“A-úthu billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem. Bismilláhir rahmánir raheem.
Al hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta’eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi, wana’oothu Billaahi min shuroori an-fusinaa, wamin sayyi aati a’maalinaa. May- Yahdillahu fa huwal muhtad, wa may- yudlill falan tajidaa lahu waliyan murshida. Wa ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-Alláh, wahdahoo laa shareeka lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhoo warasooluh”
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Next week will mark the annual celebration for lovers, more commonly known as St Valentine’s Day. Whilst I do encourage you to be loving and affectionate towards your spouses, this is not something to be remembered only on one particular day, but every day of the year. I am not going to talk about the importance of loving your husbands and wives in this khutbah; we’ll save that for another day. Today I want to talk about the true loved one, the one who created us and will love us no matter what. The one that will not judge the way we look, criticize our size, or comment on how tall or short we are. I want to talk about the All-Loving Almighty, the one who searches our souls for true beauty.
On St Valentine’s Day every year, card shops adorn their windows with pink ribbons and red heart-shaped balloons, restaurants prepare Valentine’s Day special menus and jewellery shops and florists get ready for perhaps their busiest day of the year. Allah (SWT) encourages us to strengthen relationships with our spouses and work hard to always cooperate and love one another:
“And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquillity in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.” (30:21, Sahih International)
However, let’s not forget why we love our partners. We love them for Allah (SWT). It is He who brought us to life and crossed our paths with the paths of all of the loved ones in our lives. If He had wanted He could have left us abandoned and alone with no one to support or love us. Our loved ones have been loaned to us so that we may enjoy their company in dunya. Their love and affection is limited and will only last until death. However, Allah’s (SWT) love is eternal. Everyone will come and go but HE will always be there, ready to comfort you whenever you turn to him. Even if you have not obeyed Him in the past, HE loves us so much that HE is ALWAYS ready to forgive us if we sincerely turn to Him in repentance.
“Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire – of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life, but Allah has with Him the best return.” (Ali Imran 3:14, Sahih International)
Remember to praise Allah (SWT) in your prayers and connect with Him as though He is by your side and not somewhere distant. Allah (SWT) is closer to you than your jugular vein and knows everything about you – more than anyone else ever could. Allah (SWT) does not expect a lot from us and yet we fail to remember Him during our daily lives. Let’s not only turn to Allah (SWT) when in sorrow and in need but also at times of happiness. Let’s love Allah (SWT) more than anything or anyone else, for He is the only one who truly deserves all the love we have to give.