Friday Sermon by dr Rashad Khalifa Our Purpose GOD's Kingdom vs Satan's Kingdom Abraham's Dream 1
Transcript
0:04 Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar La Elaha Ella Allah
1:00 La Elaha Ella Allah
1:22 Alhamdu Lillah, Wa Ash-hadu Alla Elaha Ella Allah Wahdahu La Shareeka Lah.
1:26 We praise God and we bear witness that there is only One God,
1:31 Allah.
1:37 I want to talk today about the whole idea behind our existence here.
1:42 It is very important to define our goals.
1:46 The distinction between God's kingdom
1:58 and Satan's kingdom
2:04 is the whole idea
2:06 in this world.
2:18 We read in the prayer
2:21 that God is مَـٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ
2:24 God is the Master of the Day of Judgment
2:28 the eternal Day of Judgment.
2:31 And it is because God has given permission to Satan to set up a kingdom
2:38 in this tiny tiny spec in God's dominion, the planet Earth,
2:44 to show him that he is not competent
2:51 to be a god besides God
2:54 which is the thought that crossed his mind.
2:56 So, the whole idea is that this is a test for Satan
3:03 to show that in God's kingdom, there is perfect happiness.
3:22 And I mean by perfect happiness, perfect health, perfect wealth, perfect joy.
3:33 Satan's kingdom is plagued with problem.
3:48 So, this is, this is what I want you to remember
3:51 always that the distinction, the whole idea is a distinction between God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom
4:00 that God's kingdom has no problems
4:04 once you pass all the required tests
4:07 and once you come to the point, this point of perfection, when you are in God's kingdom.
4:16 And that Satan's kingdom is plagued with problems.
4:20 Our soul grows and develops
4:23 and this constitutes the secret of perfect happiness in this world
4:28 as you see on the wall there. That's the theme of the new translation.
4:33 The secret of happiness in this world is a fed, nourished soul.
4:39 You ate breakfast today, or lunch, or snack or something. You ate something today. You gave your body something today.
4:47 And the people who did not feed their soul, they have a starving soul
4:53 without feeling the pain.
4:56 The pain will show up all at once
4:59 when the separation happens between the body and the soul.
5:03 Right now the soul is obscured by the body
5:06 and the pangs of starvation and pain and hunger are not felt.
5:14 It is felt later on when it is too late
5:17 and when it is eternal and when it is called Hell.
5:22 So, the whole idea is setting up a distinction between God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom.
5:32 How do we join God's kingdom?
5:35 We have to do things that are ordered by God.
5:38 We have to follow the commandments and abstain from the prohibitions.
5:42 It's very simple
5:43 It's listed in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Final Testament, the Quran.
5:52 Remember the famous statement, when in the new testament somebody went to Jesus and told him "how do I attain salvation?"
5:59 And Jesus said "follow the commandments."
6:03 A very simple instruction.
6:05 And now the commandments are listed in detail
6:09 with a built-in proof telling you this is from God.
6:12 This is what you should do for your own good
6:15 and this is what you should not do for your own good.
6:20 This is how you join God's kingdom.
6:21 If you don't,
6:23 you will have a starving soul, a shrunk, weak
6:27 unnourished soul
6:29 that cannot be happy no matter how much the body achieves
6:34 of money or fame or whatever, success.
6:54 We can join God's kingdom anytime we want to.
6:56 It's wide open.
6:59 And you can join it right now
7:02 in order to guarantee this perfect happiness.
7:07 You guarantee success in this world
7:09 where no problems, no headaches, no diseases.
7:16 We can do this anytime. Anybody can do this anytime.
7:22 And after you join, for a while, there is a period when you may step out of God's kingdom
7:29 And then God pinches you, if H. loves you, if He cares about you and you come running right back to God's kingdom
7:37 but as long as you are inside God's kingdom, there is perfect happiness.
7:44 You'll be in God's kingdom only if you know God,
7:48 recognize God, believe in God, as He is
7:50 mainly, the most important point that He is doing everything.
7:56 That everything is done in accordance with His will
7:59 that God is doing everything.
8:01 It boils down to this statement.
8:03 It is much too complicated for most people to understand.
8:07 But you must know that. If you know God, you'll know that He is doing everything.
8:10 Then, nobody will bother you.
8:13 Your supervisor at work will not bother you because he's not doing anything.
8:17 And you will look at him whether he is promoting you or reprimanding you, as God's work.
8:23 And if you're perfectly in God's kingdom, you know that whatever is happening is for your own good.
8:29 You'll understand it and you will be perfectly happy.
8:35 So, we can join God's kingdom right now through something that's called repentance.
8:39 You can make a pledge right now
8:41 that you will join God's kingdom, you will be firmly in God's kingdom
8:45 that you will follow His commandments
8:48 not because you're doing Him a favor
8:50 because you are doing you a favor.
8:55 You can pledge to join God's kingdom right now
8:57 by doing the five prayers
9:00 because you need it,
9:01 because you need to feed your soul.
9:04 The Quran makes a very important point on showing off.
9:10 Some people may pray
9:12 because they are showing off
9:15 or some people may not pray because of peer pressure.
9:19 They're embarrassed to pray in front of their friends.
9:23 So, what this person is doing is he's cheating himself.
9:26 It's exactly like eating continuously no-calorie food for the body.
9:33 If you eat no-calorie food exclusively, you cannot live.
9:36 Your body will die.
9:37 And the same with the soul.
9:40 We cannot cheat ourselves by showing off
9:44 or by not praying because of peer pressure
9:48 or because we are embarrassed from our friends.
9:52 You will never be embarrassed, too embarrassed to eat lunch or dinner or breakfast.
9:58 So, your body is getting its rights fully
10:02 but not the soul, if you are affected by peer pressure or showing off.
10:10 So, when I say repent now, I want collectively, all of us to join God's kingdom,
10:16 that we are going to pledge to be in God's kingdom for our own good that we're going...
10:24 You wanna pledge that you will never tell a lie,
10:26 you will never sin
10:28 and you mean it,
10:30 as of now
10:31 that you will be in God's kingdom
10:32 you'll carry out the five nourishing meals for your soul
10:38 that you will follow the commandments in the Quran
10:41 you're gonna fast the month of Ramadan
10:43 which comes April 17, by the way
10:45 you must be ready as of now
10:47 that you'll not backbite anybody
10:51 you will not hurt anyone
10:54 unless they are fighting in the cause of God which doesn't happen here.
10:59 This is a free land.
11:02 Simply, that you will follow the commandments
11:05 and you make this solemn pledge now.
11:08 God says there is a commandment in the Quran that says
11:10 يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟
11:12 "O, you who believe,"
11:13 this is directed to those who believe
11:15 تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ
11:17 "Repent to God," meaning enter into a covenant with God
11:23 تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا
11:24 means "irrevocable repentance."
11:26 Irrevocable, irrevocable, so you mean it
11:30 as you repent now and as you pledge now
11:33 to enter God's kingdom and attain perfect happiness
11:36 and God will believe you, will take your word for it. When you make a Covenant,
11:40 He will accept the Covenant.
11:43 and God says in the Quran
11:47 أَوْفُوا بِعَهْدِي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ
11:49 "You carry out your part of the Covenant, I will carry out my part of the Covenant."
11:53 which is this: the Perfect Happiness.
11:56 So, we are going now collectively to make a Covenant,
11:59 enter into a Covenant with God that we will repent
12:01 that as of now, there will be no sin
12:03 that you're gonna be a perfect human being.
12:06 And then you're gonna keep your part of the Covenant.
12:10 Tooboo Ela Allah.
12:33 Alhamdu Lillah, Wa Ash-hadu Alla Elaha Ella Allah Wahdahu La Shareeka Lah.
12:37 We praise God and we bear witness that there is no other god besides Him.
12:41 Congratulations! We probably shook the galaxy
12:45 just this group of us
12:48 pledging, entering into a Covenant with God
12:51 and God accepts you with open arms.
12:58 As we recite Al-Fãtehah in the prayers,
13:01 we say "Bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem."
13:04 Arrahman Arraheem, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
13:08 And God's mercy is beyond our imagination.
13:11 God is Merciful beyond our imagination.
13:15 And I feel this a lot with the discovering, discovering the Quran.
13:23 For example, you tell the human beings
13:26 when we learn that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives the human being 40 years
13:31 to make up his or her mind
13:34 40 years of research, looking around, studying and then, deciding,
13:40 people say "no, what do you mean 40 years? That's too long."
13:43 Because people are mean.
13:46 They are not as merciful as God.
13:49 Many people I tell them "a person who dies at the age of 35
13:53 and he didn't pray, he didn't fast, he didn't do anything
13:58 is going to Heaven."
14:00 They say "no, send him to Hell."
14:04 "Why does he go to Heaven?" you know
14:06 But God is Merciful beyond our wildest imagination.
14:11 And God decided that He wants to give us 40 years
14:14 to look around and study
14:17 and thank God, you know, thinking of myself
14:19 and many other, my friends who barely made it, you know
14:24 before the 40 years were up.
14:27 God is Merciful
14:29 because we would be in deep trouble if it was shorter than 40 years.
14:34 There is a law in Quran that says "Equivalence", the law of QESAS "Equivalence"
14:40 is detailed in the Quran. It goes beyond what was dictated in the Torah.
14:44 And it says "the male for the male, the female for the female
14:47 the slave for the slave, the free for the free."
14:51 And this restricts Capital Punishment
14:54 and this is followed by recommendation to substitute compensation for capital punishment
15:02 but when I ask the people, even the gentlest and kindest of friends
15:07 and you tell them "a male killed a female
15:11 What is the punishment?" They say "kill him."
15:16 Why? God says "the male for the male, the female for the female."
15:18 So, He's given us... "where do you get the male for the female?"
15:21 I say "a female killed a male.
15:25 What is the punishment for this murder?" They say "kill her. Kill her."
15:31 Why? I mean, you look at the law
15:33 but when I discuss it with them and they look at the Quran,
15:36 they see that God's Mercy is there
15:39 and we cannot violate these laws.
15:42 We are mean.
15:44 God's Mercy is beyond our wildest imagination.
15:48 This verse "the male for the male, the female for the female" and so on is followed at the end of the verse
15:56 (2:178) مَنِ ٱعْتَدَىٰ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَلَهُۥ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ
15:59 Anyone who transgresses this law
16:01 after this
16:03 which indicates this is a new law
16:05 بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ
16:06 after this
16:08 will suffer a painful retribution.
16:13 So, it is very clear in the verse.
16:14 And everyone that we discussed this matter with, they agreed finally with the Quran. They could see God's Mercy there
16:22 that the verse leans favorably towards compensation
16:26 rather than capital punishment.
16:27 So, God's Mercy "Arrahman Arraheem" is beyond our imagination
16:32 and we must...
16:36 I'm gonna go into another subject now
16:40 and this is "how do you act on behalf of your friends?"
16:45 You have a very dear friend
16:46 and somebody says something unkind about your friend,
16:49 what do you do?
16:51 You just sit and take it, you and your friend?
16:55 Or do you defend your friend?
16:57 If you know
16:58 that your friend is not a cheater, for example
17:01 and somebody tell you that this friend of yours is a cheater,
17:05 you will become upset on behalf of your friend
17:08 and you will defend your friend. You say "no, he's not a cheater."
17:13 So, I come from a background with a lot of garbage that I must get rid of.
17:20 We all do.
17:22 And God teaches us through examples.
17:30 When brother, Dr. Mansour, mentioned in one KHUTBA that
17:33 the thing that we all came from, we all believed this at one time
17:37 that God ordered Abraham to kill his son,
17:40 his only son.
17:43 We learn from our research and looking in the Quran in detail
17:46 that the Quran NEVER says that God ordered Ibrahim to kill his son.
17:51 There is a law in Quran that "God does not command vice."
17:56 (7:28) إِنَّ اللهَ لا يَأْمُرُ بِالْفَحْشاءِ
17:58 This is a rule.
17:59 And God's mercy
18:02 will... with this... with knowing this about God's Mercy, do you think He will tell somebody "go kill your son, your only son"?
18:13 You know, I expected many of us
18:16 to go to Dr. Mansour, for example, and say
18:19 we studied, we did research, we looked in the Quran and we discovered that God NEVER told Ibrahim to kill his son.
18:28 You must stand up for your friend. God wants solid friends
18:32 who will not take any statement that contradicts God's qualities.
18:41 If somebody accuses you of being a cheat
18:44 and you are in a position of power, you are forming a cabinet, for example, a government
18:49 and you are a president of some company, chairman of the board or something
18:52 and you know that this person, even though he or she loves you,
18:56 thinks wrongly that you are a cheat.
18:58 How will you act towards this person?
19:03 If you think of God that He commanded somebody to kill his son
19:09 an act of vicious, merciless, a command,
19:15 How will He feel about you on the Day of Judgement, if you feel that way?
19:18 I discussed this matter with Dr. Mansour
19:21 and we looked in the Quran and he said:
19:23 "that's right." He read the verses.
19:24 and it said
19:26 (37:102) إِنِّىٓ أَرَىٰ فِى ٱلْمَنَامِ أَنِّىٓ أَذْبَحُكَ
19:28 I see in a dream that I am slaughtering you.
19:30 And he said "that's right."
19:32 God didn't order Ibrahim to kill his son.
19:34 It doesn't say that in the Quran anywhere.
19:36 (37:105) يَـٰٓإِبْرَٰهِيمُ (37:104) قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ ٱلرُّءْيَآ
19:41 You believed your dream.
19:43 if you look at it,
19:44 but you see what they put in our heads as we were growing up, all of us
19:47 and it comes from some distortions in the Bible
19:50 that God ordered Ibrahim to "take your son and kill him."
19:53 And it affected all of us
19:56 but we have to look in the Quran
19:58 and derive our information from the Quran.
20:01 And had God ordered Ibrahim to kill his son,
20:04 He will tell us
20:07 but He wouldn't
20:08 because God put the rule. He said He does not command فحشا , vice,
20:13 gross matters.
20:16 God will not be afraid to tell us
20:18 if He did do that.
20:20 I will accept it if He did do that.
20:23 But He didn't. God's Mercy is beyond our wildest dreams.
20:27 Ibrahim thought that he received the command from God in that dream
20:32 but you see the crime is magnified because they tell us that the dream of the prophet is truth
20:38 which makes them not human.
20:41 I mean, it turns into idolization of the prophets.
20:45 So, it's a gross crime from many many angles.
20:56 There's a few other things that I need to say about this.
20:59 Let me see if I remember.
21:22 I know there's something that I'm forgetting to say.
21:28 So, maybe, I'll remember it in the prayer.
21:34 It has to do with Ibrahim thinking
21:37 that he was killing his son.
21:42 So he went ahead,
21:44 God intervened.
21:46 It's exactly the other way around.
21:48 I mean, it's contrary to what most people believe.
21:51 God only intervened to save Ismail,
21:54 Ibrahim's son.
21:59 So, not only He did not order Ibrahim to kill his son, He intervened to save the son
22:05 because Ibrahim was a sincere believer.
22:07 He was in God's kingdom.
22:09 And God will not not let him.
22:10 God will not allow you to fall in sin.
22:14 God will not allow you to do something wrong when you're in His kingdom.
22:17 He will not allow you. He will not let you do it.
22:22 And you made the pledge, you are in God's kingdom.