Praise be to God, there is no other god except God. Let me just address a small thing before I continue with the main topic. I see that typically some people have a habit of kind of waiting for the Friday sermon to start for them to join the chat. The idea is so that you join the chat whenever you’re available, even earlier. Because sometimes I wait to kind of like—I delay the Friday sermon a little bit thinking that no one is online or, I mean, I see some people online and then I’m like, “Oh, let me wait a little bit until others join.”

But you guys are waiting for me to start so you can join, so it’s kind of like it’s delaying everything. And by the way, these musics which I’ve done—part of the reason why the AI did, part of the reason why I’m showing them, they are really not important, is because I just wanted some delay until we get used to starting on time, and those get shorter and shorter. But eventually, God willing, I’m just going to start on time whenever the 12:00 is or in whatever universal time, I’m just going to start on time. If you’re late, you’re late. So just please try to start having a habit of actually joining a little bit earlier so you can be on time rather than joining in time. Because with technology, then you’ll be a little bit late. That’s just a small thing.

So now I can see a lot of people have joined. Yeah, so what do I want to talk—what do I want to talk about today?

A couple of days ago I was thinking like, I don’t know, I read some kind of article from a scientist that rainbows are not real, which I already knew, but like the way they were putting it. And it got me thinking about some aspects of the stories in the Quran. So the idea is that when people look at the rainbow, if you look at the rainbow, it kind of looks real. It looks like you’re seeing some colors, and you think it has a specific location at a specific time.

But according to one of the scientists, and a lot of scientists agree with that—I also mostly agree with that—the rainbow is not real. Because if you look at the rainbow, let’s say from a certain location, let’s say from one hill when it’s raining all above all the hills in that region, when someone looks at the rainbow from that one hill, they think it’s in that direction.

But when another person looks at that hill, he is not going to see the rainbow in the same location. He’s going to see his own rainbow. So was the rainbow even real if it changed location based on where you are? You can think of it as an illusion. But I don’t see that according to the article that the rainbow is an illusion, it’s not real.

I would say that’s also not too fully correct to say because you cannot call something which everyone sees not real. To me, the totality of all rainbows is real. So there’s such a thing where if you look at that—let’s say when it rains from every hill, let’s say from every location—so I’m here, I’m looking at the rainbow, now I’m moving here, I’m looking at the rainbow again, I’m moving here, I’m looking at the rainbow again, and when I add all of those up, that’s real.

Basically, the one specific rainbow which I’m looking at is a tiny bit real—0.00 whatever, how many options we have there, 0.001% real. And then we have another rainbow which is 0.0001% real, and when you look at all of them, you add them up, then the total is 100% real. The totality of all the rainbows is real. But each specific rainbow you look at is not really fully real, it’s mostly fake.

And by the way, what do I mean by real? I mean materially real in this world for things. According to physics, for things to be real in this world, they have to be in, to have a time and a place. They have to be at a specific time in a specific place. And the rainbow doesn’t really have a specific place. Wherever you move, it’s there. It does have a specific time, though, like when it rains, it’s there.

I want to connect this with some of the stories from the Quran, because the reason why the rainbow actually looks a little bit more real than other things is because it has this universal appeal. Exactly that what enables it, the reason why it sort of doesn’t look fully real, it appeals to all the people. So it has universal appeal, kind of like everyone sees their own rainbow. And I’m not talking here about subjectivity versus objectivity, I’m just talking like everyone sees their own rainbow, which gives it the universal appeal. Everyone would love to see a rainbow. Everyone thinks, “Oh, I saw a rainbow, it was special.” It’s as if though it has to do with you, something with you, with the way you’re seeing it.

In the same way, God intentionally, even though the stories in the Quran are definitely real—they have a specific time and a place where they happened, they definitely happened in a specific time in a specific place—God sort of doesn’t focus on the time much because God wants, because those stories have a universal appeal. God doesn’t specifically tell us, oh, Abraham lived in the year 950 BC, like you never hear that in the Quran, or Moses lived in whatever like 450 BC. That’s not really important because those stories have universal appeal. Everyone can see something which relates to them in relation to that story.

And these stories, even though they have a universal appeal, a lot of them because they are mentioned in the Bible, we kind of know when they happened. We can connect them to something, oh, these are the ancestors of children of Israel, and the ancestors of children of Israel are Israel, whatever, Isaac, Abraham, Joseph, messengers like that, and Noah. Noah by the way was an ancestor of all the people as well. But these are mentioned in the Bible because the Bible mentions them specifically because they are ancestral, like the ancestors of children of Israel.

The Bible sort of only focuses on—because the children of Israel were the only nation to be chosen at that time in the ancient times, God only mentioned to them what had to do with them. God didn’t tell them a story about China or a story about not even Arabs, God didn’t tell them about that, or Europeans or Africa. God didn’t tell them those stories, only what had to do with the children of Israel. So you have those stories in the Bible, stories which had to do with the children of Israel. They kind of knew those stories anyway, kind of based on folklore, like one father telling their son the story, and then he telling his son, and him telling his son. So even though God revealed them, a lot of those stories, the main parts probably of the stories they already knew through tradition, they already knew through hearing it from other people.

But there are some messengers which are not mentioned. And why are they not mentioned, by the way? Because sometimes people will say, like especially the Christians will be like, oh, why does the Bible not mention Hud? It must be a fake book or whatever. It doesn’t because it has nothing to do with the children of Israel. It’s outside of that scope. The Bible only deals with the worldview which has to do with the children of Israel. Even the Quran says, even Jesus when the Quran says that Jesus was sent to the children of Israel saying, “I come to you as a messenger to the children of Israel.” And anything outside of that is not mentioned in the Bible, even if it’s true.

And three messengers which truly came, which are mentioned in the Quran, which are not mentioned in the Bible—we know why, not because they are not true, but because they have nothing to do with children of Israel—are Hud, Saleh, and Shuayb. So these three messengers are mentioned in the Quran, but they are not mentioned in the Bible. And because of this, I think they actually have even bigger universal appeal, kind of like the rainbow. They are true by the way, not fake like the rainbow, but they have a bigger appeal. Everyone can relate to that story. The reason is that most people today are not children of Israel, and most people today don’t live in biblical times. Therefore, these kind of stories about Hud, Saleh have to do with us, with any time, more than the other stories.

And why do they have to do more with us at all times? All three of them were messengers who were sent in what today is Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula. Again, God only mentioned the ones which have to do with which people already knew during Muhammad’s time. So those stories already existed during Muhammad’s time. It’s not like God revealed something which they totally had no idea what it was. People knew stories about Hud because, again, why did they know about that? It was stories about the ancestors of—if we can call them Arabs, then they were not fully Arabs, sort of the ancestors of pre-Arabs. So that’s why the Quran mentions them, because the Quran was revealed to Muhammad who lived among the Arabs, and those stories were already known among the Arabs. God wanted to relate to what they were talking about, wanted to talk about things which they already were talking about.

So yeah, those three messengers, all three of them were sent to what today is the Arabian Peninsula. And the reason is because Muhammad was an Arab, so God told them stories which they already talked about so that they could relate to it. However, God really doesn’t focus in the Quran telling us that, because they relate to all human beings.

And how do they relate to all human beings? It’s because these are stories about destruction, messengers being sent to a whole community, the community not believing, the community being destroyed. And this is kind of the story of all of us, of the whole modern civilization. Messengers are being sent, the whole world pretty much doesn’t believe except for a few people, and in the end times, the world will be destroyed.

By the way, now the whole world is kind of one community more and more, like with online stuff, with AI, with all of this, we’re just pretty much one community. You can trade and buy. I mean, not fully yet, because let’s say you can go in some country, they still don’t use Amazon. Amazon is like where you buy things online, so it’s not really fully integrated yet. But most of the world is really integrated, meaning it acts like one city. And when it becomes fully one city—and by fully city I mean fully built—then it’s time for the world to be destroyed. That’s when the end of the world will come.

Now what I want to do in the second sermon is just read these three stories: the story of Hud, the story of Saleh, the story of Shuayb. All three stories are sort of told about three times each, so they are going to repeat it a little bit. It’s going to be repetitive. However, that might actually help us remember them.

By the way, the Quran doesn’t say the same thing with the same words. Sometimes it will tell something, and sometimes Christians will think this is a contradiction. For example, if I say that I went today and had coffee with—when I was coming back from work, I met John and I had coffee with him. If I say that, then another time if I say, “When I was coming back from work, I met John and I gave him a ride,” both of them are true. Both of them can be true. I had coffee and then gave him a ride, or maybe I gave him a ride and we had coffee in the car. So both of them can be true. So just because you have differences in the story, it doesn’t mean it’s not true. What it means is that God wants to tell us more. In one specific case, He wants to tell us about the coffee; in the other case, He wants to tell us about the ride. In this way, we learn more. In other words, God doesn’t want to repeat Himself too much in the same way because then we wouldn’t learn new things.

So yeah, the stories will repeat partly, but they will kind of be told in a different way. Don’t let that fall into the trap of some Christians who say that this is why it’s fake because it’s not told the same way. It doesn’t have to be told the same way. Even in their books, their gospels are not told the same way. They don’t tell the same story about Jesus; some of them tell something else, others tell something else. But all of them can be true unless they are in contradiction, which sometimes in the Bible they are actually, but not in the Quran. By contradiction, I mean someone says, “After work I went home,” but then in another story I say, “After work I did not go home.” That’s a contradiction. That’s a clear contradiction.

So yeah, let’s repent, and then God willing we’ll read the stories. Let’s repent.

Praise be to God, there is no other god except God. So let me just read these three stories from the Quran which are non-Jewish stories. Let me just share the screen actually. So you cannot find these stories in the Bible; they are only in the Quran or in ancient Arab tradition. Okay, so let’s start with Hud. Then we have the story of Saleh, and then we have the story of Shuayb.

I seek refuge in God from Satan. They rejected Hud.

To ‘Ad we sent their brother Hud. He said, “Oh my people, worship God. You have no other god beside Him. Would you then observe righteousness?”

The leaders who disbelieved among his people said, “We see that you are behaving foolishly, and we think that you are a liar.”

He said, “Oh my people, there is no foolishness in me. I am a messenger from the Lord of the universe. I deliver to you my Lord’s messages, and I am honestly advising you. Is it too much of a wonder that a message should come to you from your Lord through a man like you to warn you? Recall that He made you inheritors after the people of Noah and multiplied your number. Remember God’s blessings that you may succeed.”

They said, “Did you come to make us worship God alone and abandon what our parents used to worship? We challenge you to bring the doom you threaten us with if you are truthful.”

He said, “You have incurred condemnation and wrath from your Lord. Do you argue with me in defense of innovations you have fabricated, you and your parents, which were never authorized by God? Therefore, wait, and I will wait along with you.”

We then saved him and those with him by mercy from us, and we annihilated those who rejected our revelations and refused to be believers.

To ‘Ad we sent their brother Hud. He said, “Oh my people, worship God. You have no other god besides Him. You are inventing. Oh my people, I do not ask you for any wage. My wage comes only from the one who initiated me. Do you not understand? Oh my people, seek forgiveness from your Lord, then repent to Him. He will then shower you with provisions from the sky and augment your strength. Do not turn back into transgressors.”

They said, “Oh Hud, you did not show us any proof, and we are not abandoning our gods on account of what you say. We will never be believers with you. We believe that some of our gods have afflicted you with a curse.”

He said, “I bear witness before God, and you bear witness as well, that I disown the idols you have set up beside Him. So give me your collective decision without delay. I have put my trust in God, my Lord and your Lord. There is not a creature that He does not control. My Lord is on the right path. If you turn away, I have delivered to you what I was sent with. My Lord will substitute other people in your place. You cannot harm Him in the least. My Lord is in control of all things.”

When our judgment came, we saved Hud and those who believed with him by mercy from us. We saved them from a terrible retribution. Such was ‘Ad. They disregarded the revelations of their Lord, disobeyed His messengers, and followed the ways of every stubborn tyrant. Consequently, they incurred condemnation in this world and on the day of resurrection. Indeed, ‘Ad rejected their Lord. Indeed, ‘Ad, the people of Hud, have perished.

‘Ad disbelieved the messengers. Their brother Hud said to them, “Would you not be righteous? I am an honest messenger to you. You shall reverence God and obey me. I do not ask you for any wage. My wage comes from the Lord of the universe. You build on every hill a mansion for vanity’s sake. You set up buildings as if you last forever, and when you strike, you strike mercilessly. You shall reverence God and obey me. Reverence the one who provided you with all the things you know. He provided you with livestock and children and gardens and springs. I fear for you the retribution of an awesome day.”

They said, “It is the same whether you preach or do not preach. That affliction was limited to our ancestors. No retribution will ever befall us.”

They thus disbelieved, and consequently we annihilated them. This should be a lesson, but most people are not believers. Most assuredly, your Lord is the Almighty, Most Merciful.

Recall that the brother of ‘Ad warned his people at the dunes. Numerous warnings were also delivered before him and after him: “You shall not worship except God. I fear for you the retribution of a great day.”

They said, “Did you come to divert us from our gods? We challenge you to bring the retribution you threaten if you are truthful.”

He said, “The knowledge about this is with God. I only deliver to you what I was sent to deliver. However, I see that you people are ignorant.”

When they saw the storm heading their way, they said, “This storm will bring to us much needed rain.” Indeed, this is what you challenged Hud to bring. Violent wind wherein there is a painful retribution. It destroyed everything as commanded by its Lord. By morning, nothing was standing except their homes. We thus requite the guilty people.

Now the story of Saleh. To Thamud we send their brother Saleh. He said, “Oh my people, worship God. You have no other god beside Him. Proof has been provided for you from your Lord. Here is God’s camel to serve as a sign for you. Let her eat from God’s land, and do not touch her with any harm lest you incur a painful retribution. Recall that He made you inheritors after ‘Ad and established you on earth, building mansions in its valleys and carving homes from its mountains. You shall remember God’s blessings and do not roam the earth corruptingly.”

The arrogant leaders among his people said to the common people who believed, “How do you know that Saleh is sent by his Lord?”

They said, “The message he brought has made us believers.”

The arrogant ones said, “We disbelieve in what you believed in.”

Subsequently, they slaughtered the camel, rebelled against their Lord’s command, and said, “Oh Saleh, bring the doom you threaten us with if you are really a messenger.” Consequently, the quake annihilated them, leaving them dead in their homes. He turned away from them saying, “Oh my people, I have delivered my Lord’s message to you and advised you, but you do not like any advisers.”

To Thamud we sent their brother Saleh. He said, “Oh my people, worship God. You have no other god beside Him. He initiated you from the earth, then settled you in it. You shall seek His forgiveness, then repent to Him. My Lord is always near responsive.”

They said, “Oh Saleh, you used to be popular among us before this. Are you enjoining us from worshiping what our parents are worshiping? We are full of doubt concerning everything you have told us.”

He said, “Oh my people, what if I have solid proof from my Lord and mercy from Him? Who would support me against God if I disobeyed Him? You can only augment my loss. Oh my people, this is God’s camel to serve as a proof for you. You shall let her eat from God’s earth, and do not touch her with any harm lest you incur an immediate retribution.”

They slaughtered her and he then said, “You have only three days to live. This is a prophecy that is inevitable.”

When our judgment came, we saved Saleh and those who believed with him by mercy from us from the humiliation of that day. Your Lord is the most powerful, the Almighty. Those who transgressed were annihilated by the disaster, leaving them in their homes dead. It was as if they never lived there. Indeed, Thamud have rejected their Lord. Absolutely Thamud have incurred their annihilation.

Thamud disbelieved the messengers. Their brother Saleh said to them, “Would you not be righteous? I am an honest messenger to you. You shall reverence God and obey me. I do not ask you for any wage; my wage comes only from the Lord of the universe. Do you suppose you will be left forever secure in this state? You enjoy gardens and springs, and crops and date palms with delicious fruits. You carve out of the mountains luxurious mansions. You shall reverence God and obey me. Do not obey the transgressors who commit evil, not good works.”

They said, “You are bewitched. You are no more than a human like us. Produce a miracle if you are truthful.”

He said, “Here is a camel that will drink only on a day that is assigned to her, a day that is different from your specified days of drinking. Do not touch her with any harm lest you incur a retribution on an awesome day.”

They slaughtered her and thus incurred sorrow. The retribution overwhelmed them. This should be a lesson, but most people are not believers. Most assuredly, your Lord is the Almighty, Most Merciful.

Again, we have sent to Thamud their brother Saleh saying, “You shall worship God,” but they turned into two feuding factions. He said, “Oh my people, why do you hasten to commit evil instead of good works? If only you implored God for forgiveness, you may attain mercy.”

They said, “We consider you a bad omen for us, you and those who joined you.”

He said, “Your omen is fully controlled by God. Indeed, you are deviant people.”

There were nine gangsters in the city who were wicked and never did anything good. They said, “Let us swear by God that we kill him and his people, then tell his tribe, ‘We know nothing about their death. We are truthful.'” They plotted and schemed, but we also plotted and schemed while they did not perceive. Know the consequences of their plotting: we annihilated them and all their people. Here are their homes utterly ruined because of their transgression. This should be a lesson for people who know. We saved those who believed and led a righteous life.

The story of Shuayb. To Midian we send their brother Shuayb. He said, “Oh my people, worship God. You have no other god beside Him. Proof has come to you from your Lord. You shall give full weight and full measure when you trade. Do not cheat the people out of their rights. Do not corrupt the earth after it has been set straight. This is better for you if you are believers. Refrain from blocking every path, seeking to repel those who believe from the path of God, and do not make it crooked. Remember that you used to be few and He multiplied your number. Recall the consequences for the wicked. Now that some of you have believed in what I was sent with, and some have disbelieved, wait until God issues His judgment between us. He is the best judge.”

The arrogant leaders among his people said, “We will evict you, Shuayb, together with those who believe with you from our town unless you revert to our religion.”

He said, “Are you going to force us? We would be blaspheming against God if we reverted to your religion after God has saved us from it. How could we revert back to it against the will of God, our Lord? Our Lord’s knowledge encompasses all things. We have put our trust in God, our Lord. Grant us a decisive victory over our people. You are the best supporter.”

The disbelieving leaders among his people said, “If you follow Shuayb, you will be losers.”

The quake annihilated them, leaving them dead in their homes. Those who rejected Shuayb vanished as if they never existed. Those who rejected Shuayb were the losers. We turned away from them saying, “Oh my people, I have delivered to you the message of my Lord, and I have advised you. How can I grieve over disbelieving people?”

To Midian we sent their brother Shuayb. He said, “Oh my people, worship God. You have no other god beside Him. Do not cheat when you measure or weigh. I see that you are prosperous, and I fear for you the retribution of an overwhelming day. Oh my people, you shall give full measure and full weight equitably. Do not cheat the people out of their rights, and do not roam the earth corruptingly. Whatever God provides for you, no matter how small, is far better for you if you are really believers. I am not a guardian over you.”

They said, “Oh Shuayb, does your religion dictate upon you that we must abandon our parents’ religion or running our business in any manner we choose? Surely you are known for being wise.”

He said, “Oh my people, what if I have solid proof from my Lord, what if He has provided me with a great blessing? It is not my wish to commit what I enjoin you from. I only wish to correct as many wrongs as I can. My guidance depends totally on God. I have put my trust in Him, to Him I have totally submitted. And oh my people, do not be provoked by your opposition to me into incurring the same disasters as the people of Noah, or the people of Hud, or the people of Saleh. And the people of Lot are not too far from you. You shall implore your Lord for forgiveness, then repent to Him. My Lord is most merciful, kind.”

They said, “Oh Shuayb, we do not comprehend many of the things you are telling us, and we see that you are powerless among us. If it were not for your tribe, we would have stoned you. You have no value for us.”

He said, “Oh my people, does my tribe command greater respect than God? Is this why you have been heedless of him? My Lord is fully aware of everything you do. Oh my people, go on doing what you wish, and so will I. You will certainly find out which of us will incur shameful retribution. You will find out who the liar is. Just wait in anticipation, and I will wait in anticipation along with you.”

When our judgment came, and we saved Shuayb and those who believed with him by mercy from us, as for the evil ones they were struck by a disaster that left them dead in their homes. It was as though they never existed. Thus Midian perished just like Thamud had perished before that.

The people of the woods disbelieved the messengers. Shuayb said to them, “Would you not be righteous? I am an honest messenger to you. You shall reverence God and obey me. I do not ask you for any wage; my wage comes only from the Lord of the universe. You shall give full measure when you trade; do not cheat. You shall weigh with an equitable scale. Do not cheat the people out of their rights, and do not roam the earth corruptingly. Riverence the one who created you and the previous generations.”

They said, “You are bewitched. You are no more than a human being like us. In fact, we think you are a liar. Let masses from the sky fall on us if you are truthful.”

He said, “My Lord is the one who knows everything you do.”

They disbelieved him, and consequently they incurred the retribution of the day of the canopy. It was the retribution of an awesome day. This should be a lesson, but most people are not believers. Most assuredly, your Lord is the Almighty, Most Merciful.

To Midian we send their brother Shuayb. He said, “Oh my people, you shall worship God and seek the last day, and do not roam the earth corruptingly.”

They disbelieved him, and consequently the earthquake annihilated them. They were left dead in their homes by morning. Similarly, ‘Ad and Thamud were annihilated. This is made manifest to you through their ruins. The devil had adorned their works in their eyes and had diverted them from the path, even though they had eyes.

That’s kind of the end. As you can see, he talks about even the previous messengers which are his ancestors, like people of the past from his tribe, from the same genealogy, if we can say. He doesn’t talk about the Jewish messengers, so they all focused on their ancestors, like what they know from their ancestors.

Yeah, these are pretty much the three stories: the story of Hud, the story of Saleh, and the story of Shuayb. For those who have to do the contact prayer, do the contact prayer. The rest of you, you can do it later whenever your time for the contact prayer comes. Peace be upon you.

Friday Sermon by: Alban Fejza, Online Congregation Director