Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem.
Allah guides to his light the one who wills to be guided(Surah An-Nur
24:55).
And for those who respond to His guidance,He increases His guidance(Surah
Mohammad 47:17).
102. O you who believe!
Fear Allah(by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining
from all that He has forbidden)as He should be feared.(obey
Him,be thankful to Him,and remember him always),and die not except
in a state of Islam[as Muslims with complete submission to Allah)].
103. And hold fast ,all of you together,to the rope of Allah(i.e.
this Quran),and be not divided among yourselves.and remmember
Allah's Favour on you,for you were enemies,one to another but He
joined your hearts together,so that,by His grace,you became
brethen(in Islamic Faith) and you were on the brink of a pit of
Fire, and he saved you from it.Thus Allah makes His ayats
(proofs,evidences,verses,lessons,signs,revelations,etc.,)
clear to you,that you may be guided.
104. Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all
that is good(Islam),enjoining Al-ma'ruf(i.e. Islamic monotheism
and all that Islam orders one to do) and forbidding Al-Munkar
(polytheism and disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden).And
it is they who are successful.(Surah Al-Imran Ayat 102-104).
Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi says:
Open a window towards Allah
and begin to delight yourself by gazing upon Him through the
opening.
The business of love is to make this window in the heart,for
the breast is illumined by the beauty of the beloved.
Gaze incessantly on the face of the beloved.
Listen,this is in your power my friend.
[ Mathnawi IV, 3095-3097 ]
And it is Allah who leads us out of the depths of darkness into
light(Surah Al-Ahzah 33:42).And Who has given the Quran as a clear
light(Surah An-Nisa 4:174) And A Mercy (Surah Al-raf 7:204) to all the
Worlds,to all levels of being.
Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi goes on to say:
When you read the Quran,dont look only at the exterior,my
son:the devil considers Adam as nothing more than clay.
The external sense of the Quran is like a person's form:while
his features are visible,his spirit is hidden.
Some one's uncle look at him for a hundred years,and yet of his
inward state don't see so much of the tip of a hair.
[Mathnawi III,4247-4249]
The Khutbah for today now follws:
A true Muslim is one who believes in Islam,and practices it.and conveys it
to people.That is our duty as Muslims.But before learning Islam and
practicing it the way it should be practised,it is unfair to ask others to
accept it.Our duty is to educate ourselves about Islam and behave like
Muslims and then preach Islam to others.It is not sufficient for someone to
boast that he is a Muslim merely by virtue of the fact that he was born of
Muslim parents, or that he was registered as a Muslim in his birth
certificate,or that he was born in a Muslim country.
I was recently in a conference in Germany and was asked questions on
Islam.One of the ladies in the audience stood up and exclaimed that if what
I was saying was the truth about Islam then the problem of most Muslims was
that they do not know now to communicate their beliefs to others.This is a
fact,we do not know how to preach Islam.
Some of us when speaking to non-Muslims speak harshly to them,calling them
pagans,or saying to them 'follow Muhammed(peace be upon him) or your destiny
will be hellfire'.Do you think that people will listen to you if you shout
at them or abuse them? Others begin by addressing people on questions of
detail,telling them that Islam prohibits pork,prohibits wine, and so
on......All such matters are true,but they are minor things compared with
the essence of the message.
The way of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was not like that.He in
the beginning used to speak to people about the majors aspects.Those are the
matters concerning belief in God and the fundamental principle of submitting
to Him which is the meaning of the word 'Islam '.
one of our Muslim brothers told me that he went to a meeting of the
Hari-krishna sect.He was surprise to see many Englishmen there,and asked me
"Why dont we have such meetings?" I told him that we have,Alhamdulillah,a
lot of Muslims among the British people.He further exclaimed that one man
here has thousands of followers,while we have hundreds of mosques and a
relatively small number of native Muslims!
One reason for this attraction of people to such sects is that people in the
west are tired of material life.Many of them are seeking a way out of such a
life.Although they have everything,they are not living happily.That's why
you find them following any way that will satisfy them spiritually.When we
talk to people we tend to neglect this side totally.
We muslims should,when introducing Islam to others,show them that while
Islam does not mean closing your eyes to the realities of the world,it
creates balance in the life of a human being.
The material side and the spiritual side develop together.You do not neglect
your body at the expense of your soul.You have to strike a middle path, the
straight path described by the Quran.If you cut off yourself completely from
the world you'll live like beggar,and how then can you conductyour worldly
affairs?Therefore to live spiritually only is an extreme,and to live
materially only is the other extreme.The correct way is to create a
balance,and that is what Islam does.
The Quran says:" Seek the abode of the hereafter with the means that Allah
has given you and don't neglect your portion of this world".and that is an
excellent way of how we should approach life.
When I as a Muslim have the belief that Allah is the only One Who can
benefit me,the Only One who can harm me,and the Only One in whose hands is
my life,and I follow the middle path physically and spiritually,I will
indeed live a happy life with the minimun of problems.That's actually what
we see among many sincere Muslims.When one of us puts his face on the pillow
saying " In the name of Allah,Most Merciful,Most compassionate,I rely fully
on Allah ",he quickly falls asleep.
The materialist who has millions of pound cannot sleep without taking drugs
or drinking,and if he manages to sleep at the end he will not enjoy his
sleep and in the morning he will wake up facing the same worries.
Those who submit to God are saved from such anxieties.They live a happy life
because of the balance that the Quran and the example of the Prophet(peace
be upon him)created.The result is a normal happy human being and a good
citizen,who has no difficulties and internal social conflicts.
The End.
***********************************************************************
This khutbah was first delivered at the London Central Mosque & Islamic
Cultural Centre, Park Road, London By Shaikh Zahran Ibrahim on the 12th
July,1985.Taken from my collection of Khutbas.
Dua: May Allah guide us straight in our return to Him.
May the light of the words of the Holy Quran strengthen us in
that which is right and enable us to live justly on this
earth,without spreading corruption,and with tenderness and
compassion towards each other,lowering towards those who follow
us the wings of tenderness
May the light dawn within and all round us.
" O our Sustainer!
Do not take us to task if we forget or unknowingly do wrong!
O our Sustainer! Do not lay upon us a burden
like that which you placed on those who lived before us!
O our Sustainer! Do not make us bear burdens
which we have no strength to bear!
And efface our sins,and grant us forgiveness,
and bestow your mercy on us!
You are our Supreme Lord:help us when we face those who stand
against truth "[2:285-6]
Al-Fatiha.
Ameen.
With the very best of good wishes,
Musa Amadu Pembo
Glasgow,
Scotland,
Uk.
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May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,guide us all to His Sirat Al-Mustaqim (Righteous
Path).May He protect us from the evils of this life and the hereafter.May
Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,grant us entrance to paradise .. Ameen
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