‫ن يوم الدي‬

As Salaam Alaikum

A’uzu Billahi Minaash-Shaitanir Rajeem

Bismillah Ir-Rahman nir-Rahim

Al-Hamdu Lillahi Nahmaduhu wa Nassta ‘eenuhu, wa

Nasstaghfiruhu, wa Natoobu Ilayhi, wa Na’ oozu Billahi
Min Shurouri Anfusina wa Saiyaati A’maalina.

Praise be to Allah, we praise Him and seek help from Him; we ask
forgiveness from Him; we repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from the
evils of our own souls and from our own bad deeds.

Ash hadu an-la illaha illallahu, wahdahu la sharika lahu, wa

ash hadu anna Muhammadan ‘Abduhu wa Rasuluhu,
Sallallahu was alihi was Salam am mabad

I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah (with no partners or associates)
and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Servant of Allah and His Messenger,
The Prayers and the Peace Be Upon Muhammad, his successors and what follows
of that salutation.

Dear Muslims:

We thank Allah for His Last Revelation, the Holy Qur’an. We thank Allah,
Most High, for that Messenger, Our Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Our Excellent
Human Model of the individual life and the social life. He is the unlettered
Prophet, and he is mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel, as a Comforter. And
we know that he came to breaking the bonds that weigh down or crush the
people; that he will break every unjust bond. He is our Leader and our best
example.

Prophet Muhammad said that there would come a time, when the people
would see Christ Jesus and himself together. I am a witness that we see them
together in this day and time. We live here in America among our neighbors and
we can now look in their faces, and see a human essence that wants moral life,
that wants decent community life, and we can see the same human spirit that
Allah Most High created in all people.

We owe a debt of gratitude to those that have come before us; that suffered
and were persecuted for their belief in G-d. Our Prophet (SAW), the Sahaba, and
many more after them; those who made it comfortable for us to practice our
religion today. With courage, and with no fear, and with the commitment to live
the life and die the death of Muslims.
 We owe thanks to Allah for our leader Imam W. Deen Mohammed, for
many insights that he shared with us, but I think a most important point that he
emphasized was that we are living in the Yaum-middin, the Day of
Judgment—the conclusion of things.

Allah tells us in Qur’an:

2.047 Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour

which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all other (for
My Message).

Addressing Children of Israel… and we can see this as addressing us all,

because it is guidance for those who believe in Qur’an.. and Allah “any who
believe in G-d and the Last Day and work righteousness, shall have their reward
with their Lord…”

So He tells us:

2.048 Then guard yourselves against a day when one soul shall not
avail another nor shall intercession be accepted for her, nor shall
compensation be taken from her, nor shall anyone be helped (from
outside).

In our early evolution as Muslims, we did not know Arabic; we did not
read or understand Qur’an and we knew few prayers. But the main prayer that we
prayed was

“Surely I have turned myself to Thee, O Allah

Trying to be upright to He who originated the heaven and the earth,
And I am not of the polytheists…”

And then we continued exactly as it appears in Surah Anam

6.162 Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and

my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds:

6.163 No partner hath He: this am I commanded, and I am the first

of those who bow to His will.

We understood that we were facing the originator of the heavens and the
earth and we were not just waiting to face Him in the hereafter. When we turn
our selves, it meant our nafs:

Our Soul, Our Spirit, Our Whole Selves

6.164 Say: Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself:
no bearer of burdens can bear of burdens can bear the burden of
another.

This also describes how we will face Allah in Judgment:

One soul shall not avail another- Don’t we see this in our lives
now?
We have children and family members in our own homes who we cannot
help. We can’t make them see the light. We can’t make them behave righteously.
Some of them are lost to the world and there’s nothing we can do for them.

No intercession will be accepted for her.

We pray for them, but there is no guarantee that we can intercede in their
behalf. There life has to play itself out. And only by Allah’s Grace can He bring
them back.

No compensation will be taken for her.

It’s not just the poor among us, who get lost and can’t find our way. We are
the ones though that can’t afford expensive rehab. From rich on down, we all face
the same problems and no amount of money can solve them.

Nor shall anyone be helped (from outside).

This is that time. We have arrived at a time…conclusion of Prophecy, at the
conclusion of G-d’s universal scheme

I saw a video recently made by an Australian brother who

converted to Islam. He described how he had experienced many trials
and difficulties in one year that had made him examine his purpose in
this life. He was raised an atheist, investigated Christianity, Judaism
and Buddhism, and finally Islam. He visited a Mosque. He studied.
And then he asked Allah for a sign that he should accept Islam. He
looked for something out of the ordinary; he looked for anything that
was the slightest bit supernatural. He got nothing. Disappointed he
went back to reading his Qur’an and when he opened it to where he
had been reading, the very next verse on the next page began:

For those of you, who ask for signs, have we not shown you enough
already; look around you; look at the stars; look at the sun; look at the water;
these are the signs for people of knowledge.

We then should then be looking for those signs, those things that have
been prophesied to happen in this Day of Judgment.

We should see the powerful social forces that are forcing nations engage
each other, willingly and unwillingly;
 We should see the forces of nature at work. Allah says the earth will
behave as if it has received Revelation. Sometimes revelation causes revolution.

In Tunisia, the people have protested their leadership and risked their
lives in the streets to say: “Mr. Ali, you have ruled us for 30 years, and except
for you and your family and a select few, we remain poor, hungry and ignorant

In Egypt they are saying the same thing…Mr. Mubarak you have ruled
us for 30 years…

In Yemen, they are saying the same thing…Mr. Saleh, you have ruled us
for 30 years…we want change.

And here in America, the call for change echoed around the world..

We should see how man engages the material creation and his own soul;
how the moral people have to hold the scientific people back who believe they
can create life. How the ethical people have to hold the economic people back to
keep the common person’s interest and survival in focus.

Communication and transportation has put us all in the very tight

and close space of family relations, and we have to look at each other face to face,
just as we do at Hajj. And we see the beauty of others human spirit and we also
see each other’s moles and imperfections.

We are basking in the Divine Light of Truth and some of us are feeling the
healing warmth and comfort of that Light and some us are getting sunburned. It
shows up all things and it nourishes those creatures, and evolves beauty and
color in those that choose to live above the ground.

The sun is a great symbol of death as it sets in the West, and darkness and
cold covers the earth but it is also a rebirth as it rises again in the East. And Allah
says if it is His Will He could make the night perpetual over us and the Day
perpetual. The Divine Light is on now. Before we could put things off, and buy
time, but now, that great timekeeper, the sun, now on a Divine Schedule and
time will one day overtake us.

And the earth also cries out for our recognition of her as our Mother and
teacher. Our Prophet said, “Civilization is at the foot of the mother.” And in our
neighborhoods where our children have been had to come up in households,
where the father was AWOL and where the mother has forgotten her role, we
have lost our civilization. But the environment, in its imbalance, has reminded us
of this.
 Many Qur'anic verses, especially the earlier ones, are dominated by the
idea of the nearing of the day of resurrection

Allah says: They see it as a thing far off, but it may be quite close

And when the Garden is brought near;-

(Then) shall each soul know what it has put forward.

42.017

It is He “Who has sent down the Book in Truth, and the Balance (by
which to weigh conduct). And what will make thee realise that
perhaps the Hour is close at hand?”

Allah tells us of the Time in At-Takathur:

2-1 The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you
(from the more serious things),

2-2 Until ye visit the graves.

2-3 But nay, ye soon shall know (the reality).

2-4 Again, ye soon shall know!

2-5 Nay, were ye to know with certainty of mind, (ye would beware!)

2-6 Ye shall certainly see Hell-Fire!

2-7 Again, ye shall see it with certainty of sight!

2-8 Then, shall ye be questioned that Day about the joy (ye indulged in!).

We will soon know the reality and we will know it with a certainty of
mind and we will see it with certain sight. Isn’t this what we are witnessing
right now. We are almost at a point now where we can say that the people are
doing exactly what they want to do, and that those who don’t know don’t want to
know.

As Muslims, this is the time that we see the fulfillment of G-ds promises,
and it should increase our Faith. And it clears away any doubts that we may have
had, and any guessing and speculation.

Why is it important to know what time it is? To know it is this

Time?
 Because time is the thing that informs us of the things we have
to do.

Allah says in Qur’an, in Al-Asr:

103-1 By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),

103-2 Verily Man is in loss,

103- Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join
together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and
Constancy.

Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadan wa ‘ala ali Muhammadan,

kama sallaita ‘ala Ibrahim wa ala ali Ibrahim, Innaka Hamid
um M-ajid. Allahumma barik ‘ala Muhammadan wa ‘ala ali
Muhammadan, kama barakta ‘ala Ibrahim wa ala ali Ibrahim,
Innaka Hamid um M-ajid

Part 2

A’uzu Billahi Minaash-Shaitanir Rajeem

Bismillah Ir-Rahman nir-Rahim

Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil ‘Alameen Wassalatu Wassalamu ‘Ala

khairil Mursaleen, Muhammadin Al-Nabiyil Ummiyee; wa ‘ala
Alihi wa sahbihi Ajma ‘een ammaa Ba’ad.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of All the Worlds; the Prayers and the Peace be
upon the best Messenger, Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet; and upon
His Family and upon all His companions, and what follows of that
salutation.

We began this Khutbah discussing the day of Judgment, and in its root
meaning, Din means an accounting, a settling of our accounts. And it is a raising
of the dead, and we can see that this takes place both here on earth repeatedly
and we know that there will be a Final Judgment, a Final Accounting, or Final
Resurrection in the Hereafter.

And Inshallah, we are living our Life, as if today is going to be our Last and
we want the good in our Account to greatly outweigh the bad.
The Better-the Destiny

We all want the Good Life. We all want heaven. Of course we want that
greatest and most perfect of rewards which is the Hereafter. But we also
recognize that G-d created us for a Great Destiny in this life. It is a common
destiny for all humans, so regardless to the path we take, something in our
created essence makes us desire the same heaven here on earth.

As young Muslims, we were taught that very simply—Money, Good Homes

and friendship in all Walks of Life. And we learned that the path to that heaven
here on earth was the same as it is now…that is Faith, Good Deeds, Moral
Conduct, Love of our brothers and sisters, and Concern for our fellow human
beings. Many of these things we have held on to. And Allah has expanded our
breast, to be able to love and appreciate all his human creatures.

But in this time where is the urgency that we are living in a Day of such
importance.

The example that Allah uses many times for a Day of Resurrection is how
He causes the clouds to cover land which is dry and lifeless, and He causes it to
rain and brings back life into the dead area. In the magnificence and beauty of
His creation, we find those same substances that are found in the soil, Hydrogen,
Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Carbon—in the human being. Everything in the material
universe points to something spiritual and something social within the human
being. So history also informs us that human communities which were dead
socially and economically are brought back to life in the same manner.

Yes, we can have blessings and benefit in our personal lives, but that is not
such a big deal. Everybody can do that. Christians, atheists and others, can share
the good life. But who has the message that is worthy of the dignity and the
nature of all human beings? And what message has the power to bring life to
dead and lifeless earth?

We have saved our own lives and experienced some of the Peace and
Paradise here on earth. And I’m not saying that that is a small task. But it is not
as big a task, not as big a responsibility as our work in Community.

How did we do this? We did it by keeping a sacred respect for the

better, instead of the lesser. Allah tells us seek the best thereof, so we have
disciplined ourselves so that in any given circumstance, and with any given
choice, we will choose the better. Given a choice between argument and conflict,
we will choose peace. Given a choice between anger and calmness we will sit
down or play down in order to have the better psychological state. Given the
choice between night life and family life, we choose the better. Given the choice
between that which will give us life that which puts us on the road to death, we
choose life. We listen to our higher and better nature.
 We embrace the best behavior and the best traditions the Maroof
And we reject the lowly things and the lowly behavior-the Munkar

Doesn’t that same nature tells us that we want the same thing for our neighbors.
Doesn’t it tell us that as descendants of Adam (SAW), we are brothers and sisters,
and that we all have a part in this Garden of material creation?

So we seek the best thereof and we also do that by insisting that our own thinking
and our own societies evolve through those higher and higher levels that are
represented by our prophets. We have to recognize the time and the npalce in
which we are in. And we are in a competition or a race… Striving . and opther
communities are striving We have to see in G-d’s words the keys tom our success.
When man’s best part has been taken away, when the people are enslaved and
burdened by the yokes of ignorance and indecent behavior, It is incumbent upon
G-d to restore them and it is incumbent on us to do that work.

Most of us recognize that slavery did n’t end with the chains. It continues
on as the confinement of the human mind and soul, and the denial of the oppor-
tunity to develop and reach our full potential. Do you really believe that the
brothers and sisters that we see in the communities here on Chicago’s west side are
really reaching their full human potential?

Let us share the beauty of this human life.

We have been blessed, and we have to hold on to it and share it. Don’t
separate from what Allah has blessed you with. Whatever it is that has burdened
our souls, Allah can remove it, and He can revive the soul of the community. He
knows us better than we know ourselves and He is as close to us as our jugular
vein. He has created a cure for our every illness, and it is He that heals us when
we are ill.

Let us believe in this. Let us believe that there must be a place at the table
for all of G-d’s human creatures. Let us pray that Allah restore our connection to
the Light Divine Truth and to Mother Earth. Bless us with an increase in
knowledge and increase in human sensitivities. Let us pray that Allah with the
best of this life here on earth while we live and the Perfect Reward of the
Hereafter.
Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan
Wa fil-Akhirati hasanatan
wa qina 'adhab an-Nar. '

O Allah! Grant us good in this life

and good in the life to come,
and save us from the torment of Hell Fire."

Aqamatis-Salat