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Friday Sermon: Wonders of Allah’s Creativity 1

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By Babatunde Jose

“I know we have not unraveled any fraction of the world around us and these perfect systems are not happenstance or evolution. It’s a design by the Grand Architect who has meaning and reason for all His creations.” –Abimbola Kuru

There are very clear facts to suggest that we know very little about the art of creation. Most of what has been revealed to us is only the tip of the proverbial ‘iceberg’. We often indulge in scientific conjectures that are eventually refuted by later discoveries. It is sufficient to say that most of the laws of science only confirm the immutable laws of nature.

If the great scientists did not discover the laws of nature, these events would still hold and would be in due course discovered with the progress of human civilization as revealed by Allah.  Over the centuries, there have been countless scientists and intellectuals whose efforts have kept the wheels of progress turning.

Sir Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician, who is widely recognized as one of the greatest and most influential scientists of all time. He played a key role in the development of calculus, and through his extensive study of light, made the first practical reflecting telescope, a technology which till date is used to study the heavens. But perhaps the most important and famous of his discoveries was that of gravity.

Newton was able to, not only describe why an apple fell towards the Earth rather than fly away from it, but also provide the mathematical basis for this theory, and describe the motion of objects. His discoveries went on to lay the foundation of classical mechanics, and are considered to be some of the most significant contributions to the world of physics.

However, before Newton, our ancestors have always known that whatever goes up must come down. Gravity has always been there. Nobody created gravity; it has been part of natural phenomena that came with the creation of the universe; gravity is an immutable law of nature. The speed of light and sound can never be as fast as the speed of thought. And we shall get to its use one day.

Among the numerous inventions of Thomas Alva Edison, the most prominent one is the electric bulb, which is still used today to light up our nights. But, if Edison had not, the electric bulb would have been invented at another time.

Electricity had always been there from the beginning of time.  A 2200-year-old clay jar found near Baghdad, Iraq, has been described as the oldest known electric battery in existence.

Albert Einstein was a German theoretical physicist, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest minds of modern times. Einstein is best known for his equation E=mc2, which gives the relation between energy and mass, and forms the basis of atomic energy generation. But atomic energy has always been there.

The Tunguska event was a large explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908 (NS). The explosion over the sparsely populated Eastern Siberian Taiga flattened an estimated 80 million trees over an area of 2,150 km2 (830 sq mi) of forest, and eyewitness reports suggest that at least three people may have died in the event. The explosion would have measured from 3 to 30 megatons of TNT (13–126 petajoules).An explosion of this magnitude would be capable of destroying a large metropolitan area.

There are facts to suggest that the event that obliterated the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was a nuclear explosion.  The Bible mentions the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed by a divine punishment. On the site of these two cities, the Dead Sea could well reflect radioactive destruction. Effectively, the very high salt content of this fossil sea could be the consequence of a nuclear explosion. Some researchers have come forward suggesting that Sodom and Gomorrah are the Hiroshima and Nagasaki of the distant past, over 4000 years ago.

Here is what the Bible says, see (Genesis 18:20; 19:24-26.28) We know that the Dead Sea’s surface and shores are 429 meters (1,407 ft) below sea level, Earth’s lowest elevation on land. The Dead Sea is 304 m (997 ft) deep, the deepest hyper-saline lake in the world. With 34.2% salinity (in 2011), it is also one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water, including Lake Vanda in Antarctica (35%) and Lake Assal in Djibouti (34.8%).

Jordan and many smaller rivers flow into the Dead Sea. Evaporation under the scorching sun takes place on the surface of the Dead Sea at a speed of more than 230 million cubic feet per day. According to the Arab tradition, there are many poisonous gasses evaporating from the lake that are so hazardous that birds cannot fly over it.

In modern times, we have had cause to marvel at the wonders of Allah, especially with respect to the Icelandic volcanic eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, 14 April 2010. A plume of volcanic ash was at times ejected several kilometers into the atmosphere by this eruption, potentially causing a hazard for airplanes. UK airspace was closed from 15–20 April, causing significant disruption. Occasional disruption continued when increased explosive activity at the volcano coincided with northerly to north-westerly winds that brought the ash towards Europe, causing untold flight disruptions and incalculable financial loss to airlines and tourist industry.

Deep in the mountainous jungles of Sumatra in Indonesia sits the picturesque Lake Toba. It’s a place thriving with natural beauty, what a difference a few tens of thousands of years can make. The lake was formed about 70,000 years ago when a massive VEI 8 supervolcano exploded; it was the deadliest volcano in human history. The event plunged the entire earth into a 6–10-year volcanic winter, decreasing global temperatures by up to 27 °F.

The event was estimated to have killed a significant percentage of the human population at the time, drastically altering the genetic makeup of the entire human race.

The Minoans were the most vibrant civilization of the Bronze-Age in the Mediterranean. They inhabited the islands of modern-day Greece for over 500 years. But their very existence was put into jeopardy when the volcanic island of Thera exploded.

The massive eruption is now estimated to be the second most powerful in modern history. The blast completely destroyed the Minoan settlement of Akrotiri, and many nearby islands were permanently affected. Chinese records indicate the blast may have caused a decade-long volcanic winter. The Minoan culture eventually crumbled and the entire course of history in the Mediterranean was turned on its head.

Two words: Destroyed Pangaea. This volcano created entire continents. It is assumed to be the primary catalyst for the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. The magma flow was estimated at up to 3 million cubic miles, that’s enough magma to fill 75% of the Mediterranean Sea. Continuous eruptions from this event persisted for over 600,000 years! It’s hard to even imagine a volcano of this magnitude in modern times, so let’s all cross our fingers that we never witness it for ourselves.

1816 was known as the “Year Without a Summer”; the Mount Tambora eruption of 1815 can be credited for originating the name. This massive stratovolcano caused crop failures and livestock deaths throughout the Northern Hemisphere, eventually leading to the worst famine of the 19th century. The swift, explosive eruption produced 4 times as much energy as Krakatoa, instantly razing the entire island of Sumbawa. The eruption was the largest in recorded history, it was heard 1,600 miles away, and ash fell at least 800 miles away.

When God created the Earth, He “saw all that He had made, and it was very good” (Gen 1: 31, NIV).

“He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He made the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His Law): Each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power–he Who forgives again and again? He created you (all) from a single Person: Then created, of like nature, his mate; and He sent down for you eight heads of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. Such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: To Him belongs (all) dominion. There is No god but He: Then how are ye turned away (from your true Center)? Quran 39:5-6

The Earth is an organism that reflects the creative power of God. It burns energy, regulates temperature, renews its skin, and undergoes age-related changes to its surface over time.

The world’s largest tropical rainforest is the biodiverse Amazon rainforest, home to one-third of Earth’s land species and one in ten known species on the planet.

There are about 3 trillion trees on Earth, or 422 trees per person.

Earth’s core holds enough gold to cover the entire surface of the planet in 1.5 feet of the shimmering mineral.

Over 68 percent of Earth’s freshwater is frozen in permanent ice such as glaciers and ice caps. Scientists estimate that if all the ice in Antarctica were to melt, sea levels would rise about 200 feet.

Only .0003 percent of the Earth’s water is fit for human use, and 20 percent of the planet’s unfrozen freshwater is found in Russia’s Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest lake in the world.

Not only is Earth the densest planet in the Solar System, but it’s also the only planet not named after a Greek or Roman god. The name “Earth” comes from the Old English word eorthe for “ground” and the Old High Germanic word erda, which means “soil.”

The Earth travels through space at 67,000 mph. This means that you’re 67,000 miles farther away than you were an hour ago. Think of that the next time you feel like there’s nothing happening in your life!

Let us praise God for His infinite creativity!

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend

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Friday Sermon: Return to Gaza, Lamentations of Palestinians and the Curse on Israel

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By Babatunde Jose

Strong winds and heavy rain pummeling Gaza’s survivors. Winter weather conditions are worsening the plight of Palestinians sheltering among the enclave’s ruins.

‘Worse than hell’: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza since a ceasefire came into effect last month, pausing Israel’s 15-month assault and genocide. But most people found their homes destroyed or heavily damaged.

“What they met was a catastrophe, horrific destruction. The [Israeli] occupation destroyed all the homes, shops, farms, mosques, universities and the courthouse,” said  Osama Abu Kamil, a returnee.

After a year of conflict, two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed, leaving behind 42 million tonnes of rubble and a mountain of health risks. Life in Gaza is worse than hell.

Medical evacuations and humanitarian aid have been flowing into the Gaza Strip through Rafah and the Karem Abu Salem crossing in the south, but they are not enough, especially tents and other humanitarian supplies.

The convoys are carrying a variety of essential items including food, tents, and sanitation products. Some of the tents are being sent to the northern part of the Strip to provide shelter for displaced families who are currently living in open spaces, struggling to cope with harsh weather conditions and a lack of necessities.

The World Health Organization estimates 14,000 Palestinian patients are waiting urgently for evacuation to receive advanced care outside Gaza, including 5,000 children.

The Israeli attacks and destruction are “a conspiracy against the refugee issue aimed at erasing it entirely”.

Arab League says in a statement that remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appearing to suggest the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi soil showed “a complete detachment from reality”.

“The kingdom affirms that the Palestinian people have a right to their land, and they are not intruders or immigrants to it who can be expelled whenever the brutal Israeli occupation wishes,” said the Saudi  Foreign Ministry.

Perhaps like you, a number of emotions welled up in me as I watched a calculating charlatan suggest that America “will own” Gaza and that, for their own good, more than two million Palestinians would be evicted from their ancestral homeland to make way, presumably, for a horde of fanatical Israeli settlers and voracious real estate moguls.

One cannot but be angry at the audacity of a preening braggart who knows nothing about Palestine or its history but claims to have the best interests of Palestinians at heart while he intends to “clean out” Gaza and, in effect, erase them and their history.

“The US will take over the Gaza strip,” Trump said. “We will own it…you [Palestinians] just can’t go back.” The raving of a luni!

There is only destruction and rubles to “go back” to, since for 15 months, Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. More than 60,000 Palestinians, mostly infants, children and women, have been killed. More than 100,000 people have been injured – in mind, body, and spirit – often grievously. But the fact remain that it is their land, holus bolu, and they are going nowhere. No chance for a repeat ‘nakba’.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza has “caused an epidemic of traumatic injuries with no rehabilitation services available,” the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini said last week. “Now, Gaza has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world — many losing limbs and undergoing surgeries without even anesthesia,”

Israel’s Assault Has Orphaned 19,000 Children in Gaza. Israeli forces have killed at least 2,100 babies and toddlers between 0 and 2 years of age in the first 10 months of Israel’s genocide. Doctors who have gone to Gaza on service trips have said that they constantly saw children shot in the head during their time in Gaza’s crumbling health facilities.

UNRWA has estimated that at least 10 children in Gaza are losing one or both legs per day in Israel’s attacks. This estimate doesn’t include children losing arms or hands, so the true number of children losing limbs each day is likely higher.

History will hold President Biden and his administration’s officials responsible for enabling the Israeli genocide in Gaza. For more than a year, he remained unmoved by the far-right Israeli government’s systematic campaign of slaughter, ethnic cleansing, forced starvation, and mass destruction that he sorry to say supported and excused.

Now, Israel is busy razing the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu and rancid company are determined to turn much of it into dust and memory, too – with the enthusiastic complicity of America’s entrenched political and media establishment.

That wanton brutality has not bothered Israel’s atrocity-excusing allies nor their defining disregard for the grotesque number and manner of Palestinian deaths.

To ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank and replace them with a string of seaside resorts has been the end game since 1948. And a succession of Democrat and Republican presidents has enabled Israel – with a spigot of arms and dependable diplomatic cover – to realize its dream of ridding Gaza and the West Bank of Palestinians once and decidedly for all.

It was a dream shared by the decrepit and recently departed Joe Biden, his duplicitous Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and craven Democratic Party “elites” who feigned interest in a phantom “two-state” concoction as they rearmed Israel to the hilt and voted down – again and again – ceasefire resolutions at the United Nations Security Council.

Biden and Blinken stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Netanyahu like obedient manikins while Israel vented its killing lust against largely defenseless Palestinians and Gaza was reduced to uninhabitable, dystopian-like rubble.

In words and deeds, Blinken and Biden set the egregious stage for Trump’s demented gambit.

I doubt that the Israel-is-always-above-reproach crowd who populate CNN, MSNBC, and The New York Times opinion page will remember that senior Biden administration officials were also negotiating with Israel to drain Gaza of Palestinians but reached for a palatable euphemism called “civilian safe passage”.

Meanwhile, Trump’s ethnic-cleansing-drenched remarks have revealed that stages two and three of the so-called ceasefire agreement that set the terms for the possible reconstruction of Gaza are a cynical farce and at best a transparent sham.

Bereft of even a hint of humanity, Trump and Israel’s racist cabinet will make sure that Gaza will not be rebuilt. Working together, they will guarantee that Palestinians remain exposed and vulnerable to the harsh, unforgiving elements, deprivation, disease, and want.

 

For some, no homes, no jobs, no schools, no hospitals, no libraries, no playgrounds, will, inevitably, translate into no hope. But, they will not move from their ancestral land.

Palestine’s fate and future will be resolved by Palestinians in quiet conversation amid the ruins wrought by the “international community” who, for generations, has condemned and abandoned them to the rabid wolves.

The Yorubas have a saying that whatever is beyond our power is better left to God. There is no doubt the Palestinian issue has defied human intervention, with the lackadaisical attitude of their Arab brethren some of whom find it impossible to look the oppressors and their supporters in the face and tell truth to their power and the political and material impotence of the Palestinians make it imperative that the matter should be handed to the final arbiter. God.

The curse on Israel

Psalm 109 is a psalm in the Book of Psalms. In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible and in the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 108. In Latin, it is known as “Deus, laudem”. It is attributed to King David and noted for containing some of the most severe curses in the Bible. It has traditionally been called the “Judas Psalm” as noted in the New Testament. The New Oxford Annotated Bible titles this psalm as one of the Imprecatory Psalms against deceitful foes. Today this Psalm is very appropriate to be invoked against the Israelites for the pains caused the Palestinians.

Psalm 109

1 My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, . . . . . 7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him. 8 May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. 9 May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.10 May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven[a] from their ruined homes.11 May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

12 May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children.13 May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation.14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.15 May their sins always remain before the Lord, that he may blot out their name from the earth.

16 For he never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted.17 He loved to pronounce a curse— may it come back on him. He found no pleasure in blessing—may it be far from him.

21 But you, Sovereign Lord, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. 22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. . . .

Yes! God should not remain silent in the face of the horrendous calamity that has befallen the Palestinians. From the rubles of Gaza, Palestine must surely rise again. In Sha Allah.

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend

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Friday Sermon: The Thin Red Line Between Life and Death: Remembering Dr ‘Bob’ Ade Owolade

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By Babatunde Jose

“You arrived naked and you will pass out naked.

You arrived with nothing and you will leave with nothing.

Your first bath, someone washed you and your last bath, someone will wash you. This is life.”

That thin line or veil that exists between life and death is acceptance. In life, we fight many tests, many obstacles. Often, fighting only makes the inevitable, harder.

There is a thin line that separates life from death, but once it is crossed, it becomes as large as an ocean, and so treacherous that it is impossible to cross back.

What is the space between life and death called? The word liminal is defined as the space in between. Often it’s the space in between living and dying.

It is said that people living deeply have no fear of death. …No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away. …It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone. …The boundaries between life and death are at best shadowy and vague.

The last days or hours of a person’s life are sometimes called the terminal phase. This is when someone is “actively dying”. Everyone’s experience of dying is different, and some people will die suddenly or unexpectedly. Therefore, not everyone will experience active dying.

A vegetative state is another aspect of what we consider the gray zone between life and death. Medically, this is when sufficient damage to the brain has occurred, where the person isn’t aware of and can’t respond to their surroundings. It is often called a state of coma. Many people pass this stage before giving up the ghost.

“May God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference.” “Dying is nothing to fear. It can be the most wonderful experience of your life. It all depends on how you’ve lived.”

We all live our lives from within one of the Three Zones of Living: the Complacent Zone, the Survival Zone, and the Comfort Zone. Typically we bounce in and out of each of these zones throughout our life.

Many people believe that death marks the end of life and that there is nothing beyond it. Others believe that death is merely a transition to another dimension of existence. Ultimately, the relationship between life and death is complex and multifaceted.

In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. —Proverbs 12:28

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. —Proverbs 14:12O

After a vertebrate dies, many of its organ systems, tissues, and cells remain functional while its body no longer works as a whole. We define this state as the “twilight of death” − the transition from a living body to a decomposed corpse.

Today as we commemorate 20 years of the passing of our brother, husband, father, friend and cousin (which was how we introduced each other), Dr. Bob Adeboye Owolade, we take cognizance of many traditions, and belief that the soul lingers on Earth for 40 days, engaging in a journey of purification, judgment, or preparation for its ultimate destination, which may be reincarnation, heaven, or another form of afterlife. However, 20 years is enough for Bob to get to his ultimate destination. Wherever he is, we wish him eternal rest and peace till the day of Resurrection…

It is said that during the 40 days of contemplation, the soul of the departed could wonder and appear to loved ones who have not been informed of its demise. Ade appeared to his niece in New York and when asked, he claimed to be there on a short visit and was going back soon. The lady did not see him again until she learnt from home that he had died. Such is the way of wandering souls.

Ade was everything rolled into one, a friend, an in-law, a brother, a co-traveler in the good life, a fine guitarist and lover of good music, a footballer in his school days and a veritable fan of Arsenal Gunners. But above all, Ade was a fine gynecologist and obstetrician as attested to by the many patients who passed through his hand. Even in Swaziland he was the preferred doctor to the wives of the King until he died.

We remember him today because his death reminds us of the thin line between living and death. Sometimes we regard such a phenomenon as mysterious, considering the manner in which the angel of death visits the victim.

Bob’s death was one of such incidents. Here was a man who woke up in the morning from the same bed with his wife without any sign of ailment. The wife, my amiable sister, was also a doctor in the service of Swaziland Health Services as a Consultant Anesthesiologist. They had their morning coffee and Bob left for Mbabane Clinic where he was a consultant. He had a problem patient whom he needed to see that morning. After a day at the clinic, he bade the staff farewell with instructions that they should come for him in case his patient developed any complication.

Ade got home and met his wife who was already preparing dinner. He sat on the bed fiddling with the television to get the DSTV Supersports channel for the day’s match between Manchester United and Arsenal. While at this, his wife called him that the food was ready. Unbeknown to her Bob has crossed the thin line. He had crossed the luminal. Yetunde entered the room with the intention of making him stand up to come to the table but met another wonder of God. She was alarmed because all of a sudden he became incoherent bordering on speaking in tongue.

The poor wife was afraid and had to call for an ambulance from the clinic. By the time they got to the clinic, event took another dimension. Arrangement had to be made to transfer Bob to Pretoria in South Africa, a distance of over 300 miles. At the hospital in Pretoria, he was in the ICU with all the ubiquitous tubes and wires all over his body. In all honesty, the first picture that was sent to my phone was so scary; I was in Pakistan. Two days later my son Pappi Jose, who was in school in SA called to inform me that Bob had passed on.

Many thanks to the Ambassador our uncle Dr. Tunji Olagunju, who made the necessary arrangements for the body to be freighted back to Nigeria and for my sister and the three children, including Pappi to come home for the burial. These were harrowing days. His schoolmates at Government college, Ibadan, University of Ibadan, and Ain Shams University, Cairo and the friends and Eku’lu crowd of Mbabane, Eswatini all played important roles during his rights of passage.

We thank God for his life, though short but impactful, his children, Damola, Dotun and Dino and of course we thank God for standing by our sister Yetunde and for helping her lift the burden Bob left for her. It had been a journey powered with God’s Mercies.

May I join you in sharing the Psalmist delight when he said in Psalms 145:8-17: The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; Slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: And his tender mercies are over all his works. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; And thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, And talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, And raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee; And thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, And satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, And holy in all his works.

To our sister, Yetunde, the children and the entire families we say Aku iranti. Didun didun ni iranti olododo.

Inna lillah wa ina ilehi rajiun. With total submission to the will of Allah, we announce the passing of Major Fatai Shittu Rtd, 2nd Vice President of Anwar-ul-Islam Movement of Nigeria who crossed the line to meet his maker last Tuesday, 4th February. The late Major Fatai Shittu was from our Iseyin Mission and a pillar of the Movement. May Allah forgive his shortcomings and grant him Jannatul Firdous.

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend

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Friday Sermon: Just Six Feet!

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By Babatunde Jose

Radix malorum est cupiditas: “greed is the root of evil”.

“Beware of greed, for it was only greed that destroyed those before you. It commanded them to be miserly and they did so. It commanded them to sever their family ties and they did so. It commanded them to behave wickedly and they did so.” Source: Sunan Abu Dāwūd 1698

“Thou wilt indeed find them, of all people, most greedy of life, even more than the idolaters: Each one of them wishes he could be given a life of a thousand years: But the grant of such life will not save him from (due) punishment. For Allah sees well all that they do.” (Quran 2: 96)

Greed is an extreme or excessive desire for resources, especially for property such as money, real estate, or other symbols of wealth. A greedy person is covetous, acquisitive, grasping, avaricious and mean; having or showing a strong desire for, especially material possessions. Covetousness will simply imply an inordinate desire often for another’s possessions. Greed (Latin: avaritia), also known as avarice, cupidity, is like lust and gluttony, a sin of desire.

However, greed (as seen in religious terms) is applied to an artificial, rapacious desire and pursuit of material possessions. Their inability to empathize, their lack of genuine interest in the ideas and feelings of others, and their unwillingness to take personal responsibility for their behavior and actions makes them very difficult people to be with. They are never satisfied. Greedy people look at the world as a zero-sum game.

Fear, insecurity, anxiety, tendency to betray or harm others and arrogance are the results of greed. Greed is rightly called a deadly sin because it kills the possibility of a proper human relation to the Creator.

In Luke 12:15 we read; “Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

According to the Bible, the seven deadly sins are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth, which are also contrary to the seven heavenly virtues. These sins are often thought to be abuses or excessive versions of one’s natural faculties or passions (for example, gluttony abuses one’s desire to eat, to consume).

Plutomania: is defined medically as excessive or abnormal desire for wealth. The root cause of greed is thinking of ourselves in isolation from others or as members of elite peer groups that define what we should want. We are members of larger communities with many kinds of people, on whom we depend and who depend on us.

This is where the attitudinal disposition of our leaders comes in. They are a race of men from another planet. They are an embodiment of the seven deadly sins and make no regrets about it. They are gluttonous, rapacious and will stop at nothing to convert the commonwealth to their personal property.

What is enough for one to lead a happy life? This question can be answered in many different ways. In fact, the variety in answers is something that can be appreciated. Nonetheless, Islam has made it very simple by emphasizing the connection between one’s wishes and desires and serving Allah.

Allah has given human beings the full right to strive and achieve what they can from what He has allowed, and in our history we have examples of people who had tremendous amounts of wealth and enjoyed its benefits. But when the time came, they did not hesitate for even a moment to sacrifice it all in the way of Allah.  Such an act of devotion though is only possible when a Muslim understands that real happiness is in pleasing Allah and the only thing worth being greedy over is success in the Hereafter.

Hence Allah says in Sura Al-Layl: But he who is a greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient, And gives the lie to the Best, We will indeed make smooth for him the Path to Misery; Nor will his wealth profit him when he falls headlong (into the Pit). Verily We take upon Ourselves to guide, And verily unto Us (belong) the End and the Beginning.  (Quran 92:8-13)

It is not just the greed of wealth and power that has resulted in the oppression of our Ummah; it is also the greed for life. This greed spread in the name of individualism and presents us with a choice where the value of our own selves is sized up against the value of others. So if one can save or benefit themselves, even if that comes at the expense of their brothers and sisters, then that is a fair choice to make.

Rasulallah (SAW) said: “…and Allah will take the fear of you from the breasts (hearts) of your enemy and cast al-wahn into your hearts.” Someone asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what is al-wahn?” He replied, “Love of the world and dislike of death.

This need for the material over the divine has taken over most all societies. We are primarily a brand and class-conscious people. The greed that leads to needing to achieve a certain material standard unfortunately even pushes some Muslims to the Haram.

Some Muslims adopt cultural practices that involve extremely extravagant wedding celebrations where there is pride in spending the most money and outdoing others in their wedding spending. There is a greed in attaining possessions but then another type of greed that seeks status, attention and the outdoing of others even if that is through sometimes unconscionable means.

We must remember that it is also greed that brought certain peoples to disobey Allah. Greed is selfish excessive or uncontrolled desire for possession, especially when this denies the same goods to others.

Imam Hassan Mujtaba said: “The annihilation of people lies in three things: Arrogance, Greed and Envy. Arrogance causes destruction of the religion and because of it Shaitan (Satan) was cursed, and Greed is the enemy of one’s soul, and because of it Adam was expelled from Paradise, and Envy is the guide to wickedness, and because of it Qabil (Cain) killed Habil (Abel) – the two sons of Prophet Adam.”

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir said: “In his love for the world, the greedy is like the silkworm: the more it wraps in its cocoon, the less it has of escaping from it, until it dies of grief.”

Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) said: “If son of Adam were to possess two valleys of gold and silver, he would long for a third. Son of Adam, your stomach is but an ocean or a valley that cannot be filled in with anything except dust.”

Greed enslaves man and causes him grief. The greedy cares only for collecting fortunes without stopping at any limit. Whenever he achieves a goal, he works for achieving another and, so, he becomes the slave of avidity until death strikes him.

In school we studied a novel on defeating greed by Tolstoy called “How Much Land does a Man Need?” According to the peasant Pahom “Our only trouble is that we haven’t land enough. If I had plenty of land, I shouldn’t fear the Devil himself”. In a continuous mission to find the ‘more’ that would be land enough, Pahom dies. His servant picked up the spade, dug a grave long enough for Pahom to lie in and buried him in it. Six feet from his head to his toes was all he needed. A GREAT LESSON TO ALL: The Bible said: “. . . nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:10

The Army Chief who embezzles the vote meant to procure arms and ammunition for the defenders of our territory will in the end get only six feet of land. The same goes for the Air and Naval Chiefs who are led by greed to criminal atavism. What then can one say of the Oil minister who stole so much money that could fund a luxury space travel to Venus with a stopover at the International Space Station but will eventually return and end up in her own portion of ‘standard’ 6 feet? That, my brothers and sisters, is the end of greed. It answers the question: How much land does a man need?

Good men too will not get a bigger portion of land. Six feet is all they will get; except that they will inherit the kingdom. 2:156 of the Quran; Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un, a phrase meaning “Verily we belong to God, and verily to Him do we return.”

Last Wednesday, 29th January, our friend and brother Babatunde Adewale Okegbenro aka Lakabo received his own 6 Feet. He was not buried with his tennis racket or balls. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Amen.

Barka Juma’at and Happy Weekend

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