The Conversion of The Companions

The Conversion of The Companions

Opening Praise and Blessings

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. We praise Allah. We send peace and blessings upon our beloved Messenger Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم), upon his family, his companions, and those who follow them until the end of time. Brothers and sisters, As-salamu alaykum.

(الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَعْطَانَا مُحَمَّدًا وَهُوَ الْمِفْتَاحُ الْخَيْرِ كُلِّهِ الْمِفْتَاحُ الْخَيْرِ. وَفَتَحَ بِهِ أَبْوَابًا كَثِيرَةً) Alhamdulillah that Allah for giving us the miftah to Allah who is Sayyidina Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And by the grace of Allah, the Prophet was able to open up many doors for us. And from amongst those doors were his students and his companions and his sahaba.

The Love of the Sahaba for the Prophet

Imam Ibn Hazm said that one second that the sahaba looked at the face of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is better than our entire lives. And the love that they had for him (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is a love which is extremely deep and extremely powerful. As we mentioned today in the Friday sermon, the love of the sahaba for the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was not simply a fashionable love, but it was a transformative love.

Love is a heavy word and it carries with it a tremendous amount of responsibilities. It's used rather freely. And the reason that they love the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is that he loved them.

Conversion Among the Sahaba

What I've been asked to talk about is conversion amongst the sahaba. We know that all of the great sahaba except for the children of the sahaba were all converts alhamdulillah. And to really capture that generation of people and how the prophetic love made them transformative until now we name our children with the names of the sahaba. We name our children with the names of converts. SubhanAllah.

Ahmad Shawqi said, he's a great poet, Ahmad Shawqi said that Jesus, he brought the dead to life, but you Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم), you brought generations and generations and generations, you resurrected them with iman, meaning that people alhamdulillah accepted Islam.

What are some of the conditions that made the conversion of the companions so transformative? Before we talk about some of the stories of the companions, because we tend to myopically look at history, it's one of the dangers of history, and perhaps fail to appreciate the lack of a linear experience for people who converted to Islam in the time of Sayyidina Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

First Condition: The Prophet Loved Them

The first is I mentioned that the Prophet, he loved them. It's very important to feel loved. You know I teach a class around 67 professionals and working people and college students, and we were reading Manazil al-Sa'irin of Imam al-Harawi, and one night I asked this class, how many of you feel that Allah loves you? Now only one person raised their hand.

So then we broke into groups and we began to try to unpack where the lack of feeling loved came from. Some people they had bad experiences with their siblings, maybe they had an abusive sibling, may Allah protect us. Some people their parents used really really harsh language that eventually kind of built up a sense of their value in their minds.

Some of them were just angry they've had bad experiences whether in relationships or whether it was struggling to find a job, you name it. And that had kind of fallen into their experiences within the faith community that many of them felt that they would come to mosques, and no one would even welcome them. Like no one was there to just be like hey, salams.

We know that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:

"Spread the salam [as one of the ways to enter Jannah]."

(Sahih Muslim 54)

So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) when we say he loved these people, it's not a shallow love, it's a very invested love. It's a love that demands a number of things.

Equality in Love

The first is equality. Often times in communities converts don't feel welcome. Converts don't feel equality. In fact I've been to certain communities where the actual dawah convert group does not have a convert in the group man. It's like are you sure this is the convert group or the we found faith again group, right? And I actually had one brother tell me we know better than the converts how to make dawah. How would you know better than someone who embraced Islam?

So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he doesn't play favorites. He loves the amus, he loves the chachas, he loves the youth. He loves for example Umm Ayman, a single mother. Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) cares about her, visits her, checks in on her. She has a miscarriage and the Prophet visits her home. And he noticed that she hadn't been at the masjid. And the sound narration, she's a convert. The Prophet goes to her house man. Because he's like I didn't see you in salah. I didn't see you at the masjid.

And then she explains to the Prophet that I've had a miscarriage. And the Prophet says to her just as you struggle to keep this baby from being dragged out of your womb, Allah will command this baby to drag you into Jannah.

Caring for the Unknown

We know of the Sahaba who don't even know his name. There's something interesting in some of the Sahaba who their names are not for sure like there's some differences on their names. That means that they're not first round draft picks you know. They're not like Zayan you know. They're not like Omar, Abu Bakr, Sayyida Aisha. These are people that were just kind of off the radar.

So we find a man who used to pray in the masjid of Sayyidina Nabi (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his son used to pray with him regularly. All these narrations are sahih. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he noticed that one day his son wasn't there. So the Prophet asked where is his son? And they said he died.

Sayyidina Nabi (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he said tell him to come to me. So that man he came and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he acknowledged his loss. You know people want to be heard. One of the most important things we can do for converts, just for anyone, just be good listeners man. Be a good listener.

At NYU where I work, they say that 86% of all students that have showed up at clinics for mental health services, 86% say they feel overwhelmed. 60% say they suffer from depression. But something that brings them all together is they say they don't feel like they're heard.

So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he acknowledges this man's loss. He hears his pain. And then the man he becomes emotional. He lost his son. And then the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said as related by Imam Ahmad:

"Your son is waiting for you at the gates of paradise. And he says I'm not going to enter until my parents enter."

(Musnad Ahmad 16631)

That's love, investment.

Sitting with the Poor and Vulnerable

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) will sit with the poor. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he says as related by Imam al-Tabari, when the Meccans came to him and tried to use social and political and economic agency as a means to motivate him to leave the vulnerable from amongst the convert community. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), Allah reveals:

"And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance."

(Quran 18:28)

And then the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) praised Allah who commanded me to be resilient in the companionship of the poor. Not only were they poor, you think about what's happening in Trump America. They were all immigrants, refugees. Sayyidina Bilal, Sayyidina Suhaib, Sayyidina Salman. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) with the most vulnerable converts exercises real love. He cares about people. And there's no sense of injustice in that love.

Equal Love for All

That's why Imam Muslim, this is such a very beautiful hadith now when you think about it and it's somewhat humorous. When Amr ibn al-Aas came to Sayyidina Nabi (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and he said:

"Who do you love the most?"

(Sahih Muslim 2384)

Because as mentioned by Al-Qadi Iyad, the great Maliki jurist, in his explanation of Sahih Muslim, you know the Sahaba actually got into an argument over who does the Prophet love the most. And they legitimately, they don't have the vantage point of history like we have. They didn't know that it was Abu Bakr and Umar and Sayyidina Ali and these, they just thought that the Prophet loved everybody the same. There was no sense of imbalance in the emotional attachment of Sayyidina Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to these people.

Imams, sheikhs, school teachers, board members, you can't play favorites and stand in the office of Prophethood. It's a tough job. Internet imams, Snapchat sheikh, whatever role we play, we have to be honest with everyone and we have to be accessible to everybody and we should be as best we can. Not naive and foolish, but people should feel that you are ma'sam in this dunya, like you're a place they can go for help.

So they were arguing, who does the Prophet love the most? Sayyidina Umar said, let me go and ask the Messenger of Allah. So he went to the Messenger of Allah and he said, now you understand the hadith. Who do you love the most? And brothers, you need to write this down. He said:

"Aisha [my wife]."

But the second answer is even more safe. So Amr ibn al-Aas, look at his reaction. He said, okay, those are the women, so then he says:

"What about men? What are the men that you love the most?"

And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:

"Her father [Abu Bakr]."

(Sahih Muslim 2384)

Smart answer, right?

Second Condition: The Prophet Served the People

The second thing is that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), even though he has this incredible maqam, Allah (بَعَثَهُ هُمْ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ) Allah has raised him. Allah:

"And [Allah] taught you that which you did not know. And ever has the favor of Allah upon you been great."

(Quran 4:113)

Allah has chosen him and honored him.

"Exalted is He who took His Servant by night."

(Quran 17:1)

You know, so many great virtues of Sayyidina Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in the Quran. Even to teach, Allah will not, to teach, even use the word hate with the name of Muhammad.

"Your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O Muhammad], nor has He detested [you]."

(Quran 93:3)

He didn't say (مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَاكَ). Because even to teach, Allah will not show that there's ever animosity between the great maqam of Sayyidina Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) that Allah has blessed him with and the love that Allah has for him (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

And sometimes that happens to us, right? Shuyukh, tulab al-ilm. We get filled up with our own sense of value and we don't sacrifice for the people. We think the people have to sacrifice for us. That's one of the greatest tricks of shaytan for the shaykh or the talib al-ilm. When you think that you are makhdoom and not khadim.

The Prophet Served the Converts

But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam, he serves the people, man. He served these converts. They didn't just convert and leave. They weren't forgotten about. There wasn't a takbir party and then it was like, I'm out.

"He used to look after them."

He knew their names. He knew their father's names. He knew their family names. He understood where they came from. In fact, in Ukaz, when he would go and meet the Arabs in this fair in Mecca, they would be shocked how much he knows about our granddaddies, uncles, cousins, fourth relatives. He knows everything about us.

And when you're in the path of knowledge and you hear that voice inside you that says, these people, they're wahshin. You know, these people are hayawanat. These people, they're not good. These people don't know who I am. Understand, you are being tapped out by shaytan. You are being deceived by your knowledge. Your knowledge has blinded you. You're harsh. You're firm. You're mean. You're tough. This isn't a hip-hop cypher. This is Islam.

So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam, even though he has a great maqam, Allahu Akbar, he serves people. He sacrifices himself for his community. That's just the way of the dawah, bro.

Examples of Service and Mentorship

When I first started studying, my first teacher was from Senegal. When I did my initial madrasa studies and I memorized the Quran with him. And he would make me iron for him and go get his food and clean his house and travel with him. And he said to me, I do the same thing with my teachers till now. And I do this for people. I translate this service in other ways to the community.

Look at Dr. Muzammil Siddiqui in Los Angeles, masha'Allah, you will go to Los Angeles and you go to meet Muslims that are sick and been in the hospital, who have no chaplain in those hospitals. And undoubtedly, you will hear from people, there was an elderly gentleman who would visit me regularly and pray with me and make dua with me and rub my forehead and comfort me. And that was Dr. Muzammil Siddiqui, subhanAllah.

And throughout our history, the great scholars were great servants. If you think about the qiraat which we read, the sughra or the kubra, we know that amongst the masses, the most popular way of reading is the riwayat of Hafs from Imam Asim al-Kufi through Abu Amr al-Sabah.

But why, subhanAllah, is that way of reading so popular? When I was reading Hirz al-Amani with one of my teachers, we were going through Shatibiyyah, and Imam Shatabi says:

"And Hafs, through mastery, was preferred."

And Shatabi says, you know, between Shu'bah and Hafs, Hafs is preferred. Although both of them, alhamdulillah. So I asked the sheikh, why is the riwayat of Hafs back to Asim so popular, there's so much qabool. He said, because Imam Asim sacrificed for Imam Hafs.

Never forget this, that behind the great scholar, behind the great alim, behind the great personality that we know through history, it's not just because of their knowledge. A lot of people have knowledge. Iblis has knowledge.

One of our teachers used to say:

"Knowledge is like rain and character is its soil. If the earth is corrupt, the blessing of rain is wasted. Iblis knows more than everyone, but people curse him, even in the countryside and the city."

Because his knowledge didn't translate into service.

The Story of Imam Asim and Hafs

Converts, great converts come through service and investment. When I became Muslim, the second day I became Muslim, brother Abdus Salam called my house. He said to me, I'm going to pick you up on Friday. I'm going to pick you up early. How are you doing? You're staying out of trouble. And I'm going to go and teach you how to pray. Allah yarhamuhu. So that mentorship, that investment, that sacrifice.

So Imam Asim al-Kufi, he was actually blind. Can you imagine? SubhanAllah, one of the seven great imams in our recitation of the Quran was a blind man. He was also a political advocate in Kufa. It was a hot city in his time. And he heard that there was a woman in his city who was a single mother and she was divorced. And she had a son. So he felt in his heart, this is ri'ayah, this is a responsibility. So subhanAllah, he proposed to her. And she married him. And she also accepted the proposal of a blind person.

My teacher Shaykh Ali Saleh, anyone from Egypt, he used to live next to Bab Zuwayla. Shaykh Ali Saleh is blind. He used to do Khatam al-Quran every three days. His wife also, she passed away. Every three days she would make Khatam al-Quran, subhanAllah.

So she accepted his proposal. Like if we think about the dynamics of marriage in the Muslim community now, is it driven by capitalist values or religious values? Like that's a discussion that has to happen. Are we as a community calibrated and generated by social and economic agency, aka capitalism? Or am I driven by Islamic values? She accepted his proposal.

And she moved in with Imam Asim. And her son, his name was Hafs ibn Sulaiman. Now you understand the background of the story. So the Shaykh said:

"He was preferred because of his close companionship with the Shaykh and through mastery of his memorization."

Because Imam Asim raised Hafs, took care of him, taught him, sacrificed, Hafs, masha'Allah becomes special. So do we invite converts over for Eid? Do we spend time with them regularly? Do we make sure that they feel a sense of value and love in our community? That's what the Prophet did. And we should do this for everybody, not just converts.

We have a large elderly community now in the Muslim community in America. Are we thinking about programming for the elderly people? It's very important.

Third Condition: Teaching Step by Step

The third thing is that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam teaches them step by step. And he keeps them focused on:

"What leads to a realistic practice."

So we find sometimes the Sahaba converts will ask the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam questions that may be considered a little bit ridiculous. For example, in Sahih al-Bukhari, the man, he comes to Sayyidina Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa salam and he says:

"O Messenger of Allah, when is the Hour?"

(Sahih Bukhari 6167)

Can you imagine if someone asked this in a mosque now? When is the day of judgment, man? And this is in Medina. So Ibn Battal al-Maliki said, you know, this is later on, this is not early on. This is in Medina. Foundational creedal issues have somewhat been laid out. The foundational practices are pretty much in motion.

So for someone to suddenly say:

"When is the Hour?"

And repeatedly in the Quran we find:

(Quran 79:42)

"Say, 'Its knowledge is only with Allah.'''

(Quran 33:63)

The Prophet doesn't rebuke this convert. He doesn't overwhelm this convert. He redirects. Imam Shatibi writes about this very beautifully in al-Muwafaqat. He redirects his question to action. He doesn't tell him:

"Woe to you! What kind of question are you asking?"

He says to him:

"What have you prepared for it?"

(Sahih Bukhari 6167)

So the other thing is that the Prophet does not overburden the new converts with a lot of theoretical issues or issues of differences, but he builds them. And that's why Allah describes those people in the Quran:

"[Their example is] like a seed [which] sends forth its shoot, then makes it strong, and it thickens and [then] stands upon its stem."

(Quran 48:29)

You know they grew like a seed over time.

Fourth Condition: Uniting Hearts

The next is that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam united hearts between themselves. And we see certain narrations of people who accepted Islam and had animosity towards one another before Islam. In fact, in the Prophet's farewell sermon, he immediately cancels all of the debts of riba, he cancels all of the blood money that's owed to people from Jahiliyyah so that:

"He united their hearts."

(Quran 8:63)

A Personal Story of Division

The first week I converted to Islam, masha'Allah, that first Saturday after my first Juma in Oklahoma, you know there's nothing perhaps more intimidating than going to a mosque for the first time by yourself. It's like super scary man. Because you know, I'm the white guy. So it's kind of scary, you know. I'm the ghorasab.

Because I got asked before, one time I went to a mosque and someone was like, no, no, the interfaith program is tonight. I'm like, no, I'm here for the interfaith program, man. I'm here to pray, bro. Right? I'm sure now in a post 9-11 world, it would be like, officer. Me, of course, being the officer.

So I went to this mosque, and I don't want to offend anyone with this story, but it's my history. And there were two jamaats happening for Asr. So up until that point, the only ijazah I had was in the Islam at a glance pamphlet. So I said to myself, I don't remember there being two jamaats in the pamphlet. It's like, Muslims are one, they all love each other, they all pray together, they have no problems.

So I started to walk towards one of the groups that was praying, the one that's closest, and suddenly this elderly gentleman said, excuse me, where are you going? I said, I'm going to pray. He's like, no, no, those people aren't Muslims. I was like, what? He's like, no, they're not Muslims. The Muslims are praying over here. I said, oh, okay. I'm the new guy. I know nothing.

So as I started to go to the other group, he said to me, those of you from Pakistan, forgive me. He said, have you ever heard of MQM? The Muhajirs? Altaf Hussain? Not that Altaf Hussain. There's another Altaf Hussain, drives a taxi in London. So I said, I learned a lot that day, yes.

So I said, I'm sorry and I don't know. I remember back in the hood, we used to wear clothes called MQM, like cross colors, MQM, FUBU, Mecca. So at first I thought, oh, this dude's hip. He knows about MQM. He's like, no, we are people who migrated from India in 1947. I got the whole story. It was really cool.

So I prayed with MQM. I became an honorary member of MQM, unbeknownst to me. I went to my car. I was headed to my car. There was a gentleman sitting next to my car. He said to me, excuse me, I just want to talk to you for a minute. I said, sure. You're a convert. You're super happy. You're really excited. It's like being on keto. You're a convert. It's like you're really happy in the beginning. It's like you had all that coconut oil and peanut butter. You're super happy. It's like faith keto.

He said to me, have you ever heard of People's Party? I said, MQM said People's Party don't pray. I thought MQM was like a DJ or something, like DJ MQM. He told me, next time you come, you have to pray with us. Those people, their prayer is not accepted. This is my first asr, man. I don't even know what asr was. It was still the afternoon prayer.

Avoiding Division

So next point is that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), he tries to shepherd differences, whether socially, economically, or financially, tribal issues, religious issues. And sometimes the converts, one of the problems I have is when we say, oh, those immigrant Muslims, no one should speak like this. We're not Trumpists. We're not nativists. We're all Muslims.

And in fact, that's why some of the fuqaha, they said that in the ahkam of mustarahat, you know, in the shurut of mustarahat, Ibn Qayyim mentioned six. One of them is you should not use a term which is going to inflame division.

So immigrant Muslim, indigenous, who's the indigenous Muslim? The Native American convert? And it just doesn't end. So we should be very careful that we don't introduce the new convert to groups, sects, Sufis, Salafis, Dis-Es, immigrant Muslims, non-immigrant Muslims, binary immigrant, non-indigenous being, self-identifying Muslim, whatever. Don't do that.

Fifth Condition: Patience with Converts

The fourth is that the Prophet is patient with them. I've run into converts before who have experienced trauma in communities, oftentimes by religious people. The irony of religion is that it is usually those who assume they are religious who do the most damage to religious people.

The Story of Jubayr ibn Mut'im

Look at Jubayr ibn Mut'im, who accepts Islam right before Asr prayer. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) tells him in Sahih Muslim again:

(Sahih Muslim 2992)

"If somebody sneezes, say, 'Yarhamukallah.'"

So as a convert, really excited, man, because I want to, and other converts can chime in. Unfortunately, it's just a one-way talk. I apologize. But I can speak on my behalf. Conversion is really exploration, man. For me, religion is always something new, something to be uncovered and learned, and something to find out about myself, and a way to improve myself, and always to have agency with God. Conversion is really about exploration and uncovering. It's not a ritual. It's not something which is socially archaic. It's something transformative.

So consequently, you have a lot of energy and zeal.

Nothing burns out quicker than the zeal of a convert. When Jubayr becomes Muslim, the Prophet says, if somebody sneezes, say, Yarhamukallah. He gets super excited. Ah, it's the first thing I learned from Sayyidina Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

The time for Asr happens. The namaz starts. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is the imam, and this is his first salah with the Sahaba. That's why ulama said, if you need to make ghusl because you converted to Islam, and the time of prayer is in front of you, you should pray because of this hadith. The Prophet didn't tell him, go home and make ghusl. He told him to make wudu and pray. He (صلى الله عليه وسلم) doesn't overburden people.

Bukhari said:

(Sahih Bukhari 43)

"The Prophet asked people to do what they can do."

So somebody sneezes in Asr, and he does what? He's a convert. He's got the keto zeal. Just had a coconut fat bomb. He's really excited. So what does he do? He yells in Salatul Asr:

The Sahaba, they didn't respond to him. So the conversion zeal, the danger of that passion, when we walk into the mosque as converts and Shaytan tells us, all these people are doing everything wrong. Don't listen to that voice. That's arrogance. That's not sincerity. You converted for the wrong reasons. If it's because you want to change people, you convert to change yourself if Allah guides you to do so. Not to change people. That may be a nice by-product of it.

So what happens? Nobody answers him. So then he gets even louder:

Then he said, they started to stare at me. He said, which means, I don't know how to translate this without losing my job. Basically, your mom should have miscarried all of you. Which is, that's dirty. That's really bad. That's this Sunday night on HBO bad. Yeah, that's beyond the northern walls bad. Yeah, I know what everybody's thinking about. May Allah give us the thrones in Jannah. But I know I'll be your Sunday night.

Anyway, so he says, may your parents miscarry all of you. And he said, they started to beat their knees. Like, yo dude, this is not the time for this. Then he says, that moment I understood I'm not supposed to be talking. So he has the oops moment in his first prayer.

After Salah, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) turns around. He says, where's the guy? And they were like, they were Egyptians. They were like, no, no. He said, that guy. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said,

come here. He says, listen to this, shuyukh and imams and religious teachers. He said, he didn't insult me. He didn't attack me. You know, I love thing about Sheikh Abdullah. Sheikh Abdullah loves everybody man. You feel it. They're very loving. He reminds me kind of this narration.

He didn't attack me. He didn't argue. He didn't insult me. He said:

"I never saw anyone nicer than him."

That's your Prophet. Then the Prophet said to him:

"This salah, you know, we don't talk in it. We just say Allahu Akbar, Alhamdulillah."

He didn't tell him like, you put your hands here. You do this. You got to say this. He just said:

(Sahih Muslim 537)

"SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, tahlil and takbir."

Another Story of Patience

The other Sahabi who converts, he's so excited that, subhanAllah sahib al-Bukhari, he made ruku in the door of the mosque. He caught the ruku. People were like this. Sorry Hanafis, I know your opinion on this issue, but the Malikis, we have this opinion. Because this hadith, he sees people in ruku, so he makes ruku in the door. And he starts going like that in ruku. So he catches the ruku from the door.

And then people say to Sayyidina Nabi (صلى الله عليه وسلم):

"This one is at the doorway."

"And he caught the prayer."

Then the Prophet said, where is that person? It's the new guy. The new guy, he comes. And the Prophet says:

"May Allah reward you for your enthusiasm. But don't do it again."

(Sahih Bukhari 783)

Look, subhanAllah, how he teaches him and he has standards and principles. But the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) never destroys anybody. The Prophet builds people. Even in criticism, he builds people.

Sixth Condition: Not Treating Converts Monolithically

The last point about the Sahaba, some of the foundations of the early conversion, is that Islam does not treat them in a myopic way, in a monolithic way. We find in Surat al-Hujurat something very powerful that Abu Bakr and Umar, they of course raised their voices in front of Sayyidina Nabi (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Allah said:

"O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet."

O believers, don't raise your voice in front of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Then of course at the end:

"Lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not."

Your deeds are going to be canceled. Even Ibn Kathir says that after this was revealed, Sayyiduna Umar would whisper. He would say very quietly because he was so scared of raising his voice in front of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

But in the same chapter, two or three verses later, we see a group of people guilty of doing the same thing:

"Indeed, those who call you, [O Muhammad], from behind the chambers - most of them do not use reason."

The tribe of Banu Tamim who have raised their voices in calling you, O Messenger of Allah, most of them, they do not have any knowledge. Because they had just become Muslim. They did the same thing that Abu Bakr and Umar did. They raised their voices, even in a more egregious fashion. Allah says:

"And if they had been patient until you [could] come out to them, it would have been better for them. But Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."

(Quran 49:5)

Until you came to them, it would have been better for them. But Allah doesn't say to those new converts, Allah is going to cancel your deeds, Allah is going to destroy all your hasanat, like He did with Abu Bakr and Umar. Because Abu Bakr and Umar had been Muslim for a long time. They're different. But with these fledgling weak new Muslims:

"Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."

Allah forgives you, no problem. We took a very important principle in Iftaa, when I did my Iftaa in Egypt for two years. And that is that the Quran takes into consideration the manat of the people, the needs and realities of people. And it's not simply always, except of course foundational issues, that's different, salah and so on, of course. But these kinds of issues, it addresses people differently, subhanAllah.

Examples of Converts Among the Sahaba

The last is a few examples of some of the sahaba who converted.

Abu Dharr

Abu Dharr, who got rid of Quito. Abu Dharr becomes Muslim and he's like, let me go to the haram and yell at everybody and tell them I'm Muslim. And the Prophet says in Sahih Muslim again, no, don't do it. Don't do it. He doesn't listen to the Prophet. Sometimes converts, we have this big issue about wanting to go hard and we don't listen to people. But we should listen to people.

Because Abu Dharr, what does he do? He goes and he yells shahada in the Kaaba and he's beaten brutally twice. Should have listened to the Messenger of Allah.

Responsibility to Our Communities

Number two is, as converts we have to remember we have a responsibility to our people in this country, man. White converts, right now with all this craziness white people are on, our people? Our people have lost their minds, man. So we have to function as spiritual agitators. We have to function as an ally to black America and to women and to the vulnerable and to the poor and the whites that have been exploited by this stuff.

Today, a study was released that showed some people's taxes are going to be 10 times more than they thought. People are getting hammered in the middle class income bracket. We have a responsibility as prophetic whites, whites on the Sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and upon Islam to be Moses in the house of Pharaoh.

So the second thing is that strategically we as converts have to go back to our people just like black Americans did in this country. The incredible passion by which they took Islam to black folks that now you will find

Nipsey Hussle's cousins named Khalil. You'll find within the black community people who aren't even Muslim named Abdul Jabbar. Yeah, you get the name Abdul Jabbar. Ahmed, like, Ahmed? Really? Where you going, Ahmed? I'm going to sing in the church tomorrow. Ahmed? Because there was work done in that community to condition Islam.

The Story of Amr al-Tufayl

You look at Amr al-Tufayl who comes to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) from Yemen. He's a convert. Prophet dispatches him to his people. He goes to his people. He preaches to his people for one year.

"Nobody accepted Islam."

He comes to the Prophet in Mecca because it's easy. It's easy to lose patience with this stuff. Lakin al-hidayah bi-yadi Allah. Allahu yahdi man yasha. Allah will guide who He wants.

"Indeed, [O Muhammad], you do not guide whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills."

My best friend from 7th grade one day I was sitting at a college campus he came up to me and was like, what happened to you? I was like, I became Muslim. He was like, man, I would have never believed you would become Muslim. I was like, really? Well, I did, alhamdulillah.

Then he was like, man, I love Turkey better than Saudi Arabia because when I was in the army I was making it rain in Turkey but in Saudi Arabia I couldn't even drink ginger ale. And in my mind I said, this person will never become Muslim in my mind. But Allah will show you this is not your deen. This is deen of Allah.

I got a phone call I was at work from Ali Mujahid my boyfriend from Karachi and he's like, brother Suhaib you know when you get the brother Suhaib call that's serious stuff. Brother Suhaib there's a strange white man in our mosque he says he knew you since 7th grade. I said, is his name Steven? He's like, yeah. What does he want? I don't know. I'll put him on the phone. Hello? Hey Suhaib What's up man? You know after I met you I read and I decided I want to come and become Muslim. He accepted Islam.

So don't get frustrated and angry it's not your deen, just work. So Amr comes back to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) he says, can you make dua against Daws that Allah will destroy them because none of them became Muslim so the Prophet says to him raise your hands let's make dua so he raises his hands and the Prophet says:

"O Allah have mercy on Daws, O Allah guide Daws, O Allah bring them to the deen."

He goes back and alhamdulillah by the time the Prophet migrates to Medina some years later that tribe accepted Islam and the person who accepted Islam in that tribe was Abu Hurayrah from Daws.

Process Over Events

The last point especially for converts is don't forget Islam is a process not an event. Stop looking for events. Stop looking for quick change. Don't expect like yo I'm gonna go to this conference my marriage is gonna improve. No it's not. It might incrementally improve. It's a platonic shift man. I'm gonna go Umrah I'm gonna become Abdelkader al-Jaylani. No you're not. You may but most people don't.

We are a community unfortunately because we don't have strategy we tend to look for events as quick outs instead of thinking about the long road. One of my teachers from Morocco when I first converted I had trouble memorizing this book in the beginning I said to him, man I tried to memorize that over the weekend I couldn't memorize that in the weekend he said to me:

"The road is long, the road is long."

So the last thing I would say in convert ministry as well as our own growth as converts is process instead of events. Look for incremental changes in your life.

Conclusion: Building Love and Community

May Allah bless us to be emotionally invested in one another in a prophetic way. Alhamdulillah and may Allah help us to improve our love for one another. One of the best things we can do to increase our love for one another is to converse. So just as we facilitate these kinds of learning sessions we should also, anyone involved in community organizing, we should facilitate group check-ins, one-on-ones, sit with an uncle from Palestine. It's amazing and be like, uncle, tell me your story.

Two weeks ago I was in a car with a Syrian gentleman. He's a refugee. He still doesn't have his papers. He's terrified. And I asked him in Arabic, tell me the most memorable thing in Bilad al-Sham to you and he just became so happy.

"Bringing happiness to your Muslim brother."

He started crying and he said to me I have relatives who came from Syrian prisons that when I talk to their children on the phone I had to describe to them the bird because they never saw a bird. They just saw walls. So I started to tell them when in Arabic you play with kids, 'usfur. So he started to play with a child on FaceTime or

whatever and he was saying 'usfur. This child just came from being incarcerated in Syria with its mother. It was born in incarceration and he said to me the child said to him what's 'usfur? Like I don't know what's that.

And then he said he started crying and then he held me and he hugged me. But the point is we were there for each other. We don't know each other in this room so we should sit and talk. We should talk to brothers and sisters from Mali. We should talk to brothers and sisters from the Sudan, from Detroit. What's it like to see your neighborhood gentrified and completely uprooted and replaced with turmeric latte shops and yoga stores and Becky with the good hair? How's it feel to have that happen to you?

We have to be there as a therapeutic source for one another because Islamophobia is not gonna play and one of the goals of Islamophobia is to make us hate ourselves and to adopt the pathologies of the Islamophobes. So now when you hear Muslims talk about each other we actually use the mustalahaat of Islamophobia. That's the sign that we don't love each other. How do we replace that? We talk to one another.

So we should facilitate in community just days where you come into this space you find two or three people that you don't know and you have a 15 to 20 minute conversation. It's transformative.

Final Summary

The last as we said is that we have to sacrifice for one another. We have to be patient with one another. We need to give each other room to grow. And then finally we said that the idea of a process based Islam instead of an event based Islam.

May Allah bless you.

And congratulations to Miftah. May Allah give you:

"A divine opening."

And all of your amazing students, alhamdulillah, and instructors.

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ