Suleiman Hani – Islam Summarized – 8 Core Elements Explained
AI: Summary ©
The importance of understanding one's oneself and embracing one's identity is highlighted in Islam, as it is the cornerstone of religion. fulfillment and purpose in Islam is emphasized, as it is the cornerstone of religion. The importance of justice and the right to be worshiped and led by God is emphasized, along with personal transformation and staying true to one's Islam practices. The Qur Qwork is emphasized as a model for learning and practicing Islam to achieve personal transformation and goals.
AI: Summary ©
Approximately 1,453 years ago to this month
of Rabi'ul Awwal, the world was changed
through the birth of the final messenger ﷺ.
And oftentimes we hear situations like the young
college student who said, first time in my
life, I was asked by a professor at
the university about Islam and the basic tenets
of Islam, I couldn't explain it.
The first time so and so at work
was asked by a co-worker, her friend,
can you tell me more about what you
believe?
And she said, I have just a few
pieces of information but I didn't feel very
confident.
The Prophet ﷺ told us, بَلِّغُوا عَنِّي وَلَوْ
آيَةٍ Convey my teachings even if it's one
verse, one ayah, one sign, one indicator of
truth, one authentic narration.
And so oftentimes we hear from Muslims who
have been practicing Islam for a long time,
may Allah keep us firm and consistent.
This expression and sentiment, honestly, I'm not sure
do I even know the basics myself or
am I missing too many things to convey
Islam to others.
And in reality, we learn from the Prophet
ﷺ what it means to be sincere towards
people.
That you are really concerned about the well
-being of people in the afterlife, not just
this life.
That you really want people to have whatever
amount of truth you can convey within your
capacity even if it is one ayah.
And every Muslim should have some review, some
annual consistent review of the basics of Islam.
That we are able to explain in the
simplest manner possible.
That if someone were to ask, tell me
about some basic aspects of Islam, that we
are able to respond.
We live in a time in which, like
many other times before, there are many people
who hate Islam.
There are people who hate the Prophet ﷺ.
There are people who hate the truth and
those who advocate for the truth.
There are people who hate universal justice, they
desire selective justice.
So they will hate those, like Muslims, who
advocate for universal justice.
And our mission in life, yes, it is
to worship Allah, but also we hope that
part of our experience, as short as it
is in this world, is that Allah ﷻ
utilizes us to guide many other people to
Islam.
And the Prophet ﷺ gave us some good
news and he swore by Allah.
He said, وَاللَّهِ لَأَن يَهْدِيَ اللَّهُ بِكَ رَجُلًا
وَاللَّهِ بَيَ اللَّهِ If Allah were to guide
one person through you, خَيْنٌ لَكَ مِنْ أَن
يَكُونَ لَكَ حُمْرٌ نَعْمٌ It is better for
you than if you were to be given
a herd of red, expensive camels, in other
words, it's better for you than all wealth
and materialism of this world.
For one person to be guided.
We hear stories all the time in which
someone is guided to Islam and the catalyst
was a Muslim that they met who knew
very little about Islam.
But they explained something.
They said something.
They did something of good character.
A classmate, a co-worker.
The fact that they saw a Muslim woman
wearing hijab.
Oftentimes the catalyst is unknown to the Muslim
who is actually living Islam.
And it comes about later in years, months
in which that person comes to the mosque,
reaches out to an imam, reaches out to
a friend and says, I'm interested in Islam.
And the one who led them to it
does not even know.
But they were sincere.
They were consistent.
They didn't hide their faith at work or
at school.
We live in a country and a time
in which people are strongly advocating for embracing
your identity.
So how can the Muslim of all people
shy away from that?
Be confident in who you are.
It is better for us than all of
the wealth of this world for one person
to be guided to Islam through our presence.
And as Muslims living in the United States
of America, we also have from a jurisprudential
perspective, a fiqh perspective, a responsibility to represent
Islam properly, to practice Islam, to convey it
in our lives in the way that you
can within your capacity.
So what is Islam?
If we were to simplify it in a
manner that even a 13, a 14-year
-old could understand the basic aspects of Islam,
obviously we have many things we can share.
But for the sake of time, I'll mention
a few.
The first is that Islam is not just
a religion.
It is a comprehensive way of life that
affects everything.
It's a worldview.
And a worldview affects the way you carry
yourself, the way you think and feel, your
feeling of fulfillment as well and the way
you treat other people.
If we were to simplify some of the
basic elements of Islamic teachings and theology number
one, the simple and universal message of the
oneness of God.
Oftentimes, people who embrace Islam tell us, like
the young student, he said, I was going
through this journey of exploring different religious beliefs
and I was so frustrated by the complications
and understanding who God was until I came
across a message about Islam.
And it was one of the shortest passages
of the Quran that even the youngest of
Muslims will memorize.
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ Say, He is Allah,
the One.
It's very straightforward and very clear.
اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ Allah, the self-sustaining.
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُرَدْ He begets not, nor
is He born.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has no resemblance
to His creation.
وَلَمْ يَكُنَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ There is nothing equal
to Him.
He said, when I went through all these
different religions and I was looking for something
of clarity, I found the simplicity of the
oneness of God to be the thing that
my inner nature connected to the most.
God is perfect.
The conceptualization of who God is in our
minds.
He is the absolute notion of perfection with
no flaws and no deficiencies.
That when you say He is the Creator,
He creates with perfection.
He is the all-powerful.
His power is with perfection.
His wisdom is complete and His mercy is
encompassing.
So when you say, قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
There is a beautiful simplicity to the oneness,
the tawheed that we know about in Islam.
And oftentimes a Muslim may be raised with
it and not realize how much of a
precious blessing it is that everything revolves around
that oneness and simplicity.
A second part of the element of Islam
is that it leads to purpose.
It leads to meaning in life.
And oftentimes people enter into Islam after years
of looking and looking and looking like the
young ex-atheist at Harvard University who didn't
want to talk about religion except when it
came to the context of attacking religion.
And his classmates consistently would invite him to
different events and programs, open houses, at the
mosques, at the masajid.
And one day he did attend a particular
program and on that day there was a
funeral prayer, a janazah.
And as he sat in the back and
watched the Muslims pray and listened to the
five-minute remark of the imam who was
there, he was shaken in that moment and
he said to the Muslim students afterwards, There's
something you actually have that I didn't realize
before and I'm kind of jealous that you
have it.
You have a really strong confidence, a belief,
a conviction about what happens to you when
you die.
He said, I don't have that.
And no matter what you say, the atheistic
world, you cannot offer anything on that.
And so he said, for me this was
a catalyst to start exploring.
What gives you meaning?
What gives you purpose?
And after being someone who was nihilistic, meaning
he believed in meaninglessness in life and he
thought that life had no purpose, everything is
the random series of events, atoms and cells
and everything moving around with the natural laws
of this world, I started to realize there
was something more.
And Allah tells us, وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ
إِلَّا لَيَعْبُدُونَ I did not create the jinn
and mankind except to worship me.
Are there many wisdoms for why we exist?
Yes.
The simplest and clearest and most explicit in
the Quran is that we are here to
experience our Lord.
We are here in a temporary world and
there's an eternal life waiting for us.
And the test of this world is that
you worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But worship is not limited to ibadat.
Worship is not just prayers.
Worship is not one day of the week
as sometimes even some Muslims may feel.
Worship has to be comprehensive.
So the one who finds fulfillment and purpose
to a greater level as a Muslim is
the one who really dedicates everything they do
for the sake of Allah.
Your studies, all those hours you spent on
your exam, your quizzes, your review, your work,
your job, the raising of that child that's
24-7.
It's all worship.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
grant us that fulfillment.
Allahumma ameen.
The third element is that Islam does lead
to a type of inner peace when it's
practiced properly.
How do we know this?
We find in our personal journeys and experiences
fluctuations and experiences, times of ease and difficulty.
May Allah protect us from difficulty.
Allahumma ameen.
Allow us to pass the test of this
world and grant us gratitude.
There's a young man in Japan.
He's very disturbed mentally.
Going through a lot of problems in his
character with his family, had a lot of
anguish in his life, a lot of anger.
Feeling like life once again is nihilistic, in
a sense, meaningless.
And he struggled.
He was just never happy.
And his family noticed, and his friends noticed.
And one day he comes back from years
of study, university, and he's a different person.
And his family's trying to understand what changed.
What changed in your life?
What changed you to this extent?
Because no matter what they said and did,
they couldn't help him.
What changed?
And he hid it for a long time
knowing his parents' perspectives.
But eventually he told them he embraced Islam.
They asked more about Islam.
They asked what changed within you because of
this belief system?
What is it about Islam?
And when he cited to them, أَلَا بِذِكْرِ
اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبِ Verily in the remembrance of
Allah do the hearts find peace, reassurance.
They wanted to know more.
And long story short, it led to their
own journey of discovery and their own journey
of embracing Islam.
Because no one could change their son who
was that troubled, who went through that many
severe problems other than the truth, other than
the source of truth.
And as Muslims, we recognize the word Islam
is linked to the term to surrender to
Allah, As-Sin.
But it's not just to surrender oneself to
God, but also thinking everyone surrenders to something.
People submit themselves to their desires, to social
things, like to other people and what society
calls you towards, or to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, transcending beyond oneself.
And when we say we submit to Allah,
and Islam means to surrender to God in
terms of our will, it also means to
surrender to God and lead yourself and find
yourself in a place of peace, the place
of salam.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, اللهم
أنت السلام ومنك السلام تباركت يا ذا الجلال
والإكرام We ask Allah, the source of all
peace, to grant us that.
اللهم أمين And so you find when you
practice Islam regularly and properly, and you're in
touch with the remembrance of Allah, that especially
on difficult occasions, there's a fulfillment of inner
peace that you cannot find anywhere else, no
matter how wealthy a person is.
Another of the elements of Islam number four
is that it's about justice.
One of the main parts of Islam, one
of the main elements and maxims, that Islam
centers around the notion of rights, the right
of God to be worshipped and the right
of human beings when it comes to social
justice.
And we know this as Muslims.
And so we don't need to give 101
examples of different movements in different countries historically
around the world who are motivated by the
drive for justice, who are on the front
lines of advocating for the oppressed and the
marginalized.
And here in this country as well, that
there are many people who embraced Islam and
the very discussion on black liberation in America,
a big part of it is intertwined with
black Muslims, almost 25% of the Muslim
population in this country and oftentimes neglected and
ignored.
But not just that, you have one of
hundreds of examples like Malcolm X, whose story
and biography is a reason that many people
have embraced Islam.
And just this last week, I was talking
to someone who has been teaching Islam for
almost 20 years, and his conversion to Islam
started with the story of Malcolm X, started
with the story of looking at rights and
justice, and injustice as well, and what Islam
offered to the world.
Allah commands justice.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commands us
to be consistent with justice, even if you
have to bear witness against yourself.
What does that tell you?
When Allah commands us to bear witness for
the truth and to stand as witnesses for
Allah in Surah An-Nisa, even if we're
bearing witness against ourselves or our parents or
our relatives, it means, oh young Muslim, oh
older Muslim, it doesn't matter who's on the
other side.
Their religion, their race, their skin color, their
language, that as a Muslim you must express
justice, facilitate it, defend it, and advocate for
it.
And so the call for justice in Islam
is one that has inspired people of all
walks of life.
The rights of women, that has changed society
at that time and to this day.
The rights of children that Islam has a
very comprehensive approach to.
The rights of parents neglected in many Western
so-called civilized societies.
The rights of your neighbors, who the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam thought eventually might get
a share of one's inheritance.
The rights of non-Muslims in your community
and society.
The rights of the old and the rights
of the young.
And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to make us amongst those who fulfill justice
in all of its facets.
Allahumma ameen.
Number five.
And by the way on this note of
justice, we cannot possibly claim to teach or
to know Islam and isolate Islam from siyasa.
And I will say this 101 times in
every khutbah if I must.
There is no notion in Islam of separating
part of the world view when it comes
to politics and practice.
Because what is practice in Islam?
What is belief?
Belief is about advocating for justice.
It's about the rights of people.
It's about taking care of society and reforming
society.
It's about recognizing the power sources and the
policy making and how it impacts everyone's life.
Every one of us is affected every single
day by local policies.
And everyone around the world is affected by
American foreign policy.
One of the most corrupt, one of the
most vicious in the world.
We recognize this.
And in fact one of the greatest things
a person can do is to reform society,
to address the inequalities, to address the injustice.
Why?
Because you care about the rights of all
people.
It's not coming from a place of hatred.
It's coming from a place of concern, a
place of responsibility, that we live in a
land where people are able to express their
opinions and practice as they wish.
So we wish to see our policies changing
for the better so that bombs are not
dropped on innocent people, so that genocide is
not facilitated by the current administration and the
previous ones.
So yes, we believe in justice.
But we believe also that we are, in
this country, responsible within our capacities to advocate
for that justice and to be part of
those who are trying to reform society for
the better.
May Allah grant us that.
Allahumma ameen.
What else is Islam?
Number five, Islam is also about the Qur
'an, the final message from the creator to
the creation.
A woman who embraced Islam 17 years ago,
she said, the first thing that caught my
attention about Islam is when I heard that
the Qur'an being recited today is the
same Qur'an for all Muslims, and it's
the same Qur'an that even academics from
all walks of life today have finally caught
up to the conclusion that that is the
same recitation as the early Muslims, as Prophet
Muhammad ﷺ.
She said that, that caught my attention.
Because for a long time in my life,
the debates in my family and amongst my
friends and the confusion we've had are about
the New Testament.
How do you know this is really divine?
For us as Muslims, the miraculous nature of
the Qur'an and the fact that it
is timeless in its principles and maxims is
important for us.
That you can extract a principle that applies
to every land and every place, every people
and every challenge.
And it's not necessary for every single thing
to be in the Qur'an, but rather
for every principle of guidance to be there.
And it is the book of guidance.
There's no doubt regarding it.
But also the Qur'an is a healing
for society and for the individual.
وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
وَلَا يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارًا We send the
Qur'an down as a healing and a
mercy for the believers.
So the one who reads it every day
and it's part of your daily habit and
your wird at work, at school, after fajr,
at home, wherever you are with your family.
The one who reads it with an open
heart will be impacted by it.
And we have so many stories of people
who've embraced Islam, listening to a recitation of
Qur'an.
Although they did not understand it.
I sat next to someone on a plane
who was terrified.
He had a severe, actual severe phobia of
flying due to a trauma that had occurred
in his life before.
And I had been listening to Qur'an
at that time and I didn't realize when
I sat next to him how terrified he
was of flying.
And as we are about to take off,
he's so terrified.
He started to cry.
He said, can I please hold your hand?
I said, what's going on?
He said, my mother had passed away a
long time ago on a flight.
So he started to share his story.
And I said, do you want to listen
to what I'm listening to as well?
So I put the earbud into his ear
and he started listening to the Qur'an.
He calmed down.
And as we settled down in the air,
eventually he asked, what was that?
He said, I felt a sense of peace,
a sense of reassurance.
What was that?
And as we started to talk about Islam,
eventually, Alhamdulillah, months later, he embraced Islam.
But the experience here was one in which
he had no idea why he was listening
to.
I didn't tell him, this is Qur'an.
I just said, do you want to listen
to this?
That this will help, this will soothe.
But often times, we read the Qur'an
as Muslims, and we don't pay attention.
Or we neglect the Qur'an on a
daily basis even though Allah tells us, وَذَكِّرْ
فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَ تَنْفَعُ الْمُؤْمِيِّينَ Read and remind.
For verily the reminder benefits the believer.
Remind.
But if you cut off access to the
healing, الشفاء, النور, the light.
You cut off access to the guidance.
You cut off access to what is right.
What will you find in your weekly experience?
You're going to find a disconnect from the
reality of the Qur'an, the speech of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It is timeless.
And it also refutes the misconceptions of those
who want to spread propaganda.
There will always be people who hate the
truth.
And so we always advise our non-Muslim
friends and colleagues and classmates.
You may have heard things about Islam, but
if you are someone genuine in your desire
to see evidence, look at what Muslims are
telling you about Islam.
Look at the context and the commentary.
And that's why generally giving commentary and context
is more effective.
Number six amongst the elements of Islam is
who is Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam?
1453 years ago, near 571 Common Era, Prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam was born.
And we talk about Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi
wasallam, one of the most misunderstood people in
the modern and western world.
He's also one of the people that sparks
the greatest amount of curiosity.
One of the people that is considered by
many academics, non-Muslim as well, to be
the greatest leader in history.
Effective in multiple areas of life.
When you look at his life, you find
he is an ultimate role model.
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ
لِمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُوا اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرُ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ
كَثِيرًا There is indeed for you in the
message of Allah a role model, an ultimate
example.
For the one who seeks the pleasure of
God and the afterlife, if that's what you're
after, and you remember Allah with much remembrance,
studying the life of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم liberates us in the modern world.
Studying the life of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم teaches us humility, compassion, mercy with
the old and the young, the stranger, the
friend, the foe.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم teaches us
throughout his life what it means to sacrifice
and dedicate oneself to a mission of truth,
to be sincere for the well-being of
other people, to be sincere in wanting them
to succeed.
Half of his concern, if you will, and
I exaggerate the word half, but great part
of his concern صلى الله عليه وسلم constantly
worried about people who reject the truth, what
will happen to them.
Constantly concerned they will have to testify against
those who reject the message.
Constantly concerned about his followers and praying for
us in every prayer صلى الله عليه وسلم
So one of the greatest signs that you
love him, one of the greatest ways to
commemorate him is to study his life and
to practice it, to study it and to
represent it.
And we see on campuses around the country,
not just with Islam Awareness Week on many
campuses, not just that workplaces sometimes dedication to
one religion or one holiday.
We see there is a lot of effort
الحمد لله in this country amongst the Muslims
who care even though they may not know
that much about Islam.
But they care enough to say I want
my non-Muslim co-workers and spheres of
influence to at least know who really is
Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم Not based
off of the propaganda of those who are
spreading Islamophobia and those who are funding Islamophobia
and funding Zionism, funding other things that are
intertwined with the hatred of Islam.
No, who really is Prophet Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم and for us to represent that
as well in our character.
So one of the proofs of Islam is
Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and it's
important for us to have a firmness in
following him but also to know how to
refute the misconceptions that arise.
Number seven, Islam invites you to personal transformation.
When you become Muslim and practice Islam properly,
one of the basic most elemental parts of
Islam is what?
Self-discipline.
الصبر It's linked to everything in Islam.
Hundreds of times in the Qur'an فَصْبِرُوا
إِنَّ اللَّهُمْ عَلَى الصَّابِرِينَ Be patient.
استعينوا بصبر وصلاة إِنَّ اللَّهُمْ عَلَى الصَّابِرِينَ Persevere.
وَجَزَاهُمْ بِمَا صَبَرُوا Allah will reward the winners,
the people of paradise because of their patience.
And when we think of perseverance here, we're
thinking of perseverance in all areas of life.
You change when you practice Islam.
And if you're not noticing drive in your
life or ambition, look back to what you
are taking from the practices of Islam.
Are you kinder to other people because you're
Muslim?
Because if you're not, something is missing in
the understanding of Islam.
Are you righteous in terms of the integrity
you have at work?
The ihsan that you have behind closed doors?
The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said,
أَكْمَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِيمَانًا أَحْسُنُهُمْ خُلُقًا Prophet صلى الله
عليه وسلم said, the most complete of believers
in their faith are those أَحْسَنُهُمْ خُلُقًا are
those who have the greatest character.
And he said صلى الله عليه وسلم in
another report, وَخِيَارُكُمْ خِيَارُكُمْ لِنِسَائِهِمْ And in another
riwayah, وَخِيَارُكُمْ خِيَارُكُمْ لِأَهْلِهِ The best of you
are those who are best to their wives.
Or the best of you are those who
are best to their families.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in other
words, when you look at all of his
teachings, you find what?
The one who embraces Islam cannot possibly neglect
changing.
He cannot possibly not change for the better.
And the question is, are we as Muslims
also regularly reviewing our practice of Islam?
The teachings of the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم in etiquette and in rituals.
And finally, what is Islam?
Amongst many other elements that we could share
with others.
Within Islam, God tells us about the purpose
of life as I mentioned before, and where
we're headed.
Where are we headed?
And so you find in the next life,
the reality in the eternal life is there's
ultimate accountability.
So those who do righteousness here, and they
accept the message of Islam, and they worship
God on His terms, not based on their
desires or societal trends and validation, that Allah
will reward them with an eternal paradise.
Allah will reward them eternally.
So the one who is giving up a
lifetime in this world of sacrifice for 150
years even, a thousand years if you will,
will find that just a moment in paradise
is worth it.
What about an eternity in paradise?
The promise of Allah is that no good
deed goes to waste, so do good as
much as you can, and practice with a
connection to Allah.
Islam offers a comprehensive way of life, fulfillment
and purpose, clarity and guidance, protection against one's
own desires and injustice in this world.
And within Islam, of course, we find a
beauty and simplicity in who God is, and
who the messengers are, and what the final
message is.
And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to make us from amongst those who convey
Islam and practice Islam.
بَلِّغُوا عَنِّي وَلَوْ يَكَنْفِي About the Prophet ﷺ,
even if it's one verse or one sign
of truth.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِ هَذَا وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا عَنِي وَلَكُمْ فُسْتَغْفِرُونَ إِنَّهُ
هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ