What are the شعائر الله “The Signs of Allah” | Imam Nadim Bashir | Jumuah Khutbah | EPIC Masjid

Du'a Requests

There are some requests for du'as quickly. I just want to go through them. Number one is there's a brother named Mashukur Rahman. He alhamdulillah. He had a daughter just two days ago. Alhamdulillah, however, he is saying that she has some critical heart surgeries. So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant her Shifa this young baby's name is Minham. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant her Shifa. May Allah make everything easy for her parents. Ameen Ya Rabb Al-Alamin.

Number two is there's a brother of our community brother Amin Muhayyuddin his mother passed away yesterday inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. Her name is sister Shakila Wahidi we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant her mercy. May Allah make her grave her garden a paradise and may Allah grant her place in Jannah for those who are. Ameen Ya Rabb Al-Alamin.

Number three is there's a request for du'a from a brother of our community for his grandfather brother Ghulam Yazdani who's on life support we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant him Shifa and finally there is a request whether Wasim Raza is suffering kidney disease and is going through chemotherapy. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that all those who are sick may Allah grant all of them Shifa.

We ask Allah Al-Azim Rabb Al-Arsh Al-Azim an yashfiyahum and all those who may have passed away may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant them mercy.

The Sacred Days of Dhul-Hijjah

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that just as he has gathered us here today in these beautiful and sacred days of the Hijjah for Jum'ah in this time of Jum'ah on this day of Jum'ah may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gather us along with our family in Jannat Firdaus Al-A'la, in the companionship of Rasulullah ﷺ and his Sahaba. Ameen, Ya Rabb Al-Alamin.

Brothers and sisters, servants of Allah ﷻ, we are living through some of the greatest days of the year, the blessed days of Dhul-Hijjah. These are days that are connected to the legacy of Ibrahim ﷺ. The sacrifices of Ismail ﷺ, the endurance of Hajar ﷺ, and the rites of Hajj, and the remembrance of Allah ﷻ.

Rasulullah ﷺ, he reminds us that:

There are no deeds that are more beloved to Allah ﷻ, that are done in these days. Meaning that if a person took any other action, if they were to recite 10 verses of the Qur'an in these 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah, and a person were to read the same 10 verses of the Qur'an after these 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah, these verses that were recited in the month of Dhul-Hijjah are more beloved to Allah ﷻ. And this is why we try to excel in these 10 days in terms of doing good actions.

Understanding شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ - The Sacred Signs of Allah

And hence, that is why I want to introduce you to a new concept, something that we don't often hear about, but it is mentioned in the Qur'an. And this concept or this phrase is known as, شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. What does it mean? What does it mean when they say شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ? The sacred signs of Allah ﷻ. What does it mean? Because when it comes to our deen, our deen is not just about symbols. There are so many things that are part of our deen that brings us to Allah ﷻ.

So therefore, Allah ﷻ also says in the Qur'an:

Anyone who shows reverence, anyone who shows respect and dignity to these شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ, these signs of Allah ﷻ, it is a sign that they have taqwa in their heart. So with this in mind inshaAllah, I want to make few important points regarding this matter and regarding the month of Dhul-Hijjah.

The Linguistic Meaning of شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ

The very first thing is, what is the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ? What is the meaning behind شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ? First of all is from a linguistic perspective. The word شَعَائِرِ comes from three root letters, شِين عَين رَا which means to have the awareness of something, to have the recognition and to recognize the value of something.

So this is why we find that even in the Qur'an when Allah ﷻ says, وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ. This is a word that you'll find often in the Qur'an that they do not recognize. These are the people who do not have the awareness. So شِين عَين رَا means to have the awareness of something.

Scholarly Definitions

And there are scholars such as Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi rahmatullahi alayh. They say that the word شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ implies the outward signs and the sacred symbols of the religion of Allah ﷻ.

Al-Azhari, a great linguistic personality, a person who was a great scholar of Qur'anic linguistic from Egypt, he said that the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ are the landmarks and the signs that Allah ﷻ directed His servants towards. And they command them to uphold.

And then you have a great scholar by the name of Imam al-Suyuti rahmatullahi alayh. He mentions that شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ it is called شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ because they point people towards the obedience and the remembrance of Allah ﷻ.

Categories of شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ

And that is why based on this, yes, the Qur'an does talk about شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ, but the ulema have said, that شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ, the signs of Allah ﷻ can be related to something that we utter from the tongue. For example, the adhan is a شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. The Takbeer that we recite as we will start inshaAllah next week on the day of Arafah, Tuesday is the day of Arafah, from the morning, from Fajr, after every single salat, we will recite the Takbeerat.

And this will continue all the way till Saturday Asr. Saturday Asr is the last salat. So in case you're not coming to the masjid, if you cannot come to the masjid, then do remember, after every single salat, starting Tuesday morning, the day of Arafah, all the way to Saturday Asr. Saturday Asr is the last salat, after every single salat, we will recite the Takbeerat.

They say that, Imam Suyuti rahmatullahi alayhi says, the Takbeerat is also part of the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. Because again, it grows the awareness of Allah within a person. The recitation of the Qur'an is considered as شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ.

Then they also say that there are some practical things that we do, that are considered as شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. Such as the salat that we perform five times on a daily basis, is considered amongst the ulema, or is an idea by the ulema that this is considered as شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. Fasting is considered as شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. Hajj can be considered as شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. Sacrifice that we will do inshaAllah on the 10th day of Dhul-Hijjah, on Wednesday, on the day of Eid. Jum'ah salat that we are gathered here, this is all can be counted as the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ.

Now there are certain times of the year that could also be considered as شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. Such as the time of Ramadan, the day of Eid, the days of Dhul-Hijjah, the days of Ramadan. This can be considered as شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ.

And then there are certain places, there are certain places that we show a lot of reverence to, we show immense amount of respect to, that could be considered as the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. Such as the Ka'bah in itself is amongst the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. The masajid that are scattered throughout the entire earth, the Safa Marwah, the place of Arafah, the place of Mina, the place of Muzdalifah, and the list goes on. These are all considered as شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ.

So there are شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ related to the things that we say, the things that we do, time, and certain times of the year, and certain places of the year, all these can be considered as the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ.

The Internal and External Aspects of Worship

Because brothers and sisters, one of the things that we learn about our ibadat, one of the things that we learn about our deen and our religion and the worship that we conduct, is that there's always an external component, and there's always an internal component. There's always an internal spiritual component that many times we are not aware of.

And this is why if you think about it, the Ka'bah in itself is not just a structure. Safa and Marwah are not only just hills, fasting as we do in Ramadan, as we are doing, some of us are doing in these 10 days. This is not just about staying hunger. The sacred acts are meant to reconnect a person to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Example of Safa and Marwah

This is why Allah says:

Safa and Marwah are from the signs of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is why Allah made Safa and Marwah, His sha'ir, because they represent the struggle of Hajar ﷺ. A mother all alone in a desert, searching for water for her child, Allah transformed her struggle into an act of worship until the day of judgment. And every single person who walks between Safa and Marwah, they relive the struggles of Hajar ﷺ. They understand tawakkul, they understand patience.

When you are there and you are walking between Safa and Marwah, it is not just about, this is the last part of Umrah for example, and let me just get through this. No, when you are in that act, you're supposed to remember that this is what Hajar ﷺ. Today when people are going between Safa and Marwah, there is Zamzam water right in the middle, where anyone can have access to Zamzam water. There is air conditioning that is taking place. People who are not able to walk, they're sitting on wheelchairs, and they're going between Safa and Marwah. But can you think about it? Just imagine, you have a woman all alone in a desert, left alone by herself to look after her child by the order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and she's going between Safa and Marwah.

The Sacred Signs of Allah

Brothers and sisters, every single act requires us to have the awareness of the spiritual component. And that is why we think about all these kind of things. Hajar did not just sit and wait for miracles. She trusted Allah, she made an effort, and Allah sent her a Nusra known as Zamzam. So this is what the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ means. It means that we uphold them, and we have respect for them.

The True Meaning of Reverence for Allah's Signs

The second point I want to make regarding this subject matter, is that what does it mean to have the ta'azim of the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ? What does it mean to show reverence, to show dignity and respect to the signs of Allah? And in regards to this, there are many quotes of many ulamas, which I don't want to go through all of them. But it means to really have the respect from the heart, from the bottom of your heart for every single thing that we have. Everything that I mentioned, whether شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ related to our tongue, or our actions, or the time, or the place. It requires us that whenever we come to these things, we come to them with an open heart.

Salah is not just about movement. Salah is not just about movement. It builds a person to be humble in front of Allah. It establishes discipline within a person. This is what Salah is. Salah is a mechanism to take from the treasures of Allah. But unfortunately, we understand that this is considered as the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. But we do not have the ta'azim of the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. We do not have that honor and that dignity and respect for the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. And that is why many times we come and we pray. But while we are praying, we're thinking about something else. How many times people they pray and they get done with it in two minutes. They get done with their Salah in two minutes, and then they go back to their worldly pursuits. This is not showing our ta'azim and our respect to the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ.

Fasting is not just about staying hungry. It builds sincerity within a person. It builds restraint within a person. This is what it means to have the respect for the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. Hajj, for those who are in Hajj. Hajj is not just a journey. It trains a person to teach them how to make sacrifices. It teaches us about the equality that Allah holds near and dear. Then it also teaches us to be patient. It teaches us to how to submit to Allah.

Again, brothers and sisters, every action teaches us that there is a spiritual component. And that is why that spiritual component is connected to that taqwa. That is why Allah says:

Anyone who has reverence and respect for the signs of Allah, this is a sign that they have taqwa in their heart. A person, Ramadan went by. The purpose of Ramadan was to build and establish taqwa in our life. If a person has taqwa, and taqwa means to have the awareness of Allah. Whatever we do, wherever we go, whatever we say, we have the awareness that Allah is watching me.

Do we not have the awareness that Allah is watching? When a person has taqwa, and they have the awareness of Allah, and they respect Allah, and His Messenger, then when these things come around, they will understand that they are from the signs of Allah, the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ, and they are the ones who are going to have respect. Otherwise, those who do not have taqwa in their heart, these days, these times, these actions that they have to do, or the things that they say, it will come, it will go by, and they will not take anything from this.

That is why brothers and sisters, having that upright and the utmost amount of respect for the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ. Meaning that even when it comes to the basic one, which is salah, to perform salah on time, to do with the right way, to make sure that our wudu is done correctly, all this is part of respecting the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ.

The Legacy of Ibrahim and Submission to Allah

The third point I want to make in this khutbah, is that part of the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ, or the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ are connected to the legacy of Ibrahim. When we think about the talbiyah that we recite, it goes back to Ibrahim. The sacrifices that we do, the sacrifice, the udhiyah that we perform in the month of al-Hijjah, it goes back to the family of Ibrahim. Going between Safa and Marwah, as those who go for Umrah or go for Hajj, this is about again, the family of Ibrahim. Zamzam is traced back to the family of Ibrahim. The construction of the Kaaba is tied back to Ibrahim.

In these days, brothers and sisters, we try to remind ourselves about who Ibrahim is. As I mentioned the other day, that if you study the Qur'an, the two people who are mentioned the most in the Qur'an, besides Rasulullah, is Musa and Ibrahim. Why is Ibrahim mentioned so much in the Qur'an? Because if there's anything that he taught us, he taught us the importance of submission. Submission to Allah, that we don't ask questions when it comes to submitting to Allah.

When he left his family all alone in the desert, he did not want to do that. It was not like as if Ibrahim was heartless, but now Allah wanted to test him and his level of submission. When you and I, when we show this respect to the signs of Allah, when we do the ta'azim of the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ, then guess what? Allah will test us. Allah will most certainly test us. Because when a person sees that there's another person, when Allah sees that there's a person who wants to come close to Allah, Allah will test their loyalty. Allah will see that are they coming close to Allah because they want something from Allah.

And Allah knows. Allah already knows because He is al-'alim. He is al-'alimum bidhat al-sudur. Allah knows what's in our hearts. But Allah will test our loyalty. Allah tested the loyalty and the submission of Ibrahim. Told to leave his family all alone in a desert, he never questioned once. And as soon as his wife found out that this is the order of Allah, SubhanAllah, what an amazing woman. Look at the level of her faith. She never once had jitters. Not once did she have a situation where she was doubting Allah.

And SubhanAllah, when a mother and father, they both have taqwa. When a mother and a father, they have so much reverence for Allah, then that transcends into the child. And SubhanAllah, when Ibrahim came to his son, he says:

I see in my dream that I'm sacrificing you, O Ismail, what do you think about this? What did he say?

A child, a mere child. He did not tell his dad, that have you lost your mind? Or you need to go see a psychiatrist? No. He says, يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ. And if you know anything about the Arabic language, the word, افْعَلْ. What is افْعَلْ mean? It means that you do, do not even think about it. Because the word, اعْمَلْ means to go, like for example, people, a person who's a labor worker, he's known as a عَامِل. He's doing something, he understands what he's doing, that's called عَامِلَ يَعْمَلُ. But افْعَلْ, do, do not even think about it. If Allah told you to do it, why are you second guessing yourself? Do it. افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ.

If there's anything that we have learned from the entire family of Ibrahim, it is called submission. This is what we need to learn from the story of Ibrahim. That, where do I stand in terms of my submission to Allah.

Lessons for Our Youth: Speaking Truth Despite Opposition

And something else that we learn from the story of Ibrahim that especially, especially relevant to our young brothers, our youth, is that Ibrahim, think about it, a young man, it is natural with young people that they always like to have and they like to gain the approval of other people. Ask a young person who has posted something on social media and they get a lot of heat back. Immediately, they start questioning their decision. They might even remove their post. They will do these kind of things, why? Because when it comes to younger people, they always are trying to seek people's approval. They do not want anyone to dislike them. They do not want anyone to hate them or to say anything negative to them.

But the more a person grows up, you begin to learn a reality in life which is, you cannot please everyone. You cannot please everyone. So you say, what is the haq? What do we learn from the story of Ibrahim? He is a young man. Allah told him to do something. He did it. And when he got all the backlash, when they were very critical of him, he put his faith in Allah.

Young brothers and young sisters, listen to me very carefully. What we learn from Ibrahim's story is that you should be a person who always speaks out the truth. Do not ever be afraid to speak out the truth. In a time, in a world that we're living in today, the people who are the liars, this is the hadith that the Prophet is telling us. There will come a time where the liars in society, and you see these liars filled, especially when it comes to the politicians. What they promise to the people and when they don't deliver. Yet people still call them the most trustworthy people. They will go and they will vote for them. And yet they do not ever deliver. Except for a few. But they never deliver. Yet they are called the trustworthy people.

In a time like this, when it comes to speaking out the truth, it is very difficult. People are gonna suppress you. People are gonna push you down. To my young brothers and young sisters, if there's anything that you can take from the story of Ibrahim is that you always do what's right. Always speak up the truth. And if you feel that there's a lot of pressure coming on you, remember, there was no greater pressure than the pressure put on Ibrahim when he was thrown into the fire. And what did Allah do?

That was physical heat. Today we receive a different kind of heat from other people. But do not ever be afraid to speak the truth. As Rasulullah says:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4011)

The greatest form of struggle is to speak the right words, to speak up the truth in the face of tyranny. What we're seeing today in the world is tyranny. It's our job and our responsibility to speak up the truth.

Making the Most of These Sacred Days

The last thing that we can take from these days of Dhul-Hijjah, brothers and sisters, especially for those who are not in Hajj, is that we have been talking about the importance and the sacredness of these days. Let's try to make sure even if days have gone by, some days have already gone by. Today is the fifth day of Dhul-Hijjah. If we have not done anything, khayr, no problem. If you have not been able to fast, khayr, no problem. But we try to make the best of these remaining days that we have of Dhul-Hijjah.

And every person is different. Every single person is different in terms of their faith, in terms of their iman, in terms of how connected they are to Allah. It is not our job to be critical of others. It is our job as an individual that we try to become a better person every single day. And I excel in my worship to Allah.

So we ask Allah to grant us tawfiq insha'Allah. May Allah grant us the ability to show respect and reverence to the شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ in our daily lives. Ameen ya rabbil alameen.

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillah we praise Him and ask His help and ask His forgiveness.

What are the شعائر الله "The Signs of Allah"

And we seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our souls and from the badness of our deeds.

So in this khutbah we talked about what are the شعائر الله. The شعائر الله can be related to things that are verbal, things that are done in a physical format, things, places and times of the year. They all can be considered as the شعائر الله.

Key Points from Our Discussion

Then the second thing we talked about is how to show the تعظيم and how to show our respect to the شعائر الله, to the signs of Allah.

Third point we talked about is Ibrahim and his family. We can learn submission and for our young brothers and young sisters, we learn to always speak up the truth even if you will receive some heat back.

And the fourth thing that we learn is for those of us who are the non-hujjaj, what can we do in these remaining days.

Upcoming Sacred Days

At the same time, I want to remind everyone that inshallah next week as I've already alluded to in this khutbah, Tuesday inshallah is going to be the day of Arafah. We try to make it a point. I know Monday is a national holiday. Tuesday many of us may have to go to work. Our children, our kids are off starting today. So that is why we try to encourage them to fast on the day of Arafah.

At the same time, if you have to go to work, make sure that you plan out your day in such a way that you have time to fast, so you have the energy to fast, and then you have the time to make du'a inshallah on the day of Arafah. As Rasulullah ﷺ, he mentions in a hadith, the best du'a is the day of Arafah, or is the du'a that is made on the day of Arafah.

So we try to have this awareness inshallah, be mentally prepared, be physically prepared inshallah. So we have the day of Arafah on Tuesday, and then we will have Eid inshallah on Wednesday.

Du'a

We ask Allah to grant us the ability to revive the legacy of Ibrahim. May Allah give us the ability to be submissive to Allah like Ibrahim was submissive to Allah. May Allah grant us the strength to be, to grant us the strength like He granted Ibrahim when he was facing adversity, ameer of al-alameen.

Preparation for Prayer

Straighten your lines, fill in the gaps. There is still plenty of space. Brothers in the back two rooms, please come inside the main hall. Brothers coming from the multiverse hall, please come make sure the rows are straight in the back. In the lobby area, please make sure the rows are straight and complete. Sisters make sure the rows are complete and straight. Any sisters inside the multiverse hall, please come inside the main hall. Brothers in the multiverse hall, please make sure the rows are straight. Often the rows are incomplete, please make sure the rows are straight and complete.

Janazah Prayer

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

أستغفر الله

If we can make some space inshallah, so we can bring the janazah forward. If we can make some space inshallah everyone please. You can stand over here inshallah on this line or you can stand here.

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون

Every single time we see a janazah it reminds us that we all belong to Allah. This is who we came from this is where we have to go back to Allah. Life is what will come to an end for each one of us. We just don't know when it will happen and that is why every single time we see a janazah in front of us it's a reminder for all of us that we come back to Allah.

Wallahi if you're looking for happiness in life, and you're trying to find it anywhere else besides Allah, wallahi you will not find happiness. Wallahi you will not find happiness. Happiness only lies when you come to Allah. So let this be a reminder for all of us.

This is an adult sister, sister Majda Faruqi. We ask Allah to have mercy upon her. Inshallah as-salatul janazah is the four takbirat. After the first takbir we recite thana or surah al-fatiha. After the second takbir we will send our peace and blessings on Rasulullah ﷺ. After the third takbir we recite any du'a that you know from the Quran or from the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Make a sincere du'a for her. Make a sincere du'a for her as if she is your own mother. What kind of a du'a you would make and after the fourth takbir inshallah we will make salam on both sides. The family member has requested to lead the salatul janazah inshallah, so they will be leading it inshallah.

Burial is going to be happening at Farmersville. If you intend to go to the graveyard, I would suggest that you try to leave as soon as possible. We have the Jummah crowd as it is and then we have those here for the salatul janazah and also, please do not forget to meet our dear brother Grant who just took his shahadah. May Allah make his journey an easy one. Ameen.