Mufti Menk – Ramadan 2022 – Reconnecting with Revelation #13 – Respect

			Geeta Boone
		

			Jelena who Isla de Gama
		

			de de
		

			de Wali, Salam o Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh. My brothers and sisters, there are a lot of
lessons to be learned from the story of the Prophet Ibrahim, Abraham May peace be upon him. When we
reconnect with Revelation we see Allah Almighty himself has repeated many stories in the Quran of
the previous prophets. Every time he mentions a story, the idea is for us to learn from it. The idea
is for us to take lesson from it. And Ibrahim alayhis salam, there are so many aspects of his life
that are covered in the Quran in Revelation for us to see, I'd like to highlight today something
very important from Surah Maryam, where Allah Almighty makes mention of a discussion between two
		

			people. Ibrahim alayhis, salam, young boy, watched his father, carving the idols selling them. He
watched his father worship the idols, he watched his father do so many things. It didn't sit well
with him.
		

			He felt always that there is something wrong. And so he started looking around, he started seeing
the stars. He said, Well, this is better than what my father does. He looked at the moon, he looked
at so many other factors. And considering
		

			what is the right thing, he never worshipped anyone or anything besides Allah, he was only
considering these things, searching for the truth. From this, we learn that if we would like to
achieve happiness, contentment, we should always be in search of the truth. Don't sit back, relax
and be satisfied when you know, deep down there is a question deep down. There is something that is
making you think, perhaps, something's wrong here. Let me see. Let me verify. Let me listen. Don't
be scared to listen. Revelation will have the response. My brothers and sisters, he comes to his
father. And he wants to address this father of his.
		

			But he looks at his father and he decides he wants to address him in the most beautiful way. He
disagrees with him very strongly. He doesn't swear he doesn't yell, he doesn't scream. He doesn't
abuse, no disrespect, nothing of that nature. But he wants to talk to his father.
		

			So he decides, I'm going to tell him I'm going to be straight to the point.
		

			He says, Yeah, but Oh, my dear father, look at the beautiful language that he is using. He says, Oh,
my dear father.
		

			Wow. Imagine addressing a father who has threatened you. He has warned you. He has tried to harm
you, as a result of you not wanting to worship what he's worshiping. And that would happen. Many
times people suffer persecution as a result of them, turning away from the religion of their
forefathers or their families. If the family is not happy, they would definitely make life difficult
for such a person. But take it in your stride. It's a price worth paying. Indeed, it's worth paying.
You lose a few people, but you don't lose the Almighty Who made you.
		

			So to worship Allah alone is something that is priceless. It is something we can never substitute
with anything. We will not sell it we will not compromise it. We worship Allah and Allah alone. We
connect with Allah, the maker, the giver of absolutely everything, the one who sent us this
revelation that we're speaking about.
		

			So Ibrahim alayhis salam. Allah Almighty says if carnally a be here, a Betty Lima, taboo malleus,
Hmong, valuable su Walla, uni and cache and oh my father, why are you worshiping that which cannot
hear you cannot see you and cannot help you cannot avail you in any way. It can't do a thing for
you. And here you are worshipping it. You are rendering yourself your acts of worship for this thing
you made you with your own hands.
		

			So Allah Almighty speaks of this, but the point here is the respect with which he addresses his
father. The Quran also explains how he hatched a plan to explain to his father physically through
experiment that
		

			See, these things cannot help. He decided to break these idols. And at the same time when they came
back and told him who did this, and they knew deep down that this was Ibrahim.
		

			He said, we'll ask them, if only they can speak. And they knew that these stones cannot speak. So
his question to them was, well, why are you worshiping them? Have you noticed he didn't scream, he
didn't yell. He didn't swear. But he was right. totally correct. He engaged them. He wanted to
convince them, he prayed for them, he tried hard with them. He prayed for them to the degree that he
was so compassionate. Allah Almighty reminded him to say, Hang on, your prayers can only go to a
certain point. May Allah Almighty bless all of us and our fathers, and grant us good guidance all
the time. So that's a lesson that I feel is extremely important, we will never be able to achieve
		

			goodness and come out of the difficulty and hardship by using harsh words, every prophet, every
single prophet, has been speaking to His people who were against him. With such good words, with so
much of respect. There was never disrespect there. The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him no matter
what they did, he was always respectful. He didn't swear them, he didn't yell at them, he didn't
abuse them. The same applies to all the others. So today's lesson was from Ibrahim alayhi salam, and
how he spoke to his father. And what we learned from that
		

			is amazing. May Allah Almighty grant us the ability to use our tongues in the correct way. Before I
move on to the next point, I want to add that this was a discussion about how Ibrahim who was a
prophet May peace be upon him, spoke to his father who was really a stray and very far astray.
		

			With us, we speak we are not prophets, and we speak to those who are not as bad in such a harsh way.
At times, we insult them, we abuse them, we swear at them, and so on. Let's change that. If we
really have reconnected with Revelation, we will change our lives. Watch the way you speak to your
spouse, to your parents, to your children, to your siblings, to your relatives, to those who work
with you or for you. We've said this many times. But it's a reminder that keeps coming. Because
Allah Almighty has kept contentment, happiness and success. In following his instruction, what does
he want you to do?
		

			He wants you to respect others, he wants you to ensure that you have offered them respect even in
disagreement. And this is why we say
		

			I respectfully differ what that means is I don't agree with you at all, but I'm not going to
disrespect you may Allah Almighty grant us goodness.
		

			And then if we look at Surah, Maryam towards the end, Allah Almighty speaks of people,
		

			people who thought they were a big deal, people who had more than you and I, people who had a lot of
wealth, a lot of authority, people who had so much, and Allah Almighty says, Do you know how? How
many of them we've destroyed?
		

			They're no longer in existence. The last verse of the Surah Maryam, Allah says, do you hear them? Do
you even hear a sound from them? Now the Pharaoh who was a great tyrant, and all the others who had
so much they amassed so much of wealth? Do you hear? Or do you hear them at all?
		

			Even a breath or even just a small sound? Nothing. So Allah Almighty is addressing us to say, oh,
man, don't become hottie people who had more than you have already returned to Allah. So no matter
what you have, you're also going to return to Allah. Allah Almighty says in verse number 74, what
come alakina Kabila home mean currently in home as an earthen or Ian, we have destroyed many before
them, who were better than them. They had more belongings than them they had much more than them
		

			and much more than you may Allah Almighty grant us a lesson. And at the end Allah Almighty asks the
same question or makes the same statement actually.
		

			He says
		

			hello to his sumen home in Hardin our test my older home Erickson
		

			Can you feel any one of their presence or do
		

			Do you even hear from them the slightest of sounds? The answer is no. So abstain from haughtiness.
Humble yourself to Allah. Be respectful when addressing others. May Allah grant us goodness Akula
Kohli have sallahu wa salam ala Nabina Muhammad Kitab
		

			Zelina who Isla de Gama Cooley
		

			eau de