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Khutbahs
Do People Have Hope In You? | Dr. Omar Suleiman
Want to know what kind of Muslim you truly are? Pay attention to how people react around you. In this powerful message, Dr. Omar Suleiman reminds us that good character isn't just about personal piety. It's also about being someone others feel safe around. He contrasts this with the painful reality of Muslims who have let their brothers and sisters in Gaza down, not through direct harm, but through silence and inaction when they were most needed.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
We begin by praising Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala by bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for Him.
And we bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His final messenger. We ask Allah to send His peace and blessings upon Him, the prophets and messengers that
came before Him, His family and companions that served alongside Him, and those that follow in His blessed path until the day of judgment. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma Ameen.
My dear brothers and sisters, I begin with a question.
When you walk into a room or when your name is invoked amongst those that know you, what is it that people expect of you?
What is the first thing that comes to people's minds when your name is brought up? What is the sentiment when you walk into a room? How do people react by your presence?
I leave that question for you. And I take you to the beginning of an interesting hadith from Abu Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) where the messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was sitting with his companions.
And he said (ﷺ), shall I not tell you how to distinguish the
best amongst you from the worst amongst you? And no one answered him (ﷺ).
Shall I not distinguish for you the best of you from the worst of you? And they didn't answer him again.
So he said a third time (ﷺ), shall I not distinguish for you the best of you from the worst of you?
And they all stayed silent until finally they asked the Prophet (ﷺ), yes, O Messenger of Allah. Tell us. Distinguish for us. Tell us who are the best of us and who are the worst of us. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said, al-muslimu man saliman nasu min lisanihi wa yadihi. The Muslim is the one from whom other people feel safe from their tongue and from their hand and the mu'min is the one
from whom people feel entrusted or feel a sense of trust with their property and with their blood and with their selves. Notice also that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he mentioned the tongue before he mentioned the hand and some of the scholars mentioned that of the benefits of that is that we harm more frequently with the tongue than we do with the hands. Our tongues are more abusive in general than our hands. Some of them said on top of that, the harm that is caused by the tongue can be greater than the harm that is caused by the hand. When you harm someone in regards to their honor, when you harm
someone in regards to their personality, in regards to their character, in regards to their integrity, when you slander that can be more damaging with the tongue than it is to physically harm that person. The proof of that Allah Azza wa Jal likens al-ghiba likens backbiting to ayuhibbu ahadukum an ya'kul lahma akhihi mayta. Would one of you like to physically eat the flesh of his brother dead? And so ghiba namima can harm someone to an extent that they would not even want to live. You would take their reputation and their integrity and so the tongue can do more damage than the hands can do. Now
I leave this hadith to the side because it's actually not the subject Let's go back to the original hadith that I opened a box for you insha'Allah Ta'ala and now with that layer, you can interpret it insha'Allah Ta'ala in the intended meaning of this khutbah Shall I not distinguish for you the best of you from the worst of you? He said (ﷺ) khayrukum, the best of you man yurja khayruhu wa yu'min sharr He said (ﷺ), the best of you are those from whom good things are hoped for. People expect good from you
People expect good from you and people feel safe from your harm. They feel safe from your evil The expectation that people have of you is a good expectation and people feel like they can trust that negative qualities will not emanate from you in a way that will be harmful to them He said (ﷺ), the worst of you are those man yurja khayruhu from whom no good is expected, wa yu'min sharr and no evil is considered to be protected from. This hadith
is a profound narration to actually outline for yourself a methodology of life in regards to other people. What do people expect from you? What do people think of from you? When people interact with you, what is it that they hope to gain or do they have no hope in you at all? And I take you to the person who manifested this as he did everything else (ﷺ) in the best of ways (ﷺ) before he was Rasulullah before he was the messenger of Allah, he was already as-sadiq al-ameen (ﷺ)
the honest and the trustworthy one, the truthful one (ﷺ) by word and by deed. And I take you to an incident before Islam that you all know when Quraysh argued over who will place the black stone back in its place as they rebuilt the Ka'bah and they decided upon whoever enters next into the haram and the prophet (ﷺ) entered not as Rasulullah (ﷺ) because he wasn't yet appointed as Rasulullah but he entered as Muhammad (ﷺ) who attained certain reputations
amongst the people and as soon as they saw him, they said al-ameen radina al-ameen radina, it's the truthful one it's the trustworthy one, we're all satisfied end of story, we all know that he's not going to do anything harmful, we all know that whatever he decides will be good for us we all know that he's not going to be driven by the tribal lowliness that drives the rest of us we all know that he's different, we expect good from him, al-ameen radina they already submitted themselves to the outcome because they said we know who he is, we expect only good things
from him, he's a person who brings trustworthiness and integrity to the table every time he walks into the room, it doesn't matter what's being discussed it doesn't matter what the issue is, we know that this is a person from whom we hope good from whom we expect integrity from whom we expect trustworthiness that means that even before he makes the decision even if I'm not going to agree with the decision that he makes, I will know that the place that it came from is good, so I will trust that insha'Allah some khair will come from it, because he's a good person because he's a person that operates out of a good paradigm
he's a person that operates from a good heart, al-ameen radina and he didn't disappoint (ﷺ) the prophet (ﷺ) found a solution to the issue that made everyone satisfied, everyone hold a sheet, put the black stone and we all put it together thereby eliminating the negative feelings that could come, had the prophet (ﷺ) used logic to say well look I am from Banu Hashim but before we put the black stone, everyone perfume it together or you know, it only makes sense because Banu Hashim, they feed the pilgrims maybe we'll write in the contract that the next time that there's a renovation of the Ka'bah, then Banu Adi
or another tribe will be able to have the opportunity you know make them happy next time you'll have the opportunity but this time it will be us people would have understood because al-ameen radina we only expect good from this man, we only hope for good from this man I bring that now to you and I what do people expect from you when you walk into the room do people think to themselves oh boy now we have to walk on eggshells don't say anything because he's easily offended
he has a temper
and if he loses his temper then he'll start to be abusive with his tongue the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned that of the worst of people the one whom people don't even advise because they don't want to deal with his foul mouth
A'ishah (رضي الله عنها) was shocked that the Prophet (ﷺ) allowed for a person to sit in his presence and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) he was repulsed by the behavior of this man in general
but the Prophet (ﷺ) didn't say anything to him he just let him come in do what he had to do and then he left A'ishah (رضي الله عنها) says a minute ago you were saying that this is a horrible person a person who's foul
and the Prophet (ﷺ) said ya A'ishah the worst of people are those who people don't even advise anymore ittiqaa fuhshi because they don't want to deal with their foul mouth
people stop giving them nasiha stop giving them advice because they don't expect any good from them they've given up hope in them we just don't want to deal with their temper we don't want to set them off so we don't say anything to them
it's a bad position to be in and by the way notice that the Prophet (ﷺ) is putting the onus on the one who has garnered that reputation
not on those who act accordingly it's not the rest of the people's fault it's your fault that you've set that tone
and you have to be introspective and ask why are people afraid of you why are people afraid to advise you
why are people afraid to correct you why is it that perhaps your wife and your children your friends your siblings sometimes even your parents just let it go
we don't want to deal with it it's exhausting it's a burden just khalas let it go just move on it's like you want to survive every meeting with that person you want to survive the presence of that person
the opposite of what the Prophet (ﷺ) was knowing that he was by the way the most important human being the focal point the center of the gravity of the Muslims after he became Rasulullah (ﷺ)
but you know what the young girl knew that she could walk up to him (ﷺ) and grab his hand and walk him around Medina the young companions knew that they could sit with the Prophet (ﷺ) and joke with him
people knew that they could come to the Prophet (ﷺ) and they could bring their concerns to him he did not capture them (ﷺ) out of fear but he captured them out of awe
he did not cause them to be still out of cruelty he caused them to be still out of mercy and out of love (ﷺ) he captured them with his rahma with his compassion not with his cruelty
they were like people with birds on their heads when he would speak (ﷺ) sitting around him not because they feared his sword but because they admired his tongue (ﷺ) they wanted to hear what he had to say there is a different way to have presence
to be someone that people hope for good from you now what else does this mean there are some of us that maybe we backbite so easily that people don't want to hear you backbite anymore
people don't want to hear your abuse anymore they don't want to hear your tongue anymore Mashallah I see everyone is looking down we love the kids that's okay Alhamdulillah Rabbul Alameen people don't want to backbite anymore and they don't want to hear you backbite
and so let's not set the person off and hear from their bad manners or hear from their bad tongue the other side of that though dear brothers and sisters
the best situation to be in the most lofty position to be in is one where when people see you they say Alhamdulillah
this is a person that brings khair he only brings good with him meaning what if there is a need in the community we know that this person is going to spend on it Inshallah
if there's someone that needs help we know that this person is going to be the first one to volunteer and say let me help
if there's someone in trouble we expect that this is the person that will rush to the aid before they're even asked to because they operate from a paradigm of ihsan of excellence for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala
and so I say to the brothers and sisters if you're that person who gets called upon frequently if you're that person who people when there is a sadaqa and need and they all look towards you
or someone needs help or something needs fixing and everybody looks at you don't look at that and say oh God here we go again say Alhamdulillah ana laha I will be for it
I will be for it for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) never looked around and said they always look at Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) was already at the place that you would have asked him to be at before you even thought about it Umar (رضي الله عنه) was not looking around to see if someone else was setting a trend
Uthman (رضي الله عنه) was not in the fundraiser seeing is someone else going to spend first Ya Rasulullah I've got it Ali (رضي الله عنه) was not looking to some of the elder companions to see who's going to stand up to the oppressor on the other side
said I've got it Man yurja khayruhu good is expected from that person you have to set the tone you have to set the reputation
you have to live the life to where people expect that from you wa yu'man sharruhu and people don't expect evil from you to the point that when you slip and you backbite people look at you and say that's not like you
if you lose your temper people say are you okay because we're not used to this from you you don't usually raise your voice what's wrong you have to make those qualities uncommon of you
to where when they actually show themselves there's a seriousness that's involved and either something's really wrong with you or something's really wrong with the situation that requires and demands you acting out of character
but what's the expectation do people expect you to help do people expect you to stand forward do people expect you to rise or do people on the opposite spectrum expect you to be harsh to be hard
to let down to be evil what do people expect from you dear brothers and sisters I leave you with one last thought in this regard when you look at our people in Gaza today
may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala give them victory perseverance relief may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala feed them as they are hungry may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala clothe them may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant them safety from him
may Allah Azza wa Jal put in them the ability to rise forward may Allah strengthen their feet and strengthen their hearts they will tell you
we expected our enemies to act this way we don't expect anything different from them there is no disappointment in them because it was the expectations
we have tajrubah we've dealt with them we've experienced them we know their cruelty we know their evil we're let down by the Muslims
our disappointment is in those from whom we hoped good our disappointment is from those who share the same faith as us our disappointment is from those around us
who are watching us starve who claim to care about us and the only thing we have to offer them is another statement more words and not enough action and by the way
they have not lost hope in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala they're not looking to Allah and saying oh Allah why have you forsaken us they're looking to the ummah and saying where are you oh ummah of Muhammad (ﷺ) where are you oh people who claim to care about us
they are looking to surrounding nations and they're looking to their ummah abroad and they're wondering where we are and so let's also let this be a reminder that the expectations for us are different
than the expectations of our enemies our enemies are who we thought they were they act exactly as they say they will act they tell you exactly what they're going to do and they do it in the most evil of ways but we have to hold each other
to a higher expectation as an ummah we have to hold ourselves to a higher sense of accountability and entrust ourselves to do better may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to be better for our brothers and sisters
may Allah Azza wa Jal make us amongst those from whom he expects good and reward us for that good may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgive us for our inevitable shortcomings may Allah grant us these and may Allah accept the message of the Muslims
so accept it, it is the most forgiving and merciful


































































































































































































































































































