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FRIDAY KHUTBA OF TOKYO CAMİİ
August 19, 2016
THE STRAIGHT PATH
Brothers and Sisters!
Our Prophet (s.a.w.) recited a verse from
the Holy Quran when he was with some of his
companions. The verse was about how members
of the religion before Islam distorted Allah’s
religion: “They have taken their scholars and
monks as lords besides Allah, and also the
Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not
commanded except to worship one God; there
is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above
whatever they associate with Him.” (AtTawbah, 9/31)
Following the Prophet’s recitation of the
verse, a companion who had converted to Islam
from Christianity said, “O Messenger of Allah!
We did not worship them!” Then the Prophet
asked him, “They ruled whatever they wished
lawful or unlawful. You did abide by them,
did not you?” And when he said “Yes!” the
Prophet said, “That is what the verse
addresses.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The verse shows us that the humankind
went through deviations and slips in their
religious understanding and vision throughout
history. To prevent those slips and deviations, the
Almighty called humankind to belief in oneness
through His blessed messengers from Adam (a.s.)
to our Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (s.a.w.).
The belief in oneness (tawheed) is the
straight path. On this path, there is obedience,
there is submission, and there is servitude to the
one and only Allah. On this path, there is
straightforwardness, there is honesty, there is
seeming as you are, and there is being as you
seem instead of apostasy, blasphemy, discord,
and hypocrisy. On this path, there is morality,
there is virtue, and there is sincerity. On this
path, there is right, not wrong, there is
obedience, not betrayal. On this road, there is a
destination, there is justice, and there is abiding
by what is right; not deviance, rampage,
presumption, and cruelty.
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
On the straight path of the Almighty,
there is no other “innocent and indisputable”
person with a virtuous character other than
Prophets. Nobody other than Prophets can be
considered special, chosen or infallible on the
straight path. Nobody’s words, works, and acts
are attributed with holiness and sheer wisdom.
No creature can be obeyed with regard to
rebelling to Allah on the straight path. Shortly,
absolute obedience and commitment are
principles the framework which is defined by
the Quran and Sunnah.
Brothers and Sisters!
Remember that everybody will define
their own consequence in the afterlife with what
they do in this world. Nobody will lay the
burden of their own responsibility and account
on others. On that great day, our loyal faith, our
sincere intent, our true knowledge, our good
deeds, our sound heart will be our sole hope.
The profound compassion of the Almighty will
be our sole shelter.
May the Almighty grant us to be among
His servants who always live in awareness of
their responsibility, conscious of their
accountability, and who are honored with His
compassion. May the Almighty never let us go
astray from the straight path or deprive us of it
even for a moment. May the Almighty never
allow those who want to destroy and abuse our
religious values, our faith, and our Islam.
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