Worshipping Allah عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ Alone (with British Sign Language) - Shaykh Abdul Hadi

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

In the name of Allah, we praise Him, we ask His help, and we ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the misdeeds of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whosoever He sends astray, none can guide him.

And I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

Amma ba'd: Indeed, the best speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ. The worst of matters are those newly invented, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

Two Fundamental Conditions for Success

Brothers and sisters, to be successful here and in the Hereafter, there are two fundamental conditions — basic requirements. First, iman: to believe in the oneness of Allah firmly. And second, righteous good deeds, amal saliha. Without these, we cannot attain Jannah.

Tawheed al-Uluhiyyah — Worship Belongs to Allah Alone

One of the most important aspects of tawheed is relating to ibadah — tawheed al-uluhiyyah. We believe that there is no God to be worshipped except Allah. All aspects of ibadah should be only for Allah — like salat, giving charity, zakat, going to Hajj, sacrifice, or any other act of worship. These must all be only for Allah.

As Allah says in Surah al-Dhariyat, verse 56:

"I did not create the jinn and human beings except to worship Me alone."

And Allah says in Surah al-Bayyinah, verse 5:

We are also commanded by Allah — this is His command — that we must be serious in ibadah. We have to perform ibadah for Allah alone, and we have to be earnest in this.

And during our salat, in each and every rak'ah, we say when we recite Surah al-Fatihah:

"You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help."

All messengers — from the first prophet to the last — regardless of their time, geographical background, and locations, they all focused on this message: to worship only Allah without associating anyone with Him. Upon this foundation, upon this iman, we can construct the building of righteous good deeds. Amal saliha will be accepted by Allah. As long as our iman is strong, we can hope that our practical life will also reflect it and will be fruitful.

Knowing Allah — The Key to True Worship

If we want to show our seriousness and our commitment to worship Allah alone, then at least we have to learn something about Allah Himself. If we don't have basic knowledge relating to Allah, it is very hard to obey Him, worship Him, or follow His instructions.

Those who have committed any type of shirk — who have associated anyone with Allah — the basic reason for their failure is that they underestimated Allah. As Allah says:

"They did not recognize the true worth of Allah."

Who is Allah? What do we know about Allah? Allah is Rabb al-'Aalameen — Lord of the Universe. Allah is Al-Khaliq — the Creator of each and every one of us, regardless of who we are, how big, powerful, pious or ordinary. Allah is the Creator of everyone and all of creation. Allah is Al-Razzaq — the Provider. Allah is the Controller of the entire Universe. We are all answerable to Allah for our actions and words, for whatever we are doing. We are answerable to Allah on the Day of Judgment.

With this understanding, when we stand up for salah, for example, we should think: in front of Whom are we going to stand? What are we going to ask? How are we going to please Allah? This is a beautiful method of ibadah.

The Hadith of Ihsan

The Prophet ﷺ described, in response to the question of Jibreel (the angel), the beautiful method of ibadah — mal-ihsan. He said: when you stand up for salah, or when you do any act of worship, you should imagine you are standing in front of Allah and asking something from Him directly. Although we cannot see Allah, He can see and hear us.

"Worship Allah as though you see Him, and if you do not see Him, know that He sees you." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 50; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 8)

But those who are involved in any act of shirk do not have basic knowledge of the power of Allah. The Creator of not only this planet, this earth, but the whole universe — thousands of moons, suns, stars, and many other things we don't even know. How could they associate anyone from the creation as a partner with Allah? There is no sense in that. There is no logic in it.

Du'a — The Weapon of the Believer

One of the acts of ibadah is du'a — supplication, praying and asking Allah for our needs. If we understand the meaning of du'a, it is a very powerful weapon for the true believer. Du'a is a source of strength between the human being and Allah. Du'a is a recognition of our humbleness, our weakness, and the power of Allah.

And Allah says in Surah al-Naml, verse 62:

"Who responds to the distressed when they cry to Him? Is there another god beside Allah? Yet you are hardly mindful."

And Allah says in Surah al-Baqarah, verse 186:

"Whenever My servant asks you about Me, tell them I am quite near. I hear and answer the call of the caller whenever they call Me." This is an offer from Allah for each and every person, because Allah is Rabb al-'Aalameen. He listens to all of us. But we have to be serious in our du'a.

Those who do not turn to Allah and do not ask Him will be considered arrogant, and Allah does not like them. They will enter the Hellfire with humiliation. We need to make a sincere effort in du'a. Those who are careless, reluctant or hesitant to ask Allah — Allah will not accept such du'as. We have to be serious in our du'a.

The Example of Ibrahim (peace be upon him)

According to our faith, our belief, our iman in Allah, we will obey, perform righteous good deeds, and sacrifice anything for Allah. For example, many people at least claim to be followers of the Abrahamic religion. Look at Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his life — strong belief in the oneness of Allah, the tawheed of Allah. And he sacrificed many things and was successful in his challenges and hard times when he conveyed this message — the message of the oneness of Allah, the message of tawheed.

Starting from his own family members, they became enemies of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). And not only this — the authorities of the time tried to burn him alive. Can you imagine? Because of this tawheed, they tried to deport him from his birthplace. And he left all of this behind to please Allah, to gain the pleasure of Allah. He migrated from his hometown to an unknown destination.

His whole life is an example to others. Allah presented him as a model, as an example to all. Everyone who visits Makkah al-Mukarramah to perform Umrah or Hajj will remember Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him), his family, and their sacrifices in the way of Allah.

When a pilgrim arrives at the Miqat, the appropriate place, after spending a great deal of money, effort, and energy, wearing the ihram, he raises the Talbiyah:

What is the Talbiyah? Is this a cultural thing? Or just chanting? No. This is a serious declaration from us, from the haji, from the pilgrims, about tawheed. All praise, all grace, belongs to Allah. He has no partner in any sense, in any way. So they have to understand the meaning of this Talbiyah as well.

The Example of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Companions

After Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him), we see our noble Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his sacrifices throughout his life to please Allah and to gain His pleasure. Then those who followed our Prophet ﷺ — the companions, the Sahabah — their lives were an explanation of the verse in Surah al-An'am, where Allah says in verse 162:

"Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my life, and my death belong to Allah, the Lord of the worlds — to Allah alone."

A Warning Against Compromise in Faith

Unfortunately, many brothers and sisters are not ready to give up even their desires that contradict Islamic shari'ah and evil things that go against the teaching of the Quran and the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. They are not ready to leave prohibited things. Some even give priority to their bad habits and cultural values over the teaching of the Quran and Sunnah. Some even compromise with shirk and with bid'ah to please family members, without concern for Allah's orders.

Where is tawheed then? Where is iman billahi? So be firm in iman and be strong in your faith.

I seek Allah's forgiveness for me and you and for all Muslims from every sin. So seek His forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Second Part of the Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The end is for the righteous. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Trustworthy, and upon his family and companions, and those who follow him with good until the Day of Recompense.

Brothers and sisters, there are questions we must ask ourselves: Do we truly believe in Allah seriously? Do we consider Him our Creator? Do we believe that He is our Controller? Is there any place where we can go and commit sins and hide from Allah? There is not a single place to hide from Allah or escape from His control.

So we have to make our iman stronger. We must increase our love for Allah, because the more we love Him, the more we will obey Him and keep ourselves away from wrong actions and prohibited things. Fear Allah and be dutiful to your Lord. Engage yourself in righteous good deeds.

Worshipping Allah is only truly possible by knowing Allah and His beautiful Names and Attributes. It is said about the polytheists that they have not appraised Allah according to His true appraisal. So all kinds of worship must be for Allah alone.

O brothers, leave sins and bad deeds. O servants of Allah, be righteous. Be believers in Allah. There is no place for you to hide your sins from Allah. Be truthful with Allah. Be sincere in worship. And avoid all kinds of polytheism.

Du'a — Closing Supplication

O Allah, bless Muhammad and the people of Muhammad, as You have blessed Ibrahim and the people of Ibrahim. You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious.

O Allah, make Islam and the Muslims honoured. O Allah, support Islam and the Muslims. O Allah, purify their blood, their wealth, and their affairs.

"O our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. And if You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will surely be among the losers."

"O our Lord, do not cause our hearts to deviate after You have guided us. Grant us mercy from Yourself. You are the Bestower."

"O our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the torment of the Fire."

O Allah, we ask You for guidance, for piety, for forgiveness, and for protection. O Allah, protect us from all the trials of this world and the torment of the Hereafter. O Allah, we ask You for forgiveness and for protection in this world and in the Hereafter.

"Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Glory, above what they ascribe. And peace be upon the messengers. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds."