Making Every Second Count

Making Every Second Count

Dr. Bilal Philips

Opening

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ

All praise is due to Allah and may Allah's peace and blessings be on the last messenger of Allah.

Introduction: Making Every Second Count

Making every second count is a title which calls us to reflect on the seconds that we do have. The seconds about which Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6412)

"There are two blessings about which many people are deluded: good health and spare time."

The delusion with regards to spare time is the idea that there is in fact time to spare. Reality is that there is no time to spare, because we will be asked about every second of our lives. So if that is the case, then really there is no time to spare.

If there is time in our lives where we will not be asked—it was vacation time, it was spare time—then in that period of time we would be free to do whatever we wished. However, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2417)

"The two feet of a slave of Allah will not move from their place on the Day of Resurrection until he or she is asked about four things: First, on his life and how he spent it; and on his youth and how he utilized it; and on his wealth—from where he obtained it and how he spent it; and on his knowledge—what he did with it."

What concerns us most is on his life, the period of his life (عُمُرِهِ), and how he spent it, how he utilized it. So that's the whole of our existence from the time we come into this world and we have control over our time till

the time we leave this world. We will be asked about every minute, every second, every hour, every day. So there really is no spare time.

No Free Time: Shifting from One Act of Worship to Another

No free time. Allah tells us:

"If you have completed your worship, the act of worship which was required of you at that particular time—we just completed the fard of Salatul Dhuhr—what is the next thing to do فَانصَبْ means go on to your next act of ibadah: the sunnah, reading Quran, dhikr Allah. Whatever—we just transfer from one act to another. That's how our lives are supposed to be."

And that's why Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) often times he told us to seek refuge in Allah at the end of our prayers. We're told to seek refuge in Allah from the trials of living and dying:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1377 and Sahih Muslim, Hadith 588)

The trials of living refer to utilizing time according to how Allah told us in the Quran:

"My prayers, my living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of all the worlds."

So for the believer, all of his or her life is supposed to be dedicated to Allah. Meaning there is no spare time. If all of the life is dedicated, there is no spare time. If we're supposed to shift from one act of worship to another, there is no spare time. All of our life is supposed to be transformed into worship. If we successfully make that transformation, then we will be fulfilling the commandment:

But if we don't make that transformation where we engage ourselves in acts wherein we don't remember Allah's Quranic command—

Each Day is a Witness

And Al-Hasan Al-Basri, he was known to say: "Whenever a new day comes, it says to humankind: I am a new day and I am a witness to your deeds. And if I go, I will never come back. If I go, I will never come back."

With each new day, that day becomes a witness to the deeds that we do in those days. And every minute which goes, every hour, we cannot bring it back again. It is gone.

So either we make the best of that time or we waste it. We kill it. We spend it on that which will not benefit us in this life or the next.

Al-Hasan Al-Basri: You Are Only Days

In another statement, Al-Hasan Al-Basri is among the Tabi'in who was known for his Zuhud. Most of the various Sufi orders which developed a contrary program of worship parallel to the Sharia, which they called the Haqiqah, when they trace their practices back, they always or usually will trace it through Al-Hasan Al-Basri.

So if one—Al-Basri meaning is from Basra. His name is Al-Hasan. One would think that he was a leading Sufi. But reality, when one goes to see who he was, he was one of the leading scholars of mainstream Islam. He was not a Sufi. The practices that have developed in all of the various Turuq or Tariqas of Sufia cannot be traced to him.

He was not known to teach these things. But people will put his name there in order to give validity to their practice. Like Christians will put the name Matthew, Mark, Luke and John on the Gospels to give validity to these Gospels, though Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had nothing to do with these Gospels at all, and they're not really even sure who was Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In the case of Hasan Basri, we know who he is.

But point is, they will use his name. He said: "O son of Adam, you are only days. You in the totality of your existence is only a group of days. If one day passes, a part of you is gone."

That is our reality. We are only a group of days. When one goes, we have lost something of ourselves. We can't bring it back, as we said. So it means then that we cannot afford to allow any day to go by without having maximized our benefit from those days.

Abdullah ibn Umar on Seizing the Moment

Abdullah ibn Umar, he was known to say:

"If you wake up in the morning, don't wait until the evening. Don't put off anything that you have to do until the evening, because the evening is not yours."

What is yours is the morning. That morning in which you exist, that is yours. You can utilize it or you can allow it to escape you. Don't put it off until the evening.

And he said:

"And if you are in the evening, you've reached the evening, then don't wait until the morning, the next morning. Don't put off what you have to do that evening that you're able to do."

Don't put it off until the next morning, because again, the next morning, tomorrow morning is not ours. This evening is.

Time is Like a Sword

This evening, this afternoon, we're now in Al-Masaa, after noon. Noon has passed. We're now in the afternoon. This afternoon is ours. So whatever we can do now, whatever we have to do now, we should do it, because none of us can guarantee tomorrow.

Make every second count. And there's a famous statement. You could call it an Arabic proverb:

"Time is like a sword. If you don't cut it, it will cut you."

Time is like a sword. Either you cut it and benefit from it, or it cuts you and you lose. So we're talking about the importance of maximizing our time.

And Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had reinforced that in the Hadith in which he told us to be like a stranger or a traveler:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6416)

"In this world, we should be like a stranger or a traveler."

The stranger is keen, the traveler is keen to utilize the time that is afforded to him or to her.

Planning: The Foundation of Maximizing Time

So, what we're addressing here—if we try to put it into practical terms—how do we practically now maximize?

We've understood from the Quran, from the Sunnah, we are supposed to make every second count. But how do we do it in practical terms?

Well, it means that we must plan. We must have a plan. We must identify the time that we have and plan to utilize it effectively.

However, some people argue that if you're planning, then in fact, you're not really trusting in Allah. That you really shouldn't plan, work things out in detail, because who is to say it is going to happen as you plan it? So, it is better to just go with the flow, take things as they come, be spontaneous, rather than planning out every second, every hour. They say, no, it's not good. In fact, to plan is really to challenge Allah.

His attribute of being Al-Mudabbir. Some scholars hold that this is one of the names of Allah. Al-Mudabbir, as Allah said in Surah Sajdah, 32nd chapter, verse 5:

"He plans the affairs from the heavens to the earth."

So, planning is Allah. It's for Allah. Leave the plan to Allah. We just work within whatever Allah has planned for us.

However, though this may be a point of argument, and those who tend to argue this come from the Turuk, the Sufi path, reality is that we plan. We plan all the time. In fact, even the simplest acts that we have to do, to do them effectively, we plan for them. That's reality.

You want to go to the store? You write out a plan of the things you want to go and buy there. Otherwise, you go there and you bumble around trying to remember, what should I buy? You end up buying things you didn't even come there to buy. So, you have a plan. You make a plan. You make a list, so that you can maximize your time.

You go in there, buy what you need, and get out. That's real life. That's what we do.

This masjid didn't come about without a plan. We want to change the carpet, we make a plan. We want to build anything, you have to make a plan. If you don't have a plan, what do you end up with? Chaos.

In the real world, we plan all the time. And in fact, it is so important that business people developed a proverb: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Everybody recognizes that. You fail to make a plan, then you have in fact planned to fail.

And researchers, looking at this whole issue of planning, they concluded that in a non-planning environment, where you do things without a plan, 80% of your efforts will tend to produce only 20% of the results you are

The Prophet (peace be upon him) Was a Meticulous Planner

So, it is clear from research, practical life, we know that planning is necessary. If we are to utilize our time effectively, then it needs to be in accordance with some plan. However, in order to remove the doubts that may be there, concerning whether practically, Islamically, we should actually plan things out or not, we need to look at Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Look at his life. What was his life? Was it a spontaneous existence? Where he went with the flow however things came? Or was he planning? Was he constantly and systematically planning? We need to know that from the Seerah. This will give us the confidence to say, yes, we must be planning. If we are to succeed, if we are to effectively maximize our time, then we must plan systematically.

Reality of course is, when you look into the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you find that he planned. He was a meticulous planner.

When he had to go to Medina, to make the Hijrah, did he just wake up in the morning and just said, give me my camel and let's go? No. He planned it ahead. He figured out the path. He got a guide. He had arrangements for people to bring supplies for him. He had Ali stay back in his house to make the Quraysh think that he was still there. He planned that whole process out.

And when you look at the battles that he fought, whether Badr or Uhud, you see planning. He was planning all the time.

Of course, sometimes the plans didn't work out. In the battle of Badr, he planned to meet, catch the caravan. But Allah had another plan, and he had to deal with the army of Quraysh. But he still planned for the caravan. In the case of Uhud, he planned for the Quraysh, and he met them in battle. And his plans involved putting the archers on the hill to protect his flank. But again, the archers didn't obey him. So, plans didn't work out exactly as he wished.

But that didn't stop him from planning. So, we know then that planning is from the Sunnah.

Tie Your Camel, Then Trust in Allah

And this was further emphasized by that well-known hadith in which Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is sitting with his companions, and a man comes in the masjid to join them, one of his sahaba. And before he could sit down, he remembered, he left his camel outside and forgot to tie him up. And he was caught in between: What should I do here? Should I go back and tie him up? Or should I put my trust in Allah?

Going back and tying him up is applying a plan – a plan to make sure the camel is there when he gets back out again. Trusting in Allah is saying, leaving the planning to Allah. So he asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in this case of doubt, what should I do?

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said:

Reference: Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2517

"Tie the camel, and then trust in Allah."

And this is the reality of the Prophet's life: that he would make those plans, but then he would trust in Allah. He put his trust ultimately in Allah.

Setting Goals: The Dunya vs. The Akhirah

So, what is in front of us? To maximize our time, we must plan properly. Planning requires, first and foremost, setting goals. We have this time, our lifetime. If we are to plan, to utilize this time which we have—this lifetime consisting of a few days, a few hours—then, we must be clear as to what our goal is. If we're unclear about the goal, then, how can we effectively utilize our time? We can't, because we don't know what the time was for.

So, setting the goal is the starting point. We have to clearly set our goals. And Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), he gave us advice, clear advice, about how do we set our goals, so that we can maximize the time that we have.

He said in a hadith, narrated by Zaid ibn Thabit:

Sunan Ibn Majah

"Whoever makes this world his goal, Allah will scatter his affairs, place poverty between his eyes, and nothing of this world will come to him except what was already written for him."

That is the wrong plan. The wrong plan is to make this world our goal. To make this world our goal. That is the wrong plan. We will waste our lives. We will waste our energies. And we will not be able to answer those questions coming at us on the Day of Resurrection.

As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said, if we make this life our goal, then Allah will scatter our affairs. He will not aid us. He will not aid us in successfully achieving the goals that we set in this life.

If we make this life our goal, we will be constantly running around from pillar to post, here and there, helter-skelter, destabilized, ups and downs, distress, running to the psychiatrist, psychologist, counselors—will not find stability. So much time will be lost. Futile, a life, a futile life.

And in spite of all of our running around, and whatever we are able to accumulate, Allah will put between our eyes poverty. Meaning, all we will be able to see as we run around is in front of us poverty. No matter what we gather, no matter what riches we have, we will not find in it satisfaction.

Though the media tells us, happiness is having lots of money, houses, cars, vacation to the Caribbean—you know, all of these images that are pumped through the television, the newspapers, magazines, pumped at us—happiness lies in the dunya. But it doesn't. That's not where it is, because, as we strive for the dunya, we will never find calm, peace. Our hearts will not find rest.

That is why, a few months ago, about 3 months ago, 4 months ago, there was an article in the newspaper about a German industrialist, 74 years old, who was the 47th richest man in the world according to the standards of the world. He had 14 billion dollars. That was his sum total of his riches. 14 billion dollars, 74 years old.

When the financial crisis started in America and it hit Germany, he lost in one day, 9 billion dollars. In one day, he had spent so much of his life accumulating 14 billion, and in one day, he lost 9 billion. Do you know what this man did? He killed himself. He committed suicide.

74 years old. Having worked all these years, he loses 9 billion dollars and commits suicide. Of course, all of you realize that he has still how much in the bank? He still has 5 billion dollars. 5 billion dollars. And he takes his life, because all he can see is the loss of the 9. It doesn't compute in his brain that you still have 5. That if you try to spend a thousand dollars every day, you would be dead and gone and you still haven't even dented the 5. That's reality.

But he couldn't see it, because Allah had put poverty between his eyes. That is the reality.

No satisfaction.

The Path to True Wealth

On the other hand, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had said:

Sunan Ibn Majah

"But whoever has the next world as his goal, Allah will gather his affairs and place richness in his heart, and the world will come to him submissively."

Where the goal is the Akhirah, then Allah gives his heart contentment. Richness, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said:

Sahih al-Bukhari

"True wealth, richness, is not from having accumulated many commodities. However, true wealth is wealth of the soul."

This is the wealth: to have in one's heart the remembrance of Allah, to be connected to Allah, so the heart finds rest.

And Allah will gather his affairs. He can plan and implement his plan or her plan successfully. Allah will aid us in successfully utilizing our time, maximizing time management. We will be effective.

When we look back at the scholars of the past, and we wonder how many of them died at a relatively early age because the length of people's lives were limited. In their thirties, early forties, they died. But when you look at the works that they completed, you wonder: how in the world could they have written all of this? People like Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Al-Qayyim and others. How could they have completed all of this? Imam Al-Shafi'i and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, gathering 40,000 hadiths. How? Where did they have the time?

Today, when we look at it, we say it's impossible. But Allah put barakah in their time. He blessed their time.

And the world will come to us. Instead of us having to chase it, whatever we need will come as our need arises. That is the promise of Rasulullah (peace and blessings be upon him). But don't have to focus on it. We focus on the akhira. Utilizing our time effectively.

Determining Prerequisites: True Islam

So Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), he gave us this piece of guidance for effective planning. The second element which we have to consider in terms of planning to utilize our time effectively is that we must determine our prerequisites. What are the prerequisites to be able to achieve the goals that we have set? We set goals.

The goal is the akhira. What is the prerequisite? What do we need to achieve those goals? We have to identify them. Again, if we haven't, if we just have a goal in our mind—okay, this is a wonderful goal—but we haven't figured out what we need to do to get there, then what is the use of that goal? It means we're gonna be doing many things which will not help us to get to that goal; they will not put us on the right path, so we'll still be wasting time and energy.

So, if we have identified our goal as paradise—this is what it is; when we say the akhira, we're talking about paradise, because akhira also has hell; that's not the goal; the goal is paradise—

So if that is the goal in the next life, then we have to identify the prerequisites to achieve that goal. What are the prerequisites? What is the fundamental prerequisite? What is required that we must achieve, that we must utilize in order to get to paradise in the next life? What is it?

One word. Ah? Salah, prayer. Tawhid. Still looking for one word. Ah? Taqwa. How about Islam? Ah? How about Islam, which sums it all up, right? Rather than the bits and pieces, the thing that we require—prerequisite—is Islam. That we must do Islam in order to achieve the akhira. In doing Islam, we must have taqwa, we must establish salah.

But it's not just salah, we also have to fast, we have to do all of the things which Islam requires of us. In other words, all of our lives should be governed by Islam. It's to bring Islam completely into our lives.

Most of us today are, as they say in the west, half-stepping. Half-stepping. Meaning we have one foot in Islam and we got one foot out. So we've only made a half-step, we haven't made a complete step.

Whereas Allah tells us:

"Enter into Islam completely."

That's the Islam that is going to get us to that goal. That is the prerequisite: that we are completely in Islam. There's no aspect of our lives which is in fact outside of Islam.

Meaning, practically speaking, that we must identify true Islam which encompasses all our lives, and distinguish it from cultural Islam, which most Muslims today practice. Because cultural Islam, with its legacy, its baggage, will not carry us to paradise, because it contains so much which is against true Islam.

So for us to succeed, we must identify what in fact is true Islam. Otherwise, we're no different from Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and others who are following their cultural traditions. Inside of those cultural traditions, there are some truths. There are some truths. But it's not going to take them to paradise, because the cultural traditions dominate, divert, and so people will not achieve the goal.

So it is essential that we realize that the true prerequisite is Islam which was brought by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). The true Islam, the pure Islam, which is free from innovations and deviations. Sincere Islam.

And that sincere Islam is in fact real submission, true submission to the will of Allah. It is known. True submission to Allah.

And that submission is submission where? Where is that happening? It is happening first and foremost in the heart. This is where submission takes place, first and foremost. Externally, we might submit. We comply with the rules. But if we haven't submitted internally, will that external action take us to paradise? No. It must be fundamentally internal. Then that internal is transformed to the external.

Now as children of course when we teach Islam, we teach them externals, because to be able to grasp the internals at the early age, not so easy. As we try to keep them aware of Allah, relate things back to Allah, we're trying to develop a consciousness within them which links that external to the internal. But ultimately, we must understand that the Islam which is going to take us to the akhira, which will aid us in utilizing every minute of our day, is the one based on submission to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And that submission, I'm sure you will agree with me, cannot be inherited. You cannot inherit from your parents, submission. That is a spiritual act which each and every one of us has to do himself or herself. Nobody can do it for us.

Each and every one of us has to decide, if we haven't already decided, has to decide right now, before our last breath comes. We have to decide to accept Allah in our lives. That we truly submit to Allah.

That decision we must make, because Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had said: There are people who will do the deeds of the people of paradise, as it appears to people. Externally, they're fasting, praying, zakah, hajj, all the different things. But he said, they will be of the people of hell. Externally, they will appear to be the people of paradise. They're doing the acts. Islam, they're doing it. But, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, they will be of the people of hell, because internally, they had not internalized Islam.

It was an external facade.

Practicing Islam in Purity: Seeking Knowledge

So, this priority, what we're talking about, is to practice Islam in its purity. That requires, of course, seeking knowledge. This is to achieve that priority, we must have knowledge of what Islam is. What true Islam is. So, we'll be able to distinguish between cultural practices and what in fact is true Islam.

Secondly, having identified the prerequisites of Islam—now, Islam has many parts to it. There are many issues in Islam. It's huge. It's an ocean. It covers every second of our day. Every act that we can do. Every thought that we can make. It's huge. It's vast.

So, where do you start? Obviously, we have to start with the five pillars of Islam. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had set those. Here is Tawheed, that brother spoke about. Tawheed, that has to be in place. Clear, true Tawheed.

We need to know what Tawheed is. Having known properly what Tawheed is—because some people, why I'm saying this just to give a little bit of clarity here. Tawheed, which means maintaining Allah's unity in everything that we do, we say, and we think with regards to Allah. Allah's unity is manifest in every aspect of our lives. This is Tawheed. That's true Tawheed.

However, you have some people who say Tawheed means believing that only Allah exists. There's only one existence, Allah. Everything else is an illusion. That sounds like oneness, but in fact, it is a false belief. It is the essence of idolatry. To believe that only Allah exists, that this creation is an illusion, it's not real. Everything is Allah. It means you are Allah, I am Allah, he is Allah, she is Allah. That's the reality.

Then, what is the conclusion? You don't need to pray to Allah outside yourself. As Ibn Arabi says, you can pray to yourself. Everything is Allah. So why pray external? Internal is much closer. So, we have to be clear, what is Tawheed? It's a term, but we need to know in fact what it is and what it isn't.

The Priority of Salat al-Fajr

So, following Tawheed we have Salah. And we have to ask ourselves, how many people this morning prayed Salatul Fajr? People who live near the masjid, prayed it in the masjids. We see the masjids full on Juma. We see the masjids full in Ramadan, coming up.

But when you go to most masjids for Salatul Fajr, you only see a handful. What does that mean?

When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had mentioned that Salatul Fajr is most difficult on hypocrites. People who pretend to be Muslims. Difficult. That's why spies, you know, it's difficult for non- Muslims to function as spies in the midst of Muslims. They can put on the outer garb, grow a beard, everything else, but Fajr? Difficult.

Very difficult. And they can be exposed easily. If the community is practicing, because we won't see them there for Fajr. Maybe they'll come one time, but consistently? No.

But then we have to ask ourselves, where are we? Are we like those spies unable to come for Fajr? Except occasionally? The hypocrites? Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul?

So, we have to set our priorities and deal with them. What the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) identified as priorities, we deal with them. And do them the way he told us to do them.

Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 631

"Pray as you saw me pray."

Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1297

"Take your rites of hajj from me."

So we need to do Islam as Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) did Islam.

Fulfilling Our Responsibilities

And we have to, after establishing those priorities of the pillars, because that's where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) started, then we apply the rest of the teachings of Islam in our lives. We have to fulfill all of our various obligations to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

In this way, if we are systematically dealing with what is required of us, as Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said:

Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 893 and Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1829

"Each and every one of you is a shepherd, responsible for his flock."

Then, we are focusing on our responsibilities. If we think about our responsibilities, we will have no time to spare. We will know that our responsibilities are more than the time we have to do them.

So we cannot afford to waste time. There are no holidays from Islam. We have holidays from work, but no holiday from Islam. We have to be on the job, as they say, 24-7. That's the bottom line.

So, if we are able to put those in place, then, the time frame that we have, which are the few days about which al-Hasan al-Basri spoke, inshallah, when any of them goes, we will not lose. Every day which goes, will be days added to our scale of good deeds.

We have to be clear, we have a time frame. These few days which Allah has allotted us. So if we are to be successful in achieving the goals, then, we must deal with our Islam, what is required of us, systematically. We

need to be clear on what it is, and what it isn't. We need to be focused on what is required of us, and our responsibilities. We need to fulfill all of the duties that have been put on us.

Educating Our Families: A Critical Duty

And among those duties, in these times, as a closing thought, is the importance of educating our families. Educating them, Islamically. First and foremost. And this is one of the areas, that the Muslim community here, has fumbled, stumbled, and failed, because we haven't taken this responsibility, of conveying Islam to our children, properly.

It is the right, of each and every Muslim child, that they be educated, in Islamic institutions of education. It is haram, and I know this is a hard word. It is haram, to put our children, in government schools.

It is primarily haram. No scholar, will say halal. No true scholar of Islam, will say it is halal for you to do this.

It is an exception, where you have no other choice, you're forced, etc. Truly, you had no choice. You were not able, to set up alternatives, that, it would be permissible for you, as a permissible part of the haram, for you, exception.

Otherwise, it is the right of our children, to be in Islamic institutions. To put our children, for the majority of each day, of the year, in the hands of non-Muslims, to be educated, to be inundated, with their culture, their secular, idolatrous culture, is primarily haram, because what we are committing here, is what we call, spiritual suicide. That's what we're doing.

And of course some parents will argue, but the Islamic schools are, inferior academically. The available Islamic schools, are inferior academically. Well, I ask you, if you have the choice, between, an inferior academic school, but Islamic nonetheless, that your child will come through, graduating, knowing Allah.

Knowing their relationship. Knowing what Islam is, who they are. But they're weak academically.

If that is your choice, between that, and putting them in, the government schools, where they will come through, strong academically. Or private schools, where they come through, strong academically. But spiritually, Islamically, they have been wiped out.

Their Islam is confused, if there is any left. This is your choice. You say, but I'm concerned about my child's future.

What future? Akhira? Or dunya? Because, in the case of such a choice, we only have one choice, to put them in that Islamic school, with inferior academics.

Because when the child graduates, with inferior academics, we can hire a tutor, work out some way or another, to get something to help them, improve their academics. But when they come through, the government schools,

and they are wiped out, confused Islamically, and they are now teenagers, they're grown, you're gonna try to teach them Islam, and make up and correct? It's a failure.

You're not gonna be able to. You've lost the opportunity. That time is gone.

This is one of the biggest challenges, with regards to maximizing, the time that Allah has given us. The time that that child, our children are with us, to maximize their understanding, their appreciation of Islam, so they can grow up Muslims, not grow up confused, and maybe, maybe later on in their twenties, and so and so, they may come across a good Muslim, or whatever, and you know, it helps them, it wakes them up, and they come back to Islam.

But much of their youth, they were outside of Islam.

How many does it happen to? For each of the youth, that are amongst us today, ask them about their classmates. You know, we can point and say, yes, there are more youth in the Masjid today, than there were ten years ago. More. There's an awareness. But our numbers are greater, in general. The population of Muslims has increased, through immigration, etc.

Ask, the better way to judge what is happening here, is to ask that young man, how many of his classmates, are where he is today. And you will find, consistently, throughout the country, that 80%, 90% of his classmates, are lost.

And that sin, because there is a sin, that is a product of a sin. A sin of putting our children, to be educated by, atheists, secularists, Christians, others, who will promote their own culture, and their own ideals. That is a sin, which the whole community bears.

And for those who say, well, Islamic schools are too expensive. Well, how much money, are we spending? Remember, we'll be asked, on the Day of Judgment, about our wealth, how we earned it, and how we spent it. If we go back into our lives, and look at the money that we waste, for a variety of things, and we say, let's sacrifice those things, and put our children in the Islamic school, for many of us, it is still possible.

And, for those of us who can't, what do you do? You homeschool.

There is homeschooling. Even amongst the Westerners, many of them, have taken their children out of school. So you have a whole homeschooling network, available on the internet.

People, teaching their children at home, in the primary grades, to give them a good, moral foundation. And Muslims, there is a Muslim homeschoolers, on the net. You can contact them.

And they have been working, over the years, developing very good programs, etc., for education at home. And then, there is, establishing more schools.

Even the schools we have, if they were filled, and many of the schools, they have, empty spaces. They are not full. Even if they were filled, it wouldn't be enough, to deal with our population. So we need, many more schools.

This is the challenge. We need, to make the most, of our time. Our time here, the time that our children, are in our care, will be asked. We have to answer, about how we spent our time. And how we helped them, spend their time. What have we actually done? What have we sacrificed?

Closing Dua

Brothers and sisters, I ask Allah, to give us, the Tawfiq, to awaken from our sleep, and to submit ourselves, truly to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

To leave this masjid today, with our faith renewed. Coming back, to true Islam. And, fulfilling our responsibilities, not only to ourselves, but to our families.

To raise a generation, that, will know Islam. And the exception will be those, that went astray. Not the norm.

So that Islam, can really be established in this land. And be conveyed, to the people of this land. I ask Allah, to bless our gathering, and to guide us, to what is good.

And to forgive us, our deficiencies, our weaknesses, our sins of the past. And to help us, to turn over a new leaf.

End of Khutbah