Persist and Preserve Like the Giants On Whose Shoulders We Stand

Persist and Preserve Like the Giants On Whose Shoulders We Stand

By: Imam Omar Suleiman

Opening

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

Audhu billahi min ash-shaytani'r-rajim I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan

Bismillahi'r-Rahmani'r-Rahim In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, wa la 'udwana illa 'ala'z-zalameen, wa'l-'aqibatu lilmuttaqeen All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and there is no aggression except upon the oppressors, and the [best] outcome is for the righteous

Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barak 'ala 'abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin (صلى الله عليه وسلم) wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam tasliman kathira O Allah, send prayers, peace and blessings upon Your servant and messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and upon his family and companions, with abundant peace

Introduction

SubhanAllah, there are many amazing people that are in this room. And everyone, of course. May Allah bless our leaders, our mashayikh, our teachers, and people that are far more worthy than I am to speak on just about any subject related to Islam.

So I have brief comments, inshallah ta'ala, about the evening, or still the afternoon, it's the evening on my biological clock, that we stand here today to really reflect on what it means to be on the shoulders of giants.

A Methodology for Past, Present, and Future

And in the short time that I have, I actually want us to develop, just very briefly, a methodology for how we interact for past, present, and future. If you look at the way the Qur'an tells us to interact with the past, we are to learn from the past as a community. So for example, all of the injunctions about Bani Israel.

Allah (عز وجل) mentions both the downfalls in Bani Israel, as well as some of the positive things that we can learn from some of the righteous persons in Bani Israel. And Allah also really references the past to let us know that the circumstances that we face, though they may be unique, they are not unprecedented in terms of their severity.

And that's something very profound, that many people look to the past with this lens of, you know, glory and idealizing the past, and maybe one day we can get there, and as a means of diminishing any present effort, because it doesn't live up to this glorious past that we have.

So anything that's being done right now is weak. This person is not truly representative in this community effort. It's not really there, because we have to get to this place, and we're so far away from that place. And so we glorify the actions of the past as an excuse for our inaction in the present.

The Prophet's Approach to Learning from the Past

It's really interesting, because the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did quite the opposite. The Prophet (صلی الله عليه وسلم) he interacted with the past. He looked at his brothers and sisters that came in the past, the previous nations, and the previous Prophets. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) had a group of people that he could directly identify with in the Prophets of Allah, because they are like half-brothers.

And the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) with all the difficulty that he faced, for example, being the most tested Prophet, looked back at Musa (عليه السلام) and said:

"May Allah have mercy on my brother Musa. He was tested with far greater than this, but he was patient." (Sahih al-Bukhari 3405, Sahih Muslim 1061)

So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) looking at the situation of Musa (عليه السلام) not as a means of justifying any inaction on his part (صلى الله عليه وسلم) or giving him an excuse or a pretext to say that I can't do anything more because look, Musa (عليه السلام) he could have compared the Ummah of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) when he saw something that maybe he wouldn't have liked. He could have said, you know, you guys are being just like Bani Israel, therefore I'm going to be like Musa (عليه السلام) particularly like in retreat from you guys.

But the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) focused on the quality of sabr, that quality of patience that Musa (عليه السلام) had in a period of great difficulty, particularly difficulty that was being inflicted upon him by his own people, the very same people that he was trying to serve (عليه السلام)

The Test of Serving People for Allah's Sake

And that's something that's very profound, because many times Allah will test you in your sincerity with the people that you may have initially been trying to serve sincerely. And we often forget that if you serve people for the sake of Allah, do khidmah to the people for the sake of Allah, you don't just give them your time and your effort and your sweat and your tears, you also give them your ego.

(Sunan Ibn Majah 4032, Sunan at-Tirmidhi 2507)

"The believer who mixes with the people and tolerates their harm is better than the believer who does not mix with the people and does not tolerate their harm."

I'm trying to do something good for you, and the same people that I'm trying to do good for are the same people that hurt me. No one experienced that like the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)

So all of us in our situation, you know, we get involved with an effort, we try to do some sort of good, whether it's in the capacity of a masjid or an MSA or, you know, anything, and as we're trying to do that good, the same people that we're trying to help give us a headache and we say, forget this community.

You're not dealing with the people as harsh as some of the people that dealt with in the past, nor are you living up to the fullness of the quality that you're praising in the righteous people that we remember from the past. So on both levels, the metrics still give us something to aspire to on one end in terms of the fullest of sabr, for example, of patience, because that is a constant.

The Defining Factor: Persistence

A constant. Patience manifests itself in so many different ways. And (سُبْحَانَ اللهِ) subhanAllah, I want to focus on this for a moment. There were times in the past where great people persevered and persisted. And the reason why we benefit from their legacy is not because of the uniqueness of their talents, but usually because of their perseverance.

There are many people in the past who could have done so much more for us as the future generations, could have been some of those shoulders, and had the talent and the capacity to do so, but maybe at some point broke. Whereas there are others that at some point probably faced a difficult point in their lives and had to make a decision, a crucial decision, whether to persevere or not, and they chose perseverance. And because they persevered, we benefited from their legacy.

There might have been people that lived alongside of them. Obviously we're not talking about the anbiya anymore, we're just talking about great people in history. There might have been people that were

contemporaries, that were more eloquent than them, that were more talented than them, that were stronger than them, that were more capable in some ways than them. But the defining factor was persistence.

Great people persevere in detrimental situations. They keep going. They don't fault. They don't buckle. That's the distinguishing factor.

And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that the believer is not given a blessing. Not just that's better, that's awsa', that's more encompassing than as-sabr, than patience. That's not just to get you through your difficult moments in your worldly pursuits. That's to get you through your difficult moments in the most honorable and noble pursuit, which is the pursuit of Allah's pleasure.

That's where the blessing of sabr is the greatest of blessings.

Examples of Perseverance: Muhammad Ali

And that's what makes a Muhammad Ali, for example, special. (رَحِمَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى) rahimahu Allah ta'ala. He could have buckled. Many people don't know the day that Malcolm was assassinated, (الحاج مالك الشباز رَحِمَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى) al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz rahimahu Allah ta'ala, Muhammad Ali came home and found his apartment was burned down.

It was a message to him to be quiet, to stop. He doesn't even know where it came from, what the message necessarily was. But it was supposed to intimidate him into some sort of silence. Just stop. Stay in your lane. Keep boxing.

There are so many moments that you could point to just to take that one person's life, to take Muhammad Ali's life. And even if it was through different lenses or different things that were causing him to persevere in those moments, like when al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz, when Malcolm showed up to the Sonny Liston fight, his promoter said, we're not gonna keep you.

If he stays, we go. You're gonna lose the greatest opportunity of your life, a championship shot. He says, bye. Turns around and walks away from him, and those people go chasing after him in his car, saying, no, no, no, he can stay, he can stay. Please stay.

To stand in front of the US government and to take it on during Vietnam. To say, I'm ready to die by a firing squad. Who says that in their 20s when they've got millions of dollars and fame and celebrity on the line? Perseverance.

Right? So sabr is the defining trait, whether you're looking at the lives of the anbiya, the prophets, or you're looking at the salihin, you're looking at the righteous ones, you're looking at the predecessors, the pioneers of any generation in any field.

The Well of Sincerity

There was a patience, there was a perseverance. And the second thing was where that patience was being drawn from. Which was that well of sincerity. Which is something that needs to continuously be filled. A reservoir. Most people who made history did not recognize the greatness of what they were doing in the moments that they were doing it.

You know why? Because that was irrelevant and insignificant to them. When Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was establishing or raising the foundations of the Kaaba alongside Ismail (عليه السلام) Ibrahim (عليه السلام) did not write, Ibrahim was here in the Kaaba. It was completely irrelevant to him whether or not his name would be attached to what he hoped would persevere, what he hoped would continue for generations and generations to come.

At no point in his dua did he ask Allah to be remembered. Or that people would erect some sort of memorial to him. And that's why Allah raised his maqam, literally. Because it was of absolutely no significance to him whatsoever. His concern was something greater than him. And in staying focused on that which was greater than him, sincerely Allah elevated him. As he tried to elevate something greater than himself.

Living in the Moment with Proper Focus

When you're in the moment, if you're making history, you're not thinking about making history. You're thinking about making the most of your present and doing that which is most pleasing to Allah.

You're not thinking about how you're gonna be remembered. You're thinking about how you're gonna be resurrected. And that's what's keeping you. That's what's moving you. That's what's giving you fuel when there is absolutely nothing else to draw from around you. That's what's giving you perseverance when everything else around you is telling you stop.

Living Giants Among Us

And I'll say this. When we think about the shoulders of giants, past, present, because there are still giants that are alive amongst us that give us shoulders to stand on today. We don't always have to wait for people to die to appreciate them properly.

There are people amongst us, many of them in the front row by the way. You know (سُبْحَانَ اللهِ) subhanAllah, Imam Zaid is someone that may Allah bless him and elevate him. Imam Majid, Sheikh Yasser, our dear brother, Sheikh Abdullah, I see you, mashallah.

These are people here that are giving you shoulders here to stand on. Right, I mean that's special. But we have a legacy that still lives amongst us as well.

I was sharing with these brothers that was in Detroit two weeks ago teaching about Malcolm X, rahimahu Allah ta'ala, to people that, some people that lived with him and knew him. And I went to Masjid Wali, which was the first Anawai temple, now a masjid. And there's a sister, close to 90 years old, making bean pies in the back before Salatul Jumu'ah.

She was there in 1960. She witnessed that entire thing that we witness in pictures. She's just the sister in the back that's making bean pies for Jumu'ah like she's been doing for decades. There are people that still live amongst us that give us shoulders.

Our Two Responsibilities

But I'll share this with you, and this is extremely important for all of us to sort of recognize. Allah puts upon us two responsibilities, to honor those people and to continue to work for that which they worked for.

You know, if you think about the days of Uhud, because sometimes we can be paralyzed by the fear of what's to come. And in the battle of Uhud, think about it. At that moment, they hear the Prophet (صلی الله عليه وسلم) is dead, that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is gone.

These people were still new in Islam. They're the best generation. They're new in Islam. And there's this idea that there's nothing worth living for anymore. Can you imagine being in the midst of battle, sitting down and just putting your arms down and crying? There's nothing worth, it's not worth it anymore.

There were a few sahaba that said, if it is true that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was killed, then die for what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) died for. Live for what he lived for. Die for what he died for. Persevere the way that they persevered.

You have to be willing to be a part of that and to continue that. But in the moment, dear brothers and sisters, and this is part of our recalibrating, constant recalibration, you don't know what you're a part of right now. You don't know the potential that's in front of you.

Hidden Greatness

You don't know. And a lot of times we think greatness. We think statues and plaques and history books and things of that sort and people that are, you know, out there on the stage and stuff like that.

You're not thinking about those awliya of Allah, those hidden ones, beloved ones of Allah whose legacy in Jannah would be that they helped a homeless person in Oakland, California. You don't know who these people are. And so focusing on greatness in the sight of Allah and continuing the legacy that's been given to us and honoring those shoulders by standing, not just standing on those shoulders, but making sure that you do so with honoring and recognizing those shoulders and continuing their legacy by giving shoulders to those that will come after you as well.

That's a special calling that we have. (الحمد لله) Alhamdulillah, Allah has given us an opportunity to be a part of something like this. And I was thinking about this the other day, and I'll conclude with this.

Our Blessed Circumstances

(سُبْحَانَ اللهِ) SubhanAllah, I was thinking about our brothers and sisters in different parts of the world that literally now are in concentration camps and being forced to eat pork, the Uighurs, being forced to eat pork and drink alcohol in re-education camps, people that cannot go to a masjid, people that cannot go to a masjid because the intelligence agencies of that country would follow them, people that are suffering like the Rohingya, the ethnic cleansing, people in Palestine and Syria, different parts of the world that are suffering in immeasurable ways because they're Muslim, people that are paralyzed by fear in countries that don't allow them to speak out against the corruption that's so prominent and manifest around them.

I thought to myself, what's stopping us? Can you think about all... You have the ability to live the fullness of your Islam. You can speak, you can do, you can be a part of this. That's a ni'mah that Allah will ask us about. And there are people that have done that work and that continue to do that work.

The Legacy of Imam Siraj Wahaj

One of those people is our beloved Imam Siraj Wahaj. When I think legacy of Imam Siraj, Imam Siraj, when he was on the streets in New York, shutting down crack houses, cleaning up people off the street, his khutbahs being recorded on cassette tapes that were part of my own formation. Some of the most important lectures in my life were those cassette tapes.

And if you don't know what a cassette tape is, please ask your parents when you get home. Those cassettes of Imam Siraj's khutbahs. When Imam Siraj is in the streets, shutting down those crack houses, cleaning people up, turning this place upside down in a good way, I don't think he knew the impact that he was having in those moments. But all of us are his students.

I say that without hesitation. His students, not necessarily in his khutbahs or in doing the exact work that he did, but we all learned something from his intense passion, sincerity, and love for the people. He wasn't driven by any vanity or social media. It didn't exist at the time or any type of recognition. It was an intense love for Allah, a love for the people. That's greatness in action.

Our Calling to Continue the Legacy

We have to honor that legacy and continue it (بإِذْنِ اللهِ تَعَالَى) bi-idhnillahi ta'ala by paying attention to the two common factors. Our circumstances will be different. Every year our circumstances... In fact, you're living in the same country and your circumstances are so different. You can be in the same city and your circumstances are so different. But the ni'mah of patience and the well of sincerity have to be the

constants in not just making any type of meaningful history, but honoring properly the history that came before you.

We ask Allah to bless our predecessors in khair, our predecessors in good, and to allow us to be a continuation of that good, and to allow us to be the inheritors of the greatness of the past and those that inspire the greatness in the future and not lose ourselves in the present.

Closing

Allahumma ameen, wa salla Allahu wa sallam 'ala nabiyyina Muhammadin wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam tasliman kathiran, jazakumullahu khayran O Allah,