IN THE NAME OF ALLAH MOST GRACIOUS MOST MERCIFUL
AL – NOOR MASJID, ICICE, WUSE II, ABUJA
Jumu’ah Khutbah Translation 14th Muharram, 1444AH, Equivalent to 12th August 2022
Intellect: A Blessing and Responsibility
All praise is due to Allah the immense in favor to His creations. He created human being and endowed them with the nobility of intellect. I testify that there is nothing worthy of worship but Him, the Unique the One Who has no partners in His oneness. And I testify that Prophet Muhammad is His slave and messenger.
I enjoin you to fear Allah. “O you who have believed, fear Allah and let every soul look at what it has put forward tomorrow and fear Allah indeed Allah is acquainted with what you do.”
Allah says in Qur’an: “and indeed We have certainly honored the children of Adam.” Ibn Abbass commented by saying Allah has indeed honored human beings by the bestowal of intellect to them. It is among the greatest graces from Allah. Allah said: “and Allah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing and has made for you hearing, vision and intellects perhaps you would be grateful.”
How do we show gratitude to Allah for this blessing? By using the intellect for what it is been given to us for. For what Allah instructed and ordered us to do with it such as contemplation upon the origin of creations that depicts the wisdom of Allah. So that a person can feel the blessing of Allah and the expansiveness of the wisdom of Allah. Qur’an says: “indeed in the creation of havens and the earth and the alternation of the night and day are signs for those of understanding.” So, through the intellect a person can be able to diligently contemplate upon the words of his/her Lord so that he/she understand what is meant by them, be able to act upon the commands and be able to abstain from the prohibitions. Allah says: “this is a blessed book which We have revealed to you that they may reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding be reminded.
People of understanding are the people of intellect who thank Allah for the blessings they have received especially the blessing of intellect hence they nourish it with beneficial knowledge and cause it to grow through valuable and useful understanding.
Allah says praising the people of intellect: “and these examples We present to people none would understand them except people of knowledge”
Intellect is a trust and weighty responsivity given to us. Allah says: “indeed the hearing, the sight and heart about of all of these one would be questioned”
The human being who is been honored with intellect is distinguished and is in turn able to distinguish between right and wrong, goodness and evil, benefit and harm, and hence he/she abstains from all that is detrimental him or her and harmful to his/her intellect such as drugs, alcohol, substance abuse and anything that leads to mental impairment and destruction. All these are very harmful and lead to loss of health, wealth, dignity as well as result into broken family, moral and spiritual bankruptcy that causes loss of well beingness and despair of life. The Prophet says: “every intoxicant is haram.”
The NDLEA and other relevant government agencies are doing a lot to help protect our nation from the evils of drugs via various activities and operations. There is, however, room for improvement. And it is a collective responsibility. Community engagement especially civil society organizations and support are highly needed. Prayers as well. Parents need to sit up and keep eyes on kids, their whereabout, friends, company, handsets..
Human beings must show gratitude to Allah for giving them intellect and sense of reasoning by:
- having foresight and thinking ahead through putting short-, medium- and long-term plans.
- protecting society from narcotics, alcoholism, drugs and substance abuse at all cost.
- not failing to provide solutions to the damning problems that threaten society safety and wellbeing.
- being able to convert the abundant resources endowed to us by Allah into wealth ensuring prosperous life for ourselves instead of keeping the resources idle, wasted or stolen. Doing so will keep us away from disenfranchising and enslaving debt and Riba.
- being conscious of evils of Shaitan and his disciples of bringing mayhem, destruction and ruin to human nature.
- upgrading curriculum to include how to think outside the box and bring solutions for problems.
Some nations are teaching their students basics of Cryptocurrency, AI, VR, AR, XR, Quantum, Nano technology, Metaverse, NFT, Web 3.0, 5G, Telecommuting, Freelancing et c. Our education system needs a new orientation. The secret of making wealth is not taught in schools. We need to face modern reality.
All above can happen when talent of intellect is put in functionality mode and made good use of. May Allah bestow this ability to us. May He keep us and our nation safe, guarded and guided. May also endow us with wise leader and prosperity.
https://www.awqaf.gov.ae/ar/Pages/FridaySermonDetail.aspx?did=7216
~Eπgr. Ali
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