Youth Role Models in the Quran and among the Companions

Youth Role Models in the Quran and among the Companions

Imam Siraj Wahhaj

Opening and Greeting

Assalamu alaikum. (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim). Alhamdulillah. Inshallah la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah wa ashadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu. Wassalamu alaikum.

The Story of Rashida's Mother

A few years ago I got a phone call from a sister named Rashida. She had been in our community many years before she moved to Trenton, New Jersey. She said, "Imam Siraj, I have some good news for you." I said, "Rashida, did you get married?" She said, "No Imam, but the good news is that my mother took shahada—94 years old!" I went to visit her mother. Her mother got sick and in one year she died.

The Dangerous Mindset of Delaying Practice

I speak to some of the youth trying to find out what has happened to the Muslim youth. They say to me, "Imam Siraj, you know what? We still believe. We just want to go out there and have our fun. And once we have our fun, we'll come back to the masjid and we'll practice." And I imagine they can give the example of this sister Rashida's mother becoming a Muslim at the age of 94. They could have said, "The Prophet of Islam said, 'Your deeds shall be judged by your last deeds.' So they're saying, 'I'm going to have my fun now, and later on I'll start practicing.'"

That is a perfect insult to Allah. You, the youth, are the envy of the world. You have people who have written novels about the search for the fountain of youth. You have a great opportunity, and everybody wants this demographic—the youth.

Industries Targeting Youth

I'll give you an example. What is the legal age of smoking cigarettes in the United States? Eighteen. How many of you are 18 or younger? Raise your hand. Look around, I want you to look around. Ok, good. Even though the legal age of smoking is 18 years old, 90% of smoking started before the age of 18.

What is the legal age of drinking in this country? Twenty-one. Did you know that the alcohol industry depends on 20% of the consumers of alcohol in this country? These are consumed by underage drinkers. They want you. Everybody wants you because they want to use you to consume their products. But the Prophet, peace be upon him, wants you for a different reason.

Where Are the Muslim Youth?

In the 60s, even though I'm telling you, every night the nightly news asked a question. They said, "It is 11pm. Do you know where your children are? It is 11pm, do you know where your children are?" I'm asking the question this afternoon in Philadelphia: Where are the Muslim youth? Where are they? Where are the Muslim youth?

And you will find out that the Muslim youth are in the same—many of them in the same place that non-Muslim youth are in. Where are the Muslim youth? You find them in the drug houses. You find them in prison. You find them in the streets. Ninety-five percent of the Muslim children go to non-Muslim schools. You find them in public schools. You find them in non-Muslim private schools.

The Two Doors of Every Masjid

Let me give you the reality of our Ummah. Every masjid and every Islamic organization have two doors. It has a front door by which people come into the fold of Islam. And by Allah's grace we became Muslim. No one can believe except by the permission of Allah. On the one hand we have this front door by which people become Muslims. On the other hand we have a back door by which Muslims leave the fold of Islam. The job of the Imam is to somehow, somehow find out how to open wide that front door and close that back door.

Youth are the envy of the people of the world. People want to take advantage of them. So what are we going to do? What's going on with the youth? How many of you believe that we are losing some of our youth to the dunya? Raise your hand. Look around. What happened?

The Reality of Modern Distraction

One day I go onto a plane, a huge plane. I'm the last one on the plane, about 300-400 people. And my seat is in the last row. And I never forget this—as I'm walking down the plane, getting ready to go to my seat, I'm looking at all the passengers and I notice every one of them has some kind of device. Every one of them deeply engrossed in this device. Are we losing our youth?

The Story of Ali and Irrelevant Khutbahs

When I used to go to Washington D.C., there was a group of young Muslims who, whenever they would come to my program, after the program they would take me out to a Muslim restaurant and we would hang out for hours. One of them named Ali moved to the west coast, about 19 years old. He came to New York to visit me. He came to the mosque and said, "Imam Siraj, can I be honest with you?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Imam, I hate going to Jumu'ah prayer." I said, "You hate going to Jumu'ah prayer? Yeah, why?" He said, "Because the khutbah is not relevant. It doesn't do anything for me. The Imam talks, but there's nothing here. I don't feel anything, and so it's irrelevant to me. I don't like going to the mosque for Jumu'ah prayer."

Do we have other Muslims like that? I'm asking myself the question: well what is it? Either the Imams, the scholars are not doing our job to convey the message, and we have to look at ourselves. So the first thing I want to look at—I want to look at myself to make sure that I'm doing a job, that I'm really making an effort to reach the youth. And number two, the youth have to ask themselves the question: Is it me?

We Are Not Soldiers, We Are Slaves of Allah

This is my essential point, this happened this morning. Allah did not create you and I to be soldiers. If you study basic training in this country for those that join the forces, you'll see that the moment you join, the first thing they do, they cut your hair so everybody looks the same. It's psychological and physical training. And then they put you in a uniform. And then you live together, you eat together, you do everything together. Why? They're training you to be soldiers to obey the commandment. But Islam didn't bring you here to be soldiers. Islam brought us here to be slaves of Allah.

The Hadith of the Fire: Obedience Must Be in Good

And I'll give you one example. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, sent out an expedition and he sent out a leader and said to those who were with him, "Obey him." And they went out. And this leader that the Prophet had appointed, he became angry with them and asked them the question, "Did the Prophet say obey me?" They said yes. He said, "I order you to make a fire." And they did. And then he said, "I order you to go walk into the fire."

They looked at one another and they said to themselves, "We came to Islam to be saved from the fire, not to go into the fire." And while they're debating, the anger of the leader dissipated. And when they went back to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, he explained what happened. And listen to what the Prophet said. There's three versions, I'll give all three of them:

"إِنَّمَا الطَّاعَةُ فِي الْمَعْرُوفِ" - "Obedience is only in that which is right and just." (Sahih al-Bukhari 7257, Sahih Muslim 1840)

"لَوْ دَخَلْتُمُوهَا مَا خَرَجْتُمْ مِنْهَا " - "Had you entered that fire, you would not have come out." Because obedience is only that which is right and just.

Another one: "لَوْ دَخَلْتُمُوهَا مَا خَرَجْتُمْ مِنْهَا حَتَّىٰ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ" - "Had you entered that fire, you would never have come out until the Day of Judgment." Because obedience is only toward that which is right.

Be careful, you. Everybody wants you. There'll be those who come disguised as Muslims to get you to do something that is wrong. And you have to say, "No, no, I am a Muslim, I am not a soldier, I am a slave of Allah. What you order me to do is wrong."

What Is the Problem of the Muslim Youth?

So what's my message? What do you think is the problem of the Muslim youth? Some say—and many of the masajid today are building gymnasiums—I think gymnasiums are good. We ought to have a place for the youth to come together to play. That's good, we should do that. But to me that isn't the problem. And I would like to take the next few minutes to show you the way, to show us the way, Inshallah.

The Story of Aisha and the Two Companions

Two Tabi'een came to Aisha: Abu Atiyah and Masruq. And Masruq asked Aisha—he said—they had never met the Prophet but they're companions of the companions. They said, "Two companions, two men among the companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: one of them hastens to break the fast and hastens to make the salat, and another one delays the breaking of the fast and delays the salat."

And Aisha (radiyAllahu anha) was asked this question. She said, "Which one of them hastens to break the fast and hastens to make the salat?" He said Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. Notice Aisha (radiyAllahu anha), she didn't say, "Which one is the one who delays?" No, no, no. She didn't even want to know the name. "Don't tell me the name, but tell me the one who hastens." And then listen to what she said. She said "هَكَذَا كَانَ يَصْنَعُ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ " - "This is the way the Prophet did it, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him." (Sahih Muslim 1099)

She didn't even say that's the right way and the other way is the wrong way. She said, "This is the way the Prophet did it, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."

The Wisdom of Marrying Aisha at a Young Age

Two people I want to mention: Aisha (radiyAllahu anha) and the one she mentioned, Masruq. Everybody knows that the Prophet, peace be upon him, married Aisha when she was young. But look at the wisdom there. I'm going to give you the last thing.

Amr ibn al-As came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. He said, "Who among mankind do you love the most?" He said, "Aisha." He said, "And among the men?" He said, "Her father." (Sahih al-Bukhari 3662, Sahih Muslim 2384)

And the importance of this: Masruq—and I want the youth to hear this—Masruq learned the Qur'an from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, who was a young man. Many companions of the Prophet were young men.

Call to the Youth

My young brothers and sisters who sit here in the masjid, who sit here today, we pray that Allah will bless you to be strong and to stay in this deen and to help transform this world into a better place.

The Story of Abu Ayyub: We Are Sinners

O Abu Ayyub, yes, you want to make mistakes. Yes, for sure. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (radiyAllahu anhu), he was dying, and he said, "There's something that the Prophet said that I kept hidden from you." Now he's going to say what the Prophet said and why he waited until he was about to die to say it.

He said the Prophet, alayhi s-salatu wa salam said: "وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَوْ لَمْ تُذْنِبُوا لَذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِكُمْ وَلَجَاءَ بِقَوْمٍ يُذْنِبُونَ فَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَ اللَّهَ فَيَغْفِرُ لَهُمْ" - "I swear by Him in Whose hand my life is, had you not committed sin, Allah would have removed you and brought a people who would commit sin so that they would ask Allah's forgiveness and He would forgive them." (Sahih Muslim 2749)

Who Are We?

Who are we? Who are we? We, human beings—this journey came late. By the time Allah created us, everything was here: the angels were here, the jinn, the universe, everything was here. And the last one created this journey came late. Who are we? All of mankind are the children of Adam. Adam was created. Thus, who are we? You know what? We're sinners. Allah knows.

I mentioned this to one of our students, this hadith that Abu Ayyub al-Ansari said. She said, "Imam, that's a dangerous hadith." Yes, it's dangerous, but Allah is trying to teach us the very nature of human beings. Who are we?

Sir Isaac Newton, one of the great scientists, he said, "I can calculate the movement of the stars but not the madness of men."

The Man Who Fought and Died: Never Too Late

A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, "Should I fight or become Muslim?" He said, "Be Muslim first and then fight in the way of Allah." So the man fought and was slain. And the Prophet said, "عَمِلَ قَلِيلًاً وَأُجِرَ كَثِيرًا " - "He did little work but got great reward." He was so blessed.

You know how old I was when I became Muslim? You want to know how old I was when I became Muslim? I was 19 years old. I was a teenager going to New York University. How old were you when you became Muslim? Say 19 years old. You ask some of them—Zayd, Shaikh Abdulkareem—ask most of them. You were teenagers when you became Muslim.

We Know What It's Like

And you know what? Can I tell you a secret? If I tell you something, you don't tell my business. You keep it hidden. Even these brothers will tell you: we know what it's like to party. Yes. When was the last you partied? Yeah, I did. You and you? Yeah.

A Muslim told me the other day, he says, "Imam, if Allah blesses me to go to Jannah, all I want to do is smoke me some weed." And he's an Imam! No, we know what it's like to do that. It ain't fun. Fun is Islam. Wallahi, Ibrahim, am I right? Fun is Islam. Fun ain't out there. What's out there is death and destruction and misguidance.

"All my slaves, every one of you is misguided unless I guide you. Therefore ask Me and I will guide you." (Hadith Qudsi - Sahih Muslim 2577)

Passing the Baton to the Youth

Yes, you youth. Can't wait to see what you're going to do. Can I tell you one thing? How many of y'all know about relay races? Brothers and sisters, let me tell you something as I go off the stage. Come on, come on.

Now, we're in a relay race and I'm running. This is how it works: I'm running and what you do is you turn around, put your hand out like that, turn around. I'm gonna hand you—I'm gonna hand you your time. And the job of this generation is to hand off the baton to the youth.

You know anything about basketball? I'm gonna ask you a question. You ever hear of Kobe Bryant? Kobe Bryant? See, this is the thing. Now Kobe Bryant was one of the great basketball players. One day he was playing and they said, "Wow, man, he was great. He was great like the old Kobe." What does that mean? That's the old Kobe when he was young and at his peak.

Then one day Kobe played and they said, "Man, he's playing like the old Kobe." What does that mean? That means he's back to his best form!

The Story of the Oldest Masjid in Detroit

I was in Detroit and I did a program for the oldest masjid in Detroit. The oldest masjid in Detroit has two meanings. Number one, it's the oldest masjid, the first masjid. It could also mean this: that masjid in Detroit, the average—they called it the geriatric masjid. The average member is 80 years old. It's the oldest.

So we have to find out how to bring the youth back.

Demonstrating the Relay Race Properly

Are you ready? Come here, brother. And I'm running. Look at that. Now walk out like this. Come on, turn around. There you go. Put that thing out. Good. There you go. I'm going to hand this to you, right?

Never ever do this: you run and give the baton standing still. No, no, no. No, no, no. That's not the way you do it. This is how you do it. Come to me a little closer. Right there. Turn around. Okay, good.

As I'm running full speed and you start to see me coming closer, then you start running. Good. Don't let me have to tell you again. Turn around. So the idea is by the time I hand you the baton, you're already running full speed. You got it now? Huh?

Kobe Bryant, ready? I'm running. Boom! There you go. Thank you very much.

This is the ummah. This is the team. Wallahi we need you. We don't want to have masajid with nothing but old people in wheelchairs. We want the youth, the mixture—the elderly and the youth together.

Closing Prayer

May Allah bless every one of you to get back on track.

As-salamu alaykum. As-salamu alaykum.