 الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر إن الحمد لله نحمده ونستعينه ونستغفره ونتوب إليه ونعرض بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات عمالنا من يحده الله فلا مدل له ومن يدل فلا هادي له وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أننا سيدنا محمدا عبده ورسول يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله حقا تقاته حقا تقاته ولا تبوتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون يا أيها الناس اتقوا ربكم ب الذي يخلقكم من نفسه واحدة وخلق منها زوجها وبثل منهما رجالا كثيرا ونساء والتقوا الله الذي تساءلون به والأرحام إن الله كان عليكم رقيبا يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم عملكم ويعفلكم ظلوبكم ومن يتعي إله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا أظيما عما بعد فإن أصلق الحديث كتب الله وخير الهدي هدي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم وشر الأمور محدثاتها فكل محدثة بدعة وكل بدعة ضلالة وكل ضلالة في النار الحمد لله الحمد لله الذي هدانا لهذا وما كنا لنهتدى لو لا انهدان الله الحمد لله الذي أنزل على عبده الكتاب ولم يجعل له إعجاء الحمد لله رب العالمين الله تعالى يقول إبراهيم عليه السلام إن إبراهيم كان أمة قانية لله حنيفا ولم يقوم من المشبكين شاكرا لأنعمي اجتباه وهداه إلى سراط مسلم مستقيم إبراهيم عليه السلام كان مخلق من الله سبحانه وتعالى لأمور المشيئ الذي يقوم من المشيئ يجب أن نفهم بأننا أيضا مخلق وعندما الله تعالى يكتب هذا الشيء يكتبه في العالم إبراهيم عليه السلام الله تعالى يكتبنا وجاهدوا في الله حق جهادي هو اجتباكم وما جعل عليكم في الدين من حرج من لتأبيكم إبراهيم ملتأبيكم إبراهيم so strive in the way of Allah as should rightfully be the case وجاهدوا في الله حق جهادي هو اجتباكم he has chosen you وما جعل عليكم في الدين من حرج ملتأبيكم إبراهيم the way of your father Abraham and in this there are so many lessons where we'll just mention one before returning to the main one الله تعالى يكتبنا وجاهدوا في الله حق جهادي strive in the way of Allah as should rightfully be the case the right that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has over us can never be fulfilled by our striving can never be fulfilled by our striving and therefore Allah تعالى enters us into jannah based on his mercy not our actions based on his mercy not our actions and when the Prophet ﷺ informed his companions of this they said to him أنت يا رسول الله not even you are messenger of Allah not even you will enter jannah based on your actions قال ولا أنا إلا أن يتغمني الله برحمته وفضله كما قال صلى الله عليه وسلم he said not even me I will only enter if Allah envelops me in his mercy and his grace صلى الله عليه وسلم so we should understand but the actions are important the actions are important the actions are the key to the mercy and the grace of Allah سبحانه وتعالى so our actions are necessary not sufficient sufficiency comes from the mercy and grace of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and that's what we strive for that's what we live for and that's what we will die upon إن شاء الله تعالى striving to our utmost for the mercy and grace of Allah سبحانه وتعالى so in that our actions in and of themselves will never be sufficient we can never fulfill that right and here we derive and benefit from a legal principle we know our ulema tell us المشقط تجلب التيسير that difficulty cause for ease for facilitating ease so the difficulty that is involved in fulfilling the right we owe to Allah سبحانه وتعالى is compensated by the ease that Allah gives us in what he has asked of us so there is a right that we owe to Allah symbolically but there is a duty we have in fulfilling the obligations he's imposed upon us and those obligations are bearable those obligations are even easy especially when one's heart is filled with light and the love of Allah سبحانه وتعالى so after mentioning the magnitude of our struggle based on the right we owe to Allah و جاهد رف الله حق جهادي هو اجتباكم الله ريمايز us but he has not made it difficult وما جاء عليكم في الدين من حرج and he's made no difficulty for you in your religion so we were chosen and Ibrahim was chosen and it's important for us to remember that we were chosen because sometimes we forget that fact and we live lives of no purpose if we understand we were chosen by Allah سبحانه وتعالى and we were chosen to walk on the path that was laid down by Ibrahim then immediately our lives take on a sense of purpose and we're not drifting aimlessly through this life being pushed tether to and fro by the forces the vicissitudes of time and the vagaries of fate we live lives that are infused with a sense of purpose because we know we're walking in the footsteps of a giant and whenever one is cognizant of the fact that he or she is walking in the footsteps of giants he or she will never consciously do anything to disappoint the one who has laid down the path that they are walking upon because they realize that path was only laid down through sacrifice, through struggle, through effort overcoming hardship, challenges and difficulties and when we realize that we don't want to be the one to deviate from that path because it would be an expression of ingratitude to the ones who sacrificed to lay down the path and the path that we walk upon was first laid down by our forefather Ibrahim brothers and sisters we were chosen some of us are immigrants from other lands if that's your case ask yourself what did you do to get here in the first place what made you different from your neighbor from your former schoolmate that you grew up with from your classmate from your cousin your uncle your brother your sister who still wherever you came from what made you different once you attain to these shores in many instances seeking a better material existence seeking education in many instances education for a better material existence what led you here today when you know there are five six maybe ten like you who came here who are at work right now seeking that better material existence what brought you here today what led you to spend your money to establish this center and hundreds of others if not thousands throughout this land what caused you to walk on a different path what caused you to sacrifice the money you could be spending on your bigger house the money you could be spending on your faster car the money you could be spending on your better home or garden what caused you to spend it في سبيل الله was it something you did or was it because Allah سبحانه وتعالى chose you for a mission who watched about you he has chosen you you didn't choose yourself he has chosen you and when you realize that you've been chosen again you will undertake the responsibility that you've been chosen for with purpose, with direction, with conviction with determination overcoming every obstacle that's placed in your path and some of us are converts some of us have converted to Islam again we ask the question what made us different than our neighbor our brother our sister who are still living lives with no Islam was it something we did were we more intelligent were we more virtuous were we more obedient to our parents than they or did Allah سبحانه وتعالى choose us and if he chose us we should understand he does nothing in vain he does nothing without a purpose he does nothing idly he has chosen us for a mission he has chosen us for a mission who watched the vacuum and that mission is to walk on the path of Ibrahim that mission is to establish regular prayer that mission is to pay our charity that mission is to work to sacrifice to see that our people find the comfort in لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله just as we have found the comfort in لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآلي وسلم as we reflect on the life of Ibrahim عليه السلام there's a powerful lesson for the young people many of the people here are young and that's beautiful that's wonderful but they're struggling to overcome the mentality that the modern condition bequeaths to individual there are young married couples here struggling to keep their marriages together struggling mightily to overcome the forces of individualism Ibrahim عليه السلام to go back to something he did to mention something he represents that we represent that we share with him he was chosen, we were chosen and now we'll mention something إن شاء الله تعالى that we should try to be like Ibrahim عليه السلام Ibrahim smashed the idols he smashed the idols of his people and they saw the wreckage before them من فعل هذا بآلهتنا إنه لمن الظالمين قالوا سمعنا فتا يذكرهم يقال له إبراهيم they said who has done this to our gods من فعل هذا بآلهتنا barely he is a wrong doer an oppressor they said we heard a young man قالوا سمعنا يذكرهم conspiring against him he goes by the name of Ibrahim يقال له إبراهيم so Ibrahim in his youth he smashed the idols and we should also be idol smashers but as we look around we don't find the landscape that Ibrahim found we don't find the landscape littered with idols with statues of wood and stone and terracotta and clay people prostrating to those physical idols that they have manufactured with their own hands we don't find that perhaps in a far corner of the earth perhaps in some remote jungle or some remote mountain village somewhere people are still prostrating to idols but that's not our dominant condition but the 20th century and the experiences of that century have bequeefed unto us another idol the idol of the self the idol of the ego the idol of the nefs and that is the idol we should be about the business of smashing because just as people were harmed when they prostrated themselves before idols of stone or clay or wood or whatever the case may be people are harmed when they prostrate before the idol of the self and we see that harm all around us the worship of the self is tearing our marriages apart the worship of the self is tearing our families apart the husband can't sacrifice for the wife the wife can't obey the husband the children can't obey the parents because all of them are prostrating to the idol of the self we have to smash that idol just as ibrahim smashed that idol and if he smashed that idol with a hammer or an axe or a bludgeon of some type or the other we have to smash that idol with the worship of Allah we have to smash that idol by committing ourselves to the sun of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam we have to smash that idol by elevating our souls beyond the lonely level of the nafsul امار بسوء to the level of the nafsul the soul that's contented with Allah سبحانه وتعالى the soul that's pleased with Allah and pleasing to Allah that is the weapon that we have to smash the idol of the self and when we smash that idol we will be the beneficiaries of the ensuing peace we will be the beneficiaries of the ensuing tranquility we will be the beneficiaries of tawhid because as long as that idol exists we can never actualize the true and deeper meanings of divine unity in our lives in our hearts and our beings in our consciousness and if anyone doubts if this self can be an idol we remind you as Allah has reminded us in the Quran افرأيت من اتخذ إله هواهو have you not seen the one who takes the very inclination of his soul as his god فأدلله الله على علم and when that is the case Allah sends him astray despite his possession of knowledge because that's how dangerous and pernicious and diabolical the worship of the self is brothers and sisters that has smashed that idol so that we can be servants of Allah and servants of each other because as long as that idol exists we will want to be served because that god of the self every god demands service there's only one true god who has rightfully served Allah سبحانه وتعالى Almighty God Allah young people look at the life of this who is young like you and many of the events we commemorate the culmination the sacrifice of Allah سبحانه وتعالى reminds us of what transpired when he says ولم بلغ معه الساعة قال يا بني إني أراث المنام أني أدبحك ثانظر ماذا تراء قال يا أبا تفعل ما تؤمر ستجدني الله سبحانه وتعالى كذلك as a young person a young teenager إسمايل عليه السلام was asked by his parent by his father not to give up a girlfriend or boyfriend not to give up a pay ps3 or 4 or whatever number the ps is up to or to give up this or to give up drugs or to give up alcohol or to give up this or that dress style or to give up the purple streak in the hair إسمايل عليه السلام was asked by his father to give up his life so we asked our young people are you any is any one of your parents asking you to give your life up physically asked you to be killed إبراهيم إسمايل عليه السلام was asked to give up his life and what did he say يا أبا تفعل ما تؤمر father do what you've been commanded I'm not here to make things make it difficult for you to be a muslim I'm not making it difficult for you to submit to the will of Allah سبحانه وتعالى I'm here to make it easy for you young people when's the last time you said to your parents I'm here to make it easy for you إسمايل was saying I'm here to serve you young people when's the last time you told your parents you're here to serve them cognizant of the fact that they have served you they have served you when you are incapable of serving yourself and that is the meaning of بلغ معه الساعة when he reached the age the ulama say ذهبت مشقته وقبلت منفعته the child being a burden and a source of difficulty for the parents no more diapers to change no more runny noses to wipe no more dirty rear ends to clean he the child he or she now can clean themselves وقبلت منفعته can cook for themselves and in former days 10 or 12 that was the case as many of you know all of them who are old enough to remember those days is old enough to clean for himself and is old enough to start serving their parents after their parents had served them up to that point ذهبت مشقته وقبلت منفعته and right at that age when Ibrahim is ready to benefit when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age when he reached the age سوف أكون باستخداما مع ما اللهم لقد قد عدتك سوف أساعدك في تأكيد جزء من الله سبحانه وتعالى و أفهم أنه كما إسمايل لن يساعدني أن أحبك دائما أنت تساعدني أن أحبك شيء الذي سيكون في تأكيد دائما إذا كنت تتعامل على طريقات هذه المساعدة إذا كنت تتعامل على طريقات المساعدة أو الالكوهار أو هذا أو هذا أو هذا أو هذا هذا شيء سيحاولني وذا أنت تساعدني إلى شيء سيأتي ويكون ساعدني في أجلك هذا هو العالم الذي نحاولنا these are the values that we want to perpetuate in the earth but we can't do it alone the old people can't do it alone it takes the young and the old working together with each other takes the young and the old so smash the idol of the self sister smash the idol of the self where you only have an unending list of demands for your husband husband smash the idol of yourself where you have these inflated egoist egotistical demands of your wife children smash the idol parents smash the idol so that we can go forth and build the kind of society that the prophets عليهم السلام have bequeathed onto us this is what these days remind us of they remind us of the prophets إبراهيم إسماعيل محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم and their struggles and what they sought to bring into the earth brothers and sisters لا إله الا الله الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله الا الله الله أكبر الله أكبر والله الحمد and conclusion that remind you and remind myself to go back to the first verse we mentioned إبراهيم كان أمة قانتة لله حنيفه ولم يقوم من المشاركين that Abraham Abraham was a nation unto himself devoutly obedient he wasn't amongst the idolaters and inclined to his monotheism he was an ummah what does this mean it means three things first of all he was a paragon of virtue he embodied all of the virtues that might exist amongst the members of an ummah and while we will never attain to the level of Abraham in terms of our moral character or the level of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم those are the heights we should be aiming for one of the sad and pathetic states of our time is that we've been oriented to look down towards the pits and engage in a race towards the bottom who can be the most degenerate who can dress the most sloppily Muslims adopted you see Muslims would are a vest on and their shirt tells hanging below the vest when they should be tucked into their pants but Muslims get involved in that race to the bottom you hear Muslims losing language that gutter people even in our poorest neighborhoods they think they're being cool young suburban Muslim kid what up my nigga and GD this and SH that because they heard on some record recording and they think this is cool and this is being ghetto that's not ghetto ask anyone who was raised in a real ghetto not a Hollywood ghetto a real ghetto about how hard their mothers in many cases and sometimes their mothers and their fathers strove to keep them away from that language strove to keep them beat and presentable cut their hair themselves bought a $10 set of clippers because they couldn't afford clippers keep their hair neat and clean dress them neatly before they sent them out to school wash their moms out with soap if they ever used any of that language that's not ghetto that's Hollywood that's Hollywood's exploitation of the most degenerate and abused and oppressed elements in our society to profit off of and it's a pathetic sad situation when Muslims are following what Hollywood has put out to follow if you want to be ghetto you go down to some of these churches and listen to what's being taught if you want to be ghetto you go to a home where a mother or a father are struggling on a shoestring budget to make sure their children are neat and clean and if they come home with a tattoo or with their pants hanging off their rear end they face a severe punishment that's ghetto so if you want to be ghetto go down to the right ghetto the real ghetto and not the Hollywood ghetto and you'll come back with some dignity you'll come back with your head standing tall you'll come back with a sense of appreciation for the blessings that you have you didn't grow up in roach infested red infested dwellings so don't act like that's your upbringing you didn't have to sleep on a 20 year old mattress that's been rotted out and the springs digging into your skin don't act like that's your existence be a leader be an embodiment of even a virtue like ibrahim umma is also imam a leader be a leader for people we pray to Allah وجعلنا للمطقي make us leaders for the righteous and that should be a sincere prayer that we make to be leaders a qudwa imam umma is a qudwa an example to be followed we should strive to be follow not following the most degenerate examples that are out there we should be an example of dignity an example of virtue an example of courage that is the muslim that is you brothers and sisters that is us brothers and sisters and imam a moral exemplar إبراهيمة كان أمة سطة اللي اللى and imam a leader for the people and a guide and imam is a had ولي قولي قومن and a guide for our peoples that is the role of the muslim in this world that is the role of the muslim and إبراهيمة in some opinions is the one who is giving us this name هو اسماكم المسلمينة في من قبل و في هاذا يسمعون مسلم إبراهيم عليسلام بعض الأردام اللي تعالى ولكننا يعملون مع إبراهيم أخوه و أخوه لا تتبعه و في الوصول قلت أخوه هذا الوقت سأضع أخوه أخوه في الوقت تفكير على شيء أخرى مدفع من حياة إبراهيم إبراهيم عليسلام قد يجده قبل إبراهيم نمروف أو نمراد و إبراهيم يحبون إسلام و نجدنا نفسنا مجموعة من حولنا ليس المجوردي من الناس ولكن there are groups and there are individuals who are tyrannical and they hate Islam and they are tyrant through إبراهيم عليسلام in the fire and when إبراهيم عليسلام was thrown in the fire he said something the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he tells us إبراهيمه حين ألقيا في النار إبراهيم said it when he was flung into the hellfire what did he say حسب الله و نعم الوكيل الله suffices us what an excellent one to trust in so brothers and sisters as we find ourselves before these forces these pernicious and diabolical forces that would have this name eradicated from this country that would have Muslims expelled from this country that are inciting hatred against Muslims against this name against the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم let us say as إبراهيم said let us say as Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم when he was said to him إن الناس قد جمعوا لكم فقال صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم حسبنا الله و نعم الوكيل و الله تعالى يقارز في القرآن الذين قال لهم الناس إن الناس قد جمعوا لكم فخشاوهم فقالوا حسبنا الله و نعم الوكيل those who were said to the people are gathering against you fear them and there are those who are saying to the Muslims the people are gathering against you the host they are gathering against you all of these various elements we can name but you know their names are too well are gathering against you فزادهم إيماناء it only increased their faith وقالوا حسبنا الله و نعم الوكيل and they said Allah suffices us what an excellent one to trust in why did it increase their faith because they saw miracles unfold just as Ibrahim he saw the fire become cool and he saw himself developed in peace and well-being و سلامة على إبراهيم and we see miracles unfolding but we are not cognizant in many instances to give you a small example the forces in the momentum was gathering against the Muslims و ضمت الناس و قد يضع الناس بجانبهم مباشرة و قد يتخلق و يواجه و سوف يكون مع سماس الكوران و الهاتف و الجانب و المحاول و ماذا حدث لا الكوران ولا الهاتف و العالم المزيدون behind the Muslims and from coast to coast they have been Quran readings in the synagogue in the church in the parks on the highways the byways is that not true many of us participated in those is that not a miracle الله تعالى is in control and when we realize Allah تعالى in control we can look at the events and our faith is strengthened and we can say with خلال الجميع و خلال السرق و خلال المصرين و خلال حسن الله و نعم الوكيل الله سبحانه وتعالى كيف نحن يرى ربما يجدونه يبراهيم عليه السلام سرق محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم سرق يبراهيم عليه السلام سرق يجبونه أن نقوله و نخبطه و نخبطه و نخبط ذلك حسبُن الله فنعمَ الوكيل، نعمَ المولى، ونعمَ النصير، غفرانَك ربَّنا، وإنَيكَ المصير اللهم سبحان ربِّك رب العِزَّة عما يصِفون، والسلام على المرسنين، والحمد لله رب العالمين، وصلى الله عليه وسيدينا محمد، وعلى آله، وصحبه، وسلم تسنين من كثيرا الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله إلا الله الله أكبر الله أكبر ولا إلهَ الحَمْن الله أكبر الله أكبر ставاء encima أكبر وبنقدر صندوق الله يقول الله كمان بلاد وصفاتك ومالك بلاد والسلام عليك وكلمتك وكلمتك as you enjoy the blessings bestowed upon you of shelter a food of drink think of those less fortunate not only those Muslims less fortunate those who've been pushed out of their home by both man-made and natural disasters in Pakistan and Afghanistan and Iraq and many other places Kashmir, many other places in Sudan also think of the our brothers and sisters in humanity in places like Haiti the poorest of us will be wealthy in that society if we live in a homeless shelter we turn the faucet on in the homeless shelter clean water comes out of the tap we're not forced to drink cholera typhoid infested waters الله أكبر think of the less fortunate and we don't say this to make anyone guilty we say this to encourage us to remember the blessings of Allah upon us and to give shukr for those blessings to give thankfulness for those blessings and our thankfulness is to work to extend them to others to work to the best of our ability and circumstance to extend them to others and may Allah bless all of us to do something meaningful to extend those blessings to others brothers and sisters may Allah bless you may He bless your families may He bless this masjid may He best make this a center that's alive that the believers are constantly coming into and out of for various righteous purposes and all of the centers all of the masjid may that be the case may Allah bless us to build strong bridges and relationships between those two groups because only when those two groups are brought together will Islam fulfill its destiny in this land only then will Islam be a powerful force of good and virtue when those forces come together may Allah bless us to work to bring those forces together may Allah forgive those MOSNEM project and those believers and those��� trio who are alive from them may Allah bless our hearts then give us guidance may Allah bless you and discard us and keep us sick andrag and hook us to the asked nations may Allah bring us sick support us and Sci zwall and grant us forgot ورحمنا أنت مولانا فانصرنا على القوم الكافرين اللهم اقسم لنا من قشية كامت علو به بيننا وبين معصيك ومن طاعة كامت بلغنا بها جنتك ومن اليقين ما يهون علينا ما الصعب الدنيا وماتعنا باسمائنا وابصارنا وقوةنا ما حيتنا واجعله الوارث مننا واجعل سأرنا على ما انظلنا مننا وانصرنا على من عدانا ولا تجعل مسعيبتنا في ديننا ولا تجعل الدنيا اكبرهمنا ولا مبلغ علمنا ولا تصلت علينا بذنوبنا من لا يخافنا ولا يخافك ولا يرحمنا يا أحم الراحمين وعفوا عننا ووثيلانا ورحمنا أنت مولانا فانصرنا على القوم الكافرين اللهم انصر المسلمين في كل مكان اللهم انصر المسلمين في كل زمان اللهم انصر إخاننا المسلمين في فلسطين وفي العراق وفي كشمير وفي أفغانستان وفي باكستان وفي السودان وفي الشيشان وفي السومال وفي العراق وفي الجزائر وفي كل مكان يا الله اللهم انصُرنا في هذا البلد اللهم من أرادَ خيراً لهذه الأمة محمدية فوثقوا إلى كل خير ومن أرادَ شرَّ لها من المسلمين فخُفُه أخذ عزيز مقتدير اللهم اجعل تدبيرهم تدميرهم اللهم عليك بعداء الإسلام أنت مولانا فانصُرنا للقوم الكافرين اللهم انصُرنا اللهم برقلنا ورحمنا وعفو عننا واجعلنا من المتقين والحكمة بالصالحين واجعلنا من المتقين من الصابرين من الذين يعملون الليلة المنهارة وعفو عننا ووثلنا ورحمنا أنت مولانا فانصُرنا للقوم الكافرين إن الله يأمر بالعبدي والإحسان ويتائذ الكربى وينهى عن الفحشاء والموقذ والبغي يعذكم العلكم تذكرون يا أيها الذين أاملوا التقل الله وكونوا مع الصادقين وصل الله على شيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله إلا الله الله أكبر الله أكبر ولله الحم ولله الحم الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر إلا الله الله أكبر الله أكبر ولله الحم الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله إلا الله الله أكبر الله أكبر و لله الحم كل عام و أنتم بخير وسلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته