Praise be to Allah, who opened for His servants the door of repentance and promised those who repent forgiveness and acceptance. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
O Allah, send prayers, peace and blessings upon him, and upon his family and all his Companions.
To proceed: fear Allah, O servants of Allah…
And know that among the greatest things that cut off a servant’s path to Allah are: a sin he takes lightly, an obligation he neglects, or a command he is sluggish in carrying out.
The Reality of Sin in the Balance of the Qur’an
Many people confine sins to the outward prohibitions…
But the Qur’an presents us with a greater and more eloquent example:
The Example of Adam, Peace Be upon Him… The Root of Disobedience Is Failing to Comply
Allah the Exalted said:
“And Adam disobeyed his Lord and erred” (Taha 20:121).
Did he kill? Did he commit fornication? Did he steal?
No… his disobedience was only a failure to comply with the divine command:
“Do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers” (al-Baqarah 2:35).
If failing to comply was the cause of his leaving Paradise,
then what of abandoning the prayer?
And what of abandoning zakah?
And what of abandoning dutifulness to parents?
And what of the one who thinks that he “does nothing forbidden” while he falls short in the greatest of obligations?
The Example of the Hypocrites in Staying Behind from Jihad
They did not drink wine,
they did not commit fornication,
they did not steal…
But they abandoned a great obligation.
Allah the Exalted said:
“And those who had lied to Allah and His Messenger sat [at home]” (al-Tawbah 9:90).
So abandoning the obligation was called:
- corruption,
- sin,
- and hypocrisy in practice.
The Reality of Many People
A young man does not go near the outward forbidden things,
but he:
- abandons the Fajr prayer,
- forsakes the Qur’an,
- is undutiful to his parents,
- withholds the zakah of his wealth,
- and forsakes the gatherings of knowledge.
This man, O servants of Allah, is disobedient, because abandoning what is commanded is a sin just like doing what is forbidden.
The Effects of Sins
Deprivation of obedience and its sweetness: Sins remove blessings, bring on punishments, and cause worry, grief and tightness of the chest.
Loss of divine success (tawfiq): The servant may see doors closing in his face for no apparent reason… while in his heart is a sin cutting him off from the help that makes things easy.
The chain of sins: For part of the punishment of an evil deed is the evil deed that follows it.
Their Effect on the Heart and on Society
Allah the Exalted said:
“Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness]” (al-Rum 30:41).
Even the whole of society is corrupted by sins.
A Real-Life Example
A young man had kept up the Fajr prayer for years,
then he fell into a forbidden glance…
and he was deprived of Fajr for days.
We do not say this is a definitive law,
but it is a general pattern to which experience bears witness:
Obedience opens… and disobedience closes.
I say these words of mine and seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you…
The Second Khutbah
Praise be to Allah, and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah.
O servants of Allah,
after knowing the danger of sin, we now come to action.
First: Prevention Before Falling
1. Worship
He ﷺ said in the hadith qudsi:
“And My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary deeds until I love him…”
And when Allah loves him, He helps him to abandon sins.
2. Leaving a Corrupt Environment
The scholar said to the killer of a hundred:
“Leave your land, for it is a land of evil.”
3. Beware of Beginnings
Allah the Exalted said:
“And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse” (al-Isra’ 17:32).
That is: do not even begin.
Second: The Cure After Falling
1. The Conditions of Repentance
As established among the people of knowledge:
- remorse,
- giving up the sin,
- resolving not to return to it,
- and restoring the rights of others, if any were wronged.
2. Following the Evil Deed with a Good One
He ﷺ said:
“And follow the evil deed with a good deed; it will wipe it out.”
And al-Ghazali says:
“Just as the darkness of the night cannot stand against the light of the sun…
so the darkness of disobedience cannot stand against the light of obedience.”
3. The Door of Hope Is Wide
Allah the Exalted said:
“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair’” (al-Zumar 39:53).
And in the hadith qudsi:
“O son of Adam, if you were to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth, and then meet Me without associating anything with Me, I would come to you with forgiveness nearly as great as it.”
Begin from today:
- a sincere repentance,
- a steady daily portion of the Qur’an,
- one step of reform (keeping ties of kinship, giving charity, leaving an environment, praying Fajr).
O Allah, accept our repentance with a sincere repentance, and forgive us all our sins: the small and the great of them, the secret and the open of them, the first and the last of them.
O Allah, set right the corruption of our hearts, purify our limbs, and turn away from us trials, what is apparent of them and what is concealed.
O Allah, heal our sick, have mercy on our dead, and support the oppressed among the Muslims.
O Allah, guide those in authority over the Muslims to what You love and are pleased with.
And send prayers and peace, O Allah, upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.