Brothers and sisters! Today’s khutbah is Part 2 of a previous khutbah on the topic of understanding the basic meaning and message of Islam. As explained in the previous khutba, false religions all have in common one basic concept with regards to God (Allah), and that is that the Supreme Being, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and all that exists may be worshipped in the form of His creation. False religions invite man to the worship of creation by calling the creation or some aspect of it God.
For example, Prophet Jesus invited his followers to worship God but most of those who claim to be his followers worship Jesus, claiming that he is God or son of God. Buddha was a reformer who introduced a number of humanistic principles. He did not claim to be God nor did he suggest to his followers that he be made an object of worship. Yet, today most of his followers have taken him to be God and prostrate to idols made of his likeness. The Qur’an tells us:
مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ إِلَّا أَسْمَاءً سَمَّيْتُمُوهَا أَنْتُمْ وَآَبَاؤُكُمْ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ إِنِ الْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ أَمَرَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
“That which you worship besides Him are only names you and your forefathers have invented for which Allah has sent down no authority: The command belongs only to Allah: He has commanded that you only worship Him; that is the right religion, but most people do not understand “. (Yusuf 12:40)
It may be argued that all religions teach good things so why should it matter which one we follow. The reply is that all false religions teach the greatest evil – the worship of creation. Creation-worship is the greatest sin that man can commit because it contradicts the very purpose of his creation. Man was created to worship Allah alone as Allah has explicitly stated in the Qur’an:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُون
“I only created jinn and human beings that they worship Me.” (Adh-Dhariyat, 51:56)
Consequently, the worship of creation, which is the essence of idolatry, is the only unforgivable sin. One who dies in this state of idolatry has sealed his fate in the next life. This is not an opinion, but a revealed fact stated by Allah in his final revelation to man:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ
“Allah will not forgive anyone for associating something with Him, while He will forgive whoever He wishes for anything besides that.” (An- Nisa 4:48)
Since the consequences of false religion are so grave, the true religion of Allah must be universally understandable and attainable, and not confined to any people, place or time.
Within the central principle of Islam, which is the surrender of one’s will to God, lies the roots of lslam’s universality. Whenever man comes to the realization that Allah is one and distinct from His creation, and submits himself to Allah, he becomes a Muslim in body and spirit. Thus, anyone at anytime in the most remote region of the world can become a Muslim, a follower of God’s religion—Islam, by merely rejecting the worship of creation and by turning to God alone.
Islam does not present stumbling blocks to the mind. It does not make claims which overwhelm the mind. Islam does not present to a person that which the human intellect cannot grasp. Anyone can understand Islam as it is a universal religion. It should be noted however, that the recognition of and submission to God requires that one chooses between right and wrong and such a choice implies accountability. Man will be held responsible for his choices, and, as such, he should try his utmost to do good and to avoid evil.
Islam wants to establish a social order to command the good and prevent the evil. Every Muslim must try to correct evil. It is his duty, just as much as it is his duty to pray five times a day. Islam is built on the basis of values which are not only for the group which adheres to them, but for the whole of mankind. Allah is the deity of all people and the Islamic concept of society must spread all over the world.
The question which arises here is, “How can all people be expected to believe in and worship Allah alone given their varying backgrounds, societies and cultures?
For people to be responsible for worshipping Allah they all have to have access to knowledge of Allah. The final revelation (the Qur’an) teaches that all mankind have the recognition of Allah imprinted on their souls, a part of their very nature with which they are created. This is explained in Surat Al-A’raf:
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ شَهِدْنَا أَن تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَٰذَا غَافِلِين
“When your Lord brought forth offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, Am I not your Lord? They replied, We bear witness that You are. This He did, lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, We had no knowledge of that.” (Al-A’raf, 7:172)
Thus, every child is born with a natural belief in Allah and an inborn inclination to worship Him alone called in Arabic the “Fitrah.”If the child were left alone, he would worship Allah in his own way, but all children are affected by those things around them, whether seen or unseen. The Prophet (S) said, “Each child is born in a state of “Fitrah”, then his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian, the way an animal gives birth to a normal offspring. Have you noticed any that were born mutilated?”
So, just as the child submits to the physical laws which Allah has put in nature, his soul also submits naturally to the fact that Allah is his Lord and Creator. But, his parents try to make him follow their own way and the child is not strong enough in the early stages of his life to resist or oppose the will of his parents. The religion which the child follows at this stage is one of custom and upbringing and Allah does not hold him to account or punish him for this.
Throughout people’s lives from childhood until the time they die, signs are shown to them in all regions of the earth and in their own souls, until it becomes clear that there is only one true God (Allah). If the people are honest with themselves, reject their false gods and seek Allah, the way will be made easy for them but if they continually reject Allah’s signs and continue to worship creation, the more difficult it will be for them to escape.
May Allah (SWT) bless us all with the correct understanding of our noble deen.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Brothers and sisters! Prophets were sent to every nation and tribe to support man’s natural belief in Allah and man’s inborn inclination to worship and obey Him. Although, in most cases, much of the prophets’ teachings became distorted, portions remained which point out right and wrong. Among the examples are the ten commandments of the Torah, their confirmation in the Gospels and the existence of laws against murder, stealing and adultery in most societies.
Islam seeks to develop the personality of the individual. It admits that man has his weaknesses, as he is constituted simultaneously of capacities for both good and evil. Yet it does not admit that there is original sin in him, because that would be an injustice.
Islam declares a person to be born with a clean slate. The human being was not born evil but rather he was created good and equipped by nature to fulfill his duties. If Adam had committed a sin, this should create no responsibility on his posterity, and so each individual human being remains responsible for his personal account only.
We pray to Allah (SWT) to keep us on the right path to which He has guided us, and to bestow on us blessings from Him. He is indeed the Most Merciful.
