The Biggest Blessing To Be Thankful For

In Alhamdulillah Ahmed who was saying you know, or sulfuryl, who was study, while we lie to Allah minshall Oreo fusina, Amin sejati. Molina Mejia to Hitler who Philomel Lila are my little fella hottie Ella was shadow Allah ilaha illallah wa de julio Cherie color wash. I don't know Mohammed Abdullah Rasool or Sophie. You haven't been in the country who are Khalil Bella he said what the man also Khalifa de la masala to Allah. Salaam wa ali. Yeah, you Hello, Dina tabula haka to party, whether temotu Illa and to most of the moon. Yeah, you're in Bora Bora Kamala the Halacha come in. I've seen Wahida Wirkkala come in has Oberth them in humare, Jalan cathedra when he says, What

Takala Lolita, sir and Luna be one or ham? In Allah haka and Ali Kamala peba Yeah. Are you her Latina, taco Allah, Allah Cydia.

Wherever

we're making you play, learn how Rasulullah taka differs if it was another human. I'm not that my dear brothers and sisters were really fortunate to be Muslims. Were fortunate to have access to this beautiful book called Quran. We're fortunate to be amongst the followers of this prophet,

whose tradition is one of the most beautiful traditions you could ever find. In fact, I would argue and say, it is the most beautiful tradition, hands down.

And the beauty and greatness of Islam

is something that strikes anyone that examines either the sources of this beautiful religion, the divine sources, that is the Quran or the prophetic tradition, if you were to analyze it. If you were to analyze the Quran and look into it, you will be mesmerized. As a matter of fact, Allah azza wa jal tells us that even when the jinns and the demons who, by nature gravitate or lean towards evil, when they heard the power and the beauty of the Quran, they were mesmerized, and they expressed that Allah subhanaw taala says in NA that the jinn said

that when they heard the Quran in semi Quran and Agia we heard an amazing recital.

So it's a beautiful book, even the enemies of Islam, the early enemies of Islam when they heard the Quran, they couldn't question the beauty and the power of it, they could not. And that's why you find that most of the focus is on the person of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. They were trying to question him Sal, Allahu Allah, He doesn't question his sanity.

Question his integrity.

Question, right, the Prophet sallallahu Sallam is motives.

But no one could question the power of this book.

Right.

And then later they all submit it to the Prophet salallahu Aeneas and those of them who survived, they actually came around and they realized that it was nothing but their arrogance and envy that made them resist

the message.

And then, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is tradition and religion. And his community took the world by storm, literally within two decades. Right? From the start of the revelation of this book.

This message unify the entire Arabian peninsula under one religion worshiping one god subhanho wa taala.

These are tribes

and individuals that could never come together upon anything. Never. It had never happened before.

And it wouldn't happen if it wasn't for slim.

And Amato, they Allahu Anhu tells people whenever he heard some people taking pride in anything other than Islam, when they especially when they

show

pride in their tribal affiliation, or their lineage. I

would say no woman as an Allah who

will Islam. We are a people whom Allah azza wa jal has glorified and dignified because of Islam.

Remember that because two decades before or two and a half decades before he said that

nobody respected the Arabs, no one and it was a slam that came dignified

them and made them the best community.

So I met him after that I feel like

Ray, if we ever try to seek glory in anything other than Islam, and then then Allah,

Allah azza wa jal will debase us, Allah will degrade us, Allah will humiliate us,

anytime.

And all you have to do

to realize that this was one of the most profound,

truest statements ever, ever uttered by Omar Ali Allah and all you have to do is just look at the history of this ummah, the past, and the contemporary, or the modern history of this, and look at what happened to us.

When we divided ourselves. However, my dear brothers and sisters, the beauty of this religion

can only be appreciated by others, when they look at

a sample of a community that follows this religion.

We cannot expect people to take the time and put the effort to go and look and read and analyze our history and look at Muslims contribution throughout

the the past centuries,

not everyone is capable of doing that. And even if they do that, and they come and they share with us how impressed they are with our history and with the Muslim contribution. And it's very important to study history, by the way, and for us, you know, what we used to be and where we ended up. However, people will still say, that's what you used to be looking at you right now.

So people will judge Islam, by the actions of the Muslims

and Islam.

And the Quran

actually,

tells us that the responsibility of being an embodiment of the Quran or the embodiment of the Sharia, or the divine law of Allah subhanho wa Taala is the responsibility of who

is our responsibility.

Collectively, it's our collective responsibility to hire or Mateen, okra to the nurse. And Allah Subhana. Allah tells us what it entails to be the best community, if we want to be the best community. And then each and every single one of us has a responsibility

in accordance to whatever that person is capable of, to reflect in show and manifest the beauty of Islam.

My dear brothers and sisters, we see that Islam one of the basic

teachings that we have in the tradition of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is that Islam teaches us to take care of two things, two aspects of beauty. And these are not just trivial aesthetics, you know, this is very essential. One is the inner beauty and the other which is very important.

Right? It's very critical and essential. And, and then the second one is the outer beauty.

The inner beauty and the outer beauty. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam tells us that how our inner beauty is very important

for us to

make sure that we beautify and purify ourselves.

He tells us

in the field yesterday mudra that there is a part in the body.

It our salah, had Salah held yesterday.

If it's good and refined, then the whole body will be good and refined. way there faster that if it's corrupt. First, they'll just a dokolo the entire body the entire being will be corrupt. Then the prophets Allah Allah Allah, Allah says, Allah he'll call it is the heart.

And that is why Allah Subhana Allah Allah in the Quran tells us to pay special attention to our hearts, the state of our hearts and the Prophet SAW Selim emphasizes that. And not only that the Prophet SAW Selim says in Allaha, la young guru era Swati Kumala at the end of the day, Allah subhanaw taala is beautiful and he appreciates beauty as the promises have said In another Hadith,

right? That's why Allah azza wa jal tells us who those Elijah Qumran in the coolie Masjid when he would come to the masjid beautify yourselves

and dress up.

You would have resent the religion of beauty.

So Allah Subhana Allah tells us beautify yourselves and take care of yourselves and everything. However the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam comes and says, as much as Allah

So how to how to appreciate that the process and that tells us that at the end of the day Allah azza wa jal lions in our Swati como la isla Sami from Allah does not judge you, based on your out word looks based on your physiques, your images, your shape, your skin color, your skin tone,

or your height,

or what people call race or ethnicity. None of these things matter to Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah has doesn't judge you by these things.

It is very common in assamica. Again, your features, nor your bodies mean anything to Allah subhanho wa Taala other than the fact that you're supposed to take care of it and beautify it and appreciate it other than that, it doesn't mean anything to Allah azza wa jal, one body shape, you know, one particular tone or features don't make a person better than the other person. No, we're equally in the eyes of Allah Subhana Allah, we're all equal.

The reason Allah Subhana Allah made us look different than each and every single one of us, by the way, is a masterpiece. There isn't a replica of you anywhere that has never been in there will never be

right. So each and every single one turns out to be the way Allah subhanaw taala meant for that individual to be in everyone is in their own way beautiful because of the creation of Allah subhanho wa taala. The reason Allah subhana made us difference is so that we can identify ourselves

and identify each other. So we can get to know each other. So you know who's who.

Right. It's a matter of identity, not definition, it does not define you, it identifies you. That's it.

But what really defines you, is what the Prophet SAW Salem told us to focus on. And that is the beauty of the heart. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, when asking Allah

to whom we're supposed to show off

Allah, who is supposed to be our focus, Allah, who is supposed to be at the top of our priority list, Allah,

to whom we purify our hearts and our intentions, Allah to whom we belong, and to whom we shall return. Allah azza wa jal, the prophesy centum tells us well, that Kiambu Illa.

Allah looks into your hearts and the quality and the merits of your deeds. That's what Allah subhanaw taala examines. So

put your effort in beautifying your heart and beautifying your deeds. And actually, if you beautify your heart, then your deeds will be beautiful. And that will reflect not only on you, your family and your community, but it will also reflect on the religion you represent.

And this is an important lesson that My dear brothers and sisters,

beautiful families of this beautiful community, we have to emphasize and teach our children and pass on. That's what distinguishes us. There is nothing exceptional about us, except this

and it's a choice. It's a choice that we make.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam also tells us that one of the essential reasons for which Salah was made obligatory upon us, Allah wants us to pray five times a day. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam tells us that Salah praying five times a day, especially in the gym,

has a function. It has a purpose. One of his purposes is that it purifies you

and the Prophet says gives an example that the people of that time were able to relate to some of us might be able to appreciate right?

The example is that he said if any one of you has a river running

in front of your door, if you have flowing water 24/7 You have access to it now and had to come

low Anna, now Harambee diarrhea headache, calm we have tested women who Kula Yeoman Hamsa Murat

where the person can take a dip in this river and wash himself or herself five times a day Halle apartment Deronda Hey, Shay, will there be any dirt left on that person? And the Sahaba said, Of course not. Yeah rasool Allah. Imagine someone who takes a shower five times a day.

I mean, daily shower is good to five times might be too much unless you need to.

But

we are we are the people of of Western and cleanliness and hygiene. The pauses have said imagine you do this five times a day. Right?

Imagine you take a shower five times a day. That person is going to be clean

smell is going to smell good.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said for their Lika method of Salah to humps Impala Hina Tata, that is what the five daily prayers do to our souls, cleanses it

cleanses our soul, our souls and it purifies it, that's what it's supposed to do.

And Allah Subhana Allah in the Quran reinforces this,

in the Salah, tenha and fascia, it will move, Salah by design makes you a better person, it forbids you from evil deeds and from sins.

So that has has to reflect itself in the way we treat people. And the way we welcome people, and the way we accommodate people and the way we deal with people.

Another aspect of the beauty of Islam

is that it is the religion of fitrah to hate, beautiful, our tenants, our teachings, our beliefs are very simple, they're consistent.

Right? And they're easy to understand and digest.

Nothing complicated, nothing contradictory about it.

Right? Allah subhana, Allah tells us other people who change their beliefs

and changed or altered their theology.

They end up having issues, because it's never consistent with the fifth law.

And he warns us not to do the same thing.

Keep it as simple and as pure and as easy. Other people,

ballclub will be happy. Imagine a home for home free every marriage.

Inconsistent,

right, contradictory, incoherent, you name it.

And it's very important to revisit the beauty of the simple teachings of Islam. And again, pass it on to the next generation. So they understand where this comes from.

Finally, I'll conclude by reminding you of a couple of examples that we may have heard before. And I'm sure that many of you are familiar with what I may have mentioned two examples. One example is of a friendly kink. And the other example, is of a hostile

enemy,

both of whom were captivated by the beauty of Islam.

And they ended up what

they ended up accepting Islam.

The first one is in the Joshy

the king of Abyssinia

Habesha

whereby the way Islam entered into Africa. Habitat is the first place where Islam entered in the world,

just for the record.

And it's the first place where a Muslim community was able to worship openly

and freely.

Right, let's not forget that.

So before Islam went to anywhere before it slammed even reached Medina before it went to Medina.

So part of what happened was an agenda he had to confront or have to interrogate these mysterious refugees, or asylees that came to his land. And they were welcomed there, especially when he received

some false intelligence from some of his friend who are affiliated with Prakash, these people are bad people, they have ulterior motives, they want to take over, you know, all the propaganda and Islamophobic.

Islamophobic

rhetoric is not new, the Sahaba had to deal with it. There was a habit didn't even have at that point. They didn't even have it long history.

So when the spokesperson of the Sahaba thought of had to basically defend Islam and Muslims,

he had to be very honest, straightforward. Then he said to him,

he reminded him of what they used to be before Islam. So he said to him, are you al Malik, oh king cannot comment Elijah Haley and Abdul Asana

Um, we all are people of ignorance. We used to worship idols.

When I couldn't meter when acted for our hash, and we eat dead flesh, dead meat,

meat of dead animals, basically. And we commit all kinds of acts of wickedness. Why not call our ham and we would cut off our ties of kinship over trivial matters, right territory land inheritance Muroff were knocked out of ham

Allah Jamel other rmmod economic Kamala

out of the alaka that you're gonna love when I had the builder

and as as I say this I just want you to to just to see how many of our Muslim

cultures how this made its way back to it

how deviating away or just

so he said well, I'll have one we'll see we'll do our and we were bad neighbors which you know, we would we would actually

be

unkind to our neighbors. Yeah, cool. Boy you may not live the strong takes advantage and exploit the week for COULDNA Allah Dalek we were like that had Tabatha Allahu Allah rasool Allah Mina, Nadi Fonasa, until Allah Subhana Allah sent to us a messenger

whose lineage and family status is well known and respected. Was it a whole, whose honesty and integrity could not be questioned? Whether Mr. Netanyahu and his he was trustworthy? They used to call him and saw the Colombian welfare for who

and he had if he had

integrity and he had a manner for the HANA Illa so he called us to Allah and Nina Wahida who to worship Him alone when I Buddha who we're not gonna I'm not gonna do that when I'm doing and to reject everything that we used to worship of idols and stones. Mineral jollity well within what amount on absolute can Hadith Allah pay attention to this and he commanded us to be honest and truthful when we speak what other ill Amana and to fulfill our trust or we'll see let your home and to reconnect with our kinship in our maintain our family ties maintain our family ties? Well personally you are and to be kind neighbors, be kind and

take care of our neighbors will Cafe annual Muharram and to avoid

to avoid unlawful

matters what the map and not spill blood right

what 100 and a fella hush and he he forbade us from committing

acts of wickedness we'll call it zoo and to bear false testimony. Well actually mallia team and to consume the wealth of the orphans

were called Fillmore Masana and to slander people of chastity while I'm out on a night with hola hola, hola. Che and he ordered us to worship Allah subhanho wa Taala and not associate any partners with Allah while I'm out on Abu salah. He commanded us to pray five times a day. While it wasn't five times a day, he commanded us to pray he said at that point, it was not five times yet

was the QA and to give charity was cm and too fast. And then he mentioned these things and the Sahaba

kept saying yes, that's exactly what we do in practice. This is who we are.

And at the end of his conversation,

and the Joshi was impressed and when they recited the Quran to him, he had tears in his eyes. Eventually he accepted Islam.

But mind you he did not accept Islam just based on what they told him about Islam based on a very like fancy, powerful PowerPoint presentation. But it was rather based on what he saw in their actions.

And what he saw

in them as Muslims, they were an amazing sample of that large community of theirs that they belong to that they came from.

And the Joshi who was the king was impressed with these people. They were asylees this what this has never been heard of before, that the king and who's under who's protected and whose protection they're actually coming seeking refuge ends up converting to their religion. He's impressed by

Your teachings. There are mine. They were a small minority. They weren't they were not even considered a minority.

And many of the people of those territories actually accepted Islam. Have you ever heard or read anywhere in the history that an army was sent to Abba? Zinnia?

No.

Modern day Abyssinia is, you know, a lot of people don't even know this is majority Muslim.

Ethiopia, Eritrea, Eritrea is 5050 50%. Ethiopia is majority Muslims.

And some of these people are many of these people have been Muslims, for centuries.

They did not convert a lot of people think though their Congress No.

Heart or the city from where my father was born. May Allah have mercy on him. The name itself Hunter means 450 405. It was built as an Islamic city, and it was the capital of the kingdom of Somalia.

More than 1000 years ago, it's an ancient city.

There are rocks and mirrors and buildings there that are that old.

There wasn't an army that went there.

That came from Arabia now.

It was through this. The beauty of the religion itself

captured the hearts and the minds of the these people and they converted they accepted Islam. You can say the same thing about Islam when it reached the subcontinent

or South East Asia.

Islam was a beautiful religion, but again, it was when people saw it, manifested in the actions and the dealings of Muslims Muslim merchants, Muslim dies, Muslim scholars,

Muslim soldiers,

right when they saw that people came into the religion of Allah, FYI, Azure as Allah subhanaw taala said, may Allah azza wa jal make us a good representation of this beautiful religion Allahumma Azad Islam in our reasonable Islamic Arab anatomy Nicola has a lady similar to merciful Hola Hola, confessor, Pharaoh. We have to look them in a hula photo Rahim.