 الحمد لله رب العالمين ثم صراته والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء محمد وآله طيبين الطاهرين اللهم صل على محمد وآله محمد أسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته once again it's an honor to be amongst you discussing the holy verses of the Qur'an and the narrations of أهل البيت عليهم السلام if you have followed our lecture we have got to the point discussing the Surah سورة الحمد and we have reached the verse إهدنا الصراط المستقيم there was one hadith that we left off and we were not able to cover it within the previous episode under the verse إجاك نعبد وإجاك نستعين that we go back to Allah سبحانه وتعالى him alone we worship and him alone we turn back to help and to get aid and assistance there was one hadith that we were not able to cover it فالمصر الله محمد صلى الله عليه وعاله which will give us a very very good and important action plan that I thought it is very important and essential to our discussion to bring it to attention على النبي صلى الله عليه وعالى قال إن الله في عون العبد مادام العبد في عون أخي when we seek aid and when we ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى for aid الله سبحانه وتعالى has placed a condition if you want my assistance if you want my aid make sure you are in the aiding in the process of assisting and giving hand to your brother إن الله that indeed Allah سبحانه وتعالى في عون العبد he will aid his servant he will give him a hand he will be helping him مادامة until مادامة العبد في عون أخي so the more we are at the service of our brothers and sisters at the service of our community members trying to help them try to give them a hand try to aid them and assist them as much as we can the more we aid them the more we help them the more we will get help and aid from Allah سبحانه وتعالى so that becomes a very good action plan when we want something from Allah سبحانه وتعالى when we need help when we say every day 10 times we say اهدنا الصراطة المستقيم إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين اهدنا الصراطة المستقيم و الله guide us to the right path و الله unto you we come back for help and we need his aid and his assistance and help in every second of our lives well let us keep in mind that the more we want from Allah سبحانه وتعالى the more that we have to do for other people it's a very beautiful beautiful hadith an amazing hadith how it builds relationship between the community members and any discussion that we have any action plan that we have it has to start from our homes first within our own family wife helping husband husband helping wife brothers and sisters helping one another parents helping the children children helping the parents relatives community members us helping one another we have to bring this helping concept helping personality into our lives of looking around to see who needs help who needs assistance who is seeking aid for us to seek for us to grant their needs and help them and guide them do whatever it is in our hands to be there for them and the more for example I'm going to make it very very very tangible in that one hour that we are aiding someone we're giving hand to someone in that one hour الله سبحانه وتعالى will help us will grant our need will aid us will resolve our issues will help us in our difficulties and challenges so the more we want from الله سبحانه وتعالى the more we have to do for our fellow community members for our relatives friends and so on and so forth beautiful hadith and a beautiful action plan that we have to we turn back to you for aid and assistance and help well that requires an action we believe that by us helping other people we're getting aid and assistance from الله سبحانه وتعالى so this was under the verse عبود وعيك نستعين شاء الله we will continue اهدنا الصراطة المستقيم and Allah guide us onto the right path one of the best aids that Allah سبحانه وتعالى can do for us and can give us as to guide us to the right path right path in everything right path is mean to make the right decision picking the truth in every decision making that we are about to make we are about to get married well what is the right thing to do who is the right person for me I have received as a girl I have received a proposal different people who is the right person for me who is it the one what are the criterion what are the conditions that I should look in my future spouse well that needs help from Allah سبحانه وتعالى to show us the right path to Him in our عقيدة in our belief well there is صراطة مستقيم in our حقام and jurisprudence صراطة مستقيم in our moralities and characteristics and demeanors اخلاق صراطة مستقيم we are in need of Allah's assistant and help in guiding us to the right and onto the straight path اهدنا it is a command it is a command verb however it is with request humble and humiliating ourselves in front of Allah سبحانه وتعالى oh Allah we are seeking oh Allah we are begging oh Allah we are requesting oh Allah we are in need of your aid in guiding us to the right path so we are not commanding Allah سبحانه وتعالى we are not ordering Allah سبحانه وتعالى rather it's a request rather it's begging oh Allah every day every day 10 times oh Allah guide me to the right path here there is a misconception that we have to clarify and unfortunately throughout my journey in different states and different communities I see unfortunately some figures within the communities and every community that I have been to and some of them might be scholars of the community they have this misconception that has been unfortunately being spread within our communities and some of the books that we read we see it and some of the lectures that we see I was listening to a lecture from a scholar who was the religious leader and the religious Imam of an ex-community he said that this is a hadith which was completely fabricated hadith and he attributed that hadith to Amir al-Mu'mineen the commander of the faithful Ali ibn Abi-Tarab عليه السلام if he was fasting and if it was during the month of Ramadan and during the day while he was fasting and he would attribute this narration which is completely fabricated and it doesn't exist there is no source for it if he would have said this narration his fasting would have been invalidated so it is very very important to please pay attention to me keep your mind let me have your undivided attention because we are trying to clarify a very very unfortunately important concept that has been taking over our communities and that is we hear that سراط مستقيم the path to Allah سبحانه وتعالى as they say path to Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the amount of the people on earth basically they are relativizing the truth in other word everybody has a portion of the truth Muslim has a portion of the truth Shi'a has a portion of the truth non-Shi'as have a portion of the truth Jews have the portion of the truth Christians have a portion of the truth Buddhists Hindus agnostics atheists everybody has a portion of the truth and they are on the right path portionally well this is wrong when we read this verse اهدنا السراط the right path and it is singler it's not plural it's not many it's one one path to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and they aren't know any other path to Allah سبحانه وتعالى what is it will come insha'Allah at the end of this episode or the next two episodes or three episodes we will talk about it what is that سراط وستقيم we will talk about it but right now we are discussing it are there many paths to Allah سبحانه وتعالى or is it one according to the verses of the Holy Quran every time that سراط has been mentioned it is one and when it's talking about it سبيل سبول there are many other path that they will not end up to Allah سبحانه وتعالى there are falsehood there is one right one true path to Allah سبحانه وتعالى again what is that path we will discuss it but first let us come to conclusion that is one path chapter 6 so this is one verse اهدنا السراط المستقيم guide me on to the right the right path one sraat another verse chapter 6 verse 153 وانهذا سراطي مستقيما فتبعوه this indeed is my straight path so follow it one path انهذا one سراطي one path to Allah سبحانه وتعالى مستقيم it's just straight path to me فتبعوه follow it and then continues again chapter 6 one sraat another verse again chapter 6 verse 153 this is the way that we should read the verses verses of the holy Quran when we read them we have to ponder or have listened to a lecture there was a scholar he was wearing a turban with all the respect to all of the scholars may Allah prolong their lives may Allah guide me and them and all of us on the right path may Allah enlighten our hearts with the light of the Quran but we can make mistakes we are not infallible we are fallible so I listened to a scholar he's discussing that there are many paths to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and I'm reading chapter 6 verse 153 throughout one of the action plans that we gave in the previous episode that we read 50 verses a day and we read the translation of those verses and then we take one verse and we ponder so throughout our journey of reading the verse of the holy Quran I reach to this verse so I'm reading وانهذا سراطي فتبعوه while Allah is talking and saying this is indeed my straight path there is one straight path to me follow it and then he continues ولا تتبع السبولة فتفرق بكم عن سبيله and do not follow other ways other paths for they will separate you from his way so there is one straight path to Allah سبحانه وتعالى one straight while Allah is ordering us فتبعوه follow follow this one straight path from A to B we will make more example and Allah says ولا تتبع السبولة there are many other ways and Allah says فتفرق بكم عن سبيله that Allah says and do not follow other ways for they will separate you from his way so there is one way to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and there are other ways exist but those other ways will not get you close to Allah سبحانه وتعالى ذالكم وصاكم به this is what he enjoins upon you so that you may be God wary very important point very important for us to keep reminding ourselves our community members we have to learn the knowledge of Quran and educate other people when we hear this discussion as being spread within our communities within our fellow citizens we have to remind the world one سراط احدنا السراط the path وأن هذا سراطي مستقيم and it is logical it is rational when two people when they have a dispute and they go to the courts in front of a judge either one or other one is right and the other one is false they have a dispute they go in front of a judge this person says this belongs to me the other person will say this belongs to me so one of them is right one of them is wrong they can't be both right they can't both claim that this phone for example is this it's one and it's not the others how can they both possess this somebody purchased this and the other one didn't and has a wrong claim so that's one scenario or they both are wrong maybe one stole it and he's saying it's my and the other one also wants to claim that it's his can't be that they both are rights one is saying this and one is saying the other it's can't because they are contradicting one other one say I am right and the other person says I am right which they both arguing against one another for example possessing something or many other arguments so it is logical سرات it's very important to keep reminding ourselves there is one path to Allah but we see within the holy verse of the Quran also Allah has brought سبيل or سبول to bring it closer to our mind سرات is like a highway is like a highway that has many lanes there is one path straight path but in it there are many lanes if you are driving slower you go on the right side if you are driving faster you go to the left side but this highway it's all toward one direction and not other way when we see this this path as the path of the question comes if there is only one path to Allah why do we see different divine religion Christianity Judaism at least these other two in addition to Islam then how comes that they preach different things and they all claim that they will end up to a God but they are different very good question الله سبحانه وتعالى if we see and read the lives of the whole all the prophets starting from prophet Adam على نبينا وعليسلام all the way to our current prophet they all had the same mission and they all preach the same thing the first and foremost obey and worship Allah سبحانه وتعالى and not associate any partner with him be aware of the day of judgment do good to one another this was the basic fundamental so worshipping and obeying الله سبحانه وتعالى is that highway one until the second year after hijra fasting was not wajib people accepting Islam before hijra for many many years they were not fasting because it was not wajib the path is one but sharia differed from time of prophet موت على نبينا وعليسلام to time of prophet على نبينا وعليسلام some things became halal because of reasoning something became haram because of reasoning but when prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وعليه came we believe that anything that he said is halal it will stay halal until the day of judgment حلاله محمد حلاله الى يوم القيامة وحرامه محمد حرامه الى يوم القيامة it won't change but the previous religions previous prophets their faith and belief it was all one thing but sharia differed a little bit so we don't see any major shift from one to other they used to say for example although and worship this God and the other God no no there were all one path but there were different there are different lane and there is more to this discussion but I want you to be very careful number one the first action plan let us not forget the more we need from Allah سبحانه وتعالى the more we have to do for other people help them help them and also there is only one to Allah سبحانه وتعالى there is more to this discussion in sha Allah we will leave it for the next episode we will conclude our lecture and our presentation by praying to Allah سبحانه وتعالى with the most important dua of our life and that is for Allah to hasten the repairs of our beloved Imam محمد لله فرج الشريف بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم اللهم كل وديك الحجة ابن الحسان صلواتك عليه وعلى آبائه في هذا الساعة وفي كل ساعة وليا نحافظ وقائدا وناصرة ودليلا وعينة حتى تسكن وارضك طوع وتمتعه فيها طويلة برحمتك يا أرحم الرحمين