Embody Islam

Transcribed and Rendered Into the English Language by:

Abu Adam Jameel Finch

Embody Islam
Before the noble reader is some advice and an Eid greeting given by our noble Shaykh, Ahmad Bazmool1 on the 14th of Ramadhaan, 1433AH, August 4th, 2012CE. It is directed to our Salafee brothers and sisters at Masjid as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and to the Salafees in the West in general. May Allah, the All-Able, make it beneficial to us all.

Shaykh Ahmad, may Allah protect him, said:

Indeed, all praise belongs to Allah; we seek His aid and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Him from the evil of ourselves and from the evil of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead him astray, and whomever He leads astray, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, who has no partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. The most truthful speech is the speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. And the worst affairs are newly invented matters into the religion. And every newly invented matter is innovation, and every innovation is astray, and every straying is in the Hell-Fire. I ask Allah, the Most High, to accept from us and from you, [our] fasting and [our] standing in prayer, and I ask Him to make us from those whose deeds are accepted, and I ask Him to make us from those who are successful in obtaining His pleasure and His delightful Paradise. 1 Dr. Abu Umar Ahmad Ibn Umar Ibn Saalim Baazmool is a lecturer at the University of

Umm al-Quraa. He is well known for his academic accomplishments as well as having learnt at the feet of the scholars. May Allah protect him from all that is evil.

Embody Islam
In this statement, I would like to offer this advice to myself firstly, then to my brothers in America at Masjid as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah specifically. I would also like to offer this advice to my brothers in the West generally. I offer this advice to them, and I ask Allah to make it a proof for us, not against us. I also ask Him to make us from those who take heed to what is being said and follow the best of it. So, I say, may Allah bless you, some of the most crucial affairs that are befitting for a Muslim to give importance to are adherence to the Sunnah, following in the footsteps of the Prophet, may Allah exalt His mention and grant him safety, and traversing the path of the Pious Predecessors2, may Allah be pleased with them. This is [the path of] safety and success. This is the straight path that we ask Allah [to guide us to] in our prayers when we read the Faatihah with our statement: Guide us to the straight path. This is the straight path: adhering to the Sunnah, which the Prophet came with from Allah, may Allah exalt his mention and grant him safety. The straight path also includes traversing the way of the Pious Predecessors, those whom we have been commanded to follow in their footsteps and seek their guidance, may Allah be pleased with them. And clinging to the Sunnah is confirmed by many proofs, from them, the statement of Allah, the Most High: And whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he prohibits you from, abstain from it. [Soorah al-Hashr (59): 7]

[TN ]: The Pious Predecessors are the first three generations of Muslims and those who practiced Islam according to their understandings.

Embody Islam
And His statement, the Most High: O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger... [Soorah an-Nisaa (4): 59] And His statement, the Most High: Say: If you love Allah then follow me, Allah will love you... [Soorah Aali-Imraan (3): 31] And the statement of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah exalt his mention and grant him safety, in the hadeeth of Irbaadh Ibn Saariyah: Whoever amongst you lives after me shall see much differing, so it is upon you to cling to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the rightly-guided and guiding Caliphs after me. Adhere to it and bite on it with your molars. Beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the fire. Also, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah exalt his mention and grant him safety, said: I have left for you two matters; you will not go astray if you adhere to them: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah. And the statement of the Messenger, may Allah exalt his mention and grant him safety, about those who are the saved sect and the victorious group: Those who are upon what me and my Companions are upon. We notice in these prophetic narrations and evidences, that along with clinging to the sunnah, we must also stay away from, newly invented matters, innovations, desires, misguidance, and deviation. Therefore, it is not sufficient to merely claim that [we] are adherents of the Sunnah, yet, we are with the people of innovation, we contradict the Sunnah, and we dont seek guidance from the Pious Predecessors. 4

Embody Islam
So, adhering to the Sunnah necessitates that we stay far away from innovation and misguidance. In other words, we are far removed from deviation in methodology. In other words, we are truthful. [Allah, the Most High, says]: O you who believe! Fear Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds). [Soorah at-Taubah (9): 119] For this reason, the People of the Sunnah are viewed as strange. Just as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah exalt his mention and grant him safety, stated: Islam began strange, and it will return to being strange just as it began. Thus, give glad tidings to the strangers. And Allah, the Most High, said: And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allahs Path. [Soorah alAnaam (6): 116] So, [we see], the People of the Sunnah, those who are strange, are few in number. There will be a Prophet who will come on the Day of Judgment accompanied by a small group. There will be a Prophet who comes accompanied by two men. There will be a Prophet who comes accompanied by one man. And there will be a Prophet who isnt accompanied by anyone. This is similar to what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah exalt his mention and grant him safety, stated. So, the people of the truth, those who cling firmly to it, are few in number. Because of this, there is a doubt that arises and spreads, and it could affect the soul: We are upon the truth. And even though we are upon the truth, we see

others greater than us in number and greater than us in many other things.

Embody Islam
It is not befitting [for those upon the truth] to be deceived by these things. This is because those upon the truth are considered the main body of Muslims. Ibn Masood clarified this with his statement: The truth is considered the main body Muslims, even if youre by yourself. Another affair that should be realized and paid heed to is that gathering and large numbers are praiseworthy only if it is founded upon the truth and in agreement with the Sunnah, far removed from innovation and misguidance. As for large numbers coupled with deviation, then on that day, you are like froth that has gathered from a flood, it yields no benefit at all. Also, large numbers do not prove that those who participate in this [erroneous] form of gathering are upon the truth - if they havent gathered upon the guidelines of adhering to the Book of our Lord, the Sunnah of our Prophet, and the direction of the Pious Predecessors. My brothers, this day is a day of joy and happiness, and it is a day for thanking Allah for allowing us to complete [fasting the month of] Ramadhaan. We ask Allah, the Most High, to make us from those whose actions are accepted and from those who are successful, and that He allows us to utilize these times and [this day of Eid] for obedience to Him. [Allah, the Most High, says]: Say: Verily, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the mankind, jinn and all that exists. He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims . [Soorah al-Anaam (6): 162-163]

Embody Islam
This day, the day of Eid, is one of joy, happiness, and implementing the Sunnah of the Messenger, such as eating dates before going to the Eid Prayer, going [to the prayer] by one path, returning by another, and people witnessing the Eid. And the Eid prayer should be performed in an open area or in a Masjid belonging to the Muslims, according to that which is easy for them. [Importantly], a Muslim should be diligent in praying with his Salafee brothers, those who are holding firm to the truth, even if they are few. He should be diligent about that, and he shouldnt be deceived that some Masjids carry larger numbers and that they have the ability to do more things. These things are not praiseworthy and desired in and of themselves. Rather, what is sought after is the truth, traversing its path, and [being with] the people upon the truth. This is what a Muslim is concerned about, and this is what our Pious Predecessors were concerned about. I ask Allah, the Most High, to complete our joy and make our time full of His remembrance and His obedience, and that He makes from those who take heed to what is being said and follow the best of it. And may Allah exalt the mention and grant safety to our Prophet Muhammad, His Family and all of his Companions.