 Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. We praise Allah, we seek His aid and we ask His forgiveness. We seek His protection from the evil of ourselves and from the evil of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. I re-witness that there's no God but Allah alone. He has no like. And I testify that Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is a slave and messenger. Praise be to Allah, who has brought the hearts together on this auspicious day of Juma, literally a day of gathering, Juma means to gather. Just as He brought us together on that primordial day of Yom al-Ast, Yom al-Mithaq. On that day, Allah asked us, al-Astubi Rabbikum, am I not your Lord? And we replied, Bala, indeed you are. This gathering then is a reminder of that previous gathering. And it's a warning of the upcoming gathering, that of the day of judgment, when we will all be brought together and we will all be questioned whether we remain faithful to that primordial covenant, that first covenant. You may ask, I don't remember choosing this covenant. Why am I being held to this covenant? Why am I being held accountable for this covenant when I didn't choose it? And there's an answer for that. And the answer is actually quite simple. It's the fact that you actually did choose this covenant, but you don't remember it. You've forgotten your choice. Allah says, We offered the trust, meaning the covenant, the covenant of Khilafat to be God's representative on the earth. We offered this trust to the heavens, and to the earth, and to the mountains, but they all refused. And they were afraid of the covenant. But man assumed it, man accepted it, and man is most unjust, most ignorant. And this is something that, if we reflect on it, we realize it's actually part of our essential nature. Allah says, these are forms of exaggeration, is essential to us. It's part of our nature that we cannot escape, that we will be unjust, that we will be oppressive, that we will be ignorant, whether of the rights of ourselves or to the rights of others. And this is something that's fairly obvious if you look at it in the world, there's how many man-made crises do you know of? How many, you just turn on the news. There seems like a million things that we could talk about in terms of injustice, in terms of oppression, right? We talk about living a culture of war right now between conservative and liberal. We're being threatened by climate change, threatening to destroy our planet. There are untold humanitarian crises all over the world, in China, in Burma, in France, let alone the various things that this country does. There are, and these are just the public crises. These are just the oppressions and injustices that are clear to us, they're global. And then there are the private ones, right? We make caricatures of these private ones. We talk about the aggressive boss, the unfair teacher, the rebellious child, the pompous preacher, the coworker that claims credit for your own work. There's plenty of volume in the world to go around and the list is endless. In the Rukana, the Luman Jahula, he is unjust and he is ignorant. But what we as believers, slaves of the law need to worry about and focus on is our own injustices, our own oppression. Because a lot is promised to take care of those oppressors out there. But what about us? It's easy to worry about others because it means that we get to play victim. We get to say we're oppressed. It's comfortable to focus on others because we get to sue their own egos. You know, we'll say, how dare so-and-so do such to me? How dare he do that in front of me? How dare he say that to me? I will get him back. This all, I know this is all a type of ego worship. But what the ego never likes to do is look at its own faults, its own shortcomings in its own flaws because that's to be uncomfortable. No one likes to acknowledge their own flaws. But that discomfort that you feel when you are dissatisfied with yourself, when you recognize the wrongs within yourself, that is precisely where growth happens, right? This, what they say, no pain, no gain. It's one of the tropes in this society. The first step to curing an ill is to acknowledge that it exists. And we have the same thing in our tradition. We say, the scholars say that satisfaction with the self is the root of all evil, is the root of all vice. And that dissatisfaction with the self is the root of all good, and that it's the root of all virtue. And in fact, the 20th, the great 20th century master, Jack Mahmoud al-Hashmi, has entire work dedicated to this. He speaks about the unity of the ummah and the unity of the ummah that was present in the past and this unity that's present now, that the unity of this ummah has been splintered and fractured into a million pieces. We see Muslims fighting Muslims, even killing Muslims at times, over the most trivial of differences, over identity politics, over thinking to a tribal identity of culture and ignoring the shared identity of being Muslim. And so what Shaykh al-Hashmi does in this wonderful work is to explain painstaking detail that the weakness that this ummah has comes from its disunity. And this unity that this ummah has comes from a unwillingness, from a unwillingness to acknowledge our own deficiencies, from each member being self-satisfied, being content with the self, because when you're content with the self, you don't acknowledge your need for others and so there's no unity. Each one becomes their own person. Inna hukkana daluman jahula man is unjust and ignorant. And so what belief in this verse is meant for us to do is that we mostly dissatisfied with the state of ourselves, an impressive and ignorant state. And what this requires is reflection on what unjust things am I doing? What unjust courses of action am I taking? And beyond that, once I recognize what those are, how do I rid myself of my own injustice if it is indeed an essential and fixed quality about me? And so Allah continues, right? He's guiding us down a path. Allah says in the Qur'an, He says a dichotomy in the Qur'an between two states. One is the state of being adhan, one is the state of being oppressive and unjust. And the other is the state of being beloved to Allah. And the determining factor between these two is whether you're a person of repentance, a person of toba, a person who turns back to Allah constantly. And this dichotomy is seen in these two verses of Allah says in one of them, Inna Allaha Ya Hibba Tawabin Wa Ya Hibba Wa Ta Taahirin. Verily, indeed Allah loves the off-repenting and he loves the self-purifying. And then in the other verse of Allah says, Wa Man Nam Ya Tug Fa Aulaikahum Al Baalimun. Those who do not repent, whoever does not repent, then indeed it is those who are unjust. And so you are either one or the other. You're either oppressing and unjust or you're repenting to Allah for your injustice and for your oppression and therefore becoming beloved to Him. There's a hadith where the Prophet, Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, explains that, Allah is more joyous at the repentance of a slave than a man in the middle of a desert who loses his camel and then is stranded in the middle of the desert. And he searches for his camel for days. You know, he's dying of hunger and of thirst and the heat. And then suddenly he finds his camel and comes up to him from out of nowhere. Allah is more joyous, has more farah at a slave who repents than that man who finds his camel. And farah, you know, farah has translated as joy. It's not, joy is not a mild happiness. Farah is not a mild happiness. Farah is an ecstatic joy. It's a joy that makes someone give freely beyond what a person may deserve. And this is the secret of Toba. That when you cease is sin, when you have deep regret for your shortcomings and then you recognize Allah's joy at your repentance and you recognize His love for you because of your repentance. And then you ask of Him His favor in that moment, in that moment of repentance because of His joy. That is when things are accepted. That's when your dua is accepted. And that's why after your Toba, there should be no more guilt of your past sins. They've been erased, they're done. It's as if they never happened. That Toba is sincere because Allah's joy erases the sin. Allah's joy erases difficulties in life and it erases you in rank. Instructs Quranic Ask forgiveness of your Lord right now for the same time, but they're accepted. Bismillah, Alhamdulillah. You may ask, I've asked for forgiveness and repented and asked for forgiveness and repented many, many times. How much more should I do? How much more do I have to repent? How much more do I have to ask forgiveness? And we reply that this thought that I've asked so much and nothing's changing. I've asked so much and I don't feel like I've transformed at all. This thought needs to be cast out of your mind. This is a satanic thought, this waswessa, because the entire point of Toba is to be in that state constantly. We know that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, verily I seek forgiveness on my Lord more than 70 times in a day. And then the point of Constant Toba then is to become content with your own inherent deficiencies. To be content with your own flaws, these flaws that they cannot change. Because Allah created you with deficiencies. He created you with flaws. And he did that for a wisdom. It's not just abath. It's for a wisdom. And it's that so that mankind relies on Allah. Because when you're deficient, you need to rely on the one who is more perfect. So you rely on Allah. And you constantly turn back to Him. And this is the secret of creation, the creation of the human being, the secret that the angels didn't understand. When man was given the trust, when he was given the khilafa of the earth, the angels, the angels asked, atesh alufiha man yufsidufiha wo yasfiqud dima. Will you, Allah, place there on the earth one who will sow corruption and shed blood therein? And this is a question that a lot of us may have. Why does Allah allow us to be evil? Why does Allah allow the suffering of this ummah, the suffering in this world? Why does He allow men to be so unjust? Listen to what the angels were asking. Now look at what Allah replies. Inni a'lamum ma'la ta'alamoon. I know what you do not know. And then he continues. He tells us the story of Adam, alayhi salam. And Iblis, la'anuh, Allah. Iblis, what did he do? He refused to bow to Adam, alayhi salam, right? He said, abaa was takbara wa kaanamina kaafirin. He refused and showed arrogance and became of the disbelievers. And then there's a story of Adam, alayhi salam. What did he do when he ate from the forbidden tree? What did he do when he ate from the forbidden tree? He said, fatalaqaa adamum min rabbihi karimat fataba'a alayh. Adam, alayhi salam, learned some words from his Lord and he used those words to repent. He repented and turned back to Allah. And Adam, alayhi salam, is the father of mankind, not shaytan. He is the archetype that we learn from. And so how do we summarize all of this? The story of Adam, alayhi salam, Allah says, asa'a adamum bur rabbahu faghawaa thumma shaba'u rabbahu fataba'a alayh wahada. Adam disobeyed his Lord and turned away. Then his Lord selected him, accepted his repentance and guided him the right way. Subhanallah. asa'a adamum rabbahu faghawaa thumma shaba'u rabbahu fataba'a alayh wahada. Adam disobeyed his Lord and turned away. Then his Lord selected him, accepted his repentance and guided him the right way. Why did Allah select Adam, alayhi salam? Because of his sin and his repenting from the sin. This is what the angels could not fathom. That the very act of soul and corruption and shedding blood on the earth, this can transform into obedience through the power of Toba. We all know the hadith of the man who killed 100 people and he was still searched for repentance. And so he went to the learned man to the scholar and he asked, can I enter into jannah? Can I be forgiven for my sins? And you know, a mass murder killed 100 people. Can I be forgiven for my sins? And the scholar said, yes, repent to Allah and then go to this far off city where you aren't known for your sins and you don't have a reputation. And you'll be forgiven. And he went on the way and on the way he got sick and he died. Then the angels argued, okay, if he was on his way to repent, if he was on his way, should he be entered into paradise or should he be entered into hell? And a lot shows that he'd be entered into paradise. The very act of shedding blood transformed into obedience through Toba because this man did Toba. And so what's the point of all this? The point is man's capacity for evil is great. That's undoubted. But his capacity for good is even greater if he keeps returning to his Lord. And so everyone sins, everyone makes mistakes. What do you do with that? Do you take the path of Shaitan, the path of Satan, refusing to accept that the sins are sin, refusing to accept your own deficiencies because it's uncomfortable because it makes you feel bad? Or do you take the path of the prophets, the way of Adam, the way of the prophets, who are constantly repenting to the Lord, repenting to Allah, and therefore ascending towards him and becoming those who are beloved and those of whom God adjoys. Allah says in His Noble Scripture, Inna Allaha wa Malaikattahu yusalluna ala nabi Ya ayyuha ladina aaminu yusallu alaihi wa sallimu tastima Allahumma salli wa sallimu ala sayedina wa qurrat ya'iyunina Muhammad wa ala aadihi wa sahbihi wa man tabi'ahum bi ihsanikla yunuddin Allahumma gfiril al mu'minina wa al mu'minat wa al muslimina wa al muslimat al ahya'i minhum wa l-amwad innaka ya maulana sameeh wa l-khareeb wa l-nujeeb wa l-da'wad Allahumma nusir al-aslam wa l-muslimin wa l-il-shirk wa l-mashrekeen Allahumma ya hayyu ya tayyum bi rahmatika astaghith wa astaghlu nasha'nana kullah wa la takanna ila an-fusilna tarfa ta'ain Allahumma ja'lu qur'ana rabiaa qurrubina wa l-murasa qurrubina wa r-zubnatilawat wa anaa al-layhi wa qur'af al-nahar Allahumma hafad haadin umat al-muhammadiyya Allahumma hafad haadin umat al-muhammadiyya Allahumma hafad haadin umat al-muhammadiyya fi jami'i biladihah innaka ala kulli shay'in qadir wa bilna i'ijabat al-jadir qadir Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam arhamu umati bi umati abu bakr wa shadduhum fi din alahi umar wa astakum al-tahya'an al-athman wa aqadahum alaihi hafatumat al-siyyidat unisa'i ahl al-jannah wal-hassan wal-huhu al-qasayn syeda shabab al-ahl al-jannah ahmza wa asad allahi wa asad al-Rasulah khairu qurru niqarni fa ma al-ladheena yadunahum ta ma al-ladheena yadunahum aibar allah innah allah ya'mur bil'adhi wal-ahsan wa ita'id al-kurba wa yanha'n al-fahshai wal-munkari wal-baqih ya'idakum na'allat mtadakroun adhkru Allah al-Azim yadkur kum wa aqil al-salah