Rise to the Top

Rise to the Top - Imam Siraj Wahhaj - MASCON 2019

Introduction and Welcome

Sheikh Yasir Birjas Jazakallahu Khayran, Sheikh Yasir Birjas for that powerful message. And may Allah make us all agents for change. Brothers and sisters, I am pleased to be your moderator for the next session titled, Rise to the Top.

It is our Islamic obligation and citizenship duty to establish our presence in where we are. And we are all here as either residents or citizens of the United States of America. And as I've heard my teacher say many times, it's in Arabic and I'll translate it (مَقَامُكَ حَيْثُ أَقَامَكَ اللهُ - Your station is where Allah placed you. مَقَامُكَ حَيْثُ أَقَامَكَ اللهُ)

And today we have a pillar of the Muslim community in the United States, Imam Siraj Wahaj sharing words with us. Imam Siraj Wahaj is a speaker, is a leader of the Muslim community across the United States who really needs no introduction. He is the Imam of Masjid Taqwa in New York and is well known across North America and across many other places of the world. He contributes and supports many causes and we're blessed and honored to have him today to come share a few words with us on this topic. So I'd like to ask you all to give him your full and undivided attention after you join me in welcoming Imam Siraj Wahaj. Peace be upon you.

Opening Remarks: A Call to Action

In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate, all praise is due to Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. All right, the conference is almost over. Some of you will be leaving tonight, some of you tomorrow. But my question for you, what are we going to do? What have we learned these two days that we're going to implement?

The Path Forward: Confidence and Humility

My advice is to be confident and to be humble. I'm going to quote an ayat from Quran and from a famous person of the West, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said, if a man can build a better mousetrap, or preach a better sermon, or write a better book, though he builds his house in the woods, then the world will make a beaten path to his door.

What are we going to do when we get back to Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, what are we going to do? So Allah puts it this way (فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ - Then strive all together as in a race toward all that is good.) (Quran 2:148) Compete with one another.

The Excellence of Prophet Ibrahim

A man said to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Ṣallá Alláhu 'alayhi wa sallam) يَا خَيْرَ الْبَرِيَّةِ - Oh best of creation. What did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه)

وسلم say? He said (ذَاكَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ - That's Ibrahim). And I asked myself the question, why did he say that? According to the scientists, there have been about 100 billion people on the Earth from the very beginning. 100 billion people.

On the Day of Judgment, everybody will be resurrected. (كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ - Every soul shall taste of death) (Quran 3:185) and everyone will be resurrected. And the Prophet said, The first one to be dressed on Yawm al-Qiyamah is Ibrahim (عليه السلام)

When I used to be a Christian, I read something in the Bible that I found in the Quran that God did take Abraham as a friend. Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Ṣallá Alláhu 'alayhi wa sallam) said, One prayer in my masjid is better than a thousand prayers in any other masjid (إِلَّا الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ - except Masjid al-Haram). (Sahih Bukhari 1190) And that prayer, one prayer in masjid haram is better than 100,000 prayers in any other masjid. Ibrahim (عليه السلام) is someone special.

And the Prophet said, I am the da'wah to Ibrahim. I am the answer to the supplication of my father Abraham. That's his father.

Lessons from Ibrahim: Blessings Through Him

Now brothers and sisters, I read other literature, I listen to other preachers. And there is a televangelist, his name is John Hagee. He gave a speech and I'm listening to the speech. And he said, I'm going to quote from the Bible, from the 12th chapter, Genesis, the 12th chapter and the 3rd verse. And this is what he said, I quote. And God said, whoever blesses Israel, God will bless. And whoever curses Israel, God will curse. And I said, wait a minute, I read the Bible, I don't remember that. But I'm like this, if you tell me something is there, I'm going to check.

Would you like to know what I found out when I went to Genesis, the 12th chapter and the 3rd verse? Would you like for me to tell you what I saw? Listen to what it said. And tonight when you go back, you can check. It said this, Abraham, whoever blesses him, God will bless. And whoever curses him, God will curse.

Every Muslim that prays every day, never makes a prayer except he mentions Abraham in his prayer. Why did the prophet say that to Abraham? I found one verse in the Quran, and that's the answer. How does it relate to us? And then I close. And when we tested Abraham with some tests, he passed every test.

Our Test: Muslims in America

We here, Muslims in America, 5 million, 6 million, 7 million, are tested every day. Therefore, blessed be in him in whose hand is the dominion of the heavens and the earth, I created death and life to test you to see who is best in conduct. Just serve the people. Don't try to be the leader. Just serve the people and allow it to elevate you.

Example of Service: The Story of Ismail

I'll give you a couple of examples. Have you ever been to Dallas, Texas? The next time you go to Dallas, Texas, I want you to visit a masjid called Dallas, the Masjid al-Islam in Dallas, Texas. African-Americans, downtown Dallas. Every Saturday and Sunday, they have a program of feeding the poor. Poor people come to that masjid every Saturday and Sunday to get food. And also they give clothing. And when you go to Dallas and that masjid, I want you to ask about a brother. I'm going to tell you his name in a minute.

I met him when I was in Dallas. He told me that his mother died when he was 4 years old. He was in and out of prison. He was homeless for 10 years. And he said every Saturday and every Sunday, he would go to that masjid to eat food. He depended upon it. And when he was in prison, someone recommended that he go to the Richardson Masjid. He went to the Richardson Masjid, and alhamdulillah, he took shahada. Today, his name is Ismail.

Ismail, after becoming a Muslim, began to work for himself. And he started a cleaning business. And he went into Walmart and had a contract with 50 Walmarts. He had 15 employees working for him at a yearly contract of $1,700,000 because he believed in himself, he believed in Allah, and he worked hard.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Yes, it's a test. We're not going to win over the people by what we say. We're going to win over the people by what we do. If they spend $9 billion a year to advertise alcohol and cigarettes, then we must be willing to invest $9 billion to teach the people not to do it.

In my city in Brooklyn, New York, there's a Muslim store owned by Muslims and the workers are Muslims. One day, I went into that store and I noticed a sign that I'd never seen before. I got excited. The sign said, no alcohol sold here. Man, I was excited. No alcohol sold here. A Muslim store, no alcohol. And then I read the sign again. It said, no alcohol sold here on Sundays before 2 p.m.

You want to make a difference in America? Let us stop getting rid of the internal contradictions. Yes, we want to have an impact on America.

The Test We Face Daily

And I want to end with an observation that the Prophet made, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. When the man said to him, I get it. Every country I go to, every state, every city that I visit, the first thing I ask the organizers who bring me, which is the direction of the Qibla, which is the direction of the house that Abraham built. Test.

Two years ago, Kansas City, a 70-year-old man walks in a bank and hands the teller a note saying, I have a gun, put money in the bag, and the teller put $3,000 in the bag. That 70-year-old man, instead of walking out the bank, he went into the lobby and sat down in the lobby of the bank. Within two minutes, the police came. And you could have anticipated the police would come because the precinct is only one-half block from the bank.

And when the police came, he handed them the money and said, I'm the man that you're looking for. And they searched him. And there was no gun.

So he stood in front of the judge, and the judge said, what is this? This is no robbery. Why did you do it? He said, Your Honor, I would rather go to jail than spend one more night with my wife. It's a true story. He was just sentenced recently. And whenever you give a punishment it should be suitable for the crime. So the judge gave this 70-year-old man six months home confinement. I know you're probably thinking I'm making this up, right? Like, this is a joke. No, it's a joke. It's not a joke. For the record, this man reconciled with his wife.

Our Work and Responsibility

So we have work to do when you go back to our cities. What are you going to do? You're going to show the face of Islam. You see, brothers and sisters, they're going to write bad things about you. They're going to say bad things about Linda, our sister whom I love, by the way. I want the world to know that I love Sister Linda. And I'm with her. She's a soldier. I am with her. If you are against Sister Linda, you're against me.

The Growth of Islam in America

Now, let me finish. Let me tell you something about Muslims that you probably don't know. There are some 350,000 Muslims in the prisons of the United States. Some of them converted while in prison, like Malcolm. Some of them were Muslims who made a mistake. But what you probably don't know, every year, between 35,000 and 40,000 inmates take shahada and become Muslims.

All over America, you see signs of Islam growing. Right here in Chicago, you remember Dr. Ahmed Sakr? Rahimullah, you remember him? He told me that when he came from Lebanon and came here to Chicago, he said the first Eid prayer, there were three people, him and two other brothers. Now, you see Eid prayer in Chicago, 5,000 people here, 15,000 people there. And you want to hear something remarkable? In Birmingham, United Kingdom, last year, they had Eid prayer in a park in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Eid prayer in a park. And you know how many people prayed Eid prayer in Birmingham, United Kingdom? 140,000 Muslims.

Everywhere you go, you see the sign of Islam. New York City, my city, 1,300,000 Muslims, over 400 masjids, 35 full-time Muslim schools. You see the growth of Islam everywhere you go. Muslims buying churches, Muslims buying synagogues and filling them up. But despite that, we still have some trials and some difficulties.

The Humility of Prophet Muhammad

So what's the message? When you go back home, I want to give you a hint. The Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, was humble when he said, I can give you a compelling argument that the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, is... Let me give you a couple, and then I close.

Consider this. On Yawm al-Qiyamah, that great day, the day of trials and tribulations, all of mankind will look at themselves, and it's interesting, they won't go to political leaders. They won't go to kings and prime ministers. They will not go to military leaders. They will not go to scientists. But who will they go to? They will go to the Prophets.

The first one that they will go to is Prophet Adam, peace and blessing be upon him. Say, You are the father of mankind. And they will say things about him, Allah created you out of his own hand, breathed into you the spirit, put you in the Jannah. And Adam will say, Oh, myself, myself, myself. I'm not fit for it. Go to Noah. People will go to Noah. He will say, I'm not fit for it. Ibrahim will say, Musa will say, Go to someone else, go to Isa. And Isa will say, I'm not fit for it. And Muhammad will say, I'm the one, I'm the one. And he will intercede on our behalf. (Sahih Bukhari 7510)

Following the Path of Ibrahim and Muhammad

Can I give you another one? Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him. Allah mentioned in Quran, Be a Christian or a Jew if you're going to be guided aright. Allah says to Muhammad in Quran, Say this, Muhammad. Know the religion of Abraham. Yes, he did. He said that.

But Allah also mentioned in the Quran, How many of you love Allah? Raise your hand. How many of you think that Allah loves you? Raise your hand. May Allah make it happen. May you love Allah, may Allah love you. But Allah puts it in the Quran in this way (قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ - Say If you really love Allah as you claim فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ - Then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.) (Quran 3:31) Then Allah told the Prophet to say, follow me. And if you follow me, Allah will love you. And forgive you your sins.

More Examples of the Prophet's Humility

Yes. We got a lot of work to do. We're going back home. And let me give you one more. If you're not convinced yet, Of the humility of the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him. Because if you understood him, You would know he's always deferring to some other Prophet.

For instance, Someone asked the Prophet, Who is the most honorable of people? He could have said, me. But he didn't say me, he said Yusuf. The most honorable is Yusuf. A Prophet, and the son of a Prophet, And the grandson of a Prophet, And the great grandson of a Prophet.

Every human being that is born, the Prophet said, Is touched by Shaytan at birth. Except two people. Every human being that is born, Is touched by Shaytan at birth. Except two people. Who are the two people? Jesus and his mother Mariam. (Sahih Bukhari 3286)

Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, Is always deferring to some other Prophet. For instance, he said, The best prayer to Allah, Is the prayer of David. And the best fast to Allah, Is the fast of David. (Sahih Bukhari 1979) He could have said me. I have the best prayer, I have the best Salat.

And finally, if you're not convinced yet, I give you this one, and I walk off the stage. This one is the best prayer to Allah, This one here should convince you. People will be judged, By Allah on Yawmul Qiyamah. And the Prophet said, I will knock at the gate of Jannah. And the angel will say, Who are you? Who are you? I will say, I am Muhammad. And the angel will say, Because of you, I was commanded, Not to let anyone into Jannah before you. (Sahih Muslim 197) That's our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him.

Emulating the Prophet: The Key to Change

We can't just talk about him, Unless we emulate him. Charles Caleb said, Imitation is the sincerest of flattery. You want to flatter someone, Then you imitate them. The Prophet said, Whoever imitates a people is of them. (Sunan Abu Dawud 4031) I don't want to be like nobody, Except Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him. And if we be like Muhammad, We would change this society.

Closing Story: Fix the Man, Fix the World

Finally, I say this, One day, Yawmul Jum'ah, The Imam is preparing his Khutbah, his sermon. And he had a problem. His problem was that his wife Decided to go shopping, And leave their five-year-old son Home with the Imam. So the wife, she left. The Imam went and got a magazine, And he started thumbing through the pages of the magazine, Until he found what he's looking for. He saw a picture Of the map of the world. And he tore the picture into little pieces. And he said to his son, Son, I'm going to give you a puzzle. If you get this puzzle right, I'll give you a dollar. And his son said okay, And the Imam whipped on his sermon, He said, I got rid of him.

In a couple of minutes, The son comes back With the map of the world perfectly put together. All the oceans, the rivers, the trees, the nations, Everything perfectly put together, And the Imam is puzzled. He said, you're five years old, son, How do you do that? He said, dad, it was easy. Because he was looking on the other side Of the map of the world, And there was a picture of a man, And he put the man together. His father gave him a dollar and said, Son, thank you for giving me my sermon for today. Put the man together, And the world will automatically come together.

Final Call to Action

We got a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. Wallahi, I have faith in you. But be confident. Be humble. Keep our eyes focused on Quran, And the prophetic hadith of the Prophet, May Allah bless MAS. You know what I learned about the brothers of MAS? They're different from the brothers Of ICNA and ISNA and CAIR. Almost all the brothers of MAS are like heavy. Like really strong. I noticed there were five brothers from MAS in the back, And all of them were muscular. May Allah bless MAS and all of our Muslim organizations. Let us work together for Allah.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah.