الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا”
مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ
“وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
“All praise is to Allah. We praise him, we seek His help, His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil within ourselves and of our actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. Whomsoever Allah leads astray, none can guide him.
I testify there is no God but Allah alone, without any partners, and that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is His servant and messenger.”
Welcome to the Friday Khutbah! A weekly series on the AlMaghrib Journal, based on sermons delivered by our esteemed instructors! We hope you find it beneficial!
Some of the ‘Ulema called the nafs “the most intense battleground of any human being.”
Conquer it, and no other struggle will overwhelm you.
Fail to recognise it as your adversary, and you will continue to pass the blame elsewhere; toward the Shaytan, the evil eye, or even black magic.
Our first enemy is not an external devil but the undisciplined soul that clamours for immediate gratification.
Misplaced Blame and the Limited Power of Shaytan
The Shaytan is al-waswas al-khannas, the insidious whisperer who retreats the moment we remember Allah.
A single adhan, a short recitation of Quran, or the phrase “aʿudhu billah” sends him fleeing.
His power over you is limited to nothing more than whispers, at the end of the day, whether or not you listen to those whispers is your own choice.
On the Day of Judgement, the Shaytan will declare:
“…I did not have any authority over you. I only called you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; blame yourselves…” [Quran, 14:22]
Accountability and the Master Istighfar
When you constantly blame outside forces for your faults, your spiritual growth stalls.
The Quran never attributes human sin to someone else. Even when our father Adam (A.S) ate from the forbidden tree, the Quran says “…Adam disobeyed his Lord…” [Quran 20:121].
The Prophet ﷺ told us:
“All of the children of Adam are sinners, and the best sinners are those who repent.” [Sunan at-Tirmidhi]
As such, he ﷺ taught us many supplications to invoke Allah’s mercy and forgiveness, among them Sayyid al-Istighfar, the best way of seeking forgiveness, and an integral part of this du’a is recognizing your own mistakes: abuʾu bi dhambi “I acknowledge all my sins.”
Progress begins with owning your mistakes.
A Lifelong Jihad Against the Self
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ defined the true mujahid not as the warrior on horseback but as “the one who struggles against his own nafs in obedience to Allah.” Likewise, he described the real muhajir (emigrant) as the person who abandons sins. Such inner jihad is never-ending; discipline cannot be seasonal or selective.
Desire and Discipline
Discipline is not simply avoiding the haram, but having self-control even with the halal.
ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab once saw a Companion hurrying through the marketplace to buy meat, and he admonished him for how overly eager he seemed, “Every time you desire something, you buy it?”
Nothing haram was involved, yet ʿUmar’s point was clear: train yourself not to obey every impulse.
The Prophet ﷺ warned us:
“The worst vessel the son of Adam fills is his stomach.” [Sunan Ibn Majah]
He ﷺ then advised that only a few bites are needed to stand upright and that if we must fill it, to leace one-third for food, one-third for drink, one-third for air. That is a maximum, not a baseline.
Anyone who has faced tarawih after a light iftar knows how effortless the prayer feels; and anyone who has prayed after a bloated meal knows the opposite. This is true throughout the year. The more we fill our stomachs, the less energy we have in our ibadah.
Perseverance that Terrifies the Devil
Our goal should be that when Shaytan sees us in such consistent obedience to Allah, he ultimately despairs and leaves us alone.
Continuous obedience is both self-discipline and a repellent to the Devil.
“O Allah, let us recognise truth as clear truth and grant us the strength to follow it. Let us recognise falsehood as clear falsehood and grant us the strength to abstain from it.”
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