 Praise be to God who guided us to this, and we would not have been guided had not Allah guided us. Our success is only by God. We grasp on only to God and we have confidence only in God. In God we trust and upon God we rely. We seek His help, we seek His guidance, we seek His forgiveness. We take refuge with God from the evils of ourselves and our misdeeds. Those whom Allah has guided us to, and we seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge with God from the evils of ourselves and our misdeeds. We seek His guidance, we seek His forgiveness. We take refuge with God from the evils of ourselves and our misdeeds. Those whom Allah guides cannot be misguided, and those whom Allah misguides shall never find a friend to guide them. We testify that there is no God but Allah alone and with our partner. And we testify that our Master and Prophet Muhammad is a slave and messenger. May Allah send prayers and peace and blessings upon that noble messenger that kind-hearted man sent as a mercy to the world. Allah tells us in the Quran describing the true believers. When they get angry, they forgive. And one of the greatest character traits of the Muslim, and really of every person, but particularly of the Muslim and most importantly for the Muslim, is that we should be striving for this idea of futuwa, a word that might be best translated as virtue. And so Imam Al-Hassan tells us what this virtue, what this futuwa is. He tells us that the very verses that we end every khutba with, that is what futuwa is. That indeed Allah commands to justice and to excellence. That is futuwa. To actualize that in your life is to become a feta, a person of virtue. But of course that is very vague, justice and excellence. So we want to understand what that is a little better. So our scholars explain a little further. And they say that futuwa is when a crime is committed against you, when a wrong is committed against you, then you forgive and you forgive quickly. And you offer excuses for the person that wronged you. That is futuwa. And this is why Allah describes the believers as wa idham aghabibuhum yaghfirun. When they get angry, they forgive. But not only that, we go beyond just that. If we look at the story of Sayyidina Yusuf A.S., who is considered the paragon of futuwa, the greatest example of futuwa alongside Sayyidina Ali. Look at what he did that day when he met his brothers, again after they had abandoned him, after they had betrayed him. He said, there is no blame upon you today. There is nothing at all against you today. May Allah forgive you. And he didn't just forgive, but he gave an excuse for them. He described the event, he described what happened to those brothers, why they did what they did, by saying After Satan instigated the separation between me and my brothers. He put the blame solely on Satan. He put no blame on his brothers. So instead of being their adversary, he became their ally. In the court of Allah, he is standing as a witness for them, not against them. And this is why one of our great early Oscars, Al-Hakima Tirmidhi, he says that futuwa is to be an adversary against yourself. Representing Allah against yourself in this life, meaning that you're taking yourself into account in this life before you get to the court of Allah and you're questioned by Allah himself. That was the first thing he said. The second thing he said, futuwa is to be an intercessor for your brother before your god. Meaning that you forgive that person here in this life so that Allah does not take him to trial. Does not take him to account in the next life. So this is one of the essential parts of being a believer. This idea of futuwa, of strength, of virtue. We often talk about this as being characterized by martial strength. So when we talk about the futuwa of Sayyidina Ali, we focus very often on his strength and his discipline and his bravery. And that's because those are all outward manifestations of the same strength and the same discipline and the same bravery that he had over his own self. And this is one of the key aspects we have to understand about futuwa and about strength. The Prophet ﷺ said, The strong one is not the one that is best at wrestling, at best at grappling, that can take the other person down. But the strong one is the one that can control himself when he is angered. So we're not trying to root out anger entirely. Anger is necessary, as we mentioned before. Anger is a necessary part of being human. And the Prophet ﷺ himself would get angry. But our goal is to control that anger, to direct that anger to the right outlets. If we look at the Seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, any time that he got angry, we will not see anything that he did that we would characterize as anger. He did not yell, he did not scream, he did not throw things. He did none of these things. The only thing that happened to the Prophet ﷺ is a vein bulged on his forehead and his face turned red. And he might turn away from a person. But you will not see examples of uncontrolled rage from the Prophet ﷺ. And so this is what the hadith is telling us, is true strength. True strength is the ability not to give in to that anger. Not to give in to that anger that's simmering in our souls. But if true strength is in controlling anger and controlling our desires, then true weakness is to give in to them, to give in to those impulses, to give in to that anger. Weakness is that when someone insults us that we lash out at them, either at the person that insulted us or at the people around us that did nothing to us. Weakness is that when we see a person who wronged us, we turn away in hatred, we can't face them, we can't talk to them. We avoid them at all costs, we don't say salam to them. That is weakness. And that is not our way. There was once an incident between Abu Bakr and Umar, radiAllahu anhuma, where they were in an argument and Abu Bakr said something to make Umar upset. And so in the middle of this discussion, in the middle of this argument, Umar left. And very, very quickly after Abu Bakr having said what he said, he started to feel guilty that Umar had felt badly about this and had left. So that very same day, the very same day of that argument, he rushed over to the house of Umar to beg his forgiveness. But Umar radiAllahu anhuma was still upset. So as Abu Bakr came to the door, he knocked on the door and Umar opened it. He saw Abu Bakr and he slammed the door back, right in the face of Abu Bakr. So let's pause here before we continue the story and look at ourselves if we were placed in a similar situation. If we were in an argument and we thought that we were the ones that were correct and the other person left upset because we were winning that argument, then how many of us would feel guilty enough to go and ask that person that we believe is wrong for forgiveness and do that the very same day? And then having done that, how would we respond when we think, oh I'm trying to be the bigger person and I'm trying to put an end to this argument between the two of us even though I think I'm right, but then the door is slammed in your face. Many of us here, we would probably think something along the lines, I forget this guy, I don't want to see him again, I don't want to deal with him again. Like what is this? But Abu Bakr did not react in that way. He just became more worried. He becomes so worried that he's upset another Muslim. And not just any Muslim, he's upset someone as high in stature as Omar, in such a way that Omar is not ready to forgive him yet. And so he's thinking about this and this worry makes him quite literally run to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He runs to the masjid to find the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And so he runs in out of breath and he sits next to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and he starts explaining what happened. His distress is very clear on his face. He explains Omar and he had gotten into an argument and now Omar was not forgiving him. So what should he do? And so the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he saw this distress and he started comforting Abu Bakr and he asked and he asked Allah to forgive Abu Bakr for his actions. And so the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was starting to get upset as well because Abu Bakr was upset. At the same time as this was all going on, Omar was in his house and his anger had started to cool down and he started reflecting and he started feeling guilty for what he had done. How could I have refused to forgive Abu Bakr? So he ran to the home of Abu Bakr Alaihi Wasallam and no one was there. No one responded so he began to worry even more. And so he rushed to the masjid to find the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And when he got there he saw, oh here's the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam with Abu Bakr and they're both upset. And so he starts rushing to explain what happened and how he's in the wrong and he's begging the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and Abu Bakr for forgiveness. And here the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he's upset so he starts saying some harsher words to Omar, reprimanding him for the way he's been acting, for letting his anger get the best of him. And what does Abu Bakr do when he sees this? Now he sees Omar is getting reprimanded by the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He's starting to get embarrassed. He feels shamed. So Abu Bakr leaps up in defense of Omar al-DiAllahu Anhu. He says, what I did to him is far worse than what he did to me so just forgive him. Let him go. And if we take the time to really reflect on this story, it teaches us really everything that we need to understand about anger and how to deal with anger. First, that anger is natural and it happens. And what matters is not whether necessarily we feel the anger but what our response to feeling that anger is and how we control that anger. So Abu Bakr al-DiAllahu Anhu he did not get angry on his own behalf. He did not get angry because he thought he was right. He did not get angry because he thought he was entitled to being forgiven. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he didn't get angry for himself. He didn't get angry that, oh, one of my followers doesn't know what to do. He got angry in defense of Abu Bakr because Omar had caused him distress when Omar should not have, so he was angry in defense of his friend. And then Omar al-DiAllahu Anhu, even though he had let his initial anger cause him to act in a way that he should not have, caused him to refuse to forgive Abu Bakr. And rushed to be forgiven for that lapse, for that error. And then Abu Bakr as we say at the end, he rushed to protect and to defend Omar al-DiAllahu Anhu. That is when his anger started. This is how we are supposed to use anger properly. Even if in English this is hard to call anger. It's hard to call Abu Bakr's defensive Omar at the very end. It's difficult to call that anger, but that is a function of anger. So there's no yelling. And there's no screaming. And there's no lasting enmity. Everything is resolved within a couple hours of the argument beginning. And each person by the end is rushing to the defense of the other and seeking the forgiveness of the other. This is the way of the Muslim. This is the way of the believer. This is the way of Futua. Ours is not the way of anger. I say, Having said this, I ask for Allah's forgiveness. All praise be to Allah. We testify that there is no God but Allah alone and without partner. May prayers and peace be upon His chosen messenger. Perhaps one of the most famous and short hadiths in our tradition is when a man comes to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and he asks him for advice. We all heard this hadith. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam responded to him and he said, Do not get angry. And he asks again. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam responded again, Do not get angry. Each time he asked three times and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam each time said, Do not get angry. And so perhaps today we can leave you with no better advice than those words of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Do not get angry. Do not let your anger get the better of you. Forgive your brother, forgive your sister, forgive your parents, forgive your children, forgive your co-workers, forgive your classmates, whoever else in your life that may or may not have wronged you, forgive them. Goal yourself. Be strong. When anger comes over you, understand that anger is like a fire. It's a heat. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam advised us to sit down when you get angry. Get lower, get closer to the earth. Because heat rises, fire rises. And if that's not enough then lie down. Get even closer to the earth. That will cool you off. If that's not enough then go make wudu as well. Because that water will cool that fire of anger. And remember that insofar as anger is a fire, that anger is meant to power you. But Shaitan is trying to make sure it engulfs you. That the fire does not just burn to power you and to move you, but it completely destroys you. So if your anger tends towards that, that it's starting to consume you, remember that that anger is probably from a place of arrogance. Because you feel that you deserve better than what you are getting. And remember when you think of that, that arrogance is something that puts you in competition with Allah. That I think I deserve this, but God thinks I deserve this, and therefore we're in competition. And Allah tells us in the hadith that those that compete with Allah will be given, will be thrown into the fires of hell. But also remember, as we advise you to control anger and to not get angry, to not let your anger go so much that you disregard the dignity of your fellow Muslim. And that you let others change and disfigure the religion of Allah. Because those are things that we should be getting angry for. But even in that, as we started, we must have adal and ihsan, justice and excellence. Justice is in tempering our anger to match the situation. And to react only within the bounds of the sharia, the bounds which Allah has drawn for us. And excellence is by forgiving, and by letting go, and by giving excuses. The Prophet ﷺ said, As you treat others, you will be treated. And so while we might very often ask for Allah's justice, what we all really want at the end of the day, is Allah's mercy. And so as the Prophet ﷺ advises us, We ask Allah to grace us with that which He loves with, Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barakah daa Sayyidina Muhammad. Allahumma wa arda an-saadatina abi bakr, wa umar, wa atman, wa ali. Wa arda Allahumma an-al-hasn, wa an-al-hussain, wa an-ummiya maa fatibat al-zahra, wa an-as-sahabati ajma'een, wa an-aswaji nabiyyika, ummahat al-mu'mineen, wa an-attabi'een, wa tabi'een, bi-hsan, ila yawm ad-din. Wa alayna maa'ihum bi-rahmadika yaa, ar-rahman r-rahmeen. May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. And may he be pleased with our masters Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, and Al-Hassan al-Hussain, as well as their mother Fatimah al-Zahra. And the rest of the companions and the mothers of the believers and those that follow them in goodness on the Day of Judgement. And we ask that Allah be pleased with us as well out of His vast mercy. Allahumma inna na'udubika min-adhabi jahannam, min-adhabi al-qabr, min-fittit al-mahya al-mu'mat, min-shari fittit al-masih al-dajjal. We ask that Allah give us refuge with Him from the punishment of the fire, the torment of the grave, the trials of life and death, and the evil of the tribulation of the dajjal, the Antichrist. Wa ba'd, fa inna allaha ta'ali yaqul, inna allaha ya'mur bil-adli, wa il-ihsani, wa ita'idil qurba, wa yannha anil fahshai, wa al-munkri, wa al-baghi, ya'ibakum la'alakum tidhakkarun. To conclude, Allah commands us. Surely Allah commands justice and to excellence and to charity to relatives. And He forbids indecency, vice, and injustice. He warns you so that you may take heed.