Believe in Allah and His Messenger

Believe in Allah and His Messenger

Opening and Salutations

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Alhamdulillah. We praise Him, we ask for His help, we ask for His forgiveness, we believe in Him and we trust in Him.

We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. He whom Allah guides, no one can misguide him. And he whom Allah leaves astray, no one can guide him.

We bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

Opening Quranic Verses

Allah says in the Holy Quran, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful:

"O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims."

Allah says in the Holy Quran, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan:

"Whoever obeys the Messenger obeys Allah."

Allah says:

"O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. "

The Foundation of Faith: Trusting Allah

O you believers, Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. You have no idea how happy I feel just to say, Alhamdulillah. If I finish khutbah right now, with Alhamdulillah, we okay. We okay. Alhamdulillah.

I bear witness that no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah. Nothing, no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah. We believe in Him, and we trust Him.

How do we trust Him? It's easy to say with our tongues, I trust Allah. We trust Allah. Do you really? If you trust Allah, you would trust the book that He gave to us, Kitabullah, the book of Allah.

And if you trust the book of Allah, you would read it, you would learn it, you would understand it, you would teach it. Because He said (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam):

خَيْرُكُمْ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ وَعَلَّمَهُ

"The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it." (Sahih al-Bukhari 5027)

But do you believe in the book? Do you believe in the Quran? Do you believe in all of the Quran, 100%? In America, in the year 2008, do you think that this book is relevant for us in California? Do you think that this book, the Quran, is relevant for the people in China, in Japan, in Germany, in United Kingdom? Do you think it's relevant? Do you believe in it? We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Witness of the Final Messenger

And we bear witness that Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) is Allah's messenger. Yes, this is basic and fundamental because today in a few moments I want to talk about our work here in California, and here in America, and here in the world with the over 6 billion people. What is the role of these 1,500,000,000 Muslims around the world? But the key is, before we can move, we have to understand the Hadith of Jibril (عليه السلام - alayhis salam), one of the most critical Hadith because it gives us our foundation.

And I just want to mention a very, very, very small part of a long Hadith. Jibril, (عليه السلام - alayhis salam) said "Ya Muhammad! Akhbirni 'anil Islam!" O Muhammad, explain to me, what is al-Islam? He said:

الإِسْلَامُ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَّسُولُ ٱللَّهِ

"Al-Islam is that you testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." (Sahih Muslim 8)

Until the end of the Hadith. You know, I don't want to talk about the Salat and the Siyam. I don't want to talk about that now. I want to talk about "wa anna Muhammadan Rasulullah."

And we bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Not only is he the messenger of Allah, he's the last messenger. No messenger comes after him.

And anyone who claims to be a prophet after Muhammad, (عليه الصلاة والسلام - alayhis salatu wassalam) has either lost their mind or they're lying. And you're going to see, in a few seconds, why this is critical. We ask Allah to bless his messenger, Muhammad (عليه الصلاة والسلام - alayhis salatu wassalam) and bless his family, and bless his companions, and bless the Muslims everywhere. Ameen.

The Day of Gathering

Brothers and sisters, Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, gave us this day, Yawm al-Jum'ah, and ordered us to come to the masjid on this day, Yawm al-Jum'ah. We're here, not because we have a choice.

Islam is not like what you think. Allah didn't ask us our opinion. He orders us to be here on Yawm al-Jum'ah, the day of gathering.

This is, alhamdulillah, that you're here because He ordered you. Some of you have good businesses. Alhamdulillah, you left your businesses to be here. Some people, they don't have enough faith, enough taqwa, to leave their business, and they're at their business right now, while Allah ordered them to be here. Some of you left your school, some of you left homes, but nevertheless, you're here, and the only reason you're here, the only reason Allah ordered you to be here. This is good.

Seeking Beneficial Knowledge

So therefore, I like to make this du'a that the Prophet made (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and this du'a is good for you, and it's good for me. Because if I have you for 5 minutes or 10 minutes, I want to say something that is going to affect you. I don't like people to come into Jum'ah one way and go out the same way, without having gained something.

So I make du'a to Allah that you get something. So this is du'a the Prophet made (عليه الصلاة والسلام - alayhis salatu wassalam):

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ لَا يَنْفَعُ

"O Allah, I seek refuge with You from knowledge that does not benefit." (Sahih Muslim 2722)

So not only do I want you to walk out of the masjid today with knowledge, information, yes. But what good is the knowledge and the information if we don't utilize it, so that we're better when we leave than when we came. And not because of brother Siraj, but because what we will say from Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) Muhammad

The Universal Message of All Prophets

Brothers and sisters, what I'm going to say from the Quran and the Sunnah is basic, but all the time we miss the implications of what is given to us.

For instance, the hadith of Jibreel (عليه الصلاة والسلام - alayhis salatu wassalam), the Prophet said:

الإِسْلَامُ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَّسُولُ ٱللَّهِ

Every Prophet that came, they said the same basic thing. Believe in Allah and obey me. I am the messenger of Allah.

So Isa:

لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَأَنَّ عِيسَىٰ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ

During the time of Jesus, he's the messenger of Allah. He's to be obeyed.

لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَنُوحٌ رَّسُولُ ٱللَّهِ

لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَإِبْرَاهِيمُ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ

مُوسَىٰ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ

We had to believe in the Prophet and obey the Prophet. Every Prophet.

Clarifying the Concept of Conditional Love

Now brothers and sisters, I want to get rid of a misconception that people have in the society. I heard it too much. And this thing called unconditional love. People mistakenly say that Allah, God, loves us unconditionally.

Wrong. Because if you studied the Quran and the Sunnah, the Quran and Sunnah is replete with what the Arabs called جُمْلَةٌ شَرْطِيَّةٌ - Conditional sentence.

"If you help Allah, He will help you and make your foothold firm."

If you walk to Allah, Allah will run to you. That's the way life is. Don't you ever say that Allah loves us unconditionally because in the Quran, He tells us, He doesn't love the unjust.

He doesn't love the disbelieving rebellious against Allah. He says all throughout the Quran, whom He doesn't love. So don't say that He loves us unconditionally.

And if you as a man love your wife with no conditions, this is foolish and this is not Islam. Just say, Honey, I love you. I know you leave the house every night and you go out all night and you don't come back into the morning, but I love you. I know you go to the crack house and you buy drugs, but I love you. I know you leave my children alone, endanger them all day long, but I love you. No such thing.

So there's no such thing. And a wife who loves her husband unconditionally, this is not Islam. What if your husband leaves Islam? You're going to stay with a man who leaves Islam? A woman who leaves Islam? So no, we love each other, but not unconditionally.

The Only True Unconditional Love

Now, I'm going to make a slight modification of what I just said. There is such a thing as unconditional love

though. The only unconditional love that I have ever found in Sharia, and I'm clear about it, is that we, the servants of Allah, must love Allah and obey Him unconditionally.

This is a critical point. We must love Allah with no question, no matter what He does to us. Let me give you a couple of examples and tell you why.

And by the way, even our love for one another is conditional, but the closest example that I've ever found in my studies of an apparent unconditional love for a human being is Prophet Ismail, peace be upon him, in his unconditional love and obedience for his father. Inshallah. I'm going to tell you why in a few seconds, and then Inshallah we finish.

A Brother's Testament of Faith

Now, why I say that? Yesterday, a brother in our masjid from Bangladesh, beautiful brother, Alhamdulillah, he told us that he's going to Bangladesh, he'll be there for a few more months, and Inshallah he'll go visit and he'll come back. I love this brother. And I remember once he told me, he says, he says, Imam Siraj, I have had 25 different operations.

25 different operations. And every time I have an operation, the doctor, he takes something out. Every time I have an operation, the doctor, he takes something out.

And he said, I said, Oh Allah, it's okay. This belongs to You. Whatever You take, that's up to You. But still, I want to praise You no matter what You take.

I love that. You know why? Because Allah doesn't make us any guarantee in this dunya.

The Example of Ibrahim (Abraham)

I'll give you a couple of examples. Christians, they don't believe that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and when they believe he's the messenger, they become Muslim. Jews don't believe Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. When they believe, they become Muslims, and many of them do. But, Jews don't believe in Isa, Jesus, (عليه الصلاة والسلام - alayhis salatu wassalam). But nobody disputes Ibrahim (عليه الصلاة والسلام - alayhis salatu wassalam).

Nobody. Jews claim him. Christians, they claim him. Muslims, they claim him. Everybody claims Ibrahim. Ibrahim is something special.

Muslims claim him as a Muslim, as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran. But look, one of the things about the Quran is مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنجِيلِ - The Quran verifies what came before it, of the book of the Torah, of the gospel.

And do you know this term خَلِيلُ اللهِ - the friend of Allah? Do you know the same term is found in the Bible? In the Torah, in the gospel, Abraham is called the friend of God. Everybody agrees about Abraham. He's the father

of nations. He's the imam for the ummah, for the nations. Everybody agrees to that. And when you study Ibrahim, we learn from the Quran that he was thrown in the fire.

And what was the words of Ibrahim (عليه الصلاة والسلام - 'alayhis-salatu was-salam) as the last words before he was thrown in the fire?

"Sufficient is Allah as a disposer of affairs." (Quran 3:173)

Sufficient is Allah. What does that mean? Does that mean that if you make this dua, nothing will happen to you? Does it mean that if you're thrown in the fire, the fire won't burn you? No. No. But what Ibrahim was doing (عليه الصلاة والسلام - 'alayhis-salatu was-salam) and every prophet does, is they submit to the commandment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Whatever it is.

The Reality of Death and Trials

And don't think because he's a prophet, he can't die. Or he won't be killed. Because Allah tells us in Quran, there's prophets that's been murdered.

And then Allah gives us a hint in Quran:

"And Muhammad is only a messenger of Allah. Messengers have passed away before him. So if he dies, or even if he's killed, will you then turn back on your heels?" (Quran 3:144)

Can you imagine? I don't know how many of you heard last year in March, a Muslim from Mali family perished in a fire in the Bronx. Nine children died and one adult. And of the nine children, five of them were his children. I don't know if you heard about it last year in the fire in the Bronx. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has something. Can you imagine? I know what it's like to have a child to die. One of my child, one of my children died years ago. 19 years old, 20 years old, my daughter, she died. I know what it's like to have a child to die. I thought about her every day. But imagine coming home and five of your children die. How you gonna handle it? Will you turn back your heels?

Allah's Mercy and Wisdom

Subhanallah, I just found out, not this, not last Friday, the Friday before, this brother, his name is Musa from Mali, whose five children died in the fire. His wife gave birth to a new baby last Friday. And the next day, Saturday, his second wife gave birth to twins. So in two days, Allah gives three of the children back. And I know that no amount of money can ever compensate the death of one person, much less five. But I found out that this brother Musa, may Allah bless him and his family, this brother, alhamdulillah, the people of New

York raised over a million dollars. Man had no money, all of a sudden, got over a million dollars.

Not only that, maybe, who can tell, that maybe those children that died in the fire, maybe Allah give them Jannah. And who can tell that maybe the patience of the mother and the father over the death of their children, maybe Allah give them Jannah. So you can't question Allah, whatever it is.

"No soul can die except by the permission of Allah. It's already written in the book." (Quran 3:145)

So what are you gonna do? Your mother died, your father died, your uncle died, your grandmother died, your grandfather died, the imam dies, the leaders, they die, we die.

Steadfastness Through All Trials

So what are you gonna do now? Turn back your heels? No, Allah don't promise us we're not going to die. We're going to die. But the thing we want is al-Jannah. What happens, brother, one day because of the recession of this country right now, you lose your job. You've been working on a job for 30 years and they fire you. What are you gonna do? You lose your home. What are you gonna do? You wind up in a shelter like in New York City, one block from Masjid al-Taqwa. There's a men's shelter. One thousand homeless men live in the shelter. Maybe one day you live in the shelter. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do, sister? You've been married to a man for 40 years and one day he says to you, Honey, I don't love you anymore. I don't wanna be married to you anymore. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do when you find out that your wife don't wanna be married to you anymore after years? What are you gonna do? And no matter what happens, we're gonna say Allah, La ilaha illallah. There's no God but You. And no matter how much we're tried and tested, inshallah, we will never ever turn our back on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Walhamdulillah rabbil alameen.

The Command to Obey Allah and His Messenger

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. So, brother Siraj, did you come here today to tell us that we should have faith in Allah and faith in the messenger of Allah and the obedience of the prophet? Yes, I did. But I wanna take it one step further. Allah, He says in Quran, You better obey Allah. Brothers and sisters, let me tell you something. Wallahi, every day you live, every day you live, you will see the manifestation of some truth in this Quran that was revealed 1400 years ago. You will see, you bear witness

there's no God but Allah and that this Quran is the book of Allah. Wallahi, you'll see it. In modern America, wallahi, you'll see it. I'll show you in a couple of minutes.

The Authority of the Messenger

Number two, obey the messenger of Allah. How should we obey him? Absolutely, and trust him what he says. Allah says in Quran:

"It's not right. It's not permissible. It's not fitting. It's not befitting when Allah and His messenger makes a commandment to have a choice." (Quran 33:36)

Now, do you have a right to question the messenger of Allah? No. You can question the authenticity of a particular hadith. Now brothers and sisters, I tell you the truth, I get nervous when I hear someone saying the prophet said something that I didn't hear and it sounds strange. I get real nervous. When I read books, even books written by Muslims and they say hadith but they don't mention they said nothing. I get nervous. Even in fact, I'll be honest with you, some people say that Allah said something in the Quran, Allah didn't say it.

Verifying Religious Sources

30 years ago, there was a brother, a friend of mine, an imam. He said, Allah said this in the Quran. I said, imam, Allah didn't say that. He said, yes he did. I said, imam, show me. He said, I'll show you. That was 30 years ago. I haven't seen it yet. So we have to be careful when people say Allah said something, we got to find out where. And you have the right to question anyone who say Allah said something or the messenger, not in a very nasty way, but imam, subhanallah, I've never heard that. Can you show me where I can find that in the Quran? Imam, that's a one, I want to write it down. Where can I find the hadith? Where? Right there. And if he gets angry at you, then no, something is wrong. Right?

Referring Back to Allah and His Messenger

Now, here's my conclusion. I said all of this today to come to this point.

If you differ with those in charge, follow, obey those in charge of authority among you, but if you differ with anything, do what? Refer back to Allah and the messenger if it is you believe in Allah on the last day. Why? Because Allah is a source, absolutely, and the messenger of Allah is a source, absolutely. But everyone else, everyone else and everything else can be challenged.

No One is Above Scrutiny Except the Prophet

Now, there's a book I recommend, all of you don't have to read it, maybe the heads of the community should read it. I'll give you, it's written by a man named Pat Buchanan. It's written in English, but I'm going to translate the title in Arabic. Title is (يَوْمُ الْقِيَامَةِ - The Day of Judgment or the Day of Reckoning) (يَوْمُ الْحِسَابِ -). He wrote this book called The Day of Reckoning and subhanallah. Brothers and sisters, when you read this book like I did, I read every page and I wrote pages of notes referring to Quran and Sunnah bear witness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I love my parents, but my parents are not the prophet. The Pope is not the prophet. The principals of schools is not the prophet. The Imam on the pulpit is not the prophet. The Prime Minister is not the prophet. And the President is not the prophet. And the President is not the prophet.

The Reality of Leadership in America

You know what I found, brothers and sisters? This is a secret. This is between you and I. We have had in our history of this country some of the smartest presidents like Thomas Jefferson. Smart man. Do you know he translated books from Latin and Greek? And he had the Quran. And I wouldn't be surprised if he read Arabic. He was a bright man. By the way, you know what he once said? He said, sometimes it is said that people cannot be trusted with the government of themselves. How then can they be trusted with the government of others? I've learned that this country has had some of the brightest presidents on the one hand. And on the other hand, I found out in this country that you can be the dumbest person and still be the President of the United States of America. That's my observation. And why do I say this? And brothers and sisters, I say this with no hesitation. This present President of the United States of America has, I don't even say made a mistake. I don't even say made mistake. But I'd rather use the word blundered. He has done so much damage to this country. Really, I don't know if it's going to be repaired. Wallahi, I don't know if it can even be repaired. He's done so much damage to the people around the world. And brothers and sisters, don't just listen to the media in this country. You want to find out what the rest of the world

thinks about us in this country? You better look at the media from around the world. And brothers and sisters, let me tell you something. He blundered. Wallahi, this man blundered. And his biggest blunder is going into Iraq. Destructive.

Standing for Truth

Because in the end of the day, you're going to have to justify before Allah, why did you attack an innocent country? And now hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives as a result of a blunder that you made. So what, we got, who should we vote for? The Democrats or the Republicans? Someone once asked the question, what's the difference between a Democrat and a Republican? The answer, does the difference make a difference? And I close with this, brothers and sisters. I said all of this khutbah to come to this point. I don't care who is the president or running for president, candidate for presidency, or anybody in this society. You never rubber stamp anything that they say. You be honest and you be truthful. And you stand up and you speak the truth based on the guidance that you have. If the Prophet said, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, that Allah said:

(Sahih Muslim 2577)

"Ya Ibadi, Kullukum daalun illa man hadaytuhu fastahduni ahdikum. O My servants, every one of you are misguided unless I guide you. Therefore, ask Me and I will guide you." (Sahih Muslim 2577)

The Crisis and the Solution

And I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, I could give you a whole litany of the direction that this country is going into. Years ago, and I conclude with this, I painted a picture of where America was going and is worse now, Wallahi, in my opinion. But I said, right now, with the policy of this government, right now, this country is like a car speeding down a steep mountain full of ice and snow with brakes that don't work, driven by a blind man, high off of drugs. Serious. It's worse than that now. I'm serious. And there are a lot of people who know it. And you notice that the biggest secret of all, the biggest secret is the only one who can reverse it are the Muslims. Serious, Wallahi. The only one that can, in my opinion, I mean it, I'm not talking propaganda, the only people to stop and turn this thing around are the Muslims who really believe in Allah and the Messenger, who trust Allah and the Quran because the light is there and trust Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)

Closing Du'a

Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us strong and to guide us on (صِرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ - the straight path). Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us to love al-Quran. Make us to learn the Quran and to follow the Quran, to obey the Quran and to teach the Quran. Ask Allah the Almighty to raise the Muslims all over the world to bring the good and to bring the guidance.

Tasliman.

"Our Lord, accept from us. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing." (Quran 2:127)

"Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we forget or make a mistake." (Quran 2:286)

"Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us." (Quran 2:286)

"Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people." (Quran 2:286)

Iqamatu salat.