Beautifying Both Homes
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-09T12:20:59.142286+00:00 | Topic: Relationships
Beautifying Both Homes - Nouman Ali Khan
Opening Praise and Supplication
O my Lord, all praise is due to You until You are pleased. And all praise is due to You when You are pleased. And all praise is due to You after You are pleased. And all praise is due to You forever and ever. All praise is due to Allah, who sent down the Book to His servant and did not make a crookedness for him. And all praise is due to Allah, who did not take a son and did not have a partner in the kingdom.
Arabic Supplication:
(Translation: O Allah, expand for me my breast and ease for me my task and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech. O Allah, keep us firm at the time of death with "There is no god but Allah." O Allah, make us among those who believe and do righteous deeds and enjoin upon each other truth and enjoin upon each other patience. Ameen, O Lord of the worlds.)
Introduction to Surah Hud Verses
Today I want to share with you two verses that belong to Surah Hud - these are the 61st and 62nd verses of Surah Hud, and some very powerful reflections that come as a result of a good study of these verses.
Quranic Verses:
These verses, as you may even if you don't know Arabic might have recognized, have to do with the messenger Salih (peace be upon him). Many of you know and some of you need to be reminded - Salih (peace be upon him) was sent to the nation of Thamud. Thamud the nation is named after their great grandfather, their ancestor - that's how they got their name.
The Nation of Thamud
Allah mentions this nation a few times in the Quran. This is one of those nations, one of those stories of nations that got destroyed because they didn't pay enough attention and disregarded and ignored their messenger (peace be upon him).
Salih Among the Arab Messengers
Salih (peace be upon him) is one of the few Arab messengers mentioned in the Quran. There are four of them all together and he's one of them. So Rasulullah (peace be upon him) obviously is the Arab messenger, but besides him there are three others and one of them is Salih (peace be upon him).
The Sophistication of Thamud
A couple of things about just this nation - it's not a khutbah about that nation itself, it's actually about these verses and some things that Salih (peace be upon him) mentioned to them. But some things you should note about them that Allah highlights in particular about the nation of Thamud is that they had some pretty amazing accomplishments compared to the rest of the Arab nations that were there. They were actually much more advanced, much more sophisticated.
Allah's Description of Their Abilities:
So Allah, for example says:
(You people... He settled them in the earth)
بوا in Arabic actually means to settle you wherever you want - meaning you got to pick what is the most strategic location, where should we settle, and you settle there. Now most nations, as they come up in history, they have a geographical location and they don't have the option to just pick up and move wherever they want to go and set up in a better, more strategic location.
In order to do that, you have to engage in war with the people who have a more strategic kind of land. But when Allah says it actually suggests that Allah gave these people the power - military power and strength - to be able to pick what they want their capital to be, where they want their geographical location to be.
Their Architectural Achievements
تَتَّخِذُونَ مِن سُهُولِهَا قُصُورًا - and in the easy pathways of the land you actually made castles for yourself. So Allah doesn't even say they made homes, but when it was easy to build, they built castles. They didn't just build homes. So marvelous architecture is another signature of this nation - they're not just any nation.
If you look at the ancient Arabia, if you study ancient Arabia, you don't find a lot of marvelous architecture. For the most part these are Bedouin people, and a lot of the Arabian Peninsula was left alone by the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire. They didn't mess around with the area because they figured there's nothing there - some patches of green, for the most part it's desert. So especially the land of Hijaz, it was left alone for centuries, really for centuries.
But these people in particular, even in that place where there are limited resources, they were able to build entire castles, entire palaces. And then in the mountain regions Allah says:
(And you carved homes out of mountains)
meaning they had the technology to first of all build safe roadways of going up into mountains, and on top of that to be able to build like entire homes, entire villages on mountains - and stable homes. Not just you know, you put a hut on top of a mountain and a landslide comes and the home goes, but actually they carved mountains. نَحْت is used, which actually used to carve the mountains.
The Key Message: Allah as the Only God
The few things I wanted to highlight in the beginning of this khutbah is that this nation of Thamud is sophisticated, they're advanced in their technology, they're advanced militarily, they're also advanced architecturally, technologically, infrastructure wise - they're pretty good at the stuff that they do.
Allah doesn't necessarily mention these things because they're evil. Allah does not mention that these people were good at these things and having these things must mean that they're bad people. No, no, no. Allah is actually through the mouth of their messenger saying you people should be thankful - look at all the gifts Allah has given you.
The Messenger as Brother
Now let's turn to this verse. Allah says:
(And to Thamud their brother Salih)
Allah did not say here رَسُولًا or نَبِيًّا or رَسُولَهُمْ . He said أَخَاهُمْ (their brother), and this is a signature of the Quran for many messengers that Allah calls the messenger their brother.
This is something one has to understand about Arab sociology. In Arab society, calling someone your brother isn't necessarily about being your physical brother, but actually to be concerned citizens of the same land, to be concerned citizens of the same country - you are considered brothers. You are brothers in one nation.
Nowadays in modern literature you find people say things like "brothers in arms" - that's my brother in battle, this is my brother, my fellow soldier is my brother. So you have that kind of camaraderie.
In ancient Arabia, the word brother was used when you share a tribe and you are willing to take the arrow not the bullet back then, but the arrow or the spear - for your brother. You're gonna defend his home, he's gonna defend your home, you care for each other equally. You're not out to get him, they're not out to get you. When that kind of sentiment exists, then you call people your brother.
The True Brotherhood in Islam
Before I even go on, this is something that was there in Arab society before even Islam, and the sad reality is our deen came - Islam came to refine previous definitions. So now after Islam :
(The believers are but brothers) - Quran 49:10
All believers are brothers. And before this they used to see each other as brothers because they're from the same village, because they're from the same tribe, because they're in the same army, etc., because they have the same ethnicity. Now we see each other as brothers because we share لا إله إلا الله because we share (مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللهِ - peace be upon him).
This is supposed to be a lot stronger than any tribal affiliation, this is supposed to be a lot stronger than any national affiliation. And the sad reality of it is sometimes we call people our brother but our hearts don't feel that way. Our hearts don't feel that way. And actually the brotherhood that these people in
jahiliyyah showed to each other is a lot better than the brotherhood Muslims show each other - it's a sad reality.
The Concern of the Messenger
In any case, Allah says أَخَاهُمْ صَالِحًا - why? Because messengers were not just there to give people bad news. Messengers did not just come and - if you have a really shallow understanding of the role of messengers - you would think messengers (peace be upon them) came, they gave a message, people didn't listen, so forget it, let's take these people out, let's destroy them. No, no, no. He's their أخ (brother), he's concerned about them, he wants to protect them, he's one of them.
What we're learning is when a messenger carries the message of Islam, he's defined as someone who is genuinely concerned for his people. He doesn't hate them because they do shirk, he doesn't hate them because they're kuffar, he doesn't hate them because they're ignorant - because you can't hate them and call them your brother at the same time.
It's not that Allah declared or they called themselves brother, but Allah called him their brother. Allah called him their brother - there's a reason for that. This is mandated from Allah. Part of carrying the work of the messengers is that you have to go to your nation and you have to think of them as family if you're gonna be able to deliver the message of Islam to them.
If you carry hate and animosity and you think of them as less, you think of them as dirty and disgusting and pathetic or whatever else, then you are not ready for the work of the messengers. You're not ready - that's what Quran is saying.
Salih's Message to His People
So this is the first word - أَخَاهُمْ صَالِحًا - but what does he say to them? It's a very powerful message. He says: قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ (He says to them: "My people")
Before he even gave them a lecture, he said "my people." And يَا قَوْمِ - the kasra here is for li nafsi - you are my people. In other words, Allah already told them you're my brother, and he goes on to the people before he says anything to them, he says "Listen guys, you are my people. I worry about you. This is for you, not for me. I'm telling you for your sake, not for my sake."
Like Nuh (peace be upon him), I'm always reminded:
(Indeed, I am to you a clear warner) - Quran 7:59
"Who do you think I'm warning for? I'm warning for your sake. I'm worried about you. I'm not giving you this lecture because it makes me feel good to tell you that you're going to burn in hell or you better get your act together or Allah will destroy this nation or a flood is coming. I don't get joy out of doing that. I'm doing this to save you. I'm doing this because I love you, not because I hate you."
So this is يَا قَوْمِ and then he says:
(What is wrong with you people? There's no god, there's no one to worship and love and devote yourself to other than Allah)
You're not going to find anybody else.
The Unique Teaching: Creation and Building
But then the interesting unique aspects of the khutbah of Salih (peace be upon him) to his people begins, and that's really what I wanted to focus on in this khutbah. He says:
(He brought you people out of the earth)
That's what the English translation says of the verse - هُوَ أَنشَأْكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ - he brought you people out of the earth.
إِنْشَاء in Arabic includes the meaning of خَلّق بدأ - to create something, to initiate something أبدع - to create something without previous precedent. Meaning Allah created human beings like no other creature before - we're unique, we're special.
But إنْشاء is not just creating, because Allah didn't say here خَلَقَكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ - he said .أَنشَأْكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ إنشاء is actually to create something and it goes high, tall - and that's both literal and figurative.
In other words, he created you with very high standards. Look at the high things you are able to accomplish. Look at the high level of intellect Allah gifted you with. Look at the high level of skill you have with your hands. What are human beings able to do with their hands to this day? What are we able to do with our tongues to this day? What are we able to accomplish with our minds to this day? This is إنشاء - this is not just creation, it's high level creation, it's high sophisticated creation.
The Reminder of Humility
Now that's important, isn't it? Because I started this khutbah by saying that this nation in particular, relative to the Arabs, were very sophisticated. So the messenger says to them أَنشَأْكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ - he brought you up so high from the earth.
But he mentions مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ and that's important too. Allah could have just said he made you high and sophisticated, he created you in a great way, but he mentioned مِنَ الْأَرْضِ - why? Because the earth is the lowest thing we have, the earth is the lowest thing we have.
Actually in Arabic, when somebody is humiliated, we say for example:
(And he has failed who corrupts it) - Quran 91:10
دَسٌ in Arabic - to put something in the dust, literally to throw something in the dust.
So Allah is telling these people: you are sophisticated and you can do many things, but don't forget where you come from. Don't lose your humility - you come from the earth. Also because as high as you
The Concept of Istimar (Building the Earth)
But then - subhanallah - one of my favorite expressions in the Quran, He says:
"(And He made you successors therein)"
Oh my God, I love talking to Christians about this one particular part of the verse. It's so powerful in the Quran - وَاسْتَعْمَرَكُمْ فِيهَا - he wanted you to build the earth, he wanted you to build.
Understanding the Root Meaning
اسْتِعْمَا - they say in Arabic عَمِرَ الرَّجُلٌ ... I'll take some time explaining the meaning of this word to you. عَمِرَ الرَّجُلُ they say عاش طويلًا - when they say somebody lived for a long time, they say عَمِرَ . Urdu speakers say عُمر - that's the Arabic expression. عَمِرَ - to have a long life, this is عَمر.
They say عَمَّرْتُ الخَرَاب also - they say in Arabic عَمِرَ is used when you have something broken and you fix it. So there are two meanings of this root:
- The first: to have something that lasts a long time, like a life long, to build something that has life, long lasts a lifetime.
- The second meaning of it is to fix something that was broken - to fix إصلاح literally, to إصلاح to fix something that was broken.
- And then the third meaning that comes from it also is عِمَارَة - they say عِمَارَة or عَمَارَة in Arabic when you build a building. عِمَارَة is a building. Urdu speakers also know عِمَارَت - they change the pronunciation but it's the same word.
Now what's the difference between بِنَايَة and عِمَارَةٌ عِمَارَة in old Arabic is a building that was meant to last. It's not just makeshift - you quickly built it - but it was meant to last a long, long time.
The Comprehensive Meaning of Istimar
Now what is اِسْتِعْمار mean? اِسْتِعْمَار in Arabic actually means that Allah put you on this earth, gave you very high intellect, and he wanted you to build this earth, and he wanted you to build things in it that last a long time.
Allah wants you to have sustainable cities. He wants you to have advanced technology that uses the resources of the earth but doesn't deplete them. Allah wants you to build things that don't destroy other things. This is all captured inside اِسْتِعْمَار - it's encapsulated inside اِسْتِعْمَار
Balancing Dunya and Akhira
A lot of religious world views are that either you worry about God or you worry about building the earth - either you are people of dunya or you are people of akhira, you can't be both. Our deen is beautiful. Allah says he made you from the earth, but he put you in the earth, and you are from the earth, and he wants you to use the earth like he says in another place:
"(And He placed therein its [creatures'[ provisions) - Quran 41:10
Put the powers of the earth inside it. Allah put the natural resources that you will need inside it. And since the beginning of humanity, everything we've ever needed comes from where? Comes from the earth. The homes we build, the food we eat, the cities we build, the roads we build, the architecture, the infrastructure, the underground, the overground, the technology - all of it comes from the earth. The ingredients have always been here, and Allah says he wants you to build.
This is part of fulfilling the purpose of humanity. Subhanallah, Allah wanted human beings to become advanced. Allah wants for us to build better and better buildings. Allah wants for us to build better and better organizations, to build more and more refined - of course this is the time to talk about better governments, right? With the government shutdown looming, right? Allah wants us to have stable government - actually he wants this.
Modern Corruption vs. True Building
But what's happening in modern times? A company comes out, it wants to make a lot of money because its biggest ideal is not to build - its biggest ideal is to make a buck, to make money. So you'll have companies that have regulations in the United States - "Oh, you know what? We should open up a secondary location in China or Bangladesh or somewhere where they don't have as many regulations, and then we can pollute their villages. Who cares? But we didn't violate the regulations here. So let's pollute all the lakes in Africa."
Somebody do research on Coke and where the Coke refineries are and what they do to the villages where they set up, and how entire villages are devastated, children being raised with cancer because of them polluting lakes. This is crazy. But this is not اِسْتِعْمَار
On the one hand you're building institutions - multi-billion dollar corporations - but at the same time you're tearing the earth apart, you're destroying it. That's not اِسْتِعْمَار
Allah in this verse is saying He wants the human beings to build. There's nothing wrong with having major corporations, big organizations, infrastructure - but if it is at the expense of destroying other infrastructure, He doesn't want it. It has to be اِسْتِعْمَار - it has to be something that lasts a long time, that's sustainable.
The Problem of Unsustainable Practices
And that's the other thing - nowadays we talk about sustainable energy, sustainable infrastructure, water preservation. After all, we're in Texas - we're told don't use the sprinkler too much, there's a regulation, no pools, no new pool construction, there's a water drought, there's a water shortage. Why is that? Because there's a lack of اِسْتِعْمَار
That is something Allah put inherently in the Quran. People who understand the Quran will be people of vision that want the world to have that kind of infrastructure.
The Heart of the Message: No Excuse for Failure
But now a few minutes left and I still haven't gotten to the heart of the khutbah - what I actually want to talk to you about. Allah in this verse: human beings are capable of great things, and everything that they needed - the إنشاء the high level of sophistication they needed to build a great world - is already there. Another place in the Quran: all the ingredients you need.
Because you know, if you're really smart but you have nothing to work with, you can't build anything. So he made us really smart and then he put all the things we need on the earth so we can build, so we can make an amazing world.
You know what that tells us? That there is no excuse. There is no excuse for any place in the world to not have good - to not have a stable society, a healthy society.
The Muslim Ummah's Current State
We've given up on the Muslim ummah. "Oh man, forget it. They're never going to drive in one line. They're always going to... forget the red lights. Look at the pollution." You know, you land in a Muslim airport - a Muslim country airport - you get out for a couple of minutes, you're like "Oh, definitely in the Muslim world." You know, you can tell.
The only place you get a taste of the Muslim world in America is in the parking lots at the masjid, because people park like... you know, because we - the last thing we do is do things in an organized, systematic way. Subhanallah.
The Key Principle: Allah First, Then Building
But the key of this verse is that yes, the world is getting sophisticated, and so many Muslims are impressed with the west. So many Muslims are impressed with the skyscrapers in Chicago and in New York City. So many Muslims are impressed with the developing technologies, and they are impressive - no doubt about it. The universities, the roadways, the cities - they are impressive. You go to the airports - they are impressive.
You know, we have like in Muslim countries we have like one nice airport sometimes, and people go there for Eid because it's like the nicest place. So it is impressive to us, no doubt.
But you know what? Before Allah's messenger Salih (peace be upon him) mentioned these impressive infrastructures which the people of Thamud had - they had the most impressive technology of their time - before that he said to them: you need to worship Allah and don't turn to anyone other than Allah.
The Danger of Godless Advancement
Why did he say that? Because if you build a very advanced civilization without Allah, without fear of Allah, without accountability to Allah, then greed will take over and corruption will take over, and you will use your advanced technologies not to bring humanity to a better place, but you will use it to oppress humanity.
So some places will look amazing and some places will look terrible. Like one of the most beautiful places you can go, for example, in the United States is Northern California - beautiful place. Silicon Valley - some of the most expensive real estate in the entire United States. And you go there and even what a house here in Texas that cost a hundred thousand costs a million over there easily, right? And even old ones.
But you know what? You have this beautiful city and then they also have Walmart and they have these big box stores, and you wonder: the people who work at Walmart still get the same pay that they get over here - where do they live? How do they pay their rent?
And you'll find such slum, ghetto neighborhoods in Northern California you won't believe you're in California. You won't believe it. You know why that happens? That kind of unfair wages and putting people in such economic difficulty, and the companies that hire them make billions and their executives make trillions - I mean it's ridiculous how much money they make - but the wealth isn't shared, it's not distributed evenly.
That kind of oppression, that kind of injustice - this is what our deen keeps us from doing, so long as we have taqwa of Allah. A Muslim who owns a multi-billion dollar corporation is gonna share the wealth. He's not gonna hire people at pathetic wages that they can barely pay their rent. He's not gonna do it. He's gonna say "My family - if I was in that position, I would want to be paid a more fair wage. I would want to be paid more fairly."
That's actually what iman and Allah means in these verses. That's why Allah says: He gave you this infrastructure, then make istighfar of him.
The Need for Istighfar and Tawbah
Because as you build your businesses, as you build your cities, as you build your governments, corruption will come. And if you're not people of istighfar, corruption will take over. Corruption will take over. And this is the world we live in.
Don't be impressed with the technology. Don't be impressed with the infrastructure. These things have been given to previous nations too, and then those nations refused istighfar and they destroyed themselves. Allah even says:
"(And they did not wrong Us, but they were [only] wronging themselves) - Quran 2:57
They didn't wrong us - they used to wrong their own selves. They used to wrong their own selves.
The Final Call
And this is why at the very end - subhanallah - look at this khutbah of Salih (peace be upon him). He says:
"(So seek forgiveness of Him and then repent to Him) - Quran 11:61
Then make tawbah to him. Why? Why does he mention istighfar and then tawbah? What's the benefit of that?
The Trap of Prosperity
When nations become advanced, they start becoming proud. They start believing that all of their advancement is because of them. And then they have also - of course what you get like Shah Waliullah Dahlawi (may Allah have mercy on him) - disposable income. People have more money, they have more savings, so they have some little bit extra money to do something else with it. They don't just have money just enough to eat the food and pay the rent and keep the electricity going, but they have some extra money.
They are like "What should I do with this money? Oh, there is a concert. There is a game. There is this, there is that." Now they start putting money in things that take them away from Allah.
And you will find the entertainment industry booming in societies that get developed. The clubs start coming up, the bars start going up, the movie theaters start getting filled. The movie industry starts skyrocketing. Why does it start skyrocketing? Because people have disposable income.
You will find half a full flight, quarter people filling a plane, but you always find a full flight to Las Vegas - always packed, barely get a seat. There is a reason. When people are living somewhat above their survival level, then they start putting money in evil things.
So Allah says: you need to make tawbah. People, if you are living well, you need to be conscious of tawbah and don't lose hope in Allah. Don't think you are the one who meets your needs - your job pays the money, you are living in a good place, you are living in one of the fastest growing cities and you have a job in one of the fastest growing industries, and that's why you are doing okay.
Allah's Nearness and Response
Allah is telling us through this khutbah of Salih (peace be upon him):
(Indeed, my Lord is near and responsive) - Quran 11:61
My master is near and he is the one in fact that answers. First of all, don't lose hope in istighfar and tawbah. And second of all, all of your needs - they are responded to not by you but from Allah.
The Response of the Blind
As I leave you, I tell you how when people become so blind - when people become so blind in their life of indulgence - that's what happened to these people. They hear Salih's khutbah and they look at him and they say he is a young man. Salih (peace be upon him), when he was growing up he wasn't a prophet - he was one of them, he wasn't a prophet.
And they say "Man, this guy, this young man, he is going to be a millionaire when he grows up. He comes from a good family. He is going to be the mayor. He is going to be a governor. He is going to run a business. This kid is smart. He is like elite. But look at what he is doing with his life - he is telling us to turn back to Allah, make istighfar. What happened? Poor kid became a mullah." That's what they said to him.
How did they say this to him? They said "Oh Salih, we had so many hopes in you. You had so much potential before this whole thing. You are telling us to fix our ways and change our corrupt business practices and telling us we should turn back to one God. What are you getting involved in this stuff for? You know how much hopes we had? You could have been the mayor. You could have been the governor. You could have been the best businessman. You are the smartest young man we had. All of our hopes were in you when you were coming up. We used to look at our sons and daughters and say our sons used to say 'Man, if you grow up you should be like Salih. That kid - if only we had a Salih. Why can't you be more like him?' And now look at you."
You know why Allah tells us that? Because some very intelligent people in modern society - very, very intelligent young people - turned back to Allah'sdeen, and when they turn back to Allah'sdeen, their loved ones they say "What happened to you? You had so much potential. What do you mean you are going to the masjid? What do you mean you don't want to open up a restaurant with liquor in it? What do you mean? We had all these plans. What happened to our plans? What do you mean it's haram? Where did you get that from? We had so many hopes in you. Look at what you've become." Subhanallah.
Modern Applications of Salih's Story
You are going to find the story of Salih (peace be upon him) repeated in the west a lot, a lot. Young man will come and tell his family "I don't want to marry that girl that you think I should marry. She doesn't cover. She likes to go to parties. She does this and that. I'm not into that anymore. I made istighfar. I want a decent girl. I want a girl that respects herself. I want a girl that covers herself properly. I want a girl that doesn't flirt when she talks to other men. I want a decent girl."
They say "What happened to you? She's so pretty, marry her." They said "Yes, already." They already... "No, no, I made istighfar." "Oh my god, my son's gone crazy. These mullahs got to him somehow. I don't know what he's been watching on YouTube, but he's changed."
And there's a crisis inside the home, and these words come out in Urdu, they come out in Punjabi, they come out in Arabic, in Syrian, and they come out in different dialects. They come out in Malay and Indonesian, but in the Quran the words are "We used to have so much hope in you. What happened to you?"
The Call for Transformation
And this transformation - what is Allah telling us? A nation is headed towards destruction, but there have to be some people that rise and say "My people, my nation, we're heading in the wrong direction. We need to come back."
The verse is also teaching us: people who turn to deen don't deny that we have to build this world. The people, the young people here that have religious sensibilities - you guys shouldn't just be doctors, you should own hospitals. I say you shouldn't just be doctors, you should be running hospitals. You shouldn't just be accountants, you should have accounting firms. You should have a thousand accountants working for you.
But taqwa of Allah comes first. Then you do (اِسْتِعْمَار - isti'mar) and you run your firms and your executive corporations on ethical principles - not the kind of corruption you see in your offices. Not that. You bring a new standard out. You create a new standard based on the taqwa of Allah. You become people of istighfar.
The Vision for Success
You go so high up, people want to interview you. "Hey, tell us your success story. Why are you so successful?" This is what they do with successful people now. And you - the higher you get, the more istighfar you make. You're not more proud, you are more humble before Allah.
That's you guys. That's the future we want from our young people.
I know I've taken way over my time, so I'll stop here. I pray that Allah makes us a people of اِسْتِعْمَار truly as he intends it. I pray that Allah helps our youth internalize and actualize the great potential that they have. I pray that Allah continues to always inspire us with the blessed words that he's given us in his Quran and the beautiful legacy he's given us in the sunnah of his messenger (peace be upon him).
Second Khutbah
يَقُولُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي كِتَابِهِ الْكَرِيمِ بَعْدَ أَنْ أَقُولَ أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّحِيمِ:
Move up as much as you can quickly, there are a lot of people in the back.
Iqamah
Please make sure your cellphones are silent.