 We began with the praises and the thanks of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala proclaiming to him alhamdulillah We recognize that in every moment of every day We are in a constant debt to him subhanahu wa ta'ala and in order to repay that debt We owe him every moment of our lives to and we owe him to spend every moment in our lives in gratitude in obedience and Staying away from sin Unfortunately this concept of worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this manner of Having an intimate relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Such that we are aware of him in every moment and we act according in his obedience This Notion has been lost and if it not if it has not been lost then it is under attack and so as we gather on this blessed day of Juma the day in which we congregate together for a Specific purpose and that is to worship him in this moment We need to join our hearts and reinforce one another and Reminding ourselves of the importance of worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala now we Can often hear these ideas Talked about often That it's important to worship Allah that it's important to obey Allah that it's important to be in this state of gratitude with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and So what happens for a human being is That when they are Constantly told to do something The idea or that notion that is being presented to them either becomes insignificant or they view it as this type of Bother That yes, yes, I've heard this idea. Tell me something new Yes. Yes, everyone talks about it But what about this And so the idea of obedience and worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is something unfortunately That falls into that category That the more we hear about it. There's a part of us that becomes annoyed talk about something else but this mess but this message of Worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is A message that is sacred and that and it has been passed down from profit to profit throughout all the generations So the most important message that the prophets have given to humanity is to worship Allah and so the most important thing that we can either engage in ourselves or Something that we can receive is the message of telling others To worship Allah or to receive the information on Worshiping Allah and so clearly from this preface I'm going to be talking about worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and So don't take these words lightly Don't think this is just another reminder to worship Allah rather Renew your intention in that today from this moment onwards I am going to worship Allah in a way that I have never worshipped him before My worship is going to exceed in excellence after this moment Such that my entire worship that I have done to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in my past If you gather it all up together It won't even equal the way that I'm going to begin to worship him today moving forward That's the intention that we should have This is how I want to engage with Allah that this moment moving forward is going to be better Than all of the moments combined and multiplied ten times over That's the sincerity. I'm going to have that's the dedication. I'm going to have that's the awareness I'm going to have that's the striving that I'm going to put into this moment and So I take you back to the story of Thamud and To them was sent Salih aleyhi salam one of the earliest communities on the planet and So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us of the story of Thamud and Salih He says weila Thamud a hafam salihah Qala ya qaum i'bud Allah ma lakum min ilahin ghayru He gives them a very simple message To Thamud was sent their own brother Salih and he said to them. Oh my people worship Allah You have no God other than him you have no deity of worship other than him You have no object of veneration other than him. You have no goal except for him You have no aim except for him. You have no purpose except for him. You have nothing except for him Allah It is a simple message But we need to constantly remind ourselves of this simple message Because in our times today both youth and Elderly both the educated and the uneducated both man and woman all people in our times are Being attacked on the front of what is this meaningless worship that you do to God and So you have all of these new atheists Who instead of discussing? Allah They're going to cause doubt in your hearts over trivial matters They're going to make you think about this issue here of human rights or this issue here of oppression or this issue here of equality and all of these Problems quote-unquote They use To make you doubt your worship of Allah But if you begin to engage with them if you begin to question them if you begin to Engage with them about the existence of Allah About who is God? They will be utterly defeated They don't have a pinky toe to stand on Because the apparentness of God is as clear as day There is no one in all of humanity that can question it And so the way that they trick you and make you think that he does not exist is by going over these trivial issues That have absolutely no significance in our faith Rather our faith honors all of those matters and our faith knows how to deal with every single one of them in a way that they Couldn't put together in a million years So don't be fooled by these individuals Don't be fuel fooled by these trivial issues Go back to the core message That God exists and that I must worship him So Salih alaihi salam tells this to his people And we also think that Islam doesn't come with proofs. It's not It's not up to date with science. It's not rationally effective All of these are lies that they fed you Salih alaihi salam tells his people right after he says worship Allah you have nothing other than him Who are you? Meena al-arba was ta'amarakum fiha. He gives them proof Why should you worship Allah? Why should you worship Allah? Is he not the one who raised you in this earth? Is he not the one who sends water down so that you can have vegetation? Is he not the one that gave you intellect so you know how to build? Is he not the one that allowed you to have a heart so that you can love so that you can create a family so that you Can prosper in this world is everything that you have been given not from God he gives them proof and If we were to go into the proofs That he is contained within these few words who are insha'akum min al-ardi was ta'amarakum fiha Go read the ta'as here pages and pages and pages are written on this and the debt we have upon Allah Forgiving us everything that we have So Salih alaihi salam. He's giving them reasons why they should also worship Allah Every blessing that we have Allah is the one that gifted it to us He writes that we have every honor that we have every privilege that we have Anything we can even imagine to possess it is because Allah gave it to you That is not a light thing to take if you truly ponder that idea You would fall into sujood and never Come up and There are angels that do that That their entire Existence from the beginning of time until the end of time until Allah wipes up wipes them away from Existence the only thing that they would have done is such that to Allah because they recognize Everything that they have is because of him Your ability to blink your ability to see your ability to breathe inhale exhale for you to be able to even feel to think You owe it all to him But what kind of beings are we what kind of creation are we? that we constantly engage in Irrigating ourselves over these blessings and Waging war against Allah Sinning openly and privately Disrespecting our parents and our friends and our neighbors Having no regard For the honor and the value of a human having no regard For the preciousness of time for the sanctity of a breath And so what does salih say knowing this about people? fast a firu Thumma tubu ilay repent worship Allah and Then repent worship him and then repent Seek his forgiveness because Anything that you can do it will fall short So you must repent For your very ability To worship him is a blessing from him The very right that you owe to him You can only fulfill because he has given you the ability to fulfill that right So we must repent fast a firu Thumma tubu ilay and turn back towards him What does it mean to turn back towards Allah? What does it mean to turn back towards Allah? There's conditions of Thuba and Different levels of Thuba and all of those all of that information about Thuba exists But what is something about Thuba that we don't understand? Something about Thuba that we don't understand. Thuba is not just to Ask for forgiveness for the things that we've done It's not past oriented Thuba is an active process That requires us to grow towards Allah Within Thuba you are required to elevate yourself Within Thuba you are required to come closer to Allah So you are required to move from the different levels of the soul We have the national Ammar of the suit the soul that makes one fall into their desires Thuba is to move from that to nafs al lawama the soul that rebukes itself and Then Thuba from nafs al lawama the soul that rebukes itself is to move from that level to nafs al mutma inna to the soul that is at peace and Thuba from that level is to move from nafs al mutma inna the nafs that is at peace to nafs al radiyah the soul that is pleased with God and Thuba from that nafs is to move from that level to the nafs al margiyah the soul that is pleasing to God and To do Thuba from that level from the nafs al margiyah is to move to the nafs al kamina the perfected soul and We're always engaged in Thuba. We're always engaged in rising closer to Allah And so Saleh with his wisdom. He says fast I'll firu thumma thubu ilay Inna Rabbi qareeb mujeeb That indeed my Lord is close and Responsive Saleh alaihi salam in these few words gives us the entire project of humanity That we are to worship Allah for very specific reasons We fall short in that worship. So we strive towards to get closer to him and all along Inna Rabbi qareeb mujeeb your Lord is close and he responds to you So ask Allah In the very famous verse Wa idhaa saalaka ibadi anni fa inni qareeb wujeeb da'wata da'i idha da'a fal yas tajeebooli wal yuqminubi la'allahum yarshudun Ask Allah Because verily when you ask Allah Allah is close And Allah responds to the one who calls on to him So ask Ask for closeness ask for forgiveness as for guidance as for consistency and ask for it with absolute resolve and Determination that you're going to get what you are asking for because the two lies that exist in our time are one That the devil does not exist and neither does God But if God does exist then he is far away That is the biggest lie Allah tells us that he is close Allah promises us that he is close It is up to us to ask so we ask Allah for closeness to him Astaghfirullah li walakum wal lisa ilil muslimin fa astaghfiruh Inna hu hu al ghafoor al raheem