Bonding The Hearts of the Ummah
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-11T21:32:06.204291+00:00 | Topic: Community
Bonding The Hearts of the Ummah
Opening
(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings)
(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)
(الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds)
(وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى الْمَبْعُوثِ رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَالتَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ وَبَعْدُ - And may blessings and peace be upon the one sent as a mercy to all the worlds, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family, his companions, the followers, and those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment. And then:)
We praise Allah, send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad ﷺ, his entire household. May Allah bless them all, bless all his companions and bless every single one of us. Ameen.
Main Khutbah
Brothers, I see a lot of smiles and I'm really very happy to be in Trinidad today, to be in this Caribbean region or the West Indies should I say. And really it brings great joy to see the large numbers of brothers and sisters who are so dedicated. And I've definitely picked up one thing, people have very good hearts. And the message I have for you is do not allow shaytān to put a cover on that good heart, so that those whom you live with and those around you do not realize that you actually have a good heart.
May Allah bless us and purify our hearts. Brothers and sisters, we have a crisis in the Muslim ummah. The ummah is bleeding as we speak. You and I know very well that there are crises across the globe which definitely are within the region that the Muslims happen to live. So whether we're talking of Afghanistan or Iraq or Pakistan or Egypt or Syria or Yemen or Bangladesh or Burma or Somalia or Ethiopia, Eritrea, these are countries where the Muslims are. And the crises happen to be connected to the well-being of the Muslimin.
In fact so much so that if we go further afield even to countries where we are in a minority, we find that there are certain things that are happening in the Muslim ummah that can be avoided. And it's important for us to know how best we can avoid these things. Matters where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made it very clear.
The Quranic Guidance on Unity
"Obey Allah and His Rasul and do not dispute amongst one another. The arguments that we have debates that are... or that would result in hatred, there is a very big difference between arguing, debating, bickering, being jealous, creating hatred on one hand, and educating ourselves on the other. So when we say we should not be arguing and debating, we are not saying that forget about educating yourselves religiously.
No, we should educate ourselves in a professional way, in a manner that would result in two things the minimum. One is, those who have the knowledge to disseminate it beautifully. And two is, those who are trying to purify their knowledge to be able to understand, to be able to comprehend in an environment that is so conducive and beautiful for that particular type of education.
But getting back to the verse, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala clearly says (لَا تَنَازَعُوا - Do not tug towards...) You know, tanāzu' two people are required for it. Two parties are required for it. Which means, each one is pulling towards his own.
May Allah protect us. So what would happen? Shaytān would find it very easy to come through to the little crack and chisel it in a way that it becomes two major mountains over a period of time. Yet, it was only a hairline fracture.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us understanding. And Allah says, if you are going to dispute in that way, then (فَتَفْشَلُوا - which means, it will result in failure.) (الْفَشَلُ - means unsuccessfulness.)
So as an ummah, obviously Islam will not fail. But the members of the ummah may taste individual failure. And sometimes collective failure within specific groupings.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us strength. And what would happen as you and I know, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made it very clear for us in the Qur'an. He says (وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ - Your strength as an ummah shall go away.)
The Crisis of Division
Today look at us. We are more than two billion on the globe. You know that. We all know that. But, do we really care for one another? Sometimes within our own families and within our own circles and communities, someone dies, or someone suffers a loss, and others are excited. They say, yo, that brother deserved it.
So we have this negative perception of one another sometimes. A small thing happens and immediately we think, he did it because he hates me. He doesn't like me. He wants to destroy me. And then what
happens? We start doing things. Whereas when the brother or sister initially did something, they did it innocently. They did it with a good heart. But because our hearts are contaminated sometimes, we find we tend to think that the hearts of others are also similarly contaminated. This is dangerous.
So Allah says, you will lose your strength. So what's the point of having two billion Muslims when the strength is so badly lost that if anything, we are busy fighting each other. In some countries, killing each other.
May Allah protect us. It's about time this stopped. We will always have differences. There will never ever be a time when we do not have any difference whatsoever. Take a look at the sahaba radhiallahu anhum. They too had differences of opinion amongst themselves. Wherever the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam issued a decree solving the matter, it was resolved. And at times, he agreed with both parties.
Lesson from the Sahaba
Take a look at the issue of reading Salatul Asr in an area of Banu Qurayza, where one of the Jewish clans was based in the outskirts of Madinah Munawwara, where the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam instructed his companions:
(Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 946)
"None of you should read Salatul Asr until you get to Banu Qurayza."
So, some of them understood that this merely means we should rush, and we should not delay getting to that area. And others interpreted it that you are not allowed to read Asr today because it is not connected to the time for today, it's connected to the place. So you cannot read it anywhere besides that particular place.
So some of them, on the road, they read the Asr because the time was becoming expired. And others decided that, no, we are not going to read it even if it means the time expires because today the Asr is connected to a place, and not a time. When they went to Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam later on, discussing a major issue, one of the pillars of Islam was Salat.
To read or not to read, to delay or to read a little bit earlier. That was the issue. And he confirmed that both of them, or both of the groups, they arrived at their conclusion based on what they understood was the instruction of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
And he explained that they were both correct, yet they were two opposite opinions. This is why I say, at times we will have opinions amongst ourselves, for as long as we base them on that which is proper, that which is authentic, we will tolerate one another. My brothers and sisters, sometimes you may have people who base things on that which might not be authentic.
How best to explain to them, sometimes we need to think about. Because in the process of trying to correct a person where he or she is going wrong, in two or three matters, we then tend to create dispute in 50 other matters. It's like a person who really is wishing for something grand. And in the process, he loses what he has in his own hand. You know there is a saying, there is a saying regarding how you should not destroy your own hut by looking at the bungalow of somebody else. Someone has a beautiful mansion, and you are living happily in your hut.
And if you keep on looking at that mansion every day, you begin to lose the appreciation of what you have in your hut. So you will not be happy here in your hut, nor will you ever get that bungalow. It reminds me of a dream that one of the brothers said he had a long long time ago, it's obviously something to benefit from, where he says, I had a dream, and in that dream, someone was offering me some money.
And I really needed the money. And he is telling me, look, you either take the 10,000, or I'm giving you nothing. And he says, I kept on telling him, no, I need 20,000. Until it was almost in my hand, and I still kept on saying, I need 20,000. And a while later he says, something happened and my eye opened, and I realized it was just a dream, and I had no money in my hand. So I tried closing my eyes and saying, okay, give me the 10,000, it's fine.
May Allah protect us. It does not work that way. Really, in the ummah, sometimes what we do is, to try and solve one problem, the way we have chosen to address it, creates another 10 problems.
The Importance of Brotherhood and Love
And this is where we are failing. My brothers and sisters, we need to know, each one of us, if we do not feel the brotherhood, and the sisterhood, there is something wrong with us. If you do not feel the love of one another, even though one might be inclined slightly this way, one might be inclined slightly that way, like I said, we will discuss, we will educate, we will try our best to come to that which is the best.
There is no doubt about that. But if we do not feel the link with one another, there is something wrong with our iman. The enemies have got grip of us, more so shaitan and the devil is holding us firm.
Example from Hudaybiyah
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was so concerned about the kuffar getting the right message, that sometimes he bent over backwards, in a way that the sahaba did not understand. But it was revelation from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I give you an example.
Take a look at Hudaybiyah. When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the army of muslimin, or should I say the group, because they were unarmed, the group of the muslims had arrived in the outskirts of Makkah tul Mukarramah, wanting to go for Umrah, which is something great, mashallah. They were not allowed to go in.
They were told, no, go back, by the people of Makkah. It resulted in a treaty known as the Treaty of Hudaybiyah. If you know the details of that treaty, what happened is, there was something written down by one camp, and they were discussing the clauses.
And the kuffar came up and said, you know what, you wrote Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Take out the word Rasulullah, because we don't believe that you are Rasulullah. So how can you say we have an agreement with the messenger of Allah when we don't believe you are the messenger of Allah.
That's a heavy one. That's a very heavy one. The sahabah radhiallahu anhum were not prepared to do that. But Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam instructed them, take it out. What? Take it out. It was out.
Why? We believe la ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, but we are trying to get to something here that is not only divinely inspired, but that will have greater results than this particular matter that they are debating about right now. Then they said, okay, something else, we want to remove this clause as well. There was another clause where they had said, anyone from amongst you who deflects or who turns away and comes to us, we're not going to send them back to you. But from amongst us, anyone who comes to you, you've got to send them back. That is the height of injustice. It's unfair.
Imagine someone says, you're allowed to charge... you're not allowed to charge me a prophet, but I'm allowed to charge you. Say, but what are you talking about? It's one way, traffic, it doesn't work that way. But Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, agree with it.
It's okay. How many Muslimin are actually going to go away? May Allah protect us. The clause was... And not only that, later on, he implemented that, subhanallah.
And verses were revealed. It's a long story, but the point being made here is, he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught us that he was so concerned about sending the correct message. And he knew that now that he has a treaty with these kuffar of Quraysh, it will give him an opportunity to spread the wings of the deen or the message of the deen further ashore, to go to various other places.
And by the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that would result in so much in terms of strength of the Muslim ummah. And it did. A few years later, they returned to Makkah al-Mukarramah. They were victorious. But if he was stubborn upon it to say, no, that clause will stay. No, this clause is unfair. They would never have arrived at the solution. There would have been more problems, more difficulty. There might have been war. Whatever there might have been, Allah knows. It didn't happen, but we are thinking about what if. The same with us.
Proper Approach to Differences
Brothers and sisters, when we pick up that my sister in Islam or my brother in Islam, or a group of brothers or sisters has, for example, an issue or two that needs to be dealt with, the way we choose to deal with it would really make it clear as to whether we are following the sunnah of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) or not. This is why you and I know, when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent Musa a.s. and Harun a.s. Allah's peace be upon both of them and upon all the other messengers and upon us as well. Ameen.
To the worst of the time, he told them:
"Go to them, go to him, to the pharaoh, the two of you, and speak to him with soft words, so that he may remember, it may act as a reminder, and he may fear Allah, something may come into his heart that will result in him turning. Go and speak to him with kind soft words لَيِّنًا means something soft, something palatable. You know when you talk to someone, say, hey, get out, go there. They won't, but you say, my brother, you know there is a door, there is an air condition, once you go to the other side, it's so cool and calm. He'll walk out, mashallah. Walk out without you completing your sentence.
Why? Because you sold the product. Allahu Akbar. People who are businessmen, and I'm sure most of us here, we know we are in business somehow.
Brothers and sisters, we know, when there is a product to be sold, we even cover the defect of the product, sometimes, na'udhu billah, may Allah safeguard us. And we tell him, no, it's excellent, it's the best, and you know it's not the best, come on, you know. It's like I found the Toyota salesman driving a Mercedes.
Allahu Akbar. May Allah protect us. And he's busy selling us his product, don't worry, I'm a customer, inshallah.
May Allah grant us goodness. My brothers and sisters, if we are ready to sell our product to earn a few dollars, to earn a little bit of money, we are ready to sell our product with beautiful words. Believe me, the deen we have is the most valuable product ever.
Ever. If you can speak to people in a way that makes them want to turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you have succeeded by the will of Allah. It's the success of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But sadly with us, and sometimes even with people who may be in position of leadership, shaitan comes to all of us. Believe me, no single person can say, shaitan, not me. No one is Umar ibn Khattab r.a here.
So, shaitan comes to us and makes us think bad things about one another. No, this person is false. My brother, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), spoke with Abu Jahl, with disciplined words.
Subhanallah. He spoke, he addressed the kuffar of Quraysh with disciplined words. He did not speak to them with disrespectful terms. No, he didn't. And today, we are not talking about Abu Jahl and the others. People who are saying the same shahada as you, just because you have two, three differences with them, and we acknowledge there are differences, it does not mean you can start swearing, and bickering, and spreading, and saying this and that.
If that is the case, the day you suffer a loss, they will be happy. And the day they suffer a loss, you will be happy. And then what happened across the globe and what is happening across the globe, will not be avoidable.
Unity Without Compromising Faith
So it's about time we woke up and faced reality, that if you would like a strong ummah, and so would I, it's about time we realize that the treatment of one another, the way we are tackling our issues, needs to be revisited. The way we are tackling the matters of division, needs to be revisited. And why I reiterate this, everywhere we go on the globe, we have the same crisis.
They'll tell you, oh, this person belongs to that, that person belongs to that, that person belongs... And brother, what are you? What am I? I'm a Muslim. Subhanallah. If you want to divide any further, believe me, my mathematical table has no division sign.
Allahu Akbar. No, we only multiply and add. And sometimes we would like to subtract that which is bad. May Allah protect us. As for division sign, my calculator doesn't have that sign. So if you are asking me, what are you based on the fact that you want to drop someone into a box to divide the ummah, we will tell you, no division sign, we are Muslims.
Allahu Akbar. We are Muslims. Do you have a difference of opinion with others? Oh, by all means, we probably will. We may have differences of opinions with our own spouses. That doesn't make them bad people. You know, some people say, I cannot stand her food.
But wow, she's a beautiful mother. She's looked after my children. So what did you do my brother to solve the problem? I employed a cook. Mashallah, lucky wife. She might have been cooking like that purposely. Who knows? Allahu Akbar.
So people need to know how to solve crisis. Today my brothers and sisters, we are ready to sacrifice. Almost all of us. Almost all of us are ready to sacrifice to earn a little bit of money. But we are not ready to sacrifice in order to bring the ummah together. And what's the point of packing knowledge into your mind and into your heart, when it's not doing anything to your character and conduct.
It's not bringing you down to earth. It's making you more arrogant. The more you know, the more the rest of the Muslims are actually kafir. Astaghfirullah. Why? What's this mentality? Where did it come from? And how did it get there? It is the arrogance that the devil happens to place within a person sometimes who happens to have some knowledge. And this is why, don't waste your time with ignorant people.
But make sure that your heart is clean. Make sure that you feel the love between yourselves, even if there is a minor difference. And sometimes there might be a major difference which needs to be made clear.
That, look brother, I believe that this is not exactly the right way of doing things because of X, Y and Z. But my brother, there are so many other common points that we can work on. However, let's discuss this matter as time passes and let's exchange notes. Subhanallah.
Look at how important that is. The way we deal with it. Because if we are just going to stand up and say, brother, I'm not prepared to talk to you. I'm not greeting you. But brother, sister, the shahada is being read. Who knows that person might die in a condition better than mine and yours. There might come a time later on where maybe I have died and 10-20 years later the other person dies and they might die in a condition that was much more pure than I did. Only Allah knows. So remember, don't lose hope.
Lessons from Prophet Nuh (AS)
The Prophet did not lose hope in us. In the sense that he continued and he continued. And not just him, but even the other messengers of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
For years on end they continued. Look at Nuh. Inspiration can be drawn by his sacrifice. 950 years. Imagine. When we talk to the youngsters about it, they say, the only thing they want from it is the age. Allahu akbar.
Why? The age. They want the age. Because may Allah protect us. I hope it's not so that we can continue sinning. May Allah grant us goodness. If we want that age in order to obey Allah's instruction, alhamdulillah.
But a lot of the times when people want lots of wealth, and they want lots of years to live, it's not really for the right reasons. May Allah make us the exception. So Nuh, he tells his people, he says, O my people, come to Allah. Engage in istighfar. You know, turn to the one who created you. Logical common point of call.
Where he is saying, worship whoever made you. You cannot debate with that statement. Worship whoever made you. Put your head on the ground and say, O you who made me, I worship you. Subhanallah. Nobody can debate with that.
That's Islam. That is what he was calling towards. That is what we all call towards. Put your head on the ground and say, O you who made me, you are the greatest. Rabbi. What's the meaning of Rabbi? Whoever made me, whoever is in control of every aspect of my existence, sustains me, nourishes me, cherishes me, grants me everything I have, is in absolute control of everything.
He is known as Rabbun. So we say, subhana rabbi al-a'la. We are praising Allah. Praising the one who made us. Whoever is in control of my whole life, I put my head on the ground for you. And I'm praising you. You are indeed the owner of all praise. That's what we are doing. No one can debate with that.
So Nuh a.s. was telling his people:
Seek the forgiveness of your Rabb. Rabb meaning the one who made you. The one who is in control. The one who is sustaining you, who is nourishing you. You grew up through his power. Subhanallah. No. Do you know what? An average of 2... Listen carefully.
An average of 2 to 6 people a year accepted his message. So the smallest figure in the narrations is 11. That in 950 years, 11 people accepted his message. And the biggest number is 80. So it's one of the two figures. Let's take 80 for example.
Less than 10 people every 100 years. Imagine what type of dedication did this man have. Today, we do not even have that type of feeling towards one another.
We cannot wait for 95 seconds, let alone 950 years. The brother, you just hear him saying something, you know. And suddenly you say, he's astray. Don't talk to him. Don't look at him. Well, if he's astray, and you don't talk to him, and you don't look at him, how then is he going to get the message? Subhanallah.
The Parable of the Drop of Honey
No, no, no, no. He belongs to this and he belong... So tomorrow when the enemy wants us, he doesn't need to come and do anything. He just needs to sit back and put a drop of honey on a table.
Have you ever heard the one about a honey on a table? Let me explain. They say that shaitan wanted to cause havoc, chaos. And he wanted to show how he doesn't really do it. He doesn't really do it, but he instigates it. You know, people say... Subhanallah, Ramadan has just ended. People say, when the devil is tied up in Ramadan, how come we get angry and so on? We say, that's you becoming the devil.
May Allah protect us. May Allah safeguard us. We don't want that to happen.
So, what he did? He just put a drop of honey on the corner of a table, and he went away. Sat back and he's watching. Shaitan.
And so, a fly came. The fly sat on the honey. When the fly sat on the honey, a lizard came. And the lizard got hold of the fly, ate the fly. A little while later, a rat came. Call it a rat or a mouse, whatever you'd like to call it. It came in and got hold of the lizard. The lizard was eaten. A little while later, a cat came. The cat came and it ate the rat. Subhanallah, caught it and ate it. A little while later, a dog came. When the dog came, it ate the cat. A little while later, the owner of the cat came. He saw the dog and he started beating it up. Beating it up thoroughly. And a while later, the owner of the dog came. And he saw his dog being beaten up, so he started beating up. This time, not what was he beating up, but who was he beating up. He became a human being. And the two started beating each other up until one died.
Murdered. And shaitan goes away. Droplet of honey.
Allahu Akbar. May Allah protect us. We have these droplets of honey in our own homes. And sometimes in our own communities where something minor and we allow it to spiral such that even the devil becomes ashamed of what we're doing. May Allah protect us. It's about time we discuss the matter.
And you know you get wise cracks. You know what's a wise crack? A guy who sits and says, no, no, no, no, no. But you know what? He is a deviant. How can he say that we should be having a genuine feeling for those people who are astray? Well, if that's the case, then that's the problem we have in the ummah. This is what's happening across the globe. The enemy no longer needs to do anything.
He just needs to drop the honey and go back. And what happens? We start fighting amongst ourselves, doing a better job than any enemy would have done had he come personally. Believe me.
Take a look at the globe. Look at what's happening to the ummah today. No enemy could have done a better job than we are doing on our own. Why? The hatred of the heart. That's what it is. The jealousy. The ill feeling. You got two differences, brother. You are a kafir. Finished. Out of the door. What is this? Wallahi, it's about time we woke up.
Really? That is the only ingredient that is required to create a huge inferno and to burn down a lot of the goodness of the ummah. And it's happened. And we are facing a crisis because today, sadly, it has overtaken the knowledgeable as well.
With knowledgeable people who don't have experience and expertise. Perhaps they haven't traveled the globe. Perhaps they haven't seen. Perhaps they are being instigated by little children who don't even know what is going on on the globe as an ummah. People who just have a concern about their own little click. And they don't realize we have an ummah to tackle or to deal with or to protect, should I say.
And therefore, we have people passing these comments flying around that are really destructive for the ummah of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). This is why, respect anyone who is doing good work. And someone who is doing something bad, think of the most beautiful way of educating them.
It might not take a day or two. It might not take a year or two. It might take more than ten years. It might be longer than your lifetime. But you need to really create. You need to really create that environment that will result in people wanting to know the truth.
That's what it is. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless us. So much comes to my mind.
The Feeling of Love and Brotherhood
But when we see beautiful people sitting all together, and we think to ourselves, my brothers and sisters, I definitely feel the love for you. Definitely feel it in my heart. And I haven't even asked you, my brother, which sect do you belong to? Before I declare my love for you.
My brother, I love you. You say the shahada, you are in the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. My brother, we have so much in common tomorrow. If I see you being bitten by a lion, inshallah, I won't become that lion, but inshallah, I will go and bite that lion. Allahu akbar. This is the way it should be.
And if you notice, mashallah, there is an awakening. People are realizing that we are being trampled upon because of minor issues. And like I said at the beginning of this talk, and I reiterated, let us not think that by saying that we should not be holding malice against one another, that we should not be educating one another.
That's not what we've said. We should be educating one another. We should be discussing, we should be trying, we should be learning more.
Do you know that there are Muslims who are fed up of Islam, na'udhu billah, because of the bickering that's happening amongst people who are supposed to be considered leaders. So you go here, they're talking bad about those guys. You go there, they're talking bad about these guys.
So the guys in the middle say, you know what, I neither want to go here, nor do I want to go there. So they look in front of them, they see a nightclub, and that's where they are. Why? Because we are busy fighting behind the scenes.
But had we respected one another, look brother, we do have a few differences. For example, maybe it might be this and this. And these are the reasons why they are there. But alhamdulillah, these people are doing good work. And subhanallah, let us support each other when it comes to goodness. When it comes to goodness.
Working Together on Common Ground
One day, I spoke about this. And some people misconstrued the whole talk and the whole topic. Do you know that today, if there was a natural disaster, may Allah protect this beautiful country. If there was a natural disaster in this country, you would have to cooperate with the non-Muslims. Do you know that?
And they would probably save your lives, and you would probably help save theirs. Do you know that? Not probably, but almost certainly.
Why? Because you would have to unite on a common purpose. That's what it is. That does not mean we are saying, give up your deen, let me give up my deen. We come up as atheists, all of us. Stupidity is what would understand that. We're not saying that.
Keep your deen. We keep our deen. We discuss, mashaAllah. We want to get to the truth. Yes, without any form of... You know, we have no doubt in that. That yes, we would definitely believe that what we have is firm and it's correct.
But common ground, mashaAllah, I will have to unite with you to clean up society and community from this nuclear waste that is perhaps affecting, if it is there, and so on. Or there is an earthquake, I will help take out your family from under the rubble, and you help take out my family from under the rubble. And who are you? Brother, he could be a gay, for all I care.
May Allah protect us. May Allah safeguard us. That does not mean we are united in faith with people who are doing things that may be absurd. That doesn't mean we are united in faith. So the term unity does not necessarily mean you give up everything you have and I give up everything I have, and we come to a common ground where, you know, we've come up with some atheism or something silly. No.
The term unity would mean wherever possible, we would need to work together. That's what it means. We would need to work together and we respect the difference that we have.
And at the same time, we acknowledge we are human beings and we discuss as well. And the only way you would be able to discuss properly is when you are educated on that particular topic. So therefore, go out and learn, learn, and learn more.
And look at the other side of the coin. See why they are saying what they are saying, so that you can be in a better position to educate others. May Allah protect us.
I have come across many people who've asked me questions about the deen. And they ask me questions about, oh, I believe maybe this is unfair, and that's unfair. How is it that this verse is in the Qur'an? And how is it that the Prophet ﷺ said this and that? And you know it sounds very bad and unfair.
It's all due to ignorance. People have not taught each other what is right and what is wrong. And yet, we have so much time to bicker and to engage in speech that is futile, that does not help the ummah.
So they will know that we hate those guys. But bottom line they say, when the Prophet ﷺ said this, I disagree with him. Astaghfirullah. Astaghfirullah. So these are the type of statements that are coming out of our young generation. If you don't know that, I'm telling it to you.
Why? Because we are busy doing something that is less important than educating them. So make it your business to go out and learn. Learn and learn more, subhanAllah.
And never ever think for a moment that you are the only person who's doing good. No. Goodness has more than a million different avenues. You might be engaged in one, there are another 999,999 avenues that you haven't even smelt, subhanAllah. May Allah safeguard us. So this is why we believe that we will support one another in goodness.
We will try our best. We will feel the love that we have with one another. That is how we can revive the ummah. That is how we can revive the strength of the ummah. And at the same time, we will discuss matters. We will educate ourselves. We will try our best. To return to what brought about the initial change when Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) was sent to mankind. SubhanAllah.
The Path Forward
So we would have to go back, study his life, look at what he did, look at what the sahabah radiallahu anhum did. And we would have to realize and recognize our mission in this dunya. It's not just to enjoy everything at the expense of the rights of others, and at the expense of the rights of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala over us.
No. We are to enjoy within limits, understanding that this enjoyment is very very limited to the pleasure of Allah. We need to get enjoyment by reading salah. Enjoyment by dressing appropriately. Enjoyment by abandoning that which will earn the wrath of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Enjoyment by sacrificing to save your marriage.
A lot of marriages are breaking. For what reason? To be honest with you, such a small reason that when the person is over and done with, five years later they look back and regret to say, you know what? She was a wonderful person. It was me who was the mess.
My brother too late, she's married someone else and has three other children. Too late. Alhamdulillah.
So this is why we say, today we're not prepared to sacrifice for so many things that we are supposed to be sacrificing for in order to earn eternal peace. We're ready to give it up. But materialism, we're ready to sacrifice for.
The True Value of Material Things
In a lot of cases, where? Brother, I want to buy a new car. Okay, I need to work hard. I'm going to save. I'm going to this. So now come home, you need to buy bread and milk. And you say, no, no, no, because you're saving to buy your car.
You see? I hope that doesn't happen here until then. I need to buy my car. And you don't even know that you buy the car, first things first, big accident is made, may Allah safeguard all of us.
And then you regret to say, no ways, I shouldn't have bought that car. My brother, that's because you were running behind materialism. And Allah wanted to show you that this is all completely within the dunya. It will come to an end. It is Allah that is eternal. All this is non-eternal.
It won't help us. When we're going to the grave, nobody's going to write a certificate to say, this man drove a BMW, please help him. Oh, angel of death, you know, let him have a comfortable ride with air condition.
No, all specs, you know, low, what do they call it? Low profile, big magrums, you know. Nothing like that is going to happen. This man's bank account just before he closed his eyes was sitting at 35 million, please help him.
Does it happen? It is irrelevant. Your money that you left behind, your children are killing each other for that. They stop talking to each other, really.
The car that you left behind is got spider webs in it because everybody is fighting over it and the court case is already two years. And by that time the value of it has crashed. There you are.
So what will happen? It's going to go to the scrap yard. You don't realize. But we were running behind all those things. Now, we're in the grave. May Allah protect us. So we'd rather enjoy the life, mashallah.
You know, if you have a comfortable ride, we all are searching for a comfortable ride, but use the ride in that comfort to enjoy coming to the masjid. Subhanallah. Then your BMW will come to your help in the grave.
Why? Because you always used it to come into the right direction. Yes. You have wealth, use it to assist others. Use it to pay off the debts of some people. Use it perhaps to help the homeless. Perhaps to reach out to those who... You know, sometimes you have very wealthy people, but they will not give a small amount of time to those who owe them money and are struggling to pay them back.
But they know that this is just loose change for me. So, people are living in misery because they owe a multi-millionaire a thousand dollars, which they cannot afford really. You know, it's a different story if someone is just ducking and diving and they just don't want to give it to you. Then you can put a bit more pressure on them. But someone is really struggling and you are a tycoon and you really do not need that wealth immediately. And you're pressing them so much that their marriage is on the brink.
And perhaps their children are struggling. And they have so much other difficulty and problem. It's because we have not read the Qur'an. And we don't know the sunnah of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), where he says, whoever gives respite to such a person, Allah will give them respite in the life after
death. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Qur'an, if a person is struggling financially and they owe you money, give them more time, it's better for you. You will earn a great reward.
As it is, it's Allah who gave you. You know there was one brother, he told me the story himself. And he says, a certain man owed me a certain amount of money. And I began to put pressure on him and so on. And one day he came to me crying and I felt sorry for him. And he said, the money was owed on a specific date.
And I gave him one more month and he was so happy. And he says, a few days later, he had a robbery at his home. And they hit his safe and they took all his money and they did so much damage.
And the only money that now he had was the money that this brother came to give him two days later. Two days later. And he says, I started off with it. And I thought to myself, had he paid me two days earlier, even that would have gone. Look at the gift of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Sometimes Allah knows why these things are happening.
Conclusion: Bonding Hearts and Finding True Value
So my brothers and sisters, mashallah, if you notice, I have tried to speak about bonding the hearts. And try to speak about educating ourselves. Bringing us together. Understanding we are part of one ummah. Really, feeling the love. And believing that everyone has goodness in themselves.
Let us enhance that goodness. Let us develop it. Let us grow it. And the evil that we might have from the devil, from the shaitan. In that case, we need to eradicate it. Work hard on eradicating your bad habits.
Everyone has goodness. Never ever think that I'm right off. I'm a person who's done too much bad. And now, you know, it's over. I don't need to... You know, there's no mercy for me. As it is, I'm going to Jahannam. So no matter what is the case, I'd rather just keep on doing everything wrong because so long as I enjoy, I'll just enjoy here. Later on I won't enjoy, it's fine. Wallahi, that type of mentality is absurd.
It is absolute nonsense. Allah loves you. That's why you are listening to this today. That's why you are in the house of Allah today. If you did not have a link with your Maker, you would not be here. There is some form of a link between you and your Maker.
That's why you are seated here. So develop the link. Don't waste time. Develop it. Strengthen it. When you come to the house of someone, it's only because they've invited you there or you are welcome there.
So we feel welcome in the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is why I always tell the people who are in charge of masajid, never ever give people who come to the masjid a feeling that they are not welcome. Because brother, it's not your house.
It's the house of Allah. Whatever brought them here, they came to the house of their Maker. Make them feel welcome. Greet them. Smile at them. And you don't need to start saying, brother, what brought you
Final Message on Unity
This is why, and I'm going to end with this verse, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says quite clearly towards the end of surah al-anfal:
"The kuffar are all protectors of one another. The kuffar stand up for one another. The kuffar defend one another. The kuffar are united when it comes to the defense of one another. If you are not going to operate in a similar manner, there will be great chaos and corruption on earth. What that means is, you also need to stand up for one another.
You also need to unite with one another against that which is harming the ummah at large. You also need to be protectors of one another. So let us remember, when shaitan comes and make you feel that, you know what, this guy doesn't have a siwak in his pocket, so he is a deviant, then you need to know that means that is shaitan.
Shaitan came to your heart and made you think, this guy's kuffar or topi on his head is not appropriate, so therefore he is not one of us. That is shaitan that came to you. This man, his thobe is like this or like that, or his shirt is like this or like that, therefore this... If we are going to do that, we will be dividing ourselves so much so, that we will have to divide the top half of our body from the bottom half.
Allah protect us. And literally I mean that, because your mind might be thinking something, your heart is thinking something else. And your hands and feet are doing a third thing altogether.
So if that's the case, my brothers and sisters, let us understand we will get nowhere. We need to learn, let's educate ourselves. Let's get back to the deen, let's get back to what was the message of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
He brought together by the help of Allah, warring factions of Aus and Khazraj. And that was by the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If that is what was the result of following Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)'s instruction, where those who were really at war came to peace, then what about us? Those who are insha'Allah within a specific type of peace, by the will of Allah we can create more peace, and we can unite ourselves.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless us. I hope the few words I've said have really had an impact firstly on myself, then everyone else. Insha'Allah until we meet again.
Closing
(And may Allah's blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad)