Why Some Muslims Deviate? - Mufti Menk
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-10T14:12:35.498913+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Why Some Muslims Deviate? - Mufti Menk
Opening
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and all his companions.
We praise Allah, we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad (sallallahu 'alayhi wa-sallam), his household, his companions. We ask Allah to bless them, to bless everyone of us, to grant us from his goodness and to protect us from all evil. Ameen.
My brothers and sisters in this beautiful city of Addu, it's my second time coming here, I think very soon I'll become a citizen of this place. The beautiful weather here, especially this evening, although we did not risk it due to the possibility of rain, is definitely a sign of the mercy of Allah. The hearts are all together, the people are beaming with goodness, so I'm very happy to be in your midst.
The Importance of Knowledge and Understanding
My brothers and sisters, when I was young, and maybe some of us when we were young, we were told what to do without explanation. We were told, salah five times a day, you have to get up for fajr, and if you didn't, there was either a silent warning with the eyes, or perhaps there might have been a look at the whip that was hanging behind the door, subhanallah. Or perhaps there could have been a verbal threat, in the case of some, if you don't I will beat you up, without explaining.
Sometimes, subhanallah, in the case of most of us, we just did as we were instructed because we had to get done with it, that's it. But sometimes we didn't understand why we were doing this, and you know, our parents, perhaps our grandparents, some of those who taught us, they just wanted to see us, fulfill what they believed was the right thing. But unfortunately, they did not realize that in some cases, people would grow up hating what they're doing, because they grew up, according to them, being forced to do something that never made sense to them. Yet, if they were to have spent a few moments explaining, and perhaps nurturing, and perhaps educating, it would have made a huge difference.
To do something with knowledge is far greater than to do something without knowledge, and this is why to be able to worship Allah, the more you know Him, the more likely you are to be closer to Him. Indeed, those who have the knowledge of who Allah is, those who have the knowledge of revelation, they are the ones who would be able to be the greatest in the consciousness of Allah.
When you don't know Allah, how are you going to fulfill His rights? If a man were to walk into here, or a woman were to walk into here, and you had no clue who he or she was, you may not be able to fulfill their rights. Perhaps the basic rights you would, because they are human beings, but you would literally want to slap yourself if you found out later on that the person seated right next to you was x, y, and z. May Allah grant us all goodness.
The point I'm raising is, back in the day, it was okay. We followed when we were told what to do, without explanation. But today, the globe has become a little village where a lot of questions are being asked, a lot of issues are being raised, people are questioning our faith, and from amongst us, those who don't know much are questioning it.
It's not wrong to question, but it's wrong to blaspheme. It's wrong to disrespect. It's wrong to mock.
We are Muslims. We are taught that we are correct. The more you have knowledge, the more you realize that we are correct, alhamdulillah.
The Correct Way to Disagree
Together with that correctness, knowing that we worship only our Maker, knowing that we have pure and valid teachings that discipline us. Still, Allah says in the Qur'an:
"And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus We have made pleasing to every nation their deeds."
Allah says it beautifully that, you know what? Don't mock at, or scoff at, or jeer, or make a mockery of those who are worshiping gods besides Allah. You see someone on the wrong path, don't mock, scoff at, don't jeer, make jokes about, etc.
Don't belittle them because what would you be doing? You'd be perpetrating many wrongs. Allah says, don't mock those who are calling out to gods besides Allah. Do you know why? They will develop an instant hatred based on your mocking, and they will mock Allah in return.
You are trying to swear them because of what they are worshiping. No need to swear. You have every right to disagree, but respectfully.
You just have to go onto the internet today, because the world has become a global village, you know that. Go onto Twitter, see religious people with names sometimes, and profile pictures that depict that of piety. They swear, they mock at, they call people dogs and pigs, they call people donkeys, and whatever else, and they think that they are doing justice to Allah, when Allah Himself said, even those who are associating partners with Me, don't call them bad and derogatory names.
You are reducing or eradicating the possibility of them turning to the right path by mocking them. If I want to guide you, and I tell you, you are stupid, you are a fool, you are an idiot, are you going to listen to Me? Common logic is you're not going to listen to anything, because I've already drawn the line, I don't want guidance for you.
There are many from amongst us who are religious, but they don't realize that the way they talk to others chases people away from Islam.
It's a fact. I've seen it with my own eyes. I've even been a victim to a certain extent of people who might disagree with Me for one of two reasons. Either they disagree in reality, or they think I said something I did not say, so they actually develop this hatred where they spew such venom that they should not even be doing it to a non-Muslim who does not utter the shahada, la ilaha illallah muhammadur rasulullah.
If the attitude towards those who are perpetrating shirk is supposed to be one of respectful disagreement, what do you think the attitude of another person who shares the shahada with you should actually be? Where is the common sense? Where is the piety of these people? Where is the religiousness and the closeness to Allah of these people? May Allah grant us ease.
Then we wonder why people have deviated from Islam. Sometimes we are the cause.
Point Number One: The Need to Study
Point number one, like I mentioned, we need to study. Without knowledge you will never be able to tread a path. Subhanallah. When you get a job, may Allah grant us all good jobs. Say Ameen.
You won't lose anything by saying Ameen a little bit louder. Ameen. You might just get a job actually.
In reality, when you get a job, you want your boss to tell you what exactly he expects of you. Please come at eight o'clock, be here at five to eight. You clock your card in here, or you press your thumb in here. You make sure you're coming. This is your designation, one two three, and this is what we expect of you, and you can leave at this time, come back at this time, do this. You will get a leave at this time of the year.
You will have so many days in the week, so many days in the month, perhaps so much in the year, and you will this, and you will get a salary and an increment. The more you know, the more you know what your job is all about, what to expect. Subhanallah.
The more dedicated you are because you begin to like the job. There is mutual respect. When they disagree or when something happens that is not favorable, you are dealt with respectfully, even though you may be reprimanded.
If I'm working for you, and I do something detrimental to the company, surely you have the right to deal with the matter, but it needs to be dealt with in a respectful way, respectable, polite. I'm a human, you're a human. We make mistakes, and sometimes we do things that are wrong.
Some people mischievously, and some people out of error. Both ways we have to deal with it. One might be dealt with a little bit of firmness, but still respect.
Wallahi, if this is the case regarding matters of the worldly life, what about matters of the deen and the religion of Allah? Surely you should be dealing with people in a good way.
Yesterday I spoke in Mali, and I spoke about how the Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, was sent to a man who was terrible, terrible. No, none of us, no one we are ever going to meet on earth is ever going to be worse than him. No one. And Allah tells him, speak to him politely, with softness, with kindness. May Allah grant us ease.
Chasing People Away from Faith
So my brothers and sisters, sometimes we chase people away from faith, simply because of the way we've addressed them. And remember one thing, primarily, people are such that if you were to respect them, and you were to show some kindness, they will want to listen to you a little bit more. If you show kindness, if you show that you care for them, if you show that you care for them, they will want to listen to you.
If I were to meet you, the first thing I want is to try and draw you closer to Allah. That's the first thing I should want.
Mu'adh ibn Jabal, who was sent to Yemen, he was told you will meet a group of Christians. The first thing that you should call them to, let's listen carefully because some of the ignorant people don't analyze the words, they just hear them and they think something else.
Mu'adh ibn Jabal was going to Yemen, and the Prophet (sallallāhu 'alayhi wa-sallam) told him, you will meet a group of Christians:
"You will come to a people among the People of the Book, so let the first thing you call them to be the worship of Allah alone."
The first thing you should call them towards is worshipping Allah alone, and the fact that Muhammad (sallallahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) is the messenger.
That is what we do, that is what we should be doing. Remember, it says the first thing you should be calling them towards. It doesn't mean as soon as I see them, I say, hey, Allah is one.
Relax. You first need to acknowledge the person, you need to develop a slight bit of rapport with them, you need to let them know that you care for them, and when you start calling them to something, then the first thing that you are going to call them towards is Allah. That hadith does not mean as soon as you see a person, you tell him, hey, you got to worship Allah.
In that way you're going to chase people away. You will chase them away when you've shown no care for them, but unfortunately there are people who subscribe to knowledge, who actually think that it's haram to show any form of connection to anyone before calling them towards Allah. That is a misinterpretation, and it is this type of misinterpretation that chases people away from Islam.
The Problem of Discouraging Questions
I'm a Muslim. You may be Muslims, alhamdulillah. In some cases, in some countries, there may be people, and in some gatherings, people who may not be Muslim.
They would never be in the gathering if they did not think that this person cares for us, this person is concerned for us, this person is going to tell me something that will empower me, make me feel like a better Muslim, make me feel better in whatever way. Subhanallah.
My brothers and sisters, we have to show care for one another. We have to understand, create a rapport with one another, develop this connection to a certain extent, and then when you have the opportunity for them to listen to you, then you will, inshallah, call them towards Allah, and you will continue in that order that Allah has asked you in a tactful way, in a beautiful way.
But my brothers and sisters, remember one thing. If we ourselves don't know or we're not convinced by what we're doing, we're never going to be able to deliver that particular message.
And unfortunately, there are many who don't have enough knowledge to be totally convinced sometimes. People say, why is this? Why is that? They have questions, and it brings me to another point. I said when we were young, we were instructed, and we did, because we were good children.
Then when we had questions, we were told something. You know what we were told? You're not allowed to ask. It's haram. You can't ask.
I can't ask? For what? When Allah clearly says in the Quran:
"So ask the people of knowledge if you do not know."
If you don't know the revelation, you don't understand something, ask those with sound knowledge. Ask is the point I'm raising.
Ask those with sound knowledge. We were told you can't ask, you have to just believe. But I need to understand this. It's not like I want to be a disbeliever. It's not like I want to get close to Allah, but I want to understand why do I have to pray five times a day? Please explain to me.
How could you ask that question? Are you not a Muslim? How can you not pray five times a day? I didn't say I'm not praying. I want to know why are we praying five times a day? What is the idea of having fajr early morning, having isha late? What is the idea of putting on the hijab? What is the idea of eating halal? What is the idea of facing the qibla? What is the value of the Kaaba in Islam?
These are very important questions. But unfortunately, many a times people say, you're not allowed to ask these questions. You know why? They are too lazy to answer them. That's why. Too lazy. And sometimes they themselves don't know. It was parrot fashion. That's all. We have a conviction.
We are Muslims. We have said our shahada. My brothers and sisters, increase your knowledge:
"Say 'Are those who know equal to those who do not know?'"
Are they equal? Those who know and those who don't know? Never. They are not equal. So learn.
The Importance of Being Approachable
I promise you, my brothers and sisters, you know the smile we have, whether you have teeth or not, whether you have braces or not, no matter what, the smile you have. As a religious person, it breaks so many barriers. You become accessible. You talk, you greet, you acknowledge, you nod your head, you acknowledge the sisters, the brothers.
The world has changed, but the deen will not change. But to get the deen to the people, number one, you need to develop this rapport. I'm talking about it because if you don't develop a connection, you will chase people away from Islam.
We were scared. I'm talking about myself. We were scared of religious figures. We could never talk to them much. We could never address them or ask a question to them. Controversial questions, maybe not publicly, but even privately.
If someone went and said, you know, I have a problem. I need to know. And I've had this question being asked by someone.
Someone told me that the child who's asking me the question is saying, when I was born, my mom and dad were not yet married. It happens. It happens in some places, right? Let's not pretend like it doesn't.
But the child says, what is my sin? Why is it that I am considered so bad? Did I do anything wrong? You know what? We don't even deal with those issues.
Children who can come up to you to ask you that question, consider it a gift of Allah that they came to you. They gave you the opportunity to embrace them and to talk to them and to show them love and care.
They are definitely innocent kids. It's the sin of the parents. Subhanallah.
There are a few rules and regulations, not in order to discriminate against the child, in order to ensure that marriage is made easy and that it is regularized the way we have children. That's all. But to discriminate against the child, and sometimes people don't talk about it.
And when we talk about it in circles where it has happened and is happening, trust me, even the scholars refine the way they respond because they've realized this is a problem in society. So you refine the way you address the matter. So people listen.
Subhanallah. I visited a school today in Addu. They were intelligent children. MashaAllah. They were sharp. May Allah bless your children.
I was very impressed and I can tell you we are going to see a few superstars from those. May Allah grant them goodness. And sometimes they will ask you questions and sometimes it's not a straight yes and no answer.
Like I said, don't discourage people, lead them towards goodness.
Learning from the Gradual Prohibition of Alcohol
If you look at the prohibition of alcohol, alcohol is prohibited in Islam, right? Intoxicants are prohibited in Islam. If you look at the prohibition, Allah prohibited it in stages because it was ingrained in the people.
It was part of society and community. It was the norm. They did business. They became rich through haram and slowly in three or four stages it was made prohibited. Subhanallah, right?
One of the reasons for that to be mentioned to us is for us to be able to learn a lesson. Alcohol shall remain prohibited. Intoxicants will remain prohibited. But in any other matter of, for example, a person struggling in their faith to help them through is a godly way. It's a way of Allah.
Someone is struggling. I give you an example. Person comes to you and says, you know, I'm struggling with salah, right? What did they say? I'm struggling with what? Salah.
Salah is the five daily prayers. And you're a scholar or you're a religious person or you're a parent or you're a sibling, whoever. I'm struggling with salah. I'd like you to help me. How can I improve? Right.
You can either say astaghfirullah, audhubillah. It's haram. It's either five salah or you're a non-muslim. That's an answer, right? What did you do with that answer? You didn't acknowledge reality.
Reality is the person is telling you, I'm struggling with salah that already shows they are muslim. They want to fulfill salah. They really want to please Allah. They want you to help them come forward. Give them something. Help them in a way, etc.
Say something. You will lose nothing. If it took you five years to bring that person to five salah a day, it might not be totally ideal, but you did the best given the circumstances rather than give them such a response that they turned away from Islam in totality and they ran away.
No more salah. No more even kalima. La ilaha illallah. Muhammad Rasulullah is no longer there. Why? Because when they came to you for help, you answered them in such a harsh way. You took them out of Islam anyway.
They then went out saying, well, if that's not acceptable, why am I even a muslim? You follow? So take into consideration the reality on the ground when people are asking you a question.
I would ask the person, well, how many do you fulfill right now? If they told me one, I would say, inshallah, we can do better. There are so many ways to answer, but it's up to you and I to be able to respond in a way that would be encouraging because on the globe today, you know what? We would lose if we were hard and harsh like what happened from the very beginning.
May Allah make it easy for us. So you tell them, how many are you fulfilling? I want you to come back next week to me and tell me that you've done much better.
They come back the following week and say, you know what? MashaAllah, thank you so much for helping me. Now I do two salah a day. Someone might say, astaghfirullah, that's still haram. You're still a kafir.
La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. They will cite the hadith for you:
(Sunan at-Tirmidhi Hadith 2621)
"The covenant between us and them is prayer, so whoever abandons it has committed disbelief."
We don't deny the hadith. The hadith speaks about how important salah is for a Muslim. But here we are trying to help someone.
When a person has some form of disease, of a cancer, etc. You don't write them off. You try and deal with the cancer. You go for chemo once, twice, four times. Then you do another test to check how far the cancer has gone. Then you go again.
That is for a physical disease, for a religious or a spiritual ailment. Sometimes it works exactly the same. They need spiritual radiology. And then you check again. Then they need it again. You check again.
They came back to you. From one salah to two salah, according to mathematics and statistics, there was a 100% improvement. But you didn't acknowledge that.
100% improvement. I agree, we have not yet got to where we want to get to. But that, subhanallah, I thought of something.
That bridge that was built from the airport to Mali did not take one day. Right? It was stage by stage. Every time I came, I saw something. I saw something. I saw something. The last time I came, they said it's almost ready.
This time I came, whoa, there's traffic on it. Mashallah, how long did it take? Imagine first day someone comes, this country is useless because there is no bridge between the capital city and the airport. Finished.
I'm never coming back to this country again. Wait, come back after five years, see what happens. You understand what I mean?
We know that when it comes to advancement, why can't you do that for your own faith? And trust me, they might come back to you after if you gave them encouraging words and you told them to get into good company and you address them in various different ways.
You would actually help them, save them from deviation. By what? By hikmah. That is the reason why the Qur'an says when you call towards Allah, it's more important than any other calling, anything else.
"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction."
When speaking about the Christians and the people of the book, Allah says when you are calling people towards Allah, use the greatest of wisdom and the best of words. Greatest of wisdom, be wise. What is wisdom? Wisdom entails knowledge of reality on the ground today.
It doesn't mean we have changed the sharia, we have changed Islam. No, you need to know the reality and address the people in a way that they continue to improve while you improve yourself as well. Don't take yourself out of the equation.
Learning from the Prophet's Example
How many good people have slept over Salatul Fajr? There have been occasions when I have, as a human being sometimes, and you get up and you say, what happened? I just missed Salatul Fajr. Does it not happen? Don't pretend like it doesn't happen. It happens to every single one of us, sometimes very little, maybe once in your life, twice.
Sometimes it used to happen more, now it doesn't happen that much. You know what? It even happened at the time of the Prophet (sallallāhu 'alayhi wa-sallam). That's why he said very clearly, hadith, authentic:
(Sahih Muslim Hadith 684)
"Whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it, let him pray it when he remembers it."
Problem solved. How beautiful. He didn't swear anyone, he didn't curse anyone. If they went to the Prophet, peace be upon him, I forgot to make my Salah.
Sometimes you're so busy, you're occupied, you want to fulfill your Salah. Normally you do read your prayers, but you know what? Somehow you forgot it. It slipped your mind.
You were too busy in something. You are a human being. It doesn't mean you suddenly quit the deen. No, you didn't. So the Prophet, peace be upon him, says whoever overslept and whoever forgot their prayer, as soon as you remember or as soon as you get up, fulfill it as a qadha. Qadha meaning a missed prayer.
Make it up. Beautiful solution, right? He didn't swear, he didn't curse, he didn't take someone out of Islam. Try going to ask someone today.
People don't ask the question anymore. You know why? They dread the answer. I wonder what's going to happen.
Subhanallah. So they start doing their own thing. And as a result, they will come back to you and say, you know what? There's only three prayers in the day because Allah says, Allah wants ease for you.
And you know what? Fajr and Isha are too difficult, so we don't have to fulfill them. How did you get that? You started checking on your own and people confused you.
I remember someone who actually told me, you know, they actually said, once I heard from my mother many years ago, but never mind my mother, it happened to me. Someone actually told me, I made two wudu. So if one breaks, I still got one more.
I said, what are you talking about? Did you hear what I just said? Two wudus. Just before she wore her makeup, she said, I'm making two wudu because I'm putting on very expensive makeup. It costs 60 pounds. You know what is British pounds, right? The makeup was 60 pounds.
So I'm making two wudu. If I break one, I still have the other one. At least I haven't wasted my money on my makeup.
I would have just made 20 wudus if that was okay and whole month I would have been fine, right? That's not correct. So you have to explain to them nicely to say, my sister, in a beautiful way, instead of swearing, my sister, you know what? Your relationship with Allah through the connection that is the most powerful known as prayer, don't compromise that for 60 pounds. You are selling that for 60 pounds.
You understand?
Addressing Issues with Wisdom
Someone asked me about nail polish. It's just an example. I'm giving an example. There is a debate. What is the debate? Some nail polishes are claiming to be wudu friendly. That means you can use them. You make wudu and you know, don't worry. It's okay. It's fine.
Water goes through it because the ruling is when you're making wudu, water needs to get to the surface of the nail. They say this is wudu friendly. So if you look carefully, there is a debate.
Some people say, yes, it is wudu friendly and other people say, no, it is not wudu friendly. I am here in the middle. I don't use. Can you see? I don't use it, right? I'm stuck. Why? Because there is an argument here, an argument there.
I have had people, one sister, may Allah grant her goodness, I don't even know who she is. She sent me a mail and told me, I work in a certain company and I just want to tell you that this is not permeable. I'm shocked. I don't even know.
But all I know is there is an argument. So one of the sisters had the nail polish and she caught me at one of the venues in another country and she says, I want to ask you if this is okay for wudu. Now I'm stuck.
What do I do? I don't know if it's the permeable one. I don't want to make haram, halal and halal, haram. I told her, my sister, there is a debate about this. It is less than one inch of paint. I suggest you don't compromise your strongest link with Allah for one inch of paint. Use something else.
She said, I never thought of it that way. Do you understand? I didn't say it's haram, it's halal because in all honesty, I don't know. It could be, could be.
But imagine you come on the day of judgment and you did all your salah. Just imagine. Is there a possibility? From a statistical point of view, there is a probability because there is an argument.
Imagine you come on the day of qiyamah and you are told, hey, there's zero salah next to your name. But how come? I did it all the time. Oh, you use this nail polish and you know what? It wasn't valid.
Actually, now we're telling you the reality. I didn't know. So what I am saying is it can happen. It may happen what I just said, right?
Instead of that, come out of the argument and just say, you know what? I'm not going to compromise my relationship with my maker. The strongest link is salah. The closest that a slave can be to their lord is when they are in prostration.
And you know what? I don't want to compromise my relationship. I'll use something else. There are so many other alternatives, mashaAllah. So many other alternatives. There is this henna that you can use and many other things. May Allah grant us goodness.
So this is one example. When you address someone and when you sat and thought carefully about a convincing answer, even the most stubborn can be convinced. Because in reality, it's not stubbornness.
They want to understand it. They desperately want the answers. There are questions that are screaming for answers and people are just brushing them under the carpet.
May Allah grant us ease.
Workplace Behavior and Character
So my brothers and sisters, another reason why people deviate from Islam is the attitude that we have as Muslims at times in our workplaces. You know, inshaAllah, look, I'm going to let you know because whatever I say here is actually international material because it is being beamed and it will be beamed throughout the world.
So the lesson is not just for this country. It's a Muslim country. The lesson is for the whole world.
I tell you what, many people, many of the women complain at the workplace that these Muslim men, they give us such a look that just with their eyes, it seems like they've stripped us naked. It's so intimidating. Is it true? If it is true, it's a problem.
Imagine you have a person who's not a Muslim and he respects the opposite sex. You have a person who's not a Muslim and he or she respects the opposite sex. So much of respect.
There is nothing untoward. There is nothing evil that they intend. It's that respect.
And then you have a Muslim man coming and he might even, you know, be in his own little mind thinking he's a very pious person and suddenly he sees this woman and he just does this like about, you know, and he might justify himself to say the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) allowed the first gaze. I mean, he's still the first one. Don't worry.
I'm still, I haven't yet looked away. No, no, no, no. That's not how it should be.
You give the opposite sex such respect that they restore their faith in the Muslim men. And the women, the same applies to them. We respect each other in such a way that we restore faith in one another.
Today it's very difficult to get help. You know, recently I was in another country where I was asked a question. A man who's a Muslim man is asking a question that if I see a sister who's a Muslim sister asking for a lift on the side of the road and about to jump into a taxi, am I allowed to stop and give them a lift if it is legal in my country? What a question.
Do you know what they're asking? They are trying to say that is it better for this sister to go in public transport or to come with me in my car? I'm a Muslim man. And I said, my brother, I think she will feel more unsafe in your car than she would on public transport. It's possible, right? Because she would say, why did this guy stop? What's his reason?
Because we need to change this narrative slowly but surely by showing that we actually care. There are many good men out there. All of them are seated in this hall today, mashaAllah. May Allah bless you all.
I always have to cover myself because I know they are good people. We are all trying but we need to change this narrative, become responsible when our morals and values begin to drop. Really, people become despondent.
They think, look at these Muslims. But it's not Muslims. It's not Islam. It's the actions of the people.
We swear, loud swear words. And the hadith says:
(Reference: Sunan at-Tirmidhi Hadith 1977)
"The believer is not one who reviles others, nor curses, nor is indecent, nor abusive."
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallāhu 'alayhi wa-sallam) himself was never abusive or immoral in the way he spoke. You know the F word, it's a swear word. The SH word is also a swear word.
We use it like we are using salt and pepper in our food and we are Muslims. I'm being clear. I'm not mincing my words.
We use these words like there's nothing wrong with it but you're a mu'min. I want you to promise me one thing, my brothers, my sisters. A life-changing thing, very simple but life-changing.
You want to hear it? You're ready? Are you ready? Promise Allah that you will not use derogatory, immoral, hurtful and abusive words from today. That's it. Did we promise? See the yes was very low.
Did we promise? Inshallah, you will be asked. Immoral, abusive, hurtful and vulgar, you don't need it. Use good words.
You know what? You will encourage people. You will really improve yourself as a mu'min, as a believer. You become conscious.
I can disagree with you. I can, for example, have a little argument, whatever on condition that I do not use that which is hurtful, harmful, disrespectful and so on. I must say it in a beautiful way.
Why do we hurl abusive words? Swear words. I'm a mu'min. I say Allahu Akbar, Allah is the greatest and five minutes before that I was swearing someone.
Come on, where is it? People become despondent. They start thinking, look at these Muslims.
Business Ethics and Technology Use
In business, we cheat sometimes. When people work for us, we shortchange them. We are not honest with them. You go and work for a company that is a total non-Muslim company and you're a Muslim.
I do know that there is Islamophobia. I do know that there is discrimination. But in a lot of companies, they will respect you. They will give you the promotions. They will give you the increment in salary. They will give you your holidays.
They will give you everything, justice. That's why everyone wants to work for that company. Come to a Muslim company.
They promised you to go. They said, don't go. Why? I need to go for Umrah. So you stay here. But it's my days of holiday. My brother, you will get a bigger reward for being honest and upright.
It's okay if they agree and allow. But if you are pushing it and forcing it, all you are doing is you are letting people have a bad image of who you are. And because you're a Muslim and you're an ambassador of Allah on earth, you have actually created a bad name for the Muslims.
What happened to the promotions? What happened to the way we treat those whom we work, who work for us? May Allah grant us ease. Our colleagues and those whom we interact with learn to develop the best of morals and values. The best of values.
This afternoon I spoke at the school. I said something I want to repeat here today. I gave them two pieces of advice.
I told them, be very mindful, be very responsible regarding the way you use or you make use of technology as it is advancing. Be very responsible regarding the way you use technology as it is advancing. That's a powerful piece of advice.
Technology in itself is not bad. The way we use it can make our use of it very bad. It can destroy us.
The phones we have in our hands, probably this apparatus that we have, we use it the most. So much so that people are sitting right next to each other but they have to call each other through the phone. The wife sends a message.
She tells the husband, I love you, I miss you, I love you, I adore you. He doesn't hear a thing. He's on his phone.
He might be messaging someone else saying, I love you, I miss you. Same thing. He doesn't realize.
Then when she messages to say, I love you and it comes sitting right next to you and she's watching and the only way we got through to him was through the phone. Trust me, it's happening vice versa. It's not only the men who are guilty.
Let's get that correct here. It's happening vice versa. We're sitting such that we don't even know.
Do you know? I know of a couple and there are many such couples. The husband was telling me we went on a very, very expensive holiday and my wife was not, they went to a beach. It was not Maldives.
If they came to Maldives, maybe she would put her phone away and go. But my wife was only interested in how will my picture look on Instagram? How will I look on Instagram? How will my photo come out? She wasn't interested in going in the water and enjoying the swimming and whatever else there was there. She never even went to wherever else besides for photo shoots.
So it's no longer a holiday. Photo shoot you can do at home with your own computer. Trust me, we can help you do that also.
When you go, put the phone aside. Enjoy yourself. The moment is more important than the photo.
A few photos here and there, alhamdulillah, it's okay. But to be obsessed with it to the degree that you've lost reality is where we are heading today. Even in our own relationships.
Being Content with Allah's Creation
Look at the Muslims. You know, divorce is not prohibited, but it is frowned upon. It's the last, what can I say, the last resort, right? But it's on the increase so much because people don't know why they are marrying.
People don't fulfill each other's rights. And then we look at each other and say, subhanallah, but it's the Muslims, Muslim nation, Muslims. And look at how they don't even get along.
They don't even know each other. Can't we deal with that inshallah? Let's respect each other. Let's fulfill each other's rights.
Let's honor our spouses. Let's make them feel important. Trust me, you change the world.
It's not difficult. I know the older lot here, you can close your ears for a minute, but the younger guys, how you express to your spouse, how much you love them, even though you love them, the expression means a lot. You keep them believing that, yes, indeed, I'm worth it.
At a time when the whole world is trying to show how worthless people are, if they don't live up to a certain level of makeup alone, you know, makeup, I don't want to say that it's completely prohibited. No, it depends on the level of it, how much you're using, when you're using, how you're using, etc.
If you're obsessed with it such that your own phone does not recognize your face, then you have a problem.
Then you have a problem. Subhanallah. You know, recently there was a case where one of the brothers was explaining how there was a person who went missing and they said, all the photos we had of this person were not really what she looks like.
How can we say, look for this person? They will never find her. Do you understand what I'm saying? They won't. I'm not saying don't use, but I'm saying know your limits.
Know when, know how, know how much. Don't be obsessed. You know, when I arrived home, I'm going to show you something because obviously I was in England recently and I was in Australia and Nigeria now before I came here.
And subhanallah, someone told me, what do you use on your face? You have a very clear complexion. I said nothing. I said nothing.
And guess what? I arrived home and back in my country, there are mosquitoes, you know? They missed me so much. They loved me so much. The first night I arrived, they started hugging my face.
If you look here, can you see this? It's a huge mosquito bite and another one somewhere here. If I did not show you, you would never have seen it, right? I am proud to acknowledge that yes, we have marks and blemishes and whatever. So what? That's what makes us human.
Someone told me, maybe you got the evil eye because you didn't, you know, they didn't say alhamdulillah. I said, no, no, no. Let's not destroy our iman by going in that direction.
It was only a mosquito. I even heard the guy. He makes his small little sound before he comes, you know? He goes and then you know something's going to happen.
My brothers and sisters, we need to be happy and proud of the identity Allah gave us. What's the big deal? Allah created you with hair in a certain way. Say alhamdulillah.
It's good. Allah created you with the face in a certain way, with a complexion in a certain way, with skin in a certain way. Those who are close to Allah will love you.
They will. You don't have to compromise your your whole identity in order to live up to a certain standard that you don't even belong to. It's actually lower than what you think.
You give up your own identity. Nowadays, we have to be a certain shape to be acceptable, a certain size to be acceptable, a certain complexion to be acceptable, a certain type of this to be acceptable.
Everything you have to worry about.
I tell you what Allah says. Allah says especially to the women to say, you know what? Forget about all of that. Just put on loose clothing. No one knows your shape. No one knows your size. No one knows everything.
They treat you just because of who you are as an individual and not based on what you look like. And then people say you're oppressed. You're oppressed because they still want to oppress you further by telling you, you know what? You still have to be looking like this, being like this.
Look, where is the blessing? Where is the blessing? Is it not in just covering with loose clothing and carrying on? Do your thing. People don't have to look at your shape and decide, oh, mashallah.
Imagine you go for a job and you see someone really who is, who has a figure like a trigger and they walk in without much credentials and you have all the qualifications and you walk in and the job is given to that person.
Subhanallah. You need to thank Allah you were not given the job because those people, they actually judged people based on their looks and not based on what they can provide in terms of service for the company. But with Islam, Allah says you don't just, you don't do that.
You must be fair. You judge based on merit and that's why Allah has given us so many beautiful rulings. I promise you what I said just now, if you were to explain it to some who are struggling in other countries to keep up to the Joneses, they would definitely appreciate the teachings of Islam.
I know dozens of people who reverted to Islam who really feel so liberated when they've just worn loose clothing. That's it. They feel liberated.
I'm no longer judged because, you know, I look like this so I subhanallah. So it's all a matter of perspective and addressing these issues.
Learning from Good Examples vs. Criticizing Others
My brothers and sisters, we have a lot to do. We have a lot to do. You know, if you look at the globe, so many things are happening that are very discouraging. But on top of all of that, we have hope.
There are still a lot of good people who want to see a lot of goodness and Allah will allow it to happen. It's a matter of time.
When Boko Haram in Nigeria started saying that we disagree with secular education, they didn't stop there. If they disagreed and they explained their disagreement, perhaps people could have a counter explanation and a counter explanation, etc, etc. They decided, you know what, we are going to become violent. Anyone who picks up a secular book, we will attack them.
That's what Boko Haram did in Nigeria. And they use religion wrongly because, to be very honest with you, it shows their weakness. What they have is not the truth.
If they had the truth, the truth speaks loudly and convinces the people. But because they didn't have it with them, they could not convince anyone, they became violent.
You know when I speak, I've always been taught that you don't have to be harsh because the truth speaks for itself. You don't have to. I am so confident about the truth, I don't even need to talk about others.
You know when you have a brand, can I give you one good example? I'm not too sure of the type of tissue. You see these serviettes, there is a brand, which is the best brand that you know of the tissues?
Can you say a name? Please say it loudly, I need to hear from you. Say another name. Yes, I heard it, say it again.
Okay, mashallah, he said a name. I want to ask you a question. I know of a brand called Kleenex, have you heard of that brand? Is it not a good brand? It's not a good brand? Kleenex is not a good brand.
It's a good brand. I promise you, for those of you who know in some parts of the world, if you had 20 boxes of tissue of all different brands at the same price, and one in the middle was Kleenex, it would finish before everything else. Without anyone talking, you know why? The brand is known.
The quality is known. There's no deception in there. What it's going to get for you is known. And guess what? It is tried and tested.
Kleenex has never had to put up an advert with the names of other companies and tell you that company is bad, this company is bad, those people are bad, this one here is going to cheat you, these people are overcharging you, you need to buy ours. That is cheap.
That is so unacceptable, right? We do that in religion. In religion, that's exactly what we do.
You have a scholar, for example, and this is one of the reasons why people are deviating. You have a scholar, for example, instead of giving people goodness and working very hard to empower people, they just say, that scholar is bad, that scholar is bad, that scholar is bad, this one is off, for example, this one is no longer a Muslim, that one there deserves never to live again, this one here is not on the straight path, that one is a sellout, that one is a scholar for a dollar, subhanallah, that's what they call him.
But in the process, they forget, what have you done? Nothing. Nothing.
Your whole life was talking about everyone else. You thought that by talking about others, you would become a better brand. No, you're actually losing yourself.
The minute you talk about others, you have lost yourself. Don't talk about others. You have a lot of goodness.
Give the goodness. And people will automatically know, this person is empowering people, benefiting others, trying hard, working hard. No, we want to sit down and attack this one, talk bad about that one, speak evil, backbite about this one, and we didn't achieve anything.
So the ummah becomes disgruntled. Disgruntled. They don't know where to go.
Like I was saying, if jannah, meaning paradise, if paradise was in the hands of us as humans, it would be empty. There would be no one there. You know why? These people say those ones are going to hell, those ones say those ones are going to hell, that one say this one's going to hell, that no one ever speaks about who's going to heaven, subhanallah.
So according to these ones, those ones are in hell, those ones are in hell, you're going to go to jannah and find it totally empty, subhanallah. Allah says, you know what? Heaven and hell is not in your hands, it's in mine. That's why it's going to be full, to capacity and beyond.
It cannot be full to capacity, but it will be full with all of us, inshallah. Say ameen. May Allah gather us in jannah.
May Allah gather us in jannah.
Closing Message
My brothers, my sisters, I've spoken quite a lot. If I didn't have a flight to catch, I think I would continue further.
But I explain something to you. Be the best version of you that you can be, you have to be. You will contribute towards the upliftment not only of the Muslim ummah, but humanity at large.
Be a good person. Tell yourself, am I a good person? Start at home. Don't oppress your wife, your husband, your children, your parents.
Be respectful, be helpful, be kind, eradicate bad habits, live up to the standards, speak with respect. If someone asks you a question and you don't have the answer, go and find it out for them. Don't rebuke someone who asks you.
Don't rebuke them. Someone asks you a strange question. Today the world is strange.
There are people coming up with all sorts of things. The global village, there are weird things that are happening on earth. They will ask about it.
Your child might come, a sister, a brother might come and say, you know what? I need help with this. Help them if you can. If you cannot pray for them or lead them to where they might be able to get help.
And that's the way we would actually be able to empower ourselves and protect not only ourselves, but our generations from deviation. Go and learn. So you might want to know right at the beginning, I said, why do we pray salah five times a day? I said that, right? That's a question.
Why do we have to do this? Why are we not allowed to eat pork? Why can, why should we only eat that which is halal? You want to know the answer, right? Because you need to teach others, right? Go and learn. Subhanallah. You need to learn.
My topic was not that. Otherwise I would have sat here and started explaining one by one. But I want to explain to you why there is deviation from Islam.
Some Muslims, they are disgruntled. I think I've explained more than 20 reasons here today. It's up to us to make a difference.
Islam is being looked at with a microscope. Those who have disliked and hated it with a passion are turning towards it. And those who were born in it, some of them are turning away from it.
I met brother Arnoud Van Doorn. He was one of them who was involved in the Netherlands in blaspheming the messenger, peace be upon him, with a cartoon and movies. In fact, it was a movie that they created.
You know what? Allah brought him to Islam. I met him. And his son came to Islam.
And you know what? The man apologized. The man is a solid, good Muslim. He realized what he did was wrong.
Allah guided him. Allah will bring people. Allah is the owner.
Allah created everyone. Subhanallah. Allah created them.
I repeat, when you disagree with someone, disagree respectfully. Keep a window for them to come in and to be able to see the light. Don't just close every door by swearing them, by being harsh and brutal.
"And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you."
I read this verse last night. I'm reading it again. O Messenger, if you were harsh, hard-hearted, they would disperse from around you. They wouldn't listen to you. It's a lesson for you and I.
May Allah grant us ease and goodness, inshallah. I pray that I come back to the city of Addu and see greater development.
Between the last time and this time, there was already a lot of development I can see. The school I went to this time, it wasn't there the last time I came. Next time, inshallah, we will see schools, universities, colleges, many other things that will be happening here.
And inshallah, we will also see a flourishing of the deen. We will all become better Muslims, better people. We will encourage each other.
We will help people so that one day we can all be regular on our prayers and beautiful people whom when they look at us, people want to be Muslim. When they look at us, they want to be Muslim.
There are some people whom they have helping hands at home who are not Muslim, either a maid or a gardener or a driver. When they have been good Muslims, automatically these people say, I want to be Muslim. After a short space of time, they become Muslim because they see your life, you're living Muslims. Your life is clean, good morals, lovely speech.
You know, the other day, I went somewhere in Johannesburg with my wife. I entered a store and we got to the till and I was putting all the things out and you know, on the till and talking and so on. And my wife was quite covered and I look the way I am.
The lady is non-Muslim. You know what she told me? I like the way you respect your wife so much. I can see you talk to her very nicely.
I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to say, that's me, you know. But what I did want to say, I wanted to give her a message of Islam.
So in one word, I told her, my sister, that's the mother of my children. How can I not respect her? How can I not be kind to her? She actually looked at me like this. Before she could say anything, I was already gone.
She knew these are Muslims. Look at how the man is treating his wife. Do you understand? Because when we see other Muslims and a lot of us, how we treat our wives, subhanallah.
I know one brother, he walks in the mall. His wife complained that my husband told me, I want you to be no less than two meters behind me. Doesn't make sense.
And he's a religious guy. I spoke to him and he's a friend of mine. I told him, you know what, my brother, hold her hand, man, walk with her.
She's your wife. People walk with haram. So much pride. Can't you walk with halal? Subhanallah. He says, no, no, no. At least I'll walk with her.
I said, that solves the problem already. That's what I wanted. May Allah bless us.
Let's show the goodness of Islam and let's let the world know that really there is a lot of goodness. The actions of a small minority, the actions of a small minority do not depict the true religion that the majority of Muslims across the globe have been blessed with. May Allah grant us even further blessings.
"Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the next world, and save us from the punishment of the Fire."
آمِّينَ يَا رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ "Ameen, O Lord of all the worlds."
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) provide a comprehensive guide for Muslims to live a life of purpose, meaning, and fulfillment. By understanding and applying the principles of Islam, individuals can achieve inner peace, build strong relationships, and contribute positively to society. May Allah guide us all to the straight path and grant us success in this life and the hereafter.
Du'a
"Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire."