The Wake Up Call
By Siraj Wahhaj | 2026-01-16T12:26:03.827017+00:00 | Topic: Iman
The Wake Up Call - Imam Siraj Wahhaj
Introduction
I'm not going to speak long at all. I'm going to talk about a topic. I'm not doing a hadith. It's going to reach, I believe, what you want me to talk about. Someone told me to remain strong or to be strong both good times and bad times. I'm not going to change the topic. Not so much change it, but to do one hadith of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
The Desperate Need for Guidance
Because, in this time in which we're living right now, we're in desperate need of guidance from Quran and Sunnah. Desperate need. In the hadith of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, he says:
(Sahih Muslim 2664)
"A strong believer is better and more loved by Allah than a weak believer, and there is good in all of them."
Self-Evaluation: Strong or Weak Believer?
And today we're going to ask ourselves the question, how do we evaluate ourselves? A strong believer or a weak believer? You, in the mirror, when you look at yourself, how do you evaluate yourself? A strong believer or a weak believer? And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, even though there is good in all of them.
The Tsunami Disaster: A Wake-Up Call
Now, right now, what's on the mind of most people? A tsunami. This devastating earthquake. Actually, underground in the water has caused this great tidal wave. And, you know, every day we're going to get new figures about how many people died. Earlier this morning, it was 150,000. And by the end of the day, it's probably going to be 180,000. Maybe tomorrow, 200,000. And so forth. And definitely, Allah got our attention. He got everybody's attention.
Most of the earthquake in Indonesia was the hardest hit. And, you know, Indonesia is the country, the largest Muslim country. And the South, that South Asian area, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and, you know, even India, and some of the countries, many of them are Muslim, some are not Muslim. So, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala got our attention.
Lessons from the Devastating Experience
And what are we to learn from this devastating experience? I think first, some lessons for Muslims. It's going to have something to do with this topic of yours. A lot of verses in the Quran. There's a few verses. Number one.
"Blessed is He in whose hand is the dominion, and He is over all things competent. [He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving."
Death, Life, and Divine Permission
So, the death over there in the East Asia, or South Asia, it tested not just for the people there. I mean, when you think about it, what happened? A lot of people died at one particular time. Allah mentioned in the Quran:
"No soul can die except by Allah's permission, at a predestined time."
And when you look at it and you heard about the devastating news, all those people dying there, what did you think of? What did you think of? When you looked up and you heard all those people dying in that area, what were your thoughts? The anger of Allah. It's an interesting point.
Judgment or Trial? Being Cautious in Our Statements
Why would you say that? The anger of Allah. Could it be a judgment of Allah? Could it be? Not sure, but it could be. See, we can't be sure because there's two things. We talk about something that Allah allows and something that Allah desires. And there's a subtle difference. For instance, if we say in the Quran:
"No soul can die except by Allah's permission, at a predestined time."
So, the question here is, Did Allah bring it about as a result of the evil of the people? Or did Allah allow it to happen? Let's go to another verse in the Quran. Because the first thing that we have to recognize is that Allah permitted it to happen.
When you read the Quran, there's some things like people like the Thamud, the Aad people, whom Allah destroyed. And it's clear that it's judgment. Because Allah mentions it. When we look at the destruction of Fir'aun, it's clear. Allah brought it about. When we look at the destruction of the people of Lut, it was clear that it was the judgment of Allah.
And now you've got to be careful. If you make a pronouncement that this is as a result of the judgment of Allah, then we've got to be very careful. Because I overheard brother the other day saying, "Yeah man, Allah is angry at them. Look what Allah did to those people. Allah is angry." And I'm not sure I can make that statement. Me. I'm a little bit too careful because I'm not sure that that is the wrath of Allah. It may in fact be a trial.
Avoiding Assumptions and Speculation
Maybe Allah let it happen. But then when we take on the position that this is the judgment of Allah, that Allah is judging these Muslims for what they have done, then we've got to be careful. What may be the case of what Allah mentioned before in the Qur'an, the dhanna. In the Qur'an, the dhanna:
"O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin."
Be careful of most cases of dhanna. What's dhanna? Dhanna, suspicion, speculation, assumptions. Be careful of that because many of it is sin. So I think personally that we ought to put the judgment aspect aside and deal with the realities of people dying.
Lessons from the Black Plague
Now what do we get from that? One of the greatest plagues in the time of man is what we call the Black Plague. Are you familiar with the Black Plague? Do you know how many people died in that plague? One third of the population in Europe, most of them were Christians. And did you know it's a historical fact that many Christians lost their faith as a result of the devastation of the Black Plague? Why? Because how could God let that happen?
So we don't want to fall into the same test. And I'm telling you, when you look at some Muslims, they're like devastated. How could Allah do that? And then some people start to question their faith. That's a devastating thing.
Personal Reflection on the Devastation
I don't know about you, but I couldn't sleep the day that it happened. Actually, I was recovering from a flu. And I was watching TV and looking at the devastation. And I mean, I'll be honest with you, brother. I cried a number of nights. I don't know about you, but I cried a number of nights looking at the devastation. And see, the thing you want to do is put yourself in there.
Our Comfort Versus Their Suffering
We are so comfortable right now. And we have our little petty complaints. But when you look at our petty complaints, brother, compared to what's going on over there, just think about this for a moment. There are many people right there, thousands of people that are missing right now. Thousands of people that are missing. How could you sleep not knowing where your mother is? Is she alive or not? Or your child? And so, and also, not only that, but the future. What's going to happen?
You know, how often in the middle of the night we wake up and go to the kitchen and get a nice cold something to eat? Right? You take it for granted, don't you? Anytime you want to go get something cold, you can get something, you know, going to microwave. Microwave Generation. Yeah, you got it. And you take that stuff and, you know, but you think about them.
And then immediately, Allah sends me someone, seeking my help. That night, I got together with the brothers in the masjid, and I told them about what happened. I said, "Let's go. Let's do it. Let's help them."
So what I did, I went home and put my work clothes on. What I mean by my work clothes? Took off my, you know, my holy garments. You know what I'm saying? Right, so when it comes time to fight, and there's sometimes you gotta fight, and you gotta recognize that about Islam. We're in great balance, and we are not, we are not people that pick fights. But we know how to fight.
Because all throughout the Quran, you can't deny this:
"Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors."
Taking Back the Brother's Property
So what I did, I went home, told my wife, I said, "Listen, Allah knows, I'm not coming home tonight." And we took about 30 brothers, and we went to that house. And I'll never forget it. And by the way, I didn't say to the brothers, "Listen brothers, we gotta, you know, we gotta go there and beat these people that took our brother's house." I didn't do that.
And we have witnesses there that say that we were there together. I remember we went to the house, and I knocked on the door, the drug dealer's door. And I said, "Who is it?" He said, "This is Imam Siraj, and we are the Muslims, and we're here to take back the property of our brother."
I can hear in the background, on the other side of the door, one of the drug dealers saying, "It's the Muslims. Don't do anything stupid." And they opened the door, and we counted. One, two, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and these same drug dealers had the audacity to call the police on us.
The Lesson: If You're Really Gonna Help, Really Help
What's the lesson? The lesson is, if you're really gonna help, you're really gonna help. Not just talk. When I look at the devastation in South Asia, and I look at the struggle of those Muslims, and now I'm looking at the response of the world. Who's responding?
And I'm gonna ask you, brother, when President Bush first opened his mouth and said he's gonna give, I think, 15 million dollars, I was insulted. I don't know about you, but I was insulted. 15 million, so they're up to 35 million. Then I heard today they're up to 250 million. Alhamdulillah. And I'm pushing this government even more, because we can do more.
The World's Response
So the world community is responding very well. I heard some report last night it's up to 500 million dollars.
And people are saying sometimes people are giving so much that some of the websites are crashing. Most people want to do something. And I think it's a good sign, because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in his ultimate wisdom, he's so wise, he allows things to happen that we may not understand it. We can't picture it.
This Life Without the Hereafter Makes No Sense
And I'm telling you this, I'm making this point here. I'm coming to the conclusion, man, that this world, if there's no hereafter, this world don't make sense. There's no hereafter, this world, it doesn't even begin to make sense. Well, how does it make sense? How does it make sense? And when you look at that devastation in Asia right now, how does life make sense? You spend all your life, I read about this person who spent all their life, their life and their life savings to build a house. And in Thailand or something. And in one wave it's gone.
What's the sense of life, man? You live all your life, you go to school and then you die. Develop relationships and people die. And then it makes no sense.
So the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"O Allah, there is no life except the life of the hereafter."
Signs of the Last Day
For me, when you look at someone that's coming, I'm telling you, you may not be able to appreciate it now. You know that one of the signs of the last day? Is that people will be alive and the fitna will be so strong that they will wish that they were in the grave. And they will envy the people who died before them.
So it's difficult for us to judge what's going on. And that's why I talked about these people who died in South Asia. You don't want to necessarily call it the judgment of Allah, the wrath of Allah, necessarily. Maybe, but I'm saying not necessarily. But the fact of the matter is that we can pray for them and ask Allah to forgive them and give them Jannah. And maybe as a result of what happened, that will be their ticket to Jannah. And then how do we respond to that?
Defining the Strong Believer
So I close with this, brothers. I close with giving you this couple of questions and then I close.
(Sahih Muslim 2664)
"A strong believer is better and more loved by Allah than a weak believer, and there is good in all of them."
Question number one. Does Allah love a strong believer? Does Allah love a weak believer? Yes. But He loves a strong believer better. And everyone knows the fact of the matter is that that person who is a weak believer has Iman. He's got Iman. It's not the highest level of Iman, but he has Iman.
What Does a Strong Believer Mean?
But the question is, what do you mean by a strong believer? What's a strong believer to you? And the second you ask, two things are going to go. What's a strong believer to you? Oh, brother, sister, read the Quran, pray five times a day. Okay. That's good. What else? Yes. What else? Definition of strong believer. What's a strong believer to you?
Understanding Taqwa
Brothers, sisters, consciousness of Allah's presence. That's Taqwa, right? It's called Taqwa. The person who has Taqwa is Muttaqin. You've got to be careful now, everybody. Muttaqin. You know what? My wife taught me the meaning of Taqwa. She, I mean, she, and she wasn't trying to do it by the way.
One day she was telling me about when she was young. And when she told me, it struck me that she was younger and non-Muslim. And she had done something. Her mother said, "When your father comes home, I'm going to tell him." Right? "When your father comes home, I'm going to tell him."
My wife told me that her father never beat her. And she wasn't afraid that he was going to beat her. But what she did was she loved him so much, she didn't want to disappoint him. She said when he came home, her name was Wonda then. And her mother told him what happened. And her father said, "Wonda!" And my wife says she explained it to him. She explained it to him. Not afraid that he was going to beat her. He never beat her. But just afraid to disappoint. Subhanallah.
The Prophet's Taqwa
When you think about the relationship with the Prophet, he says:
(Sahih al-Bukhari 20)
"I fear Allah and I have more taqwa of Allah than any of you."
So he has the most taqwa. This is what we believe. That the Prophet had the most taqwa. And when I look at the Prophet in his relationship with Allah, all that he did, he had a love affair with Allah. And that's a real muttaqin. A person that really, I mean, you're embarrassed to do some things before Allah. You can't do it. You can't do it. Because you love him that much. You can't do it. That's taqwa. And we have to re-examine ourselves to see if we have this thing called taqwa.
The Strong Believer in Action
But what is it also about a strong believer? Someone said Abu Bakr. See you could have said Abu Bakr or Umar. Or even a great sahabi right. But when you look at them. Strong believer. Subhanallah. In what way? Everywhere. If it's required money, they give the money.
And you know when some of the poor people came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. And he exalted the sahabah to give sadaqah. And they gave sadaqah. They have the ability to do it. They don't make excuses. They have the ability to do it.
Modern Examples of Strong Believers
You know I was very pleasantly surprised today. You know Khan from Islamic Center for Long Island Muslims. He said, that's good news. Toward the end of the program, we got a program today that began. He said he raised, and they gave all the money to the relief work in South Asia right. And he said he raised $14,000.
Now see, I'm going to put it in context. So I said, "Well how much are you going to raise? One thousand or two thousand dollars?" $14,000 for doing prayer for the victims in South Asia. You see now we're going to be tested. In everything. It's not just talking. We're going to be tested in everything we do. Even like jihad.
Conclusion: May Allah Bless You
So brothers, may Allah bless you. I think this is good for you. I think everyone, Alhamdulillah. And I want to say that may Allah bless you to continue this. And continue. And I was over here in the conversation earlier. And I want to just agree with you, which is very critical.
That you see, when you have social gatherings, it isn't a substitute. In other words, in the social gathering itself is teaching and learning to do it right. I mean, you can play basketball and still get closer to Allah. I believe that by the way. So don't underestimate the value of having these social events. You know, having times and learning and studying, that's good. But you have to take time to have social events.
Learning from the Sahabah
Because if you look at the Sahabah of the Prophet, they had social events. They were wrestling. And they did archery. And they swam. And many other things. So while we exercise our minds, we also exercise our bodies. And also developing this great love for Allah.
Final Words
So may Allah bless you and keep on having these kinds of good events. And keep on evaluating them and seeing how effective that they are. And keep your love for one another and your love for the ummah. And may Allah bless you.
Before I go, I want to ask you a question. Make a statement. Anything that I said today, I want to ask a question, seek clarification. And what are you doing the rest of the night? Let's have a discussion.