Ismail ibn Musa Menk The Need For Religious Rehab
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-11T22:34:49.874496+00:00 | Topic: Quran
The Need for Religious Rehab
Opening Prayer and Gratitude
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa ashabihi ajma'in.
We praise Allah, the Creator, the Nourisher, the Cherisher, the Sustainer, the Provider, the Protector, the Curer, the One in whose hands lies absolute control of entire existence. We send blessings and salutations upon all those who were sent to us from the beginning, right up to Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, to remind us about the goodness, to remove us from darkness and to bring us to the light. We also ask the Almighty to bless His household, His companions, and everyone from that time who struggled and strove right to this moment, to remind people of the same goodness.
May the Almighty make us from them and grant us such that our offspring also remain steadfast right up to the end. Ameen.
Appreciation for the Maldives and Divine Blessings
I have to say something about the Maldives before I start. It's not my first visit, but I can tell you it's probably the best so far. The reason is the Almighty grants us blessing upon blessing. And sometimes we take it for granted.
Many times we don't notice and realize the gifts of the Almighty that are around us. And we tend to concentrate on those things that we might be lacking. But if we were to take a moment to look at others across the globe and what they are going through, we would realize not only the importance of what we've been given, but the importance of preserving what we have and building upon it and not making the same mistakes that others have made.
You watch the world. You will notice some countries develop while others that were developed go backwards. And if we don't learn a lesson from both of these, we are foolish.
Our Purpose on Earth
We are people who would not have fulfilled what the Almighty has placed us on earth for. Number one, we search for Him. We look for Him. We worship Him alone. And number two is together with that, we leave this globe in such a way that those who are to follow after us will be proud of our achievements both regarding our connection with the Almighty as well as development of the infrastructure, the countries, the nations we were living in and the globe at large.
Personal Experience and Gratitude in Adversity
This afternoon, I was taken to a beautiful resort. And from there, subhanAllah, having been given all the times and the entire time frame of events and so on, I was told there is a little technical glitch that would require a delay of perhaps 30 to 45 minutes. I said alhamdulillah two times.
Why? When I want things and they happen according to me, I thank Allah. When I want things and they don't happen according to me, they've happened according to the Creator that I believe in, so I thank Him even more because I know there is something even better in it for me than I would imagine. I thank Allah twice.
Guess what? I got a little bit more time in the swimming pool. MashaAllah. May Allah bless us. In fact, to be more precise, in the ocean. La ilaha illallah. Beautiful.
Reflection on Creation and Paradise
I normally do not just jump into the ocean, but here I did. It was irresistible. And I told myself, who made this? Imagine if the Maldives is so beautiful, what do you think Jannah would be like? For you who are from this particular place, I could show you so many other places on earth that would not really impress you.
You would say, yeah, my backyard. You know when I tell people I come from Zimbabwe, they ask me, do you have lions and elephants in your backyard? And when we see the lions and elephants, we do say, oh, these are from our backyard. MashaAllah.
But you realize the favors of Allah and you start asking yourself, who made this? It was Allah who gave this place such beauty. It's Allah who created us.
The Question of Origins
My brothers, my sisters, one question you need to ask yourself, when we're talking about religious rehabilitation, we're actually referring to going back to where we're supposed to be.
Look, if I were to ask any one of you, and I've been doing this of late, where were you one year before you were born? You don't have an answer. Science cannot answer that. Medicine cannot answer that. No amount of secular education can answer that. Where were you one year before you were born? Perhaps let's make it more interesting and say, 20 years before you were born. Because technically someone might argue, okay, I was already in the form of a drop of semen or an egg that was being prepared to meet and thereafter be created or come into being.
"Has a time not passed in the stage of man, where man was nothing to even be mentioned." (Quran 76:1) Man didn't exist. You didn't exist.
There was a time when we could not be referred to because we were non-existent. Prior to the birth of our own parents, we were non-existent. We need to think of that.
The Reality of Our Creation
That will take us back to the reality. Where did you come from? It's not good enough to just say, you know what, I popped in here and that's it. And this was all coincidental and by chance.
The stage you see here that is so beautiful, may Allah reward those who made this a reality. It is not as sophisticated as mankind. But we would be foolish if we said it popped up here on its own this morning. Right? Mankind is much more sophisticated than that. How could we say we popped up here just like that? When we know that something less sophisticated than us could not have just popped up like that.
Our Divine Origin
My brothers and sisters, we came from Makkah
"Verily We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him: So We gave him hearing and sight." (Quran 76:2)
In Surah Al-Dahr, Allah reminds us of the origin. Allah says, we created you from a drop of semen. Allah says we created you from a drop of semen. And then we gave you the faculties of hearing and seeing. So you could hear, you could see. And guess what Allah says? We're going to take you away after your short stint on earth.
The Fundamental Questions of Existence
The only way I will be able to rehabilitate myself when it comes to religion is by asking the question, where did I come from? Why am I here? And where am I going? What should I be doing while I'm here? I've already touched on that right at the beginning. But I want to remind you of another verse. In Surah Yasin, and I'm sure many of us read the beautiful surah.
"Does man not see that We created him from a sperm-drop?" (Quran 36:77) Does man not see that we created him from semen, from a droplet of semen, subhanallah. Then he becomes so argumentative, clear arguments, subhanallah. He wants to argue about everything and anything.
The Importance of Knowledge-Based Discussion
Let's get this straight. It's very important to put forward your opinions. It is important also to have the right to disagree respectfully with what is being said. But you don't forget, it must be knowledge-based. You don't just say something because that's it you want to say. Someone says one plus one is two. If you have a different answer based on knowledge, you have the right to disagree. But if you do have knowledge, you will say, no, it is two, subhanallah. May Allah grant us ease.
Recognition of Our Creator
So my brothers and sisters, what I need to remember, what you need to remember is, I came from Allah. I came on to this earth. I was made by some supreme deity who knows way beyond what I know.
The Womb Analogy
I've always in the last year and a half given the example of children within the womb prior to birth. And I've said, you know, in the womb, if you were to be able to speak, to say a twin that was with you in the womb, and you were enjoying life there. At one stage, you were so small that you swam around the womb. And that was your life. That was everything you ever knew. You would never have imagined in the wildest of your dreams in that womb that there was life outside the womb.
And you would never have dreamt that there would be life, or there is life of a totally different nature a few millimeters away from you. If you were to put aside the membrane of the womb of your mother and break through, you would see something you never dreamt existed. But while you're in the womb, you think that's everything.
The Transition from Womb to World
If your twin had to talk to you and say, now what's going to happen? You would say perhaps, well that's it. We are here. We came here by nature. We are here just by coincidence. And you know, once we are ended here, it's going to be over and we are gone. One wonders where we're going to go and what's going to happen. It's actually over.
And little do you know that as it becomes more difficult to stay within the womb, and it becomes tougher to move from side to side, and as you think that it's the end of everything, it's only the beginning of the life on this earth. There is something known as labor, wherein a woman gives birth. May Allah make it easy for all of those who have given birth, are giving birth, and shall give birth up to the end. May Allah make it easy for them. It's a near death experience for some of them.
Birth and the Parallel to Death
But my brothers and my sisters, when that happens, life comes into existence from one stage to another. It was already alive in the womb, and after having thought that there would be nothing beyond that, suddenly here comes boom. You're out in the world. You've actually seen the Maldives. Do you believe it? You've actually seen the Maldives.
If I were to ask anyone of you, what would you like from what you loved in the wombs of your mothers? You would say, I can't remember. Not a soul remembers what he or she liked in the wombs of his or her mothers. Not even one. Honestly, ask yourself, what did I like in the womb of my mother? Definitely you must have loved some things. You enjoyed yourself. You ate, you drank, you grew. But when the time was up, guess what? Labor takes different lengths, different times. Some of them, some people within a few minutes. Some within a few hours. Some, some days.
The Pangs of Death
Exactly the same happens at the end of this stage of life. When we end this life, there is a different type of a labor. It's not called labor. It's called the pangs of death. We in the Arabic language call it sakaratul mawt. For some people it's a second. For some people it's a few minutes, a few hours, some a few days. And guess what? Just when you were thinking everything is going to come to an end if you were not a believer, you would be very surprised that there is a very thin membrane, even thinner than the one on the belly of your mothers. That would be separating you in this life from the reality of the hereafter.
Preparation for the Hereafter
Subhanallah. And so if you believe that when we die, we're going somewhere, you would have to prepare for that by doing what? Navigate back to your maker. We are Muslims. We believe in the maker. We call him the worshipped one. We say, whoever made me is the only one whom we owe our worship to.
No sticks, no stones, no people. No one else is owed acts of worship besides He who made me, the deity, the supreme deity.
Understanding Allah
So who is He? Well all I know is the maker. He is the one whom I'm going to return to. I call him the worshipped one. He definitely has to have sent messengers with messages to me to explain to me why I'm on earth. And you know what? I will always call him the worshipped one, the maker. In the Arabic language, Allah. Allah. In the Hebrew language, Elohim or Eloha. Subhanallah. The worshipped one.
Amazing. Who do you worship? Whoever made me. So when I put my head on the ground and I say, subhana rabbiyal a'la. What am I saying? I'm saying, glory be to the one who made me, who is the highest. He who made me. Rabbun. Refers to the one who nourishes, cherishes, provides, protects. Exactly what I said at the beginning of this talk when describing the almighty. I'm saying he is the highest.
The Purpose of Worship
And I'm putting my head on the ground only for him because I know oh you who made me have mercy on me. Oh you whom I'm going to return to. When I return to you have mercy on me. That's Allah. He is the one. When we get to the other side, we will say, oh you who made me, oh you whom I've just
Understanding Life's Challenges
My brothers, my sisters, many are deceived by this world. They don't realize that this world is not all about enjoyment because Allah says to us that I have not created this world for you to have perfection or for you to have eternal bliss. There is another place I have created wherein you will have eternal bliss and perfection. Not here.
Every single one of us goes through problems. So don't think that the almighty is not merciful on us because we have problems, because we have issues, because we are struggling. You are on earth in order to go through the challenges.
The School of Life Analogy
I've given an example in the past of the schools that we go to. We go to school in order to graduate, to go to college and perhaps to university in order to be able to get a job. In order to be able to earn a livelihood so that we can have some food and a place to live and perhaps get married and take care of our children. May Allah grant that to us. Say ameen. May Allah make it easy.
So my brothers and sisters, what if someone is granted all that wealth without going to school? The parents would still say, go to school. Go to school. Even if you are wealthy and you know you have enough for your children and children's children, you would tell your children, go to school.
When they go to school, what are you prepared for? You are prepared for them to be tested. You are prepared for them to follow rules, to follow regulations. You are prepared for them to go at a specific time, from this time to this time. Dress in a specific way. Do whatever they have to. They must do this. They must be in this way. They will go. They will be tested. And the tests will become more and more difficult as the time passes. In order for them to graduate, my brothers and sisters, exactly the same thing happens in our lives.
Allah's Tests and Graduation to Paradise
Allah says, you know what? I want you to graduate to the hereafter. I will put tests and bigger tests as you grow older and older. And ultimately, I want you to graduate into the hereafter. And I want you to earn that beautiful jannah. And Allah says, you know what? What I want from you is the trial. Keep trying. That's all.
You may never achieve, but the fact that you've tried is good enough for Allah. That's why He says to us through the blessed lips of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا
"Every action shall be rewarded and judged based on the intention of that action."
(Bukhari hadith 1)
If I intended to do something, I will get the reward of it. Even if I did not complete it the way I wanted to. The fact that I have tried and I had the intention, Allah will reward me. He says, you tried, didn't you? Well, come forth. May Allah grant us ease.
Divine Rules for Contentment
And then if you take a look, if you take a look at the rest of our lives, Allah who created us has placed rules and regulations so that we can lead a clean life filled with contentment. Not necessarily millions and billions, but you will be happy. You will be content. Subhanallah. You will be happy with what the Almighty has given you. May Allah grant us ease.
There are so many things we want in our lives. We may not be able to achieve them. There are so many things we want for ourselves. We may not be able to have it because there might not be as many to go around for everyone. For example, you want to marry a specific person and maybe that person, there are five or ten others who also want to marry that person. Only one is going to marry that person perhaps. Then what will happen? The other nine cannot become depressed. They have to be content. Allah didn't want it. Perhaps it's something better.
Gratitude in All Circumstances
Like I told you earlier, when you want something and it comes to you, thank Allah. When you want something and it does not come to you, thank Him twice. Thank Him twice. He knows something you don't know. Subhanallah.
The Example of Prophet Jesus
My brothers, my sisters, Allah wants contentment for us on earth while we're going through our challenges. Look at Jesus, may peace be upon Him. And why am I giving the example of Jesus, may peace be upon Him? The reason is, we do have the examples of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) that I'm going to come to. But some people think that it's just Muslims who suffer. And look across the globe, there are Muslims who are suffering. Yes indeed. I do agree. There are many Muslims who are struggling and suffering.
Sometimes it's because of the doing of their own hands. And sometimes it's because of the doing of their own brothers and sisters. And sometimes it is totally external. May Allah protect us from all of that. But it does not mean that the Muslims are struggling alone. There are others who belong to other faiths. They're also struggling. They have their own challenges as well.
I was saying, take a look at the Prophet Jesus, may peace be upon Him. Or the Prophet Moses, may peace be upon Him. Did they not struggle from the beginning right to the end? From the very beginning right to the very end, did they not struggle? Were they not challenges and difficulties more than any one of us?
Jesus's Contentment Despite Persecution
I said, Jesus may peace be upon Him. They harassed Him. They persecuted Him. They really, they did not leave Him be. They actually tried whatever they could to harm Him. Subhanallah. They tried to make His life that which was very very difficult. But was He ever anything besides content? He was very content. He was always a happy person. He continued doing good. He continued helping everyone.
Their bad did not change His good. This is a mistake we make. When someone is being bad to us, we become bad with them. Don't let someone else's bad tamper with your good. You remain steadfast upon that goodness. If someone else is cheating, you don't have to cheat. If someone else is deceiving, you don't have to deceive. If someone is corrupt, you should not be corrupt. If someone is harming you, you need to be able to know how to deal with it in the most respectful way. In a way that would solve the problem rather than create two problems out of one.
The Example of Prophet Moses and Pharaoh
So that was the Prophet Jesus may peace be upon Him. Look at the Prophet Moses may peace be upon Him. The Pharaoh, the Pharaoh used to say
"I am your Lord, the Most High."
(Quran 79:24) And they knew He was not, but they worshipped Him. When Moses came up with the reality in a very respectful way, with soft words.
You see in religion what happens? You have extremism. Extremism where people want to impose their own understanding of the faith upon everyone else in a harsh way. Trust me, if you are close to Allah, it shows in your soft nature and in the goodness of your character. If you are lacking soft nature or goodness of character, you cannot be close to Allah. A pious person is truly the one whom it shows in their greatness of character and conduct.
The Prophet's Mercy and Character
The Prophet peace be upon him, even at times of war, he was the most merciful person. The most just person you could ever have. He was so kind. Look at what Allah says,
"It is by the mercy of Allah that you were lenient towards those around you."
O Messenger Muhammad peace be upon him. It's a sign of the mercy of Allah. You want to know if Allah has mercy on you. No matter how religious you think you are. The mercy of Allah is depicted very closely by you being lenient and soft natured towards those around you. That is true closeness to Allah.
The Importance of Empathy in Dawah
Many people think that you know what, I'm a religious person. And they spit in the faces of those who might be struggling in their iman. Perhaps they are struggling because of whatever the challenges may be. The topics I have for the next few days are all interconnected. And I will be addressing some of these matters. But in essence we will only be able to impact upon people when we empathize. When we try to understand what they are going through. When we educate. When we empower in a beautiful way.
When we smile and acknowledge you are created by the same maker who made me the maker whom I worship. The one whom I'm trying to impress so that I can go into paradise that he has prepared. If he made you in order for me to show my closeness to him I need to show my respect to you because you were created by the same Lord whom I'm trying to please.
Mercy and Compassion
That's the beauty of this whole dunya. That's why Allah says
(Abu Dawud hadith 4941)
"Have mercy upon those on earth, and the One in the heavens will have mercy on you."
When you are merciless he will be merciless towards you. You will face the wrath of your own deeds. And you won't know, why is this happening? Well, because you were not considerate of the fact that you had to be merciful to the rest of human beings. No matter how different they were from you. You must be merciful. You must be a person who understands not everyone will be on your level.
Allah's Instruction to Moses About Speaking to Pharaoh
When you come across in a beautiful way. I tell you the pharaoh was the worst on the earth at that particular time. And Moses was probably the best on the earth at that particular time. He was helped by Allah. Moses may peace be upon him. He was helped by Allah. And he was told by the almighty himself go to the pharaoh and talk to him. I am with you. I will help, I will guide.
Allah told him personally. Allah spoke to him.
"And Allah spoke to Moses directly."
(Quran 4:164) The Quran says Allah spoke to Moses proper speaking, speech between the two of them.
So Allah says to him and his brother, you know what, you guys I want you to go to the pharaoh. And when you go to him, he deserves that you correct him. But you speak to him with utmost respect. It was easy for Allah. Allah already knew the future. And Allah knew this man is never going to be guided. But Allah wanted it to be a lesson for everyone including for the prophet Moses may peace be upon him. The elevation of status and the granting of that particular rank that he had.
Speaking with Soft Words
So Allah says go with your brother to the pharaoh. And how should you talk to him? Now remember Allah is telling the best. The most pious perhaps. Obviously he was the nabi of Allah. The most pious Allah is telling him how to talk to the worst of the lot on earth. The one who used to say I am God.
"O chiefs, I do not know for you any god other than me."
(Quran 28:38)
And Allah is telling Moses, you know what? This guy who claims to be the god I want you to go to him talk to him in a certain way. What do you think that way would be? Imagine today a pious young man walking on the street seeing someone who is perhaps maybe outwardly looking like they might need help in terms of spirituality. I don't even want to use the word sinful. But perhaps they might need help.
How do you think they would talk? I think today people would say, astaghfirullah, la hawla wa la quwwata illa, a'udhu billah, la ilaha illa, la hawla wa la quwwata illa, you are going to the fire my sister, my brother, Jahannam is waiting for you. That's how we would talk a'udhu billah, not me, perhaps not many of us, but some who claim who have a claim to taqwa they think that's the way Allah would be happy when they talk to others like that.
The Correct Method of Dawah
They are totally wrong they have not read the Quran, they have not understood the Quran. They have not read the Quran, they have not understood it, they haven't looked at the methods of Allah who told his own messengers to go to people worse than anyone you will ever meet in your whole life. You and I will never meet a person worse than the Pharaoh, and you and I can never be better than Moses, may peace be upon him.
Allah tells Musa powerful words he recorded them for us in the Quran, he says
"And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]."
Subhanallah, to me it's a highlight for anyone who wants to call people towards goodness go and speak the two of you, go to the Pharaoh and speak to him with the softest of words in the kindest tone in the most beautiful manner perhaps he might be reminded and he might take heed and he may turn towards us amazing, you follow?
How Far We've Strayed from the Prophetic Method
Can you see how far we have gone away from the path that is the blessed path of the messengers with Allah telling Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) the verse I read earlier about a sign of mercy being in your leniency and Allah says in that verse to Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) if you were harsh nobody would have listened to you if you were hard hearted they would have dispersed from around you many of us are harsh we are hard hearted and we expect people to want to come to Islam.
I believe that a lot of people are discouraged from faith simply because of the way we talk to them, simply because of the fact that we did not think for a moment we don't actually have knowledge we think what we have is knowledge you have, yes, a little bit of information about the faith, but you have not even learnt how to pass it, you have not learnt how to pass it on.
How Islam Really Spread
My brothers and sisters, study the globe and check how Islam spread wallahi it spread through honesty, character conduct, and so on and together with that people were very keen, recently I read a story of a sister from one of the western countries who was stuck somewhere in Pakistan and she was helped by men and people who really assisted her with utmost respect such that one day when she went back, not too long ago she decided to turn to Islam who invited her to the deen she saw something and she witnessed it herself, the contentment the happiness, the nature of these people they respected her.
Treating Others with Respect
How many of us are prepared to respect the opposite sex and treat them as those who are deserving our respect or do we look at them as sex objects do we look at them as those who are meant to be used and abused may Allah guide us all so my brothers and sisters if Musa a.s the prophet Moses may peace be upon him was told to speak in this tone, that's how we should be speaking, there is no room for those who want to impose if Allah wanted he could guide everyone.
Allah's Will and Human Free Choice
"And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed - all of them entirely. Then, [O Muhammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers?" (Quran 10:99)
If Allah wanted he could have guided all the people on earth that's what Allah is saying. Are you going to force people that they must be believers I promise you one of the disasters we have as Muslims is we don't even know our own faith we don't even know our own deen we have not yet seen the world.
Learning from Converts and Western Muslims
I want to give you one quick example and I'm going to be repeating this example if you look at Muslims who have grown in western countries and those who are practicing the deen in many instances or let me give you even a slightly different example if you look at those who have reverted to Islam in the western world they are stronger Muslims in many cases than those who were born into Islam and did not yet understand the favor of the almighty they have upon them.
Our Duty to Reach Out with Love
I've seen people who have wasted their lives in so many ways they have the worst habits morals and values are so low that it's very difficult sometimes to understand why they would be that way but guess what, our duty number one to thank the almighty for what we're upon the good, pure and clean and to reach out to them as well in a beautiful way. Does it mean that because someone has habits or morals or values that you consider low, that you need to start spewing hate against them you need to start harming, destroying fighting, killing or should you reach out with good positive propagation in a nice lovely way.
Adapting Our Methods to Modern Times
The world is huge so much is happening across the globe it's not easy it's not easy for us to convey that message because there are so many different words and messages that are reaching the poor mind that sometimes it becomes confused, it makes our job more difficult, the strategy remember one thing, the religion stays the same the worship of the almighty stays the same but the way you come across and your method will change with the changing of times technology has progressed and is progressing as we speak more and more is coming out people are now able to reach anything and everything and you know what, the most foolish from amongst us has a platform to air his or her views.
Marketing Our Message Respectfully
I can consider it foolish but that view will be made public because that's technology so what do I need to do? I need to behave in a respectful way and market my idea in a way that people realize this is far more meritorious than that, it holds more merit it actually is a better opinion or it is the true guidance compared to the other, but you will not be able to close the mouths of people, impossible, if you think you can close the mouths of everyone you're actually going to create a disaster may Allah help us in every way.
Preserving Peace and Unity in the Maldives
We have people today from all over trying to snatch away the goodness we have, they will succeed in snatching that goodness away if we don't realize that what we have is goodness I want to ask you my beloved brothers and sisters in this beautiful nation of the Maldives to understand the gift that Allah has bestowed upon you, do you know you have many gifts one of them is the peace the stability, the security of your nation, do not compromise it, if you differ amongst yourselves, behave yourselves be people who are intelligent enough to learn from the examples of others who have destroyed their nations subhanallah, because they did not know how to differ with each other they have destroyed their nations don't allow that to happen to you.
Even if you differ you need to realize, okay we differ, let's talk about it let's perhaps maybe debate it in a very respectful way, absolutely respectful way, I want to again draw from the examples of those in the west, and I have to, because you know what, our teachings the teachings of Islam we have strayed away, some of our characters and conducts, some of the most honest people are no longer the Muslims.
Learning from Others' Respectful Discourse
You find the Muslim business men will tell you it's very difficult to deal with Muslims they are from amongst us the honest, but not like before before it was much more much greater in number, it was almost impossible, very difficult to be duped by a Muslim but today, it's happening a lot, so if you were to go to the western world sometimes look at how when they differ with each other, even after divorce and even in the political arena, when they differ with each other, they will debate the matter, they will talk about the matter they will argue for example within respectful norm and thereafter, the minute they walk out, they are brothers again, because they are serving the same nation, they are exactly serving the same nation.
It's like we're in a big ship, we can differ as to which way to steer the ship, here and there but at the end of the day, don't make a hole in the ship, because we're all gone we're all gone, and this is what's happening, when people come to us trying, trying to con our minds and brain wash us, to destroy our own ship, they are the ones who are guilty may Allah guide us all.
Warning Against Religious Manipulation
I am saying this because from a religious platform, people like myself who are apolitical, we have no political agenda whatsoever it's simply religious, we sometimes are being abused, and people are using religion to make us become violent to make us become people who destroy the nation, in the name of the faith that is meant to be preserving the nation, subhanallah amazing.
Even if sometimes things are happening, that you may not be absolutely excited about, there is a method, there is a way, you never resort to destroying your ship, because then we're all gone, take a look at the nations that are destroyed almost to smithereens look at Syria, and we cry look at Libya, and we cry look at some other nations, there are so many to even mention, and we cry because these were at one stage not long back powerful nations that were flourishing, what happened to them foolishness we may sit here all night arguing who was foolish but in reality, people destroyed their own nations may Allah forgive us and grant us guidance.
The Misuse of Religion for Destruction
I am passionate about this because religion is being used wrongly to make people do things that they believe are gaining closeness to Allah when in actual fact they are not go and study the Quran, and go and check go and see what has happened when Allah, the most powerful who could destroy the pharaoh
just like this, and when the time was right he did it but for a long time, he left the status like that, to watch what do the people do.
The Example of Prophet Noah
Take a look at the prophet Noah, may peace be upon him
- "And We certainly sent Noah to his people, and he remained among them a thousand years minus fifty years." (Quran 29:14)
Remember when we sent Noah to his people and we left him there with his people calling them to the deen for 1000 years, less 50 for 950 years he called his people what happened in those 950 years, very very few people accepted the message, did you hear of the prophet Noah killing anyone of them did you hear of him slapping anyone did you hear of him harming anyone from amongst them not even the soul he called them, and he kept calling them because he knows, I'm on earth I was created by Allah, those I differ with, they are on earth, they were created by Allah, yes I do have a mission I will project that mission I will propagate it, but you know what in the same way that you will propagate what you firmly believe, others might do the same subhanallah.
Religious Freedom and Respectful Propagation
In your nation there might be slightly different rules, it's a Muslim country, but when I travel the globe and I see countries that are not Muslim countries and subhanallah people are free to call towards whatever they believe is correct, the Muslims will call towards Islam, the Christians will call towards Christianity the others will call towards whatever they wish to call towards in those nations, so if your message holds value, and you as a community, and as people who follow a certain faith prove that you are indeed worth following then you will be able to turn the people towards the deen.
Problems with Our Religious Practice
We have a few problems one is, sometimes we have knowledge of the religion but we are not practicing it to the degree that when people see us they don't even want to be Muslims, I mentioned that slightly earlier, and to be honest, I know of people who have said I'm glad that I met Islam before I met the Muslims one of them was brother Yusuf Islam or Cat Stevens he said I'm glad that I met Islam before I met the Muslims, words to that effect, where what he meant is, I read about Islam, I was convinced about it I studied it, had I met the Muslims first and interacted or lived with them perhaps I may not have been guided to Islam because I would have been put off.
Doesn't that make our job more difficult all of us who believe we are religious, what's your character what's your conduct, that is what will truly depict whether the salah you've read and the zakah you've given and the hajj you've been for and the umrah that you've done and the sawm that you have fasted in
the month of Ramadan and beyond that is what will determine whether or not those are really acceptable by Allah, remember this.
Facing Global Challenges
So my brothers and sisters, we face many challenges, many challenges today on the globe, and in the next few days, I will be addressing some of these challenges, I hope and I pray that we would be able to hear the message loud and clear it is a message of living together in harmony as good people, trying our best to be the best in our relationship with Allah in following the messenger Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam I will try to be the best Muslim and I will learn to reach out to the rest of the people in such a beautiful way that I will restore their faith by their mere interaction with me.
Restoring Faith in Humanity
Subhanallah today people have lost faith, in what? In humanity women have lost faith in men some of the men have lost faith in women and so on, we need to revive ourselves, we need to make sure that we begin to lead lives that people's faith is restored sometimes we lose faith in our leaders we lose faith, for example sometimes, and I'm talking of a global situation, not necessarily this nation, but on a global level even some of the religious personnel, we lose faith in them because of what they do, that is very different from what they are saying and preaching may Allah guide everyone of us may Allah open our doors.
The Importance of Balance and Learning
It's important for us to be balanced and at the same time learn the faith, check what it's all about, read more about it, understand it if you're not satisfied with something keep reading, keep asking, keep finding out attend the lessons, check what's going on, if something for example doesn't fit with what you think it should be, go and ask again, one or two things will happen either you will learn the right thing and be convinced or you will be able to convince someone else that you know what actually this is an error may Allah guide us it's possible that I have made errors I might be a religious person, I might be a knowledgeable person, but that doesn't mean I'm infallible, I may have said things that I would retract sometimes, I may have done things that perhaps I can apologize for, we are human that's what human nature is and that's what human beings are all about.
Living in Harmony and Peace
So my brothers and sisters let's live in harmony, let's live in peace let's respect people you are so fortunate people from the whole world come to you people from the whole world come to you, Allah brings them here, you may have some form of interaction with some of you more than others Allah brings them to you, try to use those opportunities to be able to show them what Islam is all about, never become violent and hurtful, never become people who resort to killing and who resort to whatever else they may be in the dictionary of hate may Allah grant us guidance.
The Reward of Guiding One Person
(Bukhari hadith 3009)
Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was told by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) at Khaybar: "If Allah guides through you one person, it is better for you than the most valuable of that which is on earth in terms of conveyance."
The Prophet told him, O Ali if Allah guides through you one person is better for you than the most valuable of that which is on earth in terms of conveyance the mode of transport so remember even though it might be a difficult moment, you need to be conscious of guiding people, learn to love people.
Loving the Person While Disliking the Action
You might not like the deeds that someone engages in we have issues, issues that we may address, I have another event here with the youth one of the days in the next few days where we will be discussing some of the other issues that are facing the youth subhanallah, some of the bad habits that are becoming prevalent not only here but across the globe to deal with those my brothers and sisters, you need to love the individual although you dislike the act, there's a difference between the two if your son or your daughter did something that's not good you love your son, you love your daughter but you don't like what they did so you will try to still have your daughter, have your son, but without that deed, without that thing, you will help them you might have to spend time and effort, perhaps resources to assist them, but that's the only way you're going to manage by the help of Allah.
Closing Remarks
There is still much to be said, I really appreciate the fact that everyone has sat here and lent me an ear and I really appreciate the weather that Allah has bestowed upon us here, absolutely stunning, may Allah grant you all goodness.