Being estranged is the believer's felling at the end of times:

 Dear brother, we are tackling a new topic of the series Means of Attainment and Signs of Acceptance, and the topic of our lesson today is Estrangement. Let me first start with an introduction.

 You may sit with people who speak a language you do not know, so you have a feeling of estrangement, a man who is highly educated may sit with illiterate people, so he feels estranged and a Muslim may travel to a morally deviated country, so he feels estranged. The feeling of estrangement could be sometimes healthy, and you may be content with it. Actually one of the healthy feelings of the true Muslim who adheres firmly to Islam, knows Allah and knows the purpose of his existence is estrangement, because in many Ayat Almighty Allah refers to this. One of them is the following Ayah:

(And if you obey most of those on earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah's Path.)

[Al-An'am:116]

 Most people care about money, enjoyments, social position and collecting wealth, but the believer cares about getting himself acquainted with Allah, obeying Him and working for the Hereafter. His concerns and goals contradict those of common people. Thus, as a Muslim you should feel estranged. Whoever listens to a discussion in which the discussed ideas are incorrect feels estranged, whoever lives in a morally deviated society feels estranged and whoever goes to a country where sins are committed publically feels estranged. Estrangement is one of the feelings of the believer at the end of time, and the proof can be found in the following Ayah, in which Almighty Allah says: (And if you obey most of those on earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah's Path.)

Whoever wants to act upon Allah's Order should be with the truthful:

 The proof also can be found in the As7adeth; the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him said,

(('Islam began strange and it will return strange as it began, so good news is for the strangers.' He, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, was asked, 'O Allah's Messenger, who are the strangers?' He said, 'Those who are righteous when the people will be corrupt.'))

[At-Tabarani & Ahmad, from Abdul Rahman bin Sanah]

 That is why I tell you if you want to act upon Allah's Order, you should be with those who are true. Allah says:

(O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds.)

[At-Taubah: 119]

 You should live in a religious environment or in a place where faith prevails, where people exalt your religious status in Allah's Sight and where true people encourage you to draw closer to Allah. Never befriend whose behavior does not elevate you to Almighty Allah and whose words do not lead to Allah. Sit with people who remind you of Allah and who advise you. The problem is that when man sits with people whose behavior or words do not please Allah, he may not be pleased with them, but later on he becomes satisfied with whatever they do, their traditions, their deviation their ideas and their beliefs. After a period of time, he accepts their bad deeds. Therefore, the most dangerous thing in man's life is to befriend people whom Allah is not pleased with. Rejection is an initial reaction; many people go to western countries and reject for the first three months the moral deviation and indiscipline there. After two years, they behave just like westerners, they become convinced with their behavior and they accept their bad deeds. The social environment you live in is very essential; the clearest proof is: (O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds.)

 Also, Almighty Allah says:

(And keep yourself (O Muhammad) patiently with those who call on their Lord (i.e. your companions who remember their Lord with glorification, praising in prayers, etc., and other righteous deeds, etc.) morning and afternoon, seeking His Face, and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, one who follows his own lusts and whose affair (deeds) has been lost.)

[Al-Kahf: 28]

 I compare the believer to a mobile phone which needs to be charged. This charging should be regular; once a week or twice a week by attending a religious lesson, and he should be charged five times daily by performing prayers. The regular charging makes a believer stick to his religion, to his principles, to his moral values and to his correct visions. If he keeps away from religious gatherings and lives with people whose behavior he rejects at the beginning, he will be familiar with whatever they do, and the feeling of estrangement will fade away. As long as you feel estranged, you are fine, but when this feeling disappears in a morally deviated society, then you are in big trouble.

Lacking the feel of estrangement, indicates religious disorder:

 Let me repeat the Hadith:

(('Islam began strange and it will return strange as it began, so good news is for the strangers.' He, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, was asked, 'O Allah's Messenger, who are the strangers?' He said, 'Those who are righteous when the people will be corrupt.'))

[At-Tabarani & Ahmad, from Abdul Rahman bin Sanah]

 Do not you feel estranged if an entity has been established on bloodshed, assaulting honor, usurping the land and humiliating the people, yet its prime minister was given the nobel Peace Prize? Do not you scorn the International Community for this?
  Once the European countries had a meeting only to state that they had to cooperate in order to stop arms trafficking, but how about the unprecedented crime in human history which was committed against children and women by using horrible weapons of mass destruction? Does not this crime need one statement denouncing it, one comment, or one rejection? Do not you feel this kind of estrangement?
  A president of a big country once visited the family of an Israeli captive while he was visiting some of the countries in that part of the world. The number of the Arab captives in Israeli prisons are more than eleven thousand do not the families of those captives deserve to be visited to make a balance between the families of the captives (the Israeli and the Arab)? Do not you feel estranged in this case?

 A young girl in a very far western country once put on clothes worn by lesbions and went to her school. The school director seemed to be honorable, so he dismissed her because what she did is considered sexual deviation, and it is rejected by all heavenly religions and earthly norms. However, her father filed a lawsuit against the director and he was charged to pay a huge amount of money to the girl, because he assaulted her liberty. Notice the difference between this case and the one of a Muslim young girl who lived in Paris and put a piece of scarf on her head (Hijab), because it is obligatory in her religion which is embraced by quarter of the total population on earth (one billion and a half Muslims). This scarf made all the European countries stand against wearing it (Hijab) by Muslim females. When a girl in lesbian clothes was dismissed, that was called an assault against her liberty, but when a Muslim girl put on a Hijab implementing the commandment of her Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, to preserve her chastity, the whole world stood against her. Do you not feel estranged in this world?

 By Allah, dear brother, if you do not feel estranged, you suffer from disorder in your faith. The believer is a man of a solid character, he is a man who knows Allah, he is whoever adheres firmly to the absolute truth and he is a man whose soul is honored by getting acquainted with Allah, so he is exalted:

((Almighty Allah loves the lofty and noble deeds and hates the shameful ones.))

[At-Tabarani, from Hussein bin Ali]

 We should feel estranged in this morally deviated society (the west), and which is very leberal one. It devalues the virtue, elevates wealthy and strong people even if they are criminals, and it believes that money is everything and that pleasure can be satisfied through whatever way one wishes. If you live in such a society, you should feel estranged.
It is impossible that Allah keeps His Promises to the believers unfulfilled:

 Dear brother, Almighty Allah says:

(Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practise their religion, that which He has chosen for them (i.e. Islam). And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear)

[An-Nur: 55]

 Terminating the universe is easier to Allah than not keeping His promises to the believers unfulfilled, but let me be frank with you, because telling the bitter reality is much better than keeping you in a status of relieving illusion. We are totally different from the believers mentioned in the above Ayah; we have not been granted succession, the authority to practise our religion or safe security, because Allah's servants stopped obeying Him the way their ancestors did, so Almighty Allah says:

(Then, there has succeeded them a posterity who have given up As-Salat (the prayers) [i.e. made their Salat (prayers) to be lost, either by not offering them or by not offering them perfectly or by not offering them in their proper fixed times, etc.] and have followed lusts. So they will be thrown in Hell.)

[Maryam:59]

 We have absolutely been thrown in an earthly hell. Scholars refer to the following Ayah:

(The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail,* Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifaq (hypocrisy)].)

[Ash-Shu'ara': 88-89]

 Also, it is the heart which is clean from satisfying a lust that does not please Allah, from believing any news that contradicts Allah's Revelation, from worshipping other than Allah and from implementing other than Allah's Shari'ah. Listen again please, "The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail', so no matter how much money you have and how dutiful your sons are, they will not be useful on that Day. "The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail,* Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifaq (hypocrisy)]." I repeat again: It is the heart which is clean from satisfying a lust that does not please Allah, from believing any news that contradicts Allah's Revelation, from worshipping other than Allah and from implementing other than Allah's Shari'ah.

Giving up Salat and following lusts have set Muslims apart:

 Dear brother, I always say that the ball is in our court, but the problem is that some people think that what is mentioned in the following Hadith is applied to them. Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated: The Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said,

((…and twelve thousand men will not be defeated as a result of smallness of number.))

[Ibn Majah, from Anas bin Malik]

 The number of Muslims is one billion and five hundred million, they have the largest natural sources and their lands are located in the most strategic places on earth, yet they are set apart, their affairs are controlled by sh3er, they are worthless and the other party conspires against them in many ways. Do you know why? Because they "have given up As-Salat (the prayers) [i.e. made their Salat (prayers) to be lost, either by not offering them or by not offering them perfectly or by not offering them in their proper fixed times, etc.] and have followed lusts. So they will be thrown in Hell." On the other hand, Almighty Allah, showed us how an army of ten thousand righteous believers (I do not claim sanctity for anyone, so Allah knows best) could face one of the strongest armies in the world for twenty-two days. This incident proves that Allah's promises to the true believers will certainly be fulfilled:

(So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers.)

[Aal 'Imran: 139]

 Allah is the Lord of the Companions and He is also our Lord, the Noble Quran which was revealed to Allah's Messenger, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, is at our hands, the promise is a promise (surely it will be fulfilled one day) and Allah's punishment is true, so all what we need to do is to move, to reconsider our calculations, to wake up from our oblivion, to reconcile with Allah, to make good relations between us and to make good relations with Allah.

Obeying Allah is the main reason of Muslims' victory:

 Dear brother,

((…and twelve thousand men will not be defeated as a result of smallness of number.))

 These are the words of the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, about which our Master S'ad bin Abi Waqqass said the wonderful saying, "There are three situations in which my manliness expresses itself, while in other situations I behave like other common people do… One of which is that whenever I hear a Hadith from the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, I am pretty sure that it is the Truth from Almighty Allah."

 I repeat the Hadith:

((…and twelve thousand men will not be defeated as a result of smallness of number.))

 Because there can never be a war between two truths as the truth is not multiple, the war between the truth and the falsehood comes to an end as Allah is with the truth, and the war between two falsehood never ends.

 I would like to comment on the situation of Islam and Muslims nowadays. You can see the attractive Islamic appearances. Sometimes you are impressed by a huge Masjid which cost about one billion dollars as it is located by the sea, you may notice the Islamic adornment, you may attend an Islamic conference and you may like the wonderful Islamic volumes in libraries. However, these cultural aspects are of no use when it comes to granting victory to Muslims. What really helps them to be victorious is their obedience to Almighty Allah, so as long as they are not obedient to Allah, they will be worthless.

Man’s rank is decidedaccording to their knowledge and deeds:

 Your heroism is manifested in dealing with Allah according to the standards mentioned in the Noble Quran. Almighty Allah mentions two standards in His Noble Book; knowledge, which is the weighted standard, and performing good deeds. He says:

(Allah will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge.)

[Al-Mujadilah: 11]

 Also, Allah says:

("Are those who know equal to those who know not?")

[Az-Zumar: 9]

 In another Ayah, Almighty Allah says:

(And taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the Grace of Allah unto you (O Muhammad PBUH).)

[An-Nisa': 113]

 Thus, the first adopted standard to exalt people in degree is knowledge and the second one is their good deeds. When the Ummah adopts these two standards, it prospers, but when it adopts other standards, such as favoring the group one belongs to over another one, it stays backward. One of the major reasons of backwardness is adopting belonging standards, and one of the main reasons of progress and prosperity is adopting objective standards which are mentioned in the Noble Quran:

( And for all, there will be degrees according to that which they did,)

[Al-Ahqaf: 19]

 This indicates that your status in Allah's Sight is measured by your good deeds.

The true Muslims are the obedient and the religiously committed:

 Pay attention to the following Hadith, please:

((Many a person with shaggy and dusty hair, dusty and driven away from doors (because of their poverty and shabby clothes) were to swear by Allah (that something would happen), Allah will certainly make it happen))

[Muslim, from Abu Hurairah]

 A man is mentioned in some stories about Arab tribes. He is described as short, dark and club-footed. He had an inclined chin, small shoulders, sunken eyes and bulging out cheeks. There was no ugly attribute but he had a share of it, yet he was the leader of his people. When he used to get angry, a hundred thousand men got angry and unsheathed their swords to back him without even asking him why he got angry. Also, when he was told that drinking water from a particular place would ruin his ardency, he refrained from drinking it.

 The true standards are your knowledge and good deeds. If we adopt them in our daily lives, we will exalt, but if we adopt the standard of having money, we will glorify the wealth owner, if we adopt the standard of having power, we will glorify the powerful and if we adopt the standard of belonging, we will glorify certain groups which people belong to. Consequently, the Ummah will be backward.

 Islamic appearances are not enough if we want to be exalted in Allah's sight. You may enter a house and be attracted to Ayat Al-Kursi hanged on the wall of the living room, which is great. Also, you may see Allah's Beautiful Names on the other wall of the same room, then there is a picture of Al-Ka'bah. It is wonderful to have these things in your house, but is the Shari'ah of Allah is implemented in this house? This is what really matters. You may put a small copy of the Noble Quran in your car as a preferable Islamic appearance, and when you enter a shop, the first thing which attracts your attention is the following Ayah:

(Verily, We have given you (O Muhammad PBUH) a manifest victory.)

[Al-Fath: 1]

 Is the meaning of the manifest victory restricted to the profits you make? There are many Ayat, As7adeth and other religious things which we are proud of so we have them in our houses, but they do not help according to the standards of acceptance in Allah's Sight. The eye-catching Islamic appearances are valueless to Allah, because the true Muslims are not those who care about Islamic appearances only, but rather they are the obedient and the religiously committed ones.

The true believer increases his Sadaqah even if sh3er do not:

 Now let me ask you this question: Who are the Auliya' of Allah? The answer is in the following Ayah. Almighty Allah says:

(No doubt! Verily, the Auliya' of Allah [i.e. those who believe in the Oneness of Allah and fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which he has forbidden), and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)], no fear shall come upon them nor shall they grieve* Those who believed (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism), and used to fear Allah much (by abstaining from evil deeds and sins and by doing righteous deeds).)

[Yunus: 62-63]

 Only those who are mentioned in the Ayah are the Auliya' of Allah. A scholar was asked, 'Who is the Wali (the singular of Auliya')of Allah? Is it he who flies in the air?' He answered, 'No, he is not.' Then he was asked, 'Is it he who walks on the surface of water?' He replied, 'No, he is not. The Wali is he who does whatever is Halal (all kinds whatever Allah has permitted) and avoids whatever is Haram (whatever is forbidden). The Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said in another Hadith about the estrangement of Islam:

((…so good tidings to the strangers'. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, asked, 'Who are these strangers?', and the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him said, 'They are those who increase their good deeds when other decrease theirs.))

[Ahmad, from Al-Muttalib bin Hantab]

 They are those who decrease their acts of worship, the number of prayers they perform (or the performance of their prayer becomes improper), their Sadaqah and their religious commitment. The faith of those people have become weaker being influenced by people who are lenient in applying Islam. Consequently, their faith, obedience and piety decrease. Unlike those people, the estranged ones increase their piety, religious commitment, affection, cooperation and giving. For example, they increase their Sadaqah. Some people are used to giving Sadaqah, but then they say that there is a financial crisis, so their Sadaqah decreases. The true believer, on the other hand, increases his Sadaqah even when sh3er decrease theirs.

Success is feeding souls from the truth and good deeds:

 The Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said in a third Hadith about the estrangement of Islam:

(('Islam started as a stranger and it will eventually go back to being a stranger as it started, so good tidings to the strangers'. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, asked, 'Who are these strangers?', and the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him said, 'They are individuals from different tribes'.))

[Ahmad, from Abdullah bin Ma'ud]

 The two persons of a tribe (any group of people such as the family or the social surrounding) which consists of thousands of people, who abandoned the tribe after they got themselves acquainted with Allah, acted upon His Order, devoted themselves to their religion and invited people to Allah are those who abandon whatever evil deeds are committed by other people. Also, there could be only one person in a family of eleven members, who is a true believer, straight, pious and honest. He prays Al-Fajr in congregation, lowers his gaze, seeks Islamic knowledge and calls people to Allah. Although a group of people might be big in number, those individuals who are only two or three people abandoned it and got themselves acquainted to Allah.

(('Islam started as a stranger and it will eventually go back to being a stranger as it started, so good tidings to the strangers'. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, asked, 'Who are these strangers?', and the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him said, 'They are individuals from different tribes'.))

[Ahmad, from Abdullah bin Ma'ud]

 Dear brother, I often make an analogy by the following example: The water container in the car has an opening at the top and a tap at the bottom. The water which is poured from above is taken from the bottom. Now if you imagine your brain as a container, how do you feed it culturally? Some people feed it by watching indecent movies, by watching news, so all they know is the news, by reading about famous people who do things that do not please Allah or by doing other things which do not please Allah. Unlike those people, if this container (your brain) is fed from the Noble Quran, the Sunnah of the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, and the biographies of the Noble Companions, you will be able to talk about these things from which your brain is fed. Thus, if you tell me what you read, what you listen to and what you watch, I will tell you who you really are.,.' Your heroism is presented by feeding your brain from the truth and good deeds, not bad ones.

Allah loves whoever follows Him and spreads His teachings:

 Here is a fourth Hadith in which the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, referred to estrangement of Islam:

((…and it would revert to its (old position) of being strange. Therefore, good tidings for the strangers who will make right what people have corrupted.))

[At-Tirmidhi, from Amr bin Awf]

 People have become morally deviated, but the estranged one is still disciplined and while most people let their daughters wear indecent clothes, he asks his to wear Islamic ones.

((…who will make right what people have corrupted.))

[At-Tirmidhi, from Amr bin Awf]

((…Those who revive my Sunnah and teach it to the people.))

[Ibn Asakir, from Al-Hasan bin Ali]

 Dear brother,

(Say (O Muhammad PBUH to mankind): "If you (really) love Allah then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.")

[Aal-'Imran: 31]

 It is said that the Sunnah is revived by implementation, and it is spread by teaching it to people.

 Dear brother we will continue discussing this topic next lesson Insha' Allah.