Banishment From God's Kingdom, We Won A Huge Lottery, Only God Can Guide

(0:00) Alhamdulillah, we praise God, (0:04) wa ash'hadu alla ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah, and we bear witness that there is no god except the one God, (0:12) the creator of the heavens and the earth. (0:16) As you know by now, from surah 38, verse 69, a few billion years ago, we committed a horrendous crime (0:27) by not upholding God's absolute authority, and the creatures who, without hesitation, (0:40) upheld God's absolute authority, the angels, they became angels, suggested that all those (0:49) creatures who do not uphold God's absolute authority should go to hell. (0:56) But God, ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, the most merciful, told them, I know what you don't know. (1:05) God decided to give us another chance, he could have very easily put us in hell, that's the only (1:15) it's the only just thing to do actually, but not as far as God was concerned. (1:23) The idea was that there was God and his kingdom, and God simply said, those among you who do (1:30) not uphold my absolute authority, go find yourself some other kingdom. (1:35) And we did not uphold God's absolute authority when Satan started that idea. (1:45) However, this Quranic information tells us, or explains to us, why people are so bad. (1:56) In surah 12, verse 103, God says, most people, no matter what you do, will not believe. (2:05) So now we know why, because basically, we are the bad creatures who did not uphold God's (2:10) absolute authority. (2:12) And then two verses later, in 106, God says that of those who believe, which is the minority (2:21) now, the majority will idolize something besides God. (2:30) So therefore, a precious minority of a minority will be redeemed, and this is why this whole (2:37) universe, a billion, trillion stars, and all these designs, the butterflies, and the cattle, (2:45) and the dogs, and the horses, and the computers, and the cars, and the jobs, all these things (2:52) were made just for these precious few to be redeemed. (3:02) People are bad. (3:05) Repeatedly throughout the Quran, God says only a few of the human beings are appreciative. (3:13) You go and you tell them worship God alone, God alone, la ilaha illallah, and they are (3:18) so averse, there is so much resistance to it. (3:24) They are so bad, they are holding God is giving them a chance to redeem themselves, and they (3:32) refuse it. (3:38) So we decided here to worship God alone, and we decided to denounce our crime, and not (3:46) to set up anything besides God. (3:48) No prophets, no imams, no saints, just God alone. (3:53) This is how we get redeemed, and we are convinced, we know that God alone possesses all power. (4:00) We know that God alone can help us, or wills that we get into adversity. (4:10) God alone. (4:12) We know that the prophets, the messengers, the imams, the saints are all dead, and even (4:16) if they were alive they are powerless, they can do nothing. (4:19) We know that, we are convinced. (4:21) We denounced our crime, and we are very few in the world. (4:30) So why are we so fortunate? (4:35) I mean, fortunate does not describe God's blessings on us. (4:43) This is like winning a lottery, where we had a fellow here, one of the brothers who had (4:53) a lottery, he didn't know that lottery was haram. (4:56) And he was showing me how four of the six winning numbers were matching. (5:02) And you can imagine when the numbers were coming out on the TV, and he is holding this (5:06) lottery ticket in his hand, and the first number matches, good sign, then the second (5:11) number matches, alright, then the third number matches, and he gets excited, and the fourth (5:18) number matches, I am going to be a millionaire. (5:20) I mean, this is four out of six matching numbers, he is getting excited. (5:26) Now when you decide, when you denounce our ancient crime, and decide to worship God (5:33) alone, you have won a lottery with a million numbers. (5:38) It is exactly like that, even more than a million. (5:42) But let's take a million numbers, and you are sitting, imagine sitting watching the (5:46) TV, and you are holding a lottery ticket with a million numbers, and the first number (5:53) matches, these are random numbers, the first number is 17, the next one is 732, the third (5:58) number is 816, the third number is 1009, and the next one is 6, and so on, and the first (6:06) number matches, the second number matches, the third number matches, and you have one (6:10) million matching numbers. (6:12) So this will give you an idea, since the word fortunate will not describe how fortunate (6:18) we are. (6:23) What I am trying to share with you in this khutba now is why are we so fortunate, there (6:32) is a reason, and hopefully as we share this together you will understand why you were (6:41) born at this time, in that house, at that place, and what brought you here, what are (6:47) the seemingly weird circumstances that put you in this place, why are you here? (6:53) You are going to understand all this. (6:58) In surah 21, verse 51, well let me go back, let me back up to that incident, that feud. (7:10) When we fell into that crime and we decided not to uphold God's absolute authority, did (7:17) God, this is a rhetorical question, did God know which ones are really bad and deserve (7:24) to go to hell, and which ones are really swept in the crowd and they deserve to go to the (7:32) high heaven, and which ones are so-so and they deserve to go to the lower heaven, did (7:39) God know that? (7:41) Of course he knew that. (7:43) So, and then the test came, after all the agreements and all the things that most of (7:48) you know, babies are being born in this world and being assigned persons from that pool (7:55) of creatures assigned to the babies, as they are assigned God knows if this person is going (8:03) to the high heaven, or the lower heaven, or hell. (8:07) So in essence you can imagine an invisible stamp on each one of us that says high heaven, (8:15) low heaven, or hell, already stamped. (8:19) And here is the proof, in surah 21, verse 51, God says, we granted Abraham his intelligence (8:29) or his guidance, for we were aware of him. (8:33) Okay, in Arabic maybe you can grasp a few words, (8:36) wa laqad atayna Ibrahima, we have given Ibrahim, rushdahu, his guidance, (8:42) min qablu, before that, wa kunna bihi aalimeen, and because we knew, we knew what? (8:51) We knew that he is one of the people who deserve the high heaven. (8:55) And this is why God gave him the understanding, the intelligence, the guidance. (9:00) So Abraham looked at the star, and the moon, and the sun, and decided to worship God alone. (9:05) But it is already, he did not do anything on his own. (9:10) It is kind of difficult to explain. (9:13) God gave him the guidance, because God knew that he deserved that. (9:21) So we are not here because we are intelligent, or because we are smarter than anyone out (9:26) there in the street. (9:28) We are here because we are really fortunate, because obviously we were swept in the crowd (9:34) when those billions of creatures deviated, and God knows that. (9:40) And this is why you were born at this time, in that house, in that place, and this is (9:46) why all those weird circumstances that led you here, and made you sitting here in this (9:51) mosque now. (9:53) Because God wanted to give you your intelligence and your guidance. (10:02) In surah 12, you know this verse very well, Joseph, God says, I am quoting the Quran, (10:12) he almost fell for her, and she almost fell for him, if it were not that he saw his signs, (10:20) his gods, his lord's proof or sign. (10:25) Burhanu rabbi, he saw something from God that made him stop. (10:30) So was it Joseph that was so good that he resisted the seduction, the temptation of (10:36) the governor's wife? (10:38) Or is it, in fact the next verse says, we thus diverted from him sin, we protected him. (10:48) So does Joseph get the credit for not falling for the governor's wife? (10:52) For abstaining from sin? (10:54) Obviously not, God is telling us, I diverted him from sin. (11:01) Why? (11:02) Because Joseph had a stamp there saying, I have it. (11:06) Because God knows that he deserves, that he was one of the fortunate ones. (11:14) More profound is surah 28, verses 68 and 69. (11:21) I am going to read this in Arabic and translate it, it says, (11:24) wa rabbuka, your lord, yakhluqu, creates, maya shaa, whatever he wills, wa yakhtaa, and he chooses. (11:35) Nobody has a choice in this respect. (11:44) We make the decision, this is very difficult to explain, I don't know how to explain it (11:50) to you, except just read it, God creates and he chooses. (11:53) With this introduction that I presented to you, you understand now that God knows already (11:59) who are the people coming into this world who deserve to go to the high heaven, (12:03) who deserve to be given the guidance and given the understanding. (12:09) It says nobody does the choosing, God is the one who does the choosing. (12:14) This is why you read in the Quran, you cannot guide the ones you love. (12:18) The stamp is already there, what can you do? It doesn't matter, this is why God says (12:23) if you cause this Quran to move Mount Lemmon from the east to the west, (12:28) they will still not believe. You know, you go like this, you know, look at the Quran, (12:33) I am going to move Mount Lemmon for you folks, and you move Mount Lemmon like that to the (12:37) other side of the city, they will say magic. (12:42) We say you go join Copperfield's union. (12:47) They will not believe, it doesn't matter what you do, they already stamp. (12:55) The next verse that after God says, God creates whatever He wills, this means that He assigns (13:03) whatever babies in whatever places. (13:08) You know, Catherine's grandson, Michael, little Michael, cute, quiet, real Muslim, insha'Allah. (13:18) He was assigned to that body in that place at that time, and his grandmother undoubtedly (13:24) will sneak in a few pieces of information, because God knows that He deserves to receive (13:32) some understanding and certain guidance. God knows exactly who is to be assigned where. (13:41) This is what this verse means, 28-68, you can look at it later. (13:47) And in 69 it clarifies the whole thing, it says, and your Lord knows what their hearts (13:54) hide and what they declare. (13:59) And on that basis, God grants the guidance and the understanding. (14:09) So hopefully with this half of the khutba, I hope you understand, if you just quickly (14:15) go through your life and see why you are here, you will understand why these strange things (14:21) happened and brought you here. (14:24) So let's turn to God and not only repent, but also thank Him for giving us this chance. (14:30) Tubu ila Allah, repent, alhamdulillah. (14:48) Alhamdulillah, praise God, we bear witness that there is no god except the one God. (14:59) Only a few years ago, of course all our life is just a few years anyway, but a few years (15:04) ago we were praying wrong, we were doing everything wrong. (15:11) We were continuing to commit the same crime, putting names next to God, in opposition (15:19) to this book where every page tells you God alone, God alone, God alone, when you pray (15:24) the name of God alone, the mosque belongs to God, worship God alone, keep saying this. (15:31) But we were doing everything wrong, and God granted us the understanding and the guidance (15:40) as He did with Abraham. (15:44) We read throughout the Quran, people, you know all those Muslims who are not really Muslims, (15:51) and all those Christians who are not really Christians, and all those people who say (15:56) they believe in God, they are described in the Quran, you ask them who created the heavens (16:03) and the earth, they say God. (16:05) They really believe in God, but they don't know God. (16:10) And the Quran continues saying they are going to Hell. (16:13) And you are going to read in my translation, even the old one, that the majority of believers (16:18) in God are going to Hell. (16:21) This is what the Quran says in several places. (16:25) You told them who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and the Lord of the great authority, (16:32) the great dominion, they say God, but they are going to Hell. (16:35) It is because they don't know God, and they don't understand this granting of the guidance. (16:41) And they don't understand that God is doing everything. (16:49) That an important part of this universe is exposing Satan as an incompetent God with (16:57) a small g, an incompetent temporary God. (17:02) So these constituents of Satan had to be there in order to prove his incompetence. (17:12) So you present all this evidence to a lot of people that God is doing everything, God (17:16) is in full control, and the person in front of you is not a believer, he is standing here (17:21) saying Hell on them, and you are presenting all this evidence, and what would they say? (17:30) You show them verse 17 of surah 8, it says God is doing everything. (17:35) You know what they say? (17:37) The Quran got their number. (17:39) They blame God for their idolatry, and for prohibiting things. (17:44) Twice in the Quran, God says that idol worshippers will say, if God wills then we will not be (17:51) idol worshippers, and we will not prohibit things that he did not prohibit. (17:57) And by the way this shows you how important it is not to prohibit things that God prohibited. (18:01) He prohibited the meat on the market, he prohibited hush puppies, and hairbrushes that are made (18:08) of pig hair. (18:11) I recommend that they don't eat the brush, you know, I am just saying that. (18:16) Even then God prohibited only the meat. (18:19) But twice in the Quran God says that idol worshippers say, if God wills we will not do this, so (18:25) they blame it on God. (18:27) I didn't get up for the morning prayer, because if God wanted me to get up I would have gotten (18:32) up, God is doing everything. (18:34) So it is a cop out, and God got their number. (18:50) I pray to God that he gives us the understanding and the guidance and continues to lead us (18:55) out of darkness into the light, all the way to the high heaven.