Zaid Shakir – Getting Back To IslamS Basics
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AI: Transcript ©
All praise is due to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
There's a saying, an Arabic saying, إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ
سُمِّيَ الْإِنسَانَ بِأَمْرٍ يَنسَىٰ That the human has
been called human because he or she forgets.
So, this saying alerts us to something that
forgetfulness can be a positive thing.
If we reflect, for example, on some of
the painful experiences that we've had over the
course of our life, both physically and or
emotionally, psychologically, mentally, the average life witnesses a
lot of pain.
What if we remember and recall that pain
with its full intensity and never forgot?
Life would be unlivable.
So, it's a good thing in those instances
that, as they say, time heals all wounds.
And with time, most of our physical wounds
heal, at least the pain.
Psychological scars, they heal.
الحمد لله But sometimes forgetfulness can be a
bad thing.
We live in a time where I believe,
just my personal experience and opinion, that a
lot of Muslims are forgetting many essential aspects
of what it means to be a Muslim.
And we need to be reminded.
Allah Ta'ala reminds us in the Qur
'an, for example, فَادَّكِّرْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مَنْ يُخَافُ وَعِيدٍ
Remind them with the Qur'an.
Those who fear the threatened punishment.
So, we remind them with the Qur'an.
بِقَالْ وَذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ عَدَاءً
بِقَالْ The blessing of Allah upon you, how
you were enemies, etc.
So, today, Insha'Allah Ta'ala, we want
to just talk about a few things that
I believe many Muslims forget.
To begin, we like to boast and we
get happy, some of us, that there are
2 billion Muslims in the world.
تَكْبِرَ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرَ 2 billion Muslims.
الله أكبر But sometimes we forget there are
9 billion people on earth.
So, globally, Muslims are a small minority.
We get encouraged in the country, there are
10 million Muslims.
Allah أكبر But we forget there are 320
million people in this country.
So, I say that to say this, many
of us forget that if we're Muslims from
those vast overwhelming minorities Allah Ta'ala has
chosen us and honored us and distinguished us
to be Muslim.
So, Allah Ta'ala reminds us وَجَاهِدُوا فِي
اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهُ وَاجْتَبَاكُمْ Struggle in the way
of Allah as should rightfully be the case.
He has chosen you.
If you're Muslim, you've been chosen.
And if one recalls that they've been chosen
for a great distinction, a great honor and
also for a great responsibility and a great
mission then one cannot go on living their
lives like the average Tom, Dick or Harry.
Just an average person.
If we remember, no, I'm not an average
person.
From all those average people out there Allah
Ta'ala has chosen me to be a
Muslim.
Allah has chosen me to keep alive the
prophetic heritage amongst humanity.
Allah has chosen me in an era where
people are responding as it were to a
command شاهد view look at your screen, look
at your phone, look at your tablet, look
at your television but we've been called to
respond to a different command اقرأ read اقرأ
باسم ربك الذي خلق read in the name
of your Lord who created and there's a
vast difference between the consequence of those two
factions but that's a whole another khutbah.
We mentioned the last verse not the verse,
the beginning of the last verse of Suratul
Hajj so this is the first thing, we've
been chosen my dear brothers and sisters to
be Muslim.
We've been chosen to carry the prophetic legacy
amongst humanity.
We've been chosen to keep ancient teachings alive
in a world that has no or little
respect for things that are ancient.
Many Muslims proudly call themselves progressives when the
whole essence of progressivism is to divorce itself
from anything that has anything to do with
the ancient world or ancient traditions or ancient
customs or ancient practices.
We have to remember we have to remember
something else that the first word, second rather
in this verse reminds us جاهد We've been
chosen to be Muslims and as Muslims our
life is a life of struggle our life
is a life of struggle if you find
it difficult and challenging to be a Muslim
under the circumstances you find yourself involved in
then you should know that's the way it's
supposed to be even though Allah says He
made no difficulty upon us وَمَا جَعَلْ عَلَيْكُمْ
فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ that's in terms of
what we practice the fifty prayers were reduced
to five مَا جَعَلْ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ
حَرَجٍ the continuity of fasting الوصال الصيام is
reduced to fast during the day, eat at
night مَا جَعَلْ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ
but to live the life of a Muslim
to have the orientation towards the reality that
a Muslim should have these are not easy
things so much so that it's reported from
the Prophet ﷺ أنه قال في آخر الزمان
أيام تسمى أيام الصبر at the end of
time there will be days they will be
called difficult days الْآخِذُ فِيهِ عَلَىٰ دِينِهِ كَالْآخِذِ
كَآخِذٍ عَلَىٰ جَمْرٍ one who holds on to
their religion during those times will be like
one holding on to a burning ember so
it's still summer so some of you have
cookouts the next time you fire up the
grill and you put your charcoal briquettes in
there imagine yourself scooping out a red hot
charcoal and just casually holding on to it
it's difficult, you'll be juggling it وَالْآخِذُ فِيهِ
عَلَىٰ دِينِهِ كَالْآخِذِ كَآخِذٍ عَلَىٰ جَمْرٍ and we
have a principle in our religion that principle
goes like this الْأَجْرُ بِقَدْرِ الْمَشَّقَّ the reward
you get from an action is commensurate to
the difficulty of the act the one who
reads the Quran fluently and he sounds like
Abdul Basit or Al-Minshawi or some more
recent reciters of the Quran has one reward
the reward of their recitation the one who
reads the Quran in stutters in stammers, in
struggles has two rewards the reward of their
struggle and the reward of their recitation الْأَجْرُ
بِقَدْرِ الْمَشَّقَّ so if it's that difficult to
hold on to your religion كَآخِذِ عَلَىٰ جَمْرٍ
كَآخِذٍ عَلَىٰ جَمْرٍ then the reward must be
great so what is the reward for holding
on what is the reward for resisting the
temptations of the day what is the reward
for refusing to give up to refuse to
compromise your religion وَالْأَجْرُ الْعَامِلِ فِيهَا كَآجْرِي خَمْسِينَ
رَزُولًا and the reward for one who continues
to practice continues to hold on continues to
forge on doesn't compromise is like the reward
of 50 men now the prophet ﷺ was
talking to the companions so they asked مِنَّا
أَوْ مِنْهُمْ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ 50 of us
or 50 of them مِنْكُمْ 50 companions so
we could translate that the one who continues
to practice literally وَالْأَجْرُ الْعَامِلِ فِيهَا during those
times is like the reward of 50 companions
الْأَجْرُ بِالْقَدْرِ الْمَشَّقَّةِ may Allah bless us to
hold on may Allah bless us to remember
the reward my brothers and sisters when you're
confronted with very difficult challenges in your religion
don't look at the magnitude of the challenge
don't look at the difficulty of the situation
look at the magnitude of the reward look
at the magnitude of the reward that you
will get if you meet the challenge head
on and we're not asked to just bulldoze
through everything in our path we're asked to
struggle we're asked to try مَا نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْهُ
فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ what I forbid for you, leave it
avoid it وَمَا عَمَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ فَأْتُوا مِنْهُمْ اَسْتَطْعَتُمْ
but what I command you to do do
to the best of your ability that's it,
do it to the best of your ability
do it to the best of your ability
the very phrase at the beginning of the
verse implies this وَجَاهِدُوا فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادٍ
so struggle in the way of Allah as
should rightfully be the case but we recognize
the right that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has over us is impossible for us to
meet it's impossible just giving the shukr that's
all for our vision what would it take?
so implicitly do the very best you can
do the very best you can but make
no excuses we're not a people who make
excuses we're a people who do the best
that we can and then we leave the
outcome to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala don't
make excuses we forget the Quranic message fundamental
aspects there's a debate raging in this country
over the issue of abortion by way of
example and not to delve deeply into that
controversy it's not the place for jumah khutbah
but to say this you'll find many of
our sisters echoing the slogans of atheist kafir
women my body my choice my body my
choice where's that in the teachings of Islam?
it's just not women that's totally rootless even
a man to say that Allah ta'ala
reminds us in the Quran that's what is
imperative it's not recommended it's not encouraged it's
imperative for anyone who is not at the
level of fluidity in the Arabic language that
they are in English or Spanish to read
the Quran in English or Spanish the translation
so that the message informs our consciousness shapes
our consciousness informs our world view Allah ta
'ala tells us in the Quran وَرَبُّكُمْ يَخْذُكُمْ
مَا يَشَاءُ يَخْتَارُ مَا كَانَ لَهُمْ خِيَرًا it
is your Lord who creates and chooses they
have no choice we don't have a choice
Allah chooses for us Allah created us and
Allah chooses and we say I hear and
I obey مَا كَانَ لَهُمْ الْخِيَرًا so leaving
aside the issue of abortion and not to
pick on anyone who might have tattoos just
don't get another one I can't say my
body my choice and tap myself up tattooing
is a major sin كبيرة من الكبائر it's
a major sin as a man I can't
pierce my ears my body my choice I
can't get a Mohawk haircut my body my
choice this is Allah's body لِلَّهِ مَا فِي
السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ unto Allah belongs everything in
the heavens and in the earth aren't we
in the earth?
what happens when we die?
what do we mind ourselves of?
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ we belong to Allah وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ
رَاجِعُونَ and unto Him we are returning but
we forget basic fundamental teachings of the religion
fundamental teachings it's time to get back to
basics we have to remember and remind ourselves
again Islam is a simple religion early on
they study the complexities of the religion but
at the end of the day they lay
out a path for the people the common
people that is simple and straight forward and
many of us converted to Islam because of
that simplicity توحيد لا إله إلا الله a
messenger to follow محمد رسول الله we didn't
have to make it up on the fly
we didn't have to just have a general
set of moral and ethical principles and we
fill in the blanks we have an involved
system of morality a system that tells us
what is right and what is wrong we
don't have to make it up so may
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless us to
remember to remember that we've been chosen we're
not just accidentally Muslim He's chosen you to
be a source of light when the world
is dark many of us forget that we
are guides for humanity just as the Prophet
ﷺ was a guide for us and humanity
but more specifically he's a guide for us
but he's not here we forget the role
that the scholars play and sometimes the scholars
forget the role that they play see this
one's involved in this scandal and that one's
involved in that scandal because they forget they're
guides for the people they're the heirs of
the Prophet ﷺ the scholars are the heirs
of the Prophets the scholars are the heirs
of the Prophets so the Prophets who guides
for humanity the Prophets are moral exemplars you
conclude with the story that you probably heard
from me or someone else the story is
said it's said that Abdullah ibn Umar met
a young Abdullah ibn Zubair and
the younger was tending some sheep and so
ibn Umar again some say it wasn't ibn
Umar to leave the details it's said ask
him to give me one of the sheep
sell me, sell me one of the sheep
and he said they're not my sheep I
don't have the right to sell them and
the elder he said well no one's around
and the owner you have so many sheep
he won't know one is missing and the
young man the young lad replied so ain't
Allah no human being is around but Allah
is around and Allah would witness that transgression
and Allah would hold me accountable for not
bearing the trust that was deposited with me
so ain't Allah so my dear brothers and
sisters whenever you find yourself in a situation
where you're ready to compromise the religion where
you're ready to turn back where you think
it's too hard just ask yourself that ain't
Allah and where is Allah Allah sees and
witnesses Allah knows, Allah hears Allah knows what
we're dealing with Allah knows how difficult it
is it is Allah who created the test
for us in the first place in order
that He could strengthen our faith affirm our
faith and give us a bounteous reward for
something we also tend to forget we generalizing,
not necessarily anyone here that we're not living
for this world we're living for the Akhira
this world is in a boat of tests
and trials it's in a boat of tests
and trials so that we may successfully gain
the Akhira which is the abode of peace
where there's no tests or trials there's no
oppression there's no treachery there's no economic, psychological
social or otherwise other form of oppression the
human imperfections there's no disease, there's no COVID
there's no malaria there's no AIDS none of
that exists there that's the abode of tranquility
that's the abode of peace that's the abode
of Salaam Darus Salaam not this world so
remember, we're not living for this world we're
living for the Akhira and all of the
tests, the trials and tribulations of this world
when we're in the
Akhira the worst thing we've ever encountered in
this world and when we start we will
have no recollection some of us are able
to transcend the worst of the world in
the world but occasionally we might have a
flashback even an unconscious one and that pain
just comes back briefly but in the Akhira
we won't have any recollection of it and
if we do it won't be associated with
any pain in fact some of the most
vexing situations will be a source of happiness
because we'll look back at it or the
flash before us and we'll say Alhamdulillah that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave me that
test put that test in my life because
that might be the reason I'm here in
Jannah today may Allah give us Tawfiq May
Allah ta'ala make things easy for us
may Allah give us the strength to pass
any test He might present to us in
this world may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
bless us to be mindful of the fundamental
teachings of the religion may Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala strengthen us may Allah ta'ala
elevate us may Allah ta'ala bless us
bestow His mercy upon us open the floodgates
of His grace before us وصلى الله على
سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم أقول قولي
هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المؤمنين يا
قوم استغفروا الله الحمد
لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسدين
سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم إن الله
وملائكته يصلون على النبي يا أيها الذين آمنوا
صلوا عليه وسلموا تسليهنا اللهم صل وسلم وبارك
على سيدنا وحبيبنا وقرة عيوننا محمد وآله وصحبه
وسلم الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله
إذا تنظروا إلى هذا الغرفة ترون ميكروكازم من
أحد أعظم الحفاظات التي أعطاها الإسلام للعالم وهي
الحفاظات الأثنية والمواطنة المجتمعية والمشاركة
لديكم أسيان أو أشخاص من أسيان أعراب أوروبيون
أفريقيا أو أشخاص من أفريقيا مجتمعون في مجتمع
كبير من أخوة وأخوة ولا أحد مجنون لا
أحد يحاول أن يتحرك من شخص لا يمكن
أن يكون من عائلتهم أو لا يمكن أن
يكون لديهم نفس الشيء أو لا يمكن أن
يكون لديهم نفس الشيء هذا عزيز جميل وفي
هذه الأيام والوقت عندما الشيطان المقاتل الكبير فيتعلمون
منهما ما يفرقون به بين المرء وثوجه والشياطين
تعلمون من الأنجلين في بابل وهاروت وماروت هذا
ما يفرق المرء والشياطين وهذا ما يفرق المرء
والشياطين بين أطفال آدم كلكم آدم بني آدم
أطفال آدم آدم من طراب آدم من الأرض
لتقسيم نرى في هذا البلد حالة لتقسيم الناس
خطوة ألوان المسلمين يجب أن يكونون مصادر المقاومة
الكثير من المسلمين يصبحون أكثر مغامرين في تحقيق
هذه الألوان الألوان الاثنية than many of the
architects of these devilish ideologies.
Devilish because shaitan is the first divider as
we said.
And his first rebellion was because of color.
And because of physical difference.
Allah Ta'ala says to Al-La'im,
مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسْتُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكُ قَالَ أَنَا
خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقَّنِي مِّن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتُهُ مِّن تِينٍ
And Allah said to Iblis, to shaitan, what
prevented you from prostrating yourself to Adam when
I ordered you to do so, he said
I'm better than him, superiority.
Based on what?
He didn't argue along moral lines.
I give more charity.
I'm kinder to the elderly.
I kiss babies.
He made no moral argument.
He argued based on physical difference.
You created me from fire and you created
him from clay.
And that physical difference had a color component.
Because if you look at fire, it's blue,
red, orange, yellow, green.
And the clay Adam was created from was
black clay.
The first racial supremacist was shaitan.
And every supremacist following him is walking in
his devilish footsteps.
And in conclusion, remind us, myself and yourselves
of one more thing.
That we've been commanded not to follow the
footsteps of shaitan.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الخُلُّوا فِي السِّمِّ كَافًا
وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
O you believers, enter totally into Islam.
In other words, don't take some and reject
others.
I don't like this.
This is sexist.
This is incompatible with present sentiments.
So I won't take that part.
Don't take some and leave some.
Take it all to the best of your
abilities.
اُخْلُوا فِي السِّمِّ كَافًا And don't follow the
footsteps of shaitan.
وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
He is unto you a clear enemy.
His enmity is not disguised.
Now you see it on full display.
He's not disguising it.
If anytime in human history the clarity of
the enmity of shaitan to the human being
was on full display, it's now.
So don't follow his footsteps.
Don't open the door to following his footsteps.
May Allah give us tawfiq and taishir.
May Allah accept from us.
May Allah Ta'ala strengthen us.
May Allah Ta'ala bless us to understand
the gravity of Islam.
And what Islam represents in the face of
many different areas of dehumanizing realities, institutions, movements
that are unfolding in our world.
May Allah give us tawfiq.
May Allah bless us to elevate ourselves from
the attraction shaitan.
He argued based on his physicality.
He wants to keep all of us trapped
at the level of physicality.
He doesn't want us to elevate so that
our lives, our world view, the way we
see reality is informed by metaphysical realities.
By things you can immediately perceive through your
physical senses.
And pleasures that you don't realize are stored
up at that level beyond carnal lusts and
appetites.
And when one elevates, we're ready to respond.
So we can respond to shaitan.
And we can remain trapped at the physical
level.
And everything, even Islam, is reduced to the
physical.