The Truth Is More Worthy to Be Followed

Occasion: A summary of a Friday khutbah delivered at the AIA Masjid on July 10, 2026Source: A transcription of a video khutbah by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

All praise belongs to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, ask Him for guidance and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and the misdeeds of our actions. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner, and that our master Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger ﷺ, who conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, gave sincere counsel to the Ummah, and through whom Allah lifted the darkness. To proceed.

A kick was lost in a match, then Egypt went out of the World Cup, and the world rose up. Anger and shouting, and slogans declaring that this "is not right," that it was cheating and fraud. Those who know me closely know that I am the worst person to talk about the world of football, and I have not come to talk about it. Yet what catches the eye is that this uprising did not happen over the shells falling on the people of Palestine. And those whose voices rose to say that this is not right may well not know what is right in their own homes, nor uphold it in their closest relationships.

Where do we stand on the rights of people?

This is what led me to choose the title that reached you: "The truth is more worthy to be followed." If we were to ask why the revolt of truth does not stir within us as we deal with the reality we live in, the more fitting question would be: where do we stand on the rights of people? Where do we stand on upholding what is right in our places, in our work, and in our homes?

The phrase in its place in Sūrat Yūnus

The phrase comes in Sūrat Yūnus:

﴿أَفَمَن يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ أَحَقُّ أَن يُتَّبَعَ أَمَّن لَّا يَهِدِّي إِلَّا أَن يُهْدَىٰ ۖ فَمَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ﴾ ("So is He who guides to the truth more worthy to be followed, or he who does not find the way unless he is guided? Then what is wrong with you, how do you judge?") [Yūnus: 35]

Do you think it is a comment on a passing incident? Or is it, as is the Qur'an's constant method, part of forming a mind that thinks about the mechanisms of truth and how to bring it about in the real world and in the patterns of people's lives? You know how keen I am on precision: why did it come in this sūrah specifically and in this context? Because the sūrah mentions Yūnus, peace be upon him, who looked at the number of those who responded and was not pleased with what he saw, felt that he was not fulfilling his task, and so went out and left his people for a place he did not know. He moved from the ordered method he had been commanded to follow, from the mechanisms of dealing and the logic of establishing things, to an unstudied plan and an incomprehensible movement. Then Allah, Blessed and Exalted, brought him back after teaching him that our eyes do not look at persons, but at the method, at the truth in itself.

Knowledge attained and a soul that refuses

Sūrat al-Baqarah treats this matter in many places, but before we go on we must grasp a statement that the Qur'an lays down as a great foundation:

﴿وَلَا تَلْبِسُوا الْحَقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُوا الْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾ ("And do not mix the truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth while you know it") [al-Baqarah: 42]^[6]

This text seizes my whole mind and drives me to a question: is upholding the truth tied to knowledge or to the soul? They had attained the knowledge, and yet they mixed the truth with falsehood to cover things up for people and blind them.

The address was to the Children of Israel. You remember the story of the cow, and how the stages of negotiation, sparring and evasion began:

﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُوا بَقَرَةً ۖ قَالُوا أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا ۖ قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ﴾ ("And when Moses said to his people, 'Allah commands you to slaughter a cow,' they said, 'Do you take us in ridicule?' He said, 'I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant'") [al-Baqarah: 67]

Do you see them talking about the issue, or talking with the speaker? Until they were forced to talk about the issue, yet it is the logic of evasion: ﴿ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِيَ﴾ ("Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is") [al-Baqarah: 68], and he answers them: ﴿إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لَّا فَارِضٌ وَلَا بِكْرٌ عَوَانٌ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ ۖ فَافْعَلُوا مَا تُؤْمَرُونَ﴾ ("He says it is a cow neither old nor young, but in between; so do what you are commanded") [al-Baqarah: 68]. Then they come back: ﴿ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا لَوْنُهَا﴾ ("Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what her color is") [al-Baqarah: 69], and they are told: ﴿بَقَرَةٌ صَفْرَاءُ فَاقِعٌ لَّوْنُهَا تَسُرُّ النَّاظِرِينَ﴾ ("A yellow cow, bright in color, pleasing to those who see her") [al-Baqarah: 69]. Then they come back a third time: ﴿ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِيَ إِنَّ الْبَقَرَ تَشَابَهَ عَلَيْنَا وَإِنَّا إِن شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَمُهْتَدُونَ﴾ ("Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is; cows look alike to us, and we, if Allah wills, will be guided") [al-Baqarah: 70].

Where are these people heading? What are they doing? And why was the story told to us? So that we do not fall into the like of it again.

Then look at the first address to the Children of Israel in the Qur'an:

﴿يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُوا بِعَهْدِي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ﴾ ("O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I bestowed upon you, and fulfill My covenant, I will fulfill your covenant, and Me alone you should hold in awe") [al-Baqarah: 40]

This expression with the word of awe (rahbah): does it speak to minds or to souls? And after it there is a swift move to a statement describing another type of those who resist the truth:

﴿وَجَحَدُوا بِهَا وَاسْتَيْقَنَتْهَا أَنفُسُهُمْ﴾ ("And they rejected them, while their souls were certain of them") [al-Naml: 14]

Where is the address here? And with what does your Lord address you? He is addressing your soul.

Knowledge was present with Iblīs when he was commanded to prostrate to Adam: he knew that this was the truth, and yet his self disdained to submit to the command of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. That is why the threat came neither rational nor logical:

﴿فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ ۝ إِلَّا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ﴾ ("By Your might, I will surely mislead them all, except Your servants among them who are chosen and purified") [Ṣād: 82–83]

Why did it come with the fatḥa?^[1] Because these are the choicest of the sincere; those who are sincere (mukhliṣ) in their souls are many, and a person may be sincere to a truth or sincere to a falsehood. But the purified ones (mukhlaṣ), who are distinguished by their minds and their awareness, and whose souls are distinguished in that they did not sink into the rest of the world's desires, are picked out from among the vast crowds that rise up for football and for going out of the World Cup, and do not rise up for the great issues of their lives.

We care for trivia and neglect what is weighty

We fall into a very great problem: we care for trivia and do not care for what is weighty, and we imagine that overlooking simple matters is wisdom, sense and awareness. Yet I stop before the upholding of truth in the life of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. One day, in a passing gathering and a natural, simple situation, a woman calls her little child and says to him: Come, as though promising him something. And suddenly the Prophet ﷺ changes the course of the conversation entirely, and the rule is turned over: «وما أردتِ أن تعطيه؟» ("And what did you intend to give him?") She said: I will give him dates. He said: «أَمَا إِنَّكِ لَوْ لَمْ تُعْطِهِ شَيْئًا كُتِبَتْ عَلَيْكِ كَذْبَةٌ» ("Had you not given him anything, a lie would have been recorded against you")^[2]. Why all of this? Because the one who is lied to today by the people closest to him learns betrayal tomorrow.

That is why he ﷺ said in the hearing of the crowds: «لو أن فاطمة بنت محمد سرقت لقطعتُ يدها» ("If Fāṭimah the daughter of Muḥammad were to steal, I would cut off her hand")^[3]. Where is the noble, great lineage? Where is intercession through her father ﷺ, may Allah be pleased with her, with the Mothers of the Believers and with the household of the Prophet ﷺ? No, it is the truth.

That is why you see the Qur'an telling us clearly and plainly:

﴿وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا ۚ اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ﴾ ("And do not let hatred of a people lead you to be unjust. Be just; that is nearer to taqwā") [al-Māʾidah: 8]

So if we have a mind by which we weigh matters, and a logic by which we see events clearly, let this mind and this logic be what moves you in your home and with your family, for they are the people most in need of a mind disciplined by the truth.

Counsels on the way out

Do not hand your head to anyone to put in it whatever he wishes; rather, hand the reins of your heart and mind to the Book of your Lord. Trace the places of upbringing that were issued for you, look at where you need the Qur'an, and follow the traces of divine correction for the human error present in your own soul. And strive to make the goal you seek that you meet Allah on the Day of Resurrection as one of the people of truth.

Avoid the places of backbiting where people's honor is devoured while you stay silent, because it is a simple situation in which you do not stand up for the truth and push back the backbiting of people. Raise your resolve to return what was wrongfully taken, even if it is a dāniq. Our Messenger ﷺ once warned before the people against seizing the wealth of a Muslim without right, and a man asked him the simple, logical question each of us would ask: Even if it is something small, O Messenger of Allah? He ﷺ said: «وإن قضيبًا من أراك» ("Even if it is a twig of arāk")^[4]. That is, the siwāk. You consume people's wealth unjustly with a piece of siwāk, and you end up in Hell! So that people know that the bane of the Ummah is belittling the small sin. And we know, and it does not escape your noble knowledge, that most of the danger coming upon us on the Day of Resurrection is from the small sins.

Perhaps there was some generalization in my words today, but it is tied to the word of truth with which I cannot properly enter your home to look at the state of things between you and your wife. Consuming rights is a general term that is distributed according to the measures issued for it and against it, and suppressing the truth in situations and with people is a general term, but you know where to place it in your life.

Servants of Allah, let it not escape any of you that we in this land are responsible for our religion, that the one who works for that is saved before Allah on the Day of Resurrection, and that the one who neglects this fact in his life is a loser here and a loser there. So let nothing distract you from the matter of your religion, and let your souls not turn to anything other than the purpose for which we are here. Numbers in people's lives are many; money in the banks benefits others more than it benefits you or your family; fortunes are vast in people's pockets; but you will gain nothing from all that except what you used to draw near to Allah and to do yourself justice before Him, by establishing daʿwah in this land and elsewhere. So look to your future. And whoever cares for his family, let him not ruin them by his bad character or his bad conduct.

Supplication

O Allah, place faith within us and bless us in it, in our hearts and our minds. O Allah, make us firm with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter, and protect us from the disgrace of this world and the punishment of the Hereafter, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, You know best the condition of the people of Palestine, and You know of them what we do not know; so answer their call, meet their need, and make the means subservient to them. O Allah, we ask You to subdue their enemy for them. O Allah, show them the signs of Your victory in all their conditions, and answer all their calls, O Lord of the worlds. Our Lord, we seek refuge in You from a tongue silent about the truth, and from a soul that denies what is good. Our Lord, make us firm and be pleased with us, and save our bodies, hearts and minds from every trick of Satan and from every conspiracy of the enemies of Your religion. O Allah, amīn, O Lord of the worlds. And may Allah send blessings and abundant peace upon our Prophet Muḥammad, and upon his family and Companions.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The reading of Ḥafṣ in both places (Ṣād: 83 and al-Ḥijr: 40) is with a fatḥa on the lām: «المُخْلَصِين» (al-mukhlaṣīn), the passive participle, meaning those whom Allah has chosen and purified for Himself; with a kasra, «المُخْلِصين» (al-mukhliṣīn), the active participle, meaning those who are sincere, which is the reading of Ibn Kathīr, Abū ʿAmr, Ibn ʿĀmir and Yaʿqūb. The speaker drew attention to the meaning of the fatḥa. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by Abū Dāwūd (4991) and Aḥmad from the ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah (may Allah be pleased with him); al-Albānī graded it ḥasan, and Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ said: "ḥasan li-ghayrihi." ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Agreed upon (Bukhārī and Muslim) from the ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and it came with this wording in the context of the story of the Makhzūmī woman. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by Muslim from the ḥadīth of Abū Umāmah al-Ḥārithī (may Allah be pleased with him), and its full text is: «من اقتطع حق امرئ مسلم بيمينه فقد أوجب الله له النار وحرّم عليه الجنة» ("Whoever seizes the right of a Muslim by his oath, Allah has made the Fire binding for him and forbidden Paradise to him"); the speaker cited it by meaning. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: Of the verse, the speaker uttered: «لا تلبسوا الحق بالباطل وأنتم تعلمون» ("Do not mix the truth with falsehood while you know"); the full verse is given here.