Why Hidden Shirk Is More Dangerous Than You Think

Okay.

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Alhamdulillah.

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Muhammadu.

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One of the most knowledgeable companions of the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam and hence one of the most knowledgeable men to ever walk the earth with regards to the religion and will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reported in his j that this companion Abdah who said.

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He said, "Whoever wishes to read what the prophet Muhammad Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam would have written in his will. Had he written a will and a final will and testament before his passing what would he have writtend? He says he would have written or he should read the statement of Allah. verses number 151, 152, 153 of chapter number six, surah. So had he left a will, his will would have in so many words merely repeated what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in these three verses. Let us read these verses. These are referred to as the both most basic and fundamental laws of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. the most fundamental prohibitions of Allah. All other laws revolve around these core laws that Allah mentions in these three verses. He begins by saying speaking to the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam say to them, "Come, rise up and let me recite to you and implement and set an example for you as to what your Lord has prohibited upon you." The first of these prohibitions, the most grave of these prohibitions, do not associate anyone or anything in your worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Do not associate unto Allah anyone or anything in your worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Most times a person when they hear the issue of worshiping Allah alone without any partners, they will associate this only with the worship of idols. Meaning what is what what does it look like? What is the appearance of a person who has fallen into shik? It is that a person will worship idols. If a person is not worshiping idols, they are safe from a shik. And this could not be more incorrect. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam said to Abu Bakr, He said that shik and its types and its varants are more silent in my ummah than the footsteps of an ant on granite rock. Meaning that if a person is not looking for it, if a person doesn't go out of his way to learn what it is in order to avoid it, they will almost assuredly fall into it. And that is why this is so important and it's ironically so very overlooked in thank you so very overlooked amongst many Muslims in our time and that is that a person will have the false impression or the mis misunderstanding that, you know, I'm Muslim. I was born a Muslim. I grew up around Muslims. So, of course, I know, you know, automatically the majority of what Islam tells me. And this statement may have been correct if a person were living in Medina in the time of the companions where the only thing that they are seeing practiced is the sunnah of the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. However, this argument or this rationalization is no different than a person saying I'm human. I was born human. I've always been human. I grew up around human beings. And so I am also a qualified doctor, right? I'm I'm human. I know what is good for the body and what is bad for the body. I know what is a cure for the body and what is not. This would be absurd. we would not accept this kind of rationalization. Likewise is the issue with regards to the notion of a shik. There are many many dozens of types of shik that the prophet sallall.aii Wasam taught the companions and instructed them on how to avoid. And here the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam is telling Abu Bakr Sudik of all people, the most knowledgeable and virtuous man of all mankind after the prophets and messengers of Allah. He is telling him that the types of shik in my are so silent, so discreet, so unassuming that they are comparable. the types of shik to the footsteps of an ant on granite. This is something that if you do not go out of your way to learn and look for, you will not be able to just rationalize yourself to the finish line. And so for this reason, a person to studyahill and its pillars and obligations and implications and what it entails from what it does not. This is absolutely critical in a Muslim's journey to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives the first prohibition. He says that you not associate anyone or anything that you not associate another unto Allah in your worship of Allah subhanahu.

[Arabic recitation]

He says, "And he further commands you to perfect your interactions and your treatment of the parents, the parents, whoever they are. This is a position that is respected even if the person in that position is not a respectable person. So when it comes to a parent for instance, a mother, a father, we live in a time and in a place that rationalizes the good and fair treatment of a parent. And the idea is my parent has to earn my respect. My parent, my father, my mother has to earn my friendship and good treatment of them. And that is incorrect because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commanded that the position of a parent be respected and be honored and be and be exalted irrespective of who is in that position. Even if a person's father or mother is not Muslim, even if a person's father or mother were to be himself, a person respects the position, not necessarily always the person in the position. Meaning that a person's obedience of his parent is innate. It is innate. It is immediate. It is unconditional. The only thing that a person is not to do in the path of respecting and honoring his father or mother is to disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala didn't just command that a person obey his parent. didn't just command that a person honor his parent but that a person be an adequate companion of his parent companionship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commands that we are to not just obey our parents and honor our parents and exalt ult our parents, but we are to perfect our companionship with our parents. And so a person can never honor his parent too much as long as the person does not disobey Allah in honoring his parent. And so the person does not ever obey the creation of Allah in the disobedience of the creator Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala here says.

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Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that we are not just to we are not just to treat our parents will and be companions to them and be obedient to them. But we are to strive for perfection of every interaction with our parent. And this is something that the parent innately is given irrespective of who the parent is. This is not something that the parent necessarily has to earn. Now, notice what we're learning here. Notice what we're saying here. A person may say, "Well, my father or his father or his mother is a terrible person, a person that mistreated him, a person that wasn't around, a person that they only met after they were 20 years old and a grown adult, a person who abandoned them, etc., etc. the many reasons people have. However, as we mentioned, this is not something that is necessarily earned by the parent. The parent does not have to earn the obedience of his child. The mere fact that the child came into existence by way of the actions of his parent. This makes the child innately indebted to his parent who no matter who the parent is. And if we were to earn kindness from each other, this would be a very terrible world we live in because many people do not deserve kindness. Many people have not earned kindness. Many people do not earn their rights. However, these are things which are innate and it's very important for us to focus on this issue here and that is because we live in a time and in a place not just in America but this is a worldwide thing because of how society is structured today and how they communicate and what ideas are propagated most prominently. It is very important for us to understand what it is to honor one's parent and be dutiful to one's parent because we live in a time where everything seems to be rationalized. You rationalize everything that you do. I will only do this if it if it seems rational to me. Right? And so I have to rationalize obedience to my parent or honor of my parent. I have to rationalize. And then we see on television, in movies, in popular culture, the child is now in the position of the parent. And the parent now is graveling for the approval of his 2, three, four, fiveyear-old child. And that the child will ignore the parent when the child gets older for years. And the parent has to strive to earn the child's affection. And this is exactly the opposite of how things should be. Now does this mean that it is not difficult for a person to honor his parent who is maybe had abandoned him, maybe was abusive, which anyways the word abusive is used so much now that it doesn't even have a meaning anymore. Kind of the word trauma. Everybody has trauma. Why is this person a terrible person? Well, because they have childhood trauma. Tell me somebody please amongst us here raise your hand if you did not have any trauma growing up or trauma in this world. That person doesn't exist. That's part of life. Every one of us, if trauma didn't come to you by way of your parents, it came to you by way of someone else. This is the nature of this world is it is a hard and difficult place. However, these are not excuses for a person to abandon his parent. The child's duty is to seek out the parent and obey the parent even if the parent does not reciprocate. As a matter of fact, especially if the parent does not reciprocate because we do not treat people how Allah commands us because of the results of that thing. We may obey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and do what we are told by Allah and fulfill the rights of others and it have no effect on bettering that person. As a matter of fact, a person may be kind to another person and that only inflames and emboldens the other person in their terrible behavior. That is not our concern. Our concern is not the fruit. When the fruit comes, when the when the fruit sprouts and ripens, we pick it. No problem. But we have been commanded to plant the tree. And the fruits are to Allah's discretion. And Allah has mentioned to us that one of the tests that we will endure as believers on our journey to Allah is that he will test us with aat. He will test us with a lack of fruits. What does that mean? and a lack of fruits. Meaning that our labor will be very intensive and it will seem we are never able to have even a moment to wipe the sweat from our brow and no fruits. That's part of the test. Are we worshiping the fruits or are we worshiping Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala? This is the difference between the righteousness of the believer and the righteousness of the disbeliever. The disbeliever does what works for him in the immediate because what he is looking for is success in the immediate. But the believer the believer worships Allah. He is looking for the pleasure of Allah irrespective of the results in the material world. And so a man came to the prophet sallall.aii wasallam and he said to him and this narration is in Muslim he saidool.

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He said, "Oh messenger of Allah, I have family ties. Kin, we don't know who the kin are. Could be a parent, could be a cousin, someone of his family. that I am good to them and they reciprocate my goodness with evil and I am gentle with them and they are harsh with me and I reach out to them and they couldn't care less they did not reciprocate that they never reach out to me the prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam said He said, "If you are as you say, they're bad to you, but you're good to them. They cut off ties with you, but you keep ties and insist on keeping ties with them. You are pardoning and forgiving and overlooking to them, and they are petty with you. If you are, as you say, then it is as if you are feeding them baking hot desert sand. He said, "And Allah will always be on your side against them as long as you continue as you say.

[Arabic recitation]

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in the opening verses of Ali a chapter that is so illustrious and so virtuous and of such merit that the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam mentioned that it will come on the day of judgment and intercede on behalf of the one who used to live by it recite it in the life of this world. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in this chapter that Allah himself hereby testifies that none is rightfully worshiped but he he testifies and his angels testify and the scholars from amongst his creation those of knowledge testify. None is rightfully worshiped by he subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is what he tells us in this verse, the mighty and the all- wise. We notice in this verse that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala calls witness to the most important fact and the most self-evident truth in our existence. The most important thing that the human being will ever know and the most important thing that the human being will ever live for. The only true reason to die for as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala here mentions is the testimony to the oneness of Allah. This is the greatest truth. It is inherent. It is innate. It is true whether or not his creation admits it. The prophet sallall.aii Wasam mentioned that said to one of his son said to his son. He said, he taught his son that if were in one side of a scale and the seven heavens and the seven earths and all of creation were in the other side of that scale, would outweigh all of them. Why? Because the creation is of no use to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala without the embodiment ofahill. We are in desperate need ofahillahillah and this truth is not in need of us to be true. If all of humanity adhered to it would not make it any more true. And if all of humanity were to collaborate in the rejection ofahill, it would not make it any less true. This is the greatest truth that Allah has revealed to his creation about himself, about themselves. And on such an important topic, the most important and grave of truths, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala cites the testimony of his angels to this truth and the testimony of the scholars of humankind and genkind the testimony of the people of knowledge. And he subhanahu wa ta'ala calls and cites their testimony alongside the testimony of the angels and his testimony. Subhanahu wa tala. This is the greatest honor that has ever been mentioned with regards to knowledge, scholarship and its people. This is the greatest honor that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala cites the testimony of the scholars and cites it alongside his testimony and that of his angels. Who are the scholars? Who are the people of knowledge? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us elsewhere in the Quran that it is only it is only those individuals of knowledge those scholars from amongst Allah's slaves and servants that truly fear Allah and exalt Exalt him as he is due. Notice the wording here only. And so this here can be referred to as a kind of circular argument in a way. How is that? Who are those who truly fear Allah? The people of knowledge. Who are the people of knowledge? those who truly fear Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. But it's not just fear. It's and in the Arabic language is fear that is only had by way of knowledge. A person of ignorance can never be a person of they might be a person of just brute fear but the word in the Arabic language is the sole domain of those who know that fear which is only had by way of knowledge. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is contrary to all of his creation in this regard and that is that all of the creation no matter how scary it is the more you get to know it the less frightening it is the less scary it is the more comfortable you become with that thing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala exactly ly the opposite. The less you know Allah, the less you will fear him. And the more a person gets to know Allah, the more that person will come to fear Allah. And so knowledge, scholarship, what is knowledge? Sometimes it almost seems we have lost sight of what knowledge is. We have confused knowledge with those who speak or those who have followers or those who are influencers. Is knowledge something that is only recognized by the number of followers that it has? Or is knowledge something which the followers are weighed by? This is a problem that we face today and our thought the way that we see things. We make a big deal about something that everyone is making a big deal about and we tend to ignore what everyone is ignoring. This is not how knowledge is. Knowledge doesn't work that way. Knowledge is not gauged by its followers. Rather, its followers are gauged by that knowledge. Knowledge is what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has left by way of the prophets and the messengers. This is their inheritance. Our prophet Muhammad sallall.aii Wasam said that he said that the prophets and messengers do not leave behind to their heirs a single gold or silver coin. Rather, what they leave behind and their inheritance is knowledge. And whoever has or is given of that knowledge has been given an incredible gift, an inheritance. And so the heirs of the prophet Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam are the people of knowledge. And no people will ever be successful without knowledge. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam gave us a gauge to see where we are with respect to the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Are we on the path of Allah or are we on our way to misguidance? How can we know as a nation, as a people, as a community, as an individual? The prophet sallall.aii wasallam gave us that gauge. He said in the narration of Bkari, a Muslim, that if Allah subhanahua wishes good for any person, whomever Allah wishes good for, he will grant him understanding and knowledge of the religion. the religion of Islam, not just facts, not just information about Islam, but understanding. And there is a difference between intelligence and knowledge. And there is a difference between information and understanding. And there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Those things are not the same. And if a person were to have a lot of information, this doesn't necessarily make that person a person of knowledge. And if a person were to have a lot of knowledge, it doesn't necessarily make them a person of wisdom. This is something that is only had by way of following the path of the scholarship of Islam. From the time of our prophet Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam, he tells us whomever Allah desires good for, he will grant him understanding of the religion. Notice the wording. Whomever he decides or desires good for, whomever he wills to give good, he prefaces that good with knowledge. This goes for individuals and groups. This goes for communities and nations. This goes for entire civilizations. that if it is a civilization, a people, a community, a country that respects and follows its scholarship, I'm not talking about physicists, I'm not speaking about mathematicians, I'm not speaking about medical professionals, this is knowledge. But in the Quran and Sunnah, in the language of the Quran and Sunnah, when the word knowledge is used, it is a reference to knowledge that the prophet Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam brought to us from Allah. that if Allah desires good for any individual or people, he will grant them knowledge and understanding of this religion. The opposite is also true that if Allah does not desire good for a person or people, he will not grant them understanding of their religion because knowledge is the only way to the pleasure of Allah. And this leaves us with a great misunderstanding that many of us suffer from today. Yet even if we are unable to put it into words this un this misunderstanding that I'm really really smart and if a person is super smart they can think their way to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala they will rationalize themselves to the path of Allah or this idea that a person if they have really good intentions s they don't necessarily need knowledge. If they have a general outline of good and bad and their intentions are really really pure, they can accidentally stumble their way into the graces of Allah. This could not be further from the truth. Knowledge is a map. A person, no matter how determined they are and no matter how pure their intentions and no matter how strong their desire to go to a particular place, they will never accidentally find themselves there if they just stumble around. This is something that only comes by way of knowledge. It's a road map. A person in order to arrive at a destination must know how to get there. Otherwise, they will never get there. It won't happen. This is something that many of us misunderstand. The idea that if my intentions are really good, I don't have to have a map. I can just jump in the car, gas it up, and just go really fast in a particular direction, and I'll eventually get there accidentally. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is greater than that. And he is worth much more than that and he is far more worthy than that. Subhanahu Waaala. Knowledge is the lifeline of this ummah. And it is only by way of its scholars that this ummah will remain firmly planted on the path of Allah. And any people that are to drift and stray from that path that stray that straying from the path of Allah begins with the absence of the people of knowledge. Abdah narrated as was collected by and others that the prophet sallall.aii Wasam said.

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The prophet Sam, our messenger said to us, he said samallam that Allah does not take back knowledge, the knowledge of the Quran, knowledge of the sunnah. He does not take it from a people by extracting it from the hearts of men. Rather, he takes back knowledge by way of the death of scholars. And this process will continue. The death of scholars will continue in a people until there are no scholars left. And the people will then naturally take ignorant leaders for themselves. And these ignorant leaders are not just ignorant but they are ignorant of the fact that they are ignorant which is the most which is the most frightening type of ignorance compounded ignorance that a person doesn't know and thinks he knows and they will then hence be asked and they will answer without knowledge and they will then at that point go astray and take others astray with them. And for this reason, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned that one of the punishments that he incurs upon a people is that he will slowly and methodically shrink that people's space that they are in. He will slowly and methodically take pieces of their land or their place away. Whether it is figuratively or or literally Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that one of the punishments was that he subhanahu wa ta'ala would shrink their place and confine them and make the earth close in on them. The companions of the prophet sallall.aii wasallam have explained this verse in the Quran as being the death of the scholars. Meaning that every time a scholar dies, our place, our earth with its vastness becomes that much more small and confining until we are on top of each other.

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[Arabic recitation]

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Stand shouldertosh shoulder. Close all of the gaps. Do not join the row a row until you are sure that the row ahead of you is completely full to capacity. Come together. Muster together. Close all of the gaps. Align your shoulders and feet with the shoulders and feet of your two neighbors on either side of you. Alhamdulillah.

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Amen. for.

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Whom you Allah send me Allah. Allahel Allahel.

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Allah. Alhamdulillah.

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Amen. in.

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Allah. Tell me Allahbel.

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All act.

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Stuff. Brothers and sisters, asalamu alaikum. I just would to have your attention for a couple of minutes because there are several programs that I want to make sure I mention to you. First, Imam Ali's office hours are from 5 to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Again, I repeat, from 5 to 8:00 p.m. from Wednesday through Sunday. Ask Imam Ali's office hours and he can be you can schedule with him other time, but these are the hours that he will be here inshallah at the masid to answer the questions you have. Now I have several other other things that I want to mention the youth activities and all that stuff. The basketball club is Wednesday and Friday. Again brothers and sisters this is going to help your youth to get connected to the masid inshallah and benefit physically and spiritually inshallah. So, it's going to be the basketball club is Wednesday and Friday from 4 to 6:00 p.m. Soccer group A and B which A is 7 to 9 years old, B is 10 to 12 years old and they are 130 and 2:30 respectively. Again the soccer is from a 7 to 9 for group A and that is at 1:30 for 10 to 1 10 to 12 group B which is at 2:30 p.m. and that is on Saturday inshallah. The weekend school is on Sundays 10 to 200 p.m. Again the weekend school which all kids of the community who may not be able to with the rap academy or other programs they inshallah from that the sisters halata is also from 11 to 100 p.m. on Saturday the same time in parallel there's a tajvid class also that is available so but by the way we will be inshallah changing the slot time starting next sun Saturday so not this Saturday so we'll have a chance to explain on Friday inshallah coming Friday so as the month is turning over to October the times will remain the same until Saturday inshallah next week parently on the way out.