Sermon Of
Imam A. M. Khattab
Jan.11, 1932---Sept.15, 2001
Imam and Director
Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, Ohio
1982-1998
Let us test ourselves, especially the Arabic-speaking people, how much we know about our language. I would like to have some fun with the Arabic language with the first verse I recited today [2:177]. The word birr is mentioned twice in this verse. Do you know the meaning of birr? It is an Arabic word. After some conversation between the audience and Imam, Imam proceeds. One explanation for the word birr in Arabic is ji-ma‘al- khair meaning “everything good with no limitation”. Let me proceed a little bit further with the Arabic.
The word birr is made up of two letters: B and R. From these two letters we have a number of different words. There is birr, burr, and barr. The vowels in Arabic language are marks placed in relation to the alphabetical letters: fatha sounds like an “a” and represented by a dash over the letter; kasra sounds like an “e/i” and represented by a dash under the letter, while a damma sounds like an “o/u” and represented by a little comma over the letter, which result in the words barr, birr and burr respectively as mentioned above. All what we changed are the vowels on the first of the two letters and that completely changes their meaning. That is the problem of our children in the school when they study Arabic. They come to a word and read it without any attention to these vowels. So, as I said, birr means: ji-ma‘al khair— everything good. Burr is wheat. See, by placing a damma, we went to the kitchen now, to an item of food! Barr is the seashore/land. Let us change the vowels again and get another three words from the same two letters. Baar, beer, boor (extended a, e and o). Every one of them has a different meaning. Baar means kind—a kind person. Maseeh (Jesus) said: He made me kind (baar) to my mother. Beer is a well. Boor means barren; when we relate it to the land we say: arb-boor, yani, barren land where no plant will grow. The Qur'an says: “…a successful business which will never go bankrupt (boor)”[35:29]
This gives us a feel for the richness of the Arabic language. This richness caused some ulama to specialize in explaining the Qur'an linguistically. As seen above, by modifying the letters B and R, we obtain six words with each one having a different meaning. And in some of the books of tafseer you will find explanations of what is known as i‘raab (the grammatical cases) showing the grammar in the Qur'an: where it is directed and what it means and, sometimes, you find that one word or one sentence will be explained in two or three or four different ways. And here we are not limited: you cannot say this person is right and this one is wrong or that explanation is wrong and this is right because this is the challenge— the challenge for which the Qur'an was revealed.
When Muhammad, alayhi wassalato wassalaamo, came with the Qur'an it came as a miracle—a miracle initially presented to the Arabs and to challenge them. The Arabs, at that time, were engaged in serious competition with each other in excelling in Arabic language: Khitabah (oration), qasaa’id (odes) and shi‘r (poetry) that was what was their business and their careers. They were competing in writing poems, and in delivering speeches and for that purpose they had clubs. These clubs were very, very famous in Arab history. Some of the more renowned among them were the Sooq ‘Ukadh, the Sooq Dhu-l-Majannah and the Sooq Dhu-l-Majaaz. In the present time these are three areas in Saudi Arabia of today, which were known to be the clubs where people met and competed in giving speeches and reciting poetry. Amidst that situation Muhammad, alayhi wassalato wassalaamo, came to preach to those people. So what type of miracle will be most to the point in this respect? The Qur'an. The language of the Qur’an employs a high type of style and it is something to challenge those Arabs with, to show them that it is impossible that this could be the word of a human being.
When Muhammad came with the Qur’an they did not believe in it. They said to him that some Persian guy was teaching him. So the Qur'anic verse was revealed to ask: Could a Persian man teach that high type of Arabic language [16:103]? Then they said Muhammad authored that book. In response another Qur'anic verse came to say: Then write such a Qur'an [25:5]. If Muhammad is able to write this, you are men like him and you are very fluent in the language, write such a Qur'an. They could not. They were then challenged to write just ten chapters— even like the smallest ones [11:13]. When they failed even at that the bar was lowered to write one sura, one chapter [10:38]. When they could not meet the challenge, the final Qur'anic verse came to Muhammad thus: If the Jinn kind and the human kind gathered together to write such a Qur'an they will never be able to write one even if they backup one another [17:88]. That is the challenge! And that is why we say that the Arabic language is a very deep language. It is very rich because of the Qur'an. And we think that when our children come to the mosque for one hour a week to study Arabic, they will be professors of the language. No, don't think of this. Don't even bring it into your head because people study Arabic language all their life and they die without finishing its study.
Imam quotes 2:177: “True piety does not consist in (lay-sal birra) turning your faces towards the east or the west—but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day, and the angels (Malaa’ikah), and the revelation (Al Kitab), and the prophets (Nabiyeen); and spends his substance (a‘ataa al-maala) —however much he himself may cherish it (‘alaa hubbihi)—upon his near of kin (qurbaa), and the orphans (yataamaa) and the needy (masaakeen), and the wayfarer (wa-bni-s-sabeel), and the beggars (as-saa’leena—those who ask), and for the freeing of human beings from bondage (fi-r-riqaabi —or the ransom of slaves); and is constant in prayer, and renders the purifying dues (zakat); and truly pious are they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient (as-saabireen) in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God” [translation M.Asad].
Why was that verse revealed and what was the occasion of its revelation? Previously in this sura (Al Baqarah) we are informed that the Prophet, peace be upon him, directed his face in his prayer to the mosque of Jerusalem. That is why Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque are referred to as Uulaa al-qiblahthain—the first qiblah of Muslims. At the start of Islam the Prophet prayed in the direction of Jerusalem for 16 months. So the Jews started to make fun of the Muslims. How come the Muslims are using our qiblah [2:144]? Or using our holy land? And the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not like that. So he started to pray and say: ‘O God, if you can change that thing’. The Qur'anic verse came to him saying: We have seen you turning your face to the sky and praying for the change of the qiblah. As of now direct your face towards the sacred mosque in Makkah; and wherever you are direct your face to it. So Muhammad directed his face to Makkah as of that day. Again the Jews started to make fun. How come Muhammad changed his qiblah? Yani, if he changed it, it was a problem; if he did not, it was a problem! How come he changed? Then the Qur'anic verse came to say that the direction of the face towards East or West in prayer is not what constitutes the good (birr), that is not the goal of Islam, and it is not what Allah is looking for. But the true birr, or the true good, is the belief in God, the Last Day, the angels, the books, the prophets, and giving of one’s wealth, though he loves it, to the following people: qurbaa, yataamaa, masaakeen, ibni-s-sabeel, as-saa’leen, fi-r-riqaabi.
There are three categories of piety. Birr is the highest category and that is why they described it in Arabic as ji-ma’al-khair—the total good. The category next to birr is Īman and the lowest category is Islam.
Islam is the lowest category. According to the hadith, when the Prophet, peace be upon him, was sitting among his companions a man came to him attired in white clothes. He looked very strong and sat in front of the Prophet and placed both his palms on his thighs and asked him in a stern tone: “Muhammad, what is Islam?” He replied: “Islam is to proclaim that God is one and that I am His messenger—Ashhadu Allah ilaha Illallah Wa Ashhadu anna Muhammad ar-Rasoolallah”. Then he placed his palms again on his thighs and asked: “And what is Īman?” He said: “To believe in God, His Angels, His Books, the Day of Judgment and to believe in the Destiny— its good and its bad”. He then placed his palms over his thighs for the third time and asked: “And what is Ihsan?” The Prophet replied: “To worship God as if you see Him, for if you don't see Him, to be conscious that He is seeing you. So Ihsan is the highest type of God-consciousness. The person continued to ask some more questions and finally asked: “When will the Day of Judgment come?” The Prophet answered: “The one who is asked is no more knowledgeable than the one who is asking”. The man continued to ask a few more questions and as soon as he finished he left. Then the Prophet said to the people surrounding him: “That was Jibreel; he came to teach you the details of your religion”. So Jibreel came to ask Muhammad questions so the people around him would listen and learn from his answers.
The first question was about Islam and it was the lowest category. It is the easiest thing to be a Muslim: just say La ilaha Illallah Muhammad ur-Rasoolallah and that is it; you are Muslim—in so far as an “identification” card is concerned. But what is Īman and what is Ihsan? Ihsan is what is referred to in the Qur'anic verse as ‘al-Birr’— ji-maa ‘al khair—the total good.
The verse especially mentions that the pious people are those who believe in God, the Last Day, the Angels, the Books, and the Prophets. Why does it mention all those specifically? That is because each of these items belongs in the category of Īman. Īman is something in the heart. No one knows about it except Allah. Inseparable from Īman is the next step, which is that of action. But first let us see what is the difference between Īman and Islam. This distinction is necessary because Islam is one thing and Īman is entirely something else.
Islam, as the ulama define it, consist of uttering certain words whereas Īman is to believe in one’s heart and to act upon those beliefs. So, as soon as someone says La ilaha Illallah Muhammad ur- Rasoolallah we categorize him as Muslim. We say he is Muslim. But we cannot say he is Mo'min because we cannot enter his heart and a Mo'min is a person who believes—in his heart—all the items mentioned above that constitute Īman. When a group of Arab Bedouins from the desert came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and said: “aamanna”(we believe)— the Qur'an came to answer them and advised Muhammad to tell them not to say “aamanna”, but to rather say “aslamna” (we have outwardly surrendered) because Iman had not yet entered into their hearts [49:14]. So, as human beings, we can judge a person as Muslim but we cannot describe him as Mo'min because we don't know what is in his heart. He may be praying, fasting, performing the pilgrimage but he may be doing these things for other motives. There are people who go to pilgrimage for business affairs. There are people who pray because they would like to be seen praying. So, you don't know exactly what is in the heart. As a result the verse came to say that Iman (to believe in God, the Day of Judgment, the life after death etc.) is a part of birr.
Many people, even among Muslims, doubt the Day of Judgment and the Hereafter exactly like the people of old times who used to say: “When we die and turn into dust, are we going to be given life again?” Therefore, to believe in the Last Day means essentially that you believe in justice. If there is no Last Day there is no justice. Because those who do good and those who do evil during their life will be equal if there were no Last Day. But this life is exactly like a school and everything in this life is like a school. Every action we do as human beings has an end: the end is either to be rewarded or to be punished. If you obey the laws of the land you are a good citizen. If you disobey the law you are not a citizen in good standing. If you work hard in your school you succeed, if you don't, you fail. If you farm your land in the right way you will harvest a good crop, if you don't you will starve to death that year. Everything in our life comes either with a reward or a punishment. So what about the whole life as a total? There must be some sort of punishment and some sort of reward. And that is what the Last Day is all about. And, in the Qur'an, we find a number of verses referring to the Last Day. Sometimes we understand these verses literally; sometimes we don't know what they mean and everyone interprets them or visualizes them the way they like. But, the main essence of these verses is that there is a reward and there is a punishment and there is a life after death. For example:
Imam quotes in Arabic verses 84:7-12. “And as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand, he will in time be called to account with an easy accounting, and will turn joyfully to those of his own kind. But as for him whose record shall be given to him behind his back, he will in time pray for utter destruction: but he will enter the blazing flame”. That's how the Qur'an states it. And we visualize the meaning in our own way as human beings though we don't know what the language means—the Qur'an is talking to us in the language, which we understand. But, in the final analysis, we know that there is a life after death, there is a justice and everyone is going to be receiving reward or punishment according to what he had offered during this life. So that is what belief in Allah (God) and the last Day is all about.
Malaa’ikah— angels. What are the angels? Angels are a creation of God about which we don't know much. What we hear and read in the books is that they don't get married and they don't have children like human beings. But what the Qur'an states clearly about them is that they are always obedient to God meaning that they don't think—they don’t have a free will. Some angels are mentioned in the Qur'an by name (Jibreel, Mikaa’eel, and Israafeel) while others are mentioned in the hadith. Every one of them has a job to do. Say, for example, Jibreel: his job is that of a messenger between God and His messengers on earth. He is referred to in the Qur'an as Ar-Ruh— The Spirit. He came to Maryam to tell her that she was going to conceive a fatherless son. The Qur'an states: We sent to her Ruhu-naa—Our Spirit— referring to the Angel Jibreel. And he appeared before her like a young man in his full strength. In regard to the Prophet the Qur'an said: The trustworthy Ruh (Angel) came with the Qur'an directly to your heart as if it is engraved, so you will be a warner in a pure Arabic language.
Do we see any of the angels? We don’t! So why do we believe in them? The very beginning of Sura al-Baqarah mentions the first attribute of pious people (al-muttaqeen) as the belief in Al Ghayib or ‘that which is beyond the reach of human perception’ (the Unseen). So, to believe in the angels means belief in the Unseen.
Al- Kitab. Al- Kitab are five. We, as Muslims, are required to believe in all of them. Al-Qur'an, which was revealed to Muhammad, the Torah, which was revealed to Musa, Az-Zaboor, which was revealed to Dāwūd or David, Al-Injeel, which was revealed to al-Maseeh (Jesus), and The Scrolls of Ibrahīm, which the Qur'an referred to in 87:18,19. These are the five books, which the Muslims are required to believe in. Not in the specific books that we see nowadays but we believe that there was a book revealed to Jesus called Injeel and that was the word of God. The Bible as it exists today is not the word of God, but it is the word of Matthew, St Luke, John, the word of somebody else. It is the same with the Torah and with the Psalms. Of these books the one that remains in tact is the Qur'an and as such it is our Criterion. If we read any sacred book of scripture and it matches the Qur'an we say that is correct, if it does not match it we say it is wrong.
Nabiyeen—the Prophets and Messengers of God. How many are they? Some ulama—and I don't know from where they got their figure—maintain that God sent 125,000 prophets. Personally I wonder why not 125,033? Why such an exact number? Anyway this is what is written in Muslim books and it makes one wonder. Therefore, you should not believe every word you read in a book written by a Muslim. Weigh it by your head! All what we know is that the Qur'an mentions 25 prophets by name. In Chapter Al-An'aam eighteen of them are mentioned in one verse. The other seven are in some other verses. But we know that there were more than 25 because there is another Qur'anic verse revealed to the Prophet: We have sent Messengers before you, some of whose stories We narrated and given you their names, others We didn't give you anything about them and everyone of them came by the permission of God. So this is indicative that the number is more than 25. But why are we required to believe in all the prophets? That is the crux of it: to indicate that the message is one. All these prophets whose names are mentioned and those whose names are not mentioned came with the same message, which is called Islam. Islam means to submit oneself to the Will of God and that is the message with which every prophet came. So, that will show the unity of the messenger hood, the unity of the message, and the unity of the source, which sent that message.
The Qur'an refers to the message of every prophet as Islam. The followers of Jesus said: “Be witness that we are Muslims”. Pharaoh, when he was about to drown said: “Now I believe in the God of Moses and Haroon and I am a Muslim”. Bilqees, when she went to Solomon said: “O my Lord, I have indeed wronged my soul: I do now submit in Islam with Solomon to the Lord of the Worlds”. Ibrahīm said: “We are Muslims and not from among the idolaters”. So every prophet came with the same message as the ones before and after him until the final message came through Muhammad, alayhi wassalato wassalaamo. The message was completed through Muhammad, and as a result, the Qur'an ends it with the verse: Today I have perfected for you your religion and accepted Islam to be your faith.
A‘taa al-maala ‘alaa hubbihi: the phrase ‘alaa hubbihi is called jumlah mu‘taridah, in the Arabic language. Jumlah mu‘taridah means that it has nothing to do with the total sentence but it clarifies something. If the verse were to say “A‘ataa al maala qurbah, yataamaa…” the sentence would still have the same meaning as it does with the phrase ‘alaa hubbihi inserted in it. But the phrase ‘alaa hubbihi was inserted to show that wealth is very dear to a human being. Sometimes it is dearer than the children. We hear about people who disown their children or people who kick out their children from the house but we have never heard about someone kicking out his money from the house or disowning his money. That is why in a number of Qur'anic verses money is always mentioned before children: “Your wealth and your children are a fitnah ”. Fitnah means an examination or a test in this life.
Fi-r-riqaabi (for the ransom of slaves) does not exist nowadays. Wa-bni-s-sabeel is very limited nowadays because of the widespread ownership of credit cards. In the days of old a traveler was in trouble if he ran out of money. But nowadays you have a credit card with a $5,000.00 or $10,000.00 limit and if you run out of cash money you can use your credit card. Imagine we are talking Qur'an and explaining Qur'an and applying the concept of the credit card to explain some verses. I am sure there are some Muslims out there, who, if they heard what we are saying today will say that all the people in this mosque are kuffar! And all because we are explaining the Qur'an from the point of view of our environment and our time and that is just common sense. And common sense is what we need to utilize otherwise a tape recorder will be better than a human being. A tape recorder can replay all the Qur'an without making a single mistake. A human being makes mistakes. But the advantage that a human being has is that he is capable of contemplating and analyzing what he is reading and so he comes out of it with conclusions based upon conditions prevailing in his time, his knowledge and his circumstances.
Up to here this Qur'anic verse is related to giving, sharing, and charity. “True piety does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west—but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Revelation, and the Prophets; and spends his wealth—however much he himself may love it —upon his near of kin, and the orphans and the needy, and the wayfarer, and those who ask, and for the freeing of slaves”.
Then the verse continues: wa aqaama as-salaah (those who are constant in prayer). So the one who performs his prayer also belongs in the category of birr. But what does “performing his prayer,” mean? It means performing his prayers in a way so that it will result in the function that is supposed to result from it. It is not a matter of performing a prayer and that is it. A lot of Muslims emphasize prayer nowadays but they are emphasizing prayer as an end in itself. Prayer is not an end. Prayer is a reminder; prayer is a means of keeping a human being in contact with the good. As a result, the Qur'an describes the function of prayer when it says: The job of the prayer, or its task, is to ‘enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong’. If it did not cause you to do this then you did not pray. Though you made ruku'a (bowing) and sujood (prostrating) but you did not pray because it did not fulfill its function. So, those who establish prayer and enter into the category of birr are supposed to have performed the prayer as it should be performed— meaning that it should do its task.
Zakat (the poor dues) is another pillar of Islam and because money is very dear the Qur'anic verse repeated it again: aqaama as-salaata wa-aata az-zakaata. See, at the start the verse says: A‘ataa al maala… (Has given out of his wealth) then it says: aqaama as-salaata wa-aata az-zakaata (those who establish prayer and who give zakat). This means something; it means that there is some ‘giving’ that is not zakat. This ‘giving’ is called sadaqaat and this is what is being referred to in “giving of one’s wealth, though he loves it, to the following people: qurbaa, yataamaa, masaakeen, ibni-s-sabeel, as-saa’leen, fi-r-riqaabi, to the extent that in a Muslim state, which is governed by the Qur'an as its Constitution, the government is permitted to legislate for payment of sadaqaat if the zakat is not enough to fulfill the needs of the country or to put the budget of the country in balance. So the subject at the start of the verse is about giving sadaqaat or charity and, as a result, after mentioning prayer it mentions the zakat, which, like prayers, is a compulsory item.
Wa-l-moofoona bi-‘ahdhihim idha ‘aahadoo. This is a description of a type of people that are in the category of birr also: “They who keep their promises whenever they promise”. This is our problem as Muslims. We don't do that. We can give 100 promises, followed by “insha'allah”(God willing) and never fulfill them. So, when you ask me why I didn't fulfill my promise, I say: Rabbuna maa shaa’— God did not will it. I have an excuse. When I used to visit Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and all these other areas and someone would say to me “insha'allah”, I knew that he did not intend to do what he was saying. It has become a law in my head because I have tried it once, twice, three times with many people and found that he is saying insha'allah with the express intention of not honoring his promise. It has become second nature to them whereas the Qur’an says: those who fulfill their promise, when they give a promise, belong to the category of people who practice al-birr or the total good. The people who don't do that, on the other hand, are given another description in the Qur’an. They are called al-munafiqoon or the hypocrites. There is a whole chapter in the Qur'an entitled al-Munafiqoon because of the importance of this characteristic in a human being. In that sura the Prophet is told: When the hypocrites come to you Muhammad, they say to you ‘we do declare that you are the messenger of God’. In fact, God knows very well that you are His messenger and God knows also that they are telling lies [63:1]. A number of other descriptions for such people are also found in the Qur’ān. Mudhabdhabeena bayna dhaalika, laa ilaa haa’ulaa’i wa-la ilaa haa’ulaa’i (4:143). It means you don't know where they stand— to the right or to the left. They are distracted in mind swinging between two attitudes being sincerely for neither one group nor the other. And another description is given in 4:142: “When they came to establish prayer they show laziness”. The Qur'an talks a lot about the attribute of hypocrisy and considers the hypocrites as the most dangerous category of people against Islam. Because, if there is a kafir [unbeliever] you know that he is your enemy. If there is a Muslim you know that he is your brother. But if there is al-munafiq or a hypocrite you don't know where he falls. How can you trust him? And that is why the Prophet was warned against those people.
There is a hadith of the Prophet which corroborates what the Qur’ān says: “The signs by which you know the hypocrite are three: When he speaks he tells lies. When he gives a promise he will not fulfill it. When you trust him with something he will not be to the level of that trust”. And in another hadith he added something else: “And if he is angry or in a conflict with someone he will be outrageous (belligerent and obscene)”.
The Prophet used to pray for the hypocrites, to ask forgiveness for them, and he used to pray on their graves when they died. A Qur'anic verse came to advise the Prophet saying: Don't stand at the grave to pray on behalf of any one of them who dies. So the Prophet stopped. But he continued to pray for forgiveness for them. So another verse was revealed and see how the Qur'an treats the Prophet, how harshly it says to him: Ask forgiveness for them or not, even if you ask forgiveness 70 times for them God will never forgive them. From this verse we learn not only what is the position of the hypocrites but also we learn what is the position of the Prophet. Sometimes Muslims are overwhelmed by emotions and elevate the Prophet to the place of divinity. Divinity is one thing while the Prophet hood is something else. The Prophet was a human being. Even in our countries when we read mawlid or mawlood sharif, we find the recitation claiming that the Prophet was created of noor (light) and that noor was transferred from Adam to Idrees to this, to this, until it reached Abdullah (father of Muhammad). That is nonsense. And there are a lot of Muslims sometimes debating these points. Muhammad was the result of a meeting between Amina and Abdullah exactly like any other human being. The Qur'an said it very clear: “Say to them Muhammad, I am a man like you. The only difference between me and you is that I received revelation”[18:110].
“Ask forgiveness for them or not, even if you ask forgiveness 70 times for them God will never forgive them”. This verse is akin to a threat from God as if to say ‘Muhammad, I said to you don't do that’. In Sura ‘Abasa God says to the Prophet: When the blind man came to you Muhammad you didn't pay any attention to him because you were with the big people of Quraysh. How do you know maybe this blind man will be a good believer. It shows us that the Qur'an and God are blaming Muhammad for certain conduct. And that is the difference between divinity and humanity. The Prophet himself, when he found some of his companions exalting him said in his hadith: Don't raise me up as the Christians did with Jesus to the extent that they made him the son of God because I am nothing but a plain man and a Messenger of God.
That verse ends by saying those who are patient in hardship, in good times, and bad times, and in times of peril and war it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, who are conscious of God. So those people who practice patience in their lives are counted in the category of al-birr.
I think we have few minutes and I would like to entertain one or two questions so no one will say that you are a captive audience and I am a dictator. Imam sniffs. [Laughter from the audience]. Yeah, go ahead. Two questions were asked: one regarding the zakat and membership payments in the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo and the other regarding sighting of the new moon for Ramadan. [Answers are included in other sermons].
posted 07/19/2003