[0:00]Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Bismillah walhamdulillah wasalatu wassalamu ala abdillahi wa rasulihi Muhammad wa ala alihi wasahbihi ajmain. My brothers and sisters, a question that we may be asked, why are you a Muslim? Why is it that you have chosen the faith of Islam? Many people born Muslim have probably not even thought about it. But a day may come when someone might ask you and you might not have thought of the deep reasoning and so you may not have at times perhaps due to lack of knowledge, a convincing response. And if you have embraced the fold of Islam later on in life, mashallah congratulations may Allah bless and grant goodness not just to you but to all of us and may Allah bless humanity at large and guide us all. Amin. But we need to know when we say lafi, repeating the verse of the Quran, the words of Allah, there is no compulsion in deen in the religion. What does it mean? It means no one can force you to enter the fold of Islam. Once you enter the fold of Islam, you have adopted something through your own free will that you have chosen as your faith. And there is a set of rules and regulations that are unaltered, not changed. You have no right to come and start changing things and chopping and still call it Islam. Islam is a religion that has been set by Allah, the creator, the maker and the messenger peace be upon him related it to us. Those rules and regulations collectively are known as Islam. But if I come and I say, I'm a Muslim, I'm required to follow that set of rules and regulations. If I think that no, I don't agree with X Y Z, then is it fair to call yourself a Muslim? That's a question. Because people come and try and change things and bring that which goes against the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. And they say, no, but I am Muslim, by the way. By the way, by what way? You'd rather be honest and say, look, do you know what? I don't agree, and that's it. Yes, if there is a question in your mind and you're inquisitive, it happens to everyone with ignorance, that sometimes you are a Muslim, but there are a few concepts you may not have grasped so well. So all you need is enlightenment and all you need is a little bit of knowledge and you will get the answers. So that doesn't make you a non-Muslim simply because you haven't understood a thing or two or you haven't grasped some aspects and concepts of Islam. But as time goes on and you learn and you continue to ask and you find out and you begin to grasp it better, you become consolidated in your faith. And this is why it's important to have knowledge. Yes, the pillars of Islam, those are known. As you were entering the fold of Islam, or if you were a born Muslim, as you grew older and you became a teenager, you became an adult, it was your duty to start finding out, even prior to that actually. So the pillars, no compromise. When it comes to the in-depth teachings, you may not understand some of the concepts, because not everyone is that knowledgeable. So Allah says, If you're unaware of revelation, if you don't know and you're ignorant and you don't understand, perhaps ask those with knowledge, ask those who know. They will respond to you with evidence and at the same time, it will enlighten you from the ignorance that you had of the revelation. But if I were asked, why am I a Muslim? That's a very good question. Why am I a Muslim? I am a Muslim because I believe I was created by a maker. And I believe that maker is the only one who deserves any act of worship. I want to have a direct relationship with my maker that's why I'm a Muslim. I don't want to go via a stick or a stone or a tree or a grave or another person. I want to go me and Allah, me and my maker who made me and made entire creation. That's why I'm a Muslim. Because Islam teaches submission to the maker alone, no one else. I go to Allah. Yes, I have learned what revelation has brought through the messengers. I respect and honor the messengers, all of them. That's why I'm a Muslim. I believe Allah Almighty, the maker, the creator of entire creation, would never leave us. Would never leave us without a message as to why he made us, as to what he wants from us. I believe I'm a Muslim because I'm so sophisticated that when I die, I cannot just disappear into thin air. I have to go back to the one who had me before I was even born. That's why I'm a Muslim. I believe in the afterlife. I believe in accountability. That's why I'm a Muslim. I respect all the messengers. I believe that Adam, may peace be upon him, was the first of my species. That's why I'm a Muslim. I believe that Eve, oh Hawwa, may peace be upon her, was the first female from the species. I believe Allah created us male and female. That's why I'm a Muslim. I believe that Allah taught Adam, and Adam taught his children, and the children taught their children. And I believe that from among them, there were messengers, thousands of them. Those I know, those I don't know, all of them taught one thing, to worship your maker alone. That's it. What did they teach? One thing. Who do you worship? Not a single messenger said, worship someone or something besides your maker. All of them said, worship your maker alone. Jesus, may peace be upon him, a great messenger of Allah. We respect him. We will never have a single negative thought about him. His mother, the Virgin Mary, may peace be upon her, amazing, very respectful. We, we will be in the deepest of pain and sadness if anyone were to blaspheme them or to utter utterances that were belittling to Jesus, may peace be upon him or his mother, the Virgin Mary, may peace be upon her. The same applies to the Prophet Moses, may peace be upon him. And Aaron, or Harun Musa, alayhi salaam. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon all of them. Noah, or Abraham, or Ismael, or Isaac, or whoever else it may be, that's the English language, the English names. But the Arabic, Ishaq, Ismail, Ibrahim, Yaqub, Yusuf, whoever else they were. We respect all of them. Lut alayhi salaam, the Prophet Lot, may peace be upon him, we respect him and we believe the Almighty sent the best of the time to the people. Those who were the most befitting. He would not be sending people who contradicted the very message that they brought. I think it was the Prophet Shuayb, may peace be upon him, saying, I'm not going to go against that which I have told you not to do. You find me doing it, but I told you, you don't do it. I mean, come on. May Allah Almighty grant us ease and goodness. So I believe that the Almighty who made me is the only one who's owed worship, and I will always respect all of the messengers. I followed Nabi Muhammad, may peace be upon him. I believe he was the highest, the best of creation, the most noble of all prophets. And I do believe that every word that was revealed by the Almighty to the messengers is the truth. That's why I'm a Muslim. I believe that I will surrender to the Almighty. He has supreme control of entire existence. That's why I'm a Muslim. And I believe he's allowed me a certain leeway. He's given me certain energies, certain understanding, certain control over certain aspects through his permission. And then he's tested me to say, I'm going to give you a brain, I'm going to give you energy, I'm going to give you ability, I'm going to give you understanding, and let's see, if as you go on to the earth for a few decades perhaps in the case of the majority. Are you going to utilize what we've given you in order to come back to us and worship us alone and understand that we are, or I am your Lord? Subhanallah. Or are you just going to go and do as you please, knowing that oppression is not allowed. You know there is a Hadith Qudsi, I have prohibited oppression for myself, and I have prohibited oppression amongst yourselves, so do not oppress one another. Don't do wrong.
[9:44]Now a man comes and says, I don't believe in anything. I just came onto the earth. I'm a Muslim because I believe I'm too sophisticated for that type of statement. I just came. You just came. Did you arrive at this mosque, this masjid today, just by chance or did you make an effort to get here? If you made an effort, it's proof and evidence that there is a Lord who created you. Because nothing just happened coincidentally. For you to come to the Masjid is far greater a chance to happen coincidentally than entire creation to just occur coincidentally. If you understood what I just said. Which one is easier? It's easier for me to just go to the Musk and say, it happened. Okay. Then entire creation is much more difficult meaning it is Allah Almighty who creates. So I'm looking at you today. I have a feeling. I'd like to spend more time with you. I don't have the time. Something is wrong. Will I ever get it? Yes, I will. Where? On the other side. I can sit with you forever. Subhan Allah. So relax. I want things. I need things. You cannot have everything you want here on earth. But Allah promises you. And all the rules and regulations he made are just and fair in order to instill discipline in mankind so that you lead the best of lives. When Allah tells you, we have predestined things, do you know what he says? Don't become arrogant because Allah gave you something. It was predestined as a test for you. That's what it was. You became loaded, wealthy. You have everything. You are the most good-looking. You have power, authority, whatever you may have. Hang on, relax. There is someone above you who's just testing you with all of this. That's your maker. Allah says, when you get, don't become arrogant. Remember it's a test. And when you lose, don't lose faith. Allah says, don't become too saddened by what you've lost. Don't become too sad. Why? These are the days of the world. What's the worst thing that can happen to you and I? People will say, death. That's actually not the worst thing. It might just be one of the best things that ever occurred, but you don't know. Man is so weak that we don't even know what lies beyond our planet, except that which we have seen and we are discovering more and more on a daily basis. But man knows that there is something and I don't know what exactly it is. And yet he says, if I haven't seen my maker, I don't believe in him. But he knows he hasn't yet seen all the planets, but bottom of his heart, we're going to see them one day. Well, I'm going to see my maker one day too. Subhanallah. The one who made all of this, Oh our Lord, oh Allah, oh our maker. Oh maker of entire creation, you have not created all of this for nothing in vain just to pass time. It's created for a purpose, for a reason. That's why I'm a Muslim. I want to go back to Allah. I want to lead a life of discipline. I don't want to intoxicate my mind in any way because it's a gift that distinguishes myself from animal. I will not have a single intoxicant because I don't want to tamper with that brain that has distinguished me. I'm a Muslim therefore. I'd like to lead a life of discipline. I'd like to be sober. I'd like to be a person who has morals and values. That's why I'm a Muslim. I want to respect everyone on earth. That's why I'm a Muslim. I want to stand for justice. That's why I'm a Muslim. I want to be fair, whether it's against myself, my parents, whoever else it may be. That's why I'm a Muslim. These are the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. And I do know that anything that was uttered in the Quran, anything that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, taught authentically, cannot be wrong. Even if science says something else, science will change over time. It will come back to what Allah, and it has already in so many things, come back and confirmed what Allah and his messenger, have said. It is already come back. So, beyond your understanding and mine, a hundred years, 200, a thousand years from today, people will discover that oh, this was actually the truth. I will not allow myself to die in disbelief, simply because I did not grasp one concept of that. I will rather surrender and say, if Allah has said it, I believe it. That's it. May Allah Almighty grant us ease. So my brothers, my sisters, like I say, you need to ask yourself, why am I a Muslim? And there are proper solid answers. You will study the other faiths. I'm a Muslim because I do believe, with all due respect to the other faiths, there have been tremendous temperings in the revelations of the other faiths. And I've studied a lot. Tremendous. Look at how many versions there are of some of the testaments. Mind-boggling. Look at how changed things are. Mind-boggling. Look at how things were prohibited, they became permissible. Islam is one faith. There will always be people from among the Muslims who will consider the prohibited prohibited right up to the end and the permissible permissible right up to the end. No temper. One might ask why didn't Allah choose to protect the previous ones?
[15:01]I'm not Allah. But Allah chose to protect the final one for reasons known to him. And Allah says, we know. It's, it's a completion of the message. That's what it is. If you look at the commandments of Allah Subhanallah Wa Ta'ala, they're all the same. You look at the faiths. May Allah Almighty grant us strength. So, I'm a Muslim because I'm totally, totally convinced after deep study. Totally convinced that, you know what? When I put my head down on the ground and I say, oh, you who made me, you are the greatest. I am so reassured to say, when I close my eyes, it's going to be the happiest day ever. I'm going to return to my maker, and I know he's merciful, he's kind, he's forgiving, he is amazing. I can't wait to get back to him. My Lord is the highest. I can't wait. I have no doubt. The minute you start taking names, you put your head on the ground and you're thinking of another person, you're thinking of a of an article, an artifact, you're thinking of a building, you're thinking of something made, a tree, or a stone, or the oceans or something else. You know what? You're risking something that only will come once. I'd rather say, oh, you who made me, I worship you alone. No risks involved. Zero. So there's no risk when it comes to Islam. Worshipping Allah. That's what it is. And yes, discipline. I believe all these rules. Yes, they are tough. Tough. Some of them are tough. But they're only there in order to be able to lead a beautiful life of justice and goodness and to succeed truly, to be content and happy. When Allah says, don't look. Don't look. It doesn't mean no. Why should I not look? I'm looking. Well, you'll pay a price for it. That's what it is. If Allah says, do this and you don't want, Allah says, don't consume intoxicants. You say, why shouldn't I? Let me try it out. I'm the adventurous type, you know? Okay, you're going to pay a price for it. I am a Muslim. I won't even do that. Yesterday, someone asked me, filling out a form, have you, have you, do you drink? I said, water, yes. No, do you drink? I said, no, never. I don't even know what it tastes like. I don't believe you. I said, well, if you don't, it's your problem, it's not mine. I'm a Muslim. I've never touched it, and inshallah, I'll never. That's what it is. May Allah protect all of us. May Allah grant strength to the youngsters, young and old who are challenged with addictions. May Allah take you out of the mess. Be strong. We need you. You are part of us. Work on your weakness, cut it out, no matter what it is. You're bad habits. We need you. Cut them out, come back. And inshallah, see the strength of the ummah. May Allah strengthen all of us. I wish we had a little bit more time, but inshallah, I pray that whatever I've said is of benefit to myself and yourselves.
