I was a young boy thinking. And then I told the Baba, please shave my hair.
Khalas. That point is so beautiful because it shows you, look, your hair, who gave you? Allah gave you. It is permissible.
It is okay not to shave. But when you love someone so much, you want to do the best thing for them.
When you love your wife, and she wants a car, and you are about to buy a car, and you are a rich man, will you buy a small Toyota or the S class Mercedes Benz? I see the men are quiet.
Very quiet. Very, very quiet. Astaghfirullah.
Maybe it's a bad example. Right? But if you love so much, you want to say, look, my love, I will give you the best. What do you want?
Tell me what you want.
I will get you two times what you want. Right? When we go to eat, we want to impress our friends. We order more food than we can eat.
Right? A lot of the times, sunnah is to order one third. One third of your capacity. Order less.
I rather go out of the restaurant small empty stomach than to go out so full that it's time for salah. I'm just yawning, and I cannot even want to pray. I will read just now, just now, just now.
When we do just now, the salah is over. What happened? I was sitting at Kofteji Yusuf, subhanallah. By the way, the food was really good there.
May Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala grant us ease. Allah grant us ease. Really the brothers here, they took me to a very beautiful place.
And I was amazed by how quick the food came and how fresh it was. So I was hoping that Allah bless them with greater barakah and bless all of us with barakah. May Allah grant us ease.
Ameen. So my brothers and sisters, if you want to impress someone you love, the love of Allah should be higher than all of that. So you should want to do whatever is going to make Allah happy.
And what will make Allah happy? When you make others, when you treat them with respect, you make them happy, Allah will make you happy. Do you know something known as:
To make a believer happy. You make them happy, something. You put happiness in the heart of a believer. That is such a big act of worship. With us, we make people sad.
The wives, the husbands are sad, the children, the parents are sad, the brothers and sisters are sad, everyone is sad. The only people who are happy are those who are our business partners making money from us. They are happy, right? May Allah make it such that we are honest in every way.
So, this is the reason why I started with Salaam. And I wanted to talk about Salaam because of the hadith of love. It is connected to Salaam.
And I wanted to also mention Surah Al-Fatiha because it is how Allah chose to start the Qur'an. And for us as Muslims, the most important thing is to be filled with goodness, compassion, love and kindness. We will not be able to build bridges unless we are filled with love.
That does not mean you need to give up your religion. You need to give up your faith. No.
You must stay on your faith. But you must love for others what you love for yourself. And you must want to care for them the same way you would like them to care for you.
Conclusion
May Allah protect us if a natural disaster happens. We don't ask people, sorry, what nationality are you? What religion are you? What sect are you? What this are you? No. We will help all the people.
One man asked me, will we help animals as well? We are Muslims. Do we believe in helping animals? So I said, yes, we will help animals. But Muslims believe to prioritize.
If a dog and a man are drowning, who will you save first? We will save both, insha Allah. But I will start off with who? The dog or the human? The human, right? Please say yes. Masha Allah.
Don't worry, it's not your mother-in-law. It's okay. I'm just telling you because you are saying no. Meaning you are quiet. So, you will start with the human. But in your heart, you must have niya, intention, that insha Allah, I will save the dog also.
When you are finished, go back. Don't worry, at that time, the dog stops to bite. It doesn't bite.
So, we are both drowning, meaning human and animal. Islam teaches you to want to save both. But you start off with the human being.
Then, when you are still okay, jump in again and get the animal, insha Allah. But we are taught this love. It doesn't mean I need to become an animal because I love animals.
No, it doesn't mean I need to change my faith because I want to show love. You show it with kindness, with compassion, with care. You care for people.
I want to end with one small reminder. I have spoken for exactly one hour. But like I told you at the beginning, there is a whistle to be blown.
We have at the end of every match, they call it injury time, okay? So, I will go ahead. Injury time will be three minutes, okay? Look, my beloved brothers and sisters, the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) has given us so much. He has taught us a lot.
He has actually been the mercy that Allah sent to us. When we are compassionate with that love, that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) has instilled in us about for all the creatures, we will be able to build, we will be able to succeed, we will be able to open every door that there is through that love. The Prophet صلی الله عليه وسلم has also come about with the model.
He has shown us how to do this. When you care for people, you care for things. When you are kind towards people, you are kind towards animals, Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala will definitely, definitely give you from His kindness.
Like I said, today on the globe, we definitely need to build these bridges. We need to learn to respect one another. It doesn't mean that because I love people who are not Muslim.
Is it possible to love someone who is not a Muslim? Is it possible? Yes, definitely. Definitely it is possible. The Qur'an speaks about your parents, if they are not Muslim.
Quranic Verse on Non-Muslim Parents
Allah says, "That is a love that is there completely, we understand it. Allah put it in your heart, you will love them, but you are trying with them. If they ask you to do something, you will listen to them."
But when they ask you to do something against Allah's instruction, then you respectfully excuse yourself. You excuse yourself, but you continue to live with them in goodness and in kindness. It does not mean they are not Muslim, so I don't love them.
I love them because they are my parents, or she is my wife perhaps. May Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala grant us a deep understanding. And may Allah bless all of you.
May Allah bless you.
Closing Dua
May Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala grant us the ability to love for His sake, to be kind to all of His creatures, and to build bridges of understanding and compassion in our communities and beyond.
May Allah soften our hearts with His mercy and fill them with genuine love and care for one another. May Allah make us among those who spread peace, kindness, and goodness wherever we go.
May Allah bless our families, our communities, and all of humanity with His love, mercy, and guidance.
"Our Lord, grant us goodness in this world, goodness in the hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the fire." Reference: Quran 2:201
Ameen Ya Rabb al-Alameen.
"And may Allah send His peace, blessings and salutations upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and companions."
End of Khutbah