 All praises is due to Allah who has blessed us with this glorious gathering on this glorious day. All praises is due to Allah who has blessed us with iman and blessed us with islam and blessed us with ihsan. Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah ila di hadana li hada. All praises is due to Allah who has guided us to this way wa ma kunna li nahtadiya lola and hadana Allah and we would not have been able to guide ourselves had not Allah guided us. We wanted to speak about the ways that we are like Ibrahim alayhi salam because the events of these days are focused around the life the struggle the trials of Ibrahim alayhi salam, his wife and his progeny and we are his spiritual progeny millata abikum Ibrahim the way of your father Ibrahim so he's not our physical father some he might be but most of us not not so but he is our spiritual father alayhi salam peace upon him so the ways we are like Ibrahim and the ways we should strive to be like Ibrahim alayhi salam one way we like Ibrahim is that like Ibrahim Allah subhanu wa ta'ala Almighty God has chosen us for this way Allah ta'ala says concerning Ibrahim alayhi salam that Ibrahim was a nation unto himself devoutly obedient to Allah naturally inclined towards monotheism he was not amongst the idolaters he was deeply appreciative to the blessings Allah bestowed upon him he was he chose him Allah chose him and he guided him to a straight path so Ibrahim alayhi salam was chosen by Allah subhanu wa ta'ala for the great mission that history has recorded him as fulfilling we should understand that we too were also chosen and when Allah ta'ala mentions that fact he mentions it in the context of Ibrahim or Ibrahim alayhi salam so Allah ta'ala tells us so strive in the way of Allah as should rightfully be the case he has chosen you and in this there are so many lessons we will just mention one before returning to the main one Allah ta'ala says strive in the way of Allah should rightfully be the case the right that Allah subhanu wa ta'ala has over us can never be fulfilled by our striving can never be fulfilled by our striving and therefore Allah ta'ala enters us into Jannah based on his mercy not our actions based on his mercy not our actions and when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam informed his companions of this they said to him not even you oh messenger of Allah not even you will enter Jannah based on your actions Allah ta'ala tells us he said not even me I will only enter if Allah envelops me in his mercy and his grace 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 subhanahu wa ta'ala so our actions are necessary not sufficient sufficiency comes from the mercy and grace of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that's what we strive for that's what we live for and that's what we will die upon inshallah ta'ala striving to our utmost for the mercy and grace of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala 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 Allah we know our ulema tell us that difficulty calls for ease for facilitating ease so the difficulty that is involved in fulfilling the right we owe to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is compensated by the ease that Allah gives us and what he has asked of us so there's 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 subhanahu wa ta'ala so after mentioning the magnitude of our struggle based on the right we owe to Allah wa jahirufillahi haqqa jahadi who is tabakum Allah reminds us but he has not made it difficult 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 subhanahu wa ta'ala 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 tethered to and fro by the forces the vicissitudes of time and the vagaries of fate we live lives that infuse 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's 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 can be spending on your faster car the money you can be spending on your better home or garden what caused you to spend it see sabili la wasn't something you did or was it because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chose you for a mission who watched the back home 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 me we more obedient to our parents than they ordered Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala 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 back home 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 la ilaha illallah muhammad o rasulullah just as we have found the comfort in la ilaha illallah muhammad o rasulullah sallallahu aleyhi wa aleyhi wasallam as we reflect on the life of ibrahim aleyhi salam 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 aleyhi salam to go back to something he did we mentioned something he represents that we represent that we share with him he was chosen we were chosen and now we'll mention something inshallah that we should try to be like ibrahim aleyhi salam ibrahim smashed the idols he smashed the idols of his people and they saw the wreckage before them they said who has done this to our gods fairly he is a wrongdoer an oppressor they said we heard a young man conspiring against him he goes by the name of ibrahim so ibrahim and 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 find we 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 bequeathed 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 sunnah of muhammed sallallahu alayhi wa sallam we have to smash that idol by elevating our souls beyond the lonely level level of the nefs al ammar of the su to the level of the nefs al mutma inna the soul that's contented with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the soul that's pleased with Allah and pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala 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 in our beings in our consciousness and if if anyone doubts that this self can be an idol we remind you as Allah ta'ala has reminded us in the Qur'an have you not seen the one who takes the very inclination of his soul as his god and when that is the case Allah ta'ala 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 let us smash that idol so that we can be servants of Allah and servants of each other because as long as that idol exists we want we will want to be served because that god of the self like every god demands service there's only one true god who is rightfully served Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Almighty God Allah young people look at the life of this ma'id who was young like you and many of the events we commemorate the culmination the sacrifice when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us of what transpired when he says so as a young person a young teenager was asked by his parents by his father not to give up a girlfriend or boyfriend not to give up a pay ps three or four whatever number the ps is up to or to give up this or to give up drugs or to drink give up alcohol or to give up this or that dress style or to give up the purple streak in the hair ismail aley salam 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 ask you to be killed ibrahim ismail aley salam was asked to give up his life and what did he say 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 subhanahu wa ta'ala 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 ismail 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 were incapable of serving yourself and that is the meaning of when he reached the age the ulamas say they have that the child's being a burden and a source of difficulty for the parent is gone no more diapers to change no more running noses to wipe no more dirty rear ends to clean he the child he or she now can clean themselves can cook for themselves and in former days turner 12 that was the case as many of you know all too well 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 and right at that age when ibrahim is ready to benefit from his son he's asked to sacrifice him but his son says father do what you have to do you will find me set a jiduni inshallah i will be patient with what Allah has ordered you to do young people it's time for you to tell your parents i will be patient with what Allah has ordered you to do i will assist you in undertaking the commandments of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and i realize unlike ismail you're not asking me to give up my life you're asking me to give up something that ultimately will undermine my life if i continue on the path of companionship with these people if i continue on the path of drugs or alcohol or this or that or the other this is something that will harm me and so you're calling me to something that will benefit me and i will be patient in your obedience this is the society that we strive for 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 ego is 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 alayhim as-salam have bequeathed onto us this is what these days remind us of they remind us of the prophets ibrahim ismail muhammad sallallahu alayhim as-salam and their struggles and what they sought to bring into the earth brothers and sisters la ilaha illallah allahu akbar allahu akbar allahu akbar la ilaha illallah allahu akbar allahu akbar walillahi l-hamd in conclusion that we remind you you and remind myself to go back to the first verse we mentioned that ibrahim ibrahim was a nation unto himself devoutly obedient he wasn't amongst the idolaters and inclined towards monotheism he was an umma 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 umma and while we will never attain to the level of ibrahim as-salam in terms of our moral character or the level of muhammad sallallahu alayhim as-salam 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 muslim 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 kids 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 the 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 ten dollar set of clippers because they couldn't afford clippers to keep their hair neat and clean dress them neatly before they sent them out to school wash their mouths 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 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 come back with your head handing standing tall you come back with a sense of appreciation for the blessings that you have you didn't grow up in roach infested rat 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 spring's digging into your skin don't act like that's your existence be a leader be an embodiment of virtue like ibrahim umma is also imam a leader be a leader for people we pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wa jaalna lin muttakina imama make us leaders for the righteous and that should be a sincere prayer that we make to be leaders a qadwa imam umma is a qadwa an example to be followed we should strive to be followed 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 an imam a a moral exemplar in the ibrahim a qana umma qanita linna an imam a leader for the people and a guide and an imam is a had what he called the qawmin had and a guide for our peoples that is the role of the muslim in this world that is the role of the muslim and ibrahim alaihi salam in some opinions is the one who has given us this name he has named you muslim ibrahim alaihi salam some interpretations a lot a la before purposes let's work with ibrahim brothers and sisters don't let him down and in conclusion said i said that before this time i'll put the notes away you know i mean it in conclusion reflect on another thing related from the life of ibrahim ibrahim alaihi salam found himself before a tyrant nimroof or nimrod and that tyrant hated Islam and we find ourselves faced with tyrannical parties and individuals in our country not the majority of the people but there are groups and there are individuals who are tyrannical and they hate Islam and that tyrant threw ibrahim alaihi salam in the fire and when ibrahim alaihi salam was thrown in the fire he said something the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he tells us ibrahim said it when he was flung into the hellfire what did he say Allah 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 Islam eradicated from this country that will have Muslims expelled from this country that are inciting hatred against Muslims against Islam against the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam let us say as ibrahim said let us say as muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam when he was sad to him Allah records in the Quran those who were sad too the people are gathering against you fear them and there are those who are saying to the muslim the people are gathering against you the host they're gathering against you all of these various elements we can name but you know their names are too well are gathering against you it only increased their faith 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 alaihi sallam he saw the fire become cool and he saw himself enveloped in peace and well-being with salama ala ibrahim and we see miracles unfolding but we are not cognizant in many instances to give you a small example the forces and the momentum was gathering against the muslims pointing people towards the dreadful day when this individual whose name does not deserve mention is going to have his infamous Quran burning and the climate is against the muslim the radio the television the media against the muslim and then what happens no Quran's are burnt rather the entire nation rallies behind the muslims and from coast to coast they're having 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 Allah is in control and when we realize Allah is in control we can look at the events and our faith is strengthened and we can say well do faith do sincerity do conviction Allah suffices us what an excellent one to trust in ibrahim alaihi sallam said it brothers and sisters let us say it and let us mean it let us believe it and let us live that reality has been allahu fa niam al wakil niam al maula wa niam al nasir gufranaka rabbana where they can maseer allahum subhana rabbika rabbil izzati amma yasifoon wa salaman al al mursaneem walhamdulillahi rabbil alameen wa sallallahu ala sayyidina muhammad wa la alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam tasneem man kathira inna allah allahu akbar allahu akbar brothers and sisters may Allah bless you bless your families as you enjoy the blessings be stored upon you of shelter of food of drink think of those less fortunate not only those muslims less fortunate those who've been pushed by pushed out of their home by both manmade 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 and 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 allahu akbar 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 subhanahu wa ta'ala upon us and to give shukr for those blessings to give thanks thankfulness thanks 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 bless this masjid may best make this a center that's alive that the 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 we mentioned the immigrants and the converts 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 bless us to serve the people of the disbelievers may Allah bless the Muslims everywhere may Allah bless the Muslims in all times may Allah bless the Muslims brothers in Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Shishan, Somalia, Iraq, Algeria And in every place, O Allah, we are supported by Allah in this country. Allahumma man arada khayran li hadhihil ummahin muhammadiyah, fa wa thikku ila kulli khayr. Wa man arada sharra laha mulil muslimin fa khudhu akhda, Aziz al-Muqtadir. Allahumma jaal tadbiruhum tadmiruhum. Allahumma alaika bi adaa il-Islam. Anta maulana fa unsurna alil qawma il-kaafirin. Allahumma unsurna, Allahumma unsurna, Allahumma unsurna. Allahumma barqlana, warhamna, wa'afu anna. Wa jalla min al-Muttaqeen, wa al-hikna bil-salihin. Wa jalla min al-Muttaqeen, min al-sabireen. Min al-Ladheena yamaluna layla al-manahara li qibmeti haadad deen. Wa'afu anna wa wafilana, warhamna. Anta maulana fa unsurna alil qawma il-kaafirin. Inna Allah ya'imru bi al-Ati wa al-Ihsan wa itaiz al-Kurba. Wa yannha anil fahshai wa al-Muqtadi wa al-Baghih. Ya'idukum, la'alikum, tadakkarun. Ya ayyuh al-Ladheena amaluttaq Allaha wa kunu ma'as sadiqeen. Wa kunu ma'as sadiqeen, wa kunu ma'as sadiqeen. Wa sallallahu ala shaydina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Wa lillahi l-hamd, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Wa lillahi l-ham, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar Wa lillahi l-ham, kula'a min, wa antum bi kheer, wa as-salamu alaikum Wa rahmatullahi wa barakat