What is Islam?
Ayat that are part of the Khutbah
- Surah Al-Ma’idah, Ayah 3: “This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.”
- Surah Al-Qamar, Ayah 17: “And We have certainly made the Quran easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?”
* The terms “Islam” and “Deen” are used interchangeably in this khutbah
I - A journey to answer the question- What is Deen?
- La illaha illa llah Muhammadun rasulu llah is the essential truth of our Existence
- Muslims today have very different ideas about what Islam is all about
- Some ideas are false, some are flawed, and some are incomplete
- For many in the Muslim community, Islam is a subjective reality
- In other words, Islam is what a person makes of it under this conception
II - The relevance of Islam in modernity
- Many have come to view Islam as archaic, irrelevant, or burdensome
- There are some who believe in the deen but feel that it is not nourishing them or giving them answers.
- These false, flawed, and incomplete conceptions are why we need to work on developing a functional definition of Deen.
III - Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, has fashioned Islam as the Deen for us
- Islam is what can nourish us and give us answers
- Islam is the summation of all the blessings we receive (i.e. health, water, trees)
- Islam has been and always will be the most liberating force
- Islam exits people from the darkness of confusion to the light of certainty
IV - The Deen teaches us how to be, think, feel and function in this world
- Every prophet in the lineage exemplified this and was liberated by Deen
- Malcolm X was of the saintly people of our time and also exemplified this
- While many people today are embracing Islam, there are many who are on the brink of leaving the Deen.
- Defining Deen is the worthiest journey we could ever embark upon
V - There is a straight path (Sirat al-Mustaqim)
- There are many ideologies and thoughts today that are difficult to navigate
- Our claim is that there is a straight path, the upright and truthful path
- We must humble ourselves on this path and realize that there are realities beyond us.
- Allah has made His Deen easy to process
- It is simple, but not simplistic
- Allah made it easily understood.
- Allah made it easy for remembrance.
VI - For the next 1 ½ - 2 years (50+ khutab), we will be embarking on a journey to analyze Hadith Jibreel
- This is considered the mother of all ahadith
- This hadith can help us to understand our Deen
- Prophet Muhammad (saw) was asked a series of questions by Angel Jibreel (as) in Al Masjid al-Nabawi amongst his companions
VII - Prophet Muhammad (saw) has told us to be gentle, intentional, and deliberate in how we tread in this Deen.
- Whether we are on the far left or the far right of the spectrum, we must learn to be gentle
- This is Allah’s Deen, not ours
- The Deen is vast
VIII - Our hope is to uncover the truth that is La Ilaha Ilallah.
Questions
- How can I connect myself to the Essential Truth of Islam?
- How is Islam relevant to the challenges I face in my life?
- What does Prophet Muhammad (saw) mean when he advises us to travel gently through this Deen?