The Trials of Ibrāhīm, Peace Be Upon Him, and the Fulfilling of the Words: Leadership Is an Obligation to Be Fulfilled

Occasion: Transcription of a khatira delivered after Fajr on 12 May 2022 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

I ask Allah, blessed and exalted, to forgive us our shortcoming in the right of His Book, and to overlook our mistakes. Today we stand at the words of Allah, blessed and exalted: ﴿وَإِذِ ابْتَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا ۖ قَالَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِي ۖ قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ﴾ (And [mention] when his Lord tested Ibrāhīm with words and he fulfilled them. [Allah] said: Indeed, I will make you a leader for the people. [Ibrāhīm] said: And of my descendants? [Allah] said: My covenant does not include the wrongdoers)^[1] and the verses that follow it.

Why does the Qur'an take us back to Ibrāhīm?

We agreed yesterday that Allah, blessed and exalted, concluded for us a stage of the practical denial of His law. There is verbal denial and practical denial: verbal denial is that a person denies with his tongue and turns away, and practical denial is that he denies by his deed what he claims. Some people claim to be Muslim, but practically they do not do what Islam asks, and this is practical denial. And the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, informed us that these claimed affiliation to Allah, but did not apply in practice what they were commanded, rather they claimed about the Lord of the worlds what does not befit the majesty of His Face and the greatness of His authority, and they fabricated lies about the Prophet and his message, and sought another methodology.

And the previous verses had concluded with the words of the Mighty and Majestic: ﴿يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَنِّي فَضَّلْتُكُمْ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِي نَفْسٌ عَن نَّفْسٍ شَيْئًا وَلَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَلَا تَنفَعُهَا شَفَاعَةٌ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ﴾ (O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I bestowed upon you and that I preferred you over the worlds. And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, nor will compensation be accepted from it, nor will any intercession benefit it, nor will they be helped)^[2] so the conclusion of the counsel to them was that they fulfill what they have and fear Allah, glorified and exalted be He. Then came the discussion of Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him.

So why do we go back to Ibrāhīm? There is a very simple comparison between what the Jews practice — I mean the Jews of Madinah at that time — and what was sent down upon the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. So why does the Lord of the worlds take us back to Ibrāhīm? Because everyone claims affiliation to Ibrāhīm, and the noble one is he who follows well the one to whom he claims affiliation.

And this resembles what we find when we set out — if Allah prolongs our lives — to Sūrat Āl ʿImrān, the surah that establishes the creed in the hearts of the believers. Allah tells us in it the story of the family of ʿImrān, and the wife of ʿImrān and what she vowed, and Zakariyyā and Maryam. So you ask: what is the story? Why do we go back to this? And it is said to you: we will bring you the story of Christianity from its beginning, so that when you know the chronological sequence and the succession of events you will be on clear ground as you evaluate matters and distinguish some of them from others. And here likewise He brings us the story of Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, from the beginning.

Trial: no prophet is exempt from it

The exegetes differed over the words with which Allah tested Ibrāhīm. But let us begin with the word "ibtalā"; its meaning is "tested." So the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, tested His prophet Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him. And here you ask: is none of the prophets exempt from trials? All of them are people of trial. And if the prophets are people of trial, what of us? So if a calamity befalls us or something severe strikes us, do not consider it far from yourself, on the contrary: let the servant know, if he is a person of trial, that he is walking on the path.

And our shaykhs used to say: if matters pass before you easily and simply and smoothly, running in a way that attracts attention, then be on guard, and increase in seeking forgiveness. Either sincerity has diminished in your share, or you are doing something wrong with which Allah is giving you respite. And take heed: ﴿أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِن قَبْلِكُم ۖ مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ﴾ (Or did you think that you would enter Paradise while such has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said: When is the help of Allah?)^[3] ﴿أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ﴾ (Do the people think that they will be left to say "We believe" and they will not be tested?)^[4]

And the matter of trials in human life we do not wish for; do not wish to be a person of trial, but we deal with them with the logic of the people of faith who have a point of reference. So when the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, tells us that He tested Ibrāhīm, He returns you to the origin of your existence in this worldly life. And what is the origin of your existence in it? ﴿الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ﴾ (He who created death and life)^[5] so we understood that the origin of our existence in the world is these trials that we go through in our lives.

And this is what you find in the real world. Ask someone who bought a completely new car, and drove it five thousand miles, and was told: we must do a "rotation" for it, that is, switch the positions of the rear and front wheels. He says: brother, leave it as it is, it is new and I am happy with it, what are you doing? You mess up its system for me? And he is told: no, it must be done because of friction. And he says: but it's a new car! And it is said: it is among the conditions of entity-existence that friction occurs between this tire and this asphalt. Then after thousands of miles he is told: we will replace all the tires. He says: but they look beautiful! And it is said: you do not know what happened to them, they must be replaced, and thrown away or sold to the used-car dealers. And so the oil and the tires are replaced, and you do not ask: why? Because the entity-trial in the origin of this life is the nature of life and the law of the universe.

So if someone complains that his head hurts, or that he has a splitting headache, or that he cannot remember the two verses, or that the world is muddled for him, this is a thing whose existence a person should not find strange. And there is a great difference between one who feels pain while being patient and taking in the matter of trial, saying: ﴿أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ﴾ (Indeed, adversity has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful)^[6] and another who seeks means to get out of the crisis: ﴿اذْكُرْنِي عِندَ رَبِّكَ فَأَنسَاهُ الشَّيْطَانُ﴾ (Mention me before your master. But Satan made him forget)^[7] that is, the man forgot. So there is one who deals with the ordeal in the language of one trying to get rid of it, and there is one who deals with it in the language of the fretful complainer who does not want it.

﴿وَإِذِ ابْتَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ﴾ (And when his Lord tested Ibrāhīm) so you understand from the start that Allah, blessed and exalted, tested all the prophets and messengers with different, varied trials, and that I am not far from that. So if a trial comes to me I praise Allah, blessed and exalted, that He has put me in the ranks of those who are tested.

The words are obligations, and leadership comes after fulfilling them

﴿بِكَلِمَاتٍ﴾ (with words) — what are these words? They may be the very obligation of the foundation of the religion, that Allah charge him to be a prophet or a messenger. And they may be, according to the words of the people of exegesis, the command to him to perform Hajj: ﴿وَأَذِّن فِي النَّاسِ بِالْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًا﴾ (And proclaim to the people the Hajj; they will come to you on foot)^[8] to the end of what was said. But in general Allah tested him with words, and the words here are obligations, not mere speech.

An example of that: yesterday we were reading in the translation with one of the brothers, and we were reflecting on the meaning of "word" here. I said to my companion: "Come," and he was late. The word I said to him is either a request or a command, depending on the standing of the speaker. I said to him: come early, and he did not come; so he did not carry out the obligation. So words, when they come from the higher to the lower, are in the position of obligations and commands. And here the words come in the sense of divine obligations and divine commands: ﴿فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا﴾ (and he fulfilled them. [Allah] said: Indeed, I will make you a leader for the people).

When did this happen? When he completed the obligation. When the completion happened he rose to the rank of being a leader for the people. You are not a leader from the beginning; you are an engineer, but after you have fulfilled all these examinations. And you are an imam-shaykh, but after you finished years of study. And you are now a doctor, but after you toiled in the white coat and the stethoscope and the coming and going with patients. So after you finish the requirements of the obligation you become a leader afterward.

And from here we understand simply: why does the community of Islam not lead the world? Because it has not fulfilled the obligations. And since it has not fulfilled the obligations it has no right to lead creation and to be a leader for the people.

Concern for offspring: building the mind before the walls

﴿قَالَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِي﴾ ([Ibrāhīm] said: And of my descendants?). Among the themes present in this quarter specifically is the matter of concern for offspring, concern for the righteousness of the coming offspring and the successors who will succeed. Allah, blessed and exalted, shows us how great was the concern of Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, for his offspring by the wording that is here. And after a little we find him raising the foundations with Ismāʿīl, then we find that Yaʿqūb, when death came to him, gave counsel to his sons. So Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, is concerned for the offspring who will come.

And here we say: among the defects in this country, and with many people, is that they care about building walls. So when we say: folks, we want to collect donations to buy a church and turn it into a mosque, you find people competing and adding more. But when we say: we have scholarly projects to raise a generation, you say to them: is building the wall more important than building the mind that will lead this wall afterward? And you find that people still need more awareness.

Then my Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ﴾ ([Allah] said: My covenant does not include the wrongdoers). And the natural thing is for us to say: "My covenant does not include the disbelievers," and the natural thing is for me to hear this word. But you remember what we were hearing some days ago, when we said: ﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ﴾ (And when it is said to them: Do not cause corruption on the earth) and ﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ آمِنُوا كَمَا آمَنَ النَّاسُ﴾ (And when it is said to them: Believe as the people have believed)^[9] which comes first? The prohibition of corruption or the command to believe? It may be said: how, Mawlānā? How does the prohibition of corruption precede the prohibition of disbelief? This is illogical! And we say: no, because corruption is more dangerous than disbelief. So He put the prohibition of corruption first: ﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ﴾ (And when it is said to them: Do not cause corruption on the earth, they say: We are but reformers) then: ﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ آمِنُوا كَمَا آمَنَ النَّاسُ قَالُوا أَنُؤْمِنُ كَمَا آمَنَ السُّفَهَاءُ﴾ (And when it is said to them: Believe as the people have believed, they say: Should we believe as the foolish have believed?) and their mockery in that.

So imagine the matter: Allah puts the prohibition of corruption before the prohibition of disbelief, and here He puts the talk of wrongdoing before the talk of faith and following the message. Why? Because corruption is harmful to others in itself. As for disbelief, it may be a matter private to you; he may be a disbeliever in himself but deal with people with kindness. But the corrupter is a registered mark of the ruin that occurs to the person himself and to others around him.

The House as a place of return: the centrality of the methodology and the direction of hearts

My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿وَإِذْ جَعَلْنَا الْبَيْتَ مَثَابَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَأَمْنًا﴾ (And [mention] when We made the House a place of return for the people and [a place of] security). Ibrāhīm's connection, peace be upon him, to the House is a pointer to every Muslim's connection to the House. And it is not required that what is meant be the Sacred House of Allah that is in Makkah, rather the matter is general to all the houses of Allah, blessed and exalted, on the earth, as a general emblem. We are not now speaking of the sanctity of the place, but I am speaking of the psychological connection and the methodological connection: the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, connected us to a centrality of a personality present in Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, who is the leader of the prophets afterward and the father of the prophets, and connected us to a methodology.

And the sweetness of this methodological centrality we see when we all stand in the same direction and say: Allahu akbar. So you feel that no one is able to turn his back to his brother, nor to say: I don't like this side, I will look at that one. Why? Because Allah the Exalted wanted to gather the whole community around this centrality, so that no two differ over the matter of orientation, and hence you do not find disagreement among the members of the community. This is the natural original state. But we have not yet fulfilled the words, nor completed the test, nor been truthful in what we were tested with, and we are not able to fulfill, and hence you see this conflict and this floundering between us and one another. We ask Allah, glorified be He, for safety.

﴿وَإِذْ جَعَلْنَا الْبَيْتَ مَثَابَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَأَمْنًا وَاتَّخِذُوا مِن مَّقَامِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ مُصَلًّى﴾ (And [mention] when We made the House a place of return for the people and [a place of] security. And take, [O believers], from the standing place of Ibrāhīm a place of prayer) so that the course of human unity among the members of this community is completed. ﴿وَعَهِدْنَا إِلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ أَن طَهِّرَا بَيْتِيَ لِلطَّائِفِينَ وَالْعَاكِفِينَ وَالرُّكَّعِ السُّجُودِ﴾ (And We charged Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl: Purify My House for those who circle it and those who stay there and those who bow and prostrate)^[10]

Helping people to worship

If the servant had no goal in his life but helping people to worship, it would suffice him. And pay attention to a very important point to which we do not turn much: what is my mission in life? I imagine, for example, that I am sitting here night and day in this mosque, and this woman comes complaining about her husband, and that man passes and says: O Lord, guide my children, and another says: Shaykh, what do I do in this business? And another says: help us, Mawlānā, I quarreled with my friend in such-and-such place. So you say: O Lord! And you calm this one, and quiet this one, and pat this one, and convince this one, and make this one understand. Then you ask yourself: what am I doing here? Do I sit only for people's problems? And it is said to you: no, Mawlānā, may Allah grant you opening, you are here to help people to worship.

So whether this worship is that you carry this broom on your back and clean the place so that when people come... and for that reason the rank of providing water to the pilgrims was among the things by which one is raised to heaven, and Allah gave an example by it: ﴿أَجَعَلْتُمْ سِقَايَةَ الْحَاجِّ وَعِمَارَةَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ كَمَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ﴾ (Have you made the providing of water for the pilgrim and the maintenance of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām equal to [the deeds of] one who believes in Allah)^[11] the verse. The matter is that someone says: by Allah, this is what I own, here, take it and put it down, and I am leaving. This is helping people to worship.

Security is a condition of worship

Then Allah, blessed and exalted, said: ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ هَٰذَا بَلَدًا آمِنًا وَارْزُقْ أَهْلَهُ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ مَنْ آمَنَ مِنْهُم بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ﴾ (And [mention] when Ibrāhīm said: My Lord, make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits — whoever of them believes in Allah and the Last Day). The divine methodology that the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, sets down here is that people do not worship well unless they have security.

And for that reason you find that among the first things Allah, blessed and exalted, established for Quraysh, before He sent them His Messenger ﷺ — you remember in Sūrat al-Fīl: ﴿فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولٍ﴾ (and made them like eaten straw) then: ﴿لِإِيلَافِ قُرَيْشٍ﴾ (For the accustoming of Quraysh). What is the story of the īlāf? Why are Quraysh made accustomed? To secure for them security: ﴿إِيلَافِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَاءِ وَالصَّيْفِ ۝ فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَٰذَا الْبَيْتِ ۝ الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُم مِّنْ خَوْفٍ﴾ (Their accustomed journey in winter and summer. Let them worship the Lord of this House, who has fed them against hunger and made them safe from fear)^[12] and the equation is orderly: those who do not obtain what satisfies this hunger, none of them is safe from his brother, and if he does not find what he eats, he eats his companion. But if security occurs, people are content with what is in their hands and do not tear this matter apart.

Strategic planning and leaving righteousness behind

﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ هَٰذَا بَلَدًا آمِنًا وَارْزُقْ أَهْلَهُ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ﴾ (And [mention] when Ibrāhīm said: My Lord, make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits). Imagine Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, thinking of strategic planning: where will these people eat from after fifty years? But we are busy devouring the wealth in our hands, not weeping over anyone who came, neither the one who lives around us nor the one who will come after us. We eat as much as we put in our bellies, and the world passes and is ruined after us, and it doesn't matter. This is not the philosophy of the religious. The philosophy of the religious is that there be in my hands something I leave for whoever comes after me, and it is not a condition that they be my children; my children or the children of the rest of the people, the rest of the Muslims, or even the rest of humanity. What matters very much is that you leave the world having left behind you righteousness.

Whoever of them believed: giving and the covenant

Our shaykhs say to us: why did Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, set this condition: ﴿مَنْ آمَنَ مِنْهُم بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ﴾ (whoever of them believes in Allah and the Last Day)? That is, he asked provision only for the believers? Because it had been said to him at first: ﴿لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ﴾ (My covenant does not include the wrongdoers) so he was cautious the second time. So our Lord said to him: no. And there is a very great difference between the matter of giving religion and giving wealth. Wealth is given to anyone: ﴿قَالَ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَأُمَتِّعُهُ﴾ ([Allah] said: And whoever disbelieves — I will grant him enjoyment) — not only I give him, pay attention — I grant him enjoyment. But the problem is that the enjoyment is little: ﴿فَأُمَتِّعُهُ قَلِيلًا ثُمَّ أَضْطَرُّهُ إِلَىٰ عَذَابِ النَّارِ ۖ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ﴾ (I will grant him enjoyment for a little; then I will force him to the punishment of the Fire, and wretched is the destination).

The obligation is word and deed

﴿وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ﴾ (And [mention] when Ibrāhīm was raising the foundations of the House). When the talk was that he fulfilled the words when his Lord tested him with them, someone might imagine that the obligation is a purely theoretical obligation, and that all that I have to do as a shaykh is sit and speak these two words, or that you say: I am a Muslim, and write it on your identity card, or announce to people that your name is Muḥammad or Maḥmūd or Ibrāhīm or Ismāʿīl. But Allah the Exalted wanted to inform us that adherence to the obligation and its implementation is not mere utterance, but is the joining of utterance with deed, and the joining of deed with utterance. So whoever said: there is no god but Allah, Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah, you obligate him to apply the rest of the obligations.

And our master Shaykh al-Shaʿrāwī, may Allah have mercy on him, used to say: why did Quraysh not submit to Allah and to the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, when he says to them: say one word? Then he says: no, they were clever, they understood the matter, that the word «لا إله إلا الله» (there is no god but Allah) would bring them the system of obligations which they did not want to do. So the word «لا إله إلا الله» is the key; the first moment you open the door you find yourself before a factory in which you want to work and run its machines.

So since the obligation is not mere talk, but deed is added to it, the Lord of the worlds wanted to show us a model of deed: ﴿وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ﴾ (And [mention] when Ibrāhīm was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ismāʿīl: Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing)^[13]

Ismāʿīl beside his father: affinity between the two generations

What attracts attention, and what I always draw myself and people to, is that Ibrāhīm did not work alone, but his son was beside him. Agreed? Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, did not work alone but his son was beside him. And when you take your son along with you wherever you will and wherever you are, this is evidence of affinity between you two. The son will not walk with you while he is averse, ever, ever; the psychological affinity and the intellectual affinity must occur.

And the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, showed us a model of the understanding that occurred in two or three places. This place, and the place of Yūsuf: ﴿يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ﴾ (O my father, indeed I have seen eleven stars and the sun and the moon) ﴿قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُؤْيَاكَ عَلَىٰ إِخْوَتِكَ﴾ ([Yaʿqūb] said: O my son, do not relate your vision to your brothers)^[14] how beautiful this dialogue is! And what is this merging that occurs between father and son! And there: ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَانُ لِابْنِهِ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ﴾ (And [mention] when Luqmān said to his son while he was advising him)^[15] and we spoke about this in Ramadan in the tahajjud. Why did He say "advising him"? Because exhortation is a language of address between a tongue and a heart. I am not speaking on diamonds, nor writing a mathematical equation on the blackboard, but I am speaking to a heart. So exhortation differs from the lecture and the seminar — even when we study the subject of oratory we learn the difference between the lecture and the exhortation and others.

The point is that Allah the Exalted showed us a model of psychological and intellectual affinity between two generations. Do we have this affinity between you and your son whom you send out and he comes back to you with a different culture and returns home objecting to everything? If you had created in him a great amount of love between the two of you, your word would have been, with him, worthier than the word of anyone, whether a teacher or a professor or a pupil beside him at school or a girl who wants to fool him and eat his head. But the condition is affinity: that you make him feel that he is part of you and you are part of him, and that you do not shrink from sitting with him, and do not find it slow to answer his call when he calls you. So here are the requirements of creating this environment of love between the two generations, and the noble Qur'an expresses it with this verse: ﴿وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ﴾ (And [mention] when Ibrāhīm was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ismāʿīl).

Why was Ismāʿīl mentioned by name?

He did not say: "and his child," and did not say: "his son," but said: "Ismāʿīl." And in this there is a creedal implication and an educational implication.

As for the creedal implication: so that no one comes afterward and says to you: the one who was building with Ibrāhīm was Isḥāq, and give us the Kaʿbah as we want to take the Holy House, then a day comes when he says to you: no, where did you go? Our Lord said "his son," and this was Isḥāq. But since the reference was to Ismāʿīl by name — and there in Sūrat al-Ṣāffāt was the name of Ismāʿīl mentioned? It was not mentioned; in the slaughter it does not say: Ismāʿīl, so we differed, and you say: Isḥāq, and I say: Ismāʿīl, and you say what you want and I say what I want. But here the matter has been lifted away from this dispute. These are lines that are not red but black, and the Station of Ibrāhīm in the Kaʿbah is a matter not open to discussion. So this is the creedal implication when Ismāʿīl was mentioned and no other.

And as for the educational implication: that the son, whatever he is, a son or small, has an independent entity in which he has the right to be mentioned. The more you esteem your son before people, the more he takes pride in his affiliation to you. And many people, when they speak about their son, speak of him with a kind of contempt and scorn. But the shrewd — I am in a bitter quarrel with my son, we pull at each other in the room closed upon us, then we go out to the people and I say: my son, ma shaʾ Allah! And it is said to me: this is hypocrisy. No, no, it is not so. Rather you are giving him standing among people, so he feels that, even if he differs with you, he has a place with you, and that you do not shame him before people.

But for you to shout at your son before people, and record him, and have your eyes turn red, and shame him in front of the people, you are putting seventy autumns between you and him; he hates to remain beside you in any place, and does not like to go out with you on an errand. Why? Because he is belittled with you. And even when you comment on life's mistakes, do not accuse him of a trait in him, but accuse the act. So do not say to him: you failure, but say to him: you did not succeed on this point. The meaning is one in the end and the feeling is one, but the difference is in the wording: that in the first you kill him morally, and in the second you draw his attention to this relative mistake that came from him. You say to him: by Allah, I did not expect this from you, I am used to your being an alert man, so how did this slip from you? This does not help. And if the boy wants to become a doctor you say to him: are doctors' behaviors like this too? Does it work for him to be a doctor and make this small mistake? You are bigger than this. Or if he is an engineer: is this the mentality of engineers? Engineers are organized. And so on. And so as not to lengthen...

Our Lord, accept from us: perfecting for the one whose acceptance we hope for

My Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا﴾ (And [mention] when Ibrāhīm was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ismāʿīl: Our Lord, accept [this] from us). So we understood that when we do deeds we do not do them for mere show, nor for mere displaying them before people, but we do them for the sake of the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He. So the aim is that the deed be accepted from you.

You know the people who do what is called "catering," who prepare food and deliver it to people. If I asked them now: prepare us some pastries, we want to break our fast here. Then the food came lacking salt, you might accept it the first time, no harm. And the second time it came to you with too much salt. And the third time you will be very anxious and hesitant: shall I order from these people at all or not? Unless you changed your mind from the first time. So you say: these have no control of standards; sometimes they add and sometimes they lessen. So the matter of control is not there.

So his saying "accept from us" includes the perfecting of the deed that we present to Allah, glorified and exalted be He. And in proportion to the preciousness of the customer is the attentiveness and precision, so you buy expensive dishes, not cheap ones. If you are preparing an order for people whose next order will be much bigger, then the profit behind them is great. And the point is that in proportion to the standing of the one who receives from you what you do, you perfect the work; you perfect the work on the basis of its acceptance with the one from whom you hope acceptance. So since the one from whom we hope acceptance, glorified and exalted be He, is Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, it is obligatory for us to perfect a prayer we perform, and to be excellent in a gift we give, and to perfect the word that comes out of our tongues. So imagine that you are watching your work night and day.

The All-Hearing, the All-Knowing: why are the two names paired?

Allah the Exalted said: ﴿إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ﴾ (Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing). Your mental presence of the names of Allah, blessed and exalted, and His attributes makes you more watchful of Allah; for we do not worship an idol that neither hears nor sees, but we worship a Lord who is Hearing, Seeing, Knowing.

And the pairing of the Beautiful Names of Allah at the conclusion of verses has particular indications. Imagine if He had said: "Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Seeing." But He said: "the Hearing, the Knowing." Why was hearing paired with knowledge here? Because we are speaking of deeds of wide scope, and sight may be included with hearing, but here we need the matter of the encompassing of this knowledge, the encompassing of the details of matters and their minutiae. So when He, glorified be He, mentions "the Knowing," there is an added benefit of more encompassing of what you do. For I may hear you and not know what you say, and I may see you and not know what you do.

And imagine we are sitting now, and two or three of our brothers began speaking among themselves in a language I do not understand, and this has happened to me. And those who speak some Spanish, we understand a little of them, and we have begun to learn two words, but those who speak Urdu I do not understand. So you hear them and see them but do not know what they are doing. So since the matter concerned the issue of obligation and religiosity and that you are entrusted with a message, here it was: "Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing."

Our Lord, make us Muslims to You

Allah, blessed and exalted, said: ﴿رَبَّنَا وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ﴾ (Our Lord, and make us Muslims [in submission] to You). Had he not completed the obligation from the beginning? So what is this supplication: "make us," when he is still asking that they be made Muslims? And it is said: there is a difference between one who began the path and one who completed it. Many people enroll in the college of medicine, for example, but how many finish to the end? And how many begin a commercial field and open a restaurant or the like? Many begin paths but not many of them complete.

And his saying: ﴿مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ﴾ (Muslims to You) expresses the existing state, but he added to this state more hope in his saying: ﴿وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِنَا أُمَّةً مُّسْلِمَةً لَّكَ وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا﴾ (and from our descendants a Muslim nation [in submission] to You. And show us our rites).

And show us our rites

The matter of Allah, blessed and exalted, showing us the rites explains to us why we see people mixed up, and this difference among the jurists. Do you place your hand like this or raise it above or place it below, and do you let it hang loose or not? Not to mention that this talk was based on reports that came from the Prophet ﷺ, but the matter of understanding the text and the evidence: this one's understanding is other than his understanding, and your understanding is different from his understanding, and your [plural] understanding is different from his understanding, and so on. So the matter of Allah, blessed and exalted, showing us the rites: either He shows us them and so guides our souls to them so that they become dearer to us than anything else, and this is one matter, or He shows us the manner of applying these details.

And you know how many new problems there are on the Islamic scene, and these are what we call in jurisprudence contemporary juristic issues. They were called for a while fiqh of minorities — there are no minorities now. We are still speaking about one mosque followed by a large number of people around it in the area where we are; so about which minorities are you talking? People are afraid you will become the majority before long. So there are no minorities any more, and the talk is of course relative, in the old sense; rather they have become a majority. But the new juristic issues that require more consideration from us, when we begin to consider them we should say: ﴿وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا﴾ (And show us our rites); that is, teach us how to apply this Islam to which You have commanded us to be affiliated.

And our shaykhs say: the rites, that is, the rites of Hajj and ʿUmrah. And this is a small concept, but the more general concept is the rites of the religion as a whole: the new rulings of marriage and divorce in the Western countries, and the rulings of eating and drinking and what follows from them, and financial transactions, and Bitcoin which has come out for us in this new era. All these issues.

And accept our repentance

Allah, blessed and exalted, said: ﴿وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَا﴾ (and accept our repentance). Accept our repentance from what? If the one supplicating with this is among the people of striving, he is supplicating to Allah to accept his repentance from shortcoming, and if he is among the people of neglect, he is supplicating to Allah the Exalted to accept his repentance in order to return him to the origin of religiosity. So on both possibilities the statement is acceptable: ﴿إِنَّكَ أَنتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ﴾ (Indeed, You are the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful).

And send among them a messenger: reciting, teaching and purifying

﴿رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ﴾ (Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves). The words are from our master Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, supplicating for the existence of our master Muḥammad ﷺ afterward. Agreed. But there is another pointer, which is the continuing existence of the guiding lamp calling in the midst of people until the Day of Resurrection. What is meant by his saying ﴿رَسُولًا﴾ (a messenger) is Muḥammad ﷺ, and we have learned that he is the seal of the prophets so no messengers come after him. So who comes afterward? «العلماء ورثة الأنبياء» (The scholars are the heirs of the prophets),^[16] they inherited them, on condition that they do the inheriting well and discharge the trust in it well.

So our Lord said: ﴿وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ﴾ (and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise). And the relevance of mentioning the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ in this place is that it came in the context of speaking about the Children of Israel and returning them to Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, and that Ibrāhīm, when he supplicated, supplicated for Muḥammad ﷺ. So if we return the Children of Israel, folks, and think about the matter from the beginning: with what did Ibrāhīm supplicate? ﴿وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا﴾ (and send among them a messenger).

We have here three requirements: the first requirement is reciting the Book, that is, reciting the verses. The second requirement is teaching the Book and wisdom. The third requirement is purification. And mere verbal recitation, which we do alone, does not bring a result; you must be encompassing what you recite, understanding what you read, and this recitation and this understanding must have an effect in transforming the human soul from bad to good, and from good to better.

The creed of Ibrāhīm: "I have submitted" is an open contract

Allah the Exalted said: ﴿وَمَن يَرْغَبُ عَن مِّلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِلَّا مَن سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ﴾ (And who would reject the creed of Ibrāhīm except one who makes a fool of himself?). Any human being who tries to depart from this path has no place in the existence of faith. ﴿وَلَقَدِ اصْطَفَيْنَاهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَإِنَّهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ لَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ﴾ (And We had chosen him in this world, and indeed he, in the Hereafter, will be among the righteous) ﴿إِذْ قَالَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ أَسْلِمْ ۖ قَالَ أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ﴾ (When his Lord said to him: Submit, he said: I have submitted to the Lord of the worlds) and this is the first and last requirement.

So if you say: "I have submitted to the Lord of the worlds," it is like the signature you place on the contract; the mere fact that you signed. So come now to see the conditions and obligations and regulations and duties, and go through this contract with me: what is its term? Is it a one-year contract that renews automatically with Allah, glorified and exalted be He? Or for ten years? Or for life? Imagine that someone offers you an offer in which he says: I give you all your requirements, and on top of that a big raise every year over all that you want, and an extra percentage in your salary every year. What honor this is! I work with him not only throughout my life, but I put my heirs to work with him. And Allah, blessed and exalted, has undertaken for us to fulfill all our needs in our worldly life: ﴿وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا...﴾ (And there is no creature on earth but...)^[17] So you say: no, this one did not give me much money, I am poor, my income is such-and-such. And it is said: wait, there is the air, and you cannot buy it with money. And you have the salary and you have the benefits around it — the insurance and so on — and we have benefits: air that enters, an ear that hears, an eye that sees, and a foot that walks. All are benefits, do not look only at the two papers that come to you at the end of the month. ﴿قَالَ أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ﴾ (He said: I have submitted to the Lord of the worlds).

The bequest of the generations

﴿وَوَصَّىٰ بِهَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوبُ﴾ (And Ibrāhīm instructed his sons [to do the same], and [so did] Yaʿqūb) — and this is the matter of concern for generations: ﴿يَا بَنِيَّ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَىٰ لَكُمُ الدِّينَ فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ﴾ ([saying]: O my sons, indeed Allah has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except as Muslims) ﴿أَمْ كُنتُمْ شُهَدَاءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ يَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتُ﴾ (Or were you witnesses when death approached Yaʿqūb)^[18] even in the critical moments there was a message: the message of conveying Islam to the next generation, a message of life. Even in the last moments he does not forget it and busy himself with himself, but is occupied with the second generation. And hence comes the matter of concern for the following generations.

Then Allah the Exalted said: ﴿تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ ۖ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُم مَّا كَسَبْتُمْ ۖ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ﴾ (That was a nation which has passed on. It will have what it earned, and you will have what you have earned. And you will not be asked about what they used to do) forget the story now! So we say: we are finished, we want to see what comes. And it is said: wait, they still have an argument.

"Be Jews or Christians": dissension and guidance

﴿وَقَالُوا كُونُوا هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَىٰ تَهْتَدُوا﴾ (And they say: Be Jews or Christians [and] you will be guided). So the answer came — and we have not yet brought our master Muḥammad ﷺ — ﴿قُلْ بَلْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا ۖ وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ﴾ (Say: Rather, [we follow] the creed of Ibrāhīm, inclining toward truth, and he was not of the polytheists). Say to them, Muḥammad: if you [singular] are a follower and you [plural] are followers of something or someone, let us follow the reference most worthy for us: ﴿قُلْ بَلْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا﴾ (Say: Rather, [we follow] the creed of Ibrāhīm, inclining toward truth). ﴿قُولُوا آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالْأَسْبَاطِ وَمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ وَمَا أُوتِيَ النَّبِيُّونَ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ﴾ (Say: We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl and Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb and the Descendants, and what was given to Mūsā and ʿĪsā, and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him) — count as you wish, but the summary of the matter: we make no distinction between any of them.

﴿فَإِنْ آمَنُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا آمَنتُم بِهِ فَقَدِ اهْتَدَوا ۖ وَّإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنَّمَا هُمْ فِي شِقَاقٍ﴾ (So if they believe in the like of that in which you have believed, then they have been [rightly] guided; but if they turn away, they are only in dissension). What is the matter of this dissension? If they do not respond to your call, Muḥammad, they will be in dissension with Allah, because they opposed Allah and His Messenger. Or they may be in dissension among themselves because they were not guided. So dissension is the opposite of guidance. When did guidance occur? When faith occurred. And when did dissension occur? When disbelief occurred or what contradicts faith. So it was said: dissension is either meant as dissension with Allah, so the enmity is between them and Allah, glorified and exalted be He, or they are in dissension and conflict among themselves. And when did dissension occur between them and one another? When the proportion of faith was absent.

So did we understand then why we are in disagreement? Why does the community not know how to come together? Why does the community of Islam not do well at coming together? Because the matter of complete faith is not yet present, and we are not yet able to believe until we are guided, and we are still in the stage of dissension, and we seek refuge in Allah. ﴿فَإِنْ آمَنُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا آمَنتُم بِهِ فَقَدِ اهْتَدَوا ۖ وَّإِن تَوَلَّوْا﴾ (So if they believe in the like of that in which you have believed, then they have been [rightly] guided; but if they turn away) — we are still in the stage of turning away, and we ask Allah, glorified and exalted be He, to return us to His religion with a beautiful return.

And there in Sūrat al-Ḥashr: ﴿تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّىٰ﴾ (You think they are united, but their hearts are divided)^[19] you think them all together, appearing before you as one hand, dealing in one currency, with shared interests between them in the world, but their hearts are divided. And for that reason we were commanded that our hearts come together before our bodies come together. And for that reason our reference was the reference of tawḥīd before anything else, and the reference of rallying around a qiblah, as we saw a little while ago, and around listening to one fixed Qur'anic text; it is not that every three or four of us has an independent muṣḥaf on which they work, but it is one thing. Agreed.

Then my Lord, glorified be He, said: ﴿فَسَيَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللَّهُ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ﴾ (Allah will be sufficient for you against them, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing).^[20] If you adhere, then Allah the Exalted wards off from you every aggressor; if you are upright, then Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, wards off harm from you.

Do you argue with us about Allah?

﴿قُلْ أَتُحَاجُّونَنَا فِي اللَّهِ وَهُوَ رَبُّنَا وَرَبُّكُمْ وَلَنَا أَعْمَالُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُخْلِصُونَ﴾ (Say: Do you argue with us about Allah while He is our Lord and your Lord? For us are our deeds, and for you are your deeds, and we are sincere to Him) ﴿أَمْ تَقُولُونَ إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالْأَسْبَاطَ كَانُوا هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَىٰ﴾ (Or do you say that Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl and Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb and the Descendants were Jews or Christians?)^[21] and history, of course, is skilled at being changed, and they know how to alter and delete and add, but there are constants that cannot be changed in any way. Do all these proofs not please you, that they were on the creed of Allah?

And what makes us say that these who passed away were not Jews? When did the word "Jews" occur at all? When did it come? It came with Mūsā, upon our Prophet and upon him be prayers and peace.^[22] Is it not so? And Mūsā, peace be upon him, came after Yūsuf, then ʿĪsā came after that; and you are speaking of Yūsuf, and before him Yaʿqūb, and before him those before him.

Then our Lord, glorified and exalted be He, said: ﴿قُلْ أَأَنتُمْ أَعْلَمُ أَمِ اللَّهُ﴾ (Say: Are you more knowing or is Allah?). We should return in our reference to the first source of receiving, which is Allah, glorified and exalted be He. ﴿تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ ۖ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُم مَّا كَسَبْتُمْ ۖ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ﴾ (That was a nation which has passed on. It will have what it earned, and you will have what you have earned. And you will not be asked about what they used to do).

May Allah be good to you. And I apologize once more for this lengthiness, and I ask Allah, blessed and exalted, to forgive us and you, and to keep us and you safe, and to guide us and you to the best speech and the best deed. May Allah the Exalted reward you well, and the peace of Allah be upon you, and His mercy.

--- ^[1]: Al-Baqarah: 124. Editor's documentation: The speaker recited it at the beginning of the khatira. ^[2]: Al-Baqarah: 122–123. ^[3]: Al-Baqarah: 214. Editor's documentation: The verse has been set down up to where the speaker quoted it. ^[4]: Al-ʿAnkabūt: 2. ^[5]: Al-Mulk: 2. Editor's documentation: The speaker was content with «الذي خلق الموت والحياة», and its remainder is ﴿لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا﴾ (that He may test you [to see] which of you is best in deed). ^[6]: Al-Anbiyāʾ: 83, in the supplication of Ayyūb, peace be upon him. ^[7]: Yūsuf: 42. Editor's documentation: The remainder of the verse is ﴿ذِكْرَ رَبِّهِ﴾ (the mention of his master), and the speaker explained the making forget with his words «أي أنسى الرجل». ^[8]: Al-Ḥajj: 27. Editor's documentation: The verse has been set down to the extent the speaker pointed to. ^[9]: Al-Baqarah: 11–13. Editor's documentation: The speaker quoted the two verses in abbreviated form; what he pointed to from the opening of each has been set down, then the text of the second verse as he said it. ^[10]: Al-Baqarah: 125. Editor's documentation: In the Qur'anic text ﴿طَهِّرَا﴾ is in the dual form, and it came in the transcript in the singular, most likely due to mishearing. ^[11]: Al-Tawbah: 19. Editor's documentation: The verse has been set down up to where the speaker quoted it. ^[12]: Quraysh: 1–4. Editor's documentation: And it was preceded in the speaker's words by a reference to the verse of Sūrat al-Fīl ﴿فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولٍ﴾ (al-Fīl: 5). ^[13]: Al-Baqarah: 127. ^[14]: Yūsuf: 4–5. ^[15]: Luqmān: 13. Editor's documentation: As much of it as the speaker uttered has been set down. ^[16]: Editor's documentation: The phrase is part of a ḥadīth narrated by Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī and others from the report of Abū al-Dardāʾ (may Allah be pleased with him), and al-Bukhārī mentioned it as a suspended report in the Book of Knowledge, and there is disagreement among the people of knowledge about the soundness of its chain. The speaker related it in abbreviated form. ^[17]: Hūd: 6. Editor's documentation: The speaker pointed to the verse with «وما من دابة في الأرض إلا» and did not complete it, and its remainder is ﴿عَلَى اللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا﴾ (upon Allah is its provision). ^[18]: Al-Baqarah: 132–133. ^[19]: Al-Ḥashr: 14. ^[20]: Al-Baqarah: 137. Editor's documentation: In the transcript there is a garbled passage before this verse (in which the word «صبغة» was mentioned), and it has not been set down because it is unclear. ^[21]: Al-Baqarah: 139–140. ^[22]: Editor's documentation: This is what the speaker said in explaining the attribution of Judaism to Mūsā, peace be upon him, and the denial that Ibrāhīm and those mentioned with him were Jews. And the well-known view among many people of knowledge is that the name «اليهود» goes back to "Yahūdhā" son of Yaʿqūb or to the meaning of «هادوا», that is, they returned and repented, so this explanation should be reviewed. And the transcript was garbled in the passage that follows it (a comment on the order of the forefathers in the words of the sons of Yaʿqūb ﴿نَعْبُدُ إِلَٰهَكَ وَإِلَٰهَ آبَائِكَ﴾ (We worship your God and the God of your forefathers)), so it has not been set down.