Deviationist Tendencies In Islamic Beliefs, Thoughts & Practices
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-11T21:46:58.40878+00:00 | Topic: Knowledge
Deviationist Tendencies In Islamic Beliefs, Thoughts & Practices
Opening
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Khutbat al-Hajah (Opening Sermon)
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the one who was sent as a mercy to the worlds, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions and his followers and those who followed them with good till the Day of Recompense.
We always commence by praising Allah who has given us all the goodness we have. He has brought us into existence and he knows best why he brought us into existence. He has explained to us and he has left clear cut messages as to why he has made us.
So all praise is due to him, Allahu Akbar. Also we send blessings and salutations upon all the messengers who were sent by him to remove us from darkness to light. And we ask Allah to send special blessings and salutations upon Muhammad.
May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him. For indeed the guiding light sent to us as an ummah, as a nation. And we ask Allah to be from those who do not insult the status of the messenger.
We ask Allah to make us from amongst those who can follow the message of that messenger. Understand why he was sent and at the same time enjoy life within that which he has taught coming from Allah. We also ask Allah to send blessings and salutations upon his family members.
The family members of Muhammad ﷺ who stood by him and supported him. We ask Allah to make us also from amongst those who can support and stand by our family members who strive and struggle to achieve the pleasure of the creator. And we ask Allah to send blessings and salutations upon the companions who also struggled and strove.
And those from the chain of the people who brought the goodness to us. May Allah bless them all and may he make us also from amongst those who can learn, who can rectify, who can correct, who can pass the message on after putting into practice. And may he make it easy for us on this globe where it is becoming more and more difficult to live as a Muslim.
May Allah bless us all.
Main Body
The Purpose of Creation
My brothers and sisters, Allah created you and me. Why did he make me? Why did he make you? That's the best question you could ever ask yourself as a human being.
There is no better question than that. Why did Allah make me? Such a normal natural question. Sadly, babies and little children ask that question more than adults.
But the answer is only understood by adults. And the answer is understood more by those who look deeper into revelation. Allah says:
Does man think that he is going to just be left purposeless, without any purpose?
Nothing that Allah intends from you? Nothing Allah wants from you? Do you think you were created for nothing? Allahu Akbar.
In fact Allah says in a few other places also in the Quran:
If we wanted to make an amusement out of this creation, and if we wanted to just pass our time, we could have done that. Allah says, No, this was not just a pastime. It was not just a means of amusement.
It was a blessing for creation that Allah created creation. Subhanallah. It is a blessing for me that I have been given an opportunity to worship my Maker.
It's such a big blessing. It's a blessing for you to be breathing in a way that Allah is giving you a chance to praise Him, to worship Him, to understand why you are here and where you are going. And this is why it is normal for a Muslim to be pondering about the day he will come to an end or she will come to an end in terms of this life on a daily basis.
Hadith on Salah
So much so that the messenger, peace be upon him, says:
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
Whenever you read your prayer, your five daily prayers, read it as though it is the last prayer you will ever be able to offer for your Maker. What a powerful wording. He says, fulfill your salah as though it is the farewell prayer.
The True Purpose - Worship of Allah
So Allah says, you should worship Me the way I want you to worship Me. And you should be conscious of the fact that you are going to be leaving this world very very soon after having been given a full opportunity to engage in what you are supposed to be engaging in. So what am I supposed to be engaging in? Allah says in this verse, every one of us should know by heart:
Amazing verse. Where Allah says, Indeed, I have not created mankind and jinkind except for one purpose, and that is that they worship Me. I do not want them to feed Me. I do not want them to grant Me any form of sustenance. Nor do I want them to feed Me. Allah is the one who sustains. He is the one who feeds. Subhanallah. Allah is the one who sustains. He is the Almighty, the Powerful. He knows. He is independent. He has everything. He does not need Me or you. But it is us who need Him.
Allah also says:
O people! You are the ones who are in absolute dependence of Allah. And do you know what? Allah is totally independent from anything that comes from you. Allah does not need you. Allah says, if He wants, He can replace you. He can cause you to go. He can delete you. And He can replace you with others. Subhanallah. And Allah says, that is not difficult for Allah. That is not difficult at all for Allah.
Allah Created Man in the Best Form
When Allah says:
We have created mankind in the best of postures. Subhanallah.
It would be wrong for Him to have created such a perfect posture and then not send an instructor or a manual to describe and to teach how this particular creature should handle itself. Subhanallah.
Man has also been created user-friendly.
When Allah took you out of the wombs of your mothers, you knew absolutely nothing. He gave you a fitrah. He gave you a nature upon which you shall walk. He gave you ears. He gave you a mouth. In a few moments, you shall be speaking.
The Need for Clear Guidance
We need answers to these questions. We cannot fool them anymore. And this is why when we have deviant tendencies, we will never be able to answer our children. If someone tells you, My mother, why did you have to bow down and kiss the toes of that man? Is he your God? And you will have to say, No, he's just a saint. Well, if he allowed that to happen to him and to you, then how can he be a saint when Muhammad ﷺ did not allow that to happen to him? Your child has won the debate. Allahu Akbar.
Allah Sent Messengers
Allah has sent a messenger. Why? Allah sends a messenger and He has sent messengers in the past:
We have sent to every nation a messenger. To do what? To remind them to worship Allah alone and to abstain from taghut. Taghut, anything that is evil, satanic, unacceptable is known as taghut. So Allah has sent messengers to show you the right path and to show you the wrong path.
Completion of the Religion
He came to teach me and you how to worship Allah. That was his entire message. That was his mission. He came to teach me how to worship Allah. And thereafter, towards the end, a verse was revealed, which was such a powerful verse that the Jewish people told the messenger's companions, had we had a verse like this, we would have made it a day of celebration. What is the verse?
On this day, I have completed, I have perfected your religion, your faith. Whatever I wanted you to know as to how to worship me is complete, it is here. And I have presented it to you. And I have completed my gift upon you, oh man. That means, the biggest gift you have is the completion of the faith in your hands. Allahu Akbar.
And I have kept, I have been pleased and become pleased, and my happiness lies in surrendering to the faith.
Islam means to surrender to Allah. If you surrender to my instruction, you will definitely achieve the inner peace that you are hunting for.
Warning Against Deviation
Allah says:
We need to be careful of this. When Allah is made mention of alone, their hearts become upset. Those who are not looking forward to the meeting with Allah, when you mention Allah and you read His verses, and you mention what is right, and you mention what is wrong in order for them to abstain, their hearts become upset. They become people who feel hurt. Why are you telling us this? And the next verse or part of the same verse says, that whenever anything besides Allah is made mention of, they are giving people good news.
Testing of Faith
Allah says in the Quran:
Do people think, do the people think that they, that it is enough for them to say, we believe, and then they are not going to be tested? Allah says, no, we will test all of you. We will indeed test. We will definitely test all of you. Because you are here in this world as a test. You are here in the world as a test.
Hadith on Poverty and Faith
The Prophet ﷺ says:
(Reported in various collections)
Sometimes poverty is almost disbelief. It's on the border of it. Because for money, people can do anything.
Warning Against Seeking Help from Jinn
Allah says in Surah Al-Jinn:
And from amongst the issues that are taking place, there are people from mankind who are seeking assistance from those of jinn kind, and those of jinn kind are leading them further astray. That's a Quranic verse.
Oh jinn kind, you have made enough fools out of mankind. Allahu Akbar.
The Prophet's Warning Against Exaggeration
The same plan is used by the devil with the Muslims. This is why Muhammad ﷺ towards the end of his life, one day he was lying down and he was quite ill. And he got up and he was quite upset. And he looks at his companions and he says:
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
What a powerful message. Towards the end of his life, he says, be careful, my people, do not go beyond the limits with me. The same way the Christians went beyond the limits with Jesus. Always call me a slave of Allah and His Messenger. This is why when we utter the shahada, what do we say?
Then we say:
I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.
The Importance of Surah Al-Fatiha
This is why my brothers and sisters, in Salah, we read Surah Al-Fatiha. The first dua we make, and the one we keep repeating:
Guide me to the straight path. We make it so many times. Allah instructed us to make it so many times because of its importance. The most important thing you have, I have, would be the gift of being able to tread the right path. That's the gift.
How powerful. Guide us to the path of those whom you have favored, not the path of those who have gone astray or those who have earned your anger. Those who have earned your anger or those who have gone astray. Ya Allah, if this is the most powerful dua, there is something about it that I need to know.
Closing Advice
My brothers and sisters, I love you for the pleasure of Allah. And really what brings me here, solely and only, the word of Allah. I expect nothing from you besides dua. And inshallah the same goes from me.