Abdul Rahman Chao 6-14-19

All praise and thanks is due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His assistance, and we seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil that resides within ourselves, and from the evil that results from our evil deeds.

Whomsoever Allah guides, none shall misguide them. And whomsoever Allah allows to be led astray, then none shall guide them back to the straight path. I bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is His final prophet and messenger.

Allah tells us in the Qur'an, O you who believe, be God-conscious, fear Allah as He deserves to be feared, and do not die except as Muslims. O mankind, fear the Lord who has created you from one soul, and from it its mate, and from it many men and many women. And fear Allah by the rights that you ask of one another, and by the ties of kinship.

Verily Allah is ever watchful over you. O you who believe, be God-conscious and fear Allah and speak the truth. He will render your deeds righteous, and He will forgive your sins.

And whoever obeys Allah and His messenger has indeed achieved a great victory. Verily the best speech is the speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. And the worst of affairs are those that are of religious innovation, for all of that is misguidance, and all of that misguidance leads to hellfire.

The Foundation of Da'wah: Priorities in Calling to Islam

The Prophet one time sent a companion by the name of Mu'adh ibn al-Jabal. And he sent him to Yemen. And as you know, Yemen during the time of the Prophet, and even before the Prophet, was primarily influenced by Christians, by virtue of it being so close to Abyssinia, which until today is a Christian majority country.

So the first thing that the Prophet told him is:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7372)

You are going to come to a group of people, who are from the people of the book, in other words they are Christians. Then let the first thing that you call them to is that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is his Prophet and Messenger. And if they obey that, and they believe, and they follow through, then tell them that Allah has made fard upon them, five prayers in a day and night.

And if they do that, then let them know that Allah has made fard upon them, alms giving zakah. It is to be taken from their wealthy, and to be given to their poor. This hadith, brothers and sisters, as many scholars have commented on, they have said that this hadith is the bedrock of what a person should start off with when they are calling others to Islam.

That is to let them know who are we as Muslims. And a lot of times you go to different masajids, some of them, their dawah outreach program is focusing on, let's talk about what's common between you and me, and let's have dinner, and then feel better about each other, and they think that's interfaith. That's not interfaith.

The Prophet is telling us that the first thing you need to let them know is that we worship Allah, we submit to Him, and we invite you to do the same. But brothers and sisters, is this idea of prioritizing what to call people to Islam simply limited to this scope? No. In fact, the entire religion of Islam has been organized around knowing what a person should do, and how to prioritize it over other acts of worship.

The Qur'an's Message: Prioritizing the Hereafter

The Qur'an is showing us over and over again of the main theme of what to prioritize in our life, and that is prioritize the hereafter over the dunya, over this worldly life.

But rather you would prefer this worldly life over the hereafter. Allah tells us in the Qur'an:

Look at how we have preferred and honored some over the others, for indeed the next life is greater in rank and greater in blessing.

And if we look at the Qur'an, if you open up to any page in the Mus'haf, the main theme that is reiterated over and over again is about the oneness of Allah, the worship of Allah. Each page in the Qur'an, there's no way that there's a page in the Qur'an that doesn't talk about Allah in some shape or form. Whether it is by mentioning the word Allah, لَفْظُ الْجَلَالَةِ, God's name specifically, or one of His names, or one of His attributes, or one of His actions of what He does.

And if you look at the way how the Prophet called the people to Islam, it was organized around this notion of worshipping Allah first. The first 13 years of the Prophet was calling people to what? Worship Allah alone. And the Meccan surahs were focusing on who is Allah, worship Allah, the reality of resurrection, and also paradise and hellfire.

The Challenge of Our Time: Knowing Our Priorities

And so brothers and sisters, we are living in a time where we have a phenomena that is most rampant. And it is not specifically only to us here in the United States, but it is across the entire planet. And that is, not knowing our own priorities, and what is important for us to do now, and what should we do at this moment, for example.

And one of the poets of the past, he said, the intelligent person is not simply the one who knows what is right and what is wrong, but knows which out of the two rights takes priority, and which out of the two wrongs is a greater sin, and that one should avoid it. Allah tells us in the Qur'an:

Follow the commandments, and follow أَحْسَنَ مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ The literal translation is, the best of what we have sent down. And the ulema said, what it means here is, follow what we have commanded you to do.

So this verse teaches us this notion, that there are certain things in Islam, that we should prioritize first, and some things that we should put on the back burner. The Prophet tells us, that Iman, faith, is of different levels.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 35)

The Prophet says, Iman, faith, is of 70 something branches, the highest of which is لا إله إلا الله and the lowest is to remove harm from the roadway. And shyness and bashfulness, that characteristic is part of Iman.

Building the Foundation: Teaching Children Priorities

And so brothers and sisters, why do you think Allah commanded parents to teach their kids Salah starting at seven, and to enforce it at ten, and that they are accountable at fifteen? Because it is the parent's job, from the minute that the child is born, beginning with Adhan in the ear, to plant the seed of Tawheed into the child's mind, to teach them why we love Allah, who Allah is, what He likes, what He dislikes, what are His attributes, and what is His relationship with us in this world. And so when the child grows up, and you teach them about fasting, you teach them about Salah, you teach them about whatever it is that you want to teach them, you're not simply doing, I'm teaching you the what and the how, you've already taught them the why.

You've taught them why they should do it. And nowadays we have a lot of parents, they see their kids growing up, and the kids, mashallah, are really focused on political activism. Really focused on relief efforts, some sort of fundraising game for relief in, insert whatever country that you want to insert.

They're like, you know, Alhamdulillah, he's involved in the MSA, you know, Alhamdulillah, it's good. He's caring about the ummah, caring about the crisis that is going around. The kid's not praying. So they suddenly think that political activism supplants and replaces the top priority, and that is who they are as a Muslim, that they pray five times a day.

We sometimes find in the field of work, activists who didn't build this foundation and knowledge of who Allah is, who didn't understand that they had to learn several things before they engage in the field work. Activists that would come back completely turning into atheists saying, why is there so much carnage in the Muslim world? Where is God in this picture? Why is Allah allowing this evil to happen? You know why that question is arising? Because they don't know who Allah is.

The Danger of Looking to Others for Direction

Brothers and sisters, before we talk about what are some examples of what priorities that you should take into consideration before anything else, you have to understand that if you don't know your own priorities, you're going to be looking at everyone else, taking a cue and reference from all of them, and you will never know what to do, what at the right time.

And you know that famous, hilarious story, probably most of you have heard of it, of a father and a son that were riding, they were walking along and the father was riding the donkey. So they passed by a group of people and the group of people said, what a cruel father, making his poor child walk on the street and he's enjoying himself sitting and riding on the donkey. So he got off the donkey, dismounted and put his son on there.

Passed along another group of people, what a disobedient child, no filial piety towards his parents, making his poor dad walk on the street and he's sitting on the donkey relaxed. And so they both got down and they were walking. People said, look at these two idiots, there's a donkey waiting for them and they're both walking on the street.

And so they both got on the donkey. And then another group of people said, this is animal abuse, both of you on the donkey now? Why do you think this story is so hilarious but yet so important? Because it highlights the problem. And that is, when you don't know what your priorities are, you're gonna be taking the cue from everyone else. And you're not going to do what is right.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله

Practical Examples of Islamic Priorities

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء المسلمين نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين

After talking about the importance of knowing our priorities, let us talk about some examples that we can benefit from. You know the Prophet, when he taught us this religion, he taught us from the most general to the most specific.

From the most general thing and the most important thing of worshipping Allah, all the way down to how to use the restroom. So of course there's going to be an order of priority of what a person should focus on. And the scholars of the past, when you read the fiqh books, in Arabic they will say something like, وَهَذَا أَوْلَى Out of these three opinions, this opinion أولى, this opinion takes precedence.

Why? Because they're sitting there and they're thinking, out of all the different commandments that we have, which one is closer to the truth, and which one a person should focus on.

First Priority: The Heart Over the Body

Brothers and sisters, the first thing that we should focus on is fixing the heart over the body. Because the Prophet tells us that there is one morsel, one flesh that is inside the body. If it is righteous, then the body is righteous. If it is corrupt, then the whole body is corrupt. And that is the heart.

So if you do not make an effort to clean your heart out, and to rectify what is important, you're going to end up having actions that do not conform to what is in your heart. The Prophet was one time given a description of one person, and that was, she gave a lot of charity, she did a lot of extra salah, she did a lot of extra good things all the time. But the one thing that she kept doing was she had these negative feelings and hatred towards her neighbor, and it led to harming the neighbor.

So the Prophet says, she's in hell. In other words, all of this extra stuff that you're doing is of no value if the heart is not cleaned out. And then he was later on given a description of another woman who didn't do extra charity, who didn't do extra prayer, who didn't do extra fasting, but she had a good heart and she was nice to her neighbor. The Prophet said, she is indeed in Jannah.

Second Priority: Fard Over Sunnah

Brothers and sisters, it is very important to learn that you must prioritize the fard, the obligatory above the sunnah. And the Prophet warned us about certain extremists that would show up in our ummah, aka the khawarij.

And that these people, they would go around slaughtering in the name of Islam, and killing in the name of Islam. But what did he say? That if you were to compare their salah, their extra nafilah that they used to do day in and day out, that their foreheads would have a scar, a dark spot from the كثرة السجود, from that extra tahajjud that they're doing. If you were to compare your salah to their salah, and if you were to compare your fasting to their fasting, you would feel bad about yourself.

But what did he say? But these individuals, these extremists, they read the Qur'an and it doesn't go past their throat. In other words, it doesn't go into the heart. All this extra ibadah doesn't mean anything. And they go through the deen like an arrow passes through the quarry, the prey. It doesn't get it, it goes right through it.

Some of the companions, brothers and sisters, were one time discussing and they were talking amongst themselves, which is a greater good deed? And some of them said, it is to give water to the hujjaj, the pilgrims of Mecca. And someone else said, no, it is indeed, rather it is by taking care of the structure of Masjid al-Haram, and taking care of that building, and making sure it is maintained and well protected. That is a greater deed.

And so they continued to argue until it got very loud. They were arguing near the minbar, the pulpit of the Prophet, and Umar bin Khattab saw that, and he said, stop. After the Prophet comes out, you can ask him what his opinion is. And so Allah sent down in the Quran:

Have you made the giving of water to pilgrims, and the fixing and the maintenance of the building, like in equal importance and value to those who believe in Allah? So if you are going out, and feeding poor people at night, and you are not praying Isha, then feeding poor people is haram. Because you never put a sunnah act over a fard act. And we have to understand and know, what is sunnah that is non-obligatory, and what is fard.

Third Priority: Focus on Yourself Before Others

Brothers and sisters, sometimes you have to focus on yourself, before you try to help others. And this sometimes manifests in the form of people who have this martyrdom syndrome in them. They want to help everyone else. They want to help their friends. Their friend needs a ride, they are there to give them a ride. But they disrespect their parents. But they skip the salah. But they forget what Allah has commanded them.

And so look what the Prophet says. He gives an example, where a companion came to seek permission to participate in a battle. Is that a good deed? Yes it is. But what happened was, the Prophet says, Is your mother alive? Is your mother still around? He said, yes. He said, go take care of her first. Teaching them the importance of prioritizing what is more important in the eyes of Allah.

Fourth Priority: Removing Sins Before Good Deeds

Brothers and sisters, prioritization also comes in the form of removing the sins from yourself first, before you embark on good deeds. So the Prophet says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7288)

What I have prohibited you from doing, then stay away from it. And then, what I have commanded you to do, then do it as much as you can.

Application: Guiding New Muslims

And so, brothers and sisters, we find this thing in our community whenever converts take the shahada at the very front. We all get that emotional high, like, mashallah, alhamdulillah, this is amazing. And you know what? Everyone proceeds to give free unsolicited advice. Sister, put on the hijab right now. Brother, take off that gold ring. Brother, your pants are below a certain length. Brother, your beard is too short. And they start bombarding them with all of the things about Islam, not knowing what the priority is.

So what should the revert be focusing on when they come to Islam? They need to have a mentor that will guide them through the process of start with knowing who Allah is. Start with learning wudu. Start with learning the basics about salah. Start learning about coming to the masjid. And let them figure this out along the way.

Conclusion: The Story of Charity

Brothers and sisters, the Prophet tells us of a man that he, and we will conclude with this story, he wanted to give charity. And I think this story will summarize for us the importance of priorities. So he went outside at night, and he gave charity. And the next morning, it was revealed that this charity had landed in the hand of a thief.

So the people said, this person gave, or someone gave charity, and they didn't even know who they should give it to. True, in this sense. It ended up in the hands of the thief. For the person, he didn't know he was a thief. So the next night, he said, I'm gonna go give charity again. And this time, it ended in the hand of a prostitute.

And so the next morning, people said, did you hear what happened last night? Someone gave charity, ended up in the hand of this woman. So the third day, he went, he gave charity again. And this time, it landed in the hand of a rich person.

So the Prophet remarked about this. And he said, Well, you know, in other words, yes, what the people are saying is true. It's kind of weird that it ended up in these three people. But what is the priority here that we want to learn? That he didn't discriminate between his audience. He was giving. And so perhaps by giving to the thief, the thief will stop stealing. And perhaps by giving it to the prostitute, that she will stop engaging in that. And by perhaps giving it to the rich person, they will be inclined to think about themselves and donate for the sake of Allah.

Brothers and sisters, it is not enough that in one khutbah, we be able to give you a full perspective on the importance of this topic. But I think this topic really requires all parents' attention. Don't major in the minor and minor in the major. Focus on the most important things with your kids. The salah, their identity, who they are as Muslims. And then you're not going to come back 18 years later wondering why does my daughter not want to pray or why does my son not want to listen to me anymore.

We ask Allah to give us this wisdom. We ask Allah to give us the ability to learn and to prioritize.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ الْكَبِيرَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوهُ عَلَىٰ نِعَمِهِ يَزِدْكُمْ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ وَأَقِيمِ الصَّلَاةَ