As-Siddiq Mosque
Alhamdulillah, nasta`eenahu wa nistaghfirahu wa nastatadee wa na`oodhu billah min shuroori anfusina wa in sayyiaati `amaalin. man yahdillah fa laa mudilla lahu wa man yudlil fa laa haadiya lah wa nashhadu an laa ilaaha ill-Llah wahdahu laa shareek lah, wa laa matheel lah fee `uloowi shaanihi wa `azheemi sultaanih. wa nashhadu anna sayyidina wa mawlana Muhammadan `abduhu wa habeebahu wa rasooluh arsalahu ta`ala min arjaahi 'l-`alami meezaanan, wa awdahaha bayaanan, wa afasahiha lisaanan, fa awdahat-tareeqata wa nasaha 'l-khaleeqa sall-Llahu ta`ala `alayhi wa `ala aalihi wa ashaabihi wa azwaajih wa dhurriyyatihi ajma`een, khusoosan minhum `ala a'immati khulafaa'i rasoolillahi `ala at-tahqeeq, umaraa'il-mumineena hadraat abi bakrin wa `umarin wa `uthmaanin wa `aliyy wa `ala baqiyatis-sahabati wat-tabi`een ridwaanullahi ta`ala `alayhimn ajma`een. ayyuhal-muminoona'l-haadiroon. ittaqullaha ta`ala wa atee`ooh. Inna Allah ma` 'Lladheena ataqaw walladheena hum muhsinoon.
O Believers! Days are passing, and people celebrate their birthdays they must not celebrate. You celebrate a happy event, but although happy, a birthday indicates that one year of life has gone. You lost one year, so what you need to celebrate is that you are approaching to your final life one year closer. When they are growing up and approaching death, people get depressed, as no one likes to die.
O Believers, around the world! O human beings! Allah (swt) gave us this life to build up ourselves, to be sincere when we reach the Day of Judgment. And you come with bank accounts of good `amal, that you did this and you did that. Knowledge is important; with knowledge you can understand, and without it you cannot understand anything. If someone is mentally handicapped, he doesn't know what to speak. And Allah (swt) gave us a mind and that is why it is an order from Allah (swt) and all His prophets to learn.
Allah (swt) can make someone speak from the womb of his mother. He doesn't need universities or colleges; as our master said, he doesn't need to go anywhere. But he only needs one thing:
وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللّهُ
ittaqullah wa yu`alimmakumullah,
Fear Allah (swt) and He will teach you (2:282)
And:
وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِّن الْعِلْمِ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً
wa ma uteetum min al-'ilm illa qaleela.
you (O mankind) have not been given of knowledge except a very little. (17:185)
All this technical religion you have learned, books that have been written. What Allah said is in measure, very little. So if you are given more than a little what will happen? Did Allah (swt) give someone more than a little? Yes. To Sayyidina Muhammad (s), Sayyidina `Isa (a), Sayyidina Musa (a), Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), He gave to all prophets and messengers.
He gave to Sayyidina `Isa (a) to speak after he was just born, and Allah (swt) said in Qur'an:
وَهُزِّي إِلَيْكِ بِجِذْعِ النَّخْلَةِ تُسَاقِطْ عَلَيْكِ رُطَبًا جَنِيًّا
wa huzzee ilayki bi-judh`i'n-nakhlah tusaaqit `alayki rutaban janiyyah,
Pull that palm tree and it will shower on you dates.(19:25)
قَالَ إِنِّي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ
Qaala innee `AbdAllah,
He said, "I am Allah's servant." (19:30)
He said, "Shake the tree." It was a date tree which was dry. When Sayyida Maryam (a) sat there to deliver him, it became green and full of dates. Who made it like that? Universities, laboratories, or Allah (swt)? And that child, one hour old, said to his mother:
كُلِي وَاشْرَبِي
kullee w'ashrabee
See these dates, eat them." (19:26)
And when people came to question her, how she had a baby, she pointed to him and he spoke, saying: "I am My Lord's servant." (19:30) What did He give me?
آتَانِيَ الْكِتَابَ وَجَعَلَنِي نَبِيًّا
Aataaniya 'l-kitaab
He gave me the book. (19:30)
The knowledge, it means he didn't have a book coming from his mother's womb, but Allah (swt) gave him knowledge which is in his heart, He gave him Kitaab al-Injeel, the New Testament. And Sayyidina `Isa (a) said:
وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُ وَأَوْصَانِي بِالصَّلَاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّ
Waja`alanee mubaarakan ayna maa kuntu wa awsaanee bis-salaati wa 'z-zakaati maa dumtu hayya.
"He made me mubarak. Wherever I am, it is full of barakah." (19:31)
That means if he is in any gathering, barakah (blessings) comes in that association.
Can Allah (swt) do that or not? She already delivered him and came to her tribe, carrying him while he is still one day old. What did he say? "I am Allah's servant." Are we saying that we are Allah's servant, or are we saying we are Shaytan's servant? We have to ask Allah (swt) to forgive us, but we are weak. We have to remember that we are nothing but servant's to Allah (swt)! Whether you became rich or educated, a professor, a lawyer, carpenter, or a driver, you are Allah's servant, nothing more. In Allah's Eyes you are no more.
Sincerity is what is important.
إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ
Inna akramakum `indallaahi atqaakum.
The best one of you to Allah (swt) is the one who is most sincere and pious. (49:13)
Allah (swt) doesn't say, "This is a doctor, a lawyer, a garbageman." All are equal. It might be that the garbage man is more sincere.
So with one day of life, Sayyidina `Isa was given the book. Al-kitaab, the book. He didn't say kitaaban, but al-kitaab, a special book that is going to be mercy for humanity. It means that book contains knowledge and Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an, "Be sincere and Allah (swt) will teach you." But be sincere. When Allah (swt) revealed to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) the first verse:
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
Iqraa bismi rabbika 'Lladhee khalaq!
Read, in the name of the Lord Who created! (96:1)
What to read? The Holy Qur'an, the book by which Allah (swt) is teaching. He said, "Allah (swt) gave me knowledge of what came before and what comes after." He said:
خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
khlalaqa 'l-insaana min `alaq.
Read! in the name of the One Who created human beings from a small clot. (96:2)
Created from sperm and egg, that comes from lowest part of the body. It means, "Don't raise your head, O human being; remember yourself. Remember when you eat, what you do. Don't be a tyrant!"
When Prophet (s) was in the Battle of Khandaq (the Trench), he saw khasaf, a complete earthquake in the east and one in the west that made everything completely upside down; what is up, is down. What happened last week? We have to take it as a sign. We cannot say that the earthquake in Haiti is not a sign. Yes it is a sign, and it is in the Far West, it is an earthquake. Four years ago you had an earthquake under the ocean and it killed 500,000 people in the Far East. One in the Far East, one in the Far West: that is the prediction.
O Muslims! We are counting our birthdays, but count how many days and weeks and months and years we are going to live. You might not remember, then you will be a tyrant. But if you remember, you may be sincere. Everyone is free and judgment is for Allah (swt). You can't say one is an unbeliever or one is a believer. It might be the one you are looking at is a believer, but Allah (swt) made him to hide himself.
So don't look at others, look at yourself. People who look at themselves find reality; reality is what will save us. May Allah (swt) guide us to look within ourselves. If you want to know your Lord, know yourself. Don't say, "I am lost." That is a rejection upon you. Don't say, "I don't know what to do." Look within yourself. Some people say, "Should I listen to this one or that one? I don't know." No, listen to yourself. Have piety and Allah (swt) will teach you.
Someone who is confused, it means he has no sincerity. If you have sincerity, you will get revelation to your heart to do this. But when you are confused, it means your reception is bad, fuzzy, and you get a low-resolution picture. You need to make that picture clear, so be sincere. That is why people need guides. That is why guides are important in our life. The guide might tell you do this, and in your eyes you say it is not correct. But he is correct, he has sincerity. If someone is sincere, Allah (swt) will teach him.
May Allah (swt) bless us.