Lofty Intentions Having Noble Visions and Goals - Corrected Khutba
By Yasir Qadhi | 2026-01-07T18:23:51.167337+00:00 | Topic: Purification
Lofty Intentions: Having Noble Visions and Goals
Yasir Qadhi | June 2012
Opening Praise
Indeed, only Allah is worthy of the unconditional and ultimate praise. We praise Him for having guided us, and we praise Him for having blessed us with knowledge of Islam and Iman. And we praise Him because He is worthy of being praised regardless of what He has done for us.
Because Allah is praised in the beginning and in the end:
"[And His is all praise, in the first (life) and in the last (Hereafter).]"
And Allah is praised in the heavens and earth :"[And to Him is [due all] praise in the heavens and the earth.]"
And we send peace and blessings upon the best human beings, the prophets of Allah and the messengers and the greatest of them is our Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
Introduction: The Importance of Having Noble Visions
As to what follows, the topic that they gave to me is basically about having lofty intentions, having a noble vision or a goal in your life. And this is a topic that is very important for every single one of us, to have a vision, to have a plan, to aim for something that is very great, grandiose in this world and the next. And our Islamic history is full of people who have impacted the ummah, even though they didn't start off thinking that they would have the type of impact that they did.
And I want to mention to you some of these stories before we get to the Qur'an and sunnah to soften our hearts.
Story 1: Sheikh Muhammad Al-A'adhami - From Hindu to Dean of Hadith
One of the stories that has affected me the most personally is the story of one of my teachers at the University of Medina. As you know, I studied for 10 years at the University of Medina.
Alhamdulillah, Allah blessed me to study with dozens, probably more than a hundred scholars at the University of Medina. And a few of them, they really stand out. And the most exotic teacher that I ever had, his name was Sheikh Muhammad Al-A'adhami.
His Background and Journey
Sheikh Muhammad Al-A'adhami, I studied with him my very last year of my undergraduate degree. The very last year, fourth year of my undergraduate, that I went on to graduate study. That was the year that he retired. He was now 70 years of age, and that was the mandatory retirement, so he was retiring. And I was the last batch to study with him. And then he retired.
And Sheikh Muhammad, at that year, he was in fact the dean of the college that I was studying in, which is the College of Hadith. So he was the dean of the College of Hadith Sciences. My undergraduate is in the College of Hadith Sciences.
And what was really impressive about the Sheikh, not only was he Indian, that's not what's impressive, not only was he Indian, in fact, Sheikh Muhammad Al-A'adhami was born into a Hindu family. And he was raised a practicing, ardent, fervent Hindu. And by the time he's retiring from his career, he is the dean of the faculty of Hadith, of the most prestigious Islamic university on the face of this earth.
His Conversion Story
He was born into a Brahmin family. And that's as you all know, the elite of the Hindu families. And he was raised a practicing, a fervent Hindu. You all know the type of person. And he had been taught to despise Muslims. Hate Muslims.
And he never had a Muslim friend. He never hung around with his Brahmin. You know, you're not supposed to touch somebody who's not a Brahmin. You're not supposed to even touch somebody of a different caste, much less a Muslim. So he's been taught to completely be separated and isolated, except in his Brahmin caste.
He gets accepted to a fancy university in India. He goes and he studies there. And lo and behold, they assigned him a roommate who's a Muslim. And he doesn't know what to do between hatred and revulsion and loathing. He doesn't know what to do. He decides, you know what? Why don't I give him da'wah and convert him to Hinduism? And so he decided, I need to study this man's religion. So he began reading the Qur'an.
And then he started to read the life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And he was fascinated by the life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). So he asked, how can I find out more about the life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)? They said, you need to read the books of Hadith.
His Academic Journey
He's a Hindu. So they told him, you need to read the... Now this is in the 1950s, right, in India. You need to read the books of Hadith. He said, what is Hadith? So they told him, Hadith is what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said. So he said, give me the books. They said, they're all in Arabic. We don't have them in Hindi. We don't have them in... You can't read this in Arabic. So he said, where do I study Arabic? They said, you need to go and study Arabic in Boston University.
And in order to do that, you need to be a Muslim. They're not gonna accept you at university to study Arabic without being a Muslim. And so he decided that, you know, Islam does make a lot of sense. Let me accept Islam and go study Arabic so I can study this Hadith. Maybe even I might change my mind and refuse this mind at the end, but I need to specialize in the science of Hadith.
And so in the late 1950s, early 1960s, he was told that there's a university that had just opened. University of Medina opened up in 1963 around that time, right? There's a brand new university that had just opened up in Medina. And you should apply there. Perhaps they'll teach you Arabic and you'll study Hadith.
His Rise to Prominence
So he applied as a new Muslim convert and he was accepted amongst the very first batches in 1960s, very early on. And he was the first Hindu convert to be accepted to Medina. And he studies there and he caught the time of... We call it the galaxy of stars back then.
There was Shaykh Ibn Baz, there was Shaykh Shafiq, there was big names, very big names. And he caught all of them. And he graduated top of the class.
He went to Shaykh Ibn Baz, he's an Indian citizen, right? He went to Shaykh Ibn Baz, he said, "Shaykh, I wanna study more." The Shaykh said, "You know, we're a new university, we don't have any master's, PhD right now, we just have bachelor's." He goes, "No, I wanna study more." Shaykh said, "You're gonna have to go somewhere else. We don't have anything." This was in the 60s. So he said, "Where can I go?" The Shaykh said, "The only university right now is Al-Azhar University in Egypt." So go to Al-Azhar.
So he went to Al-Azhar in the 60s, after getting the bachelor's from Medina. He became one of the first graduates of Medina to get a master's and PhD from Al-Azhar. There is no master's, PhD from Saudi Arabia right now, this is very early on, right? He gets his PhD, and his PhD, by the way, is a very famous book we read in an undergraduate, and it's called, In Defense of Abu Hurayra.
The Defense of Abu Hurayra, right? Because in the 60s, they were trying to attack the character of the Habib by attacking Abu Hurayra. So his PhD from Al-Azhar, from the college of Al-Azhar, is about Abu Hurayra and the defense of the sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
And he is such a well-known personality, the Shaykh then hired him back into Medina to become a professor, where the university was studied. Eventually, they started the Saudiization process, and that basically meant you had to be a Saudi to be a professor. The Shaykh wrote a personal letter to the king to give him Saudi citizenship. So, Shaykh Muhammad got Saudi citizenship.
1973 or 74, I don't remember the exact year before I was born, they opened up the faculty of Hadith. And of course, his PhD is in Hadith. And so he starts as an assistant professor in the college of Hadith. And in the next 20 years, teaching, teaching, by the time I get there in the 1990s, he's raised his ranks. And now he is the senior ranking professor in the college of Hadith. And obviously, the senior ranking professor becomes the dean. And so the year that I taught him, that in the final year, he was in fact the dean of the college of Hadith.
His Retirement Project
And I studied with him an entire year at the faculty of Hadith. And Alhamdulillah, as I said, I have a good relationship and a chance of wisdom. And it was amazing for me, how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala took this man who grew up bowing his head to idols. And giving offerings to these pagan gods. Because he was around 20 when he embraced Islam, 20-22 years old. And now, Allah azza wa jalla blessed him to the point that he is the dean.
The year that he retired, I said, Sheikh, what is your project now? He said, for the last decade, I have something in my mind. Alhamdulillah, I have time now to do that. Now I am retired. What, Sheikh? He said, I want to compile all of the sahih hadith ever written in one big book. That's, I mean, if you know anything about hadith, this is like a task that is monumental.
It's like more difficult than writing an encyclopedia. One man, he wants to do this. I said, Sheikh, all hadith, he knows all hadith. And I kept in touch with him. The year that I left, he had already done around four or five thousand. And he said, probably another double, triple, decimal, as much as Allah azza wa jalla gives him life.
He kept on, and as far as I know, he is still doing this project. To compile upon the condition of Imam Al- Bukhari. Bukhari's book, by the way, was not comprehensive. Bukhari wanted to be succinct. He wanted to be concise. He never wanted to write an encyclopedia.
It's too difficult. So the Sheikh's goal was basically, now that we have all the books, let's write an encyclopedia of all sahih hadith upon the conditions of Bukhari. And subhanAllah, here was this man, Allah guided him in Hinduism, to now do one of the most ambitious projects that the ummah has ever seen.
The Lesson
This is what you call having high goals and expectations. And subhanAllah, when Sheikh Muhammad started off, I can assure you that if somebody told him, as a twenty-year-old new convert, that one day you will be the dean of the faculty of hadith in the college of Al-Islam University of Medina, and one day hundreds of scholars will sit at your feet, because he's the dean, he's making the curriculum, he would have just laughed and said, come on, get real.
But this is what happens when you have persistence, determination, drive, when you don't set any barriers, when you let Allah's guidance take you as far as your human, as your determination allows you to go, slowly but surely. This is exactly what happened. He's not the only one, by the way. This is an example that we and I have experienced and witnessed.
Story 2: Imam Al-Nawawi - From Grocery Store to Scholarly Legacy
When you look at the history of Islam, subhanAllah, so many. Those of you who have studied Imam Al- Nawawi, it's a classic example. Imam Al-Nawawi, rahim Allah ta'ala, classic example.
His Humble Beginnings
Imam Al-Nawawi was born to basically a farmer. He was born to a grocery man. His father owned a grocery, a small store. Baqal, they call it. It's a small store. And his father, he wanted to be a scholar.
He memorized the Qur'an at the age of nine, ten. It is narrated, the earliest record that we have of Imam Al-Nawawi, a scholar, was passing through the city. And he saw a strange sight that he recorded.
Later on, we discovered what the record was. He recorded that he saw a young boy. The other boys were pulling him to play ball. And he was yanking them away, saying, Leave me alone, I need to go to the halaqah. Leave me alone, I need to go to the study circle. And he asked, who is this boy? And they said, this is Yahya, basically Imam Al-Nawawi's name.
Imam Al-Nawawi was not known as Imam Al-Nawawi. And they said, the man said, later on when Imam Al-Nawawi became famous, they clicked, that was the boy that I had seen.
His Dedication Despite Obstacles
And as a young man, Imam Al-Nawawi asked his father, Can I go study Islam? His father said, you are only son, you can't. You see our state, your mother and father are old, we need you. And so he obeyed them. And he persisted in the shop, helping his mother and father in the shop.
But he continued to study and saturate whatever knowledge his small village had. And his father saw his dedication, that even behind the counter he'd have a book. Even with the customers, he'd always be with knowledge.
And his father seeing the drive, when he was 19 years old, he finally said, you know what? I see how dedicated you are, go to Damascus. Imam Al-Nawawi was born in the village of Nawwa, small little village of Nawwa. That's why he called Nawawi, from the village of Nawwa.
And Nawwa does not have scholars. And the scholars were in Damascus. So when his father saw how dedicated he was.
His Remarkable Achievement
By the way, 19, for most of us here, that's when we begin our studies. We need to understand, at 19, everybody had graduated and already had a job and career back then. And this is not just back then, even in the 1800s, Yale and Harvard would accept children, we call them children. They would accept people at the age of 13, 14. Graduates at the age of 17. Back then they treated young kids as adults, as they should be treated as.
His Blessed Legacy
Some of the scholars say that the most blessed books ever written by man, are the books of Al-Qaboor. Because the qaboor, or the acceptance that they had amongst the people, is unparalleled. Every Muslim household has 40 hadith of Nawawi.
They are the sahihain of Nawawi. No other book has been accepted so much by the ummah. And by the way, over 50 people wrote Arba'een, Arba'een, Arba'een.
The 40 hadith, over 50 authors wrote 40 hadith of this, 40 hadith of Al-Mundari, 40 hadith of Ibn Abi Dunya, 40 hadith of this and that. But it was only Al-Nawawi that Allah azza wa jalla controls for acceptance. And again, this goes back to dedication, determination.
Story 3: Sheikh Ahmed Mu'aidah - The Doctor Who Became a World-Renowned Qari
Some of the professors and teachers as well, or another one of our famous scholars that we had a little bit of interaction with here in Houston, when he came last year, Sheikh Ahmed Mu'aidah. Perhaps one of the top scholars of Qur'an and of recitation alive today. He's one of the living legends.
You have Abdul Basit, Manshawi, Qusadi. These are all passed away. These are the real legends, right? The new generation of those Egyptian Qur'an. You have Al-Qaradushi and you have Al-Mu'aidah. This is this level of people, right? Look up Ahmed Mu'aidah on YouTube. You will find one of the highest hits of Islamic recitation.
His Background and Beginning
Sheikh Ahmed Mu'aidah, he's actually a pediatrician by training. Pediatrician. And by the way, he's still a full-time doctor. He's still a full-time doctor.
Sheikh Ahmed told us that when I was in my late 20s, and he was born in a secular family, a very upper-class, rich Egyptian family. He's not that practicing. When I was in my upper 20s, Allah just gave me the desire, I want to memorize the Qur'an.
Bit too late for many people, late 20s or late 30s. But he said, you know what, I'm going to do it. And it so happened, he's in Egypt. And scholars are, masha'Allah, everywhere in Egypt. It so happened that in his local masjid, was one of the professors of Islam, who teaches Qur'an. Qiraat and recitation.
Egypt is Cairo. So it just so happened one of his local people in the masjid is a sheikh of Qiraat. So he goes to the sheikh and he says, Sheikh, I want to memorize the Qur'an.
His Method and Dedication
But I'm a doctor, and I don't have that much time. So just help me out. So the sheikh said, Okay, I don't have much time as well for one-on-one, so I'm a busy guy, but let's do this.
Every day, you will have to memorize and perfect two lines of the Qur'an. But I have only one condition. There's no such thing as a vacation for you. Every single day, two lines of the Qur'an, you memorize it with all of the different qiraat and tones, you perfect it.
The sheikh said to us, the sheikh said, I said, Sheikh, two lines, I mean, I know I'm busy, but I can do more than two lines. But his sheikh wasn't persistent, no. He was insistent, no, not more than two. You will only do two lines, but you will perfect them, and you will do them on a daily basis. And so the sheikh said, I have no choice.
He's the only guy I can study with, I'm a busy guy, I come home, this is the only masjid I'm gonna come to. So he began. And he was persistent. And he was punctual. Every day, after maghrib, they'd sit with the sheikh, do the two lines, five minutes, and that's it.
But Allah azza wa jalla blessed Sheikh Ahmad bin Aina with a voice that is like one of the flutes of David, as the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said. He heard somebody reciting Quran, and he said,
(Bukhari 5048)
"He has been given one of the flutes of the family of Dawood."
His Success and Recognition
And Sheikh Ahmad bin Aina, he seems to have one of these flutes of David, like Allah has just given it to him. And so slowly but surely, the sheikh has a full-time pediatrician, and I asked him, Sheikh, do you still work? And he goes, yes, of course, that's how I get my list, I still work as a pediatrician.
Slowly but surely, doors opened up, people began inviting him, he perfected Quran, he memorized all ten qiraat, the entire Quran, he memorized all of the different, it's called the intonations of the Quran, of how you read. It's not just recitation, it's also the rhythm, if you like, there are different styles. And Allah blessed him to have that type of gear to do it.
And he became a master, to the extent that now nobody knows him as a pediatrician. The world knows him as one of the top Quran scholars of the world. Even though he didn't start his life as a Quran scholar, but again, persistence, dedication, having a vision and goal, and simply not caring about it, just doing it.
And again, I am sure, if anybody had told the sheikh, Sheikh, you're gonna one day be the world famous scholar. He would have loved, he was gone. I'm just a guy in the hospital, I'm a pediatrician, I'm just memorizing the Quran, my own passion.
But he didn't put any barriers, he just went with the flow, he had persistence, and he let Allah Azza wa Jalla open the doors for him. And subhanAllah, this is exactly what Islam tells us to do.
Islamic Teachings on Excellence and High Goals
Our religion is not a religion that is encouraging mediocrity. Allah never wants us to be average. Never in the Quran does Allah say, just do the minimum and that's it. Always Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us to strive for perfection, to strive for excellence, to aim for the very highest.
Quranic Commands to Race for Good
And in fact Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in the Quran, in more than four verses, Allah says,
race one another. Be better than everybody else, Allah is saying.
make sure you're the winner.
وساروا all of you should be racing, and make sure you're the winner, to Allah's maghfirah and Allah's jannah. Allah doesn't suggest just cross the finishing line. No, Allah is telling you, be with the best and strive.
And those who are the ones who are striving, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and in fact the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said, beautiful hadith here, the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said that when you ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for jannah, don't just ask for jannah, ask for jannatul firdaws.
The hadith is by Mustafa ibn Hurayra,
(Bukhari 2790)
when you ask Allah for jannah, don't just say, oh Allah, just let me crawl in and I'll be happy.
I've heard so many Muslims say, you know if I just get in, I'll be so happy.
Aiming for the Highest
No, I agree, if we get in, we'll be happy. But why are you selling for less? Why is your aim so low? Because you see, if you aim for crawling in, suppose you fail, where are you gonna be? Whereas if you aim for firdaws, suppose you fail, where might you be? You see the difference here, right?
Allah says, when you ask Allah for jannah, ask Allah for jannatul firdaws. Because it is the best of jannah, and the highest of jannah, and the middle of jannah, and under and over it is the throne of Allah. And it is underneath the throne of Allah.
Now, fact. The percentage of Muslims who will enter jannatul firdaws, is very minuscule. Correct? Is that not true? We don't need evidences for this, right? The percentage of Muslims who will get into jannatul firdaws, is very very minuscule. Allah says in the Quran, Surah Al-Waqi'a
Very few people will get there.
Very few of my servants have really reached being shakur.
So the people who will get to jannah, will not be a large percentage. But that should be the aim and the goal of every Muslim. Even if you don't get there.
That's where we set the bar. We raise the bar to the highest. Because if we fail, Inshallah, we're close, that's great. Whereas if we set the bar at the lowest, and then we fail, we're ruined.
Following the Example of the Prophets
And in fact, Allah azza wa jalla tells us in the Quran
Be patient. Whenever something happens to you,
كَمَا صَبَرَ أُولُو الْعَزْمِ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ who? Like . Be patient like the elite of the prophets.
The أُولُو الْعَزْمِ were patient. Who are the أُولُو الْعَرْمِ? Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, and the Prophet of Islam. You know there's categories of prophets.
These were the prophets. Some we have blessed over others. Not all the prophets are at the same level.
Some are higher than others. And the highest level of prophets are the أُولُو الْعَزم. Those of strong determination. These are the highest. There's nobody higher than them. Imagine the name.
Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, and the Prophet of Islam. These five. Allah tells us, when you're patient, be patient like the أُولُو الْعَزْم.
Now let me ask you. Do you think any of us can be as patient as the أولو العزم Is that possible? Can we be as patient as Ibrahim when Allah tested him by telling him to sacrifice his own son? When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told him to leave Hajar and Ismail in the desert? When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told him to circumcise himself with an ax at the age of 80? Do you think we can reach that?
When Allah tested Ibrahim.
Can we reach that level of patience? Let's be frank and honest. Of course not. But when we aim... Where do we aim? فَاصْبِرْ كَمَا صَبَرَ أُولُو الْعَزْمِ . You aim for the very highest.
Because you're not gonna get there. It's a given. You're not gonna get there. We cannot be as patient as Ibrahim. As the prophets of Islam. As Musa and Isa. Obviously. But what is Allah telling us? Aim them. Look at them for example.
Take them as the role model, as the bar. Because when you take them as the bar, what's gonna happen? Again, even if you fail, your failure will be a success for 99.99% of the world. That's the whole point.
When you set your bar at Firdaws, when you set your bar at أُولُو الْعَرْمِ that's your bar. You're not gonna get there, maybe. You might get to Firdaws, maybe you might. But even if you don't, what is your failure compared to those who set their bar just to crawl into Jannah? You see my point? This is the whole point of Allah Azza wa Jalla in the process of telling us to reach for the very very highest.
The Story of Rabi'a ibn Ka'b
Again, we find this in the hadith of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) of the famous incident, not the famous Sahabi, Rabi'a ibn Ka'b. Rabi'a ibn Ka'b, we hardly know anything about him. He's not one of the elite of the Sahaba. He's not Abu Bakr or Uthman or Ali. We hardly know anything about him.
The Sahaba are on levels, they're not all on the same level. The ten who are given glad tidings are on the highest, followed by the people of Badr, followed by the people of Uhud, they're different levels. And Rabi'a ibn Ka'b is not in any of these elite circles.
He's a Sahabi, but he's not to that level. But one day he said to himself, you know, I should volunteer to be the Prophet's servant. He's a free man, he's not a slave. But he goes, you know, what better thing for me to do than to take the Prophet's (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) shoes, give him a robe, you know, anything that I should volunteer. And so he volunteered to be a servant. And he wasn't the only one, Anas ibn Malik as well.
His mother volunteered him because he was seven years old, but Anas did not regret that at all as we know. So Rabi'a volunteered himself to be a servant. And when the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) saw him, so dedicated, one day the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said, Oh Rabi'a, ask and I'll give you.
And you, mashaAllah, you're so dedicated, ask and I'll give you. And of course the connotation is very clear. You want a horse, you want a camel, you know, you want this and that.
We'll arrange something for you, you want some money, we'll arrange something for you. Rabi'a said, Ya Rasulullah, I want one thing. What did he ask him?
(Muslim 2846)
I want to be along with you in Jannah.
Now let's be frank here. The Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ)what level does he have in Jannah? He has the highest of the high. In fact, into those, there's a whole level dedicated to the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) And it is called الْوَسِيلَةُ وَالْفَضِيلَة That is الْوَسِيلَةُ وَالْفَضِيلَة ,right? The Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) told us to make du'a for الْوَسِيلَةُ وَالْفَضِيلَة He said in a authentic hadith, he said الْوَسِيلَةُ أَعْلَى دَرَجَاتِ الْجَنَّةِ (Tirmidhi 3612).
It's the highest level of Jannah. It is the highest level of Jannah and it is dedicated for one person. The whole level is dedicated for one person. And in his modesty he said, I hope that I am that person. But we know what he said. He said, I want you in his modesty.
I hope that I am that person. But this is (الْوَسِيلَةُ وَالْفَضِيلَةُ - al-waseelatu wal-fadeelah). Now, Rabee'ah is saying, I wanna be with you in that (الْوَسِيلَةُ وَالْفَضِيلَةُ - al-waseelatu wal-fadeelah). Obviously, he's not gonna be in (الْوَسِيلَةُ وَالْفَضِيلَةُ - al-waseelatu wal-fadeelah). That's dedicated for the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam). But that's where his level is. That's where the goal is.
Because when you set your goal that high, what's gonna happen? Even if you fail, you will be way higher than anybody else. And so the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, he was a bit astonished, because he was expecting something of the dunya. Right? That was the whole point.
With you what? I'll give it to you. So he's asking, not just Jannah. He said, I wanna be with you in Jannah. And so the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said anything else? He said, that's all I want. That's my whole goal. That's all I want.
(Muslim 489)
And so the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, if that is the case, Muslim) You need to help me. Meaning that, and this is a very clear indication, the Prophet cannot give Jannah just by snapping the fingers.
That's not in his... He can give a verse in Kaaba, that's in his possession. He cannot give Jannah to whomever he wants. Allah is the one who gives. But he can make shahada. He can ask Allah. And so he said, if that is the case, then help me to help you. Help me to help you by doing a lot of sajadas.
Be extra virtuous. And I'll try to help you to get higher. Subhanallah.
This is again, you aim for the high. You aim for the very highest. And even if you fail, as we said, your failure will be the success of millions and millions of people.
The Competition of the Sahaba
And this is the reality of the sahaba, that they would race one another for good deeds. They would see what others are doing for good deeds. When Allah said they would monitor each other to see they wanna win the race.
And this is the reality of the sahaba, that they would race one another for good deeds. They would see what others are doing for good deeds. When Allah said they would monitor each other to see they wanna win the race.
Subhanallah. We are in the rat race. They're in the Jannah race. We are in the rat race. This is what the west calls it. And it is a rat race. Filthy, evil, disgusting race. What is our race? We look at people's possessions. We look at the latest car somebody's driving.
Oh my god, he's upgraded to a Lexus. Whoa, he's not a Mercedes 500 SEL. We look at their watches. Why you gotta roll it? You gotta protect Felipe. Anybody have to protect Felipe? The sisters look at their purses. What's the fancy purse here? What's it called? The $4,000 purse? You wouldn't know.
Mashallah. The brother in his modesty says, I have no idea. This is to look at their purses. Right? What purse are you not flashing? This is what we're monitoring. Because this is what our race is. How big is the
fancy is the car? How big is the house? What position and degree do you have? This is where some psychologically analyzing people.
The sahaba, when they looked at each other, what would they analyze? How much sunnah is he praying? Testing, is he fasting today or not? They put something in front to see is he fasting or not. Right? Is he doing dhikr after the salah? He's monitoring. Because if he was, he wanted to beat him.
The Story of the Muhajir and Ansar
And we have clear examples of this. The muhajir and the ansar, the famous alif and sahib al-khaliq. The muhajir and the ansar.
The muhajir were monitoring what the ansar were doing. And so one day, they came to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) complaining that in a way that is unprecedented in human history. The complaint was a phrase.
The complaint was a phrase. What was the complaint? They said, Ya Rasulullah, our brothers of the ansar, they are praying as much as we're praying. And they're fasting as much as we're fasting.
And they're doing dhikr as much as we're doing dhikr. They're monitoring, subhanallah. They're monitoring.
If somebody's praying extra, I need to pray so that I beat him in jannah. I want a higher place in jannah. They're monitoring. Are they sitting after salah doing dhikr? If they are, I'm gonna sit and do dhikr as well. So the muhajir will say, Ya Rasulullah, the ansar are doing all that we're doing. But they have money.
And they're able to give to the poor what we cannot give because we don't have that money. Will they win us, Ya Rasulullah? After all that we've done, they give to everything? This is a complaint, but it's lodged in the form of a praise. They're saying the playing field is not level.
That's what they're trying to say. It's not fair. They're getting more reward because they have money, we don't have money.
And so there's a number of different responses. And one of them, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said that the hijrah has a great blessing in Qalila. And another one who told them that, don't you know that smiling in the face of your brother also counts as charity and shaking your brother's hand as charity and putting water in your brother's pocket as charity.
So he's giving them things that they can do to compete with the ansar that are not monetary. That's not just money. You can compete by doing other things as well.
The Competition of Abu Bakr and Umar
So the point here is the muhajirun and the ansar are monitoring each other's actions of worshipping. Same with Abu Bakr and Umar. Radiallahu ta'ala, he's famous.
I mean they get so many instances. We don't have time. Perhaps the most famous one was the battle of Tabuk. The battle of Tabuk, of course, it took place in the ninth year of the hijrah, one of the last battles to take place. And Abu Bakr and Umar always having a competition between the two of them. And the battle of Tabuk was one of the most difficult expeditions.
It's actually called (غَزْوَةُ الْعُسْرَةِ - ghazwatu al-'usrah). The expedition of difficulty. Because it was the most difficult. In the summer one, marching all the way to Syria. It's the fruit season, the harvest season. They're told to leave all of that.
All of the difficulties. And they needed a lot of money. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) kept on encouraging, give us money for the Ghazwat, we're gonna fight the Romans.
Because the goal was to fight the Byzantine Empire. Heraclius' army. Didn't actually happen, long story, but the presumption was they would fight the Romans. The largest army the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) ever gathered. 30,000 men. The conquest of Makkah was with 9,000, 10,000.
Look at the difference. 30,000 men. And the Ghazwat has a lot of benefits and what not. Maybe one day inshallah we'll do that. But the point here, he was encouraging sadaqa like hardly ever before. And everybody was giving charity as much as they could.
And Abu Bakr came with his quantity, and Umar came with his quantity. Umar is the manager. Umar is seeing this, right? And Umar comes first to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
And he gives him all of the silver and bushels of wheat and dates and all that. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) says, MashaAllah, how much have you left for your family? So he says, Ya Rasulullah, I have half for Allah and half for my family. Who amongst us can dedicate 50% of his wealth? He said, we do not.
Think about that. We give 2.5% with great difficulty. With great difficulty. We find loopholes around us. Umar said, he's happy alhamdulillah. And you're allowed to boast to Allah.
You're allowed to boast to Allah. Because there's no showing off when it's to Allah azza wa jal. And to the Messenger. This is something that's not... So he said, Ya Rasulullah, I left half for my family. And half, fee sabeelillah. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) pray for him.
Ask him for barakah of Allah. Abu Bakr comes along. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) says, How much did you leave for your family? So he says, Ya Rasulullah, I left them Allah and His Messenger.
Nothing. 100%. And Umar, when he heard this, he was shocked. He said, Khalas Abu Bakr, you won, I lost. I'm never gonna compete with you after this. Khalas, you won.
After 22 years of battling, the battle of Tabuk is the last year before the Prophet's death, right? After all of these two decades, finally, Umar says, Khalas Abu Bakr, I'm never gonna compete with you again. You're the winner of the race. But the point being, the mentality that's there, right?
You're monitoring. You're seeing what the people are doing. Making sure that you're not the one left behind. .
And that's exactly what the Prophet is telling us. Raise the bar. The famous hadith of Sahih Muslim. I gave it a khutbah, those of you who attended. Muslim 2664). Be greedy for that which will benefit you.
(Muslim 2664)
Be greedy. Have a vision. Have a proper greed. Be eager to get what will benefit you. Have a vision and plan. Don't just sit back and say, Ya Khalas, don't settle for mediocrity.
Don't settle for being average. No. Aim for the highest and keep on striving. And Allah knows what's gonna happen. And that's the whole point.
Quranic Emphasis on Different Levels of Paradise
Look at, subhanAllah, have you ever noticed the Qur'an always divides the people of Jannah into more categories than the people of hell.
Look at Surah Al-Waqi'ah. Surah Al-Waqi'ah. There is As-Sabiqun, there's Ashabul Yameen, there's Ashabul Shiman.
Right? Sabiqun, Ashabul Yameen are both entering Jannah. Ashabul Shiman, Jahannam. Allah wants to tell us Jannah has all these levels, even though the people entering Jannah will be less than the people entering Jahannam.
But He wants to emphasize there are levels. And compete with one another. Look at Surah Al-Rahman. The last page of Surah Al-Rahman. Analyze it. There's two levels of Jannah that are being described.
The first of the levels is higher than the second. And Allah finishes that series by saying . Then Allah says this are two other Jannahs. Not to that level. And when Allah describes the people of the fire of hell into Surah Al-Rahman, one higher level. Because who cares about the different levels? That's all Jahannam, you've lost.
But Jannah, Allah wants to tell you, there's different levels. Similarly, I mean, many other examples in the Qur'an where the people of Jannah are given more detail because the emphasis is, look, you want to get the highest. And in one verse Allah even says, after describing Jannah, Allah says, . You want to have a race? Have a race in this.
. If you really want to win, you should win in this. Everything else is a waste of time, beating one another, winning one another, everything else is a waste.
And that's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) is telling us to be proactive, to always have a vision, to always do something, to always have motivation, to always have a plan.
The Parable of Planting Until the Last Moment
Beautiful hadith, The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said If one of you has a seedling that he's putting in the ground, sapling, which he's putting in the ground, you know the small plant that you put and then you cover it with soil, and you hear the trumpet for the Day of Judgment, if you're able to plant the seedling before the trumpet is blown to us, I repeat the hadith, it's a little bit confusing, but I'll explain it.
If one of you has a sapling, which is a small tree, you know the plants you buy in these plant places, and you plant them in your backyard, it's already structured for you. This is what he's saying, if you have one of these, and you're doing planting, and you hear the Day of Judgment, the trumpet being blown, and you're able to beat the trumpet by planting the seed before the trumpet is blown, then you should do that.
Now this hadith is so profound and deep because for multiple reasons, multiple reasons. Firstly, there will be no Muslims who hear the trumpet being blown. The hadith is not meant for actual implementation.
The trumpet will be blown upon the worst of mankind. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said that the trumpet will be blown upon shararul khalq, the worst of mankind. That's something to do with the signs of the Day of Judgment, that after Isra, after Dajjal, after all of this, Allah will send a beautiful scented wind, and everybody who has an ounce of imam will die a peaceful death.
And only those who have no imam will remain. And it will be at that time when the Qur'an will be lifted up, it will be at that time when nobody will know la ilaha illallah, when Allah, Allah will be forgotten on earth. Nobody will know what it is.
It will be at that time when Fahisha takes place in public and nobody thinks twice about that. This is that time. And so the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) is saying, if one of you has that seedling, no Muslim is gonna have a seedling in that time.
It's a theoretical hadith. The point being, if you're able to do something of benefit, of value, then go ahead and do it. Don't delay, don't procrastinate.
Even if you're not gonna see the fruits and results of that, you're gonna die. But go ahead and do it. That's the point of the hadith.
It's a motivational hadith. Have a vision, have a plan, be proactive. Always do something.
Five Practical Points for Achieving Noble Visions
And therefore, brothers and sisters in Islam, the bottom line is, every one of us has to have some type of vision. Let it be grandiose. Let it be grandiose.
Let it be the most wild vision. How many of us know people who have memorized the Qur'an at the age of 50 or 60? They did it in the end of the day, alhamdulillah. How many of us know people, they changed their careers at a later date, and they changed their entire agenda, their vision? Where there's a will, there's a way.
And our religion tells us to aim for the very highest. And for those of you who are young, alhamdulillah thumma alhamdulillah. Now is the time to have long visions.
Now is the time to think about the future. What do you want to do? Do you want to settle for mediocrity? Do you want to be average? Do you want to be just like another statistic? SubhanAllah, look at the ummah. Look at the names that are known in the ummah.
The bulk of the ummah. Nobody knows what they've done. The names that are known, Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Hanifa, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Zainiya, Imam Hajar, Imam Nawawi.
These are the legacies that have lived on forever. For every one of these, there were billions of people in life we don't even know their names. Gone.
What have they done? That's it. What is the legacy? Whereas for us now, we need to think, what legacy will I be leaving? What will I be accomplishing in the life that Allah Azza wa Jalla has given me? And so to conclude, I want to mention five practical points. Five practical points about how we can hold in our vision.
How we can have a plan. How we can motivate ourselves. Five practical points.
And then we open the floor inshaAllah for question and discussion.
1. Knowledge of Islam
Firstly, the first and most important is to understand the blessings of leaving a positive legacy, of being proactive, productive. And that is the blessings of knowledge.
You need to know your religion and the blessings of knowledge. And the people are like this, right? Look at those less than you, rather than those above you, when it comes to the dunya. And when it comes to the deen, look at those above you.
So change your whole paradigm and automatically you'll be motivated. Automatically. So number one was knowledge.
2. Paradigm Shift
Number two, paradigm shift. Look at above and below.
3. Proper Companionship
Number three, the proper companions. You all know the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, a man follows the religion of his friends. So be careful who are your friends.
(Abu Dawud 4833)
a man follows the religion of his friends.
Right? If all of your friends, all they can do is talk about Hollywood, Bollywood, Lollywood. If all they can talk about is cricket and latest scandals and what not. Okay, how far are you going to go on like that? Let's be honest here.
Right? How far are you going to go like that? You need to examine who are your friends and who do you like socializing with. And if people are pulling you back, well guess what? They're not forcing you. Go find another group of people.
Classic example of this is Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه Qul Allah Ta'ala Ibn Abbas, the cousin of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Ibn Abbas is known as (حَبْرُ الْأُمَّةِ - habr ul-umma). (حَبْرٌ - habr) means the erudite scholar.
He's the greatest scholar of the Ummah. حَبْرُ الْأُمَّةِ. That's his title. Guess what? When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم died, he was barely a teenager.
He was 13 years old. When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم died, Abu Bakr and Umar in their 60s put it into perspective. He's a 13 year old kid.
Ibn Abbas was not a big name in the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. He's a big name, maybe he's a cousin. The son of Abbas, right? But not in terms of knowledge.
Ibn Abbas tells us his story. He said, when I was a young man, when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم died I said to my playmates, the one I'm playing with all on the street, I said to him, (تَعَالَ نَطْلُبُ الْعِلْمَ - ta'ala natlubul 'ilm). Come let us go. Seek knowledge from the great Sahaba when they're still alive.
Abu Bakr, Umar, Sayyidi Bitha. They're all alive. Let's go and study with them.
He said, my friends scoffed at me. And he said, Who do you think you are? A 13 year old, a kid. Do you think anybody's ever gonna come to you for knowledge when we have great scholars? What did Ibn Abbas say? The swiftness with which he said it is beautiful.
(فَتَرَكْتُهُمْ - fataraktuhum). I left him. He's pulling me back. I left him.
The naysayers are too many. Wallahi, brothers and sisters, the easiest job in the world is an armchair critic. The easiest job in the world.
You don't believe me? Look at what people do during the soccer match, a football match, a basketball match. Oh, come on, you could have done that. Oh, you should have done that.
The guy sitting in his chair, mashallah, 25 pounds overweight. He couldn't even lift a ball, much less kick it. Oh, I could have done this better than you.
You know, the easiest job in the world is sitting in a chair and criticizing other people. You're always gonna find people like that. When people are pulling you back, cut them off, move on.
Nobody's telling you have to stick around those people. This is what Ibn Abbas said. (فَتَرَكْتُهُمْ - fataraktuhum). I left him.
He's not my proper companion. (وَأَقْبَلْتْ عَلَى طَلَبِ الْعِلْمِ - wa aqbaltu 'ala talabil 'ilm). I started studying him. I started going to Ibn Abu Bakr, to Zayd Al-Thabit, and he tells us his story, that I would sit outside the doors of the great sahabah like Zayd Al-Thabit.
Because he's a young man, he's embarrassed to basically barge in or knock on the door. He sits waiting for them to come out. And subhanallah, side point, because he showed honor to knowledge and the people of knowledge, Allah is the one who gave him honor amongst the people.
He sat outside the door of Zayd Al-Thabit, in the hot sun of the summer. And Zayd Al-Thabit came outside, he goes, subhanallah, O cousin of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم come and knock and come inside. What are you doing here? And he goes, no, I didn't want to disturb you.
I have a question, a fatwa, ask him. And he would ask him the question. And he kept on doing this until what happens? It's inevitable, the older generation dies, Abu Bakr dies, Omar dies, the great sahabah dies, and then Ibn Abbas becomes the most legendary of the sahabah.
One of the most legendary sahabah of the sahabah. Had he listened to his friend, where would he be, or where would we be without Ibn Abbas. So companionship, number three, companionship.
4. Remembering Death and Legacy
Number four, one of the ways you can increase your productivity, is to always think of your legacy, and basically what I mean by this is your ultimate death. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم commanded us,
(Tirmidhi 2307)
Think frequently about that which destroys all pleasures, death. It is sunnah, this is not morbid curiosity, no.
This is a motivation thing. We don't think about death like, oh my god, what's going to happen, no, not that type of thinking. Think about death meaning, subhanallah one day I'm not going to be here, I'm going to make sure I do something.
Think about death meaning, to become more proactive, to become more productive in life. So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is telling us, frequently think about death. And this is Islamic, that we should
everyday be thinking about, what am I going to be doing, one day I'm not going to be here, what have I accomplished so far? Already 20, 30, 40, 50 years have gone by, only Allah knows how many are left.
What have I done in this time? And think about the legacy you leave behind. Now, for some of us, that legacy will be a public legacy, Ibn Hajar al-Taymiyyah. For others, it's going to be a private, good children, right? A small endowment, building a masjid.
It doesn't have to be grandiose in the eyes of the public, it must be grandiose in your eyes, in the eyes of the Muslims. What have you done? Think about, when Allah asks me the questions, what am I going to answer him? This is automatically going to motivate you more and more, right? So the more you think about the akhira, the more you think about the inevitable end, automatically your ambitions and goals are going to be higher and higher. And of course, this is a whole topic in and of itself.
One of the famous scholars of the past said (عَجِبْتُ - 'ajibtu) I am amazed at a group of people, at mankind. (عَجِبْتُ - 'ajibtu) I'm amazed at a group of people, or at mankind. Every day that they live, they want to decorate their houses even more.
Even though every day that they live, they have one day less to live in those houses. And every day that they live, the house that they're building in Jeddah, they have no concern about how that house looks. And every day that they live, they're coming one day closer to that house.
SubhanAllah, if this is your attitude towards life, how productive are you, right? If this is what you're thinking about all the time, how will your life cycle, how will your... There is no such thing as a... Allah, I remember one of my shaykhs, he said, there is no such thing as an ijazah. We would say, shaykh, we want a vacation. He would tell us, there is no such thing as a vacation.
There's no such thing as a vacation. Now, of course, I'm not saying it's haram. Don't misquote me.
But I'm saying for somebody at that level, right? He cannot understand the concept of you doing nothing. Time is limited. And when you get to that level of productivity, you're always going to be doing something, right? He goes, I don't know the meaning of the word vacation.
Never forget this. I don't understand what this vacation is for you kids. You want to go and you want to play? I don't know the meaning of the word vacation.
Now, of course, that's a level. But sometimes we get to halal to go on a vacation. Don't misquote me.
But I'm saying, that's what happens when you get to that level of productivity. So point number four, think of legacy and death. And point number five, perhaps the most important.
5. Du'a and Sincerity
Du'a and sincerity to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Du'a and sincerity to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Always asking Allah to bless you in this world and the next.
To bless you and your progeny and children. To bless you. And that's what the prophets of Allah made du'a.
Make me mubarak, make me blessed. Whatever I do, do it good and have it a blessing. Mubarak here means, you will be beneficial wherever you go.
Wherever you go, your good will be felt. You want to be mubarak wherever you go. And that's a du'a that the prophets made in the Quran.
And we should also have this in mind. Make du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Make du'a for Jannah.
Make du'a for Jannatul Firdaws. Make du'a for a legacy in this world and the next. Make du'a to Allah.
The fact of the matter is, you want to see who you are? See what your du'as are and you'll know. You want to see who you are? Think about what du'as are you making to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Your du'as will betray you to yourself.
Because Allah tells us in the Quran, there are many who only ask for this dunya.
If the only time you ask Allah is to pass an exam, when you have a sick relative, is to finish a problem in this world, and you never ask Allah for hidayah. You're praying 17 times a day, if you know salatul mustaqeem, but you might as well just be saying something you have no idea.
You never ask Allah, O Allah, guide me to the straight path. Our Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم would make du'a to Allah,
O Allah, show me the truth as truth and grant me the ability to follow it, and show me falsehood as falsehood and grant me the ability to avoid it.
This is outside of surah. Any difference of opinion, guide me to the straight path, the correct opinion.
This is the process of making du'a. Making du'a for jinn, making du'a for good children, these are du'as that show, reflect our mentality. So if you're not making du'a, that which is important, this betrays your own lack of vision and lack of priorities, right? So these five points, number one.
Summary of the Five Points
Who's your experts, number one? No, it's not number one. Number one, Islamic knowledge. Learn.
Number two, paradigm shift. Look at those above you in the religion and beneath you in the dunya. Number three, companionship.
Number four, always think of the akhirah. Always think of Allah azza wa jal, meeting Allah then. And number five, constant du'a, constant sincerity to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The Story of the Mujaddid
I conclude by one of the reminders that our sheikhs gave. You know, I graduate from the college of hadiths. You know, we read the books of hadith in the college.
So we came across the hadith of Abu Dawood, in Sunan Abu Dawood, where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that, it's a famous hadith, all of you know this.
(Abu Dawud 4291)
After every one hundred years, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will send a mujaddid, who will yujaddidu haza al-amr, who will revive this religion.
Now I want to clarify, a lot of people misunderstand. Yujaddid means to polish and clean and bring back shining as it used to be. Yujaddid doesn't mean to change. Yujaddid means to go back to the original.
Yujaddid, make it new again. Right, you polish it, you clean it, you make it new again. So he's going to revive the ummah.
Right, man yujaddidu haza al-amr. And so we expect every hundred years, that Allah azza wa jal will send, Some people say, that we shouldn't understand this to be only one person, but rather a group of people, maybe every community one person. It doesn't have to be the whole world one person.
And other people say, no, in the whole world one person. But the difference is a little bit trivial in that, it's one person in a community or a nation versus one person in the ummah. It's a very few people, that's the point.
If not one, maybe five, ten people. Right, so after every hundred years, Allah will preserve this religion, by sending forth a yujaddid. Now, the shaykh paused and he looked at us, and he goes, what's the first question everybody thinks about, when I mention this hadith.
So we raised our hands, we said, Shaykh, who's the yujaddid of our times? So everybody in every era has a yujaddid, who's the yujaddid of our times? The shaykh said, aha, that is your problem. That's your mistake right there. Why did you automatically assume, that somebody else would be the yujaddid? And why didn't you say, oh Allah, make me the yujaddid of this century.
I'll never forget this when he said this, because wallahi, nobody amongst us was thinking about those times. He goes, you've already sold yourself short. You've already given up, you've already lowered the bar.
Okay, maybe you won't. He didn't say this, maybe you won't become the yujaddid. But guess what? Suppose you made du'a to Allah, and suppose you sold to be that person.
If you failed, you might have changed the course of Islamic history by reviving an entire nation. You might not be the yujaddid, you'll be one of the faheed beneath him. That failure is the best success for your entire legacy.
You see my point here, right? You shortchanged yourself, you passed the buck. Somebody else is gonna be the yujaddid. Why didn't you automatically say, oh Allah, make me that yujaddid? Why are you shortchanging yourself? After all, somebody is gonna be the yujaddid, right? Why can't you aim for that? And subhanallah brothers and sisters, that is the fact of the matter.
Why can't we aim for the highest and strive for it as much as we can, even if we fall short? Because when you set your goals extra high, a failure in that goal could be a success for this world and the next. And that's the bottom line. Our religion tells us to aim for the best, to aim for excellence, to set your vision on the highest possible.
And then leave the rest for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Some will make it all the way there. For those who don't, be in the race.
Surely if you sit on the sidelines, you're not gonna be in the race. Correct? But if you're in the race, if you're in the race, at least you'll pass the finish line, you'll win some victories and awards, you'll be with the people who are in the race. If you already sat on the sidelines on the benches, I'm not gonna be able to win this race.
Alas, you lost it. Get in with the crowd. Go and do what you can.
And who knows? Indeed, who knows? Look at all of these people I mentioned, that I, we, ourselves, you know, Shaykh Al-A'ubi, Shaykh Mu'ayyad and others, Allah opened doors for them. One thing led to another, and next thing they know, alhamdulillah, Allah azza wa jalla blessed them for the whole ummah.
Conclusion
So brothers and sisters, I conclude by saying, don't trivialize your role. Don't aim for mediocrity. Don't wanna be like the rest. Because the rest are nothing.
Look how many billions have come and gone. What have they done? Don't just become another statistic. Think, what am I doing? What can I do for Allah subhana wa ta'ala? And for this dunya as well.
Yes, what can I do for a new family? Deen and dunya together. Aim high. Have a legacy.
Be motivated. And Allah azza wa jalla will open up the doors that He will open up and put your trust in Allah. We ask that Allah subhana wa ta'ala blesses us in all that we do, that He overlooks our shortcomings, that He allows us to gain the very heights of every single endeavor that He forgives us for our sins and our mistakes.
"(Quran 4:69)"
We ask Allah azza wa jalla to raise us as Muslims and to cause us to live as Muslims and to die as Muslims and to be resurrected amongst the ranks of the Nabiyeen, the Siddiqeen, the Shuhada, and the Saliheen.
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