No compromise with fundamentals

https://youtu.be/kM5fBMEvUjg Auto-generated transcript: Surah Al-Ran Al-Rahim Al-Hamd Al-Illahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa Salatu Wa Salamu Alaa Ashera Fi Al-Anbiya'i Wa Al-Mursaleen Muhammadu Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Alaa Alihi Wa Sallam. Tasliman Kathiran Kathiran. Salma Vaadu. These are oak trees with what is called Spanish moss on them. Spanish moss is not moss, it's lichens that grow in a very interesting fashion and they hang on the tree. These are what are called saprophytes. So they use the tree as a way of anchoring them to some spot and then they grow, they take moisture from the earth. I'm going towards the lake. There is a giant, actually it looks like a greater egret which has just taken flight. It's interesting for those who are interested, one of the ways of distinguishing between a heron, egret and a crane is their flight. The herons and egrets, they fly with their, with a bend in their necks, whereas cranes fly with their necks stretched out. There are a whole lot of ducks on the lake but they are quite far away. I'm going to try to see if I can get closer to them. Let's see. I remind myself anew of the importance of, oh look at this, fish and lots of them. I don't know if you can see them in this camera. You can, yes you can. You see the fish. The water is so clear you will see all the fish and these are probably people feed them. I don't know. There are some bigger ones also a little bit deeper. All of these waters incidentally could potentially have alligators. Somebody sent me a very nice little video clip which this lady is saying, I will teach you the absolutely sure fire alligator detector method. And she says put your fingers in the water, trittle them a little bit, take them out. If they are wet, there is an alligator. And it is like that. The default is that there is an alligator. Here may not be because since this is not a natural lake, this is an artificial lake. And there are people patrolling this place all the time. So if there is an alligator, if there was an alligator, people would have seen it and they would have removed it. I'm coming up to the ducks and there's a turtle on the side here which is a little bit more than a half an inch. And just took a look at me and vanished. So obviously I'm not attracted to turtles. I remind myself anew about the importance of staying rooted in fundamentals. Fundamentals of our creed, fundamentals of our religion and belief. And the beauty is that these fundamentals are so simple and so easy to remember that you cannot go wrong with them. We ask Allah swt to keep us rooted and to keep us in His boundless mercy and grace. I'm trying to get you a closer shot of the ducks. There you go. Now there are three basic fundamentals that I want to share with you. And I ask you to take a look at them and think about them. These are as follows, which is the first and foremost is the fundamentals of our Aqeedah to Tauheed. The Aqeedah of the unity of worship of Allah swt. The Aqeedah of the truth that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah swt. And that Muhammad salallahu alaihi wa sallam is the last and final one. And that Muhammad salallahu alaihi wa sallam is the last and final messenger of Allah swt. Never to lose sight of this, the unity of worship of Allah swt. And the position of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam as his last and final messenger whose message we follow. This Aqeedah of Tauheed is what separates us Muslims from everybody else. Please understand and please do not allow anyone to lead you astray. No matter how famous that so called Sheikh might be. Because I've been seeing and hearing reports of people making all kinds of claims. May Allah swt guide them away from the path of the wrongdoings. The path of misguidance that they are following. Where not only are they misguided but they are trying to misguide others. There is a small bro heron. There he is. Who is also hunting here now. That's the little blue heron. And the great blue heron, you might have seen pictures of that. Which I have said many times. So first and foremost, as I said it's a very simple thing. Don't get lost. First and foremost is the Aqeedah of Tauheed. The Aqeedah of Tauheed, our belief in the uniqueness, the oneness, the wahdaniyat. We ask Allah SWT to always keep us focused on this and never let us down. Allow us to lose track of it. So Aqeedah of Tauheed. Never make shirk, never fall into bid'at. Never invent things on your own and never follow the inventions of anybody else. Please understand and remember that the Deen is one. It is distinct. It is not like anything else. Just like Allah is not like anything else. Allah said there is nothing like Him in creation. And He is the all seeing and the all hearing. And so also is Deen. The Deen that He sent and chose for us is unique. Has no parallel. Unlike anything else. Among the other adhyan, among the other religions, there are religions which were originally revealed like Islam. But which people decided to change on their own and so they corrupted them. We don't follow any of them. And we do not say that they are all from Allah. Because even though originally they were from Allah, they are no longer from Allah. They are from their creators. And there are other religions which are purely human made, human dreamt up. And so therefore they are not divine at all. So keep your aqeedah intact, which is the aqeedah of Tauheed. Second thing is ensure that you fulfill the five pillars. The fara'id of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Which is salah, saum, zakat and hajj. At Tauheed of course you have already entered Islam so that is done. So make sure that these fara'id, salah is for everyone all the time. There are no qualifiers. Salah is for you and me as long as we are sane and as long as we are awake. The only people that salah is not fard on are people who have become insane or people who are asleep or in a coma. And even the one who is asleep, the salah becomes fard on him as soon as he wakes up. So he has to perform qaba. For the one who has lost his sanity of course he is exempt from salah. So salah is for everyone all the time. The second one is saum which is fasting. And fasting is prescribed for us in the month of Ramadan. And of course if you want to fast, voluntary fast we can do at any time. But the month of Ramadan is compulsory. The one who deliberately knowingly leaves it has left Islam. Just like the one who deliberately knowingly leaves salah has left Islam. So please do not play games with the fara'id of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The third thing is zakat. Zakat is compulsory and zakat is obligatory on anyone who has the money to make them liable to pay zakat. In America as we stand here that is $5,000 or more of savings. Money which you have had with you for a period of 12 months. So that's $5,000 in cash, in gold, in silver, in trade goods and so on. So this is zakat which is payable. 2.5% of that is payable to charity. You must go to individuals, not payable to your masjid or whoever to run the place. You must go to actual individuals. And then for those who have the means, then Hajj once in your lifetime. And then for those who have the means, then Hajj once in your lifetime. And then for those who have the means, then Hajj once in your lifetime. Once in your lifetime is fard. More than that, if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us the opportunity, alhamdulillah, we can do as many Hajj as Allah gives us the opportunity to do. May Allah grant us the opportunity to do Hajj again and again. But one time in the lifetime is fard. So that is the fard of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the third important thing, as I mentioned to you, three things. One is tawheed, narakidah. One is the fard of Allah. And the third thing is to ensure that you earn and eat halal only, exclusively. That you do not earn haram and you do not eat haram. No matter what, there is no exception. There is no exception. And then people say, oh, you know, if you are starving, well, I don't think any of us is going to be in that situation or is in that situation. Because the condition is so severe, may Allah protect us from that. Starvation means that you have not had anything at all to eat for three days or more. So I don't think there is anyone in that category to earn and eat halal. And in the context of eating halal, there should be no need for me to say that. Because all of us, at least, I don't know, when we were growing up, I think my earliest memory was as far as halal is concerned is that as far as meat goes, it is something which has been slaughtered by a Muslim who said, Bismillah. Bismillah, Allah is the greatest. Which is called zabihah. Please understand in America, like many things, you've invented all kinds of stuff. Allah protect those who invent. This primary goal seems to be to make money. And so they have invented this concept of zabihah halal. There's no such thing. It is either halal or it is haram. And what makes it halal is the fact that it is zabihah. What makes it halal is the fact that the name of Allah has been recited over this animal. The animal has been slaughtered and killed in the name of Allah. Not in the name of anything else. It has not been slaughtered by a machine. It has been slaughtered by hand by a Muslim who said Bismillah, Allah is the greatest. This is what makes meat halal. If there is anyone who is eating other than this, if there is anyone who is eating machine slaughtered meat, is there anyone who is eating meat which has been slaughtered by, without this, Bismillah, Allah Akbar, no matter what kind of halal stamp comes on it, that is haram. I know all the different opinions. I'm giving you the best of the opinions. I suggest you stick to that if you like. And if you don't stick to that, it's up to you. It's your choice. But ensure that you make the choice knowingly because the consequence of that choice is very severe. The one who eats haram, number one,