The Imam's Role Is Service to the People
From Moses (peace be upon him) seeking water for his people to the Prophet ﷺ meeting people's needs: and every Muslim is an imam in his own place
Occasion: Fajr khatira delivered on 12 February 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — [Watch the original video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRwUYNTdhBQ)
In the recitation we reviewed two great scenes of Moses, upon our Prophet and upon him be prayers and peace: ﴿وَإِذِ اسْتَسْقَىٰ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ فَقُلْنَا اضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ الْحَجَرَ﴾ (“And [recall] when Moses prayed for water for his people, so We said, ‘Strike with your staff the stone’”), and there is ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُوا بَقَرَةً﴾ (“And [recall] when Moses said to his people, ‘Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow’”).[1] So I ask: Moses represents an imam for these people at that time, so what is the role of the imam in truth?
Leadership Is Service to the People
Many people think that the craft of recitation in the miḥrāb, or beautiful delivery on the chairs, is what the position of imam means. But looking at Moses and his service to his people shows that the basic task of the imam is service to the people: meeting their needs, looking into what is in their hands, being gentle with them, being kind to their conditions, having compassion for them, and addressing their problems in the fullest way according to what the Lord of the worlds, Glorified and Exalted, has enabled him.
For the basic expectation is that Moses, peace be upon him, calls them to Allah, commands them to tawḥīd, forbids them from immorality, restrains them from disobedience, urges them to taqwā, and his task ends. But he walks with them on the road, moves with them in the middle of the desert, and carries out what they want, even when they were ill-mannered and said to him: “Call upon your Lord for us,” as if He were not their Lord, Glorified, exalted in His loftiness. So even in asking they were ill-mannered, and yet he responded to them, was gentle with them, and did good to them to the extent available to him, peace and blessings be upon him.
The Prophet ﷺ and the Needs of the People
And we look and find another model in our souls, majestic and great, the office of prophethood in the station of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The Lord of Might, Glorified and Exalted, tells us, for example, with His words: ﴿قَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ قَوْلَ الَّتِي تُجَادِلُكَ فِي زَوْجِهَا وَتَشْتَكِي إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ يَسْمَعُ تَحَاوُرَكُمَا﴾ (“Certainly has Allah heard the speech of the one who argues with you concerning her husband and directs her complaint to Allah. And Allah hears your dialogue”).[2] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ takes from his time and from his life a period to sit with a woman who came complaining to him of a situation that occurred between her and her husband, and he listens to her very attentively. And the woman speaks in complete secrecy, so much so that ʿĀʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, related that she was straining to hear and did not hear. So glory be to the One who hears all voices, when the Lord of the worlds says: ﴿قَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ﴾ (“Allah has heard”). The point is that the Prophet ﷺ sat with the woman and listened to her and heard her out, and sought a fundamental solution to this case from the Lord of the worlds, and Allah, Blessed and Exalted, sent down His bounty from Himself.
And some narrations say that the slave girl would come to the Prophet ﷺ and take his hand and go around Madinah with him, and the Prophet ﷺ would not pull his hand from her hand.[3] So what is the significance of that? She was going to attend to her needs among the people, wanting to buy from this one and take from that one and do such and such; so by whom does she seek help against these people? By whom does she feel she has strength? As if she were saying to them: Do not dare deceive me, for the Prophet is with me. She takes the hand of the head of the entire state! And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in his complete humility and the pinnacle of his courtesy, peace and blessings be upon him, goes about with her to meet her needs, despite all the concerns of the entire Ummah that he has. That is the role of the imam.
In the Home and in the Great Scenes
And if we see that glimpse, let us not dwell on it; for the Prophet ﷺ, as is related of him, in his home was in the service of his family, when he ﷺ says: «خيركم خيركم لأهله» (“The best of you are the best to their families”).[4] And ʿĀʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, and the wives of the Prophet ﷺ tell of the amount of domestic sacrifice that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made in his home, so that you feel with me that the Prophet ﷺ represented an imam in the service of the people.
And we never saw the people doing anything in the Muslim community of the great, grand scenes and saw the Prophet ﷺ having lagged behind from that scene. In the digging of the trench you see the people tying a stone while he ﷺ, with them, had bound a stone over his belly.[6] And you see the people in the scene of Uḥud fleeing from the fight while the Prophet ﷺ stands firm until his noble face is bloodied, may my father and mother be his ransom, peace and blessings be upon him. You see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in all the scenes, even at the time of alarm: when the people hear a very strange sound or a powerful sound that frightens the creatures, and they go out to see what is the matter, and lo, the Prophet ﷺ meets them returning, as if he had sensed the danger before them and set out toward it before anyone, and alone ﷺ, and he is saying: «لن تُراعوا، لن تُراعوا» (“You will not be frightened, you will not be frightened”),[5] meaning do not worry, you will not be harmed or hurt as long as I am among you. That is the role of the imam.
You Are Imams in Your Places
And I do not say this to anyone, nor do I speak about myself or about so-and-so, but I am speaking to you as well: you are imams in your places, and you are lamps of guidance wherever you are, and you are beacons of the law wherever your posts are, and you are examples of truth before the creation wherever you are and with whomever you keep company. So seek a hand that helps the creation, a mind that advises people, an ear that listens to people and their problems, and a heart that takes in everyone around you. Be servants of Allah to the extent that you are helpers of the creatures of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. Be a mercy to mankind, be an ear that listens to people with an aware mind, fairness, wisdom, and calm.
I ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to bring us and you to the places of His good pleasure, to make us see our faults, all of us, and to open before us the doors of His bounty and mercies, O Allah, amen. And I ask Allah the Most High, the All-Powerful, on this day for us and for you lawful, good provision, blessed in it.
--- [1]: Editor's documentation: The two verses are from Sūrat al-Baqara: the first (60) and the second (67). The speaker did not complete the first verse beyond what is mentioned in the body. [2]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Mujādila, verse 1. In Sunan Ibn Māja (188), ʿĀʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, says: «لَقَدْ جَاءَتِ الْمُجَادِلَةُ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ وَأَنَا فِي نَاحِيَةِ الْبَيْتِ تَشْكُو زَوْجَهَا وَمَا أَسْمَعُ مَا تَقُولُ» (The woman who disputed came to the Prophet ﷺ while I was in a corner of the house, complaining about her husband, and I could not hear what she was saying), and in another of his narrations (2063): «إِنِّي لَأَسْمَعُ كَلَامَ خَوْلَةَ بِنْتِ ثَعْلَبَةَ وَيَخْفَى عَلَيَّ بَعْضُهُ» (I could hear the words of Khawla bint Thaʿlaba, yet some of it was hidden from me); al-Albānī graded both ṣaḥīḥ. The speaker did not name her. [3]: Editor's documentation: The speaker transmitted this in the form “some narrations say” without attributing it. In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (6072), in suspended (muʿallaq) form, from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him: «كَانَتِ الْأَمَةُ مِنْ إِمَاءِ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ لَتَأْخُذُ بِيَدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَتَنْطَلِقُ بِهِ حَيْثُ شَاءَتْ» (“A slave girl of the people of Madinah would take the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and go with him wherever she wished”); Ibn Māja (4177) narrated it with the addition «فَمَا يَنْزِعُ يَدَهُ مِنْ يَدِهَا» (“and he would not withdraw his hand from hers”), and al-Albānī graded it ṣaḥīḥ in Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Māja. In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, from Anas, a woman said: I have a need of you, and he ﷺ said to her: «يَا أُمَّ فُلَانٍ، انْظُرِي أَيَّ السِّكَكِ شِئْتِ حَتَّى أَقْضِيَ لَكِ حَاجَتَكِ» (“O mother of so-and-so, look at whichever of the lanes you wish, so that I may fulfil your need”). [4]: Editor's documentation: The hadith: «خَيْرُكُمْ خَيْرُكُمْ لِأَهْلِهِ، وَأَنَا خَيْرُكُمْ لِأَهْلِي» (“The best of you are the best to their families, and I am the best of you to my family”), reported by al-Tirmidhī from ʿĀʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, and graded ṣaḥīḥ by al-Albānī, and by Ibn Māja (1977) from Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both. [5]: Editor's documentation: The origin of the hadith is from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning the alarm of the people of Madinah at night and the Prophet's ﷺ going out on the horse of Abū Ṭalḥa, and it is in the two Ṣaḥīḥs; its wording in Sunan Ibn Māja (2772) is: «يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، لَنْ تُرَاعُوا» (“O people, you will not be frightened”). [6]: Editor's documentation: In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (4101), from Jābir, may Allah be pleased with him, on the digging of the trench: «ثُمَّ قَامَ وَبَطْنُهُ مَعْصُوبٌ بِحَجَرٍ» (Then he stood up, and his belly was bound with a stone). That he ﷺ tied two stones is reported by al-Tirmidhī (2371) from Abū Ṭalḥa, who called it gharīb, and al-Albānī graded it weak, so it has not been retained in the text.