Dua of Ibrahim (AS) – #2

Auto-generated transcript:Alhamdulillah. My brothers and sisters, that is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala taught us to make dua for guidance to the path, the Siratul Mustaqeem. The path of those who He blessed and not those who incurred His anger or were misguided. Think about this. We make this dua at least 17 times a day when we recite Surah Al-Fatiha in every rakat of every Farsalah. Just the Farsalah is total of 17 rakats. Then of course Sunan and Nawafil and so on and so forth. There's no salah which is valid unless Surah Al-Fatiha is recited in every rakat. And what do we ask? We ask for Hidna Siratul Mustaqeem. We say, O Allah, guide us to the path, the straight path, the path of guidance, the path of righteousness. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepts. He accepted the dua of Ibrahim alayhi salam and he decreed and said, He is the one who has sent his Messenger ﷺ with right guidance and the religion of truth, making it prevail over all others and sufficient is Allah as a witness. I remind myself and you that the religion is Islam. And this is the religion of every prophet. Every messenger. This was the religion of Ibrahim alayhi salam or Ibrahim. This was the religion of Musa or Moses or Isa or Jesus. This was the religion of Muhammad ﷺ. This was the religion of all the prophets who are mentioned. He is Islam. Submission to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The question to ask therefore is, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepted my dua. I made dua Hidna Siratul Mustaqeem. Allah accepted that dua and he sent his Messenger ﷺ. But am I following him or somebody else? Let us ask before we are asked. Because that is the first question in our grave. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala not only accepted our dua, but he also told us that the way of Muhammad ﷺ, Islam, would become the most preferred and prevalent way of life on earth. Today, we wonder how certain negative harmful lifestyles have become so prevalent and powerful when just a few, few years ago they were despised and kept hidden. That is the power of living your choice with confidence. No matter what it is, if you do it with confidence, the world will accept. If this is possible with negative things, how much more with positive ones? But when the ignorant are confident and the knowledgeable are diffident and apologetic, ignorance will prevail. Remember that when the truth must be spoken, silence is culpable. The Prophet ﷺ and all those who followed him will be our witnesses. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala called the Prophet ﷺ, his blessing on the believers and declared his mission. And he said, Allah said, Allah said, which means indeed, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has done, the believers a great favor by raising a messenger from among them, reciting to them his revelations, purifying them and teaching them the book and wisdom. For indeed, they had previously been clearly astray. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala emphasized two things. The fact that the sending of his messenger, who was also human, is a double blessing. That we got a messenger and he is from among us. And that before the coming of the messenger, sallallaahu alaihi wasallam, the believers had no way, were misguided. This is the most certain evidence that guidance is only in the way of and through Muhammad ﷺ. And all other ways that do not come from him or bypass him are misguided. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala granted Ibrahim alaihi salam his dua, but changed the order of what he asked for, which underlines for us the importance of the sequence of learning. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent Rasulullah ﷺ with four connected duties. These are four progressive stages of learning and guidance. Four steps to Jannah. They are, yathlu walaihim ayatihi, recite, wa yuzakkihim, purify, wa yu'allimuhum alkitab, to teach, wal hikmah, to demonstrate. From the perspective of the audience, of the learners, these four, our four steps would be to listen, when he recites, to submit, when he purifies, to learn, when he teaches,