Muhammad West – Back to Basics – Episode 05

			mandarake Mohammed alameen wa salatu salam ala Shafi masurian syedna Mohammed, he was
		

			a beloved brothers and sisters in Islam in Santa Monica, lava cattle.
		

			Thank you so much for joining us. This is episode five of our series, back to basics understanding
the essentials of Islam. In our last few episodes, we're talking about the evidences for the
existence of a creator. The existence of the user God, that is a supreme being, we spoke about some
of the arguments of the atheists, and we've responded to them Alhamdulillah, we spoke about the
necessity, the fundamental belief in the existence of a creator, that the originator of the
universe. And we also spoke about the concept of why agnosticism the belief in a creator and our
religion is also illogical and irrational. So today, inshallah we'll talk now about who is this
		

			creator? And what is the nature of this creator from the Islamic perspective. So when you look at
different religions, from the Hindu religion, from Christianity, African, or tribal religions,
different religions and beliefs have different concepts as to who this creator is as to his nature.
So while the majority of the religions of the world believe that there is one creator, the concept
of the Creator, the AI, the understanding of this creator, is different. And before we ask, what is
the nature of a law, what is the nature of God, from from an Islamic perspective? And so we begin to
ask, so who is Allah? And what does Islam say about him?
		

			One way to to understand what las panatela is, is to look at some of the names that Allah subhanho
wa Taala has given himself the names that Allah has given himself an indication of his attributes
and indication of his essential fundamental nature. From an Islamic perspective, we know that Allah
subhanho wa Taala, has given himself 99 names, although these are not limited, it's not limited to
these 99. But they are 99 names of perfection that he has labeled himself with an each name is an
evidence or is an indication of an attribute of his nature. So for example of the names of our last
panel data is that he is a Holic, the creator, the one that originated everything, that he's the
		

			ultimate and the supreme Creator of all that is in creation, that he is our Rob, the the most common
name that you find in the Quran after the name Allah itself is Arab and hungry like Iraq, right? I
mean, the Lord. And the word Rob, in the Arabic language implies the one who owns and controls and
sustains everything, the one on which everything belongs to everything depends on he is a Rob of his
name is Anwar Haider, I had the one and the only the one that is unique, who has no partner who has
no resemblance to him. He is a solid, the one that is completely distinct from his creation is
independent from his creation, as we said, that if the creator was dependent on anything they were
		

			to ask, then who made this allow who sustains him, but he's a Samad. He is free of the needs, he is
free of any kind of need, or any kind of dependency, that he is distinct from his creation, that he
has no likeness and resemblance unto Him. And in fact, his name Allah, the term that is used, most
commonly from an organic perspective. What is the word Allah mean? The word EDA is a very important
thing to understand many, many of us as Muslims, we use the term Allah, yet we don't understand what
the name laughter gerada what this renamed Allah subhanaw. taala actually means the term Illa Illa
means a deity or deities an object of worship. So Allah is Allah V, either the one and only object
		

			of worship the one and only deity, the only one that is deserving of worship. And as we go through
the series, will find that the central fundamental concept of Islam, that if you were to read the
Quran cover to cover and you were to extract one, one lesson, what is the primary message? So the
Quran speaks for many, many things, the ultimate message of the Quran, the ultimate message of the
religion of Islam, the thing that makes Islam different to all other religions, is that it doesn't
confirm that there's a creator or religious believers. What it confirms, is that he is a law. He is
the only one deserving of worship. Whereas you look many different religions in the world. They
		

			believe in a creator, but yet they worship Jesus. They worship the ancestors, they worship, idols
and statues and pious people Buddha, they worship the graves of saints. Allah subhanho wa Taala says
that this religion of Islam, the concept of it is that there should be no Ella's with him. There
should be no intermediaries with him that every single person has a direct relationship with his
maker as a direct relationship with the Lord.
		

			Have the whole of the universe, the one who sustains and nourishes the one that replenishes, you
have a direct relationship with him, you just simply have to raise your hands and you have access to
him. This is really what this religion of Islam is all about. And it is its strongest and most
compelling evidence about this religion is this message that you and Allah have a unique bond
without the need of an intermediary. So these are all these names, but the attribute that comes
through the most you'll find in the Quran, Allah will speak about, we know that the Creator has to
have complete and perfect knowledge and wisdom that he has complete might and control that the
		

			mountains and the oceans and the stars, all of them are subservient to him. So he has power, that he
has Granger, that he has beauty that he has majesty, all these are obvious attributes and the
qualities that is is internal to him. But the attribute which is most prevalent in him the attribute
which Allah subhanho wa Taala says about himself, if you were to ask, so we have a creator, how do I
understand this creator? What should I think when I think of this creator, then the thing that we
should think about the most is the attribute which he mentions himself over and over in the Quran,
and that is the attribute of Rama, the attribute of mercy. Allah subhanaw taala says that if one
		

			were to open the Quran, and the very first thing you would find is In the name of Allah, it begins
with Bismillah R Rahman Rahim, the beginning is in the Name of Allah, the creator and sustainer
		

			Rahman r Rahim, the first quality that he wants you to know about him the first thing Allah subhana
wa Taala wants you to know about himself is that he's a Rahman R. Rahim. Rahman is the term that it
refers to the one who is at his default, essentially, within himself. He is merciful, that
everything in creation is encompassed by His mercy, that whenever he does anything, he does so with
mercy, with compassion, with love. And then he's a Rahim which is an active form of mercy. So both
words refer to mercy Rahman is a passive that will Allah subhanho wa Taala. In a default state, He
is merciful. And Rahim is the one who when he acts, he acts with mercy. And when he interacts with
		

			his creation, he interacts with mercy. Allah subhana wa tada says about himself that he has taken
the name Rahim from the womb of the mother. Now the womb, the in Arabic of the uterus is called the
Rahim. And unless I've taken my name, Rahim, Rahim from the womb. Why? Because the uterus of the
mother, it protects and covers and loves, and has mercy on that child. from all angles and all
directions. It is the safest place in the world for that baby. So Allah Subhana Allah says, that is
how he is to his creation, to understand His mercy. Allah subhanho wa Taala says that when he
created the creation, he had created mercy into 100 pieces, one part he had seen down into his
		

			creation, so that every single act of kindness, every act of goodness, even the kindness you'd find
a mother animal having for its baby animal, from the beginning of time until the end of time, all of
that is a part of that one piece of mercy, and yet he escaped 99 for himself. This is the very first
attribute Allah subhanho wa Taala wants you to know himself. You open the first chapter of the
Quran, Praise be al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil aalameen Praise be to the Lord creator Sustainer of all of
creation. Who is he? Who is this Lord? R Rahman r Rahim. He is the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious,
The Most kind. Allah subhanho wa Taala has a number of other names that He has given himself of the
		

			names are Latif, the one who is gentle, the one that is soft when it comes to his creation and the
one that is deeply affectionate, his loving, that he is unhappy with forbidding that sin is done
against him over and over. He doesn't take vengeance on his own account, that for those who do
commit sin, He has a lot of food and a lot of fun, the one that forgives and he protects the one
that causes sin, He protects them from the consequences of that sin. He is the one that is evil
returning, no matter how many times you stray from him, he is continuously coming back to you in
terms of his creation. He is the one that if you come to him, then he wipes the slate clean. There
		

			is no baggage he completely removes sin and mistake and wrongdoings. He is Shaku the one that is
very grateful, very appreciative of the good things that his creation does for his sake. So this is
your Lord. And so how to lock the time that we live in. When we speak about agnosticism. Many people
will say yes, our natural fitrah our natural humanity necessitates that we believe that there is a
creator, but they would say I don't believe in the religion because there's nothing that gives me a
relationship with this creator. Because many people you know in life that logically we believe in
him. Our minds believe that they must be
		

			creator, but our hearts are not connected to a creator. And these were hand a lot of the ways in
which we get to have a bond with Allah or bond with our Creator is to know his names when you
understand who this, this the who Allah subhanaw taala is you understand these names, then you are
drawn closer to him You are drawn closer to him in terms of in terms of his majesty of His mercy,
Allah subhanaw taala. There are many verses in the Quran that Allah speaks about his mercy, he says,
and my mercy embraces all things and sort of light off. Allah says to His creation, that every
creature, every atom, every particle in creation, is invalid is encompassed by Mercy, even the worst
		

			of the worst, even the sinner, even the criminal that's in jail right now. Even he believes himself.
Allah says, My Mercy is encompasses all of my creation. Allah subhana wa Taala says of himself, that
you Lord has prescribed for himself mercy cutterbar and LFC Rama that he has made mercy compulsory
on him that it is compulsory on him that when he does something, he does something out of mercy,
Allah sponsors so that if any of you does evil in ignorance, and then repaints, and does the
righteous deeds, to the weight of an atom, Allah subhanho wa Taala will remove that person from
janam Allah subhanaw taala will remove them. Allah subhana wa tada says, in a hadith Oh, son of
		

			Adam, you have committed sins upon sin, and I have forgiven you and I don't mind. And he said, Oh,
my servant has committed a sin. And he has known that he has a load and he turns to his Lord for
forgiveness. So the sinner comes back to Allah, no matter how many times he sins, Allah says that my
slave has committed a sin, but he has returned to me and acknowledge the sin. So I forgiven him. And
then he continues, and then my servant commits a sin again, and he repeats and he knows that he has
a lord who forgives, he acknowledges that I forgive. So he repeats, and I have forgiven him. And
then he continues, Allah says, three, four times the sinner has sinned, and he has come back to me.
		

			So I have forgiven him because he acknowledges I am a law that is merciful. So then Allah says, so
do what you wish for, I have forgiven you also have Adam, sin, if you even if you commit sin, and
you commit sin upon sin, but you return to me, then I will guarantee you that you will have
forgiveness, that the forgiveness of Allah is guaranteed for the one who returns back to Allah,
Allah subhana wa tada in his infinite mercy. He says, oh, son of Adam, as long as you call upon me,
and you put your hope in me, I have forgiven you for what you have done. And I don't mind Oh, son of
Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky, and then you would come to seek my
		

			forgiveness. You've spent your whole life away from me, neglecting me, not obeying me not submitting
to me, you were not a submitter. But now you should come to me towards the end of your life, when
you haze gray and you're about to die. You come to me now in such a state, and your sins, the evils
you have done in this world, reaches the level of the sky. But you were to ask me for forgiveness,
then surely I will forgive you, oh, son of Adam, if you were to come to me, and this isn't the Day
of Resurrection, with sins that are so much that they fool the world, the entire planet Earth, fill
it with sins, but you meet me on that day and you did not associate a partner with me. You did not
		

			take a god other than me You did not worship someone besides Allah and Allah Subhana Allah says, and
I will come to you with a world filled with mercy filled with with forgiveness, that this your Lord
Allah subhana wa Tada. He is compassionate and loving and caring, many times with and we must say
this from an Islamic perspective. Many of us at times we never hear about the mercy and the kindness
of Allah, we get the punishment. We hear about the do's and the don'ts we hear about this religion
in terms of rules, or rather the very first thing Allah subhana wa tada wants to tell you, before he
tells you worship Him, we don't worship Him. The first thing he says is that I'm a Rahman r Rahim.
		

			Bismillah R Rahman Rahim, the first thing I want you to know is that I am merciful and I am kind and
I am loving. This is Allah subhanho wa Taala is Allah subhanho wa Taala to fully understand His
mercy,
		

			you know, a story which which which was which would touch our hearts, when we think of this, of Esau
sending them a prophet, he comes to a village with a lady, she thought she had lost her son, she she
had a little child, and she thought this child had died. And she looked frantically ways this child
and she believed he had died. And then all of a sudden, out of the ruins out of the chaos, she sees
a boy standing there, and so she rushes towards him. And she grabs him and she hugs him and she
squeezes him tight. And the profit center looks at this lady hugging her mother hugging her child
full of love and mercy. And then the Prophet says to his to harbor can look at this lady, can you
		

			imagine that this lady would ever cost this child into janam. And it's so hard for the companions.
No, by law, there's no way this lady is nothing that could happen, which will cause this lady to put
her own child in the fire. So the professor said, so too, is a lot more reluctant. A lot of people
		

			Dollar loves us more, and he's more reluctant to cost his creation into the fire into janam. If we
truly understood who Allah subhanaw taala is in terms of His mercy, if we truly had a relationship
with our Lord, as we should have the as the famous study the famous scholar hustle bustle, he said,
that you will be more comfortable, more at ease more contented with Allah subhanho wa Taala judging
you on the Day of Resurrection, then your own mother, because this Allah loves you more than your
mother, he has more mercy and key and love for you than your own mother Subhana Allah, and this is
our religion is about acknowledging the mercy, the kindness and the ganja and the greatness and the
		

			power and the might, and the punishment of this creator. The uniqueness the oneness, the eternality
of Allah subhanho wa Taala. This is really what our religion is all about. When you understand who
he is, and you understand our relationship with him. There is nothing but submission for him. It's
nothing but it's this lamp. And this is why we are Muslims, because we submit to Him fully. Because
whatever he says, some unwerth on we're and we await whatever he commands we obey whatever you
forbids, we stay away, we do so out of love, and hope and fear for Allah subhanho wa Taala our
relationship with Him relationship with him, as Allah Subhana Allah says, Oh my servant, he gives us
		

			advice. Allah speaks to us. And he says, Oh, my servant, oh, my creation, oh sons of item, I have
forbidden operation on myself. I have made it forbidden for me to replace any of my creation. And I
therefore I have made it forbidden for you to oppress each other. So do not oppress each other, oh,
my servant, all of you are astray, every single one on Earth, that you are lost, you are searching,
you have no purpose, all of you are astray, except for those who have guided. So seek my guidance of
me and I shall guide you. All my servants, all of you are hungry. All of you are in need of food.
Except for those who I feed to seek food from me alone, and I shall feed you. All my servants all of
		

			you are naked, except for those who have closed to see clothing from me and I shall clothe you, all
my servants you send by night and by day you continuously send and do wrong and do evil and do
harmful things night and day you do so and I will and I forgive all sins, I can forgive all those
sins. So seek, ask me alone for forgiveness. And I guarantee I shall forgive you, all my servants,
you will not attain harming me. Allah says the creator says to us, to us this week creation.
Sometimes we think we are grand and sometimes we think we are completely independent, we are not in
need of Allah. Allah says to you and me, oh my servants, you will not attain harming me, so as to
		

			harm me, and you will not attain benefiting me no matter what you do, you cannot benefit me either I
do not need you, so as to benefit me, oh, my servants, were the first of you, the very first person
and the last of you, and the all the people and the jinn, and all of creation, if they all the
condition together well as pious as the most pious of hearts of any of you, and you will all on that
level of it. It will not benefit, an increase the kingdom of Allah in anything I will worship, I
will submission to him does not benefit him does not increase him. And therefore Allah says, Oh, my
servants were the first of you until the last of you, the humans the gene, all of you, what do you
		

			have the most wicked of hearts, you are the most evil of creations. When this would not diminish the
kingdom, Allah it will not harm Allah in the least. Allah says, Oh, my servants, were the first of
you and the last of you, the humans have you in the gym, have you to raise up in one place and make
the requests of me you were to ask have a luck. And I want to give everyone what he requested. And
he would satisfy the needs and the ones of every single creation that I was after he had done that
and he had satisfied everybody's needs. And that will not decrease what I have, it will not decrease
a lot at all, any more than a needle decreases from the ocean when you dip into the ocean, oh my
		

			servants it is but your deeds. Allah says the purpose of life and the purpose of of why we are in
this world and ultimately the end. Allah says oh my servants, it is about your deeds that I will
judge upon you. And then I will reward you or punish you based on that. So let him who finds good
praise Allah. And let him who finds other than that blame only himself. So this, this Hadith, this
narration which Allah speaks to us, he confirms the essence of our relationship with him, that we
are in need of him, that we are constantly returning to him that we send and we make mistakes, but
he will constantly forgive us so long as we acknowledge Him and return to Him. And then ultimately a
		

			day will come whether we live this life in submission, we will go back to him in the life after this
and we'll be answerable for our deeds. And this behind all of this as we've mentioned today, it's
just the beginning understanding of who Allah subhanaw taala
		

			It is in our relationship with him and everything in Islam. The next steps we talk about we'll talk
about sada we'll talk about fasting we'll talk about Hajj, every single aspect of Islam, every rule
that you find in the Sharia what to eat, what not to eat, what to weigh, what not to eat. All of
this is about acknowledging Allah, about living a life which is pleasing to Allah so that we can
return to Him in the life after this and so that we can be close to him and reside in Jenna near to
him and this is the ultimate success. We continue inshallah with the next episode Zack Allah Hi.
chuckling so much. Any questions, concerns or comments with Mohammed he will become a Santa Monica
		

			mark with La Habra gadgets.