Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar, la ilaha illallah. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar; wa lillahil hamd.
Alhamdulillah! Today is the blessed day of Eid. We glorify, praise, and thank Allah for His infinite blessings. We thank Allah for giving us the will, the strength and the endurance to observe fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
May Allah accept our fasting, our prayers, our supplications, our charities, and our good deeds. Ramadan came and has gone. It looks like a dream. This should teach us about the short-lived temporary nature of life of this world. There were some amongst us who celebrated Eid with us last year, but they are no longer with us. They have moved from the transitory life on this earth to the eternal life of the hereafter.
Allah has guided us to His deen and without His guidance we would be lost. May Allah (SWT) make us among those who are truly guided; Ameen ya Rabb al-‘Aalameen. The Qur’an tells us that the believers while entering paradise will say:
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلَا أَنْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ
“Praise be to Allah who has guided us to this! We would not have been guided, had Allah not guided us” (AL-A’raf, 7:43).
Allah has brought us together as a Muslim ummah. Our differences in color, race, ethnicity or cultural backgrounds do not divide us from being an ummah; a community of believers. As members of the ummah of Muhammad (SAW), we bear the responsibility to live Islam as our way of life and to convey the message of Islam to all of humanity. We must convey this message kindly, sincerely, and in the wisest of manners, just as all the messengers of Allah did before us.
Allah created man as His vicegerent (khalifa) and honored him over all His other creations. He created everything else in the universe for the service of man. Everything in the creation is a trust (an amanah) from Allah (SWT) to man, and as the khalifa of Allah on earth, man has been assigned to establish a peaceful society and civilization on earth. This is a great honor, yet a difficult task that cannot be fulfilled completely without full cooperation among human beings.
وَتَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى الْبرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى وَلاَ تَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى الإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ
“Help one another in goodness and piety, but do not help one another in sin and transgression” (al-Ma’idah, 5:2).
In this ayah, Allah clearly defines the areas that we should or should not help one another. We are supposed to cooperate with all people regardless of their faith, race, or gender. Such differences should not be an obstacle in cooperating with one another in righteousness and piety. This is the great foundation that Allah set for the Muslim ummah to build their relationships upon.
Encouraging others to do good is one of the many ways that Muslims can cooperate with each other in righteousness. Calling to good includes calling Muslims to the Qur’an and calling non-Muslims to Islam. This is our job and this is where we should be investing a good part of our time. Investment of time, money and resources made in this cause, here in this world, will bear fruits both in this world, and in the hereafter.
While Islam aims to build upright individuals, it also takes interest in building a strong Muslim community. Allah desires the Muslim ummah to be the model for all of humanity. Cooperation is one of the important foundations the community must build upon. Before we can begin working on a community level, individual Muslims must find cooperation among their own families.
The family is the building block of society. Only when a husband and wife find mutual cooperation between each other can they carry out the roles delegated to them. If they cooperate, then they will raise their children in the correct manner, and those children will then become good citizens in the Muslim community and the entire society.
Cooperation must be the basis for our relationships in our various efforts and endeavors, so that our consolidated efforts combine to form a force for good and against evil. Every person has a force and potential in him, and every group has a force and potential in itself. And when these individuals and groups cooperate and unite towards a goal, everyone will benefit. However, if our effort remains scattered about, we will lose momentum and all our efforts and goals will be lost. We need both physical and moral cooperation to reach our goals to accomplish this great task from Allah. May Allah give us the tawfiq to do so.
Brothers and sisters in Islam! As Muslims, we have a responsibility toward all our brothers and sisters in humanity. This is because Allah (SWT) sent prophets and messengers, specifically for their nations, their tribes, or their people. It was only Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the last and final messenger of Allah who was sent for the entire humankind for all times to come. Since the institution of prophethood has come to an end after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the responsibility of guiding humanity now devolves upon Muslims.
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَر وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ
“You are the best nation ever to be produced before mankind. You enjoin the right, forbid the wrong and have iman in Allah” (Aal “Imran, 3:110).
While we should continue to do various types of charitable work towards serving humanity, our prime responsibility is to invite and lead people to the path of Allah (SWT); to tawhid. We need to practice this collective effort to be able to carry on the message of Islam and fulfill the goal of serving the Muslim ummah and the humanity at large. May Allah bless us with the tawfiq to do so, ameen.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Brothers and sisters! Alhamdulillah, we have been positioned to live in North America, a land that is very fertile for the work of da’wah, as people here are hungry for guidance. If we are neglectful of the job we have been assigned to do, we will be held liable and accountable on the Day of Judgment.
We have to fulfill our obligations toward our fellow human beings, and our primary obligation is to inform them the truth, which is contained in the Book of Allah—the best of speeches. We have to invite them to the best of guidance—the guidance of the Prophet (SAW). The Qur’an says,
وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا مِّمَّن دَعَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
“Who could say anything better than someone who summons to Allah and acts rightly and says, ´I am one of the Muslims´?”(Fussilat, 41:33).
While giving da’wah, it is imperative that the caller himself or herself is a person of good conduct and behavior; otherwise the da’wah will have no impact on the person being called. Example is better than precept.
We have to be proud of our Muslim identity. We must treat our fellow human beings with utmost respect. We should reach out to them and pray for them that Allah may guide them and guide us. We should never denigrate them with epithets like ‘kafir’; rather we should engage with them with a positive mindset. Negative attitude toward human beings adds to division, dissension, and discord.
We are all children of the same one single parent, Adam and Eve. We are all brothers and sisters in humanity regardless even of the faith we profess. This is the basic principle of the social system in Islam—complete social equality. We can learn to celebrate this great diversity that Allah has created among us by not ridiculing each other and hating each other. We should be grateful to Allah (SWT) for having blessed us with this diversity.
Islam came to unite people; not to divide them. To worship, obey and serve Allah is the collective purpose of the human race. How can we celebrate the praise of Allah and worship Him as we ought to worship Him if we cannot even understand the diversity of our creation? Settling differences between people acquires an added value on the Eid day.
Let us rededicate our life to the cause of humanity, which is the best way to demonstrate our love of Allah (SWT). Let us resolve that our energies will be directed towards strengthening a society based on mutual respect, brotherly love, and universal understanding.
We pray to Allah (SWT) to accept our fasting, prayers, bowing, prostrations, zakat, sadaqat, good deeds and our du’as; to protect us and guide us on the right path; to cure our sick, to bless those who have passed away with Jannat ul Firdaus, and to keep us in the best state of Iman when our time comes to move from this life to the eternal life of the hereafter.
We pray to Allah (SWT) to help our brothers and sisters in Palestine, and in all other places where they are facing injustice, tyranny and oppression; to protect us, from the trials and tribulations that the ummah is facing, and to keep the Muslims united.
We pray to Allah (SWT) to bless this land and its people, and to bless the entire humanity. Allahumma Ameen.
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ () وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ () وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
Congratulations to you and your families on this happy and festive occasion of Eid. Wassalamu ‘alaikum wa Rahmatullahi Ta’ala wa barakatuhu.
