7 Reasons Why Allah is Worthy of Worship - by Hamza Andreas Tzortzis (New 2019) (2019-06-19) #

0:00:06 bismillahirrahmanirrahim in al
0:00:08 hamdulillah mostly that was my rasool
0:00:10 allah assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi
0:00:11 wabarakatuhu brothers and sisters and
0:00:14 friends today I want to talk about why
0:00:17 God why Allah is worthy of worship this
0:00:22 is an extremely important topic and very
0:00:24 close to my heart because when I started
0:00:27 to study this it really changed my
0:00:30 understanding of myself all my relations
0:00:33 with other people and significantly my
0:00:37 relationship with the one that created
0:00:39 me God
0:00:40 a loss of hannover to Allah glorified is
0:00:43 he and it's a very important topic
0:00:46 because according to the Islamic
0:00:48 spiritual tradition worshipping God is
0:00:51 our raison d'être
0:00:53 it's our reason for being it's our
0:00:55 reason for existence now what does
0:00:58 worship mean because words are vehicles
0:01:02 to meaning and sometimes we may use the
0:01:06 same words but have different meaning or
0:01:07 the connotations attached to it it's
0:01:10 very important for us to clarify what we
0:01:12 mean by worship because some people may
0:01:15 think it's okay we're going to church on
0:01:17 Sunday once a week no worship is a
0:01:21 profound deep concept in the Islamic
0:01:24 spiritual tradition worship entails the
0:01:27 following things number one to know God
0:01:31 to know Allah number two to love Allah
0:01:35 number three to obey Allah and within
0:01:40 that entails humility being humble
0:01:43 before the divine and number four to
0:01:46 direct and single out all acts of
0:01:49 worship to God alone and you are
0:01:52 directing the internal acts of worship
0:01:55 the acts of the heart and the external
0:01:58 acts of worship like the acts of the
0:02:01 limbs so to worship God is a very
0:02:03 comprehensive concept in the Islamic
0:02:06 spiritual tradition it means to know God
0:02:09 to love God to obey God and that entails
0:02:12 being humbled before the divine
0:02:14 and it means to single out all our acts
0:02:18 of worship to God alone our internal
0:02:20 acts of worship and our external acts of
0:02:24 worship now why I want to do is take you
0:02:29 through this kind of spiritual journey
0:02:32 and maybe existential journey to make
0:02:35 you understand what does it mean to know
0:02:38 Allah and when we focus on knowing Allah
0:02:41 it would basically provide us the key to
0:02:44 open the door to answer the question why
0:02:47 is Allah why is God worthy of worship
0:02:49 and then I want to give you around six
0:02:52 or seven arguments that are based on the
0:02:54 Quran and our spiritual tradition in
0:02:57 order for you to see worship in a
0:02:59 totally different way so the first thing
0:03:02 knowing Allah knowing God now when we're
0:03:05 talking about knowing Allah
0:03:06 we're really talking about affirming
0:03:08 God's oneness affirming the oneness of
0:03:11 Allah subhana wa ta'ala and this is
0:03:15 known in the Islamic tradition as tell
0:03:18 heed affirming oneness and there are
0:03:21 different aspects to affirming the
0:03:23 oneness of Allah the oneness of the
0:03:24 divine the first one is well we affirm
0:03:28 the oneness of his creativity we affirm
0:03:32 the oneness of his creative power
0:03:35 this means that Allah that God is the
0:03:38 only unique creator sustainer maintainer
0:03:43 and owner and master of everything that
0:03:46 exists this is what it means that we
0:03:48 affirm that Allah is the only unique
0:03:51 creator sustainer maintainer owner
0:03:53 fashioner master of everything that
0:03:57 exists now anyone who believes that
0:04:00 these descriptions of God can be shared
0:04:02 by any created thing they have deified
0:04:06 that thing and this in the Islamic
0:04:08 tradition is known as sugar which can be
0:04:11 loosely translated as associating
0:04:14 partners with God and a social
0:04:17 encounters with God is the gravest sin
0:04:20 you have closed the door to God's divine
0:04:23 mercy and guidance and if you die in
0:04:26 that state
0:04:27 and you are eligible for eternal
0:04:31 destruction
0:04:33 however if people do they do
0:04:37 associate partners with God and they
0:04:39 repent and mend their ways and they open
0:04:42 the door to God's mercy and forgiveness
0:04:45 then they will be forgiven God willing
0:04:48 so anyone who attributes these
0:04:52 descriptions to anything other than God
0:04:54 has defied that thing and they have
0:04:57 committed sugar which is associated with
0:04:59 God which is the most gravest sin the
0:05:02 second aspect I want to talk about is
0:05:04 the oneness of God's names and
0:05:06 attributes the oneness of Allah names
0:05:09 and attributes there's a few things you
0:05:11 need to understand here firstly we
0:05:13 affirm that God has names and attributes
0:05:15 for example Allah describes himself in
0:05:18 the Quran he says he's a right man he is
0:05:22 the intensely merciful he is r-rahim he
0:05:25 is especially merciful he is al wudood
0:05:28 he is the loving he is al Hakim the wise
0:05:32 he is Allah aleem the knowing his al
0:05:36 bara he is the source of all goodness
0:05:37 his Latif he is the subtle and so on and
0:05:41 so forth so we affirm gods names and
0:05:43 attributes however we also affirm their
0:05:47 transcendent nature the Quran says LASIK
0:05:51 a measely he/she there is nothing like
0:05:54 God there is nothing like him he is
0:05:58 unique he is transcendent so from this
0:06:02 point of view we affirm gods names and
0:06:04 attributes and we affirm their
0:06:05 transcendent nature
0:06:07 significantly when it comes to gods
0:06:09 names and attributes we also affirm that
0:06:11 they are perfect without any deficiency
0:06:14 and flaw
0:06:15 in actual fact we believe they are
0:06:17 maximally perfect this means that they
0:06:20 are to the highest degree possible
0:06:22 without any deficiency and without any
0:06:25 floor and they are transcendent this is
0:06:28 God's names and attributes so when we
0:06:30 say God is Allah dude coming from the
0:06:32 Arabic word would which means a loving
0:06:34 that is giving we believe God's love is
0:06:36 the highest form of love it's a
0:06:39 maximally perfect is to the
0:06:41 degree possible and it's transcendent
0:06:43 now the one who compares these names and
0:06:47 attributes to creation they have
0:06:49 committed humanization and this is also
0:06:51 shirk which is associated with God which
0:06:55 is the gravest sin so miss repeat the
0:06:57 one who compares these names and
0:06:58 attributes to creation has committed
0:07:01 humanization so for example if we say
0:07:03 well God is loving just like Mawson
0:07:07 right then that's going to be a major
0:07:09 problem because what you've done you've
0:07:11 humanized gods and gods names and
0:07:13 attributes although to understand the
0:07:15 oneness of his name's and attributes you
0:07:16 have to affirm that they are
0:07:17 transcendent and maximally perfect the
0:07:20 meaning that you compare them with
0:07:21 anything in creation you have diminish
0:07:24 them from that point of view and the
0:07:25 Islamic spiritual tradition teaches us
0:07:27 that this is should this is associating
0:07:31 partners with the divine also the one
0:07:35 who compares any created thing to God
0:07:38 has committed deification and that is
0:07:41 also shirk associating partners with God
0:07:45 for example if I said that Marcin is
0:07:49 loving just like God Marcin is loving
0:07:54 just like God then we have the same
0:07:57 problem we have ADEA fide Marcin okay
0:08:00 and both of these things I just spoke
0:08:03 about in terms of comparing the names
0:08:06 and attributes to creation and comparing
0:08:08 a create thing to God both of those
0:08:10 things are shirk associating partners
0:08:12 with the divine the final aspect of
0:08:16 God's one as I want to focus on is the
0:08:18 oneness of his divinity the oneness of
0:08:21 his divinity which is something that
0:08:22 we're going to be focusing on in the
0:08:24 rest of today's lecture the oneness of
0:08:27 God's divinity of Allah's divinity
0:08:30 basically means that Allah is the only
0:08:33 being worthy of worship Allah is the
0:08:35 only object worthy of worship he's the
0:08:37 only date worthy of worship and
0:08:39 interestingly the name Allah according
0:08:42 to some Arabic linguist say say that it
0:08:45 comes from the words al Ilah which means
0:08:47 the deity the object of worship so we
0:08:51 believe that God is the only one that is
0:08:53 worthy of our utmost
0:08:55 obedience love prayers extensive praise
0:08:59 ultimate gratitude and here's the only
0:09:02 deity worthy of worship and all acts of
0:09:05 worship must be singled out and directed
0:09:08 to him alone and these acts of worship
0:09:09 include the actions of the heart and the
0:09:12 actions of the limbs now and this is
0:09:14 very important
0:09:15 someone who directs acts of worship to
0:09:17 other than Allah and the one who seeks
0:09:20 reward from other than Allah in terms of
0:09:23 acts of worship has associated partners
0:09:27 with him has committed shirk as we said
0:09:29 which is the gravest gravest sin so I
0:09:33 think now we're ready to talk about well
0:09:35 why is God worthy of worship
0:09:37 why dedicate our acts of worship to God
0:09:41 alone and I want to talk about six or
0:09:43 seven arguments which can be found in
0:09:45 the Islamic spiritual spiritual
0:09:47 tradition and many of them can be found
0:09:49 in the Quran point number one reason
0:09:53 number one God is worthy of worship by
0:09:59 virtue of who he is
0:10:00 let me repeat in a different way God's
0:10:04 right to worship is a necessary fact of
0:10:06 his existence this is the main reason
0:10:11 well not the main reason but it's the
0:10:12 first reason I want to give you why
0:10:14 Allah is worthy of worship Allah is
0:10:17 worthy of worship by virtue of who he is
0:10:20 and not necessarily by virtue of the
0:10:23 fact that he's decided to give us
0:10:25 anything in this life Allah says in the
0:10:28 Quranic chapter 20 verse 14 indeed I am
0:10:31 God I am Allah there is no deity except
0:10:35 me so worship me and establish prayer
0:10:37 for my remembrance so Allah is telling
0:10:40 us in the Quran that he is worthy of
0:10:43 worship because of who he is and not
0:10:46 only and not necessarily because he's
0:10:48 decided to give us anything in this
0:10:50 world let me give you some four
0:10:53 experiments or some examples think about
0:10:56 for example your favorite poet think
0:10:58 about maybe you Rumi
0:10:59 apparently Rumi said to the nearest
0:11:03 effect that lovers they don't really
0:11:06 fall in love they were already in love
0:11:09 for they met wow isn't that amazing or
0:11:10 iqbal the poet of the east he said this
0:11:13 one frustration the prostration to God
0:11:15 this one frustration that you find so
0:11:18 difficult frees you from a thousand
0:11:20 frustrations Wow
0:11:22 you know because servitude to the divine
0:11:26 breaks the shackles to the servitude to
0:11:29 the ephemeral nature of the world
0:11:30 materialism and just the ego
0:11:33 now you hearing this you're probably
0:11:35 thinking wow that's amazing
0:11:37 exactly maybe you stood up and gave a
0:11:40 standing ovation or you said Bravo
0:11:42 something happened in your heart when
0:11:44 you listen to your favorite poet you are
0:11:46 compelled to give you praise to those
0:11:49 poets by virtue of their poetic
0:11:52 attributes let me give another example
0:11:55 take for example your favorite wrestler
0:11:58 if your rest submits his opponent would
0:12:01 you do you may stand you may scream you
0:12:04 say wow brilliant amazing Bravo clap the
0:12:09 point is you are praising that wrestler
0:12:12 by virtue of his wrestling attributes
0:12:15 his wrestling skills we do this with
0:12:17 soccer with football right when we see
0:12:19 our favorite football player like Messi
0:12:21 or Ronaldo and they do some amazing
0:12:24 skill and they score a great goal you're
0:12:26 like wow that was amazing why did you
0:12:29 react that way because something is
0:12:31 compelled in your heart to give due
0:12:33 praise to Messi or Ronaldo by virtue of
0:12:38 their football skills now interestingly
0:12:40 order these examples I've given you only
0:12:42 these examples I have given you they
0:12:44 don't directly benefit you in any way in
0:12:46 any major way but yet you still give
0:12:49 them praise by virtue of who they are by
0:12:52 virtue of their attributes so if it's
0:12:55 true that you do this and these things
0:12:59 they don't have perfect attributes these
0:13:02 things are deficient and flawed in some
0:13:04 way then what does it mean about
0:13:07 praising Allah whose names and
0:13:09 attributes are maximally perfect with no
0:13:12 deficiency and no flaw it means he
0:13:16 deserves the most extensive form of
0:13:19 praise Allah says in the Quran
0:13:22 first chapter surah al-fatihah the
0:13:25 chapter the opening Allah says and Hindu
0:13:29 lillahi rabbil alameen all the perfect
0:13:32 praise extensive praise and gratitude
0:13:34 belongs to the Lord of everything that
0:13:36 exists not because he has given
0:13:38 something to us yes we should praise him
0:13:41 and thank him for that but from this
0:13:43 point of view he deserves extensive
0:13:45 praise by virtue of who he is just look
0:13:49 at the universe brothers and sisters and
0:13:51 friends it's an interplay of divine
0:13:54 names and attributes this the
0:13:58 mathematical structures in the universe
0:14:00 the fact that we have rational minds
0:14:02 that can perform rational insights that
0:14:05 we have inner subjective conscious
0:14:07 experiences the fact that we're
0:14:09 conscious that we kind of have this in a
0:14:11 subjective conscious experience known as
0:14:14 phenomenal experience we could have this
0:14:18 but apparently comes from dead non
0:14:21 conscious physical processes the point
0:14:25 is we live in an amazing universe and
0:14:27 it's a it's a manifestation interplay of
0:14:29 God's divine names and attributes and
0:14:32 God's names and attributes are perfect
0:14:35 they have no deficiency or flaw
0:14:38 they are maximally perfect to the
0:14:40 highest degree possible and they're
0:14:41 transcendent so if you come if we can
0:14:44 praise poets soccer players football
0:14:48 players wrestlers by virtue because of
0:14:51 the name of their attributes the
0:14:53 attribute of being a good wrestler or
0:14:55 good poet or a great poet or a good
0:14:57 football player
0:14:58 even though they are contingent they're
0:15:01 dependent they're not perfect they have
0:15:03 deficiency on floor then what does it
0:15:05 mean about praising the divine praising
0:15:07 Allah that's why Muslims we say Allahu
0:15:10 Akbar
0:15:11 right Allah is greater so Allah is
0:15:17 worthy of worship by virtue of who he is
0:15:19 now before I go into the second point is
0:15:21 very important for everyone to
0:15:22 understand especially as Muslims
0:15:24 especially those people who want to
0:15:26 become Muslim and they want to
0:15:27 understand worship properly that we do
0:15:29 not have a transactional relationship
0:15:31 with God we many of us have a
0:15:33 transactional relationship with the
0:15:35 divine as if
0:15:36 both peers right God give you something
0:15:39 you like you give him some worship this
0:15:42 is not the Islamic spiritual tradition
0:15:44 first the foremost will not peers with
0:15:47 the divine he created us he is our Rob
0:15:49 our master our Lord our loving Lord we
0:15:52 are his servants and slaves he is our
0:15:56 master and we are his servant and his
0:16:01 slave so from this point of view there
0:16:04 is no peer here and what's very
0:16:06 important to understand is that if we
0:16:08 understand this point that Allah is
0:16:10 worthy of worship God is worthy of
0:16:11 worship because of who he is and not
0:16:13 necessarily what has given us then even
0:16:15 if we don't get what we want a life
0:16:17 still worthy of worship in actual fact
0:16:19 if the whole universe were to worship
0:16:21 Him it would not increase in his majesty
0:16:23 and bounty if the whole universe were to
0:16:25 not worship him
0:16:26 it will not decrease in his majesty and
0:16:28 bounty such is Allah such is God he is
0:16:31 worthy of worship because of who he is
0:16:33 and not necessarily you know because he
0:16:36 because he's given us anything so we
0:16:38 shouldn't have a transactional
0:16:39 relationship with the divine from that
0:16:42 point of view yes he deserves thanks and
0:16:44 gratitude which is which are forms of
0:16:46 worship because of the things that has
0:16:48 given us but it's not primarily because
0:16:50 of that well that's not the only reason
0:16:52 because we could end up with the crumbs
0:16:55 of the universe but he still deserves
0:16:57 extensive praise so Allah is worthy of
0:17:01 worship because of who he is he deserves
0:17:03 extensive praise and that is a form of
0:17:05 worship second point God has created us
0:17:10 and sustains everything allah says in
0:17:12 the quran chapter 35 verse 3 o mankind
0:17:16 remember the favor of god upon you is
0:17:18 there any creator other than god who
0:17:20 provides for you from the heaven on
0:17:23 earth there is no data except him so how
0:17:26 are you deluded so let's zoom in on this
0:17:28 point allah is worthy of worship because
0:17:31 he created us ok what does that mean
0:17:33 well listen to this very carefully Allah
0:17:39 God gives us something at every moment
0:17:44 of our existence that we don't earn own
0:17:48 or do
0:17:49 deserve yeah it's priceless let me
0:17:53 repeat
0:17:53 God gives us something at every moment
0:17:56 of our existence that we don't earn own
0:17:59 and deserve by it's priceless and this
0:18:01 thing is this conscious moment and the
0:18:04 next conscious moment and every
0:18:06 conscious moment of our existence life
0:18:11 is a priceless gift if I were to say to
0:18:14 you have 10 minutes left to live but to
0:18:16 get another 10 days you have to give me
0:18:17 all of your wealth you will give me all
0:18:19 of your worth it's a priceless gift and
0:18:23 we receive it freely at every moment of
0:18:25 our existence and we don't earn it own
0:18:27 it or deserve it we can't even create a
0:18:29 fly so if that's the case we receive
0:18:34 something that is priceless for free but
0:18:37 we don't earn own or deserve how should
0:18:39 it make us feel grateful ultimately
0:18:45 grateful for every conscious moment for
0:18:52 every conscious moment for life and the
0:18:55 potential to use this life we must be
0:18:59 ultimately grateful because we receive
0:19:01 something free that is priceless every
0:19:04 moment of our existence that we don't
0:19:06 earn own or necessarily deserve and
0:19:08 having utmost gratitude ultimate
0:19:12 gratitude towards the divine is an act
0:19:14 of worship just like what we mentioned
0:19:16 previously we must give him extensive
0:19:17 praise that's a act of worship and
0:19:20 ultimate gratitude is also an act of
0:19:23 worship also we have to understand here
0:19:26 that since allies are created he
0:19:28 sustains everything and we are dependent
0:19:30 on him alone
0:19:31 Allah is Allah he he is the independent
0:19:34 the free the rich if you like and we are
0:19:38 dependent on him think about when we
0:19:41 were born we couldn't lift our necks we
0:19:44 couldn't feed ourselves we couldn't even
0:19:46 wipe her own posterior we were dependent
0:19:48 on others and all those things are
0:19:51 ultimately dependent on the divine even
0:19:54 our existence today our existence today
0:19:57 the fact that we breathe and we can eat
0:19:59 and we can do so many things because
0:20:02 there is a system in
0:20:02 in place there are other people that are
0:20:04 contributing to the system we are all
0:20:06 connected in some amazing way and all of
0:20:09 these things are ultimately connected to
0:20:11 and dependent on the divine from that
0:20:14 point even because he maintains and
0:20:15 sustains them so we must we truly
0:20:17 understand that not only must we have
0:20:19 ultimate gratitude towards the divine
0:20:21 because he gives us something that is
0:20:23 priceless that's free that we don't
0:20:25 necessarily earn own or deserve but also
0:20:27 we must understand that we are
0:20:29 ultimately dependent on him because
0:20:31 everything depends on him including me
0:20:34 and you
0:20:37 the third point Allah is worthy of
0:20:41 worship because he provides us with
0:20:42 innumerable favors favors blessings we
0:20:46 cannot individually count we cannot
0:20:48 enumerate Allah says in the Quran in
0:20:51 chapter 14 verse 34 and if you try to
0:20:55 count the favours of God of Allah you
0:20:57 could not enumerate them indeed mankind
0:21:00 is generally most unjust and ungrateful
0:21:04 think about this think about the
0:21:06 following thought experiment because
0:21:09 when I was thinking about this verse I
0:21:10 wanted to give an example that can
0:21:13 resonate with any type of person
0:21:15 irrespective of their level of
0:21:18 well-being and I think I found it it's
0:21:23 the heartbeat we already spoke about the
0:21:26 pricess nature of life the heartbeat is
0:21:30 one of the biological physical causes
0:21:31 that's in place to keep us alive if when
0:21:34 I have a heartbeat we don't have life if
0:21:38 when I have a heartbeat we don't have
0:21:40 existence so I want you to think about
0:21:45 this try and count
0:21:48 enumerate individually all of the
0:21:51 heartbeats you've had in a lifetime so
0:21:52 far try it one two three four continue
0:21:58 it is actually logically and practically
0:22:01 impossible because for the first two or
0:22:03 three years you have a backlog because
0:22:05 you don't know how to count when you're
0:22:06 sleeping you have a backlog because you
0:22:08 can't count when you're sleeping the
0:22:10 point here is you cannot individually
0:22:12 enumerate and count the heartbeats
0:22:16 you've had in a life
0:22:16 time imagine trying to be grateful for
0:22:19 each one of those heartbeats every time
0:22:21 you have a heartbeat you say thank you
0:22:23 Allah thank you God alhamdulillah
0:22:25 which means all praise and gratitude
0:22:27 belong to God imagine doing that after
0:22:29 every heartbeat it's actually
0:22:31 practically impossible and we spoke
0:22:34 about the prices nature of life you know
0:22:37 if you had only a thousand heartbeats
0:22:40 left and I said to you I'll give you
0:22:41 another million heartbeats only if you
0:22:43 give me all of your wealth you would
0:22:45 give me all of your wealth but yet
0:22:49 brothers and sisters and friends we
0:22:50 can't even enumerate our heartbeats
0:22:52 we can't even individually count the
0:22:54 heartbeats we've had in a lifetime and
0:22:57 that's one blessing imagine anything
0:23:02 else apart from a heartbeat that's why I
0:23:05 say to my family anything above a
0:23:07 heartbeat is a bonus if we truly
0:23:09 internalize this we'll be in a state of
0:23:12 spiritual and existential contentment
0:23:15 we'll be contented because we realize
0:23:17 deep down in our hearts that we can't be
0:23:20 grateful for these basic things like a
0:23:23 heartbeat imagine everything else it's
0:23:26 all about perspective so the fourth
0:23:29 reason why Allah is where the old
0:23:30 worship is self-love okay you may be
0:23:34 thinking what's going on here well let
0:23:35 me explain if you love yourself you must
0:23:39 love God you must love Allah this is
0:23:42 what we're seeing here this is one of
0:23:43 the reasons why Allah is worthy of
0:23:44 worship and loving Allah is an
0:23:46 expression the manifestation of worship
0:23:49 now what I'm talking about here is not
0:23:52 the type of self-love that you think is
0:23:54 egotistical or you know a sign of a
0:23:56 narcissist no the self-love I'm talking
0:23:59 about is immature self-love it's the
0:24:02 type of self-love that you would read in
0:24:03 the book of Erich Fromm when he wrote
0:24:05 the art of loving and he says that
0:24:09 self-love is essentially wanting good
0:24:11 for yourself and this is also echoed by
0:24:14 al-ghazali's late 11th century
0:24:16 theologian in his magnum opus and in his
0:24:20 36 book of his magnum opus where he
0:24:23 talks about love interest into intimacy
0:24:26 and contentment with the divine and he
0:24:28 talks about that you know
0:24:30 you should want good for yourself right
0:24:32 and this is an expression of of
0:24:35 self-love and what's interesting here is
0:24:37 that you need to really understand that
0:24:43 if you don't love yourself how can you
0:24:47 love anybody else think about this
0:24:48 because the closest thing to you is you
0:24:51 and if you can't relate to yourself in a
0:24:54 way that you want goodness for yourself
0:24:56 then how can you truly want goodness and
0:24:58 by extension truly love anybody else and
0:25:01 that's why those people who manifest
0:25:03 evil and they hate others it's because
0:25:06 they don't really love who they are so
0:25:09 the argument here is if you love
0:25:11 yourself you must love Allah you must
0:25:12 love God why what I'll goes on he makes
0:25:15 an argument he basically says you must
0:25:17 love a lot if you truly love yourself
0:25:19 because who created you who created the
0:25:22 physical causes in the universe that you
0:25:23 used to manipulate and you you know use
0:25:27 and manipulate in order to embrace
0:25:29 pleasure and run away from pain you you
0:25:33 used to embrace goodness and to run away
0:25:36 from evil it is online does that who is
0:25:41 the source of loving of love Allah who
0:25:43 is the source of goodness Allah so he
0:25:47 truly want good for yourself which is
0:25:50 self love then you have to love Allah
0:25:53 because he's the source of love and the
0:25:55 source of goodness and he's the one who
0:25:56 created the physical causes that you use
0:25:58 in the universe to run away from pain
0:26:01 and in play embrace pleasure so if you
0:26:04 truly love yourself you must love Allah
0:26:06 and if you don't then you just besotted
0:26:09 with your fleshy appetites as al-ghazali
0:26:11 said he says in the 36 book of his
0:26:15 magnum opus the here the revival of the
0:26:17 religious sciences he says whoever is so
0:26:20 besotted by his fleshly appetites as to
0:26:23 lack this love neglects his Lord and
0:26:26 creator he possesses no authentic
0:26:28 knowledge of him his gaze is limited to
0:26:30 his cravings and to things of sense the
0:26:34 fifth reason why Allah is worthy of
0:26:36 worship which is connected to the fourth
0:26:38 reason is that Allah is loving and his
0:26:43 love ism
0:26:44 purest form of love in the Islamic
0:26:46 tradition a large name is alwa dude
0:26:49 coming from the word would which means a
0:26:51 loving that is giving and it's not only
0:26:53 and loving that is giving but it's a
0:26:55 type of love that wants to convince you
0:26:59 to love him we'll do anything in order
0:27:03 for you to love him too essentially so
0:27:08 it's very important for you to
0:27:09 understand this that this type of love
0:27:10 is a very powerful love and it's the
0:27:14 most purest form of love it's the most
0:27:17 purest form of love why am I saying this
0:27:19 well think about this what is the
0:27:21 greatest man aphasias manifestation of
0:27:23 love in the world the greatest
0:27:25 manifestation of love in the world is
0:27:27 really a mother's love don't get me
0:27:28 wrong some mothers can be very evil
0:27:30 we've seen this human beings can be very
0:27:32 bad and evil we know this but generally
0:27:34 speaking when we think about the
0:27:35 greatest form of love a sacrificial type
0:27:38 of love we're thinking about a mother's
0:27:40 love a mother's love can be the most
0:27:43 greatest form of love that we experience
0:27:45 however a mother's love is contingent
0:27:49 meaning it is limited from the point of
0:27:52 view that it is dependent on her need to
0:27:56 love she loves because it completes her
0:27:59 she loves because she needs to love and
0:28:02 her love is not maximally perfect she
0:28:05 may love all of her ten children in such
0:28:07 an amazing way but she may not love for
0:28:10 example you know someone else's children
0:28:13 the point here is her love is limited in
0:28:16 some way it's flawed in some way and it
0:28:19 is contingent it's not pure from the
0:28:22 point of view because she needs to love
0:28:25 it completes her however with Allah his
0:28:29 love is the most purest form of love
0:28:32 because he doesn't need to love he is a
0:28:34 ladanyi meaning the independent the free
0:28:37 the rich his love doesn't complete him
0:28:39 in any way but yet he loves he gains
0:28:42 nothing by loving yeah he loves it's the
0:28:45 most purest form of love because we know
0:28:46 his love is to the highest degree
0:28:48 possible without any deficiency in it
0:28:50 without any floor
0:28:51 this is Allah he doesn't need to love it
0:28:55 doesn't complete him he benefit
0:28:57 nothing from loving yeah he loves
0:29:00 imagine how pure the love is think about
0:29:03 this brothers and sisters and friends
0:29:05 imagine someone comes into your room
0:29:06 right now and they can be described as
0:29:09 the most loving being that has ever
0:29:11 walked on this planet what's gonna
0:29:13 happen to your heart something's gonna
0:29:16 happen you gonna be compelled to want to
0:29:17 taste some of that love embrace some of
0:29:19 that love know why that human being
0:29:22 loves that way experience some some of
0:29:25 that love well likewise or by greater
0:29:30 reason rather if God's love is the most
0:29:32 purest form of love then surely we
0:29:36 should want to love the divine and
0:29:38 loving the divine is an act of worship
0:29:42 and how do we love the divine well Allah
0:29:45 tells us in the Quran in chapter 3 verse
0:29:47 31 and he speaks to the Prophet Muhammad
0:29:50 sallallahu alayhi wasallam upon him be
0:29:52 peace he says say o Muhammad say if you
0:29:59 love God then follow me so God will love
0:30:02 you and forgive your sins and God is
0:30:05 forgiving and merciful
0:30:06 so Allah says this say and he's
0:30:08 referring to the Prophet Muhammad upon
0:30:10 whom be peace if you love Allah if you
0:30:13 love God then follow me meaning follow
0:30:15 Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam
0:30:17 so God will love you and forgive your
0:30:20 sins and God is forgiving and merciful
0:30:24 so the point here is God is worthy of
0:30:29 our love because he is the loving and
0:30:32 his love is the most purest form of love
0:30:34 it's not dependent on anything he gains
0:30:38 nothing by loving yet he loves and his
0:30:40 love is a maximally perfect to the
0:30:42 highest degree possible so we should be
0:30:44 compelled to unto love Allah just like
0:30:49 if we were to understand that someone
0:30:51 that walks past you know our house or
0:30:54 enters you know our classroom or someone
0:30:57 that we experience someone says that
0:30:58 this person has the greatest form of
0:31:01 human love that you can ever imagine
0:31:03 something's going to happen in your
0:31:05 heart to try and experience some of that
0:31:06 love by greater reason God's love
0:31:09 transcend
0:31:10 that type of love it's the highest form
0:31:12 of love it's pure and perfect without
0:31:16 any deficiency and without any flaw so
0:31:20 from this point of view we should be
0:31:22 compelled to love the divine and loving
0:31:24 the divine loving Allah is a form of
0:31:26 worship the sixth reason why Allah is
0:31:33 worthy of worship worship is part of who
0:31:36 we are Allah says in the Quran in
0:31:39 chapter 51 verse 36 I did not so a lot
0:31:43 is saying here I did not create the jinn
0:31:45 the spirit world nor mankind except to
0:31:48 worship me except to worship Allah so
0:31:51 our purpose and life is to worship the
0:31:53 divine we already mentioned that to
0:31:55 worship Allah is to know Allah to love
0:31:57 Allah to obey Allah and to direct all
0:32:00 acts of worship to Allah alone and we've
0:32:03 been created with this innate
0:32:05 disposition to worship the divine
0:32:08 because think about it brothers and
0:32:10 sisters don't we want to know something
0:32:12 at some point in our lives don't we want
0:32:16 to love something at some point in our
0:32:18 lives don't we obey and refer to things
0:32:21 at some point in our lives don't we
0:32:24 direct our acts of worship like
0:32:26 gratitude towards something in our lives
0:32:28 of course we do and that's what worship
0:32:31 really means so if there is something
0:32:33 that you always want to know the most at
0:32:34 one point in your life there was
0:32:35 something that you wanted to know the
0:32:36 most I want some point in your life or
0:32:38 there is something that you were to that
0:32:40 you wanted to love the most at some
0:32:41 point in your life or that you did love
0:32:43 the most at some point in your life if
0:32:45 there was something that you obeyed the
0:32:47 most at some point in your life or
0:32:48 referred to the most at some point in
0:32:51 your life and if there was something
0:32:52 that you showed ultimate gradute towards
0:32:54 the most at some point in your life and
0:32:56 that was your object of worship from
0:32:58 that point of view and isn't it
0:33:00 interesting that humans are doing that
0:33:03 all the time it's as if this kind of we
0:33:05 have an innate drive to worship
0:33:06 something from this perspective so we've
0:33:10 been created with this kind of innate
0:33:12 disposition and what's very interesting
0:33:13 in the Islamic spiritual tradition which
0:33:16 I'll talk about another time but just
0:33:17 briefly summarize that we believe that
0:33:20 every human being every human being is
0:33:22 born in a state of
0:33:23 fatrick coming from the arabic
0:33:25 trilateral stem Vitara which you have
0:33:28 words like Fatone and Fattah who that
0:33:30 something has been created within us and
0:33:32 that thing within us has forms of
0:33:35 knowledge there's basic forms of
0:33:38 knowledge within our fitrah within our
0:33:40 innate disposition number one that Allah
0:33:43 the God is a reality and number two that
0:33:45 he's worthy of praise
0:33:46 right which is an act of worship but
0:33:50 what happens over time based on the
0:33:52 authentic tradition that the prophet
0:33:55 sallallahu alayhi wa sallam told us that
0:33:57 every child is born in this state of
0:34:00 fitrah this innate disposition but his
0:34:03 parents essentially change him and
0:34:05 that's I'm just paraphrasing the
0:34:06 prophetic tradition that could be found
0:34:08 in Sahih Muslim in the authentic
0:34:10 narrations of Muslim now what's very
0:34:14 important here is that we is to
0:34:15 understand is that we have this innate
0:34:17 disposition it has forms of knowledge
0:34:18 collect proto knowledge or primary
0:34:20 knowledge and that knowledge is that
0:34:22 Allah is a reality and he's worthy of
0:34:24 praise but over time the filter gets
0:34:27 clouded right
0:34:29 the fitrah gets clouded and it covers
0:34:35 the fitrah so we can't manifest right
0:34:38 what's natural to us which is worshiping
0:34:42 allah and we end up worshiping something
0:34:43 else we have misdirected worship so
0:34:47 that's why it's the role of Muslims you
0:34:50 know just to reach out to our brothers
0:34:52 and sisters in humanity to help them
0:34:53 uncloudy innate disposition so they can
0:34:56 really reconnect with the divine so the
0:35:01 sixth reason why Allah is worthy of
0:35:02 worship is because of who we are it is
0:35:04 us we are linked to the divine by virtue
0:35:08 of the fact that he created us and he
0:35:09 created us with an innate disposition to
0:35:12 acknowledge him and to praise him so the
0:35:19 seventh reason why Allah is worthy of
0:35:21 worship is that Allah is worthy of
0:35:24 worship because he is worthy of our
0:35:25 obedience and obeying God is a form of
0:35:29 worship Allah says in the Quran in
0:35:30 chapter 3 verse 1 3 2 and obey God and
0:35:33 the Prophet so that you may be given
0:35:36 mercy
0:35:36 now the profit is mentioned here
0:35:39 sallallahu alayhi wassalam upon him be
0:35:41 peace because we know in the Islamic
0:35:43 spiritual tradition that we obey the
0:35:45 Prophet because obeying the Prophet is
0:35:47 obeying God because God told us to obey
0:35:50 the Prophet so the point here is God
0:35:53 says in chapter 3 verse 1 3 3 1 3 2 to
0:35:56 obey Allah to obey God and we've
0:35:59 mentioned previously that obedience to
0:36:01 Allah is a form of worship now you may
0:36:04 be thinking isn't this a bit backward a
0:36:05 bit medieval you're not obey God isn't
0:36:07 this like you know going back to the
0:36:09 14th century no obedience to the divine
0:36:13 is the peak of reason obedience to the
0:36:18 divine is the highest expression of your
0:36:24 cognitive faculties why am I saying this
0:36:27 think about it don't we obey and refer
0:36:30 to things all the time when we go to a
0:36:33 doctor and we speak to the doctor and we
0:36:36 give them our symptoms they give us some
0:36:40 medication do we question the doctor in
0:36:43 any particular way do we say oh you know
0:36:46 your your 7 to 10 years of studies is a
0:36:49 load of rubbish I'm not going to take it
0:36:50 seriously when you go to the pharmacy to
0:36:53 collect your your your medicine you
0:36:55 start questioning the molecular
0:36:57 structure of the compounds of course not
0:37:00 you obey them you refer to them by
0:37:03 virtue of their authority because of the
0:37:05 medical background the experience and
0:37:07 all of these things so it's a cop-out to
0:37:11 say oh you shouldn't obey God why not
0:37:13 we'll be authorities all the time what
0:37:16 about when I go on a plane right
0:37:18 I don't really like turbulence these
0:37:20 days and when the pilot says ladies and
0:37:22 gentleman or not the pilot mother the
0:37:24 air person I don't know what you call
0:37:26 them these days as an air hostess right
0:37:28 when she says you know ladies and
0:37:33 gentlemen please sit down we're going to
0:37:35 be experiencing some turbulence sit down
0:37:38 and fasten your seat belt now what do I
0:37:41 do
0:37:41 do I listen to the air hostess and sit
0:37:44 down and fasten my seat belt or do I
0:37:47 just ignore her and start doing the
0:37:49 moonwalk on the Isle of course not I
0:37:52 obey her authority because they know
0:37:54 about the plane they know about
0:37:55 turbulence and all the science of
0:37:56 turbulence they know all of this stuff I
0:37:58 don't really know well I don't know as
0:37:59 much as they do so I refer to the
0:38:01 authority I obey them right we do this
0:38:04 all the time in almost nearly every
0:38:07 sphere sphere of our lives so why is it
0:38:09 okay to obey lesser authorities but
0:38:12 another ultimate authority why is it
0:38:14 okay to obey lesser authorities like a
0:38:17 medical practitioner and an air hostess
0:38:21 or a pilot but it's not okay to obey God
0:38:23 who's the ultimate authority let's let's
0:38:26 not forget who God is he knows
0:38:28 everything he has the totality of wisdom
0:38:31 and knowledge Allah is al Hakim he is
0:38:33 the wise he's a lean he's the knowing
0:38:35 Allah God has the picture we just have a
0:38:39 pixel if we have a pixel we have a pixel
0:38:42 in understanding of reality and good
0:38:44 from his total knowledge is telling us
0:38:46 we must do something
0:38:48 then we must obey by virtue of who God
0:38:51 is
0:38:52 now obviously you don't suspend your
0:38:54 reason Islam doesn't teach us to do this
0:38:56 because when we read and look at God's
0:38:58 commands we have to understand well what
0:39:00 is good telling us right obviously
0:39:02 there's a new instead a grand cosmic
0:39:06 scheme of things when God commands
0:39:08 something it is irrational to not obey
0:39:11 God's commands we can emit a layer an
0:39:15 airhostess or medical practitioner but
0:39:18 you're saying now we shouldn't obey God
0:39:19 and it's not backwards to do so because
0:39:22 it's rational to obey those lesser
0:39:24 authorities it is even more rational to
0:39:27 obey God because he's the ultimate
0:39:29 authority he has the totality of wisdom
0:39:32 and knowledge we don't and this is
0:39:35 interesting because the echoes Western
0:39:38 epistemology which is the study of
0:39:39 knowledge concerning testimony there's a
0:39:43 field in epistemology called the
0:39:45 epistemology of testimony and there are
0:39:47 discussions on believing in the say-so
0:39:49 of others and to cut a long story short
0:39:52 you know we always refer to the say-so
0:39:54 of others and we take testimony to be
0:39:58 fundamental knowledge not just useful
0:40:00 because we can't know everything just
0:40:02 like doctor
0:40:03 Elizabeth freaka she basically said that
0:40:05 given that her limitations are
0:40:07 parametric she she has to refer to the
0:40:10 authority of others because you won't
0:40:11 know everything so when it comes to
0:40:14 knowledge it's not just about direct
0:40:16 touch and feel and experience you have
0:40:17 to refer to the authority of somebody
0:40:20 else this is well known in Western
0:40:22 epistemology concerning testimony now on
0:40:27 this point which is very very
0:40:28 interesting i remmber had a debate with
0:40:29 professor lawrence krauss and we were
0:40:31 talking about testimony and he had this
0:40:35 metaphysical presupposition that you
0:40:38 know all knowledge or truth comes from
0:40:40 basically experience from I remember
0:40:43 you'd have to go check the debate it was
0:40:44 about I think five years ago now
0:40:45 obviously a lot and we change we were on
0:40:48 a journey and we all grow for sure but
0:40:50 the point here is emember this point
0:40:52 because it's very interesting and I was
0:40:55 like no there are other sources of
0:40:56 knowledge and he almost sniggered at me
0:40:58 or laughed at me from I remember and I
0:41:00 said it was testimony and then he was
0:41:03 like are you serious kind of thing and I
0:41:06 was like yeah I said do you believe in
0:41:08 evolution I was like yeah I do the
0:41:10 science and I said well have you done
0:41:13 all the experiments yourself do you know
0:41:14 all the science have you done all the
0:41:15 sciences or of course no it's such a
0:41:17 it's such a massive it's such a massive
0:41:20 kind of body of knowledge now that you
0:41:23 can't do everything yourself right so
0:41:25 you have to rely on the testimony or the
0:41:28 say-so of others even if they claim that
0:41:30 it's repeatable and testimony has been
0:41:32 repeated that's still testimonial
0:41:34 knowledge because you haven't repeated
0:41:35 it yourself okay
0:41:36 and actually we elaborate on something
0:41:42 for you just to get the fundamental
0:41:43 nature of testing me just to highlight
0:41:45 this point even further you know
0:41:47 professor Cody he wrote a book called
0:41:50 testimony in 1992 and he spoke about
0:41:53 that testimony is fundamental and he
0:41:56 quotes David Hume because David Hume as
0:41:58 you know is the Scottish skeptic and he
0:42:00 was a bit skeptical about testimony
0:42:02 although he did say that testimony is
0:42:04 useful but we only take it seriously
0:42:06 because it's in line with our collective
0:42:08 experiences now professor Cody is saying
0:42:10 no testimony is not only useful it's a
0:42:12 fundamental source of knowledge and he
0:42:14 basically counters Hume by B
0:42:16 sickly say to him hold on a second if
0:42:18 testing is only useful because it's in
0:42:20 line with our collective experiences
0:42:22 then how do you know what our collective
0:42:26 experiences are you would only know our
0:42:28 collective experiences if you asked
0:42:31 other people because you can't
0:42:32 experience collective experiences
0:42:34 because you're not a collective you're
0:42:35 an individual and if you only rely on
0:42:36 yourself to gain knowledge through your
0:42:40 experience you have very limited
0:42:41 knowledge so Professor Cody here he's
0:42:44 actually he actually shows that
0:42:45 testimonial knowledge is fundamental you
0:42:47 can't run away from it don't get me
0:42:50 wrong
0:42:50 testimonial knowledge can be wrong
0:42:52 inaccurate but - so can empirical
0:42:54 knowledge our understanding of the
0:42:55 empirical world could be wrong as well
0:42:56 right and if you study the philosophy of
0:42:58 science and and in philosophy in general
0:43:00 you'd understand that you know the way
0:43:02 we see things can basically be skewed
0:43:06 because of prior theories right there's
0:43:08 good theory laden as' but you can
0:43:10 investigate that for yourself the point
0:43:12 here I'm just trying to raise that
0:43:13 testimony is a fundamental source of
0:43:16 knowledge and you know go to relevant
0:43:18 references for you to understand that if
0:43:20 that's the case we have to refer to the
0:43:22 testimony of others then what about the
0:43:24 testament of the Divine Right who is the
0:43:28 ultimate authority anyway Takada long
0:43:32 story short on the seventh reason why
0:43:33 Allah is worthy of worship Allah is
0:43:35 where they worship because he's worthy
0:43:37 of our obedience if we can obey and
0:43:39 refer to lesser authorities then we must
0:43:41 necessarily so obey the ultimate
0:43:44 authority Allah subhana WA Ta'ala and
0:43:47 interestingly you know God command
0:43:49 something and we must obey Him his
0:43:51 commands are no arbitrary his commands
0:43:53 are derivative of his will of his nature
0:43:56 of his will and his rule doesn't
0:43:58 contradict his nature
0:44:00 so his commands are a manifestation of
0:44:03 his will and his rule doesn't contradict
0:44:05 his nature and what is God's nature he
0:44:07 is al Hakim he is the wise he is an dude
0:44:11 the loving of man the merciful Ilene the
0:44:14 knowing so really on your food would
0:44:18 disobey God right so now we finished the
0:44:21 seven reasons why Allah is worthy of
0:44:23 worship let's talk about why does God
0:44:26 need us to worship Him that's a that's
0:44:29 an objection right
0:44:30 hear that all the time all right you say
0:44:31 your life is all about worshiping God to
0:44:34 know him to love him to obey Him and to
0:44:36 be humbled before the divine and to
0:44:37 direct all acts of worship to God alone
0:44:39 fair enough but does God need us to
0:44:42 worship Him is that very needy no of
0:44:45 course not
0:44:46 God doesn't need anything he requires no
0:44:50 completion he is independent and free of
0:44:53 any need
0:44:54 remember we said earlier a loves named
0:44:57 one of his name's is Alan Kenny they're
0:44:59 independent the free the free of any
0:45:02 need everything depends on him Allah
0:45:06 depends on nothing so it's not the case
0:45:09 that Allah created us because of a need
0:45:12 he doesn't need anything but rather he
0:45:17 create us to worship Him because it's
0:45:18 good for us through his wisdom and mercy
0:45:22 he created us this way to worship Him
0:45:24 and the worship in Allah is good for us
0:45:28 another question would follow is well
0:45:30 why did God create us to worship Him in
0:45:33 the first place well the first point you
0:45:35 need to understand here is well if you
0:45:38 can't find an answer say hypothetically
0:45:39 you can't get an answer it doesn't
0:45:42 affect the fact that Allah is worthy of
0:45:43 worship simple and it's one of those
0:45:47 questions that you just don't know how
0:45:48 to answer but it's not an undercutting
0:45:51 defeat if you like not having an answer
0:45:54 doesn't defeat the fact that Allah is
0:45:55 worthy of worship that's the point
0:45:58 and you to be practical here you're
0:46:00 never going to get all the answers
0:46:02 anyway have some epistemic humility
0:46:04 remember it's only God who has perfect
0:46:07 knowledge and wisdom he has the picture
0:46:09 we have the pixel there are some things
0:46:11 that's going to be outside of your
0:46:13 pixelated understanding of reality and
0:46:14 it could be this the fact that you
0:46:16 trying to go into the the depths of
0:46:18 God's wisdom and knowledge you can't do
0:46:20 that by virtue of who you are you're
0:46:22 limited and contingent and God's
0:46:23 knowledge is total and perfect so it
0:46:28 could be the case that God hasn't
0:46:30 revealed to you the fact why he created
0:46:33 us to worship Him in the first place and
0:46:36 that is part of God's wisdom and
0:46:39 knowledge that we can access because
0:46:40 we're just limited we can only access
0:46:42 God's wisdom and all
0:46:44 from the point of view of revelation
0:46:46 what he's revealed to us so it doesn't
0:46:51 really affect the fact that God is
0:46:53 actually worthy of worship and think
0:46:55 about it if we are here to worship God
0:46:57 and to and worship and God will elevate
0:46:59 us in rank and virtue to the point that
0:47:02 we will experience divine eternal love
0:47:04 and bliss and paradise then that's what
0:47:06 you should do you shouldn't allow that
0:47:08 question to undermine that because that
0:47:10 question doesn't really undermine it
0:47:12 this is a question that you may or not
0:47:13 be may or may not be able to answer and
0:47:15 not answering it doesn't affect that or
0:47:17 any shape or form
0:47:19 the second way of addressing this
0:47:21 question which I think is very
0:47:23 interesting is to think about who God is
0:47:26 remember God's names and attributes are
0:47:31 gonna manifest themselves and God's
0:47:34 names and attributes are maximally
0:47:35 perfect to the highest degree possible
0:47:38 so take for example an artist an artist
0:47:42 will probably manifest his attribute of
0:47:45 artistic ability right for a greater
0:47:48 reason God is alvaro he's the source of
0:47:52 all goodness he is our man he is the
0:47:54 merciful so he would manifest his mercy
0:47:58 and he will manifest his goodness now
0:48:02 I'm not saying necessarily so right but
0:48:06 let's be practical here God is merciful
0:48:08 God is the source of all goodness he's
0:48:10 all right man he's Albert and he will
0:48:13 manifest his names and attributes into
0:48:16 reality into our reality so from this
0:48:21 point of view I would argue that he
0:48:23 created us to worship Him because it's a
0:48:27 manifestation of who he is Allah is the
0:48:31 most merciful
0:48:32 Eliza's the source of all goodness and
0:48:37 worshipping God is one of the highest
0:48:40 forms of goodness and when we do this we
0:48:43 were attained God's mercy so we'll
0:48:46 create it for that but create for His
0:48:49 mercy and this whole story of us being
0:48:52 on this earth to worship the divine is
0:48:55 an
0:48:56 expression and manifestation of God's
0:48:59 names and attributes for example Allah
0:49:02 says in the Quran in chapter 11 verse 1
0:49:04 1:8 if your Lord had pleased he would
0:49:07 have made all people a single community
0:49:09 but they continue to have their
0:49:11 differences except those on whom your
0:49:13 Lord has mercy for he created them to be
0:49:16 this way now another thing to understand
0:49:20 is that if Allah is unbothered the
0:49:23 source of all goodness
0:49:25 then surely isn't the best story ever
0:49:29 told that we were sent down as human
0:49:33 beings on earth with free will to choose
0:49:37 between worship and God doing good or
0:49:39 not worshipping God and doing evil and
0:49:42 those who worship God and do good and
0:49:45 you know we're still weak but those who
0:49:47 repent which is goodness as well those
0:49:49 who repent and do good and worship God
0:49:50 they get elevated to a high virtuous
0:49:55 degree of you know being righteous and
0:49:58 the righteous or those eligible for
0:50:02 mercy go to paradise forever to
0:50:04 experience divine love and bliss isn't
0:50:06 that one of the most amazing stories
0:50:08 ever told isn't this one of the greatest
0:50:11 stories ever told
0:50:13 isn't this the best story ever told if
0:50:16 that's the case then this is a
0:50:20 manifestation of who God is because God
0:50:22 is al bara he is the source of all
0:50:23 goodness and this is the greatest story
0:50:26 ever told this is a good story it's the
0:50:30 best story so it just makes sense that
0:50:34 we are actually living out this story
0:50:36 because it's a manifestation of who God
0:50:38 is finally brothers and sisters and
0:50:41 friends you have to understand something
0:50:43 very important here that everybody
0:50:47 worships everybody worships even if
0:50:50 they're an atheist even if the divine
0:50:51 deny everybody worships even if they
0:50:54 deny Allah why am I saying this because
0:50:57 remember we said about worship it means
0:50:59 to know Allah to love Allah to obey
0:51:01 Allah to direct all acts of worship to
0:51:03 Allah alone now the logic of this is
0:51:06 knowing something the most loving
0:51:08 something the most obeying something the
0:51:09 most
0:51:10 and expressing acts of worship to
0:51:14 something the most in this case ultimate
0:51:16 gratitude if you're not doing this to
0:51:18 Allah you're doing it to something else
0:51:19 anyway because there's always something
0:51:21 in your life at one point that you want
0:51:24 you to know the most or that you love
0:51:25 the most that you were obeying to the
0:51:27 most of referring to the most or you
0:51:29 were expressing utmost gratitude towards
0:51:31 the most that was your object of worship
0:51:34 so all human beings worship even if they
0:51:37 deny the divine and this reminds were
0:51:40 very powerful verse in the Quran in
0:51:41 chapter 39 verse 29 Allah says God puts
0:51:44 forward this illustration can a man has
0:51:47 several partners for his master's of
0:51:49 which they're at odds with each other be
0:51:51 considered equal to a man devoted wholly
0:51:53 to one master all praise belongs to God
0:51:55 though most of them do not know this is
0:51:58 an interesting illustration to tell us
0:52:00 look if you don't worship Allah then
0:52:02 you're going to be like a slave a
0:52:03 servant to many masters and they're all
0:52:06 arguing but if you worship Allah the one
0:52:08 who truly has affection fee who truly
0:52:11 knows what's best for you then that will
0:52:15 free you from the shackles of you know
0:52:18 these other forms of slavery that you
0:52:20 have to all these many masters that are
0:52:22 quarreling your boss you teach your peer
0:52:24 pressure your ideology that's not the
0:52:26 other right so everybody worships from
0:52:29 that point of view so it's as if a lot
0:52:31 of mankind has misdirected worship you
0:52:34 know Muslims through compassion and
0:52:36 intelligence should take that
0:52:38 misdirected worship and direct them to
0:52:40 the one who is worthy of worship which
0:52:42 is a loss of hell and that is a loss of
0:52:45 Panama to Allah the Lord of everything
0:52:47 that exists and let me end with a quote
0:52:50 from Martin Martin links in his book
0:52:53 ancient beliefs and modern superstitions
0:52:55 he's summarizing really well what I
0:52:58 think I'm trying to say here
0:52:59 he says equipped as he is by his very
0:53:03 nature for worship man cannot not
0:53:07 worship and if his outlook is cut off
0:53:10 from the spiritual plane he will find a
0:53:12 God to worship at some lower level thus
0:53:15 endow something relative with what
0:53:17 belongs only to the absolute hence the
0:53:20 existence today of so many words too
0:53:24 like to conjure with like freedom
0:53:26 equality literacy science civilization
0:53:29 words at the utterance of which a
0:53:31 multitude of souls fall prostrate in
0:53:34 submental adoration the superstitions of
0:53:37 freedom and equality are not mainly the
0:53:39 results but also partly of the causes of
0:53:42 the general disorder for each in its own
0:53:45 way is a revolt against hierarchy and
0:53:47 they are all the more pernicious for
0:53:51 being provisions of the two of the
0:53:53 highest impulses in man corrupt your
0:53:57 optimi pessimal the corruption of the
0:54:00 best is corruption at its worst but
0:54:03 restore the age and order and the two
0:54:05 idols in question would evaporate from
0:54:07 the plain of this world leaving
0:54:10 legitimate earthly aspirations for
0:54:12 freedom and equality room to breathe to
0:54:14 take their place once more transformed
0:54:17 at the very summit of hierarchy the
0:54:19 desire for freedom is above all the
0:54:22 desire for God absolute freedom being an
0:54:25 essential aspect of divinity now to be
0:54:28 honest this quote prayer doesn't relate
0:54:31 to why I mentioned but it was
0:54:33 interesting nevertheless however
0:54:35 brothers or sisters
0:54:35 we all worship from the point of view
0:54:39 that we want to know something the most
0:54:40 at some point love something the most we
0:54:42 obey something the most and we refer to
0:54:44 something the most and we direct acts of
0:54:47 worship like gratitude and praise
0:54:48 towards things the most at some point in
0:54:51 our lives that should be Allah that
0:54:55 should be online that doesn't mean we
0:54:56 can't love things one of the things of
0:54:58 course not but about ultimately it
0:55:01 should be Allah and human beings that
0:55:03 don't do that we should help me to
0:55:05 realize why Allah is should be known why
0:55:08 Allah should be loved why Allah should
0:55:11 be obeyed and why Allah should be
0:55:13 worshipped from the point of view that
0:55:14 we direct all our internal and external
0:55:17 acts of worship to him alone and this
0:55:19 was the message of all of the prophets
0:55:21 they came here to teach us who they
0:55:23 should worship and we should worship
0:55:27 Allah may Allah bless you all
0:55:28 Razak layer for listening as Salam
0:55:30 aleikum la Habana Cato Allah