EPIC Masjid, Imam Daniel Abdullah Hernandez, Transformation through Tribulations.

Khutbah Opening — The Praise of Allah

All praise and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him, we thank Him, and we seek His help. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our sins. Whomsoever Allah decrees to guide, no one can misguide. And whomsoever Allah decrees — because it is fit for that person — to be left astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is only one God worthy of worship and that is Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad ﷺ was His final messenger.

The Call to Taqwa

Allah said in the Qur'an al-Kareem:

O you who believe! Be God-conscious — have taqwa of your Lord the way it is deserving of Him — and die not except as Muslims.

Meaning, die not except in a state of sincere submission and obedience to the divine will of Allah. Die not except in a state of submission to Allah.

Allah makes a universal call when He calls mankind — Muslims and non-Muslims — because Allah is not only the Rabb of the Muslims, and He is not only the Rabb of the humans. He is Rabbul 'Aalameen — He is the Lord of all the worlds, the ones that we know about and the ones that we do not know about. عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ — the Knower of the unseen and the seen. So Allah calls on mankind — the whole world. Allah says: O mankind! Be God-conscious of your Lord, the One who was able to create you from a single soul, and was able to create from that single soul its mate, and was able to create from both of them a multitude of men and a multitude of women. Allah is the Creator of all, and He calls on the believers again.

Because Islam is a combination of Iman and Amal — it is faith, belief, and work. It is not only Iman without actions. It is a complete way of life. So Allah calls on the believers and He says: O you who believe! Have Taqwa of Allah and only say that which is right — even if it is against your own self.

Have Taqwa of Allah and only say a good word — only say that which is right. And Allah tells you what He will give you in this dunya and in the akhirah — the benefit of saying that which is right. He says He will manage your affairs, so no need to worry in this dunya. He will manage your affairs. And He will forgive you your sins in the akhirah. And then Allah gives you the measure by which we measure success: Whomsoever obeys Allah and obeys His messenger has definitely obtained the ultimate success. May Allah make us amongst the successful people.

A Personal Journey — From the Streets to Islam

Brothers and sisters, today we ended up contemplating a little bit on the blessings of Allah. A day like today, 14 years ago, I was like a regular youngster in this country with no Islam. Allah blessed me with Hidayah in 1999 by Allah's decree.

Allah blessed me with wonderful parents. My mother, before she married my dad, was a nun. And she had some questions unanswered that made her leave the convent. She married my dad and had me and my two older brothers. But she always taught us: when you wake up, say thank you to God; before you eat, say in the name of God; before you go to sleep, make a prayer to God. So we had that upbringing.

My father wasn't formally educated, but in life he was. He has worked since he was 11 years old, working in the sugar cane fields in Puerto Rico. And he was blessed with a character — he was always helpful to my mother, didn't have bad habits, would always play with his children, and on his day off he would cook or he would clean the house without being asked to do so. And this is what we read — that the Prophet ﷺ used to help around his household. The Prophet ﷺ used to play with children. So I saw this, I learned from this character. This is what I wanted for myself.

Being raised in the northeast — New York, New Jersey — being a youth with parents both working, you end up spending a period of the day unsupervised, which is from after school to 7pm. And that is the time when the youth get lost. So I got involved with that company, went a little bit astray, became a gang leader, and saw friends of mine get killed the day after meeting with them. The only thing that used to come to my mind was every day when I woke up: Am I going to die today? Am I going to go to jail today? Am I going to catch a disease today? Because I didn't have a purpose. I didn't know my purpose.

So subhanAllah, when I was in this gang, a friend of mine was with me in the library, and he wanted to read the Qur'an. I told him, "Why don't you check it out?" He said, "I checked out the maximum number of books." I said, "Okay, maybe next time." He said, "Maybe next time." I said, "If you want it, it's okay, I'll take it." So I ended up taking the Qur'an for my friend — that's true friendship. So I took the Qur'an and gave it to my friend.

During that time my friend was staying in my house. Once he moved out, I experienced the death of another friend of mine, and I lost trust in all human beings. I turned to God. I turned to Allah. And I said: O Creator, You created me, and You know me better than I know myself. And You know what I need better than I know myself. If You choose for me the right way, I will not look back — I'll leave everything behind. I had a music contract. I put that aside. I just wanted the right way.

Then I remembered that I had the Qur'an in my house. I also went to different churches, so I had six Bibles, and I began looking and searching. At that time I didn't want to ask any human being. I said, "The human being is weak — the human being might know my faults and might use them against me. But Allah is forgiving. God is forgiving." So let me turn to Him and ask Him for help.

The Ayah That Changed Everything

As I began searching, I opened the Qur'an and came across an ayah that made all the difference in the world for me. I was asking myself: Who do I pray to? Who do I ask for help? And I read:

You alone do we worship, and You alone do we ask for help.

I said, "That's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to ask the human being for help." And I continued reading the Qur'an. When I read the next ayah and the commentary I had, it explained: the first step is to look for the way — and it is difficult. Every religion says "this is the haqq." So you have to look for it. Once you find the right way, the second step is also difficult — it is to make the decision to accept it as your way of life. And we know what happens: like in Ramadan, the last day, the masjid is full — and what happens after? It goes back to the same. When Ramadan comes, the gates of Jannah are open, the gates of the Naar are closed, and the shayateen are chained up.

Then it said: once you accept the right way, the third step — and it is also difficult — is to stay. And it came with a likeness: the right way is like a mountain. When you go up and you make a mistake, you slip and you have to start over again. I said, "I'm not going down." I had lived a life turning away from hardship — whenever hardship came up, pick up a bottle of alcohol; whenever hardship came up, turn away. And I had turned away to such an extent that I was surrounded by all these hardships. I said, "No more. I'm going to face the hardship. And whenever it pops up again, I'm going to learn how to get past it — because I already defeated it before."

Learning the Qur'an Alone

Upon my reading of the Qur'an, I came across ayahs and I took the Qur'an as Allah talking directly to me. Whenever I found a command in the Qur'an, I would make the effort to implement it. I didn't know any Sunnah. So when the Qur'an said fasting is prescribed for you, I began to fast — but I wasn't as fortunate as you. I didn't know that you break your fast at Maghrib. I would fast until I felt pain. Whenever I felt pain, then I would eat. Because I said, "I'm not a hypocrite. I know I have food in my house. Let me fast to feel what the poor people feel — those people who don't know when they will receive food." So I began to try to discipline myself.

And through that fasting it served me as a rehabilitation. I gradually left alcohol. I used to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day — I left that gradually. But I was making an effort. I was fighting myself — fighting myself — in order to get close to Allah.

Then I came across another ayah:

The Qur'an at Fajr is witnessed. So I began to wake up at Fajr. You can imagine — nobody in the house was practicing Islam except me; the only thing Islamic was the Qur'an. So I would wake up while everybody in the house was sleeping, turn on a dim light, and read the Qur'an — keeping it between me and Allah. After reading for about an hour, I would go back to sleep, then find my parents waking up and getting ready for work. I already felt accomplished while they were just starting their day. I kept doing this for nine months.

Then I came across another ayah about Salah and began to pray — just by making sujood and begging Allah for guidance. After nine months of reading the Qur'an, Allah blessed me with making the choice to accept Islam as my religion. Alhamdulillah.

My Family Enters Islam

After accepting Islam, I began to share a little of what I was learning from the Qur'an with my mother. One day, upon my getting married, she came up to me and said, "I miss your reading of the Qur'an." I asked her why. She said, "Because the questions that made me leave the convent were answered by the Qur'an." I said, "Really?" She said, "Yes." So I asked her: "Do you believe in the Qur'an? Do you believe that there is only one God?" I told her: "If you accept Islam, you are not changing your faith — you are just purifying it. Because the way of Allah is one. Allah's deen is one. The message of all the messengers is one." She said yes. So I asked her: "Why don't you accept? It is very easy. Just say two sentences."

And alhamdulillah, in 2002, my mother decided to accept Islam by Allah's decree. Alhamdulillah. Four months later, my father also chose to accept Islam. Alhamdulillah.

So imagine — I accepted Islam in 1999. From 1999 to 2002, how many times did I spend crying in the masjid, worried that my parents would go to the Fire. And some of us who are blessed with being born Muslim sometimes don't feel that — when we see our relatives or friends not making salah. And we are an ummah that is commanded to command what is right and forbid what is wrong, because we believe in Allah. So alhamdulillah, upon accepting Islam, I became engaged in the work of da'wah.

The Responsibility of Da'wah

Oh, all praise and thanks be to Allah. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon His final messenger, Muhammad ﷺ. May Allah bless his companions and all those who follow him.

Brothers and sisters, we have an amanah — a trust — that we have to fulfill. Every single one of us in this masjid has this amanah. Because there is no more prophet. We have his way, his model, his example. We have to invite — invite those who do not know about Islam to Islam. And not only by preaching, but also by modeling — showing the way, showing why they should be inclined to Islam by your actions, by your good deeds, by your patience, by your kindness, by your rahmah.

The Prophet ﷺ said: Be merciful to others and you will receive mercy. So we should be merciful. You imagine — there are two trains: one train going to the Fire, and we are on a train going to Jannah. And these people are heading in that direction and we are sitting cross-handed, letting them go. What if the train switched — wouldn't we like to be saved?

Islam reached many of our countries because people had Iman and they were concerned. You see the diversity that we have here? This is by the struggle that the followers of Rasulullah ﷺ undertook — for the love of this deen. And if we live up to this Iman, then we earn the wonderful, noble status that Allah gave us.

And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah, does righteous deeds, and says: "Verily, I am of the Muslims."

Islam in Spanish — Serving the Latino Muslim Community

Brothers and sisters, there is a very important organization that has been serving this da'wah worldwide. This organization is Islam in Spanish. One of the reasons for me relocating from the Northeast to Texas was because I met Brother Mujahid Fletcher when I was studying in Egypt. And subhanAllah, we spent sleepless nights talking about da'wah and the work. And from my understanding of this da'wah and what I experienced, and the efforts that we made in the Northeast, there is not an effort like it — even in English. To have over 500 audio books in Spanish is remarkable.

Some may say, "What is the need for CDs nowadays?" But two thirds of the population in South America have no access to the internet — they are very limited. So they have need for the CDs. You have a whole village, a whole town, that only possesses a set of the Qur'an in CDs — in 26 cities. And they appreciate it. And there are people who are entering Islam because of it.

In America, there are approximately — according to statistics — from 100,000 to 200,000 Latino Muslims. And there is only a handful of people taking care of them, that are traveling and serving them. There is a dire need. Can you believe that in New York there is not even one organization catering to the needs of Latino Muslims? In Houston, Latinos have become the majority — 43.8%. We have three classes going on, currently two classes, and khutbahs in Spanish. But we are also serving South America — Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, all these countries — giving them libraries so they can learn. Because they don't have teachers to teach them, so they use the videos and they sit and they learn, they take notes, and then they send us questions. People who want to be saved. Who want a way of life.

A Special Announcement

Brothers and sisters, tonight at the Embassy Suites at the DFW International Airport, we will have a gathering — the 10-Year Anniversary of Islam in Spanish. We have Imam Siraj Wahhaj, Nouman Ali Khan, and other guest speakers. Please join us, inshAllah, starting at 7pm. The flyers are outside. There is also material about Islam in Spanish outside, along with CDs.

If you cannot attend, you still have the opportunity — like one seed that can benefit you. You don't know where that seed will go and which seed will sprout. We have to throw as many seeds as we can, and have hope — hope that Allah accepts it from us, that Allah accepts our sincerity in this effort. And that if we die, that Allah accepts us amongst the righteous — amongst the prophets, amongst the shuhadaa, amongst all those amongst the salihin — to raise us up alongside Rasulullah ﷺ.

Closing Du'a

O Allah, guide us among those whom You have guided, and grant us wellbeing among those to whom You have granted wellbeing.