 وعلى الله تعالى في كتابيه وعلى الله تعالى في شقان الرجيم وما يؤمنوا أكثر أبنى لله إلا أبنى مشكلة وما يؤمنوا أكثر أبنى لله إلا أبنى مشكلة الله عزيما جال سأب in his book one of the most paradoxical statements that we know in terms of revelation one of the most paradoxical and frankly soft provoking statements in the book of Allah when I say paradox I mean as a contradiction a paradox is a contradiction it's with the code إستماع الدين that you would put together two things that appear to be opposite and I think we've mentioned this before so we do this all the time I remember coming up as a kid wondering what fresh frozen meant when you go to the grocery store they say fresh frozen it's a paradox because it can't be fresh and frozen simultaneously yetada in the bag it is we also have jumbo shrimp jumbo shrimp is a paradox because the shrimp is a small thing how can it ever be jumbo but apparently you should get the jumbo shrimp because there's more to it there's more to the little thing it's a big little thing this is a paradoxical these kind of paradoxical statements they're difficult for the mind to take in you just kind of take it at face value and say okay jumbo shrimp no problem fresh frozen makes no sense this we love let's just eat but Allah doesn't put anything in his book except that it be something to ponder upon and he says now obviously the meaning of which is and most of them are not in a state of belief you know is a present tense verb so it's indicating something that's happening now literally speaking and most of them are not in a state of belief إلا الله بالله إلا وهم الشيبون except while at the same time they are polytheists so he's talking about the people of Mecca obviously they believe in Allah SWT but they they knew he was there I had a friend of mine when I became a Muslim I told him about Islam and he said yeah I mean that's cool you know that's cool I mean I hear you guys guys there I'm there we're cool you know the same kind of idea that what's the problem I mean he's there I'm there we're having a big party but that's not belief in Allah so he said إلا الله عز و جل إلا وهم الشيبون most of them are not in a state of belief when it comes to God except that they associate with that and this is a paradoxical statement because how do you believe in Allah while at the same time while associating how do you be a monotheist while being a polytheist is that even possible because believing in Allah by definition Allah is a single entity that you put your belief into how do you do that at the same time while associating and most of us would just read through this ayah and say something like اللعب الله علي and may Allah curse them and keep moving but there's something that we need to understand that this is something that's for us to contemplate and he says again اكترهم بالله إلا وهم مشريكون so if we take this idea of shirk and we know that shirk is the thing that Allah despises the most the most despised thing Allah has said in His book that He will forgive everything except for shirk that sounds serious shirk is worse than alcohol and shirk is worse than zina to put it into perspective because I know some of us feel so strongly about this issue because it's raging in our hearts that we for example want to condemn I'm not condoning it just saying for context we want to condemn homosexuality and say these people no Muslim can ever be like this right okay that condemnation is very very very strong don't associate don't talk don't deal with these kinds of people they are shayatin and go forth and go on with that which I'm not arguing or just saying we will say that and most of us feel that way however we don't have a problem with having a friend who disbelieves in God we don't have a problem with having a friend who actually who actually doesn't believe God even exists yeah we're having Tom over tonight Tom is a مرحب Tom's an atheist and Tom's a great guy we just won't talk about God meanwhile you might have Ahmed who has a little bit of an issue battling himself with but he still believes but you won't associate with Ahmed and you'll have Tom over any night but in fact شرك is worse than that or in this case denial of God's existence altogether is actually worse than شرك which is worse than any kind of act of of homosexuality شرك is the worst thing Allah hates it and he said that he will not forgive it it's serious but what is it than شرك is to make associations شرك if you say it means literally he's an associator but it doesn't always have bad context for example you can say نعم I work in a company شرك it's a partnership most of us have a partnership of some sorts it's not a problem but you recognize that when you're in an association you recognize that we're in a partnership with someone that you need them for something they need you for something so to associate is to join between two things literally association is joining between two things or what you and I call sharing now on a basic level that's a good thing when you have a child you teach them to be a shareer sharing is not a bad thing per se you teach them to share for example if your kid has a lunch and kid next to them doesn't have anything to eat you wouldn't think it's a good thing when they come home and say لا شركة I didn't associate anything I mean with him but in this context with him I didn't share anything with him that's not a good thing everything has its place everything has its context to associate is to join between two things is to share now for two things to share they must have they must share like natures in order for me to share with something I have to have a like nature with that thing in other words the reason why for example when it comes to like natures that Allah sent down prophets as people is because if God had sent down an angel we would have gone to hell because we would not be able to to relate to that person we don't have similar natures you understand my point we wouldn't have similar natures we wouldn't be able to get along with each other because the angel doesn't even make mistakes and the messenger of Allah he doesn't he does if you look in the seerah you look at examples where he did less he did a perfection that was less than a perfection that was expected from him you find this for example you find when he he went to the he went to the to the leader of the Quraysh he was thinking that if I call on the leader and he accepts everybody underneath him will accept so he thought it was a good Dallas strategy but it wasn't the most and that was perfect but it wasn't a perfection I mean we can't even imagine this it wasn't even it was a perfection less than the perfection God wanted from him which is beyond our understanding so we said he just gave him a little like a little you know Habibi Habibi like one of those you know like the seerian Habibi Habibi in other words there's something you could have done that's even better than what you're doing and he gave him he gave him admonition in this way so he shows us that we see that in the Prophet Muhammad to know that he's also a human being so for two things to share they must share like natures for me to be able to share in what the Prophet Muhammad brought I have to be able to relate I have to be able to see myself which is why if you look in the seerah especially in the seerah and if you look in the Qur'an you will find yourself you will see your nature if you want to know how you are look in the seerah and look in the Qur'an you will find yourself and if you find yourself in a way you shouldn't be you also find a way to correct it you find a way out of the melody so for two two things to share they must share like natures and nature is an essential attribute what is a nature then I believe you're going on about nature what is a nature a nature is an essential attribute it's that thing that defines it's a characteristic that defines the entity speaking so if you were to ask me what is Abdul Latif's nature I would say Abdul Latif is six two he will not disclose his way to you that's not necessary to understand it fluctuates give me a break he has dark hair now give it a few years he has two children may Allah preserve them and give them children to the last day he is a Muslim may Allah give us خدان may Allah give us ending Allah but these are these are not these are characteristic these are attributes but they're not essential to me for example my hair now is black basically but it's not an essential attribute that my hair be black because I can either go I can go bleach my hair I can then dye it green or it can all turn white by itself which is it's doing very nicely in a very slow pace that means that attribute about myself it doesn't describe my nature it's not an essential characteristic something that's essential to my nature will be I have a soul that's something essential to me because if that goes it's not an essential attribute you'll be doing the janaza Insha'Allah please come they say 40 or more is a good deal so please come a nature is an essential attribute or what you can call a characteristic of something the nature of this building is that it's expansive may Allah expand it the nature of this building is that it provides a place to pray for people who believe in Allah may Allah make that its attribute until the last day these are characteristic these are what describe the nature of something but these are all created things these are all things that are created they have nature to them that is that is based upon their created sense of existence but let's move up one level and say that God's essential characteristic what is God's essential characteristic it took me a second to think about myself what is my essential characteristic what is it that makes me who I am took me a moment I started thinking about hair hair changes I started thinking about about even statue because from what I can tell as you get older you kind of shrink so that's not essential the only thing I can think of about myself that's always going to be there until I'm not there anymore is the fact that I have a soul but when it comes to God let's think about that what is God's essential characteristic what is it about our Creator our Sustainer our Nourisher our Cherisher our the Source of Love the Source of Destruction for that matter وَلْجَرَالِ وَالْيَكْرَمْ the Processor of Sublimity and the Processor of Nobility or you can say Generosity He's the First He's the Last He's the Manifest He's the Hidden think about all these different names these are characteristics that describe the Creator of the Worlds but which of them is essential to Him how can we describe what is an essential characteristic when it comes to Allah this is something that we should think about when I stand before Allah and I worship Allah and I call on His names and I talk to Him and I ask from Him and I contemplate Him and I think about Him and I fall in love with Him and I walk towards Him and I swim towards Him and I crawl towards Him that thing that pulls me towards Him what is it? what is that thing that causes me to be like a month to the flame what is it His essential characteristic that makes Him who He is that it makes Him absolutely irresistible even creation that doesn't know He exists in the sense that they've forgotten Him cannot resist this aspect of Him what is it about the Creator of the Worlds رب العالم that makes Him who He is that makes Him absolutely and completely and entirely irresistible is it His رحبانية is it His mercifulness is it His رحيمية is it His quality of as sustainer when you think about all these qualities you say to yourself yes yes that's there that's there that's there but it's not exactly what hits it there's something beyond even the attributes there's something even beyond the names there's just something so essential to Him that makes Him who He is that I cannot escape what is it what is that thing about God what is that thing about the Creator of the Worlds Allah what is it about Him that no thing can resist what is it about Him that no thing can run from what is it about Him that no existent creature can ever escape one of them they said fine if you want to disobey God no problem just find a place where you can't see you and do it there if you want to disobey God no problem just find some situation where He doesn't know about it you have free choice you can do what you want just find a place where you can't find it but there's something before that before before His mercy before His knowledge before His before His encompassing nature there's something that is there that is about Him that is absolutely necessary what is it God's essential characteristic is being being God is God is He is with the capital I His isness is in such a way that it never ever has been exposed to time it never was it never shall be it creates what was and it created what is in the lower case sense and it creates what shall be but His isness and His existence and His being so essential to Him that He actually is that thing He is existent in His most absolute sense and the reason why He said that creatures cannot escape that is because you can't say that about any other entity in the universe outside or nothing outside the universe but you cannot say that about anything else what's my proof everything that is has a cause that brings it into existence isn't that true for this building to be here did it just say that's it it appears no there are builders the people that are in this building that we all just like Adam and they said that's it go in the rooms full of people there are causes and causes and causes and causes that go back to Adam our existence is an existence that's built upon causes whereas our laws existence is an existence that has no cause and therefore always is and everything that needs a cause to exist which is everything but our law they all look back to the one through his own existence so God's essential characteristic is being and the being of all other things is merely an accidental the existence of all other things but Allah it just either it can come and it can go how ridiculous it is to give Allah the attribute of something that comes and goes because in order for something to come it has to have something that makes it come and the order for it to go it has to be something that makes it go that Allah doesn't come it doesn't go Allah simply is and we are the creatures that we come and go and we are accidental we are just these things that pop in and pop out and just as we needed something to bring us into existence we need something to bring us out of existence and in between between those two is there is something that has to be there every second every moment of our life is giving us existence so that we can do everything else and do you think that's because I'm a Muslim and you're a Muslim and that's the case no it's because that's a whole reality and every creature whether you believe in God or you deny his existence cannot escape this reality that your being is not yours it's caused because if your being was yours you will be able to decide when you come and go and nothing in this nothing in this universe is in that condition and the reason why all of us look towards God is because everything needs a cause and he's causing everything to happen at every moment accidental things have something that gives them existence in other words accidental things have something that gives them existence given existence can be taken away given existence can be taken away Allah gives Allah takes back the existence that I have is a borrowed existence that if Allah wants to take it who am I to say if Allah takes my child who am I to say oh he died too young who are you to say why is war happening here why is war happening there why is the Muslims even saying this who are you to say your job is to act you're the slave you don't say where to say these kinds of things is to say outside of basic humanity to question the wisdom of God in these situations is to say well you know if it was up to me I'd do it my way the world would be full of peace that's true it would be right and it's a small world after all because you're in disney land my friend given existence can be taken away and that which can be taken away and will is not permanent that which can be taken away and will at any time is not something that is blessed with permanence there is nothing permanent about my existence there is nothing permanent about your existence there is nothing permanent about any existent thing that is in this universe the universe itself is given existence it itself is not permanent the question you have to ask yourself is this مالذي يفعله بشكل كامل؟ في بعض السنة سيكون فعله سيكون فعله و سيكون فعله ولكن أنا أبحث عن كامل و Why is that? It's either one of two things Either creation, human beings in particular Is insane We are born categorically insane Trying to do the same thing Trying to get the same result No, how they said that Trying to do the same thing No Trying to do the same Trying to do the same thing over and over again To get different results That's called insanity And if I'm looking for permanence And the permanence doesn't exist Then I'm either categorically insane As the rest of you are We're all in a big loony bin Permanence before we came here And we remember it And we want it back If that be the case, then the only thing permanent is God Which means the only thing I'm looking for is God May Allah give us Allah That which can be taken away And will is not permanent Impermanence is the characteristic Of human beings Impermanence A lack of permanence is The characteristic of all creation But in our conversation Specifically when it comes to the human being Yesterday I saw on the internet A really strange Photograph It freaked me out at first How beautiful it was There was a In some country I think it might have been Australia A woman had a sea section Where they cut open her Her abdomen Lower abdomen so that the baby can come out When they took the baby out It was still in that sack Her water had not broken It was the most gruesomely beautiful thing I've ever seen It was Ugly beautiful Just like human beings We are ugly beautiful It was a sack of water And there was a cord thing And there was no breath They had to break it actually And then they saw the baby taking the air That's the human being That thing that was born from two dirty substances Raised in three levels of darkness In a sack of water And then when you and I come out From our origins Forgive me for saying this That's absolutely true We continue to be sacks We're just sacks of filth That's all that we are Sacks of filth with legs That's the state of the human being Human beings refer to themselves Through the letter I Human beings we refer to ourselves Through a very simple letter Shortest word in the old English language I Therefore a shirk is hidden In the letter I To associate is to join between two things To share For two things to share They must share like natures And natures are the essential attribute of characteristic God the central characteristic is being The being of all other things Is merely accidental Accidental things have something that gives them existence Given existence can be taken away That which can be taken away And real is not permanent Impermanence is the characteristic of human beings Human beings refer to themselves In the letter I Therefore a shirk is hidden In the letter I What did he say After being quizzed Our Brothers in choice The jinn Shaytan was asked why he didn't pray To why he didn't prostrate to Adam What did he say خلقتني من نار وخلقته من طين I am better than him You created me from fire And created him from clay And in that moment you see The danger of the word I Because you see the shift is hidden inside And why is that That which exists independently Does not have to answer to anything Shaytan had to answer Therefore his existence is dependent Such an independent existence Or such a dependent existence Does not support such an independent stand So why then do I Say I وصلكم تاك الله عز وجل وبالسنة وطاعة I employ you to be God conscious And to be To hear and to obey وصاكف الله يقوم به إنه ربما يفوره رحيم الحمد لله اللهم صلى الله عليه وسلم محمد النفاتحين والخاتمين وعلى آلهي So as we said This To repeat In summary That which exists independently Does not have to answer to anyone That which has its own Existence And existence that is not based upon Any kind of cause Does not have to answer to anyone اللهم وانتم لا تعلمون Allah knows And you do not know Shaytan had to answer Shaytan had to answer To his cause The causer He had to answer to him Why did you not prostrate to the one That I commanded you to prostrate to Therefore his existence is dependent A dependent creature A valuable creature A deficient creature And you do not know Shaytan had to answer Shaytan had to answer A deficient creature Had to answer to the one who was not And such a dependent Existence does not support Such an independent stance So why do I walk to this world With such a Shaytanic stance And they ask the majority of them They don't believe in Allah Except while doing so they are polytheists Because I can do it If I try I can do it if I try If I make effort I will succeed You need to make effort because I did it And I succeeded and if you do it You will succeed No kind of insha'Allah No kind of masha'Allah No kind of nothing And this man's name is Ahmed حتى اسمه محمد Even his name is Muhammad talking like this And this is called Taqwa May Allah give us Taqwa May Allah give us Taqwa And may Allah give us The kind of dependence May Allah give us the kind of Conscious dependence upon him That is needed to succeed in this world May he do it with his mercy And not through his Not through his examinations Because we can't make it The only way someone can make it Through Allah's examination is through Allah So I ask for Allah Some people they want beauty I say want Allah The creator of beauty Some people they want love I say want Allah The creator of love Some people they say they want paradise I say want Allah The creator of paradise because what kind of paradise Is it that even there you don't see Allah Just a perfect creation I had enough of this I don't know about you But I want this in a perfect state I just want Allah And may Allah give you Alhamdulillah