"Enter into Islam wholeheartedly..." - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Khutbah al-Ula — Opening Sermon

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْهُ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَفِيُّهُ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ وَخَلِيلُهُ أَرْسَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَى النَّاسِ كَافَّةً بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا فَبَلَّغَ الرِّسَالَةَ وَأَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ وَنَصَحَ الْأُمَّةَ وَتَرَكَنَا عَلَى الْمَحَجَّةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ لَيْلُهَا كَنَهَارِهَا لَا يَزِيغُ عَنْهَا إِلَّا هَالِكٌ فَصَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ وَسَلَامُهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَمَنِ اهْتَدَى بِهَدْيِهِ وَاسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِهِ وَدَعَا بِدَعْوَتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

أَحِبَّتِي فِي اللَّهِ وَفِي الْإِسْلَامِ — I urge you and myself to have taqwa of Allah and to excel in goodness, for indeed Allah is with those who have taqwa, those who are the people of ihsan.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Islam, I start by praising Allah and sending blessings and salutations upon our beloved messenger, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

What Does It Mean to Be a Muslim?

I just now called you my brothers and sisters in Islam. This word — Islam and Muslims — is one that we all use and know, but it is important that we remind ourselves what it actually means. What does it actually mean to be a Muslim? What does Islam mean?

My brothers, you might be saying: we know what Islam means — it is to submit yourself to Allah, and through that submission we will attain peace in this world and in the Hereafter. But Allah commands in the Quran:

Enter into submission — into Islam — all of it, wholeheartedly, every single bit of it. What you are not allowed to do as a Muslim is a half measure: "I accept certain aspects of Islam but not others. I don't mind the personal worship, but I am against the laws and rules." This is not being a Muslim.

Allah has given us many commandments and many prohibitions in the Quran, and so has the Prophet ﷺ. The way we look at those and the way we treat those should reflect the claim that we make as Muslims — we submit. We submit ourselves to Allah and His Messenger.

Who Is Islam?

The other day a young man came to me asking questions — and nowadays there are many controversial questions that come up. What does Islam say about polygamy? What does Islam say about homosexuality? What does Islam say about abortion? He had a whole list. Allah guides us and him and all of the believers.

I said to him: Who is Islam? When you say "Islam says this, Islam says that" — who is this Islam that you are talking about? Because the moment you change the tone and say, "What does Allah say about this? What does the Prophet say about this?" — all of a sudden you understand the weight of the question. You speak about it in a more respectful tone.

But we sometimes say, "Well, Islam this, Islam that." We are talking about our Creator — Allah — the One by Whose permission we eat and speak and our hearts are beating, the One Who gave us life and can take it away, the One Who will judge us, the One Who sent us guidance through the Prophets. That is Who we are talking about.

Now you can ask: "Sheikh, Imam, Ustadh, I don't understand this particular issue regarding Islam — can you explain it to me?" But what you are not allowed to do is dare to question Allah. Who are you? Who are we to question the Almighty? And if you have already accepted that you are a Muslim, then all you have to do is submit.

This goes for all of the laws in our religion — all of them. We believe in every single statement uttered by our Prophet ﷺ. We believe in every single statement in the Quran. We believe in every single ethic and moral that has been taught to us by our Prophet and by Allah. And we obey and we follow. We may have shortcomings, we may not always understand the wisdoms behind things, sometimes we may want more information — but we submit.

The Example of the Prophets and Companions

The same way Ibrahim (peace be upon him) submitted — "Leave your family in the desert," "Sacrifice your son," "Enter into the fire" — Allah shows us the example of the Prophets and how they submitted to Allah. And the example is also in the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, and how they submitted.

Islam — the moment you enter it, you leave at the door the notion of choice. The moment you enter into Islam, you give up what you want to do, what you think is right, what you think is correct, and you submit to Allah and His Messenger.

When the banning of alcohol was revealed — although it was done in stages — at the final stage, when the Sahabah had been drinking, Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that when the ayah came declaring it haram, they had it all in front of them. Keep in mind, these were Companions and believers who were accustomed to drinking; they had it in their homes. He said: "Get rid of it — immediately." There was no "But can we at least keep the ones we have already bought?" There was no questioning, there was no challenging — there was only submitting.

The smaller laws, the ones that affect the community, the ones that affect the person — the morals, the ethics, the halal, the haram — you do not distinguish. Allah connects our submitting to Him with our belief in Him. You cannot separate them. You cannot say, "I believe in Allah, but this aspect of Islam I don't accept."

There Is No Choice When Allah Has Decreed

There are a few things we need to look at. One is: how can we increase our submitting to Allah? The other is: why is it that we now have people selectively choosing the aspects of Islam they like? And also — when we are teaching Islam, when we are propagating Islam, when we are talking about our faith — we should speak about it in a way that shows we are proud of it. We are meant to be spreading it. We are meant to be the people who represent all of it. You do not distinguish. Every aspect of our faith — all of it. Do not shy away. You are following the ways of the Prophets.

We all know what was happening in the world with the Qatar World Cup, where people were saying, "Why are you doing this? Why are you banning alcohol? Why are you not allowing us to do this?" The answer is very simple: we are Muslims. We don't do that. We don't accept that. We are Muslims. One of the representatives who was speaking said: "Do they expect us to change our religion for 28 days?"

Now, the problem is — you can ask all day: "Change this, don't do this, we don't like this about your laws, we don't like this about Islam." If you're not Muslim, that is fine — we'll call you to Islam, we'll explain the wisdoms behind it. But as Muslims, Allah says:

It is not befitting — not allowed — for a believing man or a believing woman to have any choice in a matter if Allah and His Messenger have decreed it. You submit.

Submitting Does Not Mean We Don't Understand the Wisdoms

Now, submitting to the will of Allah, to the laws of Allah, does not mean that we do not understand the wisdoms behind them — we do. This is why, when someone asks you: for example, a young sister might say, "I am struggling with the hijab. What are the benefits of the hijab? Why should I wear it?" — the first thing we must say to her is: Sister, Allah said so. It is in the Quran. The Prophet ﷺ commanded it. Full stop. That is the first step. And that should be enough.

When the Qiblah was changed, there were no questions. When alcohol was banned, there were no questions from the best of Muslims. When the hijab was revealed, Aisha bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) said that when the ayat of hijab were revealed, some of the Sahabiyyat were outside — and they immediately took some of their garments and covered themselves. Immediately. They did not wait to go home, to purchase new garments. This is what it means to be a Muslim.

I mentioned this example before: one time the Prophet ﷺ commanded the Sahabah to sit down while he was in the masjid. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was outside — and the moment he heard the Prophet ﷺ say "sit down," he sat down — right there outside. This is what it means to be a Muslim.

We Do Not Pick and Choose

We don't pick and choose. If it is haram, it is haram — tell them it is haram. If it is allowed, it is allowed.

My sisters, I know some of the things being pushed nowadays is that polygamy is something you should fight against. Look — between you and your husband, you may put any stipulation you want. Tell him: I am the only one for you. That is allowed; according to some schools of Islamic law you can put it even in the marriage contract — لَا بَأْسَ. Put it in the contract: I will be your only wife. But you know what you are not allowed to do? You cannot say it is a bad thing. You can never say that. Who are we to disagree with Allah?

مَن نَحنُ؟ Where did that audacity — that جُرأة — come from, that we are taking apart our religion bit by bit until there is nothing left?

What my sisters and brothers should say about these issues is: we believe in it — آمَنَّا — we submit to Allah's will and command. But Allah allowed me to ask my husband, or I personally don't want it — that is fine. But you can never push back against the deen. If you do, what happens? You are no longer Muslim. The moment you say "I disagree with Islam" — what did I say in the beginning? There is no such thing as "Islam" that you can disagree with. You are disagreeing with Allah and His Messenger. You cannot do that.

Fear Allah. Fear Allah. You will be asked about these things.

To be a Muslim means you accept everything in Islam:

Enter into Islam wholeheartedly, and do not follow the footsteps of Shaitan.

Bit by bit we are going backwards if we do not stop ourselves. We need to start teaching ourselves, our children, everyone — we are Muslims. Every aspect of Islam we believe in. We believe it is the best thing Allah has given us. It is the guidance given to mankind. All of it. Yes, all of it — without any اسْتِثْنَاء, without any exception. This is what it means to be a Muslim.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Khutbah al-Thaniyah — Second Sermon

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَبِهِ نَسْتَعِينُ وَلَا عُدْوَانَ إِلَّا عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ

My brothers and sisters, we have to understand what it means to be believers. It is not only to pray. It is not only to fast. It is a complete way of life and it is a belief system. As Muslims, we believe that we have with us the guidance that came from Allah. This guidance is that which distinguishes between truth and falsehood, right from wrong, moral from immoral. And as a Muslim, you believe you are on the right side of all of that — every value, every ethic, every moral, every way of life. We believe that this is what is right. We call towards it, we stand firm with it, we do not waver.

Why We Must Not Waver

For several reasons: the moment we start wavering, the moment we start entertaining other values and other ideas, people will not completely understand what Islam is. So we are misrepresenting the faith. And thus people, even if they enter it, they will enter a distorted version of it.

We have to represent Islam the way it is. Today there should be no difference between how Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Aisha, Hafsa — all these great Companions of the Prophet ﷺ — presented Islam and the way we do. There should be no difference. There is no difference. There cannot be any difference. Their morals are our morals. Their values are our values. Their way is our way. Anyone who doesn't want that — the door is there. It is very simple: this is what Islam is; accept it. That is what it means to be a Muslim.

The Danger of Defining Your Own Islam

Let's not — I know we live in an era where we are labelling everything differently. These days we don't know what a man is, what a woman is — and now we also have to question what a Muslim is? Is it a matter of identity, where you define your own Islam?

I'll give you an example. There was a sister — I think I have used too many examples with sisters; I am sure I used some brothers as well, it is just an example, I love all my brothers and sisters — she said: "I will worship Allah the way I want. It doesn't matter if I pray five times a day. You don't define how I worship Allah." If you don't pray, you are not going to be a Muslim by that definition of Islam. That is your definition of Islam.

If we start doing things like this, where we don't respect, adhere to, and follow the commands of Allah — where we cannot say that yes, our women cover up because Allah said so; yes, our men provide for the family because Allah said so; yes, the men are managing the household and are in charge; yes, the only marriage and relationship we accept is between a man and a woman and only within a marriage — yes, these are our values and laws, and we stand by them because they are in the Quran and in the Sunnah of our Prophet ﷺ.

If we don't protect the ones that are being challenged now, then it will come to the Salah, it will come to the fasting, and everything will be destroyed. "You can fast any month if you want, you can pray any way you want" — and so on.

Let us fear Allah and become true Muslims. Ask Allah to forgive our sins and our shortcomings, and to make us among the true followers of Islam.

Al-Fatihah.