The spiritual and worldly ruin of human beings results from submission to greed, desire, and self-admiration, which can be healed through giving, God-fearing, and humility.
The text is an Islamic sermon (khutbah) that identifies three traits as causes of ruin: obedience to greed, following of desire, and self-admiration. The speaker relies on Quranic verses and hadiths to underpin these warnings. He describes greed as the rule of money over the heart and desire as idolatry that displaces God-fearing. Self-admiration is presented as pride that undermines humility before God. For each of the three evils, a specific remedy is offered: giving and generosity against greed, the fear of God against desire, and remembrance of one's origin from dust against self-admiration. The sermon is addressed to the gathered congregation and calls for inner repentance and the practical implementation of these virtues.
Koran 3:102 · Hadith Anas ibn Malik (al-Bazzar/at-Tabarani) · Hadith Malik im Muwatta · Koran 68:17-20 · Koran 11:15-16 · Koran 45:23 · Koran 63:10 · Koran 2:274
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Full text in English
Three Things That Bring Ruin
The First Sermon
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. Praise be to Allah who has warned us of the paths of ruin and destruction, and guided us to the path of guidance and piety. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, a testimony under whose shade we live, for whose sake we live, and upon which we shall meet Allah, Exalted and Glorified. And I bear witness that our master, our beloved, our great one, our teacher, and our instructor, Muhammad, is the Messenger of Allah. May Allah send prayers and peace upon him, his family, and his companions, and may He send abundant peace upon them until the Day of Judgment.
"O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him]." [Al Imran: 102]
To proceed: O dear beloved ones in Allah,
One day, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood before his companions and delivered a profound sermon, uttering words more precious than gold. He said, peace and blessings be upon him—as narrated in the hadith reported by Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him and grant him satisfaction, which is a hasan (good) hadith:
"Three things are destructive: an obeyed miserliness, a followed desire, and a man's self-admiration." [Narrated by al-Bazzar and al-Tabarani, and graded hasan by al-Albani]
Therefore, O brothers in faith, these three destructive things do not only destroy a person in this worldly life, nor does one lose only this world because of them; rather, one may lose both this world and the Hereafter. One may live in this world—because of these destructive traits—in misery, illusion, and sorrow known only to Allah, despite possessing the treasures and adornments of this world! And whoever is characterized by these three traits will be found in misery in this world, in distress and worry—may Allah protect us from that—and may suffer in both this world and the Hereafter.
1. An Obeyed Miserliness:
O fellow Muslims, miserliness does not merely refer to stinginess. In the authentic hadith about him, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, when he was asked: "Will the believer be cowardly?" He said: "Yes." Then he was asked: "Will the believer be stingy?" He said: "Yes." Then he was asked: "Will the believer be a liar?" He said: "No." [Narrated by Malik in al-Muwatta] A person may be stingy on a certain day, but miserliness is not merely stinginess, even though stinginess is blameworthy. However, O brothers in faith, miserliness is stinginess accompanied by extreme greed and covetousness.
This is a calamity; instead of making wealth a servant in one's hand, one makes wealth a king and master that owns one's heart and controls it! This is the calamity: when wealth becomes a master that owns your heart, instead of being a servant in your hand whom you move as you wish. This is miserliness, and this is the ruin from which the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, warned us.
And look, O servants of Allah, at the consequence of obeyed miserliness, and how greed destroys its owner. Take heed of what Allah has narrated to us in His Book regarding the story of "the Owners of the Garden"; for they had a righteous father who used to give charity from the fruits of his garden and orchard to the poor and the needy. When he died, his sons inherited it, and miserliness took hold of their hearts. They obeyed their greed and swore among themselves that no poor person would enter it today! Greed blinded their insight, so they went out early in the morning, hiding and striving to prevent the right of Allah and the right of the poor. What was the result? A party from your Lord passed over it while they were sleeping, and it became like a blackened ruin! It turned into black ash, so they found nothing but loss and regret, and there is no time for regret! Allah, Exalted is He, stated the consequence of their miserliness and greed:
"Indeed, We have tested them as We tested the owners of the garden when they swore they would certainly reap its fruits in the morning, * And would not make any exception, * So a party from your Lord passed over it while they were sleeping, * And it became like a blackened ruin." [Al-Qalam: 17-20] Thus does obeyed miserliness treat the blessings of Allah; it takes them away, wipes out their blessing, and begets ruin.
How many kinship ties have been severed because of wealth and miserliness?
How many souls have been extinguished because of miserliness, stinginess, extreme greed, and covetousness?
How many families have been scattered because of wealth, extreme greed, and stinginess?
And the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, warned us and said: "An obeyed miserliness," obeyed; instead of you controlling it, wealth has become that which you obey and follow! This is the great calamity and this is the disaster. Therefore, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said while speaking about this world and warning us against it:
"[As for] those who desired the worldly life and its adornment, We will give them in full measure for what they used to do therein, and they will not be wronged therein. * Those are the ones for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter except the Fire, and worthless is what they used to do therein, and vain is what they used to do." [Hud: 15-16]
2. A Followed Desire:
He follows his desires, he obeys his desires, he makes his desires his god, and he is not aware of it! He walks behind the lusts and pleasures that anger Allah, the Exalted and Glorious. So whatever agrees with his desires and pleases him, he follows it, even if it contradicts the Sharia of Allah! And this is the calamity. For Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said:
“Have you seen the one who takes his desire as his god, and Allah has led him astray with knowledge, and sealed upon his hearing and his heart, and placed over his vision a veil? Then who will guide him after Allah? So will you not take heed?” [Al-Jathiyah: 23].
Imagine with me, imagine that your god is your desire without you being aware of it! When the command of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, and the command of the Hereafter coincide with the command of this world, the one who follows his desires—may Allah protect us from that—prioritizes the command of this world over the command of the Hereafter. But the one who follows what Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, have commanded, if the command of this world conflicts with the command of the Hereafter, he prioritizes the command of the Hereafter over the command of his worldly life, and he walks behind the truth and never follows his desires.
3. A PERSON’S SELF-ADULATION:
A person’s self-adulation; so Allah opens for him with wealth, and he thinks that this is due to his effort and toil and his strength, so he becomes self-adulating! Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, opens for him from the treasuries, so he looks down upon others and becomes self-adulating. No; so a person should not become self-adulating. Therefore, it is dangerous for a person to become self-adulating with his wealth, or his strength, or his status, or his complexion, or his height!
We must be aware: “Three are destructive: an obeyed stinginess, a followed desire, and a person’s self-adulation.”
We ask Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, to grant us and you success in what He loves and is pleased with. I say this and I seek forgiveness from Allah, the Great, for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness, and what a victory for those who seek forgiveness.
The Second Sermon
Praise be to Allah, and that is sufficient, and blessings and peace upon His chosen servants.
As for what follows, O brothers in faith:
The cure for these three destructive things:
The cure for stinginess: It is giving and generosity, and knowing that wealth is the wealth of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, and He takes it at any time. So let a person remember that he may be saved from the punishment of Allah because of half a date: “Fear the Fire, even if it is with half a date” [Agreed upon]. And let a person remember that after his death, he will wish to return to the world to give in charity, and he will say: “My Lord, why did You not delay me until a near term, so that I would give in charity and be among the righteous?” [Al-Munafiqun: 10]. So let him remember that spending will bring him happiness in this world and the Hereafter: “Those who spend their wealth by night and by day, in secret and in public, will have their reward with their Lord, and there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve” [Al-Baqarah: 274], especially if you spend on your family, your relatives, and your kin, the rewards will be multiplied. “And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul, then those are the successful ones” [Al-Hashr: 9].
The cure for desire: The cure for a followed desire is that we remember standing before Allah, and that we strive our souls to do acts of obedience and to please Allah. Allah, the Most High, said: “But as for he who fears standing before his Lord and restrains himself from [the desires of] the soul, then indeed, it is Paradise that is the residence” [Al-Nazi'at: 40-41]. So let the one who follows his desires remember that if he strives his soul and restrains it from sins and disobedience, the reward is a Paradise whose width is the heavens and the earth.
The cure for self-adulation: We all remember, if we become self-adulating, the origin of our creation: “You are all from Adam, and Adam was from dust” [Narrated by Tirmidhi]. There is no distinction of a white person over a black person, nor of an Arab over a non-Arab, except by piety: “Indeed, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you” [Al-Hujurat: 13]. So let us remember the origin of our creation; our beginning is a clinging clot, and our end is a filthy corpse! Why do we become arrogant and self-adulating? A single small thorn makes you bow despite your strength, height, and width! A thorn makes you suffer, so who am I and who are you? So let us not become self-adulating, and let us humble ourselves before Allah. He, the Most High, said: “Have the people not seen that We created them from a sperm-drop, then, behold, they are an open adversary? And he gives Us a parable and forgets his own creation. He says, ‘Who will give life to bones while they are disintegrated?’ Say, ‘He will give them life who created them the first time, and He is, of every creation, Knowing’” [Ya-Sin: 77-79].
So I conclude and repeat the saying of the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him: “Three are destructive: an obeyed stinginess, a followed desire, and a person’s self-adulation.”
The Supplication:
We ask Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, to grant us and you success in all good, and to make us and you among those who listen to the word and then follow the best of it.
O Allah, reform us and reform the youth of the Muslims and the daughters of the Muslims, and return us to You with a beautiful return.
• O Allah, do not let these wudu-performing faces leave this mosque except with a forgiven sin, a rewarded effort, an accepted deed, and a profitable trade that does not fail, O Lord of the worlds.
• O Allah, make this country safe, secure, prosperous, and generous, and the rest of the lands of the Muslims.
• Whoever intends harm to us, our country, and our religion, O Allah, keep him occupied with himself, make his planning lead to his own destruction, and turn his scheme back upon his own neck, O You who are capable of all things.
• O Allah, be a support for our oppressed brothers in the land of Palestine and the rest of the lands of the Muslims.
• O Allah, take hold of Your enemies, the enemies of the religion, from among the Jews, the Christians, and the hypocrites; show us in them the wonders of Your power, O You who are capable of all things.
O servants of Allah, send prayers and peace upon the one whom Allah has commanded you to send prayers and peace upon, and He said: “Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, send blessings upon him and greet him with a complete greeting” [Al-Ahzab: 56]. O Allah, send prayers, peace, and blessings upon Your servant and Your messenger, the unlettered Prophet, and upon his family and his companions, and send abundant peace until the Day of Judgment... and establish the prayer.