First Khutba

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, I urge you and myself to obey Allah deservedly and uphold on to Islam in all circumstances. Brothers and sisters, the Messenger (pbuh) warned us against oppression, whether self or that of others. He is quoted to have said in a hadith Qudsi that Allah the Almighty says:



“O my servants, I have prohibited oppression upon myself and upon you. So do not oppress one another”.

This glorious hadith serves as a reminder, to individuals and the whole humanity, not to become obsessed with greed. It is a divine instruction warning human beings not to be overcome by self-consciousness and forget about others within the society. Or end in a situation where the strong amongst them devour the weak, the old oppress the young, disrespect flourish between genders, the rich take advantage of the poor, and employers not giving those under them their due rights.

Dear brothers, the most disgusting form of oppression occurs when children oppress their parents. It is disgusting because Allah the Almighty has mentioned being dutiful to them immediately after instructing about worshipping Him the Almighty. He says in the Qur’an in surah An-nisaa:36



‘Worship Allah and do not associate His with anything and be good to your parents’

Some people might be asking themselves; ‘how does this happen?’, ‘how can someone oppress those who brought them to this world and toiled for their upbringing?’

Instances where children oppress their parents occur in different ways. For example; some children are miserly with their wealth towards their parents, others do not respect them, while others feel overwhelmed when their parents become old and weak. Parents; especially in their old age need their children to look after them and take care of their needs and not to be neglected, rejected or disrespected.

Some parents are excessively harsh and rigid with their children to the extent of oppressing them. Especially those who do not attach importance to their children upbringing, or abandoned them to fend for their daily needs of food, water and shelter by themselves. A lot of parents do not follow-up the progress of their children in schools. These children live in poverty despite their parents being able. They have become orphaned even though their parents are still alive. The level of neglect has reached an extent where some children begin picking up bad habits such as stealing in order to feed themselves. Others become prey to bad people who are always prying for stray children in the streets and shopping centers. Ibn Umar (ra) reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:


“it is sufficient evil for a person to loose those whom he is providing for.”

Some parents deprive their grown up children of marriage. They always turn down potential husbands or wives with flimsy excuses based on cultural and economic biases. Marriage is an essential humanly right that their sons and daughters are deprived of. Excuses such as; ‘I want him/her to be established’ or ‘get work’ or ‘take care of me first’ do not hold water at all. This is a great oppression against their children. I urge such parentshr to remove barriers that prevent their children from getting married. Marriage is better for your sons or daughters and an essential component for a healthy society.

Dear brothers and sisters, I urge all husbands to give their wives their due rights as instructed by Allah the Almighty and practically demonstrated by our beloved Prophet, Muhammad (pbuh). They should treat their wives as partners, companions and lifetime friends. The mother of believers Aisha (ra) said: the Prophet of Allah (pbuh) said:



“ the best of you is the one who is good to his family, and I am the best of you to my family”.

Another form of oppression takes place where employers and responsible people at workplaces do not give due rights to their employees or those under their care. They delay wages and demean their efforts at work. Abu Huraira (ra), a companion of the Messenger, reported that the Messenger (pbuh) said:


“I will be in dispute with three types of people on the day of Judgement:… A person who employed another, used him/her and did not give them their due rights”.

Some people in authority do not offer opportunities to those under them to develop their careers or demean their effort at work. Their efforts are not regarded or they are considered to be equal to their workmates even though there is difference in output and productivity. Or in other circumstances their effort and productivity is equal but others are treated with priority over the rest. The Messenger (pbuh) said:



“O Allah whoever has been given responsibilities over my people and he made it difficult for them, then make it difficult for him as well. And whoever has been given responsibilities over my people and he offered good companionship to them then be good to him.”

Ya Allah we ask you to enable us to be just with our own selves and to be just with fellow human beings.
Ya Allah we seek your protection from oppression and those who oppress others.

May Allah benefit us all with the guidance of the Qur’an and Sunna of the Messenger (pbuh). I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and all Muslim men and women as He the Almighty is the Most Forgiving.