السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ، وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ، وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا، وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا. مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ.
وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَىٰ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَىٰ آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ.
أَمَّا بَعْدُ:
My dear brothers and sisters,
There are some words that we repeat so often that we almost stop hearing them.
Rizq. Barakah. Tawakkul. Duʿā.
We say them. We write them. We decorate our homes with them. We send them in messages. We say, “May Allah put barakah in it.”
But what is barakah?
Barakah is not only more. Sometimes barakah is less that becomes enough. Sometimes barakah is little that feeds many. Sometimes barakah is water in the desert. Sometimes barakah is a date in the hand of a hungry person. Sometimes barakah is one honest income that carries a family with dignity. Sometimes barakah is a child who grows with light, even if the house is simple. Sometimes barakah is a school, a masjid, a home, or a community that does not have much, but whatever it has is used with taqwā. And sometimes barakah is Allah showing His servant that the visible means are small, but the Lord of the means is not small.
My dear brothers and sisters,
The modern heart has a problem. It believes too much in the visible. It believes in numbers. It believes in capacity. It believes in resources. It believes in donors. It believes in storage. It believes in rainfall charts. It believes in budgets. It believes in who we know, what we own, what is in the account, what is in the cupboard, what is in the pot, what is in the well.
All of that has its place.
Islam does not teach us to be careless. Islam does not teach us to abandon planning. Islam does not teach us to leave the camel untied and call that tawakkul. But Islam also refuses to let the heart worship the means.
The means are real. But the means are not Lord.
The staff is not Allah. The rock is not Allah. The cloud is not Allah. The pot is not Allah. The hand is not Allah. The saint is not Allah.
Everything and everyone is needy before Allah.
And yet Allah may place His barakah through a staff, through a rock, through a cloud, through a pot, through a handful of dates, through the duʿā of a Prophet, through the sincerity of a hidden servant, through the charity of a farmer, through the tears of a mother, through the small act of a believer who has almost nothing except trust.
This is not superstition. This is tawḥīd.
The Qur’an gives us the anchor:
كُلَّمَا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا زَكَرِيَّا ٱلْمِحْرَابَ وَجَدَ عِندَهَا رِزْقًۭا ۖ
قَالَ يَـٰمَرْيَمُ أَنَّىٰ لَكِ هَـٰذَا ۖ
قَالَتْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
Every time Zakariyyā عليه السلام entered the chamber Maryam عليها السلام in the miḥrāb, he found provision with her. He asked, “O Maryam, where did this come from?” She said, “It is from Allah. Surely Allah provides for whom He wills without measure.” Sūrat Āl ʿImrān 3:37.
Look at the question.
أَنَّىٰ لَكِ هَـٰذَا
Where did this come from? If it was not asked by a Prophet, that is the question of the limited mind. But the Prophets ask questions to help teach us.
Where is the source? Where is the route? Who brought it? How did it enter? What is the explanation?
Maryam عليها السلام does not give a long explanation. She does not say: perhaps someone left it here. She does not say: I arranged it. She does not say: I know how this works.
She says:
هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ
It is from Allah. That is not ignorance. That is knowledge. Because the deepest knowledge is to see the Giver behind the gift.
The fruit may be in the basket, but it is from Allah. The salary may come from the employer, but it is from Allah. The child may be born through parents, but the soul is from Allah. The rain may fall from the cloud, but the cloud is commanded by Allah. The food may be cooked in the kitchen, but the provision is from Allah. The doctor may treat, but healing is from Allah. The teacher may teach, but guidance is from Allah. The farmer may plant, but growth is from Allah. The believer must learn to see through the means without denying the means.
This is the balance. Do not deny the cup. But do not worship the cup. Do not deny the hand. But do not forget the One who opens the hand.
My dear brothers and sisters,
The Qur’an does not only tell us that Allah provides. It shows us how Allah breaks the arrogance of calculation.
Mūsā عليه السلام asks for water for his people. Allah commands him to strike the rock with his staff. A rock, by itself, is not a spring. A staff, by itself, does not make water. But when Allah commands, the hard thing becomes soft, the dry thing becomes flowing, and twelve springs burst forth for twelve tribes. Then Allah says: eat and drink from the provision of Allah, and do not spread corruption in the earth. Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:60.
Notice the lesson.
Water came from a rock. But the command after water was not: become arrogant. It was not: now you are special, so behave as you wish. It was: eat, drink, and do not corrupt the earth. Abundance without adab becomes corruption. Provision without gratitude becomes entitlement. Barakah without humility becomes a test.
My dear brothers and sisters,
Maryam عليها السلام appears again in Sūrat Maryam. She is alone. She is in pain. She is carrying a burden that people will not understand. And Allah says to her: do not grieve. Your Lord has placed a stream beneath you. Then she is told to shake the trunk of the date palm so fresh dates fall for her. Sūrat Maryam 19:24–26.
This is one of the most beautiful balances in the Qur’an.
Allah gives a stream without her digging. But He commands her to shake the palm. The stream teaches us that Allah can provide without visible effort. The shaking teaches us that the servant must still move.
Even if the movement is small. Even if the body is weak. Even if the heart is tired. Even if the tree seems too strong. Shake the trunk. Take the means.
But do not think the dates fell because your hand was powerful. They fell because Allah is generous.
My dear brothers and sisters,
ʿĪsā عليه السلام was asked by the disciples about a table spread from heaven. The request was about food, but it was not only food. It was reassurance. It was witnessing. It was the heart wanting to taste that Allah is near. ʿĪsā عليه السلام prayed, and Allah answered, while warning that a sign increases responsibility. Sūrat al-Mā’idah 5:112–115.
Miracles are not entertainment. Karāmāt are not theatre. Wonders are not toys. When Allah shows you a sign, the sign is not asking you to become louder. It is asking you to become more obedient.
My dear brothers and sisters,
The shortest sūrah in the Qur’an opens with abundance:
إِنَّآ أَعْطَيْنَـٰكَ ٱلْكَوْثَرَ
“Indeed, We have given you al-Kawthar.”
Al-Kawthar is abundant good. Sūrat al-Kawthar begins not with what the Prophet ﷺ lacks, but with what Allah has given him.
This is a Qur’anic education of the heart. The world may say: you are cut off. Allah says: you have been given abundance. The world may count your enemies. Allah tells you to count His gifts. The world may measure your outward resources. Allah teaches you that the heart connected to Him is not poor.
My dear brothers and sisters,
Rasoolullah ﷺ did not teach abundance as a theory only. Allah manifested barakah through him again and again.
Sayyiduna Jābir رضي الله عنه narrates that they had only a little water. The Prophet ﷺ placed his blessed hand in the vessel, spread his fingers, and called the people. Water gushed from between his fingers. The people drank and performed wuḍūʾ. But listen to the words of the Prophet ﷺ:
الْبَرَكَةُ مِنَ اللَّهِ
“The blessing is from Allah.”
That one sentence protects the heart from exaggeration and dryness at the same time. The water came through his blessed hand. But the barakah was from Allah. This is our creed.
We love Rasoolullah ﷺ. We honour his miracles. We send ṣalāh and salām upon him. But we do not make him independent of Allah. His greatness is that he is the perfect servant of Allah.
عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
His servant and His messenger.
My dear brothers and sisters,
At the trench, there was hunger. Not slight hunger. Real hunger. Stones were tied to stomachs.
Sayyiduna Jābir رضي الله عنه prepared a small amount of food. He thought perhaps the Prophet ﷺ would come with one or two men. But the Prophet ﷺ invited the people. The pot remained. The bread remained. They ate. Food was left. Then the Prophet ﷺ told the household to eat and gift to others because people were hungry. This is barakah. Not hoarding. Not panic. Not “close the door, there may not be enough.” The Prophetic way turns a small pot into a community table.
Again, at the home of Abū Ṭalḥah and Umm Sulaym رضي الله عنهما, a few barley loaves became food for seventy or eighty men by the blessing Allah placed through His Messenger ﷺ.
Food is not only calories. Food can carry mercy. Food can carry duʿā. Food can carry family love. Food can carry health. Food can carry the Sunnah. Food can carry barakah.
This is why the believer does not throw food carelessly. This is why the believer feeds with dignity. This is why the believer says Bismillah. This is why the believer shares.
A table without remembrance may be full but empty. A table with Allah may be simple but alive.
My dear brothers and sisters,
There is the report of Umm Mālik رضي الله عنها. She used to send clarified butter to the Prophet ﷺ in a small skin. Later, when her children asked for something to eat with their bread, she would find clarified butter in that same skin. It kept providing until she squeezed it. When she told the Prophet ﷺ, he said that had she left it, it would have continued.
SubḥānAllah.
Sometimes the lesson is not only that Allah gives. The lesson is also: do not over-handle the gift. Do not squeeze every blessing to death. Do not turn every mercy into anxiety. Do not keep checking the root of every provision until gratitude disappears. Some blessings continue because the heart is content. Some blessings shrink when the hand becomes restless.
My dear brothers and sisters,
Zamzam is another sign.
Sayyiduna Abū Dharr رضي الله عنه stayed in Makkah for many days with no food except Zamzam. He told the Prophet ﷺ that he did not feel hunger. The Prophet ﷺ said it is blessed water and that it serves as food. Water became nourishment. The ordinary became extraordinary.
But only by Allah. And rain too is in Allah’s hand.
During drought, Sayyiduna ʿUmar رضي الله عنه asked Allah for rain through the duʿā of al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib رضي الله عنه, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ. They asked Allah. Al-ʿAbbās supplicated. Rain came.
This teaches us that the duʿā of the righteous matters. But it also teaches us where the righteous turn. They do not call people to themselves. They call people to Allah.
My dear brothers and sisters,
The Prophet ﷺ also told us of a man whose garden was watered by a cloud. A voice was heard commanding the cloud to water his garden. When the man was asked what he did with his produce, he explained that he gave one-third in charity, used one-third for his family, and returned one-third into the garden.
This is one of the most important narrations for our age. Because it joins spirituality with stewardship.
Charity. Family responsibility. Reinvestment. Not waste. Not greed. Not fake piety. Not neglect.
A cloud was commanded toward a garden whose owner understood balance.
This is barakah.
A field can become worship. A budget can become worship. A farm can become worship. A school garden can become worship. A kitchen can become worship. A business can become worship. But only when it is arranged around Allah.
My dear brothers and sisters,
After the Prophets, after the Companions, there are also reports from the pious: the Tābiʿūn, the Ahl al-Bayt, and the awliyāʾ. Here we must speak with care. The Qur’an is foundation. The ṣaḥīḥ Sunnah is foundation. Reports of the pious are not equal to Qur’an and ṣaḥīḥ hadith. Some are strong. Some are acceptable as historical reports. Some are weak. Some are devotional. Some may be exaggerated. So we do not build creed on every story.
But we also do not become so dry that we deny that Allah honours whom He wills. The karāmah of a wali is not the power of the wali.
It is the generosity of Allah. The wali does not own the unseen. The wali does not control the world. The wali is not a second lord. The wali is a servant. And the greatest karāmah is not flying in the air. The greatest karāmah is istiqāmah. To remain upright. To remain humble.
To obey Allah when no one is watching. To give when the ego wants to keep. To forgive when revenge is easy. To pray when the heart is tired. To serve without needing to be seen.
My dear brothers and sisters,
It is reported about Abū Muslim al-Khawlānī رحمه الله, one of the great ascetic Tābiʿūn, that his household had no flour. He received a dirham, gave it to a beggar, and returned with a sack filled outwardly with dust or sawdust. When his wife opened it, she found fine flour. She baked from it. When he returned and saw what had happened, he wept. Reports about him also mention answered duʿā for rain and Allah making difficult water-crossings easy for him and his companions.
Why did he weep? Because the people of Allah do not become proud when Allah gives. They become smaller before Him. A miracle that increases pride is a punishment in disguise. A blessing that increases humility is a mercy.
It is also reported about Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir رحمه الله that while travelling with others, someone desired fresh cheese. Ibn al-Munkadir directed them to ask Allah, for Allah is able. They supplicated and found fresh cheese. Then someone wished for honey, and again they were directed toward Allah. Honey was found, and they ate.
Notice the teaching. He did not say: ask me. He said: ask Allah. This is the sign of a true servant. The false guide gathers hearts around himself. The true guide returns hearts to Allah.
It is also reported about Ḥabīb al-ʿAjamī رحمه الله that during famine he bought food and distributed it to the poor. When those who sold the food came seeking payment, small bags he had placed beneath his head were found filled with dirhams, and the amounts matched what was owed.
Again, the pattern is not magic. The pattern is giving. Charity opens doors that fear keeps closed. The nafs says: if I give, I will have less. Allah says: give, and I will replace. The nafs says: protect yourself by withholding. Allah teaches: protect yourself by taqwā.
My dear brothers and sisters,
There are also reports in the devotional literature of the Ahl al-Bayt about Imam ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn رحمه الله, the great-grandson of Rasoolullah ﷺ. One report tells of drought in Makkah and rain coming after his supplication at the Kaʿbah. The same passage also tells of a hidden servant connected to his household whose duʿā for rain was answered, and who feared being known by people. These are manāqib reports, not the same rank as ṣaḥīḥ hadith, but the moral is beautiful: Allah may answer the duʿā of a heart unknown to the crowd.
This is why we must not worship fame. The person whose duʿā opens a door may not be on the poster. The servant loved by Allah may be sweeping the floor. The wali may be hidden in the kitchen. The accepted one may be the one no one invites to the front. The mother making duʿā before Fajr. The teacher crying for her students. The orphan saying Alḥamdulillah with a broken heart. The old man in the corner of the masjid. The quiet donor who never writes his name. The child whose “Āmīn” is cleaner than all our speeches.
My dear brothers and sisters,
What are all these stories teaching us? They are not teaching us to abandon means.
Maryam shook the palm. Mūsā struck the rock. The Prophet ﷺ organised people in groups. The farmer moved the water through his garden.
The bird goes out in the morning hungry and returns full; it does not sit in the nest and call laziness tawakkul. Rasoolullah ﷺ taught that if people relied on Allah with true reliance, Allah would provide for them as He provides for birds: they go out empty and return full. Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī grades this report ḥasan.
So work. Plan. Plant. Teach. Cook. Save. Build. Study. Organise. Repair. Take medicine. Dig the well. Write the proposal. Prepare the lesson. Open the shop. Hold the child’s hand.
But do not let the means become your god.
That is the disease. The believer uses means with the body and trusts Allah with the heart. The believer plans without panic. The believer gives without fear. The believer works without arrogance. The believer receives without forgetting. The believer loses without despairing.
Because the believer knows:
وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ
Allah provides from where the servant does not expect.
وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُۥٓ
Whoever relies upon Allah, He is sufficient for him. Sūrat aṭ-Ṭalāq 65:3.
My dear brothers and sisters, We need to teach this in our homes.
Do not let children grow up thinking that provision comes only from salary. Let them see work. But also let them see duʿā. Let them see planning. But also let them see ṣadaqah. Let them see the shopping list. But also let them see Bismillah. Let them see food being cooked. But also let them see food being shared. Let them see that when guests come, the believer does not panic as if Allah has disappeared. Let them hear:
Allah will put barakah. Not as a slogan. As a living truth.
We need to teach this in our schools. A school is not built only by buildings, fees, timetables, and policies. Those things matter. But a school without barakah becomes noisy and hollow. A school with barakah may be simple, but children feel safe.
Teachers speak with mercy. Food is not wasted. Water is respected. The weak are protected. Truth is honoured. Beauty is cultivated. Goodness is practised. The children learn that the world is not dead matter. They learn that creation is alive with the command of Allah. They learn that rain is not only weather. Food is not only supply. Water is not only resource. A tree is not only shade. A garden is not only land. Everything is an āyah when the heart is awake.
My dear brothers and sisters,
Scarcity is not only having little. Scarcity is a way of seeing. A person can have much and still live in scarcity.
Always afraid. Always comparing. Always withholding. Always calculating. Always thinking: not enough.
Not enough money. Not enough time. Not enough people. Not enough recognition. Not enough control.
And a person can have little, but the heart is spacious. Because the heart knows Allah.
This does not mean poverty is romantic.
Hunger is hard. Debt is hard. Drought is hard. Unemployment is hard. Illness is hard.
The Prophet ﷺ cared about people’s hunger.
He fed them. He prayed for rain. He gave. He organised. He did not tell the hungry to be quiet and call that spirituality.
So we must not use tawakkul to excuse injustice. We must not use barakah to underpay people. We must not use patience to silence the oppressed.
We must not use “Allah will provide” to avoid our own duty.
No.
The believer feeds. The believer pays fairly. The believer serves. The believer shares. The believer gives water. The believer plants trees. The believer repairs the broken system.
And after doing all of that, the believer still knows: Allah is the Provider.
My dear brothers and sisters,
I believe one of the great spiritual illnesses of our time is that we have become impressed by means and unimpressed by Allah. We are impressed by wealth. Impressed by numbers. Impressed by buildings. Impressed by titles. Impressed by technology. Impressed by branding. Impressed by whoever looks powerful.
But the Qur’an keeps taking us back to the rock.
To the miḥrāb. To the palm tree. To the cloud. To the small pot. To the handful of dates. To the spring under the feet of a grieving mother. To the hidden servant. To the bird leaving hungry.
So the heart can learn again:
Allah is not absent. Allah is not distant. Allah is not waiting behind the world after the means have finished their work. The means are working only because Allah is sustaining them.
At every moment.
The fire burns because Allah permits. The water flows because Allah permits. The seed splits because Allah permits. The womb carries because Allah permits. The heart beats because Allah permits. The hand gives because Allah permits. The tongue says Alḥamdulillah because Allah permits.
So when you see abundance, say Alḥamdulillah. When you see little, say Yā Rabb put barakah. When the door opens, enter with humility. When the door closes, wait with adab. When the pot is small, say Bismillah. When the crowd is large, say Allah is enough. When the means are weak, do not despair. When the means are strong, do not become arrogant.
The means are small. Allah is great.
The cup is small. The ocean of Allah’s generosity is not small.
The hand is small. The giving of Allah is not small.
The budget is small. The command of Allah is not small.
The servant is small. The Lord is al-Kabīr.
My dear brothers and sisters,
This is the heart of barakah: To take the lawful means. To avoid sinful means. To give from what Allah gave . To ask Allah before, during, and after. To see Allah in the gift. To thank Allah when it comes. To remain with Allah if it is delayed. To never think that the visible quantity is the final truth.
Because Allah provides:
بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
Without measure. Without being trapped by our arithmetic. Without being limited by our fear. Without needing our permission. Without needing our explanation.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا، وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ، إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.
Second Khutbah
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَىٰ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَىٰ آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ.
My dear brothers and sisters,
If there is one thing I want us to carry from this khutbah, it is this: Do not be tied to the smallness of the means. Use the means. Respect the means. Purify the means.
But do not be imprisoned by the means.
Allah is the Lord of the means. The rock does not decide. The cloud does not decide. The account does not decide. The market does not decide. The people do not decide.
Allah decides.
And when Allah places barakah in something, the small becomes spacious. A few loaves feed many. A little water becomes enough. A hidden duʿā brings rain. A garden becomes a place of charity. A simple home becomes full of light. A tired teacher becomes a means of guidance. A small school becomes a place where truth, beauty, and goodness are planted. A wounded heart becomes a door to Allah.
So ask Allah for barakah. Ask Him in your food. Ask Him in your family. Ask Him in your work. Ask Him in your time. Ask Him in your children. Ask Him in your school. Ask Him in your income. Ask Him in your knowledge. Ask Him in your water. Ask Him in your land. Ask Him in your worship.
And then live in a way that invites barakah.
Leave ḥarām. Leave cheating. Leave waste. Leave arrogance. Leave showing off. Leave cruelty. Leave panic.
Give charity. Honour parents. Feed people. Share water. Teach children gratitude. Keep promises. Pay workers properly. Make duʿā before decisions.
Say Bismillah before beginning. Say Alḥamdulillah after receiving. Say Astaghfirullah when you fall short. Say Hasbiyallāh when you are afraid.
My dear brothers and sisters,
The world trains us to say: how much do we have? The Qur’an trains us to ask: who is our Lord?
The world says: count what is in your hand. The Qur’an says: remember the One who opens the hand.
The world says: there is not enough.
Maryam says:
هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ
It is from Allah.
May Allah make us people who see His signs. May Allah place barakah in our homes, our children, our food, our water, our schools, our masājid, our communities, our earnings, our time, and our worship. May Allah protect us from the arrogance of means and the laziness that pretends to be tawakkul. May Allah make us people of lawful effort and living trust. May Allah feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, relieve the indebted, heal the sick, protect the oppressed, guide our children, forgive our parents, and make our tables places of gratitude and generosity.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا طَيِّبًا وَاسِعًا مُبَارَكًا فِيهِ.
O Allah, grant us pure, spacious, blessed provision.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَنَا فِيمَا رَزَقْتَنَا.
O Allah, place barakah in what You have provided us.
اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ.
O Allah, make us from the grateful.
رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً، وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً، وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ.
وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَىٰ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَىٰ آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ.
وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.
