Monotheism is what Islam is all about:

 Dear brother, last sermon, we started with Luqman's advice to his son, and I clarified to you that this advice is considered an educational curriculum. It contains the basics of the educational curriculum in the Muslim world. I started last sermon with the creed:

(And (remember) when Luqman said to his son when he was advising him: "O my son! Join not in worship sh3er with Allah. Verily! Joining sh3er in worship with Allah is a great Zulm (wrong) indeed.)

(Luqman-13)

 Also, I clarified to you that Monotheism is the essence of Islam and the message of all Prophets and Messengers of Allah, may Allah have peace upon them, is mainly based on Monotheism and worship. Monotheism is the foremost knowledge and fearing Allah is the foremost deed.

The relationship between man and his parents:

 Today, we move to the main part of Luqman's advice, Almighty Allah says:

(And We have enjoined on man to be good and dutiful to his parents, but if they strive to make you join with Me (in worship) anything (as a partner) of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not. Unto Me is your return, and I shall tell you what you used to do.)

(Al-Ankabut-8)

 These Ayah, dear brother, shows us how the relationship between man and his parents should be, and it contains accurate facts and wise guidance. You rarely find in the Noble Quran Ayat about pieces of advice given to the parents regarding their relationship with their children except two Ayat; the one about the inheritance:

(Allah commands you as regards your children's (inheritance); to the male, a portion equal to that of two females;)

(An-Nisa'-11)

 The other one is about abstaining from killing the children because of poverty:

(Kill not your children because of poverty - We provide sustenance for you and for them;)

(Al-An'am-151)

 Hardly can you find in the Noble Quran Ayat in which Almighty Allah commands parents to take care of their children except the above mentioned Ayat, do you know why? Because it is out of man's nature to care for his children. He is motivated by his Fitrah ( it is an Arabic word meaning 'disposition', 'nature', 'constitution', or 'instinct') to look after his children in order to maintain the continuity of life. Verily, parents would love to scarify their bodies, scarify their life and exhaust themselves for the sake of their children. They are willing to give whatever they have and to pay whatever is precious for their children. Parents give their children spontaneously, willingly and happily as if they are the ones who are given whatever they want. Actually, the Fitrah alone is capable of guiding the parents to care for their children.

 When I visited the children's hospital, the care of the msh3er for their children attracted my attention. All msh3er irrespective of their social class, their belonging, their educational level (educated or not) and their appearance (putting on the scarf or not) cares about the safety of their children. What makes the mother care for her child is the Fitrah; without it life would stop.

 I would like to mention the symbolic story which I told you about in one of my lessons. One of the Messengers of Allah, may Allah have peace upon him, passed by a mother baking on the Tanour (oven), and whenever she put a bread in the oven, she kissed her little son and hugged him. The Messenger, may Allah have peace upon him, was astonished by her mercy towards her children, so Allah revealed to him that her mercy was granted by Him, and that if He took it away from her, she would throw her child into the oven. This mercy is not an obligatory on parents, but rather it is in their heart by nature. Filial piety and devotion of the children towards their parents, on the other hand, are duties which children are charged with. The child, dear brother, needs to be advised frequently in order to reciprocate the care of the sacrificing generation, who reach the old ages and who used to manage the affairs of the young generation who represents the future. The whole thing is lending something to the young generation and get it back when the lenders are old.

Allah commands children to reciprocate their parents' care:

 Almighty Allah says:

(And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship and she brings him forth with hardship, and the bearing of him, and the weaning of him is thirty (30) months, till when he attains full strength and reaches forty years, he says: "My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds, such as please You, and make my off-spring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims (submitting to Your Will).)

(Al-Ahqaf-15)

 In another Ayah, Allah says:

(And We have enjoined on man (to be dutiful and good) to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness and hardship upon weakness and hardship, and his weaning is in two years give thanks to Me and to your parents, unto Me is the final destination.)

(Luqman-14)

 Also, in the following Ayah Almighty Allah says:

(And We have enjoined on man to be good and dutiful to his parents, but if they strive to make you join with Me (in worship) anything (as a partner) of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not. Unto Me is your return, and I shall tell you what you used to do.)

(Al-Ankabut-8)

 Almighty Allah describes the pregnant saying:

(His mother bore him in weakness and hardship upon weakness and hardship, and his weaning is in two years)

(Luqman-14)

 The female by nature is weak, and Prophet Muhammad, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, entrusted us with the two weak, namely the woman and the orphan. The weakness of the woman increases during pregnancy, because the needs of her embryo are favored over hers. Its needs for the lime is taken from the bones of its mother, that is why the mother's bones and teeth get weaker. Out of Allah's Wisdom the woman was created weak, so that she is in need of a husband. The woman lacks the strength, therefore, her husband will supply her with that strength, and man lacks emotions, so his wife will give him emotions. The spouses complete each other; the wife finds repose in him, and the husband finds repose in her. Her weakness by nature is increased during pregnancy.

 One the remarkable pieces of information that I have ever informed by doctors is that the pregnancy food cravings is resulted from the embryo's need of a certain kind of food; it sometimes needs potassium or lime, so the mother becomes in need of these materials.

(His mother bore him in weakness and hardship upon weakness and hardship, and his weaning is in two years)

( Luqman- 14)

 You see how generous the mother is! Her generosity is greater than that of her husband towards their children. The giving of the mother is manifested in her deep emotions and tenderness towards her children. This explains the repeated answer of the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, in the following Hadith:
  Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:

((A person came to Messenger of Allah, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, and asked, "Who among people is most deserving of my fine treatment?'' He, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said, "Your mother". He again asked, "Who next?'' "Your mother", the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, replied again. He asked, "Who next?'' He, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said again, "Your mother.'' He again asked, "Then who?'' Thereupon he, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said, "Then your father.''))

 The duty of the children towards their mother is three times more than their duty towards the father.
 Al-Hafez Abu Bakr Al-Bazzaar narrated in his Musnad:

(('There was a man in the circumambulation, he was carrying his mother and circumambulate, he asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, 'Have I reciprocated all what she did for me by doing so?' He, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said, 'No, not even by one sigh.'))

Be grateful to Allah for the blessing of believing in Him:

  Allah says in the following Noble Ayah:

(And We have enjoined on man (to be dutiful and good) to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness and hardship upon weakness and hardship, and his weaning is in two years give thanks to Me and to your parents, unto Me is the final destination.)

(Luqman-14)

 Almighty Allah has granted you the blessing of existence, the blessing of provision and the blessing of guidance, so we should be grateful to Allah first, and next to who begot us. It was said that fathers are three types: the one who begot you, the one who helped you to get married and the one who guided you to Almighty Allah. Your existence is caused by your father:

(Give thanks to Me and to your parents, unto Me is the final destination.)

(Luqman-14)

 Some scholars said that "give thanks to Me" means be grateful to Allah for the blessing of believing in Him. Also they said that "and to your parents" means be grateful to them for the blessing of upbringing. Whoever is raised up well by his parents, this raising up is considered an invaluable blessing. Whoever has received an upbringing of a higher level whether morally, scientifically, socially, physically, psychologically and sexually has been granted a blessing which necessarily comes after the blessing of believing in Allah the Almighty:

(Give thanks to Me and to your parents, unto Me is the final destination.)

(Luqman-14)

 Some scholars said, "Whoever prays the five obligatory prayers he thanks Allah by doing so, and whoever supplicates to Allah for his parents saying: "O my Lord, forgive my parents and bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was small," he thanks his parents."
  Also, some scholars said, "Five conditions should be met in gratefulness: submitting obediently to the praiseworthy one loving him, admitting the blessing, praising it and avoiding using it in ways which praiseworthy one hates."

 You should submit to Whom grant you the blessing, obey Him, admit His blessing, praise it and use it in what He likes. If you do these things, you give thanks to Almighty Allah.

The main concern of the Muslim father is caring for his children:

  The Noble Quran, dear brother, contains what we call according to legal terms 'legal supporting proofs.' For instance, the Ayah, "give thanks to Me and to your parents, unto Me is the final destination," implicitly means " I shall punish you for negligence and I shall reward you when you give thanks." The Noble Ayah confirms that you should thank who grants you the blessings Who is Allah the Exalted, then give thanks to your parents who caused your existence.
  A brother came from America, and told me about a story that attracted my attention. The brother has a dutiful son, and one day his son's friend, who is a negro, visited them. While the friend was sitting with his son, the father came home, so the son rushed to his father, welcomed him and kissed his hand. As for the mother, she prepared the food especially for the friend. The negro notices two things: he noticed how respectful the son was to his father, and how merciful the parents were towards their son. As a result, the negro asked them to tell him how to embrace Islam. He decided to embrace Islam before having any idea about it, but it was enough for him to see those amazing things in his friend's house. It is one of Allah's blessings in the Muslim World to have all these morals: the respect of the sons and daughters to their parents. It is wonderful to see how the father has a respectable position among his children, and how children are the centre of care and attention to their parents. The father who kicked his fourteen-year- old daughter out of the house in order to work and depend on herself financially, and he knows nothing about her morals is not a father. The main concern of the Muslim father is caring for his children.

The difference between the beneficence and the obedience:

  I would like to pay your attention to a very important point; behaving with your parents kindly is something, and obeying them blindly is something else. Almighty Allah says in the following Ayah:

(But if they (both) strive with you to make you join in worship with Me sh3er that of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not, but behave with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who turns to Me in repentance and in obedience. Then to Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what you used to do.)

(Luqman-15)

 In fact, if your parents order you to do whatever Allah has ordained, you should obey them. Your obedience is obligatory in this case, because it is part of obeying Allah. When your father asks you to pray, to be honest, to earn money legally and to do good deeds all these commands are of Allah's, so obeying your father is obligatory. Yet there are cases in our countries, when your father asks you to leave performing an obligatory act of worship, to stop seeking the Islamic the knowledge, to stop performing Salah in the Masjid or to do something that is forbidden (such as leaving an obligatory act of worship or committing a sin) being obedient to him becomes void, so you should not obey him. if he ask you The mother of our master Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqass said to him, "You either disbelieve in Mohammad or I will abstain from eating till I die." He, may Allah be pleased with him, said, " If you have hundred souls and they all die one after another, I will not disbelieve in Muhammad, so it is up to you to abstain from eating or not."

(But if they (both) strive with you to make you join in worship with Me sh3er that of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not, but behave with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who turns to Me in repentance and in obedience. Then to Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what you used to do.)

(Luqman-15)

 Obeying your parents is obligatory as long as they order you to obey Allah. This kind of obedience is actually considered an obedience to Allah, but if they order you to do something contradicts the Method of Allah, such as ordering you to divorce your wife wrongly even if she is a good obedient wife, to gain ill-gotten money, or to leave seeking Islamic knowledge, then you shouldn't obey them. All what you have to do towards them is behaving with them kindly. There is a difference between being dutiful to them and obeying them, and Almighty Allah makes this very clear in the following Ayah:,

(And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour.)

(Al-Isra'-23)

 Obedience is to Allah Alone and doing good is to parents. Thus, whoever obeys his parents in a disobedience to Allah is not a dutiful son. Sometimes when children refuse to obey their parents in a disobedience to Allah, they cause them to repent to Almighty Allah, but when children obey them in a disobedience to Allah, the parents might go far in committing sins.

 The Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said:

((No obedience is due to a creature in sinning against the Creator.))

(Agreed upon, from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him)

(But if they (both) strive with you to make you join in worship with Me sh3er that of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not, but behave with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who turns to Me in repentance and in obedience. Then to Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what you used to do.)

(Luqman-15)

 The most precise point in this Ayah is manifested in "of which you have no knowledge". The negative form in here does not have to do with negating the knowledge, but rather it has to do with denying the existence of the partner. If one of the scholars of Hadith says to you that he has never heard of a Hadith you ask him about, he means that this Hadith does not exist. Denying the knowledge of something is one type of denying its existence. In the above mentioned Ayah, this partner has no existence, and it is incapable of doing anything whatsoever; he cannot grant you life, provision, protection or benefit
 I repeat:

(But if they (both) strive with you to make you join in worship with Me sh3er that of which you have no knowledge (a partner who has no existence), then obey them not)

 Also Almighty Allah says:

(Verily, Allah knows what things they invoke instead of Him. He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.)

(Al-Ankabut-42)

Between the right of obedience and the right of doing good:

 Dear brother, if the right of obedience to parents becomes invalid, the right of doing good to them should not be cancelled.

(But if they (both) strive with you to make you join in worship with Me sh3er that of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not)

((Narrated Asmaa' Bint Abi Bakr: "My mother came to visit me while she was a polytheist at the time of the Prophet so I asked him [the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him]: "My mother came wishing that I will be kind to her as her daughter, shall I keep ties with her?" He said: "Yes, be dutiful to your mother."))

(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

 What remains on the son is the right to be good to his parents. If the right of being obedience to the parents becomes void, the right to be good to them never becomes void. Therefore, you should be good to your parents even if they are infidel, deviant or negligent. The right to be kind to the father is obligatory on the child, and doing this right towards the father, could be the very reason behind turning to Almighty Allah. Many fathers turned to Allah and repented to him because of their good dutiful children who kept very kind to them.

Don't obey the parents in a disobedience to Allah:

 Dear brother, there is a precise issue in the following Noble Ayah, 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)

 Linguistic scholars said, "'We have made heedless' means we have found him heedless." For instance, when someone says, "I lived with those people, and I did not make them coward", he means that he did not find them coward. Also, if someone says, "I lived with those people, and I did not make them miserly", he means that he did not find them miserly.

(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.)

 Almighty Allah orders us not to follow this man, so whom should we follow then? He says, "and follow the path of him who turns to Me in repentance and in obedience." He is the one who knows the right path, follows the Sunnah of the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him. He is the one who Allah has enlighten his heart, made him do well in public and private and made him in the Right Path; this is the one who you should follow and consult:

(And follow the path of him who turns to Me in repentance and in obedience. Then to Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what you used to do.)

(Luqman- 15)

 Dear brother, this Noble Ayah has some Fiqhi details. The scholars said, "You shouldn't obey your parents in a disobedience to Allah." Some scholars, on the other hand, said, "It is allowed to the son to abstain from performing the voluntary acts of worship." Some referred to the Jihad when it is Kifayah (when Muslims are willing to spread Islam, it is enough for a group to gather and go do it. Fard al-'Ayn, on the other hand, requires the whole group of Muslims to do it. it is when the enemy is ready to invade your country.) If the parents have no supporter but their son, then the son should refrain from doing the voluntary act of worship or the Jihad Kifayah. Other scholars referred to the supererogatory Salah. The son can stop praying the supererogatory Salah if he is certain that his mother is about to die if he doesn't help her answer her. There are many Fiqhi details concerning this point, but as for obeying the parents in doing whatever is permissible, all scholars agreed upon it.

 Dear brother, the companion of the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with him, Ibn Abass concluded from the Ayah in which Allah says:

(His mother bore him in weakness and hardship upon weakness and hardship, and his weaning is in two years)

(Luqman-14)

 And the one in which Allah says:

(And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship and she brings him forth with hardship, and the bearing of him, and the weaning of him is thirty (30) months,)

(Al-Ahqaf-15)

 That the least period of pregnancy is six months, so whoever his wife has a child at the end of these six months, should not think bad of her.

 Dear brother, call yourselves to account before you are called to account, and weigh your deeds before they are weighed against you. Know that the Angel of Death has passed over us to reach sh3er, and will pass over sh3er to reach us, so let us be cautious. The smartest is the one who condemns himself and works towards what is after death; and the incapable is the one who follows his desires, and then expects to be rewarded by Allah.
***

The second Khutbah:

  Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah; the Protector of the righteous. And I bear witness that our Master Muhammad, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, is His Servant and Messenger the one with noble morals. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, his Folks and Companions.

The story of an atheist who knew Allah:

 Before I move to the second Khutbah, I hope that the advice of Luqman will be a method for every father. It contains everything; it has the creed, it teaches you how to be dutiful to your parents according to the Sharia'ah limits, it has the acts of worship, the way one should deal with people and it has morals. In brief, it is a concise but complete method. If it is tackled in details, it will be a complete method for every father and teacher. I delivered the first Khutbah on the occasion of the end of summer course in the Institute of Memorizing the Noble Quran in this Masjid. These Khutab (sermons) are related to the methodology used in teaching the kids.

 Let me move to the subject of the second Khutbah. In An autobiography which is translated into Arabic, the writer tells us how he believed in Allah the Almighty. The most important point in this book is that the writer whose happiness has become indescribable after he knew Allah the Almighty described how his life was before embracing Islam, saying, "No one knows what loneliness means like the atheist. Whoever knows Allah can supplicate to Allah the One and Only deeply from his heart in his seclusion. This person knows Allah and he feels the He will answer his supplication. The atheist, on the other hand, can't let himself enjoy this great blessing; the blessing of supplicating to Allah and wait for His answer." Connecting to Allah through invocation and waiting for the answer which is a kind of honoring by Allah, is a great blessing the atheist have no idea about. The man goes on saying that he had smashed that motivation and reminded himself of how ridiculous it was, because the world of the atheist is very small, the things he can perceive in it are limited and it shrinks continually.

 This atheist is a mathematician, and he works at one of the well known universities of America. The truth which was the core of his search was the reason behind believing in Allah. One day, a young girl entered his office _I mention to you what he wrote literally _ he said, "I will never forget that young girl who entered my office asking for my help. When I opened the door, I found a mysterious girl in front of me, and she seemed to be from the middle east. She was in black completely from top to bottom, whereas the girls in here walk almost naked. She asked me to help her in the theoretical part of her studies saying that her teacher directed her to me. Soon, the image which I had about the Arab girls was shattered. She was a higher study student in math and a teaching assistant at the same university where I work. I couldn't imagine her wearing these clothes and standing in front of people of Indiana, and having at the same time that solemnity and dignity which made me feel ashamed of myself. I tried not to stare at her having a mixed feeling of fear and wonder, because she seemed to be very powerful. She had a kind of power insider her which I did not know what it was. Since then I became interested in other religions." Notice how that was the key; the clothes of the believer, his silence, his morals and honesty are all Da'wah. I repeat what he says, "A young girl with Hijjab entered my office asking me to help her. She was covered among a huge number of girls who were almost naked…that solemnity and dignity which made me feel ashamed of myself… I tried not to stare at her having a mixed feeling of fear and wonder, because she seemed to be very powerful. She had a kind of power insider her which I did not know what it was." That man got a copy of the interpretation of the Noble Quran in English, he read it and he started to perform Salah.
 Once, someone asked him cynically, "Why do you perform the five prayers particularly the loud prayers in the Masjid although you are not good at Arabic at all? What do you understand in prayers? His answer was amazing; he said, "What does the infant understand from the words of its mother when she speaks with it as it is in her embrace? What does it understand from her words? Its happiness in such a moment is indescribable, although it doesn't understand her words. By Allah, dear brother, I read some pages of this book, and I realized the following truth: there is only on truth in the universe which is the truth about Allah. Whoever comes closer to Allah, regardless of his ethnicity, religion or culture, will have the same feeling which unifies all Muslims. Islam unifies people, whereas fanaticism separates them. The truth about this religion brings people together.

 Dear brother, he said, "She had a kind of power inside her… so since then I became interested in other religions." That long journey of his ended with embracing Islam. He wrote a book in which he explained to his little daughter why he embraced Islam. She asked him once, "Dad, why did you embrace Islam?" He said, "She had the right to ask me such a question. I will change the future of my children as they are now Muslims just like me. If my daughter asks me, 'Dad, why did you embrace Islam?' this book will have the answer for her."

 Dear brother, it is the time to wake up, and stop imitating westerners. That person was very intelligent to the extent that his teacher used to ask him to get out of the class, and he would give him the full mark. His teacher did not want him to enter to class, because he used to confuse him by his intelligence. A brilliant teacher who occupied a high position at the university, the minute he saw that young girl among the almost naked girls, decided to seek the truth about Islam.

Invocation:

 O Allah! We beseech You to show us the way of righteousness together with those to whom You showed it; and to give us good health together with those whom You have healed; and to be our Protector, as You are of those whom You protect; and to bless what You have bestowed on us; and to save us from the affliction that You have decreed –for You rule with justice and You are never judged; and he whom You protect shall never be humiliated and he whom You make Your enemy shall never be elevated. Blessed and dignified are You! And we thank You for what You have decreed, we ask You for forgiveness for our sins and we repent to You.

 O Allah, guide us to perform a good deed, as You are the One Who guides to the best of deeds, and guide us to the good conduct, as You are the One Who guides to the best of it. O Allah, make us do well in Deen which is our dignity and make our life good, for it is our living and make us safe on the Day of Judgment, for it is our Final Destination. O Allah, make life our supply for all good things and make death a rest from every evil, O our Master, Lord of the Worlds.

 O Allah, make us prefer everything You have made lawful to everything You have made unlawful, let Your Mercy make us independent of all sh3er, make us obedient to You and turn us away from disobedience. O Allah, let us not be oblivious to Your planning, do not deprive us of Your shield and do not make us forget Your remembrance.
 O Allah! by Your Mercy and Benevolence, raise high the word of truth and this Deen, grant triumph to Islam, dignify Muslims, humiliate polytheism and polytheists and lead the rulers of Muslims to what pleases You, O Lord of the Worlds, as You are the only One Who is capable over His decreed.