(Friday sermon) 

By Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al Munajjid

Truly, all praise is due to God. We praise Him, and beseech help and forgiveness from Him. We seek refuge in God from the evils of ourselves and our bad deeds. Whoever God guides shall never be misguided, and whoever He misguides shall never be guided. I bear witness that there is no deity save God, who is unique and has no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and prophet.

 

{O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims with complete submission to Allah).} 3:102

 

{O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women; and fear Allah through Whom you demand (your mutual rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the womb (kinship). Surely, Allah is Ever an All-Watcher over you.} 4:1

 

{O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth * He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His messenger, he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and will be admitted to Paradise} 33:70-71

 

The most truthful of words are those in the book of God, and the best of guidance is that of Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him. The most evil of matters in regard to the religion are the innovated matters (bid`a), and innovated matters in regard to the religion are misguidance, and all misguidance leads to hell. O servants of God, God Almighty sent down this religion to abrogate all other religions, and He legislated the Shari`a to abrogate all other legislations. The eternal miracle He gave His prophet, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him, was the Holy Qur'an, may God Almighty preserve it throughout time. In contrary, the miracles of previous prophets have long gone; Moses' era has passed, the camel of prophet Saleh no longer exists, and likewise to other prophets. No miracles remain except that of prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him. His miracle remained after his death for many long years, which is evidence that this religion shall survive, for God had sent it down to stay. Despite the many trials which Muslims have endured, and despite the various kinds of torture which were immensely directed towards them, and despite the campaigns this religion has experienced, which aim to deform it, to alter it, to intentionally abuse it, and to slander it and its followers, God, most High, preserved it. If any other religion had endured what our religion endured it would had perished and vanished a long time ago. This religion has truly survived; it remains alive in the souls of its followers despite the oppression against them. This religion has survived, and its influence remains in the endurance of certain Muslim personalities, in the rising glory of a certain scholar of Islam, in the attraction of a non-Muslim towards this religion because of a certain law or worship related to Islam, in the effect of God Almighty's book (the Qur'an) on a non-Muslim, or in the return of a transgressor to the religion once again, after having been distant from it. The examples and others clearly prove that God had sent down the religion to stay, and that the disbelievers have no hope in extinguishing it or in deforming it to divert people away from it. No matter how they plan and plot, and doomed they are for what they plot, God shall preserve this religion and declare His word, even if that displeases the disbelievers. In this sermon, brothers, we shall deal with some contemporary examples which prove that the religion remains well and that its followers are glorious. These are example which shall prove to you that this is truly the religion of God and that it is the eternal one which shall remain until resurrection day draws near. The examples which we shall deal with are about Arabs and foreigners, scholars and ignorant people far from the religion, one who studied the religion and another every-day person who has nought but emotion in his heart. Let strive, brothers, to increase our faith through hearing the stories of the influence of this religion on minds.

 

 The first scene is a man from the land of Imam Bukhari, may God have mercy upon him, who came to Makkah after many years behind the 'steel curtain' which was established by communism and which served as a barrier preventing them from connecting to other Muslims. One of the Muslims, who knows a bit of their language and resides in Makkah, narrates, "I was walking on the premises of the Holy Mosque towards the Ka`ba when I heard a voice calling, 'Pilgrim! Pilgrim!' So I turned around to find a pilgrim who had signs of exhaustion on his face. His appearance and features suggested to me that he was from central Asia. He asked me in the Uzbek language, while waving his hands a lot, about the number of time he must encircle the Ka`ba. I answered back in Uzbek, which is all I had left of memories related to my forgotten land, saying, 'You must encircle the Ka`ba seven times.'

I noticed that pleasure had struck him once he discovered that I know his language, but it was not long before he said in surprise, 'Seven times? Are you people able to do that? I have been totally exhausted since I finished encircling the Ka`ba once', and he pointed to the Holy Mosque from outside. Just then I understood why he was surprised and why he became so exhausted; this poor man thought that the whole mosque was the Ka`ba therefore he started to vigorously encircle the whole mosque for he had not seen the ancient house (Ka`ba) before. Since he had reached to the outer wall of the Holy Mosque he started to encircle. His voice interrupted my thoughts, as he said, 'Ask help from God, and continue the tawaf (encircling the Ka`ba)', and then he walked away.

I found this a good opportunity to find out what goes on in his country. I stopped him offering him help and he gladly welcomed that. We both entered the Holy Mosque together and I pointed to the Holy Ka`ba, saying to him, 'This is the Ka`ba and not that which you had encircled.' It was only moments until I saw the tears racing from his eyes. He said, 'O my God! This is the Ka`ba about which I heard much, but which I have not seen until now.'

He hastened towards the Ka`ba just as I did, and I said to him, 'God has blessed you for He has made it possible for you to visit the Ka`ba while others were not able.'

He said, with a sorrow voice, 'I heard my father, may God have mercy upon him, invoking and longing to see the Ka`ba, but the communists did not let him do that until he died along with the pain and sorrow in his heart. We have endured a lot, I guess much more than what anyone had endured. Firstly let's encircle the Ka`ba then I shall explain to you what happened to us.'

After the tawaf (encircling the Ka`ba), inside I felt sorry for him, and tears started to race from my eyes because of his unordinary humbleness before God.

After we got to know one another better, he said to me, 'The Russians left us nothing related to Islam without attempting to destroy it. They did not even leave our names alone; my parents called me AbdulHakeem yet outside the house I was not recognized with that name. Officially I am called Hakeemov. The Russians did that with our names, while they are only harmless, non-rebellious names, so what do you think they did with our scholars and sheikhs who taught us Qur'an and Sunna? Let me narrate to you the method which some of our scholars followed when they used to teach the children Qur'an. They observed everything the sheikhs did and prevented them from all the means of teaching, to an extent where the sheikh would climb to the roof of his house from inside, using a ladder, then the students would climb up after him, and then he would lift the ladder, hide it, and give the lesson very quietly, not to let anyone find out about it. Similar measures were taken in basements under the house. When the youth who worked at the factories wanted to revise some religious knowledge, four or five of them would gather at break time and each would say what he had to say while the other would not look at him, so that nobody would pay attention to them. Even prayer, which is the pillar of this religion, was banned; one of us used to go far, hide, perform it quickly and return so that another person may go. We were alienated from group prayers and have not known it for a long time. Oh, how sorry I am for our sheikhs and scholars who held the merit, after God, of preserving His religion in our land. We were unable to present them with the basics of Muslim rights; we were unable to wash them, shroud them or witness their funeral. They died and were buried a communist burial.',"

 

The point, brothers, is that the religion of God remained in those lands despite the methods of oppression. The religion of God lived under pressure, oppression and occupation yet it still survived. If any other religion in the communist countries had endured what the religion of Islam did it would have perished long ago. Does this not prove the greatness of this religion? Does this not prove that God has chosen it to remain?

 

Let's go to another scene about the influence of this religion on one of the contemporary scholars. It is a story which will make it clear to you Muslims that the real scholar is full of honour, restrains from begging, is straightforward, does not submit to terror and does not respond to temptations. Sheikh Sa`eed Al Halabi used to be one of the grand teachers of the last century. Once he was giving a lesson at a mosque in Damascus and suddenly the ruler Ibrahim Basha arrived, who was from cruellest, most violent, most arrogant of beings and who was associated with oppression, killing  and terror. He entered the mosque with some of his policemen and guards and stood at the door, while the sheikh was suffering from pain in his foot thus he had his leg stretched out and was leaning on the wall. His leg was stretched out towards the door of the mosque. This ruler, who was known for his injustice, had entered along with his guards and policemen, stood at the door looking at the sheikh, and waited for the sheikh to retreat his foot in respect, but the sheikh did not do so. His students feared that their sheikh would be smitten with a sword, therefore they took a hold at their garments lest they be soaked in his blood. But the ruler stood for a while, left, came back, called one of his servants and gave him a bag filled with golden Dinars, saying to him, "Advance towards our revered sheikh and tell him that this is a gift from Ibrahim Basha."

And when the servant took the coins to the sheikh he said his famous phrase which is equivalent to a thousand books. He said, "Tell your master that the man who stretches out his leg does not stretch out his hand."

 

This is one example of the scholars of truth and religious knowledge, with whom this ummah excelled. It is another sign that God Almighty employs who will take care of the religion and that God Almighty creates men, the characters of whom are formed through incidents, and who are then followed by the misled. It is evidence of that the religion shall remain and that God shall employ someone to renew the call at the zenith of each century. Rejoice at the mercy of your Lord, o Muslims.

 

          We move on to a third scene about an every-day Muslim guy who was not a scholar of religion and who was not even complete; he was blind and could not see. He did not debate the non-Muslim who we shall talk about, yet he was one of the reasons why he came to the guidance. This following question was directed towards a German guy who had embraced Islam and who was an expert in some field of science. He said, "My first encounter with Islam goes back to my youth days when I was on a trip to Albania during the holidays."

One day while he was walking down a narrow lane he bumped into a man. When he paid attention to him and apologized he noticed that the man was blind. The man did not understand a single word of his apology because he did not understand the language, yet the blind man firmly took hold of the German guy's hand and led him to his house. The blind man took him in as a guest and offered him a modest amount of food which was available. The German guy said, "I remained at the Muslim Albanian's home and was impressed at him and at how he took me in as a guest without even knowing me, and at how he treated me with hospitality just because I bumped into him while I was in the street. Yet there was another matter which stuck in my mind; it was those movements which the man was performing in the corner of his house. Later on I came to know that it was the Muslim prayer. Since I saw that man who let me in as a guest I started to ask about what he did so I learned that it was prayer which is a part of the religion of Islam. That was why I embraced it."

This religion still remains in the souls of some good every-day people and it remains as a motive for them. The Muslim morals remain in the souls of some good people even though they may be common every-day people. This is evidence still exists in the real life and that God had chosen it to remain.

 

          Let's move on now to one of the obligations of Islam which many Muslim ladies have neglected and which a lot of guardians, parents and brothers have distanced from enjoining; It is the hijab. Let's find out, brothers, how the hijab which is an obligation became a reason of guiding a non-Muslim lady to the religion of God. She is an American lady who outstands all with the hijab she wears and with her eagerness to attend the lessons which are held at the central mosque of her city, and who continuously borrows books from the mosque's library. How did she embrace Islam? This lady embraced Islam while she was working as the cashier at a shop. She narrates, "There was a university in our town where some married Muslim students, who had brought their wives with them, studied. On summer day I was at the counter section of the shop and the clothes which everybody was wearing were short, exposing and very transparent. What surprised me and utterly shocked me was to see some lady customers wearing a complete hijab which was covering their whole body including the face, with only their eyes appearing sometimes. I considered this scene surprising therefore I stopped one of them when she was checking out her shopping and asked he about the hidden secret of wearing these clothes, and she told me that her religion of Islam obliges her to do so in order to protect her, and she started to explain in detail about the benefits of hijab and its importance and benefit for women, to the extent that I started to long for that necessity about which this woman talked about, despite the difficulty of wearing hijab in my society and despite of being unable to imagine doing so. I went back home, took a cloth and put it on my head, and then I dressed myself up in a long-sleeved garment, and I liked it, therefore I went out like that the next day to a local Islamic centre, in order to seek this religion and seek books which talk about it, and to seek people who may explain it to me." The lady continued saying, "Some Muslim ladies organized an occasion for me to invite me to Islam, and so I did; I embraced Islam, and then one of them gave me a gift. It was a hijab which I found difficult to wear in the place I was in, yet I attempted to wear it. I was extremely frightened from the hijab, just like many American ladies who consider the hijab an imprisonment of freedom, but once I got used to it everything vanished. The real test was on the first day when I went to face the society with the new way of dressing. My father did not care because he felt that the matter was out of his control. As for my mother, she has a habit of respecting other's opinions, therefore she accepted the matter and did not mind that I had embraced Islam, but she was concerned for me because of my hijab. When she noticed my determination she considered my feelings, in fact she started to buy me the hijab and give it to me as a gift. I recall that my male-cousin came to visit us once, so my mother told him to wait until she tells me that he had came, so I could wear my hijab. In another incident, my uncle came to visit us, so she raced to get me my hijab so I could wear it before he came in. I laughed and explained the matter to her."

 

The point, brothers, is that this obligation of Islam's obligations called hijab was a reason which guided that lady to embrace Islam, likewise other ladies. What does this prove to us? What is the point? Have you ever seen anything in the altered version of Christianity which encourages one to embrace it? Have you ever seen anything in the altered version of Judaism which encourages one to embrace it? Have you ever seen anything in Buddhism or Hinduism which encourages one to embrace them? No, except for Islam. The worships of Islam invite people to embrace this religion, even when the invitation is a silent one and even when it is a hijab worn amongst non-Muslims. Therefore I censure those Muslims who go abroad and request their wives to show their face and hair in order to avoid being mocked at. They do not have enough courage to reveal their religion, while the non-Muslims may become impressed with it and may even embrace Islam as a result.

 

          This next story shall prove to you that this Honoured Book which God sent down, which is the Holy Qur'an, even has an amazing affect on non-Muslims. The influence of this Qur'an on souls is amazing, and its affect on hearts is also amazing, and what is stranger and more amazing than that, though there no need for amazement as it is after all the word of God, is that the Qur'an once touched a western woman's feelings and had tears pouring from her eyes though she knew no Arabic. Sayyid Qutub, may God, Most High, have mercy upon him, narrates the story which he experienced on that ship heading for America. He said, may God have mercy upon him, "There were six of us who were 'Muslims', riding on an Egyptian ship fighting away at the waves of the Atlantic and heading to New York, amongst a hundred and twenty foreign passengers, none of which were Muslim. Just then we decided to perform the Friday group prayer on the deck of the ship. The captain, who was non-Muslim, agreed and allowed the group prayer to be performed, and he allowed the crew, chefs and the service boys, who were all Muslims, to join us when they were free of duties. They were all extremely rejoiced about this because it was the first time that Friday prayer was performed on that ship."

He continued saying, may God have mercy upon him, "I personally conducted the Friday sermon and lead the prayer while most of the foreign passengers were gaping and observing our prayer. After the prayer many of them came to us to congratulate us over the success of the Mass. That was what they understood of our prayer; that it was a Mass! We explained the matter to them and that it is not called a Mass instead it is a Friday prayer. A woman amongst the crowd, who we later learnt that she was European, was extremely touched; her eyes were filled with tears and she was unable to suppress her feelings. She showed her astonishment over the order and tranquillity which we accomplished, though this is not exactly the point. She came to ask about a specific matter. She asked, 'which language was you priest talking in?', assuming that only the 'priest' is able to do such, so we corrected her assumption and answered her question. She said, 'The language which he was speaking has an amazing rhythm to it, although I understood nothing of it.'

Then the big surprise came when she said, 'But that is not what I precisely want to ask about. The matter which attracted me more and caught my heart and feelings is that during your imam's sermon some unique passages different than the rest of the speech occurred, passages which were more deep and had a stronger rhythm. Those passages which he recited during the sermon caused a shudder and tremor in me. It is truly unique.'

We paused to think for a while, then what she was referring to; it was the verses from the Qur'an which occurred during the Friday sermon and during the prayer. It was a surprise for us, which made us astonished from this foreign woman who understood no Arabic."

 

{Verily, this (the Qur'an) is the Word that separates (the truth from falsehood, and commands strict laws for mankind to cut the roots of evil) * And it is not a thing for amusement} 86:13-14

 

{That (this) is indeed an honourable recitation (the Nobel Qur'an) * In a Book well-guarded (with Allah in the heaven i.e. Al Lauh Al Mahfuz) * Which (that book with Allah) none can touch but the purified (i.e. the angels) * A Revelation (this Qur'an) from the Lord of the `Alameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists)} 27:77-80

 

This Qur'an is a major reason why many non-Muslims embraced Islam, and until this day translated copies of the Qur'an are given to them. This is also a reason of why they embrace Islam. Is not this evidence, brethren, that this religion shall remain and that within it possesses the elements of survival and of attracting people towards it? O God! Have us live as Muslims, and have us die as Muslims, and make us preachers of Your straight, solid path. I have said what I have said, I seek forgiveness for you and myself from God, therefore seek forgiveness from Him too, truly He is Most-Forgiving, Most-Merciful.

 

          All praise is due to God, of whom there is no deity but Him. He has no partner. His is the dominion and His is all praise and He is dominant over everything. He is the First, and He is the Last, and He is the Most High, and He is the Most Near, and He is the All-Knower of everything. He created everything then proportioned it, and He measured preordainments for everything even to be blessed or wretched then He showed mankind the right as well as the wrong paths. He is the One and only, the Self-Sufficient Master Whom all creatures need, Who does not beget nor was He begotten, and there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him. I bear witness that Muhammad is truly the prophet of God and the one who delivered the truth from God. He delivered the message and fulfilled what he was assigned and sufficiently strived on the path of God and left us with a clear criterion, which is as clear in the night as it is in the day. Only one doomed with destruction would be diverted from it. May peace from God be upon him and upon his descendants and all of his companions and upon whoever follows the guidance, until the day of resurrection. O servants of God, it is imaginable for people to depart effected by a speech or for guidance to be caused by the mosque. It is logical for one to leave an institute of education influenced by a lecturer's comment. It is also logic for one to attend a sermon and be influenced, but for some people who come from the most polluted fields of pornography and corruption to be guided is an astonishing matter. For guidance to be present amongst people who for a long time sank into the pools of pornography and lust is truly a confusing matter for whoever does not know the secret of this religion. With those words I refer to the party of ex-actresses who used to be preoccupied with exposing their bodies and adornments in the movies, photos, concerts and video clips. For guidance to be present in the rotten world of art is truly an amazing thing. The repentance of actresses about which we hear these days and from time to time, the actresses who join the honoured party of repenters, and the story of the repentance of another one of those ladies who had, for a while, made a career out of pornography is truly an amazing and astonishing matter, because those ladies had came from the swamps of pornography, and it is known that the lowest community in society is the world of art with all the worshippers of lust and the diverse types of corruption therein. This phenomenon, about which the secularists, transgressor writers and perverted magazines were forced to write, appeared on the front covers of perverted magazines, so instead of publishing the lustful front-page girl they published the photo of the actress who took up the hijab. They were forced to reveal the matter, because it cannot be concealed for those guided actresses are well-known. The matter does not only involve one or two actresses, rather it involves many, to the extent that the directors fell into a dilemma and thus were forced to depend on second degree actresses or cabaret actresses to produce new characters which would fill in the vacuum caused by the repentance of those actresses. War was declared against them, which is natural and expected because it has been decrees in the Qur'an:

 

{ and you shall certainly hear much that will grieve you from those who received the Scripture before you (Jews and Christians) and from those who ascribe partners to Allah} 3:186

 

That is their stance. It was said that money had been paid to them. This headline was written in one magazine: "Who Is the One Who Offered Fatin Hamamah Seven Million Pounds to Wear the Hijab Yet She Refused?" It is all lies and slander. That is why some of them said, "Money is being paid to us so we may return, not so we may wear the hijab." They had spread the gossip and said one was struck by illness and another lose her beauty, but these claims are nullified by the continuous repentance of actresses while they are in the zenith of fame and beauty and still in their years of youth. The presence of guidance in the rotten world of art is evidence of the greatness of this religion. The list of names such as Shams Al Barudi, Shadiya, Hala Fu'ad, Kameela Al Arabi, Hana' Tharwat, Shaheera, Fareeda Sayf Al Nasr, Nisreen, Sawsan Badr, Saheer Al Babli and others are well known to many Muslim families, yet it is shameful that some people who come to the Friday prayers follow up those degrading dramas which are re-run and continuously presented in the cinemas to serve as part of the war against those ex-actresses and as an attempt to put pressure on them. The perseverance of those individuals and others to remain on the truth is a hard blow against the merchants of lust and is truly a declaration that this religion shall remain and that God guides whom he wishes to guide even if one does not expect guidance. It is truly an amazing secret of this religion; that God guides to Him whoever He wishes to guide, He guides them through the Qur'an, through the creed of monotheism, through this light. It is an amazing thing, truly it is amazing, brethren. Now should we not sincerely revert to this religion and should we not uphold the principles of this religion, and should we not be of those preaching to it, for if God guides one person through you then that would be better for you than the universe and everything therein? Should we not at least invoke God that those who were guided persevere to remain guided and that He increases them with guidance and feel ashamed in front of God to follow up those movies, the actors/actresses of which have repented? O God! Guide us with those who You have guided, and heal us with those who You have healed, and support us with those who You have supported, and bless what You have given us. O God! Cure those of us who are ill, and have mercy upon our dead, and destroy our enemy, and establish the religion, and unite us, and send back those who are missing, and guide those of us who have gone astray to the truth, O Lord of all worlds. Your Lord, the All-Mighty, is high above what they ascribe to Him. May peace be upon the messengers, and all praise is due to God, Lord of all worlds. Rise to the prayer, may God have mercy upon you.

 

This article has been translated with slight modifications to the original text. Quotations are not accurate. Translations of Qur'anic verses were quoted from the King Fahd Complex translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan.