Messenger Audio 14.1 (1982)

(0:26) Alhamdulillah, my last book was, I have been talking about the greatness of God, and awareness, (0:40) being aware that the people go around unaware of their Creator. At the beginning of Surah 24, the verses say, (0:53) Successful are the believers who are reverent in their prayer. And success here includes, just one word describes everything, (1:03) health, wealth, happiness, peace of mind, here and in the hereafter. Successful are the believers who are reverent in their prayer. (1:13) So the purpose of my talk on the greatness of God is, when you bow in your Salat, you mean it. You don't just go through a mechanical motion of bowing down. (1:23) You must think of the greatness of God, and that you are deliberately bowing down and saying, Glory be to my Lord, the Great. (1:33) And when you make sujood, you also think of the greatness of God. You may go through mechanical motions initially, but the purpose of this talk is to have you have some awareness about the greatness of God. (1:50) And I mentioned in the past, how the seven universes are in His right hand, as we see in Surah 39, how vast our universe is, and that it is the smallest and innermost of the seven universes. (2:08) In continuing this subject, and hoping that you will remember as you bow, and as you prostrate, that you are doing a deliberate action showing your respect and your recognition of God's greatness. (2:29) I talk about the planet Earth, for example. This is how the planet Earth looks like. And it goes around itself, and around the sun. (2:42) Now, do you notice the axis? God designed that. And sometimes to bring it to our minds, like I said in one khutbah, I like to imagine God like the chamber of the Lord sitting at the big desk or something, and say, Let us design the moon for the Earth. (3:00) Remember when we talked about the moon and how the rotation of the speed of the moon is the same as the rotation of the moon around itself? (3:07) And let's put two eyes, a nose, and a mouth in the moon, and let the people of Earth look at the one side all the time, design it. (3:15) Now, God designed the axis of the Earth like this. 23 degrees, is it? I'm not sure. (3:20) But whatever it is, it's slanted. And what does this do? Why did God design it like this? The axis of the Earth slanted like this. (3:32) Now, if you imagine the sun over there lighting the Earth, and this is the two suns right here. (3:44) Now, when the rotation, I want to make it as clear as possible. (3:52) See, the sun would be in this position here. If the sun is here, it would be lighting the upper half of the Earth, right? (4:01) But when the Earth turns around like this, it would be lighting the lower half here, so it would be summer in South America and winter in North America. (4:13) But when the Earth turns and the axis is in this way, then the sun would be lighting the upper half. (4:20) So it would be summer in North America and winter in South America, in the southern hemisphere. (4:27) Now, this creates the season, the summer, the fall, winter, and spring. (4:35) And the seasons are very important for growing certain crops. (4:41) There are plants that will never flower unless the length of daylight is a specific number of hours. (4:48) They just will not flower. You have to have a certain amount of sunlight. (4:54) So the seasons will create crops. We have to have different crops. (4:59) So this design is very important. (5:03) And the way of looking at the Earth, remember the last time we had the picture of the Earth from 100,000 miles away? (5:10) An actual picture. It looks exactly like this. (5:14) And those who looked at it carefully saw all of Africa, Saudi Arabia, Mecca was there, Jerusalem was there. (5:23) And there's no doubt about it, this is how it looks like. We see it like this from space. (5:29) Now, did any of you stand by the ocean sometime and look at the ocean and how the waves are coming in? (5:37) How about walking around this room with a cup full of tea? (5:41) You spit it? (5:43) Now, this Earth is growing. The total speed is 1,200 miles an hour. (5:48) But the oceans don't spin today. It stands in the same line as the oceans do. (5:53) And this water that's upside down, how come it doesn't spin today? (5:59) That's design. (6:04) Speaking of the seasons and different crops and plants, you notice that the things that we take for granted... (6:16) Let me walk out and come back with an orange, okay? (6:19) I'm going to do some illustrations. (6:33) Beth harvested this orange yesterday. (6:39) One month ago, this orange was green. (6:43) Well, as long as it is not ready to be eaten, it is green and camouflaged in the tree. (6:50) You don't see it. (6:51) As soon as it is ready to be eaten, it says, I'm here. Come and take me. (6:56) You can see them. (6:57) Now, I noticed this driving around the Phoenix area where there are lots of orchards. (7:03) And I'm going at my usual speed, which is within the speed limit. (7:11) And I pass by all kinds of citrus trees. (7:14) And you don't see the fruits. (7:15) And then all of a sudden, they're standing out. You can see them. (7:18) And who designed this, the colors? (7:20) Same with the apples. (7:22) They're green for as long as they're not ready. (7:26) And what's the color made of? (7:30) God designed all this. They're very fine chemical reactions. (7:34) The carotenes and anthocyanins and the chlorophyll. (7:39) This was full of chlorophyll a month ago. (7:42) Now the chlorophyll is God. (7:44) All these chemical reactions were designed by God. (7:50) We must have awareness about the greatness of God. (7:53) And this planet here that is very minute in the universe, (7:58) is the only object in our universe, that we know of at least, that is teeming with life. (8:07) When you look at this from another side, it's full of people and cockroaches. (8:14) And trees. (8:16) Just teeming with bacteria and viruses. (8:20) Lions and elephants and giraffes. (8:22) Just teeming with life. (8:25) And God designed all this. (8:31) Look at the pictures of the moon, Mars. (8:34) We don't see a single tree. (8:37) Jupiter, Saturn. (8:39) Not a sign of life. (8:40) And God says in the Quran that he created all those for our pleasure. (8:45) Just to adorn the sky for us. (8:51) And none of the planets around that you see have a blue sky like we do. (8:56) The minute you go out of the earth's space, the blue color disappears. (9:02) But the blue color is for our, to pacify us, to keep us happy. (9:07) That's God's design. (9:09) The sunlight hits the earth. (9:11) You know the sunlight is made of all the rainbow colors, as you know. (9:15) You can separate the sunlight into all the rainbow colors. (9:18) But when it hits the outer atmosphere of the earth, the blue color is reflected. (9:22) It comes at a specific angle that makes the blue color deflect or reflect back. (9:29) So it is held up there, and that's why we see the blue color. (9:33) That's God's design. (9:39) Pardon me? (9:40) Then it gets black after you cross that. (9:42) You see the sunlight is just one big star up there. (9:47) Now how about, the Quran says, reflect on yourself. (9:53) Just hold your ears. (9:55) Press your ears up. (9:57) What's this design? (9:58) What would this have to do with the audio engineering, with our hearing? (10:02) That's a weird thing, isn't it? (10:07) You see, when you touch your ear, there's a soft lobe here. (10:10) Some people have no lobes. (10:12) Lobes, like Sammy says. (10:14) Earlobes. (10:16) But inside, it's really strange. (10:20) Now, this is the top audio engineering tube, so you can hear. (10:26) And then there's a canal in there, a tube, that leads to a small membrane, the ear drum. (10:32) If you don't have that, you can't hear. (10:36) And the ear drum is in there, very thin. (10:38) What makes you hear? (10:42) God designed that. (10:43) There's an audio hearing nerve that goes from the ear to the brain. (10:48) We mustn't take God for granted for his design. (10:53) Now put your hand in your neck. (10:54) Just feel your neck. Who designed that? (10:56) What's in there? (10:58) There are nerves and veins. (11:04) Muscles. (11:05) There's a backbone that carries everything to your toe. (11:11) To move your toe, it has to go through your neck. (11:13) It's from the brain. (11:16) There's blood in there, pumping. Can you feel it? (11:19) You can feel the pulse. (11:22) What is this pumping? (11:26) What's the blood made of? (11:29) And the chemical acids that go in it. (11:32) The oxygen. (11:34) This is God's design. (11:37) It's just overwhelming when you think about it. (11:40) But people take it for granted. (11:42) They walk around, and some of them, I have the balls to say, there's no God. (11:46) But who made this? (11:49) And the genetics. (11:50) Look at this. (11:50) They look alike. (11:55) But the genetics are there. (11:57) The kids. (11:59) Half of the mother and half of the brother. (12:06) That's why God says, think about yourselves. (12:16) Also, we talked about the moon design and how if the sun is over there, the moon goes like this. (12:21) It doesn't go like that, or like that, or like this. (12:25) Otherwise, we would not have the different phases of the moon that tell us what day of the month it is and how many months in the year. (12:34) Also, the seasons, as you know, they were designed for the test. (12:39) Remember how hard it was to come to Zikr at 4 o'clock in the morning? (12:44) And now the sun rises at 7 o'clock and comes to Zikr at 6 in the morning. (12:48) It's still hard because of the cold weather. (12:50) The day is so nice. (12:53) You don't want to leave it in the morning. (12:54) It's designed for the test. (12:56) Remember when Ramadan used to be 10 hours? (12:59) The day was 10 hours? (13:01) The time now is 16 hours. (13:04) And some people will drop out when Ramadan is 14 hours. (13:09) Some will drop out when it is 12. (13:12) But the die-hard Muslims will fast no matter how long the day is. (13:15) 16 hours, they happily fast. (13:18) And God helps them. (13:20) And the people wonder, how do you do it? (13:22) There's a lot of cheating going on. (13:26) Because God helps you. (13:29) But you can see that this axis of the earth is designed for many reasons. (13:34) Especially the test. (13:39) When we bow in our prayer, we must think of the greatness of God. (13:44) When you fall cross-legged, you must think you're doing a deliberate act. (13:48) You're humbling yourself before your Creator. (13:53) Awareness of God and God's greatness. (13:59) Also, one of the things that we must know in Islam is the 4 sacred months. (14:05) The 4 sacred months. (14:07) God says in Surah 9 that the count of months as far as God is concerned is 12. (14:12) The day He designed the heavens and the earth. (14:16) That's Surah 9. (14:18) 4 of them are sacred. (14:22) So we have the lunar year. (14:24) Now, the sun doesn't give us any indication about the year. (14:30) The solar year is something that we invented, the Gregorian year. (14:33) But the lunar year is God's year. (14:36) And 4 months are sacred. (14:37) What does this mean? (14:38) You don't fight in them? No wars? (14:42) You don't hunt? (14:43) Conservation. (14:45) People talk about conservation. (14:46) They think they invented conservation. (14:49) Now, if the season was fixed, and the 4 months of conservation were January, February, March, and April, (14:58) then only a specific species of animals would be protected, right? (15:01) Conservation will apply only to certain animals who are found between January and April. (15:09) But the 4 months constantly change. (15:11) So the conservation applies to all species of animals. (15:16) Otherwise, the human being will exhaust all supply of animals that they need to eat. (15:24) Initially, at least. (15:26) So the seasons, this, all this is done by just making the earth 23 degrees slanted. (15:45) Now I changed, I brought another subject. (15:48) And I hope I impressed you enough to think about God and God's greatness. (15:54) Especially when you pray. (15:56) The verse says, successful are the believers who are reverent in their prayers. (16:01) Their Salat prayers, specifically. (16:06) When you bow, you must remember the greatness of God. (16:15) This other part of the first khutbah, I want to talk about Satan. (16:21) Satan is so powerful that he wants to be a God with God. (16:25) That's how powerful he is. (16:28) God gave Satan so much responsibility, and so much capabilities, (16:34) that he thought he is important enough to be a God with God. (16:37) As a matter of fact, we owe our creation to Satan. (16:41) We were created to prove to the angels and to Satan that we will worship God alone without partners. (16:47) That's the whole purpose of our creation. (16:50) But it was too much that Satan wanted to be a partner with God. (16:57) The angels saw God, and they knew he was the ruler of the universe. (17:02) But Satan had those rebellious ideas, even though he saw God. (17:06) So God created us to show the angels that without seeing God, we're going to worship him without partners. (17:16) And this is why any offense is forgiven, but not idol worship. (17:22) Not the idolization of anyone or anything. (17:26) We must worship God alone, and have absolutely no idols. (17:30) So Satan was the reason for our creation. (17:34) The whole thing, right now, is a test. (17:39) Now, because we were the reason for evicting Satan from angelhood, he's out to revenge. (17:46) So you're up against a very powerful creature. Very powerful. (17:49) He wanted to be a God with God. (17:51) And we must never underestimate the power of Satan. (17:54) So what does Satan want to do to you, now that we evicted him from heaven? (18:01) Our father Adam was the direct cause of his eviction. (18:06) The real reason for his eviction was his rebellious thoughts. (18:10) But Adam was the tool that was used. (18:12) And Satan is out to revenge from us. (18:17) He wants to prove to God that God indeed needs a partner. (18:21) That's what Satan wants to prove. (18:24) So his first objective is to make us disbelieve in God. (18:29) That's his first objective. (18:29) He wants you to be a disbeliever. (18:33) He wants you to be an atheist. (18:37) Now, if he fails, and you're stubborn, and you insist on believing in God, (18:43) then his next appointment, which is even more formidable, is to make you a polytheist. (18:50) If he fails in making you an atheist, he wants to make you a polytheist. (18:54) He wants you to make you an idol-worshipper. (18:57) That's his second objective. (18:59) What will he say in the second objective? (19:05) Then he works on dividing us, the believers. (19:10) That's his last objective. (19:13) And this is why in surah 17, God says, (19:16) Tell My servants, My servants, (19:19) and the implication is those who believe in God and worship God alone, (19:23) to speak nicely to each other and treat each other in the best possible way, (19:27) and because the devil will drive a wedge between them. (19:33) Now we must remember these three stages. (19:35) The first one is to make you an atheist. (19:38) If he fails, to make you a polytheist. (19:40) If he fails, to drive a wedge between you and your brother or sister. (19:48) Now, alhamdulillah, he failed with the first objective. (19:52) We all believe in God. (19:54) But the majority of believers in God are going to hell, as you know, because of idol-worship. (20:00) First of all, the majority of people will not believe. (20:05) So Satan, to some extent, succeeded in duping the majority of people into being atheists, disbelievers. (20:12) And then he duped the majority of believers into being idol-worshippers. (20:20) The third objective is to divide us and make us dislike each other. (20:28) Now, we must make him pay. (20:33) As a group of people who succeeded in escaping the first trap, the first set of traps of Satan, (20:40) and the second set of traps, we must work on the third set of traps. (20:45) We must never have a hard feeling or a dislike towards a brother or a sister. (20:52) And when I finish this khutba, and sit down to repent, (20:57) I want you all, you and me, to direct this repentance to the wedges that Satan may have driven between you and me, (21:06) or you and a brother, or you and a sister. (21:10) And the way to do it is to absolutely forget the past. (21:17) As if you are meeting the person for the first time in your life. (21:21) You concentrate on that. (21:23) In other words, you go, so Wali and I, we have Satan succeeded in driving a wedge between us, (21:29) then when we sit down and repent, I'm going to say, (21:32) I forgot everything Wali did to me, and he will say, I forgot everything Rashad did to me, anything bad, (21:38) and I'm going to meet Wali for the first time. (21:40) As if he's getting used to me for the first time. (21:42) When you come out of this repentance, I want you to think of any person you don't like, (21:47) in this room, or outside, any of the believers, (21:53) as if you're going to meet him for the first time. (21:57) So you come, if you have anything against me, (22:00) when this is over, you treat me as if you've never seen me before, (22:03) as far as the wedges are concerned, (22:06) or any bad actions that I did against you, you did against me. (22:11) It is very important to make Satan pay, because any success he obtains is detrimental to us. (22:19) And this is his last threat. (22:24) You must convince yourself that you're meeting this person for the first time. (22:31) So, my name is Rashad, my name is Wali. (22:34) Now, you have nothing against me, because we're meeting for the first time. (22:41) Satan will drive wedges among the people, so when they go in, they will not say salam alaikum to each other, (22:46) or greet each other. (22:47) But if the person you're meeting, the person for the first time. (22:51) So we're going to make today a day of renewal, of all relations. (22:56) If you have anybody you don't like, (23:00) when this prayer is over, you're meeting that person for the first time. (23:04) We must give each other a chance. (23:08) Give your brother or sister a chance. (23:11) I mean, no mistake is so gross that cannot be forgiven. (23:16) The Quran repeats, over and over, that you must forgive and forget. (23:25) So let us give each other a chance. (23:30) And start all over again, as far as hard feelings are concerned. (23:36) So we're going to sit down, and we're going to repent, (23:40) or let him, Satan, succeed in driving wedges between us, any of us. (23:45) And we're going to pledge that he will never succeed again, we'll never let him. (23:48) We're going to treat each other in the nicest possible way. (23:51) We're going to talk to each other, treat each other in the nicest possible way. (23:55) This is a commandment from God. (23:57) Tell my servants to treat each other in the best possible way, (24:01) and to utter the nicest words. (24:04) Utter is in the verse. (24:08) For Satan will try to drive a wedge between them. (24:13) And when this prayer is over, we're going to be the most loving group in the world, (24:16) which is the way it's supposed to be. (24:17) Because the Qur'an says, (24:19) ماَ َّ ن ُ إ و َن ِ ٌ ُ ُمْؤ ِمن ْ ت َوة فِ 24:20 (إ ( The believers are one family, brethren, siblings, (24:27) whatever the translation is that includes man and woman. (24:30) We are, this is your family, you know. (24:33) Because your blood family or genetic family may not go with you to heaven. (24:39) But this family, the people who believe in God alone, (24:42) you're going to be stuck with us forever. (24:45) Insha'Allah in heaven. (24:47) So this is the real family. (24:49) Millions of years. (24:53) Your genetic family is yours for 60 years or 70 years. (24:57) But your spiritual family is your family for eternity. (25:01) And we must maintain the best possible relations. (25:04) And when we repent, we're going to be full of love, insha'Allah. (25:06) You will not repent. (25:18) Just think of anyone you have any grudge against, (25:21) and forget them. (25:22) Forgive and forget. (25:27) And then you treat those people as if you're meeting them for the first time. (25:31) The people that you have any difference with. ,says that 29 surah in verse a s'There) الحمد (25:36) أشھد أن لا إلھ إلا الله محمد لا شریك لھ (25:43 (25:35) (25:48) 10. My servants who exceeded the limits or transgressed the limits (25:58) Do never despair from the mercy of God (26:02) For God forgives all sins. (26:07) That's one of the most beautiful verses in Quran. (26:11) There's only one offense. (26:14) It is not a sin to be an idol worshipper. (26:16) It's much greater than that. (26:20) And in this mosque, as you know, we preach (26:24) total elimination of idol worship. (26:26) I was talking about the greatness of God. (26:29) We all realize that only God can benefit you or harm you. (26:33) And that if you ever think that anything or anyone (26:37) or any material (26:39) can benefit you or harm you (26:41) in any way, (26:42) then you're falling in idol worship. (26:45) You must know that God controls the flow of every single blood cell in your body. (26:50) How it goes, where it is going. (26:51) How much sickness you deserve. (26:54) How much health you deserve. (26:57) How much money is good for you. (27:01) Because money is not always good for you. (27:04) God decides all this, and we recognize that. (27:09) But if you ever think that Jesus or Mary or Muhammad or Hussain or Ali (27:13) or anybody can benefit you or harm you (27:15) or any sin, (27:17) you're falling in idol worship. (27:19) If you think your job provides you with money, (27:23) you're falling in idol worship. (27:25) You must have God in mind. (27:29) The only thing that is not forgivable, as repeated in the Quran, (27:33) there are two verses in surah 4. (27:37) That God does not forgive that you set up idols beside men. (27:46) That's the only unforgivable offense. (27:49) Now this mosque is internationally famous, we were told yesterday, (27:56) for saying that Hadith is bad and Sunnah is bad. (28:00) You cannot follow Hadith and Sunnah. (28:01) They have nothing to do with the Prophet. (28:04) That we believe God when he says the Quran is complete, perfect, and fully detailed. (28:10) Now, the biggest accusation against us in Masjid Tulsar (28:14) is that we disrespect the Prophet. (28:17) Right? (28:19) No, the accusation is right. (28:25) Of course we don't disrespect the Prophet. (28:27) We realize he's the final Prophet, the Messenger of God. (28:30) He was chosen to utter the last word of God. (28:32) We know that. (28:33) But we know he's dead, he can't tell us. (28:35) His sole mission was the delivery. (28:36) And we know that the Hadith and Sunnah have nothing to do with him. (28:40) But you see, Satan fabricated those things, as the Quran teaches us. (28:44) Satan fabricated, he said, the Prophet said. (28:46) Satan said, the Prophet said. (28:48) Listen, listen, listen. (28:49) And they are falling on their faces. (28:51) In Satan's trap. (28:53) But what I want to say is, let us agree with them. (28:56) Let us say we disrespect the Prophet. (28:58) The question is, (29:01) is disrespecting the Prophet forgivable? (29:04) Is murder forgivable? (29:07) Is adultery forgivable? (29:09) Is lying forgivable? (29:11) Cheating forgivable? (29:13) The verse in surah 39 says, (29:15) Tell my servants who transgress the limits, (29:18) Never despair from the mercy of God, (29:20) For God forgives all sins. (29:23) And throughout the Quran, the only unforgivable offense is idol worship. (29:27) So, (29:30) just to avoid idol worship, which is not forgivable, (29:34) and to fall into disrespect of the Prophet, which we don't, (29:38) but even that, (29:40) that is forgivable. (29:41) But idol worship is not. (29:43) And we don't want to be idol worshipers. (29:51) These are the two choices. (29:53) Disrespect of the Prophet versus idol worship. (29:59) And if we have to choose, (30:01) what would you choose? (30:03) Idol worship or disrespect of the Prophet? (30:05) We do not disrespect the Prophet. (30:06) We know exactly who he is and what he is, (30:10) what he stands for, what he wants, what he wishes. (30:13) Just like you. (30:14) You wish all the people to be believers. (30:16) And so does Muhammad and Jesus and Mary and the saints. (30:20) That's what they want. (30:22) They don't want us to idolize them. (30:24) They want us to worship God. (30:26) That's why in the surah I cited the Prophets, (30:30) one of the important verses, (30:31) we didn't send, (30:32) this is the double negative, (30:33) we did not send any messengers except (30:36) to declare there is no God except God. (30:40) One God. (30:41) These are two double negatives. (30:44) We did not send any messengers except (30:48) to give one and the same message, (30:51) which is another double negative. (30:56) So, St. Francis and Mary and Jesus, (31:00) they also benefited from God. (31:02) And then, (31:04) you wasted your life. (31:09) So, even the effusio of disrespecting the Prophet, (31:13) and it's your word against the word, (31:15) you disrespect the Prophet, (31:17) no, I respect the Prophet, (31:18) like Ahmed said, (31:20) instinctively. (31:21) We don't disrespect the Prophet. (31:23) Today, it says, (31:23) it doesn't matter, (31:24) it's better than idol worship, (31:25) that's forgivable. (31:31) We must never let Satan sneak any kind of idol worship (31:34) into our hearts, our minds. (31:38) We must always be aware of the greatness of God, (31:41) that He is the doer of everything. (31:47) And when we bow in our prayer, (31:49) we do a deliberate act of humbling ourselves (31:53) before our Creator. (32:09) How can this go wrong? (32:33) It's not Gabriel, (32:35) it's the spirit of Gabriel. (32:36) It's something different. (32:38) How about the Holy Spirit? (32:39) The Holy Spirit is Gabriel, (32:41) in the Quran. (32:43) Gabriel is called the Holy Spirit. (32:45) Because it says in the Quran (32:46) that it gave Jesus the Holy Spirit. (32:49) Right. (32:50) It doesn't say Gabriel, (32:52) does it? (32:54) Well, I don't know how I got the impression (32:56) that the Holy Spirit is Gabriel, (32:58) but it's repeated in, (33:01) it's actually repeated in relation to the Quran, (33:03) bringing the Quran to Muhammad's heart. (33:05) Yeah. (33:06) The Holy Spirit. (33:07) Oh, the Holy Spirit, (33:09) it doesn't say Gabriel. (33:10) Now I remember, (33:10) it says, (33:12) the Holy Spirit brought it into your heart. (33:16) But it was revealed with Gabriel's image. (33:20) Yes. (33:21) So it could actually be two different things. (33:24) In other words, (33:25) Gabriel bringing the Holy Spirit. (33:26) No, I mean the Holy Spirit putting it there, (33:29) but Gabriel is supposed to cause it to be released. (33:32) Yeah, of course. (33:33) But Gabriel is, (33:35) of course, Gabriel's function is (33:37) carrying messages from God to the earth. (33:40) That's his function. (33:42) He went to Mary to tell her about Jesus. (33:44) He went to Muhammad and gave him (33:46) the Quran and the book of... (33:49) Yeah, I was just wondering (33:50) if there was clear evidence (33:51) that they were synonymous. (33:54) If they meant the same thing, (33:56) the Holy Spirit and Gabriel (33:57) was clearly the same thing. (33:58) Yeah, I think so. (34:01) And also, (34:02) the life and power between the angels and the Spirit. (34:06) Yeah, but it doesn't say in Gabriel. (34:08) Because, no, (34:08) they also say, (34:10) oh, it's where the angels, (34:11) and then they say, (34:12) well, the one we were looking at this morning, (34:14) and Gabriel and Michael, (34:16) and that they're somehow different, too, (34:17) from angel temples. (34:19) Or the archangels. (34:21) Just to mention specific names, (34:23) this kind of redundancy is (34:25) in some places, you know. (34:29) Just to mention some specific names. (34:36) If you break down the name Gabriel, (34:39) it's like, (34:40) if you take the L in Hebrew for God, (34:43) it means, like, power of God. (34:51) Huh? (34:51) It's in many things in Scripture (34:53) it's quite common in the Bible. (34:56) What? (34:58) Is that the Holy Spirit? (35:04) I think that the Holy Spirit and Gabriel (35:06) are one and the same thing. (35:08) One and the same thing? (35:09) Same, yeah. (35:10) Are they the same thing? (35:12) Yeah. (35:13) Is that the same one that comes over us (35:14) when we sit down or whatever? (35:16) The moon? (35:21) It's possible. (35:24) There are many other angels (35:26) that we do in Hebrew. (35:29) But Gabriel carried the inspiration, (35:31) and if you divide the inspiration, (35:33) he'll bring it to you. (35:36) And he'll put it on your mind. (35:38) The English go more involved in that. (35:40) There are many other angels who do that. (35:51) I want to take you back to 136. (35:54) Thank you, brother. (35:57) 136, if you don't believe in God, (36:00) do you believe in God, (36:02) and what was revealed to us? (36:06) And then what was revealed to Abraham? (36:10) Which is good. (36:10) The religious practices. (36:12) Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob. (36:16) The religious practices. (36:20) I'm sorry, I can't hear. (36:22) There's a lot of noise. (36:23) Yeah, there's too many silence there. (36:24) I'm sorry. (36:27) That's okay. (36:28) Now, 136 says that (36:31) God is telling us what to say. (36:34) It's what we say. (36:36) Say we believe in God, (36:38) and what was revealed to us, (36:40) the Quran, (36:41) and what was revealed to Abraham, (36:42) Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, (36:43) and what was given to Moses and Jesus, (36:47) and what was given to all the prophets, (36:49) from the Lord, (36:50) which is what? (36:51) La ilaha illallah. (36:54) And it's important, (36:55) God is telling us to say (36:56) we make no distinction (36:58) among any of them. (37:01) So when you say (37:02) ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah (37:04) wa ash-hadu anna muhammadan rajool Allah, (37:06) you're making a distinction. (37:10) Some people become quite upset (37:11) when you make the aramia in this mosque, (37:13) and you don't say (37:14) ash-hadu anna muhammadan rajool Allah. (37:19) Because when you say (37:20) wa ash-hadu anna nawah rasool Allah, (37:23) why Muhammad? (37:26) When you say (37:26) ash-hadu anna muhammadan rasool Allah. (37:30) So we are not to make any distinction. (37:32) You are breaking the covenant (37:33) when you do that. (37:35) At the end it says (37:36) we submit to that. (37:39) La ilaha illallah. (37:40) That's what we say. (37:42) It doesn't say (37:43) la ilaha illallah muhammadan rasool Allah. (37:45) It simply means (37:45) you believe the Qur'an (37:46) was revealed by (37:47) Prophet Muhammad. (37:48) It doesn't say (37:49) I bear witness that Muhammad (37:50) is the messenger of God. (37:53) I don't know it. (37:54) If by saying that (37:56) about Muhammad, (37:57) then you accept the Qur'an (37:58) by saying that about Muhammad (37:59) then you believe (38:00) that Muhammad is the messenger of God. (38:00) I don't know that. (38:02) That's like (38:03) first the word was God (38:08) and the word was God. (38:09) That's the way it is. (38:10) You're coming to Salah (38:11) which is a practice (38:12) taught by Abraham. (38:13) I'm not talking about (38:14) doing salat. (38:15) I'm just talking about (38:15) At any time you say (38:17) I bear witness that Muhammad (38:18) is the messenger of God (38:18) you're making a distinction. (38:22) And this commandment (38:24) is repeated in the Qur'an (38:25) saying do not make (38:26) a distinction. (38:29) So what we do is (38:30) you say la ilaha illallah (38:32) say la ilaha illallah (38:33) You want to name (38:33) any prophet (38:34) then you have to name them all. (38:37) You're opening a big (38:40) question. (38:41) You have to know them. (38:45) That's right. (38:49) Yes. (38:50) You have to say la ilaha illallah (38:51) say any of the names. (38:53) You have to make (38:53) a distinction. (38:55) This is very interesting (38:56) when I formally (38:57) converted to Islam. (39:01) I said it in Kuwait (39:03) that there were three Muslims (39:04) with people of the (39:06) Muslim community (39:06) who were present (39:07) in front of the Kaaba (39:08) and he made a paper (39:09) bearing witness (39:10) to the fact that (39:11) I said that. (39:11) And I received this paper (39:12) several weeks later (39:14) and with my photograph (39:14) on it. (39:15) That's when you (39:16) accepted various vows. (39:20) That was like a (39:21) legal document. (39:22) Like my old document. (39:23) That was like a legal document. (39:25) You know, (39:25) in the sense of (39:26) giving me life (39:27) when in the mosque (39:28) and so forth. (39:29) You can't get it (39:31) unless you say that. (39:33) But it's a rock. (39:34) Life is a rock. (39:38) But then he (39:39) apologized. (39:40) There's no history (39:40) of self-sacrifice (39:41) except for the (39:42) name of Allah. (39:43) It's their God. (39:48) You're eliminating (39:49) their God. (39:51) Then he apologized. (39:55) Actually, (39:55) the Muslim tribe (39:57) in some (39:58) Arab countries (39:59) was given out (40:00) to white looking (40:01) people and European (40:02) looking people. (40:04) So not just (40:04) everybody (40:04) would walk into the mosque. (40:06) Like the tourists (40:07) would be wandering around (40:08) and they would just (40:09) say, (40:09) can we just walk (40:10) in this mosque (40:11) and look around? (40:12) Like it was just (40:12) some curiosity. (40:14) I mean, (40:15) in certain areas (40:16) and you know, (40:17) like the movie (40:18) Innocent Child (40:19) and so forth (40:20) and so on and so on (40:21) and so forth. (40:21) They didn't want (40:22) anybody to go in there. (40:25) this is understanding (40:26) the history of the (40:28) Muslim tribe. (41:08) It's not required. (41:10) It's not required? (41:11) No. (41:12) You don't have to (41:12) accept Muhammad (41:13) as a prophet (41:13) or anybody as a prophet. (41:15) All that is required (41:16) is to accept God (41:17) as their one (41:17) and only God. (41:22) Well, (41:22) if that's the (41:23) point to put out there, (41:24) that wouldn't have (41:25) been the problem (41:25) that she had. (41:26) The problem (41:26) that she had (41:27) was that they (41:28) would accept him (41:29) there as their (41:29) wife. (41:31) I do not know (41:32) whether or not (41:33) she accepted (41:35) Muhammad as her (41:37) prophet.