jihad - Khadijah Mosque

Jihadback and question us later. The Quran statesthis with certainty, and we must understandthis with our seven states of wisdom. We whoare the children of Adam must fully accept Himwithin our hearts. We must bow down 7 andprostrate 8 before Him. That is the meaning ofthe kalimah and the meaning of Iman-Islam.My brethren, let me tell you a story so thatyou may better understand the meaning ofjihad, or holy war. When God formed Adam outof earth, He placed the great trust of the light ofNur Muhammad on Adam’s forehead anddecreed that man would know things that theangels and other beings could never know. Theleader of the jinns was watching and listening.He became filled with jealousy, pride, andvengeance, and these qualities changed himinto Satan At once he began to speak againstGod, boasting to Adam, “I am more exalted thanyou. Allah said that He created you to be mostexalted, but you are only made of earth. I ammade of fire. If you bow down to me I will helpyou, but if you attempt to rise above me, then Iwill do many evil things to you and made yousuffer greatly.” Then that light on Adam’sforehead looked closely at Satan, and whenSatan saw the radiance, there arose within himan even greater fear, jealousy, and vengeance.Once again he sneered at Adam, “You arecreated out of mere earth, and yet you dare tolook at me like this! Because you were given ahigher place than I was, I will create sorrowand suffering for you until the very end.” ThenSatan spat on him, and the moment that spitlanded on Adam, satan’s poisonous qualitiesentered him and spread throughout his entirebody. Those qualities became the darkness ofthe mind and the veils within the innermostheart.Upon seeing what had happened, Allahcommanded the Angel Gabriel to pinch out thatspot of hell where satan’s spit had landed. Thehollow that remained became the navel. Eventhough the spit itself was cleared away, some ofthe poison of those evil, envious qualities hadalready entered Adam and in that way werepassed on to his descendents, causing all ofmankind endless trouble. Because of satan’sactions, Allah commanded that he and hisfollowers be cast out of heaven. Then Heelevated Adam to the high position decreed forhim.This is a very great matter. I have relatedonly a small part of it to show you that the mostimportant jihad, that each one of us must fight,is the war against these qualities. Just as Satanwas thrown out of heaven because he opposedthe Almighty, Unique One, we too must castout all that is evil within us, everything thatopposes God. Those evil qualities of jealousyand vengeance are the qualities that ruin usand take us on the path to hell.To help us fight this war, Allah sent us thekalimah and commanded us, “Recite thiskalimah and cut away the enemy that is withinyou. Who is that enemy? Satan’s evil qualities.They are an enemy to your body and to Myunity and truth. Cut your connection to theevil one and cast out his qualities. Thosequalities are the very fire of hell.”Therefore, with the kalimah and with Allah’squalities we must destroy the seven hells insideof us, and embrace instead the purity of theoneness of Allah. One who with wisdom and apure heart accepts that oneness completely, alsoaccepts the first kalimah. That is the affirmationof the unity of Allah, 9 and that is the first thingwe have to do on the path of Iman-Islam. Wemust accept this reality of the oneness of Allahwithout any doubt. This means that we mustalso accept everyone, all of Adam’s children, asour brothers and sisters. We must think aboutthis deeply, within our hearts.The meaning of this is very, very profound.The purity we speak of is very deep. The state ofabsolute faith, certitude, and determination 10is also deep, and from it comes the wisdom whichwill help us to understand these mysteries.My brothers, the holy wars that the childrenof Adam are waging today are not true holywars. Taking other lives is not true jihad. Wewill have to answer for that kind of war when weare questioned in the grave. That jihad is foughtfor the sake of men, for the sake of earth andwealth, for the sake of one’s children, one’s wife,and one’s possessions. Selfish intentions areintermingled within it.True jihad is to praise God and cut away theinner satanic enemies. When wisdom and claritycome to us, we will understand that the enemiesof truth are within our own hearts. There arefour hundred trillion, ten thousand spiritualopponents within the body: satan and hisqualities of backbiting, deceit, jealousy, envy,treachery, the separations of I and you, mineand yours, intoxicants, theft, lust, murder,falsehood, arrogance, karma, illusion, mantrasand magics, and the desire for earth, sensualpleasures, and gold. These are the enemiesMasjid Khadijah 71