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Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Al-ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-‘Ālamīn, wa salātu wa salāmu ‘alā ashrafil-‘ibād wal-mursalīn Muḥammadur-Rasūlallāh ﷺ. Tasliman kathīran kathīran.
My brothers and sisters, Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā mentioned the story of Mūsā alayhis-salām in 28 out of the 30 juz of the Qur’an, so it is everywhere but very beautifully and very concisely. Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā mentioned it specifically at the beginning of Sūrah Tāhā, and He mentioned specifically what happened in the sequence of the story. So Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā said that Mūsā alayhis-salām he said to his wife, whoever was with him: *Innī anās-tu nāratan*—that I see a fire—because they got lost in the desert, and he was looking to see if there is some way of getting help. So then he saw a fire in the distance. So he said to his wife, “I see a fire; so let me go and see.”
He said: *La’allī ‘ātikum min-hā bi-qabasi aw ajidu ‘ala-n-nari huda*. So let me go and see there if somebody can show me the way, or maybe they give me some firebrand so I can come and light up our own fire, and so on. And then Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā said when he reached there, he saw the mention of the burning bush itself is not there, but he saw some fire. Then he heard a voice: *Fa-‘allamā fa-‘allamā atāhu nuddiyā ya-Mūsā*. So he heard this voice saying, “Ya Mūsā.” He said: *Innī ana Rabbuka, fa-khalī’an-layka innaka bil-wādī muqaddasī tuwā*. “I am your Rabb; remove your shoes because you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa.”
So if we see this, Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā is showing us a sequence, and the first part of the sequence is adab—it is respect. Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā is saying, “Mūsā alayhis-salām, I am your Rabb, remove your shoes; you are in the sacred place, right?” So all knowledge, all goodness, all coming close to Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā comes from and only from adab—from having respect and from treating the knowledge of deen and everything associated with it, the place itself. Right? The place itself today unfortunately we live in a world where adab is the least of things. People come in any way to the place of deen; they sit in any way, they are dressed in any way, they behave in any way they like. And that is why there is so much ignorance and jahlāt. If you behave in a way which is respectful, then Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā opens the doors of hidayah for the person. Respect starts from treating the person with respect. In our case, it would be the masjid or the madrassa, or wherever you gain your knowledge from. It is treating that place with respect, treating the people who are teaching you with respect—whichever are the teachers, the imams, whoever. Treating them with respect, right? So all of this is part of that.
Then Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā said to him again. Allah announced that He said: *Annani ana Allāh, hulla ilāha illā ana*. “Fa-‘abadūni wa-aqimis-salata li-zikri.” Allah said, “Verily and truly I am Allāh, and there is no one worthy of worship except Me (*La ilāha illa ana*). Fa-‘abadūni—so establish my worship, worship Me; wa-aqimis-salata li-zikri—and establish Salah for My zikr.”
So, Allāh first is announcing that He is the Rabb, and then He is announcing that He is the Ilah, He is the only one worthy of worship. And therefore, Allāh is commanding and saying, “Worship Me,” and how do you worship Me? By establishing Ṣalāh. Allāh did not simply leave it at *fa-‘abudni*. Allāh could have said that *Innani anna Allāh, la ilāha illa ana*, fa-‘abudni—”Khas.” Verily I am Allāh, there is no one worthy of worship except Me, so worship Me. So as a logical command, this would be complete. But obviously the question then arises: How do I worship? By singing a song, or by beating drums, or by dancing, or what? People have different ways of worship. We see this in the different religions of the world, in different ways. So what is the right way? And that’s why Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā did not leave that to our wishes. Worship Me any way you like; worship Me any way makes sense to you. No, no, no. There is a particular way of worshipping. So worship Me in this way. What is that way? Ṣalāh. Aqimis-Ṣalāh.
Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā did not say “read Ṣalāh,” or “do Ṣalāh,” or “perform Ṣalāh.” You know, perform Ṣalāh—we use all of these words. None of these words are in the Qur’an. The word in the Qur’an is *Iqāmatis-Salāh*. Aqimus-Ṣalāh. Establish Ṣalāh. It is important because, see, as I keep saying all the time to myself and you, I remind myself and you: nothing. There is no word in the Qur’an which is accidentally there. Every word, there is a reason why that word is there. There is a reason why Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā used that particular word. It’s not that, oh, it’s okay, there is one word, there is no word. That word, *khas*, it was used at that time, at that place. It’s not some accidental thing. It didn’t happen like that. So *Aqimis-Ṣalāh*—Establish Ṣalāh.
So “Establish Ṣalāh” means what? Establish Ṣalāh means that we first of all establish all that is required for the Ṣalāh. So in terms of the place, the time, our own clothing, purification, and so on. And then whatever is required for that establishment of the Ṣalāh in the time and place, this must be done. Then we establish. *Aqimis-Ṣalāh tali-zikri*. So we have come to that stage. First of all, Adab. The first sequence is Adab. Before which, nothing will happen. Once you have the Adab, then the door opens for Hidayah. And what is the first and foremost point of Hidayah? To recognize Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā. This is the fundamental principle of Islam. That all knowledge: Islam is not against science, against this, not against anything. Islam is to me, is to understand and say that everything begins, everything has a beginning. And the beginning of all knowledge, the beginning of all goodness, the beginning of everything is to recognize Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā as our Creator. And therefore, as our Ilah, as the one who is worthy of worship.
*Innani Ana Allāh, La Ilāha Illa Ana.* Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā did not simply say, “Innani Ana Allāh, Fa ‘Abudhni.” No, really I am Allāh; therefore worship Me—no! I am Allāh, and there is no one worthy of worship except Me (*Innī ana Allāh, la ilāha illa ana*). Fa-‘abadūni—the *ibādah* of Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā comes after accepting not only that Allāh is there but that there is no one other than Allāh who is worthy of worship. So Islam is not simply believing in Allāh; this is another problem we have when we say what is Islam. Islam is to believe in Allāh? Islam is to believe in one God? People say this completely false, completely wrong. Not one God—what do you mean one God? Supposing somebody says, “I believe only in Jesus, nobody else,” or “I believe only in Ganesha, nobody else”—one God, is it Islam? No, it is not one God; it is specific: Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā. And even that is not enough: *La ilāha illa ana*. What is the Kalima? *La ilāha illa Allāh*. *La ilāha* before *illā Allāh*: Except Allāh, there is no one worthy of worship; there is no Ilah, there is no deity. *Illā Allāh*—except Allāh.
So *Innī ana Allāh, la ilāha illa ana*, fa-‘abadūni. Allāh did not say *Innī ana Allāh, Fa ‘Abudini*. No! *Innī ana Allāh, la ilāha illa ana*, fa-‘abadūni—”No one is worthy of I am Allāh.” No one is worthy of worship except Me; therefore worship. And how do I worship? *Wa-aqimis-salata li-zikri*—Establish Ṣalāh for My zikr. So this is something that we should be, we should remember, we should remind ourselves, and we should make sure that we do this. This is the fundamental thing of Islam as I mentioned to you. The sequence—inshā’Allāh—we will talk tomorrow, but this is today: which is that first thing, Adab, and then to recognize Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā as our Rabb and as…
Lecture: Iyyaka Na’budu (Part 2)
And to make Nafi and to destroy, removing everything else and everyone else from our hearts. As a Maghul, you might say, “Well, I am not worshipping idols; I am not worshipping anything else.” Worship means to obey. The dalil for this is Uday bin Hathim Radhiyallahu Anhu. Before he became Muslim, he came to meet Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. At that time, he was Christian, so he was wearing a big cross on a chain around his neck. Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam recited the ayat of the Quran where Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said they have taken their priests and their monks as their ila as their objects of worship. So Uday bin Hathim Radhiyallahu Anhu said to Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, “Ya Rasulullah, we don’t worship our monks; we don’t worship our priests.” Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, “Is it not true that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala prohibited some things, and your priests made that permissible? And you follow what the priest says and leave what Allah said?” So Uday bin Hathim said, “Yes, this is true.” He asked, “Is it not true that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala permitted some things, but your priests have prohibited them? You follow the priest and don’t follow Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala? Is it not true?” He said, “Yes.” Then Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, “This is Ibadah; this is worship—to obey somebody completely and totally, especially when that obedience is against the obedience of Allah. This is worship.”
For example, pork is prohibited in the Bible. The Christians accept this that it is prohibited. So why do you drink? Why do you eat it? Because Peter came, and Peter said, “It is okay; you can eat it.” Who is Peter? Did God say it? Did Jesus say it? No. Did he eat pork? He didn’t. Then why do you eat? Saint Peter said, “We can do it.” Hurry! If you are obeying Peter, you are not obeying Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Similarly, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala permitted you to marry. Yes, but in Catholicism, if you are a Catholic priest, you don’t marry. You say, “It is halal for me.” How is it halal for you? Allah made it halal for you; you made it halal on yourself. And similarly with other things. So the point is: obedience is worship. When we say *La ilaha illa ana*, you might say, “Well, I am not worshipping any idol; sure, alhamdulillah.” But who are we obeying? Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala made a rule. We leave the rule and do what somebody else tells us. Either people ask, “Oh, why are you doing this thing which is against Islam?” or they say, “No, this is our culture; this is our practice here. If we don’t do this, what will people say?”
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, as Rasulullah s.a.w. said, we were having this discussion yesterday. Rasulullah s.a.w. prohibited us from being in a room in which alcohol is served. We are not talking about drinking; we are saying it should not even be in the same room. So if you go to a hotel or a restaurant to eat, and there is alcohol in the same room, you cannot eat there. This is haram for you. What do we do? No, but you know, it’s a corporate party; it’s a team meeting. Now, if I don’t go there, my promotion will get affected, or whatever; I will get some black mark in my team report. So, who is your Raziq: Allah s.w.t. or your team manager? You disobey Allah s.w.t. for that time. For Salah, do you pray? No, I don’t pray. Why don’t you pray? No, that is work time. Where is the question of work time? The issue is *Salah*. Allah s.w.t. said, *”Inna sala-ta kaanat alal mu’mineena kitaban mawqoatan.”* Truly, Salah has been prescribed on the believers at specific times. So when the Salah time is there, you leave Salah. You leave Salah and say, “I have no time.” Where is the question of no time? This is Salah time! Nobody is saying, “Pray for two hours.” You pray. Or for Salah, recite whatever Surah. How long does it take? The question of establishing Salah: *Aqim is-salata li-dhikri*. This is a hukm; it’s an amr from Allah s.w.t.
This is the first thing that Allah s.w.t. is giving to Musa a.s., Kalimullah—Who Allah s.w.t. spoke to directly. He was hearing Allah s.w.t.’s actual speech. This is what Allah s.w.t. told him. And that is how important Salah is. So insha’Allah, the rest of it we will see tomorrow. But today, let us stay with this: this is so important that we are doing. We thank Allah s.w.t., alhamdulillah, that Allah s.w.t. guided us to Himself and gave us this Salah. *Iyyaka na’budu wallah*, we worship only You. *Iyyaka na’budu wa sallallahu ala nabil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmatika anhum ar-rahim*.