Allah is Always First

Allah is Always First - Imam Siraj Wahhaj

Opening Praise and Testimony

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, there is no partner but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

Glory be to Allah. There is no knowledge for us except what You have taught us. You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Greeting and Blessing

Brothers and sisters, youth, may Allah bless you. Brothers and sisters who represent a minority in this country, those of you struggling to keep your Islamic identity, may Allah bless you.

The Example of True Brotherhood: Salman and Abu Darda

Brothers and sisters, you want to know real brotherhood? If you want to know real brotherhood, go back to the time of the Prophet and his noble companions.

The Prophet made a bond of brotherhood between Salman and Abu Darda. And Salman went to visit his brother, his Muslim brother. And when he went to see him, he saw the wife of Abu Darda.

And according to the translation, she was looking shabby. And he said, what happened to you? What's the matter? Why are you looking like that? She said, your brother, Abu Darda, he doesn't have any interest in the dunya. Salman didn't say anything.

And when Abu Darda came, Abu Darda, he made some food for Salman, his brother. And then said, eat, I'm fasting. And Salman said, I'm not going to eat unless you eat.

So Abu Darda broke his fast, voluntary fast, and they ate together. Their brotherhood was so great that not only did they visit each other, not only did they eat with each other, but even they spent the night in each other's house. And after they had slept a while, Abu Darda got up to make prayer.

And Salman said, naam, sleep, and fanaam, and Abu Darda slept. He slept for a while, and then he got up again to pray. And Salman said, sleep, and he slept again.

And then finally, in the last hour of the night, Salman said, al-an, now, pray. And they prayed together. Here's a real brother.

(Sahih al-Bukhari 1968)

Verily, Allah has a right over you, but your body has a right over you, and your family have a right over you. Give everybody their due.

And these companions were so great, what they do, whenever they hear something, they want to check it, they check it with the message of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So he went to the prophet and mentioned all of that, and the prophet said صَدَقَ سَلْمَانُ - Salman had spoken the truth. (Sahih al-Bukhari 1968)

Where It Begins and Where It Ends: Everything is About Allah

This afternoon, for a few moments, I want to talk about where it begins and where it ends. It begins with Allah. Everything is about Allah, his rights.

Lessons from Allah's Creation: The Geese

I was jogging around a lake in Atlanta, and you know, brothers and sisters, if you will pay attention, Allah will teach you in so many different ways. You can learn from the Quran, of course. You can learn from hadith, of course.

You can learn from the scholars, no doubt. But if you would open up your eyes and look at Allah's creation, I'm telling you, every day Allah will teach you something. And when I was running around the lake, I noticed that there were a lot of geese, beautiful geese.

They call them Canadian geese. And what was remarkable, I saw the mother and the father and the baby geese called goslings. And I noticed that everywhere they went, they went as a family. They went into the water together. They got out of the water together. They ate together.

They went everywhere walking together. One would be in the front, and one would be in the back, and the goslings would be in the middle. And I was amazed at that.

So I would come back the next day, and there they are again. I go back every day. I notice, and these young goslings begin to get bigger and bigger.

And then I noticed something that the older the goslings got, the father would move away a little bit. Then one day, I saw a gosling by itself. And I asked myself the question, what happened to you? Somehow it got away from the mother and the father.

And then I did some research about these geese. You know what I found out? That these geese are monogamous. That male goose, for the rest of its life, it stays with that female.

And they always do things as a family. And I also found out that these geese are very friendly. You can go next to them, and you can feed them, and you can, you know.

But if you try to get near the goslings, I'm telling you, I didn't know until I did the experiment. I said, oh. And that mother geese said, roo.

Wallahi, sound like a dog. No, I'm serious. And I found out that they will attack you. They're nice. But when their children are around, when the goslings are around, nobody can get near them. And you know the beautiful thing about that? How did they get it? They didn't learn it from the college.

They didn't read the Quran. They didn't read from the surah. They didn't go to the conference. You know how they got it? Allah put it in them. Instinct. And this is why you and I have to study Allah's creation.

Don't you see Allah has subjected for you everything in the heavens and earth. And every time we open up our eyes, and we look at Allah's creation, and we study Allah's creation, and we learn something. But you know something about them? You know how they get it? Instinct. God put it in them. This is the very nature of them. They can't help themselves.

The Honor of Human Beings: We Have the Choice

And then when animals do something, they do it because Allah put it in them. But we are different. Allah has honored the children of Adam.

How has he honored us? He has allowed us to use our own mind to do what we're supposed to do by him. I want you to think about this, and then I'll let you go. Our prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, said خَالِفُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ - Be opposite. Be opposite of the pagans. (Sahih Muslim 259(

Why? Why should you be opposite? You who go to junior high school. You who go to high school. You young brothers and sisters who go to college. Why should you be opposite? Why should you be opposite the pagans and those who associate God with Allah?

The Promise of Shaitan: Doing the Opposite of Allah's Commands

You know why? It is because of a promise that shaitan made. And if you look at America, look at North America, look at Asia, look at Africa, look in even the Muslim world.

Every time Allah give a commandment thou shalt not do, people do the opposite. God gave man a beautiful woman, and he looks elsewhere. I ain't saying where.

Opposite. How dare you disrespect a Muslim woman, a Muslim girl who cover herself, make her look like she's other than what she's supposed to be. Like you are some misfit, something wrong with you, because you have the audacity to cover up in the summertime.

You have the audacity to put on a headpiece. Why? Because shaitan, he knows everything that Allah says do, he get us to do the opposite. Now look at the arms of men and women, all these tattoos, all of this craziness.

Why? Why? Because of a promise of shaitan. Brothers and sisters, give Allah his right. What is his right? It's all about Allah.

A Misguided Belief: The Example of the Jehovah's Witness

I saw a Jehovah witness that was at a gas station, and they offered me one of those watchtowers. Now, I'm going to take it. I heard some young lady said, No, I got my own religion. I don't want that. But I took it. And I took it because I'm going to read it.

So when I got home, I started reading it. And to my amazement, it said that the first thing that God created was Jesus. And then Jesus created everything else.

Are you serious? Are you crazy? I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, you have no idea who you are and the responsibility and the burden on your backs, what we're supposed to be doing. It's all about Allah. It's not even about Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him.

It's not about Moses, peace and blessing be upon him. And it's not even about Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him. All of them is about Allah.

The Story of Prophet Moses and Al-Khidr: All Knowledge Belongs to Allah

I give you one example to think about. One of the smartest prophets ever was Prophet Moses, peace and blessing be upon him, Musa. Why smart? He gave a sermon.

This is from the Al-Bukhari Hadith, the fourth volume, under Kitab Al-Anbiya, under the chapter of the prophets. (Sahih al-Bukhari 3400-3401) And you read what the prophet said about Moses. Moses gave a sermon to the children of Israel, and a man stood up and said, Yeah, Musa, oh, Moses, is there anyone on earth more knowledgeable than you? He said, La, no.

Another narration said that someone asked him, Who was the smartest person on the earth? He said, I was. And the prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, said that Allah admonished Moses because he didn't attribute all the knowledge to Allah. And therefore Allah revealed to him, Our servant Al-Khidr, he knows more than you.

And to the credit of Moses, he said, Show me, I want to go there so I can learn from him. I want to learn more. So he followed Al-Khidr.

And you know the first lesson he learned? Him and Al-Khidr were walking near the seashore, and they saw a boat. And on the edge of the boat was a little bird. And the bird put its beak in the water, and put a little water in its beak.

And Al-Khidr said to Musa, Yeah, Musa, the similitude of my knowledge and your knowledge combined compared to that water in the beak of that bird compared to Allah, my knowledge and your knowledge together compared to Allah is like that water in the beak of that bird. And then Al-Khidr said, Yeah, Musa, I have a knowledge from Allah. Allah taught me and you don't know it.

Oh, Moses, I have a knowledge from Allah. Allah taught me and you don't know it. And you have a knowledge too. Allah taught you and I don't know it. What does it mean? It's all about Allah.

Put Allah First in Everything

You know, young brothers and sisters, it ain't about your mother or your father. We love them. We respect them. But it's about Allah.

It ain't about Sheikh Nu'man Ali Khan. We love you, brother, too much. I mean, really, man, I love you, man. Really, I can't stop loving you, man. I can't even look at the audience. I look at you, man.

You know, brothers and sisters, that's what it's all about. My young sister, you go to college, 60,000 students, and you're the only Muslim, 60,000 students, and you're the only Muslim in your school. Do you have the courage to dress as your Lord asks you to dress? Or will you say, I don't want to be like everybody else.

I don't want to be different. I don't want to be special. I don't want people to look at me.

You know what? If it's about Allah and you love Allah, you do it because Allah wants you to do it. You're not doing it because your husband wants you to do it or your mother and father want you to do it or the imam wants you to do it or the alim wants you to do it. You're doing it because of Allah and your love for Allah.

Be Nonconformist: Stand for Allah

And if you put Allah first, you'll be all right, wherever you are. Be nonconformist. And you know something? The people in this society, the people in your college and the campuses and high schools, they will respect you when you stand up and be yourself.

Be opposite the disbelievers. It's all about Allah. Put Allah first.

Closing Supplication

May Allah bless you and bless you at this conference and take home something and be better Muslims. Ameen.