Think, Submit, Follow

Previously in Surah Yunus, Allah azza wa jal warned us of our immense responsibility to establish justice. Allah azza wa jal told us that he replaces people who do not act fairly. And that he Subhana is watching us to see if we will be fair.

Next, Allah subhanahu wata, Allah tells the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam, how to deal with those people who deny the truth. Allah lays out before us their various excuses, to expose their insincerity and to warn us from adopting similar attitudes. Allah azza wa jal says, what you'd have to set out on a tuna, tuna tuna father living in LA are doing LFR and TV or anybody had a bad deal. And when Our Verses are recited to them as clear evidence, those who do not expect to meet us say, Bring us a different Koran, or change this one.

Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us two things here about those who deny the truth. First, notice that Allah tells us that the people who would say such things are those who deny the meeting with a law in the afterlife.

Time and time again. Allah azza wa jal stresses this point in the core and the foundation, the cornerstone of faith, of righteousness, of morality of virtue is to believe in the afterlife specifically to believe in the eternal consequences of the afterlife. That's what keeps us honest. That's what keeps us accountable. And that's what gives us hope. To know that there is an all powerful all knowing God Allah, who wants to reward us for our good and will if he must punish us for our evil. After we die, this is the foundation after which we actually wants to be guided.

Anyone who rejects this foundation, how would they ever wants to be guided,

they will not want to delay gratification until the afterlife, they would rather take their chances and live however they want to right now. And that's exactly the attitude of the fortyish. Bring us another port and or change this one. We don't like what's in it. We wish it said something else. We wish it did not challenge us to be better.

To us for seems profound, unthinkable arrogance. But it's here in the Koran for a reason not to just to document ancient history, but also to teach us

and as people of faith, to think that this doesn't apply to us, or that we can't fall into this attitude. That's a serious mistake.

Although none of us would ever say that we don't believe in the afterlife.

Isn't it true? That sometimes we don't act like we believe in the afterlife. If someone a stranger were to look at our lives, would they see our behavior and say this person certainly believes in the afterlife? Or would they not be so sure.

You'll have a young married couple.

The guy prays the woman wears hijab. They have young kids,

but one of them is flirting with people on Instagram and eventually cheats on their spouse. This is happening in our community. It's happened more than once. Is such a person acting like they expect to meet Allah.

This is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said layers Zanni Karina yesterday Wahoo a moment while I struggled camera Hina Yeshua who were who are not Manuela yesterday cofina Yesterday, people who are not mean Zan, he does not believe while he's doing his sin. And a drunkard doesn't believe while he's drinking and a thief is not a believer while he's stealing. The hadith is an empathy.

When you're disobeying Allah azza wa jal, it's as if you don't believe

that's short how it seems from the outside.

Now, it doesn't have to be that extreme. The way that we take advantage of other people the

The way that we gossip about other people, even the way we treat our own spouses, there's at least one or two moments every day where we don't act like we actually expect to meet alone.

The same is true with report.

We might recoil at the bold words of the Quran, bring us another Koran, or change this one. We don't like it.

But aren't there times when we act like we wish the Koran would say something else?

Because the Koran challenges us to be better? Yeah, you will have that the average attorney goolka Filomena gone in Nevada one isn't what the Justice what I have talked about the combat about Oh, you who have believed? Avoid assuming too much? Certainly some assumption is sin. And don't spy on each other. And don't backbite each other. Yeah. Nina Amador, Leia. Scott called me and told me in a corner of Hiram minimum, Oh, you who have believed don't let one group of people mock or ridicule another group of people they might be better than you. Well, that's enemies. Oh, and full circle. Well, that anambas will be alpha. Don't insult each other. Do not call each other by offensive

nicknames. Yeah, you know, Oh, fun. Oh, phobia removed. Oh, you who have believed fulfill all of your contracts and agreements? Yeah. Lydian Ave koonunga. Wamena. Budapesti Shuhada. Allah. What about unforeseeable? Or well, he deigning what a Praveen Oh, you who have believed stand up firmly for justice as witnesses to Allah azza wa jal, even if it'd be against your own selves, or against your parents, or against your relatives. Yeah. Johanna Vina Amnon Letarte Kudo and welcome Boehner from Bilbao to the Illa and Kunal to Jarrett and Arthur all the miracle.

All you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only by lawful business, done by mutual consent, when we want to spy when we want to gossip when we want to get out of the responsibility.

Isn't it true, that we sometimes act like we wish the Koran had not been so clearly against us?

We can think of plenty of excuses to justify our behavior. If someone else tries to correct us, we can think of 10 things that the other person is doing wrong, so we can tell them and get out of the situation. But this avoids the real issue.

The real issue is that we have not fully submitted. We hate the Quraysh. In our hearts, we hear about their beliefs and we are filled with disgust. And yet, we might have similar spiritual diseases inside of us. If not in the same degree. Then at least of the same type. At the local we had the West offered a lovely, wonderful, Melissa a Muslim fundamentalism, first of all, in a world of all right.

Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah.

Allah azza wa jal does not describe the disease without giving us a cure. In the second half of this verse, he says, called Mayor Connolly and Oba dilla who have managed to call NFC in a TV radio. You have in a in me a fofo in our site to rob the other the Yeoman Alim say, oh Mohamed, it is not for me to change the poor and on my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. Certainly I fear if I were to disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous day.

Notice the instructions that ALLAH SubhanA huzzah Allah gives the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. First he says, It's not my place to change it.

My relationship to Allah's guidance is not selective.

I don't seek to control or manipulate the revelation to suit myself and what I want. The only proper relationship to Allah's guidance is to follow. This is why Allah named our entire faith, Islam

submission. submission comes first Islam comes before Amen. submission comes before conviction.

Submission doesn't require anything but a sincere, humble heart. First, take a

loss of Hannah huzzah Allah as your guide, then your faith will grow.

Next, notice that Allah tells us what will enable someone to submit what will enable someone to follow its expecting consequences in the next life. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was told to say, look, if I wanted to change the Quran, I would be in big trouble.

So no matter how much I want your support for it, no matter how much I want the pain of your denial, and the pain of your persecution to stop, I can't I won't change the score No.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had submitted and we too are called to submit.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was a follower when it came to Allah's guidance, and we are called to follow.

Now that being said, I think it's important to clarify two very important things. First of all, the fact that our faith is named after submission and calls us to submit does not mean that it is opposed to asking questions are thinking critically. Allah subhanaw taala asks us to think he asks us to use our reason. This is one of the regrets of the people that are punished and how they will regret that did not use their reason that sort of, well, Paul, you know, couldn't smell oh now Kim Makwana. Feed us Javi Surya. And they said if only we had listened or used our reason. We wouldn't be the people at the fire. Allah azza wa jal created us with the ability to think and he appeals to

our reason in the Koran to bring us to the doorway of faith. Consider the sun he says, Consider the moon consider all these signs I have carefully placed in the creation use your reason.

Once we're convinced that this faith is from Allah as whichever

Allah Subhana Allah expects us to submit and He expects us to follow as our leaves to say now the Allahu Anhu though can a dino be Ravi la Cana as well as huffy, Ola will miss him in our Allahu Akbar the eye into the soul of Allah he sallallahu alayhi wa salam young second on the law of faith, if the religion and he means the specifics of the religion were only according to our reason, then we would wipe over the bottom of our socks for Google instead of the tops of them. Yet I saw the prophets of Allah who it he was wiping over the top of his socks that's an Abu Dawood and an essay and

reason and Revelation are not at odds in our tradition, they are not in competition with one another, they are complimentary. They help each other if they are used properly. This is the first point that needs to be clarified. And the second point is that once you are convinced, yes, Allah expects your submission he expects you to follow in the fundamental parts of the faith. The Fundamental Matters, the things where there are scholarly consensus upon there are five obligatory prayers every day, there is no prophet after Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa salam, these things require submission. Allah azza wa jal does not have the same expectations for issues in which there

is a legitimate difference of scholarly opinion or interpretation. I just mentioned wiping over the hoof, and I translated it as socks. Anyone who strictly follows the Hanafi school of law will say wait a minute, modern day socks are not the same as the leather leather from the time of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam. And we do not believe that it's permissible to wipe over them. Fair enough. Both are legitimate interpretations. Both of them follow the rules of legitimate interpretation established in our scholarly tradition, dating back to the Companions, neither side gets to bully people and tell them that if they don't follow their specific opinion, they aren't

following Allah's guidance. They aren't submitting to Allah. No, no, this is wrong and that sets people up for spiritual problems down the road. If people equate your interpretation of the religion and your if people equate your interpretation with the entire religion, and your interpretation ends up being mistaken, people will end up rejecting the entire religion. This has happened to the Christians time and time and time again. Before the 1600s The age of the Earth was not a part of Christian doctrine. Then the Anglican Church based on one interprets

ation of the Bible made it an official doctrine that the Earth was created in 4004 BCE. Later when Modern Science showed convincingly that the physical Earth was far older than that, people were thrown into a crisis of faith, from which many never recovered. Be careful of those religious leaders who would have you thinking that there's only one way to do everything, or that every single issue is an issue of how I feel about the truth and falsehood. Green checks for the rights and red x's for the wrong. The legitimate differences in scholarly interpretation are a mercy for our own law. respecting those legitimate differences in the details allows us to unite upon the fundamentals

and that is something that pleases Allah azza wa jal