With the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
As we look around at the world today, it is almost impossible to escape the feeling that something is tremendously wrong, and out of balance. Never before in our life times have things seemed more chaotic, while at the same time seeming to be orchestrated, shaped and imposed by a power or influence that is extremely dark and negative. Who ever imagined that one day the United States of America would be embroiled in wars whose aims are not to safe guard freedom, nor to address gross injustices or to defend itself from an imminent threat? Who among us would have ever dreamed that the United States of America would one day come to represent an oppressive, and occupying power that has set itself on a collision course with more than 1.5 billion people based upon what they believe. Who among us would ever have believed that the United States of America, a country founded by monotheists seeking a place where they could worship God freely and without fear of government persecution, would one day invade countries and kill people simply because they believe that there is only One God, and that Muhammad ibn Abdullah of Mecca is the last of His prophets, and that a Book called the Qur’an, that was revealed to that illiterate and humble man living in a desert over 1400 years ago, is God’s last Divinely revealed message to mankind. Who would ever believe that the United States of America would become the worldly power used to forcefully impose a New Secular World Order upon God’s earth, the aim of which is to reorder God’s creation, to abolish His laws, and to establish new manmade laws whose purpose is to bring mankind into submission to the darkest inclinations of the human soul, which are greed for wealth, violence and lust for kingdom, dominion, and immortality.
A country whose Constitution once guaranteed the rights of all men to
believe in God freely and to express that belief freely openly, has become a country that goes to war and kills people because of what they believe about God, and his message to mankind. What is even more starling and unbelievable is that many Arab and Muslim governments have aligned themselves with these Secularists, and irreligious fanatics in their attempt to reorder the human society and to recreate it according to their laws and desires. They even help to kill and to starve Muslims and our children, looking for power, favors and protection from the godless.
A country whose Constitution was once the gold standard for social contracts that recognized and sought to protect the God given and inalienable rights of all human beings, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, is now a country that spends days and weeks and months and years publicly debating whether or not torture works, and whether or not we should adopt and endorse the use of torture, even though it is against our laws, and traditions and is clearly not only illegal, but also immoral. Imagine that one of our country’s faith leaders would submit to that debate, the idea that we are not to contemplate what Jesus would do in a ticking bomb situation, but rather what Jesus would expect us to do and how far he would expect us to go to save innocent lives by torturing people to get information from them. This is the thinking and logic of one of the leaders of a religious organizations that professes the belief that Jesus Christ gave his life on a cross where he was tortured, because he would not forsaken his belief in One God, and in the message that he taught, which was revealed to him by that God. According to this imposters belief, Jesus Christ was tortured an died upon a cross for what he believed, yet he would expect his followers to torture to save lives. This failed logic also ignores the simple truth that you cannot know if someone has information about a ticking bomb unless you already have that same information. Even a lie detector test will fail in a situation where a person is being tortured. The truth is that they are sadist and they enjoy hurting others, especially Muslims.
The logic of that man is not the logic of Jesus, it is the the logic of the Pharisees, who felt that Jesus deserved to be scourged and killed because he refused to submit to their authority, and because he would not compromise his message to the Hebrew people, calling them to repentance for the false worship of men they had adopted after entering a covenant with God to worship him only, and to preserve the Book and the laws that had been revealed to the prophet Moses. Jesus gave hope to those of other tribes saying that God would send them a prophet, and described the prophet Muhammad (sa) who did receive a Divinely revealed and universal message for all of mankind.
This Secular World Order that is advancing like a storm, rumbling across the landscape of God’s earth has a history, and it goes back to the beginning, back to the story of creation where a disobedient entity that felt it had the right and power to challenge God for dominion over God’s creation said to God in rebellion, that he would not bow down to man, but rather should rule mankind because he was created of fire, and man from dust. These are metaphors representing the power to destroy over the power to procreate. It represents the power of fear used to subjugate mankind, in competition with the power of love as an incentive for life and the loyal worship of our Creator. Fire cannot create or give life, it cannot nourish or advance life, and it can only frighten and destroy unless it is controlled by a benevolent spirit that is of greater power. Thus, we have the quintessential battle between good and evil, acted out for us as the battle between Satan, the rebellious entity and Adam, the worldly father of mankind, created of love and dust, life giving and sustaining substances that are more powerful than fear of destruction, and lusts for kingdom and immortality in a darkened soul. So the objective of the rebellious entity is to prevent illumination, because the light shows mankind the pathway to God, our sustainer and source of real power.
Most of us who are familiar with religious texts and ways of thinking, look out at the world and see the fulfillment of prophecies, and those of us who seemingly recognize the times we are living in as the proverbial Last Days, will also realize, or rather remember that such days do not portend the end of the worlds, but rather they portend the coming of a day that the Qur’an says will be a Day that no one can put back, meaning it is Day that is unavoidable, the date for its arrival being fixed and will not be changed.
It is the arrival of this day that those who love God and who trust in Him await with fear, and it is a Day that the wicked and rebellious soul does not recognize, believe in, or fear, and it is this lack of belief or concern for the destination of their souls after death that will be the cause for their punishment and destruction. God told the prophet Muhammad in the Qur’an to remind the wicked of this Day, so they might learn to fear God. It is a day when every soul will be called to account for its violations of Gods laws and sins, and it is a Day where the righteous souls who have born the hardship of struggle towards God in a world wrought with evil, will find its relief, and its salvation.
The Qur’an says the angels will greet the righteous and say this is the promise of God fulfilled, so enter the garden with happiness in security. The righteous will return to the Garden from whence our father Adam was expelled as punishment for his disobedience. God’s promise to illuminate the path for those who desire to worship Him, will be fulfilled and the righteous will inherit the kingdom that Adam was temporarily denied. The Qur’an says those who enter the garden will be dressed in garments of green silk and brocade, and they will wear jewels, and sit upon thrones. The Qur’an says they will be fed the purest of foods and they will drink the most satisfying drinks while enjoying the companionship of the best and most beautiful of God’s creation. By contrast the wicked will be covered with burning tar that will cover their faces and bodies and they will burn until they are completely destroyed only to be reconstituted to be burned and destroyed over and over again. The Qur’an says they will drink a drink of the draining of wounds like puss.
The Muslim Ummah or community of Muslims exists in the world today as a sanctuary for those who believe, and who have the desire to return to the garden and to receive their inheritance and to live in peace in proximity to their Creator. I use the word sanctuary to suggest that within the company of Muslims it is accepted to believe in God, and to worship Him and to love Him, and to serve Him, unlike in the world without God. This ummah, which is not defined by geography or race, or color, but only by belief stretches across God’s earth. There is not a place on earth where there are not Muslims. We can imagine that this is due to the fact that we are carriers of something that no other people possess, and that is the truth, and the last message. What is that message? It is that mankind must repent and return from false worship of idols back to the worship of the One True God, or on the Day of Judgment the rebellious soul will be condemned to hell. It is the knowledge of God, His laws and His way that is the barrier to the complete dominion of God’s earth by the wicked and this is why they are at war with Islam. It is because darkness and light cannot co-exist. God said in the Qur’an that He hurled the truth and knocked the brains out of falsehood and that when truth arrives falsehood perishes because it is the nature of falsehood to perish. Falsehood is an illusion, like the power of Pharaoh, sorcery and illusion, while God’s power is real, perfect and complete, and it will not only destroy the Pharaohs of this world, it will destroy their sorcery and illusions, thereby freeing the human being from enslavement to falsehood and fear.
It is this message, this hope, this salvation that has made Islam the leading system of faith and life in the world. It is this power, this hope and opportunity that has caused Islam to be the fastest growing religion in the world. It is this brotherhood that is providing the comfort and the protection of the believers and it is this brotherhood that is organized to oppose and to defeat the forces of evil that seek to destroy belief in the One True God, and His laws, and to wipe out those who worship Him and Him alone.
The Hajj is a reflection of the state of the Ummat. When we see that it is well organized and orderly, and that the people are there in great numbers, it is the fulfillment of God’s promise to the prophet Muhammad (sa) where he said “Call them to the pilgrimage and they will come…” This is referring to the believing people. The Qur’an says they will come by any way possible, and will be lean on account of the distance and hardship of the journey. This doesn’t only that they are physically under nourished, but rather that they are a people who have traveled from a state of ignorance to truth and they have shed all of the excesses of life that impair the journey, or return to God, such as lusts and greed for anything except God.
The Hajj is the physical and spiritual manifestation of Ummah since it is where we gather in this world as we will, Insha Allah in heaven. We are all the same in dress, all the same in appearance, different only in name and experience and desire and need. We all come to Hajj for repentance, we all come to Hajj seeking nearness to God, seeking brotherhood, seeking peace, seeking forgiveness of sin, and also seeking guidance and restoration of our power. The rituals of Hajj are purifying because this ummah should be pure. We should not be committing sin and violation of God’s laws knowingly and purposefully. We should not be aiding others to carry out sin and to obscure the truth or to destroy and persecute the innocent. We should not be aiding the wicked to destroy God’s laws, or to abolish His order and replace it with a secular world order. We are a sanctuary and our presence should be saving and sustaining the believing people, and God’s earth.
In the Qur’an God cautioned the prophet Muhammad to be careful of the leadership of this Ummat. He told the prophet Muhammad to be careful about who is given authority in the mosques. He commanded the prophet Muhammad to replace the wicked, whose prayers are not answered and whose worship in the mosque is equal to whistling and clapping of hands, with the pure and pious who will strive and fight in the way of God, and not merely give water and creature comforts to pilgrims, and those who attend the mosques. The mosque is the center of Muslim ummat, and it must be kept clean, and it must be pure and it can only be led, and cared for by the righteous servants of God who have achieved proximity to God because God said about these people that he would hear their prayers and make their efforts successful, while he said about the hypocrites and the sinful unrepentant soul that it will be ineffective and all of its efforts would fail.
This ummat is in a perpetual state of Hajj, even when we are not in Mecca we are convening the lesser Hajj every Friday Jummah in the mosques. It is the time for repentance of sins, fellowship and guidance. It is the time for discussion of community affairs and settling disputes and distributing charity and visiting the sick and those who have been imprisoned.
The world is at war with Islam, but we are at peace. They are lying and hiding behind words that only fool people who have no God. The Qur’an says that those who God guides no one can mislead them, and those who God empower, no one can defeat them. The state of this Ummat is strong, yet it can be stronger. In spite of the loss of life and destruction of property, and the continuous attempts at our destruction, the believing people continue the journey, inviting every human being to take sanctuary with us, because God did create this Ummat as a sanctuary for mankind. As they kill millions of Muslims, the numbers of Muslims grow by millions. God says in the Qur’an about those who return to God in such circumstances, that even if they had been at home peacefully sleeping their beds and the time to transcend this life had come, they would have left us. It is only the circumstances of the illusion of their deaths that concern us, because these circumstances were allowed to challenge us and to test our abhorrence for injustice and sin, and mistreatment of the poor and weak. We will not exact justice because it appears that they died. We will exact justice because they were killed unjustly.
The prophet Muhammad (sa) taught us that no one should ever fear treachery from us, or theft from us, or violence and rudeness or offense from us. God told us in the Qur’an to even help the wicked and our enemies towards righteousness and cautioned us not to cause evil by provocation, incitement and misguidance.
It is very sad that Satan has sunk his stinger deep into the heart of the United States and other supposedly great powers and caused them to be used to attempt to wipe out Islam by killing its adherents and destroying their countries while attempting to confiscate our wealth and resources. They will never succeed, but worse and sadder is the fact that the innocent blood spilled has a price and the soul an owner who will demand His right and payment. Who will be able to pay?
We must remove our love and hearts from this world. We must enjoy the blessings of this life and the next, but not in sin. The material things should never mean more to us than salvation and nearness to God and eternal home in paradise. We must remember who we are as an ummat, and our purpose and we must be about this business of ours.
Make the word of God, which is the truth, available to all of mankind by every means except compulsion. Purify the mosques and establish the daily prayers. Attend the Jummah and use this day for all of its special attributes. No longer tolerate that any except the pure and righteous believers have authority over our mosques and our affairs. We must be guided by love, and desire for all of mankind to be spared hardship. We do this with charity, kind speech, personal and communal cleanliness, orderliness and minding our own business. The single should marry, and the married should procreate. Those burdened by vices and sins and addictions should never despair of God’s mercy and we should not cast them out for Satan to devour. Let them be part of the fellowship so long as they do not advertise or openly and promiscuously advocate sin and rebellion. In all of this let us remember that God said in the Qur;an that He has created a sanctuary for mankind so that mankind will be safe from being picked off and snatched away by Satan and the desires. We, this Ummat is that Sanctuary.
Allah bestows peace and blessings on the prophet Muhammad, his family and companions. Allah forgives this Ummat and guides us and blesses us. Oh Master, give us the wisdom and strength to bear the challenges with which you test and purify us and give us the grace to lead and protect the righteous. Make your Ummat a sanctuary for the sick, the poor, the frightened and the weak, and those who are seeking to know you and to worship you and you alone. Bless us with kind hearts and do not curse us to be cold hearted and violent. Make us exemplary to the world and a testament to your power and glory. Temper our anger and lusts for kingdom and immortality and make us accepting of your authority, your Decree, and your law. Make us successful, and give us refuge from the torment of the grave and from the hellfire. Ameen.
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