Morad Awad – Lecture
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
For those
who do not know,
EPIC has started a food drive for our
brothers and sisters in Syria. Know the weather
that we've experienced in the past,
in the past few days
has been a reality for our brothers and
sisters there, not only this winter but in
the past winters,
in the refugee camps and whatnot. So we
started a food drive for
them
where a person can,
it's called ramadan food drive at epic.org.
So you can send a message to,
to that email epic food drive at [email protected].
And, $60
would cover a whole family
for the whole month. So
it's a good it's a good investment
to feed, shelter, warm a family in,
in Syria
and the surrounding countries, the refugee camps.
And,
also our,
we
are
we want to make dua
for our brothers and sisters that passed away,
over the past few days as well. One
of them is a community member here,
brother Arif al Islam's mother,
Rahamalullah.
She passed away,
Her name was Sajidah Islam.
And
also brother,
Mirza Muhammad's father,
he's a regular here at Epic.
He he also passed away due to COVID
complications.
Brother Ashfaq Malik,
his
brother,
his father passed away in in,
in Houston.
And brother Syed Jafar Ali also passed away
in Cleveland, Ohio.
And
one of
our community members as well,
Her name was,
Shahjahan Ansari,
mother of Sajjad and Shiraz Ansari. We ask
Allah
to forgive all of them. Have mercy on
them, accept them in, in his rahma
We ask Allah
to bestow his mercy on them, and we
also ask Allah
to forgive us and have mercy on us
when we have the endings that they had
as well.
Tomorrow there will be a janazah
for,
sister Shahjahan.
It will be after
As you know,
from today we began all 5.
So tomorrow we will have the 5
in epic after
will be her
insha Allah ta'ala. And the janazah will be
taken to Rustland
Cemetery.
We praise Allah
And we send our peace and blessings upon
our noble and beloved prophet Muhammad alaihis salatu
wa sallam. And
we seek refuge in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
from the evil and the mischief of our
own souls and actions.
And I remind myself and yourselves, my dear
beloved brothers and sisters,
on this blessed day of Yomul Jumu'ah
to fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
As Allah reminded us of this in the
noble Quran when he said in the translation,
O you who believe,
fear Allah the way he should be feared
and do not die except in a state
of submission to him. We ask Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala
to die in this state.
My dear and beloved
brothers
and sisters in Islam,
my believing brothers and sisters,
It is from the sunnah
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
from the ways of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
in his
creation.
That
things go a particular
way
And that is how he created
it from the day the heavens and this
earth were created.
Those who understand them understand them.
And those who don't learn the hard way.
Everyone
in this world,
in this life of ours, every soul, every
will be tested.
Whether it be
good or bad, with comfort
and ease, with hardship and ease,
or with poverty and wealth,
or with fear and security.
Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala
keeps changing the circumstances
of ourselves
in this dunya so that we may draw
closer and closer to him.
Allah
And we test you with good and bad
as a fitna.
So that we can
separate those
who will be patient and steadfast from those
who will not.
Until we all return to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala when we pass away.
And Allah
said about
the people that came before us.
And we tested them
with good and with bad. Why?
So that they may return.
Good is a test,
my dear beloved brothers and sisters,
just as much as bad is a test.
Hardship is a test just as much as
ease is a test.
These are all tests.
And Allah
wants to see how we act
in every situation we're in in this life.
And that's why Allah keeps changing
our circumstances.
My dearest believers,
it is the sunnah of Allah
to test people with changing circumstances,
so He can bring
those who are lost back to Him.
And to wake up
those who are heedless.
And to open
the hearts of those who have sealed hearts.
Over the past year or so,
we have been tested in many ways.
Just in the past year or so,
our health
in the pandemic,
our finances
with the changing job market,
Our economy
with the changing
economy.
Our families
with loved ones and close ones passing away.
Our friendships
with distance.
Our politics with some political unrest.
Even our sanity was tested at times being
in isolation and quarantine.
Just at home,
breaking the routine that we were so used
to before this pandemic.
And most recently with this inclement
weather that we experienced.
All of this happened within the past year.
The tests of Allah,
the changing of the circumstances
have been so much
and so many.
It is as if Allah is sending us
a message to wake up
before the seriousness of the day of judgement
comes.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said
The people's judgement day has drawn near
They are in avoidance
and they are in heedlessness.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tests a believer,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala only wants good for
them.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala only sends these miracles
like this most recent one, this weather.
As what?
So we can go back to him. Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala,
he said,
The only reason we send these miracles,
these changes,
these these radical changes in in circumstances
is what?
So you can fear Allah.
So you can be scared of what Allah
has prepared.
So you can fear your sins.
So you can fear your heedlessness.
Those hours,
those days,
those weeks, those months that passed without praying,
without knowing who Allah is, with dust piling
up on our with
us not listening
to a single good lecture or a good
word, not reaching out to somebody who can
lift our spirituality
and our iman.
Allah sends
these messages
so we can fear the day we will
meet him
But will we fear?
Science and what scientists say, okay, the weather
is coming from the arctic side because of
this type of change and because of the
oceans and that means nothing.
Because Allah is the one who sent it.
And Allah's wisdom is all encompassing.
And when Allah sends something, his way his
wisdom encompasses
the way it will affect every single one
of us.
And that is the divine wisdom of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. There's nothing random
in what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala decrees,
including this weather that we experienced.
The prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam,
he used to meet these types
of weather changes
or climate changes in a particular way.
Right?
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
who's narrated,
that Aisha saw
him
walking
back and forth
whenever the weather
whenever the weather changed.
And he's they saw clouds
on the horizon approaching Al Madinah.
And they heard thunder.
Right? And the winds began to blow aggressively.
Aisha
said,
I would see the prophet
looking worried.
He had fear in his face.
He would walk back and forth. He would
exit the house. He would look and he
would come back in.
He wouldn't talk
to her. He would be unsettled,
unrested.
Aisha
she said,
it's only clouds. Inshallah, it'll be rain. It'll
be for us, You Rasulullah.
The prophet
told her,
How do you know of
How do you know
that it is not like what happened to
the column of Ad?
The people of Hud alaihis salam,
when they saw the clouds and they said
Then Allah
said
The people of Hud, when the punishment of
Allah was approaching, they said, wow, the clouds
are coming. Allahu Akbar. Right? They didn't say
Allahu Akbar, we would say Allahu Akbar. But
these people were kuffar.
These people left
left the messenger, the the prophet Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala sent them. And they
their heedlessness was so much
that when they saw the clouds approaching,
they didn't say this is what Hud promised
us.
This isn't a sign from Allah.
This isn't something miraculous in its nature. No.
It's just rain that's coming to us.
But what Allah said,
this wind is coming to you with punishment
and torment from Allah.
It will destroy everything
by the permission of its lord.
This rain was their destruction.
How do you not know?
How do you know whether this
is for Allah
to punish us or for Allah to bestow
His mercy on us? We don't know.
We don't know.
If anyone were to feel safe
from these types of inclement weathers, it would
be Muhammad salallahu alaihi wa sallam. Right?
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, no one approached
Allah with a purer heart than him, alaihi
salatu wa sallam.
But when this
when he experienced changes and whether he would
be scared,
he would fear.
Brothers and sisters,
over the past few days, you
know, whatever happened happened. We have experienced some
hardship.
As you all know,
with all of the hardships that we experienced,
whether it be in our houses
or in our businesses, or in our cars,
our properties, ourselves,
all of these hardships
came together.
So it can be a sign from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala to go back to him.
And Allah
wanted
to show us with the sign
how vulnerable,
how weak
we are as a creation.
Something as small as this, just a slight
change of weather,
a slight change
of climate
that the city was not prepared for
can do all of this. Imagine the wrath
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Something
this small,
just when we thought
that we control things.
That is exactly what happened to the people
before us. Allah will wait
for the punishment, will delay
the punishment
until they feel like they control this world.
Like that's it. We have everything under control,
nothing can harm us. But boom.
Just when we
thought our medical experts had it locked down,
we have the pandemic.
Just when we thought our economists had it
all planned and mapped out,
boom, it's gone. Economy goes down. Just when
we thought our businesses were doing good, boom.
Just when we thought our health is up,
boom, we get sick
and we get ill.
Just when we thought our houses can protect
us, boom, no electricity,
no heat.
We go shopping, we think we have Walmart,
Kroger's,
Costco, we have Sam's Club, everything around us.
Just when we think food is right across
the street, boom, there's no food.
Allah
is sending us signs, my dear beloved brothers
and sisters.
But only the ones who take heed of
these signs
will increase in faith, will increase in closeness
to Allah, and will remember.
Because Allah said,
All these signs
are just so we can remember. We ask
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us from
those who remember.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to purify
our hearts from heedlessness.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to show us the straight path to bless,
protect and have mercy on us, on our
families, on our communities, and on the whole
on the whole as well.
My dear beloved brothers and sisters, I remind
myself and you to fear Allah
to be reminded by the signs.
And know
that
what happened to us in the past few
days
was but a test from Allah
to see how we will respond.
But I
have
good news.
And this is something that
I am proud to stand here
in this
blessed place, in the house of Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
On this blessed day of Yom Arjum'ah,
in this blessed community
surrounded by blessed
and illuminous faces like the ones I am
looking at right
now.
And say
that our response to what happened, Alhamdulillah,
was amazing,
was unbelievable.
To see how
fast,
how efficiently,
how great
our response was
in dealing with these changes.
How our community came together
as soon as the cold weather hit.
Gathered blankets,
gathered
sweaters,
gathered all types of supplies
and sent them down to the people who
are less wealthy, who are impoverished,
who live in communities
where they don't have these provisions.
We came together
so that we can show Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala what we are doing with what he
gave us.
Allah
said,
Give from what Allah made you responsible for.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said,
and you will be asked about the blessings
Allah bestowed upon you. Allah is going to
ask epic, an epic community what they did
with what Allah gave them.
As soon as this happened, my dear beloved
brothers and sisters,
the community
came together.
We donated.
We set up a hotline.
The brothers and sisters that had cars,
that were
safe enough to drive on the roads came
out
to bring food
and then to deliver food.
Hot and warm
dishes
donated
by our businesses
who you would think,
oh, let's close-up.
Yeah. We don't have any money right now.
You know, electricity might go out. No. The
businesses
of the Muslims of the community here
came, donated
meals to those who didn't have electricity.
The people who had electricity,
were cooking
and giving to the masjid.
And people were calling the masjid so that
our volunteers are here waiting
for lunch and for dinner to deliver them
to those who don't have them, just to
see the beautiful smiles
and to hear the blessed duas of those
people waiting for us to come to their
doorstep with a hot
meal. Brothers and sisters, open the doors of
their houses. Wallahi, there's a brother
that told me I have 6 families over
in my house.
6 families
just so they can be warm. Look at
how this became an
It's a test.
It befell us. But what happened?
The community came together.
We showed Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that we're
1.
We showed Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that this
community, you Allah,
will give for your sake. This community, you
Allah, will come together. We are like a
family. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said,
Indeed,
believers are but brothers and sisters. That's all
we are.
And this is exactly what we exemplified
in this past experience.
Just seeing the response,
hearing the response
was
was amazing.
It brought tears to my eyes and not
just me to many.
Just to see how so many communities
around us, perhaps Christian, Jewish community, they just
closed their doors. What are they doing? They
gave shelters and whatnot. But, no. We came
together
as one family here in epic. And that
is exactly what we are, and this is
what epic masjid is about brothers and sisters.
And this is what we want to keep
it about.
This was but an experience
that proved
to us how close we are to each
other, how tight knit this community is, and
we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to increase
us in this bond. We ask Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala to bestow His blessings upon us.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to reward
the volunteers who donated meals, who donated their
time, their cars, their energy, their houses,
their electricity, whatever they have
during these times. We ask Allah to bless
them. We ask Allah to bless their families.
We ask Allah to shower them in His
mercy. We ask Allah
to give them rizq from above them and
from below them. We ask Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala
to give them
and to unite us here as a community
who are sitting here in Yomul Jum'ah in
this blessed gathering.
Still what?