Eid al-Adha Speech 1428 - 2007

Some lessons from the farewell speech of the Prophet during his last and only Hajj

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Lessons from Surat Yusuf - Part II

This Jumaa Khutba talks about some lessons learned from the surah of Prophet Yusuf--PBUH. A lot of lessons that could help us live our lives as righteous and successful human beings despite the lack of support we get from people around us.

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Lessons from Surat Yusuf - PART I

This Jumaa Khutba talks about some lessons learned from the surah of Prophet Yusuf--PBUH. A lot of lessons that could help us live our lives as righteous and successful human beings despite the lack of support we get from people around us.

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Psychological Projection

Since I am no authority in psychology, I refer you to read about this here. But in brief, psychological projection is a defense mechanism by which people deny their own ill thoughts and behaviour by blaming it on others. It is amazing to know that this is happening all the time. Pharaoh accused Moses of "declaring mischief on earth." Moses? Allah's prophet is the one who is going to declare mischief on earth? How about you Pharaoh? Calling people to Allah? :-)

You will find it all over around you. People accuse one another of things they personally suffer from: "She is not sincere to me," "He did this because of his ill heart," or "No one loves me." How often you heard some people saying, "Muslims do not accept to live with others who hold different ideas or embrace different religion." That is projection.

Those who keep blaming Muslims of not accepting others ARE the ones who do not accept Muslims who proved time after another throughout their teachings and their history that they can live sincerely and willingly with others and bring to their communities what is best for them.

Just a little hint to the reader. If you find yourself accusing others with things that they do, examine your heart. You might be a victim of psychological projection.

Wallahu A3lam

By Allah, That is not the Character of a Liar!

This story happened in the streets of Mecca at a time when Prophet Muhammad was completely disbelieved by his people. There was a huge negative image around Islam and around him personally. Islamophobia was at its utmost at that time. People were warned not to talk to him: "He is a liar. He creates problems between people and their spouses and their sons and daughters. Stay away from him." He--peace be upon him--never stopped calling people to Allah. He never stopped living as a sincere human being with high quality character in a society that was prejudicial to him.
While walking in the marketplace, Prophet Muhammad found a very old lady struggling to carry the goods she bought from the marketplace to her house. He, unhesitatingly, offered her help. While carrying her stuff towards her house, he never called her with a name except "O my mother." After he dropped all the stuff before her house, she told him that she cannot pay him back for what he did for her except with a sincere advice. "There is a man in Mecca called Muhammad. He is a liar. Do not listen to him." She advised him sincerely. He-peace be upon him--responded by saying, "O My Mother! By Allah, I am not a liar." It was a surprise to her to know that this man whom every one accuses of being a liar is the very same man who helped her getting her stuff home. Shortly, she realized that she was a victim of a false rumor. She then told the prophet, "By Allah, that is not the character of a liar!"

Living at a time when so much hatred spread around about Islam and Muslims, we must follow the tradition and the character of the Prophet in serving our society and showing humanity who Muslims are and what Islam is. We will soon make people who were prejudicial to us to proclaim it clearly, "This is not the character of a liar!"

Wallahu A3lam

Importance of Character in Islam

This Jumaa Khutba talks about the importance of good character and its value in Islam. How is all the rituals we do are related to good character and how our faith cannot exist without good character. It then concludes with the virtues of good character. May Allah grant us and guide us to good manners, Amin

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How to Worship After Ramadan

This Khutba touches upon the idea of our Iman going very down after Ramadan and how to prevent this from happening. It basically gives the advice to worship Allah in a comprehensive manner not only focus on spirituality. Enjoy!

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Standing Together Against Hatred

This Jumaa Khutbaa could help Muslims espeically the youth to understand these acts of promoting Islamophobia and bashing Islam along with a plan of action such as the one launched by MAS Youth, MY Bridge

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Do You Love Allah? Does He Love You?

Loving Allah is part of our worship to Him. The true worship is a complete submission with a complete love. But do we really love Allah? How do we know? How can we increase His love in our hearts? How can we make Him love us? What do we gain if that happens?

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Back to School

A message to parents, teachers, AND STUDENTS!

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Ready for Ramadan?

Are you ready for Ramadan? Can you really make it a blessed month as the prophet said? Did you plan already? Not yet? What are you waiting for? Listen and get ready!.

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Introduction to Islamic Tarbiya PART II

The attached session is 2/3 sessions help in Andalusia School. It has some nice discussion about Islamic Tarbiya and what teachers should be aiming for throughout the year.

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Introduction to Islamic Tarbiya PART III

The attached session is 3/3 sessions help in Andalusia School. It has some nice discussion about Islamic Tarbiya and what teachers should be aiming for throughout the year.

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Introduction to Islamic Tarbiya PART I

The attached session is 1/3 sessions help in Andalusia School. It has some nice discussion about Islamic Tarbiya and what teachers should be aiming for throughout the year.

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"Have Taqwa wherever you are ... " Part IV

This Attached lecture is about how to fight and defeat the sins of the future. Ta'ala

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"Have Taqwah wherever you are ..." PART III

This Attached lecture is about the second part of the prophetic advice, "... and follow the bad deed with a good one, it wipes it out ..." This lecture show the consequences of disobeying Allah Ta'ala

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"Have Taqwa wherever you are ..." PART II

This Attached lecture is about the second part of the prophetic advice, "... and follow the bad deed with a good one, it wipes it out ..." This lecture show the consequences of disobeying Allah Ta'ala

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The Virtues of the Quraan

This Attached lectures is about the virtues of the Quraan and how to consider it

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"Have Taqwa wherever you are ..." PART I

This Attached Khutba is about the very important attribute of the believer, piety

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General Attributes of Islam - PART II

This Attached Khutba describes the general characteristics of Islam.

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Sincere Repentence - PART II

This Attached Khutba describes how one can make a sincere Tawbah.

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Sincere Repentence - PART I

This Attached Khutba describes how one can make a sincere Tawbah

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General Attributes of Islam - PART I

This Attached Khutba describes the general characteristics of Islam.

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Should I Keep Remembering My Sins?

That is a very typical question for those who repent. Should I remember my sins and keep recalling them? Should I just more forward and forget about them? What is the best thing to do?

Scholars of the heart disagreed on that. Some said that remembering the sins is very useful in maintaining repentance while others said that it does not. The nicest opinion I read is the one of Ibm al-Qaiyem's. He said that the answer varies from a person to another and from a situation to another. If remembering the sin is going to produce a feeling of humlity before Allah and a sense of regret, then it is better for you to keep remembering your sins all the time. But sometimes, being in a state of obedience generates a strong set of emotion of loving Allah, relying on him, feeling his company, etc. feelings that will not stay as beautiful if you keep remembering your sins and your history of disobedience.

I personally will keep remembering my mistakes and sins to maintain my repentance and I will completely forget about them only when I develop these beautiful feelings, something I long for. Ya Rabb

An Introduction to MAS - Part I

This is a session I shared with some of my brothers and sisters as an effort of introducing MAS to our community. I ask Allah to make it beneficial to those who hear it. Your comments are, as usual, welcomed.

A sin better than an act of obedience?

I understand very well what Shaikh Ibn Atta2 Allah meant when he said, "A sin that causes humility is perhaps better than an act of obedience that causes arrogance and pride." It might appear that the Shaikh is saying something wrong by preferring a sin over an act of obedience. However, we should understand that this statement should be considered after the action not before. What difference does it make? A huge difference. Before pursuing any action, one should evaluate the action on the basis whether it gets him closer to Allah or otehrwise abstain. The Shaikh's statement is actually something you would think of after the deed. Here is how we should think about it.

• The good thing about doing a good deed is that it increases our Iman. It get us closer to Allah. Allah wants us to obey him and get closer to him. However, we must know that all these good deeds and acts of obedience are 'our best' and by no mean we can satisfy Allah's rights upon us. Therefore, it makes no sense to feel proud or arrogent about what we do. We tend to feel that we are something and/or we did something great that no one else can do when we do an act of obedience to Allah. We might hide this feeling but most of the time it shows in our actions and in our interaction with others. Talking about our good deeds for no reason but to brag, looking down to others who do not do as much as we do, and thinking that we are doing Allah and Islam a favor by doing what we are doing are verily very bad sins. These sins will get us farther from Allah and would outweigh the reward of the original deed. Ibn Ataa2 is not telling you not to do the good deed in the first place. Rather his only objective is to warn us from these bad feelings that come to our hearts after the deed. So, be careful!
• On the other hand, sins take us away from Allah, diminish our Iman, and harden our hearts and cover them with rust. However, following the sin with a sincere tawabah (repentence) with all what it entails from regret and humility reverses the effect. "The one who repents is the beloved of al-Rahman." The prophet said. "Humility is the spirit of Salah." He declared. As a matter of fact, one of the ultimate form of obedience and worship is to create those heart deeds mentioned here. One of the doors to Allah is the door of humility before him. If your sins make you know how insignificant you are compared to His Glory and how disobedient compared to His Favors, then you will hasten to repentence and come back to the straight path with a heart of a better believer. Again, the Shaikh never suggested doing sins for that purpose. He only portrayed the picture of the believer's heart after commiting a mistake. This picture he drew is what makes the sin works to your favor and it would become a step closer to Allah.

I went through an experience in the past few days and I can tell that my heart aquired a lot of Iman because of a mistake I did, an amount of Iman that was never achieved by any of my good deeds I claimed doing in the past.

May Allah protect us from doing any sins and mistakes. May he allow us to fill our record of good deeds. I also ask him to follow our deeds good or bad with the due humility and repentence. Amin!

History: a Way to See the Future

Allah in the Quraan orders us several times to consider history, learn it, and learn from it. "Say: walk in the land and find out what was the destiny of those before you ...," "Don't they walk in the land and find out what was the destiny of those before them ...," and "in their stories was a lesson for those who have intellect ..." are examples of these orders.


Things in this universe were not created haphazardly. They were created according to a law, Allah's law. They follow certain patterns and they conform to set laws. No one will dare to try to jump from the 50th floor because he knows for sure that he will end up falling dead on the ground. Gravity is a law. No one can ignore it and no one can avoid it. It applies whether we admit it or not. It applies whether we like it or not. It applies whether we experience it or not. It's a complete stupidity to disregard it.


The big mistake we are making is that we think those laws are only the physical laws. And what a mistake it is. It applies to all aspects of life. Here is a few attributes of Allah's law (a.k.a. Allah's Sunnah, way):

• It applies to all aspects of life. Allah says, "Verily, we have created everything with Qadar"


• It is consistent. Allah says, "... you will never find Allah's sunnah altered ..."


• It is something we can learn. Otherwise, the orders of Allah to walk in the land and learn about the experience of others will be invalid.
• Only the wise can see it. Allah says, "in their stories were a lesson for those who have intellect ..."

Let us learn history. Let us learn from history. Let us discuss it among one another and deduce lessons from it. "... tell stories for them to reflect." Ordered Allah in the Quraan.

The Psychology of Failure

I FAILED A LOT. I have come across so many people who have failed. I also sometimes succeed and witnessed so much success. One thing I learned from that is the mentality of someone who fails. I know how we think when we fail. I know how we feel when we fail. I can't claim to be scientific but I will mention some of the observations that I personally felt and witnessed from others.

• THOUGHT1: The first thought that comes to your mind when you fail is, "It is absolutely not my fault."

• THOUGHT2: Immediately after, you start thinking, "Whom should I blame?"

I liked a lot when Jim Collins said while describing level 5 leaders, leaders of the highest quality who can transform the organization from mediocrity to excellence. He said that when people fail they look out of the window while level 5 leaders look in the mirror. Instead of finding out what shortcomings I had that made me fail as level 5 leaders would do by looking in the mirror, I try to find out someone or something to blame. You will be amazed if I tell you that almost every one does that. Well, except the few level 5 I have seen in my life.
Allah in the Quraan mentioned this fact talking about some group that whenever something good happen to them they say it is from Allah, and whenever something bad happens to them they blame the Prophet (pbuh). Allah made it clear, "... whatever good that happens to you is from Allah and whatever bad is from your own self ..." [Surat al-nesa2]
Also, Allah said in Surat al-shura, "And whatever problems happen to you is because of what you hands possessed and He forgives a lot!" Along the same lines, Ibn Khozaimah, the famous scholar of Hadith said, "some people fear the sins of other while being fearless of their own sins."
So a recipe of failure is to keep thinking that way and you will always find someone to blame. However, you will never succeed. Looking in the mirror and blaming yourself for you own problems is THE RECIPE OF SUCCESS.
A very famous adage in my home country says, "Do not ask the doctor. Ask someone who got sick." Well, although that is completely wrong to find out what the cure is, it is absolutely right to know how it feels when you get sick.
This is an advice from someone who experienced failure and that is how it feels. So, leaaaarn!


to be continues

Did I repent? 2/4

Regret is the 1st condition. But it is not enough. You have to quit the sin. You have to stop the mistake. Tawbah (repentance) is linguistically to come back. We must quit what we are doing and come back to Allah, come back to his guidance, and come back to his straight path.

The Prophet once drew a straight line and drew diagonal lines besides it and he said, "that is the straight path and these are the paths, in the beginning of each is a devil calling people to it." He then recited a verse from Surah al-An3am, "Verily that is my path; it is straight thus follow it and follow not the paths for they take you away from His path ..."

Imagine you are traveling from one place to another and you took the wrong exit. You know that you took the wrong exit and you regret taking it. You know how to come back and you know that you must come back. Nevertheless, you continue deviating from your main path until you lose your destination completely. Let us not just regret, let us come back!

Did I repent? 1/4

It is really important to know how to repent. It is even more important to repent. In this post and several others to come I will share with you what I know about this. This is by no means an authentic understanding yet I learned that from my teachers, my books, and the personal experience of someone who sins a lot and repents a lot.

The very first thing that you have to examine is your feeling. Do you feel regretful about what you have done? If given the chance to go back in time and face the same choice, would you do the same sin again? When you remember your mistakes and sins, do you wish you have not done them?
Or, you are proud of what you have done? You share this with others and you no problem with that? The Prophet (PBUH) described repentance with one word: "regret." The first step to repentance and the first condition of an accepted one is this feeling: regret.

A Treasure of Paradise

PARADISE IS FULL OF JOY. We will never be able to comprehend what Allah prepared for his servants there. "... in it is what an eye never saw, what an ear never heard, and what never came to a any human's mind." The Prophet said in one of his Hadith. Therefore, Allah describes it in the Quraan and the Prophet describes it in the Hadith with things that we understand. Properties, trees, palaces, soil, pebbles, couches, beds, fruits, fountains, rivers, gold trays, gold cups, and silver bracelets are examples of such a description.
But what really amazes me is when Allah relates things we do in this life with certain types of pleasure in Paradise (I will have a separate blog for that). I would like you to think of a place full of pearls, palaces, gold and silver and suddenly someone (in this place) is telling you that he found a treasure. What kind of treasure it will be? "Everything is so valuable. It must be something really worthy." You will tell yourself. Here is one of these treasures. "Do you want me to tell you about a treasure from the treasures of Paradise?" The prophet asked Abu Hurairah, one of his great companions. "To say la hawla wa la qowata illa bellah. (There is neither might nor power but with Allah)." The prophet answered. I though, "How is that a treasure? Why is it a treasure? What does this word bring to one's life to make him able to get such a treasure?"
I came across a beautiful saying of Ibn Al-Qaiyem, one of the great scholars of Islam in his best of a kind book, Madarij Assalikeen, in which is described our deen as two things, 1) obedience and 2) seeking Allah's help (3ebadah and isti3anah). Here is how I describe it in a few points

1. Our purpose in this life is to obey Allah and live according to the guidance he sent us. (Obedience - 3ebadah)
2. It is not always easy to do so.
3. Our ability, power, and might is so limited.
4. If we rely on it, we might fail.
5. If we move from our might to Allah's might (isti3anah - seeking help)
6. He will support us and help us.
7. We will succeed and achieve.
8. We will be able to do things we never dreamed of doing.
9. The more we are obedient (3ibadah), the more support we get (isti3anah). The more support, the more obedience, and so forth.
10. We go to Paradise and guess what is waiting for you there? A treasure!

Now I understood clearly why the core of our deen, the core of our prayer, and the core of the Quraan is this beautiful verse that we repeat at least 17 times a day "إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين" "It is you whom we worship and it is you whom we seek help."

Let us keep saying it "la hawla wa la qowata illa bellah."

The first thing humanity learned

We know from the Quraan that Allah taught Adam, the first human being, so many things. However, he probably learned that before coming down to the earth. The very first thing he learned when he descended on earth is how to repent. Allah, our creator, knows that we are weak and we will be doing mistakes. Therefore how to repent was a basic knowledge that we needed to learn. Imagine yourself in place of Adam being alone on this earth, not even with his wife since she descended in a different place, knowing that you made a mistake by disobeying Allah and eating from the forbidden tree, and having no clue what to do to get out of this. I think it wasn't that fact that Adam lost his place in paradise. I believe it wasn't the loss of the joy and pleasure he had there. It was mainly, from my perspective, the regret that Adam knew that he is no longer the obedient servant of his lord. Allah told him explicitly, "You disobeyed Me." Adam has no one to ask, no one to seek an advice from, and not a wife to give him comfort. In the middle of this confusion, and after learning the lesson Allah wanted us to learn, Allah showed him how to come back. That is, how to repent. While in the deep feeling for regret, Allah taught him a few words and when he learned them and said them, Allah was pleased to accept him back as an obedient, repented servant.
We must learn how to repent. We must learn how to come back. We must teach our brothers and sisters how to do that. Yet more important than learning how to repent is to repent! More important than to teach people how to repent is to help them to repent. May Allah make us from those who always repent to Him and get accepted!
Amin

To be continued ...

It could have been me!

Every day in the news we hear about a disaster. Yesterday it was this horrible gunfire in Virginia. So many had died. Apart from that being a criminal act, these things happen. It happened before, it is happening now, and it will happen in the future. My thought here is not about this inhumane practices. Rather, it is about those who died. It could have been me! It could have been you! It could have been anyone. Death is so close to everyone of us. We just think that we will live forever. If it not a gunshot, it is an accident. If not, it is a disease.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once drew a box and drew a line coming out of this box. He then said that this is the man and that is his predestined time surrounding him (the box). And the line that goes out of the box is his hope to live. Suddenly this line will reach the box and he will die. As Muslims, we should not really worry about when or how we are going to die. It is not even important. It is really the status on which our soul will leave to its creator.
"يا أيها اللذين آمنوا اتقوا الله ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون"

How to see Allah's favors

I have not seen so much water before. It was pouring water on us this past Sunday. Back in 1999 when I had a big accident on the Taconic State Parkway, I thought that was a lot of water. But this one is a first of kind in my life. I was in my bed while the local channel showed how people are suffering from a flooded basements, cars half covered by water, or stuff floating in ground floor apartments. I used to get so upset when I see some water coming into my basement after a long day of rain. I still do. But I realized that I have a second and a third floor to live it. I realized that I can easily remove the water using a vacuum machine. I realized that I have electricity, heat, and water. I realized that my car is just a little wet from the rain. All that where others in very neighboring cities have to be moved to shelters until the emergency crews get the water out of their houses and restore electricity. Only then they can go back to their homes, and they will have to live a couple of weeks cleaning and drying what is remaining from their stuff. I realized that the best way to see Allah's blessings on us is to look at others who would hope to be in our place. Every one is abundantly blessed. It is we who fail to see these blessings. "وكان الإنسان كفورا"

The Devil Abandons His Followers

On a nice Saturday morning when Moaz and I woke up early, we had a nice time reviewing Quraan. He helped me to review Surat Sad, while I helped him to review Surat Al-Hashr. In both Suras, there were mentions for the story of the Shaitan, the devil. In Sad, the story of creating Adam was briefly mentioned during which the Devil made an oath that he will lead humans astray. And verily he is working so hard to achieve his goal. Allah Ta3ala promised that he will fill the Hellfire with the Devil and those who follow him. When they all get in, the devil is going to give his famous speech abandoning his followers telling them simply: "it is all your fault." When we moved to Surat Al-Hashr, Moaz recited a verse that echoes the same meaning: the Devil leads people astray and then abandon them.

We seek refuge by Allah from the whisper of the devil and his plots, Amin!

You might wonder whether Moaz and I do this every Saturday. The answer is absolutely 'no.' He woke up so early today only because he is very excited to go to his first soccer practice.

[sigh]Kids!!!!!!!