Eid Khutba SRVIC 3-30-25 By Prof. Dr. Nazeer Ahmed

Note:  Audio file of the Khutba available :  https://historyofislam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Nazeer-Ahmed-Khutbah-Dougherty-Valley-HS.mp3

Eid Khutba SRVIC 3-30-25

Prof. Dr. Nazeer Ahmed

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Alhamdullillah, it is Youmul Eid, a day of happiness, a day for the family and friends and the community, a day to exchange gifts, a day of thanksgiving for the countless bounties showered by divine grace. Even as we celebrate this Eid in the safety and comfort of San Ramon Valley, we remember and we pray for the children all over the world  who are victims of poverty, war and deprivation and who observe their Eid even as they are denied food, water, electricity or security.

Ya ayyhal hadireen! We live in extraordinary times. Artificial intelligence has overpowered human intelligence. Jobs that were once secure have disappeared and there is turmoil in the world. Wars are fought not by soldiers but by robots and drones that are devoid of compassion or mercy. Man has conquered space but millions go to bed hungry. The world churns out billionaires by the dozen but masses of people are driven into poverty. The specter of climate change and atomic war haunts humankind. The world is in a flux with some civilizations on the rise, others in decline. The world of Islam is caught up in the forces of these galactic changes and is tossed up and down like a cork in a mighty river. Young people ask: what should we do in these turbulent and uncertain times?

Mevlana Rumi answered this question seven hundred years ago. He wrote: “Yesterday, I was smart and I wanted to change the world. Today, I am wise and I decided to change myself”.  It is great advice for these times. As the Qur’an teaches us: Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within their own Selves.

Taqwa is about such a change. Its ultimate goal is transformation of the Self and transformation of society. It applies to the family, the community, the nation and the world, as it does to the individual Self.

It is a recurring theme in Islamic history that at the end of each millennia, there is  renewal. The Islamic world today is steeped in a crisis of character whose visible sign is corruption. The next renovation of Islamic civilization is unlikely to come from Casablanca or Karachi. It is going to come from you, each one of you, young men and women, each one a point of light reflecting divine light. Imagine a world illuminated by a billion points of light. The existential destiny of Islamic civilization is in your hands. Each of you is a Mujaddid of the next millennia. This is a paradigm shift, a compulsion of modern history. Rise up to the call of history.

Young people often ask: “What is Taqwa?” Taqwa is something like rocket science. Just as you build a light shield in a space telescope to keep straylight out and focus on the light of a distant star, taqwa is a shield to keep away all the distractions of the world and focus on the light from Allah.

With the divine light comes tranquility of heart, peace of mind and awareness of the beautiful Names of Allah, the Asma ul Husna. That is why Taqwa is often translated as God-consciousness or simply as piety.

Allah swt created the human to be a witness to that divine light, Noor e Muhammadi, the Light of Muhammed.  As the Hadith e Qudsi states: Kuntu Kunzan Maghfiya, Fa Ahbabtu An Arafa, Fa Khalqtu Khalaqa (I was a hidden treasure. I loved to be known. Therefore, I created). He created the magnificent universe, molded the human in due proportion, gave him authority over all that is between the heavens and the earth, breathed into him of His Ruh, endowed him with a heart large enough to contain the Names of Allah, a mind so sharp that it penetrates the secrets of the heavens and the earth, eyes to witness the majesty of His creation, ears to hear the far away pulse of the universe, hands to do noble deeds, and feet to walk to our  destination.

The light that comes with Taqwa brings us a treasure house of blessings. On this day of Eid let us remember some of them. One is gratitude (tashakkur).  Consider our own creation. From which stardust are we created?  How many universes are there?  How many galaxies?  How many stars in a galaxy?  Billions of years ago, we were plasma (smoke as the Qur’an calls it), then the plasma cooled and coalesced into galaxies, stars were born and spun off their satellite planets. In our own Milky way galaxy is our sun, and orbiting it is our own tiny planet, the earth, a speck of dust in the vast expanse of space. And on this speck of dust there are seven billion of us each with an ego extending from San Francisco to New York. Ask yourself, in this grand schema of creation, what is the probability of any one of us appearing in space-time? It is so small that all the computers of the world, working together, cannot make this calculation. Yes, life is a miracle. So, rejoice. Rejoice in your own life and be thankful. These are the Days of Allah when Allah swt created you in space-time and hurled you onto the canvas of history so that for a moment or two you witness His light, know His beautiful Names and serve and worship Him. Each of you young people is beautiful. You are so beautiful that at no time from the creation of Adam until the Day of Judgment will there be another person like you.

Yes, Taqwa teaches gratitude. It also teaches patience, perseverance, fortitude, compassion, empathy, charity. It reinforces faith, fosters self-awareness and promotes societal justice. Indeed, a muttaqi becomes a reflector of divine attributes and a fulfillment of God’s promise: “I was a hidden treasure. I loved to be known. Therefore, I created”.

Build your families on the basis of Taqwa. The family is the foundation of a civilization. When the family falls apart, a civilization crumbles. That is the crisis of modern man. The modern family has come under stress from the dizzying pace of economic, social and technological changes. Humanity has become self-centered, egotistical. The Islamic community that at one time boasted the strongest family bonds shows the same symptoms as the rest of the society. Taqwa is the antidote to the poison of the ego. Apply Taqwa to your family life.

Build your communities on the basis of Taqwa. Alhamdulillah, the previous generation of Muslims did a wonderful job of laying the foundation of Masajids in America. Where once we struggled to hold prayers in homes and garages, America is now graced with more than 3000 mosques, some accommodating thousands, others  catering to a few families. SRVIC is one such center.  It has plans for expansion. Support it.

Most important is the application of Taqwa to economics. What drives the modern global civilization is economics. The farmer, the merchant, the teacher, the preacher, the worker and the employer are all beholden to the money lender. The issue is global and it transcends the Islamic world. It is a difficult issue. What is a Muslim family to do in the face of such galactic forces of centration? Start with good economics at home. Practice taqwa. Practice moderation. The Qur’an teaches us:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ

Indeed, Allah swt does not love those who are extreme.

Avoid consumer debt. Watch whose products you buy and who you give your money to.

Encourage Muslims to enter business. Establish circles of Muslim owned businesses in each community. Establish a business support group within every Islamic center. Help one another with good counsel and shared experience. Save and invest wisely. That is Taqwa. In addition to a good education, guide the youth on how to navigate a fast-changing technological world driven by Artificial Intelligence.

Ya ayyuhal hadireen, the summary of today’s Qutba is this: The next renewal of Islamic civilization will come  from you, from the youth, not from governments or bureaucrats. Its basis is the Qur’an. I paraphrase it with the acronym SeeC, that is S…e…e…C, the S stands for spirituality which is Iman, Adl and Ehsan, the first e is for education, the second e for economics and the C is for cooperation. The message of Ramadan is that Taqwa is a first step in this process.

Taqwa is a priceless jewel from the treasure house of divine Grace. Its purpose is the transformation of the Self so that it becomes a reflector of divine light. It applies to the individual, the family, the community, the nation and the world. It is the garment for people of paradise, the shield of the Awliya, the ladder of the believer and the goal of the visionary. Every human occupies a unique position in the grand architecture of divine purpose.  Every human is a streak of light across the canvas of human history. Write on this canvas with the light of Taqwa.

Note:  Audio file of the Khutba available :  https://historyofislam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Nazeer-Ahmed-Khutbah-Dougherty-Valley-HS.mp3

Prof. Dr. Nazeer Ahmed, BE, MS, AeE, PhD, MBA PE, is a retired NASA scientist, inventor, author and legislator, former President World Organization for Resource Development and Education, Washington, DC. (www.historyofislam.com)