A2Youth.com - The Youth's Islamic Resource

The Struggle For One God

Muhammad Alshareef

category: Aqeedah

source: khutbah.com

reads: 7219

... continued from Page 1

Taha / We did not send down to you the Qur'an that you be distressed / But only as a reminder for those who fear (Allah). / A revelation from He who created the earth and the highest heavens / (Allah) the Merciful (who is) above the Throne established / To him belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth and what is between them and what is under the soil. / And if you speak aloud - then indeed, He knows the secret and what is (even) more hidden. / Allah - there in no God except Him, to Him belong the best names (Taha 20/1-8).

Umar later that day visited the Messenger of Allah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam. When he met him, the Messenger of Allah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam took the coat of Umar and said, "Hasn't the time come for you to become Muslim?" And Umar replied, "I've only come for that reason. Ash hadu an laa ilaaha illAllah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadar RasulAllah."

The Prophet shouted Allahu Akbar (God is Great), and everyone that heard it knew that Umar had become Muslim!

PART II

I've been in large crowds in my life, both in the west and in the Middle East.

In Winnipeg, the biggest crowds I experienced were at hockey games. Like I said before, Winnipeg has a lot of ice. Maybe 20 thousand Winnipeggers would gather at night for a hockey game. Hey that’s a lot for Winnipeg.

In Makkah, at the Grand Mosque, I have been in a crowd of 3 million worshippers in one prayer! These people were not from one nation, nor were they from one language background, and no, they didn’t gather to see the Winnipeg Jets beat the Washington Capitols!

As you’ll see today when we line up for prayer, in Makkah 3 Million people lined up in perfect circles around the Grand Mosque to worship Allah! I once stood in the window of a hotel across from the Grand Mosque and watched down below the swarming crowd of 3 million Muslims. Then, when the call to prayer began, that entire crowd stood in perfect circles in less than 50 seconds. Who gathered these hearts? Only Allah!

A consistent crowd of 3 million from every nation, class, and color came about with pain and struggle to assert humanity’s right to worship nothing but the one true God, Allah.

There were times in that very same valley of Makkah when Muhammad sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would prostrate only to Allah, avoiding all the false idols that surrounded him. The mushrikeen (polytheists) of Makkah sat there staring at him and loathed the scene. They said to themselves, "How can we sit here and allow Muhammad to prostrate to Allah in your midst. Who amongst us will humiliate him?"

"I shall," said a man by the name of Utbah.

He took the intestines of a fresh lamb that had been sacrificed to the idols and dumped it on the head of Muhammad sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam. The mushrikeen fell off their seats in hysterical laughter. Muhammad sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam did not come up from his prostration.

News reached his daughter Fatimah, who at that time was still a young girl, that her Father was being ridiculed at the Ka'bah. She raced there, and when she saw her father, she cried and removed the filth and swore through her tears at the mushrikeen.

This is just an example of the ridicule the Messenger of Allah and the Muslims went through to teach humanity that nothing deserves worship except Allah!

The mushrikeen of Makkah used their media – poetry and word of mouth – to sway public opinion against this call that there was no God but Allah.

A doctor by the name of Damaud from the tribe of Azd made pilgrimage to Makkah and when he arrived in the Holy valley the news media of Makkah flash warned him not listen to a word Muhammad says. "He is a magician," they said, "He's mad."

Damaud recalls, "They frightened me so much that I considered putting cotton in my ears. But then I said to myself, 'I am a doctor and have healed mad men before, perhaps I may be able to cure Muhammad."

So after completing his circumbulation around the Ka'bah, he saw Muhammad sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam sitting peacefully in the courtyard. He approached him and said softly, "Muhammad, I administer treatment for this illness and God has allowed me to heal many people, would you wish that I nurse you?"

Muhammad sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam turned and said, "Verily all praise belongs to Allah; we thank Allah and seek his protection from everything; whoever Allah guides none can misguide them and whoever Allah leaves to go astray none can guide them aright. I testify that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah and that (I) Muhammad am the Messenger of Allah."

Damaud's mouth gapped open. He swallowed and said, "Could you repeat that for me?" Muhammad the Messenger of Allah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam repeated it.

Then Damaud smiled and announced, "By God, I have heard the words of soothsayers, and have heard the words of magicians, and have heard the words of poets, but I have never heard words like this! Give me your hand for I am pledging allegiance to Islam. There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger!"

You'll find in the Qur'an verse after verse opening the eyes of humanity to the reality that there is a God and He is only One.

Jubayr ibn Mut'em stood quietly behind the Messenger of Allah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam at Maghrib prayer one day and listened to the verses of the Qur'an. The Messenger of Allah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was reciting Surah At-Toor and in it he heard him recite:

Were they created by nothing or were they the creators of (themselves)? / Or, did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather, they are not certain. / Or have they (in their hands) the treasures of your Lord? Or do they control it? (At-Toor 52/ 35-37)

Jubayr ibn Mut'em said, "When I heard these verses, it was as if my heart had wings flying swiftly and in bliss to the truth that I had found in Islam."

Brothers and sisters, where will you be in 100 years? You'll be dead. And where were you 100 years ago? Nowhere. You were nothing. Allah says in the Qur’an:

Has there not come upon man a period of time when he was not a thing (even) mentioned? / Indeed, We created man from a sperm - drop mixture (i.e. combination of male and female substance) that We may test him and We made him hearing and seeing. / Indeed, We guided him to the way, to be thankful or to be ungrateful. (Al-Insan 76/1-3)

In those early days of Islam, the Messenger of Allah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would go from tent to tent, tribe to tribe, announcing to them, "Say there is no God but Allah and success will be yours!"

Today, over 1400 years later as the followers of Muhammad, believers in Allah, we extend those words of our Messenger sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam to all our guests today: Say there is no God but Allah and success will be yours!