What is your relationship to Allah? Excerpts from Quran & Hadith

Did I not enjoin upon you, O children of Adam, that you not worship Satan - [for] indeed, he is to you a clear enemy -And that you worship [only] Me? This is a straight path. (36:60-61)

I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me. No Sustenance do I require of them, nor do I require that they should feed Me, for Allah is He Who gives (all) Sustenance,- Lord of Power,- Steadfast (for ever) (51:56-58).

But Allah is free of all wants, and it is ye that are needy. If ye turn back (from the Path), He will substitute in your stead another people; then they would not be like you! (47:38)

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (ra) who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “Verily Allah ta’ala has said: ‘Whosoever shows enmity to a wali (friend) of Mine, then I have declared war against him. And My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more loved to Me than the religious duties I have obligated upon him. And My servant continues to draw near to me with nafil (supererogatory) deeds until I Love him. When I Love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him; and were he to seek refuge with Me, I would surely grant him refuge.’ ” [Bukhari]

What is your Relationship to Allah? Video Lectures “The Quran in Two Sentences” Ust. Noaman Ali Khan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ1ZgZkUM38 1. How did the speaker summarize of the Quran in two sentences? 2. What does it mean for Allah to be “Master”? 3. What does it mean for us to be “slaves”? 4. Why do people sometimes have a hard time accepting themselves as slaves (‘ibad) of Allah?

“Worship & Slavery” Ust. Noaman Ali Khan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzZhXlcgBfc 1. What does the word ‘ibadah mean? Why is it difficult to difficult to translate? 2. List some ways in which you worship Allah in your daily routine. 3. List some ways in which you act as a slave (‘abd) of Allah in your daily routine. 4. How can someone worship Allah without acting like Allah’s slave (‘abd)? 5. The speaker says that the kafirun and mushriqun of Makkah were slaves to their own desires. Do you think this is still true of people today? Explain your answer. 6. Linguistically, the word Islam means “submission”. Explain the meaning of the word Islam in your own words, based on what you learned from these videos.

Self-Reflection What is your relationship with Allah right now? What do you want your relationship with Allah to be like? How can you improve your relationship with Allah?