10.18.06

My San Diego Speech

Posted in Current Events, Essay at 11:57 pm by Abbas

Bismillahirrahmanirraheem. Alhamdulillahi rabbil ‘alameen. Wa salaatu wa salaam ‘ala sayedina wa mowlana habibi quloobina abal qaasimi mohammad. wa ‘ala ahlul bayti tayabeena tahireen.

All praise belongs to Allah, the creator and sustainer of the universe. Allah has fashioned you, and I through his Infinite mercy and blessing. He is the eternal Being that has put life into us and has given us the opportunity and ability to distinguish right from wrong, good from bad, and truth from false. No eyes, ears, or hands are able to fathom His greatness because He is the indescribable Being that has blessed us in order for us to serve Him.

DhalikumuAllahu rabbukum la ilaha illa huwa khaaliqu kulli shai faa’budoohu wa huwa kulli shai-in wakeel. (6:102).

That is Allah, your Lord, there is no god but He; the Creator of all things, therefore serve Him, and He has charge of all things.

We have been put on this earth, so that we may be able to recognize Him.

My Respected Brothers and Sisters,
Salaamun ‘alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakahtu

He has made the absolute perfect system for us and any perceived imperfection in this system is relative to our perceptions. This is the problem with atheists. Imam Ali (a) has said,

“One of the four pillars of an atheist is that he or she is filled with hatred and anger because he or she is dissatisfied with the perfect system.”

Allah has not only just put us on this earth, but has put us on this earth as humans.

Laqad Khalaqnal Insana Fi Ahsani Taqweem. [95:4]

Certainly We created man in the best make.

He has endowed and granted us countless gifts and bounties. He is so merciful that if we’d like, not only can we use these resources provided to us, but we can also enhance them to better our lives. Other creations such as the animals were also created for the same primary purpose of servitude and worship. Allah has placed them in this universe, so we may be able to acknowledge our sophistication. For example, a lion goes and attacks its prey. And then simply wipes off the blood with dirt and dust. However, we have our feasts on a table, with table coverings and candles. We sometimes like to romanticize our eating and we love to decorate and add extra ingredients to our foods. We are given such sophistication, that we can manipulate creation, including ourselves, and at the same time are able to survive and possibly live longer and healthier. We have the capability of finding cures and discovering new scientific methods and materials that would be used to resist certain diseases and illnesses. Using our intellect, we have stopped and cured some of the most dangerous illnesses known to mankind. Allah (swt) has given us the best of instruments in this universe, so that we can reach Him.

With that being said, man is at loss ’till this day. We are at loss because we have failed to admit that God has put forth these numerous gifts and tools for us as a mercy to mankind. In fact, we have forgotten that Allah has created us through His infinite mercy.

Islam, is the best instrument we were given. I remember my co-worker complaining how there such much fictitious stories in the bible. How its filled with fairy tales of how Prophets used to wrestle God, and so forth. Islam dissects each and every of these fairy tales and breaks them apart. Non-muslims have praised our great religion. Harold Bloom has written in his book, Genius, that the Quran is the only book, where God is the sole authoritative author. Michael Hart, a Christian, has written and rated the Prophet (saw) as the number one most influential person in history. After his publication, right wing evangelical groups condemned him and asked him to take Muhammad’s name off the list. However, Hart in his second publication insisted and rated Muhammad as the most influential person known to mankind.

It is not only a religion, but it is a way of life in order for us to be victorious in this world and the hereafter. This great religion of Allah has been revealed to us by the Prophets, whom endured great pain and suffering and has been protected for us by the holy Imams, whom sacrificed everything they had for Islam’s sake. Most of our Imams were so oppressed that they were not even allowed to see sun-light, because they were imprisoned and tortured for so long, yet they resisted and persisted and never loss their faith in God. Imamate is central to our belief system. Imamate completes the circle in our deen or religion. Any school lacking this article of faith is at loss. And this is an obvious observation. With all due respect, our brothers and sisters in Ahlus Sunnah have yet to agree upon where the Prophet (saw) placed his hands during prayer. Prayer was the most conspicuous act that the Prophet performed; yet the majority of Muslims have yet to come to a consensus on where the Prophet placed his hands.

Nowadays, we like to complain about the smallest of matters. We want the world in our hands, by showing no effort. We want to live life without trials and tribulations. However, we need to know that without these trials and tests, we will never be able to really enjoy the pleasures and treasures of life.

Innallahi ma’as saabireen.

Allah is with those that are patient. All of these tests are nothing but a gift for us. At the end, they will give us strength and patience. We must not despair because Allah will never put us in a situation, where we will not be able to handle.

It is similar to the schooling system. You do your homework, go to class, study your material, and take your exams. And after four years or so depending on how much effort you put in you get a degree or a diploma. That degree is the reward we receive from our hard work and effort.

Now that we have al-Islam, we need to use it to our own advantage. We have been given the tools to survive and succeed, and now it is a matter of using them. We have been blessed with the greatest of examples, the Prophet and the pious Ahlul Bayt. We need to follow them and mimic how they lived their lives. We need to study them and their lives, so we can implement their traditions in our lives. There is not a single situation or circumstance where we cannot relate back to the Prophet or the Imams. We must become pro-active in our schools, communities and societies. We cannot limit ourselves based on our gender or age. Alhamdullah, in the plains of Kerbala with Imam Hussain(a), there were both man and woman, and both young, and old, so this excuse holds absolutely no weight. If we are able to use our intellect we are certainly in a position to make change. In fact, we have no choice, but to devote ourselves for the cause, especially being amongst the followers of Ahlul Bayt.

And the best way to effect change is to first change within by reflection and introspection. We need to understand our purpose and why we were put on this earth. And we must understand the instruments and the tools that we have been given. And most importantly, we must understand ourselves.

Imam Ali said,

“In order to know Allah, we must know ourselves.”

We must be sincere in all of our actions. We need to purify our hearts and souls for Allah because He is worthy and deserving. We must dig deep into our hearts and remove any dark spots developing, before it is too late. If we wait too long our heart will be covered with darkness and it will be next to impossible to cleanse. We must continue renewing our intentions and reminding ourselves about why we are doing what we are. It is similar to cancer. If we catch the caner early on, its possible to extract the cancer cells and possible survive. However, if we wait too long the cancer cells will spread into our blood stream and bodily organs. And that will be tantamount to our destruction I will conclude with a saying from Imam Ali (a), which I want everyone here to ponder upon. He stated,

My God, I do not worship You in fear of Your Fire, nor in desire for Your Paradise, but I worship You because I find You worthy of worship.

wa salaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakahtu.

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