Abdullah Oduro – Friday Jummah 31-05-2024
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses Allah's actions and deeds, including his deeds and actions of the United States and other countries. They emphasize the importance of setting a firm foundation for one's knowledge and belief in the spiritual teachings of Islam, as well as the struggles of Muslims in their lives. The speaker emphasizes the importance of learning and absorbing the "has" of Islam, strengthen connections with god through prayer, and setting boundaries to not let things happen in the present moment. They stress the power and mercy of Islam, using words and actions to remind people of the power and mercy of Islam, and a potluck for the community and kahoots competition.AI: Transcript ©
Seek his aid and his forgiveness.
We seek refuge in Allah from the evil
of ourselves and of our bad deeds. Whomsoever
Allah guides, none can misguide, and whomsoever Allah
allows to be led astray, none can guide.
Aright, and I bear witness that there is
no one worthy of worship except Allahu
and that Muhammad peace and blessings be upon
him as his last messenger and servant. All
you who believe, be mindful of Allah and
die and accept in a state of submission
to him alone. A humanity be mindful of
Allah who created you from a submission to
him alone. A humanity be mindful of Allah
who created you from a single soul and
from that created his mate, and from that
scatters many men and women.
A humanity be mindful of Allah, do not
cut off relations with your relatives. Indeed, Allah
is the monitor over you. A humanity
be mindful of Allah and speak the truth
in order for him to accept your deeds
and forgive us of our shortcomings. And whoever
obeys Allah and his messenger has indeed achieved
the greatest achievement.
As to what follows indeed the best speech
is the book of Allah,
and
the best guidance is that of Muhammad, peace
and blessings be upon him. And of the
worst affairs in our doctrinal system of Islam
are the newly invented ones. For every newly
invented affair in this situation is an innovation,
and for every innovation is a form of
going astray,
and for every form of going astray is
in the fire of *.
When I pray sometimes, I just think about
what's going on in the world, and it
really frustrates me.
It frustrates me to the degree that I
can't even remember that I'm in a state
of prayer.
I can't even remember why I'm praying. I'm
just so angry.
This is what was mentioned to me by
a young man
when he kept thinking about
picturing,
envisioning,
pondering over, wondering why
these babies are being treated in this way
in Gaza.
When he sees those videos
that many of us have seen,
and many of us wish we haven't seen,
because some of us have fallen to the
category of being just like this young man.
And Allah knows best this sincere,
empathetic,
may even say sympathetic,
young man.
This young man that was selfless,
not even thinking about himself, thinking about
the mother
of those
the mothers of those children.
The fathers of those children.
Thinking about it to the degree to where
it was messing with him, and troubling him,
and diverting him
from his ultimate purpose. And I use that
word very intentionally,
and I will explain why.
What is going on
is something that has went on.
As many years ago, when we were on
the Myanmar talking about what happened to an
individual named George Floyd, when he was
brutalized by the police
and he was killed by the police.
Many people in these areas where we call
the ghetto or the areas where
individuals that are not that,
financially and their standards of living are not
up to par,
they could be termed as poor.
They would say, what happened to George Floyd
is nothing new. It was just captured on
camera.
What is going on is synonymous, but it
is much more intensified of what is happening
in Gaza.
Demonization
of a people,
demonization
to where you will say, or they will
say, these people are animals.
To further paint a picture,
to allow room
to bring disinformation,
misinformation.
You are telling people false tales, that which
is not true.
But it doesn't matter
because they are animals.
This sunnah has been practiced, as we mentioned,
with and
Musa.
When Fir'al said, verily, I am only telling
you what I see, and I am not
calling you except to that which is good
and guidance.
Saying that Musa was a sahir,
that he was a magician,
painting a picture to further legitimize
your barbaric
oppression.
That's exactly what has went on,
is going on, and guess what? We'll continue
to go on.
We see we see it happening. It happened
in Rwanda.
There was a young woman that was speaking
about she had the kefirah on, and she
was saying, this gives me remnants and reminds
me of what happened in Rwanda.
The tribal wars was going on in Rwanda.
She said, all of my relatives passed away.
They were Not passed away. I'm sorry. All
of my relatives were massacred.
I'm not going to fall into the word
propaganda.
All of my relatives were massacred,
except one relative.
That relative was traveling, so they were not
there in Rwanda.
And when I see what is going on
in Alkasa, it gives me flashbacks.
That's why I'm wearing this. That's why I'm
here. Those that are in South Africa,
that have seen apartheid,
it's reminiscent.
Those that are from Ireland,
it's reminiscent.
They see what is going on,
and they know that it's another form of
oppression. Another form
of
demonization
and mobilization
for dis or misinformation
about a people to further legitimize
those practices. Now, this is the question, though.
The young man that was in prayer, and
he was trying his best to focus.
But those images, the images, the images
The mother that is at home, and she
sees the phone, she looks on the phone,
and it makes her angry.
And then she's called by her son or
daughter, and then the anger is dispersed, and
it's placed
upon the child,
or on the husband,
or the father sees it, or the youths
youth see it, and their anger may be
displaced. This happens, we're human beings. We are
called
As scholars some scholars mentioned, we are called
mankind
because it comes from,
which means to be forgetful,
which may lead to being neglectful. We forget.
This is why one of the names of
Allah is
because we make the mistake
at times.
But Allah has given us the formula.
You know, there was something that is very
important, a very important concept
in Islam, which is called
It is basically
foundational
knowledge.
Foundational
knowledge.
It is very important
that the Muslim
has a firm
foundation.
Because I just mentioned what some could term
as a problem.
We see with Iran.
We've seen in Rwanda.
We are seeing now, even in Sudan.
We are seeing in the Congo, many of
the elements that make up our phones
are from the Congo, what is happening in
the Congo.
We see what is happening in Gaza,
all around the world. And we know that
from what Allah tells us,
this sunnah will continue on.
But what is Allah doing for us as
human beings?
I want all of you to visualize
a tree.
I want all of you to visualize a
tree because I'm going to take you on
a small journey
for that which by the wisdom of
by the wisdom of the all knowledgeable,
the wisdom of the merciful,
the wisdom of the one that is able
to do all things,
He gives you ayaat.
Remember this word, aya, because aya,
we may see as a verse in the
Quran.
But the richness of the Arabic language always
reminds us when we dig into the etymology,
or the history of the word, or the
background of the word, or or the story
behind the word.
Aya
literally means
sign.
Allah communicates
through his signs.
And how you choose to absorb
and interact with that sign is based on
your
foundation.
Based on your foundation.
This is very important.
So when we look at a tree, there
is a science of of trees. When we
understand trees,
we should know that a tree grows in
2 directions.
Two directions, simultaneously.
It grows into the ground,
and it grows in the air.
But what's so beautiful about this is that
one cannot happen without the other.
When there is a seed, the seed is
in the dark depths of the ground that
needs to be moist.
And that moisture allows the seed to erupt.
As Allah says in the Quran.
When he talks about the,
the seed, it shakes and then it bursts
open.
The one that brought it to life
is the one that brings the dead to
life, for verily he is able to do
all things. He gives a foundation. Now the
seed that bursts open,
its roots,
branched from it are roots that start to
grow
downward.
They call this graphitropic.
A gravitropic, excuse me. Gravitropic.
Gravit from gravity, tropic meaning in need. The
roots need the gravity in order to proceed
to grow downward.
And it needs the darkness
to grow.
It needs the moisture
to grow.
It needs the nourishment
to grow.
Now,
what is the comparison with us as human
beings and the gravitropic
pull
that Allah
with his qudra,
with his ability,
has happened. Many of us have been in
dark times in our life.
Whether it's seeing the images,
hearing about it, a relative that has passed
away in America,
in Palestine,
in China,
all around the world, we have faced dark
times in our lives.
But it is important
that we, as Muslims, do not let the
gravitational
pull of shaitan
to allow those things to pull us down
to where we do not grow.
Rather,
we grow in a way as the tree.
When it is growing, it is making it
more
firm.
It is firmer.
More roots will sprout,
and it becomes firm.
When you are alone in the dark,
in the middle of the night,
does not Allah legislate for you something
to make you stronger?
And at the night time, pray to Hajjut.
Perhaps, Allah will give you a rightful station,
a righteous station.
What does Allah say about the righteous people?
That their sides, they get up off of
their bed and their mattress.
They call on their lord,
Waking up in the middle of the night
or the last of the night, in the
time of darkness, when no one is there
nourishing themselves.
And that nourishment is for growth. That nourishment
is for strength. That nourishment is at times
when you hear someone has passed away.
Shaitan will come to you, why is this
happening?
But instead,
when you hear or read,
verily we are for Allah, until Allah will
return. You sit and you ponder over what
that really means.
When you ponder over the meaning,
this is an opportunity
for you to strengthen
your connection with god,
to strengthen yourself
spiritually.
Verily for we are for Allah.
Allah has created me, and he can take
me at any moment. Just as he has
taken people
in different ways,
in different ways,
return?
Is concerned
about the return,
how will I return to him? In what
state
do we take that seriously?
And the time to really think and ponder
over that is just like the roots of
a tree in the dark
when you are alone
by yourself,
taking the opportunity
to strengthen ourself
in times
of hardship when everything
and everyone
or most people are around to pull you
down. How are we strengthening ourself?
And as many of us know, within these
past weeks, couple of weeks, in the border,
the Rafah border, which borders between Egypt and
Palestine,
southern Gaza, that there have been numerous atrocities
that have taken place and are continuing to
take place. And there is a call for,
you know, a ceasefire,
but we have to understand, as I mentioned
before, that throughout these trials and tribulations and
stress
to
make
them
hopeless.
The distress,
distress to make them hopeless.
The
distress to make us hopeless.
It does make sense to be hopeful in
God when everything is going wrong.
It makes total sense.
Rather,
it is one of the ways to strengthen
your wherewithal
with the one that created your emotions.
When we see what is going on,
as a prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
as many of us know and it's been
repeated many times, but it is an important
for a reminder because we can mention other
things, but things that we are well aware
of to ponder over it. When his son
Ibrahim passed away,
he made the beautiful dua,
verily holding him in his arms,
smelling him,
caressing him, touching him,
and he hears his breath
leaving.
It is though it is a small
That's how it was described in the hadith,
subhanAllah.
He hears, feels him passing away.
He says, verily the eyes shed tears
and the heart is saddened.
He's being emotionally intelligent now. He's expressing his
emotions.
The eyes shed tears.
The heart is saddened. But what does he
say?
Because he has firm roots
in a time of what one could consider
darkness.
But what does he say? But we will
not say that which displeases Allah. We will
only say that which pleases Allah.
When Allah wish to happen, he allowed to
happen. Verily we offer Allah, and to him
we will return.
The next portion of the growth of the
tree
is what's called phototropic.
Gravitropic
roots growing in the ground, the more they
grow, the stronger it becomes, which makes the
tree stronger
and firm in times of tribulation.
Many of us, a couple of days ago,
we were sleeping away, sitting away from our
windows,
because they were 90 plus miles an hour
winds.
We didn't know if the tree was going
to fall on our homes.
But because of the firmness of the tree,
the roots
planted
firmly in the tree that grew in darkness.
Many of our trees did not fall. Some
branches did, but did a whole tree
fall?
Dependent upon its roots.
Because with strong roots,
bring healthy fruits.
And phototropic,
tropic means to lean towards to lean towards
the need.
Photo means light.
Literally, the trees
will grow in the direction
of the light.
Will grow in the direction of that light.
What light are we choosing to guide us?
What are we firm upon?
And based on that anchor, that firmness that
is nourished by what?
When it is nourished by something initially,
it will use that light to guide it
to grow further
because it is strong, has a strong foundation,
has a strong foundation.
So whatever we read, whatever we encounter, whatever
our senses encounter,
that can cause a means of sadness,
grief,
the honest questioning.
Our firmness
in our faith in Allah,
by knowing his names and his attributes,
our firmness in our trust from knowing one
of his names,
trusting in Ar Raheem,
that he will have mercy on those that
have passed away.
Trusting in Al Alim,
that he will, with his knowledge, do what
is just because he
is.
That strengthens
me
to act,
to speak in a dignified manner,
to speak in a truthful manner, not to
be afraid, but to speak in a way
that brings Islam and Muslims and humanity in
general to safety.
Maintaining the honor of what I am strong
in, my faith in god, my faith in
Allah
So we use the darkness that we may
face
to become strong, and that is tabbat.
To become strong,
to where that light that we may see,
we use it to guide us, and we
grow in that direction.
We grow in that direction.
When looking at the tree, anytime you look
at the tree,
use that as a reminder
to ask,
how firm is my connection with Allah?
What am I using to nourish myself?
What am I finding satisfaction in?
What am I finding honor in?
What am I finding my strength
in?
For when you condition yourself
continuously
by turning to Allah
in times of hardship
and in times of ease.
The fruits that come from that
when,
not if, but when
you face a trial,
you will handle it in a way
that will make you stronger.
When you face a trial,
you will handle it in a way that
will make you stronger.
This is not saying
that upon
the time of affliction,
right when it happens, your impulse maybe, God,
why?
Your impulse maybe, when is this going to
stop?
Your impulse maybe,
As is mentioned in the Quran,
then Allah reassures,
The help of Allah is near.
Go through the phase again.
We may hear, near. Okay.
It's been almost a year. Rather, it's been
60 plus years. When is the help of
Allah coming?
The strong roots.
Allah
knows best.
You're using the light to make the roots
stronger. This is the process.
And I'll end it with one beautiful example
that gives.
When talking about a beautiful hadith that he
mentioned,
it was a hadith where John was speaking
to Esai Alai Salam, and John was ordered
by Allah to tell the people of Bethlehem
about 5 things
to do and to act upon.
And
as the hadith goes, he ordered the people
to come around. He said they were sitting
on the edges of walls. So as the
people of Bethlehem, they were all sitting around,
and then he ordered them
to worship Allah and
give a beautiful example. And he ordered them
to pray.
And when he ordered them to pray, he
said,
he
said, and I order you with salah.
And when you pray, do not turn.
Ibn Uqayim says that turning is a turning
of the eyes
and turning of the hearts.
But then he gives a beautiful,
beautiful example,
which is a reality that we all face.
He mentions how Satan does not like it
when we are in the maqam of Salah.
He doesn't like it.
What he will try to do is try
to make you lighten the affair of salah.
I'll do it later. Or it's whenever it
come whenever it comes, it comes. I forgot
no big deal. Allah will hold for the
writing.
You know, Allah is not forgiving.
He said he'll get you to do this
to where you'll leave it. And then he
says,
Satan may not win. He may not accomplish
that, but he still is on the prowl.
What will he do? Listen to this.
He said that Satan will come
He will come to him with thoughts
that will serve as a barrier
between him
and his soul
and his or her heart.
Iberdock pain goes even deeper.
And he says,
what will happen?
Listen. This happens to all of us, and
this is so profound.
He says, he will cause him to remember
something that he was trying to remember before
the prayer.
You're on your way to the masjid, you're
about to read Quran, and you're trying to
remember who was the person that said that?
Who was the person that did this? You
can't remember. But as soon as you say,
Allahu
Akbar,
you will start to remember. Oh, that person.
Oh, that's what time I'm supposed to be
at the appointment. Oh, that's this and that.
And your mind will be so busy with
that while you're praying, while you're reading Quran,
that you totally leave the affair of the
salah. Undivided. Your attention is divided now.
Rather, it turns from divided to undividedly
thinking about that, and not even in the
prayer. So Ibn Elkayam says,
so he left the prayer as he came.
He left the prayer as it the same
state.
What is important for us now in these
trials, whatever we face that can divert us
from our worship and remembrance of God, is
to use those things
as a means to remember Allah.
Subhanahu wa ta'ala. As was mentioned before, when
we see mayhem and destruction,
or oppression,
or lack of a person saying something when
they have the ability and power to.
We say, oh, Allah.
You think of guidance and you think of
that situation
and look on the brighter side, the bigger
side, and asking Allah from his names and
attributes to shower his mercy,
his love, his protection.
Right? And even dependent upon those, his punishment
and wrath.
So it is important, brothers and sisters,
that in these times,
we look and be like the tree.
To where we when we are alone,
we use it as a time of remembrance
of Allah,
and do our
integrity, and worship.
All I help that we can destitute Muslims
all around the world. All I help our
brothers and sisters in
and in Sudan
and in Yemen
and in Kashmir
and in the far east and far western
parts of the world. Oh Allah, let our
hardships be a means of blessings for us
by turn by turning to you in those
times of hardship as a means of strength
to when we're facing the trial and tribulations
we'll be forced and not against us.
Still want
to straighten the lines. Go close to one
another, please.
Just doing brief announcement.
At the first Friday of every month, we
try to have a potluck here at the
Masjid.
So welcome all of you to the community
potluck. Inshallah, it will start
at, 7 PM and go all the way
till
We usually have a kahoots quizzes for the
families. Bring your families, inshallah. If you're new
to the community, want to meet the community,
that's the purpose of the.
But we're going to have a sister.
She was a she's a nurse and she
went to Gaza, and she was trapped in
Gaza, and she was able to come out.
She wants to share a story. If you
have any questions for her about some of
the experiences over there, I'm going to have
an interview with her. And then after that,
we will do the kahoots inshallah. So start
at 7 promptly and end around 7 45.
Then we'll do the competition till and at
the food will be served. Please come
to the community potluck.
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