Title of the Sermon: A Clarification of All Things
Elements of the Sermon:
Clarification that brings healing.
The system of divine exposition.
The clear and comprehensive religion is to be applied.
All praise is due to Allah, the guiding Light, who made His Book a light in all darkness and guidance and a clarification for all things. There is no exposition above His exposition. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah alone with no partner, and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah send blessings and peace upon him, his family, and all his companions.
To proceed: Fear Allah, O servants of Allah, as He deserves to be feared, and be mindful of Him in private and in public.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
“O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims.” (Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 102)
O servants of Allah,
The Arabs in their pre-Islamic ignorance were infatuated with wine. It was served at their gatherings, and they sang about its intoxication. So, Allah dealt with them gently and gradually prohibited it. When the verse was revealed:
يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الخَمْرِ وَالمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِنْ نَفْعِهِمَا
“They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, ‘In them is great sin and [some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit.’”
(Sūrat al-Baqarah: 219),
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said, “O Allah, give us a clear, healing clarification about wine.” Then Allah revealed:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنْتُمْ سُكَارَى حَتَّى تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ
“O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying.” (Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: 43)
So, the caller of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would proclaim when the prayer was established: “Let no intoxicated person come near the prayer!” ʿUmar was then summoned and this verse was recited to him, and he again said, “O Allah, give us a clear, healing clarification about wine.”
Then this verse was revealed:
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ العَدَاوَةَ وَالبَغْضَاءَ فِي الخَمْرِ وَالـمَيْسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَعَنِ الصَّلَاةِ فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُنْتَهُونَ
“Indeed, Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through wine and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?” (Sūrat al-Māʾidah: 91)
ʿUmar said, “We have desisted! We have desisted!” (Narrated by Abū Dāwūd)
Such is the religion of Allah — a healing clarification from every affliction and disease. Allah encompasses everything with His knowledge; not even a particle escapes Him. He is the Lord of the worlds, who said:
إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا لَلْهُدَى
“Indeed, upon Us is guidance.” (Sūrat al-Layl: 12)
And part of His Lordship is that He does not leave His creation in blindness or misguidance. That is why Allah clarified His religion and His law to His servants with a complete, healing exposition — one free of deficiency, ambiguity, or distortion. He said:
وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَى لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ
“And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things and as guidance and mercy and glad tidings for the Muslims.” (Sūrat al-Naḥl: 89)
And He said:
مَا فَرَّطْنَا فِي الكِتَابِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ
“We have not neglected in the Book a thing.” (Sūrat al-Anʿām: 38)
And He said:
وكلَّ شَيْءٍ فَصَّلْنَاهُ تَفْصِيلًا
“We have detailed everything with precise explanation.” (Sūrat al-Isrāʾ: 12)
Allah clarified everything so that people may be guided to Him, and so they are protected from misguidance and confusion amidst the darkness of conflicting ideologies and paths — so that the truth does not become entangled with falsehood. He said:
كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
“Thus does Allah make clear to you His signs that you may be guided.” (Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 103)
Everything that people need in their religion, their creed, and their law — for the rectification of their worldly life and their Hereafter — Allah has clarified and detailed with complete and eloquent explanation, without ambiguity or omission. He said:
وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ نَسِيًّا
“And your Lord is never forgetful.” (Sūrat Maryam: 64)
When you read the Qur’an and the Sunnah, you find clarification of the fundamentals of faith and creed that no Muslim may be ignorant of. It speaks to you with the clearest and most complete speech about Allah, His names and attributes, His Lordship and Divinity, about the Hereafter and its details as though seen with one’s own eyes, about His prophets and messengers, His books and revelations, His noble angels, His decrees, wisdom, and knowledge, and His blessings and mercy that encompass all creation.
You find the most complete and comprehensive speech about His law and the rulings of His religion. He clarified the rulings of acts of worship and transactions, the obligations and recommended acts, what is ḥalāl and ḥarām, the major and minor sins, the necessities, needs, and refinements, the legal limits and punishments, and the reward and punishment — so that guidance becomes distinct from misguidance, and truth from falsehood. Did He not say:
وَقَدْ فَصَّلَ لَكُمْ مَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ
“He has explained to you in detail what He has forbidden you?” (Sūrat al-Anʿām: 119)
He clarified good character from bad, the pure from the impure, the etiquettes, virtues, and noble traits.
He made clear His straight path, the qualities of the God-fearing, and also the path of the criminals so that it may be avoided and warned against:
وَكَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ وَلِتَسْتَبِينَ سَبِيلُ المُجْرِمِينَ
“Thus do We detail the signs, and so that the way of the criminals may be made clear.” (Sūrat al-Anʿām: 55)
Someone might ask: “But we don’t find every ruling explicitly stated in the Book of Allah. So how can it be a clarification of everything?”
Know, O servant of Allah, that if you reflect upon the Book of Allah and give it its due, you will indeed find within it a healing, complete exposition — from a Wise Lord who sent it down in a detailed, clear, and perfect form, which falsehood cannot approach from before it nor from behind it.
You will find that this clarification appears in different forms:
– At times, Allah states the ruling explicitly in plain terms that the average person can understand — like the obligation of prayer, Zakāh, fasting, and Ḥajj, or the prohibition of wine and fornication. As soon as the Muslim hears the verse, he grasps what Allah intends by it.
– And at times, He mentions the ruling in a way that requires a scholar or jurist to derive it from the verse using the correct principles of understanding and deduction — as is the case with many of the detailed rulings. Allah said:
أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلًا
“Is it other than Allah I should seek as judge while it is He who has revealed to you the Book explained in detail?” (Sūrat al-Anʿām: 114)
The Qur’an was revealed by Allah in clear, eloquent Arabic—made easy for remembrance, understanding, and action. There are no riddles or ambiguities within it; rather, it is at the height of clarity and lucidity. It is only because of human deficiency in understanding and knowledge that people need tafsīr (exegesis) and explanation—not due to any deficiency in the Qur’an itself. It is the manifest light. Allah said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ بُرْهَانٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَأَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ نُورًا مُبِينًا
“O mankind, there has come to you a conclusive proof from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light.” (Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: 174)
You also find this clarity in the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Allah inspired him with the Sunnah to serve as a clarification of the Qur’an—an exposition beyond the exposition. Allah said:
وَأَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ
“And We have sent down to you the Reminder that you may make clear to the people what has been sent down to them.” (Sūrat al-Naḥl: 44)
You find this clarity in the Sunnah as an independent source of legislation—on the tongue of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who concealed nothing of revelation, who did not speak from his own desire, and who was the most eloquent and clear-speaking of the Arabs, deeply concerned for his Ummah.
He used to say to his companions: “You will not ask me about anything except that I will explain it to you.” (Reported by al-Bukhārī)
He would answer them in clear, fluent Arabic, free from artificial language and complexity—with words so plain that both the young and old could understand.
The Mother of the Believers, ʿĀʾishah, said: “The speech of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was clear and distinct; everyone who heard it understood it.” (Reported by Abū Dāwūd)
And Allah did not take the Prophet ﷺ until he had conveyed the message with the most complete and clear delivery.
Abū Dharr said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ left us such that not even a bird flaps its wings in the sky except that he had given us some knowledge about it.” And the Prophet ﷺ said: “There is nothing that brings one closer to Paradise and further from the Fire except that it has been made clear to you.” (Reported by al-Ṭabarānī)
A believer cannot act upon the Qur’an without acting upon the Sunnah. Obeying the Messenger ﷺ is obedience to Allah, and what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has prohibited is like what Allah has prohibited.
Listen to this understanding from the Companion and jurist ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd. One day he said: “May Allah curse those women who tattoo and those who get tattooed, those who pluck eyebrows, and those who file their teeth for beauty—changing the creation of Allah.”
A woman from Banū Asad named Umm Yaʿqūb heard about this and came to him saying: “I’ve heard that you cursed such and such.” He replied: “Why should I not curse those whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed—and it is in the Book of Allah?”
She said: “I have read the whole Qur’an between its covers and did not find what you say.” He said:
وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا
“If you had read it properly, you would have found it. Have you not read: ‘Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it’?” (Sūrat al-Ḥashr: 7)
She said: “Yes.” He replied: “Then indeed, he has forbidden it.” (Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim)
You also find this clarification in the practical Sunnah—the consensus of the Prophet’s companions and the rightly guided caliphs after him. The Prophet ﷺ instructed us concerning this, saying: “Cling to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs after me. Hold onto it with your molar teeth. Beware of newly invented matters, for every innovation is misguidance.” (Reported by Abū Dāwūd)
May Allah bless me and you through the Noble Qur’an and benefit me and you with what is in it of verses and wise reminders. I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness—for He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
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Second Sermon
All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, and those who follow him. To proceed:
Servants of Allah,
A sign of your gratitude for the blessing of this religion’s clarity is that you take it with strength—in knowledge, in daʿwah, in applying its rulings, and in practice. For Allah commanded the Children of Israel with this, saying about their prophet Mūsā (ʿalayhi al-salām):
وَكَتَبْنَا لَهُ فِي الأَلْوَاحِ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْعِظَةً وَتَفْصِيلًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ فَخُذْهَا بِقُوَّةٍ وَأْمُرْ قَوْمَكَ يَأْخُذُوا بِأَحْسَنِهَا سَأُرِيكُمْ دَارَ الفَاسِقِينَ
“And We wrote for him on the Tablets [something] of all things—admonition and detailed explanation of everything—[saying], ‘Take them with determination, and order your people to take the best of them. I will show you the home of the defiantly disobedient.’” (Sūrat al-Aʿrāf: 145)
Such is the command: “Take them with determination”—without doubt, without weakness, without selective application, without shame or embarrassment—for it is the manifest truth.
Those who hate the Law of the Most Merciful, and those ignorant ones who follow them, call people to abandon the rulings of the Sharīʿah under the pretense that it does not address the realities or meet the needs of modern people. Thus, they urge people to refer to the philosophies of thinkers, the opinions of political strategists and legal theorists, the systems of economists—discarding the rulings and legislation of Allah.
Know, O servants of Allah, that there is no issue, event, or occurrence—great or small—in any matter of life until the Day of Judgment, except that Allah has a ruling and a statement concerning it. He has mentioned it and clarified it—He did not forget or neglect it. It can be found, as mentioned, in the Book or the Sunnah—either explicitly or through sound inference. And if the common people do not understand it, it is because they are not among the people of knowledge and remembrance. For this reason, they are commanded to follow what Allah said:
فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“So ask the people of knowledge if you do not know.” (Sūrat al-Naḥl: 43)
The religion of Allah is complete and sufficient, encompassing every aspect of life. It is not a spiritual religion detached from reality. Rather, it alone—through its rulings—is the righteous and reforming religion in politics, law, economics, and family matters—for the individual and society, for male and female, for ruler and ruled.
It is the Book that has explained everything—from beliefs and laws to manners in gatherings and even how children seek permission from their parents. For it is the religion of the All-Knowing, the All-Wise Lord.
O Allah, Guardian of Islam and its people, keep us firm upon Islam until we meet You with it.
O Allah, grant victory to Islam and honor the Muslims. Destroy the criminal disbelievers. O Allah, send tranquility into the hearts of those striving in Your path. Rescue Your oppressed servants. Raise high the banner of this religion by Your power, O Strong, O Firm.
O Allah, grant us safety in our homelands. Rectify our leaders and those in authority over us, and place authority in the hands of those who fear You, obey You, and seek Your pleasure.
Our Lord, give us in this world goodness and in the Hereafter goodness, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
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