Reality of The Unseen

Reality of The Unseen

By Imam Zaid Shakir

Introduction: The Blessing of Islam

Alhamdulillah, all praise is due to Allah who has blessed us with Islam, and it's a sufficient blessing. If we got nothing else from this world and we left with Islam, then we've been blessed, despite what we might have missed from the material things.

Our Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, alayhi salam, amongst his sayings: (إِنَّ مِن نَعِيمِ الدُّنْيَا مَن يَكْفِيكَ الْإِسْلَامُ نِعْمَةً - Inna min na'imi ad-dunya man yakfika al-islamu ni'matan) - "From the blessings of this world is that Islam suffices as a blessing." (وَكَفَى بِهِ نِعْمَةً - Wa kafaa bihi ni'matan) - "And it is sufficient as a blessing."

The Beautiful Names of Allah

Last week in another video, we were discussing the names of Allah. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. The beautiful names of Allah, and we mentioned by way of introduction the importance of these names for us, especially in these days and times.

The Danger of Secular Thinking

Because it's very easy, especially for students at a university, perhaps one of the most secular universities in this country, to become secularized in our thinking. In other words, to be able to conceptualize or to say or to inherit the appellation Muslim, but not truly internalizing and actualizing to the depths of our being the reality of the unseen. And so that would include the reality of Allah, the reality of Jannah, the reality of Heaven, the reality of Jahannam, the reality of Hell, and other aspects from the unseen realm.

Knowing Allah Through His Names

So, if we don't know the name of a person, we can't begin to know that person. They're just a stranger to us. When we learn their names, we learn their attributes and their characteristics, at that point we can say we know that person. So a stranger walks by, do you know that person? No. You don't know their names, you don't know any of their attributes, their qualities, their characteristics. And so it's important for us to know the names of Allah as a key for us to begin to truly know Allah.

So we know the names of Allah, and we know the meanings associated with Allah. Then we move our Creator from the realm of the abstract into the realm of the perceptive, the perceivable. So we mentioned last week the name of Allah: Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim, Al-Malik, Al-Quddus, Al-Salam, Al-Mu'min. And we stopped there. So we'll continue because some people were at that khutbah and we don't want to bore them by repeating that.

Al-Muhaimin: The Guardian and Source of All Good

So we start with Al-Muhaimin. Al-Muhaimin, its general meaning is said to be that all manifestations of virtue and good are gathered in this name. All manifestations of virtue and good are gathered together in this name. And so Allah is the source of all good. Allah is the source of all virtue. There's no virtue we enjoy except that

Allah has blessed us with that virtue. There's no good that we enjoy except that Allah has blessed us with that good.

Allah's Blessing Upon Us

You're here at this university, each and every one of you, no matter how intelligent you are. You know someone more intelligent than you, from your friends, but they're not here, you're here. And if there's any good in that, it's a blessing from Allah that He's given to you but He's denied others. And so we should understand that and we should also understand, and we should endeavor as we're instructed, to adorn yourself with the character traits of Allah.

The Example of Ibrahim (peace be upon him)

And so as we make it to this end, we should try our might and aim to be a repository of virtue and good. When Allah reminds us of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), that Ibrahim was an ummah. One meaning of that, he was a leader. So ummah, alif-meem-meem, we get imam, alif-meem-meem. So he was an imam, he was a leader. But it also means that he was a repository of virtue and good.

Qualities that would be scattered throughout an ummah and select individuals - this individual is extremely honest, this individual is extremely courageous, this individual is extremely faithful, etc. - they were epitomized each and every one of them in Ibrahim (peace be upon him). And so we should strive to be paradigms of virtue, paradigms of good. And we shouldn't shy away from that.

Don't Fear Criticism

Some people, even some Muslims, shy away from that because they fear they might be ridiculed. "Oh, he thinks she's Miss Goody Two Shoes. He thinks he's all that." And we make no claim. We don't say we're virtuous, we don't say we're good, but we try our best to be virtuous and we try our best to be good. Why? Because we're not living for the people that might criticize us.

The Characteristics of True Believers

One of the characteristics of the believers, and we should be aware of this, because the people who are ashamed of being a Muslim, the people who are walking around with their heads held low and despondency in their heart because of this so-called Islamophobic climate - so-called, is more illusionary than real - if those people don't take pride in this religion, and if they don't work for this religion, and if they don't strive for it because they believe it has something good to offer humanity, Allah will bring another people.

As He says to us, He's addressing us : (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَن يَرْتَدَّ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ - Ya ayyuhalladhina amanu man yartadda minkum 'an dinihi fasawfa ya'ti Allahu bi qawmin yuhibbuhum wa yuhibbunah) - "O you believers, whoever turns back from helping this deen" - it's not an aqeedah, it's not a belief, it's an assisting and working and helping the religion. If you turn back from helping this religion, Allah will bring another people whom He will love and they will love Him. That's the first characteristic.

Love of Allah Above All Else

They will love Allah. Meaning, their love for Allah will be greater than their love for anything else. Because as the poet said, the one who loves somebody, they obey him. And if we love someone more than Allah, that's

whom we obey. That's whom we imitate. We want to dress like them, and not like according to what's pleasing to Allah. We want to look like them. We want to smell like them.

(وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِلَّهِ - Walladhina amanu ashaddu hubban lillah) (Quran 2:165) - "Those who believe are more intense in their love for Allah than their love for anything or anyone else." Meaning, their first obedience is to Allah. (مَنْ أَحَبَّ شَيْئًا أَطَاعَهُ - Man ahabba shai'an ata'ah) - "One who loves someone, they obey them."

And so He says, these people will love Allah (يُحِبُّهُمْ - Yuhibbuhum) - He will love them (وَيُحِبُّونَهُ - Wa yuhibbunah) - and they will love Him. (أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ - Adhillatin 'alal mu'minin) (Quran 5:54) - They'll be gentle to the believers. (أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ - A'izzatin 'alal kafirin) - And they'll be firm in the face of those arrogant rejecters of the faith.

Justice Towards All People

They're not ordinary people who might not be Muslim. Allah tells them: (لَّا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُم مِّن دِيَارِكُمْ أَن تَبَرُّوهُمْ وَتُقْسِطُوا إِلَيْهِمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ - La yanhakumullahu 'anilladhina lam yuqatilukum fid-dini wa lam yukhrijukum min diyarikum an tabarruhum wa tuqsitu ilayhim innallaha yuhibbul muqsitin) (Quran 60:8) - Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.

But those arrogant people, and those people who are heavy-handed upon humanity, those people who are orchestrating a policy that are pushing Muslims from their lands, and tearing them away from their homes, and murdering their children, the Quran tells you should be firm with them.

The Struggle in the Path of Allah

(يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ - Yujahiduna fi sabilillah) (Quran 5:54) - They struggle in the way of Allah, in all manifestations of struggle.

Our Jihad: Education and Opportunity

The relevant struggles for us is the struggle of working to stop some of these oppressive policies. It's worth the struggle to educate ourselves, to take advantage of the opportunities we have, that no other community in this world has. We have access to educational institutions at every level.

Even if we fail at first, we can go to community college, because we just totally messed up in high school. We're acting like some Supreme Court nominees in high school. Totally messed up, raising jeopardy. But we're smart, we're teachable. We can go to community college, get serious, raise our grades, transfer to UC Berkeley, or Stanford for that matter. Right? We can go to DeVry, we can go to a technical college, we can learn a skill. We have options.

Many Muslims, they only have one option: that's the National University. And if they don't make it into the National University, that's it. But even before they get there, if they don't make it successfully from high school to junior high school, that's it. Sixth grade, they go apprentice with an automobile mechanic, or go apprentice with a baker. That's it. They're done.

But Allah has blessed us with these resources. And so our struggle is to take advantage of them on behalf of this ummah, and on behalf of those who don't have this opportunity. That's our jihad. And the many other manifestations.

Life is Serious Business

The important thing: (يُجَاهِدُونَ - Yujahidun) - they struggle. They don't look at life as just sailing down the river. They understand life is a struggle. Life is serious. We have our moments of happiness. We have our moments of celebration. We have our Eid. We have our Jumu'ah. We have our weddings. We have our feasts. But those are punctuation marks on sentences of seriousness.

We're given a mentality where our whole life should be fun and life should be a party and then we try to punctuate it with moments of seriousness. We turn it around. And that's the signs of the end of time. The true reality of things will be turned around.

We look at pictures of teenagers from the 19th century. There's a young man. He's 14 years old. And he's there with his 13-year-old wife, which was normal in those days, to get married that young. And he's serious. And we get scared looking at him. And this kid's really serious. Well, he's a grown man. He can become a father. She's a grown woman. She can become a mother. And there's no Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and Goofy. There's nothing.

And when we transfer the seriousness of life into fun and games and parties, when it's time to get serious, we don't know how to get serious. And we have a nervous breakdown and end up on Prozac or something. So Allah is telling us life is serious. Life is serious. But it has its moments of fun and relaxation and enjoyment.

Not Fearing the Critics

(وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ - Wa la yakhafuna lawmata la'im) (Quran 5:54) - "They fear not the criticism of the criticizer."

We have Muslims who are chasing the acceptance of people who are evil and devious and rotten to the core, who have no belief in Allah and the Divine Prophets, who have no place anywhere in their hearts. Who cares if they accept us or not? Who are they that we compromise our religion for them? We compromise our principles for them?

So Allah says to people, they don't care of the criticizer. Criticize me all you want. As long as I'm not criticized by my Lord, then it's alright.

(ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ - Dhalika fadlullahi yu'tihi man yasha' wallahu wasi'un 'alim) (Quran (5:54) - "That is the bounty of Allah which He gives to whom He wills. And Allah is the Encompassing, the Knowing."

We just say every virtue, every good comes from Allah. It's a gift from Allah. Then it's from Allah. You needn't be sad. (وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ - Wallahu wasi'un 'alim) - Allah is most expansive in His bounties and He's most knowledgeable as to where to place them and as to whom to place them.

Additional Divine Names

So this is Al-Muhaimin. So we should try to be muhaimin. We should try to be good people. And we don't care if people say they think they're all that, they think they're goody two-shoes. We don't think anything. We're trying to worship Allah and gain the pleasure of Allah and prepare for death, which is something they don't even acknowledge. They're so busy partying and having fun and having a good time they forget they're going to die.

The Reality of Death

And death comes to everyone. We just buried a 13-year-old child last weekend. It's a reminder. (جَاءَ الْمَوْتُ بَغْتَةً - Ja'a al-mawtu baghtatan) - "Death comes suddenly." Death doesn't give a warning. Death doesn't come to you and say, you know, listen, hey, you know, you're going to die in two weeks, so you better get it together. You've been messing up for two weeks, you start talking about repentance, you're alright, you'll be straight. No, death doesn't come like that. Death comes when you're acting a fool sometimes. Death comes when you don't know if you really want to be a Muslim sometimes. Death comes unexpectedly.

Al-Aziz: The Rare and Precious

Al-Aziz - Al-Aziz is rare and precious. Allah is rare. (وَاحِدٌ - Wahid) - He's alone. (عَزَّ وَجَلَّ صِفَةٌ ذَاتِيَّةٌ - 'Azza wa jalla sifatun thatiyyah) - And some of the ulama say there's no takhalluq, there's no human manifesting of this quality. But relatively speaking there is in the sense that we should try to be that exceptional person in our character, in our studies, our intellect, our worship. We should strive to be that rare person.

Al-Jabbar: The Compeller and the Healer

Al-Aziz, Al-Jabbar - We can't compel anyone. Allah's name is Al-Jabbar. But there's another meaning of Jabbar. So we say (جَبَرَ الْكَسْرَ - Jabara al-kasr) - that He mended the wound. And so Allah is Al-Jabbar in that sense also, that Allah mends wounds and Allah brings healing. And so we should be people who endeavor to heal the wounds that people are suffering, and not just their physical wounds - the wounds of their hearts.

Diseases of Despair

People are suffering what we call the diseases of despair. You look at the suicide rates in this country: 123 people every day are committing suicide. There are almost 4,000 suicide attempts in this country, which means there's far more because many of them aren't reported. There are 241 alcohol consumption deaths - not alcohol-related deaths, there are probably 500 of those: car accidents, domestic violence, etc., and fits of drunken rage. People kill people or get in accidents. But straight drinking too much: 241 every day. 123 suicides. 170 opioid, fatal opioid overdoses.

These are called diseases of despair. These diseases of despair are an indication that people's hearts are hurting. And the Muslims should be Al-Jabbar. We should be the people who are healing people's hearts.

Healing the Earth

We should be the people who are healing the earth. Allah has given us this beautiful earth and He's established these ecosystems and established balance between them. And He tells us: (وَلَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ بَعْدَ إِصْلَاحِهَا - Wa la tufsidu fil ardi ba'da islahiha) (Quran 7:56) - "Don't disrupt the balance I've established." (وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ - Wa aqimul wazna bil qisti wa la tukhsirul mizan) (Quran (55:9) - "Establish weight in justice and do not make deficient the balance."

But the balance has been disrupted and the earth is wounded. And we should be in the forefront of those people endeavoring to heal the earth. And yes, it's a daunting challenge. We should be amongst those people trying to set things in order.

So they said His name Al-Jabbar from this aspect, moving away from the compelling aspect, is Al-Muslih - the one who sets things in order after they've been corrupted. That should be, we should see that as our duty.

Al-Mutakabbir: Rising Above What is Lowly

Al-Jabbar, Al-Mutakabbir - Al-Mutakabbir is another name. Some say there's no human manifestation, to arrogate oneself to be lofty and above. This is specific to Allah. With Imam Al-Ghazali's Ihya Ulum ad-Din, and a chapter in a book related to at-takhalluq bi akhlaqillah, "Adorn Yourself With The Character Traits Of Allah," he said there is a fitting human manifestation of this particular name. And that is they elevate themselves and arrogate themselves above that which is lowly and vile. In other words, I'm better than that. I'm better than that.

You want me to do this? I'm better than that. You want me to drink until I vomit on myself and almost pass out and expose myself to splitting headaches and my entire day there's no productivity because I can't study, all I can do is lay in bed and take Advil and pray that my headache's going to go away? I'm better than that. And to be mutakabbir means: I'm above that, and I'm too good for that. That's what a human manifestation of Al-Mutakabbir would be.

Conclusion of the Names Discussion

So may Allah give us tawfiq. Time doesn't allow to go beyond these couple of names, these few names. But may Allah give us tawfiq. May Allah bless us to internalize these meanings. And may Allah bless us to understand that these descriptions of our Lord - may He bless us to make our Lord real for us and to internalize the reality of our Lord to the depths of our soul. And then everything our Lord has informed us of through the Quran, through His message, through Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), that we internalize that to the depths of our soul and that we love and we obey our Lord.

As He said, those people He will bring if we turn back - that would be their quality and that would be their characteristic. So let us not be the ones who are replaced. Let us be the one Allah replaces those who refuse to do the job with. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.

Second Khutbah: Where is the Joy in Life?

Alhamdulillah. Someone listening to the first khutbah, they might say, where is the joy in life? The joy in life is not to be found in material things. The joy in life is to be found in remembrance of Allah. The joy in life is to be found in the realization that we are the recipients of Allah's mercy, starting as we started with the mercy of Islam. And we are the recipients of Allah's grace.

Allah's Grace and Mercy

The grace of undeserving blessings. Allah gives freely. He graces us with that which we don't deserve. He doesn't bless and extend His blessings to us based on our own merits. He extends it freely to whomever He pleases. But that's the worldly material blessing. But He only gives deen to those He loves. He gives the world freely to everyone, but He only gives deen to those He loves.

And so Allah instructs the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him( : (قُلْ بِفَضْلِ اللَّهِ وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ فَبِذَلِكَ فَلْيَفْرَحُوا هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ - Qul bi fadlillahi wa birahmatihi fabi dhalika fal yafrahu huwa khairun mimma yajma'un) (Quran 10:58) - "Say, O Muhammad, in the grace of Allah and His mercy - in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate."

So (قُلْ بِفَضْلِ اللَّهِ وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ - Qul bi fadlillahi wa birahmatihi) - and we'll return to rahmah because we didn't mention this last week so it's not redundant for those who had last week's khutbah.

The Meaning of Rahmah

They said (الرَّحْمَةُ هِيَ التَّفَضُّلُ - Ar-rahmata hiya at-tafaddul) - amongst the meanings of rahmah here is (تَفَضُّلٌ - Tafaddul) - amongst the meanings of mercy is giving preference. So when the mother bird comes back with the worm, she could have eaten the worm but she gives preference to the little birdies in the nest and she gives them the worm. Actually she eats it and she regurgitates it so they can have it, so she gives them the worm.

You know the penguins, some of you have seen the march of the penguins. When they march through the cold and the blizzard to go to the sea and they stock up on fish, they could all just digest it all, but they save it and they go back through the ice and the cold and the snow of the Antarctic and then they feed the baby penguins. And so they give preference to the babies. So that's one of the meanings of tafaddul.

Giving Preference to Others

And so we should be people, we should be with tafaddul means people who can give preference to others. Now people are just screaming: my rights, my rights, my rights! I'm going to say something very controversial - I hope you don't throw shoes at me - but it's just to make a point.

I was somewhere and I mentioned that it's wrong for one biological man, bigger than me, to go into a woman's bathroom because he wakes up one day and thinks he's a woman or wants to be a woman, and so his gender identity allows him to go to the woman's bathroom. So I said that if someone protested against that, that you're denying the rights of transgender people, I'll tell you those women in that bathroom don't have rights.

So I said you're guilty of what you're accusing me of. You're saying I'm violating their rights, but you don't acknowledge the rights of those women. And the guy could be faking - like you read these stories of these people who go to the women's prison and start raping the prisoners. So those women don't have rights?

Responsibilities Over Rights

So what is my point? My point is that what's tafaddul looks at the rights of others first and isn't just obsessed with their rights. Our obsession should be with our responsibilities, because fulfilling our responsibilities is what's going to get us to Jannah, not securing our rights.

If our rights aren't secured, this might give us a higher station in Jannah, because Allah loves those who are oppressed. When Allah and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Mu'adh ibn Jabal and Ali ibn Abi Talib to Yemen,