Friday Sermon by dr Rashad Khalifa Original Sin Only GOD Guides Majority of Believers Are Going t
Transcript
0:07 Subhan Allah, Wa Alhamdu Lillah, Wa La Elaha Ella Allah (God be glorified, praise be to God, There is no other god besides God)
0:19 Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar (God is the Supreme X2)
0:37 Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar (God is the Supreme X2)
0:59 La Elaha Ella Allah (There is no other god besides God)
1:16 La Elaha Ella Allah (There is no other god besides God)
1:37 Alhamdu Lillah, We praise God
1:43 Wa Ash-hadu Alla Elaha Ella Allah Wahdahu La Shareeka Lah.
1:46 And we bear witness that there is no god except the one God.
1:50 The Creator of the heavens and the Earth.
1:55 As you know by now from Sura 38, verse 60 and 69,
2:00 A few billion years ago, we committed a horrendous crime by not upholding God's absolute authority
2:10 and the creatures who, without hesitation, upheld God's absolute authority, the angels, they became angels,
2:24 suggested that all those creatures who did not uphold God's absolute authority should go to Hell.
2:33 But God, Arrahman, Arraheem, the Most Merciful told them "I know what you don't know."
2:43 God decided to give us another chance.
2:48 He could have very easily put us in Hell.
2:51 That's the only just thing to do, actually,
2:56 but not as far as God was concerned.
3:02 The idea was that there was God and His kingdom,
3:06 and God simply said "those among you who do not uphold My absolute authority, go find yourself some other kingdom."
3:12 And we did not uphold God's absolute authority when Satan started that idea.
3:20 However, this Quranic information tells us or explains to us why people are so bad.
3:34 In Sura 12 verse 103, God says:
3:39 Most people, no matter what you do, will not believe.
3:43 So, now we know why.
3:45 Because basically, we are the bad creatures who did not uphold God's absolute authority.
3:50 And then, two verses later, in 106, God says:
3:56 that of those who believe, which is the minority now, the majority will idolize something besides God.
4:07 So, therefore, a precious minority of a minority will be redeemed,
4:14 and this is why this whole universe, a billion trillion stars, and all these designs,
4:21 the butterflies, and the cattle and the dogs and the horses, and the computers and the cars and the jobs,
4:29 all these things were made just for these precious few to be redeemed.
4:40 People are bad.
4:42 Repeatedly, throughout the Quran, God says only a few of the human beings are appreciative.
4:50 You go and you tell them "worship God alone, God alone, La Elaha Ella Allah"
4:56 and they are so averse.
4:58 There is so much resistance to it.
5:03 They're so bad. They're holding... God is giving them a chance to redeem themselves,
5:09 and they refuse it.
5:16 So, we decided here to worship God alone.
5:19 And we decided to denounce our crime
5:23 and not to set up anything besides God, no prophets, no imams, no saints,
5:30 just God alone.
5:31 This is how we get redeemed.
5:33 And we are convinced. We know that God alone possesses all power.
5:39 We know that God alone can help us or wills that we get into adversity.
5:49 God alone.
5:50 We know that the prophets, the messengers, the imams, the saints are all dead.
5:54 And even if they were alive, they were powerless. They can do nothing.
5:58 We know that. We are convinced.
6:00 We denounced our crime.
6:02 and we are very few in the world.
6:08 So, why are we so fortunate?
6:14 I mean, "fortunate" does not describe God's blessings on us.
6:20 This is like winning a lottery, where...
6:29 We had a fellow here, one of the brothers who had a lottery. He didn't know that lottery was HARAAM (Forbidden by God)
6:35 and he was showing me how four of the six winning numbers were matching.
6:41 And you can imagine when the numbers were coming out on the TV,
6:44 and he's holding this lottery ticket in his hand,
6:46 and the number, the first number matches "Hmm, good sign."
6:49 Then, the second number matches. "Alright!"
6:52 And the third number matches and he gets excited,
6:56 And the fourth number matches "I'm gonna be a millionaire."
6:59 This is four out of six matching numbers, he was getting excited.
7:04 Now, when you decide, when you denounce our ancient crime and decide to worship God alone,
7:13 you've won a lottery with a million numbers.
7:15 It's exactly like that, even more than a million,
7:21 but let's say, take a million numbers.
7:23 And you're sitting... Imagine sitting watching the TV, and you're holding a lottery ticket with a million numbers.
7:30 and the first number matches. These are random numbers. The first number is 17,
7:34 the next one is 732.
7:36 The third number is 816.
7:39 The third number is 1009.
7:41 and the next one is 6 and so on.
7:44 The first number matches. The second number matches. The third number matches and,
7:48 you have one million matching numbers.
7:50 So, this will give you an idea
7:54 since the word "fortunate" will not describe how fortunate we are.
8:01 What I'm trying to share with you in this Khutbah now is,
8:07 why are we so fortunate?
8:09 There is a reason.
8:11 and hopefully, as we share this together, you will understand why you were born at this time in that house, at that place,
8:23 And what brought you here.
8:24 What are the seemingly weird circumstances that put you in this place.
8:30 Why are you here?
8:31 You're gonna understand all this.
8:37 In Sura 21, verse 51,
8:40 Well, let me go back. Let me back up to that incident,
8:44 that Feud
8:46 when we fell into that crime and we decided not to uphold God's absolute authority.
8:54 Did God - This is a rhetorical question-
8:58 Did God know which ones are really bad and deserve to go to Hell,
9:04 and which ones are really, were swept in the crowd and they deserve to go to the High Heaven,
9:11 and which ones are so so and they deserve to go to the Lower Heaven? Did God know that?
9:19 Of course, He knew that.
9:21 So, and then the test came, after all the agreements and all the things that most of you know.
9:28 Babies are being born in this world and being assigned persons, from that pool of creatures, assigned to the babies,
9:37 As they are assigned, God knows if this person is going to the High Heaven, or the Lower Heaven or Hell,
9:45 So, in essence, you can imagine an invisible stamp on each one of us, that says High Heaven, Low Heaven or Hell.
9:55 Already stamped.
9:57 And here's the proof, in Sura 21, verse 51, God says,
10:03 "We granted Abraham his intelligence, or his guidance for we were aware of him,"
10:11 Ok, in Arabic, maybe you can grasp a few words:
10:15 وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَآ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ
10:17 We have given Ibrahim رُشْدَهُۥ his guidance
10:21 مِن قَبْلُ before that
10:23 وَكُنَّا بِهِۦ عَٰلِمِينَ and because we knew.
10:26 We knew what?
10:30 We knew that he's one of the people who deserve the High Heaven,
10:33 And this is why God gave him the understanding, the intelligence, the guidance,
10:38 So, Abraham looked at the star, and the moon and the sun and decided to worship God alone,
10:43 But it's already,
10:46 he didn't, he didn't do anything on his own.
10:48 It's kind of difficult to explain.
10:51 God gave him the guidance
10:53 because God knew that he deserved that.
10:59 So, we're not here because we're intelligent,
11:03 or because we're smarter than anyone out there in the street.
11:06 We are here because we are really fortunate because
11:10 obviously we were swept in the crowd when those billions of creatures deviated.
11:17 And God knows that.
11:19 And this is why you were born at this time, in that house, in that place,
11:25 and this is why all those weird circumstances that led you here and made you sitting here in this mosque now.
11:30 Because God wanted you... God wanted to give you your intelligence and your guidance.
11:42 In Sura 12, you know this verse very well.
11:45 Yousuf, Joseph, God says... I'm quoting the Quran
11:50 "he almost fell for her and she almost fell for him. If it were not that he saw His signs, his God's, his Lord's proof or sign."
12:03 بُرْهَانَ رَبِّهِ he saw something from God that made him stop.
12:08 So, was it Joseph that was so good that he resisted the seduction, the temptation of the governor's wife?
12:16 or is it...in fact, the next verse says
12:19 "We thus diverted from him sin,"
12:22 We protected him.
12:25 So, does Joseph get the credit for not falling for the governor's wife, or abstaining from sin?
12:33 Obviously not. God is telling us "I diverted him from sin."
12:38 Why?
12:41 Because Joseph had a stamp there, saying "High Heaven."
12:44 Because God knows that he deserves.
12:48 That he was one of the fortunate ones.
12:51 More profound is in Sura 28, verses 68 and 69:
12:58 I'm gonna read this in Arabic and translate it. It says:
13:03 وَ رَبُّكَ your Lord,
13:04 يَخْلُقُ creates
13:06 ما يَشاءُ whatever He wills,
13:08 وَ يَخْتارُ and He chooses.
13:10 ما كانَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ nobody has a choice in this respect.
13:22 We make the decision.
13:25 This is very difficult to explain. I will not explain it. You yourself just read it:
13:30 God creates and He chooses.
13:32 With this introduction that I presented to you,
13:35 you understand now that God knows already, who are the people coming into this world who deserve to go to High Heaven,
13:42 who deserve to be given the guidance and given the understanding.
13:48 It says, nobody, nobody does the choosing. God is the one who does the choosing.
13:52 This is why you read in the Quran "you cannot guide the ones you love."
13:56 The stamp is already there. What can you do?
13:59 It doesn't matter. This is why God says if you cause this Quran to move mount Lemmon from the east to the west, they still will not believe.
14:08 You know I go like this bzzzz, you know, using Quran.
14:11 I'm gonna move mount Lemmon for you folks.
14:14 And you move mount Lemmon like that to the other side of the city.
14:17 They say "magic."
14:19 They say "go join Copperfield's union."
14:24 They will not believe.
14:27 It doesn't matter what you do. They're already stamped.
14:34 The next verse after, God says "God creates whatever He wills."
14:40 This means that He assigns whatever babies in whatever places.
14:47 You know, Kathleen's grandson, Michael, little Michael, cute, white, a real Muslim IN SHAA ALLAH,
14:56 He was assigned to that body in that place, at that time,
15:01 and his grandmother, undoubtedly will sneak in a few pieces of information
15:05 because God knows that he deserves. He deserves to receive some understanding and certain guidance.
15:13 God knows exactly who is to be assigned where.
15:20 This is what this verse means, 28:68
15:24 You can look at it later.
15:26 And in 69, it clarifies the whole thing.
15:29 It says "and your Lord knows what their hearts hide and what they declare."
15:36 And on that basis, God grants the guidance and the understanding.
15:48 So, hopefully,
15:49 with this half of the Khutba, I hope you understand...
15:52 if you just quickly go through your life, and see why you are here,
15:57 you'll understand why these strange things happened and brought you here.
16:02 So, let's turn to God and not only repent but also thank Him for giving us this chance.
16:09 Tooboo Ela Allah, Repent.
16:27 Alhamdu Lillah, We praise God,
16:31 Wa Ash-hadu Alla Elaha Ella Allah Wahdahu La Shareeka Lah.
16:34 We bear witness that there is no god except the one God.
16:37 Only a few years ago, because all our life is just a few years anyway,
16:42 but a few years ago, we were praying wrong,
16:45 we were doing everything wrong.
16:50 We were continuing to commit the same crime, putting names next to God,
16:57 in opposition to this book where every page tells you "God Alone, God Alone, God Alone.
17:02 "When you Pray, the name of God alone.
17:04 "The mosque belongs to God, worship God Alone."
17:07 It keeps saying this.
17:09 But we were doing everything wrong.
17:12 And God granted us the understanding and the guidance as He did with Abraham.
17:20 We read throughout the Quran, people,
17:26 You know, all those Muslims, who are not really Muslims, and all those Christians, who are not really Christians,
17:32 and all those people who say they believe in God,
17:39 They're described in the Quran. You ask them "who created the heavens and the Earth?" They say "God."
17:43 They really believe in God, but they don't know God.
17:48 And the Quran continues saying "they are going to Hell."
17:51 And you're gonna read in my translation, even the old one,
17:55 that the majority of believers in God are going to Hell.
17:59 This is what the Quran says in several places.
18:04 You tell them "who is the Lord of the heavens and the Earth or the Lord with the عَرْشٌ عَظِيمٌ or the great authority, the great dominion?"
18:12 They say "God." But they're going to Hell,
18:13 because they don't know God.
18:15 And they don't understand this granting of the guidance,
18:19 and they don't understand that God is doing everything.
18:27 That an important part of this universe is exposing Satan as an incompetent god with a small "g",
18:37 an incompetent temporary god.
18:39 So, these constituents of Satan had to be there in order to prove his incompetence.
18:47 So, you present all this evidence to a lot of people that God is doing everything. God is in full control,
18:56 and the person in front of you is not a believer. There's a stamp here saying "Hell" on them.
19:02 and you're presenting all this evidence,
19:05 And what will they say?
19:09 You show them verse 17 of Sura 8,
19:12 8:17 that says "God is doing everything."
19:14 You know what they say?
19:15 The Quran got their number.
19:17 They say they blame God for their idolatry, and for prohibiting things.
19:22 Twice in the Quran, God says that idol-worshipers will say
19:27 "if God willed then, we will not be idol worshiping, and we will not prohibit things that He did not prohibit."
19:36 And by the way, this shows you how important it is not to prohibit things that God prohibited.
19:40 They prohibit the meat in the market.
19:42 They prohibit hushpuppies and hair brushes that are made of pig hair.
19:49 You know, I recommended they don't eat the brush, you know
19:54 but even then, God prohibited only the meat.
19:57 But twice in the Quran, God says "the idol worshipers say if God wills, we will not do this."
20:04 So, they blame it on God.
20:05 "I didn't get up for the Morning Prayer, Fajr, because God... if God wanted me to get up, I would have gotten up.
20:11 "God is doing everything."
20:13 So, it's a cop-out.
20:15 And God got their number.
20:29 I pray to God that He gives us the understanding and the guidance and continues to lead us out of darkness into the light, all the way to the High Heaven.