Muslims Under Pressure
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-08T20:27:48.854049+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Muslims Under Pressure - Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan
Opening Praise and Gratitude
الحمد لله، الحمد لله خالق الوجود من العدم وجاعل النور من الظلام ومخرج الصبر من الألم فملقي التوبة على الندم، فنشكره على المصائب كما نشكره على النعم، ونصلي على رسوله الأكرم ذي الشرف الأشم والنور الأتم والكتاب المحكم وخاتم النبيين والختام سيد ولد آدم الذي بشر به عيسى بن مريم ودعا لبعثته إبراهيم عليه السلام حين كان يرفع قواعد بيت الله المحرم فصلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى أتباعه خير الأمم الذي باركنا الله بهم كافة الناس العرب منهم والعجم
فالحمد لله الذي لم يتخذ ولداً ولم يكن له شريك في الملك ولم يكن له ولي من الذل وكبره تكبيراً، والحمد لله الذي أنزل على عبده الكتاب ولم يجعل له عوجاً، والحمد لله الذي نحمده ونستعينه ونستغفره ونؤمن به ونتوكل عليه ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهده الله فلا مضل له ومن يضلل فلا هادي له، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له ونشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله أرسله الله تعالى بالهدى ودين الحق ليظهره على الدين كله وكفى بالله شهيداً فصلى الله عليه وسلم تسليماً كثيراً كثيراً
Foundation of the Khutbah
أما بعد، فإن أصدق الحديث كتاب الله وخير الهدي هدي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم وإن شر الأمور محدثاتها وإن . كل محدثة بدعة وكل بدعة ضلالة وكل ضلالة في النار
: قال الله عز وجل في كتابه الكريم بعد أن أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
"[All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has sent down upon His Servant the Book and has not made therein any deviance. [He has made it] straight, to warn of severe punishment from Him and to give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward. In which they will remain forever."
اللهم اجعلنا من المؤمنين الذين يعملون الصالحات، رب اشرح لي صدري ويسر لي أمري واحلل عقدة من لساني يفقهوا قولي، اللهم ثبتنا عند الموت بلا إله إلا الله، اللهم اجعلنا من الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات وتواصوا بالحق . وتواصوا بالصبر، آمین یا رب العالمین
The Character of the Messenger
The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) before he was given the responsibility of being Allah's messenger was famous in Mecca. People knew him as the most honest human being. People knew him as the most courteous human being. He didn't raise his voice. He wasn't mean to people. He was merciful. He was involved in humanitarian work. So his character was actually one of the softest personalities. One of the softest people you'll ever meet. The nicest people you'll ever meet. And he was never harsh to anybody.
And a lot of times when we talk about our messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) even the Quran says:
"And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds."
We sent you as nothing except a rahma, an act of loving care for all nations and all people. So our messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) embodies love and care.
The Challenge of Delivering the Truth
But at the same time our messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has been given a very difficult responsibility. As soft and as courteous and as kind and as caring as Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was, at the same time the Quran that he was given - a lot of what the Quran said was not soft. Allah is not speaking softly to people who commit shirk. Allah is not speaking softly to people who are killing baby girls alive. Allah is not speaking softly to people who are cheating others in business.
So the Quran was actually questioning a lot of what was happening in Makkah in very harsh words. So you've got a contradiction. You've got the nicest man you've ever met (صلى الله عليه وسلم). The softest personality you've ever met. But the words that are coming out of his mouth are extremely offensive. You have to understand we believe in these words. We consider them sacred. But the people who first heard them they did not like these words. They were offended by these words. Because when you say something like, you're being unfair, you're being unjust.
Quranic Examples of Social Criticism
The Quran wasn't just criticizing poor people that were being unfair. When the Quran was talking about shirk, it was actually talking about the political leaders of Makkah. It was going after governors. It was going after mayors. They were in charge of the idols. So it was not something small.
"So woe to those who pray. [But] who are heedless of their prayer. Those who make show [of their deeds]. And withhold [simple] assistance."
"Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense? For that is the one who drives away the orphan. And does not encourage the feeding of the poor."
Who are these people that push the orphan around? They have politicians when it comes to election season, they show up to mosques and churches and temples and kiss babies, to show that they're religious. This is what they used to do back then too, to impress the people, they do religious services, but their religion is fake, their prayers are fake, the Quran calls them out.
The Prophet's Position and Allah's Authority
So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), when he was giving the Quran to people, with his kind heart, the words of Allah, in many places they are very kind, but in other places they're extremely offensive. After all, Allah doesn't need to be soft, because he is the master, and he's speaking to his slaves. He speaks from a position of authority. The messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is a slave of Allah, but Allah is the master. He speaks to his subjects, to who he owns, the way an owner speaks to those that he owns. So he calls and criticizes.
Early Opposition to Islam
So the Quran from the very beginning started offending Meccans. They started saying things like, this is against our culture, this is against our heritage, nobody else believes this, this is crazy, this is unacceptable, this is an insult to our history, to our tradition. How can you talk like this?
And not only that, when Allah started talking about people who cheat others in business:
"Who, when they take a measure from people, take in full. But if they give by measure or by weight to them, they cause loss."
These people who, they sell goods, but they give you a little bit less, and get away with it. These people that cheat others in their work. These were the millionaires of Mecca. These were wealthy people.
The Prophet's Great Character Despite Opposition
The Quran did not, the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was not afraid to speak out, to say something that offended the most powerful people in that society. You can think of it in modern terms, those were the people that ran the politics, those were the people that controlled the media, those were the people that had all the money. And they were the ones the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was offending.
While at the same time:
"And indeed, you are of a great moral character."
You have the greatest character, the Quran says. You are committed to a great character. When people came to him, they recognized his softness and his gentleness.
The Nature of Truth
So there are two different things. What we say is the truth. And the truth is hard. The truth is steel, it doesn't bend. But the way we say it is soft. The way we say the truth is soft. We're not hateful to people.
The Example of Ibrahim and the People of Lut
You know, I'm reminded in the Quran there's a dichotomy, I wanna help you understand this. On the one hand in the Quran for the nation of Lut. If you study the nation of Lut in the Quran, the way Allah describes for example in Surah Al-Qamar, the punishment that Allah gave those people. Allah talked about a number of nations that were destroyed. But when he got to the nation of Lut, he mentioned the punishment double. He mentioned it more for them than anybody else. And he took extra time.
It's Allah's speech. And he's talking about other nations that defied other prophets, that committed other sins. And yet Allah punished them. And when it came to them, Allah paused, and said, different kind of punishment. He talks about it in Surah Al-Qamar, and then he goes on. That's what he does.
And this is happened in other places in the Quran too. But at the same time, the same nation, when the angels came to destroy this nation, they didn't go straight to that nation. They stopped at the house of Ibrahim (عليه السلام). And when they stopped at the house of Ibrahim (عليه السلام)Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was begging Allah, pleading with the angels. As a matter of fact, the words used are:
"He was debating us for the people of Lut"
He was debating us. Allah says, he was debating us for the sake of the people of Lut. For the sake of those people. Meaning, if there's at least one believer among them, ten believers among them, can we spare them? Can we find some way to spare them?
In other words, there's again a dichotomy. On the one hand, Allah is extremely angry. But his beloved messenger Ibrahim (عليه السلام) is being extremely merciful towards those people. Because he wants them to be saved at any cost. And we call ourselves, the religion of Ibrahim (عليه السلام). So these, what seem like contradictions, we have to properly understand them as Muslims.
Muslims Will Always Be Under Pressure
And my khutbah today is dedicated to one idea. Muslims will always be under pressure. Always. It doesn't matter if it's 2019, or if it's 1019, or one day it's 3019. It won't matter. Muslims will always be under pressure. And our values, what we believe, will not be what the majority of the people believe.
That is the history of Islam. When messengers came (عليهم السلام), when they presented the values of this religion, the majority of the people around them were offended. So don't be shocked that what you believe, and I believe, is going to be offensive to someone. Whether we mean to offend them or not, they will be offended.
The Prophet's Unchanged Character
The messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did not become a different person. He was still kind. He was still merciful. He was still fair. All of his business dealings were exactly the same. The people before Islam used to call him, As-Sadiq Al-Ameen. They used to call him the truthful one, the honest one. Nothing changed, except that he delivered the message of Islam, and now they started calling him a liar.
They started calling him insane. They started calling him a troublemaker. They started saying that he steals information from here and there. They started saying he's after money. All of the things that they said about the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) changed. Only one thing has changed. Nothing about his character has changed (صلى الله عليه وسلم). He's still As-Sadiq and he's still Al-Ameen. He's still the nicest person there ever was.
The only thing that has changed, that has offended those people so much, that they hate him so much, that they will make all kinds of lies against him, is that he stands up for Islam now. That he speaks the
Quran now. And this is Allah's way. That when we stand with the Quran, that there will be people that will be offended. They will hate what we say and what we stand for. Allah tells us in the Quran: "So do not fear them, but fear Me"
Don't be afraid of them, be afraid of me. Don't fear them, fear me.
The Unchanging Nature of the Quran
You know in Surah Al-Kahf, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) describes this, and I'll give you this by way of analogy. The Surah Al-Kahf by the way, it's the wisdom of our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)His divine teaching, that we're supposed to recite this Surah every Friday. I think a lot of you know that.
We're supposed to recite this Surah every Friday. There's many things in this Surah, but from the very beginning, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) described the Quran. He says:
He said, praise and gratitude belongs to Allah, who sent the book on His slave. The book meaning the Quran. And He did not allow for any deviation in it, any crookedness in it. Now let's understand what that crookedness means.
The Evolution of Social Values
You know, a hundred years ago, a hundred years ago in the United States, the way people dressed was very different. Yes or no? It was. And what was appropriate at a beach or not appropriate at a beach, was completely different. There were signs in California of what's inappropriate clothing at a beach. There were signs like that in this country. And then a year goes by, five years go by, ten years go by, did those values change? Yes. Those values changed.
You know, let me say something that maybe some of you will find offensive, it doesn't matter, it's okay with me. Maybe twenty, thirty years ago, no one here, who came from a decent Muslim family, was okay having their daughter take a picture of herself and put a big poster in the house, so any guest that comes sees a picture of their daughter wearing makeup. Nobody here was okay with that. But now, our daughters can put their pictures posing on Facebook. And the world can see it, and it's completely fine. It's okay. This is social media. We can redefine what's right and wrong.
We can redefine it. Things, values change. Norms change. What used to be totally not okay, it becomes more okay, then it becomes more okay. You know, even with you and your parents. Some of you that are older, when you used to talk to your parents, Baba Jaan, Abba Jaan, Ya Aba al-Kareem, you used to use words like that. And then came time for your children, they say, or they say, Uh-huh, what? You would think of death before you talk to your father that way. But they're completely okay talking to you that
The Consistency of Divine Values
Values change. Norms change. Things that we used to, even in American society, by not even by Muslim standards. What used to be okay and not okay on TV in the 70s, completely changed by the time the 80s came. Which completely changed again by the time the 90s came. And then the 2000s came. And now it's completely different world of media, isn't it? There are things that you would never have imagined as a kid on television that are completely normal now.
What I'm trying to say is that values in society keep on moving and moving. And when you have a little bit of deviation, like if you have a straight line, even if it goes for a thousand miles, it's a straight line. But if you have a line that has a little bit of bend, then the bend keeps getting worse and worse and worse and worse, doesn't it?
So what did our deen do? Allah gave us a book and He called it:
"He doesn't allow a bend in it. There's no bends allowed. This Quran came 1400 years ago. Society has changed. Culture has changed. Technology has changed. The world around us has changed. Languages have changed. Economies have changed. But the values of this book have no bend. It doesn't matter what age you're living in. What Allah said is wrong, has always been wrong, and will always be wrong, no matter who's offended by it. What Allah says is right, will always be right. It doesn't matter who likes it and doesn't like it. Allah says:
"The truth comes from your Master. Whoever wants, they can accept it. They can believe in it. Whoever wants, they can reject it.
The Challenge of Being Muslim
You know what's crazy though? Muslims in different times of pressure, the further away they get from their book, they ask questions like, how do we answer this? If we say this, people will be offended. If we believe in this, people won't like it. What do we tell our kids at school about these things that they're teaching them that are normal now, because we don't want our kids to stick out.
Actually, the problem with being Muslim is that you're always gonna stick out. Congratulations. You'll never be normal. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says:
(Muslim 145)
"Congratulations to the weirdos, literally. غریب means strange.
(بَدَأَ الْإِسْلَامُ غَرِيبًا - bada'al islamu ghareeban) (Muslim 145)
Islam started as something strange. People said, what is this? What is this strange thing? These people don't fit.
The problem with Muslims today is we are trying to fit. We're trying to fit in. We wanna be like everybody else. We don't wanna be looked at as strange. By definition, you and I are the religion of Ibrahim (عليه السلام). Ibrahim (عليه السلام). His whole town thought he was strange. His father thought he was strange. He got kicked out of his home. He got burnt alive. Literally, they wanted to burn him alive. Why? Because he won't bend. Because he won't bend. He doesn't wanna budge. Because he knows this is the truth and that's it. The only fear he has is that of Allah and not that of people.
He's not worried about being accepted. Not even by his own family. Not even by his own father or uncle. That's not what matters to him.
"I've turned my face towards the one who made the skies and the earth. The only individual, the only being he's concerned with is Allah. That's it. I don't care about nothing else. Everything else is secondary.
The Quran as Our Foundation
Think about that thought process and where we are today. You know Allah didn't just say He didn't allow abandonment. He said:
"This book stands tall. It stands tall. The values of this book. This book is upright. Whoever holds on to this book will stay upright.
I'll give you an analogy that I gave many years ago when I was teaching this surah. Imagine that you and I are in, we've fallen into a river. And a river, the water in a river is not stationary. It's moving. It's moving. So anybody who falls in the river keeps going. And you're holding on to a tree whose roots are very deep. You understand? That tree, it's been there for hundreds of years. The water keeps going. Anything that doesn't have any roots keeps moving. And it used to be back up the river and now it's way down the river and it'll keep moving. It'll keep moving. But whoever holds on to that tree is in the same place.
The Quran is (قَيِّمًا). It stands in its place. And everybody around you has value. You know what the value today has become? What are they holding on to? If it feels good, it must be right.
Modern Relativism vs Divine Standards
Well, what's the definition of right and wrong today? What do you think is right or wrong? I think it's, I feel like it's okay. What you feel today is not what you will feel tomorrow. And somebody else will feel something else. So there's no more right and wrong. Everybody decides their own right and wrong. So you say, I can't tell somebody else that this is right or this is wrong. Or I can't judge if this is right or this is wrong. Because that's up to them and how they feel. That's their call.
As if every person decides exactly what is right and wrong. Every person is their own standard. And Allah said, no, for anybody who believes in this book, He has given a standard. He has given a standard. And you hold on to that standard. And it doesn't matter who hates it and who loves it.
Balancing Truth with Mercy
And that doesn't make us hateful people. It doesn't make us judgmental people. We're still like, we're the religion of Ibrahim (عليه السلام), I told you. He was arguing on behalf of the nation of Lut. He still wants good for them. But he will never endorse them. He won't endorse their behavior. He wants forgiveness for them. But he won't be okay with what they do. And both at the same time, this is our religion.
This is the character of our messenger, (صلى الله عليه وسلم). If there was one person where you could never find a reason to hate him, that would be our messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Weren't there people trying to kill him? His own family? Nobody knows him better than his own family. Everybody in his family knows. No one is kinder, nicer. No one is more of a decent human being than he is. And yet they're trying to kill him.
So why do you think you and I are exception that we're gonna be loved and appreciated?
The Source of Our Security
You know what we tell ourselves? We gotta fit in. Because if we don't fit in, we're not gonna be safe. People around us won't like us, and then we're not gonna be safe. Who confused us? At what point did we get confused that our safety comes from what people think of us? When did that happen?
You know what Allah says in this same surah? He says the book stands straight. He says:
"Don't be influenced by somebody, and don't follow somebody whose heart we have made empty from remembering us. And remembering Allah means remembering Allah's word. Meaning a person who has no roots in the remembrance of Allah, a person who has no roots in the values Allah has revealed, and you are influenced by them. And when they say something is good, yeah, that must be good. When they say something is bad, that must be bad. No, no, no.
"
These people just follow their whim. Today they feel this, they follow it. Tomorrow they feel something else, they follow that. The day after they feel something else, they follow that again. Today the arguments about what's right and wrong are going to be different 10 years from now, I can guarantee you. What is being debated right now, is it right or wrong, is gonna change. Just like 10 years ago. 10 years ago the conversations happening in the world of media, in universities about morality were completely different. 20 years ago they were even more completely different. They were absolutely different. And over time they will change again.
The Challenge for Our Children
Our children are being exposed to fitna and new ways of thinking about right and wrong that we never saw. We never had that, not even close. We had our own fitna, in our own generations. But our kids are gonna face a new level of fitna. And by the time they're adults, it's gonna be another level of fitna.
And you know what, these new problems, whatever they may be, these new ways of thinking, whatever they may be, it doesn't matter what they are, so long as we can give them something to hold on to. Something that says, this is the roots that we have, it doesn't matter how strong the flood is.
Holding Firm Against the Current
And you know what's gonna happen? Everybody's being washed away with the flood, and you're the one standing in place. And then they get mad at you. Hey, why aren't you flowing down river? How come you're not falling off the waterfall? How come you're standing in your place? Why are you being weird? They're the ones drowning, and they make it act like you're the one crazy for standing in your place.
And the problem is, when you don't have this belief that you're holding on to the right thing, you're like, yeah, I should be more like them. I should drown like them. That's peer pressure. I should dress like them. I should talk like them. I should think like them. I should celebrate like them. I should be okay with the things they're okay with, so long as it feels good. I don't wanna offend anybody.
The Prophets Stood for Truth
Did the prophets offend people? Yeah, they did. Not because they were trying to be offensive, because they did not compromise the truth. They didn't compromise on what they believed. We're not ashamed of the word of Allah. We're not ashamed of it. Every ayah of the Quran is more valuable than anything in the world. More valuable than anything in the world.
You know some people, they say, but your Quran says this. How do you explain it? They're like, oh yeah, how do I explain it? Oh my God, is that really there? I gotta find an explanation so they don't get offended.
Your first response is, when Allah says it, it's true. Allah says it, it's true. I'll help you understand it. And if you understand it, and you find it appealing to you, you like what you heard, alhamdulillah. And if you don't like what you heard, alhamdulillah. Because that's Allah's word.
It's not a product on Amazon that you have to give it ratings. I didn't like this ayah, it only gets one star. I like this one, this one gets four stars.
The Danger of Hiding Parts of Allah's Book
You know what the Muslims will do? How the shaitan will come to Muslims? The shaitan will come to Muslims and say, how about you focus on parts of Allah's book that everybody likes? People are gonna like hearing this part. But this other stuff they don't wanna hear, don't talk about that. Because it'll get lower star rating. Then they won't like you. Then they won't like you.
What does Allah say about people who hide any part of His book?
[The complete verse: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْتُمُونَ مَا أَنْزَلْنَا مِنَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَالْهُدَىٰ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا بَيَّنَّاهُ لِلنَّاسِ فِي الْكِتَابِ ۙ أُولَٰئِكَ يَلْعَنُهُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَلْعَنُهُمُ اللَّاعِنُونَ
Allah says, those are the people Allah curses. Those are the people that Allah has created angels just to curse them. Just to curse them.
Here you and I are thinking, man, if we say this, people will curse us. And Allah is saying, and if you don't stand for the truth, you don't have to worry about people cursing you. There's much worse curse coming. There's much worse coming.
The Unchangeable Word of Allah
Allah says in this surah, He says:
"You keep reciting and reading whatever has been revealed to you from the book of your master. Nobody can change his words.
"This is our belief about the Quran. You know what people have reduced this to? Oh, nobody can change the word of Allah. We recite it exactly the way it used to be recited. The Quran didn't come just to be recited, folks. The Quran came because its values are to be recited. Its teachings are to be recited. Its message can never be changed. Its truth can never be changed. What it decided is right and wrong will never be changed.
(لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَلَنْ تَجِدَ مِنْ دُونِهِ مُلْتَحَدًا - la mubaddila likalimatihi walan tajida min dunihi multahida) (Quran 18:27)
Listen to this carefully. I remind myself of this and you. And you will never find any place to hide or be safe other than the book.
The Quran as Our Only Shelter
Allah says, you and I will never be safe anywhere other than in His words. This is the only shelter we have. You know, ملتحد comes from لحد in Arabic. لحد means a ditch that you dig that you can hide inside. So when the wind comes, it doesn't hit you. When the storm comes, it doesn't hit you. You found some place to find shelter.
Quran literally defines the world outside as a storm and the only shelter being the Quran itself. What has the Muslim done? What have you and I done? We say that if we hold on to the Quran, that will be a storm. So we should let go of it so we can be safe. Allah is saying the opposite. Allah is literally saying the opposite.
This is the relationship you and I have with Allah's book and Allah's teachings.
Responding to Difficult Questions
If you don't understand how to articulate it, if people ask you difficult questions about your religion, how do you answer this? How do you answer this? You guys are barbaric. You guys are inhumane. You know these ideas? You know what's become now? Hyper individualism. What that means is, you better say something that makes me feel good, otherwise you're offensive to me. Right? This is a great standard by the way. It's a fantastic standard. Because the only people you can offend is Muslims. Everybody else is safe. Right?
And this is not new. This happened from the time of Firaun. It happened before. The Quraysh used to have a policy. Let me tell you, the Quraysh used to have a policy. They never attack people of their own tribe. They can fight somebody else, but within tribe, you're protected. The only time they broke their own rules was for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Muslims. They break their own rules. But this is exactly what happens with people. They'll claim certain values, but when it comes to the Muslims, then the value system changes.
Standing Firm in Our Beliefs
I'm not advocating that you go out and you preach hate, and we don't stand for this, and we don't stand for that. But don't be shy about what you and I believe. Because in our intentions to get away from the pressure of people, or they're not gonna like us, or we're gonna be looked at as politically incorrect, or we're gonna be looked at as unpopular, or we're gonna be looked at as extreme. Why are you worried
about that? Are you embarrassed by the truth? If Allah calls this book, this message, this is actually Al- Haqq.
What that means is, when people hear it properly, they hear it and they recognize something inside them that connects with it. Just because people's natures are being corrupted, and people are becoming more and more materialistic, and people are becoming more and more self-centered, doesn't mean we cater our message to make them feel more comfortable.
The Analogy of Waking the Sleeping
You know, last thing I'll share with you as an analogy, is, you know, Ali (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) used to say:
"(Attributed to Ali رضي الله عنه) People are sleeping."
The Quran came to wake people up, didn't it? Quran came to wake people up. This deen came to wake people up. And when someone's deep asleep, and you try to wake them up, they get annoyed. Let me sleep. You know, this is annoying. I don't wanna get up. I wanna stay asleep. But you know what? Sometimes you have to wake someone up if there's a fire in the house.
There's a fire, and you gotta wake them up. It doesn't matter how annoyed they get. You gotta do it. You gotta say what it is. There's a real fire. I don't care about it. It's just in my dream. It's not real. I was driving a Ferrari in my dream. I was so much happier. It doesn't matter what you were driving. There's a fire in the house. You have to wake up. You have to face reality.
Teaching Our Children
This teaching that Allah has given us is so powerful, especially for young people today. How much of your definition of right and wrong? How should I dress? What should I say? Who should I hang out with? What should come out of my mouth? What shouldn't come out of my mouth? If we're teaching our children, they're even embarrassed to say that they're Muslim because somebody made fun of their name in school. They're embarrassed to believe in the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. I talked to a couple of kids just last week.
You know, they're at lunch table. Somebody said, What are you gonna blow up this week? This is a normal conversation for our kids. They get bullied at school. They get bullied at school. But you know, the one solution to that is we have to stand by our kids and not allow that kind of bullying in schools. That's one part of the solution.
But the other part of the solution is the damage that it does to our kids that they're embarrassed for being Muslim. That's a bigger damage than anything else. What's gonna happen in two generations? What's gonna happen in three generations? This Quran is what gives us our dignity, our strength, our
identity. When we let go of this, we have nothing. We will become nothing. We have nothing without this. We have absolutely nothing without this.
The Importance of Holding Fast
So, we cannot afford to loosen our grip on Allah's book and Allah's values and this deen that Allah has given us that is qayyim, no matter what happens. Which is why in the very beginning of the surah, He said:
Allah said this book stands tall to warn about a great war that is coming. Allah (عز وجل - 'azza wa jall) talks in the Quran, alludes to it. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would describe it as the fitnah of Masih Dajjal. The greatest trial that will ever come. We're not even there and we're in trial. And this surah is reminding us, don't bend when things get tough. Stay straight when things get tough.
And then Allah says, Allah sent this book to congratulate people who will do good things. Meaning the definition of good from 1400-1500 years ago and the definition of good today has not changed. What was good was always good. What was bad has always been bad. That will not change. Doesn't matter who likes it and doesn't like it. And people who can hold on to the good, that's actually good.
They're gonna have great reward in which they will remain forever.
The Tree with Deep Roots
May Allah make us from those people that hold on to the good for what it actually is. May Allah (عز وجل - 'azza wa jall) give a strength of deen to all of us and our children and root the faith. This is why Quran calls:
(لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ - la ilaha illallah) is a tree whose roots are very deep and firm, and its branches are in the sky. Because if the roots aren't firm, then the flood washes it away. So our iman needs to be deeply rooted. So we know that what we have, what we have is better than anything else. Everything else will come and go. This will stay. And if we don't hold on to this, we will go. But this will still stay.
Allah's Warning About Turning Away
If you and I don't hold on to this book, what does Allah say?
You turn your backs, Allah will replace you with some other people. And they won't be like you. He doesn't need you to be Muslim or me to be Muslim. He doesn't need that. He can bring a new creation. He can bring someone else, an entire other nation, who used to be non-Muslims, and Allah will give them Islam. Because you didn't, and I didn't hold on to this book. Because this book is worth being held on to. And those who don't hold on to it, well they're not worthy of it then. Then Allah wipes them away.
Closing Dua and Final Reminders
May Allah (جل وعز - jalla wa 'azza) not make us of those who get wiped away and hold on to this book no matter what pressure comes, no matter what anybody else says, no matter what fear people try to instill in us.
People would come to you and say, people have gathered all against you. You should be scared of them. But it increased in their faith even more. And they said, Allah is enough for us. He'll take care of everything. Who better than to take care of everything than Allah?
They came back from the favor of Allah, no harm ever touched them. Why? Because when people were gathered and they were being intimidated, they said, no, we have Allah. He's enough. We're not gonna let go of Him. That was enough. And then they were fine.
These are people who only wanted to make Allah happy, not people. That's what Quran says. May Allah make us of those who only wanna make Him happy. May Allah protect us in our faith and keep us on this path. Mistakes are made, all of us make them. But may Allah make us of those who acknowledge their mistakes and come back to the straight way.
Closing Praise
عباد الله رحمكم الله اتقوا الله. صلوا وسلموا على خير خلقه وأشرف رسله سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين. . والحمد لله رب العالمين