Imaan & Tawakkul: Faith and trust in Allah's plan (FRIDAY KHUTBAH)

 A recent Friday Khutbah which explores the importance of confidence and trust in God, as a means for identifying tools for personal/social refinement, as well as identity building.

This presentation also gives a slightly different look at the famous Quranic verse 49:13 ("O Humanity! Indeed, WE have created you from a male and female, made you into groupings and tribes, so that you will know (and benefit) each other. Indeed, the most honorable of you in God's sight is those among you with the most taqwaa, indeed, Allah is knowledgeable, aware") as a text which shows diversity as being part of the Divine plan.

Imaan &Tawakkul-click here

Imaan: The Bigger Picture In Troubled Times {Friday Khutbah}

Note: Below is an edited version of our Friday Khutbah 6/21/19 at Masjid Ibrahim, Las Vegas, Nevada. The opening Hamd ( expressions of praise for Allah) as well as expressions of peace for the Prophets have been omitted here for space reasons.


Amana Ar Rasool- more than a statement of creed

The Qur'an contains a summary of that which the Prophet teaches. It reads "The Messenger ( Muhammad) believes in what has been sent forth to him from his Lord, as does those who have faith. All of them believe in Allah, HIS angels, HIS Scriptures, HIS messengers.." ( Q 2:286)

اٰمَنَ الرَّسُوۡلُ بِمَاۤ اُنۡزِلَ اِلَیۡہِ مِنۡ رَّبِّہٖ وَ الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ ؕ کُلٌّ اٰمَنَ بِاللّٰہِ وَ مَلٰٓئِکَتِہٖ وَ کُتُبِہٖ وَ رُسُلِہٖ

While we do view this as a summary of belief, this verse also contains an acknowledgement that Allah is involved in the affairs of humanity. Beginning with belief in God, it then says "HIS angels".

"Angels" (Malaa-ikah) are given power by Allah to act in the affairs of man. Indeed, the meaning of "being given power" is present in both Arabic and Hebrew. They act according to the Divine Order ( Q 66:6).

Allah Almighty sent forth scriptures- HIS scriptures- texts that help man to function with Taqwaa and morals. Allah backs this up process further by sending forth of messengers- HIS messengers (Rusulihi).

These items ( angels, scriptures, messengers) point to the fact that Allah is present, involved. His hand reaches, pushes and points to that which He wills.

"His Throne ( i.e. dominion/knowledge) encompasses the Heavens and the Earth.." ( Q 2:256)

 وَسِعَ کُرۡسِیُّہُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الۡاَرۡضَ ۚ

How does this relate to current events?

It is a reasonable question to ask the purpose behind this seemingly theoretical  talk in light of the things which are haunting the Muslim Ummah and the wider world in general, such as concerns over President Trump, Iran, Syria, Egypt, China, Mali, and other such places.

In fact, we are not talking about these places and events, but we are also talking about YOUR OWN personal struggles, your own quest for happiness, success and security. We

are likewise talking about your own moments of joy and pain.

The global issues are very important examples of why Imaan (faith) is vital. We keep in mind that the Qur'an repeatedly instructs to exercise Taqwaa to the best of our capacity ( Q 64:16 among other places), which means that while we work according to wise planning, intelligence and ability to address those things, as we do address our own issues in our own lives, we keep in mind that Allah's hand is still present.

"Do you not know that to Allah belongs the dominion of the Heavens and the Earth, and that other than Him you have none to give you protection, nor any to give you victory." ( Q 2:107)

 اَلَمۡ تَعۡلَمۡ اَنَّ اللّٰہَ لَہٗ مُلۡکُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الۡاَرۡضِ ؕ وَ مَا لَکُمۡ مِّنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰہِ مِنۡ وَّلِیٍّ وَّ لَا نَصِیۡرٍ

"And Allah encompasses (even ) those who reject faith." ( Q 2:19)
 وَ اللّٰہُ مُحِیۡطٌۢ بِالۡکٰفِرِیۡنَ

"They (the opposition) plot, and Allah (likewise) plots, and Allah is the best of those who plot." ( Q 8:30)

وَ یَمۡکُرُوۡنَ وَ یَمۡکُرُ اللّٰہُ ؕ وَ اللّٰہُ خَیۡرُ الۡمٰکِرِیۡنَ


Prophet Muhammad: The Exemplar of faith

The religion of Islam has not only a Scripture, it also has a Prophet who exemplifies that scripture. The Qur'an says "Indeed, in the Messenger of God you have a goodly model, for any who has hope in Allah, the final day, and who contemplate upon Allah in abundance" ( Q 33:21)

لَقَدۡ کَانَ لَکُمۡ فِیۡ رَسُوۡلِ اللّٰہِ اُسۡوَۃٌ حَسَنَۃٌ لِّمَنۡ کَانَ یَرۡجُوا اللّٰہَ وَ الۡیَوۡمَ الۡاٰخِرَ وَ ذَکَرَ اللّٰہَ کَثِیۡرًا

All the Prophets certainly have the above-mentioned characteristics, however Muhammad is emphasized because he not only faced opposition and persecution (which obviously Prophets in general would face, peace be upon them all) but he likewise faced the same normal struggles of life that are experienced by other human beings, such as domestic life, financial worries and such. This is why Allah commands his Prophet "Say: ( O Muhammad!) I am a human similar to yourselves." (Q 18:110). Thus he functions as a practical and relatable example.

Keep faith in the overall plan of God. for it is HE who created you and created all. Be grateful for what Allah has given you, observe HIS blessings in your own life and in the lives of those around you.

Make plans, both political and personal, have good intentions, be intelligent and act according to the overall Maslaha (public health), but still keep faith in the One who is above all.

Remarks at the Divine Feminine gathering

[Note: The following is an edited version of my remarks at the MFC organized monthly gathering, held Sunday May 13, 2018 at Trinity Episcopal Church. ]

Good evening:

In terms of the theological aspect of this subject, the religion of Islam has a very clear and straightforward teaching. The ninth century Sunni Islamic theologian named Abu Ja'far Ahmad b. Muhammad At-Tahawi, better known simply as Imam Tahawi writes " Indeed, God is one, without partner, nothing is like him, nothing is beyond his power, He is eternal, without a beginning point, everlasting, without end...nothing occurs except what He wills, He does not resemble the creation, He lives and dies not, self-supporting who sleeps not, He creates and is never in need.." ['Aqeedat At-Tahawiyyah]


The contemporary discussions surrounding the phraseology and particular  pronouns to use for The Divine Reality have no Islamic equivalent. While it is true that God is referred to as "He", it is also true that the use of such pronouns does not imply natural gender. Muslim scholars also understand the name "Allah" as being the the unique name of the Divine, and thus do not view Allah has being neither male nor female."Allah" is unique and unparalleled.

Human cultures universally have associated the feminine with characteristics such as Nurturing, Loving, Patient, Beautiful, and Forgiving. Those attributes are certainly known within Islam as being among the 99 names of Allah. Also worth noting is that contrary to popular belief, Islam at it's core demands respect for women.  One of the chapters of the Qur'an is called "Women", and both genders have the same spiritual potentials.  Prophet Muhammad tells us that "Paradise lies under the feet of mothers"- a good narration in light of mother's day.

The Qur'an speaks of God throughout the text, among them are

"He is Allah, besides whom none deserves worship but Him. The one who knows the unseen and the seen, He is the Merciful, The Compassionate. He is Allah, Besides whom none deserves worship but Him, The Sovereign, The Sacred, The Source of Peace, The Protector, The Mighty, The Powerful, ..." [Q 59:22-23]

"Say: He is Allah alone, Allah the Eternal. He does not give birth to any, nor was He given birth to, and there is nothing like Him." [Q 112:1-4].

Thank you.

Exploring our age in light of Islamic texts: Friday Khutbah

[Note: The following is an edited version of Khutbah delivered 4/7/17 at Toledo Masjid Al-Islam. The opening Hamd has been omitted, as well as other comments made. It should also be noted here that this Khutbah serves as an introduction to an upcoming lecture called 'Day of Judgement: Lessons from the Qur'an and Sunnah".]

We have indicators in the Islamic primary texts as to the indicators of the approach of Judgement Day. One of the Prophetic narrations [reported by Aby Hurayrah and found in Tirmidhee's collection] has it that those indicators include (1) The man will obey his wife  [literally 'his woman'] و اطاع الرجل امراته   

2] Disregard his mother. (3) Closest to his friend (4) Yet the most distant from his father [Aqsaa Abaahu]. (5) And [the trend of the ] emergence of loud talking in the mosques [places of worship] (Ft.1)

We are emphasising these five items as found in the hadeeth because they show the breakdown of the natural family structure, a situation we are seeing in today's world in the name of the follies of youth and "freedom". 

This does not absolve that there are parents out there who have been horrible to their children or children who have been horrible with their families, however we are simply relating the hadeeth here without fault-finding, putting all of the pieces together. We are looking at the Prophet's words with the hope of finding guidance. 

We should learn from this hadeeth that we have to strengthen our family ties, even if the famiy is Non Muslim or Non Practicing as Muslims! If Parents have made severe mistakes in their treatment of their children, then it becomes incumbent on them to find a way to repair the damage!

The last item mentioned in the narration tells us that loud voices would be heard or emenating from the mosques. THIS shows us that the places of worship have, in the age closest to Qiyaamah, become little more than social clubs, in which people have forgotten the solemn nature of the mosque. The Mosque [Masjid], the house of Allah, particularly the prayer area (musalla) is for prayer, reflection, study, reading the Qur'an, not for gossip!

I find it interesting that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم placed these five items together. In short, we are called upon to strengthen, to have proper ties, to Allah and to our families [see Qur'an 4:1]. Such ties are necessary if we are to survive and to be sane in the age which is seemigly close to Judgement day. 

Prophet Muhammad is misrepresented in the age near to Judgement Day

Another hadeeth, found in Saheeh Muslim, tells us "The lying decievers will come at you with 'ahadeeth' which neither you nor your ancestors have heard of..." 
ان دجالون كذبون ياتونكم من الاحاديث بمالم تسمعوا انتم ولا اباوكم

THIS informs us that the Muslims will be the victims of great decievers, coming at us with deliberate misrepresentations of the final Prophet.

The Lying Dajjals [Dajjaloon Kadhdhaboon] cannot do that with the Qur'an, because the Qur'an has been protected by God [ see Q 15:9]. This is not only from a faith-based perspective, but from a physical and historical realistic perspective. Since the decievers cannot do that with the Quranic text, which is accessible and very well known, they target hadeeth, which is not as  widely known (ft.2).

This has happened both literally and figuratively. People quote 'hadeeth' or make assertions that portray Prophet Muhammad as stern, fanatical, harsh and rigid. The Prophet ends up being extremly misrepresented. 

Our best weapon against the lying decievers is the Qur'an itself. The evidence for this is that we have atleast two narrations [Muslim and Abu Dawud] that speak of texts from Soorah Al Kahf [chapter 18 of the Qur'an] as protection from Dajjal(ft.3). We read in that Soorah that God deserves praise for not allowing any deviation to be placed within the Quranic scripture [Q 18:1]. So we have to make time to read it, to study it, to memorize it, use its text in our prayers but most importantly to live by it. The Qur'an is not a book for the dead, rather it is a book for the living! 

The hearts of those firmly grounded in the Book of Allah will not have signifigant influence from the deceptions of the decievers [Dajjaloon].

Concluding thoughts

Constant introspection, examining our family ties and our ties with God and with God's revelation is the only way to go in order to find guidance. Complacency will only become the doorway for misguidance. We want to be open to truth. So be regular in worship, in supplication [du'aa] and keep in mind the Prophet's supplication; " O Allah, show us truth as truth, and give us the ability to follow it. Show us Baatil as Baatil, and give us the ability to abstain therefrom."

We should also pray from protection from the 'fitnah' of the deceiver. It does not matter if 'Fitnah' is translated as 'trial' or 'test' or 'tribulation'. We don't want any of it!

Rather, we are to desire guidance for ourselves and our families, not to be deluded.


Footnotes

(1) In Arabic the word for Mosque [Masjid] literally means "place of prostration". It is on a pattern indicating the a noun of place and time ( Ism Zamaan wa Makaan]. We have explained 'masjid' here to include even a broader possibility, and that is that all places of worship, regardless of religious affiliation, in the age nearest to Judgement day, would become nothing more than social clubs in which authentic searching for spirituality would be absent. This writer has in mind Qur'an 22:40 which contains recognition [even though the Qur'an obviously refutes some religious ideas] that places such as monasteries, Churches and Synagogues function as places wherein the congregants are seeking out God.

(2) The evidence for this assertion is that the Qur'an has been widely memorized and acted upon even by lay Muslims throughout history. The science of hadeeth ['Ilm ul hadeeth] is very complex and is full of scholarly disagreements on criterion for judging the authenticity of this or that narration, not to mention the chain of transmission [Sanad]. So while most Muslims have the Qur'an, only the scholarly class have in their personal libraries the many volumes of hadeeth. With the emergence of the internet, all of the traditions have been recorded by many websites and made available, however that does not mean it would be as understood and seen correctly as the Qur'an has. It is the opinion of this author that the scholarly class spend their time in deep research into the sciences of hadeeth, that lay Muslims have in their own libraries and in their hearts Prophetic sayings as found in books such as Riyadhus Saaliheen or Forty Hadeeth, statements that are inspirational and push us towards goodly relations with God and neighbor etc, and that the Qur'an remains the primary source for  religious truths.

(3) I see these narrations as indicative of not necessarily the last ten or the first ten verses of Soorah Al-Kahf as serving as protection from Dajjal. but rather the entire Soorah itself. In the Soorah, we find a number of accounts and morals that provide-if internalized, a proper respect for Allah, faith in Allah, the true state of humanity, and much more. The stories of Moses and the teacher [known as Khidhr], the believers who escape persecution by going to the cave, the parable of the believer and the disbeliever, are among the highlights of the Soorah. In general, the overall message of the Qur'an itself provides both personal and communal protection from the forces of deception. This subject cannot be fully explained adequately in a footnote, nonetheless we hope this provides a desire to study and consider the Qur'an itself, with emphasis on Soorah Al Kahf.

Death: an Islamic perspective

Introduction

The end of physical life, be that of our loved ones and even of our selves, is not a pleasant thought. It is a frightening reality that cannot be escaped. At best, it can only be delayed. It is an emotionally draining experience for the survivors of a deceased loved one. It is our intention here to share a summary of Islamic teachings on death, and its aftermath. This is by no means intended to be a comprehensive review of all the texts, nor does this writer claim to be mistake free in his understanding and perceptions of this most sensitive issue.

The ceasing of one existence in exchange for another

The physical body we have and enjoy will at some point cease to exist. The end is determined by God, in his infinite wisdom, and it happens only when it is appropriate for the deceased as well as for family/society surrounding that person[s]. The Qur'an says that it cannot be delayed or advanced, and will eventually catch up with us [Q 4:11, 40:68].

With the end of the physical existence in this material world, another one opens up. Known by many names throughout all cultures, this reality is called the Akhirah ["afterlife"] by Muslims, and indeed this is a designation given throughout the Qur'an. The physical body will not be making that journey into the Akhirah, rather it is the eternal, true essence [Nafs] of the individual that will experience the Akhirah.

The Nafs

The Nafs is the lasting component of the person. As mentioned earlier, it is really eternal. In this regards, it is important to make the following connections that can only be found in the Qur'an, the scripture given to the Prophet Muhammad, Allah's final Prophet and messenger to all mankind, the deliver of "all truth". The Qur'an commands Muslims in the following manner;

"And when afflicted with a calamity, believers say 'surely, we belong to Allah, and to him is our return."[Qur'an 2:156]

In Arabic, the sentence is Inna Lillaahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raaji'oon. This sentence has come to be recited even when losing an item such as keys and when annoyed. Yet, here we are concerned about the Qur'anic command to recite this, to recall this fact, when receiving or thinking about the death of someone else. Why should we recite this statement? Because it serves as a reminder to the survivor[s] that the deceased is in the presence of God, the possession of God. Such knowledge is important because according to the Qur'an:

"What is in your possession will vanish, and what is with Allah is lasting [Baaq]." [Qur'an 16:96]

Thus, while the physical host of the Nafs eventually deteriorates, the Nafs itself, the container of all that made that person unique, the good and the bad, the personality and the jokes, are all "preserved" in the Divine presence. This reminder should give solace and strength to the deceased, and we hope that when it is our turn to expire, we remember these Quranic assertions as well. God knows all the actions, beliefs, attitudes of all in his dominion.

The fate of the Nafs

While some faiths believe in reincarnation or in the migration of souls, Islam views each and every single NAFS as unique, in the same way fingerprints are, and has only one turn in this world.

It is the actions, morals etc..that play the greatest part in determining the fate of the Nafs. To use a scriptural analogy, if the 'scale of deeds' weigh in the best direction, then that person will have quite a pleasant fate, in what we call heaven or paradise. The one whose life has been spent in selfish pursuits, with no consideration for ethics and morals, with little in the form of good deeds to be placed on that scale, then their destination will not be the same as those whose scale weighs very heavy in the good deeds.

Then, he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) heavy,
Will be in a Life of good pleasure and satisfaction.
But he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) light - Will have his home in a (bottomless ) Pit.
And what will explain to thee what this is? (It is) a Fire blazing fiercely!

Qur'an 101:5-11

Descriptions of Heaven and Hell are figurative

The Qur'an repeatedly uses the phraseMathal ["expression", "parable", "similitude"] when describing the soul's fate in Jannah [paradise] or Jahannam [Hell]. References can be found in 2:25-26, 13:35 and very clearly in 47:15.

Moreover, when one thinks about it, the descriptions of paradise as having rivers, houses, springs, are all things we have to work for in this world. God uses such language to describe realities that we have not faced in this world. The same can be said of Hell, universally seen as a blazing fire. A fire is prepared, kindled, by the striking of rocks in the correct manner, by matches or fuel etc...! It is also 'earned'!

Perhaps heaven and hell are descriptions of soul perceptions, "projections" directed by Divine will due to the actions of the said soul.

Theology as a basis for heaven and hell

It should be noted here that the famous John 3:16 text of the Christian text, which basically assigns all non Christians to perdition, has no equivalent in the Qur'an. God created the Muslims and the Non-Muslims, and the Qur'an makes it clear that he cares for and nourishes all, including the Non-Muslims. Indeed, this fact is recited daily [Alhamdulillaahi Rabbil 'aal ameenin prayers.

The Qur'an tells us [ see 2:62, 5:69] that certain non-Muslim religious communities are essentially destined for his good graces. The reason is simple..their basic actions constitute the foundation needed for building a place in Jannah. The above referenced texts assert those prerequisites are belief and good deeds.

Now, it should be noted that this does not mean that the theology held by Christians or Jews are seen as correct according to the Qur'an. It only shows Divine mercy and justice, even in the midst of ideological errors. As I type this article, I am wearing a white shirt, but what if someone mistakenly says its black? Well, I can correct them, but even if they refuse the correction, should I hate that person? Would that be reasonable?

Returning to the criterion for God's paradise for a moment, the Qur'an also says “[God swears ] By the time, surely, humans are in consistent loss, except those who believe, do righteous works, and enjoin mutual [calling to] truth, and mutual [reminders of ] patience: [103:1-3]"


We hope to be among those whose scale is full of good deeds, of faith in Allah, receiving mercy and guidance always. Ameen!