There’s the educational test, where if we sin, make some type of error, an affliction or a pinch occurs to inform us that we aren’t in God’s kingdom. When we step out of God’s kingdom, Satan smites us with some issue. Once we notice these adverse effects in our lives, it’s a notification to tell us hey, we’re not in God’s kingdom anymore. Repent and re-enter it. These two tests, admissions and education, are tests afflicted by Satan.
There’s a colloquial term for the third type of test, and that’s blessings in disguise. Let’s say you go for a job interview and do terribly, which then causes you to lose out on the job. Now because you weren’t accepted at that job interview, you decide to apply to another job a few weeks later, and you get that job. If you had been accepted to that first job, you would have been paid 20% less than the second job you applied to and got accepted at. This was a blessing in disguise. You lost out on the first job, but that then led to being accepted to the second job, which gave you significantly more money for the same amount of work.
So we have admissions tests, educational tests, a blessing in disguise, and we have the test of retribution. If you face this one - it’s bad. Bad. it happens when a society or an individual reaches the point of corruption where there is no reform, the point of no reform. It’s like Lot’s people. He did everything he could to preach the message to his people, they didn’t listen, and they were utterly destroyed. You can see this with Lot’s people, and Shuayb’s people, there’s no real shortage of those who incurred the disaster of retribution.
The one that I want to go over today for the first sermon is the admissions test. This is a crucial test to know about for new Submitters so they know what to expect once becoming a Submitter. The Quran mentions the admissions test in a couple of places. Let’s go to Chapter 29, verses 2 and 3. The subheading is very important, it states: The Test is Mandatory. So there’s no getting out of it once you become a Submitter. I seek refuge in God from satan the rejected:
“Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe," without being put to the test?
We have tested those before them, for GOD must distinguish those who are truthful, and He must expose the liars. ” [Quran 29:2-3]
God tells us in explicit terms, the second that we declare our belief, it’s on. It’s only a matter of time when that test comes for us. He then tells us in verse 3 the purpose of the test. It’s to distinguish those who believe in God, as opposed to those who just provide lip service. The Quran details many examples of various types of tests that different communities faced, but one test I want to focus on is the qibla test. At least, I call it the qibla test.
The Quran details an incident where the prophet was instructed to change the direction of prayer, from Mecca to another location. We know from the footnote of 2:142 that this second location was Jerusalem. Now, this test may seem simple. If a messenger tells you to pray in this direction, then you do it. The Quran details 19 times to Obey God and Obey the Messenger. So this shouldn’t seem like a difficult task. But it served as a test for people. 2:142 and 143 states:
“The fools among the people would say, "Why did they change the direction of their Qiblah?" Say, "To God belongs the east and the west; He guides whoever wills in a straight path." We thus made you an impartial community, that you may serve as witnesses among the people, and the messenger serves as a witness among you. We changed the direction of your original Qiblah only to distinguish those among you who readily follow the messenger from those who would turn back on their heels. It was a difficult test, but not for those who are guided by GOD. GOD never puts your worship to waste. GOD is Compassionate towards the people, Most Merciful.” [Quran 2:142 - 143]
I want you to picture this image in your mind and place yourselves in the shoes of those who were told to pray to Jerusalem instead of the Kaba in Mecca. These guys have been praying towards the Kaba for generations upon generations upon generations. Ever since Abraham and Ishmael laid the foundations of the Kaba by the instructions of God, these guys have been praying in that direction ever since. This was a generational practice, up until the time of the prophet. Now all of a sudden, the prophet commands you to pray elsewhere. This served as a test for those who had just recently accepted the prophet’s authority and prophethood. This brings us back to 29:2 and 3 where God tells us, Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe," without being put to the test? In that situation, you can either follow the instructions or fail, thus exposing that individual's true belief. Or lack thereof. The following verse states,
“We have seen you turning your face about the sky (searching for the right direction). We now assign a Qiblah that is pleasing to you. Henceforth, you shall turn your face towards the Sacred Masjid. Wherever you may be, all of you shall turn your faces towards it. Those who received the previous scripture know that this is the truth from their Lord. GOD is never unaware of anything they do.”
The change towards Jerusalem wasn’t permanent. It only served as a test to, as the verse states “to distinguish those among you who readily follow the messenger from those who would turn back on their heels”. The funny thing about this is that you would think that the qibla test was a one-and-done deal, but it isn’t. We have a similar ordeal today, but I’ll talk about that in the second sermon God willing. It’s only an issue for those that don’t live near the Middle East, but for folks who live over here in North America, for example, there’s a similar qibla command that we’ll get into later God willing (8:32).
There’s a huge lesson that can be derived from this test. We must hold firm to the rope of God, as stated in 3:103. It’s crucial. When we place our reliance on God alone, we can’t go wrong. When He issues a command to the messenger. We have to readily obey. Now, 29:2 and 3 aren’t the only verses that talk about the admissions test. We also have 3:186 that sheds more light on the topic. The subheading for that verse is, The Inevitable Test. The last one was The Test is Mandatory, and this one states The Inevitable Test. Just more assurances that new Submitters will face this test once they become a Submitter. 3:186 states,
“You will certainly be tested, through your money and your lives, and you will hear from those who received the scripture, and from the idol worshipers, a lot of insult. If you steadfastly persevere and lead a righteous life, this will prove the strength of your faith.” [Quran 3:186]
The footnote says, *3:186 After passing the admission tests, the proven worshipers of God ALONE enjoy a perfect life, now and forever. See 10:62, 24:55, and 29:2-3.
In this verse, God informs us that there are various means in which we may be tested. We can be tested through our wealth, an example of this could be accepting a job that may interfere with the timing of Friday prayers or any other situation involving giving up wealth for God’s sake as a means of a test. We can be tested through our lives, our family. Everything is pretty much fair game. But the reward? As the footnote states, after passing the admission tests, the proven worshipers of God ALONE enjoy a perfect life, now and forever. The footnote brings us to two other verses that we haven’t read yet. These verses elaborate more on the reward for passing the admissions test. I’ll read them together, God willing. The subheading for 10:62 states, Happiness: Now and Forever -
“Absolutely, God's allies have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.” [Quran 10:62]
The subheading for 24:55 says, God’s Promise Kings and Queens on Earth,
“God promises those among you who believe and lead a righteous life, that He will make them sovereigns on earth, as He did for those before them, and will establish for them the religion He has chosen for them, and will substitute peace and security for them in place of fear. All this because they worship Me alone; they never set up any idols beside Me. Those who disbelieve after this are the truly wicked.” [Quran 24:55]
This is God’s promise to us. In 30:6 and 39:20, God tells us He never breaks His promise. And in this verse, He said He promises those among us who believe and lead a righteous life, He’ll reward us for our worshipping of Him alone. And grant us security, and peace, and happiness. We must do whatever it takes to hold firm to the rope of God, and ensure to the best of our ability that we’re relying on Him alone. By staying steadfast and passing our admissions test, as God says, we have nothing to fear nor shall we grieve. And for it, we get an immense reward.
Tooboo ill Allah. Repent.
Alhamdulilah. Ash hadu an la Ilaha ill Allah, Wahdahu la Sharika lah.
Praise be to God. I bear witness there is no god except God, and He has no partners.
As stated in the first sermon, I will discuss why the issue of the qibla test is extremely relevant today and why it has to do with our direction of prayer. I don’t want to go into the intricate details of the earth’s shape and how to calculate the proper direction, this isn’t the time and place for it. But I know Brother Syed in the UK has an amazing video where he had a rendered model of the earth to explain the proper direction of prayer on the QuranOnlyStudies YouTube channel. He goes deeper into this. But to summarize the ordeal: If you walk into any Sunni masjid (which I don’t recommend you do because they aren’t masjids founded on righteousness), hypothetically if you did, they would be facing North East. In short, the contention between Northeast (NE) and Southeast (SE) Qibla proponents stems from fundamental differences in how they determine direction on a spherical Earth. Those that follow NE focus on the Earth's curvature and core as the reference point. Those that follow SE rely on using the Sun and the ecliptic plane as a reference point rather than the core of Earth.
Now, the reason why I wanted to get into this a bit is because it’s very similar to the test that the early community during the prophet’s time faced. It’s not an exact 1:1 of course, but we have Quranic precedent for it. The Messenger of the Covenant stated in unequivocal terms, the direction of prayer for us, is SouthEast. It’s not North East as the Sunnis typically pray towards here. Again, it’s not an issue of dispute for people that live near Saudi Arabia and the countries near it because it’s very straightforward. But for us that live all the way over here in the US, it matters. Because there’s a whole other method of calculating the shortest distance to the Sacred Masjid. We face the same choice that the prophet faced during his time. The messenger says, “Pray towards Jerusalem” or “Pray South East”. There’s only one legitimate response for a believer. “I hear and I obey”. There was a time when I heard a debate between two Submitters. One was trying to explain what the messenger of the covenant stated with the qibla being SE and all. But the other one was extremely adamant on the direction being NE. They wouldn’t listen to what the messenger said. A very similar test to what the early Submitters had to face during the switch to Jerusalem. You either follow the messenger or you don’t. God tells us explicitly that it’s a means to test us. God already knows what our response to anything would be, but he tests us to show us what our responses are. But as the Quran states in the earlier verses I read, if we stay firm and attached to the rope of God, we have nothing to fear. God then promises us that we would enjoy a perfect life, now and forever.
Aqimas salah