All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help, seek His forgiveness, and seek His guidance. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whomever He allows to go astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, without any partners—no partners in His divinity, nor in His lordship, nor in any of His attributes.

He is the One, the Unique, the Self-Sufficient, who neither begets nor was begotten, and there is none comparable to Him. I bear witness that He has not taken a companion nor a son.

And I bear witness that our master Muhammad ibn Abdullah is the Messenger sent as guidance to humanity, the servant of Allah and His Messenger, His chosen one from His creation and His beloved. He conveyed the Message, fulfilled the trust, advised the Ummah, removed the darkness, and struggled in the path of his Lord until certainty came to him. He left us upon the clear white path, whose night is like its day—none deviates from it except one who is destroyed.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad as You sent blessings upon our master Ibrahim and upon the family of our master Ibrahim among all the worlds. And bless our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad as You blessed our master Ibrahim and the family of our master Ibrahim among all the worlds. Indeed, You are Praiseworthy and Glorious.

O believing brothers and sisters, verily the most truthful speech is Allah’s Book, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ. And verily, the worst affairs are those newly introduced into the religion without basis, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. May Allah protect us and you from the punishment of the Fire.

The Story from Surah Al-Baqarah

Today’s khutbah reflects upon Surah Al-Baqarah—the chapter named after the cow—and the profound lessons it contains about the Children of Israel after the time of Prophet Musa (Moses), peace be upon him. This chapter brings us the story of their request for a king to lead them in battle, and the test that separated the sincere from the insincere.

The Test of the River

And here comes the most profound part of the story—the test that reveals everything about the human soul.

Notice the connection between victory in battle and victory over one’s own self. Despite their thirst, they were commanded: Do not drink. Despite their need, they were told: Do not do this deed. Despite having what they desperately needed before them, they were instructed: Do not approach it.

And if the thirst becomes too intense? Then only one handful with the hand! And how much can a hand carry? What quantity can a hand hold for someone who is extremely thirsty?

All of them drank from the river, knowing full well that by drinking from it, they would not be among the army that would fight the tyrants led by Goliath (Jalut).

None of them could struggle against themselves. None could resist their desires. None could restrain their instincts. And what instinct is stronger than the instinct of survival?

All of them drank except a few. Only a small group adhered to what they were commanded.

The Few in Every Age

These are the few in every age. Their motto is:

We resist ourselves and our desires. We resist what we love, what we crave, what we want. We resist what our souls insist upon even if it is forbidden. For the soul does not relent and does not stop inclining toward what it wants, regardless of the consequences. And how much more so when the consequences are veiled from us, unseen until the Hereafter?

Do you know why the ancients and the moderns have taken gods besides Allah? Because they want a weak god. A god upon whom they can impose their desires and lusts. A god who cannot bring them benefit or harm. A god they can control without “do this” or “don’t do that.”

The River of This World

This entire worldly life is embodied in these two phrases: We resist what we love, and we tolerate what we hate.

This worldly life is the river flowing beneath our feet. It is the test. It is the adornment. It is what we love. And each one of us scoops from it according to their own self.

There are those who take from it only what is sufficient. And there are those who do not stop drinking from it directly, and nothing satisfies them except what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

There are those who are never satisfied. You find them devoted to this world with their entire being: wanting money, wanting gold, wanting cars, wanting houses, wanting bank accounts, wanting positions and prestige. And in all this, they do not stop striving with their hands and feet, scheming with their minds, and lashing people with their tongues. They harbor resentment against those whom Allah has blessed with what He has not blessed them with. They are envious. They spread gossip. They backbite. And they neither fear Allah nor maintain any covenant or trust.

There are those who possess kingdoms yet burden people. There are those who have no need yet strive to monopolize the world’s good, fearing that it might reach others, grieving that others might receive a share of Allah’s provision.

And there are those who try to prevent people from doing good—you find them discouraging charity, for example, claiming the poor person doesn’t need money, or that the poor person has money but doesn’t show it, and so on.

Those Chosen by Allah

These few—they are the ones for whom Allah created this world to select them. They are the ones for whom this world was created to choose them. They are the ones who will succeed in the test that is this worldly life we are in.

These few are the ones Allah created to test them, and then they themselves will be the ones who enter His gardens, attain His forgiveness and His pleasure.

Before them is the world (the river), and the choice is in their hands: either to drink to the end or to cross it without extending their hands to it, except for taking a small handful. This is the difference between the children of Adam and the jinn on one hand, and the angels on the other. The angels have no river before them to renounce or scoop from. They are commanded beings who do what they are commanded. They do not have free will as we do.

We ask Allah to make us among these few, among those who resist what they love and tolerate what they hate.

The Final Victory

Those who passed the test of the river were granted victory in the battle. Those who conquered their desires were given the strength to conquer their enemies. This is the divine law: victory over oneself precedes victory over the enemy.

The Three Groups

May Allah make us among the few, among the foremost, among those brought near to Him. May He grant us the strength to resist what we love and tolerate what we hate, for His sake alone.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ

I say this and seek forgiveness from Allah for myself and for you.