- Seminars and Lectures abroad / ٠01 Masjid At-Taqwa- Morning lectures 1
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- Masjid At-Taqwa- part 1
Human movement is diverse:
Dear brothers, Allah the Almighty says:
(By the night as it envelops; * And by the day as it appears in brightness; * And by Him Who created male and female; * Certainly, your efforts and deeds are diverse (different in aims and purposes).)
Dear brothers, the earth rotates around itself once every 24 hours, while it revolves around the sun once every year. However, if the earth's axis (when it revolves around the sun) were perpendicular to the plane of its orbit instead of being inclined at 23.5°, there would be no succession of the four seasons. In other words, there would be eternal summer in specific geographical points on which the sun's rays shine down perpendicularly, and eternal winter in the other points on which the sunrays fall obliquely.
Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, has created the earth in two days, as mentioned in Surat Fussilat, Ayah No. 9 in which there is a reference to the day and night, and "measured therein its sustenance for its dwellers in four Days"' as mentioned in Surat Fussilat, Ayah No. 10 in which there is a reference to the four seasons. The annual cycle of seasons is caused by the tilt of the earth's axis; in summer the sun's rays shine down perpendicularly on one hemisphere of the earth, while in winter the sun's rays fall obliquely on it. On the other hand, the day/night cycle is caused by the earth rotation around its own axis. Allah the Almighty says:
(By the night as it envelops; * And by the day as it appears in brightness; * And by Him Who created male and female; * Certainly, your efforts and deeds are diverse (different in aims and purposes).)
There is about 7 billion and 200 million people in the world, and each one searches for a certain purpose in his life. Allah the Almighty says:
(Certainly, your efforts and deeds are diverse (different in aims and purposes).)
One person is looking for a job, another person is trying to make large profits, another person aims to establish a company, another person aims to get a doctorate degree, and so on… Allah the Almighty says:
(Certainly, your efforts and deeds are diverse (different in aims and purposes).)
All human activities are within only two realms:
As I've just mentioned, the world population is about 7 billion and 200 million people, each one's deeds have a certain purpose. However, according to the following Noble Ayaat, all human deeds are classified into only two types.
The first type of people:
Allah the Almighty says:
(As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fears Him, * And believes in Al-Husna.)
The Ayah refers to the one who regards giving others in charity, such as giving them some of his time, and using his knowledge, experience, power, wealth, and position to help them, as basic principles in his life.
One of the scholars wrote a book about the Prophet, peace be upon him, he wrote in the preface, "You, O Muhammad, peace be upon him, who came to life to give not to take, whose birth honored the entire world, who cared for mankind, who respected human reasoning and forbade fulfilling lusts unlawfully (who forbade being driven by lusts like beasts), and whose considerable achievements enabled you to be far superior to all people, but you preferred to live humbly like others. O you whose life motto was being merciful, being fair, showing love to others, and having high moral qualities, O you who regarded solving people's problems as an act of worship." Allah the Almighty says:
(As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fears Him)
This Ayah refers to the one who leaves the acts of disobedience to Allah the Almighty out of fearing Him since he believes in Al-Husna (Paradise).
Allah the Almighty says:
(For those who have done good is the best (reward, i.e. Paradise) and even more (i.e. having the honour of glancing at the Countenance of Allah),)
Thus, he believes in Paradise and that the purpose of man's creation is to be admitted into It. Consider the following Noble Hadith in which the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave a description of Paradise:
((There will be bounties which no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no human heart has ever perceived.))
The things you hear about with your ears are million times more that the things you see with your eyes, while the things occur to your mind are even many billion times more than the things you hear about. Therefore, when the Prophet, peace be upon him, described the bounties of Paradise, he said:
((There will be bounties which no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard and no human mind has ever perceived.))
Allah the Almighty says:
(As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fears Him, * And believes in Al-Husna.)
Since he believes in Paradise, he leaves the acts of disobedience to Allah the Almighty out of fear of Him, and he regards giving others in charity one of the basic principles in his life.
The second type of people:
Allah the Almighty says:
(But he who is greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient* And gives the lie to Al-Husna)
The second type of people mentioned in the Ayah includes the one who disbelieves in Paradise, who has immersed himself in the pleasures of this worldly life (and forgets about the Hereafter), and who thinks himself dispensed from Allah the Almighty and from performing acts of obedience to Him. Therefore, his life is based on making benefit from others, even at their own expense.
Actually, the autocrats exploit others and never think of doing good deeds for them, while the Noble Prophets, peace be upon them, brought benefit to people and did not avail themselves at others' expense. As for ordinary people, their relationships are based on mutual advantage. Accordingly, if bringing benefit to others and being helpful gives you a sense of pleasure, you are among the followers of the Noble Prophets, peace be upon them. In contrast, if you are pleased about availing yourself at others' expense, you are among the followers of the tyrants. In short, Allah the Almighty describes the first kind of people in the Noble Ayah below in which He says:
(As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fears Him,* And believes in Al-Husna.)
On the other hand, He describes the second kind of people in the following Noble Ayah in which He says:
(But he who is greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient* And gives the lie to Al-Husna.)
Dear brothers, although there are many different denominations, creeds, affiliations, ethnics, ancestries, sects, political attitudes, and so on… there are no more than two types of people in the Sight of Allah the Almighty. The first type of people includes:
(As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fears Him,* And believes in Al-Husna.)
The second type includes:
(But he who is greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient* And gives the lie to Al-Husna)
The real success, intelligence, and achievement are reflected in being among the first kind of people (in order to be saved on the Day of Resurrection when the worldly goods like wealth, sons, etc…will be of no avail). Allah the Almighty says:
(The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail,)
Actually, someone may have many children, but he has a low income, while another man may be fabulously wealthy, but he has no children to inherit this enormous wealth after his death, and so on…. Thus, these worldly pleasures are worthless, while performing righteous deeds is the thing that really matters in your life. Allah the Almighty says:
(Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world. But the good righteous deeds (five compulsory prayers, deeds of Allah's obedience, good and nice talk, remembrance of Allah with glorification, praises and thanks, etc.), that last,…)
Some scholars said, "The good righteous deeds that last are subhana Allah (Allah is free from imperfection) Al-Hamdu lillah (all praise is due to Allah), La ilaha illallah (there is no true god except Allah) and Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest)", and this means when you believe deeply in these words, you will get to know Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, which is the essence of religion. Consider the following example which I mention a lot: After receiving Eidiyah [which is money given as a gift to children on Eid (Islamic festival) instead of a present in some Muslim countries], if a 10-year-old boy tells his uncle that he has collected a great amount of money, I think that it will be no more that 100 dinars. On the other hand, if a senior Pentagon official, says, "We prepared a great amount of money for the U.S. war in Iraq", I think that it is about 200 billion dollars! Thus, the intended meaning of the word 'great' depends on the one who says it, but how will it be then when Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, says:
(…and taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the Grace of Allah unto you (O Muhammad PBUH).)
As I said earlier, when a child says that he has a great amount of money, he means no more than 200 dinars, when a Pentagon senior official says that he prepared a great amount of money for the US war in Iraq, he means about 200 billion dollars, but when Allah the Almighty, the King of kings, and the Only Owner says that something is great it means the greatest ever:
(…and taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the Grace of Allah unto you (O Muhammad PBUH).)
The Greatest Grace of Allah the Almighty is to get to know Him and to come to Him on the Day of Resurrection with a sound heart; the heart which is free from every desire that does not please Allah the Almighty, which denies anything that contradicts the Noble Qur'an and Sunnah, and which worships none but Allah (Alone). Allah the Almighty says:
(By the night as it envelops; * And by the day as it appears in brightness; * And by Him Who created male and female)
The earth's rotation & revolution
Let me repeat the following point, if the earth's axis (when it rotates around itself) were parallel to the plane of its orbit (when it revolves around the sun), there would be no succession of night and day; there would be an eternal night in one half of the earth and an eternal day on the other half of it. Also, if earth's axis were perpendicular to the plane of its orbit instead of being inclined at 23.5°, there would be eternal summer in one half of the earth and eternal winter in the other half.
Who has made the earth's axis inclined? Allah the Almighty has. Actually, the earth's tilt is the cause of the succession of the four seasons as referred to in (Surat Fussialt: 10) in which Allah the Almighty says, "and measured therein its sustenance for its dwellers in four Days", while He has created the earth in two days (as mentioned in Surat Fussilat: 9) which refers to day and night. In brief, the earth's axial tilt is one of the sings of Allah's Greatness.
One more thing, the earth revolves around the sun in elliptical orbit. The word elliptical means oval or extended circular shape which is rather like an egg. This elliptical orbit has two diameters; a short diameter and a long one. When the earth is at the end of the short diameter (when it gets nearer to the sun), it increases its speed in order to produce a centrifugal force that is equal to the centripetal force (the gravitational force which depends on the mass of an object and its velocity), lest it would be pulled to the sun. Accordingly, the earth keeps its orbit around the sun. Allah the Almighty says:
(Verily! Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they move away from their places)
The Ayah refers to preventing the earth from deviating from its orbit. On the other hand, when the earth is at the end of the long diameter of its elliptical orbit around the sun, which is its farthest distance from the sun, the gravitational force of the sun is reduced so the speed of the earth is decreased, lest it would escape the sun's gravity, leave the solar system, and travel to the universe where the temperature dips to 270 degrees below zero. As a result, there would be no life on the earth. Who keeps the earth in its orbit around the sun? Who increases its speed when it gets nearer to the sun and decreases its speed when it is at its farthest distance from the sun in order to produce a centrifugal force that is equal to the centripetal (gravitational) force so that it keeps in its orbit? Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, does. Actually, Allah the Almighty orders us (in many Noble Ayaat) to reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth; He says:
(Say: "Behold all that is in the heavens and the earth,)
Thus, Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, orders us to think deeply about the creation of the universe. In fact, every command in the Noble Qur'an implies obligation. One of the basic causes of Muslim backwardness is their misunderstanding of Islam; they mistakenly think that Islam is limited to performing some ritual acts of worship such as performing Salah ( the five prayers), observing Saum (fasting), performing Hajj (pilgrimage), paying Zakah (obligatory prayers), and so on…, while in fact each order in the Noble Qur'an entails obligation. Thus, the real Muslim should follow Allah's Orders mentioned in the Noble Qur'an even if he does not grasp or comprehend the wisdom behind them, since they are the Orders of Allah the Almighty.
Let me tell you the following story which affirms the aforementioned point: Once, a Syrian Islamic scholar met an American Muslim when he visited the United State. They were sitting in a park discussing some Islamic topics. When it comes to the topic of pork, that Islamic scholar spent an hour talking about the harmful effects of pork to heath. When the scholar finished, that American Muslim said, "It would have been enough to tell me from the very beginning that Allah the Almighty has prohibited it!"
The believer applies Allah's Command without questioning them, the same way that American did. He said, "It would have been enough to tell me from the very beginning that Allah the Almighty has prohibited it." You should behave the same, because these are Allah's Prohibitions. Suppose that you live in the 4th floor and a cardiologist advises you not to go up and down the stairs, you will sell your house as soon as possible and move into a ground floor flat even if that cardiologist does not explain the reason why you should not go up and down the stairs, since you trust this doctor implicitly. On the other hand, Allah the Almighty gives us explanation for His Order, due to His Mercy upon and honoring to the human beings. He says:
(Take Sadaqah (alms) from their wealth in order to purify them and sanctify them with it,)
The powerful people give orders with no explanations. For example, one of the U.S. presidents said, "As for our relationship with other countries after 9/11 attacks, we will never have discussions with other countries; but rather we will just give orders (we will just dictate our policy)." In contrast to the powerful people, Allah the Most Powerful gives us explanation for His Order. He says:
(Take Sadaqah (alms) from their wealth in order to purify them and sanctify them with it, and invoke Allah for them. Verily! Your invocations are a source of security for them,)
O Allah, give us increase (in Your blessings), and don't take from us; honor us and don't humiliate us, bestow on us and don't deprive us, favor us and don't favor others instead of us; make us contented and be content with us. O Allah send Your Peace and Blessings upon our Master Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and upon his family and companions.
