Remaining Steadfast

Remaining Steadfast

Dr. Bilal Philips

Opening

(الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - Alhamdulillahi, Alhamdulilah)

Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed us with Iman. With Islam and with Iman. It is a blessing which often times we take for granted.

Especially those of us that are born Muslims. Where Islam becomes a habit. You are used to doing it. Your family does it. And you don't really think about it that much. It's just a part of your life which is mostly cultural.

However, the faith, the blessing of Islam. And Islam and faith are one and the same thing. When they are mentioned separately, they mean the same thing.

When they are mentioned together as Islam and Iman. Then Iman refers to the pillars of Iman. But in general, Islam and Iman are synonymous.

It is not possible to be a Muslim without Iman. A Muslim who is only culturally tied to Islam. We only see him on Fridays. Or we only see her in Ramadan. The Friday Muslim. The Ramadan Muslim.

We have accepted that today. As an expression of Islam. But in fact, this is not an expression of Islam. It's an expression of the weakness of one's Islam. Because if Islam is only Ramadan and only Friday. Then it means that it is not a living faith.

It is a fossilized, frozen set of cultural habits. That we follow as required by the cultural norms. It has nothing to do with real life.

We only do it in times of special times of gatherings, marriages, funerals. The birth of children, Aqiqa, whatever. This is when we express these cultural feelings and cultural habits and customs.

And if Islam remains like that. You may be certain that it will not benefit us in the life to come. Because without the understanding, there cannot be sincerity.

And without sincerity, Islam that we practice is not the Islam which Allah has commanded us. As Allah said:

"And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion..."

They were only commanded by Allah to worship Allah making the religion sincere for Him. That we are sincerely doing it in compliance with His commandments.

This is the essence. Without that sincerity, then we are talking about an empty shell. A cloak that you take off when it's not convenient. You put it on when the occasion requires it. That true Islam which Allah commanded is one which we have to live 24x7. There is no holiday from that Islam.

(فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ - Fa'itha faraghta fansab)

Reference: Surah Ash-Sharh (94:7)

If you finish one form of worship, then shift to another. The whole life is supposed to be worship. And worship because that is the very purpose of our creation.

The purpose of our creation to worship Allah in order that we would achieve what Allah has created us for. Yes, as a basic statement Allah said:

"And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me."

Reference: Surah Adh-Dhariyat (51:56)

I only created the jinn and humankind for my worship. But does Allah need our worship? If you think that Allah needs our worship, you don't know Allah.

Of course Allah does not need our worship. (اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ - Allahu As-Samad) That is the clear statement that Allah has no need of anything. He is completely independent.

All things depend on Him. And He depends on nothing. So if Allah created us to worship Him as He said, what is the purpose of that worship? If He doesn't need it? This is what we have to ask ourselves.

If He doesn't need the worship, why is He having us do it? Is that a reasonable question or not? That's a reasonable question. The purpose of worship is to attain Paradise. That's what it's all about.

That is the goal. The goal of worship is the attainment of Paradise. It could be expressed as the attainment of the pleasure of God.

But it's one and the same. If God is pleased with you, then you have attained Paradise. That is your promise of Paradise. If we live lives pleasing to God, then we are living lives of the people of Paradise. That's the way we need to live. So the rules of worship are there to keep us on that path.

(الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ - As-Siratal Mustaqeem)

In order that all aspects of our lives are pleasing to God. Because another definition of worship is doing what is pleasing to God. If whatever you do is pleasing to God, you are worshipping God.

So worship is a need which we have. Because if we want to achieve Paradise, then that is the only way. That is the one and only way to achieve Paradise through worship.

Steadfastness in Faith

So steadfastness in the faith. The topic of this evening's reminder. Not a lecture. A reminder. Steadfastness is based on this understanding. If we haven't understood this, then we cannot be steadfast.

When difficulty comes, we fall apart. When good times come, we become so much happy, we are so happy, we forget God. And so we lose. We are in a lose-lose circumstance. Where the times are good or times are bad, we are losing. Whereas the way of the believer is that when times are good, he is a winner.

She is a winner. When times are bad, he and she is a winner. As Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2999)

The affair of the believer is amazing. All of his or her affair is good. And that is only in the case of the believer. For when good comes to them, they thank Allah.

And Allah rewards them for it. And whenever evil befalls them, they are patient with it. And Allah rewards them for it.

That's the win-win situation. Times of good, times of evil. Because what is our life but between times of good or evil? Isn't it? Is there anything else? Either things are good or things are bad.

So if we can be patient when things are bad, then those bad times are still recorded on our scale of good deeds. It's good for us. And if we can be thankful to Allah when times are good, that's also on our scale of good deeds.

And we are rewarded for it. As Allah said:

"If you are grateful, I will surely increase you..."

Reference: Surah Ibrahim (14:7)

If you are thankful, if you are grateful, I will increase whatever you are grateful for. Whatever Allah has blessed us with that we are grateful for, He will increase it.

Due to our thankfulness. So thankfulness is something critical in our lives. We need to be there. We need to be thankful when Allah has given us the good. One of the outward signs of thankfulness is what? (سُجُودُ شُكْرٍ - Sujood Shukr)

Everybody knows (سُجُودُ شُكْرٍ - Sujood Shukr) right? Anybody who doesn't know what it is (سُجُودُ شُكْرٍ - Sujood Shukr). Be honest. Nothing is going to happen to you if you put your hand up.

You know what (سُجُودُ شُكْرٍ - Sujood Shukr) is? What is it? You perform (سُجُود - Sujood) when you want to thank Allah. Well, let's put it this way. You perform (سُجُود - Sujood) when you thank Allah? No, go ahead.

No, you got the idea. The idea is that whenever good comes to you, when something good comes to you, then you fall down in prostration. That's the point, right? Not just whenever you want to thank Allah, because you might want to thank Allah many times, but you don't do it.

That's not the way the Prophet, he would do it. When good news came, something good happened, at that instant, he made (سُجُودُ شُكْرٍ - Sujood Shukr). Not just you're sitting here and you think about something good, and then you go make (سُجُود - Sujood).

Something good happens, unusual good, make (سُجُود - Sujood). As we were saying before the break for Salatul Maghrib, that (سُجُودُ شُكْرٍ - Sujood Shukr) is an outward expression of gratitude. Something which Prophet Muhammad ﷺ used to do on a regular basis.

It was a (سُنَّةٌ مُؤَكَّدَةٌ - Sunnah Mu'akkadah). They call it (سُنَّةٌ مُؤَكَّدَةٌ - Sunnah Mu'akkadah) Something which he did on a regular basis.

Meaning that, if we consider him to be our guide, we should do the same. But if we ask ourselves, when was the last time that we did (سُجُودُ شُكْرٍ - Sujood Shukr) Today? This week? This month? The last six months? Can you ever remember doing (سُجُودُ شُكْرٍ - Sujood Shukr) ? So what is that saying? It's saying that we're disconnected with the faith. It's saying we're only following bits and pieces.

Here is something which the Prophet ﷺ did regularly. And we have never done it. (سُجُودُ شُكْرٍ - Sujood Shukr) is something that the Prophet did not command. He did not say it is obligatory. It's not (فَرْضٌ - Fard). It is purely from his (سُنَّةٌ - Sunnah)

But (سُنَّةٌ - Sunnah) of the deen. Where his example should be our example. The living faith is one in which we follow Prophet Muhammad in everything that he did that we can do.

That's the living faith. If we don't have that connection, then it's just cultural. What our parents did. But were our parents rightly guided? Are they the source of our Islam? Well they had a job to convey to us Islam. They did the best they could. But they were not rightly guided.

They did not have wahi, revelation to guide them in their actions. So the only guide is Rasulullah. He is the guide.

"There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern..."

Reference: Surah Al-Ahzab (33:21)

That's why Allah said that. Allah made him for us the guide. The best of examples. So, if our faith is real, then he should be real in our lives.

His way. His lifestyle. We should be striving to imitate. Instead of striving to imitate the lifestyle of the dunya. Right? When we go to work, we make sure we wear that suit and tie and you know we set up. Imitate what is

considered to be the standard.

We are very careful about that. Shoes are shiny. Very careful. But Rasulullah. Well I guess everybody knows, you know he was born, Makkah, Hijrah, Battle of Badr. You know we have these things in our heads. We have these historical facts.

But that is not the seerah of Rasulullah. There are points in his life. But that wasn't his life. His seerah, his life, was a day to day model for us.

A day to day model. Which should guide us in everything that we do. It was the living Qur'an. As Aisha radiallahu anha, when she was asked about the character of the Prophet, she said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 746)

His character, his way, was that of the Qur'an. He lived the Qur'an.

And it is he who said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 8595)

I was only sent to perfect for you the highest of moral character traits. So it was a moral life, that he exemplified. And that is the core of our faith.

He is there in our shahada, because he is the manifestation of how to live the shahada. The essence of the shahada is (لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ - La ilaha illallah). That is the essence. All of the Prophets taught the same thing.

They didn't teach. The earlier Prophets did not teach (لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ - La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah) They didn't teach that. If you were told as a child, or as a young person, that when Adam looked up at the throne of Allah, he saw written on the throne of Allah (لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ - La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah). And that this was imprinted on his thumbs.

So when you hear the adhan, you kiss your thumbs, and you wipe your eyes. This is nonsense. This is fabricated. Folklore. Fake stories. Not true.

But you have numbers of Muslims doing that. After salah, some Muslims put their hand on their head. Some of them open up their shirt, and they blow inside.

Rasulullah never did that. He didn't put his hand on his head, and he didn't blow inside his shirt. So where did that come from? Not from Rasulullah. So if it is a part of the deen, which came to us, which was not from Rasulullah, who did it come from? Who? Huh? Shaytan.

In the cultural cover. From Shaytan. That's the bottom line.

That's why the Prophet ﷺ said, whoever does anything in this religion, which is not a part of it, it is rejected by Allah, because it's from Shaytan. We cannot worship Allah with it. No matter how pleasing it might seem, how reasonable it might be argued, it is from Shaytan.

Disapproved by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So then how do we know what is and what isn't? Rasulullah ﷺ, following him, will make it clear to us what is and what isn't. This is the blessing of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

That not only did He reveal a book of revelation to us, which is sufficient. The Qur'an is sufficient. However, in order to make it easier for us, when Allah says:

"Allah wishes for you ease. He does not wish for you difficulty. So in order to make it that much easier, He sent a messenger to show us how to live the Qur'an. So knowledge of his Sira, knowledge of his life, should be knowledge for life."

Knowledge of his life, should be knowledge for life. For our life. Guiding us in how we should live our life.

Because our faith is supposed to be a living faith. That's what living faith means. It means that we follow a way of life. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ lived it, and we strive to live it as he lived it. That is real Islam. Other than that, what we have been doing, Ramadan Muslims, Friday Muslims, Eid Muslims, Birthday Muslims, Marriage Muslims, whatever.

What we have been doing, has not been Islam at all. It is cultural, customs, we may as well be Christians, or Buddhists, or anything else. They do similar things. They just call them by different names, do them at different times, but they are doing similar things. So this is not the faith of Islam. For us to be firm, to be upright, to hold on firmly to our faith, we must know it.

Because you can't hold on firmly to what you don't know. You may be culturally attached, but when your faith is challenged, you will fall apart. Doubts can easily get into your mind, and you can easily give up different aspects of your Islam.

Why? Because you didn't understand it. You can get a clear picture of this, if you go to the website, called apostatesfromislam.com. I am not advising you to go there and read it, just for reading sake. But if you want to understand, how ignorance leads to disbelief, you just have to go and read some of the stories there.

apostatesfromislam.com. People who apostated from Islam, and they explain why. You hear the worst of stories, about things which had nothing to do with Islam at all. But it was in their culture.

It was just a part of their culture. They did these things. People did these things. And people accepted it as Islam because, that's what the parents did, that's what the grandparents did, everybody's been doing that. So they

accepted it. But it wasn't from Islam at all.

So those people when they woke up, they realized it's not good. They rejected it. They rejected Islam along with it. Because it was associated with Islam. Falsely. That's why the only way forward, is to have correct knowledge.

If we are to worship Allah as He deserves to be worshipped, to follow Rasulullah ﷺ as He deserves to be followed, we can only do that with knowledge. We cannot do it in ignorance. Not possible.

The Obligation of Seeking Knowledge

So this is why Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 224)

Seeking knowledge is a fard, a religious obligation on every Muslim. Because he knew. You cannot practice Islam properly without knowledge.

You can't. So seeking knowledge of the deen, is an obligation for every Muslim. The basics of the deen, everybody should know.

I'm not saying you need to know the mi'rath, the rules of inheritance, if a man dies and he leaves behind so many children, how much should each one get, the girls, the boys, if there are no girls, if there are boys, if they have children, no. You are not required to know all of this. At least somebody in the community is required.

This is where the fard is. It's fard on the community, that somebody among them, should know those rules, so that if somebody dies, they know what to do. But does every individual need to know those rules? No.

But there are individual things, your daily matters, that you need to know. You need to know, how to make wudu. You need to know how to make salah.

You need to know, how to fast. You need to know, how to make hajj, if you are going for hajj. If you are not going for hajj, do you need to know all the details of hajj? No.

When you make the intention for hajj, you have the means, then that's the time, that you need to know, and have the knowledge of hajj.

Anyway, it lessens it a bit. The point is, that there is some knowledge, which you need to know at the time. So, if you are going to do something, you are an engineer, you are going to build a building, there are some rules in Islam, which govern engineering, that you should know.

There are certain rules. So, you should, this is what is required, this is the fard, everyone who is about to do anything, you should have the knowledge, which is required for you, to be able to do that particular thing properly, according to what Islam requires, what is pleasing to Allah. That much knowledge you need to know.

As a student, as a teacher, as a parent, whatever you are, the knowledge, which is necessary for you, to do whatever you are doing, in a way pleasing to Allah, this much knowledge, you must have. And this is your foundation, for being firm in the faith. To be able to be firm.

Sincerity, in applying that knowledge, translates the knowledge into, Iman, faith. The knowledge by itself is not Iman. Were it Iman, Satan would be the biggest believer.

But his knowledge was not translated, into action. So he disobeyed Allah. And after being corrected, he rebelled further. Not like Adam, who disobeyed Allah also, and Eve disobeyed Allah. But after correction, what did they do? They turned back to Allah in repentance. They followed the guidance.

Satan had that knowledge too. But his pride, his arrogance, did not allow him, to use that knowledge. Because if somebody says, Allah gave Satan that choice.

And knew, he was not going to make the right choice. And knew, after making the wrong choice, that he would make the wrong choice. And didn't give him, the ability to repent.

Then that is oppression. That is oppression. And Allah does not oppress anyone.

Your Lord will not oppress, does not oppress anyone. Any human being or jinn, or any creature, He does not oppress anyone. So, we have been given, access to the knowledge.

In the past, it was difficult, to get the knowledge of Islam. Seeking knowledge, required you to get on a camel, or a donkey, or a horse, and travel, distances. Leave your family.

It was a struggle. Today, Alhamdulillah, Allah, has created for human beings, the internet. You have a means, to learn Islam.

And I'm not talking about Sheikh Google. You can get some information from him. But, you can't trust everything you get there.

But, Alhamdulillah, we have, the Islamic Online University. A university which I set up in 2007. Which currently has more than 180,000 students.

From 224 different countries in the world. And if you ask, how many countries are there in the world? You will be told, that there are 224 countries in the world. On the internet.

Not only on the internet, but free. You can go, tonight when you go home, go on the internet, look for Islamic Online University, and you can join tonight, and start studying for free. No cost.

The general, diploma in Islamic Studies, is absolutely free. No hidden cost. So, what excuse, do you have now, to not learn about Islam? To learn the basics of your deen.

No excuse. You say, I don't have time. Come on brother. You don't have time? You watched the cricket match last night. You spent hours there watching the cricket match. You have time.

It's just a matter of, putting aside some time, for your deen. For your akhira. We all have time. None of us is so busy, we have no time. It doesn't exist. So, I invite you, to take the opportunity, to go online, and start to study your deen, for free.

For those of you that would like to study more formally, to actually go ahead and do a degree, we also have, a bachelors in sharia. Taught in English. By, major scholars, graduates, from the Muslim world.

Who studied their classical studies in Arabic, etc. Graduates from Al-Azhar, from Medina, Imam Ibn Saud, Islamabad. This is, available also.

Because that requires, paying of, tutorial assistance, and professors, etc. There is a fee. But even that fee, is almost like no fee.

Because, one semester, you're only charged, $150. For a year, $300. For four years, $1,200.

For, an accredited, bachelors of arts, in sharia, Islamic studies. That's like fee. It's like free. It's not free. But it's like free. And the advantage is, you can study at your own pace, at your own time, anywhere.

You can set your own schedule of study. Normally if you wanted to study this, you have to stop whatever you're doing, and you go off to Medina, you go off to Cairo, you go off to Islamabad, you study for so many years. You have to stop whatever you're doing.

Now you can do it, whilst continuing to do whatever you're doing. Even if you're studying other courses, you can still study. Take as many subjects as you feel you can handle, and take them.

And not only that, we also have, available, a bachelors in education. Bachelors of science in education. A bachelors in psychology, in Islamic banking and finance, in business administration, and in information technology.

All of that is available. These are conventional subjects, taught from a comparative perspective, by teachers, who are all practicing Muslims, who will guide the students, to understand what is conventionally taught, and to understand, what is the Islamic viewpoint, on what is being taught. And at the same time, you will still also study, some courses from, Sharia, Aqidah, Fiqh, Hadith, Tafsir, Sira, Arabic.

You will also study these subjects. So it is a, rounded, curriculum. For those, who want to do those disciplines, and these degrees are all, accredited.

Accredited degrees. Accreditation, which is recognized, in America, in Canada, in the UK, because, they are issued by governments, by ministries of higher education, in governments, in Africa. So, there is a great opportunity here.

For those of you, that, are home schooling, or might be, in their, last years of, high school, etc. We also have, what is done in the US, and is called, dual credit. Or, the jump start program, where, from grade 9, you can start to take courses, from the bachelors program.

But you don't get them, as university credits, until you graduate. But if you graduate, they are automatically, transformed into, university credits. If you don't graduate, you get them as, audited courses.

So this can also, save time in, university study. Credits are there. This is a huge opportunity. And as I said, the price, is virtually free. So, after that, what excuse do we have? This has been made possible by, the grace of Allah. He is the one who made it possible.

So, I hope that, some of you, if not all of you, will take advantage of this opportunity, and, study for free, you don't want to do something, that's formal. Study for free, go ahead, take those free courses, study, in an organized, curriculum.

The Importance of Structured Learning

What's the importance of the organized curriculum? That, you, listening to talks, you've come, you're here listening to my talk. You heard somebody else's talk last week, and somebody the week before. You watched a talk on YouTube, you heard a lecture on a CD, etc. Over the years, you hear all of this.

But if somebody were to ask you, Brother, could you teach us a class, in Tawheed? Basic class in Tawheed. You're gonna say, No, sorry, I can't. But, you've been attending all of these lectures, you've watched all, how much you've read, etc.

And you still can't. Why? Because, your study is not structured. You're taking some knowledge from here, some from there, some from up, some from down here, all over the place.

So in your head, it doesn't come together. So you can't pass it on. But the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith 5027)

Best of you are those who learn the Qur'an, and teach it to others.

Who learns knowledge, and passes it on. Not those who just learn it. So it may best benefit you as an individual.

That's good. I'm not saying don't do this. It's better to do this than not.

It's good, there's good in it. But the best, is to learn it and be able to teach it. And to do that, you need to be in a structured program of learning.

And when the Prophet ﷺ has said, Seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim. He's talking about knowledge in a structured program. Not haphazard.

And that is why, the Sahaba, narrated, that, they went to Rasulullah ﷺ and studied with him. One of the Sahaba, said he and a group from his tribe had gone. They accepted Islam.

And they stayed back in Madinah and studied, with the Prophet ﷺ, under Abu Huraira and others. Then they went back, to their tribe, to teach them. And when the time for Salah came, they recalled, the Prophet ﷺ had told them, The one who knows the most Qur'an, should lead you.

The Sahabi narrates, When we looked around amongst us, who had gone and sat with Rasulullah ﷺ and the Sahaba and the others, and learned. It turned out, that I knew the most Qur'an. So from that day onward, I led my tribe, in Salah. And I was six, or seven years old, at the time. Six, or seven years old, at the time. Prophet ﷺ had said:

Reference: Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 495

Command your children the Salah by the age of seven.

But in our minds, we're thinking, teach them so they know to raise their hands and bow and prostrate. But maybe while they're doing that, they will pass wind, and they're still praying. They haven't understood Salah.

They can just do, what I call, monkey Salah. Monkey see, monkey do. Right? You can teach a monkey how to pray. To do the actions. But that's not the Salah that Prophet ﷺ was talking about. He's talking about the Salah like that Sahabi did.

He knew what to do. He knew what to say in the prayers, what to do in the prayers, what is required, the wudu, and all the things connected to Salah. He knew that if he's leading the people in Salah, and he pass wind, he has to go and take somebody in, make them lead, and go make his wudu.

He knew what to do. That's the Salah. That is because he got structured knowledge.

If he was just sitting like you guys, here, picking up from here, there, and everywhere, do you think he will know all that? He'll have an idea. But he will make mistakes. He won't know how to correct those mistakes.

He doesn't have the knowledge, structured knowledge. So this is the opportunity for you to gain knowledge of the Deen in a structured program of learning that you can not only benefit from, but you can also pass it on to others.

Closing

And as we began, steadfastness in the Deen was the basic topic that I was speaking about.

And all of the different elements that I spoke address different aspects of steadfastness in the faith. How are we steadfast? How can we be firm? Hold on firmly in the times when, as the Prophet ﷺ predicted, holding on to the faith will be like holding on to hot coals. How can we be firm at those times? We must have knowledge and sincerity.

Sincerity in understanding and application and in teaching it to others. We must have that combination. So Inshallah I ask Allah جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ to bless you all, bless the community here in Vancouver, that He strengthen your hearts, give you the uprightness and the firmness and give me likewise, that strength to carry through this life on Siratul Mustaqeem, till we breathe our last breath.