Allah's Call To Musa: Prophethood, Worship, And Our Purpose

Opening & Quranic Recitation

اَلصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، أَمَّا بَعْد

Allah says in His noble Book — after seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

Sūrah Ṭāhā and the Context of Revelation

The āyāt which I recited are from Sūrah Ṭāhā. Sūrah Ṭāhā is among the early sūras that were revealed in Makkah al-Mukarramah. It was revealed shortly after Sūrah Maryam.

We know that, for example, Umar رضي الله عنه accepted Islam after listening to the āyāt of Sūrah Ṭāhā — especially this āyāt:

"I am Allah. There is no God but Me. So worship Me." It comes in the books of Sīrah that after hearing this āyāt, Umar رضي الله عنه accepted Islam. We know he accepted Islam around the 4th or 5th year after Nubuwwah, so we can understand that these āyāt, these sūras, were revealed before that — sometime before that.

The Story of Musa and the Call of Allah

In these āyāt, Allah is speaking to Musa عليه السلام. After being in Egypt, he had to leave — he was forced to go to Madyan. After staying in Madyan for approximately ten years, he decides to bring his family and children back to Misr. On the way, in the middle of the night, when it is very dark and they have no fire and no guide, he sees some fire, some light.

"I see some fire. Maybe I can bring a piece of that, or maybe I can find some guidance." And so when he comes, Allah calls out to him:

"Oh Musa! I am your Lord." At this stage, Musa عليه السلام comes from the family of Ibrahim عليه السلام, from the children of Ishaq عليه السلام and Ya'qub عليه السلام, so he is aware of Nubuwwah. But at this point in his life, Allah is appointing him as a Nabi, as a Rasul.

Prophethood Is Chosen by Allah Alone

"I have chosen you." This tells us that Nubuwwah is not something that a person can acquire through hard work. A person does not work very hard and say, "Look, inshallah in the next ten years if I work very hard I'll be able to get it." No — Nubuwwah is not like that. Being a Prophet, being a Messenger of Allah, is something that is chosen by Allah. A person cannot work for it.

Allah chose Adam عليه السلام. Allah chose Nuh عليه السلام. It is not something that can be acquired through one's sacrifices. So Allah chose Musa عليه السلام.

The Three Essential Questions of Life

اِنَّنِي أَنَا اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدْنِي وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِي — and then: إِنَّ السَّاعَةَ آتِيَةٌ — the final hour is approaching. This pretty much sums up for the insān what he needs to do, where he came from, what he needs to do in this life, and where he is going. These are the most essential questions that a person has in life.

Any individual who actually takes a step back from life and thinks — these are the questions that should come to mind. Most people don't think about it because they are so engaged with their worldly affairs. They don't have time to think: Where did I come from? What am I doing here? Where am I going? Most people ignore these questions. They become apathetic to them. They are so focused on what is happening here and now that these absolutely essential questions are left.

Where Did I Come From?

إِنَّنِي أَنَا اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا — you came from Allah. Allah created you. He is your Creator. He brought you into existence. You would not have existence had Allah not given it to you.

In another place, Allah says:

The insān says: "If I die, will I be resurrected again?" Allah says: "Does the insān not remember that We are the ones who created him in the first place? He was nothing — he had no existence — then We brought him into existence."

He was something that was unmentioned — something unknown — then he is brought into existence. We brought you into existence. That is your origin. That is where you came from.

What Am I Doing Here?

Your whole objective in life is to worship Allah — to worship the One who created you — and whatever you are doing should be for His sake, for no one else's sake. Whatever time you are here — another ten years, twenty years, thirty years, which Allah knows and we do not — we do not know how long we are going to be here.

Just recently, in my neighborhood where I grew up, where my parents are, a young boy of eighteen years of age passed away — drowned in Lake Michigan. Just graduated. Got pulled by a current. It was on the news as well. So there is no guarantee in life. We prepare and we plan, which is fine — we plan for the future, which is fine — but we become so engrossed in our planning that we forget the ultimate future.

The Story of the Oil Carrier and His Dreams

There is a very famous story of a man. One time he was hired by a person to carry some containers of oil from one place to another. He was told, "You do this and I'll give you a couple of bucks." He said, "Okay, no problem." So as he is now carrying them, he starts thinking: "Hey, you know, once I get the money from this, I'll buy some eggs. Then those eggs — I'll sell some of them and keep some of them to hatch. Once they hatch I'll have chickens. Some of them I'll keep, they'll give me more eggs, the rest of them I'll sell. Once I have more chickens, then I'll be able to afford some goats, some livestock. I'll buy some goats. Then when I have more of those and I get a lot more money from them, I'll buy cows. Once I have cows, I'll get horses. Then I'll buy cows, and maybe a camel. Then I'll buy a beautiful mansion. And then I'll marry the princess of the region. And when I have kids and my kids say, 'Baba, I want some money,' I'll say, 'No, no — do you know how I got money? You have to work for it.'"

And as soon as he is thinking this, he tripped — and the container of oil fell. The owner said, "What happened? I told you to transport all this. This is a loss for me. You made me lose out." He said, "You lost oil. I lost my whole life. You just lost oil. I lost my whole life — my whole life was dependent on this."

These are the types of amal — the types of hopes and desires and dreams — that we think of. But the ultimate one, the one that is for the hereafter, that does not come into our mind. I could go tomorrow. I may have only a week left. I may have a month left. We don't know. There is no way to say. But yet we continue to live — we continue day by day. We'll wake up in the morning, we'll sleep at night, and perhaps for some of us, the thought won't even cross our mind: "I have to leave this place."

The Story of the King and the Journey to the Ākhirah

There is another very famous story of a king. One of his attendants gave him an example. He said, "Oh King, what if one day you have to travel to a place that is unincorporated — nothing's there, it's a jungle — what would you do?" The king said, "Well, I would make sure that I take all my entourage with me. I would make sure that all the preparations before I go there are made — that I have a place to stay, a place to eat, some form of food coming in, people taking care of me, and what not." He said, "You're sure you would do this?" He said, "Yes, of course. How can I just go to a random island and not ensure beforehand that everything is prepared for me there?"

So he said, "SubhanAllah — what about what you've done for the ākhirah? What have you done for the journey that you are going to undertake, which is definite? What have you done for that?" The king was quiet. He said, "You're right. What have we done for that journey, for that destination?"

This life — if you actually think about it — the hereafter is endless. Once a person leaves this life, whatever is to come is endless. You can't even compare — you can't compare something which is eternal and endless to something which is restricted to time. Even if it's a hundred years, how can you compare a hundred years to eternity? You can't compare them. But just to bring it to attention, to bring it to our mind so that we can try to understand it — it is a small speck compared to eternity.

So that life, that destination which is eternity — not potentially eternity, but which we know is eternity, which is a fact, is eternity — and this life which could potentially be a hundred years or ninety years or eighty years — we are so focused on it. We have made so many preparations for it. We have done so much for it. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't add up.

What is with you is going to perish — it is for a short while. And by nature, human beings are attracted to things that are going to last for a long time. You go and buy furniture or appliances — you don't buy appliances and think, "Okay, what's going to last me one year?" You think, "Okay, can you guarantee me this is going to last for the next thirty years?" And on top of that you buy a warranty on it too. Something goes bad — you have a warranty to make sure it will last. We want things that can last. But yet when we understand that the nature of the dunya is something so temporary, so feeble — we've put all of our focus and all of our attention to it.

Of course — and we say this quite often — that doesn't mean the shaykh is now saying you've got to resign from your job and sit in the masjid. This is part of life. These are part of your hajaat. These are part of your daruriyyat. You are going to have to eat to survive, sleep to survive, work to take care of your family. But the focus in all of that has to be Allah. If I wake up in the morning and I'm going to work, I'm going to work for the sake of Allah — not for anything else. If I'm making money, that money — the way I spend it — has to be dictated by Allah.

Five Questions on the Day of Judgment

It comes in one hadith:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2416)

On the Day of Judgment, when a man is brought in front of Allah — when he stands in front of Allah — he will not move from that spot until he is asked about five things. For example: عَنْ شَبَابِهِ فِيمَا أَفْنَاهُ — his youth: where did he lose it? What did he do with it? And among them is his wealth: مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ — where did he acquire that wealth? And وَفِيمَا أَنْفَقَهُ — where did he spend it? How are you making money — is it halal? Is it a halal income, a halal source? That is important. And where am I spending it? Am I spending it in those things that are pleasing to Allah?

Every Day Is a Subtraction, Not an Addition

That day is coming — it is approaching. This is a completely Western idea that we have — that with every year that goes by, I'm increasing in age. But the Muslim knows that the day that you are going to die is already muqaddar — already set from Allah. Which means what? Every minute that goes by, every day that goes by, is not increasing — it is decreasing from your life. It is decreasing.

So for example, if it is muqaddar 'ind Allah that a person is going to live till the age of eighty, with every minute and every day that goes by, he is losing his time — not gaining his time. He is losing time. This is where the attention and focus has to be: the ākhirah. A person is working — I am working for the sake of the ākhirah. If I am with my family and carrying out my responsibilities, I am doing it for the ākhirah. If I am doing 'ibādah, I am not doing it because other people are watching me. I am not coming to Jumu'ah because it is the cultural Muslim identity — "I have to do it, if I don't, somebody's going to say something, my mom's going to say something, my dad's going to say something, my wife is going to say something." I am not doing it for this reason.

If I am praying, if I am reciting Quran, if I am doing whatever I am doing — it is not because it is a cultural norm, it is not because I am expected to do it as a Muslim. It is because Allah has dictated:

Each individual is going to end up seeing what he strove for, what he worked for, what he sacrificed — that is what you are going to see in the hereafter. If you did not work for the hereafter, do not expect to get anything in the hereafter. And if you work for the hereafter, inshallah, with sincerity, for the sake of Allah:

One who fears standing in front of his Lord — who fears the questions that will be asked of him — and he is preparing for that day and that moment, for him there are two gardens.

May Allah make us from among those individuals who have the fear of Allah, who have the khashyah of Allah.

The Quran is a reminder for the one who has khashyah. It is a reminder for all, but the one who has the fear of Allah — he is the one who is going to benefit from it.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Announcements

As we get up, if we can move up — if there is any space, if there is any spot that is open, please fill that.

A couple of announcements inshallah:

Number one: Please pass the donation boxes from left to right. Donate generously — sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah. It is narrated in Muṣannaf 'Abd al-Razzāq that the Prophet ﷺ said: charity given during the day of Jumu'ah is greater in reward than any other day.

Reminder: There is no curb parking. Please do not park on the curbs behind the seminary building or on Swift Highway. We have additional parking spaces in the used car lot.

Join us for our weekly programs. We have a team Fajr program that continues — it happens every Saturday inshallah. It is going to continue tomorrow. Fajr iqāmah is at 5:15. We have a Tafsīr program that happens every Tuesday after Maghrib — currently we are covering Sūrah al-Ḥajj.

Registrations are open for the following programs:

Tadrīs — integrated high school program: high school education in an Islamic environment. Classes begin from August 14th.

Tafhīm — weekend program which consists of 8–16 week semesters. The subjects covered vary between Islamic law, theology, prophetic biography, and more. We have a fall semester and a spring semester — the fall semester will begin from August 19th. For more information on any of these programs, you can visit masjidds.org.

Du'ā Requests

There is a du'ā request for brother Waseem Farooqi who passed away in Karachi — may Allah forgive him and grant him Jannat al-Firdaws. As well as Nadi Arshad, who also passed away — may Allah grant him Jannat al-Firdaws.

One of our dear respected scholars from the U.S., Mufti Abdullah Nana, was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. He underwent surgery — alhamdulillah, from what I have been told, he is doing well. We ask Allah to grant him shifā.

There is also another du'ā for brother Jalāl al-Dīn who is in critical condition in the hospital currently. May Allah grant him shifā — complete, immediate, lasting, and established.

For any of the Muslims in the community and Muslims abroad, wherever they may be — may Allah grant them shifā, āfiyah, and siḥḥah. Those who have passed away from our community — may Allah forgive them and grant them Jannat al-Firdaws. Āmīn.

Second Khuṭbah

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and ask His help and forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomever Allah guides, there is no one to misguide him. And whomever He misguides, there is no one to guide him. And we bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, there is no partner for Him. And we bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

He said ﷺ: "The most merciful of my Ummah is Abū Bakr. The most severe of them in the command of Allah is 'Umar. The most honest of them is Ḥayā' — 'Uthmān. The most just of them is 'Alī. And Fāṭimah is the master of the women of the people of Jannah. And al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn are the masters of the youth of the people of Jannah. And Ḥamzah is the lion of Allah and the lion of His Messenger." May Allah be pleased with them all.

And the Prophet ﷺ said: "Allah is with my companions — do not take them as targets after me. Whoever loves them, he loves them with his love; and whoever hates them, he hates them with his hatred. And the best of the generations is my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them."

O Allah, help those who help the religion of Muhammad ﷺ and make us of them. And abandon those who abandon the religion of Muhammad ﷺ and do not make us of them.

Allah says:

O servants of Allah, may Allah have mercy on you. Allah commands justice, goodness, and giving to those who are near, and He forbids immorality, evil, and transgression.