What does it truly mean to say Allah is One?

Welcome to everyone and a great congratulations to everyone who is watching this here on the live stream this afternoon congratulations.

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Those followers the companions of the companions etc it was their tradition that they would congratulate one another whenever the sacred months would approach or whenever the most best of times would come upon them they would congratulate one another and so based on that we congratulate everyone we congratulate ourselves and first of all we preface this by thanking allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that we have reached another sacred blessed month the month of ramadan once again in our lives we've lost many people since last year and we've lost many people since the year before that and it is a privilege and nothing short of a privilege that we have been chosen by allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to be part of this year's ramadan so congratulations to everyone and we ask allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the strength and the courage and that he give us the audacity to do what is necessary during this month and not to squander this opportunity that we have to today and that we have for the rest of the month insha'allah this month of ramadan every month of ramadan every month of every year we are to capitalize on each day we're to look at each day at each sunrise as if it is a brand new life it's a new life that you're living you're going to make the best of that life and this month is a month that is blessed according to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he said it's been narrated that he said the month of ramadan has come upon you all and it is a blessed month now this statement mubarak blessed what it really translates to is that it has an abundance of good and not just an abundance of good but an abundance of remnant and permanent good in it that what you do during this month will change your life it will change your life irrevocably and it will change your life irreversibly and that's something that we have to understand when he says it means that it is a blessed month that brings with it an abundance of remnant and permanent good and so capitalize on that it doesn't mean that you have to be perfect we're not going to be perfect we're going to fall short we all are going to in some way or another slack off it's just how we as human beings are but we're going to try our best and the idea is is that the best you can try or as i should say the best you can do is the best that you can do so try your best work harder try to give yourself that little bit of extra push this ramadan make this ramadan better than the last one and if you achieve that then you have achieved what is referred to as sn in the quran and in the sunnah and that is that san is constant progression that's what sn is constant progression that every month or every day or every hour i'm trying to constantly be better than the previous and if i can achieve that then i am on my way to allah subhanahu.

[Arabic recitation]

So any chance that you get any opportunity no matter what it is even if it is just to smile in someone's face and make them feel good even though they are going through utter misery you would be amazed what a smile can do to the human heart if it comes from the heart if it's not a superficial one the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said in this spirit he said do not belittle any good deed that you can muster up even if it is merely to meet your brother with a smiling face obviously we don't always do that obviously we have good days and we have bad days obviously we have things on our mind but every time you do something and you have an opportunity capitalize on it work for now and for this moment and i ask allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he make this ramadan our best we're going to be going through a series of verses of the quran we have four series four installments this ramadan with myself this ramadan we are going to focus on the two chapters of the quran which are referred to as the two chapters of ikhlas the two chapters of total submission to allah subhanahu wa and then we're going to do two more chapters which speak about the evils and those things which negate that utter submission to allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala their chapters their verses of the quran we've memorized most of us anyways have memorized all if not many if not all of these chapters but we want to look at them under a different light and we want to look at them in a different way that perhaps we may gain some new enlightenment and as the poet has so wisely said no man ever crosses the same river twice the man is not the same man and the river is not the same river and likewise is a person's relationship with the quran you never cross the same verse twice you are not the same person and that verse means something different to you in your time and in your place and under your circumstances tonight or today i should say excuse me we are going to be speaking about surat al-ikhlas surutil is the third to last chapter of the quran it is chapter 112. of the quran it's the chapter of the quran which allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has dedicated totally and completely to himself and to his own description subhanahu wa ta'ala it's the third to the last chapter it has many virtues to it one of those virtues is that the prophet salallahu.

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That this chapter is equivalent to the to a third of the quran now what does that mean well it is equivalent to a third of the quran with regards to the narrative of the quran what is the subject matter of the quran the subject matter of the quran is three main things they are the three branches of knowledge that are found in the quran number one allah subhanahu wa ta'ala his names his attributes his actions number two the commandments of allah what he has forbidden what he has commanded and what the ramifications of the fulfillment of those commandments or the transgression of those prohibitions are and number three the third branch of knowledge or the third narrative if you will that is found in the quran are the stories and parables and analogies that are given to us the stories of the prophets and messengers the analogies of the quran and the life of this world etc etc this is exactly what is meant when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says is equivalent to a third of the quran meaning it sums up a third of the meanings of the quran it doesn't mean that if a person reads surah till three times that it's taken the place of the quran that is an incorrect understanding that is not what is meant by it because surat al-fatiha for example a person must a thousand times it would not take the place of reciting surat al-fatiha one time in salah what's meant by suratul khlos is equivalent to a third of the quran meaning it is equivalent to a third of its meanings and its narratives that it has summed up a third of all of what the quran speaks about and that is that it has been completely reserved for the description of allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala all of the names and attributes of allah all of the descriptions of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala they branch off from this chapter of the quran and that is why it's called surat al-ikhlas because if a person it's called surat in the arabic language means the chapter that is makes something sincere make something purified make something its own and what does that mean well that means that if a person recites this verse these verses understands them believes them then this person has become solely submissive and belonging to allah subhanahu wa this person's heart has now become only for allah wa ta'ala and that is why it is such a significant verse it's a verse that the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam verse or i should say verses chapter in which the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would begin his day with he would end his day with he would begin his he would end his tawaf around the kaaba with it it is something that he would recite before he went to bed at night it is something that he would recite in salem many m many times and a lot and often the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would recite this chapter of the quran along with its sister chapter which is suratil kafirun which is the other surat al-ikhlas the scholars of islam tell us that.

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Which we will speak about next week in sha allah that these are two parts of complete and utter submission of allah to allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala and that when an individual recites these two chapters and when a person believes in them and when a person implements them that this person has become a completely subservient owned servant of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that none of him none of his actions none of his heart belongs to other than allah subhanahu wa and that is something that is very amazing and that's something that we should all be working towards and that's the point of our existence essentially so suratul in the morning before salat al-fajr the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would would would pray to raka and those two raqqa that he would pray this is the sunnah of salat al-fajr oftentimes he would recite in the first surat and in the second raka he would recite surah that's what he would begin his day with when he would end his day which is in the sunnah of merib oftentimes he would recite in the first and in the second and so he would begin his day and he would end his day in salah reciting these two chapters of the quran likewise whenever the prophet salallahu whenever he would make or hajj or circumambulate the kaaba and circumambulate and then pray the two rakah of circumambulation the turaka of tawaf we see that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would recite in the first and he would recite in the second recap this is to show you the significance of these chapters the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would end his night just before he closed his eyes to go off into sleep he would blow into his hands three times and recite and he would wipe them over all of his body and he would do this three times before he would go to sleep allah etc etc there are other virtues and many virtues that this chapter holds now why does this chapter hold so much virtue we spoke a little bit about that but now we'd to get into the actual minutia of the chapter itself i'll first begin with reciting it in arabic then i will translate it in its entirety after which we will discuss each individual verse and end with that inshallah allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala begins in the correct opinion of the scholars and this is the opinion of sheikh islam bismillah is an individual verse that marks the beginning of one chapter and the end of another in the quran it is an independent verse meaning bismillah is not part of surah till and it's not part of it is an independent verse of that has been mentioned in order to articulate the difference between one chapter to another in sunnah tiramiti the prophet sallallahu even said that we would know the beginning of one chapter and the ending of another when allah would send down bismillah sheikh in islam says we understand from this that bismillah is a is a verse of the quran because allah would send it down but it is an independent verse he says say he is allah the one the only the individual the completely unique allah allah allah the one who is completely self-sufficient and everything must turn to him for its sufficiency he neither begets nor was he begotten he neither has offspring nor is he the offspring of another and there is no com comparison to him there is nothing or anyone comparable to he subhannah this is four verses which from these four verses branches off all of the names and attributes of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in order for us to understand this chapter we have to understand something and that is that when we look at the issue of tohit tawhid what is tahid tahid is the act of the oneness of allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala making allah one okay taheed is of two types meaning in order for a person to make in order for a person to make and to completely fulfill to heed a person must have these two types of tohit the first type is to heed al-marifah and the second type is welcomed okay so what does that mean let's unpack that now he says and this when i say he i mean the scholars of islam this goes back all the way to ibn abbas all of the scholars of islam the significant imma of islam have mentioned these types of tuhid they say that the first type of tohit is to heed of knowledge and belief the second type of toheed is still heed of intention and action right some scholars refer to this as tohita rubabiyah without of lordship and the tohit of warship what does that mean meaning that to hide means that i believe in the names and attributes and actions of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that they are particular to he and he alone that no one else has any part in any of the names and attributes and actions of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that is the first type of tohit the second type of tohid is the tohit of al-qasud meaning intention and action and that is that i worship none other than allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala that the only one that my worship is directed to is allah alone without any partners subhanahu wa'ta'ala this is an extremely important thing to understand if we're going to understand the quran it's not enough to merely believe that allah is the only creator everybody believes that that is something that is a logical conclusion as a matter of fact and it is an illogical conclusion and it is a logical fallacy for a person to believe that there is more than one creator does not translate to there is no creator but god there is no god but god that is not what it means what it translates to is there is none who is rightfully worshipped but that one god who is the one who created subhanahu ta'ala and that's the point of contention between the prophets and messengers and their people when we talk about us when we talk about this is what surat al-ikhlas is about it's about that first type of tahit tahid and belief of aruba belief in allah's names and attributes and actions and that they are particular to him he is the only creator he is the only sustainer he is the only one who has the epitome of his names and attributes subhanna he is the only one who is unique he is the only one who is worthy of worship etc etc this is so when allah begins he's speaking to the prophet salallahu but he's also speaking to every other person who reads this as if he is to say say chant make it your mantra continue to say to yourself have your heart revolve around the meanings of who allah had he is allah ahad now notice how he says ahad and he didn't say even though ahad and are both names of allah one of the names of allah is and the other name of allah is subhanahu in the arabic language has many distinctions that distinguish it from even though they come from the same source and they both essentially mean one however ahad is more epitomizing of uniqueness what does that mean that means that when we say allah meaning that say he is allah one none is him in his oneness or anything else about him he is absolutely unique allah and allah the name allah literally translates to the one who is worshipped out of love and exaltation it's a name that is specific to allah allah a summit a summit in the arabic language articulates many meanings the majority of those meanings revolve around as they revolve around highness and majesty and also a summit meaning the one who needs no one or needs nothing needs needs he he does not need anyone or anything and everything and everyone needs him subhanahu wa that is the most prominent meaning of a summit the ones the one subhanahu ta'ala that all of the creation turn to for their existence for their needs for what they for for for their existence for them to continue to exist their existence in itself relies upon allah subhanahu wa ta'ala maintaining that existence for them he then says he neither begets nor was he begotten meaning he has no offspring and he is not the offspring of another he has no beginning subhanahu he has no end because when we as human beings we have children this marks the beginning of a life of another person and the beginning of my end because my child will take my place but when he subhanahu wa ta'ala says he neither begets nor was he begotten he has no beginning he has no end he has no child and he is not the child of another none has preceded him and none will follow him and then he ends this all with saying and there is none who is in any way similar to he subhanahu wa ta'ala we ask allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless us with knowledge of the quran to give us wisdom to remind us of it what we have been made to forget and to grant us understanding and implementation of that understanding of muhammad thank you very much for joining us and we will see you next week insha allah you.