Satan's Tiny Dominion vs God's Kingdom, 40 Years To Decide, Abraham & His Son

(0:00) Alhamdulillah wa ash'hadu an la ilaha illallah wa ahdahu la sharika lah. (0:05) We praise God and we bear witness that there is only one God, Allah. (0:15) I want to talk today about the whole idea behind our existence here. (0:20) It is very important to define our goals. (0:24) The distinction between God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom is the whole idea in this world. (0:56) We read in the prayer that God is Maliki yawm al-deen, God is the master of the day of judgment, (1:06) the eternal day of judgment. (1:10) And it is because God has given permission to Satan to set up a kingdom in this tiny, tiny speck (1:20) in God's dominion, the planet earth, to show him that he is not competent to be a god besides God. (1:32) Which is the thought that crossed his mind. (1:36) So the whole idea is that this is a test for Satan to show that in God's kingdom there is perfect happiness. (2:01) And I mean by perfect happiness, perfect health, perfect wealth, perfect joy. (2:11) Satan's kingdom is plagued with problems. (2:26) So this is what I want you to remember, always, that the distinction, the whole idea is a distinction (2:35) between God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom. (2:39) God's kingdom has no problems once you pass all the required tests. (2:46) And once you come to the point, this point of perfection, when you are in God's kingdom. (2:53) And that Satan's kingdom is plagued with problems. (2:58) Our soul grows and develops, and this constitutes the secret of perfect happiness in this world. (3:07) As you see on the wall there, that is the theme of the new translation, the secret of (3:12) happiness in this world is a fed, nourished soul. (3:18) You ate breakfast today, or lunch, or snack, or something. (3:21) You ate something today, you gave your body something today. (3:26) And the people who did not feed their soul, they have a starving soul, without feeling the pain. (3:35) The pain will show up all at once, when the separation happens between the body and the soul. (3:42) Right now the soul is obscured by the body, and the pangs of starvation and pain and hunger (3:48) are not felt. (3:52) It is felt later on, when it is too late, and when it is eternal, and when it is called hell. (4:01) So the whole idea is setting up a distinction between God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom. (4:10) How do we join God's kingdom? (4:13) We have to do things that are ordered by God. (4:17) We have to follow the commandments and abstain from the prohibitions. (4:20) It is very simple. (4:22) It is listed in the old testament, the new testament, and the final testament, the Quran. (4:31) You remember the famous statement in the new testament, somebody went to Jesus and said (4:35) how do I attain salvation? (4:39) And Jesus said follow the commandments. (4:41) A very simple instruction. (4:44) And now the commandments are listed in detail, with a built-in proof telling you this is (4:49) from God, this is what you should do for your own good, and this is what you should not (4:54) do for your own good. (4:58) This is why we join God's kingdom. (5:01) If you don't, you will have a starving soul, a shrunk, weak, unnourished soul that cannot (5:08) be happy no matter how much the body achieves, of money or fame or whatever, success. (5:32) We can join God's kingdom any time we want to, it is wide open. (5:38) And you can join it right now, in order to guarantee this perfect happiness. (5:45) You guarantee success in this world, where there are no problems, no headaches, no diseases. (5:54) We can do this any time, anybody can do this any time. (6:00) And after you join, for a while, there is a period when you may step out of God's kingdom. (6:09) And then God pinches you, if He loves you, if He cares about you, and you come running (6:12) right back to God's kingdom. (6:15) But as long as you are inside God's kingdom, there is perfect happiness. (6:22) You will be in God's kingdom only if you know God, recognize God, believe in God as He is. (6:29) Mainly, the most important point, that He is doing everything. (6:34) That everything is done in accordance with His will. (6:38) That God is doing everything, it boils down to this statement. (6:41) It is much too complicated for most people to understand, but you must know that if you (6:46) know God, you will know that He is doing everything. (6:49) Then nobody will bother you, your supervisor at work will not bother you, because he is (6:54) not doing anything. (6:56) And you look at him, whether he is promoting you or reprimanding you, as God's work. (7:03) And if you are perfectly in God's kingdom, you know that whatever is happening is for (7:06) your own good. (7:07) You will understand it, and you will be perfectly happy. (7:12) So we can join God's kingdom right now through something that is called repentance. (7:18) You can make a pledge right now that you will join God's kingdom, you will be firmly in (7:22) God's kingdom, that you will follow His commandments, not because you are doing Him a favor. (7:29) Because you are doing You a favor. (7:33) You can pledge to join God's kingdom right now by doing the five prayers, because you (7:38) need it, because you need to feed your soul. (7:42) The Quran makes a very important point on showing off. (7:48) Some people may pray because they are showing off, or some people may not pray because of (7:56) peer pressure, they are embarrassed to pray in front of their friends. (8:02) So what this person is doing is he is cheating himself. (8:05) It is exactly like eating continuously no calorie food for the body. (8:11) If you eat no calorie food exclusively, you cannot live, your body will die. (8:16) And the same with the soul. (8:19) We cannot cheat ourselves by showing off, or by not praying because of peer pressure, (8:27) or because we are embarrassed from our friends. (8:30) You will never be too embarrassed to eat lunch, or dinner, or breakfast. (8:37) So your body is getting its rights fully, but not the soul, if you are affected by peer (8:45) pressure or showing off. (8:49) So when I say repent now, I want collectively, all of us, to join God's kingdom. (8:55) That we are going to pledge to be in God's kingdom for our own good, that we are going (9:02) to pledge that you will never tell a lie, you will never sin, and you mean it, as of (9:08) now, that you will be in God's kingdom. (9:11) You will carry out the five nourishing meals for your soul, that you will follow the commandments (9:18) in the Quran, you are going to fast the month of Ramadan, which comes April 17th by the (9:23) way, you must be ready as of now. (9:27) That you will not backbite anybody, you will not hurt anyone, unless they are fighting (9:34) you in the cause of God, which does not happen here, this is a free land. (9:41) That you will simply follow the commandments, and you make this solemn pledge now. (9:46) God says there is a commandment in the Quran that says, (9:49) O you who believe, this is directed to those who believe, (9:54) toobu ilallah, repent to God, meaning enter into a covenant with God. (10:02) tawbat al nasuh means irrevocable repentance, irrevocable, irrevocable, so you mean it, (10:09) as you repent now and as you pledge now to enter God's kingdom and attain perfect happiness. (10:15) And God will believe you, will take your word for it, will you make a covenant? (10:19) He will accept the covenant. (10:22) And God says in the Quran, (10:25) awfu bi'ahdi wufi bi'ahdikum, you carry out your part of the covenant, I will carry out (10:30) my part of the covenant, which is this, the perfect happiness. (10:34) So we are going now collectively to make a covenant, enter into a covenant with God that (10:38) we will repent, that as of now there will be no sin, that you are going to be a perfect (10:43) human being, and then you are going to keep your part of the covenant, toobu ilallah. (11:11) Alhamdulillah, wa ash'hadu wa la ilaha illallah, wahdahu wa la sharika illa, we praise God (11:16) and we bear witness that there is no other God besides Him. (11:20) Congratulations to qabli shukr, the galaxy, just this group of us, pledging entering into (11:28) a covenant with God, and God accepts you with open arms. (11:37) As we recite al-fatiha in the prayers, we say bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim, ar-rahman (11:44) ar-rahim, the most gracious, most merciful. (11:47) And God's mercy is beyond our imagination, God is merciful beyond our imagination. (11:55) And I feel this a lot with discovering the Quran. (12:02) For example, you tell the human beings, when we learn that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives (12:08) the human being 40 years to make up his or her mind, 40 years of research, looking around, (12:16) studying, and then deciding, people say no, what do you mean 40 years, that is too long. (12:22) Because people are mean, they are not as merciful as God. (12:28) Many people, I tell them, a person who dies at the age of 35, and he didn't pray, he didn't (12:35) fast, he didn't do anything, he is going to heaven, they say no, send him to hell. (12:42) Why does he go to heaven? (12:45) God is merciful beyond our wildest imagination. (12:49) And God decided that he wants to give us 40 years, to look around, and study, and thank (12:56) God, thinking of myself, and many other of my friends who barely made it before the 40 (13:04) years were up. (13:06) God is merciful, because we would be in deep trouble if it was shorter than 40 years. (13:12) There is a law in the Quran that says equivalence, the law of dusas, equivalence, is detailed (13:18) in the Quran, it goes beyond what was dictated in the Torah. (13:23) And it says the male for the male, the female for the female, the slave for the slave, the (13:27) free for the free. (13:29) And this restricts capital punishment, and this is followed by a recommendation to substitute (13:37) compensation for capital punishment. (13:41) But when I ask the people, even the gentlest and kindest of friends, and you tell them (13:47) a male killed a female, what is the punishment? (13:52) They say kill him. (13:54) Why? (13:54) God says the male for the male, the female for the female, so he has given us, where (13:58) do you get the male for the female? (14:01) I say a female killed a male, what is the punishment for this murder? (14:06) They say kill him, kill him. (14:09) Why? (14:09) I mean if you look at the law, when I discuss it with them, and they look at the Quran, (14:14) they see that God's mercy is there. (14:18) And we cannot violate these laws, we are mean. (14:22) God's mercy is beyond our wildest imagination. (14:27) This verse, the male for the male, the female for the female, and so on, is followed at (14:33) the end of the verse. (14:37) anyone who transgresses this law, after this, which indicates this is a new law, (14:43) ba'da dhalika, after this, will suffer a painful retribution. (14:51) So it is very clear in the verse, and everyone that has discussed this matter will agree (14:56) finally with the Quran, they could see God's mercy there. (15:00) That the verse leans favorably towards compensation, rather than capital punishment. (15:06) So God's mercy is beyond our imagination, and we must... (15:15) I am going to go into another subject now, and this is, how do you act on behalf of your (15:22) friends? (15:23) You have a very dear friend, and somebody says something unkind about your friend, what (15:28) do you do? (15:30) You just sit and take it, and you and your friend, or do you defend your friend? (15:35) If you know that your friend is not a cheater, for example, and somebody tells you that this (15:41) friend of yours is a cheater, you will become upset on behalf of your friend, and you will (15:47) defend your friend, you say no he is not a cheater. (15:53) So I come from a background with a lot of garbage that I must get rid of. (15:59) We all do, and God teaches us through examples. (16:08) When brother Dr Mansour mentioned in one khutba that the thing that we all came from, we all (16:14) believed this at one time, that God ordered Abraham to kill his son, his only son. (16:21) We learned from our research and looking at the Quran in detail, that the Quran never (16:27) says that God ordered Abraham to kill his son. (16:30) There is a law in the Quran that God does not command vice, this is a rule. (16:39) And God's mercy will... (16:43) Now with this about God's mercy, do you think he will tell somebody go kill your son, your (16:47) only son? (16:52) You know I expected many of us to go to Dr Mansour for example and say, we studied, we (16:59) did research, we looked in the Quran, and we discovered that God never told Abraham (17:05) to kill his son. (17:06) You must stand up for your friend, God wants solid friends who will not take any statement (17:13) that contradicts God's qualities. (17:19) If somebody accuses you of being a cheat, and you are in a position of power, you are (17:25) forming a cabinet for example, a government, and you are president of some company, chairman (17:29) of the board or something, and you know that this person, even though he or she loves you, (17:35) thinks wrongly that you are a cheat, how will you act towards this person? (17:42) If you think of God that he commanded somebody to kill his son, an act of vicious, merciless (17:52) command, how will he feel about you on the day of judgment if you feel that way? (17:58) I discussed the matter with Dr Mansour, and we looked in the Quran, and he said, that's (18:01) right, he read the verses, and it said, (18:04) I see in a dream that I am slaughtering you. (18:09) I said that's right, God didn't order Abraham to kill his son. (18:13) It doesn't say that in the Quran anyway. (18:16) Ya Ibrahim al-Qadis al-Dakht al-Ru'i, you believed your dream, if you look at it. (18:22) But you see what they put in our heads as we were growing up, all of us, and it comes (18:27) from some distortions in the Bible, that God ordered Ibrahim to take your son and kill him. (18:33) And it affected all of us. (18:34) But we have to look in the Quran, and derive our information from the Quran. (18:40) And had God ordered Ibrahim to kill his son, he will tell us, but he wouldn't, because (18:46) God put the rule, he said he does not command fahshad, vice, gross matters. (18:55) God will not be afraid to tell us if he did do that. (18:59) I will accept it if he did do that. (19:01) But he didn't, God's mercy is beyond our wildest dreams. (19:06) Ibrahim thought that he received a command from God in that dream. (19:11) But you see the crime is magnified, because they tell us that the dream of the prophet (19:16) is truth, which makes them not humans. (19:19) I mean, it turns into idolization of the prophets. (19:24) So it is a gross crime from many many angles. (19:34) There are a few other things that I need to say about this, let me see if I remember. (20:01) I know there is something that I am forgetting to say, so maybe I will remember it in the prayer. (20:12) It has to do with Ibrahim thinking that he was killing his son, so he went ahead. (20:22) God intervened, it is exactly the other way around, I mean it is contrary to what most (20:28) people believe. (20:30) God only intervened to save Ishmael, Ibrahim's son. (20:37) So not only he did not order Ibrahim to kill his son, he intervened to save the son. (20:43) Because Ibrahim was a sincere believer, he was in God's kingdom. (20:47) And God will not let him. (20:49) God will not allow you to fall in sin. (20:53) God will not allow you to do something wrong when you are in his kingdom. (20:56) He will not allow you, he will not let you do it. (21:00) And you made the pledge, you are in God's kingdom.