Shakiel Humayun – Divine Opportunity 60th Sermon
AI: Summary ©
The doctor discusses the misunderstandings of Islam and the consequences of choosing and being chosen, including negative reactions and negative consequences. The disease of picking and choosing is also present, and individuals can choose from different deens like Islam or charity. The divine opportunity for practicing Islam is to be chosen to practice it, and the speaker warns against those who have a history of underestimating Islam and offers advice on practicing it. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being a Muslim person for a long time and offers a token of his power to help anyone who wants to be replaced.
AI: Summary ©
Allah Subhanahu Wa'anaHu
Waqarah,
the pillars of Islam,
the pillars of iman,
and then Allah Subhanahu Wa'anaHu Waqarah explains
the incorrect way to receive
the pillars of Iman and Islam, which is
in essence the guidance.
He goes into detail about the peoples before
us
who received guidance
and their incorrect method
of receiving this guidance.
Allah subhanahu says,
Do you believe in a part
of the guidance of the book,
and do you disbelieve in a part of
the book?
Allah Subhan'a introduces
us to this disease,
the pick and choose disease.
That when Allah Subhan'a reveals the guidance,
there were certain peoples
who thought that they would they had the
liberty to pick and choose whatever they wanted.
Pick
from the obligations.
Pick from the prohibited what they wanted to
do or not.
Allah
continues to talk about them, says
That they distort the words from their proper
usage in places,
and they say we hear,
we get it,
we hear the guidance,
we hear the revelation,
but we're going to disobey.
We're going to pick
and choose.
So Allah Subhan'a
says, Oh, you who have believed
enter into Islam
fully,
wholeheartedly.
Allah subhanahu wa'ala
did not say,
oh you who have disbelieved,
enter into Islam.
Allah is speaking to the believers
who have already entered into Islam
telling them to enter into Islam meaning
that after
we've entered into Islam we have to make
sure that we stay within Islam without
picking and choosing and distorting
or trying to reform
the commandments of Allah Subhanah.
And so Allah and after
initially
explaining what guidance is,
then talking about the incorrect way to receive
this guidance,
and then he ends it by describing what
the true believers
will say when they receive this guidance. He's
they he quotes them by saying
That the true believers say we hear
we hear this book. We hear this guidance
and our reaction will be we obey,
we comply,
we will
follow.
So this disease of picking and choosing
came early in Islam
after the death of the prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
When Abu Bakr Radiallahu Anhu was the head
of state,
tribes started to apostate.
They tried they they started to leave Islam.
Some of them said
to Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu, we're not gonna
give you our money.
We're not gonna give you zakat. No more
zakat.
The prophet
is dead.
We're gonna pick and choose
what we want from Islam.
Zakat, our money, we're gonna we're just gonna
keep that to ourselves.
Had to deal with this disease very early
in Islam.
False prophets started to appear. Musaealam Al Kaddab,
who claimed to be a prophet, started to
pick and choose from Islam and create his
own religion.
A false prophetess
appeared.
She also claimed to get revelation
and start to pick and choose from Islam
to create her own religion.
Musailema and Sajah
both met and said, hey. You know what?
Let's get married and join our
followers together and make one religion.
Musailem has said great it's a great idea.
Musailem has dowry to Sajah, this false prophetess.
He said, my dowry to you will be
you don't have to pray fajr in Asia
anymore.
That's my mehre to you.
Pick and choose
whatever
they want, this disease.
And so Allah
highlights
this disease
with serious
consequences.
He says,
here you are
being invited
to donate
for the cause of Allah And
amongst you are those who withhold,
those who are stingy,
those who are gonna pick and choose from
Islam.
I must eat halal meat,
but riba,
interest payments,
I can have a savings account with a
few percentage interest points on my money.
I can invest
in the stock market where there's corporations involved
in riba.
I can
get a house on mortgage with riba with
interest payments,
but meat, that must be halal.
Pick and choose.
So Allah
subhanahu introduces this disease.
But some people think that Islam is making
5 salawat, 5 prayers.
But when it comes to establishing
masajid,
establishing the houses of Allah,
establishing schools
for our next generation,
establishing
educational institutions
that combat the think tanks that are out
there to destroy Islam.
When it comes to building a community,
they're spending we pick and choose sometimes.
So Allah Subhanahu here then
mentions this specific disease and there are two
reasons
why a person may pick and choose from
the deen of Allah.
The first reason is that the person thinks
he knows how the deen should be.
That this shouldn't be for it. It should
be not an obligation. It should be optional.
And so Allah subhanahu
says
Allah subhanahu
says, are you going to teach Allah
about your religion?
And Allah knows whatever is in the heavens
and whatever is in the earth.
And Allah
is extremely
knowledgeable about everything.
So if we think we know better how
the deen should be and we start picking
and choosing,
it has
a problem with our tawhid and belief in
Allah
knowledge.
Another reason we may pick and choose
is that we feel
that if we support institutions or if we
give charity
or if we're making salah
or if we give
or if we be kind,
or if we hold our anger,
that we're doing someone a favor.
That if we support our families,
we're doing them a favor. That Islam,
we're doing a favor to Allah.
And this existed at the time of the
prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
where there were people who thought that their
Islam, they were doing a favor to the
prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So
Allah revealed,
spoke to the prophet Muhammad
and
said, they
make it a favor upon you that they've
become Muslims.
Tell them,
don't make your Islam a favor on me.
If you practice Islam, it's not a favor
for any human being or anyone else.
But Allah has favored you
that he has guided you to this guidance
if you are truthful.
This is the divine opportunity.
People
who receive this book,
it's a divine opportunity
for us to practice, to be chosen to
practice
this guidance on the face of this earth.
And Allah
then says,
amongst you are those who withhold.
And the one who withhold from giving,
They're only withholding to the loss
of their own soul, just picking and choosing
what I think Islam is.
And then Allah gives a warning.
Then if we wanna pick and choose what
we think is important
and leave the rest of Islam out,
Allah subhanahu wa'ala said, and if you turn
away,
Allah will replace you with another people
and then they will not be like you.
When this verse was revealed
that if you turn away,
Allah will replace another people,
and then they will not be like you.
The companions were concerned.
Because they understood they had this divine opportunity
to practice Islam.
So they went to the prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam said, oh messenger of Allah,
who are these people that Allah is talking
about that if we were to turn away,
he would replace us?
And amongst the companions at that time was
a man by the name of Salman al
Farisi. He was standing next to the prophet
Muhammad
Salaam, his companion.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
then answered them
by saying that was habu.
That him and his people
are the ones who would replace.
Who is Salman al Farisi?
Salman, who who are his people?
Salman radiAllahu anhu came from the
Sassanian
Empire,
which
at that time, at the time of the
prophet Mohammed sallallahu alaihi wasalam, extended from
Iraq,
Iran,
Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan,
including Afghanistan,
and all the way into Pakistan. This whole
region was called the Sasanian Empire.
And then the prophet Muhammad
said
which is recorded at Tirmidi and Sahih al
Bukhari and Muslim have similar
with different words.
The prophet said,
by the one in whose hand is my
soul,
if iman,
its faith and actions,
were hung
on the stars,
men from the Sasanian Empire
would go and get it.
The commitment,
the dedication
of this new people who would come
and not be those who would turn away
and pick and choose. Ibn Ashur
says in his tafsir
that when the Sasanian Empire
entered into Islam,
that there were no records
of mass
apostasies.
That people were not becoming apostates and leaving
Islam.
But what was shown was a dedication and
commitment and compliance and a series of we
hear and we obey.
And when we look at the history of
Islam,
we see that Imam al Bukhari
who collected
the most authentic book
after the Quran, a collection of hadith,
was from Bukhara,
which is from that Sasanian region.
Imam Muslim
was from Nisabur,
which was from that
Sasanian
region.
Imam Matrul Midi is from Tiramiz,
which is from that region.
Abu Dawood
was from Sijistan,
which is from that reason.
That region.
The next hadith scholar,
An Nasai from Nessa from that region.
Ibn Maja
from Kazawin
from that exact region.
The 6 collectors of the most famous books
of hadith
are from that region.
When we map out Imam al Bukhari's travels
for hadith from city to city,
it comes out to be
8,630
miles of dedicated committed travel to collect the
hadith of the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam.
And how interesting is it that the prophet
said they will go to distances even if
they had to go to the stars.
This divine opportunity, my dear brothers and sisters,
is for anyone.
If we become lazy, pick and choose what
we want from Islam based on our likes
and lifestyle,
we will be replaced.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam talked about
the end of times.
Those who will serve the deen will be.
That there will be 7 amongst those who
will serve the deen during the end of
time will be 70,000
people from the
descendants of Ishaq alaihis salam.
Meaning, they will be European
converts.
Allah will replace us
if we wanna pick and choose and feel
like
we're doing a favor to others.
I ask
to make us amongst those who say
and we fulfill our responsibility
to this divine great opportunity that Allah has
given us
to hold the Quran in our hand with
certainty and know these are the words of
Allah.
Very few people in this world,
very few religions,
or actually no religion except Islam can say
that.