First Khutbah
Indeed, all praise belongs to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help and we ask His forgiveness. 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 leaves astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
﴿يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِۦ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ﴾
“O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].”
Dear brothers and sisters, there are people sitting in our masjids, and many more who no longer come, who carry a quiet weight in their hearts. They have made mistakes — perhaps big ones — and somewhere inside they have concluded: Allah could never forgive someone like me. Today's khutbah is for them, and for every one of us, because there is no one who does not need Allah's mercy.
The verse of hope
Allah addresses those who have gone furthest in sin, and He calls them My servants:
﴿قُلْ يَٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ﴾
“Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."”
He did not say some sins. He said all sins — for the one who turns back to Him. And He describes His mercy in the widest possible terms:
﴿وَرَحْمَتِى وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍۢ﴾
“but My mercy encompasses all things.”
Mercy that came first
The Prophet ﷺ told us something about Allah that should change how we see everything: “When Allah had finished His creation, He wrote over his Throne: 'My Mercy preceded My Anger” [Sahih al-Bukhari 7422].
He also described the scale of this mercy: “Allah created mercy in one hundred parts and He retained with Him ninety-nine parts, and He has sent down upon the earth one part, and it is because of this one part that there is mutual love among the creation so much so that the animal lifts up its hoof from its young one, fearing that it might harm it” [Sahih Muslim 2752]. Every act of tenderness you have ever seen — a mother holding her child, a father working through the night for his family — all of it comes from one part. Ninety-nine parts are with Allah for the Day of Judgment.
Once, captives were brought before the Prophet ﷺ, and among them was a nursing mother who had lost her child; whenever she found a child among the captives, she held it to her chest and fed it. The Prophet ﷺ asked: “Do you think that this lady can throw her son in the fire?” They said no. He said: “Allah is more merciful to His slaves than this lady to her son” [Sahih al-Bukhari 5999].
Think well of Allah
Our hope must be built on husn al-dhann, thinking well of Allah. In a hadith qudsi, Allah says: “I am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him) and I am with him if He remembers Me” [Sahih al-Bukhari 7405]. And in the same hadith: “and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running” [Sahih al-Bukhari 7405].
In another hadith qudsi: “O son of Adam! Verily as long as you called upon Me and hoped in Me, I forgave you, despite whatever may have occurred from you, and I did not mind” [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3540, graded sahih by al-Albani].
So despair is not humility. It is a failure to know Allah. Ibrahim, peace be upon him, said:
﴿قَالَ وَمَن يَقْنَطُ مِن رَّحْمَةِ رَبِّهِۦٓ إِلَّا ٱلضَّآلُّونَ﴾
“He said, "And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except for those astray?"”
And Ya'qub, peace be upon him, after losing two sons, told the rest:
﴿وَلَا تَا۟يْـَٔسُوا۟ مِن رَّوْحِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يَا۟يْـَٔسُ مِن رَّوْحِ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْقَوْمُ ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ﴾
“and despair not of relief from Allah. Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people.”
The Prophet ﷺ, three days before he passed away, gave this advice: “None of you should die but hoping only good from Allah, the Exalted and Glorious” [Sahih Muslim 2877].
I say these words and I ask Allah's forgiveness for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness; indeed He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Second Khutbah
All praise is due to Allah, and may blessings and peace be upon His Messenger, his family and his companions.
Dear brothers and sisters, true hope is not the same as wishful thinking. The scholars compare the believer's heart to a bird: love is its head, and hope and fear are its two wings. If one wing fails, the bird cannot fly. Allah Himself puts the two side by side:
﴿نَبِّئْ عِبَادِىٓ أَنِّىٓ أَنَا ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ * وَأَنَّ عَذَابِى هُوَ ٱلْعَذَابُ ٱلْأَلِيمُ﴾
“[O Muhammad], inform My servants that it is I who am the Forgiving, the Merciful. And that it is My punishment which is the painful punishment.”
And the Prophet ﷺ said: “Had the non-believer known of all the Mercy which is in the Hands of Allah, he would not lose hope of entering Paradise, and had the believer known of all the punishment which is present with Allah, he would not consider himself safe from the Hell-Fire” [Sahih al-Bukhari 6469].
Real hope makes you act. A farmer who hopes for a harvest ploughs and plants; he does not sit on empty land waiting. So if you hope for Allah's forgiveness, turn to Him today: pray the prayer you have been missing, make the call to the person you wronged, leave the habit you know is destroying you. And if you fall again, get up again. The door is open, and the One behind it is more merciful to you than your own mother.
Allah has commanded us to send blessings upon His Prophet:
﴿إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَمَلَٰٓئِكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ ۚ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ صَلُّوا۟ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسْلِيمًا﴾
“Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace.”
As the Prophet ﷺ taught us to say: “O Allah! Send Your Mercy on Muhammad and on the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your Mercy on Abraham and on the family of Abraham, for You are the Most Praise-worthy, the Most Glorious. O Allah! Send Your Blessings on Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent your Blessings on Abraham and on the family of Abraham, for You are the Most Praise-worthy, the Most Glorious” [Sahih al-Bukhari 3370].
O Allah, Your mercy is wider than our sins, and Your forgiveness is greater than our mistakes. Do not leave us to despair, and do not let us become heedless. Grant us hope that moves us to obey You and fear that keeps us from disobeying You. Forgive the believing men and women, the living and the dead.
﴿رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةًۭ وَفِى ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ حَسَنَةًۭ وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ﴾
“Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”
Servants of Allah, remember Allah and He will remember you; be grateful to Him and He will increase you. And establish the prayer.