Journey into the Hereafter- The Signs of the Last Day
By Abdullah Hakim Quick | 2026-01-15T12:43:51.113218+00:00 | Topic: Hereafter
The Signs of the Last Day - Abdullah Hakim Quick
Greetings and Global Unity of Islam
Especially from the native aboriginal people there, who by the mercy of Allah are coming into Islam. The Zulu and the Xosa and Sotu and Suwana and the people who have populated that land for thousands of years.
Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed them to begin to enter into the world of Islam and I pray that the day would come that their voice would be strongly heard amongst the Sufuf of the Muslimin.
I also bring you special salams from your brothers and sisters in North America. Alhamdulillah, just last year over 300,000 people have accepted Islam in the United States alone. If you consider the prison population which is now larger than the university population, the people are entering into Islam in crowds.
Acknowledgment of Aboriginal People
I want to take this moment also on a personal note to give special salams and also greetings and solidarity to the aboriginal people of this land and especially to our brother Muhammad who is here tonight. It is part of our way also to ask permission of them to speak. I am also part of the aboriginal people and African American by culture, but my grandmother was a red Indian, Mohawk, and they are the aboriginal people of North America. So it is part of our way to also represent or to also respect and to show solidarity with the oppressed people of the land.
The Miracle of Islamic Unity
Alhamdulillah, it is a great pleasure to be with you here tonight. And it is purely by the will of Allah that this has come about. There is no other logical reason why I would be here with you tonight and why people of so many colors, so many races and nationalities are all joined together in brotherhood. There is no other system of life, there is no religion, no ideology that has the ability to bring together the black and the white, to bring together the Arab and the non-Arab.
And so we have to thank Allah constantly that he has made us Muslim. We say
We thank Allah constantly for having brought us to Islam because we could not have entered Islam if it was not by the will of Allah.
Islam Reaching the Furthest Corners
And just recently, I had the opportunity to travel to the north in the furthest western part of the United States and Canada to a place called Alaska. And in this place, in an air base, a city called Fairbanks, Alaska, this is a strategic position of the American Armed Forces which was a key base right in front of the Russians. And so their key military observation equipment and their most powerful strike force are sitting in this base.
And by the will of Allah, part of a group of what they call their reconnaissance commandos, an elite strike force who fly helicopter gunships were sent into Somalia during Operation Hope. You remember when Operation Hope happened in Somalia some years ago? And they went into Somalia and by the will of Allah, they saw the strength of the Somali people living in the desert and living under those conditions. And a large group of these people accepted Islam. They came back to the air base and established a Salatul Jumu'ah and called us there in order to give dawah.
I went on the air base myself and I even felt embarrassed. I don't usually feel embarrassed with my Islamic clothes. Everybody had fatigues on, army fatigues. The brothers had soaps. And it was Jumu'ah Salat and we established the Jumu'ah on the air base.
The Cold Reaches of Alaska
And then we went downtown. Now this is a place in Alaska and it is something of the miracle of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam how far Islam would reach that in Alaska it is so cold in the winter that it goes down sometimes to minus 70 degrees. And the brothers had to go out and train after fajr. They had to put on special equipment and they had to run outside and to train to get used to the environment. They were in Alaska and they were brothers from Bangladesh, from Senegal, from all over the Muslim world, very hot places that were living there in the cold.
And so we went downtown and we established the dawah. Alhamdulillah some of the people there are embracing Islam. The people called Inuit. You would call them Eskimos. These are the native people who live in the north. And it is so cold in that region that they build their house of ice. And the ice protects you from the cold and you put skin on the inside of the ice and it becomes warm. And so even though it is so cold and so far away, Alhamdulillah they are beginning to accept Islam.
And the question that the people had in that area is why did it take you so long to get here? When they realize what Islam is, their question is what took you so long? If there are Muslims who have power in the land and the sea and who are living all over this planet, then what took you so long to get here? And so we reflected with them on the condition of the Muslims and the condition of the Muslim world.
The Call to Speak Truth
And so it is in this spirit that I speak to you tonight. As Allah has told us
O you who believe in the consciousness of Allah and speak a straightforward word, He would repair your deeds and forgive you of your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His messenger has surely gained a mighty triumph.
And so I speak to you tonight in that spirit of speaking a straightforward word. Because we need to speak to each other not just from the mind but from the heart. We need to be sincere with each other in these times.
Because the contradictions we are facing today are reaching the level where is seldom found in the whole of the course of Islamic history. A time when the contradictions are becoming so great for the Muslims.
The Contradictions Facing the Muslim Ummah
I say this because Allah has blessed us with numbers. We, our country sit at strategic points. Our coastlines are some of the largest in the world. Over 50% of the mineral wealth on earth lies under Muslim countries. Some of the richest people in the world are Muslims. But yet and still we have to watch children being gunned down and murdered in Palestine. We have to continue to watch in Chechnya and now in Macedonia, the Muslims in Eastern Europe being shot down, standing up for their rights but being killed.
Where are the armies of Islam? If there are millions of Muslims capable of defending themselves. If there are billions of dollars that have been spent within the Muslim countries. Then where are they? It's a contradiction. If there are countries where people are throwing food away, and across the border there are other people starving to death, then something is wrong. Something is missing in the body of Islam. And it is reaching a point of serious contradiction. And there have been few times in history when we have reached this point in contradiction.
The Honor of Al-Mu'tasim Billah
We look at the situation in Bosnia. And what happened when the Serbians were raping Muslim women. It is said that they raped over 50,000 women. This is unprecedented in history. And in the time of the Khalifa, Al- Mu'tasim Billah, one of the great Khulafa of the Abbasid period. And many people look down on the Abbasid. They say, well that's not the Khulafa of Rashidin. But they had Izzah in those times. They had Izzah. They had power and self-respect.
And it is reported that one woman was captured by the Christian forces. And she cried out,
- Wa Mu'tasima! And the word got back to the Khalifa. The Khalifa wrote a letter to the Christian king. And he said, release the Muslim woman. If you don't release her, I will send an army to you, whose beginning will reach you, and the end will still be coming from me. When he heard that, the Christian wrote back
- Saman wa ta'a, hear and obey. And he sent her back to the Muslim lands, with bodyguards, female bodyguards to watch her on the way, to protect her till she got into Muslim lands. That is the Izzah that Muslims had during that period and that we now need to consider within ourselves.
Denial of Reality in Our Communities
Because for a long time, we buried our head in the sand. We looked at the world events, and we said, oh no, that's not us. We're Muslims. This can't affect us. We looked at the crises on the ground. Drug addiction in our communities. No, we're Muslims, that can't affect us. Then we looked at AIDS, HIV spreading around. And we said, well this is a disease of the homosexuals. It is, that's how it started probably. But now it's in our own
community. But we denied it, for a long time. And we thought to ourselves, that because we have Kitabullah, and the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, that we cannot fall into this.
The Hadith of Purification in This World
But I remind myself and you, of a hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, found in Abu Dawood. Where the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam has said
(Sunan Abu Dawood 4278)
- This my nation, is a nation that has mercy upon it. Its punishment is not in the next life. The punishment is in the dunya. Fitn, zalazul, qatal.
Prophet peace be upon him said, the punishment is in the dunya. Fitn, the plural of fitna, is a trial, is a test, is a temptation. It's a punishment. And sometimes in a fitna, one of the worst forms of fitna, is a gray area. You're not sure which way you're going. You're not sure whether to go to the left, or whether to go to the right. You can have a mass of Muslims, they can be inside of a masjid, and the leadership is fighting against each other. And so the masjid, although the people are great in number, they have no impact in society. It's a fitna.
The second point is zalazul, earthquakes. The Prophet said we would be purified through earthquakes, and natural catastrophes. And now look at what happened in Turkey. Look at other parts of the Muslim world, and see what is going on. Allah has his sunnah. And He has purified us on many occasions.
The last point is al-qatal. And now we see that we are being killed, in large numbers. It is a serious contradiction. And it is growing so great, so much power, the numbers, but you're not doing nothing with it. We are at a crossroads. We're at a crossroads. We can go in a direction of light, or we can go into darkness. And Allah will punish us, to get us out of this darkness.
The Fall of Baghdad - A Historical Warning
In 1258, of the common era, a climax reached, because of the same type of contradictions. The Muslims had reached the point, at that time, it was the golden age of Islam. And in the city of Baghdad, the Muslims had great ulema. They had enormous wealth. It was the most powerful nation on earth. But it is reported, that the slave of the khalifa, al-Adin al-Tabarasi, the slave of the khalifa, his land used to bring in, over 500,000 dinars per year. The slave of the khalifa. Whereas the ulema, who were teaching in Baghdad, would only receive a few hundred dinars per month. But the slave of the khalifa, his land, would bring in over 500,000 dinars.
It is also reported, that before Salat al-Eid, the people had to wait, for the khalifa, and his retinue, to come in to sit down. You can't make Salat al-Eid, until the khalifa comes in, with all his slaves, and his fanfare, and everybody must come in and sit down, then you make Salat. It is reported, around the time of a great crisis, they didn't make Salat al-Eid, until midnight. You know you're supposed to pray, fairly soon after fajr. They didn't make Salat, the khalifa's people didn't reach and sit down, till midnight. Then they made Salat al-Eid. There was no hajj from Baghdad. No group to go to make the hajj. The horsemen, the soldiers of Islam, in Baghdad were only about 12,000.
The Mongol Invasion
And then, by the will of Allah, a great change came about. In Southeast Asia, in Northeast Asia, in the deserts, a group of people, by the will of Allah, were changed, and went into a form of what we would call in history, almost group insanity. And the leader, who called himself, Genghis Khan, he sent emissaries, into the Muslim world. At that time, the Muslims, were broken into states. The khalifa was only sitting there, symbolic. Each state governed itself. No unity.
And so he sent in his bodyguards, or he sent in his emissaries, and they were disgraced, and killed, and one was sent back. He sent in another group, and they were disgraced, their beards were cut off, they were disgraced, and they were sent back. He went to worship, in his way of worship to his sun God. And he said, there can only be, one sun, and there can only be one Khan. Only one.
And so he burst out, into the Muslim world, with no mercy, moving through the lands of Islam, and killing everything in sight. And the Mongols, al-Mahul, had no mercy on anybody who could not stand. If you could stand, then they would have mercy, they'd go around the other way. But if you can't stand against them, they would kill you, take your women slaves, and put your heads in a mountain. And they continued moving through.
The Destruction of Baghdad and Its Aftermath
When they reached Baghdad, the forces of Islam, they said, no this can never happen to us, because we're Muslims. But they came in, and they captured the Khalifa. And the astrologer, of the Khan said, you can't let the blood of this man, go on the ground. There's some kind of superstition. If his blood hits the ground, you're gonna be cursed. So what did they do? They put him in a carpet, and they rode their horses over him, until he died.
The river Tigris and Euphrates, ran red with blood. Then they took our books, and they threw it in the river. And a lot of our tafsirs, a lot of our hadith, a lot of things were lost at that time. And the rivers were black with ink, from our pens. And the disease that came, from over a million people killed, was reaching even Syria.
Then they turned their face toward, Egypt, and then they wanted to go to Mecca and Medina. But Allah raised up people, coming out of Egypt, Al-Mamluk, Sultan Baybas. And they stood, in the path of the Mongols, and defeated them at Ain Jalut. Allah gave them victory. But it didn't stop there, this is how Islam goes. It didn't stop there. Then, they gave Dawah to the Mongols, and they became Muslims. And then later, they became the champions of Islam. Then they ruled Islam, in many parts of Afghanistan, and into India. Even great tafsirs, great works were done by them.
And so Allah used one group, to purify another group. The contradiction was so great, something had to be done, sunnatullah. And so we see ourselves, in a similar position. And we need to consider, the signs that are around us.
Engaging with the Quran and Sunnah
We need to spend time, reading into our sources. Not just reading the Quran for tilawah alone, but reading it, for the meaning, as one of the great scholars of Islam, in Morocco, Sidi Ahmed Zarouk, rahimahullah, who said, you want to be sincere to the Quran, do three things: (تَحْسِينُ تِلَاوَتِهِ وَتَدَبُّرُ آيَاتِهِ وَاتِّبَاعُ أَوَامِرِهِ - tahsin tilawatihi wa tadabburu ayatihi wattiba'u awamirihi) - beautify the recitation with tajweed, reflect upon the ayah, think about it, how does it apply to your life? And then, follow the commandments. It is not enough, just to read the book. We have to now, live the book.
Also the signs of the Prophetsallallahu alaihi wa sallam, are there. And he has left for us, a road map, leading us into the signs, of the last days, and where we are standing now.
Others Studying the Signs While We Sleep
It is reported today, that the average American person, Christian, the average Christian in America, believes, that Jesus Christ is going to return, in the next 20 years. The average Orthodox Jew, when they look toward Palestine, and holding the West Bank and Gaza, they are holding on to that territory, and maintaining it, because they believe, that a Messiah is coming. They believe a Messiah is coming. And they are holding on to it. They are looking at the signs of the last days.
They make us watch TV. They produce the films, for our children to watch. So our children are busy watching aliens, and watching Hollywood heroes. But they are looking at the situation on the ground. What is happening?
The Pope's Visit to Damascus
It has reached the point, where recently, the Pope made a trip to Syria. You remember that? Where did the Pope go? They said he wanted to go along, the journey of Saint Paul, to see where Paul went. But you know what he did also? He went to the Umayyad Mosque. And they say it is the first time, that a Pope went to the Masjid. Why would a Pope go to the Masjid? What is the purpose for him, to go to the Umayyad Masjid? He could go anywhere he wanted to. Why?
Because in the signs of the last days, it is said that Isa Alayhi Salaam, would descend upon the Manara Al- Bayda, the white minaret in Damascus. So the Pope is covering all angles. Even though he doesn't believe. He wants to be sure, if that's where he is coming, I want to see what it looks like. So the Pope is studying. He is studying us. You see? He wants to know what we are about.
But we ourselves, are not putting in the time, to know what Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam, has left for us. Treasures of knowledge. Gems of wisdom, he has left for us, in terms of the signs of the last days.
The Minor Signs of the Last Hour
And we should realize, that the signs are many. And realize that in terms of the minor signs, that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, even, that the scholars say, that the minor signs have been completed. And there
are many signs, that we are seeing in front of us now, in the society. We see the disrespect, of the young people, for the older people. We see wine and intoxicants, spread all over the land. We see lying, kathib (اِنْتِشَارُ الْكَذِبِ - intisha al-kathib), lying has become a profession.
Turn on CNN, BBC, and then you will see professional liars, who can take the truth, and make it seem false. And they take what is false, and they make it seem true. They distort things, and have the ability to distort things. And so, the Prophet peace be upon him, did not speak from himself. He spoke from the revelation.
Specific Minor Signs Manifesting
And from amongst the signs, that he said, he said, and it's interesting, some of the minor signs. In one sign he said (لَا تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى تُؤْكَلَ الْفَاكِهَةُ مِنَ الشَّامِ بِالْمَدِينَةِ - la taqumus-sa'atu hatta tukalal-fakihata minash-shami bil-madinah) - the last days would not come, until the fruit of Syria, is eaten in Medina. Now, when the Mufassereen looked at this, they said, well how can fruit in Syria, how can you eat it in Medina? By the time it reaches Medina, it will go rotten. So he said, maybe it's dried fruit. They couldn't figure it out. And we read this hadith, and then we went to the store in Medina, and we saw oranges and apples, from South America. Fruit from Syria, from all over the world, flying into Medina. Sadaqa Rasulullah, peace be upon him.
He also said in a hadith, that, a Bedouin, would talk into his riding whip. You know the iqal. Because this iqal that Bedouins wear, it's not supposed to be a nice design on your head. Right? It's a riding whip. So how could a Bedouin talk into his riding whip? Then we saw one day, going down the street, we looked, and the Bedouin was talking into the walkie-talkie. You know it has a piece that hangs like that. So the Prophetsallallahu alaihi wasallam, seeing this thing hanging there, maybe he would not know what it is. He's talking into it.
The Sign of Selective Greetings
And so the Prophet peace be upon him also said (إِنَّ مِنْ أَشْرَاطِ السَّاعَةِ إِذَا كَانَتْ التَّحِيَّةُ عَلَى الْمَعْرِفَةِ - inna min ashratis-sa'ati idha kanatit-tahiyyatu alal-ma'rifah) - that people would give their salams, to each other, not because it's another Muslim. And you see it sometimes in Salatul Eid. The people are out, thousands of people, and somebody says, Assalamu Alaikum. He looks at another person, he goes to the next one. Assalamu Alaikum. He only gives salams to his cousin, or to somebody who looks like him. But the salam is supposed to be for all Muslims. Regardless of color. Regardless of nationality. It is for all of us, to respect and to love each other, as brothers and even closer than our own families.
Sudden Death and Other Signs
The Prophet peace be upon him also spoke about (موت الفجأة - mawtul fuja'ah) - sudden death. He said that a type of death would come, sudden death. And the people would be dropping dead. And now we see heart attack, coming amongst us. People dying of heart attack, from the foods that we're eating, from the chemicals that we're putting into our bodies. And the Prophet peace be upon him, did not speak from himself.
In another hadith, the Prophetsallallahu alaihi wa sallam said (إِنَّ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ السَّاعَةِ التَّسْلِيمَ عَلَى الْخَاصَّةِ وَفَشْوَ التِّجَارَةِ حَتَّى تُعِينَ الْمَرْأَةُ زَوْجَهَا عَلَى التِّجَارَةِ وَقَطْعَ الْأَرْحَامِ وَشَهَادَةَ الزُّورِ وَكِتْمَانَ شَهَادَةِ الْحَقِّ وَظُهُورَ الْقَلَمِ - inna bayna yadayis-sa'atit-taslima alal-khassati wa fashwat-tijarati hatta tu'inal-mar'atu zawjaha alat-tijarati wa qat'al-arhami wa shahadatu-zzuri wa kitmanu shahadatil-haqqi wa zuhurul-qalam) (Musnad Ahmad 3870) - Verily, amongst the signs of the last hour, would be the special salams, and widespread business, until even a woman would help her husband, with his business, and then cutting family relationships. People cutting family relationships. They don't want to see their father anymore. They don't want to see their mother anymore. And also false witness. And also, hiding the true witness.
And the widespread appearance of the pen (وَظُهُورَ الْقَلَمِ - wa zuhurul-qalam) - and now we see this even more than any time. With the computers and the printers. Going and things, writing and writing all over the place. Some people have so much writing in their office. Piles of paper. And books are all over the place. Muslims have more books than they ever had before. But they don't have the practice of the people who have no books.
The Need for Internal Change
And so we need to look into ourselves. And as Allah tells us
- Allah will not change the condition of a people, until they change that which is in themselves.
The Illusion of Lineage and Blood
We have too much arrogance and takabbur. Some people feel that they are high and mighty, because of their family. Some because of their nationality. Some because of their language. Too much arrogance and pride. If it was blood alone, and we always respect the family of the Prophet(صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). But if it was blood alone, then what happened in the case of Noah, of the Prophet Noah(عليه السلام - alaihis-salam)? What happened to his son? What happened to the wife of Lut(عليه السلام - alaihis-salam)? What happened to father Ibrahim(عليه السلام - alaihis-salam)? And Abu Lahab was Hashimi. He was Hashimi in his blood. But Allah has written him in the Qur'an to the day of resurrection. Punished in the fire. So blood alone and family alone is not enough. It's an illusion. It's a delusion which is being spread around amongst us, in these final times.
The Cultural War and Globalization
And the Shaytan has become so sophisticated, that the attack upon us, is not necessarily in many parts of the world, a physical attack and a hot war. But the attack can also be a cultural war. And in these times, we are seeing everything moving towards one world government. Globalization. One world culture. And we see it now in clothing. We see it in food.
And I never understood this, until last year I went to Mecca. And I used to live in Medina for many years. And got to know the people of Medina. And especially the young people in Medina. And we went to Mecca. And we made the Salat in the Haram. And afterwards we went outside, to a new building bin Dawud. And we went inside the building. And there were people there, veterans and people from the Gulf area, in their niqabs and in their clothing. And they were waiting for Mecca Lotto. The Mecca lottery. They are waiting for the lucky number to come around. And you put your lucky number, next to the Kaaba.
And then when it's time to eat, where do they eat at? McDonald's. Kentucky Fried Chicken. Baskin Robbins. This is where they eat. The young people, all of them, they don't want their food. They don't like their spices. They want burgers and french fries. Globalization. One world culture. One culture. And one world government.
The Attack on Identity
In Medina, we saw, we made Salat, in the Masjid, Masjid al-Nabawi. And a little Arab boy was making Salat. He made, he stood up, and he had his thobe on, and he had a baseball cap on. That's the new style. They have a baseball cap and a thobe. Okay? I'm not saying it's haram to wear a baseball cap, right? But it was strange to me, to see him in this baseball cap and a thobe. Because a baseball cap means something to a person from America, right? We know what it really means.
So it was time for Salat, and he turned the baseball cap around, to make Salat. And the name was Levi's. Levi's is Levi. A Jewish tribe. A family of the Yahud. In New York City, who made millions of dollars making pants. So now he's got Yahudi on the top, and then the rest of him is Arabi, is from here down. And so they attack you right through the nausea, right through your head. Using that tube in the television, sending the message, straight into the control part of the brain. And so this is happening to the young generation, so they feel more comfortable, in the western clothes, than in their own Islamic clothes.
The Dajjalic Culture
One world culture, moving towards one government. It is not yet the Dajjal, because he's a person. But it is Dajjalic type of culture. Making you hate yourself. You're living in a false paradise. And when the Dajjal would come, with Iyadu Billah, he will have something, that seems like a Jannah. And he has another one, that seems like a fire. That's his test.
And so you look at the discotheque, the lights are flashing. And everybody's smiling. And the Olympics are here. And then on the other side, they say, look at Soma Ramadan, they can't eat. And this happened to us in Cape Town, in South Africa. They had one of the largest events, was happening on the millennium. And the millennium night, was falling in Ramadan. You remember that? On the odd nights in Ramadan. Last 10 days. Fitna.
Targeting Muslim Youth
And they were targeting Muslims, in our city. It is so bad in our city, because there's 120 masjids in the city. And the movement has potential to grow. They build the discotheque, it looks like masjid al-Aqsa. And they have 7 levels of dancing, called rave. 7 levels, like 7 heavens. And they even have a special place, inside the discotheque, for some Muslims who are, maybe hypocrites or whatever. But if you're hungry, you can eat halal food. They have halal food. In the discotheque. You see? Who is that to catch? The Muslim youth. It's to catch the Muslim youth.
Because they are preparing, for the last days. They see it coming. They see Armageddon. A major war. And if our young men, are like little girls, with rings in their ears, and ponytails, and they're not sure if they're male or female, how are they gonna stand up against the enemies of Allah? How are they gonna do that? So they attack in the youth. Sending them messages, to take them off the path.
Providing Alternatives for the Youth
So we need to consider this. We need to look into our communities, and to provide alternatives for the youth. Teach the young men how to be Muslim men. Let them play sports. Let them learn martial arts. Take them out into the woods. Let them get up in the cold and make fajr. Teach them ujoolah, to be men. Otherwise they will be taught to be little girls. So they will not be able to stand against the enemies of Allah.
The Disease of Hasad - Jealousy
We have too much hasad. We have too much hatred and envy in our hearts. It's too much, man. If a Muslim makes a little bit of progress, the other ones look at him. They get jealous. He gets a new car, or they get a baby, and the other ones look, they hate it. Now hasad, if he has a new car, and you want one, that's okay. But if you want one, and you don't want him to have his, that is hasad. You understand? You want it, and you don't want him to have it. To have the baby, you want a baby, a beautiful baby. But you don't want, you hate this.
And the shaytan uses this evil feeling, in order to hurt the people. And the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam said
(Sunan Abu Dawood 4903)
- Beware of jealousy. It eats up your good deeds, like a fire eats up firewood. You go to hajj, you fast, hasad burns it up. You pay zakat, hasad destroys it. Everything you try to do.
The Man from the People of Jannah
And in one hadith, the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and his companions were sitting, and a man came walking down the lane. And the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, This man is from the people of paradise. He came down the lane again, his beard was wet with wudu. And the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, This man is from the people of jannah. The third time he came down again, he said, This man is from the people of jannah.
And so afterwards, one of the sahaba, Amir ibn As, radiallahu anhu, came to the man and said, I want to try, can I stay by you for three days? I have some hajjah, a need. He said, OK, you stay here, man. And so he watched him. He watched him daily, he watched him at night. After the third day, he said, I have to tell you the truth. I don't have this hajjah. I don't have the need. But you, the Prophet said, you will be of the people of paradise. What is it that you do? You didn't even get up and make tahajjud. What do you do, man?
And so he said, Oh yeah, and then Allah said, I saw you as you turned over, you said, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar. That's all I saw. The man said, I'm just like you. I fast like you. I pray like you. But I don't have any
jealousy in my heart for the Muslims. I don't hate anybody, man. I don't hate anybody. And I have no desire for the property of other believers. I have no, his heart was clean. Inside, this is a key issue, that we need to look at, in these coming times, the internal Muslim.
The Call to Unity
To reanalyze our relationship with each other. Reanalyze our relationship with our community. Close ranks. If there is a Muslim, who is 90% similar to you, 10% different, why do we look at the 10%? We spend most of our time looking at the 10%, instead of uniting with the 90%. If he's different, make dua for him. Give him nasiha. Give him advice and make dua for him. But don't bring him down, man. Don't attack him. We have too many enemies.
It is a slick deceiver, that the shaitan al-iyadu billah, is using deception on us. Using deception.
Understanding Taqwa and Deception
We look at taqwa every time, when the khateeb gives the jumu'ah khutbah, he talks about taqwa. Al-khawf wal- rajaa. Fear and hope. And one of the great scholars of Islam, Ibn Qudama al-Maqdasi, rahimahullah. He looked at this. And he said, Al-khawf wal-rajaa, these are two stimuli. It stimulates you to do something. If you fear something, you run from it. If you hope in something, you move towards it. And he said, anything that takes you, that stops you from action, it makes you sit down, it is huru'ah. It is deception. An illusion or a delusion.
Because something is holding us down. Even if we come to the masjid, something is holding us down to go further. To establish more Islamic institutions. To spread the message out in society.
Forms of Deception in Our Lives
Some forms of huru'ah, comes like in the case of a man, who is deceived by hayat al-dunya. And Allah tells us,
The life of this world, is nothing but material deception.
And in Canada, a man won the lottery. 21 million dollars. And the people said, he is in paradise. What else does he need man? 21 million dollars. And his daughter, they came, him and his daughter are on TV. But the man said, may God help us. He had some sense, right? They started to call his house. They wanted to marry his daughter. They wanted to start a business with him. He had to hide himself. He changed his address. He had to hide with his family. So the money that was supposed to liberate him, put him in jail
The life of this world, is nothing but material deception.
Another man in the UK, he won the lottery 25.5 million pounds. The whole society said, he is in paradise. He's got everything man. And he started to eat food. He ate food until he weighed 310 pounds, and he dropped dead. So the money that was supposed to give him life, took his life
The life of this world, is nothing but material deception.
Deception Through Family Legacy
Another form of deception, is the one where the family, the person thinks because his family are good Muslims, then he's okay. So he said, I don't have to give sadaqah. I don't have to make salah. My father used to give sadaqah. My father used to make fajr. I don't have to make fajr. He is deceived, because he will stand by himself, on the day of resurrection.
Deception Through Inconsistent Actions
Another form of deception comes, when the person does hasanat and sayyiat, good deeds and bad deeds. He wakes up in the morning and he makes istighfar, and he asks Allah to forgive him a hundred times. Then the rest of the day, he curses people, he backbites, he scandalizes, he says everything comes out of his mouth. But he thinks because he made istighfar, that the other deeds don't mean anything. He is deceived. Because the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said
(Sahih al-Bukhari 6056, Sahih Muslim 105)
The one who spread scandal, will not enter paradise.
Deception Through Arguments and Division
Another form of deception, that is coming in, is a form of deception, where the students, people coming into Islam, are learning ilm al-khilaf. They learn the knowledge of disagreement. So before they learn the usool, the basis of their faith, they learn how to argue with other people. So they argue with you about fiqh, they argue and argue and argue. And we spend all our time arguing about this, and arguing about that.
And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3253, Sunan Ibn Majah 48)
That people would not go astray, after guidance, until they were given argumentation. It is a form of deception.
Conclusion and Prayer
And so we need to now realize, the slick program that is going on outside, coming culturally, coming to deceive us, because we are moving rapidly, toward the last days. And we pray that Allah would have mercy upon us, and would give us the strength to unite ourselves. The major signs are close. But if a leader comes, to unite the Muslim world, are we with him? Will we be with him? The signs are coming close. May Allah give us the strength to prepare ourselves. And may Allah help us to prepare the younger generation. Make them strong, give them knowledge. Give them confidence in themselves. Build their taqwa.
Break down tribalism. There is no difference in white and black. No difference in Arab and non-Arab. It is only taqwa, that makes the highest individual. May Allah have mercy on us and unite our ranks. And give strength to the Mujahideen in Palestine. May Allah give victory to the Mujahideen in Macedonia, and in Kashmir, in Chechnya, and in every place, Ya Rabbil Alameen.
- Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the Fire, and enter us into Jannah.