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- Friday Sermons
The first khutbah ( sermon):
Praise be to Allah! We seek aid from Him, we seek His guidance and we seek refuge in Him from the evil of our egos and from our wrongdoings. It is He whom Allah guides that is on true guidance, but he whom He leaves astray, for such you will find no protector to lead him to the right way. I testify that there is no god but Allah Alone, and that He has no partners. And I admit His Lordship, enforcing this truth on those who denied Him and disbelieved in Him. And I testify that Sayyidina Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the Messenger of Allah, the Master of everything created and of mankind, and I shall keep testifying that for as long as sight can be seen with an eye, for as long as news can be heard with an ear. O Allah, our Lord! Grant peace and blessings to Sayyidina Muhammad, to his family, his companions and his descendants, the trustees of his message and leaders of his army, and be pleased with them and us, O Lord of the Worlds.
Sings of Allah the Almighty in the horizons:
Dear brother, I am sure that you have heard the news about the international economy, bankruptcy of banks and big companies and the stock market crash. Did it come to your minds that this international financial crisis has something to do with our religion?What does Allah the Almighty say?
﴾ We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their ownselves ﴿
The word “will”, as you all know, refers to the future. Allah the Almighty shows his signs in this worldly life every now and then. For instance, the Titanic is a ship that was built last century. It was written in its manual that the fate will never be able to drown it. Such a ship had sixteen watertight compartments or cells with doors between them, so if any of those cells had an impact and was filled with water, all the doors would be closed automatically and the drowned cell would be isolated from the sh3er. The polytheistic statement that was written in its manual caused its drowning in its first voyage with the richest people in Europe. Talking about this particular event in details needs a lot of time, so I just would like to tell you what some priests said about it. They said, "The drowning of this ship was a celestial lesson to people on earth." Another example of such a lesson is about the space shuttle “Challenger,” but whom are they challenging? This space shuttle turned into a fireball after only seventy seconds of its takeoff.
Dear brother, the War Ministers in a group of countries held a meeting in many countries that I will not mention. They all agreed on the fact that what happened in Gaza was unbelievable. It was a miracle manifesting a sign of Allah:
﴾ We will show them Our Signs ﴿
Dear brother, the last sing which we witness nowadays is the crash of the western economic system. Those were the words used by the President of the World Bank, which is the biggest financial institution in the world, when he said “The international economic system has crashed.”The news reports keep referring to bankruptcies of the huge companies such as a motor company in the U.S.A (the head company of them all). Let alone that the economic system which depends on this company is about to collapse. Other companies and, and banks, which are as old as 155 years, declared bankruptcy, so what has happened?
﴾ We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their ownselves ﴿
The signs of Allah are cosmic, creational and Quranic:
By the way dear brother, the signs of Allah are of three types: the first one is the cosmic signs which contain all the creations of Allah, such as the sun, the moon, the night, the day, the galaxies, the sky, the ground, the birds, the fish, the mountains, the seas, the lakes…etc. The second type of signs is the Actions of Allah, such as Muslims’ victory in Gaza, and the crash of the western financial system. The third type of signs is the Quranic ayat (Allah’s Words), hence, you know Allah through His cosmic signs:
﴾ Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding. Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire. ﴿
As for His signs in His Actions, I would like you to pay attention to the following ayah:
﴾ So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth). ﴿
Pondering over the Actions of Allah the Almighty:
The wealthy powerful leaders of Quraish, whose orders were enforceable, and who were supported by a lot of people, went against the prophet PBUH who was weak in Mecca. They went against their fellow Quraisheans, and they humiliated, killed and tortured them. Also the Quraisheans forced the companions of the Prophet PBUH to migrate, but what were the consequences of all that? The prophet PBUH and his companions were the most honorable people and those who opposed them winded up in the dump of history:﴾ So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth). ﴿
﴾ Say (O Muhammad): "Travel in the land and see what was the end of those who rejected truth." ﴿
There is a big difference between the meanings of the two ayat although they may seem the same. The meaning of Allah’s Words in the first ayah
﴾ and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth), is that those who denied the truth were punished immediately after they committed their sin. On the other hand, the meaning of Allah's Words in the second ayah
﴾ and see what was the end of those who rejected truth." ﴿
is that those who rejected the truth were punished after a period of time. The main point is that Allah’s punishment will come sooner or later.A lawyer brother of ours has sworn by Allah to me that he attended one of the law suits. It was about a building which worth more than seventy million. That building had to be taken from its real owner and given to a false claimer. The claimer called a false witness to testify falsely that the building was his. The witnessed agreed to give this decisive testimony (the false one) and he put his hand on Quran to testify falsely. When he raised his hand, it was kept raised. Thus, the judge was furious and he asked him to lower his hand, but that person was already died. He died after he raised his hand from the Quran, but he was holding tight to the table so he stayed in his position. After a little while, he fell down on the ground. That happened before the lawyer whom told me the whole story.
﴾ Travel in the land and see ﴿
One might live for twenty years after he has earned ill-gotten money, but he will be doomed one day. . This is exactly what happened concerning the financial system. It is brought by the Western world, and it is as old as fifty years. Such a system has been growing, but the bad consequences of this system are shown by Almighty Allah in the following ayah which has the rigorous evidence of its collapsing:﴾ Allah will destroy Riba (usury) and will give increase for Sadaqat (deeds of charity, alms, etc.) ﴿
Sings of Allah’s Greatness are manifested occasionally to the human being:
Dear brother, the signs of Allah in His Actions can be noticed in ayat such as the following one:
﴾ We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their ownselves ﴿
These signs are manifested every now and then to indicate Allah’s Greatness. The wealthiest people are attracted to the coasts of South East Asia, and they usually go there and commit all types of debauchery, homosexuality and adultery. Once the richest people in the Western world came to this place and checked in ten star resorts, but Almighty Allah punished them severely. Verify, Allah shows us His signs in His actions every now and then:﴾ We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their ownselves ﴿
﴾ Is it not sufficient in regard to your Lord that He is a Witness over all things?﴿
The grave financial crisis of the Western world is death agony:
Dear brother, they say: "This crisis (the financial crisis) will be water under the bridge," but in fact it is death agony. There are common diseases which are curable, whereas other ones are fatal. . Experts of economy have stated that this international financial crisis is incurable; it is death agony of this system. Nowadays, the voices are loud in West calling for working according to the Islamic economic system (instead of the current one). Dear brother, the first fact is that this shaking grave crisis, which is similar to the hurricane (it was named the financial Tsunami by some people) is not just a crisis, rather it is death agony. Listen to the following ayah:
﴾ O you who believe (in Allah's Oneness and in His Messenger (Muhammad)! Verily, the Mushrikun (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, and in the Message of Muhammad) are Najasun (impure) . So let them not come near Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah) after this year, and if you fear poverty, Allah will enrich you if He will, out of His Bounty. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. ﴿
What is the connection between the ayah and the subject of our lesson? Allah the Almighty does not say Mushrikun are najisoon (which means that what they cause can be cleaned,) but can the substance of Najas (impurity) itself be cleaned? Absolutely not. To clarify this concept, take the example of the financial system. If there are few mistakes in this system, those mistakes may be corrected, but actually the whole system is based on a big mistake. What happened to this system is referred to in the following ayah:
﴾ Allah will destroy Riba (usury) ﴿
It is a Divine law that Allah rewards or punishes after a while:
Dear brother, it is a Divine law that Allah’s Reward and Punishment come after a period of time. If the reward comes right after the good deed, then all people on earth will rush to do good deeds even without having any faith in Allah or in Paradise. If someone gives one thousand Syrian pounds to charity, and few seconds later he gets hundred thousand pounds as a reward for his good deed, then the atheists will spend thousands of pounds. Because of the Divine wisdom, you do a lot of good deeds without being rewarded at once. When Allah sees how honest, firm and sincere you are, He will reward you.
I would like you all to make benefit of this fact. One of you may take a serious decision such as quitting a job with huge income because it displeases Allah (you get ill-gotten money in this job.) If you apply for another job with a little income, but it pleases Allah, you may stay for a long time getting this low money. There is a big difference between the job you leave because you fear Allah and the one you apply for after you repent to Allah. However, when you prove to Allah your honesty, and after you pay the price of your heroic decision, Allah will reward you. When you do a good deed do not expect that you will be rewarded at once:
﴾ and if you fear poverty, Allah will enrich you if He will, out of His Bounty. ﴿
The believer’s heroism lies in analyzing events according to Allah’s laws:
Dear brother, mistakes are of two types: mistakes in the behavior and mistakes in comprehension. I believe that the mistakes in the comprehension are more serious than the ones in the behavior. If we consider the collapse of the financial system as something accidental and if we consider what is going on has to do with some mistakes that can be corrected, then there is something wrong with our comprehension of such an event. To be mistaken in our understanding will lead to a series of mistakes. Hence, it is too dangerous to miscomprehend matters.
People all over the world listen to the same news, but what does make us as believers different from them? The answer is that we are different in interpreting these pieces of news. Consider the example of a neighboring country (Lebanon.) It suffered from the civil war for ten years, and the number of the dead in that war was three hundred thousand people. The western interpretation of that war was the huge financial growth of the country, which surpassed and threatened the financial position of the Western countries. Thus, they decided to wreck this country. Arab countries had a different interpretation of that civil war. They said that it was a fight between Arab countries which had influence on the Lebanese land. Another interpretation referred to the sectarian conflicts between two major sects in this country. Finally, the ladies’ interpretation of that war was that the country was hit by misfortune. Heroism lies in considering the Divine interpretation of that war:
﴾ And Allah puts forward the example of a township (Makkah), that dwelt secure and well content; its provision coming to it in abundance from every place, but it (its people) denied the Favours of Allah (with ungratefulness). So Allah made it taste the extreme of hunger (famine) and fear, because of that (evil, i.e. denying Prophet Muhammad) which they (its people) used to do.﴿
As a believer, you should consider the Divine interpretation of events.
All the events that are taking place in the world can be interpreted in many different ways. These interpretations can be read in articles in newspapers, or can be stated by people on T.V. Your heroism as a believer is to consider the Quranic interpretation of every event:
﴾ And Allah puts forward the example of a township (Makkah), that dwelt secure and well content; its provision coming to it in abundance from every place, but it (its people) denied the Favours of Allah (with ungratefulness). So Allah made it taste the extreme of hunger (famine) and fear, because of that (evil, i.e. denying Prophet Muhammad) which they (its people) used to do.﴿
It is a grave disaster not to comprehend Allah’s Actions:
I would like you dear brother to keep in mind that "whosoever does not learn the moral lesson of the disasters that afflict him, his inability to make benefit from that lesson is in itself a great affliction." One might be disciplined by Allah because of ill-gotten money he has earned, or because of committing something Haram. Someone may justify what happened to him by saying that life is two days, one for you and one against you. Another person may say that that the fate is mocking him, and he may say that things went against his wishes:
“You cannot always get what you want.”
***
There are very clear interpretations of the Divine healings, but the deadly mistake is to miscomprehend the Divine wisdom behind disciplining people. Hence miscomprehending the disaster is more serious than the disaster itself. I repeat; whosoever does not learn the moral lesson of the disasters that afflict him, his inability to make benefit from that lesson is in itself a great affliction. Why has financial system collapsed?Money is meant to be circulated amongst people:
Dear brother, there has been a huge gap between the commodities and their prices. If a certain commodity worth five Liras (Syrian pounds) for example, you are allowed to merchandise this commodity. Such kind of trade and its profits are Halal. However, when you merchandise its price, this will be impermissible. In other words, money should not beget money. Now, what is usury? Usury is all about money that begets money. This money should be begot only by business.
When a person owns one hundred million and he uses this amount in building housing units, two hundred jobs will be involved in this building project. , How many people will be working to finish this project? The profits of it will be divided between a large group of people whether the owner likes it or not. When business brings money, this money will be divided between a large group of people in the society. The Divine use of money requires circulating it amongst all people, Allah says:
﴾ in order that it may not become a fortune used by the rich among you﴿
The most serious matter concerning money is that only ten percent of people own ninety percent of natural resources. The expenditure in the Western world is beyond imagination. For instance, a wealthy man paid 300 million dollars for a plane, which could have one thousand passengers, just to enjoy himself. As for the impoverished countries in the south, ninety percent of them owned only ten percent of natural resources. The price of the main food in these poor countries has increased tenfold, as the rich developed a fuel for airplanes from soy beans and corn. Notice how the rich get richer, while the poor are starving. This is called the global oppression which the Prophet PBUH referred to in the following Hadith:
((The earth will be filled with oppression and injustice till my brother Jesus comes down to fill it with justice and fairness.))
It is permissible to merchandise goods, while it is impermissible to merchandise its prices:
Dear brother, merchandising the prices of commodities is prohibited according to the Islamic low, whereas merchandising the commodities is permissible. Making money from money is prohibited in Islam, but when it is allowed to be made from business. This money will be apportioned amongst a large group of people in the society. For example, a car factory in France is dealing with two hundred other factories. Hence business will bring money.
If someone lives in a southern governorate, and he has a big apple orchard, he will sell the apples in the ranch market. When he sells hundreds of tons of apples in that market, prices will decrease and many people will benefit from that. If this man were to put his money in the stock market instead, no one would benefit from his money but him.
Do you believe that thirty eight thousand people had heart attacks and were admitted in hospitals in an Islamic Arab country after the huge loses that was approximately eighty billion dollars in the stock market? Dear brother, the clearest example of how many people can benefit from money, is the constructing project. As I said previously, two hundred handicrafts are involved in this kind of trade. If you have a project like this one, there will be difficulties and risks. However, you will be working according to the Divine Method as your profits will be apportioned amongst the largest group of people in the society. When this happens, you will be fulfilling the exact Divine purpose of money:
﴾ in order that it may not become a fortune used by the rich among you﴿
Selling debts in impermissible in Islam:
Dear brother, the first bank which has declare bankruptcy is as old as hundred fifty five years. It is the bank which gives the highest interest rate in the world, and whose function is to buy debts. Debts should never be sold, and this fact is very plain in Islam as it is prohibited. That bank buys debts as commodities, while they are in fact money and debts due. . Then it sells it to another bank, and sometimes it sells it to many banks. Consequently, virtual fortunes are made. I would like to clarify the above mentioned point. Suppose that the capital of a company is one hundred million dollars, but the owners of its shares offer them suddenly. This will cause s sharp decrease in their values. Thus, tycoons will buy all these shares and will detain from selling any of them. When they do that, the values of the shares will increase. As a result, a five dollar share will become a one hundred dollar share. The profits of the owner of one hundred shares will exponentially increase tenfold. Accordingly, the capital of this company that used to be one hundred million dollars will become 10 thousand million dollars. If a financial shake occurs, the share holders will be worried and will start selling their shares. This will cause a crisis, as the company has only ten millions of hard currency. However, by merchandising debts, selling, buying, cunning, and bluffing, the capital of this company becomes one hundred thousand million dollars; here is where the crisis begins since all this money is virtual and not real. Actually the whole world is using virtual money; these amounts are written down on papers, but the real amounts do not exist. The money that is paid in cash is the only real money in this whole scam.
Crises can be avoided by applying Allah’s Method:
Dear brother, let me clarify one point: we have two types of prices, the first type is the price of supply and demand which is a real one, and the second type is the price of circulation. The prices of oil jumped from fifty Dollars to one hundred and fifty Dollars. That increase in prices had nothing to do with the price of supply and demand, rather it was a raise in the prices of contracts. When those contracts stopped, the prices went down again to fifty Dollars; this is the price used today for selling oil.
What is going on is that the Western world has collected huge fortunes by deception and by giving false budgets through the accumulated consecutive contracts. As a result, a rampant inflation has been caused, and the mortgage crisis has taken place. This crisis unfolds the deception in regard of houses that were bought through banks. Customers no more trusted the banks and they started to ask banks for their money, but the banks could not give their money back, because they had none. This is how the whole crisis started.
Dear brother, Muslims who followed their Lord’s Method were on the safe side amidst this crisis, whereas those who didn’t were afflicted by this crisis just like the sh3er.
Dear brother, if we assume that the price of wheat is ten Liras (Syrian pounds), the number of population on earth is six billion and that the annual production of wheat is well-known; the question is: when does the price increase tenfold? According to the price of supply and demand, it will be increased in two cases; when the number of the population increases tenfold, and when the production decreases to one tenth. Only then the price of the wheat will increase tenfold. Since the number of population is still six billion and the production of wheat does not change, where does that increase come from? It comes from cunning, plotting and other ways that displeases Allah the Almighty. Thus, the punishment was severe.
Dear brother, as you all know, the economic systems of the countries whose slogan is "There is no God," and which believed in the public rather than in the individuals, became bankrupt. As for the economic system of the Eastern countries, it didn’t fulfill any purposes of it, while the giant system of the Western countries was still strong. However, fake nature of this system has been also unfolded. Thus, the usurious economic system of the countries which believed only in individuals became bankrupt as well.
Islamic economy is based on good deeds and ruled by good conducts:
Dear brother, some western scientists stated that "the Islamic economic system is the only choice left for the whole world since it prohibits merchandising money." Merchandising money is usury, so it is prohibited in Islam, not to mention prohibiting buying and selling debts. In addition, Islam prohibits the constant profits, because there will be a kind of oppression to one of the two parties. This prohibition wasn’t invented by the prophet PBUH. It has nothing to do with his hardworking, the environment he PHUH lived in or the mainstream thoughts of his era:
﴾ It is only an Inspiration that is inspired. ﴿
Moreover, Islamic economy prohibits merchandising Haram commodities. Therefore, any project that has something to do with adultery or with wine is Haram. Islamic economy prohibits constant profits, merchandising money, selling or buying debts and merchandising any commodity which has to do with Haram matters like adultery and wine.We can hear now loud voices in the Western world demanding the application of the Islamic law to the economic system. Let me now ask this crucial question: will the Western world succeed if they apply the Islamic economic system to their current system? The answer is definitely not. Why? Because the Islamic economic system is part of the Islamic system as a whole. The Islamic economic system is based on good deeds and ruled by morals. It is sprung off a righteous Islamic creed and Islamic vision.
When we say Islamic system is based on good deeds, we mean that when an owner of a factory raises the workers’ salaries from six thousand Liras a month to twenty thousand Liras by disposing thirty millions of his multi millions profits. Those workers accept to work for six thousand Liras and even five thousand, because they need the money badly. However, the owner can give them twenty thousand or twenty five thousand even if this thing can make his profits much less. The real profit is good deeds which are part of the Islamic economy. Hence, those, who believe in Allah and the Hereafter, will be able to give up part of their high profits and give money to those who deserve it.
Dear brother, when you have a sound creed and a righteous Islamic vision, you will definitely have good conducts. The very result of all these is an Islamic system that is based on good deeds. Only then, the Islamic economic system will succeed in making people live in prosperity, and it will be able to meet the needs of all people. I say my words, and I ask Allah the Most Great his Forgiveness for me and for you. Dear brother, ask His Forgiveness, so that you will be forgiven, as those who are forgiven will be the successful.
Second sermon:
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and I bear witness that there is no God but Allah the Ally of the righteous , and I bear witness that our Master Muhammad PBUH is His Slave and Messenger the one with noble morals. O Allah grant your peace and blessings to our Master Muhammad, to his family and to his companions.
Allah loves whoever applies with one of these four As7adeth:
Dear brother, don’t you want to be loved by Allah the Almighty? Whosoever applies with any of the following four As7adeth or most of them will be loved by Allah.
1- The first Hadith:
The glad tidings of the first Hadith:
((When Allah loves a servant, He protects him against the allurements of this world, just like one of you ceases not to protect his patient from food and drink.))
It means that if Allah the Almighty has given you only what satisfies your needs and not enormous amounts of money, you should not feel sad. You should consider this out of his love to you:
((When Allah loves a servant, He protects him against the allurements of this world, just like one of you ceases not to protect his patient from food and drink.))
2- The second Hadith:
((When Allah loves a family, He bestows upon them clemency.))
There are houses full of peace, nice words, patience, tolerance, love and affection, whereas other houses are full of noise, yelling, cursing, swearing, glass breaking and problems:
((When Allah loves a family, He bestows upon them clemency.))
The believer is gentle in his house, and gentle with his family and kids. He loves his family and he talks to them with a soft voice using nice words.
3- The third Hadith:
((When Allah loves people He afflicts them.))
A doctor’s prescription to a patient who suffers from a fatal disease will be different from his prescription to a patient who suffers from a stomach inflammation. The doctor will tell the first patient that he can eat whatever he wants, but he will ask the second patient to adhere to a strict diet that he is allowed to drink milk only (as it is a curable disease unlike the first case.) If the second patient breaks his diet, he doctor will be outrageous. My question is: which case of the two is more preferable?
﴾ So, when they forgot (the warning) with which they had been reminded, We opened to them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until in the midst of their enjoyment in that which they were given, all of a sudden, We took them to punishment, and lo!﴿
((When Allah loves a servant, He protects him against the allurements of this world, just like one of you ceases not to protect his patient from food and drink.))
4- The forth Hadith:
The last Hadith goes as follows:
(( If Allah loves His slave, He sweetens him." They said, " O Messenger of Allah, how does He sweeten him?" He said, " He guides him to do good deeds before he dies."))
Did you do a good deed by which you face Allah (on the Day of Resurrection)? One may tell you that he is satisfied with living, eating, drinking and sleeping, just like most of the people. Did this person do a good deed? What has he done today for the sake of Allah?
(( If Allah loves His slave, He sweetens him." They said, " O Messenger of Allah, how does He sweeten him?" He said, " He guides him to do good deeds before he dies."))
Supplication:
We beseech you Allah to show us the way of rightness, together with those to whom You have showed it; and give us good health, together with those whom You have healed; and be our Protector, together with those for whom You have become their Protector; and bless us in what You have bestowed on us and save us from the afflictions that You have decreed, for You rule with justice and You are never judged. He whom You protect shall never be humiliated and he whom You make enemy shall never be exalted. Blessed and dignified are You, and we thank You for what You have decreed.
We seek your forgiveness and we repent our bad deeds, O Allah guide us to perform a good deed, as you are the one who guides to the best of deeds. O Allah guide us to the best of conducts, as you are the one who guides to them. O Allah make us do well in the religion which is our dignity and make our lives good for it is our living and make us safe on the Day of Judgment for it is our final destination. O Allah please make the life our supply for all good things and make the death a rest from every evil, O Lord of the Worlds. O Allah please make us with what You have made lawful needless of what You have made unlawful, make our obedience to You turn us away from our disobedience and make us with Your benevolence independent of all sh3er.
O Allah, by Your Favor and Mercy, raise high the word of Truth and religion, bestow victory to Islam, honor Muslims and grant them triumph everywhere and in all spots of the earth, O Lord of the Worlds. O Allah, show us Your Omnipotence against Your enemies, O Allah, You, the Most Generous of all who are generous.
