And Hold Tight To The Rope of Allah

Last week we talked about Palestine.

And it became very clear that in order to achieve anything, as an ummah, that we have to unite

and we cannot expect to unite on a political level or on an international level, if we are not united within our own community, or if we are not united even within the walls of this one messaging.

Being united is a command from Allah subhanaw taala. He says in Surah LM la noir tells him will be heavily Lehi Jamia walnuts, FL Roku,

and hold on tight, hold on firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided.

Notice how Allah subhanho wa Taala He not only told us to unite, but he also told us what to unite upon.

He told us what to hold on to and that is the rope of Allah. Allah was rope. Notice how it's not something that belongs to you or me. He did not say to unite upon your skin color. He did not say to unite upon your ethnicity. He did not say to unite upon your language or your culture or your gender or your political party. He said to unite around something that belongs to him his rope?

What is his rope?

It's not literally a rope. This is a fifth figure of speech and the scholars of Tafseer such as even cathedra and others. They say that the rope means our obedience to Him. Our obedience to Allah, that our covenant with Allah the pact, the agreements that we have with him, that we submit Islam.

That's what we unite upon. That's what we rally behind Allah's promise. Islam. Allah subhanaw taala continues after that by saying was Koto near Mata la he Alikum if quantum are there, and for a lesser Boehner Kulu will be coming for us back to Vienna Amity he f1. And remember, remember the blessing of Allah subhanho wa Taala upon you. You used to be enemies. He says to us, you used to be enemies, and he Subhana brought your hearts together. And you became brothers by his blessing.

We used to be enemies at the time of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam. In Mecca, you had tribal warfare. You had blood feuds that had been going on for decades and decades and decades. When they moved to Medina, you had the two major Arab tribes that I was in the hundreds they had been fighting a war for 100 years, back and forth. Sometimes this one getting the upper hand sometimes the other one winning, used to be enemies. But Allah subhanaw taala made them into brothers.

This historical miracle continues to this day, look in this room. Look at all of the places that we represent.

The other week, I received an email from a brother living in Canada from Serbia, Serbia, and obviously our Bosnian brothers, they know very well, the suffering that they endured under the hands of the Serbs. He accepted Islam. And he's not the first Serbian that I've had messaged me accepting Islam even hiding his Islam from the other Serbians around him and his family. He used to be an enemy we used to be enemies, ALLAH SubhanA wa to automate us brothers, by La ilaha illAllah.

My family comes from Italy. We have folks in this community from Somalia, from Libya, places that Italy has, has dominated and killed lots of people and today we are brothers. It doesn't matter. Islam is the only thing that can put everything behind us and make us unite.

Allah subhanaw taala brought our hearts together. And he calls it a blessing twice because in the eye of blessing twice, we became brothers and sisters he calls it a blessing. Allah subhanaw taala wants to make it crystal clear. So he continues and he says Welcome to Allah chapelco 14 min and now the N taco minha cada Ubu hola hola como at the hola contacted una you were on the edge of a pit of the fire and he saved you from it.

In this way Allah subhana wa

Allah makes clear to you His Verses so that you might be guided. Before Islam, you and I were on the road to destruction.

We were dominated by ignorance and superstition.

The Metcons were dominated by idolatry, and oppression. Allah subhanaw taala puts these things together in a group, ignorance, idolatry, and Mateen not being united, they're all together, they're a package deal.

They support one another. But on the other side, we have another package, we have the package of guidance, of Tawheed of goodwill towards each other, and of unity. And that is why Allah subhanaw taala called it a rope.

You can imagine that without this rope, every single one of us has nothing to hold on to nothing to keep us from falling over the edge and into the fire, the rope is our way out.

We can pull ourselves up, but only if we grab on to the rope.

Sometimes, when we look at the amount of work that there is to do, as a Muslim community, it can be very daunting. It can seem like it's too much. Sometimes we think about the powerful forces that we're up against. And it seems like that we will never win.

But Allah subhanaw taala made us a promise. He promised us that if we hold on to this rope, he will find the way for us. Even if we cannot find the way ourselves or if we can't see the way forward Allah subhanho wa Taala will show us the way.

And this is exactly what happened with the sun. If you think about it before Islam, what were they? They were nothing. The Persian Empire, the Byzantine Empire, neither of them paid any attention to Arabia or the Arabs. It wasn't worth it. There was no threat. They never thought in a million years that these people would get their act together and pose a challenge. Then came a snap.

Then came a snap. And it began by purifying people from the inside. And they united together on Allah's promise they held on to Allah's rope. They suffered together, the Hijra to Medina better have heard conduct, but they kept on holding to Allah's rope. And so Allah subhanaw taala found them away. First Mecca was theirs. Then all of Arabia was theirs. Then Iraq, and Iran was theirs, then sham and Egypt and then the rest of North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Anatolia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia in 50 years. In 50 years before the internet, before the automobile before the train before the steam engine. In 50 years. Islam spread from Morocco. To

China. Allah subhanahu wata other found the way

Allah subhanho wa taala. He is the one that showed them the way.

What about us here in Utica,

our goals are much smaller.

And that means that we can dare to hope.

And we can dare to dream and we can dare to imagine together.

Let's dream together. Imagine MSG, where the doors are always open. And where you always feel welcomed. Imagine a masjid where the brothers and sisters they take interest in what's going on in your life and what you're going through.

I imagine a misdeed where you can get the help that you need. Or at the very least, talk to someone who understands.

Imagine msgid where something's always going on programs every night of the week programs for young people, programs for the elderly, something for parents, something for kids, a place where your children can make lifelong friends. A place where you can find a spouse.

Imagine a machine where you can learn. You can learn Arabic, you can learn to memorize the Quran, you can get a Jazz's you can finish books, no matter whatever level you're at.

Imagine MSG that serves the broader community that feeds the poor that helps the brothers that are getting out of prison to get up on their feet. Imagine a masjid that educates all of Mohawk Valley. what Islam is about that changes people's minds.

and changes people's hearts. Do we know the way

can we see the way forward, we might have some ideas. But that's not important. What's the important thing is uniting,

holding on to Allah's rope together, not becoming divided. If we can do that, Allah subhanho wa Taala will show us the way.

And Allah subhanaw taala might show us a way, that's a complete surprise to us that we never, ever anticipated, or that would be the opposite of what we expected. This happened. In the two plus years I've been here, when I first came to this community, I never in a million years, thought that we would have a YouTube channel, something like this. But of necessity, it was the middle of the pandemic, we couldn't do much in person, we started putting up things online. And now look at what's happened.

The YouTube channel has been a blessing to this community in more ways than one. It has been a tremendous source of financial assistance. We've got over $23,000 raised this month so far for the YouTube channel towards the walk. That doubles what we're raising in house in person that takes the pressure off of every single one of us.

And it has developed interest in this community and has developed interest in this community. You would be shocked if you knew the people in North America who watch our YouTube channel, you think the biggest duets and the biggest scholars, they watch what we're doing. They're paying attention. People have started paying attention to what we're doing. And I can tell because people in the beginning, they will always say you have to cut. Where's that? And now people are saying, I want to come visit you to come. I want to move to Utica. I see what happens in a machine. I see all the faces, I see the diversity. I see the vision. That's something I want to be a part of. This is very

important because if we want those programs, we want something going on every day of the week. We want everybody to have a role to play. We need people. We need people. We need people to contribute. It can't be a one man show. It has to be everybody together. Each one of us has something to give Allah subhanaw taala says help through people. Allah subhanaw taala said no for Anna, what you read a yarmulke in the hospital Allah who Allah the A ye Dhaka Veenstra he won't be alone meaning if the enemy tries to deceive you, then Allah subhanaw taala is enough for you. It's he who supported you with his help and the believers.

Allah subhanaw taala sends his help through people

that believers are a source of Allah's help. But what good are people if they cannot unite? People are useless, if we do not unite which is why Allah subhanaw taala says in the very next verse why LF obey not obey Him.

Allow and Dr. Murthy out of the Jamia ma I left there been a pull over him okay and Allah Allah Boehner home in who Aziz and Hakeem Allah subhanaw taala brought together their hearts if you had spent everything on Earth, every dollar and Penny and euro in order to bring people's hearts together Allah it would not have happened. But Allah subhanaw taala can do it. He is the one that brought people's hearts together. Indeed He is Exalted in Might and he is wise. We will never get there. We will never do anything or achieve anything brothers and sisters as a community until we first unite together echo Foley Heather what stockfeed hola hola Kumari sadly Muslim Minami colada

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Alhamdulillah Allah if Cerny was shook Allahu Allah to a fever he wants to know what's true and you know illallah wa Akhtar, velocity collector IV manly chutney or shadow in the Navy and I will say Eden and Mohammed Abdullah Sudha who are there are 1120 sallallahu alayhi wa early he was however, he was worried he was suddenly moved to Sleeman cathedral.

If our success depends upon being united, then we need to take time to understand the obstacles that stop us from coming together. And being united as a community. There are a few.

Sometimes the obstacle is religious in nature. We see someone practicing Islam in a way that's diff

Friends from what we're used to.

There's a story that happened. One of the first prayers that we had here when I joined the community, one of the brothers, he went over to another masjid. And he made a prayer with them. And they made it in a completely different way than he was used to. They did it in the Hanafi way.

He came back to the masjid later that day, he said, Subhana Allah, I don't know what I just did, is my prayer even accepted, and he was very upset and disturbed. And so I took him by the hand and I took him back to the library. And I said, Tell me what you saw. And he described to me the method of prayer. And I opened the books and I said, look here, this can be traced back to her later. And this can be tracked to the Companions. And this is one of the legitimate differences of opinion that we have.

One on another time when we are in the pandemic. A lot of people were concerned about gaps between the rows, or is my prayer accepted? Is my prayer not accepted? Just a week or so ago? One of the brothers came and he said, Imam, you have to tell the people to put their feet together. It's from the Sunnah of the prayer. It's from the Arcana the salah. I said, Hold up. No, it's not. It's from the Sunnah of the prayer. Yes, it is not from the Arkana salah.

If there is a gap, it's not the best thing in the world. But your Salah is valid, this is a valid thing to do. Your prayer is still fine, it's still perfect. We do not need to split hairs on these issues.

Anybody in any doubt about anything, you can schedule an appointment, we can go into that library, and we can sort it out. And I guarantee you that I will take my library over your Google search every day of the week.

We have to distinguish between the will soul and the furore okay the foundations of the religion and the secondary matters the specific issues there is room for differences in the furore there is room for differences in the secondary issues. If you believe in the Koran, and you believe in the Sunnah and you follow a madhhab or you follow a particular scholar, we can live with it. We can live with it, and you are accepted and welcome here. And that's why if you pay attention to what we do in the masjid, we strike a balance. We try to strike the balance between the different ways that people practice Islam. Everybody is always saying a man Why do you pray us are so late

as because of our Hanafy brothers, the Hanafi brothers, the brothers that follow the Hanafi madhhab. The answer time starts later if we pray early, he it's not even valid to them. They'll go somewhere else. And if you if you're Shafi or humbly you're Maliki if you pray later, there's no problem. There is no problem. When it comes to the Janaza I make two sets neem Salam on a craft Allah Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah because that's the only correct way in the Hanafi school. And then there's other things that I do that are according to the other methods we do, which are not in the Hanafi way, we do read not in the Hanafi way we balance because our FIP and our Islam in this messy it has

to reflect the thick and the diversity of everybody in this room. It can't be just one way, we have to be able to understand what we can agree about and what we can disagree about and move on. These types of differences are no reasons a split off, these types of differences are no reason to leave the community. And we're not talking about oh, well, I'm gonna go make my prayer over there. Today. That's normal. We're talking about holding a grudge in your hearts, saying I'm not going back to that place. I'm going to stop going to that place. They do things like this and like this, I'm like this. Yeah, this is extreme. This is extreme. You need to be able to accept a certain amount of

difference. This is an attitude of rebellion and attitude that ironically is against the Sunnah. You think you're trying to defend the Sunnah and your attitude is going against the sun.

The Sunnah is not rebellion. The Sangha is not leaving the community or holding a grudge because some people practice things a little bit differently. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said, on a committed GEMA what he called unwell photocall for in the shaytaan M Allah Wa, wa who Amina Leith Nene Abyad min Arada boo boo Hartselle Jana fel ELS ml gemera, adhere to the Jamar stick with the mass of Muslims and beware of separation. Beware of separation. For certainly the devil is with the person by themselves. And the devil is further away from to whoever wants the best place in paradise, then let him stick with the mass of Muslims.

There are other comments reasons to become disunited. Some of them are social. Some of them are political. Some of them are ethnic, and we've talked about this a lot recently. You

Chemistry is for everybody. It does not belong to any one ethnic group. It does not belong to any one click, and you should know that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he told us that taking too much pride in where we come from, or our lineage is one of the signs of Jahai Lea, one of the signs of pre Islamic arrogance he said out of our own fee on my t mean Emilija Healy layouts Roku and Al festro Phil accessibe. Well, Thornhill Phil and Saba. Well, it's the Scarpino. Jerome, one Nia. Pride in one's lineage is one of excessive pride in one's lineage is one of the four things from pre Islamic ignorance that my nation will not give up. Allah subhanaw taala teaches us that

honor, dignity is in Islam.

Mankind realiza family law Hill is a to Jamia whoever wants honor. Whoever wants dignity, then it belongs to Allah, all of it belongs to Allah subhana wa Tada. And finally, the last reason, the last main obstacle that we see preventing us from being united. It's a spiritual obstacle. We cannot brothers and sisters, let our pride get in the way. This is community life. We're not going to agree about everything. That's for sure. We have to be prepared to disagree about some things, and we have to be ready to not always get what we want. When I first joined this community, I visited Mmm. So down on Court Street, and he sat me down and he told me right away, he said, Brother, listen, we're

not going to agree about everything. I don't agree with my wife about everything. How am I going to agree with you about everything, and they were very wise words, we have to have the right expectations, we will sometimes not get our way, and not getting our way is not a reason to split off and go somewhere else. That's a test of the neffs. Because all of us have strong opinions about how things should be handled and what actions should be taken. But if we have expressed our opinion, if we were given a fair hearing, and we tried to convince people and the people who were elected to make the decisions in the community decides to go with a different course of action, you have to

find a way to live with it. You have to find a way to live with it. You do I do all of us do. We cannot let the shaytaan play with us and stir us up. We can't let him provoke us to undermine the decisions that were taken or to split off on our own or to go start up another message somewhere.

We already have too many messages in Utica.

No more messages in Utica until the messages that already exist start to work together.

We have to be united, we have to keep a united front, even when we disagree. Even when we're upset or we think a mistake is being made. And if you want something to be different. If you want something to be different in the message, the answer is not to withdraw and go somewhere else. The answer is exactly the opposite. The answer is to get involved. The answer is to get involved. We need volunteers. We have lots of things that we can put you to work for handling the social media accounts, fundraising events.

Become a member we have an election coming up may 20. You have to be a member to vote if you care about who is the president or who is the Secretary or who is the treasurer you have to be a member to vote.

You can't complain about things and unless you are on one hand and you're not even a member or exercise your right to vote on another. At the end of the day. No one is doing this for ourselves. We're doing it for ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada. And if we want Allah azza wa jal to be pleased with us. If we want to succeed, we have to unite. We need to hold fast to Allah's rope together