Islamic Marriage Khutbah (Wedding Speech)

Women celebrating at an Egyptian open air wedding
This is a typical Muslim nikah khutbah (wedding speech) that would be given by an Imam at a Muslim wedding. This particular speech was translated from Arabic, I believe. I do not know theauthor's name:
Wedding Khutbah
"Thanks be to Allah that we praise Him, pray to Him for help; ask Him for pardon; we believe in Him, We trust Him; and ask Him to guard us from the evil of our own souls and from the evil consequences of our own deeds. Whomsoever He leaves straying no one can guide him. I bear witness that there is no God save Allah, who has no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, whom He has sent with truth as a bringer of good news anda warner.
The best word is the bookof Allah, and the best wayis that of Muhammad, on whom be peace. The worst of all things are innovations and every innovation leads astray, and every thing that leadsastray leads to Hell.
Whosoever obeys Allah and His messenger will beguided aright and whosoever disobeys will cause loss to his own self (and thereafter). Hereafter, I ask the refugeof Allah from Shaytan, theoutcast.
O mankind! Be careful ofyour duty to your Lord who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. be careful of your duty towards Allah in whom you claim (your rights) of one another, and toward thewombs (that bear you). Lo, Allah hath been a watcher over you. [SurahAl Nisa' 4:1]
O ye who believe! Observe your duty to Allah with right observance, and die not save as those who have surrendered (unto Him). [Surah Ali 'Imran 3:102]
O ye who believe! Guardyour duty to Allah, and speak words straight to the point; He will adjust your works for you and will forgive you your sins. Whosoever obeyeth Allah and His messenger, he verily hath gained a signal victory. [Surah Al Ahzab 33:70-71]"
Marriage is one of the most important acts of worship in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu layhi Wasallam) has told us how to live as Muslims. One of the branches of faith is marriage. It has been thus narrated in a Hadeeth that when a person marries, he has complete half of his religion and so he should fear Allah regarding the remaining half.
Shame, modesty, moral and social values and control of self desire are just a few of the many teachings of Islam. Furthermore, these are just a few of the many worships that a person can complete by performing the ritual of marriage. Through marriage a person can be saved from many shameless and immoral sins and through marriage he has is more able to control his desire. Therefore, the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) has said:
"O young men! Whoeveris able to marry should marry, for that will help him to lower his gaze and guard his modesty." [Sahih al-Bukhari]
Marriage is a strong oath that takes place between the man and women in this world, but its blessings and contract continues even in Jannah. It is the way of our beloved Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), and whosoever goes against this practice has been reprimanded.
Hadhrat Anas ibn Malik narrates:
A group of three men came to the houses of thewives of the Prophet (Sallallaahu layhi Wasallam) asking how the Prophet worshipped (Allah), and when they were informed about that, they considered theirworship insufficient and said:
"Where are we compared to the Prophet as his past and future sins have been forgiven?"
Then one of them said: "I will offer the prayer throughout the night forever."
The other said: "I will fast throughout the year and will not break my fast."
The third said: "I will keepaway from the women and will not marry forever."
Allah's Apostle came to them and said, "Are you the same people who said so-and-so? By Allah, I am more submissive to Allah and more afraid of Him than you; yet I fast and break my fast, I do sleep and I also marry women. So he who does not follow my tradition in religion, is not from me (from myfollowers)." [Sahih al-Bukhari]
Therefore, Islamically, we are all encouraged to get married and not turn away from the ways of our beloved Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Salaam). It should be remembered that this duty of marriage is for both men and women. Just as men complete half their religion through thisact, it is also the same for women. However, in today's time, there are many marriage-related issues which arise in people's lives, as today we see many people abusing the laws of marriage in Islam.

The Heart of the Matter

Sometimes we have a problem with a Muslim or Muslims, and we get
frustrated and we think, "I don't want to be around those people
anymore." Orsomething happens at the Masjid (the mosque) that we don't
like, maybe the Imam says something we don't agree with, or we don't
like the Masjid policies, and we feel offended and we stop going.
Maybe we pray at home, and stop associating with Muslims, then maybe
over time we become slack in our prayers, but we tell ourselves it's
okay becausewe're still Muslim "in our hearts".
That's one kind of trap.
On top of that it's hard to represent this deen amongnon-Muslims. It's
hard to carry yourself as a Muslim at work when you're the only one
there and you're aware that some of your co-workers are bigots or are
operating on negative stereotypes. It's hard to wear the hijab when
somepeople look at you as if you're a terrorist.
So maybe we give up the outer trappings of Islam, telling ourselves
that we have to survive in this society.
That's another trap.
And if you're a convert andyour family is opposed to your conversion
to Islam, that's another weight to carry. If they are openly hostile,
and if you still live with them as they mock your deen (maybe in front
of your children) and try toundercut your childrens' practice of Islam
by feeding them pork or letting them have "a little taste" of wine… or
something comes on the news about a conflict in the Muslim world and
yourfamily says, "Look, those Muslims are at it again…" And you don't
know how to respond, or you don't want to start another fightso you
keep your mouth shut, but inside you feel humiliated and confused…
And if you are isolated from the Muslim community for racial reasons
(this is not supposed to happen but it does) or for simple
culturalreasons, because you can't speak Arabic or Urdu and you don't
fit in, and you haven't been able to makeany Muslim friends, or you
feel that the Masjid crowd don't regard you in the same way as
so-called "born Muslims"… instead they look at you as an oddity, or a
child, or a trophy of some kind, as if your conversion somehow
validates their faith…
Well, then, you might startto say to yourself, "What's the point? Is
it really worth it? Is it even really true?"
That's obviously a huge, deadly trap.
Okay, if you're a "born Muslim" you might not reach the point of that
laststatement ("Is it even true?") because for most ofus who were
raised Muslim, Islam is bred into us from childhood, and it's a part
of us even when wedon't understand it or appreciate it. But you still
might feel that identifying as a Muslim is too much trouble… it's
easier to associate with non-Muslims, abandon your prayers, drink wine
atthe company dinner, have relationships with non-Muslims, and not
haveto battle against society every day, not to mention battling
against your own nafs (desires). This is an easy trap to fall into if
you are a professional living alone.
We fall into these traps because we forget what this deen is. Shaytan
(Satan) isolates us just as awolf isolates a sheep, driving it away
from the herd; then he plays games with our minds so that we become
reactive, responding emotionally tocircumstances in our environments.
("That Muslim cheated me, so I don't trust Muslims anymore.") Shaytan
gives us pathetic rationalizationsthat we latch onto as if they really
mean something. ("I'm a single Muslim alone in a non-Muslim
environment. It's not practical for me to live an Islamic lifestyle
right now.")
Or whatever.
We fall into these spiritual traps because we forget what Islam is all
about. Weforget the heart of the matter, the core, the fulcrum upon
which the universe turns, the foundation of reality itself:
Laa ilaha il-Allah.
There is no God but Allah.

1a] Righteous deeds do notexpiate transgressions against the rights of others

1a]
if he accepts that, all well and good, but if he objects and demands
his money, then he should give it to him, and the money he gave in
charity becomes an act of charity on his own behalf. He alsohas to ask
Allaah for forgiveness and repent to Him, and pray for the other
person.

And Allaah knows best.

1] Righteous deeds do notexpiate transgressions against the rights of others

1]
I heard that the Prophet (S) said that if one keeps the fasts of
Ramadan withemaan and in order to getreward from Allah, Allah will
forgive all his or her past sins. Does this also include the sins one
may have knowingly committed against the rights of other Muslim
brothers and sisters whichhe or she now deeply regrets doing but
cannot admit his or her guilt to the victims as this may create even
more problems?.
Praise be to Allaah.
There are many things which expiate for sin, including repentance,
seeking forgiveness, doing acts of worship, carrying out hadd
punishments on those who have done acts for which such punishments are
due, and so on.
But righteous deeds such as prayer, fasting, Hajj etc only expiate for
minor sins, according to the majority of scholars, and they only
expiate for transgressions against therights of Allaah.
With regard to sins that have to do with the rightsof other people,
they can only be expiated by repenting from them. Oneof the conditions
of repenting from them is restoring the rights of those who have been
wronged.
Muslim (1886) narrated from 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'Aas (may
Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The martyr will be forgiven
for all his sins except debt."
Al-Nawawi said in Sharh Muslim:
The words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
"except debt" draw attention to all rights owed to other people.
Jihad, martyrdom and other righteous deeds do not expiate for
transgressions against therights of other people, rather they only
expiate for transgressions against the rights of Allaah. End quote.
Ibn Muflih said in al-Furoo' (6/193):
Martyrdom expiates for everything except debt. Our Shaykh (i.e.,
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, may Allaah have mercy onhim) said: and
except sins against other people such as murder and oppression. End
quote.
It says in al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah (14/129):
Repentance in the sense of regretting what one has done and resolving
not to do it again is not sufficient to waive the rights that are owed
to other people. Whoever has stolen another person's wealth, or seized
it by force, or has wronged him in any otherway, will not have
finished with the matter by simply regretting it, giving up the sin
and resolving not to do it again. Rather he has to restore those
rights. This is a principle on which thefuqaha' are unanimously
agreed. End quote.
This has to do with material possessions, suchas wealth that has been
taken be force or by deceit. With regard to intangible rights such as
in cases of slander and backbiting, if the person who has been wronged
knows about it, then it is essential to apologize to him and ask for
his forgiveness. If he did not know, then he should not be told;
rather the one who wronged him shouldpray for him and pray for
forgiveness for him, because telling him may upset him and create
enmity and hatred between the two.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
According to the saheeh hadeeth: "Whoever has wronged his brother with
regard to his blood, his wealth or his honour, let him come and set
mattersstraight before there comes a Day on which there will be no
dirhams and no dinars, only good deeds and bad deeds, andif he has
good deeds (theywill be taken and given tothe one whom he wronged),
otherwise some of the bad deeds of the one whom he wronged will be
taken and added to his burden, then he will be thrown into the Fire."
This has to do with cases where the one who was wronged was aware of
it; but if he was gossiped about or slandered and he does not know,
then it was said that one of the conditions of repentance is telling
him, or it was said that this is not essential, which is the view of
the majority; bothviews were narrated fromAhmad, but his view on such
matters is that one should do good deeds for the one who was wronged,
such as praying for him, praying for forgiveness for him and doing
good deeds to be given to him, to take the place of that backbiting
and slander. Al-Hasan al-Basri said: The expiation for gossip is to
pray for forgiveness for the person about whom you gossiped. End
quote.
Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 18/189
The scholars of the Standing Committee said, concerning a man who
stole money from a slave:
If he knows the slave or he knows someone who knows him, he can tell
him to look for him and give him the money in silver or the
equivalent, orwhatever he agrees upon with him. If he does not know
who he is and he thinks that he will never find him, he should give
itor the equivalent in cash money in charity on behalf of its owner.
If he finds him after that, he should tell him what he did; if he
accepts that, :->