Friday Sermon by: Rashad Khalifa, Imam of Masjid Tucson
Summary:
In this Friday sermon, Rashad Khalifa explains that your god is whatever preoccupies your mind most of the day, whether yourself, your job, your money, your spouse or your children, and teaches practical ways to keep God on your mind all day, ending with the example of his son’s decisive hit in a baseball game as an illustration of how God gives believers victory when it counts.
Video Transcript:
We praise God, and we bear witness that there is no god except He.
The title of this khutba is “Who Is Your God?” and I bet you anything quite a few of you will be shocked, because the natural answer, the immediate answer, is, “What do you mean, who is my god? God is my God, the one who created me.” But the Quran is full of verses that tell us that millions of people would say that their god is God. You’re familiar with the verses that say if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will say God, but they’re going to Hell; the verses that say if you ask them who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the Lord with the great dominion and the great throne, they will answer God, but they’re going to Hell. You ask them who created them, they will say God. So these are millions of people who recognize God as the one who created the heavens and the earth, the one who created them, the one with the great authority, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, but they’re still going to Hell.
Now, I know this is your answer to “Who is your god?”: “God, the one God who created me.” But this khutba is to examine this question, and for you to examine your answer. We know that your happiness in this world and forever depends on knowing who your God is, and worshiping God. God guarantees you perfect happiness in this world and forever, and this is repeated in the Quran 23 times: perfect health, perfect wealth, perfect peace of mind, guaranteed. God is the one who runs the universe, and He’s guaranteeing this for you. No problems whatsoever. Read my lips, as Bush says: no problems whatsoever, if you are worshiping God alone, worshiping your God. And you and I are going to detect flaws in ourselves as we examine this question: who is your god?
I’m going to give you the answer first, and then we’ll discuss the specifics. It turns out that whatever is preoccupying your mind the majority of the day, that is your god. Whatever you are thinking of in your mind, this is your god, and the Quran explains this very clearly, in specific terms. If you are preoccupied with yourself, what you look like, your shave, your makeup, your dresses, your hair, if you are preoccupied with what people think of you, “He is a nice guy,” “She’s a nice lady,” if this is your concern the majority of the day, then you are your own god. You’re worshiping your ego. We see this in Sura 25:43, which says, “Have you noted the one whose god is his ego?” his desires, his wishes, or, literally, “his self,” quote unquote.
This answer, that whatever is preoccupying your mind most of the day is your god, is backed up by many, many verses in the Quran. If you are preoccupied with your job most of the day, that is your god, not God who created you. You can say that the one who created the heavens and the earth is God, but your god is your job. If your spouse preoccupies you more than God, then that is your god, your wife or your husband. If your property, or the dollar, the almighty dollar, preoccupies you, that is your god.
Now let us look at the Quran and see what backs up this idea. Sura 33:41 says, “O you who believe, commemorate God,” or remember God, or mention God, “a lot.” The prayer is mentioned five times a day; the fasting is one month in the year; the Zakat is two and a half percent of your income, and so on. Everything is limited. But when it comes to commemorating God, or mentioning God, or thinking of God, there is no limit. It says “a lot.” And the following verse says, “And glorify Him day and night.” Remember God, mention God, think of God a lot; glorify Him day and night. And I will discuss with you how to do this.
We see in Sura 3:191 a description of the believers who are going to Heaven. God says they are the ones who think of God, or mention God, or commemorate God, standing or sitting or on their sides. So this covers all your positions: standing up, sitting down, or lying down, to think of God. We see in Sura 2, verse 200, that you should think of God, or mention God, or commemorate God, just as you mention or think of your own parents, or even more. You can see “even more” is an addition. In Sura 2, verse 165, the believers are described as loving God the most. You see the comparison? You can love your spouse, you can love your children, you can even love your job, as long as God is in your mind the majority of the time. Whoever you’re thinking of the majority of the time is your god.
In 64:14 there’s a statement that says your spouses and your children can be your enemies. How could that be? By your becoming preoccupied with them. Ironically, if you want a good spouse and good children, you should give your attention to God, not to them, because God is with your kids as they ride their bicycles in the street, not you. So if you are with God, God will be with your kids and with your spouse. God controls your spouse’s mind and heart, and you can guarantee a good spouse if you are good with God. Look at this: in Sura 63:9, God is talking to the believers. He says, “O you who believe, do not be distracted by your money and your children from commemorating God.” The word in Arabic is “dhikr”: do not be distracted by your money and your children from commemorating, or mentioning, or remembering God. And this is directed to the believers. In 64:15 we are told that your children and your spouses are a test, because you become attached to them.
So one of the common gods is yourself, being preoccupied with yourself. Another common god is your job, your property, the dollar, and we see this in Sura 18. Let me back up a little about worshiping yourself, your self being your god. In Sura 18:28 we see a commandment to the believers: do not obey those whose hearts are diverted from commemorating, or mentioning, God. It’s the same word throughout these verses; I will tell you if it is different. It says do not obey, do not follow, do not go with, do not mix with those whose hearts are diverted from commemorating God, because they will drag you with them into thinking about something else.
You can already see that God may not be your God seven days a week. Maybe one day a week, maybe two or three days a week, maybe zero. I don’t know; you’re the judge. But this is the definition. Just divide the day into 100 units instead of 24 hours, and see in how many of these units you are thinking of God. Is it more than 50%? This comes as a shock to many of us, but it is also a great blessing, because God wills that we know, because you can fix it right now. If there’s a problem, if I discover that God is my God only one day a week, I can fix it right now, and I can pledge that God will be my God every day of the week. The answer to this question may also answer your common question, “Why am I having problems?” It is a good indicator for you. When you have a problem and you ask why, if you dig deep, you’ll find that you didn’t think of God the majority of the day. And I’m going to discuss with you how to think of God the majority of the day. If I forget, remind me, because I don’t have it written here, so speak up if I finish the khutba; sometimes I get distracted. We have to find out how we can think of God the majority of the day.
Okay, it is now 1:23. I believe everybody’s here, so for those of you who came late, I’m going to update you very quickly. The subject of the khutba is “Who Is Your God?” and the answer is: whoever or whatever you are thinking of the majority of the day, whatever is in your mind, whatever preoccupies you. I mentioned yourself.
In Sura 18:42 we’re told that your job, your property, your boss can be your god. Your boss says, “We have an emergency here at work, and you must come in at 3:00 in the morning for the next 10 days.” Are you going to go in at 3:00 in the morning for the next 10 days? God tells you to pray the morning prayer before sunrise. Are you going to pray the morning prayer before sunrise? You have to ask yourself these questions. Yes, you have to pray the morning prayer every morning before sunrise. What I want to say is that God knows you cannot possibly do it every single day, because sometimes you’re too tired, sometimes you’re sick, sometimes you’re traveling, sometimes you have unusual circumstances. But unless you have unusual circumstances, if you don’t pray the morning prayer before sunrise, God is not your God. You have some other god. The criterion is very, very easy.
In Sura 18, verse 42, you remember the fellow who had two gardens. If you worship your job, you’re going to lose it. If you worship your spouse, you’re going to lose her, or him, and so on. It’s guaranteed: whatever you worship other than God, you’re going to lose it. We learn this from Sura 18:42, because a tornado came and wiped out the two gardens of this man, who thought he was set for life. So if you idolize your job, giving it more attention than God, I guarantee you, you’re going to lose it.
In Sura 7, verse 190, we see that children clearly can be your god. Let me remind you of verse 190 of Sura 7. It speaks of a couple: the wife gets pregnant, and they pray, “Please, God, give us a good, healthy baby.” God gives them a good baby, and then they make the baby a god. That’s what the verse says, end of quotation. This means they gave the baby more attention than God. The principle holds that whatever preoccupies your mind the majority of the day is your god. Again, to get all these things, the good children, the good job, the good money, the good health, the good happiness and peace of mind, you know the answer. I’m going to remind you again of the Gospel of Luke, 12:29-31: seek God’s kingship over you, and everything else follows. If God is your God, you’re guaranteed all of these things.
Alhamdulillah. We praise God, and I bear witness that there is no god except the one God. I hope that in your repentance you pledge that your God will be God, the one who created you, because if you had any deficiency in the past, you had better fix it right now with this repentance, and mean it. Every day, you can take account of what you’re doing during the day.
Okay, now I want to talk about how you go about making God your God. The Quran teaches us that when you see your children, or your car runs nicely, you say, “Mashallah, this is God’s blessing; God gave me this.” When you see a beautiful flower, or a beautiful sunset, or your own fingers, you say, “Subhan Allah, God be glorified.” Okay, let me start from the beginning. You’re asleep, and you’re getting up in the morning. When you get up, you get up in the name of God. Say it in any language you want. The minute you open your eyes, you say, “In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. There is no god except the one God.” This is the first thing you must say. As I mentioned to you before, 99% of people, when they get up on the Day of Resurrection, will say “Oh, sh—!” It’s not a dirty word anymore, so I allowed myself to say it for the first time; I see it on TV all the time. 99% of people wake up in the morning, look at the clock and say it, because they have to rush to work, and this is exactly what they will say on the Day of Resurrection. So I hope this reminds you that the first thing you say in the morning is what you’re going to say on the Day of Resurrection, and it must be “In the name of God.” So there you are, mentioning God the first thing when you open your eyes.
Then you go and do your ablution and do the morning prayer. Now, about the five prayers: we are told in the Quran that the five prayers are designed for you to remember God. God says, “Observe the Salat to remember Me.” It is the most powerful, concentrated remembering of God. I believe the five minutes of prayer make up for maybe a couple of hours, but don’t take my word for it, and don’t take any chances. You must do the five prayers. If you don’t do the five prayers, you’re in trouble already.
So you get up and, first thing in the morning, you mention God. Then comes breakfast. Before the first bite, remember there’s a verse in the Quran that says do not eat from that upon which the name of God has not been mentioned, and that word covers apples and eggs and bread, everything. So mention the name of God. You’ll forget for the next month or so, but keep blaming yourself until, every time you eat or drink anything, you say “Bismillah.” So there again, you’re mentioning God’s name. Then, if you’re feeling good, feeling healthy, you say “Alhamdulillah.” Even if you don’t feel good, you don’t feel healthy, say “Alhamdulillah”: thank God, praise God. Just find any excuse, for heaven’s sake, to mention God, to think of God. You see your spouse, you see your children: say “Mashallah,” “Alhamdulillah,” “Thank You, God,” “God be glorified,” “God be praised,” continuously. Just find any excuse. The sun rises, and you think of the earth rotating, and you say, “God be glorified.” The Quran teaches you to mention God on every occasion, for a reason or for no reason. I’m going to end this subject here. I’ve probably forgotten a few things, but we can discuss it tonight in the Quranic study, inshallah.
Now, about the tape that I have here. I remember specifically that one student came to me and said, “How come I don’t get straight A’s?” She’s a good believer, alhamdulillah, and many other students wonder, “How come we don’t get straight A’s?” Yes, John, I’m not going to embarrass you; I’m not going to mention names. My answer to them always is that God will give you the straight A’s where it counts, when it counts. I have experienced this in my own personal life, and the example that we’re going to see here is a typical example. This is the last game of the season, the last inning, the last out: two outs in the ninth inning, and two strikes. I believe most of you understand baseball, and you know what this means: the game is almost over. This was Sami’s finale this season, and it is a typical story as far as your courses are concerned, and even what is happening to you in life. This is a typical example of what God does with the believers. I’m starting at the point where the second out in the ninth inning is going to happen, and I think it’s self-explanatory.
[The local TV broadcast of the game is played: with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the season resting on him, Sami Khalifa gets a base hit, and his team comes from behind to win the final game of the season. The broadcasters and a teammate then praise his clutch hit.]
So this is the idea: God will give you victory at the crucial time.