Upholding Faith, Serving Humanity

Upholding Faith, Serving Humanity

Imam Siraj Wahhaj

Opening

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim), (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - alhamdulillah), (أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ - ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah), (وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ - wahdahu la sharika lah), (وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ - wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh), (أَمَّا بَعْدُ - amma ba'd).

A Living Example of Faith and Service

Brothers and sisters, in my few moments, I want to recognize a sister that probably one or two of you may know. Her name is Asma, from Trinidad and Tobago. She represents to me the kind of person that will help to bring justice in our society. She comes to the masjid every morning at fajr. She never misses a salat.

And she comes into the masjid and not only does she come to pray, but she comes and she cleans up the sister's side. And you may ask the question, why does she come to the masjid every morning for fajr, every morning?

She comes to the masjid every morning because her husband, Sayyid Abdullah, is a pillar in our community. And this brother never misses fajr prayer.

But in recent years, he's losing his sight. And he cannot make it to the masjid himself, so his wife takes him by the hand and brings him to the masjid every day for fajr. I ask Allah to bless both of them with Jannah, upholding faith, serving humanity.

The Universal Message of Islam

Some people mistakenly believe that the Quran is the book of guidance for the Muslims alone. I would argue that believing that the Quran is for the Muslims alone is like believing that Allah is only for the Muslims or the God of the Muslims. If you read the Quran, how often does Allah doesn't speak just to the Muslims? Say, O Muhammad,

"O mankind, I am the messenger of Allah to all of you." (Quran 7:158)

And so 1400 years ago, when Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him came on the scene, he was the only Muslim. And now 1400 years later, 1,500,000,000 Muslims who came from this one man. And when he received the message of Allah, where did he go? He went to his wife who was not a Muslim.

He went to his best friend, Abu Bakr, who was not Muslim. And he went to the people of that area and brought peace and justice in that area. No, Islam is for humanity.

The Growth of Our Community

1981, our masjid, Masjid At-Taqwa, started with 25 African-Americans in a brother's apartment. We represented 100% of our Jama'at. Now in the year 2007, on Yom Juma'ah, we squeezed 1,300 people in the masjid.

And now the African-Americans represent less than 40% of the community. Islam is for humanity. I leave you with this thought.

The Question About the Day of Judgment

A man, a desert Arab, came to the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him. What was his name? We don't know. History doesn't record his name.

He was a desert Arab, and he asked the Prophet a question. And I want to end with the answer of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him in a quick note. He said يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَتَى السَّاعَةُ "O Messenger of Allah, when is the Hour (Day of Judgment)?" And the answer that the Prophet gave him مَاذَا أَعْدَدْتَ لَهَا "What have you prepared for it?" This day of judgment, what did you prepare for it?

He said, حُبَّ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ "The love of Allah and His Messenger."

And our Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said, أَنْتَ مَعَ مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ "You will be with those whom you love." (Sahih al-Bukhari 6171, Sahih Muslim 2639)

The Power of Love for Allah

Never underestimate the power of the love of Allah. If I had a movement, and I wanted to create a movement that was great, a movement that was stand for justice.

And I would build my movement on believers. Those who love Allah and the Messenger. And you will never ever underestimate the power of love.

Our Blessing and Responsibility

Brothers and sisters, we as Americans are blessed. The average American in the course of their lives, would have eaten 50 tons of food. Consume between 13,000 and 16,000 gallons of water.

Yet around the world 1.8 million people die a year because of lack of clean water. So brothers and sisters, if you want to uphold faith, be the foundation of a great movement to serve humanity. Love Allah and His Messenger.

And if we really love Allah and the Messenger, we will make profound changes.

Gratitude and Acknowledgment

I want to personally thank, especially ISNA, and especially Zaytuna Institute, Hamza and I'll tell you why. Over the years many Muslims, have helped Masjid At-Taqwa to grow.

And many of you have never seen Masjid At-Taqwa. Some of you have. And one of the great mistakes that I made, in 1981 when we began Masjid At-Taqwa, in a very blighted area, a dark area.

One of the things that I neglected, a mistake that I made, is that I didn't take pictures of what it was like then.

But if you will come to Masjid At-Taqwa now, and look at it, SubhanAllah, you will see a great Masjid, where the talk of the town, is the renovation of Masjid At-Taqwa. And I want to thank all of you, who donated even a penny, to help make this Masjid what it is today.

I thank ISNA for the donations over the years, Hamza and Zaytuna Institute for the donations, that you have helped us with over the years. May Allah bless you. JazakAllah Khairan.

Closing

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullah.