Shirk crawls a little further. Can we stop it?

In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

All praise is due to Allah, the lord of the worlds

"O mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who were before you so that you may acquire Taqwa. Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He alone has the right to be worshipped)." (Quran 2:21-22)

The Prophet (PBUH) said: O people, save yourselves from this shirk for it is more inconspicuous than the creeping of ant. (Musnad Ahmad 4:403)

After returning from NYC, I visited the masjid, and I noticed this creeping of ant on the prayer schedule of the masjid. They have moved the time for Jumma from 1:45 PM to 1:15 PM. We know that Jumma starts when the first adhan is called in the Masjid, so why does it says 1:15 PM now. My guess is that my criticism of their UnIslamic format for Jumma caused someone to include the english talk as part of the Jumma services, which it is clearly not. So, why do I bring it in the context of Shirk?

Before all of you gather outside my home with stone and firewood, let me explain what is happening here. Iblis has a very practical plan, and he implements it with complete patience, and understanding of human psychology. He will never outright ask a believer to commit shirk, as no practicing muslim will follow him. Instead, what he does is that he places an acceptable ant that you can't really see while standing up, and then  the ant crawls very slowly towards us. In every movement of this ant, we will find benefit and acceptance, but once this ant reaches its destination, we have left Islam.

Prophet (PBUH) said, “I warn you of the newly invented matters (in the religion),and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Hellfire” (an-Nasaa’ee)

In the above hadith, innovation does not mean any new thing, because that would be very limiting. For example, using loud speakers, or websites to help in deen. What it means is that anything that requires belief has been enumerated for us in the Quran and Sunnah, and if we add to it, it will be innovation in deen. Blessings of Jumma service is a belief, and our belief is that it begins at the Adhan, because that is the method of the Prophet (PBUH). Any attempt to mark the start time for Jumma earlier than the first adhan is an innovation.

Also, english talk in Islamic Center of Orlando is prohibited by another hadith of the Prophet (PBUH) , but they continue it, and the ant is moving. Now ant has moved to include this innovation into Jumma time, and it will crawl further, and in a few years, the Jumma services will be a strange affair that will not be recognized. This is how shirk enters our life, and this is the method that doomed the early children of Adam. Let me provide an example.

When Noah came to his people with this message, they rejected it. Allah tells us: “And they said (to each other): ‘Abandon not your gods, abandon neither Wadd nor Suwâ`, neither Yaghûth nor Ya`ûq nor Nasr.” ( Quran Sûrah Nûh : 23)

Al-Bukhari recorded from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "The idols that were among the people of Nuh wound up among the Arabs afterwards.... These idols were all named after righteous men from the people of Nuh. Then when these men died, Shaytan inspired his (Nuh's) people to erect statues in honor of them at their gathering places where they used to come and sit, and to name these statues after these men (with their names). So they did this (as Shaytan suggested), but these statues were not worshipped until after those people (the ones who built them) had died and the knowledge was lost. Then, those statues were later worshipped.'' ... Ibn Jarir recorded from Muhammad bin Qays that he said concerning Yaghuth, Ya`uq and Nasr, "They were righteous people between the time of Adam and Nuh, and they had followers who used to adhere to their guidance. Then, when they died, their companions who used to follow them said, `If we make images of them, it will increase our desire to perform worship when we remember them.' So they made images of them. Then, when those people died and other people came after them, Iblis approached them and said, `They (your predecessors) used to worship these statues and they were granted rain by their worship of them.' Thus, they (the latter people) worshipped them.'' [Ibn Kathir]

When my youngest son Arjan grows up, and if I fail to explain this blog to him, he will look at the hadith of Angels closing the book when Imam stands up, and the timings for Jumma, he will certainly think of the whole thing as the Jumma service. Interestingly, in my email debate with local supporters of this invalid format of Jumma, they gave me assurances that the speech at 1:15 PM is not part of the Jummah, rather a beneficial pre-cursor. I warned them that any prohibition from the Prophet (PBUH) has a purpose, and now we know that this innovation has become part of the Jumma.


Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:
Mujahid reported: I was in the company of Ibn Umar. A person invited the people for the noon or afternoon prayer (after the adhan had been called). He said: Go out with us (from this mosque) because this is an innovation (in religion). (Dawud :: Book 2 : Hadith 538)


The ant is moving faster than I expected, and it is stronger than all of us. I hope you all understand this plan of Iblis, and do not attend the english speech at 1:15 PM. There are many similar addition happening all the time which need to be stopped. The way to stop is to not support the addition, and not support the institution financially. I have withdrawn my financial support from the masjid, until they come back to the Sunnah, and I urge you to do the same. May Allah give us all guidance to follow the path shown by Muhammad ibn Abdullah (PBUH).

JazakAllah Khairin
An ant watcher

AbuArman Jumani