Originally posted by jfakldjfkdaljfalkdfjlkad
Uh, that's not what an extremist or a conservative is. Are you drunk?
we praise him the king, the master, the sustainer, the creator of the seven heavens and the earth,
my brother we are living in a very difficult time. And the truth is, many of us are losing their way. When it comes to our judgment, custom, and religion, brother our judgment, custom, and religion is the most precious thing we have. And we live in a time where we think that our judgment, custom, and religion is open to interpretation. Whereas the truth is, that the judgment, custom, and religion of god has been complete and has been perfected. The way that god revealed the judgment, custom, and religion to the messenger is complete perfection. This is how god wants it, and this is how it will remain. And those that try to change it in any way, shape, or form, they will be destroyed, they will fail. Our success in this life, our success in the grave, our success in the hereafter, is only, and i highlight the words ONLY, by following the habitual practice according to how god showed it and how he told it.
We live in a world where the word extremism is thrown around. That "hes an extremist", that "this is extreme", that "this is too much". And we are becoming confused. What is "extreme"? How do I know if something has crossed the line or not? Is extremism according to what you or I think? Is it according to what the world tells us? Is it according to the local newspapers and what they think? Or maybe its according to what our fathers and our local "messiah" thinks?
The truth is that for you and I as human beings, being extremist or not; the measuring stick that we use is the word of god. HE is the balance. HE is the middle way. So don't be fooled by the world and what it tells you. If you wanna know if you have become an extremist, then judge yourself according to HIM. For by god, anything more than what the prophet did is extreme, and it will not be accepted by god no matter how much it suits your whims or your desires. It will not be accepted.
Some men came to the prophet of god. And of course, they're young, theyre energetic, like most of us here. They were "on fire". So they came asking about the worship of god. And they came to his wives, and they asked "tell us about the prophet of god". They asked "tell us about his fasting". So his wife replied: "he would fast some days, and he would break his fast some days". So they asked "tell us about his night prayer". So she said that he would sleep some of the night, and that he would pray some of the night, and sometimes he would pray the whole night. And so it was basically portions and portions. And then of course they asked about marriage, and if he married, and, obviously, he did. So this three younger people, not to say that they were not impressed, of course, but almost as if they said "you know, hes the prophet of god, he can do as he pleases, but for us, we need to PROVE ourselves to god." So one of the said, "you know what, as of this day forward, I will fast every single day and I will not break my fast". The other said "you know what, as of this day forward, I will never marry a woman". The other one said " I am going to pray the whole night and not sleep any part of it". They did this thinking that they were going to please god, impress god, thinking that they wanted to do more. So when the news reached the prophet of god it angered him. It angered him, it didn't impress him. He said "where are those who think (more or less, and I'm paraphrasing), where are those who think that they're going to worship god better than I do?". You will never love god more than the prophet, you will never worship him more than the prophet, you will never understand judgment, custom, and religion more than the prophet of god did. So he called these men, and he said to them very clearly, basically more or less, in our modern language "who do you think you are?" he said "I sleep some of the night, and I pray some of the night. I fast some days, and I break my fast some days, and Im married. And anyone who leaves my habitual practice, well then he is not from me". But you know whats also true, is that we all understand when we've done MORE than the prophet. We all agree that doing anything more than the prophet is extreme.
Well I have news for you today, we often fail to mention the opposite side of this. Because the truth is, that, anything less than the prophet is also extreme. yet nobody talks about that: "its ok for me to be clean shaven. Its ok for me to not pray. Its just that, I'm not a practicing believer". No. In truth; you're an extremist. Because he was the balance, he was the middle way. Anything more or less is extreme. You cant just sit there and point your fingers at these guys with beards and say "they are, or theyre not". No, because if you choose to be a believer, and, let me assure you, nobody is forced to be a believer, can we make this clear? No one is forced to be a believer. The belief is a choice that you and I make. I choose to be a believer. When I wake up I choose to follow the judgment, custom, and religion of god because I am convinced beyond all doubt that this the truth, the complete truth, so therefore I choose to follow the word. Nobody is forced. People come and they ask "what is the religious perspective on this or that"? Nobody is forced to be a believer. Its not my job to justify anything in my religion. "Is it true that you believers do this, is it true that you believers do that"? I dont need to justify anything to anyone, thats not my job.
HE is the balance. Anything more, but also anything LESS, is extremism if you choose to be a believer. And thats the problem today, is that we have allowed our judgment, custom, and religion to be what you and I think. That "this is what I think belief is", that "THIS is what I think belief is", and "you know, I think belief should be more like this, or more like that". Hang on. The greatest prophet, accompanied with the greatest community, followed by the greatest two generations to come after, followed by 14 hundred years of scholars who gave their lives for this judgment, custom, and religion, now all of a sudden all of this is pushed aside, and belief has come down to what you and I think? Really?
People come to me all the time and say "brother, whats your opinion on this"? My opinion? My? Excuse the french, who the hell am I to have an opinion? 14 hundred years of all of that, and now, someone has a bit of a following on facebook, someone, maybe he is gifted in speech, all of a sudden he feels that his opinion on the matter is important. Well I have news for you; it doesnt matter what you think. Our religion has been perfected and completed. What matters to us is what the prophet said, and taught, and did, and proved, thats what matters to us.