Central Khutbah: “The Beginning of Our Strength and Our Weakness”

Brothers and sisters,

Our strength and our weakness do not begin with circumstances, nor with the people around us, nor with the times we live in. They begin with what we allow to happen within our souls—what we accept, what we resign ourselves to, and what we decide to change for the sake of Allah.

A beautiful advice says:
“Distance yourself from the one you do not love, do not be gentle with falsehood, do not resign yourself to shame, for Allah did not give you a soul so that it may suffer.” (Ash-Shaʿrāwī)

How many times do we remain in environments, habits, conversations, or relationships that we know, deep down, drain and break us—simply because we fear the opinion of others or fear change? This statement reminds us that Allah did not give us a soul so that we ourselves would push it into what humiliates it. The first spark of strength appears when a person, for Allah’s sake, says to himself: enough, this is distancing me from Him, and I no longer want to accept such a life. Weakness begins when we get used to what we know is wrong and stop trying to remove ourselves from it.

Then comes the gaze toward Allah—His power and His nearness. It is reported:
“They asked Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him): How will Allah speak to all people at the same time, in one moment, on the Day of Judgment?
He replied: Just as He provides for them, gives them to drink, and nourishes them all together, in one moment!”
(Fatāwā Ibn Taymiyya, 5/133)

The One who nourishes, heals, protects, and provides for billions of human beings at every moment knows your pain, your trial, and your supplication. You are not lost in the crowd; you are not a number. True strength is born when a person realizes that his Lord is near and knows him better than he knows himself. Weakness is born when a person begins to believe that he is left alone and that his voice reaches nowhere.

Kaʿkaʿ al-Awsī, rahimahullah, was told:
“Tell us something special about Paradise—something that will increase our longing for it.”
He replied:
“In Paradise is the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.”

They then said:
“Allāhu akbar! O Allah, send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, upon his family, and upon all his companions!”
(This is reported from Kaʿkaʿ al-Awsī.)

The greatest honor of Paradise is not only its splendor, beauty, and pleasures, but the fact that the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is there. A believer’s strength grows as his sincere desire to be close to that company grows, and as the guiding question in every action becomes: Does this bring me closer to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and to Allah’s approval—or not? Weakness begins when Paradise remains only a story to us, without influencing our habits, our speech, or our behavior.

Pride is another path to ruin, yet from the inside it often looks very different than from the outside. It has been said:
“Whoever becomes arrogant does so because of some baseness or worthlessness he carries within himself!” (Ibn Rushd)

How many people speak loudly, belittle others, and act important, while in reality they carry feelings of inferiority and emptiness. Pride is often nothing but a defense mechanism against one’s own wounds. Strength lies in remaining humble, even if one possesses knowledge, status, or reputation, and knowing that every honor is a gift from Allah. Weakness lies in trying to hide one’s inner emptiness by stepping on others.

Allah, the Most High, teaches us through the story of the man mentioned in Sūrat Yā-Sīn:
“From the farthest part of the city a man came, running. He said: ‘O my people, follow the messengers…’” (Yā-Sīn, 20)

A man: his deed was immortalized, but his name was not mentioned!
What matters is not who you are, but what you have done and prepared of good deeds… (Qur’an, Sūrat Yā-Sīn, 20)

His words, his courage, and his haste toward good were recorded until the Day of Judgment, yet his name was not preserved. This is a great lesson for us: with Allah, what matters is what you have done, not how often your name is mentioned. A person becomes truly strong when his value is not measured by mentions, likes, or recognition, but by the quality of the deeds he carries to the Hereafter. Weakness begins when we do good only when others know it is we who did it.

The example of Abū ʿAlīya ar-Riyāhī, rahimahullah, shows how knowledge elevates a person:

Knowledge is one of the greatest means through which Allah raises His servants. A young person who decides today to learn the Qur’an, to guard his tongue, to avoid the forbidden, to study his religion and live responsibly—such a person is slowly building his “throne” on which he will sit tomorrow, by Allah’s permission, with honor. Weakness arises when we allow our minds to be occupied by trivial matters, gossip, and useless conversations, while the Qur’an remains closed and our hearts hungry for truth.

The value of a good neighbor also appears in this story:
“A good neighbor is worth gold.

ʿAbdullah ibn al-Mubārak had a Jewish neighbor who was selling his house. When asked for the price, he would say: ‘Two thousand dinars.’
People objected, saying the house was not worth that much—that its true value was one thousand dinars. The Jew replied:
‘You are right; one thousand dinars is the value of my house, and one thousand is the value of my neighbor, Abdullah.’
When ʿAbdullah ibn al-Mubārak was informed of this, he called his Jewish neighbor, gave him the full value of the house, and told him not to sell it.”
(This is reported from ʿAbdullah ibn al-Mubārak.)

A person’s strength is not only in what he says from the pulpit, nor in what he leaves in books, but also in what he represents to those who share a hallway, a street, a building, or a workplace with him. Is it easier to live beside you, or do people endure you out of necessity? A good believer is one whose presence increases the quality of others’ lives—just as the presence of ʿAbdullah ibn al-Mubārak increased the value of his neighbor’s home.

Brothers and sisters,

the beginning of our strength and our weakness lies in the small, quiet decisions we make every day. Will we protect our soul or leave it in what breaks it? Will we believe that our Lord hears and sees us, or abandon ourselves to despair? Will we attach our goals to Paradise and the company of the Prophet, peace be upon him, or to fleeting images and people’s opinions? Will we extinguish arrogance with humility and knowledge, or feed it by humiliating others? Will we be people of action, even if our names remain unknown, and people whose presence brings peace and safety to those around them?

O Allah, strengthen our hearts upon the truth. Distance us from falsehood, arrogance, and the weakness of a soul that accepts humiliation. Grant us the strength of obedience, humility, and sincerity, and make our true worth be with You, even if people do not recognize it. Āmīn.

(Central khutbah by the religious leader Hafiz Hilmija Redžić on November 21, 2025, at the “Association Islamique de Luxembourg” in Bonnevoie)