What Would Prophet Muhammad's Final Message Be?
The Core Tenants of Islam: Tawhid and the Essential Message of Surah Al-An'am
Summary
This lecture discusses core Islamic principles centered on Surah Al-An'am verses 151-153, which the speaker presents as the foundational message the Prophet Muhammad would have emphasized in a final testament. The speaker explains that these verses, revealed early in Mecca, contain essential commandments that remained constant throughout the Prophet's mission and are universal to all prophets and messengers. The core message revolves around monotheism (Tawhid), the five pillars of Islam, and rejecting shirk in all its forms. The speaker emphasizes that while the details of Islamic law may vary between prophets and communities, the fundamental principles remain unchanged.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Stop it.
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Alhamdulillah.
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There's an narration collected by in his in his jam and it's a statement of Abdullahb Mas Abu Abdman, one of the prophets. Wasallam's most closest confidants, a scholar of the companions, Abdullahbn Masoud, who is one of the servants of the prophet sallall.aii wasallam as well. Abdullahb Masoud who is one of the first of the companions to become Muslim in Mecca. He says,.
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"Whoever wishes to see the a collection of verses. Now we know as we've mentioned before that the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam did not leave behind a wasa. He did not write or leave behind a will and testament that was written for him a final will when he passed away. Yet Abdullahb tells us here had he written one what would it have contained? Abdullahbn Mas tells us, "Had he written one, it would have revolved around and said essentially what these three verses from surah al say." And he mentions the verses from surah al verse 151 152 153. Meaning that these are things that were revealed to the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam in the very beginning in Mecca before all the other rulings and legislations and laws of Islam were revealed to him in Medina sall.ai wasam. Yet these commandments they were essential commandments that did not change. And these are not only essential commandments that did not change for the prophet sallall.aii wasallam but they are essential commandments that do not change for any prophet and messenger. All of the prophets and messengers they come with a similar message in its core. As we've heard before that the prophet sallall.aii Wasallam said, he said, "We the prophets are all paternal brothers. Our mothers vary yet our religion is one. Our religion is one. Our mothers vary. Our mothers are different. Our mothers here is a reference to their individual specifics and intricacies of their various laws that were given to them by Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. They have their each messenger has his own book. Each messenger has perhaps laws and details of those laws which are specific and appropriate for his people, for his time, for his place and that take into consideration the continuous revelations of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that will come after him. So all of the prophets and messengers they have various mothers they have different books and different intricacies and details in those books. However, their religion is one. The core of their religion is one. There is a center thrust. There is there are fundamentals that do not change based on time and place. They do not change based on who the message is for. They are always the same no matter who the message is geared towards. And so of those things such as the five pillars of Islam, every prophet and messenger comes with the five pillars of Islam. Are they exactly implemented the same way? Meaning the establishment of prayer. Is every nation commanded to make salah the exact same way that we are? No. There's differences. There's differences in the way that the prayer is made. There's differences in the times of the prayer. There's differences in the amount of prayer, etc. However, prayer and its essential core essence, these things do not change. Likewise, zak. The wealthy amongst the community will always be required to take care of those who are less fortunate. Likewise, fasting, it has always been commanded and written upon previous nations. Thank you. It has always been commanded and written upon previous nations as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has mentioned. Likewise, pilgrimage, there's always some kind of Hajj. So, the intricacies may differ, but the core tenants remain the same. They do not change. And for this reason, the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam. The core tenants of Islam in Mecca did not change throughout his time in Medina. They remained the same. As a matter of fact, the only thing that the era of Medina, the only effect that the era of Medina had on those core tenants was that they became more established, more detailed, more fleshed out. And so for this reason, Abdullahb tells us here in this narration that whoever wishes to look at a a will and testament, a final will and testament. Had the prophet Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam left us with a final will and testament, what would it have said? What would what would the was be? What were the things that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would have desired to have left emphasized in our minds and in our hearts? What are the things that he would have most commanded and left us with? They are the same things that his message began with saiam. And those are summed up in these three verses from surah. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says he says subhanah speaking to his messenger.
[Arabic recitation]
Say to them, "Come, rise up. Let me demonstrate, let me tell you, inform you of that which your Lord has prohibited upon you all. beginning with the prohibition and emphasizing that you all not associate in your worship of Allah anything that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in your intention in your sincerity that there not that your sincerity not be shared by Allah and another. It is only for Allah alone without any partners. Subhanahu wa ta'ala that when you worship Allah, you worship him alone without any partners and that you direct none of this worship to other than Allah. Oftent times we have a kind of bird's eyee view or a kind of macro understanding of what a shik is. Ashik is the opposite of is the greatest act of worship. That's what we were created for. And a shik is the greatest sin. And it is the only sin in all of the book of Allah that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made it upon himself that he would not forgive. If a person dies having insisted upon shik that this is not this is not something that is open to forgiveness. Not because he cannot forgive it. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala may forgive whatever he chooses for whomever he chooses. However, it is because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has deemed that this sin not be forgiven. And so often times when we imagine a shik, we imagine it only in its most plain, in its most blatant form. What is its most plain or blatant form? Like worshiping idols. This is a type of shik, but this is not the epitome of shik. Yes, this may be the most blatant manifestation of a shik, but a shik has many forms and it can infiltrate a person's worship of Allah in many ways and it's something that cannot be avoided by happen stance. It is not something that can be avoided by the ignorant. It is something that has to be learned in order to be avoided. The prophet sallall.aii Wasallam says in the narration of Abbas and Abu Bakr, he says, he says Sai wasallam in my is more silent and discreet than the footsteps of a of an ant on granite rock. How silent and how unnoticed are the footsteps of a of an ant of an ant on granite rock. This is how discreet and how silent shik is in the ummah of the prophet sallall.aii. And so he warns us of this. This is something that you have to go out of your way. If you think about the footsteps of an ant on granite, what does that mean? Would a person notice that? No, a person would not notice it. It's something that you have to look for in order to identify. And for this reason, the prophet sallall.aii wasallam has said.
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He taught Abu Bakr the dua to make. And he said, "Say, oh Allah, I seek refuge in you, lest I associate in my worship of you anyone else unto you, and I seek forgiveness for that which I do not know." So this is something that a person has to go out of his way to learn. It's not something that you just know. It's something that you have to go out of your way to learn. What are examples of that? There are many, many examples. For instance, astrology. Astrology is a type of shik. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam said foram.
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The prophet sallall.aii Wasam said, "Whoever learns any aspect of astrology, then this person has taken it upon himself to learn an aspect of magic. Magic is a general term used in the Quran to refer to more and the more they learn of it the more of a they are learning. He's making a connection here between these two. The prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam. When we say astrology, what is astrology? Look how common it is. Astrology, it is found in popular magazines. It's found in newspapers for decades, maybe even beyond that, maybe even from the dawn of the printing societies that dist distribution to to the public are the horoscopes. This is astrology going to happen for you. If you're born in this month, this is what's going to happen for you. What type of person are you? Are you an Aries? Are you a Cancer? Or are you a a Pisces? And these types of people cannot get together. They make a bad couple. And the best couples are this one and this one. Right? This is astrology. And the prophet sallall.aii wasallam said regarding astrologers that whoever asks an astrologologist and when we say asks an astrologologist doesn't just mean a person. It also means that if a person were to read the writings of an astrologologist for the month or the year or what have you. Whoever asks a kahim about something then this person's prayer will not be accepted for 40 days by Allah subhanahu.
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Does it seem a minor detail? It would mostly go unnoticed. And a Muslim who engages in these types of things and usually it is women are more prone to these things than men are. But it's shared between the genders. And if you were to see a person who was Muslim who engages in these things, say, "Well, you know, we're just having fun. It's just fun. We don't take it that seriously." The mere learning or looking into it or asking will impede the acceptance of a person's prayer for 40 days. And the prophet sallall.aii Wasam said, "And.
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This is one type. Not mentioning other types of ship that are pronounced or not so pronounced especially in a society made up of a majority of non-Muslims. A society that you live in. We live in a society as a minority amongst a majority of non-Muslims. And so we have to take extra care to make sure that we learn these things and these aspects of our religion so as not to fall into these things unknowingly. And not only that, but the bigger danger than just merely falling into these things is confusing these things as being something that is part of our religion. And that is where the birth of innovation comes from. And this is how are introduced into Islam.
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Alhamdulillah.
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Allahbar. Allahbar. Allahbill.
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Ill.e.
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A shadow.
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I shad. Muhamad. I was allah.
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What the battle? Oh,.
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No.
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I'm more than alhamdulillah. for.
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Allah. for.
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You Muhammad. Wasam.
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What? for.
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Allah Subhanahu Waaala tells us in one of the final chapters of the Quran ever to be revealed to the prophet sallall.aii wasallam in the fifth chapter of the book of Allah in the order that it is as the prophet sallall.aii wasallam left it. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us the story of two brothers. Two children and two brothers, two children of Adam, brothers to one another who had a disagreement. And from this disagreement, the first murder in the history of humanity was committed. The first innocent blood spilled on this earth between two human beings. Allah Subhanahu Waaala tells the prophet sallall.aii Wasam. Now, as we get into the story, it's important for us to keep in mind some context to this story. Context with regards to when the prophet sallall.aii wasallam was reminded of this story and told. This isn't one of the earlier chapters revealed to the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. This story was told to the prophet sallall.aii wasallam in one of and some scholars say the last chapter of the Quran to be revealed to the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. It was revealed in Mecca. It is the same chapter in which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says. This verse which the prophet sallall.aii Wasam resided for the first time upon the companions on the mountain of on the ninth day of the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam recited this verse upon the companions in hisb on the ninth day of the year 9 after hijra that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said today I have completed for you all your religion and I have perfected upon you all my grace peace and I have chosen and accept from you all Islam as your religion. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam recited this verse upon the companions on that day and he passed away 81 days after sui wasallam. This is the context in which this chapter and this story was revealed to the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. What do we understand from that? We understand from this that yes now we have the knowledge. Now we have the knowledge of what is expected from us. Now we have the knowledge of how to obtain paradise. How to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and what are the things that will stand in our way after we have received this revelation this book after we have understood what the path is and how to tread on that path. What stops in our way and what will hinder us? There are a number of things. One of those things is we could hinder each other. That we are now brothers and sisters in the religion of Allah for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Yet that brotherhood is an incredible gift but it is precious and has to be preserved and protected at all costs. For if it is not then we could be our greatest enemies in the path of Allah subhanahu wa tala. As one of our scholars used to say that this religion of Allah and this dwa of Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam is a miracle from Allah. It's a miracle. Why is it a miracle? With all that the dunya has to offer, all of its promises, all of its glitter and glam, yet in spite of that seduction, young men, young women, people are turning away from the dunya and believing in Allah in the last day. and they are choosing to sacrifice incredibly in that path. And the thing that we fear most over our own dawa is that we will be the ones to destroy it with our own hands. Inadvertently, mistakenly, that we would take each other apart because the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam tells us he spoke to the companions that when Islam had been perfected and when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said to the companions today I have perfected for you all and completed for you your religion. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam commented and said He said that a shan has fallen into hopelessness after what he has seen from the companions of him. and he has become hopeless that he would ever be able to swindle humanity into the worship of idols again, at least in the Arab Peninsula. Meaning that when he saw the companions and he saw how powerful the truth was and how ubiquitous it became and how bright and sharp the light was and how rare and runoff the darkness was as Shan became hopeless that he could ever trick the companions or the Muslim in the Arab peninsula. to ever worship him again. And so he resorted to is starting problems, issues, bickering between the Muslim. This is what he resorted to. How was he going to answer? And how was he going to try to lead the Muslim off of the path of Allah again after the prophet Muhammad Sam he would use them against one another. Here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us of two brothers both of them are Muslim they are the direct sons of Adamisam. This is before any murder had ever occurred. As a matter of fact, this story takes place before any human being had died. Because as we will hear in the story, after killing his brother in cold blood, didn't even know what to do with the body. It was new. We know now that you can bury someone, but this didn't occur to him at the time because no one had ever died before. This was the first human death and it turned out to be a murder. Allah Subhanahu Waaala tells the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam. Tell them the story of the two sons of Adam. Each of them put forth an offering to Allah. One of them was accepted and the other was rejected. Now notice here, we don't want to get bogged down with some of the details or some of the things that are mentioned in the Old Testament or in the previous books from Beni is a people who ask too many questions about unnecessary details. Allah tells us what we need to know about this story. What the offering was is inconsequential. What they were commanded to do or how this offering was made is not important. What is important and what Allah tells us here is that two brothers, two Muslims who are bound by blood and religion and brotherhood each attempted to worship Allah side by side, but they had very different views of what the worship of Allah looked like. And so one of them was accepted by Allah and the other was rejected. Now why was one accepted and one rejected? Allah tells us in the Quran, our prophet sallall.aii wasallam tells us the reasons why Allah accepts and the reasons why Allah rejects. It's not a mystery. In order for a person to worship Allah and have their worship acceptable by Allah, it has to meet two requirements. Number one, it must be sincerely for Allah alone without any partners. And the driving force behind this worship must be pure desire for the pleasure of Allah and obedience of Allah Almighty. And the second condition that it be in accordance with the commandments of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It has to be done for Allah and it has to be done as Allah has instructed. If it is done for Allah and another or if there are more than the reason of Allah's pleasure behind it, then this is what is referred to as a ship. And if a person does it for the sake of Allah, but in a way that is innovative, a way that is not in accordance with the legacy of the prophets and messengers, not in accordance with the commands of Allah, this is what we refer to in Islam as bidd innovation. These are the two conditions for the acceptance of any deed. And so these two men are both Muslim. They're both worshiping Allah. Allah accepts from one and he rejects from the other. Some of the and the companions mentioned that and were their names and that Habil was a shepherd and Kabil was a farmer. And they both made an offering just like we give zaka or make an offering every year in Ala. And so they were commanded to make an offering to Allah from that which they have. And so Habil chose the best of his flock as a sacrifice for Allah. And Abil chose the lowest least quality of his yield from his farm. So we have two Muslims worshiping Allah but two very different ideologies here. Two very different ideas of the worship of Allah. One sees the worship of Allah as an opportunity an opportunity to give the best and to sacrifice the best of what he has. And the other sees it as a burden that needs to just get rid of out of his life. Just get it done, get it over with. And he is of the med or of the school of thought of the least and the lowest expectation, that's what I'll do. Whatever I have to do. So we have one who thrives in the worship of Allah. We have another who is burdened by it and sees it as an impedimement, an impediment in his path and in his business. They make their offerings. One is accepted, the other is rejected. And so now we have a classic case of projection. What is referred to as projection. Meaning the one who didn't have his sacrifice accepted. He didn't say to himself, you know, it wasn't accepted because of me. I didn't do enough. I should become better. That wasn't the attitude. The attitude was, "You had yours accepted. Mine wasn't. I hate you. I want to kill you." He said, he said, "I am thinking and contemplating about killing you." His response to his brother was, "Allah accepts from the pious." Meaning only piety in any act of worship will make it acceptable to Allah. Those conditions we mentioned, the problem is not in his brother. the problem is in himself. But it's not easy to deal with something that's in yourself. That takes courage. That takes audacity. That takes determination. And most importantly, that takes humility. Most people can't muster that up. It's easier to point the finger at your brother. That's easier. It's easier to say you're the reason instead of looking into one's own self and correcting himself. And so when his offering wasn't accepted, he didn't look into himself. He looked at his brother and blamed him. If you hadn't set the bar so high, maybe Allah would have accepted from me. You're the reason. And so he reminds him that the problem is in yourself. What does eventually do? Allah tells us something very critical here. He said, he says that his nephs, the whispers in his in his chest, in his mind, his nephs, his self started to rationalize for him the murder of his brother. This is a process. It didn't just happen immediately. No, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us that the human being is most prolific in argumentative in argumentation. The human being is most argumentative. The human being can rationalize any atrocity given enough time. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us but the human being in his heart of hearts he knows what he's doing. He sees himself even if he comes up with all kinds of excuses and justifications. Allah tells us about the hearts of men and how we trick ourselves and how we even lie to ourselves. This man he agonized for days while his nephs and a shan continued to whisper and rationalize for him just how much his brother deserved to die. And so he killed him. Why did he kill him? He killed him because to him he represented something about himself that he hated. And it was his lack of conviction. It was him falling short of what he knows his potential is. But he chose the easy way. He chose to write off his brother, to dismiss his brother in the most heinous way. To dismiss his brother's life, to erase him. And notice in the next verse, Allah tells us for this reason, we have made it upon Ben that whoever kills another without right to do so, then it is as if he has killed all of the people of the earth. And whoever gives life to another or saves a life, it is as if he has saved all of humanity. Why? What does that mean? What that means is it's not a personal issue. It had nothing to do with his brother Habid. It had everything to do with him trying to kill something of his own self that he hated and couldn't see. and that this was one person who represented that thing that he hated about himself. But if there were two, he would have killed both of them or three or 10 or all of humanity because the problem was not in his brother. It was in his own self. That's why he couldn't escape it. And for this reason, my brothers and my sisters, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala teaches us that indeed the believers and only the believers are truly brothers. And in this struggle between the excellent and the good enough crowd, we are to either pull ourselves all the way down or we are to pull our brothers up. But our fates are interconnected. We cannot escape each other. The prophet sallall.aii Wasam tells us that the excellent and the good enough crowd, those who disobey Allah and those who obey him, we're all together, whether we it or not. And whether we kill one another or whether we find a way to get along with one another, what my brother does affects me. Even if I run to the ends of the earth to get away, it's as if we're all on one boat together. We either all survive together and because of each other, or we all sink ourselves together and because of.
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Stand shoulder tosh shoulder. Close all of the gaps. Align your shoulders and feet with the shoulders and feet of your two neighbors on either side of you. Straightening the row is part of the perfection of salah. Our reward will increase or decrease based on how coherent our rows are. Please double check your phones. Make sure that they are silent. Do not join a row ahead of you until Do not join a row until you're sure that the row ahead of you is completely filled. Amen. Alhamdulillah.
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Amen.
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For.
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Allah. me. I love my Allah. Allah Allah. Alhamdulillah. for.
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Amen. Amen.
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Allah Say Allah. Allah. Allahel.
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Allah.
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I'm in the cup. What you do? My dear brothers and sisters, asalamu alaykum. Salamu allaykum. I just wanted to give you a couple of reminders inshallah and want to request generous donations at the end of the the the prayer inshallah. first of all there's going to be a zakat workshop by Imam Ali inshallah on this Wednesday or Saturday that's tomorrow. So tomorrow after inshallah we'll be discussing the zakat and how it applies and all the rules inshallah. So it will be in depth discussion. Please join and benefit from that. There's a sister's halaka on Saturday at 11 to 3. That's this coming Saturday inshallah. That's a sisters halaka. There are tjid classes and the same time also 11 to 7:00 p.m. that's 11 to 1 inshallah on Saturday. on the weekend program inshallah we'll have that 10 to 2. That's on the Saturday on on Sunday. I'm sorry. This is a weekend program is on Sunday. So I want to make sure we talked about halatas and the zakat discussion on Saturday. The weekend program is on Sunday inshallah and that's from 11 to 2 or 10 to 2 inshallah. And the basketball there are two programs that I think that there's a lot of kids are excited and they're participating in it. Please see what we can do to benefit your kids from this Portuguese programs. There are basketball and the the soccer programs and those are on Fridays from 4 to 6 for the basketball. The soccer there are couple of groups and there's the first one is from 7 to 7 to 9 year old kids. 7 to 9 year old kids will be in group A and then group B is from 10 to 12 years old and those are on Saturday. So Saturday and that's from u from 1:30 to 2:30 inshallah. So we have all these programs they are tailored specifically for the youth and please make sure your children are able to benefit from it. If you have any questions, please talk to brother Jabber or brother Ali inshallah. So brother or brother Hassan so we will be able to figure out what your needs are and how we can match them. Please donate generously on the way out.