Honorable Muslims!
One of the Companions was passing through a beautiful valley. He liked the taste of the water in the valley. He was also very impressed with the landscape. He thought of getting away from people and settling in that valley. He went to the Messenger of Allah and told his intention. Our beloved Prophet (saw) told him not to do such a thing. He stated that standing in the cause of Allah is more virtuous than the salah performed at home alone for years.[1]
Dear Believers!
Living by Islam duly means to both fulfill our duties towards Allah and to take the life-centered messages of our religion as the guide in our relations with people. It is not a proper attitude to isolate ourselves from the society and prefer a selfish and lonely life. As a matter of fact, besides being a responsibility of servants towards Allah, there is much more wisdom behind the worships such as salah, fasting, zakat, hajj and qurbani like meeting people, socializing, sharing and solidarity.
Dear Muslims!
In the modern age, we are unfortunately trapped in our own lives. We have become individualized and isolated. We have become selfish and unable to think of anyone but ourselves. While our homes have gotten closer to one another, our hearts have drifted apart. Our friendship and neighborly relations have weakened. We have turned into people who deprive each other of a greeting, a nice word, asking about one another's situation, and a sincere smile. Sometimes we are unaware of the illness or even the death of our neighbor right next to us.
The digital world offers us many opportunities. However, we lost ourselves to the lure of the virtual world. We cannot safeguard good morality in digital platforms, neither can we observe the rights of people and the law. We have become prisoners of computers, tablets and smartphones. As we lose touch with real life, we are getting lonelier in crowds. While communicating online with people from a remote corner of the world, we have forgotten to talk with our families, children and neighbors with whom we share the same house and environment.
Dear Muslims!
Addressing to the Prophet (saw), Allah the Almighty states in the Holy Qur'an as follows: "So by mercy from Allah, (O Muhammad), you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude (in speech) and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you.…"[2]
So, let us take the morality of our Prophet, whose ummah we are honored to be, as an example. Let us adopt compassion and mercy, self-sacrifice and contentment, sweet words and smiling faces as principles. Let us establish good relations with our relatives, neighbors, and all people, starting with our family. Let us seek peace and happiness not in loneliness and selfishness but in attaining the pleasure of our Lord (swt) and in the du'as of our brothers and sisters.
I would like to conclude this Friday's khutbah with the following hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saw) describing the believer: "The believer is friendly and befriended, for there is no goodness in one who is neither friendly nor befriended."[3]
________________________________
[1] Tirmidhi, Fadha'il al-Jihad, 17.
[2] Al-i 'Imran, 3/159.
[3] Ibn Hanbal, II, 400.
General Directorate of Religious Services