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, the books of Sirah tell us that long before revelation, the people of Makkah knew Muhammad ﷺ as al-Amin, the trustworthy one, and even after they rejected his message they kept their valuables with him. Trustworthiness earns respect even from those who oppose you. Today let us speak about amanah, because it touches every part of our lives.
The heaviest thing ever offered
Allah describes the amanah in a verse that should make every one of us pause:
﴿إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا ٱلْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱلْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَن يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ ظَلُومًۭا جَهُولًۭا﴾
“Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man [undertook to] bear it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant.”
The scholars explain that this trust is the whole of our religious responsibility: the commands we must carry out and the prohibitions we must avoid, out of free choice. The mountains, for all their size, feared it. We accepted it. So amanah is not only about returning a borrowed item. Your prayer is an amanah. Your eyes and ears are an amanah. Your time, your health and your wealth are an amanah, and you will be asked about each of them.
And Allah commands it clearly:
﴿إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تُؤَدُّوا۟ ٱلْأَمَٰنَٰتِ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُم بَيْنَ ٱلنَّاسِ أَن تَحْكُمُوا۟ بِٱلْعَدْلِ﴾
“Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice.”
He also describes the successful believers as:
﴿وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَٰنَٰتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَٰعُونَ﴾
“And they who are to their trusts and their promises attentive”
Everyone is a guardian
The Prophet ﷺ made it clear that nobody is outside this responsibility: “All of you are guardians and responsible for your wards and the things under your care. The Imam (i.e. ruler) is the guardian of his subjects and is responsible for them and a man is the guardian of his family and is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband's house and is responsible for it. A servant is the guardian of his master's belongings and is responsible for them” [Sahih al-Bukhari 893].
Think of what this means in practice:
- At home, your children are an amanah. What they watch, who they befriend, whether they pray — you will be asked.
- At work, the hours you are paid for are an amanah. Arriving late, wasting time, or using company property for personal gain is a breach of trust, even if no manager ever notices.
- In business, honesty about the product is an amanah. The Prophet ﷺ passed by a heap of food whose lower part was wet and said: “He who deceives is not of me (is not my follower)” [Sahih Muslim 102]. And he taught that when buyer and seller are truthful, “then they would be blessed in their transaction, and if they told lies or hid something, then the blessings of their transaction would be lost” [Sahih al-Bukhari 2079].
- A secret someone tells you is an amanah, and so is a meeting held in confidence.
- Positions of responsibility are a heavy amanah. When Abu Dharr asked to be appointed to office, the Prophet ﷺ told him: “Abu Dharr, thou art weak and authority is a trust. and on the Day of judgment it is a cause of humiliation and repentance except for one who fulfils its obligations and (properly) discharges the duties attendant thereon” [Sahih Muslim 1825].
When trust disappears
The Prophet ﷺ warned that betraying trust is a mark of hypocrisy: “The signs of a hypocrite are three: 1. Whenever he speaks, he tells a lie. 2. Whenever he promises, he always breaks it (his promise ). 3. If you trust him, he proves to be dishonest” [Sahih al-Bukhari 33].
He also made the loss of amanah one of the signs of the end of time. When a man asked him about the Hour, he said: “When honesty is lost, then wait for the Hour (Doomsday).” The man asked how it would be lost, and he answered: “When the power or authority comes in the hands of unfit persons, then wait for the Hour (Doomsday)” [Sahih al-Bukhari 59].
Allah addresses the believers directly:
﴿يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَخُونُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَ وَتَخُونُوٓا۟ أَمَٰنَٰتِكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾
“O you who have believed, do not betray Allah and the Messenger or betray your trusts while you know [the consequence].”
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, trustworthiness is tested most when it costs us something — when no one is watching, or when the other person has wronged us first. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Pay the deposit to him who deposited it with you, and do not betray him who betrayed you” [Sunan Abi Dawud 3535, graded hasan sahih by al-Albani]. A believer's honesty does not depend on how others behave.
When the daughter of the righteous man of Madyan recommended Musa, peace be upon him, she named two qualities:
﴿إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ ٱسْتَـْٔجَرْتَ ٱلْقَوِىُّ ٱلْأَمِينُ﴾
“Indeed, the best one you can hire is the strong and the trustworthy.”
Strength without trust is dangerous, and trust without competence is not enough. Let us be people who are both: skilled in what we do, and reliable in how we do it. Let us return what we borrow, pay what we owe on time, keep the secrets we are given, give our employers their full hours, and raise our children as the trust they are.
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].
The Prophet ﷺ used to say: “O Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from hunger, for it is an evil bed-fellow; and I seek refuge in Thee from treachery, for it is an evil hidden trait” [Sunan Abi Dawud 1547, graded hasan by al-Albani]. O Allah, make us people of trust in our worship, our homes, our work and our dealings. Help us to fulfil every amanah we carry, and forgive us where we have fallen short. 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.