Allum and Ramadan mub uh for today’s reflection on the 12th je of the Quran I want I I want to speak about a particular part in the 11th Surah that’s of unique significance for us as Muslims it’s the story of n the prophet Noah uh where we know this
Is probably one of the most popular stories in the judeo-christian and Islamic tradition one of the more popular stories that the Prophet mus the prophet Noah pardon me he was commissioned by Allah to warn his people he worked amongst them for hundreds of years 950 years is given in the in the
Quran uh and in the Bible before and his people the bulk of them were not accepting his message after a while in the course of his mission Allah commanded him to build an ark a flood was going to come and destroy the world at the that time wipe out all life and
He was commanded to take two of every creature and bring it into the ark and the few that were Believers with him now what’s unique about the quranic narration is that in the Bible he takes two of every creature and he brings his family in in the Quran it doesn’t give
It like that he takes two of every creature but he also brings in a Remnant a small group of Believers and what’s unique about the Quran furthermore is that he actually has a son and he calls his son when the flood waters are coming
To join him in the ark and his son says he he refuses his father’s invite and he says he I’m going to go to this mountain and it will defend me against the flood and Noah told his son nothing can defend you against the command of Allah this
Day and as the language goes a wave came between Father and Son the son was drowned after the waters begin to recede Noah cried or he he prayed to God and he said to God that my son is from my family and he was lamenting his death
And there’s a very important Ayah part of an Ayah at least where Allah says um oh Noah he is not from your family surely he the way he’s Des Allah describes him he describes him as a type he doesn’t say that he’s a unrighteous person he
Says that he is action or Works other than righteousness because the son is an unrighteous or he is described as Acts or behavior or Works other than righteous Allah says he is not your son or he really says he is not from your family he is not from your people he is
Not from your family what is the lesson here the lesson is extremely important that in Islam we have what’s really considered to be a spiritual Brotherhood Allah he says that the Believers on we are Brotherhood so it doesn’t matter if you are africanamerican if you’re African if
You are European if you are Asian no matter where you are on this planet Earth if you believe inuh if you have the pillars if you have the articles of Faith you believe in the Quran we have the same kiah Etc this is what really makes us a spiritual
Brotherhood and the spiritual life unlike the material life the material life is fading away the material life is temporary the spiritual life lasts it La it’s the lasting life so that Brotherhood that connection that Brotherhood and Sisterhood that family it is the more important family it is the more important Brotherhood this is
Not to say that our Blood Ties and our blood relatives are not to have our respect this is not to say that they are not to have all love and devotion but this is to say that there is a distinction to be made Islam is against tribalism uh ethnic Pride to the degree
That we would rather stick with someone of our own race or our own ethnicity our own or our own Nation even if they are disbelievers and this was a problem that was faced or Allah at least addresses it among the followers of the Prophet we are being elevated in our Consciousness
To really see that the spiritual life is the higher life is the true life and this is one of the lessons to be derived from this particular reading so we in this month of Ramadan all around the world we are fasting all around the world we’re reading the Quran all around
The world we have millions and millions two billion plus Muslims seeking to get closer to Allah we are all members of one huge spiritual family and that’s the beauty of this religion um I don’t think there’s any other religion they still say that Christians outnumber us but the Christians are not
Unified like we are unified the Protestants are different from the Catholics the Catholics are different from the Eastern Orthodox Church they have their different uh ways about them and they they’ve just split up they may all celebrate Christmas or Easter but I think even some of the Easter
Observances in the Easter days actually differ but here we are as Muslims to 2 billion plus our Ramadan is the same we may be a day or so off just because the sighting of the Moon in our local areas The Hil uh but in terms of the overarching structure of us as a
Spiritual Brotherhood it Remains the Same in this uh sign in this reality really the sign of this reality is seen most excellently in the Hajj the Hajj uh what we all come to that house and on the day of araa where we all come before the Lord of all the worlds in
The men we all come before him seeking pleading as servants equal before him so this is the beauty of Islam We Are Spiritual Brothers we are a spiritual Brotherhood and our Brotherhood is based upon righteousness is based upon belief is based upon good works in this world Ramadan
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