Essentials of Islam Session 2 Shiekh Almasmari

Ask Allah subhana tala to bless this gathering to shower upon us with his mercy toward you all for joining and participating downstairs and normally the brother is on my right side. So always ask the brothers how they're doing. So next time you know why ask them first right? So whoever is on the right. So sisters how you doing? How's everyone? Alhamdulillah. Brothers, how you doing? Who thought that was gender thing prior to this sisters? You did it right. knew some people assumed. That's why you just do the sunnah and don't look back. People are going to alhamdulillah. We always start even when we give salam to people, we start with our right side. It's it's sunnah. You go around unless unless you have elders on your left side. Say you're parent then you begin with with the left or you start with that individual then you finish the people off from the right side. Okay. Let's let's begin inshallah. So in the previous session we spoke about the importance of seeking this and how person when understanding the basics is promised ja. You cannot stand on shaky foundation. Our found foundation must be solid in order for us to maintain our structure to maintain our iman, to maintain our our beliefs. So these sessions bring about solid foundation. So we're trying to build something strong in order for us to preserve our imam. We are doing something that brings about closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And it is the knowledge that Allah subhana ta told us to learn know that there is no god except Allah. So before we move on to believing in the angels. So we're going to cover very briefly the pillars of faith and all of that is connected to the first pillar of Islam which isahillahillahillahill. So when we're talking about believing in Allah to know that Allah is the creator and the one that controls Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is the one that facilitates and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one to be worshiped. So you know that Allah is in control. You know that Allah subhana wa ta'ala is the creator and you know that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is deserving of your and it is also part of our theology of our that Allah subhana wa ta'ala does not have what what's Allah has what Allah subhana wa ta'ala has no likeness, no one like Allah. And whatever crosses your mind, whatever crosses your mind, Allah subhana wa ta'ala is something completely different. Allah is someone completely different and at times he may be the complete opposite. So you cannot package Allah subhana tala. Knowing Allah is beyond human comprehension and it is through divine design that you do not understand who Allah is but we see the effects of Allah and now you understand why Allah subhana wa ta'ala has asked you to look around to contemplate to think look around you see the power of Allah subhana wa ta'ala in you see the effects of Allah you know it's like your cell phone coverage and we don't see anything but we see the effects of it. So you are asked to discover Allah subhana wa ta'ala in yourself in the heavens on this earth and just to look around you and all of that leads to to Allah and then of course under this falls the names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and attributes. So to know that Allah is wise, to know that Allah is great, to know that Allah is capable, to know that Allah is all powerful, to know that Allah all the names and attributes of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. This is why also understanding the names and attributes of Allah is necessary for believer. So when person is struggling and somehow realizes all the doors are closed on their face, they say the opener. If you are seeking Allah subhana wa ta'ala to extend hand and to give you something that you are begging for then you say the one that extends and and then you if you if you are seeking the mercy of Allah if you are seeking the generosity of Allah you say so understanding the names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and attributes also my dear brothers and sisters when it comes to the again we're going through this with understanding the basics but moving forward because there are at times lot of details that may distract us from what we're trying to achieve and I'm trying my best to avoid that inshallah when it comes to the names of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and attributes you have two major groups you have two major groups that are within the boundary of Islam There are many other groups that have different theologies 100%. That claim they are Muslims. You know, for an example, if you're talking about group here in America, the Nation of Islam, of course, they say they're Muslims, but they're not. Their theology contradicts Islam. They believe that Allah subhana wa ta'ala came in the form of, right? And the messenger after the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam was Elaji Muhammad. All of that is disbelief and there's no way around it. There's no way around it. And subhan Allah, we we thought that recently they were going to do Toba and you find that Farrakhan until today insists upon that creed like this is their belief and you'll notice that he praises and he praises Elijah Muhammad excessively and it's also very similar to Christianity. So again, you will find groups throughout Islamic history that claimed to be Muslims but have left the fold of Islam. At times it may be theological and at times it may be their actions. Their actions that led to disbelief. So there are two different groups. So gave you one here that you know in America right we have the Nation of Islam but you also had the theites and these people believed that upon committing major sin you are considered to be disbeliever. Okay. So there's no room for repentance. Now you know why they fought immitted. They believe that Im Ali committed sin. They believe that Im Ali committed sin. And their response to such sin is that he has disbelieved in order. And in order for them to embrace his his leadership, he must he must express that where he went wrong and further explain it and then declare his shahada again. Of course said, will never say the shahada again because never left Islam. can say it in form of vikar. So you have people that have claimed to be Muslims but have caused so much harm. And then you have there are many groups throughout our Islamic history but you have two major groups that have led themselves to clear conclusions in terms of theology when it comes to the names of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and attributes. You have the literalist people that take things as is removing any type of interpretation. They just take it as is and they say we accept what was said by Allah as is with no comparison and no likeness and no interpretation. So when they believe when Allah subhana wa ta'ala says in the Quran that he has eyes like you are under my sight now our sight they say Allah subhana wa ta'ala has sight that befits him. Do we know how it looks like? Does he have two eyes? Does he have we have no idea but we accept what Allah has said about himself. So they do not further interpretate. They're not. And then you have people that do people that interpret based on grammar, based on history, based on poems. So they also have point and their theology is legitimate. It's out of sunnah. And these people are called people that interpret. So when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about him on his throne, they say it's not his physical being on throne, but it shows dominance because the Arabs when they would speak about throne, it would show dominance and power and Allah subhana wa ta'ala is all powerful. when they when we're talking about the sight they say the Arabs when they would because they would always go back to the classical Arabi they say when the Arabs would say our sight it was not their literal sight their physical like their eyes but it meant under our protection so if someone says you are in my eye like what does that mean you're in my eye like have to take you out no it means you're under my protection got you so Again, you will find different groups. Unfortunately, nowadays, you have people that condemn people that either believe this or that. And you can have, if just name the mass around us, would tell you this masid believes this, that mas believes this, that, which is completely normal. This has nothing to do with Islam and it does not take you to the fold of disbelief. It does not remove your Islam from your heart. You're still considered mment. But people have different understandings of these basic tenants. So we went over very basic okay believing in Allah subhana wa ta'ala and knowing that Allah is the only one that is worthy of your worship. And when it comes to the names of Allah we believe that there are two groups. You have one group that are the literalists and normally these are the people that follow the mad. So you'll find it in Sudia and few Gulf countries like they're very strict on this and then you have people that interpret and you'll find lot of our brothers and sisters from Pakistan from India the majority of the Muslim world even when you go to Morocco when you go all of those countries you find that the majority of the Muslim world does go by interpretation just to let you know but alhamdulillah both both are Both are right. And then the second part of the shahada before we move on is to believe that the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam is the messenger of Allah. And I've said this multiple times. many of our brothers and sisters that convert to Islam, we say they're reverts. That's very inaccurate. They're converts. They're converts to Islam. Like there's nothing wrong with the naming but we have to look at it from an Islamic perspective. Like if someone believes in Allah they are not considered Muslim. Islam has two conditions. You believe in Allah and you believe that Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam is messenger of Allah. Yes, people are born in the state of im. The hadith is authentic. When person comes to this world, they are born as Muslims. It's an authentic that you are born upon the natural state and it is your parents that have an effect on you where you either become Muslim, Christian or someone of different faith or no faith. So yes, person is born upon this natural state that leads to Allah, but person is not Muslim until and unless they believe that he sallallahu alaihi wasallam is messenger of Allah. And this is why we warned the people that somehow doubt the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam like this individual is leaving the fold of Islam upon saying that believe that whatever Allah has said accept and whatever has come to us through the prophet or through Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam I'll deny okay your Islam is incomplete because Quran does not go into much details. Quran doesn't have time to go into details. It's not historical book that breaks things and events and somehow you're able to draw maps. No, Quran gives you basic information and then the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam further elaborates on that information. So as Muslim that respond to Allah and to his messenger as they call you to that which brings you life. Obey Allah and obey the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam and those whom have authority over you. If you notice Allah did not say and obey those whom have authority over you. But he said obey Allah his messenger and obey his messenger and those whom have authority over you. So those individuals are not given the they are not given our obedience unless they fulfill the first two conditions. So we do not honor nor accept nor give our allegiance to someone that takes on this authority in the name of Islam if he or she do not align with Quran and Sunnah. You know I've seen massagid again I'm very strict about this stuff because it's the only way for us to preserve our our institutions. Like I've seen board members that denied like they were leading institutions leading literally leading institutions and they're calling people to Allah and they're calling people to lectures and and they have an issue with the sunnah. Okay, this person cannot Islamically that person cannot lead that institution. They cannot they can have role in it because anyone it's it's open for anyone to have role. But can someone take on this position where he or she are doubting the sunnah of the prophet? They can't. You just can't. You can't accept Allah and reject. And this is why when one of the Ansar somehow found it bit difficult to accept the ruling of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, Allah revealed an ayah that you like when Allah and his messenger come up with ruling you immediately submit. You immediately accept that in the name of your Lord, they are not true believers until they come to you addressing their affairs. We immediately open our affairs to the Quran and Sunnah. What does Allah say about this? What does the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam say about this? Okay. What's after that? And they do not find any sense of hesitation and somehow they incline towards rejection and they accept whatever Allah says and his messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So always be mindful that when we sayahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahillah we must complete it withham now we move on to our belief in the books person again when we're talking about the tenants of faith as we speak about the first pillar of Islam you and must believe in these points these are not optional If person struggles with these points and they need to speak to someone as soon as possible because they are on the verge of kufur of disbelief. It's very scary like these are the tenants of Islam. There's no way out. There's no way out. If someone begins to doubt this and they have to visit someone and somehow ask the questions that that need to be addressed. And of course we ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to make it easy for all of us. So to believe in the books as Muslims we do not only believe in the Quran we believe in the five scriptures that were revealed to the prophets unto the prophets. Do we believe that they were many add-ons? Do we believe as Muslims that some information was fabricated? Do we believe that in those traditions there was many or lot of bada innovations? Yes. But can person say only believe in the Quran and reject the Torah? We say listen this claim of yours leads to this belief and we have to address it. And if you insist after being informed that you have to believe in the Torah that it was revealed onto Mus Alatam then you are leaving the fold of Islam. So we believe in the holy scriptures. Again we also acknowledge that there were changes but that's why the Quran was revealed to further explain the changes and what happened. So you find in the Quran and in the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam of what needed to be addressed and where they went wrong because they also gave authority to their rabbis and priests. They gave them this somehow full authority full authority to dictate how they go about religion. You know Allah subhana wa tala revealed in that they have taken their rabbis and their priests as guides as as gods besides Allah subhana wa ta'ala. The Jews of Medina came to the prophet. They said we don't worship our rabbis. It's not true. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam then said, "Do they not make what'sal somehow they have that authority?" They said, "Yes, this is how you're worshiping them." So there were many changes, many changes. And and of course all of that was part of greater institution to somehow modernize their faith but it led to so much compromise. Now you know why we try to preserve our Islam with no compromise. Now you understand why Bakar that we're going to cover on Wednesday is so important. Like all the changes and compromises that were made by the rabbis and priests are mentioned in the Quran. And if we go along with these compromises without setting solid foundation, we will find ourselves in similar situation. Like what will be left from our tradition? What makes Islam unique is that the foundation is solid and we are not allowed to somehow come up with our own interpretations. There are clear guidelines of who is qualified to even have an opinion. It's not easy to be to have an opinion in Islam. You have to be like if tell you how qualified you need to be, it will take us the whole class. And here, if you're talking about us that are teaching around here, we're just conveying. We're not qualified to come up with our own interpretation whatsoever. But we're just conveyors. We're just sharing what what we know. So to believe in all the books and Allah subhana wa ta'ala as you find in the screen he says you who believe believe in Allah and the messengers and the book is it's identified so it's the book of Allah and then the book that was revealed onto to his prophet and the book that was revealed before the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. And then you see the consequences of such rejection. Something's misspelled here. Also Allah subhana wa ta'ala mentions in say that you believe in Allah and that which was revealed unto us. When you hear asbalt as who are the asbat the asbalt when you hear asbel on the Quran who are the asbaters fire worshippers who say fire worshippers give him you're wronged Alam. Yeah. Descendants of Alam. So Ysef his brothers are the 11 tribes. Okay. That is and also is so when you hear the children of of is the children of and of course those were the seven or the 11 11 tribes. So those are the asbat and then what was revealed onto MS and Isa and the prophets from their lord. So subhan Allah it shows you that Islam embraces all Islam did not come as religion that somehow at the moment of revelation it abregated all religions. Islam does not believe in such mindset that everyone is wrong and we're right. Islam was clear extension of all of these religions and it addressed their issues and problems and where they went wrong for hundreds and hundreds of years. But again, Islam was an extension of all of these faiths. This is why now we get to better understand why the did not immediately change like the Sahaba would always pray towards Maktus. May Allah free it from the Zionist but subhan Allah they prayed towards Mus until Medina. Why? Because Islam was not religion that immediately abrogates everything that came before it. Shows you the wisdom of Islam. But then as time went by and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was in Medina, he felt bad that he was not facing Mecca. So what he would do in Mecca is that you know how you have different directions in Mecca. You're still facing the Kaa. So he aligned with the direction that went to Mak. So he was comfortable. He's still facing the Kaa but praying towards Makus. In Medina it was the opposite way. So the prophet wasallam was bothered. But then Allah revealed unto the prophet sallallaihi wasallam and gave him clear instructions of the change of the but believing in the books is part of our iman. These are the five books that we must believe in. You have the Torah and the Torah was revealed unto whom? Alam you have the gospel revealed on who? Un onto whom the palms of that already make sense. So it's and then what was revealed onto Ibraim? What is it called in Arabic? Ibraim and of course the final one is is the Quran. when it comes to this to these five, subhan Allah, there was huge fitna that took place in history and this this fitna came out of nowhere. Like it it made no sense. And this is why always tell people be aware ofan can make something so small be so big that it can destroy even the whole so somehow you had group of people that came up with this idea that the Quran is the creation of Allah. But we believe that the Quran is the verbal speech of Allah. And now the Muslim world had to go through test. If you say that the Quran is the verbal speech of Allah which was the theology of the Sahabah then you will be imprisoned. You'll be imprisoned. It was very difficult time and many scholars were imprisoned and many scholars compromised because they were afraid. Okay. Like one of the evidences that they used is that they said Allah who is the Quran is the Quran thing like they were very philosophical is the Quran thing they said yes it is thing right you guys agree it's not it's not human being okay they say yeah they said okay Allah says Allah is the creator of everything respond to this and they wouldn't know how to respond. So it was huge fitna. One of the greatest that was able to respond is it wasn't their time and then their response of course imafi we're not saying this because we're shaf okay is the greatest one of the greatest scholars in Islamic history so let's put that aside so no nof are offended but they say He never stuttered once like he was person of knowledge. He was person of poetry. He was per he was very unique. so they came to and they're using these points. Allah is creator of everything. There there are few arguments. They're solid arguments by the way. But he would respond from the Quran. He said, "Okay, you're right." Then he says, "When Allah spoke about and the people that deserved his wrath, the two tribes, the tribe of Tamud and the tribe of Hud was sent to and was sent to Tamud." He said Allah said to them that it destroyed everything. So when they experienced the tornadoes and the extreme winds and that was their punishment, Allah says it destroyed everything. So then asks did it destroy the heavens and the earth like the whole earth? They said no. He said, "Okay, so when Allah says everything, it doesn't mean everything." You know, if that's the case, then how do you respond here? And subhan Allah, it's it's beautiful long debate, but by the end, the Khalifa was like, "Answer this guy." He would tell them, "Answer that. You guys can't even answer one guy. One guy destroyed you." And even after im destroyed them, it only got worse. They rebelled and they had strong ties in the government to the extent where himself got scared got scared in that famous known story. This is why I'm saying about the five they said to the Khalifa we need to ask Shafi now who cares about his debates and his knowledge we care less about it. We need to ask him does he believe that the Quran is the creation of Allah or not? That's it. And based on that there are consequences. So they send their officials, they send their soldiers and they come to imaf and they ask is the Quran created or not? then says he mentions the five and he points with his fingers like this. He says all of this is Allah's creation basically his hand and they set him free. Ahmed bham. So you could know like why people that follow the madhab. So of course he never believed the creation of he was pointing to his fingers only. But now you know why people that follow the madhab are very strict and they call him the im of right. It's not that he is the most learned im from the imams. It's because at that moment, Alm Ahmed was the only well-known Imam that stayed firm and just was unshakable. And they would whip at Imm Ahmed every single day. And he refused to compromise. He said, "Quran is the verbal speech of Allah." And subh they would lash him 1,000 times day. And he was the one that was able to preserve one person was able to preserve the ma and to preserve our theology. And subhan Allah you know immed there were few people that compromised due to fear. When Ahmed came out of prison, he refused to talk to few imams like was one of the classical scholars in hadith. He refused to even talk to him. He said, "How can someone that knows hadith of the prophet be the first in line to compromise? Never talk to me again." And he never spoke to him until he died for years and years. So it shows you what people did to preserve this deed. So again we must believe in the five books but we do believe also that there were many changes when dealing with these books. Okay. How does the Quran deal with previous scripture? Number one, what the Quran acknowledges, what the Quran refutes and rejects, and what the Quran was silent about. And all of this is in the hadith of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So you have things that the Quran acknowledges. So I've heard pastors, especially rabbis, speak about the story of Ysef. am telling you it's the exact same story we find in surah very similar very similar and they have similar lessons so the Quran acknowledges some the Quran rejects some of course and refutes it and denounces it and some of them the Quran was silent. Anything that the Quran was silent on, you do not accept nor reject. You just just go with the flow. You go with the flow. And in in in this is categorized as like things that were said by is sahabi. Abar is sahhabi. He is Jewish rabbi that became Muslim. But he mixed things up. He was unable to detach things and to disconnect things. So he would share certain things that some or some people the were affected by the and the later generations were affected by but not all of it was part of Islam and he would always try to find similarities but he caused lot of problems too. And this is why some people refute. So when you when you recite the Quran and you look into the meanings and you find or something that is called or falls under the category of it means that this was taken from the Jewish tradition based on the interpretation of and you find this lot in our books because his priority was to show similarities but that wasn't healthy too. It sounds good, but then you begin to compromise. It's impossible to make somehow Islam align with everything and everyone. Like want Islam. I'll give you an example. was in this interfaith event. Okay? And there was pastor and and the imam and rabbi. They were sitting. Alhamdulillah, wasn't part of that gathering. Like part of the three. I'm just sitting down watching. And then the pastor was like, "We all have the same faith." Sounds good, right? We all worship the same God and we're all one and we're all part of the Abrahamic religions like Allah. Subhan Allah, right? The Muslim im said the same thing. We're all one. We all worship God. We all have previous We all have holy scriptures. We have the same basic ethics and code of conduct and and can you believe the only person that rejected that was Jewish rabbi. He said, "Just to let you guys know, he said this this was an extreme Zionist, by the way. want to say from what temple." he said, "Listen, we align with Muslims in terms of God." He's like, "Sorry pastor, we don't worship the same God. Just to let you know, we have different gods because you believe in the Trinity and we don't. And you believe that all of them have similar powers. We don't. We believe in one God." So subhan Allah it shows you what the Muslim was trying to do was cute but it's not sustainable because now our children are raised upon believing that everyone worships the same God. We don't worship the same God. So had beautiful approach of showing similarities and this is why rejected the sayings of like you can open don't our books are filled with this by the way. It's very sad. This is why I'm not big fan of reading classical books when it comes to promise you you'll get confused. And subhan Allah, they go through this to further explain certain things and they use as reference. It gets very confusing. It's very difficult and it's filled in our books. Modern day books care less about they use him as reference for further clarification of clear Quranic principle. there's like nice detail. Let us it's called it's like extra reference so you can feel good. Nothing more than that but it's not considered foundational. And this is why new books you have one of our greatest he's an Egyptian scholar his book is is is amazing in if you're talking about again the 20th century one of the greatest imams he's his book all the modern day in the last 150 years amazing classical books that we need to somehow prioritize the other books there's lot of inside that may be confusing. So again how do we deal with it? We acknowledge some we refute some and and at times we don't fully approve nor deny if if the Quran itself was silent but you can listen to it like wow that's deep. You can say that but you can't fully accept it as principle only that which is in the Quran. Believing in the prophets of Allah we believe as Muslims that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has chosen seasons, angels, human beings. He has selected special people to carry on very special message and to take on unique responsibilities. Not all the messengers are the same. Not all the angels are the same. We believe them to be unique people as prophets and we believe that angels are unique and some are more unique than others like Allah that Allah chooses these people. So the prophets of Allah were chosen. We believe that how many prophets are mentioned in the Quran? Who said 25? sent you 25 in hadith. How many prophets were sent? More than more than one more than 124,000 prophets were sent to humanity. And what makes this unique is that he sallam was the final messenger and then we carried his message. So we are people of beautiful message carrying the message of Islam. We're not prophets but we're messengers. We're carrying clear message. We're not receiving revelation but we recite revelation. And this is something that Allah subhana wa ta has honored us with. Other nations would see the wrong and not reject it. Us as Muslims we enjoy in that which is good. We engage in it and we forbid that which is evil because it is our responsibility to preserve and to take on the message of the ambia. it's right here. don't know why asked you all. And subhan Allah, the messengers, there's no clear number, but some believe 313. Now, you know why 313 is unique, right? Detroit is some believe that there are only 313 messengers. And of course there are different interpretations of of the difference between messenger and prophet. prophet is prophet that comes to carry on previous messages and messenger is messenger that was given clear commands and scripture to order their people. So it's bigger responsibility. Being messenger is bigger than being prophet. Every messenger is prophet and not every prophet is messenger. Every messenger is prophet and not every prophet is messenger. You had some that were just there. There were reformers but they were carrying previous traditions. But you have about 300ul messengers that were sent by Allah to convey clear message and those were the people that were fought the most. The Amy did not have tough time. Yeah. They went through some difficulties but the messengers were bringing about change were calling people to Allah. So they had more difficult time. The goals of the messengers and my dear brothers and sisters as we mentioned earlier our responsibility is the responsibility of theul of the messengers. You should live by these points. This is what our community must be raised upon. This is their responsibility. This is why the brought about change and we're the closest to Allah subhana wa tala. We are not people that just stay back and watch the world as it changes and communities as they shift off. Our job is to follow the message of the messengers. So we are we areul we are sent out to people. Allah subhana wa ta says that you are the best of nations because you were sent out to people Islam is not contained and restricted to these four walls. How can others know about Islam? How can we promote Islam in beautiful manner that allows people to accept it to embrace it and to feel sense of honor upon embracing Islam. So all of this is our responsibility as Muslims. This is why when we walk outside, you're you're responsible. You know, when you're talking about Muslim that you know, know when was in Oakland, do you know what was the number one complaint in Oakland? So they had an they had very tough time, especially the African-American community had very tough time embracing Muslims in that community. It was very difficult to the extent to where if you walk in certain neighborhoods just wearing your casual clothes, you you'll get beat up. Like it's not joke. Like very scary neighborhoods. Subhan Allah. Your only way to be safe. I'm telling you, for someone that had to walk to go, come back, leave the community, can only walk with my soul. When you walk with your soul, they respected that. They thought that you're person of religion, like you're you're carrying message. And their number one complaint is that how can you have Muslims that are infusing our communities with alcohol because all the liquor stores were owned by Muslims and they also sold drugs. They said like what do we do with these Muslims? You're literally destroying our communities. And that's how they looked at Muslims. So it doesn't matter who you were. If you walk in certain neighborhoods, they think that you're there to cause problems. And that was one of our greatest struggles is that how can Islam say one thing but our communities are doing the exact opposite. And and subhan Allah it took time. It took time just giving this is why we prioritize to give dawa to the liquor stores because we had to take people out. Like literally you have to walk one liquor store after the other. Let's give them dawa. Give them dawa. Give them da. And at times they would attack these liquor stores because they understood what these liquor stores have done to the community. So subhan Allah, we are responsible. We can't say one thing and then we come for salah. But our actions completely contradict and we're causing all of this trouble like we're not allowed. So we are people of clear message. So again the goals of the messengers worshiping Allah. So we call people to Allah conveying the message. Okay. So teaching people. We're always in state of mindfulness, teaching people, educating people. Number three, self- purification. It's like people have to gain closess to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Establishing proof and evidence. Basically sharing the Quran, darkness to light. Like when you see community that is living in the midst of darkness, our job is to be that Like how can Muslims bring light into space? At times you find Muslim that is embarrassed to pray in room say in conference like no your prayer is the baraka to that room. Get up and pray in corner. You don't have to pray right here to show that I'm Muslim. No but pray somewhere there. You're the new of that hall. Just get up. Don't be embarrassed. Don't be ashamed. So again taking people guiding them from darkness to light. They would also they were given the responsibility to reform their societies. So how can we embrace the culture but refute and reject that which Allah subhana wa ta'ala has made haram and that which has caused our community harm. The Sahabah immediately would go heads on. Worship Allah don't do this. This is wrong. You cannot do it. And that's why the ambiat were rejected. So as Muslims, we can't just sit down and accept everything that culture dictates and we're trying to assimilate and we're trying and we are this and we are no no we accept some and we reject some. It's okay. Like I'm not here living in America fully accepting Western culture. And if lived in the Middle East, will not fully embrace the Arabi culture. Culture is culture. Whatever aligns with Quran, we accept. Whatever goes against Zen, we reject. It has nothing to do with east or west. It doesn't matter where you're from. What does Allah say? will do. If somehow our cultures align with the saying of Allah, I'm good. And also they were to remind people of life after death. Okay. When speaking about theatam. Okay. Believing in the prophets require what? Believing in their message. Okay. So we believe in all their messages. We don't distinguish like we don't say that believe in Muhammad but don't believe in Musimatam. So all of them are sent by Allah subhana wa tala respecting them. Even the yahood the Jews have very difficult time respecting the prophets of Allah. Like do you think MS is respected prophet by Allah in the Jews in the Jewish tradition? No, he's not. No, he's not. By the way, you know, remember one time they again talking about interfaith. We did so much of it. we're like, "Let's start series about Musha." said, "Why not?" He said, "How long do you think it's going to take?" said, "To be honest, you know, if if we want this to be two-year project, let's go 20 sessions deep." He said, "You joking around?" said, "No, I'm serious. think everyone's going to be excited." They said, "We don't even know what to share in 20 sessions." said, "So, how long do you want it?" They said, "One, two." So, look at our connection with MS and their connection with MS. They speak against Mus Alatam in very disrespectful manner. But as Muslims, we praise MS. We highlight the stories of MS. We acknowledge the sacrifice of MS. When we're talking about Bakar immediately we're going to go into the story of Musam like the prophet is not even mentioned and we're immediately heads on talking about Mus shows you the beauty of Islam how we accept how we accept the messengers of Allah again responding to their message that is our responsibility and okay do the make mistakes what do you all Okay. What is the last point on the screen that the MBI are what? So it's only about religious matters. It's about sins. So you're saying that the don't sin. They could always make better choices. Who says they can they do? Who's who's that person with so much confidence? Okay. Who says they can? How do you know they can? Can you share? Any of you? Go ahead. killed. Very good. That's that's good. Okay. You're going somewhere. Okay. Who else? Say it again. Leave Allah here. Did they sin here? That's big Please just take that back. That's big one. They all did. No. Okay. Who? Adam did. Okay. Beautiful answer. So, Adam, you believe Adam committed sin. Okay. the prophet where he frowned when talking to that person Ibraim. Okay, very good. So the do not sin because right now Abra is waiting for me right there. It's time. We're going to end with this. The can make humanly mistakes. You mentioned Adam. When Adam, did Adam commit sin? 100%. No one with basic intellect and belief in the Quran can reject the idea that Adam sinned because Allah says Adam committed mistake and disobeyed Allah. But Adam when he did that he was not prophet of Allah. Musatam was not prophet of Allah. So do not sin like that. Do they make basic mistakes? Yes. Why does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refute them? Or why does Allah subhana sorry reproach them? Allah reproaches them in the Quran. Right? He reproached the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam when he frowned again that was human mistake but Allah holds them to higher standard it's not because they did something wrong like the prophet wasallam literally were just looking at when he came like imagine someone that's annoying okay so you can appreciate just to understand what Allah expected in his prophets like the expectations were very high and the bar was set extremely high. The prophet was given one-time opportunity to speak to the elites one time. And as he was speaking to the elites, this only one time they came up to the prophet and they said, "Please, we're going to give you this one chance. Just don't mess it up." And the prophet is talking to them. And here comes blind sahabi that cannot seem and he says, messenger of Allah, teach me Islam." He's already Muslim and it's not time. This is not the right time. Like have the elites. This is the only opportunity. And he says, "Mess of Allah, teach me Islam." And the prophet just looked at him like this. can't even see because this because the prophet looked at him in such manner Allah sent down complete surah was hurt no you know how the prophet would speak to Maktum after that he would say welcome like welcome the person that Allah reproached me about and he would always give him very special place. He was very close to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So again the bar was always set high. Ibraim wasam was very similar when dealing with his father. So it's not that they did something wrong but Allah subhana wa ta'ala set like expectations were far more higher than than other human beings. So again being mindful of our belief in the you were able to take something away. We're going to finish the belief in Allah and then go into salah inshallah and learn all the pertaining to prayer inshallah. One hour is enough right you guys are good. don't want it to get too boring. We're going to pray right now everyone. May Allah accept us. Sorry. Please write down your questions. promise we'll start off with your questions next week. know maybe some of you have questions. Please write them down. And if you want you can ask your questions after