Nadim Ali – The Rope Of Hope
AI: Summary ©
The speakers stress the importance of not being a Muslim until we can establish a deity and hold fast to the rope of Allah. They emphasize the need to assert themselves and teach the people that Islam is the way to live, and to follow the truth. They stress the importance of protecting Islam and not compromising on deen, and emphasize the need to learn from examples and be part of a movement for justice and cooperation. They also encourage people to visit the APAC region and be part of a movement for justice and cooperation.
AI: Summary ©
Indeed, our praise belongs to Allah, the most
high. We thank him, and we seek his
aid, and we seek his forgiveness.
And we seek refuge with him from the
evil of ourselves and from our bad actions.
Whoever Allah guides, then there's no one who
can mislead him and whoever Allah causes to
go astray, then there's no one to guide
him.
I bear witness that there is no deity
except Allah who is unique and without partners
and I bear witness that Muhammad is his
worshiper and his messenger. May the peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him and his
family and his companions and those who follow
them with good intentions
until the day of judgment.
All you who believe, fear Allah as he
should be feared and don't die except as
Muslims. Again, all you who believe, fear Allah
as he should be feared and don't die
except as Muslims.
And, oh, mankind, be careful of your duty
to Yorab who created you from a single
soul and from it created its mate. And
from the 2 of them, he spread forth
many men and women.
Be careful of your duty to Allah whom
you demand your mutual rights and be careful
your duty to the wounds that bore you.
Indeed,
Allah is our over you.
All you who believe, fear Allah and always
speak the truth, he will cause your deeds
to be beneficial and he will forgive for
you your sins and whoever obeys Allah and
his messenger, then he has truly achieved
a tremendous accomplishment.
For indeed, the best speech is the book
of Allah and the best guidance is the
guidance of Mohammed sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and
the most evil of all affairs are newly
invented matters,
which has no precedence in Islam indeed.
All innovations are astray and each astray is
in the hellfire and oh Allah, save us
from it.
Oh Allah, accept our
And hold fast altogether by the rope which
Allah stretches out for you
and be not divided amongst yourselves and remember
with gratitude Allah's favor on you for you
were enemies and he joined your hearts in
love
so that by his grace, you became brethren.
And and you were on the brink of
the pit of the fire and he saved
you from it.
Thus doth Allah make his signs clear to
you
that you may be guided.
It's from Ansar
al Ibrahim.
And also as Allah says in the Quran,
and do not walk on the earth with
arrogance.
Indeed, you will never tear the earth apart,
and you will never reach the mountains in
height.
And one of the things I know many
people are talking about,
today,
throughout the country is last night's
debate. And as Muslims, you know, again, as
I said, if we're gonna be here, we
need to be here. And what I mean
by that, we need to be involved
in all aspects of the society, not just
merchants, not just taking what we can from
this society.
Even the scholars say, if you're gonna be
in a majority
non Muslim or not yet Muslim country, you
should be there for educational purpose,
for business purposes,
or dawah purposes.
You know, and so, again,
if we're not doing any of those three
things, they say, what why why are we
here?
You know, so we need to be involved,
and our voices
need to be heard. You hear all always
say it said that, this is a Judeo
Christian society,
a Judeo Christian society. But when they established
this country, where were the Muslims?
The Muslims were enslaved people at that time.
And so, in the beginning of this country,
we didn't have
input in how to put this country together,
how the constitutional constipation,
how how they put it together.
You know, so we have to recognize
that from the beginning,
they were trying to, you know, basically erase
our presence.
And so
we are
a significant presence in this country, so we
have to be of those who are active
in all aspects. Not, again, not just the
economics,
but we need to be involved in the
civil life as well. If we're gonna be
here, we need to be here.
And from my observations and from
the pundits, as they call it, last night's
debate,
Trump pathologically lied and Joe pathologically, politically died.
You know,
and again, we cannot base our hopes and
dreams on this political system. We have to,
again, as we talked about the ayat, hold
fast to the rope of Allah. As Muslims,
we have to continuously petition Allah,
may he be created and exalted,
that we want to change the condition. As
Allah says, he does not change the condition
of a people until they change that which
is in their heart. And so, as we
become more committed to this deen, and not
just
Islam as a religion, but Islam as a
way of life, and part of having that
way of life, You know, we need to
be established and again, economic systems. We need
to be establishing,
political systems that recognize us. We need to
be establishing
educational systems
and and also institutions of of higher learning
as well as medical systems. These are the
things that we need to be put in
place and not just be here like bumps
on the log, brothers and sisters.
If we're gonna be here, we need to
be here, and the law gives us this
rope. He say he extends this rope. It's
the rope of hope.
And the only way that rope is disconnected
is when we let go.
When we let go, you hear the people,
I used to be Muslim. I tried to
do that.
You know, they let go
as opposed to recognizing
that it's Allah
who put us here,
because we didn't have a choice on coming
here through our mothers,
and we don't have a choice on how
we're gonna lead here.
There are people I've worked I was just
talking to someone yesterday. I worked with a
a client at the Georgia Regional.
He tried to kill himself, blew his,
front of part of his brain off,
but the racist part was left there.
You know? And he would, you know, he
would say things to me, and then he
would look at me,
and I wouldn't respond. He said, oh, you
one of them smart niggas.
You know? And and then, you know, what
we,
recognize that he tried to kill himself with
a shotgun and couldn't do it.
Couldn't do it. So, again, that shows me
it tells me that,
you know,
when we can't determine how we're gonna leave
here or where we're gonna die, as the
law says in the Quran.
We have to be of those who
are striving to establish this deen in this
society.
And many of us who are African American,
you know, again, our people have gone through
the legacy of the middle passage,
Jim Crow, the struggles of the fifties sixties,
and also we look at the reversals
of the rights
that's happening now.
You know, a lot of times people will
talk to me and they will ask, you
know, why, you know, why you always protesting?
Why do we always see you protesting this
and protesting that? Why don't you sit down
and write a quote somewhere?
You
know? But again, we need to be involved.
As Muslims, we have to understand, not just
understand, but overstand
that, intrinsically, there is no separation of church
and state in Islam. You know, there's no
separation between the religious institutions and the political
institutions in Islam. Islam is the rope of
hope, and it's also it's the arc. It's
the arc that we need to be be
on.
Because you can see by the leadership that
this country is choosing,
this thing is falling.
And as this thing falls,
the science says that, what's it, 2 entities
can't occupy the same space at the same
time.
And
so what is gonna fill the vacuum
that's left when this system falls? It has
to be Islam because, again, throughout the world,
the Muslims
are basically asserting themselves, and we have to
assert ourselves over here. And not just integrate,
but we have to basically
establish these necessary systems and teach the people
that the Islam is the way.
Again,
we have to believe this if we're gonna
be successful
during this time. Again, we have to, again,
contemporize the struggles,
contemporize the struggles of all the prophets, because
all the prophets dealt with the leadership and
the political leadership of their day.
All of them. We look
at Ibrahim alaihi salaam, we look at Musa
alaihi salaam, and
and the prophet salaam,
dealt with all their political leadership and the
economic leaderships and again, the moneyed interest in
this society.
They want
to go back and or go to a
fascist regime,
an authoritarian
regime,
a regime in which the rich folks are
controlling everything, the super rich.
You have people who have more money
than, you know, millions of people on the
planet.
And so they think they, you know, have
they they have this,
this this complex, this god complex.
But when we look at again how the
prophets, how they dealt with the political powers
of their time, and we have to look
at it
and use it as a lesson, a pertinent
lesson on how we need to deal with
the political and economic systems of today,
We look at prophet Ibrahim, alaihis salam.
Allah says, have you not considered
the one who argued with Ibrahim about his
lord merely because Allah had given him kingship?
Again, Allah gave him the kingship.
And when Ibrahim
said, my lord is the one
who gives life and causes death. He said,
I give life and cause death. Ibrahim
said, indeed, Allah brings the sun from the
east, so bring it from the West.
And so, again, he was overwhelmed
in astonishment by the with the hikma or
the wisdom that that Ibrahim
gave.
And then the law says, he says Allah
does not guide wrongdoing people.
And again, the prophet Ibrahim
he stood up to the king who claimed
divinity
and challenged him to bring the sun from,
you know, from the west. And again, this
story teaches us that we shouldn't compromise our
deen,
even in the face of political
and economic authority. No matter how much people
money people have, we should not basically compromise
our deen. We continue to hold on to
that rope of hope. We must always stand
up for the truth.
Even Allah says, to even be a witness
against yourself.
You know, when you're guilty, you have to
be able to to to to to be
a witness against yourself and take the consequences
so that you don't get the consequences in
the hereafter.
We look at the story of Musa
It says that Allah tells us And so
when this messenger went to Pharaoh and said,
deliver my servants, but Pharaoh became haughty and
disobedient within the city. He said, who is
Allah that I should take him as a
lord instead of myself? How arrogant is that?
How arrogant is that?
And the prophet Musa alayhi salam, again, he
was sent by Allah to confront the pharaoh
and call them to the worship of Allah.
And again, pharaoh,
he was a powerful ruler. He thought he
was he thought he was a deity for
the most part. And again, this story of
pharaoh of Musa alayhi salam teaches us that
we must never again be afraid to challenge
those who are in power
even when they are tyrants
and oppressors,
and again, standing up for justice, standing up
for truth.
Again, even if it's against the powerful, because,
you know, I tell people all the time,
we shouldn't play both sides of a the
Quran
and
the
Hadith
and
what
Allah
has
sanctioned.
Make
your
move.
The Quran and the hadith and what Allah
has sanctioned. Make your move,
and don't worry about what's around the corner,
because, again, we don't know what's going on
the next day, as the prophet said, live
each day as if it's gonna be your
last again, because one day you're gonna be
right.
We must always stand up for truth.
We look at the story of Isa alaihis
salam.
Allah tells us in Isa, the son of
Mary,
said, oh, said, oh, children of Israel, indeed,
I am the messenger of Allah to you
confirming what has came before me of the
Torah and bringing good tidings of the messenger
to come after me whose name is Ahmed.
But when he came to them with clear
evidence, what did they say? This is but
obvious magic.
And we look at the prophet, he said,
and he came to them, he said again,
confirming the Torah and bringing the news, and
again,
they tried to call him a magician.
And again, this story teaches us again that
we shouldn't be
swayed by the opinions of other, how others
will see us if we know we're standing
on the truth.
Because we have people who are so called
powerful and influential, and we we can't we
can't allow
that to sway the message that we're bringing.
We must always follow the truth even if
it's unpopular, because if you look at this
system, it's a democratic system,
And and pure democracy means the majority rules,
bottom line.
You know, and so in Islam,
and and if if if if the majority
is wanting to do something that's totally against
what Allah says, then people won't go for
that. You know, but we have to basically
structure any type of system around the Quran
and around the Hadith.
It's not about the majority, because again, the
majority
may not be right all the time.
Sometimes it's a it's a it's a minority.
And we look at
the story of the prophet Muhammad, peace be
upon him.
And Allah tells us, oh prophet, urge the
believers to battle. If there are 20,
who who are steadfast, they will overcome 200.
And if there are among you 100 who
are steadfast, they can overcome a 1,000
of those who have disbelieved
because they are people who do not understand.
So when you stand there on the truth,
Allah said he will give you the control.
He will give you the success
even if
you may feel as though that you are
outnumbered.
The prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, was
sent as a messenger to the Arab people
and to the world who were mostly polytheists
and idolaters. And again, he faced fierce opposition.
He felt they felt as though they were
he he's gonna mess up their economic system.
He's gonna mess up their, you know, the
because they were basically going around the Kaaba
in such a way that that was disgusting.
And so, when he basically bought the message
of the one deity, whereas they worship 360
deities,
you know, he thought they were gonna mess
with their money.
Story teaches us again that we must never
be afraid again to stand up for our
beliefs
even in the face of overwhelming oppositions. Again,
we must be steadfast and patient and trust
in the Lord to grant us victory.
You know, again, we have to
look at the world today. We live in
a world, again,
where the political and economic
powers control
many aspects of our lives.
And so sometimes it can cause us to
be disillusioned. So we have to be of
those who are who are steadfast.
We have to be of those who are
striving to establish Islam, and what they'll call
you, they'll call you an Islamist,
an Islamist.
You know? And so but with in in
in in
in in the term of Islamist
is that you basically you're prioritizing Allah's word
in the prophet, peace be upon him, actions
that's dictated to us through the Hadid. And
so we have to be of those who
continuously
strive and struggle, and not just view Islam
as a religion, but as a way of
life.
We have to hold fast to the rope
of hope. If I've said anything that's inconsistent
with what Allah has given us and the
prophet peace be upon him teaches us, I
take full responsibility for that. And if I've
said anything
that you have gained
new insight on this, always all praise belongs
to Allah.
Allah.
O Allah, send peace and blessings upon our
beloved prophet Muhammad and his family and his
companions and Allah increase his honor and elevate
his station and grant him the highest place
in paradise and bless him with your divine
mercy and, O Allah, bless us with his
intercession on the day of judgment and forgive
our sins.
Amen.
Again, as Muslims, it's important for us to
to learn from the examples of the prophets
and stand up for the truth. And, again,
we can't compromise.
Again, even if it means imprisonment, even if
it means persecution
or oppression.
At the same time, we have to strive
for cooperation
with people of various faiths, because again, we
live in what's called a pluralistic
society.
You know, know, and if you look at
during the time of the prophet, peace be
upon him,
there were people who didn't believe,
there were people who believed in several deities,
there were people who were, people who followed
the the the Torah, as well as people
who followed, the Christian faith. They had somewhat
of a pluralistic society there as well, and
so if you look in the beginning of
Islam, there were rules
as to how we were to treat the
people of the book.
And then we look at one of the
greatest example in of history, in the history
of the 3, what they call Abrahamic religions
getting along, is Muslim Spain, Muslim Spain.
Christians, Jews,
and Muslims lived together in harmony for centuries,
for centuries, and so I always say
America
has that potential.
It has that potential to be similar to
to Muslim Spain.
And again, that's known as the golden age
of Spain, and then when you look at,
you know, how Europe came out of the
dark ages, it was with their contact
with the Muslims.
And so we have to basically
not just
sit around and just,
learn the religion, but we need to learn
all of the sciences
and basically preserve it and and get involved
with all of the the skills that's needed
to run a society because again, we don't
know what's gonna happen tomorrow.
Again,
during that time, the Abrahamic faiths coexisted and
contributed
again to a flowing
culture of art, science, and literature.
And again, we have to learn lessons from
these prophets
and strive for justice
and cooperation in our own time. Let us
stand up for for the truth. And again,
remember,
Allah is always with us and he's guiding
us and he's supporting us in our struggle.
These are some of the things that we
have to to really look at brothers and
sisters, specifically
our younger brothers and sisters, the next generation.
You know, what's as as you stand on
our shoulders, just like we stand on the
shoulders of the the people we came before,
that came before us, you know, and so,
again,
establishing systems are is the way to go.
You know, these are some of the things
we wanna look at. Again, holding on to
that rope of hope. And if we establish
it based on Islam,
you know, we we will not fail. We
will not fail.
Our lord, take us not to task if
we forget or fall into error. Our lord,
lay down on us a burden such as
you did lay on those who have gone
before us. Our lord, lay down on us
a burden which we do not have the
power to bear and overlook our faults and
forgive us and have mercy on us. You
are our protector and give us a victory
over the disbelieving people.
And want brothers and sisters remember the people
who are ill, in the Muslim communities. We're
talking about brother Bruce,
Rashid,
brother, Sabir,
and brother, brother Amir.
You know, these are, you know, some of
the people who,
again, made many contributions
to the the Muslim community here, as well
as brother Aqeel. You know, please keep him
in your door, and those who can visit,
you know, please visit. And also there was
a friend of the community. He contacted me,
a few days ago that his granddaughter is
in Scottish Rights Hospital,
and
she's,
suffering from a serious illness. And so please
keep,
her in your door as well.
Inshallah. He's a you again, because duel is
a powerful thing. We have this this powerful
tool that we need to utilize.
Inshallah.
He come in.