Khutbah: Hamza Bhai Assalamu Alaikum

(Praise be to Allah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the ne, having no partner. And I bear witness that !uhammad is His slave and !essenger".

( you who believe# $ear Allah as He should be feared, and die not e%cept in a state of Islam "[Aal Imraan 3:103],

( you who believe# &eep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always" the truth".' [al-Ahzaab 33:70]. How do I improve my character( )his is a *uestion asked by many who are only all talk. +umber one thing is to straight up stop doing bad things. ,on't talk about adding goods until you get rid of the bad deeds. -ou can't talk about giving a medicine until you stop bleeding. ,oesn.t make any sense. -ou have to start lowering your ga/e when walking on the street0 you must first gain your humanity first, and then embellish and beautify your life with good deeds. )hose simple small things, that perfect your prayer, memori/e the few supplications, try to be honest in the work place, be kind to your mother. )hese are not complicated things. 1ome people ask what does our 2reator ask from us, why does H3 want this from me( ,oes it benefit HI!( It's actually a very good *uestion. ne of Allah's names is Al45hani. 5hani means one who doesn.t need anything. In an ayah Allah tells us to do certain things and He tells us that he is Al45hani6 7 7.And I did not create the 8inn and mankind e%cept to worship !e .1urat Adh4,h9riy9t, Ayah :;

<)o Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth. And indeed, Allah is the $ree of need, the Praiseworthy.7 1urah Ha8, Ayah ;=. He is free of need. We humans are the one's that are bankrupt. Allah doesn.t need anything, and if you do a few good deeds, Allah will make you 5hani, He will make you free of need. He will shower you in huge blessings. +ot only are good deeds beneficial to us because they are themselves like medicines, but they bring with them bonuses in this world and the ne%t world.

And Allah wants to lighten for you >your difficulties?0 and mankind was created weak. 1urah An4+isaa, Ayah =.
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W3 think we are making life easier for ourselves by committing sins and we believe we are relieving our stress by partying and committing atrocities, which do nothing e%cept add to our afflictions# We are only making it harder. Allah wants ease for us and Allah wants to take the burden off, but we 8ust don't understand because we are too weak and cannot control our futile temptations. AlHamdulillah was Salatu Wassalamu ala Rasulullah @uran at $a8rA ne way to improve your character is to wake up at $a8r time and pray. I want to share with you a small section from one of the very beautiful passages of surah al Israa, 1urah Al Israa is surah number BC of the @uran, in which Allah talks about the value of the @uran itself and the institution that helps us to e%perience the @uran. ne thing is to learn the language of the @uran, study its )afseer, its recitation, and memori/e it, but the @uran is really e%perienced in 1alah itself. Allah says 4

3stablish the salaah < akeme us salata < < ledulukish shamse el'a gasekel lail7 actually means from the time the sun start getting loose and it start sinking , meaning aroung magrib time you know you make sure , you make the magrib e%actly on the time . <el'a gasakel lail7 all the way at the end , towards you know when the sun completely gone and its depth of +ight. < Wa @uran al fa8r < He (Allah" dint call salaat al fa8r like establish the prayer in magrib , establish the prayer esha when its really dark at night. Dut when He (Allah" come at fa8r , He dint call even salaatul $a8r , He says <wa @uran al fa8r7 the @uran of fa8r . ne of the benefit is that of course we should recite e%tra @uran at fa8r , but there is something special about me as person , me as !uslim developing relation with the @uran specially at fa8r , so the advice I give myself and this advice I am sharing with all of you . As if you can make fa8r institution in your life, set time aside for making good for fa8r salaah , young men that listening to this# go make to salaah at mas8id , and the days when you do you sit there and you recite @uran a little bit , if u can dedicate that time and make that time in your life then you will notice the

spiritual benefits and the worldly benefits of doing that immediately . < Inna @uran al fa8re kaa'na mash hooda'a7 Allah says that @uran at fa8r in same ayah, +o doubt about it , it is witness. )his is such a beautiful thing to say because the word <mashood7 means, which is witnessed. )he praying of $a8r at its right time, the @uran you recited is witnessed. Dut witnessed by whom( $a8r time is the hour of the day in which most people are sleeping, so when somebody is walking for prayer, driving for prayer, +obody sees them. Dut Allah says that's the time is <mashood7, it is being witnessed. Dut usually the things that are <mashood7, the things that are being witnessed are in middle of the day# Dut the mas8id is not the popular place at $a8r time, at least not for most of us. Dut Allah says it is being witnessed6 but the *uestion is witnessed by who( +ot by other people who are sleeping# +ot by the people who are in gafalah, the people of heedlessness, not by the people who sleep, but rather by the Angels that are recording our deeds, rather by the Allah himself who making note of this slave that is coming and leaving his sleep. )hus praying waking early for $a8r is very powerful thing0 so try to take this advice and wake up for $a8r# nce you make a habit all of this and you try to implement it even a little bit, you will start seeing its benefits immediately. -ou start to see your mood lightens up, your days run smoother, what you can accomplish in a day will increase, and Allah will install barakah in time your time. I pray to Allah to make us a people of the @uran and the people who are really able to take advantage of the times that Allah offers his special assistance to us. Allah, we have wronged ourselves. 1o please forgive us. Eerily there is no one who can protect us from the conse*uences of sinning. Allah, please enter us into your paradise and protect us from your Hellfire. Allah, make our parents proud of us and make us successful in this world and the ne%t. Allah# Dring into harmony the hearts of !uslims, unite their forces, make righteous their leaders, and unite their word on the truth. Allah# Improve the conditions of our !uslim brothers and sisters in all countries. Allah# Improve their conditions in 1yria, in 3gypt, in Palestine, in Pakistan and all around the world. Allah# 5ather them around -our )ruth and5uidance. Allah# 1pare their blood, reassure them, feed the hungry people among them, preserve their dignity and honor, strengthen their hearts, and grant them power and victory over their oppressors# Allah# Fift the siege around them# Allah# Dring an end to their suffering#