Abdallah Oduro 2-5-16

Alhamdulillah we praise Allah, we seek His aid and we seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide.

And whomsoever Allah allows to be led astray, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah Ta'ala the Exalted and that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam peace and blessings be upon him is his last messenger and slave. O you who believe, fear Allah and die not except in a state of Islam, in a state of submission.

O humanity, fear your Lord who created you from a single soul being Adam and from that created its mate being Eve and from that scatters many men and women. O humanity, fear your Lord and do not cut off relations with your kin. Indeed, Allah is al-raqeeb.

He is the ultimate monitor over you. O humanity, fear your Lord and speak the truth. قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا In return, يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَالَكُمْ He will rectify for you your affairs and your actions.

وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ And He will forgive you of your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His messenger has indeed achieved the greatest achievement. As to what follows, brothers and sisters, indeed the best speech is the Quran, is the book of Allah.

And the best guidance is that of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And of the worst affairs in our doctrinal system of Islam are the newly invented ones. For every newly invented affair in this situation is an innovation.

And for every innovation is a form of going astray from the sirat al-mustaqim. And for every form of going astray is in the fire of hell. And ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

We seek refuge in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from that. One time I was sitting with a couple of brothers. And they were speaking about their fathers.

A Story of Competition and Takathur

This was after a funeral. They started to talk about their fathers. And they went on to speak about the talents that they had.

They passed away. The good deeds that they have put forth. Which led them to speak about their grandfathers.

Upon speaking about each other's father and grandfather, they realized that they were in close proximity in their native habitat. Where it traces back, their lineage. So upon them doing that, they started to compare their relatives.

The members of their tribe. Hundreds of years ago. They started to talk about the ones that died and passed away and their virtuous actions.

But it got a little heated. Because when one started to mention a characteristic that his great grandfather didn't possess. The other one gave a logical answer.

Why? This started to lead to friction between the two brothers. Upon hearing this, brothers and sisters. I remember the statement of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealing a chapter.

That is similar to this event. There were two tribes in the time of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. Two tribes that used to compare.

Their forefathers. The people in their lineage. Talking about the great deeds that they have had that they did.

The great things that they have done. To the degree to where they went to their graves and started to count. Their relatives, their forefathers.

Started to count in abundance to see which one was better. But in reality, when they were counting in abundance, this was diverting them from the initial reason of praising their relatives. Which is praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that has given their relatives this ability.

To where you have come and you are born and you live with your family. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives a beautiful chapter. And this is what some of the scholars mentioned was the reason that this chapter was revealed.

Because of what was just previously mentioned. But there is a greater message. That is extracted from this beautiful chapter.

The Chapter of At-Takathur

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the chapter of At-Takathur. And many of us know this chapter. Takathur means to gather things in abundance.

From kathir. And kathir means that which is a lot. But the morphologic makeup of this verb.

Is to where you are doing it with someone else. To where you are doing it with another person or more than one. Takathur.

So two people or more are gathering things in abundance. To compete with one another. And this is very important.

Why are you doing what you are doing? You are gathering money. Relationships. Reputation.

All of these things. For what reason, Abdullah? Why are you gathering all of these things? Not to say the thing that you are gathering is impermissible automatically. But it's the act of gathering these things in abundance.

Is that which can be detrimental to you? So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the first chapter. And we should always remember, brothers and sisters, that Allah tells us about the past, the present and the future. And from this verse, we see that the present is addressed.

Being that He is addressing you about yourself. He is addressing you about your character. He is addressing you about times that you may slip and fall.

And He's reminding you to stay focused. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the first verse. After I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

You have been diverted. He uses the past tense.

You have been diverted from gathering things in abundance. And the verb He uses here is أَلْهَاكُمُ We see this verb is used in other places in the Qur'an to express the thing that diverts you from the initial goal. And it could be something that is permissible.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Qur'an. When He describes the dunya. And when He mentions the dunya.

The dunya comes from dana. And that is something that is low and demised. But we understand it as this worldly life.

Yes. The Islamic perspective of the tangible things in this worldly life could be for you or against you. Do you use and indulge upon these things to where it will divert you from the remembrance of Allah? As we see all of you coming here, did not allow yourself to be diverted from the tangible aspects of this worldly life.

From them your job. You came to the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is a virtuous thing.

Beautiful verse where Allah speaks about life. And Allah speaks about where life takes place. He tells all of you, No! It is a command verb.

The imperative form. Which commands you to listen. Listen to what's about to be said.

Know, أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ That this worldly life is of amusement. It is a form of playing. وَلَهْوٌ And a distraction.

وَزِينَةٌ And a beautification. These three things that have been described from the dunya. Look at yourself, brothers and sisters.

Do you find yourself diverted? From the initial goal of life, the purpose of life. And we could say worship of Allah. But our perception may be, Oh! In the masjid.

Let's just say, Showing gratitude towards your creator. That is worship. So Allah says, Know that this worldly life is a playful amusement and a diversion.

وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ تَفَاخُرٌ Notice, Allah says, And it is bragging and boasting amongst you too. Yes, my son, alhamdulillah, he reached the PhD level. What about yours? He hasn't yet? This statement in and of itself is not impermissible.

But, إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ What is your intention behind it? Do you gather things just so people can say that you have it? For what reason, ya Abdullah? For what reason? When you are asked to show your appreciation, Who do you thank first? Second? Third? Is your maker in this equation?

So Allah says, وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ So in this beautification and diversion and amusement, you are gathering things to brag and boast amongst you too, from them, money and children. Money and children. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions money and children as the objects of diversion in another chapter.

In the chapter of المنافقون, the chapter of the hypocrites, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ The same verb, الْهَا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ الآيَة Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, O you who believe, this is all of us, O you who believe, do not allow your children and your money, what? تُلْهِكُمْ divert you from the remembrance of Allah. One may say, a child is a blessing from Allah, how can my child divert me from the remembrance of Allah? Your love for your children can divert you from the remembrance of Allah if they are not acting in a manner that expresses the remembrance of Allah and you do not make an effort to remind them about Allah. They're too young to understand.

He's his own man. She's her own woman. Have you taken time out to tell them about the purpose of life when they're at the age of five, six, seven? When the weather changes, do you take the time out to tell them about how the weather changed, why it changed, who has ultimate control over the ecosystems? If not, when they reach that age of 16, 17, 18, and you go on the computer and Facebook has an opposite gender and they're saying things that only Allah knows, ask yourself the question, at that young age, were you taking the opportunity to mention verses such as these?

A Parable of This Worldly Life

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says after that in this beautiful verse, وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ He gives a beautiful example.

Listen, a beautiful example. كَمَثِلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا Allah gives a parable of the dunya, of this worldly life, that if we don't watch ourselves by staying in the remembrance of Him, we can fall victim to the tangible things of this life. He says it's like an abundance of rain that amazes the tiller, the farmer.

The tiller, what he is growing, the rain, the abundance of rain that comes in the ground, what's going to happen to his crops? They're going to grow. He's going to be amazed by it. He's going to be amazed.

You're amazed by the new car that you have. You're amazed by the relationship that you've established with a wealthy person. You're amazed by being thanked and honored by people.

None of this is impermissible, but when it comes to you thinking that you're better than others, when it comes to you saying, well the reason I obtained this degree or award is because I was diligent at work. I don't have time to pray. I don't have time.

Allah knows. And the time for the prayer exits. Allah knows I was up late last night doing something for Him.

I don't have time to make fajr. When I wake up at eight o'clock, that's when I will make it. You say this the night before.

Ask yourself, brothers and sisters, we all make mistakes, but we have to be honest with ourselves. So Allah mentions, it's like the water that hits the ground and amazes the farmer. But look at how He says after that.

ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا Then it dries up and turns yellow. ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا And it will be like pieces of dry straw. What happens with that? When the wind blows, it goes.

This is how He describes the dunya. This is how your Creator describes this life. Do not hold on to it and embrace it to where you will be diverted from the next life.

Until You Visit the Graves

So this is just the first verse brothers and sisters. Allah says you have been diverted from gathering things in abundance. And then He says after that

Until you visit the graves.

Until when? Until you stay. زيارة Until you visit the graves. This verse is a confirmation that we as Muslims believe that there is something after the grave.

There is another event in our lives that will take place after the graves. We will not stay there permanently. Allah says until you visit the graves.

It is a temporary abode. Because from there when the day of judgment comes all of us will be raised up and asked by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So brothers and sisters from these first two verses we see Allah is reminding you to focus.

He's reminding you to remember. He's reminding you that every single thing that you get whether you gather in abundance remember to thank your Lord with it and do not be diverted by the tangible things of this life because the one that's intangible promises you intangible things. Things that you cannot touch, see or feel at the moment.

He promises you that. So Allah says until you visit the graves. Also brothers and sisters we see from this to remind ourselves about death.

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2307)

Many times we don't want to hear about it but that is contrary to the statement of our Prophet peace and blessings be upon him. He said Beautiful. The way he describes death.

He tells all of us with the imperative form of the verb increase yourselves your remembrance your thinking in the remembrance of the destroyer of pleasures. Something is means that it tastes good. So he says increase yourself in the remembrance of the destroyer of pleasures and then he says death.

That is how he describes death. He says it is the destroyer of pleasures but he tells you to increase yourself in its remembrance. So when someone dies brothers and sisters this should be an opportunity for us to remember life.

If someone dies even if we read about a companion or anyone Muslim or non-Muslim it should remind us about life and this is a method that telling people that don't know about Islam. When someone in their family dies take the opportunity to remind them about life. What are we doing? What are we doing? Are we thankful? Are we satisfied? Because if we're not satisfied we gather things in abundance to be appreciated by other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

You Will Surely Know

Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says after that كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says after عَوْذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ حَتَّى زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ Nay, you will surely know

He repeats the verse twice Nay, meaning that he negates everything before it to get your attention سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ You will surely know and this form of Arabic سَوْفَ is to express something that will happen in the future but it is expressing the surety of its happening You will soon know and he repeats the verse again Then you will surely know Some of the scholars mention the first time it was mentioned was for the grave and he says ثُمَّ which expresses تراخي expresses sequential events that you will surely know when on the day of حساب on the day of judgment So brothers and sisters we all know with surety that we will be tested We all know with surety that we will be asked

The Knowledge of Certainty

Then Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى says كَلَّا لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ Nay, if you were to surely if you were to know with the knowledge of surety or with the conviction of surety you have conviction If you were to know about this you wouldn't be doing what was mentioned before That surety that type of knowledge to where you don't need anyone to tell you that it is what it is My father is my father I'm certain about that My son is my son No one can tell me that that is not my son I'm certain about that Ask yourself the question brothers and sisters How certain are you about what Allah tells you As we always say We believe in Allah But do we believe Allah? Do we believe Him? When we hear something from Him that is going to happen or we hear a type of character or moral practice that we should implement in our lives Do we believe that it is a solution for the psychology of the human being? That it will perfect their manners? Do we believe that? Are we certain about it? This is what we should constantly ask ourselves So firstly brothers inshallah and sisters we see from the first two verses that we should focus We should focus and we should evaluate our level of certainty in what Allah says

You Will Surely See the Hellfire

Allah continues after that and He says كَلَّا لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ Nay, if you were to know with the knowledge of certainty لَتَرَوُنَّ الْجَحِيمِ The forms of certainty in this verb that Allah uses in the next verse is two types That's to express surely لَتَرَوُنَّ الْجَحِيمِ For those of you that know لَمَا تَوْكِدْ and نُونِ تَوْكِيدِ Forms of certainty in Arabic لَتَرَوُنَّ You will surely definitely see الْجَحِيمِ And all of us brothers and sisters will see the hellfire There will be a time that we will all see it Some of us will not be thrown in it May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us from them Because we'll be on this Sirat But we will all see it And Allah is showing you here لَتَرَوُنَّ الْجَحِيمِ

ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّهَا عَيْنَ الْيَقِينِ Then you will surely see it with the sight the vision of certainty As we see in the Qur'an there's been three types of certainty that are mentioned The first one is عِلْمُ الْيَقِينِ And that was what was mentioned earlier The knowledge of certainty This is what the Muslim obtains when they learn about Allah When they learn about what the fitrah is and how that connects to a creator The natural response that there is a maker And how should I show gratitude towards him That is the knowledge of the يقين The fact that there will be a day of judgment The fact that we will be asked This is the knowledge عِلْمُ الْيَقِينِ Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the حَقُّ الْيَقِينِ The truth of certainty That you will believe in it and you are sure about it You are sure There is no doubt about it Then we have عَيْنُ الْيَقِينِ To where if you were to go outside You were to see a dim lighting here That is عِلْمُ الْيَقِينِ But if you were to go outside and see an abundance of rain هَذَا حَقُّ الْيَقِينِ And عَيْنُ الْيَقِينِ All of them But we see there are certain people that do not believe in a creator because they only rely on the عَيْنُ الْيَقِينِ On seeing it in order to believe it But we as Muslims combine all three All three forms of certainty are incumbent upon the Muslim to have And we will go up and down in our Iman in believing in them But it's very important brothers and sisters on the essentials of who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is and who He is not We have the knowledge and conviction of certainty in that Especially nowadays When people are trying to divert you from the basis of your faith Is Allah really one? Will Allah help the Muslims? Is Allah an oppressive God? Do you have certainty that He will help people that have been oppressed? Are you certain about that? This is what we have to check within ourselves Are we taking the opportunity to learn from the elements of certainty? The Qur'an, the Sunnah, the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Are we being around individuals that will help us establish and maintain that certainty with the intellectual and spiritual exercise together That certainty where one cannot be diverted is what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is expressing here You will surely see the fire ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّهَا عَيْنَ الْيَقِينِ You will see it with the sight or vision of certainty

You Will Be Asked About the Blessings

Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala concludes ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ Then you will surely be asked on that day on that day about the blessings Brothers and sisters, count your blessings Voluntarily sit in your car and think of what has Allah given me today What has He blessed me with today that He has not blessed others with Thank Allah for that When you are about to pray now remember the blessings while you're in your salah Remember the things that have happened to you since you've woken up till now and the blessings that He's given you When you're in sujood ask Him to make you firm upon this form of thankfulness and being gracious This is what increases your iman This increases your certainty and your creator Count your blessings

But even on top of that, brothers and sisters وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا Allah says in the Quran If you were to try to count the blessings of Allah you would not be able to Every single breath is a blessing, brothers and sisters The fact that you can see in color is a blessing The fact that you can sit is a blessing All of this is a blessing and we don't realize it until we lose it

Three Key Lessons from At-Takathur

So brothers and sisters, in this beautiful chapter we see firstly that we have to focus and not to be diverted by gathering things in abundance in order to compete with others Secondly, we should evaluate our level of certainty and see which level we're at and embark upon learning about the purpose of life Thirdly, we should recognize the blessings that we have and be thankful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and allow that to be manifested in different ways