SURAH BAQARAH THE COW VERSES 131 140 When his Lord said to him submit, he said I have

submitted to the Lord of the Worlds. Now lets think of ourselves, any command that we hear. We hear Allah has told you to pray. What is it that we say? When we hear Allah has told us to give up backbiting. What is our response, even if we don t say it aloud? Not yet, i m too young, let me raise my children first, let me get married first, let me complete my education first. So many priorities. Ibrahim AS s response was not ok Allah just give me two years to enjoy myself and i ll be right there. When his Lord told him to surrender, his simple spontaneous response was aslamtu, of course I surrender. There is nothing surprising about that, he is rabbul aalimeen and when rabbul aalimeen asks you to do something, you do it. And this submission was enjoined by Ibrahim upon his sons. He didn t just worry about himself, he taught this to his children. And by Yaqub saying O my sons Allah has chosen for you the true religion, then die not except in the faith of Islam. Or were you witnesses when death approached Yaqub, when he said to his sons what will you worship after me. They said we shall worship your god, the god of your fathers; Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, one god and to him we submit. Ibrahim AS taught this to his grandson Yaqub AS and Yaqub AS is telling this to him children at the time of his death. Why has Allah mentioned this over here, that it was the time of his death. Because on a man s deathbed he will only be telling something that is crucially important to him. Now what do we talk about? In our society when someone is dying he will be telling his children about his bank accounts and the money that so and so owes him. What is he talking about? What will you worship after me? We need to get our priorities right. Even at this time of death he is still preoccupied, he is concerned about their hereafter. What will you worship after me? And they reassured him we shall worship your God. The God of your fathers, Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq and we are all submitting once to him, we are all Muslims. Islam is not a new religion, it is the last link in the chain of divine revelation because Islam means surrender and Islam means peace. That was a nation that has passed away, for them was what they earned and for you will be what your earned. Muslims have a tendency to dream of past glory, dream of past grandeurs. Look at the Muslims in the early days of partition, in the days of the British Raj why weren t they succeeding? Because they were just living in the splendour of the Mughals. Allah says that was a nation that has passed away, for them was what they earned and for you will be what your earned. You re not going to get any sawaab for what they did, you re not going to be asked of what they used to do. Muslims love to discuss hypothetical cases and disputes about what so and so did and what so and so did. Allah says don t waste your time. Get on with what you have to do. And they say be Jews or Christians, then you will be guided. Say to them know the creed of Ibrahim AS, hanifa, upright, unswerving, focused. See Ibrahim AS s life was focused. He was focusing on Allah. He let nothing distract him from that. He never did shirk. There are different categories of shirk. One shirk is where you are worshiping stone idols, another is where you are following your desires. rather than Allah s will.

As the Prophet pbuh said, the worst false God that is followed on this earth is mans own nafs. Ibrahim never followed any kind of shirk. His own desires or his father s desires or the Kings s desires or the people s desires, he focused on Allah. Say who is this addressed to? Us. Muslims. We believe in Allah and that which was sent down before this Qur an and that which was sent on his brother Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Ya qub and to the offspring of Ya qub and that which has been given to Musa and isa and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We do not make any distinction between them. We don t pass judgments on the prophets. Again We are ones who have surrendered to Allah, who have submitted to Allah. So if they believe in the like of that which you believe, in other words if we follow the example of the companions of the Prophet pbuh then they are rightly guided, but if they turn away then they are only in opposition. Allah will suffice for you against them. Don t be intimidated by people who challenge you or who challenge the Prophet pbuh. Allah will protect you against them. And he is the hearer. He can hear what people are claiming. He knows what they are truly concealing in their hearts. The colour of Allah, and which colour can be better than Allah. And we are his worshippers. This is what we are being taught to say. The colour of Allah. In other words don t be hypocrites. Be Allah s worshippers whether it is in your relationships, whether it is the time of your wedding, whether it is the time of your business dealings whether it is the time of someone s funeral, whether it is the time of someone being born. Obey Allah and Allah alone. The Prophet pbuh once said whoever loves for Allah s sake, and hates for Allah s sake and gives for Allah s sake and withholds for Allah s sake, he has perfected iman. Every action of our lives, every thought that we think should be done for Allah and Allah alone. And Hassan Basri once said by Allah every action I have done for the last twenty years has been done after I thought Am I doing this for Allah or for someone else and then I did it. Take on the colour of Allah. Be passionately caring about Allah. Be sensitive to Allah s presence. Can you find someone better than Allah to follow? We are his worshippers. Every act of our life for Allah s sake alone. Say O Muhammad pbuh, do you dispute with us about Allah while he is our Lord and your Lord. Tell the Jews and the Christians what s the big argument about, why are you arguing with us about Allah when is our Lord and your Lord. We will be rewarded for our deeds, you will be rewarded for your deeds and we are sincere to him alone that our hearts are purely devoted to Allah. Or do you say that Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub and the offspring of Ya qub were Jews or Christians? Ask them do you know better, or does Allah? And who is more unjust than he who conceals the testimony he has from Allah. Ask these Jews and the Christians, were Ibrahim and Ismail and all these Prophets Jews or Christians? Do you know better or does Allah know better? What has Allah just told us, that they were all Muslims. Remember Allah is not unaware of what you do.