The True Spirit of Islam

The True Spirit of Islam

By Imam Siraj Wahhaj

Opening Salutation and Praise

Peace be upon you. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah.

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. We praise Him, we ask His help, we ask His forgiveness, we believe in Him, and we trust in Him. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls, from the evil of our deeds.

نحمده ونستعينه ونستغفره ونؤمن به ونتوكل عليه ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا

Whomsoever He guides to the right path, none can misguide him, nor whosoever He decrees to be guided to the wrong path, none can guide him. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

من يهده الله فلا مضل له ومن يضلل فلا هادي له ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمداً عبده ورسوله

A Lesson from a Young Child

This is the invitation of the Imam, for me to come to work with you tonight. Imam Notre Dame, two weeks ago, I was on a plane coming from New York on U.S. Air, and at LaGuardia Airport, on my way to Jacksonville, Florida. And in the back of me was a young mother, and she had a young boy named Alex, about three years old. And the reason that I remembered his name, because the mother repeatedly, during the trip said, Alex, sit down, Alex, don't do this, Alex, don't do that.

And you know how children can be at that age, into everything. And then finally, after the mother said, Alex, don't do this, finally Alex said, but mommy, why? And she said, Alex, just because I say so. And there is something about the nature of a mother and father, that they know instinctively, that they have the right to tell their child what to do.

They don't have to read it in the manual. They know by nature that the child is supposed to obey them, the mother and the father, they know that. And also the child knows that whatever it needs, it must seek it from the parent.

And look, when the child is born, immediately, when the child comes out, it searches for the mother's breast, so that it can nourish itself.

The Command of Allah and Trusting Him

I use that as an introduction for what I want to say to you tonight, by the graces of Allah. Allah tells us to do so many things, as Muslims. And sometimes our children don't understand and ask the question, well mom and dad, why do I have to dress like this? Why can I not go to the prom? Why can I not do, why do I have to, why? And sometimes we have to say, well, just because Allah said it, entrust Allah.

The Significance of Repetition in the Quran

Brothers and sisters, you can tell oft time the significance of something, based upon how many times it's repeated. I wonder, do you know which word in the Quran, this 114 chapters, which word is repeated more often than any other word? You will find a word in the Quran that's repeated so much and no other word comes near it.

And that is the name Allah. Then Allah must be significant. Some 3000 times in the Quran, just Allah alone, Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, over and over again, he repeats his name all throughout the Quran.

And it's interesting to note, that the word after the name of Allah, that most often appears in the Quran, is the word knowledge and its derivatives. Almost a thousand times, Allah repeats the word in the Quran, ilm, alam, ulema, ta'lamu, a'lam, all of these things, knowledge and its derivatives. First the name of Allah, and then knowledge.

علم، عالم، علماء، تعلمون، أعلم

The Spirit of the Community for the Future

Today brothers and sisters, I'm going to offer to you what I believe should be the spirit of our community in the next 1000 years. I often wonder what tomorrow will be like. Sometimes I think and wonder, when my little Sejda, my youngest daughter is 30 years, what will this country be like? I wonder 500 years from now and if we're still around, what would this world be like? The truth brothers and sisters, none of us have the ability to know exactly what will happen tomorrow. For Allah reveals in Quran:

(31:34 2 Quran) وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَّاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا

And no soul knows what it will earn tomorrow. Today you're rich, tomorrow you're poor. Today you live in a nice home, tomorrow you're homeless. Today you're married to a wonderful man, tomorrow you're a widow. You have great parents today, tomorrow one of them or both of them are gone.

You have children today, but tomorrow some of them will go because Allah will take them away, because that's the nature of this life. And whenever you begin to hold on to things in this life, Allah lets you know that nothing is permanent but Him. And so all your life you learn to love things.

And as soon as you get real close, Allah snatches away from you. Just to let you always know to remember to be humble and that you always put your trust in Allah. Not money, not material things, but in Allah.

Commending the Community and Sister Clara Muhammad School

So what will the future be like? I want to first commend Imam Nurdin and the beautiful believers at Masjid Ansar and Sister Clara Muhammad School. Imam I have to say this, I have been to a few places. And I have never received the hospitality that I received from you since I've been here, it's unbelievable.

Honestly, I mean, I can't make this up. They're at Tariq and Jihad, actually, you know, they said, Imam we want to make sure you have some water. They gave me 18 bottles of water. Pastries, fruits, even a watermelon yesterday. Oh, what a night. And Imam, the hospitality has been really immaculate. You almost make me think about almost wanting to stay for a minute.

I want to commend the entire school system at Sister Clara Muhammad School because one of the longest running full time schools in America is Sister Clara Muhammad School. That's a fact.

The Importance of Surah Al-Fatiha

Now tonight I'd like to share with you what I think should be the spirit of the community. You know something's, it's significance by how many times it's repeated. Indeed, the first chapter of the Qur'an is called As-Sab'ul-Mathani.

السبع المثاني

That means the seven oft-repeated verses. This chapter Al-Fatiha, the opening book of the Qur'an is so significant that a Muslim must recite this chapter every prayer and every rakah. And if you don't recite Al-Fatiha, then there is no prayer.

لا صلاة - No prayer unless you recite Surah Al-Fatiha. Is that right? Then that must mean that this chapter is significant because it's repeated so often, the oft-repeated prayer. And there's something else that's important in the Qur'an that's repeated a few places.

And that's going to be the basis of my discussion tonight, Inshallah. And I don't want you to worry because I have developed over the years the habit of making my talk short. Imam, you should be happy. The day of long speeches from this guy is finished, Inshallah.

The Story of Iblis and Adam

But I want to bring something to your attention brothers and sisters. Because I think I've been studying an imam for many many years. And I think just now I'm beginning to understand some of it.

A long time ago, when Allah created the first man Adam, alayhi salat wa salam, and his wife. Immediately from the very beginning, Allah gave this man Adam and his wife great honor. And Allah told all the angels to bow down to Adam. And they did, every one of them. But there was somebody who wasn't an angel, a jinn called Iblis.

That Allah also ordered him to bow down to Adam. But he refused to bow down to Adam and he was arrogant. And I want you to think along with me. Allah gives everyone an opportunity to express themselves. And that's a good lesson for parents. Allah allows everyone to express themselves.

Allah asks Iblis:

(7:12 Quran) قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ

What prevented you from prostrating when, and this is the key, when I ordered you to?

(7:12 Quran) قَالَ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ

He said, I am better than him. You created me of fire and him you created of mud. I'm better than him.

The Creation of Shaytan

And this brothers and sisters, began the creation and the making of Shaytan the devil. Notice, you never read in the Quran Shaytan from the beginning, you read Iblis. Because he became Shaytan, based upon his challenge to Allah.

And so all of his life now, this Shaytan is obsessed with the idea, that I am better than this man, I refuse to bow down to him, and I'm gonna prove to you that this man is unworthy. I'm gonna prove it to you, that this man Adam, this human being, he doesn't have the right to be better than me. And so everything that man does, Shaytan is there trying to take him from the right path, trying to prove to him, trying to prove to Allah, that we as human beings are unworthy of the great honor that Allah has given to us.

This is repeated few times in the Quran. So then that must mean, that is significant. And let me try in the next few moments inshallah, to show you its significance, and what that has to do with us tonight, in raising funds for Sister Clara Muhammad's school.

The Irony of Iblis's Arrogance

You know the irony? The irony is that Shaytan or Iblis thought himself better, and listen to what Allah said, after Iblis refused to bow, Allah said:

(7:13 Quran) فَاخْرُجْ مِنْهَا فَإِنَّكَ مِنَ الصَّاغِرِينَ

Get out! You are of the lowest. Get out of here! Because even though you think you better, in reality you're worse. Why? Because no matter what you think of yourself, you gotta go back to Allah's commandment.

The Wisdom of Allah's Command

Let me show you the wisdom of this. You know Imam, there are sisters that we're married to, Allah knows are smarter than us. Now brothers, I'm not talking about you all. Necessarily. But they are. Some sisters have PhDs, college degrees, Allah bless them, they're very intelligent.

I have a very intelligent wife. And I recognize that. And I learned from her. I hope you do the same thing. But yet even though they may even have more knowledge than sometimes their husbands in certain ways, but Allah tell the man that:

(4:34 3 Quran) الرِّجَالُ قَوَّامُونَ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ

Men are the heads of the households. Right? So sister, she says, you know what? You're my husband and I give you some advice, but still I respect you because you're the head of the household. Why? Because Allah gave you that.

Respecting Authority

You see, Allah has given you Imam. Sometimes Imam, sometimes we give him khutbah. Brothers sitting there. I can do that. I can do better than Imam. Shoot. Have to listen to Imam. Yeah. I graduated from Sunset School. He didn't. I'm better than him.

Shaytan. Shaytan is talking to you. Because no matter what you think, Allah told you to obey the Imam. So you do it. And if you do it, Allah will bless you. And if you submit to Allah, Allah will elevate you.

If you submit to Allah, Allah will elevate you. But if you're going to fight and then, now you're going to prove that he's unworthy. Like Shaytan. And you're going to go around now, trying to do everything to undermine the man.

Someone said, you know, I love the Imam. You don't know him like we know him. Now, I know that I'm not talking about Miami, Fort Lauderdale. I'm not talking about you all. Everybody here is straight. Yeah, I'm talking about the other people.

So don't think I'm, no, I'm serious. Don't think I'm talking about you all. And the beautiful thing about me, Imam, I don't know none of your business. You know what I mean? I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I'm just talking.

The Stories of the Prophets

Now, brothers and sisters, I come to what I want to say tonight. This was an introduction to what I really want to say. When you get an opportunity, I want you to pick up the fourth volume of Sahih Bukhari. In a section called, Kitab al-Anbiya, The Chapter of the Prophets.

كتاب الأنبياء

I had the opportunity, Imam, to read every hadith in that volume about the prophets. Every word. And I learned something very valuable that I'd like to share tonight, which I believe should be the right spirit of the future.

Praying and Working with Trust in Allah

One of my friends named Sharif, lives in Arizona, told me one day, he says, Siraj, we should pray as if everything depends on Allah. And it does. I mean everything. See, you think that you can earn bread, but you can't. If Allah doesn't allow you.

We take so many things for granted. Every breath that we take, we take for granted. But just let Allah stop the air from coming. Let Allah stop the rain, which He has, from what I understand. Let Him stop the crops from growing. All these things that you take for granted, just let Allah stop it.

So everything you do, you have to ask Allah. Even when a man sleeps with his wife, to ask Allah, she has to ask Allah. Because take nothing for granted. Everything you do, you have to ask Allah. And so if you're talking about the future, every day, every year, every millennium, every thousand years, every ten thousand years, every million years you plan, ask Allah for everything, every morsel bread. He says, pray to Allah because it depends on Allah and it does.

But then he said, Siraj, work as if everything depends on you. See, you're working as if everything depends on you. You're working as if, but you know it depends on Allah. You have to ask Him and then you gotta go to work. And then you gotta plan, even though it may never come into existence, you have to plan. And let me tell you why.

The Uncertainty of Life

I don't know what tomorrow will bring.

And nobody even knows the land that they're gonna die. I know a brother, friend of mine, born in Pakistan, moved to America and became a doctor in the city of Detroit. We made Hajj and he died in Mecca. Born in Pakistan, living in America, dying in Mecca.

You don't know where you're gonna die. And by the way, that's why you be careful where you go. Because you don't wanna die in a crack house. You don't wanna die in a whore house. Nobody knows. See, Allah does that to you.

When you run and hide and sneak around, Allah is the manifester. And so whatever you do in the dark, Allah bringing it to light. And you don't know where you're gonna die, what you do and what circumstance.

And that's why you have to try to live your life right. Because Allah can take you any moment. Nobody knows the future. But yet we have to plan.

Questions About the Prophets

I read all of the verses in the hadith about the prophets. Imam, I was in California, UCLA, and I gave a test to the students. And I gave the same test to the students at University of Toronto. And I came back to New York, I gave the students there the same test. And in another city.

And I would like to give some of that test tonight, inshallah. If you know the answer, I want you to raise your hand. Or if you think you know the answer.

Question One: Who Was Untouched by Shaytan at Birth?

Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, taught us that every human being that's born, every one of them, everyone is touched by shaytan at his birth. Except two people. If you think you know the answer, the two exceptions, raise your hand.

If you think you know the answer. Just raise them up. Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said that every human being that's touched, that's born, born is touched by shaytan. Except two people.

Jesus and his mother, Mary. You should ask the question, why? This is a very literal audience. If you go in the Quran, you will understand the significance of grandmothers. And the answer lies within the Quran, in the dua of the grandmother Jesus. I'll let you study that yourself.

You see it's right there. Plain black and white. Oh, grandmothers. Very powerful.

The Day of Resurrection

I look at us tonight, how well dressed we are. Our beautiful dresses and our beautiful suits. Very nice. But guess what? In a few days, when we die, all of these great finery of clothing, we won't take with us. And for sure, we will be resurrected, for sure.

And guess what? Everybody, without any exception, will be resurrected naked. Am I right? Come on now, am I right? Naked. Same way you came in. You think you're going out with something? You came in naked.

Remember or you forgot? You came in with nothing. Remember all that money you got, the job you have, the home you have, the clothing you have, the children you have, the money you have, the bank account you have.

When you came in, you had nothing. And when you go out, you have nothing. You'll be resurrected naked.

Aisha, the wife of the prophet said, aren't the men and women going to look at each other? He said, no, not that day. You'll be too busy worrying about what's going to happen to you with your Lord. See, you ain't going to be looking at no, oh, look at that. Not that day, brother, trust me.

Question Two: Who Will Be First Clothed?

But guess what? Even though we will be resurrected naked, we will be clothed. Question number two. Who will be the first human being clothed on the day of resurrection? If you think you know the answer, raise your hand. Yes, ma'am.

Prophet Ibrahim, yes, alayhi salat wa salam, will be the first human being that is clothed on the day of judgment. Allahu Akbar. Why? Don't ask me why. You got a way to ask you.

Question Three: Who Will First Regain Consciousness?

Number three. When the horn will be blown for the first time, every human thing, everything alive will lose consciousness. And when the horn is blown a second time, who will be the first one to arise from consciousness or into consciousness? Brother, raise your hand. Yes. No. Good guess.

If you think you know the answer, same sister. Nam? Prophet Muhammad? Allahu Akbar. Wrong. That's a good guess. Yes. Prophet Musa, alayhi salat wa salam, Prophet Moses will be the first one to arise from consciousness.

I can tell you why. That I can tell you. But I won't. No, because we don't have time. I just want you to just come along with me for a moment. I'm making a point here.

Question Four: Whose Prayer Is Most Beloved?

The Qur'an mentions the prophets. In one person in the Qur'an Allah mentioned, Allah spoke to directly. That was Prophet Musa. Finally, my last question. Which prayer of what person is most beloved by Allah? Of all of the people in creation, whose prayer is most loved by Allah? If you think you know the answer, raise your hand. Yes, ma'am.

Huh? Okay, crying believer, that's good. Now I want a specific name. Sister. Allahu Akbar. Prophet Dawood. Correct.

Listen to what the Prophet said. And all of these things, sisters and brothers, they have meaning.

(Sahih Bukhari 1131)

The most beloved prayer to Allah is the prayer of Prophet David. Prophet Dawood. Why? Because he used to sleep half the night, stand up in prayer one third of the night, and go back to sleep one sixth of the night. But why? What's the reason? What's the wisdom?

Question Five: Who Is the Most Honorable?

Someone asked the Prophet:

مَنْ أَكْرَمُ النَّاسِ - Who is the most honorable person?

He said, Yusuf. Joseph. A prophet and the son of a prophet and the grandson of a prophet and the great-grandson of a prophet. Prophet Yusuf or Joseph.

The Prophet's Humility

Now brothers and sisters, I conclude. Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said that none of you must say that I'm better than Jonah. And he who says, listen, he who says, I, me the prophet, is better than Jonah is a liar.

It's in the Hadith. And Imam, I put all these together. And I said, I got it.

The Spirit We Must Have

The spirit that we must have in this community must be the same spirit as the prophets. And not the spirit of Shaytan. What do you mean by that? Our Prophet didn't say, I'm the most honorable, I'm, me, me, me, I, me, like Shaytan, like Iblis, Ana, me.

Me - أَنَا

This is where you begin to fall when you say, me, me, me, me, Ana, Ana, me. What happened to Nahnu? What happened to Allah? First and foremost. And I said, Ah, now I got it Imam.

نَحْنُ - We

I got it. I think I understand a little bit in my conclusion.

Every Bone Gives Charity

I read something that the Prophet said, alayhi salat wa salam, that really affected me. He said:

(Sahih Bukhari 2989)

You know what that means? He said, every bone, every bone of a human being is responsible to give charity every day that the sun rises. You didn't hear what I said, did you? He didn't say every human being has to give charity. He said, every bone of a human being has to give charity every day that the sun rises.

And then I think I realize now that whatever I think I have done to make a contribution to Islam is really very very very very very small. I mean, think about it. I know we pray five times a day you know, kind of think we're doing something. But it's not much compared to what Allah has given to us. We don't really give back what we should.

Giving Back to Allah

The thing that I've learned, Imam, in my studies is that whatever Allah gives you you have the responsibility to

give something back. I mean more than zakat. I mean more than a portion of your salary. You know what I mean? I mean if Allah gives you sleep give some back.

This is why the prayer of Dawood was so great. Because if the average person slept six hours he would sleep four hours and pray two hours. See? While you're in the bed sleeping at night it's a blessing. Sleep is a blessing. You're tired and you sleep and some people don't want to get up but as a Muslim you have to get up even though you're tired. You have to get up before the sun rises.

You have to get your children up. They have to get up. Come on, we got to get up. We got to worship Allah. You got to get up. You got to get up every day. You got to get up every morning. You got to get up. Come on, you got to get up.

You teach them five, six, seven years old. Come on. Where you going? We got to worship Allah. Come on, let's get up.

So Allah give you food. We had this wonderful food tonight. Wonderful dinner. So whatever He gives you you got to give something up. So every year here come Ramadan. You give up. He give you food. So I say, Okay Allah, I'm not going to take everything. Ramadan for the whole month. During the daylight hours I'm going to give it back to you.

Allah give you a wonderful, beautiful wife. Say, Allah, thank you for my wife. I'm going to give it up. Ramadan for you. So whatever Allah give you, Allah give you time then you give back some time to the masjid. Allah gave you a mind, a beautiful mind, an intelligent mind. Give something back.

Allah give this young girl a beautiful body. She looks beautiful. What she do? She cover up for Allah. She shows her gratitude to Allah.

Shaytan's Challenge: Ingratitude

And go back now to the challenge of shaytan. Know what he said?

You will not find most of them grateful.

So the whole idea with shaytan, the devil, is to make the people ungrateful to Allah. And that's why all these people, they're ungrateful for all that Allah has given to them. And they turn their backs on Allah.

Finding the Good in Others

And so brothers and sisters, I close with this. Imam I say to you:

أَنْتَ خَيْرٌ مِنِّي - You are better than me.

I'm not trying to be better than anyone else. I'm trying to find my place. And now I go and look in my brothers and sisters and I find something in them better than me. Because all of them have something in them better than me.

And that's why I saw the prophet was. He mentioned all these prophets and I could tell you more how Allah blessed them.

(إِمَامُكَ خَيْرٌ مِنْ إِمَامِي - Your imam is better than my imam.)

(أَوْلَادُكُمْ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَوْلَادِي - Your children are better than my children.)

(زَوْجَتُكَ خَيْرٌ مِنْ زَوْجَتِي - Your wife is better than my wife.)

Your school is better than my school. Your masjid is better than my masjid. Your believers are better than my believers. And then when we look at each other and see the good in each other that Allah has blessed them with more than us. Then we appreciate Allah's creation.

The Call to Give: Niyyah and Commitment

I say this to you. Let's prove tonight. Let's give something back. Give it back to our school Sister Clara Muhammad School here in this area. I want 50 people that's gonna stand with me tonight to say I want to make an intention to help Sister Clara Muhammad School.

What do I mean? Number one If you're gonna talk about the future of a school or a business venture or anything you're gonna do you must begin with number one Niyyah Intention. Have the purpose. Intention to do something for Allah. Just have the intention.

(نِيَّة - Intention)

What I want tonight is 50 people. I will be the first one. I want 50 special people tonight that's gonna make intention just Niyyah I don't want any money right now. Just intention to donate a thousand dollars to Sister Clara Muhammad School.

I want 50 people. Imam, I'm number one. And before I leave I want 50 no less than 50 people that's gonna stand with me for Sister Clara Muhammad School in this area and make Niyyah to give a thousand dollars.

The Power of Intention

Let me tell you why. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

(Sahih Bukhari 6491)

Allah writes down the good and the bad. What does Allah write down? Every atom's weight of good that you do Allah write it down. And every atom's weight of evil that you do Allah write it down. When you're home alone

by yourself and nobody's looking your wife's not around husband's not around the imam's not around the teacher's not around the principal's not around whatever you do in darkness it's being written down.

(6491 Sahih Bukhari) ثُمَّ بَيَّنَ ذَلِكَ فَمَنْ هَمَّ بِحَسَنَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ حَسَنَةً كَامِلَةً

Then He explained what it means. Whoever intends to do a good deed but doesn't do it Allah writes down with Him a complete good deed. Think what I just said.

Whoever intends to do a good deed but something happens he can't do it. I want to give a thousand dollars to the school I intend it. Somewhere along the line that while I was trying to do it I couldn't do it. I lost my job. Because of your intention Allah already wrote it down as a complete deed.

Gathering the Commitment

Can I get 50 people today to make a commitment? I'm going to count them. Just raise your hand. I don't want no money right now. All I want is 50 people who make niyyah to give a thousand dollars.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50. That's 50. That's 50.

Hey ma'am, you got 50. Inshallah, that's 50. Now I said I don't want no money, right? That's what I said, right? Now I want some money.

The Three Steps: Niyyah, Effort, and Plan

The first thing you have to do, make niyyah. That's first. And the niyyah must be sincere. I want to help the school. The school is good. The school is great. Inshallah, it's the future. Now. It's the future now.

So I make niyyah. I want to help the school. So I make niyyah. $1,000. Yes. Number one.

Number two. Then there must be effort. Now how am I going to do that? You're going to start today. I don't have all my $1,000 yet, ma'am. I'm telling you. But you know what? I got some right now. I'm going to give you toward my $1,000 tonight. That's number one. And I'm going to ask everybody to do the same thing.

Some of you can pay the $1,000 right now. Yes. Those who can pay the $1,000 now, I want you to pay that. Imam, I'm going to need a couple of writers. Give me three brothers. I need three brothers. I need three strong brothers. And I need some security. In case people get crazy.

Just stand there, Tariq. I need three brothers up here with me. Inshallah. Now, Jihad, don't you be walking out the door now. I notice everything when I'm up here. Everyone who moves, I can see you. Now. Oh, you're going to get checked. That's good. No problem. Alright.

Now, number three, you need a plan. I close with these words of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Someone came to him and said:

(يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَتَى السَّاعَةُ - O Messenger of Allah, when is the hour?)

And the Prophet said:

(مَا أَعْدَدْتَ لَهَا - What did you prepare for it?)

So there must be a plan. Imam, this is my plan.

My Personal Plan and Commitment

I'm asking you to do it. I want you to take the money I give you to tonight. And next month, July, around this time, I want you to call me at home. And say, Imam, I want my second installment. No, no, I'm serious. This is my plan. This is how I intend to do it. And I'm saying this in front of all these people, Imam. And you can announce it on Jumu'ah, the next day you call me, to see if I took care of business.

Alright. I'm putting pressure on myself. Okay, Imam, I'm putting on your shoulder now. You call me, say, Imam Siraj, you reminded me to call you a month from now, from then, and I will send you a check. The day that you call me, I will put it in the mail, Inshallah. Right.

And I will do that, and I want you to call me every month, as our anniversary, every month after that, until I'm complete. That's my intention. And if Allah blesses me, to be able to do it the next month, I'll give all of it. If not, I'll keep on giving until I'm finished. That's what I want to do for the school.

The Value of Education

Because this school will help children. If my children never go there, it doesn't matter. The fact is that some Muslim child will go there, and they will learn. Did you watch the film of these young brothers and sisters, these brilliant children? I was impressed. I was ready to get the money right there. I said, let's get the money. You don't need no speech. You had it. So, then you have to have a plan.

Organizing the Collection

Now, brother and sister, what we're going to do, we got one, two, three, four handsome men. Are you all married? There he is. Whoops, there it is. Yeah. Why not? Why not? We have to facilitate people getting married. And Imam, wherever I go, I found out if people are married, I like to hook them up. He may be married within a month. Who knows? Allah knows.

These brothers are going to go to you right now to the table. All of those who raised your hand. Now, I just asked for a thousand. What about those who have less than that? Imam, do you have pledge forms? What I need you to do, Hasan, is if you don't have pledge forms, get a sheet of paper. And get everybody's name, who raised their hands, 50 people at least, that's your assignment.

And write everybody's name down and the amount they pledged and what they're given now. Some people here will give the thousand. InshaAllah. Write them down. We have to have accurate record. Okay, good.

And then what we'll do, is we'll go back and check after every month. Now, those who have less than a thousand, your money is not less significant. I just wanted to get a commitment of at least 50,000.

Those of you who cannot afford a thousand but have something to give, a nine hundred dollars, a seven hundred, or five hundred, or four hundred, three hundred, whatever it is, a hundred, or fifty, even a dime, brothers and sisters, you never know that one dime could be the difference. That Allah will forgive you your sin and enter you into Jannah. This could be the difference.

Every Contribution Matters

But I want everyone to give something. Don't think that it's not enough. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Save yourselves from the fire, even with half a date.

And Allah accepts anything, however small it is. If you do it sincerely for Allah, Allah will accept it. So please, raise your hands again. The brothers will come by, inshallah. Maybe if we get a couple of sisters, we can go to the sisters that kind of help us a lot, facilitate. If you ma'am, if you can get a couple of sisters to help us to write.

And by the way, actually I wanted, if there's somebody here who can give more than a thousand, I don't want you to limit yourself because I said a thousand. If you have more than a thousand to donate to the school, even though you've done it before, do it again. Because you can't ask too much, or can't give too much for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

(Sahih Muslim 2588)

The Prophet said, Your wealth is never diminished by giving sadaqah. So please, raise your hand. The brothers will come around, inshallah, and write your names and take your money.

Final Instructions for Giving

Please, I'm asking you, those who can do the whole thing, do it now. And if you can do half of it, if you can't do any of it right now, just the niyyah, the intention, but have that intention as you leave tonight. What we're gonna do imam? We're gonna get these brothers and start counting. Before we leave, we're gonna give them how much we actually counted, how much in pledges, inshallah.

Now, those of you who can't afford a thousand, if you wanna make a commitment for 600 or 500, I want you to do the same thing. For instance, how many people can make niyyah to donate 500 dollars? Raise your hand. If you can donate 500 dollars as your intention, how many could do that?

Okay, good. One, two, three, good. Alhamdulillah. Four, good. Five. These little kids are tricking me. Five, six, seven. Seven, alhamdulillah. Seven. That's seven people. Any more? Maybe three more? We can do 500?

Commitment? Alhamdulillah. So that's seven people with a 500 dollar commitment.

Brothers, by the time you finish Tariq, you have to have fifty, one thousand, and seven five hundreds. Okay? That's what you need to have, inshallah. Also, anyone else? Whatever. Everybody should do something. Even young brothers and sisters.

Teaching Children to Give

How old are you, brother? Eleven years old. Do you get an allowance? Are your parents here? That's Tariq. Tariq. He said if you give him allowance, he can donate something. Okay.

You know, brothers and sisters, I'm telling the truth. Anyone knows me, I give my children allowance every week. To me, that's like a like a bill that I have. And I set aside money every week to give my children. Nothing else. I always give them their money. And I always teach my children that whenever they give, I give them some money, they should always donate some to Sadaqa, always.

And one day I gave my son, Mohammed, his allowance, and I said, Mohammed, don't forget. You have to donate some to Sadaqa. And he had one of those looks on his face. Like he was upset. Like he had an attitude. He was five years old. I said, Mohammed, what's the matter? Nothing.

I said, Mohammed, I know something's the matter. He said, well, Dad, how come I have to give some of my money to Sadaqa? See, Sadaqa is the name of my oldest daughter. Yeah, really. And he thought that he had to give some of his money to his sister, Sadaqa. I said, no, Mohammed, I don't mean.

So tonight I want everyone to give to Sadaqa, my oldest daughter. No, no, not to the school. Sister Clara Mohammed's school. Of course.

Closing Words of Gratitude

So brothers and sisters, I really appreciate you and your wonderful spirit. And I know that you will carry that spirit in this community. A spirit of love and commitment to each other. And a spirit of humbleness before Allah and with each other. And that is, try to find the good in each other. And if you look, if you look close enough, every brother you know and every sister you know will have something about them that's better than you.

Make dua for each other. And make dua. I make dua for the Imam and Masjid Ansar and Sister Clara Mohammed's school. Imam, may Allah bless you. I love you. And I love this community. And I love the spirit that you have.

(السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته)

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.