Sikander Hashmi – Divine Commands Divine Wisdom KMA Friday Message
AI: Summary ©
The importance of having rules and regulations for safety and well-being in schools and workplace settings is discussed. The speakers compare the rules and guidelines of Islam to those of Allah's laws, emphasizing the need for gratitude for opportunities and avoiding harms and distractions. The Canadian Cancer Society recommends changes on how alcohol is marketed, including adding a warning label, and emphasizes the need for people to know their own rights. The speakers stress the importance of following clear rules and regulations to avoid harms and distractions.
AI: Summary ©
Respected elders,
dear brothers and sisters,
my young friends,
Imagine being in a school where there are
no rules and regulations.
You can
go to any class,
any classroom,
any grade.
You can come in at any time.
You can leave
at any time.
You can walk in any time.
You can sit and talk with anyone you
want.
Anyone
can do or say
anything they want to anyone else.
There's no homework.
You can cheat on tests,
and there are no consequences,
and everyone still gets good grades and passes.
Or you imagine
a sports game or a league
with no rules and regulations,
no referees,
soccer players are running
with the ball in their hands,
pushing each other, knocking each other down like
ice hockey.
Hockey players surround
the best players on the opposing team and
hold them while the rest of the team
goes and scores.
Now,
of course, when we think about these scenarios,
it sounds a bit comical, and it is.
But I think everyone can understand
why it is necessary
to have rules and regulations
for a group of people
to be able to function properly together,
for people to be safe,
to be able to live
and function
properly in a good way.
Every school,
every workplace,
every sports league,
every jurisdiction, whether it's a city or a
province or a country,
has rules and laws.
The International Football Association
Board, which includes FIFA,
has a rule book called the laws of
the game,
and they've actually published it. They revise it
every year.
And
for 2022,
2023,
it's over 150 pages of rules.
What is it? Over 150
pages
of rules
to govern the playing of football or soccer.
So why would there not be rules and
laws
for those who live upon the earth?
The rules and laws
are made by those who are in charge,
so just like the international body for football.
And
there is
no one in charge of the entire earth
except
Allah
So, therefore,
Allah Almighty has the ultimate authority to create
laws
and rules
to govern life on earth. Allah
tells us himself, Surah
number 116.
Exalted is Allah,
the true king.
There is no God,
meaning worthy of worship except him, the Lord
of the honorable
throne.
My friends, my brothers and sisters, I was
once at a church for a presentation
about Islam,
and afterwards there was a Q and A,
and
there was
a nice lady who raised her hand and
she politely said, you know, thank you for
the wonderful presentation and so on.
But I have a question,
and that is why are there so many
rules? Like it seems really complicated, like there's
so many things, you know, you have to
believe in and you got to do and
things you can't do. Whereas, you know, as
a Christian, she was speaking for herself, you
know, I just need to have a good
heart, and that's good enough.
And this is a question that I think
some Muslims also wonder about as well.
And sometimes
they get the impression that, you know,
everything is haram. Obviously that's not the case,
but you feel like, you know, why is
everything haram? Or why are there so many
rules? Why are there so many things that,
you know, I can't do or things that
I have to do? And actually the reality
is that if you compare
Islamic laws and guidelines
to those who have no faith
or, you know, or those who follow a
religion with with very few guidelines or fewer
guidelines.
Yes, it may seem like there are, you
know, many rules to follow.
But if you compare
Islamic rules and guidelines
to those who follow religions or the religions
with more guidelines,
then it may actually seem like the guidelines
are are quite reasonable.
You know, I was across the border in
Ogdensburg not too long ago, and happened to
pop into one of the stores.
And
I saw a family that was running and
they were dressed differently. And I'm like, Hey,
that looks a little bit familiar. Right? But
they were actually Amish.
And
you go outside
and there's a horse buggy that's parked
outside the Walmart.
So there's actually parking for horses.
What is there? There's parking spots
for horse carriages
because they don't use automobiles. They don't That
goes against their beliefs. They don't believe in
using motors and machinery.
So, they travel on horses. And if you
drive upstate New York, you drive
on the state route, you'll see
families going in the horse carriages.
Right? So, you compare it to that and
you're like, well, Alhamdulillah, at least we're able
to travel in the car.
When you look at Kosher laws, right? Very
similar principles to halal rules and regulations,
but much more stricter, right? So then you
say, okay, well, actually maybe we don't have
it that bad.
So the question my brothers and sisters is
subjective. We know that rules exist or they're
supposed to exist
for our benefit,
for our safety, and our well-being.
Okay? Allah
is our Most Merciful Ruab,
our most merciful lord
and he wants more benefit for us than
anyone else. Allah
wants the best for us in every single
way.
And he sent us here as a test.
And which teacher or examiner gives a test
without
telling you the rules and teaching the material
for the test?
Does anyone do that? That without telling you
what a test is about, without telling you
what subject, you know, you're gonna be tested
on, that just throws a test towards you.
Right? Puts you into a test.
No. Allah
wants ease for us, and he is all
knowing and the most wise. And Allah tells
us multiple places in the Quran
that he wishes
ease for us.
It does not risk difficulty upon us.
He wants easiness for us. He wants things
to become easier for us.
So he has given us detailed guidelines,
warned us about the harms and dangers,
told us what we need to do in
order to
succeed in this life and the hereafter,
warned us against the things
that we should be avoiding
so that we can succeed
in this world and in the hereafter.
Thus, we learned that the laws of Allah
the rules and boundaries
are for our own benefit.
If we follow the guidelines of Allah
and those that he has sent to his
messenger, sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
we benefit and safeguard ourselves. We keep ourselves
pure in this world and in the hereafter.
Allah
gives the instructions of the of making wudu
and purity.
And Surah Al Maidah.
And I number 6. And in the end,
Allah tells us,
It is not Allah's will to burden you.
These rules and regulations, these instructions, these prescriptions,
it is not Allah's will to burden you,
but to purify you and complete His favor
upon you. This is a favor from Allah
So perhaps you will be grateful.
So look at this. What is Allah
expecting from
us when we go through the guidelines that
He has given us?
When we follow the prescriptions, the obligations, and
avoid the prohibitions,
what is he what does he want from
us? He wants us to be grateful,
not to be annoyed, but rather be grateful
that Allah
has actually made these things clear for us
and has made things easy for us so
that has spelled things out so that we
are able to understand.
And in this context, because it's about, you
know, purity,
physical
purification being mentioned, but also spiritual as well
through these rules about and about but
all other rules and regulations as well.
The objective
is to purify us physically,
spiritually,
mentally,
emotionally,
and
make us those who are favored by Allah
and who eventually are grateful towards Allah
Allah details the rules of inheritance in the
Quran.
And
in one of the places at the end
of, of Surah Tani Sa, Allah
says,
Allah makes this clear to you. So you
do not go astray. And Allah's perfect knowledge
of all things. So if we disobey or
ignore
the rules and regulations of Allah
we harm ourselves. It's as simple as that
in this worldly life
and in the afterlife.
So Allah the creator has done us a
great favor to tell us about the things
that we should be careful about and the
things that we need to do. Otherwise, we
would get harmed in this world and get
caught in the hereafter.
Right? As I mentioned earlier, it's like someone
who,
is like a person who is never told
that there is a test or an exam
coming up. They're not told what the test
or the exam is going to be about,
how to get ready for it, what they
need to do in order to qualify for
something,
and then they fail, and then they are
disqualified.
Or someone who gets arrested
without having any laws being made or anything
being announced
that they're doing something wrong. They don't know,
there's nothing to that effect. And then they're
caught.
Is that
fair? Of course not.
So the fact that Allah
has told us the rules and warned us
of the consequences is out of His mercy,
His love, and His fairness towards us. If
He wanted to,
if Allah
wanted, He could have left us in the
dark.
No guidance,
no rules,
no regulations,
and then surprised us with the consequences and
the punishment.
He
could do that if He wanted to because
we are nothing, we're just His creation.
Compared to Allah we're absolutely nothing. He can
do whatever he wants with us, and you
can't do anything about it. We see that.
Right? Natural disasters happen, tests come, things happen.
People are helpless,
except
when Allah wills to help them.
So if you wanted to, he could
have left us without anything,
and then surprise us with consequences and punishment.
But Allah
is not like that. He is loving and
he is kind.
From time to time, my friends, my brothers
and sisters,
science also tells us the benefits of divine
commands. Every once in a while, we come
across some news.
But as believers,
we do not need
science to convince us
that the teachings and guidelines of Allah and
His Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam are correct
and are the best for us.
We don't need
the reaffirmation.
We don't need or we shouldn't need
science to tell us, and then we say,
Okay. Yeah. Now we feel a little bit
better about believing in this.
Right? Because as believers,
we know that the divine knowledge
that was sent to the Prophet
is the ultimate knowledge.
Of knowledge, which is Allah
Whereas science, as great as it is,
continues to evolve.
One thing that is good one day can
become bad the next day
due to a new study or a new
discovery.
For example,
there are new guidelines that were recently published
by the Canadian Center of Substance Abuse and
Addiction
Canadian Center of Substance Use and Addiction. Sorry.
And they are cautioning
Canadians on how
alcohol consumption
can lead to serious health risks.
Prior to the updated guidelines, right? So, these
guidelines
were recently announced.
So, just before
they were updated,
it was considered safe
for Canadian men
to drink up to 15 standard
alcoholic drinks per week.
And it was said that it was safe
for women to consume
10 standard alcoholic drinks per week.
By the way, did you notice that there
was a difference between men and women?
Something to think about perhaps. The new guidelines
suggest
that Canadians who consume
7 or more alcoholic drinks per week are
considered high risk. So before, just last week
or 2 weeks ago,
until then,
it was considered to be safe to have
up to 15 drinks for men and 10
for women every week.
Now,
7
or more drinks per week are considered
high risk for serious health issues,
including cancer,
heart disease, stroke.
And 1 to 2 drinks per week is
considered low risk, while 3 to 6 drinks
is labeled as moderate risk. I remember watching
the news, and it said
no drinks,
0 risk.
They're talking about high, moderate, low.
No drinks, no risk. SubhanAllah.
Okay? The report also recommends changes on how
alcohol is marketed,
including
adding a warning label that says that alcohol
can cause cancer.
And the researchers say that less than 50%
of people know that alcohol causes cancer,
and it does. They say clearly, alcohol
causes
cancer.
The Canadian Cancer Society says the less alcohol
you drink, the lower your cancer risk.
And even moderate drinking is associated with increased
cancer risk, right? And this is all in
addition to
all the the the,
the crashes and injuries and deaths caused by
driving while intoxicated.
People who know they're not supposed to be
drinking after they have had alcohol or when
they're intoxicated with drugs or whatever the case
may be, but still they do, and they
cause
many, many crashes
every single year. May Allah
protect us all. You know, there's a group
called
Mothers Against Drunk Driving,
MADD, m a d d. Mothers against drunk
driving. Relatives, especially mothers of victims of
crashes that were caused by drunk drivers. And
there's I love their slogan. It's very simple.
No alcohol,
no drugs,
no victims.
6 words. No alcohol,
no drugs, no victims. This is not me.
This is Mad Canada, mothers against drug drunk
driving. So all of this begs the question,
my brothers and sisters.
What about
all the
people who thought it was safe to drink
a certain amount of alcohol each week,
and they were negatively affected already? They got
cancer. They had a stroke.
They had other illnesses.
Who is responsible for that?
For telling them that it was safe to
do so. And this is just one example.
So, if we wait for studies to be
completed,
for each aspect of divine law, for each
aspect of the guidance of Allah and his
messenger
it may be very well be too late
for us to reverse
the harms.
See Allah
tells us in the Quran.
Now we have set you on the clear
way of faith or set you on an
ordained way concerning the matter of religion.
So follow it.
Right? And the word of sharia is used
in the verse. So follow it, and do
not follow the desires of those who do
not know.
Do not
follow
Do not follow the desires of those who
do not know, meaning who do not know
the truth. They're ignorant of the truth. They
don't realize
that the truth is found here and that
there is truth in the guidance of Allah
and His Messenger
Allah
is saying, Do not follow them.
Do not follow them, their desires, what they
try to get you to do because they're
not aware, they're ignorant.
Right? So there will be people who will
try to discourage us and distract us from
following
the clear path
that has clear rules and regulations from Allah
There are people who will put pressure on
us. There are people who will try to
convince us that it is good. They will
try to convince us that it is attractive.
They will try to con convince us that
it is enjoyable.
Do not follow their way. Do not listen
to them in these matters. They are just
like someone who tells us to cheat on
a test or to break the rules of
the game, and then we are the ones
who suffer the consequences.
So to recap, my brothers and sisters, my
friends, let us reaffirm our commitment
to follow the rules and regulations
of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala to try our best to follow
the commands of Allah and his messenger
Allah tells
us, oh believers,
right? Follow Allah and his messenger
and those who have been given authority over
you to manage your affairs. So we are
to follow the commands of Allah and his
messenger, sallallahu alaihi wasallam. This is not something
which is optional for us. Yes. Regarding the
context and how to apply the guidance of
Allah and his messenger, sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
then we consult with
scholars. We consult with people who know living
in our context on how to apply the
guidelines of Allah, his
but we need to reaffirm our commitment
to try our best
to follow
the guidance in the best way. Secondly, my
brothers and sisters, let us value those rules
and regulations
and believe
that they are good for us.
Don't feel that it is a burden. It
is not a burden. It is a mercy
upon you that Allah
is keeping you away and safe from trouble
in this life
and in the hereafter.
So value it, cherish it, love it, and
know that there is always wisdom in Allah's
commands, even if we are not able to
see it right away. There may be rules
and regulations
in other contexts, in other situations,
like at school, like in sports, like in
the workplace,
or in the country. And we may not
understand the reason for those laws, but we
still follow
them, right? You're standing at a red light,
no one's there.
Most people will still stop.
Does it make sense? No.
Does it make sense to stop an intersection
when there's no other cars at 2 am,
and you're the only one parked at a
red light? Does it make sense? I don't
think so.
But you still do it.
Right? Because you understand that the rules and
regulations are there, and there's a consequence.
There may be a consequence if
you got caught.
So, when it comes to the commands of
Allah
we do not always understand
the wisdom. And in many cases actually, we
may not understand the wisdom because our understanding,
our wisdom,
of course, cannot reach the wisdom and the
knowledge of Allah
So even when we are not able to
see that wisdom,
we still believe
that there is wisdom in the guidance of
Allah and his messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
May Allah
continue to guide us and strengthen us in
following his teachings and his guidance. We ask
Allah
to guide us and strengthen us in following
the way of his beloved messenger
and we ask Allah
to forgive us for all of our
shortcomings. We'll take a few moments to offer
sunnah for those who would like to do
so, and then we will continue.