Mufti Menk’s Lecture at Doha Islamic Convention 2013, held in Katara.
Mufti Menk – Divine Light for Living Right
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of belief in the life of the people and the need to pursue one's life with love and concern. They stress the importance of living by rules and regulations, setting rules and regulations, and reaching out to everyone. The holy spirit is seen as a way to achieve happiness and happiness in life, and developing one's character and conduct is crucial for achieving success in heaven.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah
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Salah,
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salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.
smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam O Allah Muhammad Ali Al amin Nabina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa jabeen woman zombie son, Elijah Medina.
We praise Allah subhanho wa Taala. We send complete blessings and salutations upon all the messages that were sent by Allah Subhana Allah to Allah from the very beginning, all the way to Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. These include the messengers, Noah May peace be upon him, Moses, Aaron, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael. These are the names in the English language, some of them may or last peace be upon them all. And may Allah subhanho wa Taala bless all their companions, those who struggled and strove to promote the goodness that was brought or taught by Allah subhanho wa Taala through these messengers, and may the almighty bless every single one of us to
my brothers and sisters. It is indeed an honor to be here in front of you this evening, in this beautiful venue, in the beautiful city of Doha, in Qatar, and really speaking about divine light, it's important for us to go back to the very beginning. When the Almighty Allah subhanho wa Taala decided to create men, he definitely would never have left mankind without showing him or explaining to him why he was created. So Allah subhanho wa Taala decided to send messengers, in order for these messages to convey to us all as mankind, why He created us.
Sometimes we sit and we ponder over the creation of the Almighty and we look into ourselves and we feel that the life we have is complete, it is full. It is unique, and it is such sometimes we feel that it's not so easy for me to die right here right now and meet my Creator. This is what sometimes the human mind or human nature makes us feel because a lot of the times we would think
I am healthy. I am a person who is not suffering any disease. Perhaps I'm sitting at home, perhaps I'm in a comfort zone, not realizing that no matter how healthy we are, no matter how wealthy we may be, no matter how easy our life might be, they will come a day when we will depart when we will leave this world. And the messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has told us that the average lifespan of the members of my oma is between 60 and 70 years. So those who live below 60 have perhaps lived below the average. And those who have clocked 70 would now be living on that which would be known as above average.
It is easier for us to prepare for the day we meet with our maker when we become older, but the winner is he or she who can be prepared at any given time to meet their maker his or her maker. May Allah subhanahu wa taala grant us ease. The reason why I started this way is because belief is very, very closely connected to the message that the Almighty has sent and accepting it understanding that this life is in fact temporary. It is something that does not last forever, no matter how healthy you are. A day will come when you and I shall be gone. Just like those before us have already left. They have left yet they were healthier than us and they had more wealth than us. Take a look at rune
For example, one of the men who was there at the time of Musa alayhis salam, the Prophet Moses May peace be upon him at the time of the pharaoh where Allah subhanho wa Taala says, our lamea
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this qarun who was a tyrant? Has he not seen that we have destroyed nations who are more powerful than him greater in number more in might or have has he not seen and learned a lesson from that we ask the almighty to grant us goodness, the point being made is he was powerful. And before him were people who are mightier who had left, a lot of us would look at this life as being that which we need to cling to. And we need to enjoy as much as we can do as we please not realizing that we should be enjoying but within the parameters shown to us by the light that was sent to us from the Almighty Who made us in the first place. Someone has made us We are not here tonight.
Coincidentally, you made an effort to come here, someone brought you here or you drove yourself here. You made an effort to be here, Mashallah, you've come up with some warm clothing as well seeing that it's quite cold this evening. Alhamdulillah. But would you suddenly have a jacket on you without you having made any effort, you know, you just feel cold. And next thing, you have a beautiful jacket, and it's on you, that doesn't happen. Similarly, we are not coincidentally here in this world, we did not just come up for no reason. And we will then just die without anything to come. Rather we were put here by America. And that's what we believe. And this make we are
answerable and responsible to him. And it would be wrong for the maker to have brought us into this world without having given us direction. So he sent for us the guiding light from the very beginning, the light came through the prophet alayhi salatu was Salam. O we may call him the forefather our Our Father, Who we say is the greatest grandfather that we would know Adam May peace be upon him.
The light came the instruction came he was told he was taught he taught his children and his children taught this and so on. And every so often the Almighty sent messengers with them, he sent the light. What was this light? A set of instructions? Why have I made you What is this life all about? And this is why if you take a look at those who have forgotten that they are going to return to a maker, and they do as they please in this world. Many times you would find that they do not enjoy the life, no matter what they have, they are still not happy, they want more. And this is why the messenger peace be upon him has told us that the son of Adam is such that if you were to give
him a valley full of gold, he would want another one. You know, sometimes we sit in my shell I see, you know, perhaps a lot of us here expatriate people who have come here to work. Let me give you this example. We have people who come from humble beginnings. And they shift to a country like this thinking that we are going to earn a little bit of money. And perhaps we will then you know buy something back at home or invest and try and get ourselves settled and perhaps our children and so on. And maybe we would be happy with the first million dollars. And then what happens is you make the mark you hit the million and when you hit the million
Do you stop? The answer is no, you start looking at the next million. And when you hit 2 million before you know 10 million.
And before you know it, you want more because now you own half the buildings in your little city. And the next thing you want to be a big boss, so it doesn't stop. This is explained by Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the son of Adam, if you were to give him a valley full of gold and want another one, the second one, he wants a third one. May Allah subhanho wa Taala, Grant His goodness, He who is disciplined and understands that, yes, we should be enjoying the life in this world. As best as we can on condition that we do not compromise. The pleasure of our own maker is the one who is the happiest in this world, the one who has the most contentment. Sometimes, you can actually see
on the face this person is so content, they are so happy, yet they have imposed upon themselves the restrictions that they have found in the guiding lights. So now if we were to look at the Quran, for example, and although we do accept the Bible, and the Old Testament, and so on, in its original form, we do believe that there are a few discrepancies and it has been changed over time, as you know, so many versions and so on. So, we will be citing the Quran because without doubt, there is no change in it. And this is a challenge that has been made from the very beginning and repeated today, where there is no difference in the Quran that we would read and that which was read 1400 odd years
ago, may Allah subhanahu wa taala grant us the ease of understanding this guidance and the light and the revelation. So Allah says,
I have not created mankind or humankind except for a purpose. What is the purpose mentioned in this particular verse, except for them to engage in a bad, a bad the meaning to obey the instructions that have been laid down in the divine light and abstain from the prohibitions to worship the Almighty. And we've always explained that when we say we have been created to worship the Almighty, it is not a boring statement that would require a person to stand in perpetual prayer, known as the five daily prayers and prolong it. No, no is it
that a person should be fasting every single day. These are perhaps direct acts of worship. However, we have been explained in the same revelation and in the words of the messenger who brought the light to us that in fact, worshiping the almighty simply means ensuring that you do not go against his commands and ensuring that you try your best to fulfill the obligations that he has laid upon you. And this is when we will achieve a lot of happiness, a lot of joy, a lot of goodness and Allah subhanho wa Taala describes the Quran, when addressing the People of the Book and Allah subhanho wa Taala says further.
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it has come to you from Europe from Allah subhanho wa Taala, the light the light has come to you from your from your maker, that which is clear, a book that is manifest it has indeed rules and regulations. May Allah subhanho wa Taala, grant us goodness. So my brothers and sisters, the happiest of us are those who understand that we need to live by set rules and regulations that were revealed by the one who made us the one who created us, the one whom we are going to return to and this is where we get to the worship of the one alone, singular he who made me sometimes we have discussions with people of different backgrounds, seeing what they worship and seeing what happens
in their lives and so on, and seeing the type of light they derive from which source and so on. And we always have this overriding issue, that the maker is the one who deserves worship, the one who made me I owe him my entire existence. So I will call him the worship one. And if we take a look at the root of the word Allah, which is the name given to that deity, we will find that it also includes in its meaning, the worshipped one, Allah, Allah, Who to worship the one who is worshipped as the one who is worship Allah. So if I say, Allahu Akbar, in essence, all I'm saying is, the one who is worshipped is the greatest. So who is the one who is worship? He who made me whoever made me
I call him the worship one, he is one is singular, he is alone. I am not allowed to worship anything or anyone besides he who made me whether it is a human being, whether it is a tree or a stick, or a stone or a source of power besides He Who is the man
can order a profit of the Almighty or a saint or a grave or a tree? No, my life is once. It is absurd for me to risk that life by worshipping that, which I would be risking my entire life by worshipping that which is created just like I am. I need to worship the maker alone. So if I were to say, for example, the name of an individual and I were to say I worship Him, what a big risk I'm taking because I'd rather say I worship the one who made me and this is why you take a look at the Arabic language the term is used. When we say Alhamdulillah Allah Allah me, All praise is due to the worshipped one. Lord of the words when we say Lord of the worlds the term Lord is used, because the
English language does not have the exact equivalent of the word boon. Whereas Robin the Arabic language, includes or would mean the one who made you in the first place. The one who nourishes cherishes provides for the one who is in absolute control of every aspect of your life and mine, every aspect of existence, the one whom we are going to return to all this part and parcel of the term Rob. So when we say Rob bone, we're actually referring to the maker, the cherisher, the provider, the one he alone The irresistible and for this reason, if we were to be bothered, and we were to take a careful look at the names and qualities of the Almighty Allah subhanho wa Taala, we
would understand who he is much better. And for this reason, Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has explained to us that the Almighty has many names, many qualities, Whosoever memorizes understands and lives by the meanings of 99 of these names by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala he will be granted paradise because now you have recognized your maker, you recognize your maker, you stand a great chance inshallah of entering the garden, may Allah subhanho wa Taala. Grant us that garden, maybe it will mighty grant is really that which is blissful in this world, and that which is eternally blissful in the life after death, my brothers and sisters, it is important for us to
recognize and realize the source of the light, the source of the light from the maker himself, he has sent the messengers, if you take a look at the common points between the Semitic religions, you will find definitely that their source is one, take a look at the time of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, when he sent the messenger to the negative of Amazonia, and the joshy. And this man was a staunch Christian, devout Christian, when he read verses of the Quran or when they were excited for him by one of the companions known as Jaffa.
Peace and mercy be upon them all. Immediately, he said, you know, the message that Jesus May peace be upon him brought, and this message you are reading for me now hails from the same Lantern, it actually is the light of the same Lantern, it comes from the same source, he recognized it was light, it has something in it that will pull you it is magnetic, it has a feeling of soothing this within it. We asked the almighty to grant us from that. So when he recognized the light, immediately, he said, this is the light recognized by me as being that from the same source, as what Jesus May peace be upon him came with my brothers and sisters, we need to realize that if we do not
make an effort to read, if we do not make an effort to find out, we definitely will be from the losers. We need to educate ourselves. What is it that the almighty wants from me? I have a life that is so short, when I die? Am I just going to go into thin air? Am I just going to be a person who's going to go back into the atmosphere? Am I going to be a person who's going to become a tree and a plant and so on? These are questions that are pertinent. There are questions that need answers for me and you to understand. And the best the best if you look at the bulk of those who have looked into the light, they will tell you no way. Indeed there is definitely some where we are heading. And
indeed We need to prepare for the day we leave because this world is just short and temporary. I need at this moment to make sure that I live my life such that I reach out to as many people whilst I'm here you are living, how long are you going to live for? You don't have a guarantee how long you're going to be here for so your mission here is one of two things or both of these things. The first is to develop a link with he who made you because you are definitely going to return to Him. So when we put our head on the ground in what is known as the prostration also dude, we would say so behind Allah be Allah declaring the praise of he who made us who is the highest upon I am putting my
head on the ground for whoever made me Wow Subhan Allah. The feeling is
Something amazing. I put my head on the ground. A lot of the times people have a misunderstanding, you know, when we are not educated well enough, we think why are these people putting their heads on the ground? What for? You know, what is it? Do they worship a black box in Makkah? Or perhaps do they worship a little same to someone else who is here or that no, we are saying, Glory be to you the most high The one who made me the one who nourishes the one who is in absolute control of every aspect of my existence. I owe this to you that I put my head on the ground for you and I worship you alone a year,
or a year Ghana's dying in the first surah of the Quran, known as Surah Fatiha, and I'm sure we would all or the bulk of us would know it of by heart. Allah subhanho wa Taala clearly makes mention of one of the major aspects of the faith. And that is you alone, we worship you alone, we seek help. So when we seek help from the almighty alone, and when we worship, we worship Him alone, we ask Allah subhanho wa Taala. To grant us understanding, the first thing is to develop a link with our maker. The second thing is to reach out to the rest of the creatures of the Almighty. Firstly, starting with human beings, we always preach being kind to your family, being good to those around
you, your relatives, your parents have been chosen for you not by error, not by coincidence, not by mistake, carefully planned and selected by the Almighty Who made you He made you and he chose a means of creation through parents known as your parents. So you owe them a lot, be they Muslim or not Muslim, be they have any faith you owe them the respect you owe them obedience for as long as they do not instruct you to do something absurd that does not conform with that which the Almighty has instructed, because obviously this ultimate maker instructs you with one thing, if those whom he chose to make you through have instructed you with something contradictory, who would come first,
the ultimate maker, may Allah subhanho wa Taala. Grant us an understanding. So develop the link with your parents, ensure that you speak with them correctly, ensure that you reach out to them, like I said, being a Muslim or not, make sure that you serve them make sure that you do not abandon them. Make sure that you excuse them, sometimes perhaps for a few things they may have done that might not be that correct. A lot of the times we fail to understand that they too are human beings trying many of us here who are parents, we have children, we are so concerned, especially in the environment that is ever changing so quickly. We are so concerned about the upbringing of our children, and we
try and sometimes we might have said a harsh word, we hope and pray that our children can overlook that understanding that is the love we have for them, that would make us sometimes perhaps be so passionate about them seeing the straight path may Allah subhanho wa Taala, grant us goodness, then we reach out to our brothers, our sisters, our children, our grandparents, our uncles and aunts, the rest of the community and thereafter, the entire oma the Muslims, the non Muslims and everyone whether they think similar to you or not, how have you reached out to them positively? That's the question. People today, very, very impatiently look at those who do not think exactly like them and
say, This man's a hate preacher, that one there is intolerant, this person is this and that person is that this one does not deserve to be living. Who are we to say that? We need to ask ourselves, how can we reach out positively to everyone we interact with? How can we reach out to the maximum number of people that is in fact Islam that is the source of the light, that is the light through which you shall be living right May Allah subhanahu wa taala grant us correctness and uprightness of living. So, if we are not prepared to reach out to fellow human beings, how are we going to reach out to the rest of the creatures of the Almighty such as animals? I know of some people who say,
What does Islam teach about being kind to animals? And I say definitely there is a lot if you take a look at Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam his teachings how he has taught us that there was a woman who was quite sinful who was granted paradise because she was compassionate towards a dog by quenching its first amazing a dog being an animal and you and I would know that it is something that people use the term dog sometimes to swear one another mela protect us yet it is an animal that is a creature of the Almighty. How did I reach out to the dogs? May Allah protect us that are real animals in a way that I perhaps could have got closeness to my own maker because that is a creature
of the Almighty. Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us an understanding, going back to that Hadith or the saying of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam where he explains that this woman had quench the thirst of a dog and in return the almighty became pleased with her. From that we definitely learn that there is a very, very great door of worship very, very great doors through which we can worship the almighty
Known as being merciful and compassionate to all the creatures of Allah subhanho wa Taala, your hammer, man will be your ham Command V center, powerful words of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the words of light, have mercy on those on Earth, have mercy upon those be compassionate upon those on earth, and the one in the heavens, who will be compassionate upon you. That is something we should be living by. Whenever we look at others, we should ask ourselves and really and truly, how have I benefited this person, whether you know them or not, is irrelevant. If you cannot benefit them, do you know what we are taught the minimum is, and this is from the source the guiding
light, we should not harm them. If I cannot benefit you in any way, I should ask myself, have I protected myself from harming you. So I will not spread rumor about you, I will not falsely accuse you, I will not hurt you. Sometimes, you know, we don't realize in today's world, even the way we park our cars, sometimes is very very inconsiderate of those who perhaps have parked before us or we block out some roads or perhaps an exit and so on. All this, if we were to follow the guiding light, it would immediately be made clear to us that I'd rather park my car a little bit further away, and be a person whom nobody's going to curse. I don't want to harm anyone I might not even know whom I
created ease for. But the fact that I've followed the rules, and I've been as best as I could, in terms of consideration for others, I've already achieved some of the pleasure of the Almighty because we are all creatures of the Almighty with equal access to the same creator and maker. Do not think for a moment that I have more access than you have to the almighty No, you are also a creature of the Almighty whom he loves. He made He is waiting for to turn just like myself. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us goodness, and may He open our doors.
Brothers and sisters, if we take a look at the Quran, and if we take a look at the beauty of it, if we take a look at it, we will realize it is the source of light. The difficulty is many of us who are born Muslims have not yet read the Quran in a language that we understand, trying to understand what is it that my maker is telling me. And this is why we say the most important message would be the message of the Almighty. You haven't yet understood it. You haven't yet read it. You haven't yet made an effort to open the book, and to actually read up on the verses and see what exactly they mean. If that's the case, people could fool you. A lot of people think Islam is a violent religion,
preaching and promoting hatred and so on. The reason is they are ignorant. They don't know about Islam, they haven't read the scriptures and they don't understand it. They have not comprehended, they did not go deeper in it. They did not discuss and they did not get from the good sources of the deen and the religion. And that's why they have a misunderstanding. But if we are to look at Revelation, and we are to understand it, read the verses wherever you don't understand clarify from a qualified person. I've read this, I really don't understand what it means please can you explain it to me? Immediately you will be able to recognize the divine words of the maker today. If you
think there is a powerful speaker, and he speaks so well and so on. And you think his words are very effective? What about the words of the maker himself? Believe me, I started this particular talk with
a little recitation from the Koran in the Arabic language. And if you were to have listened very carefully, it would have affected you definitely. It has a soothing feeling in it. Allah says in the verses I read, that if we were to have sent down the Koran upon a mount, it would have crumbled. It would have crumbled out of humility, and out of the obedience of Allah subhanho wa Taala and Allah subhanho wa Taala says, We sent it to you Oh man, do you know what oh man, Have you even tried to read it to understand it? Have you even tried to know what your maker has said?
At times in life, we become so engrossed in trying to live a life full of ease and goodness where we want to we have aimed at a particular motor vehicle, a particular type of a house, a particular area to live in certain type of clothing, some type of perfume, perhaps certain type of dress and what have you. And we are living in such a way that we spend our days and nights earning money so that we can live a comfortable life, not realizing that we did not yet spend the moments. We did not yet spend even a few moments trying to understand what would result in the happiness of the time after the closing of my eyes. When I have gone when I go back to my makeup what will help me the most. So
I want to end by making mention of the narration of Mohammed
salaallah alayhi wa sallam where the companions asked him a beautiful question. They said, Oh messenger, may peace be upon them all?
What are the qualities that would have resulted in the people of paradise? having earned paradise? We want to know those who have earned paradise? What is it that took them there? What are the salient features of these people? What did they do that earned them that beautiful rank in paradise. And immediately he said, two things, the cola he was
the consciousness of the maker consciousness of Allah subhanho wa Taala. You know, we try our best to obey the instructions of our maker, and good character and conduct, good character and conduct, how you speak to people, how you relate to them, how you've helped them, how you've been of benefit to all creatures, mankind at large, and the other creatures of the Almighty, and the goodness of your heart, the purity of it, the fact that you have appreciated one another, and the fact that you've reached out as best as you could, and you have developed yourself, this is what will result in your entry into paradise. And this is what has resulted in the entry into paradise of the bulk of
those who are found in paradise made the almighty take us there. So tonight, we need to really make a resolve for ourselves to develop our character to become better people within our own homes, with our own spouses, children, family members, parents, grandparents, uncles, in laws, and so on, as well as the neighbors, those whom we live around those who perhaps maybe have diverse nationalities, Mashallah this beautiful country has so many nationalities, sometimes we don't even know the people who stay on our floor where we live, high rise apartment building, and we don't even know our neighbors, I think we are guilty. Have we never reached out to them with a little gift sometimes, to
say, you know what, my brother, you're my neighbor, or with a little note, or even a little visit to say, I'm your neighbor, if there's anything I can do for you, please. And you know, sometimes when we say these statements, some people don't really mean that, you know, one day, I was offered a drink by a certain person. He was he had a few drinks in his hand and he says, you know, Would you like something? And I tried to take one and he said No, I wasn't really meaning. And I'm like, What are you talking about? You know, it's football with the football does not mean Please don't take Come on man. You should be genuine. You should be saying look, can you have some if I take it, you
should be Junior. So when you offer help to your neighbor, don't just say if there's anything you need, let me know and when they call you to say you know what we're leaving for the weekend can say sorry, we're not going to be able to do that. Not that you know, so what was the point of offering help? Let's be genuine when we offer each other help my brothers and sisters and it's not that we offering them help as in they are in need but it is a privilege and an honor to be used by your neighbors for you to look or to keep an eye upon their property once they are away. Tomorrow you may need that so that is a topic on its own. But tonight inshallah we are resolute that we will make a
difference within our own character and conduct reach out to, as I say humanity at large. Be at peace with the creatures of the Almighty. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us goodness and remember to develop the consciousness of the Almighty. Remember to develop your link with the almighty at all times. We ask Allah Subhana Allah Allah to bless us to grant us ease and to open our doors inshallah we meet again tomorrow and I hope the program can continue. Also really, we have braved the cold in such large numbers and to be honest with you I for 1am feeling so warm with the warmth of everyone who is here. I hope you share that with me akuto
muslimeen masala Allahu wa Sallim wa barik ala nabina Muhammad wa Salam alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh