First Sermon (Khutbah One)All praise is due to Allah, who has commanded fidelity and trustworthiness, and has forbidden treachery and betrayal. I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship but Allah alone, without partner—Glory be to Him—“He does not guide the plan of the treacherous” (Qurʾān 12:52). And I bear witness that our master and Prophet Muḥammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, the truthful and trustworthy.
O Allah, send blessings, peace, and grace upon him, his family, and all his companions, and upon those who follow his guidance with excellence until the Day of Judgment.To proceed: I enjoin upon you, servants of Allah, and upon myself, taqwā (God-consciousness). The Exalted says: “O you who believe, have taqwa of Allah and be with the truthful” (Qurʾān 9:119).O believers: there is a vile trait and a sinful act, rejected by noble souls and detested by sound natures. Its bearer is cursed by his Lord, rejected by his family and society.
It is betrayal of the homeland—a grave crime and one of the major sins. It is among the ugliest things a person conceals within himself and hides from others.For this reason, the Prophet (PBUH) used to seek refuge in Allah from betrayal, saying: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from betrayal, for it is the worst of inner qualities.” (Abu Dawūd)Indeed, he (PBUH) counted among the signs of a hypocrite: “When he is entrusted, he betrays; and when he makes a covenant, he breaks it.” (Bukhārī and Muslim)How evil are the traits of the treacherous, and how far they are from the Lord of the worlds: “Indeed, Allah does not love the treacherous” (Qurʾān 8:58).Our Lord—Mighty and Majestic—has exposed them and unveiled their reality so that people are not deceived by them.
He said to His Prophet (PBUH): “And do not argue on behalf of those who betray themselves. Indeed, Allah does not love one who is a habitual traitor and sinner. They conceal themselves from people but do not conceal themselves from Allah, while He is with them when they plan by night words that He does not approve.
And Allah encompasses what they do” (Qurʾān 4:107–108).Thus, even if they claim affiliation with us, they are not truly of us. Reflect on the saying of Allah regarding their like: “They swear by Allah that they are from you, but they are not from you; rather they are a people who are afraid” (Qurʾān 9:56).They outwardly display belonging to our nation, while their hearts are subservient to extremist agendas. They lie in wait to harm society and seek to bring damage upon its people: “If they could find a refuge, caves, or a place to enter, they would turn to it while rushing headlong” (Qurʾān 9:57).Indeed, they have deceived themselves, so their society and homeland detest them.
The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever deceives us is not one of us.” (Sahih Muslim)How great is their crime, how severe their disgrace, how harsh their punishment, and how great their scandal! The Prophet (PBUH) said: “When Allah gathers the first and the last on the Day of Resurrection, a banner will be raised for every traitor, and it will be said: ‘This is the treachery of so-and-so, son of so-and-so.’” (Bukhari and Muslim)There is no wonder in this: they are immersed in the swamp of betrayal and discord, indulging in dubious funds, bound by extremist partisan loyalties, devoted to terrorist organizations, pledging allegiance to their leaders, hiding behind deceptive religious slogans—whose outward appearance is righteousness and goodness, but whose inward reality is treachery and deceit: “And they have plotted their plot, but with Allah is their plot—even if their plot were such as to move mountains” (Qurʾān 14:46).
How vile it is for a person to become an agent or follower of evil, manipulated by foreign hands against his own homeland whenever they wish; or to be like the tail of a venomous serpent, moved to betray his homeland at will. How disgraceful are those who live off the goodness of their homeland while betraying it!Have they not realized that wise leadership has cared for them and encompassed them with goodness, and that their homeland has honoured them and raised their status among nations? Yet their response is nothing but ingratitude and betrayal, breaking covenants and trusts.
Allah says: “And do not exchange the bad for the good” (Qurʾān 4:2).O youth of the homeland: fear Allah concerning your country. Beware of being deceived by the words of corrupt traitors who cloak themselves in the garments of the righteous, yet: “They are the worst of creation.” (Muslim) The best of Messengers (PBUH) warned us severely about them, saying: “There will emerge among you a people whose prayer you will consider insignificant compared to their prayer, your fasting compared to their fasting, and your deeds compared to their deeds. They recite the Qurʾān but it does not go beyond their throats. They will pass through the religion as an arrow passes through the target.” (Bukhari and Muslim) The Sunnah of