By Shaykh Jamal Abdinasir
8 May 2026

﷽ 

Dear brothers and sisters, I want us to pause and think about a blessing so great that many of us have become used to it. A blessing that did not come to us because of our wealth, our intelligence, our family name, or our own efforts. It came only because Allah chose to place it in our hearts.

That blessing is Islam.

Our Prophet ﷺ once came upon a group of his companions sitting together. He asked them, “What has caused you to gather?” They replied that they had gathered to praise Allah and thank Him for guiding them to Islam. The Prophet ﷺasked them to swear that this was truly the only reason. They did. Then he ﷺ explained that he did not ask because he doubted them, but because Jibril had come to inform him that Allah was boasting about them before the angels.

SubhanAllah. A gathering simply to praise Allah for Islam becomes so beloved that Allah mentions those people before the angels.

So I ask myself, and I ask you: when was the last time I truly thanked Allah for making me Muslim?

Allah reminds us:

Look around you in the masjid. People from different countries, different languages, different backgrounds, different families. What brought us under one roof? It was not blood. It was not business. It was not culture. It was Islam. Allah joined our hearts.

And Allah says to the Prophet ﷺ:

This is something money cannot buy. You could gather gold, silver, diamonds, every currency on earth, and you still could not place Iman in a person’s heart. Guidance belongs to Allah alone.

Allah tells us:

And He says:

Then Allah makes it even clearer: 

So never think Islam is simply something you inherited. Never think, “I am Muslim because my parents are Muslim.” No. You are Muslim because Allah allowed Islam to enter your heart. That should humble us. That should make us grateful. That should make us afraid of losing it.

Because, dear brothers and sisters, many people had Islam and then lost their way. Iman can become worn out. The Prophet ﷺ taught that Iman wears out just as a garment wears out. A new garment looks beautiful, but if you do not care for it, the colour fades, the buttons fall, and it becomes weak. Iman is like this. If I do not protect it, if I do not ask what raises it and what lowers it, I may wake up one day distant from Allah.

So how do I preserve this blessing?

First, I must acknowledge it in my heart. I must know deeply that guidance is from Allah. My prayer, my Islam, my ability to say la ilaha illa Allah – all of it is from Him.

Second, I must speak about it with my tongue. Say alhamdulillah for Islam. Say alhamdulillah that Allah guided me. Do not be shy of your religion. Do not hide the greatest honour Allah granted you.

Third, I must use this blessing in obedience. When I leave my work and come to Jumu‘ah, when I stand in Salah, when I say Allahu Akbar and put the dunya behind me, I am showing gratitude. Gratitude is worship.

The Prophet ﷺ stood in prayer until his feet hurt, and when asked why, he ﷺ said, “Should I not be a grateful servant?” This is the mindset of the believer. 

And alongside all of this, I must keep asking Allah to preserve my Islam. Ibrahim عليه السلام and Isma‘eel عليه السلام made du‘a: 

Yusuf عليه السلام said: 

Allah commanded the Prophet ﷺ to declare that his life and death were for Allah, and that he was among the Muslims. (Qur’an 6:162–163)

And Allah warns us all:

None of us control the moment of our death. But we control what we ask for, what we strive for, and how grateful we are today.

So let us thank Allah for Islam. Let us protect our Iman. Let us speak proudly of this blessing. Let us use our limbs in worship. And let us beg Allah, again and again, to let us live as Muslims, die as Muslims, be resurrected as Muslims, and enter Jannah as Muslims. 

O Allah, just as You guided us to Islam without us deserving it, do not take it away from our hearts because of our sins. O Allah, preserve our Iman, renew it in our hearts, unite us upon truth, and allow our final words to be la ilaha illa Allah. 

Ameen.

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