Forgetfulness & Remembrance

Friday sermon (jum'ah khutba) - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - date unknown - 24 mins 04 secs

In this sermon, the sheikh discusses forgetfulness (nisyan), an inherent characteristic of mankind. Although forgetfulness is not itself sinful, it is a fundamental test for mankind becase it is the first barrier to the remembrance and worship of God that is our primary purpose as His creation. This remembrance (dhikr) is the direct opposite of forgetfulness or heedlessness (ghafla). All of us have the capacity for this remembrance because we all carry the echo within us of the great day before time when all creation bore witness to God's sovereignty. So although we are tested by Him through our tendency to forget, in His Mercy he constantly calls us and helps us to remember through the signs that surround us. Although the manifestations of our forgetfulness and the degradation that results from it are all around us, there have been and remain countless examples also of heroism, self-sacrifice and other beautiful deeds resulting from those men and women who have perceived the Reality of their condition and striven to return to it: in the words of a poet the sheikh mentions here, 'we were once friends of the angels, so let us return to that place'.

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