What Does Real Testimony Actually Mean?

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We will review some of the very briefly some of the meanings of a narration in which the prophet sallall.aii wasallam places a condition and makes a promise. And if we were to really look at the Quran, really look at the sunnah of the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. What is the Quran? Allah refers to the books that he has sent down as his me his allegiance and his oath that is taken between himself and his servants. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sums this oath up and this allegiance and he says fulfill my oath fulfill your allegiance and I shall fulfill mine. The Quran is a book of hope and it is an allegiance, an agreement between Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his slaves that these are the conditions. This is what is expected of you. And the more you hold to this oath and this allegiance, the more you will receive from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in return because Allah is far more gracious and far more generous than his creation subhanahu wa ta'ala. He is the essence and founder of generosity subhanahu wa ta'ala. We are told by the prophet sallall.aii wasallam in this narration the bare minimum upon which the human being begins his ascent into the levels of paradise. What is the foundation upon which our agreement, our allegiance to Allah is founded? What is the foundation of this allegiance? Our prophet sallall.aii Wasallam says in this narration,.

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This narration is in Bkari Muslim as we've mentioned before the highest level of authenticity. narrates to us that our prophet sallall.aii Wasam said, "Whoever testifies that none is rightfully worshiped but Allah alone without any partners and that Muhammad is the slave of Allah and his messenger." And that Isa Jesus is as well the slave of Allah and his messenger. and his word which he cast upon Moriam and a soul that he has created and a soul from him subhanahu wa ta'ala and that paradise is a reality a tangible truth and that the hellfire is a literal tangible truth Allah will enter him will admit him into paradise based on his actions based on his actions. So we see here from this narration that there is a bare minimum from which a person begins his relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So if you can imagine with me the gate to paradise. This is what gets a person through the gate. A person's actions, a person's worship, a person's dutifulness. This is what raises the person within paradise to reach his or her final abode therein. The prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam gives us the bare minimum that a person must have this belief that this ethos, this creed, this zubda or this summary of belief. This is what our religion is based upon upon these testimonies. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam uses the word. Notice the wording. He uses the word menid. Whoever testifies testimony in Arabic and in English. A testimony is only of that which a person has seen. When a person testifies to something in Arabic, the word shahida, that a person testifies. Imagine that you are in a court of law and you are called as a witness to testify. Testimony is only referred to as such when it involves what a person has witnessed. meaning what a person has seen, what a person has heard, what a person has felt or experienced. And so these things here for us for instance the testimony of belief in Allah belief in the prophet belief in the prophet Muhammad Sam belief in Isaam etc. this testimony. We have not seen Allah. We have not even met the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. We have not met Isa. We're testifying that paradise is a truth and a reality. The hellfire is truth and a reality. We have seen neither place. So the question is how is it that we are called to testify the word here the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam didn't use the word believe here he didn't say whoever believes that none is rightfully worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah etc. Rather the words that he used was testimony. Whoever testifies because this is beyond mere. We will not ever see in the sunnah in the Quran that the word used the word testify is used. It is not whoever trusts that none is rightfully worshiped but Allah. No, the word testimony meaning that there is nothing a person is more sure of. This testimony is so deeply entrenched in the person's heart that it is as if they have seen paradise for themselves and can testify there that paradise is the truth that the hellfire is the truth. They can testify to this because it is not just that they merely believe. It is not just that they merely have to. No, they testify and a person testifies only to that which they have bear borne witness to.

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The prophet sallallah.aii wasallam uses. It teaches us the level of belief that the believers have. And because of these types of words and because of this the scholars of Islam have defined for us what eman is, what belief is. When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says belief, belief in Allah in the last day, it's not just that a person has, you know, I trust that Allah exists and the last day shall come to pass. No, rather this is a belief that is originating in the core of a person's soul. And because of that, the scholars of Islam have defined Eman as being far beyond just trusting or believing. Rather,.

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The scholars have defined e and they say and we will end with this that eman is belief in the heart stating as such statement of the tongue action of the body and limbs. It increases with the obedience of alman and it decreases with every obedience of aanala.

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While early he was happy.

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I am your son.

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I am.

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Hey,.

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I Heat. Heat.

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Heat.

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All.

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Right.

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Alhamdulillah. for.

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Muslim. for you.

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Allah formed.

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Wasam.

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What the museum? for.

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Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us regarding the people of the book. The people of the book who were referred to as the people of the book because this is a distinction from the rest of the people in the community or in the society that our prophet sallall.aii Wasam was sent to there were people who were idoltors, pagans. They worshiped idols and claimed to be upon the natural religion of Ibraimis. And then there were the people of the book, people of knowledge, people who were given messengers and prophets and given a book from Allah that were his words subhanala directing him directing them to him and to his pleasure. Those followers of Misam, those followers of Isaam are referred to in the Quran as people of the book so as to distinguish them from the rest of the pagans that lived during the time of the revelation of the Quran to our prophet sallallahu alaihi Wasam. It's a great honor the people of the book. This statement, this word, it articulates knowledge. It articulates guidance, scholarship. And so the people of the book, they are dwelled upon and mentioned throughout the Quran often, time and time again. Why? Because the people who were given the book before us the followers of Musam, the followers of Isaam, those who claimed to be followers of MS and Isa and the other prophets and messengers of Ben is they were numerous and they made a lot of mistakes. They made many, many, many mistakes. And so for us to learn, for us to avoid such mistakes, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala teaches us those mistakes meticulously in detail throughout the Quran so that we may be able to avoid the pitfalls that those who tread the path before us fell victim to our prophet sallall.aii warns us in he says you will follow the ways of those who came before you meaning the people of the book those nations that preceded us when he says you all will it doesn't mean all of the Muslim and it doesn't even mean most of the Muslim. But it does mean that because the prophet Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam's nation is the greatest of nations. It is the most numerous of nations and it is the last nation. Members and followers of this nation will inevitably fall into mistakes that were make made before us. And he warns us Sam. Wasam that we will fall into the mistakes meaning some of the Muslim will make the same mistakes that nations that preceded us made. He says these mistakes will be remarkable in their similarity. Ala in the Arabic language is the feather. The feathers that are found at the end of an arrow. When they put feathers at the end of an arrow in order to make it fly straight and true, these feathers are meticulously put into a straight row, usually a row of two, two rows or four or three. But these strands of feathers, if you will, these individual feathers hairs, they are put in a row, a straight single file robe. And so the prophet sallall.aii Wasam is giving us imagery of just how close our mistakes will be to the mistakes of those who have preceded us. Just each strand of those feathers is placed into a single file straight row when installed on an arrow. Likewise will be the demise of some of the Muslim. He then says sallall.aii Wasam something very str, very curious, strange, interesting, something very strange and that is even if one of them even if it is as absurd as one of them having managed to stuff himself self into the hole of a lizard, someone somewhere will manage to follow suit. How illogical is it? The the hole of a lizard. Why does he mention the the hole of a lizard? A desert lizard. They dig a hole and they go in there and stay. There's nothing in that hole. There's nothing in there. It's small. It's tight. There is no use to it. There's nothing to earn by a person going through the trouble of stuffing himself into this hole of a lizard. Yet, no matter how illogical it may seem, how ridiculous it is, if one of them has managed to do so, someone will follow suit. And this is the nature of history. When we look through the Quran, we see how history repeats itself over and over and over and over. Each prophet and messenger coming to his people, warning them of the demise of the nation that has just preceded them, yet they still meet the same fate. Why? Because everybody thinks usually people think that they're special. Each person looks at the mistakes made by those who came before and they say, "Well, that was them. me. I'm way too smart to make that kind of mistake. I am way too special to make that kind of mistake. And so the mistake is repeated. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has warned us of the mistakes made by the people of the book before us that in spite of them having the guidance and the book of Allah they still fell victim to the trappings of a shaitan. And so our prophet sallall.aii wasallam warns us. He warns us so as to protect us, for us to develop a kind of hyper vigilance and a particular sensitivity not just to any misguidance, but specifically to those misguidances that the people of the book before us fell victim to. One of those trappings is jealousy. Envy. But not just any kind of jealousy. Not just any kind of envy. Envy that is cloaked with a veneer of love and affection for another. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in surah bakar about the people of the book. He says that many of those who were given the book before you wish that they could revert you all back to disbelief after you have believed out of jealousy and envy for what you all have been given. This is an incredible amount of envy and jealousy that the people of the book see the pagan Arabs in the time of the prophet sallall.aii wasallam who worshiped all of these different gods and all of these different idols. They worshiped graves. They worshiped animals. They worshiped stones and trees. They worshiped witches and fortune tellers. And the people of the book, some of them are so jealous that if they had it their way, they would revert the Muslim back to that state of paganism and idolatry that they were in out of jealousy and envy. That they don't even want people to be saved, to enter paradise. They'd rather see people suffer in the misery of Jahyah. Now that is some level of jealousy. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us elsewhere in the Quran regarding many groups of the people of the book that at first glance the untrained eye might mistake them as being together and as being one and as being united. But their hearts couldn't be further apart. Why does Allah tell us these things? Again, so we as the Muslim can avoid these pitfalls. So that we can diagnose our hearts and our communities to eradicate or do the best that we can in eradicating the true illnesses that human beings suffer from not just the symptoms. So Allah tells us of a jealousy that exists. This is a kind of religious jealousy. if you will, and it is cloaked with a cheap veneer of togetherness and unity. But if we were to go in a little bit deeper, just past the superficial, we find that they are very they are very much in discord. they are very much turned against one another and that unity is incredibly scarce between them. Our prophet sallall.aii wasallam tells us of such incidents in Bkari Muslim the prophet sallall.aii Wasam says that only three children have spoken in the cradle. Only three children have spoken in the cradle. And he mentions to us Isaiam being one of them and another infant child from amongst many is and he says or the child from the story of Jo who was in summary the prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam tells us that there was a man named Jo who came before us from the people of the book he was aid he was a monk he was someone who had married himself to the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and he had a small s he had kind of a a it was almost a tower but it was only two stories. The bottom story has no doors to it and the reason for that is he wouldn't want people to come visit him. He is too busy in the worship of Allah subhanahu.

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And Jo was a man who really did believe in Allah and truly desired Allah's mercy and forgiveness. He was Arabic. He rarely ever mixed with people. He remained off in his s his hut made of mud where he was secluded there and would worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as much as he could. Our prophet tells us that once his mother came and called him while he was in salah. He heard his mother's voice and he said to himself contemplating, "Should I answer my mother or should I continue my salah?" And she continued to call him. And he continued to contemplate this until he said, I'm going to continue with my prayer. I'll get to mom later. And then again, the same thing happened and the same choice was made. And a third time and his mother became frustrated. And she made a dua that was kind of off the cuff. And it was a dua that she made out of anger. In a moment of anger, she said, she said, "Oh Allah, do not let this boy die until he looks into the faces of prostitutes." Now, this was a statement made out of anger. her calmer, more resolved self would not have made such a dua. But she became frustrated that she could not get her son to listen to her, to answer her call, to tend to her needs. And that takes precedence over just random acts of prayer. And so in A MOMENT OF FRUSTRATION she made such a happen stance dua. Yet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala took that dua very seriously. J was known amongst the people of many as being a man of great worship and integrity. no scandals, nothing in his past that would indicate that anyone should think anything but the best of Jul. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam tells us that some of the members of Benel of his community were in the town talking to one another. They were just in a gathering having a conversation and came up in their conversation. And so as J's name came up in their gathering, they started to talk about how beautiful Jo is, how great his worship is, what a good man, what a man of integrity. And a woman who was one of the prostitutes, she was a known prostitute of Benisel happened to hear them having this conversation. Now we notice here that this is the first problem. We have the best of their community and the lowest of their community all gathered in the same place. They are not choosing their company. And this is one of the mistakes that Ben is made that Allah warns us of inah. She was considered the paragon of objective beauty. This woman was incredibly beautiful. She heard them praising Jes and she said, "I can seduce J. If you all allow me to, I can seduce him. I bet you I could take him off the path. You're all talking about how incredibly beautiful George is. I'm sure I bet you I could make him waver, make him flounder." What did his brothers and sisters from Ben who just A MOMENT AGO WERE praising him, singing his praises and speaking about how they wish their kids were like him and they wish they could be like Jes. Did they defend him? Did they say stay away from Jes? Leave him alone. Don't even test him. No. What they said was, "Bet. You think you could take him astray? Be my guest. Let's see." This shows a very particular type of jealousy and envy that the scholars of Islam mention that the people of Ben, this group anyhow, suffered from. It was this envy that instead of deterring this woman with her ill intentions, they encouraged her to go and try to seduce George into Zenna. For what reason? For no other reason that that he makes them feel insecure about themselves. This is not a problem with Jo. this is a problem within themselves. He makes them feel insecure. He reminds them of what they should be doing by his mere presence. And so even though they praise him outwardly, inwardly as Allah tells us, their hearts were riddled with envy and jealousy and malice. We will continue to draw insights from this story that the prophet sallall.aii wasallam has told us and our following in subsequent for.

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Muslim.

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Alhamdulillah. for.

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Allah. foreign.

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All.

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One for All. as I.

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Suhammed. He was alhamdulillah.

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Nobody Allah.

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Stand shouldertosh shoulder. Come forward as much as possible. Please do not start a new row or join a row until you're sure that the row ahead of you is completely filled. Align your shoulders and feet with the shoulders and feet of your two neighbors. Inshallah, after salat, we will have a quick salat jaza over a brother that has passed away in federal prison. referred you know he's known as Imam Jim he passed away a while ago in federal prison we will have over him so right after salah we will finish our salah then I will stand up we will stand exactly as we are for any normal prayer as janazi is I will give a very quick rundown on how janaza is performed and then I will ask our brother Hassan inshallah to lead us in janaza.

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Send me out Lord. Allahel.

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Allah acel.

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We will make janaz if we could just stand up in exactly the place that we are exactly as we line up for any prayer. It just takes about 1 minute janaza janaza is comprised of four. After the first there's no there's no janaza. After the first Allahbar, we will recite. Then we will make another Allahbar and we will make a just we do in salah after it is. Then we'll make a third. And here we make dua for our departed brother. Make dua for him with whatever comes to mind in whatever language you are proficient in. If you have something memorized of what our prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would say in janaza, that is better. But any dua dua, the yard stick to proper dua in janaza is that you make dua for him as you would made for you in this situation because we will all eventually be that janaz. We will all eventually be that funeral procession that is prayed for. Our prophet sallall.aii Wasallam said that we are to dua that we are to make dua for the person who is deceased and make our dua specific for them. so make it as specific as you can. After that we'll make a fourth and final followed by two to the right and then to the left. After that we'll have our president brother Makud inshallah for the announcements. Allahbar.

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Hello. Allah.

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Come on.

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Allah.

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So just just to expand on on what she had mentioned. , I jam was originally incarcerated in Tucson Federal, which is right down the street from us. , there had been many protests over the year. , she man had come down here about a couple of years ago to protest at the federal building. We have gone down as well to ask for his release. in his last days he was suffering from face cancer and eventually with all the protests that we had called into the prison he was eventually transferred to Butner which is a federal medical facility in North Carolina and that's where he passed away Monday where he had taken his last breaths. May Allahh have mercy upon his soul. he was a true civil rights warrior. May Allahh accept him in the highest. brothers was was incarcerated for over some 40 60 50 years. May Allah subhah have immense mercy upon his soul and his family. so please keep him in his family duas inshallah.

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That's why you're sweat.