Title of the Sermon: The Hoopoe and the Gleam of Civilization (Traveling to Western Countries for Summer Vacation)
Elements of the Sermon:
1. The Criterion of Progress.
2. Western Societies and False Civilization.
3. The Necessity of Avoiding Lands of Disbelief and Places of Immorality.
4. With Islam is the Life of the Worlds.
All praise be to Allah, who guides the misguided and clarifies the path and the message. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, the Lord of Might and Majesty. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, who fulfilled the trust and conveyed Allah's message. May Allah exalt and send peace to him abundantly.
To proceed:
Fear Allah, servants of Allah, as He should be feared, and be conscious of Him in private and in public. Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
"O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims" [Al-Imran: 102].
Servants of Allah:
While Solomon (peace be upon him) was standing among his soldiers, he noticed the absence of the hoopoe and did not find it. Soon after, the hoopoe came and explained the reason for its absence:
فَقَالَ أَحَطْتُ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ وَجِئْتُكَ مِنْ سَبَإٍ بِنَبَإٍ يَقِينٍ * إِنِّي وَجَدْتُ امْرَأَةً تَمْلِكُهُمْ وَأُوتِيَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَلَهَا عَرْشٌ عَظِيمٌ * وَجَدْتُهَا وَقَوْمَهَا يَسْجُدُونَ لِلشَّمْسِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ فَهُمْ لَا يَهْتَدُونَ * أَلَّا يَسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ الَّذِي يُخْرِجُ الْخَبْءَ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ
"I have encompassed [in knowledge] that which you have not encompassed, and I have come to you from Sheba with certain news. Indeed, I found a woman ruling over them, and she has been given of all things, and she has a great throne. I found her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of Allah, and Satan has made their deeds pleasing to them and averted them from [His] way, so they are not guided – [and] so they do not prostrate to Allah, who brings forth what is hidden within the heavens and the earth and knows what you conceal and what you declare" [An-Naml: 22-25].
The hoopoe described the Queen of Sheba as having been given everything of worldly matters that kings and people of the earth have in terms of resources and power, and she had a magnificent throne. However, all this dazzling civilization did not make the hoopoe elevate or esteem them in its heart, for they had gone astray from Allah and worshipped the sun instead of Him.
They had lost the most important thing that elevates a person, which is being guided to their Lord and Master, worshipping Him alone according to His law and decree.
Servants of Allah:
As soon as the school holidays begin, people look for ways to relax and have fun. Some enjoy lawful and wholesome activities, using them to help in the obedience of Allah and to continue life's journey with their families. However, a large number of people head to the lands of disbelief, seeking enjoyment and leisure in those places, exposing themselves to doors of temptation and evil.
How is that?
Most of these nations have been led astray by Satan and their desires from their Creator and Benefactor, falling into disbelief, paganism, atheism, or secularism. How can one who has gone astray from their Creator and Master taste the essence of life? How can they see when the light of their heart has been extinguished after becoming blind to Allah, the true God?
أَوَمَنْ كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِي النَّاسِ كَمَنْ مَثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِنْهَا كَذَلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْكَافِرِينَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
"Or is one who was dead and We gave him life and made for him light by which to walk among the people like one who is in darkness, never to emerge therefrom? Thus it has been made pleasing to the disbelievers that which they were doing" [Al-An'am: 122].
Their lives are based on seeking pleasures and desires by any means, without any constraints of religion, nature, or tradition. There is no shame among them in taking lovers, men engaging with men, or even with animals, making them worse than animals and more misguided. As the All-Knowing describes them:
وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ آذَانٌ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا أُولَئِكَ كَالْأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَ
"And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless" [Al-A'raf: 179].
These societies, which are full of corruption and darkness – corruption in beliefs, corruption in morals, corruption in dealings, and corruption in values – how can one feel secure in their faith and family in such environments?
Wherever you turn, you see the deification of humans, the tyranny of materialism, the savagery of capitalism, and the enslavement of people in the name of freedom.
You see nudity, debauchery, immorality, and intoxication. You see the spread of usury, the legalization of gambling and lotteries.
You see beings that are not human, but rather a distorted kind, living in misery and hardship. Although their outward lives may appear luxurious and civilized, in reality, they are dead and ignorant.
These nations, having gone astray from Allah, deviated from His guidance and law, worshiped their desires, and sanctified their worldly lives. They have no direction except their desires, even at the expense of other humans. They wage wars arrogantly, spread corruption and tyranny on earth, enslave nations, kill thousands upon thousands, spread destruction and injustice, plunder resources, and shed blood. They value only those who are of their own kind. Their history is filled with disgrace and shame, and their museums are full of skulls and artifacts.
For more than eight months, they have been soaking the land of Gaza with pure blood and scattered limbs. The people of Gaza are merely a group of oppressed and wronged individuals whose land has been taken. Their plight is broadcast by the media, and the whole world witnesses their suffering. Yet those oppressors, allies of the murderous criminals, provide them with money and weapons and compete to support them by all available means. They show no shame and no disapproval. It is no surprise, for these are the fruits of their animalistic civilization and their satanic souls.
Some weak-minded individuals are deceived by flashy slogans, military power, worldly progress, and social luxury, which leads them to glorify the West, praise them, and exalt their ideas and methods, even if they contradict the religion and law of Allah. They rejoice in their knowledge, not seeing in their ignorance what that wise hoopoe saw.
Allah has told us about perished civilizations that knew only the apparent aspect of worldly life. Allah granted them dominion over the land, its plains, and mountains, made gardens and springs for them, and they carved homes and palaces from the mountains. Yet, they disbelieved in the Almighty Allah and rejoiced in their knowledge, claiming, "Who is stronger than us in might?" They acted arrogantly on the earth without right, so Allah destroyed them and scattered them terribly, and your Lord is not unjust to His servants. Allah the Almighty said:
أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ كَانُوا أَكْثَرَ مِنْهُمْ وَأَشَدَّ قُوَّةً وَآثَارًا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَمَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ * فَلَمَّا جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَرِحُوا بِمَا عِنْدَهُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ
"Have they not traveled through the earth and observed how was the end of those before them? They were more numerous than themselves and greater in strength and in the impact [they left] on the earth. But all that they used to earn availed them not. And when their messengers came to them with clear proofs, they [merely] rejoiced in what they had of knowledge, but they were enveloped by what they used to ridicule" [Ghafir: 82-83].
O servants of Allah:
The most precious possession a believer has is his religion. He knows that this world is a place of testing, not a permanent abode, and that whoever loses his faith in Allah has truly lost both this world and the Hereafter. Therefore, you will not see a believer risking his religion, for his religion is his flesh and blood.
Allah has told us in His Book about the companions of the cave who chose to live there hoping for Allah's mercy, rather than living among communities that disbelieved in Allah. Allah says:
وَإِذِ اعْتَزَلْتُمُوهُمْ وَمَا يَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ فَأْوُوا إِلَى الْكَهْفِ يَنْشُرْ لَكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ وَيُهَيِّئْ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَمْرِكُمْ مِرْفَقًا
"And when you have withdrawn from them and that which they worship other than Allah, retreat to the cave; your Lord will spread out for you of His mercy and will prepare for you from your affair facility" [Al-Kahf: 16].
Allah has commanded us to avoid places of disbelief and immorality and forbade us from living among polytheists and disbelievers. He says:
وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الْكِتَابِ أَنْ إِذَا سَمِعْتُمْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ يُكْفَرُ بِهَا وَيُسْتَهْزَأُ بِهَا فَلَا تَقْعُدُوا مَعَهُمْ حَتَّى يَخُوضُوا فِي حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِ إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا مِثْلُهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ جَامِعُ الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ جَمِيعًا
"And it has already come down to you in the Book that when you hear the verses of Allah [recited], they are denied [by them] and ridiculed; so do not sit with them until they enter into another conversation. Indeed, you would then be like them. Indeed, Allah will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers in Hell all together" [An-Nisa: 140].
The Prophet ﷺ said: "I am free from every Muslim who resides among the polytheists." They said: "O Messenger of Allah, why?" He said: "Do not see each other's fires." Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi.
After that, is it permissible for a Muslim to reside in those lands seeking false pleasure, risking his religion and the religion of his family and children?!
May Allah bless me and you in the Great Qur'an, and benefit me and you with the verses and wise reminders contained in it. I seek Allah's forgiveness for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness, for He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Second Sermon
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His trustworthy Messenger, and upon all his family and companions.
Servants of Allah:
Before the mission of the Prophet ﷺ, Persia and Rome were steeped in idolatry, oppression, and ignorance, yet they considered themselves advanced and civilized and viewed the Arabs as ignorant and primitive. Despite this, when Allah sent His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to bring people out of darkness into light, He described the state of creation before his mission: "Indeed, Allah looked at the people of the earth and despised them, Arabs and non-Arabs alike, except for the remnants of the People of the Book." Narrated by Muslim.
He despised them for their disbelief, immorality, oppression, and ignorance. Then Allah brought forth light and truth, justice and mercy, faith and guidance, making the slogan of Islam: "There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab, nor a white person over a black person, nor a black person over a white person, except by piety."
Islam elevated Bilal the Abyssinian, Suhayb the Roman, and Salman the Persian because of their faith and piety, while it degraded Abu Lahab the Qurayshi because of his disbelief and tyranny, for it is the religion of Allah.
Since Allah sent the Prophet ﷺ as a mercy to the worlds, he stood up for Allah calling people, a shining light. He sent his ambassadors to their kings, inviting them to the one and only God. He saw them in darkness, lost, without a compass in life. Allah revived those who believed in Him from death, brought them out of darkness into light, from distress to ease, from the worship of people to the worship of the Lord of people, and from the injustice of religions to the justice of Islam.
Servants of Allah:
Allah has perfected our religion for us, a straight religion with no crookedness. Our religion is the religion of monotheism and natural disposition, the religion of morals and mercy. Hold fast to it until you meet your Lord, take pride in it over others, and you will enjoy a good life in this world and the Hereafter.
O Allah, we ask You for righteousness and piety in our journeys and deeds that please You. O Allah, we ask You for Your pleasure and Paradise, and we seek refuge in You from Your wrath and Hellfire. O Allah, help us to remember You, thank You, and worship You properly.
O Allah, be a helper and supporter to our oppressed brothers in Gaza and Sudan. O Allah, lift from them the affliction and distress with Your mercy and generosity.
O Allah, deal with the enemies of Islam from among the Jews, Christians, and hypocrites. O Allah, nullify their plots and protect us from their evil.
O Allah, grant success to our leader in what You love and are pleased with, and guide him to righteousness and piety.
Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the Fire.
