Friday Sermon by dr Rashad Khalifa Who is Your GOD Majority of Believers Are Going to Hell 1988 1
Transcript
0:11 WAHDAHU LA SHARIKA LAH
0:13 We praise God and we bear witness that there is no god except He.
0:19 The title of this KHUTBA is "who is your God?"
0:25 and I bet you anything quite a few of you will be shocked because the natural answer,
0:34 the immediate answer is "what do you mean who is my God? God is my god, the One who created me."
0:43 But the Quran is full of verses that tell us that millions of people would say that their god is God.
0:55 You're familiar with the verses that say "if you ask them who created the
0:59 heavens and the earth? They will say "God" but they're going to hell."
1:06 The verses that say "if you ask them who is the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and
1:12 the Lord with the great Dominion and the great throne? They will answer "God."
1:19 But they're going to Hell. You ask them "who created you?" They will say "God." So, these are millions of
1:26 people who recognize God as the One who created the Heavens and the Earth, the One who created
1:32 them. The One with the great Authority. The Lord of the Heavens and the Earth, but they're still going
1:40 to Hell. Now, I know this is your answer "who's your God?" And you're gonna say "God is the One God who created
1:48 me." But we have this... this KHUTBA is to examine this question and for you to examine your answer.
2:00 We know that your happiness in this world and forever depends on knowing who your God
2:09 is and worshipping God. God guarantees you perfect happiness in this world and forever.
2:19 And this is repeated in the Quran 23 times. Perfect
2:24 health, perfect wealth, perfect peace of mind guaranteed. God is the One who runs the
2:30 universe and is guaranteeing this for you. No problems whatsoever. "Read my lips" like
2:35 Bush says. No problems whatsoever if you are worshiping God alone, worshipping your God.
2:47 And you and I are going to detect flaws in us as we examine this question: who is your God?
3:05 It turns out... I'm gonna give you the answer first then we'll discuss the specifics... it
3:11 turns out that whatever is preoccupying your mind the majority of the day that is your
3:18 god. Whatever you are thinking of in your mind, this is your god. And the Quran explains this
3:27 very clearly in specific terms. If you are preoccupied with yourself, what you look like
3:36 you're shaved, your make-up, your dresses, your hair. If you are preoccupied with yourself, what the people think
3:42 of you, "he is a nice guy, she's a nice lady." If this is your concern the majority of the day, then you
3:51 are your god. You are worshipping your ego and we see this in SURA 25, verse 43. 25:43 says
4:01 "Have noted the one whose god is himself or his desires or his wishes or literally "his self?" quote, unquote.
4:12 Now, the answer that whatever is preoccupying your mind most of the day is
4:21 your god is backed up by many many verses in the Quran. If you are preoccupied with
4:27 your job most of the day, that is your god, not God who created you. You can say that
4:35 the One who created the Heavens and the Earth is God but your god is your job.
4:42 If your spouse is preoccupying you more than God then that is your god, your wife or your husband.
4:58 If your property or the dollar, the mighty dollars, preoccupying you. That is your god. Now, let
5:08 us look at the Quran and see what backs up this idea. In SURA 33, verse 41, we say... it says
5:15 "O, you who believe commemorate God or remember God or mention God a lot." Okay. Now, the prayer is
5:24 mentioned 5 times, the fasting is one month in the year, the ZAKAT is two and a half percent
5:28 of your income and so on. Everything is limited but when it comes to commemorating God or mentioning
5:35 God or thinking of God, there is no limit. It says KATHIRAN, a lot. And the following verse says
5:40 (33:42) وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
5:42 and glorify Him day and night. Remember God or mention God or
5:47 think of God a lot. Glorify Him day and night. And I will discuss with you how to do this
5:56 We see in SURA 3, verse 191, a description of the believers who are going to Heaven.
6:03 God says "they are the ones who think of God or mention God or commemorate God
6:08 standing or sitting or on their side." So, this covers all your positions, standing
6:14 up, sitting down or laying down, you think of God.
6:20 We see in SURA 2, verse 200 that you should think of God or mention God
6:27 or commemorate God just as you mention or commemorate or think of your parents,
6:32 your own parents, even more. So, you can see "even more" is an addition.
6:40 In SURA 2, verse 165, the believers are described as loving God the most. You see the comparison? You
6:50 can love your spouse, you can love your children, you can love your job even as long as God is in your mind
6:56 the majority of the time. Then, that is... whoever you're thinking of the majority of the time is your god.
7:07 In 64:14, there's a statement that says "your spouses and your children can be your enemies."
7:18 How could that be? By becoming preoccupied with them.
7:24 Ironically, if you want a good spouse and good children, you should give your attention to God
7:29 not to them. Cause God is with your kids as they ride the bicycle in the street, not you.
7:36 So, if you are with God, God will be with your kids and with your spouse. God controls your spouse's
7:43 mind and heart. And you can guarantee a good spouse if you are good with God.
7:52 Look at this in SURA 63, verse 9, God is talking to the believers. Says "O, you who believe do not be
7:58 distracted by your money and your children from commemorating God or mentioning God
8:03 or remembering God" The world is ZIKR-O-ALLAH, in Arabic. "Do not be distracted by your
8:10 money and your children from commemorating or mentioning or remembering God." And this is
8:18 directed to the believers. In 64:15, we are told that your children and your spouses are a test
8:28 cause you become attached to them.
8:34 So, one of the common gods is yourself, being preoccupied with yourself.
8:45 Another common god is your job, your property, the dollar and we see this in SURA 18.
8:53 Let me back up a little bit about worshipping yourself or your self being your
8:58 god. In SURA 18, verse 28 we say... there's a commandment to the believers. "Do not obey
9:07 those whose hearts are diverted from commemorating or mentioning God." Again
9:15 the same word ZIKR-O-ALLAH, throughout these verses is ZIKR-O-ALLAH, otherwise, I will... I will tell you
9:21 if it is different. It says "do not obey, do not follow, do not go with, do not mix with
9:30 those whose hearts are diverted from commemorating God
9:36 or mentioning God because they will drag you with them into thinking about something else.
9:44 You can already see that God is not your god seven days a week. Maybe, one
9:51 day a week, maybe two or three days a week, maybe zero. I don't know. You're the judge.
9:58 But this is the definition. You just divide the day into 100 units instead of 24 hours, 100
10:05 units, and see how many of these units, you are thinking of God. Is it more than 50%?
10:15 You judge. This comes as a shock to many of us but it is also a
10:22 great blessing cause God wills that we know because you can fix it right now.
10:28 If there is a problem, if I discover that I am... that God is my god one day a week, I
10:34 can fix it right now. And I can pledge that God will be my god every day of the week.
10:43 The answer to this question may answer your common question: why am I having problems.
10:54 Also, it will be a good indicator for you
11:00 when you have a problem, why am I having a problem. If you dig deep, you'll find that you didn't
11:06 think of God the majority of the day. And I'm going to discuss with you how if I forget
11:12 reminding because I don't have it written here: how to think of God the majority of the day.
11:17 So, speak up if I finish the KHUTBA. Sometimes, I get distracted.
11:22 We have to find out how we can think of God the majority of the day.
11:31 Okay. It is now 12:30. I believe everybody's here. So, for those of you who came late, I'm gonna
11:37 update this for you very quickly. The subject of KHUTBA is: "who is your god?" And the answer is
11:47 whoever you are thinking of or whatever you are thinking of the majority of the
11:51 day, whatever is in your mind, whatever preoccupies you. OK. I mentioned "yourself."
11:59 In SURA 18, verse 42, we're told that your job, your property, your boss can be your god.
12:09 Your boss says "we have an emergency here at work and you must come here 3 o'clock in the
12:13 morning for the next 10 days." Are you gonna go at 3 o'clock in the morning for the next 10 days?
12:22 God tells you to pray the morning prayer before sunrise. Are you gonna pray the
12:28 morning prayer before sunrise? I mean, these are... you have to ask yourself these questions.
12:36 You don't have... Yes, you have... you have to pray the morning... every morning before
12:41 sunrise. What I wanna say is that God says you cannot possibly do it
12:45 every day because sometimes you're too tired, sometimes you're sick, sometimes you're traveling
12:49 sometimes you have unusual circumstances. So, unless you have unusual circumstances
12:56 if you don't pray the morning before sunrise, God is not your god. You have some other god.
13:04 The criterion is very very easy. SURA 18, verse 42, remember the fellow who had two gardens and
13:13 he was very boastful and happy, happy with them? "I'm fixed. I won the lottery. I'm fixed for life."
13:20 Sure enough a tornado came and wiped out the two gardens. But we learn from that that... by the way, I'm
13:27 gonna interrupt my KHUTBA here and say whatever you god is other than God, you're gonna lose it,
13:31 guaranteed. If you worship your job, you're gonna lose it. If you worship your spouse, you're gonna lose her or him
13:40 and so on. It's guaranteed. Whatever you worship other
13:44 than God, you're gonna lose it, guaranteed. So... and we learn from SURA 18, verse 42
13:54 because this... this tornado came and wiped out the two gardens of
13:57 this guy who was so... he thought he was fixed for life.
14:02 So, if you idolize your job, give it more attention than God, I guarantee you, you're gonna lose it.
14:11 In SURA 7, verse 190, we see that the children clearly can be your god. In this verse, I will
14:18 remind you, verse 190 of SURA 7, it says "this couple... the wife gets pregnant and they pray. Please,
14:25 give us a good baby, good healthy baby. Please, God give us a good baby. And God
14:30 gives him a good baby. Then, they make the baby their god." What does this mean?
14:34 It's what the verse says. End of quotation. This means they gave the baby more attention than God.
14:42 The principle holds that whatever preoccupies your mind the majority of the day is your god.
14:53 Again, to get all these things, to get the good children, the good job, the good money, the good
14:59 health, the good happiness and peace of mind. You know the answer. I'm gonna remind you again
15:06 of the Gospel of Luke 12:29 to 31. "Seek God's kingship over you and everything else follows."
15:18 If God is your god, you're guaranteed all of these things.
15:26 TUBU ILLA ALLAH, repent.
15:37 ALHAMDULILLAH, we praise God. WA ASHHADU AN LA ILLAHA ILLA ALLAH WAHDAHU LA SHARIKA LAH, and I bear witness that there is no god
15:44 except the One God. I hope in your repentance, you pledged that your god will be God, the One
15:50 who created you. Because if you had any deficiency in the past, you had better fixed it right now. With...
15:58 with this repentance. And you mean it every day. You can take account of what you're doing in the day.
16:05 OK. Now, we wanna talk about how... how you go about making God your god. The Quran teaches us.
16:19 When you see your children, or your car runs nicely, you say MASHA ALLAH, this is God's blessing. God
16:26 gave me this. When you see a beautiful flower or a beautiful sunset or your own fingers, you
16:34 say SUBHAN ALLAH, God be glorified. OK. Let me start from the beginning. Let me go back, now. You're
16:41 asleep and you're getting up in the morning. When you get up, you get up in the name of God
16:47 BISMI ALLAH AL-RAHMAN AL-RAHIM or say it in any language you want. The minute you open your eyes, you say
16:52 BISMI ALLAH AL-RAHMAN AL-RAHIM, in the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. LA ILLAHA ILLA ALLAH, there
16:57 is no god except the One God. This is the first thing you must say. This is the first thing as I mentioned to you before
17:03 that everybody will say on the Day of Resurrection. When they get up, they will say - 99% of them - "Oh, shit!" 99% of them.
17:11 99% of the people will say that. It's not a dirty word anymore. So, I allowed myself to say for the first time in the KHUTBAH.
17:20 I mean, you can see it on the TV all the time.
17:29 99% of the people, they wake up and look at the clock and say "Oh, ...." You have to rush to work. and this is exactly what they will say on the Day of Resurrection.
17:42 So, I hope this you reminds you that the first thing to say in the morning
17:48 is what you're gong to say on the Day of Resurrection and it must be BISMI ALLAH AL-RAHMAN AL-RAHIM
17:53 In the name of God. LA ILLAHA ILLA ALLAH. So, there's your mentioning God
17:57 the first thing you open your eyes. You go do your ablution and do the
18:01 morning prayer. Now, the five prayers, we're told in Quran, the five prayers
18:08 are designed for you to remember God. It says that, says "do the SALAT in order to remember
18:13 Me." God says that. And it is the most powerful. It is concentrated mentioning of God. I believe
18:20 of God. I believe that the five minutes of prayer make up for, maybe, a couple of hours. Don't take
18:25 my word for it and don't take any chances. But you must do the five prayers. You don't do the
18:31 five prayers, you're in trouble already. So, you get up first thing in the morning and you mention God.
18:38 There comes breakfast, you say BISMI ALLAH AL-RAHMAN AL-RAHIM. You open... you open the
18:42 breakfast. You start before the first bite. Remember there's a verse
18:45 in Quran that says "do not eat from that upon which the name of God is not mentioned."
18:52 "do not eat from that" and the word "that" covers apples and eggs and bread,
18:59 everything. So, mention the name of God. Don't forget. You'll forget for the
19:03 next month or so, but keep blaming yourself until every time, you eat anything or
19:10 drink anything, you say BISMI ALLAH. So, there and again, you're mentioning God's name.
19:18 Then, you're feeling good. You're feeling healthy. You say ALHAMDULLILLAH. Even if you don't
19:24 feel good, even if you don't feel healthy, say ALHAMDULLILLAH. Thank God or praise God. Just... just
19:29 find any excuses for heaven sakes, to mention God. Think of God. You see your spouse,
19:37 you see your children, say MASHA ALLAH, ALHAMDULLILLAH, thank you God. God be glorified. God be praised.
19:45 Continuously, just find any excuses to do... the sunrise and you think of the Earth rotating
19:51 and you say "glorify God" , "God be glorified." This is how. just... just make sure... the Quran teaches you
19:59 to mention God in every occasion, for reason or for no reason.
20:06 So, I'm going to end the subject here. I probably forgot a few things, but we can discuss it tonight
20:11 in the Quranic study INSHA ALLAH. But what I have here now, the table that I have is
20:15 I remember specifically Naghmeh came to me and said "how come I don't get straight A's?" you know.
20:21 She's a good believer, ALHAMDULILLAH. And many other students wonder how come we don't get
20:28 straight A's and my answer to them always was and is that you will get... yes, John, I'm not gonna embarrass you, you know. It's OK.
20:39 I'm not gonna mention it.
20:41 The answer always is that where it counts, God will give you the straight A's, when it
20:45 counts. And I experienced this in my life, my own personal life, where it counts. And the example
20:53 that we're going to see here is a typical example. This is the last game of the season.
21:04 The last inning, the last out. OK. Two outs in the ninth inning. I believe most of
21:11 you understand baseball, understand baseball and understand the ninth inning
21:16 and two outs and two strikes. You know what this means. This means the
21:20 game is over, right? Almost. So, this is now... This was Sammy's finale in this season and it is a typical
21:31 story as far as your courses are concerned and even... even what is happening to you in life is
21:37 concerned. This is a typical example of the believers, what God does with the believers.
21:45 I'm...
21:48 OK. I'm starting at this point where the second out in the 9th inning is going to happen. OK.
21:57 and that I think it's self-explanatory.
22:42 Did you hear the statement? The season rests while Khalifa...
23:35 (Sammy) Khalifa
25:46 Sammy Khalifa
27:46 From the depth of despair to the high of ecstasy, all in two consecutive plays
27:51 with a base hit by Khalifa
28:25 almost... almost done.
28:28 special thank you, once again, to all the people who supported us and for you and a very special thank you to our comrade in the truck.
29:29 It's longer than I thought.
30:13 So, this is the idea. God will give you victory in the crucial times.