(The Danger of the Disease of Loving Fame – The Believer Is a Servant of Allah and Free in His Heart – The Loss of the One Who Loves Fame in This World and the Hereafter).
The First Sermon
All praise is due to Allah, who established His religion and placed no crookedness in it, and made His Sharīʿah easy, placing in it neither restriction nor hardship. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah send abundant peace and blessings upon him.
To proceed:
Fear Allah, servants of Allah, as He truly deserves to be feared, and remain mindful of Him in private and in secret.
يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
“O you who believe, fear Allah as He should truly be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.” [Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 102].
Servant of Allah:
Have you ever heard of garments of humiliation? They are among the punishments of the Day of Resurrection.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “Whoever wears a garment of fame, Allah will clothe him on the Day of Resurrection in a garment of humiliation, and then the Fire will be kindled upon him.” [Narrated by Abū Dāwūd].
A person may wear a distinctive garment in pursuit of fame among people, so that others point him out and speak about him. The garment may be distinctive because it is seen as a sign of asceticism, a symbol of pride and arrogance, or even a means of attracting ridicule and amusement. Yet all of these share one thing: that destructive disease—the love of fame.
His punishment will therefore be the opposite of what he sought: Allah will clothe him, before all creation on the Day of Resurrection, in a garment of humiliation and disgrace.
It is one of the most destructive diseases. The person afflicted by it lives in slavery and captivity. He has not yet experienced true freedom: the freedom of servitude to Allah alone.
He is a prisoner of people, even if outwardly they appear to follow him. He is a prisoner of their admiration and their looks, a prisoner of their approval and praise. Miserable and wretched, he has no stable opinion, thought, identity, or character of his own. His life, opinions, positions, clothing, appearance, and perhaps even his hairstyle are all dependent upon what pleases other people. His direction and purpose are the people, rather than the Lord of the people.
This disease arises from self-admiration and the desire for superiority on earth, and this is a path to destruction. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “Three things are destructive: greed that is obeyed, desire that is followed, and a person’s admiration of himself.” [Narrated by al-Ṭabarānī].
It is destruction because such a person worships recognition and praise. His measure of virtue and success is what people think of him. A flattering word pleases him and praise captivates him, while sincere advice and constructive criticism anger him. His desire for superiority drives him to mention the faults and shortcomings of others and to elevate himself even through the most dishonest forms of praise.
We live in an age of images and trends. Today, the gateway to celebrity and the spotlight is social media and the number of followers a person has. This has come to control people’s opinions, positions, and actions.
Celebrities have become the focus of people’s conversations and attention. Truth and falsehood, right and wrong, good and evil, ugliness and beauty are measured by them, while their only qualification may be that they are famous. They have even become advertising commodities through whom unsellable products are promoted, and deceptive masks through whom obvious truths are distorted.
Even worse is the one who seeks fame and a good reputation among people through deeds of the Hereafter. You see him performing righteous deeds while seeking prominence and wanting to be pointed out because of his faith. He spends in good causes seeking a reputation and hoping that every tongue will speak of him with praise.
Most such people seek, together with fame and through fame, wealth and money. Their condition is as the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ described: “Two hungry wolves released among sheep are not more destructive to them than a person’s eagerness for wealth and status is to his religion.” [Narrated by al-Tirmidhī].
Yes, by the Lord of the Kaʿbah! A person’s eagerness for wealth and his eagerness for fame and status are both ferocious wolves. If they take control of the heart of a servant, they destroy him and ruin his religion.
Servant of Allah:
Islam has shaped its followers through servitude to Allah alone. Allah alone is the ultimate goal toward whom one’s direction and actions must be directed, and He alone is the One from whom goodness and favor are sought.
As for making people one’s goal, its ultimate outcome is loss in this world and the Hereafter.
ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī, may Allah be pleased with him, came to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and said: “O Messenger of Allah! My father used to maintain ties of kinship and used to do such and such good deeds.” He replied: “Your father sought something and he attained it,” meaning fame and remembrance among people. [Narrated by Aḥmad].
This was Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī, whose generosity and hospitality became proverbial. He himself said: “O Māwiyyah, wealth comes and goes,
but stories and remembrance remain from wealth.”
This was his objective: that people should remember him in their poetry and gatherings for his generosity and hospitality. So he spent his wealth and fed people, and he received what he sought. But he has no share with Allah.
Islam came to establish for you the standards through which truth and justice are upheld and through which success is attained in this world and the Hereafter.
So is fame among people a measure of truth and a sign of success? A man came to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and said: “Indeed, my praise is an adornment, and my criticism is a disgrace!”
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied: “That belongs to Allah, Mighty and Majestic.” [Narrated by al-Tirmidhī].
The One who holds a person’s honor and disgrace in His hand, and whom every human being should seek, is Allah alone, al-Ṣamad—the One upon whom all depend. Allah therefore says:
قُلْ إِنِّي أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ الدِّينَ
“Say: I have been commanded to worship Allah, devoting the religion sincerely to Him.” [Sūrat al-Zumar: 11].
All people combined do not possess even the weight of an atom of benefit or harm for themselves or anyone else. They cannot avail a servant against Allah in any way. Allah therefore said to His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:
ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاكَ عَلَى شَرِيعَةٍ مِنَ الْأَمْرِ فَاتَّبِعْهَا وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ * إِنَّهُمْ لَنْ يُغْنُوا عَنْكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا وَإِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ وَاللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ
“Then We placed you upon a clear way of the matter, so follow it and do not follow the desires of those who do not know. Indeed, they will never avail you against Allah in any way. The wrongdoers are allies of one another, while Allah is the Protector of those who fear Him.” [Sūrat al-Jāthiyah: 18–19].
All affairs are in Allah’s hand: giving and withholding, honor and humiliation, restricting and expanding, love and hatred, good praise and bad reputation. All of this belongs to Him alone. He owns the hearts and tongues, the creation and whatever they possess.
The believer’s heart therefore attaches itself to none but his Lord. He asks none but Him and places his hope in none but Him. Whoever attaches himself to and places his hopes in other than his Lord will ultimately face blame and abandonment, as Allah says:
لَا تَجْعَلْ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ فَتَقْعُدَ مَذْمُومًا مَخْذُولًا
“Do not set up another deity alongside Allah, or you will end up condemned and abandoned.” [Sūrat al-Isrāʾ: 22].
This is why the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught Ibn ʿAbbās when he was still young: “If you ask, then ask Allah; and if you seek help, then seek help from Allah. Know that if the entire nation gathered together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you except with something Allah had already decreed for you. And if they gathered together to harm you with something, they would not harm you except with something Allah had already decreed against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.” [Narrated by al-Tirmidhī].
The believer understands that Allah’s pleasure is the goal that must never be abandoned, while pleasing people is not an ultimate goal to be pursued, and that Allah is sufficient to protect His servant from every evil.
May Allah be pleased with al-Fārūq ʿUmar, who said: “Whoever makes his intention sincere in what lies between him and Allah, Allah will suffice him regarding what lies between him and the people. And whoever adorns himself before people with something that Allah knows to be otherwise, Allah will disgrace him.” [Narrated by al-Dāraquṭnī].
Have you not heard that remarkable report?
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When Allah loves a servant, He calls Jibrīl and says: ‘I love so-and-so, so love him.’ Jibrīl then loves him. Then he announces in the heavens: ‘Allah loves so-and-so, so love him,’ and the inhabitants of the heavens love him. Then acceptance is placed for him on earth. And when Allah hates a servant, He calls Jibrīl and says: ‘I hate so-and-so, so hate him.’ Jibrīl then hates him. Then he announces among the inhabitants of the heavens: ‘Allah hates so-and-so, so hate him,’ and they hate him. Then hatred is placed for him on earth.” [Narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim].
Servant of Allah:
How many people are unknown on earth and suffer harm from others, yet their rank with Allah is immense!
And how many people are famous on earth and deceived by the praise of others, yet they are deprived of Allah’s mercy!
Is the measure of success fame that fills the horizons, attractive images that decorate pages, and titles and medals that decorate clothes and walls?
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “There may be a dishevelled person, driven away from people’s doors, who, if he swore by Allah that something would happen, Allah would fulfil his oath.” [Narrated by Muslim].
And he ﷺ said: “Indeed, Allah loves the servant who is God-fearing, self-sufficient, and inconspicuous.” Narrated by Muslim.
How many of the Messengers can you name? Allah says:
وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلًا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ لَمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ
“We certainly sent Messengers before you. Among them are those whose stories We have related to you, and among them are those whose stories We have not related to you.” [Sūrat Ghāfir: 78].
Allah sent three hundred and fifteen Messengers, the best of humankind, yet only a small number of them are mentioned in the Qur’an.
It is therefore not a condition for having a great rank with Allah that your name remain immortalized and remembered among people. It is sufficient that the Lord of the people knows you.
When a man came to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, with news of the victory at Nahāwand, ʿUmar asked him about the martyrs. The man mentioned several by name, then said: “And there are others, O Commander of the Believers, whom you do not know.”
ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, began to weep and said: “It does not harm them that ʿUmar does not know them. Allah knows them.” [Narrated by Ibn Ḥibbān].
May Allah bless me and you through the Great Qur’an and benefit me and you through the verses and wise reminder it contains. I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
The Second Sermon
All praise is due to Allah. May peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his Companions, and all those who follow him.
To proceed:
Those whose positions and actions are driven by fame and the desire for a good reputation among people have lost both this world and the Hereafter. Allah says:
تِلْكَ الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فَسَادًا وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
“That home of the Hereafter We grant to those who do not seek superiority on earth or corruption. The final outcome belongs to those who fear Allah.” [Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ: 83].
You see such a person as a prisoner of his audience. He fears losing followers. He is therefore a slave appearing in the form of a dazzling star, turning whichever way the wind blows.
He has lost the reward of his deeds because he sought reputation, recognition, and status through them. Will he find any reward with the people on the Day of Resurrection?
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “When Allah gathers the people on the Day of Resurrection, a Day concerning which there is no doubt, a caller will announce: ‘Whoever associated anyone with Allah in a deed he performed for Allah should seek his reward from someone other than Allah, for Allah is entirely free of need of any partners.’” [Narrated by al-Tirmidhī].
How many people have studied, recited, taught, and written merely to gain views, pride, and the opportunity to boast?
Does this poor person realize that humiliation and disgrace await him on the Day of Resurrection?
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “Whoever makes people hear about his deeds, Allah will make the hearing among His creation hear about him, and He will belittle and humiliate him.” [Narrated by Aḥmad].
Nor does the matter end there. His disease may even lead him into Hell.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever seeks knowledge in order to boast before the scholars, argue with the foolish, and turn people’s faces toward himself, Allah will admit him into Hell.” [Narrated by Ibn Mājah].
O Allah, help us and do not aid others against us. Grant us victory and do not grant victory against us. Plan for us and do not plan against us, and grant us victory over those who transgress against us.
O Allah, grant us security in our homelands, rectify our leaders and those entrusted with our affairs, and place authority over us in the hands of those who fear You, are mindful of You, and follow what pleases You.
O Allah, support our oppressed brothers and sisters in Gaza and everywhere, and decree for them victory and a near relief.
Servants of Allah, remember Allah abundantly, and glorify Him morning and evening. And our final supplication is: all praise is due to Allah, Lord of all worlds.
