The Giants Who Delivered Our Spiritual Legacy

The Giants Who Delivered Our Spiritual Legacy

Speech by Imam Mohamed Magid

Opening

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ

I'd like just to show gratitude to this community and to my beloved Imam Zaid and the community in the Bay Area for hosting us, and the scholars who flew from different parts of the United States to be here. We have received tremendous generosity and hospitality, and I'd like to thank them.

Allah shukur Allah, Allah shukur An-Nas, whoever did not show gratitude to our people, he or she is not showing gratitude to Allah. You know I have five daughters, masha'Allah, and therefore I would like to begin this speech by saying that one of the giant people that was standing on their shoulders are women.

Women: The Foundation of Our Faith

When I was in Mecca, I told the hujjaj, Mecca city, the city of Mecca, the city had been established by the effort of women.

Hajar alayha as-salam, when Ibrahim alayha as-salam left her in that place, he said:

Rabbi inna askantu min dhurriyati biwadi min ghayrathi yazarrihi min baytika al-muharram rabbana liyuqeemu al-salaah, faja'al afidha min nasi tahwi ilayhi.

He said, oh Allah, I left my family in the valley with no vegetation, oh Allah, for the purpose to establish a pair, let people be around them, people come around them, and that's how Hajar alayha as-salam and Ismail alayha as-salam was the foundation of that city. Allah brought people because Zamzam came in.

And the woman who gave all her wealth in that city for me to become a Muslim, and you, is Khadija. And the first person who gave their life for Islam in that city was Sumayya. For I was saying to them, when you stand standing on the shoulder of people, those are the people who are standing on their shoulder.

And therefore, when we think about our legacy, our spiritual legacy, we have to think about those people who made it possible for me to become a Muslim, and you. Those are the people who established this community.

Because of them, we have this masjid.

Because of them, we have people like me and all the other speakers and you, saying la ilaha illallah muhammad rasulallah. Those are the best students of the prophets, from the prophet Ibrahim alayhi as-salam to prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam, who carried this message to all of us. But tonight, we're here to speak about a dear brother, the imam, imam Sa'ido Hajj.

A Transformative Encounter

Now when I come to this country, 30 years ago, I don't mind for you guessing my age, no problem, I was advised to watch a movie or series called Eyes on the Prize. And the professor who advised me to do that, he said, because I want you to know what it looked like to be a black man in America. That was the best advice I have seen, or heard.

And I watched those tapes, videocassette tapes, no DVD. 17 of them, I watched them. Yes, it was a big one. And I didn't have a machine in my home, but I watched them in the library, University of Maryland. And it changed my perspective. And at that time, I was new to the country, it was my father, may Allah bless his soul, rahimallah.

And until I came to a gathering in the mall, that Muslim was gathered from around the United States and non-Muslim, to speak with our brothers and sisters in Bosnia. I don't know if you remember that, Rani. And I was sitting there, and Imam Siraj al-Hajj went to the microphone to speak.

Like the Quran is saying, I memorized every single word of him. And I said, I would like to speak like this man, I want to be passionate like this man, I don't know who he is, I didn't know his name at the time. So the man said, Siraj al-Hajj.

And I liked Surah al-Naba. Because his name is Siraj al-Hajj. And I said, subhanallah, look how people are passionate about Islam in America.

And this man, if he spoke Arabic, because I was living in English, maybe he can change at the time, he spoke the same way, become khatib in Arabic, maybe he can change so many people in the Muslim world. But I didn't realize at the time how much change he's doing that is really impacting the Muslim world. And then I come to know that the effort he made in the inner city.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

And I said to myself, now I see Imam Siraj al-Hajj as an African-American imam, a leader of Muslim in

America, but I can appreciate also Rosa Parks. What makes it possible for him and I to be able to be free in some sense and to be able to have full participation in society. Remember at that time I didn't have a car, I used to ride the bus.

And I was saying that for that lady, Rosa Parks, to refuse to give her seat. And made it possible for many leaders in this country, like me, to be able to participate, to be able to have a voice. Because I have to show appreciation for Imam Siraj al-Hajj and all the legacy also in America that come before him.

And therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, when we think about people like Imam Siraj al-Hajj, we cannot just say just thank you, but we have to show a genuine appreciation. For a man who traveled almost every city in the United States and raised millions of dollars for Masajid, to stand with him and his family in difficult time, to be there for him in a difficult time, that's how we show appreciation to people.

Because I can have lip service and says, I'm talking about me personally, I said I really appreciate Imam Siraj and this and that, but until I show how I appreciate him.

He said the example of the believer like one body, if any part of it aches, the rest responds with fever, especially if that part of the body is so essential to the body, that your body will react more, maybe more painful, to have an eye pain than to have a finger pain. And that's what I really want to share with you today, that I think as a Muslim community, to show appreciation to someone like Imam Siraj al-Hajj, to say to him, what you and your family need this time, I want to be there for you.

The Hadith of Gratitude

Going back to the hadith that I just mentioned earlier, Rasulallah said:

La yashkuru Allaha man la yashkuru an-nas

"No one will show gratitude towards Allah, unless he or she show gratitude towards people."

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari and similar narrations in various hadith collections

Cherishing Those Among Us

I want to conclude by saying the following, you know, each one of us, when he or she reflect in their own life, we have people who influence our life in one way or another. Some of those people have passed away. They're not with us, like my father, may Allah bless his soul, like my mother, Rahima Allah.

We make dua for the people who have passed away. But people who are living among us, we cherish them. We don't wait until we spoke to them in the past tense.

We say, we're here for you, we hear you, we feel your pain, and we would like to show our solidarity or appreciation to you. You know, my father, Rahima Allah, one time told me, he said, son, do you remember the first person who taught you how to read or write? The teacher. And they named a teacher.

He said, you forgot. And I remember who taught you, the first person taught you how to read or write. He said, do you remember that one we sent you to that preschool called Rawdah in Sudan, which is, I don't recall it now, you know, to study the alphabet? He said, I want you to make the dua.

That is by the name of Nafisa. I want you to make dua for her. Because, he was telling me, because we live in a different city, she passed away last month.

He said, that's the first person who taught you how to read or write. She taught you the alphabet. Then we sent you to a Quranic school.

My point is that, sometimes we become big, become known, and we forget who made us who we are. And I'm going to tell you, with no hesitation, I'm standing on the shoulder of Imam Sadiq Al-Hajj. This man, many times, has given advice and encouragement.

He came and taught us at the Adam Center. This outreach Adam does and so forth. He's the first person to give us a workshop on how to reach out to other people at the Adam Center, on Adam 500 Grove Street. And I attended that workshop.

Closing Dua

May Allah bless this community, this beautiful community of yours, and Imam Zaid, and all the great people who invited us to be here. And may Allah preserve Imam Sadiq Al-Hajj and his family, and give him ease at this difficult time.

And may Allah reward you for reaching out and helping him and his family.

Jazakumullahu khair

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh