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God, the Almighty, says: {And they will continue to fight you until they turn you away from your religion, if they are able.} The battle will continue, but - God knows best - it will shift to another axis, which is the "axis of ideas." This is what we fear; that the victories of the Muslims - before we reap their fruits - may be soured for us by their differences among themselves or the corruption of their sects. We ask God, the Almighty, to protect them from this.
So, dear brothers, what is expected in the next phase is that disbelief will rally all its global forces and means to transfer the battle to the arena of ideas. Therefore, we are in dire need of guidance to the truth and to the straight path, and that man knows the truth from falsehood, the chaff from the grain, and right from wrong.
This is a complaint we always make: "Oh brother, there are many Islamic parties, there are different viewpoints, one says something and the other says the opposite, where is the truth? Where is the guidance? Where is what God loves and where is what God hates?" This confusing question may increase in the coming days, and therefore I chose in this sermon to speak about the means by which the believer attains "discernment" with which he distinguishes; and they are ten points that we will summarize quickly.
The first means to attain this discernment, by which we distinguish the alien from the genuine in the coming days, is piety. God, the Almighty, says: {O you who have believed, if you fear Allah, He will make for you a criterion and will remove from you your misdeeds and forgive you.} "He will make for you a criterion" meaning a scale by which you distinguish truth from falsehood, and by which you distinguish the chaff from the grain, and by which you know the misguided principles from the principles that are upon the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Messenger. On the other hand, the antithesis of piety is "transgression," for disobedience is the opposite of piety, and you find in the Quran in five places His saying, may He be glorified: {And Allah does not guide the transgressing people.} So, dear brother, let it be in your mind that if you disobey your Lord and take the path of transgression, you will not be granted this discernment.
In ten places, it is said: {And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.} This has a significance in reality; the unjust man may destroy and rule with an annihilating judgment against some individuals or Islamic groups or some principles and sects, and this is injustice, and whoever practices this injustice is deprived of knowing the truth and is deprived of discernment.
God, the Almighty, says: {Indeed, Allah does not guide he who is a transgressor, a liar.} The liar is deprived of discernment and the guidance of God, the Almighty; because the liar lies to people at first, but the matter ends with him lying to himself, and how can the one who lies to himself be guided to the truth from falsehood?
Among the Khawarij fighters - although they were people of worship and eager for religion - they were arrogant, insisting on their opinion, not listening to anyone else, and boasting of themselves beyond what is necessary. God, the Almighty, said: {Thus does Allah seal over every heart of a proud, haughty [person].} The arrogant is sealed upon his heart and does not know the truth from falsehood.
God, the Almighty, says: {And We made from among them leaders guiding by Our order when they were patient and certain of Our signs.} He who guides by the command of God must be guided, and he must have discernment. You must have a firm conviction and a strong belief that what God and His Messenger have said is true and correct, and it must happen even if the events seem contrary to this for a while. If you have this certainty, you will be granted discernment, God willing.
Some, when they seek the truth from falsehood, consider during their search the pleasure of people, saying: "No matter if some of them agree with me, others will disagree." But the believer says: "If I please their groups and anger my Lord, they will not benefit me from God at all." When you seek the truth, devote your intention to God, and hold fast to the Book and the Sunnah.
Does worship have a relation to discernment? Yes, there is a strong relation as appears from His saying, may He be glorified, addressing His Prophet: {O you who is enveloped * arise [to pray] through the night, except for a little.} Why? {Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word.} So that the heart of the Prophet may bear this great revelation, worship is necessary, then He said: {Indeed, the hours of the night are for deep reflection and more suitable for words.} Ibn Abbas said about the meaning of "more suitable for words": that is, closer to understanding its meanings. He who wants to understand the meanings of the Quran, when every person interprets the text in his own way, let him engage in worship and night prayer, for your Lord will make you closer to understanding the text. This is supported by the Hadith Qudsi: "My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary acts until I love him, and when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees," meaning that God shows him the truth as truth and grants him its following, and shows him falsehood as falsehood and grants him its avoidance.
Supplication is the weapon of the believer, for discernment and guidance are in the hand of God first and last, and He is the One who says: {He gives wisdom to whom He wills. And whoever is given wisdom has certainly been given much good.} And on the authority of Aisha, may God be pleased with her, she said: The Messenger of God, when he stood up at night, would begin his prayer with the words: "O Allah, Lord of Jibreel, Meekaeel, and Israfil, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, You judge between Your servants concerning that wherein they differ. Guide me to the truth concerning that wherein they differ by Your leave. Verily You guide whom You will to a straight path."
Striving is to exert your effort in attaining the truth, and the Prophet said: "If the ruler strives and errs, he has a reward, and if he strives and is correct, he has two rewards." But the condition for attaining the reward is "striving," meaning exerting effort in knowing the truth. It is not enough to say that I stand in the night and I have piety, but you must strive and seek the truth in its manifestations.
If you see some of your brothers deviating from the path of the Merciful, and you want God to guide you, then advise others; for His saying: "God is the helper of the servant as long as the servant is the helper of his brother." If you help your brother to adhere to the truth, God will help you to know the truth. Also, this is confirmed by the saying of the Prophet: "The believer is the mirror of his brother."
If we summarize these ten points that help us to arm ourselves for the upcoming intellectual war:
I want each one of us to try to give himself a mark out of ten; am I really armed with these ten "ammunitions" to remain in good health in the intellectual war or not? Have we achieved these ten points? We ask God to grant us discernment and guidance.