 إن الحمد لله نحمده ونستعينه ونستغفره ونؤمن به جل ولا نكفره ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات عمالنا من يحده الله فلا مضللا ومن يدل فلا هاديلا وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريكلا وأشهد أن سيدنا محمدا عبد الله ورسوله وصفيه من خلقه وحبيبه أدل أمانه وبلغ الرسالة ونصح الأمة وكشف الله به الغمه وجاهد في الله يحق جهابي حتى أتاه اليقين فصلوات ربي والسلامه عليه وعلى كل من اهتدى بسنة إلى يوم الدين والعاقبة للمتقين الله مجعن منهم يا رب العالمين أمين أمين ثم أمين يا أيها الذين آمنوا إتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتنا إلا وأنتم مسلمون أما بعد أمي أمي يقوم بعمل لنا اليوم إذا تأخذت هذه السببات ونسألها أحد يرى just how much الله سبحانه وتعالى حقا برسوله كل سنة التي قلتها وقلتها إلى حقيقاً في الانسين التي تقللها برسولة ومرسولة ومرسولة من الله سبحانه وتعالى كما يقوم بعمل with his creation إمام الرازي يقول كما يكتبون برسول الله سبحانه وتعالى ويقول أن كل سنة التي يقوم برسول الله سبحانه وتعالى يوجد 10 سبورة وكل سبورة وكل سبورة يوجد 10 جسدات من التي نرى حقيقة يقول أن كل سنة تقوم بعمل هذه السببات ونعود سبورة وقوم بعمل كل سنة يوجد يقوم بعمل الشكر عليها يوجد يقوم بعمل جسدات للمسلم والصبر عليها ويوجد right of patience in implementing that word ورد بها ويوجد right of contentment with that word as being received ويوجد and so on and so forth قمت بعمل هذه المقامات هذه are the spiritual stations of certainty التي ستجعل the faith of the believer perfect لفتح كل شيء. وذلك as we speak and as we articulate, as we rationalize الإنسان وحيوان وناثق ، الإنسان هو الإنسان راشيون ، والله سبحانه وتعالى تقلقنا بيان ، علما هو بيان ، يقلقنا بيان كيف تقلقنا ، عندما نسأل ما نقول ، word by word ، نرى إذا نضع ، وإذا نأخذنا time ، نرى just how benevolent our benefactor is, just how beneficent the compassionate Lord is with us, and in this simple utterance, this simple articulation, my mother is preparing dinner for us tonight. Let us take a step back and think about what the word my means, my mother. For in my there is the recognition of a gift and not an entitlement. For none of us are entitled to our mothers. Many people come into this world and their mothers die in childbirth. But the fact that I can say my mother means that there is a gift that was given to me and she belongs to me now and not to anyone else. There is the right of this relationship that she now is ascribed to me. And is that not a gift beyond words? Is that not a gift for which I must be grateful that I can even say my? And then mother, the word mother. This person that Allah ﷻ has put in our lives and whether they are still alive or they have passed on. Our connection to them has never, is never severed. This woman who if you look back at the past 20 years of her life, just 20 years of her life and count the number of meals that she has prepared for you. They number in the tens of thousands. Tens of thousands of meals that she has prepared thanklessly for her family. The word mother, my mother. This woman who has spent countless days and nights grieving over our well-being when we fall sick, stressing over our futures as we meet or fall short of her expectations and how she raised us. This blessed woman in our lives at whose feet heaven lies. My mother is, is. How many wish that they could even say that word is. That is the word that is uttered by a privileged class of people who are alive on the earth today. For everyone before us can no longer say this word is with any meaning. Because we are in the moment alive. And is is a privilege for those who exist to be able to say it with the confidence that the next moment will come. With that next moment we may not come. So the fact that we can even say is, deserves our gratitude for that next breath and that next moment that hosts our lives. Preparing, look at how much time she spends cutting the vegetables, slicing up the meat, preparing the rice, adding the right spices, making it all smell nice. That all goes there into preparation, let alone the time that it took for her to actually find the food in the grocery store or at the farmers market or wherever she got that food. That all is there in the preparation. And then the entire process, forgetting the food from the seedling to your supper plate. The industry that supports that, all of that is contained in that word preparing. Dinner, you have another meal. You have another meal where what majority of the denizens of this earth cannot say that they can expect dinner tonight. But these are meals that are guaranteed to us living here in the West. They are guaranteed without us having to work so hard from the surplus that we suffer in this country. Dinner, another meal. تسألوني يومة إذن عنو النعيم on that day you will be asked about the blessings. Four, just in case you missed the sentence, my mother is preparing dinner for us tonight. Four, in that word there is intentionality. In that word there is the love that is in the mother's heart, that is moving her limbs and that is keeping her on her feet as she is preparing this meal while she is reciting salawat on the Prophet ﷺ to bless it. And why? For Allah and His Messenger, for the well-being of her family, for the health of her children, for her ability to answer on the Day of Judgment, did you dispense of your responsibility? All of this is moving her heart in the kitchen as she prepares that meal. And for whom? For us. Meaning that Allah ﷺ has gathered other people around you, your siblings, your father, your uncles and aunts, your grandchildren, your neighbors, your friends who are invited as guests for all of us. And do we not have a reason to celebrate us? إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين. You alone do we worship and you alone do we see tour assistance. Us, she's doing so for us, all of the people to whom you are connected in that family and in the extended family and among your neighbors and friends, those people to whom we are connected. And she is preparing that meal for us tonight. Tonight, in tonight there is hope for the future. There is hope for the moments that will come. There is hope for another chance for tomorrow. There is hope that you will actually reach tonight. And in that hope, Allah ﷺ is owed gratitude. There is not a single word that we utter except that it is connected to a blessing. Not a single word that we utter except that it is connected to a blessing. And Allah ﷺ says And if you were to enumerate the blessings of Allah ﷺ you would not be able to accomplish that. For mankind is ever oppressive and ever ungrateful. And he says إن الله غفور رحيم. And if you were to enumerate the blessings of Allah ﷺ you would never be able to enumerate them. Indeed, Allah ﷺ is forgiving, compassionate. Both verses, one in Surat An-Nahl and one in Surat Ibrahim begin in the same way And if you were to enumerate the blessings of Allah ﷺ you would not be able to encompass them. But one of them ends with a social commentary on the human condition Mankind is ever oppressive and ungrateful. And in that verse the تاق of نعمة is a تاق مربوطة. I'm sorry, it's a تاق مبسوطة. تاق مبسوطة means the full تاق. You get a full تاق in that word نعمة. وانتعودوا نعمة الله. A full تاق you get a net. A full تاق. And that full تاق gives the sense of plurality. It gives the sense of abundance. It almost leans into a جمع المؤنة السالم which is a sound feminine plural. It leans toward that even though the broken plural of نعمة is نعمة. But it leans toward that that if you take all the blessings of Allah the abundant blessings of Allah and try to count them you would not be able to do so for mankind is ever oppressive and ungrateful. But the نعمة of the other verse وانتعودوا نعمة الله لا تحصوها إن الله غفور الرحيم الله سبحانه وتعالى is forgiving and compassionate that تاق is written as a تاق مربوطة. Well from your perspective like this. A تاق مربوطة. And the تاق مربوطة is for singularity. It is not for plurality. There is no plural that has a تاق مربوطة which means that if you were to account if you were to enumerate the blessings of your Lord you wouldn't be able to do so and Allah is ever forgiving and merciful. In that He will take all of those blessings that He has given you and He will treat them all as though they were just one blessing for which we must be great. And that is symbolized there in the تاق مربوطة. But then we don't even have to go through the orthography of how this word is written and that's also قيتي from the Prophet ﷺ. We just look at the word نعمة. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says and if you were to count the نعمة of Allah you wouldn't be able to encompass it. What does the word نعمة mean? It means blessing. It does not mean blessings and if you were to account if you were to enumerate the blessings of Allah that's not what the verse says it says if you were to enumerate the blessing of Allah you wouldn't be able to encompass it. This single blessing every single blessing just one blessing take one blessing and try to enumerate it. Very easy. You just gave me the answer in the question. You take one blessing take one blessing eyesight and now try to enumerate that. How many blessings is eyesight? That I'm able to see depth I'm able to perceive color shades tone I'm able to on a moment's notice from my peripheral vision but I'm not even looking at it. I'm able to notice that things are coming my way as I drive on the streets that if there's specks of dust that I can't even see that my eye will pick up on it and I'll blink so that none of that gets into my eye العين وعليها حارس that there is a guard over the eye there's a guardian for the eye the fact that I see everything upside down in my mind I actually see things everything is upside down and through some through some process flips it instantly just to show that he can just to show that he can like what was the wisdom behind that? like why that? so I'm able to see everything it's a miracle beyond miracles so why can't I see it right side up the way that I see you you're not sitting upside down why do I see you upside down? because the brain has to flip it instantly as I see it just because he can سبحان الخالق سبحان الخالق سبحان الله أحسن الخالق so you try to enumerate that you try to enumerate that the color of the eye the iris the composure the fact that the eye can I mean what? the point is me if you were to count the blessing of Allah you wouldn't be able to enumerate but the blessings are intended and although they are intended Allah سبحانه وتعالى talks about them with the singular because he would treat us through his compassion as though they were all one blessing if we just have شكر if we just have شكر and that is the topic of today's khutbah is شكر this beautiful word شكر that in the language they would call they would call a daba شكر they would call this beast if you have a cow or a bull they would call it a Shakur the reason they would call it a Shakur is that even though its its food is so scarce its meat is so plenty when it eats little herbage the herbage is very very scarce but the meat is so abundant and its so heavy with meat and it gives and it gives and it gives of its milk that is called a daba شكر and Allah سبحانه وتعالى is called Shakur because even though our deeds are so scarce and so deficient and they fall short so much Allah gives and He gives and He gives and He gives and He is a Shakur and He is a Shakur if you look at if you take ibn Jini ibn Jini says the root of every word in Arabic is two letters and not three and by changing that third letter you get a change in the variation you get a variation in the meaning thats connected so we say Shakur we take sheen and ka and just treat that you get Shakur which is to doubt right and revelation comes down to quell that doubt to quell that doubt because we are in an illusion that we live self sufficiently and we doubt the mun'in we doubt the benefactor the one who is actually giving us of his blessings we doubt that it actually comes from Allah سبحانه وتعالى and the cure for doubt is shukr and if you switch it one more time you get Shakur which means to complain to complain to complain our states to complain our wants to complain our needs that we never have enough we don't have what we desire and Sayyidina A.S. once said whoever thinks that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is miserly with his provision سبحانه وتعالى because Allah سبحانه وتعالى might just give you everything you ever ask for out of his anger out of his anger with you out of his anger with you he might just give you everything you ever hoped for everything you ever desired or dreamt for out of his anger he may give it to you so this complains you know we complain oh Allah I want never satisfied one of them was complaining one of the Salaf was complaining to another righteous man is a righteous man complaining to him of his poverty and so this man said to him what would you give for your eyes 100.000 درم he said easily he said what would you give for your hands 100.000 درم he said easily I'd give 100.000 درم he said what would you give for your feet 100.000 درم he said for each foot I'd give easily more than 100.000 درم هو ، ما لقد تعطينت؟ أو ، شيء أكثر ،He said you are in a possession of hundreds of thousands of virva and you still have the audacity to complain for your fear and for your lack of needs being fulfilled. So the lack of fulfillment of your needs you're still complaining and you are walking Programs of God's Blessing. هنا are people in this community are not giving them health who just in no time in the recent past and in the very recent future are not going to have the ability to speak people in this community they will not have the ability to speak with their tongues we have no we have nothing to complain about we have nothing to complain about مالذي يقول في سورة الفجر look at this human being look at mankind when Allah سبحانه وتعالى when Allah سبحانه وتعالى honors him and gives him no look at this human being when Allah سبحانه وتعالى tries him when his lord tries him when his lord afflicts him by enobling him and giving him of his generosity and he says my lord has honored me he has enobled me and it's a tribulation it's an affliction it's a trial and a test from Allah تعالى الله calls it a tribulation when he gives to the human being and when he tries him and afflicts him and restricts or constrict his provision to him he says my lord has abased me my lord has humiliated me my lord has disgraced me tying our happiness to what Allah gives or takes and in the giving is a tribulation as is in the taking in the generosity is a tribulation oh mankind what has deluded you from your most generous lord and they said your generosity dear lord it's your generosity dear lord that that deludes us from your generosity from you that deludes us from you the reality of these situations that anything that we are given and anything that is taken away from us is a tribulation from Allah سبحانه وتعالى and in essence it is a blessing because Allah is intimately engaged and involved in our lives in the giving and then taking and isn't that a great honor beyond beliefs that Allah سبحانه وتعالى will actually engage me as my lord that Allah سبحانه وتعالى actually engages me and he doesn't he just doesn't leave me to go he actually engages me by giving me he engages me by taking from and all to bring out of me two qualities شكر or صبر شكر or صبر there are two attributes of Allah سبحانه وتعالى that are always on his servants two of Allah's attributes that never leave his servants either his bust or his cup his expansion or his constriction he is either expanding our states and expanding our affairs in circumstances or he's constricting our states and our affairs in our circumstances and the expansion is in order to bring out of us شكر and the constriction is in order to bring out of us what صبر and if you claim that johzi has said that every bird has two wings and the two wings of faith being that which will make the believer soar into the heavens the two words of the two wings of faith are شكر and صبر they're شكر and صبر they're patients and they're gratitude gratitude and patience respect gratitude and patience ابنى عطاق الله السكندر يسأل ربما منعك فعطاكه ربما اعطاكه فمنعكه he says that ربما اعطاكه فمنعكه ربما منعكه فعطاكه he says that how often does he give to you how i'm sorry how often does he deprive you by giving you and how often does he give to you by depriving how often does he deprive you by giving you and how often does he give you by depriving he says اذا فتح لك او اذا فتح لك أبابا تهني في المنع عاد المنع عين العطاق that if the the door of deprivation is open to you if the door of understanding the deprivation is open to you then that deprivation becomes the very essence of generosity if you just understand it if we're able to understand it and that is a principle that is there in our dean is taught to us by our prophet ﷺ by the sages the great sages of this of this dean but it's also there right there in the language itself the language itself teaches us this message for in the word نعمة in the word نعمة نونعين مين which is blessing if you switch the letters you get مين نونعين منع the word blessing itself if you switch the letters you get deprivation for deprivation is a blessing and you look at the word حرمان and رحمة for حرامين which is to forbid something from coming to you and حرمان is deprivation literally deprivation if you switch that you get رحمة compassion so out of his compassion he deprives us out of his compassion he deprives us and out of his blessing he prevents that blessing to come for if it comes who among us can say with confidence that we can actually give that blessing its due gratitude الله سبحانه وتعالى says that we have shown him the path and he will either be شاكر or كفور he will be فاعل or فعول شاكر is occasionally grateful he's occasionally grateful شاكر but كفور there's a difference between فاعل and فعول فاعل is occasional فعول that's your state now that's who you are that's your it's not just it's not just a state that's temporary that is who you are that is your characteristic whereas شاكر is your state شاكر is a state كفور is a character it took me a long time to get there but we got it فاعل is your state فعول is your character صلى الله عليه وسلم و بارك على سيد محمد والعالي و صحمه وسلم كثير yesterday and this entire weekend the nation is in a frenzy to celebrate the giving of thanks this tradition this holiday is exported throughout the world you have muslims in muslim countries celebrating thanksgiving along with us yesterday and in essence in spirit commemorating a day in which we can all offer thanks to Allah is to be lauded and praiseworthy it is praiseworthy however there's some historical realities to this this particular holiday that many of us neglect to mention or think about or do anything about much less and that is as the country is celebrating thanksgiving there is a segment of this country that has taken this day as a day of mourning for it is a stark memory in their minds of a genocide of their entire peoples through killing through pillaging through disease and through the usurpation of lands the legacy of the first nations of this country is no different from that of the palestinians and we have as our نبارس first nations who are living on reservation camps all throughout this country and here in northern california and year in and year out the entire country celebrates a day that they mourn and it is such a mockery that we don't even think to extend any hand of brotherhood or fraternity to those nations and say that we belong to you and say that we love you reach out to them and say that we understand you and that we mourn with you and that we seek your permission to even use these roads and highways for their permission has never been and to settle in these homes for their permission has never been under which are their burial grounds and some of them even embrace this great faith of ours and they sit among us today with no recognition for the pain in their hearts for their ancestors who gave their lives in in defending their way of life and their tradition and their language and their religion and their everything their families and every year we get stuck in this frenzy of turkeys and black friday what deals are are online today you know how how can i get you know i'm saving up my money for the for the for the discount sale for the past few months i won't buy that vcr would i just say vcr i just said vcr black friday where every single occasion has been twisted into some agenda that's going to make aggressors more and more wealthy at the expense of the working class there are people in this country american indians people of the first nations who are living under the poverty line in what is what exceeds more than 30 percent in what exceeds 30 percent in conditions that are absolutely and utterly abysmal three and four generations living in the same house because when one of them is out on their luck they don't kick them out but they absorb them into the into the home where there is no plumbing where there is no none of the amenities that we have where utilities are not as consistent especially because they can't pay all the bills where food is scarce and many of them are suicidal many of them are in utter states of defeat and pain and many of them are in need financial need برداني need they're in need of of of respect and dignity as human being and it is on their land it is their land that we inhabit and so wouldn't it be nice if muslims if muslims were to extend an embrace and extend an open hand to these people for in the apathy of the entire world is the greatest opportunity for muslims to show the love and the beauty and the light of islam as the entire world turns a blind eye it is the great that is the greatest opportunity for muslims to square up and face them and say will you embrace me as your brother so wouldn't it be amazing if next Thanksgiving 50 of us from this congregation were to go to a different to an art to an American Indian reservation and sit at their feet and take from their tribal cheese and say teach us what we like teach us what we need to know teach us the history of this land for they have a narrative aswell they have a thing to the thing or two to tell us about columbus they have a thing or two to tell us about clima� slot they have a thing or two to tell us about Thanksgiving in the pilgrim they have a thing or two to tell us or thing or two to tell us about the pure the δاقش who did the pure things and what they did when they came in they have a thing or two to tell us about the tay Jerusalem and instead of learning our history from the sixth grade lies my teacher told me لكي يجب أن يجب أن يقوموا بسيطة فيهم ويقولوا يا أخوة فيلج، يا أخوة فيلج، أخوة فيلج، أخوة فيلج أعلم ما أعلم في ذلك is a gesture of brotherhood and fraternity that they are not used to for the world turns a blind eye to them just like they turn a blind eye to the Palestinians and it's the same exact story word for word and in that let us celebrate we'll have our feasts we'll be with our families this is not a guilt trip but the message is very clear that we have to get to the essence of what is really being celebrated here we have to really know exactly what's going on historically with this with this and other holidays and we have to reclaim it reclaim the true spirit of it when he got to Medina and he found the Jews fasting and he said why are you fasting and they said we're fasting because this was the day that Musa A.A. took us from Egypt and this is the day that commemorates our exodus and he said we are more entitled to Moses than you are and so he added a day to the fast he improved it he beautified it he adorned it and he owned it are you ready to own it but to own the essence of it and to own up to the history of it and to actually pay homage to the people who suffered in this country defending themselves for in that is the secret of brotherhood that could be the door to their salvation and our redemption I'll say this before I leave may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this may Allah protect us from this واجمعنا به عند الحود وبعض الحود يا رب العلمين والزبنة جواره في جنات النعيم اللهم آمين آمين وجعنا من حبيتك الشاكرين الصابرين الشاكرين الصابرين الشاكرين الصابرين الذين كملا إيمانهم في هذه الدنيا يا رحمة رحمين بفضلك ومنتك يا كرين وصلى الله عليه وسلم وبارك على سهل محمد وعلى آلية وصحبة وصلم تستمع