SERVICE TO ALLAH

Every true believer must be prepared to be of service to Allah. This is clearly expressed during the Haj; as the Pilgrim leaves the whole world behind and journey to the Kaba, with very little. 

There, he or she chants; here I am at Your service, O Allah, here I am at Your service. Surely, all Praise and blessings are for You. There is no partner with You.

Allah says about the true believers the following:

Surely, those who are with the Lord are not too proud to serve Him. (7:206)

Allah prefers those who strive hard and fight, above those who sit (at home); by a huge reward. (4:95)

One way of serving Allah is to serve mankind. This is well established in the Hadith, part of which is as follows:

(Allah will say to a person on that Day) O son of Adam, I asked you for food, and you fed Me not. The man will say: O Lord of the Worlds, how should I feed You when You are Lord of the Worlds? He (Allah) will say: Did you not know that My servant, so and so asked you for food, and you did not feed him; did you not know that if you did feed him you would have fed Me? (Muslim)

Service to humanity must be done out of pure love for Allah, and with no other motive in mind. Allah tells us about this in the following verses of the Holy Qur’an:

And they feed, for the love of Allah, the needy, the orphan, and the captive. (They say to themselves) we feed you for the sake of Allah alone; We do not desire any reward from you, nor thanks. (76:8-9)

One must be prepared to serve Allah with pleasure, either on a personal level or in the community. If he finds that the community out of satisfaction expresses praise on him, he should be careful and be humble; as this may make him feel a bit of arrogance which can be a dangerous thing.

Service to Allah, and for the sake of Allah is the way to success in this life and in the next. Allah says:

And of them (human beings) are some who are, by Allah’s leave, foremost in good deeds. That is indeed a great grace. Paradise, Eden, will they enter.(35:32-33)

May Allah give us the will and strength to serve Him dedicatedly in worship and in our interaction with others.

THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE

A believer must always keep in mind that Adam was acknowledged as being superior to the angels when they realized that he was blessed with something that they did not have, and that was knowledge. Allah says about the knowledge He gave to Adam the following:

And He taught Adam the names of everything. (2:31)

Allah then made it known that knowledge makes one superior to others, as He told Adam to tell them their names. He said:

O Adam, Inform them of their names. And when he had informed them of their names, He (Allah) said: Did I not tell you that I know the unseen in the skies and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you have been concealing? (2:33)

Knowledge can help a believer to:

Develop a respectful attitude towards Truth,

Know more about himself

Become aware of the things that can cause him to be punished.

Knowledge can come:

Through pondering: Those who ponder about the creation of the skies and the earth. (3:191)

Through reading and writing: Read and your Lord is Most Gracious; Who has taught by the Pen. (96:3-4)

Through Zikr and Meditation: So did Allah reveal to His servant what He wanted to reveal; his heart in no way falsified what he saw. (53:10-11)

The best of knowledge is the one that enables us to know about our Lord and our relationship with Him. He says: Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and the angels and men endued with knowledge. (3:18)

Knowledge is so precious and valuable that it has no comparison. Here are some of the Traditions regarding the status of the learned.

Ibn Abbas said:

The learned men rank seven hundred grades above the believers; between each two is a distance of five hundred years.

Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said:

When Allah loves a person He gives him knowledge of Religion, and guides him into the Straight Path. (Bukhari)

The learned men are the heirs of the Prophet (pboh).

The passing away of a whole tribe is more tolerable than the passing away of one learned person.

Imam Shafi said:

One of the noble things about knowledge is that he who is given a portion of it, no matter how small, rejoices; while he is deprived of it grieves.

Perhaps it is because of the importance given to the acquisition of knowledge and the status that a knowledgeable person will ultimately have that the first revelation that Allah give to the believers though the Prophet (pboh) was to lean to read and write.

Certainty

Allah says:

Worship your Lord until certainty comes upon you. (15:99)

The popular translation of Al Yaqeen is death. So one can translate this verse to mean: Worship your Lord until death comes to you.

The term Al Yaqeen, can mean many things; for example one meaning can be; to worship your Lord, until you realize that He is the Truth, Permanent and Everlasting. He says:

This is because for certain Allah is Truth. (22:6)

As we journey through the phases of life we realize that there are many things that we need to know and always keep in mind. Some of these are:

• The physical body is just a shell.
• It has a life span.
• It can be kept clean and decorated, or it can be damaged and soiled.
• In it is housed the soul.
• This can be polished or kept dirty by the physical shell
• The body is subjected to physical laws, not the soul

·        We are existing because of the Grace of Allah. He says: All bounties are in the Hands of Allah. He grants them to whom He pleases. (3:73)

With certainty comes wisdom. The wise person realizes that he must not be arrogant, and he must not believe that his material possessions can save him for the will of the Lord, nor will it stay with him forever. He keeps on reminding himself of what Allah says: i.e.

Do not walk in the earth arrogantly, because you cannot crush the earth or reach the heights of the mountains. (17:37-39)

Al Yaqeen also enables us to understand that all creatures have a life span, and that our ends are already written.

It helps to always be aware of the fact that Allah can destroy us and the entire universe if He so desires, and can bring a new creation into existence.

One of the beautiful achievements of Al Yaqeen is to experience our closeness with our Lord. The body alone will not be able to realize this as it gets its knowledge through reason and logic.

Allah made this known to us by telling us about the experience of the Prophet (pboh) He says:

So did Allah reveal to His Servant what He wanted to reveal. His heart did not falsify what he saw. (53:10-11)

When a person gets a little of the benefits of Al Yaqeen, he realizes that no one has the power to stop death, and when it comes all material things will remain behind and will be of no use on the onward journey.

Many people will then realize that they wasted the precious gift of life, and they will be returning with very little success for the remainder of the journey. Try not to be among them.

True success is to realize that we are helpless creatures in the Hands of the Lord, and we need to win His Favours in order to dwell in Paradise to live in Eternal Bliss and Peace.

CONSCIOUSNESS OF ALLAH’S BLESSINGS

In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful

A true believer is supposed to remain knowledgeable of several things, all the time. One term used by Allah for staying alert of His blessings on us is called fikr (pondering and reflecting). Allah says:

Then they ponder and reflect. (24:46)

Pondering and reflecting can be in many areas of life including the positive and negative aspects of our thoughts, words and deeds.

As far as the consciousness of the positive benefits from the Lord upon us is concerned, one must keep in mind the following: 

1. Appreciation of the blessings of Allah on us. He says:

If you were to count the blessings of Allah (He is giving to you), you will never be able to number them. (14:34)

On one hand we should be thankful for life and the working of our physical existence, as, in this condition, we can glorify our Lord, recite His Holy Words and represent Him here on earth.

2.  Be grateful of the fact that we have the capability and capacity to be God conscious all the time; and we can glorify and praise Him in many ways and at any time. We should be grateful that, unlike other creatures, we can allow our hearts to engage in zikr, even though we may be busy in material matters. Allah says:

Those who remember Allah standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides; and contemplate (on the wonders and perfection) of creation of the skies and the earth. (3:191)

A believer must always be aware and conscious of his limitations as a creature of the All-Powerful and All-Mighty Creator of the skies and the earth. Sometimes, some people may want to believe that they are very pious and will definitely go to Paradise.

In the time of the Prophet (pboh, it happened that some of the companions thought that they were as pious as or even more devoted than the Messenger himself. Allah then made it known that the Prophet (pboh) was special and was the model for mankind. In this connections Allah says:

And your personality is of a tremendous nature. (68:4)

Every believer must always be conscious of the fact that he/she has short comings and limitations. One must not forget what Allah says to us in the following verse.

If Allah were to take mankind to task for all the wrong they do; He would not leave on the earth a single living creature. (16:61)

On way of knowing our limitations and short comings is to compare our lives with that of the Prophet (pboh). On one hand Allah says about him that he is the universal model for mankind. This is recorded in the Qur’an in the following verse:

And We have not sent you O Muhammad, except as a perfect model for the whole of mankind. (34:28)

Another very important point that we must never forget is the fact that Allah says about him the following:

Your Companion (i.e. the Prophet pboh) is neither astray nor being misled; nor does he say anything of his own desire. (53:2-3)

We must always be conscious of the fact that we represent Allah here on earth, and true representation means that we should try to perfect our lives and morals. We should try to make as much as zikr as we can because that is the only way for us to constantly remember that we are in the presence of the divine all the time. Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said:

All obligations imposed by Allah are clearly marked, and none are exempted from them in the presence of a genuine cause. The only exemption is zikr. Allah has set no specific limit for it; and under no circumstance is one allowed to be negligent of it. 

Eid Ul Adha Sermon

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

EID UL ADHA SERMON

 By Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

  

Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar:

Today is the day of sacrifice.  It commemorates the great sacrifice of Father Abraham, as he was inspired to sacrifice his only son Hazrat Ishmael, because of what he saw in a vision. He told his son:

O my son; I see in a vision that I offer you in sacrifice. Now, tell me, what do you think about it?  The boy replied: O my father, do as you are commanded; you will find me, if Allah Wills practicing patience and constancy. (37:102)

 

Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar…

Abraham was prepared to do anything to please his Lord, as Allah tells us in the Qur’an that Abraham became His friend due to devotion and submission.  His entire life did he dedicated to Allah.  He declared the following:

Truly, my prayers and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death; are all for Allah, the Cherisher of the worlds. (6:162)

Because of his conviction that there is only One Creator of the skies and the earth, and that no creature could ever be like the Creator, he was prepared live a life of submission to the Creator.  About his faith Allah says:

Who can be better in religion than one who submits his whole self to Allah, does good; and follow the way of Abraham, the true in Faith. For, Allah did take Abraham for a friend. (4:125)

The sacrifice which we commemorate today is the climax of his manifestation of sincere appreciation of the favours of the Lord on him.

Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar….

Allah tells us in the Qur’an that Abraham is indeed a model for mankind. He did not preach tribalism or racism; he was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but one who firmly believed that no creature could ever be like the Creator.  Allah says:

Abraham was indeed a model, devoutly obedient to Allah; true in faith; and he joined not gods with Allah. He showed his gratitude for the favors of Allah, Who chose him and guided him to the Straight Way. And We gave him good in this world and he will be in the Hereafter, in the ranks of the righteous. (16:120-22)

 

Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar…

As a model for mankind, we know the following from Abraham’s life the following:

1. He was very obedient to the commands of Allah; e.g. he took his wife and only son to the barren wilderness of Makkah and left them there alone. He prayed to Allah and was certain that his Lord would take care of them. His prayer was: 

O my Lord, I have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without cultivation, by Your Sacred House, in order, O our Lord, that they may establish regular Prayer. So fill the hearts of some among men with love towards them, and feed them with fruits so that they may give thanks. (14:37)

 

Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar

When the only son became a teenager, Abraham was ordered to sacrifice him. This he willingly undertook. Allah says:

 Then when the son reached the age of serious work with him He said. O my son, I have seen in a dream that I offer you in sacrifice; Now, what is your view (about this). The boy said: O my father, do as you are commanded, you will find me, if Allah wills; one who has patience. (37:102)

2. He was firm in his belief that creatures cannot help anyone. It is only the Creator who helps. Allah says:

Behold, (Abraham said to his father), O my father, why worship that which does not hear nor see. Such creatures cannot profit you in any way. (19:42)

3. He was firm in his belief that there is only one Creator of the entire universe. Once, he asked his father and the village folks:

Your Lord is the Lord of the skies and the earth. He created everything from nothing. (21:50)

4. Abraham was always grateful for Allah’s mercies on him and his family.

Allah says that he was:

He showed his gratitude for the favors of Allah. Allah chose him and guided him on the Straight Path. (16:121)

5. Abraham submitted completely to Allah. He prayed as follows:

Truly, my prayer, my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are all for Allah the Cherisher of the Worlds. (6:162)

6. He knew how to persevere with patience. He preferred the fire than to make compromise with the people regarding their practice of idol worshipping. He prayed patiently for a righteous son who would be willing to carry on his mission. Because he was so strong in faith, Allah says about him.

Who can be better in religion than one who submits his whole self to Allah, does good; and follow the way of Abraham the true in Faith. For Allah did take Abraham for a friend.(4:125)

 

Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar…

In addition to knowing about the life of Father Abraham, Muslims are commanded to perform the Haj; and sacrifice an animal.  Allah says:

And complete the Haj and Umrah in the service of Allah. (2:196)

The sacrificial camels We have made for you as among the signs from Allah; in them is much good for you. Then pronounce the name of Allah over them as they line up. When they are down on their sides, eat ye thereof, and feed such as live in contentment and as such ask with due humility. Thus have We made animals subject to you, that you may be grateful. It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Him. (It is your piety that reaches Him) (22:36-37)

 

Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar…

As we remember today, the dedication, humility and willingness to submit to Allah by Father Abraham and his family, let us all silently make a promise to ourselves that we will endeavour to live for the sake of Allah and utilize all the gifts He has been pleased to bestow on us for earning His Pleasure in this life and a place in the Garden of Bliss in the Hereafter.