Generosity Khutba

Khutba 1
Praise be to Allah, the One Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the True Deen so that it would prevail over all other Deens. He also sent him to perfect noble qualities of character.
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, the one of truly great character, the one embodying generosity, open-handedness and largesse. May the blessings of Allah be upon him, his family and his Companions until the Day of Judgment.
Slaves of Allah!
We are still in this honoured month, the month of the birth of Al-Amin, the trustworthy Prophet, sallallah alayhi wa sallam. We celebrate and commemorate his Mawlid, but one may ask what form that celebration should take. The answer is as follows. The celebration of the Mawlid has two aspects: its meaning and its sensory or physical aspect.
The celebration in the realm of meaning is by our great happiness and the love in our hearts; reading his Pure Sirah, describing the aspects of his character, remembering events before his birth. All this is a Sunna of the community so that the ears can taste sweetness. Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib said in one of his Qasidas: “Delight in hearing of his good character and qualities.”
As for the celebration in the physical realm, it reminds us of him, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, in all of our movements and states. It is, in fact, to embody his noble qualities of character, and to follow what we can of his attributes of behaviour.
Truly, one of the greatest of his qualities is that he was Generous. Indeed this is a quality shared by all of the Prophets, in particular Sayyiduna Ibrahim, alayhi salam, the Close Friend of the All-Merciful.
When Sayyiduna Ibrahim was visited by angels he thought they were guests, so he hurried to prepare a lamb and offered it to them, saying, “Do you not eat?” Of course, angels do not eat or drink. They informed him that they were angels who had been sent. Allah said to him, “Oh Ibrahim, I did not take you as Khaleel (or Close Friend) because you worshipped more than my other worshippers, but I looked at the hearts of the Muminin and I did not find a heart more generous than your heart.”
Our master, the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, “There is no Wali of Allah who is not naturally inclined towards generosity and good character.” (transmitted by Ibn Hibban).
He, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was the most generous of people. Often he would remove his tunic and give it away as a gift.
He said, “Stinginess and Iman can never meet in the heart of a slave.” He, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, used to love generosity and the generous. This is how he educated his Companions.
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, brought all of his wealth to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, for the purpose of Da’wa, or expanding the Deen. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to him, “What did you leave for your family?” He replied, “I left them Allah and His Messenger.”
Uthman, radiallahu anhu, equipped the whole army himself using his wealth, whereupon the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, became immensely happy and said, “Whatever Uthman does from this day on, it will not harm him.”
There are so many other examples like this that they cannot be counted.
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Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to criticise stinginess, and he detested it and its people. He used to say, “Stinginess is one of the qualities of the Munafiq, or hypocrite.” Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala in His Book has praised poor people who are generous, among whom were the Ansar who received with generosity their Muhajirun brothers. Allah says about the Ansar in Surat al-Hashr,
And they prefer the Muhajirun to themselves,
Even if they themselves are in need.
It is the people who are safe-guarded
from the avarice of their own selves
who are successful.
Believers!
This is the true celebration: remembering the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and his Mawlid. As well as this there is our true love for him, which manifests in following him in all his actions and states.
Allah ta’ala says in Surat Al’Imran, addressing Rasul, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:
Say, ‘If you love Allah, then follow me
and Allah will love you and forgive you
for your wrong actions.
Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’
and in Surat al-Ahzab,
You have an excellent model in the Messenger of Allah,
for all who put their hope in Allah and the Last Day
and remember Allah much.
You must practice the quality of generosity, as it is the master of qualities, it is the sharp sword needed to overcome the self which commands to wrong actions.
Generosity contains success and uprightness, and it contains a secret known only to the ones who practice it.
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End of first Khutba

Khutba 2
 
People!
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said:
“Justice is good, but in Amirs it is even better.
Doing without is good, but in ‘Ulama it is even better.
Generosity is good, but in rich people it is even better.
Patience is good, but in the poor it is even better.
Tawba is good, but in young people it is even better.
And modesty is good, but in women it is even better.”
Generosity, oh believers, is even better and more beautiful when the rich have it. Generosity is one of Allah’s attributes, He is the most Generous of the generous. Whoever treats people with generosity will be treated with generosity by Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala.
It is enough for the generous person that Allah has assigned an angel who says morning and evening, “O Allah, replenish every person who spends.” And it is enough for every tight-fisted person that Allah has assigned an angel who says morning and evening, “O Allah, ruin every person who withholds.” Allah says in Surat Saba’
But anything you expend will be replaced by Him.
He is the Best of Providers.
Sadaqallahul Adhim
END