Mending Fences, Building Bridges

Mending Fences, Building Bridges

Khutbah by Imam Siraj Wahhaj

Opening Greeting and Gratitude

As-salamu alaykum. (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem). Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen. Nakhmidu wa nastaeenu wa nastaghfiru wa nu'minu bihi wa natawakkalu alayh. Wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina wa min sayyi'ati a'malina. May yahdi Allah fa la mudilla lah, wa may yudlil Allah fa la hadiya lah. Wa nashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah, wahdahu la sharika lah. Wa nashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu amma ba'd.

To you my Imam Yusuf, the Malik, and my wonderful brothers and sisters, I'm thankful for Allah the Almighty to have the great honor and privilege to address you this afternoon inshallah at Masjid Aqsa in this part of Philadelphia.

A Brief Word on the Sunnah of Brevity

Our brothers and sisters, I just wanted to speak to you a few moments. My wife has been trying to teach me the sunnah. My wife has been trying lately to teach me the sunnah of being a little bit brief.

And I'm gonna shock you. You know, the brothers, I just came back from the San Francisco area just this morning. And they're pretty smart. I think they found the way of having me give short talks. I had to catch a flight last night about a half an hour after I began my talk. So I thought those brothers are very smart, make sure that I would definitely finish within a half an hour.

I don't have a flight to catch today to go back to New York City. But my wife has been telling me, she says, Imam, you speak too long. And she calls me Imam. And I said, Alhamdulillah, I'm going to try to shorten my talks. But this topic this afternoon is one that affects all of us. Mending fences and building bridges.

The Call to Action: Think of a Broken Relationship

But I want you to do something brothers and sisters. Because right now I want you to think about a relationship that you have that's not the best as it should be. My prayer is that as a result of this talk, that you do something when the talk is over, inshallah.

Allah the Almighty has given us the formula for building bridges and mending fences. What is the relationship now between you and your wife? Many of us, in fact unfortunately most of us, who have relationships, who have marriages, we have found that these marriages don't last. It's not unusual to see a Muslim brother and sister and ask the question after two months, are they still married? If you're having difficulty right now in your

marriage, I want you to take something inshallah that we're going to give this afternoon and take it home and to work on the relationship between your husband and your wife.

The Reality of Broken Relationships Among Muslims

If you now have and know a bad relationship that you have with another Muslim brother or sister, as we do, if you sit in my office and sit in the office of Shaykh Yusuf or any brother or sister who's working in the cause of Islam, how often imam do you find people everyday coming in your office with some bad relationship between one brother and another brother or another sister and another sister or between a brother and a sister? We want to begin to mend those fences. How many of you know different relationships between masjids and masjids? Some Muslims in one masjid have problems with Muslims in other masjids. In fact, if you look around the world, you find Muslims in conflict with each other.

And I think because we don't use what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given to us. So today I'm not going to give you anything heavy. I'm just going to bring a few ayahs from the Qur'an and few of the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam inshallah to show that the formula for building bridges is the same whether you're dealing with relationship, interpersonal relationships, nation to nation or even between husband and wife.

Faith in the Qur'an and Sunnah

And brothers and sisters, I know that this Islam works. I know it works. And I know it works for two reasons.

Number one, I have faith in the Qur'an. Every word of the Qur'an is the word of Allah the Almighty. And every hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is guidance from Allah.

And if we follow it and implement it, inshallah, we're going to have a better relationship. It is my opinion, brothers, respected brothers, mujahid, that most of us don't follow and use what we were given from Qur'an and sunnah. Most of us, in my humble opinion, I'm sorry, I know you're going to get angry at me, and you're going to throw tomatoes at me. But most of us, we merely quote the Qur'an and the hadith. And it's just like rhetoric. And I want to prove that to you today, inshallah.

Number one, I know it works. Because number one, Allah said it and His messenger said it. Number two, experience has taught us that.

Training the Next Generation of Leaders

I'm going to concentrate this afternoon for these few moments in ayat from the Qur'an. But before that, I want to mention something about developing young leaders. Abdurashid, I want to say this young brother here, Alhamdulillah Abdurashid, this past Friday, he gave khutbah at Masjid Taqwa. We have about 10 strong brothers that are coming behind us who are studying very hard, studying the sharia, studying Al-Quran, and studying the sunnah. And for the first time in his life, brother Abdurashid, he gave khutbah at the Masjid Taqwa.

I was right there by the way. I wasn't traveling, I wasn't gone, wasn't out of the city. The reason that I say that Sheikh Yusuf is that we're getting older. Well, maybe not so much you. But the rest of us, we're getting older, and we have to make sure that those who are coming behind us, Inshallah, can continue this deen. So, we're developing young brothers.

Alhamdulillah, some of the brothers who are with me today, all of them, brother Naim, Abdullah, and brother Jihad Abdulaziz, and brother Yusuf. All of these brothers are training. One other brother usually come with us, brother Abdul Nasir, Alhamdulillah, he's been giving khutbah in the prisons. And about 4 weeks ago, he was in Rikers Island, and he gave a khutbah, and 16 people took shahada. And Alhamdulillah, these are the brothers that are coming behind us. And I think that every imam have to take their responsibility and train those coming behind them.

A Lesson from Sheikh Ahmed Deedat

We received a lesson recently, and I've been saying for years that our great brothers like Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, who's going all around the world and taught this message, that this brother and others, Sheikh Jamal Badawi and others, have to train people coming after them. Because we're not going to be here forever. And as you know, I want you to make dua for our Sheikh Ahmed Deedat who had a stroke, I'm sure most of you know by now.

And he had a very devastating stroke that has left him completely paralyzed. And this is a brother that we love very much. If you really love him at this moment, the thing that he needs from us is our dua. And if you're going to make relationships better, between Muslims, build bridges, then one of the things that we have to do at least is to make dua for our brother, inshallah. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, whoever listens to this tape, to be sincere and make dua for our brother, Ahmed Deedat, inshallah.

The Qur'anic Foundation: Unity and Brotherhood

This ayah from the Qur'an is true:

Hold on all together by the rope of Allah, and be not divided. وَاذْكُرُوا And remember Allah's blessing on you. You were enemies, أَعْدَاءً You were definitely enemies. And by Allah's grace, He tied your hearts together so that you became brothers. فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا You became brothers.

I don't know about you. Everybody that I see here in this masjid today, I love. I love you. Believe it or not. But, if it had not been for Islam, probably 99% of you, I would not have known, nor would I have befriended.

A Personal Story: From Enemies to Brothers

You were enemies. And Allah, by His mercy, and His ni'mah, His blessings, He brought you together. I know it

worked because a long time ago, there was a young man named Jeffrey and a young man named Chris.

And they lived in Fort Greene Projects. And believe it or not, at a very young age, I'm talking five and six years old, both these young men were in a gang fight. And they used to fight against each other. Wallahi, at five and six years old, they were in a gang fight. They lived in the Fort Greene Projects in Brooklyn. And at that tender age, they used to fight against each other, Jeffrey and Chris.

You all know them. Jeffrey grew up and Chris grew up. Jeffrey grew up to become imam of Masjid-e-Taqwa, Siraj Wahaj. And Chris grew up to become the na'ib of Masjid-e-Taqwa, Abduroof Shakir. So somehow years later, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brought these two brothers together and they became the best of friends. كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ You were enemies, and Allah brought your hearts together.

The Challenge: Taking the Qur'an Seriously

And this is the verse that I'm going to use, inshallah, to prove that we can get our relationships together. Now brothers and sisters, I'm going to challenge you, jazakallah khair. I'm going to challenge you, I'm going to step on your feet. I'm going to say things inshallah that you may not even like. But inshallah, I pray to Allah that I can be a servant tonight when I speak, hopefully from His guidance for the next few moments, inshallah.

I've studied our relationships and it disheartens me to see Muslims especially fight against each other. This is to me is the worst thing. I've sat down trying to reconcile relationships between husband and wife and between brothers and sisters. And there's nothing on this earth that's worse than see Muslims fight.

The Profound Hadith on Love and Paradise

I'm going to take a very simple ayat, a very simple hadith of the Prophet Muhammad that we all heard, and a very simple hadith, and to show you how very profound it is. Because I've learned never to take for granted anything that Allah and His messenger says. Listen to this hadith, and we've heard it many times. But I bet you we didn't get the depth of it.

(Sahih Muslim 54)

Easy enough. No one shall enter paradise until you believe. Don't be confused about it. No disbelievers will be in paradise. لَا تَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا. You never go to paradise until you believe. وَلَا تُؤْمِنُوا حَتَّى تَحَابُّوا . And think about it. None of you will believe until you love each other. That should scare you.

Every Muslim, man and woman wants to go to jannah, everybody, everybody. First key, you have to believe. لا تَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا You shall never go to jannah until you believe. And you don't really believe until you love each other. But the sentence that comes after it, this is the key, subhanAllah.

أَوَلَا أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ إِذَا فَعَلْتُمُوهُ تَحَابَبْتُمْ؟ Shall I show you something that make you love each other?

The Brotherhood of Islam

Now, that should say something. I wanna learn how to love my brother. Because brother Aqeel, did you ever hear me tell you I love you? No, I'm telling you now that I love you brother. Really, Aqeel, Wallahi, I love you, not even a little bit. Even I think about you at times. And we're not funny, by the way, as Muslims. No, I tell you this, Aqeel, I wanna show you something.

Mujahid, come here for a second. Now, come on this side, Mujahid. You ever been to Harlem? Can you imagine two men walking down the street in Harlem holding hands? Or in the village? What would you say? But guess what? Abdul-Sabur would tell you, in Saudi, you see this all the time. They may even swing their hands walking down the street. Can you imagine? You know why? Because, I'm pushing you away now. So, is it that quick? Because you know why we love each other.

In Islam, Alhamdulillah, has changed the lives of everyone. African-Americans who become Muslims. Because we used to have this macho image. But Islam has softened up our hearts. And you know, I saw Imam Yusuf when I came in. And I walked over there, I saw him. And you know, Subhanallah, he gave me such a hug. And even from his voice, even from his voice, I felt the love. Wallahi. Even from the voice alone, I heard that, that love.

The Power of Salam

Shall I show you something that will help to increase the love between you? Because we want to become believers, and we want to go to Jannah. أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ بَيْنَكُمْ The Prophet said. Spread salams among you.

Now, I'm gonna make, I have a confession. Now listen, I want you to keep this between us now, right? I don't want this to go out this room, out this masjid. It's between us. Confession. Don't worry about the tape, maybe they get it blanked out.

When I first read that, you know, as much as I love the Messenger of Allah, and I believe every word he said, I said, come on, just giving salams is gonna make us love each other? Wallahi azeem. I swear by Allah, when I started like any other hadith of the Prophet, to think about it and ask Allah's guidance on it, it uncovered and unfolded the tremendous depth of wisdom in that statement. أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ بَيْنَكُمْ Spreading salams will help you love each other. Wallahi, it works. And I'm gonna prove it to you.

The Evidence: Returning Greetings

And by the way, you want to know the evidence? You want to know the dalil? For the proof of this? Yes, the Prophet is a proof within himself. The Prophet said it, it's true. The Prophet never spoke out of his own heart. It's nothing more than revelation revealed. So every word of the Messenger of Allah, every word of it, his wisdom and his guidance by Allah.

Consider this ayah from Qur'an:

A Lesson from the Sahaba: Competing in Goodness

Now the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ told his sahaba, that Allah will give a bigger reward for the Muslim who greets their fellow Muslim first. Right? Now what if I told you, brothers listen to me brother, according to the sharia, you get a bigger reward for giving the greetings first. He told that to his sahaba. And guess what they did? When each one of them saw each other, after the Prophet said this, you know what they did? What do you think they did? Huh? They what? Of course you would think that. They see him, As-salamu alaykum, I said it first. As-salamu alaykum, I did it first. As-salamu alaykum, As-salamu alaykum. Right? You would think they would do it first, right?

But no, they did the opposite. Each one of them wanted their brother to get a bigger reward, so when they saw each other, they waited for the other one to give the greeting first. That's how deep their iman was. Subhanallah.

But in Islam for us, to give the greetings first is a bigger reward. But yet, to return the greetings is fard.

Subhanallah, I started thinking about that. And wow, it hit me.

A Real-Life Example: The Power of Salam

I read this ayat, subhanallah. And all of a sudden, the Prophet's word had tremendous meaning. Afshu salama bainakum. Spread salam among you. I remember I was in, I think, Coney Island. And I went to a supermarket, a grocery store to buy some goods. And when I was in it, it looked like the owners were like Muslims. You know, sometimes you go in a store and you say, I think they're Muslims. And I put my stuff on the shelf, and he was putting them in the bag. And I said, As-salamu alaykum. He says, Wa alaykum as-salam. He says, You Muslim? I said, Yes.

And akhi, this brother started speaking to me, talking to me. He was smiling. And he said, No brother, you don't have to pay. I said, I'm gonna do this everyday. I'm gonna go to all the stores. As-salamu alaykum, I'm Muslim.

But you know what, the point of it, I didn't know him, he didn't know me. What started? As-salamu alaykum. That's all it was. As-salamu alaykum. Subhanallah akhi. You'd be surprised.

The Sunnah: Greeting Known and Unknown

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, To give salams to whom you know, and whom you don't know. Afshu salama baynakum. Spread salams among you, because when you spread the salam, something happens.

Arguments in Marriage: A Universal Reality

Now, I'm gonna ask you a personal question. I'm gonna get in your business. I'm gonna get into your business. Jihad? I'm gonna get right into your business now. I'll ask a question, be honest now. Dawood, you too. First of all, how many brothers are married? Raise your hand. All right. Ready? I'm getting in your business.

How many of you... Now, I know, but by the way, by the way, I know there's probably one or two brothers here not going to raise their hand, but the rest of us, we're gonna raise our hand. How many of you have ever had an argument with your wife? Raise your hand. That camera should get everybody, brother.

Now, you know something? You're gonna argue with your wife. Sheikh Yusuf is gonna get married, inshallah, in August. August, Sheikh? We want everybody. We want the whole world to know about it. You gonna have a waleema? Big waleema, inshallah. Yes, big waleema, yes. We can make it big. We wanna beat the drums. Sheikh Yusuf is getting married.

And Sheikh Yusuf, inshallah, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless you. We make dua that Allah bless you with a tremendous marriage. Everybody goes into marriage with great anticipation. And you're gonna be married. And you're gonna be happy. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keep you smiling, just the way you're smiling now. Next year, I wanna see the same smile on your face.

And you know something? But every once in a while, even the best of our relationships, we're gonna have arguments. Yeah. And Dawood, I don't care how great you are, brother. At some point, at some point, your wife

is gonna have an attitude with you. And you're gonna have one with her. That's just the way it is.

Even the Prophet Had Marital Challenges

Can I prove it to you? Is any of us better than Prophet Muhammad ﷺ? Any of us better than Aisha radiallahu anha? Uh-uh. That's a messenger of Allah. And Umm al-mu'minin. Mother of the faithful. Yeah, Aisha.

And Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said to Aisha, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said to Aisha, Ya Aisha. I know when you're pleased with me, and I know when you're not pleased with me. See, when you're pleased with me, you say, Yes, by the God of Muhammad. But when you're displeased with me, you say, No, by the God of Ibrahim. That's a messenger of Allah. Yeah.

Do you know that according to history, there were at least two times publicly, where the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was considering divorcing his wives. Yes. Right there in Qur'an. And even the sahaba even gave him nasiha, gave him advice regarding his wives. So even there was some contemplation, even of divorce, even surah tahreem, the 66th surah of the Qur'an, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, that if you put them off, if you divorce your wives, Allah will give you better. So even there's some discussion, and Allah makes it public for us to learn lessons from it.

Referring Back to Allah and His Messenger

So you're gonna argue at points. Now watch this. You see, here's where brothers, that our Islam comes to play, on everything that we do. See, because the key to our success is:

To refer everything back to Allah and the messenger. If you're a true believer in Allah and the Last Day, no matter what happens, you gotta go back to what Allah says. You gotta come to the obedience of Allah and the obedience of His messenger. You have to come back to it.

Did it ever happen to you that you had an argument with your wife and right in the heat of the moment, one would say to the other, As-salamu alaykum. I've seen it happen. And they don't return the salam. I said, As-salamu alaykum. You ain't gonna return the salams? I said, As-salamu alaykum.

Now, don't raise your hand, but... It's happened, hasn't it? No, wait a minute. I know that hasn't happened to any of you. I know that. You're the most beautiful Muslims and even in the heat of anger. And your wife said, As-salamu alaykum. You said, Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Yeah, I know. That's exactly what you do. Right.

The Magic of Returning Salam

But you ever notice that whenever there's a conflict between Muslims, so often one doesn't return salams. Why?

Because there's something magical about salams. As-salamu alaykum. Return the salams among you. Spread the salams. Give salams.

And you know why it's heavy? You know why it's deep? Because we haven't got a clue what As-salamu alaykum means. Yes. Bottom line. Bottom line. There's something powerful about returning the greeting. A better greeting, or at least return the greeting.

Repelling Evil with Good

And let me show you in my conclusion:

Good and evil are not the same. I don't care what anybody does to you. ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ Repel them with something better. What would happen? فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ And respond with something better. And it would be as if you two were close friends.

The key is how you respond. How you respond. How you respond. And the key is respond better.

The Prophet's Response to Insult

Look at this brothers and sisters. Our Messenger of Allah, there's no doubt about it. He was the Messenger of Allah. No doubt. Rasulullah, he's the Messenger of Allah. No doubt about it. Listen to this, brother. How you tell me, man, a Jew come to you and say السَّامُ عَلَيْكُمْ Death be upon you. السَّامُ عَلَيْكُمْ Death be upon you. You hear it and say, وَعَلَيْكُمْ

The human response is that when somebody does something to you that's evil, something wrong, you want to say the same thing. You want to do the same thing back to them. Whatever they did to you, whatever they said about you, you want now to do the same thing. And so a man and his wife is arguing now, and then everybody want to get the best of each other, and then everybody try to outdo each other in saying something bad about each other.

The Test of Patience

Quran, and we have made some of you as a trial for others. Will you be patient?

My message today, brothers and sisters, is simple. I want you to go back to your wife today, and sisters, go back to your husband, and repair that relationship with you, with them. Right now, some of you are on the brink of divorce. Some of you will be your first divorce. Some of you have been married and divorced twice, and three times, and four times. I don't know your business. But too many of us have been married too many times, and

auction.

We bought this building. We bid on it. I remember this handful of believers, about 25 of us. We sat in my apartment the night before the auction. This building was owned by the city. And we had agreed that we wanted to buy this building for our Masjid.

And it had a minimum upset value of $30,000, meaning that you have to bid at least $30,000. We had admitted, we had said that night that we would bid up to $90,000, that that would be our limit. We couldn't go beyond that. We got there to the place, to the auction. They were bidding on other property. Property was going from $500,000, $700,000, $800,000, $1,000,000, and (سُبْحَانَ ٱللَّٰهِ - subhanAllah).

I huddled with the believers who were there and I said, listen, we better go up on what we said that we're going to bid. And we said that we would go up to something like $150,000. So at least we have some hope that we can get this place. We wanted that place for our Masjid. Every property that was bid, there was some tremendous bidding going on, especially there were a lot of Koreans there, and they were buying up property in Brooklyn. They came to this property where Masjid al-Taqwa is.

And the auctioneer said, and Allah is my witness, and I sat there, I was making dua, and it's going to sound like a fairy tale. He said, minimum upset $30,000. Do I have $30,000? I said, upset, $30,000. He said, $30,000 going once, going twice, sold, $30,000. Wallahi Azeem. Wallahi Akhi, Wallahi. Wallahi. $30,000. The only property there that you got for the upset value.

And when it was over, an African-American, when it was over, an African-American man came to me, looked me in the eye and said, you know what? I wanted that property. But when I found out that the Muslims were bidding on it, I didn't want to bid against the Muslims. So this place, drug infested, Muslims get it for $30,000, we begin to clean up the area, drive out the drug dealers, people begin to come, offer $500,000, $600,000 for our property. They want to buy it.

We decided that we're going to renovate it. Alhamdulillah, we hired an architect. We're going to tear down our masjid and build it up again. Four stories. Our architect started working on some designs and he told us, by the time this structure's finished, when it's all over, you will be able to have your jumu'ah, are you ready for the numbers I'm about to give you? I challenged the people of Philadelphia. You'll be able to have 7,000 people.

And we intend, Inshallah, to have 7,000 worshippers for Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ - Subhanahu wa ta'ala) yawm al-jumu'ah. We grew from 25 people to 700, 800 people, jumu'ah. It grew.

Don't Tear Down Other Masjids

And over the years, I've seen all over, Muslims, fighting Muslims. I see Muslims leave in one masjid and go to another masjid. Imam Siraj, I want to come to your masjid. Because... No, brother, don't tell me. Because you bet... No, no, no. Don't tell me that. I don't go recruit in other masjids. I don't say, Brother, you know, come to Masjid Taqwa. I don't go to Germantown Masjid and say, Listen, brothers, sisters, or you want to come to a nice masjid, come to Brooklyn. We have this great masjid, Masjid Taqwa. I don't believe in doing that.

And Allah knows people over the years who've come from different masjids, I always try to tell them to work out with your imam. To work out the problems between your imams. Because you know what I found out? Everywhere you go, there gonna be problems. There's no such thing as a masjid, there was no problems. No such thing. Why? (وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ - wa ja'alna ba'dakum li ba'din fitnatan a tasbirun) Because I've made some of you as a trial for others. Will you be patient?

My message today, brothers and sisters, is this. Our masjid, Masjid Taqwa, been in existence for these since 1985, 81 rather. So, I imagine that's like, what? 17 years? 15, 16, something like that. Years? I don't think that our masjid is the best masjid in the world. I don't. Contrary to what people may try to tell you. No. Nor do I think that the imam, Imam Siraj, is the best imam. No. Not by a long shot. I have my blemishes. I've never seen any imam that's perfect.

And so, therefore, we have to be patient with one another. When you go around and travel throughout Philadelphia and throughout New Jersey and in New York, you're going to find in every masjid something not a hundred percent. Every community, every imam. Rather than tear each other down, why not build each other up?

The Strong Believer

A strong believer is better and more loved by Allah than a weak believer, but there's good in all of them. If you say, Imam Siraj and the members of Masjid Al-Taqwa are weak, okay, I accept that. Why not you help me become stronger? Give me that which I need to make me stronger. Don't go behind my back and behind the back of the believers at this masjid or that masjid and begin to tear them down. Why not? Help to build them up.

If you better, if you got better aqeedah than me, I agree. If you understand the deen better than me, I agree. If you have more ilm than me, I agree. Help me to get it. And you know how you have to help me to get it? You have to use this word called hikmah. And you have to be patient.

The City of Bridges

In my conclusion, how to help to build the bridges? I was in a city called Saskatoon, Canada. And (سُبْحَانَ ٱللَّٰهِ - subhanAllah), when a brother drove me from the airport, he said, Look Imam Siraj, look at that bridge over there. Look at that bridge there. And look at that bridge over there. And look at that bridge there. That city of Saskatoon is called the city of bridges. Everywhere you look, you see bridges. And on that day, coming from the airport in that city, I said that I want to be a brother to help to build bridges. That's where I want to be.

I would like to bring husband and wife together. Bring imams together. So wherever I go, Allah is my witness. Last week, Monday, I flew to Washington D.C. my own expenses. No, I didn't fly. I took Amtrak to Washington D.C. for one purpose and one purpose only. Somebody knew Imam Siraj and had a marital problem. Imam

Siraj, my in-laws respect you. I respect you. Please Imam, can you come to Washington D.C. to try to mend this fence and bring us together. I went there. They had a thunderstorm that day.

In the midst of us counseling them, all the lights went out. And it was so late that I decided to fly back to New York City that night on the last flight. I drove me to National Airport and you know what? All of the airlines closed down. So at midnight, I had to take a train back to New York City. The brother said, Imam Siraj, I'm going to pay for your travels. I said, No brother. Don't you pay me. I came because I wanted to see this young couple stay together. I love to see that brothers and sisters. I love to see us reconcile.

Proving the Ayah: From Enemies to Brothers

If we're going to reconcile, if the ayah of the Quran is truthful and it is (كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ - kuntum a'da'an fa allafa baina qulubikum) You were enemies. And Allah brought your hearts together. Let's prove it. But let's start to mend these fences. I have an assignment for everyone. I want you to think about right now a Muslim that you have some difficulty with. Be it your wife or brother in another masjid. And I want you to go to that brother today or that sister tonight and do something to try to bring the relationship together.

Brother Aqil, he mentioned this hadith about Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ - subhanahu wa ta'ala) holding up two people until they reconcile with each other. That everybody admits to paradise until these two people reconcile with each other.

Sahih hadith. Let's do that.

The True Meaning of Muslim

I close with this:

A Muslim is one whose other Muslims are saved by their hands and their tongue. You know what I learned? I can't look in the face, Aqil and say (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - assalamu alaikum) and then turn around and backbite you. It doesn't work. If you understand the meaning of (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - assalamu alaikum) Peace be upon you. (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ يَا حَبِيبِي - assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu ya habibi) Man Muslims jive. You say all of that. All those high sounding words. All those beautiful salams. But you didn't mean the salam? What the salam is a lie? If you say (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - assalamu alaikum) then mean (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - assalamu alaikum). Mean it.

That's the key. Return one better. Or at least the same. That's my message today brothers and sisters. Try it. Swallow your pride. Go to your wife tonight. Go to your husband tonight. And try to make the relationship good.

And you know what happens when the relationship is good? We mutually benefit each other. And that's the beauty. I love this brotherhood. And Allah is my witness. There's nothing on this earth better than the brotherhood of Islam.

Believers Are Brothers

We always say (إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ - innama al-mu'minuna ikhwatun) Believers are brothers. But how often we don't say what comes after it. (فَأَصْلِحُوا۟ بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ - fa aslihu baina akhawaikum) So make peace between your brothers.

The Exception to Lying

We're not supposed to lie. No. No. Don't lie. Lying is bad. I don't care what it is. Don't lie. If your landlord comes to you and say you owe two months rent. Don't lie. Say, yes I owe you two months rent. I'm not gonna run, I'm not hiding. I owe you two months. And I can't pay you. I'm not gonna pay you tomorrow. Check is not in the mail. I intend to have some money three months from now. I'll give you all your money. And I ain't running, I ain't hiding. I'm not afraid of nobody. I'll stand up to my responsibility. I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm not gonna lie to you. I owe you the money and I'm not running. And I'm not gonna hide. I'm not gonna lie for nobody. I owe you the money and I'll give it to you the best way I can. And if I have to pay you one dollar a week, I'll pay you one dollar a week by damn if I'm gonna lie to you.

But the prophet said it is not a lie when you reconcile two Muslim brothers with each other. You know brother, that brother you had a fight with last week, you know what he told me? He said, man, you're really a special brother. He said that about me? Yeah. You're a special brother. Wow. He said that about me? Yeah, you're a special brother. And you reconcile the hearts.

We do just the opposite. We backbite each other. We slander each other. And we cause enmity with each other. And by the way, I know I said in my conclusion, my wife gonna get me. But it's the last thing. It's the last thing. I just had a point. What did I just say? Huh? My wife gonna get me now. Before that one. She got me intimidated. Subhanallah. I lost it. Anyway.

Closing Du'a and Blessings

May Allah bless us and have mercy on us. And reconcile our hearts together. Not if you spent all the money on the earth could you have done it. But Allah has done it. May Allah bless us. Bless this masjid, Masjid al-Aqsa. And bless the imam and the board of directors for permitting us to come here tonight.

And I make dua for all of the imams. All of the imams in all of the masjids. In the metropolitan area, in Philadelphia, in New Jersey, in New York. In all of this metropolitan area. Ask Allah to make dua for every imam. Every imam. Allah bless those imams who have studied abroad and bless those imams with experience. Bless them to reconcile their hearts together for the pleasure of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ - subhanahu wa ta'ala). May Allah have mercy upon us and forgive us our sins.

Final Hadith: Show Mercy to Receive Mercy

And whoever doesn't show mercy, Allah will not give them mercy. Let us be merciful toward each other. Let us be patient. And let us use hikmah to bring about the reconciliation, building the bridges and mending the fences.

JazakAllah khairan. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.