Friday Sermon by: Alban Fejza, Online Congregation Director
Summary:
In this Friday sermon, Alban Fejza reads the invitation he sent to 34 websites and social media groups that follow the Quran alone, proposing a God Alone Alliance to promote the worship of God alone, and explains how the fact that only one group joined fulfills the prophecy in verse 72:19.
Video Transcript:
Praise be to God. There is no other god except God.
As some of you might be aware, there are currently about 30 to 40 websites or social media groups who outwardly say that they worship God alone and that they use the Quran alone as the only source of religious law. They exist as many different groups because they have divisions about other issues. For example, one group might believe that the Earth is flat according to the Quran, and another group might believe that the Earth is round according to the Quran, and they both claim to follow the Quran alone. So, to temporarily resolve these differences in theology, or at least to agree to disagree, I decided to invite all the biggest groups who believe in the Quran alone to co-create a God Alone Alliance, through which we would join forces to promote the worship of God alone. Here is the document which I sent them:
God Alone Alliance. Mission: to promote the worship of God alone, and the use of the Quran alone as the only source of religious law.
Background: During the past 14 centuries, traditions, customs, superstitions and innovations have crept into Islam, and they have reached the point where they have been vested with such religious solidity that anyone who questions them is regarded as a dangerous innovator and heretic. One of the most flagrant mistakes which has crept into Islam is the use of sources outside of the Quran for religious conclusions. Nevertheless, in the last centuries, a large number of people have rightly reached the conclusion that we should worship God alone, without associating any partner with Him, and that we should use the Quran as the only source of religious truth and law. These individuals, who have reached the right conclusion about the correct religious principles and methodology, God alone and Quran alone, have unfortunately developed a number of possible solutions to religious issues, which has led to considerable bickering, disunity and disarray.
This is not to say that one of the groups is not right in understanding the Quran, but despite that, it would still benefit any right group to cooperate with other, less righteous groups who agree in principle to worship God alone and to use the Quran alone as the only source of religious law, because what these groups agree about in principle, which is to worship God alone, is far more important than their differences. Therefore, an alliance of people who agree in principle that we should worship God alone and use the Quran alone as the only source of religious law is needed, as a united front against idol worshipers.
This alliance would not aim to resolve the other, peripheral issues of disagreement between the groups. The alliance would only aim to join forces for the purpose of promoting the worship of God alone and the use of the Quran alone as the only source of religious law, while each member of the alliance would be free to continue to hold their different religious beliefs on other issues. The purpose of the alliance is to emphasize the promotion of worshiping God alone, while de-emphasizing the other differences, and hopefully to increase the internal civilized dialogue between these groups, to at least open the door to a more cohesive understanding and application of the Quran. Each group which joins the alliance will continue to have full independence from the alliance and its members, while enjoying the opportunity for peace, better open communication, and coordination about shared goals with other alliance members.
Who can become a member: any group which fulfills the two following criteria: one, agrees to worship God alone and promotes it; and two, agrees to use the Quran alone as the source of religious law and promotes it. Group types and sizes: websites with more than 1,000 visits per month, or social media groups with more than 100 subscribers or members.
Process of membership in the alliance: any new member group can join unless there is an objection by one or more of the existing members. An objection can only be raised if there is evidence that the potential new member does not, in principle, agree to worship God alone or to use the Quran alone as the source of religious law. The objection cannot be an indirect conclusion by the existing members; it should come from what the group wishing to join the alliance directly states about what they believe.
Mode of operation: the alliance will be operated through an online meeting, held every six months, with one representative from each group. The meeting lasts exactly 4 hours and 19 minutes. The alliance will not have a leader. All members are equal and will have equal time to speak in the meeting. The members will rotate in hosting the meetings, and the host will hold the meeting in the main medium of communication which they use for their internal group meetings. The meeting host will make the introduction of the representatives of the member groups and the goodbye, without any connotation of which members he supports. Meeting agenda: introduction and welcome, 2 minutes; main speeches, 3 hours; break, 15 minutes; supporting or rebuttal speeches, 1 hour; and goodbye, 2 minutes.
Pledge: We agree that we shall not worship except God, that we never set up any idols besides Him, nor set up any human beings as lords besides God. We agree to use and promote the Quran as the only source of religious law. Member group link, full name of the representative of the member group, signature and date.
So I sent this document, this invitation to join the God Alone Alliance, to the owners of 27 websites and seven social media groups, the biggest ones which I could find online. In total, all of them together have about 1 million views each month, and they generally exist as different sites and social media groups because they do not agree with one another, and in general, they do not like one another. So here is the list of all the 34 groups to whom I sent the invitation to co-create the God Alone Alliance together. And do you know how many of those 34 websites joined? Only one.
This happened so that a prophecy in the Quran could be fulfilled once more. The prophecy in verse 72:19 says that when God’s servant advocated Him alone, almost all of them banded together to oppose him. And the response to them for their opposition is in the following verses. It says: “Say, ‘I worship only my Lord; I never set up any idols beside Him.’ Say, ‘I possess no power to harm you, nor to guide you.’ Say, ‘No one can protect me from God, nor can I find any other refuge beside Him. I deliver God’s proclamations and His messages.’ Those who disobey God and His messenger incur the fire of Hell, wherein they abide forever. Once they see what is awaiting them, they will find out who is really weaker in power and fewer in number.”