Eid ul Adha 2010 Sermon

Eid Al-Adha 2010 Khutbah - Imam Zaid Shakir

Opening Takbir and Praise

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر

الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر

Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.

Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, who has blessed us with this glorious gathering on this glorious day. All praise is due to Allah, who has blessed us with Iman, and blessed us with Islam, and blessed us with Ihsan. All praise is due to Allah, who has guided us to this way, and we would not have been able to guide ourselves had not Allah guided us.

Introduction: Our Connection to Ibrahim

We wanted to speak about the ways that we are like Ibrahim, peace be upon him. Because the events of these days are focused around the life, the struggle, the trials of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, his wife and his progeny, and we are his spiritual progeny.

The way of your father Ibrahim. So he's not our physical father—some he might be, but most of us not so—but he is our spiritual father, peace upon him. So the ways we are like Ibrahim, and the ways we should strive to be like Ibrahim, peace be upon him.

First Lesson: We Were Chosen by Allah

Ibrahim Was Chosen

One way we are like Ibrahim is that like Ibrahim, Allah Almighty has chosen us for this way. Allah Almighty says concerning Ibrahim, peace be upon him:

That Ibrahim was a nation unto himself, devoutly obedient to Allah, naturally inclined towards monotheism. He was not amongst the idolaters. He was deeply appreciative of the blessings Allah bestowed upon him. He chose him—Allah chose him—and He guided him to a straight path.

So Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was chosen by Allah for the great mission that history has recorded him as fulfilling. We should understand that we too were also chosen, and when Allah mentions that fact, He mentions

it in the context of Ibrahim, peace be upon him.

We Too Have Been Chosen

So Allah Almighty tells us:

Strive in the way of Allah as should rightfully be the case. He has chosen you.

And in this there are so many lessons. We will just mention one before returning to the main one. Allah Almighty says: "Strive in the way of Allah as should rightfully be the case." The right that Allah Almighty has over us can never be fulfilled by our striving. Can never be fulfilled by our striving. And therefore Allah Almighty enters us into Jannah based on His mercy, not our actions. Based on His mercy, not our actions.

The Prophet's Teaching on Mercy and Actions

And when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, informed his companions of this, they said to him: "Not even you, O Messenger of Allah? Not even you will enter Jannah based on your actions?" Or as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said. He said: "Not even me. I will only enter if Allah envelops me in His mercy and His grace." Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

So we should understand, but the actions are important. The actions are important. The actions are the key to the mercy and the grace of Allah Almighty. So our actions are necessary, not sufficient. Sufficiency comes from the mercy and grace of Allah Almighty. And that's what we strive for, that's what we live for, and that's what we will die upon—striving to our utmost for the mercy and grace of Allah Almighty.

The Balance Between Divine Right and Ease

So in that, our actions in and of themselves will never be sufficient. We can never fulfill that right. And here we derive and benefit from a legal principle. We know our ulema tell us that difficulty calls for ease, for facilitating ease. So the difficulty that is involved in fulfilling the right we owe to Allah is compensated by the ease that Allah gives us in what He has asked of us.

So there is a right that we owe to Allah symbolically, but there is a duty we have in fulfilling the obligations He's imposed upon us. And those obligations are bearable. Those obligations are even easy, especially when one's heart is filled with light and the love of Allah.

So after mentioning the magnitude of our struggle based on the right we owe to Allah, Allah reminds us:

And He's made no difficulty for you in your religion.

Living with Purpose

So we were chosen and Ibrahim was chosen. And it's important for us to remember that we were chosen, because sometimes we forget that fact and we live lives of no purpose. If we understand we were chosen by Allah and we were chosen to walk on the path that was laid down by Ibrahim, then immediately our lives take

on a sense of purpose. And we're not drifting aimlessly through this life being pushed to and fro by the forces, the vicissitudes of time and the vagaries of fate. We live lives that are infused with a sense of purpose because we know we're walking in the footsteps of a giant.

And whenever one is cognizant of the fact that he or she is walking in the footsteps of giants, he or she will never consciously do anything to disappoint the one who has laid down the path that they are walking upon. Because they realize that path was only laid down through sacrifice, through struggle, through effort, overcoming hardship, challenges and difficulties. And when we realize that, we don't want to be the one to deviate from that path, because it would be an expression of ingratitude to the ones who sacrificed to lay down the path.

And the path that we walk upon was first laid down by our forefather Ibrahim, peace be upon him.

Reflection: What Made You Different?

For Immigrants

Brothers and sisters, we were chosen. Some of us are immigrants from other lands. If that's your case, ask yourself: What did you do to get here in the first place? What made you different from your neighbor, from your former schoolmate that you grew up with, from your classmate, from your cousin, your uncle, your brother, your sister who's still wherever you came from? What made you different?

Once you attained to these shores—in many instances seeking a better material existence, seeking education, in many instances education for a better material existence—what led you here today? When you know there are five, six, maybe ten like you who came here who are at work right now seeking that better material existence. What brought you here today? What led you to spend your money to establish this center and hundreds of others, if not thousands throughout this land? What caused you to walk on a different path?

What caused you to sacrifice the money you could be spending on your bigger house, the money you could be spending on your faster car, the money you could be spending on your better home or garden? What caused you to spend it? Was it something you did? Or was it because Allah, the Exalted, chose you for a mission?

He has chosen you. You didn't choose yourself. He has chosen you. And when you realize that you've been chosen again, you will undertake the responsibility that you've been chosen for with purpose, with direction, with conviction, with determination, overcoming every obstacle that's placed in your path.

For Converts

And some of us are converts. Some of us have converted to Islam. Again we ask the question: What made us different than our neighbor, our brother, our sister who are still living lives with no Islam? Was it something we did? Were we more intelligent? Were we more virtuous? Were we more obedient to our parents than they? Or did Allah, the Exalted, choose us?

Father, do what you've been commanded.

Making It Easy for Parents

"I'm not here to make it difficult for you to be a Muslim. I'm not making it difficult for you to submit to the will of Allah, the Exalted. I'm here to make it easy for you."

Young people, when's the last time you said to your parents, "I'm here to make it easy for you"? Ismail was saying, "I'm here to serve you." Young people, when's the last time you told your parents you're here to serve them, cognizant of the fact that they have served you? They have served you when you were incapable of serving yourself.

The Meaning of Reaching Maturity

And that is the meaning of:

He reached the age. The ulama say: ذَهَبَتْ مَشَقَّتُهُ وَأَقْبَلَتْ مَنْفَعَتُهُ. The child being a burden and a source of difficulty for the parent is gone. No more diapers to change, no more runny noses to wipe, no more dirty rear ends to clean. He, the child, he or she, now can clean themselves. وَأَقْبَلَتْ مَنْفَعَتُهُ: can cook for themselves. And in former days, 10 or 12, that was the case, as many of you know all too well who are old enough to remember those days. Is old enough to clean for himself and is old enough to start serving their parents after their parents had served them ذَهَبَتْ مَشَقَّتُهُ وَأَقْبَلَتْ مَنْفَعَتُهُ.up to that point

And right at that age, when Ibrahim is ready to benefit from his son, he is asked to sacrifice him. But his son says:

Father, do what you have to do. You will find me, if Allah wills, patient. I will be patient with what Allah ta'ala has ordered you to do.

A Message to Young People

Young people, it's time for you to tell your parents: "I will be patient with what Allah has ordered you to do. I will assist you in undertaking the commandments of Allah, the Exalted. And I realize, unlike Ismail, you're not asking me to give up my life. You're asking me to give up something that ultimately will undermine my life if I continue on the path of companionship with these people, if I continue on the path of drugs or alcohol or this or that or the other. This is something that will harm me, and so you're calling me to something that will benefit me. And I will be patient in your obedience."

Building the Society We Strive For

This is the society that we strive for. These are the values that we want to perpetuate in the earth. But we can't do it alone. The old people can't do it alone. It takes the young and the old working together with each other. It takes the young and the old.

So smash the idol of the self, sisters. Smash the idol of the self where you only have an unending list of demands for your husband. Husbands, smash the idol of yourself where you have these inflated egotistical demands of your wife. Children, smash the idol. Parents, smash the idols. So that we can go forth and build the kind of society that the prophets, peace be upon them, have bequeathed unto us.

This is what these days remind us of. They remind us of the prophets Ibrahim, Ismail, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and their struggles and what they sought to bring into the earth.

Brothers and sisters:

لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ وَلِلَّهِ الْحَمْدُ

Fourth Lesson: Ibrahim as an Ummah

Three Meanings of Ummah

In conclusion, let me remind you and remind myself to go back to the first verse we mentioned:

That Ibrahim, Abraham, was a nation unto himself, devoutly obedient. He wasn't amongst the idolaters and inclined towards monotheism. He was an ummah. What does this mean? It means three things.

First: A Paragon of Virtue

First of all, he was a paragon of virtue. He embodied all of the virtues that might exist amongst the members of an ummah. And while we will never attain to the level of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, in terms of our moral character or the level of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, those are the heights we should be aiming for.

One of the sad and pathetic states of our time is that we've been oriented to look down towards the pits and engage in a race towards the bottom. Who can be the most degenerate? Who can dress the most sloppily? Muslims adopted—you see Muslims with a vest on and their shirttails hanging below the vest when they should be tucked into their pants, but Muslims get involved in that race to the bottom.

You hear Muslims using language that gutter people—even in our poorest neighborhoods—they think they're being cool. Young suburban Muslim kid: "What up my nigga?" and "GD" this and "SH" that, because they hear it on some record, recording, and they think this is cool and this is being ghetto. That's not ghetto.

What Real Ghetto Means

Ask anyone who was raised in a real ghetto, not a Hollywood ghetto, a real ghetto, about how hard their mothers, in many cases, and sometimes their mothers and their fathers, strove to keep them away from that language, strove to keep them neat and presentable. Cut their hair themselves, bought a $10 set of clippers because they couldn't afford to go to the barber to keep their hair neat and clean. Dress them neatly before they sent them out to school. Wash their mouths out with soap if they ever used any of that language.

That's not ghetto. That's Hollywood. That's Hollywood's exploitation of the most degenerate and abused and oppressed elements in our society to profit off of. And it's a pathetic, sad situation when Muslims are following what Hollywood has put out to follow.

If you want to be ghetto, you go down to some of these churches and listen to what's being taught. If you want to be ghetto, you go to a home where a mother or a father are struggling on a shoestring budget to make sure their children are neat and clean. And if they come home with a tattoo or with their pants hanging off their rear end, they face a severe punishment. That's ghetto.

So if you want to be ghetto, go down to the right ghetto, the real ghetto, and not the Hollywood ghetto. And you'll come back with some dignity. You'll come back with your head standing tall. You'll come back with a sense of appreciation for the blessings that you have. You didn't grow up in roach-infested, rat-infested dwellings, so don't act like that's your upbringing. You didn't have to sleep on a 20-year-old mattress that's been rotted out and the springs digging into your skin. So don't act like that's your existence.

Be a leader. Be an embodiment of virtue like Ibrahim.

Second: An Imam, A Leader

Ummah is also imam, a leader. Be a leader for people. We pray to Allah, the Exalted:

Make us leaders for the righteous. And that should be a sincere prayer that we make: to be leaders, a qidwa, imam.

Ummah is a qidwa, an example to be followed. We should strive to be followed, not following the most degenerate examples that are out there. We should be an example of dignity, an example of virtue, an example of courage. That is the Muslim. That is you, brothers and sisters. That is us, brothers and sisters. An imam, a moral exemplar.

An imam, a leader for the people and a guide. And an imam is a hadi.

And a guide for all peoples. That is the role of the Muslim in this world. That is the role of the Muslim.

Third: The One Who Named Us Muslims

And Ibrahim, peace be upon him, in some opinions, is the one who has given us this name:

Muslim. Ibrahim, peace be upon him, in some interpretations. Allah ta'ala, but for our purposes, let's work with Ibrahim.

Brothers and sisters, don't let him down.

Fifth Lesson: Trusting in Allah

Ibrahim Before the Tyrant

And in conclusion—I said that before, this time I'll put the notes away, you know I mean it—in conclusion, reflect on another thing related from the life of Ibrahim. Ibrahim, peace be upon him, found himself before a tyrant, Nimrud or Nimrod. And that tyrant hated Islam.

And we find ourselves faced with tyrannical parties and individuals in our country not the majority of the people, but there are groups and there are individuals who are tyrannical and they hate Islam. And that tyrant threw Ibrahim, peace be upon him, in the fire.

And when Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was thrown in the fire, he said something. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, tells us:

قَالَهَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ حِينَ أُلْقِيَ فِي النَّارِ

Ibrahim said it when he was flung into the hellfire. What did he say?

Allah suffices us. What an excellent one to trust in.

Our Response to Modern Tyranny

So brothers and sisters, as we find ourselves before these forces, these pernicious and diabolical forces that would have Islam eradicated from this country, that would have Muslims expelled from this country, that are inciting hatred against Muslims, against Islam, against the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, let us say as Ibrahim said. Let us say as Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, when it was said to him:

And Allah ta'ala records in the Quran. There are those who are saying to the Muslims: "The people are gathering against you. The host, they're gathering against you." All of these various elements—we can name, but you know their names all too well-are gathering against you.

It only increased their faith.

And they said: "Allah suffices us. What an excellent one to trust in."

Recognizing the Miracles

Why did it increase their faith? Because they saw miracles unfold, just as Ibrahim, peace be upon him, saw the fire become cool and saw himself enveloped in peace and well-being.

And we see miracles unfolding, but we are not cognizant in many instances. To give you a small example: the forces and the momentum was gathering against the Muslims, pointing people towards the dreadful day when this individual whose name does not deserve mention was going to have his infamous Quran burning. And the climate is against the Muslims. The radio, the television, the media against the Muslims. And then what happens?

No Qurans are burnt. Rather, the entire nation rallies behind the Muslims. And from coast to coast, they're having Quran readings in the synagogue, in the church, in the parks, on the highways, the byways. Is that not true? Many of us participated in those. Is that not a miracle? Allah ta'ala is in control.

And when we realize Allah ta'ala is in control, we can look at the events and our faith is strengthened. And we can say with due faith, due sincerity, due conviction:

Allah suffices us. What an excellent one to trust in.

Ibrahim, peace be upon him, said it. Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said it. Brothers and sisters, let us say it and let us mean it. Let us believe it and let us live that reality.

Closing Takbir

الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله إلا الله الله أكبر الله أكبر ولله الحمد

وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

Final Reminders and Du'a

Remember the Less Fortunate

Brothers and sisters, as you enjoy the blessings bestowed upon you of shelter, of food, of drink, think of those less fortunate. Not only those Muslims less fortunate, those who've been pushed out of their homes by both man-made and natural disasters in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in many other places-Kashmir, many other places, in Sudan. Also think of our brothers and sisters in humanity in places like Haiti.

The poorest of us will be wealthy in that society. If we live in a homeless shelter, we turn the faucet on in the homeless shelter, clean water comes out of the tap. We're not forced to drink cholera, typhoid-infested waters. الله أكبر. Think of the less fortunate.

Gratitude for Allah's Blessings

And we don't say this to make anyone guilty. We say this to encourage us to remember the blessings of Allah سبحانه وتعالى upon us and to give shukr for those blessings, to give thanks, thankfulness, thanks for those blessings. And our thankfulness is to work to extend them to others, to work to the best of our ability and circumstance to extend them to others.

And may Allah (تعالى - ta'ala) bless all of us to do something meaningful to extend those blessings to others.

Du'a for the Ummah

Brothers and sisters, may Allah (تعالى - ta'ala) bless you. May He bless your families. May He bless this masjid. May He make this a center that's alive, that the believers are constantly coming into and out of for various righteous purposes. And all of the centers, all of the masjids, may that be the case.

May Allah (تعالى - ta'ala) -we mentioned the immigrants and the converts-may Allah (تعالى - ta'ala) bless us to build strong bridges and relationships between those two groups. Because only when those two groups are brought together will Islam fulfill its destiny in this land. Only then will Islam be a powerful force of good and virtue when those forces come together. May Allah (تعالى - ta'ala) bless us to work to bring those forces together.

O Allah, make our strength and our sight for as long as You keep us alive. Make it the inheritance from us. Make our vengeance upon those who wrong us. Grant us victory over those who show enmity toward us.

O Allah, grant victory to our Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine, and in Iraq, and in Kashmir, and in Afghanistan, and in Pakistan, and in Sudan, and in Chechnya, and in Somalia, and in Iraq, and in Algeria, and in every place and in every time. Grant victory to the Muslims in all lands.

O Allah, whoever intends good for this Muhammadan ummah, grant him success in all good. And whoever intends evil for it and for the Muslims, seize him with the seizure of one Mighty and Omnipotent. O Allah, make their plotting their own destruction.

O Allah, we turn to You against the enemies of Islam. You are our protector, so grant us victory over the disbelieving people.

O Allah, grant us victory. O Allah, grant us victory. O Allah, grant us victory.

O Allah, bless us and have mercy on us and pardon us. Make us among the God-fearing and join us with the righteous. Make us among the God-fearing, among the patient.

Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, and to Allah belongs all praise.