Beautiful Servitude Ust.
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-08T15:55:29.773579+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Beautiful Servitude
Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan
Opening Remarks
Is the echo as bad down there as it is up here? It's really bad, it's almost deafening, anyway. I really feel like tayammum today because the Arabs have an expression, if water is available, you don't need to do tayammum. These two guys are here, I don't know what I'm doing here, but alhamdulillah, at least I got to enjoy two good speeches, mashallah.
And I know that attention span, at least I know for myself, is limited, so I'm sure it's pretty limited for all of you. So I'm going to, in the legacy left behind by Sheikh Yasser Qadi, everybody stand up. No, seriously, stand up.
I know, but it's weird. Okay, now sit down, sit down. No, not the stretch, we're not going that far.
The Fundamental Relationship: Rabb and Abd
Okay, so in the few minutes that I have with you, I am going to try to keep this talk as concise and as to the point as I possibly can. My agenda before you is to share with you something about the language of the word Rabb. You know, the relationship we have with Allah azza wa jal, it's one of the most fundamental ways in which it is described, is with the word Rabb, making us abd, and I'm translating most commonly in English translations, we use the words Lord and Servant, that's the most common iteration of Rabb and Abd that's found in English translations.
I personally have a disagreement with both of those terms, so let me begin by sharing my disagreements first, and then we'll talk about the language of both of these words. Or at the very least, I want to share with you something about the language of the word Rabb, in some detail, inshallah.
Problems with the Translation "Lord"
So, first of all, once again, you tell me, what's the common iteration of the word Rabb in English translation? It's Lord, Lord, right? So, there are a few problems I have with it, not from a linguistics perspective, but from a social perspective.
Socially speaking, the translation of the Quran or of Hadith or of sacred text, the purpose of it is to bring people closer to the original text. You don't know the original language, you're not as familiar with classical Arabic, so the attempt is to translate this stuff so it's closer to home, it's relevant to you, it makes sense to you, right? Now, the problem is the essence of the word Rabb isn't actually similar to the essence of the word Lord, at least not in the way that most Americans use the word Lord.
Colonial and Christian Connotations
In colonizing culture, Lords were people that were sent out to colonized areas, and they were set up as Lords, like, you know, Lord Baten or Lord this or Lord that. So, for example, in India, when the British colonized, many regions had their own Lords, and it was a formal title under the British Empire.
That's one context in which the word Lord is used. I live now what is considered the Bible Belt, or at least some little part of the Bible Belt in Texas, and the word Lord immediately brings up what kinds of connotations? When you say, praise the Lord, what does that mean? What comes in the minds of most people, especially in the South, and actually even many parts of the North. When you hear Lord, what comes to mind? Jesus, you know, it's a Christian term.
It's loaded with Christian connotations, even if you don't say anything. You just say the word Lord, and immediately. I'll tell you a story I've said many times.
I was in Louisiana a long time ago. This is maybe six months after 9-11. So not a happy time to be in Louisiana. But anyway, I was there, I was getting some gas, and a guy with a pickup truck, no, I'm not stereotyping, pickup truck, shotgun is visible in the backseat, pulls out of the car, he's getting gas and he's looking at me. And I was like, I don't know what to say here. This is a, I'm not going to say salam, so. I just said, praise the Lord, brother. And he said, I hear that. And he just finished gas and he went his way.
So, because when I say praise the Lord, I mean something, but he clearly means something else. But that's all good. That situation came to an end quickly.
The Problem with Formality
But anyway, so the idea is the word Lord does have in many cultures, especially English-speaking cultures, many parts of the United States, a very Christian connotation. Secondly, it has a very formal connotation. The idea of the Lord is associated with something grand and something very, very big.
Alternatively, actually, counter to this, in Arab culture, the word Rabb, for example, with an alif-laam, like (الرَّبُّ لَا يُسْتَعْمَلُ إِلَّا لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - Ar-rab la yusta'mal illa li-rabbi al-'alamin) - they don't, they say in Arabic, the word Ar-rab with an alif-laam, the Rabb, I'm not going to say Lord anymore, is not used except for Allah. Is not used except for Allah.
But outside of that context, (إِذَا أَضَفْتَهُ - idha adaftahu), if you make an idafa out of it, if you connect it to something else, you can say (رَبُّ الْبَيْتِ - rabbu al-bayt). You can say (رَبُّ الْبَيْتِ - rabbu al-bayt), you can say (رَبُّ الْفَرَسِ - rabbu al-faras). You can say the Lord, the owner of a house, or the owner of a horse even.
Someone in charge, etc. So it has multiple connotations. And by the way, a house or a horse is not something grand. It's something small. In other words, it's a very personalized term. As opposed to the word Lord, which is a very distant term.
The word Lord creates a kind of formality and distance that the word Rabb doesn't create. So there are these subtle connotations that we have to be aware of. The way we think of the Quran, and of course it's our job to try to translate the Quran as clearly and as accurately as possible.
But we have to be aware of certain undertones in the culture of translation in the English language. Because obviously Bible translation has been there for centuries and centuries and centuries. And particularly Catholic attempts at the translation of the Bible.
And in the Catholic faith, there's always been a kind of formality. As a matter of fact, very recently the Lord's Prayer was turned into American, modern American English. And there was a protest because the language is too informal.
Like their problem was that the language is too informal. They don't want people to feel directly connected with the text. They want to keep this grandiose, distant kind of relationship between themselves and the text.
The opposite is the true of us and the Quran. You have to be as directly and intimately connected with the text as humanly possible. So this was a little bit of my contention with the word Lord.
Problems with the Translation "Servant"
Now a little bit with the word servant. Common translation of (عَبْد - 'abd) in Arabic, in English translations is what? Is servant. Which also takes away from the fundamentals of that relationship.
When you say the word servant, obviously it is associated with the word service. It's associated with what again? Service. I ask rhetorically to make sure you're still alive.
But anyway, so service is actually provided under specific circumstances. In other words, I am a servant to a cause. I'm a servant at a company. You can call it employee nowadays, but still at the end of the day you are a servant. The janitorial staff, they're a bunch of servants because they're providing a what? They're providing a service. That's what a servant does.
Limited Job Description
A servant provides a service. Now in any one of these services, the servant has particular hours. And a very limited job description.
So if I'm an accountant, then I cannot be asked to provide a different service. So in any case, what was I saying? Something about Islam? What was I talking about? Servants. And I said servants have particular hours and a particular job description. So if I were to go to an accountant and say, hey, before you leave, I know you're supposed to go home at 5 o'clock, but before you go, could you vacuum the office please? What can the accountant turn around and say to me? This is not part of my what? My job description.
And once I'm done, as a matter of fact, if his job is to end at 5 o'clock and he goes home and it's 1 in the morning, I can't call him at 1 in the morning and say, hey, listen, I was wondering if you could help me with this computer I bought right now and just come over to my place and help me. I can't ask him to do that because that's not his job. I can't do that.
The Reality of Being Abd
Now the word abd, however, which closest to the term slave, really, suggests that you don't have a job description. You know what your job description is? Whatever the Rabb tells you. And the Rabb does not have to put his instructions limited to a particular field.
Look, I'll tell you what you have to do in a masjid, but not outside. It's not like that. Okay, okay, I'll only tell you things about your family life, but I will leave your economic life to yourself. Nope, doesn't work like that. And we don't get to turn to as a abd. I never get to say to my Rabb, to my master, which I'll come to in a second, I don't get to turn and say to him, well, you know what, I know you're asking me to do this thing or that thing, but this is outside of our contract. This is my personal life.
This is important to understand because for many Muslims, they're okay with worshiping Allah. They're even okay with serving Allah. But many Muslims, unfortunately, while at the same time they're worshiping Allah, while at the same time they're serving Allah, there are some parts of their life that they say, this is mine. This has nothing to do with Allah. This is the one space where I do whatever I feel like doing because I'm already providing Allah a service in some other space. So I will pray to Him in the masjid at Jumu'ah. I will fast in the month of Ramadan, but how I make my money is my business. Where I spend my money is my business. What I look at is my business. Look, I gave Allah something at least. I provided Him some service.
This entire fallacy can even develop from the idea that you think of yourself as what? A servant with a limited job description. But you're not a servant and I am not a servant. We're honored to be slaves. And we'll come to that at the very, very end.
The Linguistic Description of Rabb
Now, let's talk about the language of the word Rabb. For both of these speakers, they had a timer. They took this thing off. I'm confused now. How much time I got? They shorted it out? Okay, it's probably up to now. Okay. The Sheikh is always trying to mess me up.
Anyway. So the language of the word Rabb. I'm sharing this with you. This is extracted from a number of lexicons of the Arabic language. This is not a religious description of the word Rabb. This is a linguistic description of the word Rabb.
Religious description would mean what a mufassir, an explainer of the Quran, would tell you about the word Rabb and its benefits. A linguistic definition is this is how they used the word Rabb even before Islam. When they heard the word Rabb, what did they think of? What connotations came in their head?
First Meaning: Al-Malik (The Owner)
So, the first meaning of Rabb is owner. Al-malik. Owner. But it's different from other owners once you combine with the rest of the qualities that are mentioned with Rabb. So for example, I own a house. Or I own a car. But the way I drive my car, am I free to drive it however I want? Or are there other rules that apply? There are outside rules, aren't there? I own my car. And I say, it's my car. I don't have to get insurance. I don't have to register this car. I don't have to pass the emissions test. It's my car. I do with it what I want. I can go on a red light. I can speed. I can, you know, put the brakes on, pull the stop in the middle of an empty highway if I feel like it. It's mine. I get to press the brake whenever I feel like it.
No, no, no. You own it, but you still don't have complete control. You understand? There's ownership. And there is a possibility of ownership without control. It exists. It happens with our homes.
Those of you that have a home, maybe in a homeowner's association, and you've got to maintain the lawn, or you've got to put the garbage out on certain days, and you can't have the laundry like Pakistan, out on the front porch, hanging outside, the shalwars floating in the air. Like, you can't do that, because, you know, the neighbors will complain about you. It's your house, but technically, you can't do whatever you want. You technically can't. Even if you own the property. You see? So there's ownership without what? Control.
Second Meaning: As-Sayyid (The One in Charge)
But with Allah, it's ownership and Sayyid. That's second quality, and the one who is in charge. So he's got complete control. In other words, if he does something with his property, there's no one who can turn back and say, Hey, you can't do that. I know it's yours, but you have no authority. He's actually a Rabb and a Sayyid. Or Malik and Sayyid. He's owner and in charge. Suggesting that he has complete control. That already sets him apart.
Third Meaning: Al-Mudabbir (The Planner)
But then the third, wal mudabbir. And the one who plans things out for what he owns and controls long term. Tadbeer is a long term plan in Arabic. It means a long term plan. In other words, I have this baby cow, this calf, or I have this newborn horse, and I have plans for it. And I'm gonna feed it, and cultivate it, and develop it, and train it, because I want it to be ready for racing one day. Or I want it to be ready for the battlefield one day. I have an entire exhaustive plan.
The idea of a Rabb
The idea of a Rabb is not just someone who owns something and controls something, but has plans for what he owns and controls. Now tell me, even if you own a pen, and you control the pen, you can break it, do whatever you want with it. Is it possible that you own things, but you have no plans for them? They're just sitting there rotting.
Does that happen? Are there shoes you've never used? Or have maybe even used once? Are there computers sitting in your home that they've gone bust, and they're just sitting there, and they're not taken care of? And you have no plans for them? Is this stuff that you own, you have no use for, and you don't even know what to do with it? You don't even know what to do with it. Some of you, like the story that Sheikh Abdul Nasser was giving, some of you parked your car in the convention center, but you didn't lock your car, not because you're careless, but because you're hoping someone takes it off your hands. Right? But you know, that is certainly a case.
You own things, but you don't actually plan on what to do with them. Especially in consumer culture today, you buy things impulsively, and you have no idea what you're going to use it for. I just really wanted to get it. So you got it, you get a little crazy, and then you have it in your house, and you're like, what do I do with this? And it's just sitting around. There's no plan for it.
The idea, it's beautiful, that Allah, as Rabb, actually suggests that for each and every one of us that He made, not only does He own us and control us, He's got a plan for all of us. You may not even have a plan for yourself, Allah has a plan for you. Because that's part of definition, that very definition of being Rabb. Subhanallah. That's the third, al-mudabbir.
Fourth Meaning: Al-Murabbi (The One Who Nurtures Growth)
Then al-murabbi, which is directly related, al-murabbi means, it comes from the word tarbiyah. You probably heard the word tarbiyah before. That word actually, originally comes from the word riba. Astaghfirullah al-'azim, yes, riba. But riba actually means growth. Riba means what again? Growth. Tarbiyah suggests to allow something to grow, to mature something. So if a farmer takes care of a seed, and it turns into a tree, he's successfully done tarbiyah. And the one who does tarbiyah is called a murabbi.
And Allahazza wa jal does not just have a long-term plan for you and me as our Rabb, but He actually has a plan for how we will mature and grow. That's also an incredible realization about Allah as Rabb.
In other words, I, two years ago, three years ago, was at a certain intellectual space. I was emotionally somewhere, intellectually somewhere. But Allah had a plan for me to grow and be exposed to certain things, and meet with certain scholars, and travel and understand certain things about different cultures, and for me to grow and appreciate some things that I never appreciated before.
Allah wanted me to have some experiences that will make me more grateful, or wanted me to have some experiences that will make me more patient. He wanted me to have some experiences that will increase my fear of Him, or my love of Him. He wanted me to grow, so He puts us through our experiences, and He gives us opportunities, and He puts people in our path, and He puts opportunities in our path, and He gets, you know, every email that comes to you, some of them you erase, and some of them you open and read, and you download, and you listen to the whole thing, or whatever it is.
All of that is part of Allah allowing you to grow, because He wants you to grow. And from that we learn something, that there is no such thing as your relationship with Allah, at least from His end, that it's done, like it's reached a plateau. He constantly wants you to grow.
And in the name of Rabb, in Allah calling Himself Rabb, it is as though Allah is saying to me, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and He's saying to you, that He continuously wants to see us improve, and He will continue to provide. He will continue to provide the opportunity for you and I to rise to the occasion.
Fifth Meaning: Al-Qayyim (The Maintainer)
Now, the next meaning, wal qayyim, the one who maintains. The one who doesn't just want you to grow or allow you to grow, but the one who keeps you afloat. The one who keeps taking care of you. Al qayyim is used, for example, in Arabic, when something is delicate, like these plants over here. Some of them are artificial, some of them are real, whatever.
But you know there are plants that can't take care of themselves. You have to constantly water them. You even have to put a stick in the ground so they can wrap around because they can't stand on their own. And until they get to a point where they can be independent, they have to be taken care of constantly. That's the word qayyim. Someone who maintains the existence of something else.
Like for example, a patient who's being held in the ICU and they're on a machine. And that machine, you turn it off for four seconds, and what happens? He's gone. So the idea of Allah being qayyim is the one in constant care of you. And the second he takes away his, you know, his support system, you don't exist. You don't exist.
Now compare that to you and me owning something. Let's go back to ownership for a second. Are there things you own that you don't take care of? Yeah. A lot of the parents are like, yeah, my kids, their room, you should look at it. Their clothes, their shoes, their laptop, their video games, their toys. They don't take care of them. Before you get it, you're dying for it. But after you buy the toy, two days later, you don't care for it. The same thing happens with your shoes or you know, with your clothes. And sometimes in marriage. It happens. People don't stop caring about their spouse. They just stop caring.
So this idea of someone who continues to care constantly is a unique quality to Allahazza wa jal. By the way, when you own things for a long time, you lose interest in them. Isn't that true? When you own
things for a long time, you don't care more for them, you care less for them. It just becomes a thing. And if it's really valuable, you put it away somewhere so you don't want it to be touched. You just want to keep it behind a glass or keep it in a shelf somewhere. It becomes an antique, unused.
But the other previous qualities of the word negate that already because Allah wants it to grow and He wants it to mature and He wants to put it to use and He has a plan for it. And the plan is not to relegate it or put it away. That's Al-Qayyim.
Sixth Meaning: Al-Mun'im (The Giver of Gifts)
Then He says His name, or the name Rabb, or the word Rabb includes Al-Mun'im. We're almost done. Al-Mun'im. Incredible word. Al-Mun'im means the giver of gifts. The word Rabb suggests that anything He gives you and me is by definition what? A gift. You know what that suggests? I deserve nothing because a gift is never deserved. You cannot complain if you didn't receive a gift.
Even if you do, normally you're not supposed to. You can complain if you don't receive your wages. If you don't receive your salary, you can complain. But if you don't receive a gift, you can't complain because a gift by definition isn't earned. If it was expected, it wasn't a gift. It wasn't a gift.
That seems to indicate that my understanding of all the blessings I enjoy in this life, starting from my physical being to the clothes on my back, to the relationships I have, the parents that are alive, may Allah protect them, to the siblings I enjoy, even the ones I fight with, the children I have, the neighbors I have, the car I drive, the school I go to, all of this is rizq provided by Allah under the shade of Him as Rabb and therefore all of it by definition is a gift. All of it is a gift.
And what that also means then is because He is the provider of the gift, I cannot, you know it's rude to complain about a gift. It's rude to complain about a gift. Like you give somebody a gift, like this is all you got. You know. You wouldn't do that, would you? It's extremely rude and obnoxious to do that.
Well the gifts we have include, for some people this becomes a problem and Allah addresses it in the Quran. Some people think they're too short or too fat or their eyes are too far apart or their nose is too big or their, you know, their sibling looks better than they do or they're not as smart as their older brother or whatever. They have these low self-esteem issues about their physical being, about their physical selves.
And Allahazza wa jal is calling every one of your qualities a gift. And on top of that saying every one of your qualities is part of a larger plan. Every one of them. Even the one who's born without hands. Even the one who's born impaired. Even the one who has like a, you know, a genetic disease. Even a disorder. Even they, Allah has a plan for them. Even them. He's a mun'im to them too. He gave a gift to them too. Al-mun'im.
Seventh Meaning: Al-Muslih (The Reformer)
And then finally al-muslih. The last name that I wanted to share with you, al-muslih, is actually the one, you can call it the fixer. Islah in Arabic only happens when something goes wrong. Islah, the act of islah or someone being a muslih, only makes sense if something is broken. The idea is you and I fall, you and I break, you and I make mistakes, and Allah is constantly what? Fixing.
He's constantly allowing us to get back up. He doesn't give up on us. I give up on my computer or my phone when it stops working, doesn't it? I toss it, get the next one. You and I mess up with Allah. But he doesn't get rid of us and put someone else in place. Even though he has the power to,
- replace you with an entire other nation.
He could replace the entire ummah, a fifth of the world. He could replace them if he wants. He said it. He said it just outright. No big deal for him, you know.
- That's easy for Allah to do, but yet he doesn't.
He fixes. He fixes, he corrects. So you turning back to Allah and making tawbah is actually a gift of Allah. And that is how Allah is fixing you. That's how he's helping you. So you know, we give up on each other, but Allah does not give up on us. He does not give up on us. And that's part of his relationship with us, our Rabb.
The Word Abd (Slave)
Now, I have five minutes left. It's good. I think I'm on time. What I want to say, I won't get into the word (عَبْد - 'abd). That'll be even a longer discussion. I'll just share two things with you about the word (عَبْد - 'abd). Then I want to share something very important with you. Inshallah, hopefully all of it within the time restraints that I have.
The first of them about (عَبْد - 'abd). There are two qualities beyond the word slave. By the way, it means slave. It means slave. There are two physical qualities or manifest, observable qualities in language that come with the word (عَبْد - 'abd). Those two are (الْخُضُوع وَالتَّذَلُّل - al-khudu' wa al-tadhallul). What that means in simple English is humility. Humility before someone. And (التَّذَلُّل - al-tadhallul) is kind of similar to humility in Arabic, but actually means someone who is humiliated. Someone who is embarrassed.
A slave by definition is humble. And also he is or she is embarrassed. Now the question is, humble means, humble suggests that you don't brag about your accomplishments, right? That's what humility is. You don't brag about what you own or what you've accomplished. That's one side of it. And the other side of it is you don't forget the mistakes you've made because they are so what to you? So embarrassing to you. You are embarrassed before your Rabb because you know you constantly, constantly, constantly messed up.
So on the one hand, it's a really depressing title. (عَبْد - 'abd). Because you're humble and you're embarrassed. You're humble and you're embarrassed. Add to that another problem, slavery. I mean you hear the word slavery. I talked about connotations in the beginning of this lecture. Does slavery have positive connotations? No.
It brings about ugly images of oppression, of being people being forced to do what they shouldn't want to have to do. And of the titles or labels that a person can have, the most humiliating, degrading, debasing title possible in this life is slave. I challenge you to find me something more humiliating to call someone, more humiliating than what? Slave.
The Honor of Being Allah's Slave
And Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala in His wisdom, chose that name for us and not just us for His Rasul ﷺ. When the messenger of Allah is the closest to him, when Allah took him up and brought him physically even closest to himself, He said,
- You know what Allah did? Allah took the term that is associated with humiliation and indignation and it's the lowest title possible and Allah took that one term and made it the most honorable term of Islam. It's the most noble term of Islam.
You will never enjoy more honor in your life than to be called (عَبْدُ الله - 'abd Allah) - the slave of Allah. There is no greater honor. And the suggestion there is, when you are the abd of Allah you have the greatest honor. And the one who fails to be a abd of Allah does not turn to Allah in humility and servitude and ends up in the worship of something else, there could be nothing more humiliating. There could be nothing more humiliating than that. And you may not feel that humiliation right now but certainly a day will come when you'll realize how humiliating and how terrible and how disgraceful it is.
The Connection Between Rabb and Guidance
What I do want to share with you though, before I leave, I have two minutes left, I'm keeping track with the guy who types with one finger. He's really bad at typing, by the way. And you've made a lot of typing errors and you're very distracting but I forgive you.
Okay. So, I want to tell you something about, so Allah is all of these things to us. He's all of these things to us. But you know, Allah has many names. He has many names. When He introduced Himself to us in the Fatiha with Alhamdulillah, the word Allah actually does not suggest a relationship. The word Allah is a name. It's Ism Alam for Allah. It's a name. But it doesn't suggest a relationship.
There are some words in any language that suggest a relationship. For instance, if I say teacher, who does a teacher have a relationship with? With students. If I say, for example, master, who does a master have a relationship with? With slaves. So some words necessarily suggest a reciprocity. Someone on the other end.
So He says Alhamdulillah but the first introduction He gave us to Himself was Rabbil Alameen. He's the Rabb. Which means as part of introducing Himself He called Himself master. I'll use the English word now. Even though it's a lot more than that. It's Malik, Sayyid, Murabbi, Mun'im, Qayyim, Muslih. It's all of those things that I mentioned to you. And then some. But to be brief, at the very least He is master and what does that make you and me then? It makes you and me slaves. It makes you and me slaves.
The Necessity of Instructions from Master to Slave
Now having said that, I'll give you a silly thing but I think, I know it's zero minutes. I'm taking two more minutes. I'm letting you know. So I'll give you a strange, strange example to think about. I know it's going to be weird but I'd like to give weird examples because then they stick in your head.
So imagine there's two guys, two friends in college. They decide to, you know, be stupid and one guy comes to the other and says Hey, I want to be your master. You want to be my slave? Just for the weekend. Yeah, alright, cool. So this guy is master. This guy is slave. Then they're sitting there. They're just sitting there at the bench for ten minutes, this awkward silence. Then finally the new slave says, So, you want to go get pizza or what do you want to do?
If I'm the master and you're a slave, how would you know that you're a slave? How would you know? A master can only be a master if he tells a slave what to do. If a master never tells a slave what to do, then the slave will end up doing what? Whatever he wants. And if he does whatever he wants, by definition he's free. Because if you do what you want, you are considered free.
So in order to be a slave, you must have some kind of what? Instruction. Yes? Without instruction from master, practically you can call yourself slave all you want but you're still free. It doesn't actually mean anything.
So by calling himself Rabb, Allah necessitated that he will tell his slaves what to do. Because he cannot be Rabb unless he gives guidance to his Abd. So he called himself Rabb in the Fatiha. And as soon as he realized he's Rabb, we became desperate. Ya Allah, if you're Rabb, we better do what you say but we don't know what you say. So why don't you tell us? And how do we ask Allah to tell us in Fatiha? How do we ask him? (اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ) (Quran 1:6)
In other words, you will find in the beautiful Quran over and over and over again the word Rabb will show up and guidance will show up. And Rabb will show up and guidance will show up. Over and over and over again. In the Quran, Rabb and Huda. Rabb and Huda. Rabb and Huda. Why? Because to be a Rabb, you must give what? Instructions. And to be a slave, you must do what? Live by those instructions.
So Allah azza wa jal says, (كَلًّا إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ) (Quran 26:62) He says, (سَبّح اسْمَ رَبِّكَ الْأَعْلَى * الَّذِي خَلَقَ فَسَوَّى * وَالَّذِي قَدَّرَ فَهَدَىٰ) (Quran 87:1-3) Rabb and Huda. You see that? Then Allah says, (هَدَانِي رَبِّي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ) (Quran 6:161)
And then he says, (الَّذِي خَلَقَنِي فَهُوَ يَهْدِين) (Quran (2678) Over and over again, even in Surah Al-Kahf, (عَسَى رَبِّي أَن يَهْدِيَنِي لِأَقْرَبَ مِنْ هُذَا رَشَدًا) (Quran 18:24) Or (عَسَى رَبِّي يَهْدِيَنِي سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ) (Quran 28:22), Surah Al-Qasas. Over and over again, Rabb comes up and guidance comes up, and Rabb comes up and guidance comes up.
You know what that means at the end of the day? And this is what I leave you with, my two minutes are up. I leave you with this, that you and I, if we truly accept our place as Abd, then we have to accept the central role of guidance. The central role of guidance. How often we have to go back to Allah and ask for guidance, and you and I asking for guidance, we are reaffirming to ourselves that we are in fact Ibad.
Closing Reflection
I would like all of you, in the next prayer that you make, make that next Salah different. Just make that next Salah different. Recite the Fatiha slowly for a change. Just stop and recite it slowly, and think about the word Rabb, and some of the things that came up today, as you recite the Fatiha. Everybody here I think knows what Fatiha means. Just think about what it means to be a Abd before you go into Rukuh. And then realize what it means to bow yourself before your master. What it means to put your head before your master, when you are telling him that you want his guidance.
May Allah azza wa jal make all of us true slaves of His, and may Allah azza wa jal qualify us for the highest rewards that we don't earn, they only come to us from the love, and the grace, and the mercy of Allah azza wa jal.
بارك الله لي ولكم والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته