Read the Friday Sermon Below:
Reaching for Unity (Pt.1)
‘Innaaa
‘anzalnaaa ‘ilaykal-Kitaaba bil-Haqqi fa'-budil-laaha mukhlisal-lahud diin. – “Verily
We sent the Book down to you in truth, so worship Allah, offering Him sincere
devotion.” (Az-Zumar 39: 3)
There is a noble saying
of the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) which states: “All men will perish,
except the scholars, and all scholars will perish except those who act in
accordance with their knowledge, and all of them will perish except the
sincere, and even the sincere are in great danger”. This Hadith demonstrates
together how an important foundation of Islam sincerity is.
An important and fearful
question, a real cause of worry: Why is it that while the worldly and the
neglectful, and even the misguided and hypocrites, cooperate without rivalry,
the people of religion, the learned and those who are following the path,
oppose each other in rivalry, although they are the people of truth and
concord?
Agreement belongs in
reality to the people of concord and dispute to the hypocrites; how is it that
these two have changed places?
I set forth some of the
extremely numerous causes of this painful, fearful and disgraceful situation,
one [i.e. such a situation] that causes the zealous to weep.
FIRST CAUSE
Just as dispute among
the people of the truth does not arise from lack of the truth, so the agreement
prevailing among the people of neglect too does not arise from any possession
of truth. Rather it is that a particular duty and a special function has been
assigned to each class of the worldly and those engaged in politics, the
varying classes of society resembling those of a school, and thus groups,
societies and communities have shaped their model according to this and
separated themselves. Similarly, the material reward they are to receive for
their function in order to maintain a livelihood, as well as the moral reward
that consists in the attention they receive from men for the sake of their
ambition and pride- this too is established and specified. There is therefore
nothing held in common to the degree that it might produce conflict, dissension
and rivalry. However evil be the path that they tread, they will be able to
preserve unity and agreement. But as for the people of religion, whether the
scholars or those who follow the path, the duty of each is concerned with all
men; their material reward is not set and specified; and their share in social
esteem and acceptance and public attention is not predetermined. Many may be
candidates for the same position; many hands may stretch out for each moral and
material reward that is offered. Hence it is that conflict and rivalry arise;
concord is changed into discord, and agreement into dispute.
Now the cure and remedy
for this appalling disease is sincerity. Sincerity may be attained by
preferring the worship of God to the worship of one’s own soul, by causing
God’s pleasure to vanquish the pleasure of the soul and the ego, and this
bearing witness to the sense of these words.
Be aware that the
attention of men cannot be demanded, but only given. If it is given, one should
not delight in it. If one delights in it, sincerity is lost and hypocrisy takes
its place. The attention of men, if accompanied by the desire for honour and
fame, is not a reward and a prize, but a reproach and chastisement for lack of
sincerity. Such attention of men, such honour and fame, harm sincerity, the
source of vitality for all good deeds, and even though they yield a slight
pleasure as far as the gate of the tomb, on the other side of that gate they
take on the form of torment. One should not therefore desire the attention of
men, but rather flee and shy away from it. Be warned, all you who worship fame
and run after honour and rank!
By renouncing the
material and moral reward to be acquired from men and thus bearing witness to
the sense of these words: “Verily my reward is
from God alone” (Hud 11: 30)
Naught is incumbent on
the Messenger but conveying the message; and by knowing that such matters as
acceptance and influence, and the attention of men is dependent on God’s will
and generosity, that one has no share in the outcome of the conveying of the
message, although this is his duty, and that one is in no way necessary for
carrying out the task or responsible for its outcome. If all this be neglected,
sincerity will vanish.
One should also take as
one’s guide the quality of preferring others to oneself, the same quality of
the companions that is praised in the Quran. For example, when giving a present
or performing an act of charity, one should always prefer the recipient to
oneself, and without demanding or inwardly desiring any materiel reward for
religious service, knowing one’s act to be part of God’s grace and not imposing
a sense of obligation on men. Nothing worldly should be sought in return for
religious service, for otherwise sincerity will be lost. Men have many rights
and claims, and may even deserve Zakat. But it cannot be demanded. When one
receives something, it cannot be said that “This is the reward for my
service”. Rather in perfect contentment one should always prefer to oneself
others who are more deserving. One will thus bear witness to the meaning of “They prefer others to themselves, though poverty be
their lot.” (Al-Hashr 59: 10).
SECOND CAUSE
The agreement among the
people of misguidance is on account of their abasement and the dispute among
the people of guidance is on account of their dignity. That is to say that the
people of neglect, i.e. the misguided ones sunk in worldly concerns, are weak
and abased because they do not rely on truth and reality. On account of their
abasement, they need to augment their strength, and because of this need they
wholeheartedly embrace the aid and cooperation of others. Even though the path
they follow is misguidance, they preserve their agreement. It is as if they
were making their godlessness into a form of sincerity, their irreligion into a
form of solidarity, and their hypocrisy into concord, and thus attaining
success. For genuine sincerity, even for the sake of evil, cannot fail to yield
results, and whatever man seeks with sincerity, God will grant him it.
But as for the people
of guidance and religion, the scholars and those who follow the path, since
they rely upon truth and reality, and each of them on the road of truth thinks
only of his Lord and trusts in His succour, they derive dignity from their
belief. When they feel weakness, they turn not toward men, but toward God and
seek help from Him. On account of difference in outlook, they feel no need for the
aid of the one who opposes their views.
They trust only on
their own outlook, and see no need for agreement and unity. Indeed, if
obstinacy and egoism are present, one will imagine himself to be right and the
others to be wrong; discord and rivalry take the place of concord and love.
Thus sincerity is chased away and its function disrupted.
Now the only remedy for
the critical consequences of this fearful state consists of nine commandments:
1.
To act
positively, that is, out of love for one’s own outlook, avoiding enmity for
other outlooks, not criticizing them, interfering in their beliefs and
sciences, or in any way concerning oneself with them.
2.
To
unite within the fold of Islam, irrespective of particular outlooks,
remembering those numerous ties of unity which evoke love, brotherhood and
concord.
3.
To
adopt as rule of conduct that the follower of any outlook has the right to say,
“My outlook is true,” or that “My outlook alone is good,” thus
implying the falsity or evil of all other outlooks.
4.
To
consider that union with the people of truth is a cause of Divine help and the
high dignity of religion.
5.
To
realize that the individual resistance of the most powerful person against the
attacks of the joint and collective force of the people of misguidance and
falsehood, acting together in solidarity, will inevitably be defeated, and to
come forth in similar solidarity on behalf of the people of truth in order to
vindicate truth against its enemies. (Insha-Allah).
6.
To
preserve truth from the assaults of falsehood.
7.
To
abandon the self and its egoism.
8.
To
abandon the mistaken concept of self-pride.
9.
To
abandon all insignificant feelings aroused by rivalry.
If this nine-fold rule
is adhered to, sincerity will be preserved and its function perfectly
performed.
Pay good attention to
this O the Muslim World and beyond! If you truly want the success of Islam and
to make it reach the peak of glory like before, let go of your own ego, and let
us join all together as one solid block of believers and sincere people to
bring back the dome of the unity of God Almighty on the highest Mosque of our
lives, which shall reassure for us our wellbeing both in this world and the
hereafter.
If the evil ones are
united in their evils, can’t the true people of God be united for His sake, the
Absolute Truth?
Thus, as this New Year
in the annals of this world is coming, and we are ourselves in the 6th
month of the Islamic Year 1444 Hijri, let us all take the resolution to be
united and to let go of our passions for personal rewards, be it worldly or
spiritual rewards. Let our focus be on collective rewards obtained with
sincerity. Let us strive for this unity in diversity only for the sake of God
Almighty!
I now share with you a
message in poem form which I received back in the Year 2005 - [07 January 2005]
on “The Joys of New Year”:
New Year for a new life,
New vows for new objectives,
New contacts for new deals,
New relationships for new feelings,
New Year once again in my heart,
Willing new challenges to crop up,
Forgetting yesterday to feel the gaze of tomorrow,
Which fills the soul with new visions,
Carrying the flame of love,
Up high in the sky of truth,
Celebrating the festive day of Hope,
Which penetrates the hearts of believers,
Willing them to pluck the fruit of Love,
From the tree of realisation,
Do bring your faith as the true discipline of life,
Relieve yourself from the burden of sorrow,
Smile for true victory lies in accepting defeat,
Let your will be that of Your Lord,
Every heart knows not its mission,
Do open your heart to your attainments,
New bruises for new pain,
New success for new joys,
New missions for new goals,
Smile for victory lies in your hand,
Destiny perceives your heart,
Faith can carry your heart to the highest station,
The home of Love is yours,
Open your heart to its finest structures,
Is not your Lord the best of Creators?
Who has created you out of nothing?
Even nothing is a thing for it holds an identity,
What you cannot see you forget,
And what is physically visible you recognise,
But the invisible is for sure the true reality,
O New Year reflect not your imperfections,
Carry the words of faith and hope in your breast,
Let people catch the light of your new day,
As fresh as a new blossom in the garden of bliss,
Festivities for the New Year,
O believers,
Spend this special day and the rest of the year with
your Lord,
Forget this world,
Reflect on the real tomorrow,
Which may bring doom or bliss,
A fire in the heart,
Either the fire of bliss or the fire of sheer torment,
Torment me no more,
Open your breast to the light of truth,
And catch the fresh scent of a beautiful tomorrow.
(Insha-Allah, Ameen)
May Allah bless all of
you and I wish you all “Naya Saal Mubarak!”
– Have a Blessed Year ahead, to all humanity! Insha-Allah, Ameen.