Khutbah – Friday Sermon
Bilal Philips – Factors Of Cultural Islam – Part 1
AI: Summary ©
The importance of changing one's personal and family's culture in achieving Islam is discussed, including the negative impact of killing a family member for their reasons and the importance of history and bringing it back into their culture. The cultural legacy of killing a family member for their freedom of movement is also discussed, including the adoption of all-important birthday celebrations and shirAK. The importance of addressing big issues and addressing big problems is also emphasized, including the use of history and the importance of returning to Islam culture based on the Quran and Sun sun. The segment concludes with a request for the return of burial practices and the return of the burial practices and the last breath of the Prophet's hand.AI: Transcript ©
Brothers and sisters,
continuing from last week's hookah
where we began to look at the causes for change in the oma, how can we change the current situation which Muslims are faced with.
And we said that after understanding the principles behind the Pillars of Islam and Eamonn
which address, individual change, change of personality, to create the core onic personality,
one who then have the correct moral foundation with which to change his own life, or her life, the lives of their family members, their communities, the societies and ultimately, the world, as took place in the past,
we said that,
on one hand, after looking at the positive principles, which form the moral foundation of Islamic civilization,
we had to look at the issues which
oppose them, oppose the establishment of a true Islamic Society,
what we would call Islamic culture, the Islamic civilization, as opposed to
Muslim culture, Muslims could have a culture which is Islamic or not. So, in many cases, we said in the Muslim world today, what we have instead of Islamic culture, we have cultural Islam,
the culture of Muslim peoples, which oftentimes contradicts Islamic culture.
And we began to look at the first of the four major elements or factors, which formed the foundation or cause the development of cultural Islam, which we said was referred to as folk Islam, especially by the, the missionaries, when they come to do their missionary work amongst Muslims, they focus on what they see as folk Islam, the Muslim culture, which oftentimes is far away from Islamic culture. So if they want to introduce ideas,
which have this foreign origin,
it is difficult to do it through Islamic culture, because Islamic cultures principles are clear, it stops it right from the beginning. Whereas cultural Islam is so fluid and so open, that it allows
doors open for these kinds of missionary activities. And so we find in different parts of the Muslim world, missionaries have been very successful places like Indonesia, where the World Council of Churches holds their annual meetings. This has been a fertile ground for missionary activity, because of the dominance of cultural Islam. They're
due to a variety of different factors. But anyway, we began to look at in the last football, the first of the big
issues which lead to the development of cultural Islam. And we said that those were
inherited customs,
things which existed in Muslim lands before
and when Islam came to these lands.
People accepted Islam but carried some of these practices into Islam along with them, and we talked about a variety of them, some of them were minor.
Some
We can say it's not really a big deal, what's really the harm. But then some of them were big and major, which costs Muslims lives, we see how serious it can become.
So really, the principal is one that has to be tackled, wherever there are customs, and traditions, inherited from our four parents. Unless these are sanctioned by Islam, and they don't go against Islamic teachings, we have to purify our community, our communities, from these inherited customs and traditions, it is a must, otherwise we cannot go forward. And much of the attack on Muslims today
focuses on these customs, whether it is honor killing, we didn't talk about that one last week. But that's another big area. honor killing.
Something which sherea has no place for there's no such thing in the Shetty are called honor killing. But among Muslims in the Middle East, in Jordan, Iraq,
in Turkey, in Pakistan,
we find Muslim family members, killing other family members to protect the honor of the family.
Usually, it's the males killing the females.
A female from the family develops a relationship with a male, which the family feels, has offended its honor. And maybe rightly so it has offended the unknown the family. So the Father, the brothers, the uncle, they gather together, and they murder this young lady. Now to say she was right in what she was doing. Sometimes it's suspicion which turns out to be wrong. But just enough that the honor of the family is threatened. And people
set into motion actions which lead to the loss of human life.
Something which Islam is completely opposed to. It is not honor killing, it is murder. It is murder. And the consequence for it is execution is death. That is the Sharia. But in countries like Jordan, etc.
If somebody kills for honor,
the country recognizes the custom. And so the penalty is light, four years in jail. It's wrong, shouldn't do it. But the full force of the law is not applied.
So you will always find a family member who's ready, he will jump up and say I'm ready to do those four years for the sake of the honor of the family.
So it is not stopping it in any way. It only promotes it.
If the law was applied, it's not to say it would stop it, because people who will commit crimes will break the law, even if the full force of the law is there. In the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW some people were stoned to death, their hands were cut off, you know, all the laws were applied.
And this was to Sahaba
some of the followers of the Prophet Muhammad, so it says, you know, people are people.
Guidance reduces the amount of criminality, but it doesn't eradicate because people are people.
So if the full force of the law death,
for under killing was applied, it would reduce
you would still find family members ready to say I'm ready to die for the sake of the family. But less, not as many, four years is one thing your life is another thing.
So when the West focuses on Muslims on a killing, look at them. This is a an evil custom handed down. So you find not only Muslim, doing it, even Christians who live in these lands, it's their custom from pre Islamic times. So they will do it. In England and the US and Canada. You hear of cases in Europe all the time. Because these issues have increased their especially because of the freedom in the society.
When families move their kids are going to high school, going to regular schools, they have contacts, easy contacts, male, female boyfriend, girlfriend, relationships develop and
these consequences come.
And so you'll find time and time again, cases a wonder killing taking place. And it's always front page news splashed across the country.
So Islam, Muslims take a battering because of this evil practice. And we talked about the others. Today we're going to look at some other sources. Among them. The adopted practices, practices which weren't among Muslims were not really inherited, but which they later adopted from other societies. Sometimes to some degree, there's overlapping between this and inherited customs. But for example,
the celebration of the prophets birthday sallallahu wasallam. This is the classical example, the molad.
This practice which is widespread amongst Muslims,
all across the Muslim world, we see it celebrated.
So much so that one might conclude that it really is a part of Islam, since it seems to be everywhere.
But the fact of the matter is, that there is no foundation in Islamic teachings for celebrating the prophets birthday sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
No foundation for it.
This was adopted by Muslims.
Some 400 years after the time of Prophet Mohammed Salah line himself.
In Egypt, it began to be celebrated in the 40 majd Shiite dynasty of Egypt, it began there.
And it was a replication of what happened in Christianity.
Because after Prophet Isa alaihe salam was lifted up by a law
and Christianity spread out of
Jerusalem into the neighboring countries, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, Turkey.
The issue of birthday celebrations arose there too.
It was not known amongst the early followers of Jesus.
In fact,
if you look at the corrupted Bible, as it exists today, there is no mention of birthday celebrations, among any of the stories about the prophets, etc. The only birthday celebrations mentioned are those of Pharaoh, the pagan ruler of Egypt, Heron, the pagan Roman ruler of Jerusalem, etc. It's only amongst the pagans, it was known celebration of the birthday was a pagan, right, and ritual.
That's why you did not find it amongst the early followers.
So it took time.
It took virtually 300 350 years, until it became acceptable in Christianity, as it developed in Greece and Rome. And the celebration of Jesus's birthday began.
It began in Rome,
where they invented the day, the 25th of December, a day which coincided with what was called in Italy, the Saturnalia. This was a pagan celebration, at the end of the harvest Saturn, we know the planet Saturn, as named after the Roman god of agriculture.
So celebrating the harvest, which involved
rites of worship of Saturn, the God of the harvest, that was called the Saturn Alia
and that was done around the 25th of December. It was a popular celebration. They used to
give gifts and much of the practices of Christmas today you see it, its origins there
Of course, there are other additions as the celebration spread into different parts of Europe. additions were made when it spread into Scandinavia, where in Scandinavia, people used to worship tree gods.
And they used to pick out in particular, the, what we now know is the Christmas tree. This is a particular Fern, which is evergreen, it remains green throughout the year, summer,
fall, winter spring, it never changed, the leaves never changed their color, they remain green, every living.
So this to them was a symbol of eternal life. Something divine. So the first became the symbol, a god symbol for them.
And they took them into the house.
Small ferns because they could get very big small ones, they brought them into the house. And the celebration because it's cold there in Italy, it's fairly warm, so you can do your celebrations outside. So the celebrations were inside the house and the same things they would do giving the gifts, putting it under the tree decorating the tree is the tree God.
And you should know for those of you that don't know
that the practice which is now common amongst Muslims,
of knocking on wood,
you know, when you say I'm going to do so and so knock on wood.
It's common Western practice and a lot of Muslims have adopted it. Where did it come from? It comes from that same belief, the God of the tree for the Scandinavians believing in the tree God, when you went to make your prayers to the tree, God, you have to knock on the tree first. Wake him up, then you ask him for what you needed.
So that practice crept into doing things and then knocking on wood. And we have many Muslims have run into Muslims, Obama with the Muslim world, saying things that they're knocking on wood afterwards.
It's unfortunate ignorance. Anyway, so the practice of celebrating Christmas with all of its rights we see evolving amongst Christians something which had no part of Islam of Christianity, definitely not from the teachings of Jesus or the early generation. Similarly, we find Muslims doing the same.
And for the common Muslims, of course, the rationale was Hamad Salalah, alayhi wa sallam, he was the greatest of the prophets. He was greater than Prophet Isa. So if Prophet he says, birthday can be celebrated, surely we should make even a better celebration for Prophet Muhammad.
Not to be outdone,
Muslims embraced ignorant Muslims embrace this practice. So it's spread around the Muslim world. And so we are living the legacy of that today. People might say, what's the harm? What's the big deal? Well, there is no obvious harm in the sense that nobody's losing their life over it.
Unless maybe you try to stop it. And one of the places that people are very adamant about it, maybe they might kill you over it. But as a norm, nobody's killing anybody over the molad. However, the harm is a spiritual harm.
It is spiritual hijacking of Islamic teachings, the spiritual harm is there. Because once you make that innovation, because that's what it is. And the prophet SAW Selim said, Hello to the atom, Allah, every innovation is a source of misguidance.
People so but we know all we're doing is remembering Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam, remembering his life and praising him, asking Allah to bless him and so on this, what is the Harmon that
we have to ask?
If that were a good thing to do,
wouldn't the prophets I seldom not have been the first to tell us to do it?
As he said, matter of
Allah, Allah Amata combi, I have not left anything which will bring you closer to Allah without instructing you to do it. That was his job
to show us the way
and that wasn't a part of the way.
So we say whatever was the way when the verse was revealed.
We're in the last month Allah said, Aloma, Kemal, tequila, calm Dino calm, today I have completed for you your religion,
whatever was not a part of the religion then can never be a part of the religion
because to claim something else to be a part of the religion which was not a part then it means what
we know better
than Rasulullah sallallahu wasallam
we cannot know better than the prophet
or his companions,
they were not involved in this celebration. And what happens because it is an innovation, then it has a life of its own, it became
not only a general
recognition of the prophet SAW salams birth and his life and so on. So, but people in order to outdo each other, each one was trying to praise the prophets or Salah more than the other doing a better version than the others etc. Till people started to write poet poems like a see the Buddha, the odor of the cloak, in which the attributes of Allah are given to Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam
and that is Shrek.
That is shark.
So, among Muslims involved in this celebration, which you might say is,
it is an innovation, it is misguidance it has reached the level of shirak among many
some of them are doing it in ignorance reciting these poems, they don't even know what it says.
But others recite it and know what it says and defend it.
So, this is the harm it is a spiritual harm because every innovation, every innovation, as the companion said, whenever an innovation arises, a son dies.
Whenever an innovation arises, a Sunnah dies.
So what is the sadhana which died when they celebrated the birthday of the Prophet?
the sinner which died was Prophet Mohammed Salim used to fast
on Mondays.
I when the companions asked him,
Why do you fast on Mondays? messenger of Allaah.
On one occasion, he said I did so because that was the day on which I was born.
The prophet SAW Selim commemorated his birthday by fasting.
That is the Sunnah, which has died.
Muslims all across the Muslim world today. Nobody knows it.
If instead of that big celebration where people are, you know, dancing and singing and eating and join festival, you tell them fast. See what?
No, no, no, this is the time of enjoyment, etc. But that wasn't the way of the Prophet so I send them so his son died, except among a few.
This is what we have to do. We have to revive that sooner. The sooner fasting on Mondays and Thursdays of every week. You want to commemorate the prophet SAW Salah, do it as he did it. Mondays, we are certain he was born on Monday. As for the day which comes in the usual calendar, Muslim calendars, you know, the 12th of Arabia,
which has been specified, as the day of the prophet SAW Celebes birth, actually, there is no authentic evidence to establish that day.
It was the day on which he died. Yes.
But the day on which he was born, no evidence for that. So really, just as a law Hindi, the day on which Prophet Isa was born, he hid from us, the day on which Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam was born
to prevent people from doing exactly what we're doing
so
We have to bring Islam back into our culture.
We have to return to the true Islamic culture which is based on the Quran and the Sunnah. The Quran and the Sunnah as it was understood in the time of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and his companions as they understood it important because everybody says yes Quran and Sunnah. But according to whose understanding
people told me, it's in the Quran to celebrate the profits on someone's birthday. I said yes.
What is the verse? They said? Don't you know the verse in the law? melodica who you saw Luna Allah Nabi? Yeah, Valentina. amanu sallu alayhi wa sallam Otis Lima? I said, Yes, but I didn't hear any birthday in there. This is yes, it means is celebrating birthday.
No.
If it's left up to us, then we can find excuses from anywhere. the companions of the Prophet Mohammed Salah salam, they memorize that verse, and passed it on to us, and they didn't understand and celebrate the birthday from it.
So whose understanding? Should we follow yours today?
Or should we follow their understanding?
They live the revelation, they best understood what we are to do with that revelation, how to apply it in our lives.
So
we have the issue of celebrating the prophet SAW Sam's birthday, something now whose roots are so deeply
entrenched in our society.
To try to uproot it
is a major effort.
Some people say it's not even worth it better, just forget it, leave it and go on and do something else.
Don't keep talking about it. It's not going to change it. Well, reality is that if we don't change that, then the bigger things which we need to change, we're not going to be able to change.
It is a small thing.
If we can't change and correct the small things, can we expect to correct and change the big things? Because we have some big things out there?
There are some big, big things which affect the Muslim world today.
which need to be changed.
People say forget the Molin. Let's deal with the big things when we say no, if we can't deal with the small things, will not be able to deal with the big things. That's the bottom line.
The prophet SAW Selim began, the change in the society with al Qaeda
began with the belief in a law, purifying that belief, cleaning it up. And then building adding
the superstructure on top of it.
celebration of the molad is an attack on the aqeedah is an attack on the basic Islamic belief, the concept of a law and his creation.
If it is common in the celebrations to praise Prophet Muhammad SAW Salaam beyond the status, as he said, Do not be excessive in your praise of me, as the followers of Jesus did to Jesus. Indeed, I'm only Abdullah rasuluh. I'm only the slave of Allah and His Messenger don't do as they did, but that's what we're doing.
This is the issue of faith. That's what we have done.
We have turned him into an intermediary, one with the attributes of a law as Christians did with properties.
And I asked a law to help us to get back to the Quran and the Sunnah, and to purify our communities of the molad and the false beliefs connected to it. Aku lokala hada was done Fulani when a comb or is it Mr. Minimum COVID festa flew in the who will vote for him as the laws forgiveness for our misguidance in this regard, and call on you to turn to Him for His forgiveness for only he can forgive
Have arsons
hamdu Lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah.
Another example of adopted practices,
I'm only going to give three examples. And there are many more. But just to bring these points home key critical examples.
if somebody were to ask you today,
what is the symbol of Islam besides the star and Crescent, which has no basis in Islamic teachings, right? Stein Crescent, though we use it as a standard symbol today we know it has no basis in Islamic teachings. In fact, it even supports the argument of some of the missionaries, etc, that our God Allah is the moon God, see, they have a moon symbol over all of their masks, they have moons on their you know, the crescent moon, on their flags and so on. So
So there God is actually the ancient moon god of Arabia.
This is the claim.
Individual Dr. Paul Murray wrote a booklet on this. Of course, it was based on all kinds of false information, and it has been thoroughly refuted. If you want to if you've come across this and you want to respond to it, you look up Shabbir Ali, he has written a response where he exposes
Dr. Morris falsified information, his lies etc, is brought in systematically not just emotionally, but showed point by point how it is man distorted the truth. But most people heard about the moon God and we have the moon to support it right. Put that one aside.
The actual architectural symbol, if we think of Pharaonic society, with the big main symbol is what the pyramids
if we think of French society, the mains symbol is what the Eiffel Tower
if we think of Roman Italian society, the main symbol is what the Leaning Tower of Pisa
if we think of Muslim society, the main symbol is what?
The Taj Mahal
the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world
Clinton and his family made a pilgrimage there to go and see it.
Bush and his family with all the Presidents to see the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal and what do we what is really the tangible
the Taj Mahal is a Muslim, built by one of the mogul rulers of India charger Han for his wife.
What's your name again?
Montez Montez Mahal and he
built this when she died, he built this Mazel Liam the structure of love.
That's what it's called is his expression of His love. He brought architects from all over the world and the best marble in the distance spent.
How much money and time and effort built the structure
which has remained till today.
Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam
when Mecca was taken
reconquered came back under the rule of tawheed.
He instructed Ali ibn abee taalib to set out and every grave that he found more than a poms with above the ground to level it with the ground
to level it with the ground.
So the idea of building structures over graves is haram. Forbidden and the process lm forbade it in straight terms also do not build structures over grades. Do not whitewash grades.
You know, so many instructions for bidding the building of structures of graves.
In the non Muslim society It is normal.
You go into the graveyard you see all kinds of structures over the graves.
But eventually it crept in amongst Muslims also.
So that the Muslim graveyards look like
cities
with structures buildings over the grave so many
In fact,
when
King Abdulaziz urban south
and those who are with him
took Mecca.
And this in the eyes of the mass of Muslims was a great evil.
And he and his followers they went into the graveyards of Mecca and Medina. And if you see pictures of the graveyards from that time, they look like cities, huge domes and structures
built over the graves, and he and his followers broke them all down, level them with the ground. The Muslim world cried out
the wahabis are destroying Islam.
They have become so ignorant of the actual Sunnah of the prophet SAW Selim, that when it was applied, people thought these people were changing their religion.
Until this day,
many parts of the Muslim world they hold this against the Saudis
destroyed destroying the Islamic, you know, artifacts. But in fact, what they did was the right thing.
They did what the prophet SAW Selim commanded.
But today and the rest of the Muslim world.
We have cities, so much so that in Egypt,
there is a city there called the city of the dead.
When you're driving from Cairo airport, you drive by it, actually, it's a graveyard, huge graveyard.
With all these structures over the graves, what happened in Cairo is that the population people poured in from the countryside to find work in the city of Cairo. They had a housing crisis, no place to live. So what did people start to do? They started to set up home, in the graveyards.
These big structures, they moved in
with their families, you go there now inside there, you'll see they're hanging their clothes, dry, cooking everything.
Even so much so that the government because they couldn't provide alternatives, they piped in water for them, and electricity.
People were building second stories on top of the graves.
That is the legacy.
So
one may say, Well,
again, this is you know, quaint, Muslim history. But it does have evil implications for the average person's grave, no big deal.
But what happens now is that there are some people's graves, where it becomes a big deal,
where the structure over the grave now
is a symbol for worship at that grave.
So you find for example, in India,
in a jamir,
Rajasthan state, Northern or Northwestern India, the shrine of chair Moreno, Dean chesty,
where millions,
make pilgrimage every year.
millions of Muslims go there every year.
And they perform rites of worship. They make tawaf around the grave, and they pray to the person who's supposed to be buried there.
And even the Hindus join in.
They believe is a holy man
joining in Muslims rights in some Baraka, some blessings should come for them also. So they join in Muslims and Hindus making pilgrimage to this place.
So what is that doing to the Islamic faith,
which is far away from this,
which has nothing to do with it. This is part of the subjugation or the destruction of the foundation of Islamic faith.
As a result of building structures over graves,
something which we might think is simple in part, some parts of the world has become something major in other parts. And it's not just in India, although in India, they have specialized in it. It is there in Egypt, it's there all over the Muslim world, we have graves that people make pilgrimage to, you know, do all kinds of Rites around, etc.
Destruction of the doctrinal foundation of Islam.
The last example that I'd like to give
is a smaller one.
But one, nonetheless, that we should be aware of, it's a small one that we can deal with. This is wearing wedding rings, on this finger
wearing wedding rings, on this finger of our left hand.
It is not from Islam.
It is from Christian tradition. If any of you saw the, the marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles,
when
the bishop took the ring, from Prince Charles, he put it by the thumb of Princess Diana, Diana and said, in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Holy Ghost, amen.
This wearing of the ring on this third finger is an affirmation of belief in the Trinity,
that God is three in one
has no place in Islam.
It should be removed.
It's not a big one, like the graves, etc. Because people say, well, we're wearing it to let people know we're married. How do we let them know we're married?
This is not from our tradition, we don't have rings to indicate you're married. You know, for the Hindus, they have red dots that they put on their head. Right, bindi is called right to indicate that they're married.
But we don't have that it's not from our tradition
to indicate that you're married.
So it is enough for us to remove that from us. So what you find, as we said, when a student when a bid arises, as soon as he dies, the sooner the problems are solved was to wear a ring on the little finger of his right hand.
So you will find Muslims wearing on the third finger, their left hand and nothing on the right hand.
Of course, one says okay big deal, wearing a ring, what does it have to do with the faith etc. It just has to do with a consciousness. It deals or it addresses a consciousness and awareness of what is Islam? Who was Mohamed Salah loyalists, what was his way,
the way of life which he brought for us to follow what was it
it is not the customs and the traditions that we are commonly doing in our various countries and societies etc.
It was a way of life which he received through revelation from Allah subhanho wa Taala
a way of life
which was divinely revealed. And we need to follow that way. If we are to find our way back to the straight path,
the one that we call on ask Allah for a dinner Serato Mr. Team, the only way is to go back to the way of the Prophet sallahu wa sallam
and that is why a lot one that Allah reminded us saying in the logo melodica who is aluna Allah nebia
la voz de limiters NEMA He called on us to ask for last Peace and blessings on Prophet Mohammed Salim because he was the guide. He was the leader. He was our light in the darkness, and he should remain that in our lives. I asked a law to help us to reacquaint ourselves with his son to bring
Sooner back into our lives, to make it a living sooner, that we practice every day and to help us to gain an increase our knowledge of the religion, to purify it of all that has come into it from foreign sources. We ask Allah to purify our faith and our practice, and to keep us on the straight path and to forgive what has gone before to forgive us as he only can forgive us. We ask Allah to give us the last breath la Illa Allah before we leave this world, I mean, Aki masala
Related Episodes
- Irshaad Sedick – The Story of the Qur’an
- Muhammad Salah – Gardens Of The Pious
- Taimiyyah Zubair – Taleem al-Quran 2010 – Juz 01 – L017A
- Yasir Qadhi – To Protest Or Not to Protest An Islamic Analysis
- Ebrahim Bham – Freedom Of Speech
- Yasir Qadhi – The Need of a Mahram for Women to Perform Hajj – Ask Shaykh YQ #225
- Ahsan Hanif – Islam is a Marathon