Ali Ataie – The Joys of Eid (Eid ulFitr Khutbah 20231444)
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Masha'Allah. Today is our Eid,
our day of rejoicing, our day of celebration,
our day of gratitude to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
We thank Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for all
of his blessings.
We thank him for enabling us to reach
this blessed day,
to be with these blessed people
in this blessed place.
We are literally inundated
with the blessings, the niam of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
We cannot even begin to fathom his blessings.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
And behold, your lord proclaimed, if you are
grateful,
I will certainly increase you.
So this is a metaphysical law of existence.
You've heard of e equals mc squared.
Energy equals mass times the speed of light
squared.
This is a physical law, a law of
physics,
but there are also metaphysical
laws.
Faith plus gratitude
equals divine increase.
Faith plus gratitude
equals divine increase. This is a metaphysical law,
and metaphysical laws are given through revelation,
through wahi, and revelations are given through prophets,
And our prophet is the greatest prophet of
them all.
He said,
I am the master of the children of
Adam, and I do not boast. Is
the mercy of Allah
personified.
Say for the bounty of Allah
and for his mercy, for that let them
rejoice.
You Allah, we thank you for everything.
We thank you for sending us your beloved
messenger.
We thank you for Nabi'ur Rahma,
the prophet of mercy.
We thank you. So increase us in all
good things. You arhamarrahamin
You hayuyaqayum
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is the most merciful
of anyone who could possibly show mercy.
Salman al Farisi radiAllahu anhu. He reported that
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said that
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala divided his mercy into
100 parts.
In one part out of 100, he sent
down to creation.
1% of his mercy
is in the world from which mothers have
compassion for their children and all animals have
compassion toward one another.
The remaining 99 parts, the 99%
he has kept for himself,
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, to give to his servants
on the day of judgment.
However, there is another there is also the
inverse
of the spiritual equation
or this metaphysical principle.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continues.
But if you are ungrateful,
surely my punishment is severe.
So disobedience plus ingratitude
equals divine punishment.
You Allah, we seek refuge in you from
becoming ingrates.
We seek refuge in you from your punishment.
There is no refuge from Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala except to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
There is no refuge from Allah except to
Allah.
This is why we must wear the 2
sandals of fear and hope of Khuf and
Rajah.
Don't be so extreme in your fear that
you begin to despair
of his mercy.
That is haram.
But at the same time, don't have so
much hope that you become
slothful.
You become spiritually lazy and complacent.
You start to miss your prayers and become
heedless about the state of your heart.
But here's a question.
How do we fortify our faith in these
times?
This is a question we get all the
time from Muslims of all ages and backgrounds.
And right now,
Muslims of all ages and backgrounds are hearing
my voice.
So allow me to say a few things
as your brother in Islam.
I exhort myself first and by extension, all
of you.
How do we fortify our faith in these
faithless times?
That is to say, how do we strengthen
our iman
in the face of such blatant disbelief,
in the face of such brazen immorality,
in the face of such unabashed rebellion
against tradition
that we find in the modern world.
We We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
protect us,
protect our children,
protect our grandchildren until the sa'a
Aminirubalalameen.
The answer is quite simple
and the answer is by dedicating ourselves to
seeking knowledge.
The prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, talabu alfaridatunalaquli
Muslim.
Seeking of knowledge is an obligation upon every
Muslim. There's a reason why it's an obligation.
There's a reason why he said, salallahu alayhi
wasalam, that everything in the dunya
is accursed.
That everything in the dunya is accursed except
three things. The remembrance of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala
and that which brings us close to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and the teacher and student of sacred knowledge.
There is a reason why the only thing
in the Quran
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala asks us
does this that Allah subhanahu commands us to
ask him for an increase in his knowledge.
And, oh, my lord, increase me in knowledge,
which also happens to be the school motto
of Zaytuna College.
Some universities
have Fiat Lux from the Bible, let there
be light,
or Lux et Veritas,
light and truth, truth with a capital t.
But these other schools, they no longer teach
traditional religion nor even objective truth.
Nowadays, they teach that truth is relative
and scripture is archaic
and irrelevant,
even oppressive.
But scripture cannot be eliminated,
so their solution is to radically reinterpret
scripture
in light of the current prevailing culture.
So we have to take this very seriously.
Seeking knowledge is all over the Quran and
Sunnah.
It is absolutely central to our tradition.
We are a thinking person's religion.
We are a thinking person's religion. Make no
mistake about it.
1 of the meetings of Antalid al Amatura
Bataha,
a servant girl will give birth to her
mistress.
One of the signs of the sa'ah of
the hour
given by the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam in
the famous Hadith of Gabriel.
One of the meanings of this Hadith
is that the modern West was born from
Islam,
that Europe in the late antique
was sunk in the dark ages.
Violence, disease, ignorance was rampant,
and it was Europe's contact with Islam's intellectual
tradition
that begot
Western
civilization and brought them out of the dark
ages.
And then the West turned around and colonized
and subjugated its mother, as it were.
The point is knowledge is at the centrality
of our tradition.
You said both of them are upon good,
but one of them is better than the
other.
As for this group, they are beseeching Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and they're supplicating to him.
And if Allah wills, he will give them
what they're asking for or he will deny
them.
As for this other group,
They are learning fiqh,
which means a deep understanding of the religion
or he said sacred knowledge.
And they are teaching the ignorant.
For whom of dal?
They are superior.
And I was only sent as a teacher.
And then he and then he sat amongst
them.
Our traditional scholars were masters of the trivium,
grammar, logic and rhetoric.
These are the liberal arts. I'm not talking
about the political left.
The word liberal comes from the Latin for
freedom.
These are the freeing tools. Grammar, logic, and
rhetoric.
These are tools that free our minds. They
allow us to think critically
outside the box.
They are the most powerful tools that one
can possibly possess.
Why? Because they can move the world. The
most influential people in history were masters of
these tools. As one of my teachers said,
the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasalam was the
most logical human being. He was always grammatically
correct and he was the most rhetorically powerful
person who ever lived. The prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam
was gifted with Jawahir al Kalim,
speech
comprehensive
in signification
and inundated with sapiens.
Knowledge frees our minds and freedom is powerful.
I've mentioned this before, I'm a mention it
again. I read a, article in a Christian
newspaper called Christianity Today, a Christian magazine.
The article was called The Greatest Book Never
Read, written by a Christian.
And he said that he went to churches
at random.
The greatest book never read meaning the Bible.
So he went to churches at random, and
he interviewed parishioners coming out of a church,
and he said that 50%,
50%
of Christians coming out of a church could
not even name the 4 gospels of the
New Testament,
could not even name them. Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John. I mentioned this to one of
my teachers, and he said probably 50% of
Muslims leaving salatul Jum'ah cannot quote one hadith
in Arabic.
How many Muslims know the names of the
Surahs of the Quran?
If I say Suratul An Kabut, what surah
number is this? How many Muslims can correctly
cite Iconic ayat of the Quran.
What surah and verse is this? Ayatul Kursi.
What surah and verse number? How many Muslims
know the names of the children of the
Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam? Or we can
explain the difference between Farud and Wajib and
Sunnah and Mustahab.
These are basics. How many Muslims know the
names of their mothers? The Umaha'atul Muslimeen.
We have to have high Himma,
high ambition
for our deen. This will save our souls.
Inshallah
Ta'ala. On the 27th night of Ramadan, Thari
Amah, may Allah preserve him. He introduced us
to an older brother. I think his name
was Ahmad. I don't remember his name. I'm
getting old. I forget. His name is Ahmad.
Masha'Allah. I'm getting confirmation.
He's a working dad with children,
and he became a Hafiz of Quran. This
is amazing. What an inspiration.
Elam is Nur. Knowledge is light and light
is guidance.
Arabic is a sacred language. It's not an
accident that if you rearrange the trilateral root
letters of the word elm, you get Amal,
you get action because a true Alim, a
true knower puts his Elm into Amal,
puts his knowledge into practice.
These terms are related.
There are plenty of Jewish professors of Islamic
studies all over America
with double PhDs,
but these are
not because they don't put their knowledge into
practice.
If you rearrange these letters again, you get
lema,
which means light, luster,
radiance,
resplendence,
brilliance.
This is ajid,
knowledge plus action equals light.
The word iman comes from a root Amina
which means to be safe and secure.
The word iman is causative.
So iman billah or a mumindillah
is one who makes himself safe, billah,
by means of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And Allah is Al Mu'min. This is one
of his asma'ul Husna.
He is the ultimate cause of our safety
and security,
the giver of iman.
When we acquire knowledge,
our faith, our confidence in Allah and his
messenger
increases and becomes stronger.
It is not a blind faith.
It is a faith that is undergirded and
reinforced by reason.
We believe because it is rational.
Belief in Allah
is rational.
All of his commandments have a rational component.
That is to say reason and revelation cannot
ultimately
contradict
because they come from the very same source.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala describes the Ulul al
Baab, the people of essential understanding
in the Quran that they say,
You did not create this in vain.
Glory be to you. Save us from the
punishment of the fire.
Perhaps the central message here is that existence
has objective meaning.
Your life has objective meaning with Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
I want the young people here to listen
closely.
The young people here who are struggling to
maintain their deen
in the face of such overwhelming disbelief.
There are there are many here right now.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said,
There shall come a time upon the people
in which one who is patient
upon his religion
will be like the one who's clutching onto
a burning ember.
This is certainly true in today's world.
Many people of traditional religious practice and belief,
the youth in particular,
feel tremendous pressure to capitulate
to the status quo of society,
this postmodern world order,
in order to mitigate internal feelings
of alienation.
However, we should remember that as believers,
we are not meant to feel all that
comfortable
in this world. At Dunya Sijn Al Mu'min,
the world is the prison of the believer.
This discomfort
is completely normal.
Our real comfort is in the next world.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam said, glad tidings
to the strange ones.
I often find myself repeating
the following ayat from the Quran. It gives
me solace.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says to the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam and by extension to all
of us.
Indeed, we know that what they say causes
your heart to be constricted.
But glorify the praise of your Lord and
be of those who prostrate.
And worship your Lord until certitude
comes to you. And almost all of the
exegetes of the Quran, they say here that
al Yaqeen means almaut,
death.
The worship of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is
the lifelong practice
of the believer.
This new generation of youth are steeped in
nihilism.
This idea that ultimately there is no objective
meaning or purpose to human life,
that you can give your life any meaning
you want. This is what young people are
taught nowadays.
And this philosophy is rooted in a fundamental
rejection
of human nature or human essence. This is
called existentialism,
where you can make your own reality.
You can create your own truth.
And there is existentialism
as a philosophy,
and there's existentialism as a lifestyle.
In a few years, billions of people
are going to be living fake lives,
married to fake spouses,
living in fake houses,
raising fake children in the metaverse.
It's coming.
It's going to be a brave new world.
This is all related to this postmodern revolt
against normativity,
against objectivity,
and against truth.
These modern pushers of this philosophy,
they hate these words.
Normal,
objective,
truth.
They literally have visceral reactions
when they hear these words.
You see, existentialism
is all about you.
So a traditional theocentric
life,
a life of Urbudiyah
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
This is being replaced
with an essentially egocentric life.
It's a very subtle type of idolatry.
It's called egolatry.
It is the worship of the self,
of the ego.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala addresses the prophet here,
but this is true even today. He addresses
the prophet but also us by extension.
Have you seen the one who has taken
as his have you seen the one who
has taken his own desires
as his God?
Will you then be a keeper over him?
Our modern society is steeped in an unbridled
quest for attention.
Social media breeds narcissistic monsters.
Just be careful.
This is unprecedented in human history.
Another interpretation offered by modern scholars of the
prophet's statement,
a servant girl will give birth to her
mistress,
is a complete breakdown of normal society.
The utter dismantling of millennia old social orders
in societal hierarchies,
and this phenomenon is happening
before our very eyes.
Self entitled cultural zealots
shaking their fists
at 1000 of years of human civilization
and traditional scholarship
and attempting to create a new world
in which technology is king and every desire,
no matter how depraved,
is fulfilled.
A society in which the religious credo will
be do what thou wilt.
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
said,
One of the things people have learned from
the words of the earliest prophecies
is if you don't feel any shame,
then do what thou wilt.
In other words, you have to have shame.
This all starts
when we plug into the matrix.
The average American spends 2 and a half
hours
a day on social media.
According to the World Health Organization,
the average lifespan is about 73.4
years.
If a person started using social media at
age 10, which is very common,
then that would mean that they spent almost
7 years of their life
on social media.
Then when you factor in
8 years of TV watching,
27 years of sleeping,
and nearly 4 years of eating and drinking,
you're looking at about 45 years or almost
62%
of an average life's lifetime
spent on these activities.
And this does not include
working or shopping
or driving
or socializing.
When these things are factored in, you're looking
at a few weeks,
possibly a couple of months
for real study
and worship.
A couple of months
out of 73 years.
Don't waste your life.
Life is precious.
Our master Muhammad
said,
seize 5 before 5. Ihtanim
Khamsan
hablahams.
Seize your youth before your old age.
Seize your health before your sickness.
Seize your wealth before your poverty.
Seize your free time before your busyness,
and seize your life before your death.
So young people who are struggling to keep
your principles,
you should know this.
Even if you're not on social media,
even if you don't have any friends, even
if 2 people in the world other than
your parents don't know your name, You should
know that you mean something
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Allah is your Lord. He loves you.
Wallahu Hasbuq.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala suffices you.
We must not let this world deceive us.
The only opinion of you
that matters at the end of the day
is the opinion of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
When the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
was,
abused and ta'if and chased out of the
city and beaten and stoned, and he was
bloodied.
His only concern
was Allah's opinion of him. He said, Oh
Allah, if this is happening to me
and you're not angry with me,
sala'u bali,
then I don't mind. This was his only
concern,
Allah's opinion, not the opinion of human beings.
If the whole world is against you, if
the whole world cancels you,
but Allah is for you, you win.
Don't be a sellout.
Life is too short to sell out. Fastaqim.
Come out Umert.
Be upright.
Stand tall,
be principled as you have been commanded.
Listen to the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam. Listen to what he said to Abdullah
ibn Abbas Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhuma.
Ibn Abbas was a young man at this
time.
Take this advice
and Ibni Abbasin Radiallahu Anhuma
ma'am.
He said, I was once behind the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam
He said, oh, young man
protect Allah.
Guard Allah
and He will guard you.
Guard Allah and you will find him before
you. How do you protect Allah? Guard Allah.
According to the commentators,
the meaning is to keep his
and
his to keep Allah's commandments
and prohibitions.
And you will find him before you. Meaning
Allah will help you.
He will aid you. He will give you
strength.
He will facilitate your affairs for you.
He will make things easy for you.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
Oh,
you who believe. If you give victory to
Allah, He will give you victory and plant
your feet firmly. In other words, if you
make Allah your priority,
he will make you his priority.
He will place you in the forefront of
his providence.
Oh, you who believe, don't put yourselves
before Allah and his messenger.
Allah and his messenger come first.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said in a
hadith Putsi
recorded by Imam al Bukhari
and narrate by Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu anhu.
The prophet said, my Lord says, if my
slave draws near to me a hand span,
I draw near to him a cubit.
And if he draws near to me a
cubit, I draw near to him a fathom
an arms length.
And if he comes to me walking,
I go to him running.
Subhanallah.
He continues, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
When you ask for something,
ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
When you seek assistance,
seek it from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Make dua to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Pour your heart out to
him.
That supplication
is the essence of worship.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is the owner of
the treasures of the universe.
Ask him.
You can't lose.
1 of 3 things happen when we ask
Allah.
Number 1, either Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will
give us what we're asking for in this
world.
Or number 2, he will deny our request
because it's because it was not in our
khair,
not in our best interest
to get what we were asking for.
So in reality, Allah is removing a tribulation
from us.
Or number 3, Allah will deny our request
in this world, but reward us for asking.
Reward us for asking him on the yawmul
qiyama
and his reward on the Yom Al Qiyamah
is manifoldly better.
We can't lose.
The prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, continues.
And know that if the whole of humanity
were to unite in order to benefit you,
they could not benefit you of anything
except as Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has already
written for you.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is in charge. Remember
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is always in
charge.
And if the whole of humanity were to
unite
to harm you in some way, they could
not harm you except as Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala has already written for you. The pens
have been lifted and the scrolls have dried.
Trust Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
How often do we find the refrain in
the Quran? Wa Allah Allah hifaliata wakililbu minu.
And upon Allah, let the believers place their
trust.
I'll end with this ayah.
And strive for Allah
with the striving due to him. He has
chosen you and has not imposed upon you
any difficulty
in religion. It is the creed of your
patriarch,
Ibrahim alaihis salam, Abraham peace be upon him.
It is he who named you Muslims
before and in this scripture
so that the messenger, sallallahu alaihi salam, may
be a witness over you and that you
may may be witnesses over mankind.
So establish the prayer and give charity
and hold fast to Allah. He is your
master.
He is your protector. What an excellent protector
and what an excellent supporter. May Allah strengthen
our iman with knowledge. May Allah
make us a means
of guidance and not a hindrance to guidance.