Islam Today Holding on to Burning Ember

Islam Today: Holding on to Burning Ember

Shaykh Yusha Evans

Opening Salutation

(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh)

Introduction

Alhamdulillah. Thumma alhamdulillah. It's my honor and pleasure to be here with you. I was supposed to be here yesterday. Unfortunately my flight was cancelled over a book. They took some of us off. So I literally got here just a few moments ago. Went to the hotel, changed, and here I am 16 hours no sleep.

This is the life of da'wah. You just got to keep going. So if my thoughts take a moment to get going, then know it's because I've been going on about 30 something hours of no sleep. Alhamdulillah. It's a small price to pay.

The topic, the topic. You see, thinking about this topic, there were so many things that came to mind. And even up until this very moment, I hadn't decided what I'm gonna talk about. But I know that what comes from the heart reaches the heart. So I'll speak from my heart.

The Time of Patience

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as narrated by Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him):

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2260)

That there would come a time upon mankind of patience. There would come a time upon mankind of patience. Meaning that this would be a time of struggle, this would be a time of hardship. And maybe not even hardship just for the Muslims, but hardship for humanity. The world would be in a very dark place.

How many of you today believe that we live in a world that's in a very dark place? Raise your hand. World, I'm talking about the world. The world is in chaos. The world is in confusion. The world doesn't know what it is doing right now. We are lost as a humanity.

But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that upon this time of patience, in this time of hardship, it would be so difficult that for a believer, for a Muslim to hold on to their deen, for a Muslim to continue upon their religion. And I'm not talking about the religion that was made up by Shaykh Fulan Fulan two years ago to

modernize Islam, to fit into modern society. I'm not talking about the deen that people claim when they say, I'm a Muslim, but they don't do anything that outwardly shows the actions of a Muslim.

I'm talking about when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, upon the religion that Allah revealed to him, and the sunnah upon which he himself replicated that deen in his own life, the book of Allah and the sunnah. That for Muslims to stay on that would be like holding on to burning coals or hot rocks.

Understanding the Hadith: Holding on to Burning Coals

What does this mean? What do we learn from this? What lesson can we be taking from this? Because I see this hadith used all the time. You can Google, holding on to burning coals on Google and look up images and you'll find plenty of posters and memes about holding on to the burning embers. But what in actuality does that mean for me?

Let's take it from a logical perspective for a moment. If you were to take a burning coal, let's say, you know the coals that we use to burn the bukhur or from my Somali brothers and sisters, the ansi. And you get that thing red hot and put it in your hands. What's gonna happen?

First and foremost, the majority of people won't hold it. Will they? When I ask a question, please know for the next three days, if I ask a question, it's not rhetorical. I'm seeking an answer. Most of the people will drop it. Will they not? Yes, you're gonna drop it, it's too hot.

The majority of people will drop it. This is the first lesson we learn. And we see it left and right. People dropping that burning coal. Dropping the deen. Even if they don't leave Islam and profess some other religion, what is left of the Islam is nothing. Name only. Maybe even dress only. But that's it.

So most of the people will drop the coal. But those few who are strong enough to hold on to it, what's gonna happen? What's gonna happen? You're gonna get burned. You're gonna get hurt. There's gonna be some pain. There's gonna be some pain from holding on to this. How many of you think you could hold on to that with no pain? You wouldn't feel a thing. No. You're gonna be in pain and it's gonna leave some scars.

These are the lessons that we learn from this. That yes, in this time of struggle, in this time of fitan, trials and tribulations, that the ummah is going through, that there will be those who will hold on to that burning coal. But it doesn't mean they're not gonna pay for it. It doesn't mean they're not gonna get burned. It doesn't mean that they're not gonna suffer in pain and affliction.

You see, these are the lessons of consolation we should take from this. How many of you believe this ummah is living in a time of severe tribulation and hardship? Raise your hand. Yeah, everywhere we go. How many of you believe that this is a bad thing that the Muslims are going through right now? Raise your hand. I'm not raising my hand. Why? This is what I want to explain to you today.

Embracing the Struggle

You see, we as Muslims are too attuned and too quick to run away from struggle. You see, we want to live this blissful life. We want to have everything in this life. We want to have no sacrifice for it, no struggle for it, no hardship for it. We want it given to us on a silver platter. We want to live in this life as though we are living in a perfect world. And then in return, we also want Allah to grant us the highest ranks of Jannah. And it doesn't always work like that.

You see, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was telling us what was going to happen, but Allah already revealed to us, every one of us in Surah Al-Ankabut:

Do you think that because you say, you believe, you won't be tested? You see, Allah asked you a question. Do you think that because you believe and you say you believe that you won't be tested? Allah says, surely I'm going to test you. I'm going to test you.

If we want Allah to grant us the greatest favors, how many of you want to go to Jannah? Raise your hands. You want to go to Jannah? Put your hands down. All of us who want to go to Jannah, what is Jannah surrounded by? Tell me what is surrounding Jannah? What did Jibreel (peace be upon him) tell our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that was surrounding Jannah? Anybody? Hardship, struggle, temptation, fitna.

Jibreel (peace be upon him) said that when Allah created Jannah and Jahannam, He told me to go look at it. And when I looked at Jannah, I said, oh Allah, there is no one who hears about this place except they're going to enter it. And I looked at Jahannam, and I said, my Lord, there is no one who hears about this place but he will stay away from it.

Then Allah surrounded Jannah with hardships, with struggles, with stress, with difficulty. And then He surrounded Jahannam with all of the things we love, the temptations, the easy life, the sin, the immorality, the things which our lower desires seek after. And He told Jibreel (peace be upon him), go look at it again.

And Jibreel when he looked at it, when he looked at Jannah and what is around it, he said, my Lord, I don't think there's anyone who's going to make it. I don't think there's anyone who will make it. And when he looked at Jahannam, he said, my Lord, I think everyone's going here.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2822)

You see, Jannah is not some road paved with gold bricks. The gold bricks are inside the gates. The road to Jannah is paved with hardship. It's paved with struggle. It's paved with trials, difficulties, afflictions, suffering. Why? Because once you walk your two feet into those gates, you'll forget about that long road.

You'll forget about all those struggles, all that hardship, all that difficulty, all that testing, all that pain, all that affliction, all those depressed days and depressed nights. It'll be all gone. You'll rest forever, for eternity.

But no matter how easy that road is to Jahannam, no matter how many desires you fulfilled in your life, no matter how good it's made you feel, the moment you are tossed through its gates, you will wish with everything that is in you, you would have struggled a little bit more. See, this is the reality. We're gonna have to struggle. We're gonna have to go through hardship. We're gonna have to go through difficulties.

The Example of the Prophet

When we look at the life of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), did he go through hardship? Remember, my questions aren't rhetorical. Did he go through hardship? Did he go through hardship similar to what we're going through or worse? Worse.

He was laughed at himself. He was spat at himself. He was abused himself. He was called so many names. He was beaten. He was fought against, wars against him. His people turned away from him. His family turned away from him. His entire city turned away from him. He struggled so much.

So do you think that you and I should be treated any differently by Allah than the way our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was dealt with? Do you think you're any better? Do you think you deserve any more? We don't live in a time that is so bad.

We live in a time that is so opportunistic and we're missing the opportunity. The opportunity is passing many of us by. We're living in a time where yes, it's difficult to be a Muslim. It's not easy to live Islam openly in the West. Subhanallah, forget about that. It's not even easy to live Islam openly in Muslim countries.

I'm telling you for a fact, there are many Muslim countries that have been Muslim since the time of the companions that you go to and try to live your deen the way that it was legislated by Allah and his messenger, you'll end up in jail quicker than you will here in Norway. Wallahi azeem. It'll happen to you.

So, it's everywhere. It's everywhere. Yeah, it's difficult. But you know, with struggle and difficulty with Allah, comes reward. The stronger the test, the harsher the circumstances, the more grievous the difficulties, the more Allah increases the rewards. This is the time that we live in.

The Legacy of the Ummah

You see, we forget who we are. And I've said this many times, and I've said it on not this stage, but a stage here in Norway many times, that we've forgotten who we are. We've forgotten the legacy of this ummah, that this ummah has always been a ummah that's gone through hardship from the very beginning.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 145)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, this Islam, it started as ghareeb, strange, odd, not like anything else. And it would go back to being strange just how it began. So, tuba, meaning jannah, it's the name of a tree in jannah is tuba. So jannah be for the strangers.

His companions wanted to know, who are these people? Who are these strangers? Who are these type of people? He said:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2630)

They are the people who when mankind has gone corrupt, when the world has gone crazy, when the world has lost its mind, when it's backwards, when it's ignorant, they correct them. They become the change. They become the change.

And the companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) they were that. Now Islam has gone back to being something strange. But where are the strangers? Where are these strangers that are out there trying to make a difference in the world? Where are they at? There's so few in number I can count on my hands. People that are out there trying to make a difference. Not just make a difference for humanity, but make a difference for the truth. Make a difference for the truth.

Indeed, by time mankind is lost. You see, we forget about this. Except for those who believe and do good deeds. And then they exhort one another to the truth. They call to the truth. And they call one another to have patience in this time of difficulty.

You see, we're living in a very opportunistic time that we fail to realize. We're living in a time where Islam is absent on the world scene. Islam is not making an impact on the world scene. When if you go back a thousand years, Islam was changing the world. Islam was bringing about revolution.

And not the revolution of tearing up streets and burning things down and blowing things up. No, they were making a revolution in science. They were making a revolution in astronomy. They were revolutionizing the way the world thought and the way the world perceived things. They were bringing the world out of the dark ages into the period of enlightenment. They were the trendsetters on the planet and everyone knew this.

When someone said, I'm a Muslim, they were looked at with a bit of esteem. That, wow, that's one of those Muslims. When the Muslim ummah was thought of, it was thought of as something to be respected or to be dealt with as a serious entity.

Now look at the Muslim ummah today, looked at with such degradation, such humiliation, such disgust by most of the world. Is it our fault? I'm asking you a question, is it our fault? It's our fault. It's not the media's fault.

The Role of Media

It's not the media's fault. Stop blaming the media. You know what the media's job is? To sell you information. To sell you information, to get viewers, to get paid ads on their channels. The more people that watch, the more viewer readership they have, the more they can charge for those commercials and those adverts that they put on their station. That's their job.

Sell newspapers, sell magazines. And you know what's a hot topic selling right now? You, in a negative light. That every Muslim is your enemy. They're hiding in the corners, they're hiding, waiting to come out and get you. So that's what's selling. So you can't blame the media for doing what the media has been doing since its inception.

Was there media at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? Was there media? Yes or no? Yes, there was media at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). There were people who carried these messages. There were the poets who delivered messages. There were many forms of media at the time of the Prophet that had turned the people against him.

That had turned the people against Islam. That made the people afraid of Muslims. That had spies out in the city of Mecca looking for Muslims. Yes, there was media. And how did our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) deal with that media? How did he counteract and counterbalance that negative stigmatism against him and his followers?

You know what they did? They lived the message that was sent to them. They implemented the commands of Allah. They did what Allah told them to do.

And it was a struggle. There was difficult times. They went through hardship. They were banished into the desert for three years and almost starved to death. But Allah made a way for them. They held firm. They stayed true to the covenant they had made with Allah. They remained steadfast.

Those who say their Lord is Allah, and then they remain steadfast as Allah says:

They remain steadfast. And Allah made a way for them. But here in the 21st century, we have an ummah who thinks that we should be able to do whatever we want to do. Disobey Allah every single day. Do whatever it is we want to do. Hold on to our Islam only by name. And then we should make du'a to Allah to save this ummah and He should just come and erase all of this hardship and grant us victory.

It's never worked like this in the past. And let me tell you something about the sunnah of Allah, it does not change. The way Allah deals with the mankind, it does not change. The way He dealt with those before us, is

the way He's going to deal with us.

Perspective on Real Struggle

I'm gonna give you a perspective really quickly about struggle. Real struggle. How many of you, and I'm sure every hand in this room, are aware of the crisis that's been happening for years now in Sham? Raise your hand. Women, children, innocent, dying every day. I've seen too much of it. Breaks my heart. How many of you feel sorry for those people? You feel bad for them? Raise your hand. You feel bad for them? The people of Sham.

You see this is the problem right here. This is the problem. Is that we feel sorry for them. Let me tell you something right now. Ten years ago, ten years ago, a decade ago, if I were to ask you, what is Damascus like? What would you have told me before all of this? What was it known for? What was Damascus known for? What was Syria known for? Anybody? Clubs. Party place.

Damascus was a party city. Yes or no? Be honest with me, yes or no? Damascus was well known for people to go there and have lavish parties and clubs. Why didn't you feel sorry for them ten years ago? Where was your let's save Syria campaign ten years ago when they were away from deen, when the masajid were empty? When people were disobeying Allah rampantly, left and right, and the deen in Syria was very little. Very little people even mentioned Allah anymore.

Where were you then feeling sorry for them? But now all of a sudden, when Allah decides to test them, when Allah decides, you see, you can call it whatever you want to call it, you can say this man decided, that man decided.

The qadr of Allah is whatever He wills to be. So when Allah decided to test them, now you feel sorry for them. I don't feel sorry for them. I feel sorry for those who can't help themselves and I'm trying to help. But for the majority of them, Allah has blessed them through this. Because you see the people of Syria, the people of Asham, they're in the streets now, begging Allah, turning to Allah, the masajid, even though the walls are falling down, they're full.

People are coming back to Allah. People are coming back to their Creator. So in reality this may have been their blessing. Those who have died, Allah knows their condition. And if they have been wronged, then Allah is just, He is al-adl. No one gets away with anything.

I heard someone, a Muslim, getting up saying that this man, this leader has been getting away with so much tragedy for so long. And I'm saying to him, I said to him, who did he get away from? He might escape the punishment of man forever. He might die with never paying for his sins in this life. And it might be because Allah wanted it to be so. Because what Allah has waiting for him in the next life is nothing compared to what he would have gotten in this life. Allah is al-adl.

Verily the punishment of Allah is severe. So where were you at 10 years ago? Why are you crying now? Yes, we help where we can, but where are you at?

Anybody here know about Dubai? Anybody ever been to Dubai? Raise your hand. Dubai. Raise your hand if you've been to this illustrious, glamorous Dubai. Dubai. What's Dubai known for? What's Dubai known for? That's almost a rhetorical question. We know what Dubai is known for.

I mean police driving Lambos and McLarens and wealth and unimaginable clubs and all kinds of nonsense going on. Prostitution. If you think it doesn't happen, then you've never been to Dubai. You've never been trying to walk to the Masjid for Fajr and being solicited on the street in a thobe. 6 in the morning.

So where is our Save Dubai campaign? Where is it at? You don't have no concern for them. You're not worried about them. As a matter of fact, I guarantee there's a bunch of us, if they would give us a visa and give us citizenship, we drop everything and run right now. You've made it. You live in Dubai.

What happens when Allah decides to test Dubai? Then we're gonna be running in the streets. Oh, the travesty. Oh, let's raise some money for them. Let's save them. Oh, it's such a horrible thing. But you're not worried about them now.

You see, Allah tests those who believe. Allah tests those whom He loves. If Allah is testing this ummah in such a difficult way like He's testing this ummah now, it's because He has a plan. He has a plan. And Allah's plan is always perfect. It's always perfect. We might not understand it.

We might not understand it. We try to make our own plans and Allah plans. And Allah is khairul makireen. He's the best of those who plan.

Stories of Trust in Allah's Plan

We never know what might be waiting for us. I'll tell you a couple of stories really quickly. So you can understand that, yes, we might be struggling. We might be holding on to the burning ember right now. But Allah has a plan. And I trust Him who has this plan with all of my heart and soul. Even if I don't grasp what the plan is right now and it doesn't make sense. I trust Him.

The Story of the Woman at the Time of Dawud

There was a woman at the time of Dawud (peace be upon him). She used to earn her living by sewing things and selling them in the market. And then the money she would make at the market that day, she would buy food

to feed her children and extra supplies to knit the next day. And that's how she lived day to day.

Anybody in this room ever had to live day to day? Check to check? Not having enough money more than what you needed for that very day? Anybody, raise your hand. I've been there, done that. Been there, done that. Wallahi, Allah is my witness. Allah is my witness. I've had a point in my life where I was walking the streets looking for coins on the street to buy something to eat.

Wallahi, Allah is my witness. I know what it's like to struggle day to day. This woman came rushing in to Dawud (peace be upon him) one day. And she asked him in a very angry manner, is Allah just or is Allah unjust? And Dawud was taken back by this question, what kind of question is this? Of course Allah is just. He said, why do you ask?

She explained to him that she sells and she goes to the market and this and that. And she said, but today on my way to the market, a bird came and snatched what was in my hands and took off with it. And now I have nothing to sell. And at the end of this day, I will have no food to take home to my children. Is Allah just or is He unjust?

It's a difficult question to answer. Because this is a bird that is acting upon the fitrah that Allah created it with. It doesn't think like we think. But as Dawud (peace be upon him) was preparing a response to this woman, some men came in, traveling men came in and dropped bags of gold in front of Dawud (peace be upon him).

And said, this is sadaqa from us for the sake of Allah to whomsoever you think is deserving of it. And Dawud was surprised. Where did you guys come from and what is this? What's the story here? They said that we are merchants. We are merchants and we travel by sea, trading and selling and buying. And we were on our way from one place to another. And a very bad storm came and broke our sail.

Broke our sail. And the storm was just whipping us about and we were about to die. And we made dua altogether that, O Allah, if you save us from this, we will donate everything on this ship for your sake alone. They said after we had made this dua, a bird came along and dropped some knitting material and thread and needle so that we were able to repair our sail and make it here to your land. And so here we are fulfilling our oath to Allah.

Dawud (peace be upon him), he looked at that woman and he asked her the same question that she asked him. Is Allah just or is Allah unjust? You have a Rabb who works for you on land and at sea. Now is Allah just to you or not? And he gave it all to her.

You see sometimes we don't understand Allah's plan and we get angry and upset and we get frustrated and we don't know what's going on. We just have to learn to have patience that Allah's plan is perfect. We just need to hold on.

The Story of Abu Bakr al-Ansari

There was a man from the Salaf of this ummah named Abu Bakr al-Ansari. He was known as Qadi al-Madistan. He was a very famous man who was known for his piety. He was known for having taqwa for Allah.

And Ibn Rajab writes about him. And Abu Bakr is telling his story that one day he was so hungry in Mecca. He had no food, he had no money, he was miskeen and he was in the streets of Mecca looking for some food to eat. And he came across a pearl necklace laying on the ground. And he picked it up and it was a very beautiful pearl necklace. It was an amazing expensive necklace.

And he thinking to himself, this might be my rizq. But knowing that it doesn't belong to him, he said, let me take it and put it home and wait a while and try to see if his owner shows up. And he went back out looking for food.

Later on that day he heard a man calling out, an old man was calling that he had lost a pearl necklace if anyone had found it to let him know. So he went to him and he said, I found the necklace but explain to me what yours looks like so that I can know that it's yours. He said, the man explained it perfectly. The amount of pearls, what they look like, the string that they were on, the bag that it was in, everything. So he knew this belonged to this man.

And the man was offering a reward for this. The man was offering a huge reward for whoever found this necklace. So Abu Bakr went home, got it and gave it to the man. And the man is trying to give him the reward.

But Qadi al-Madistan is thinking to himself that I have not earned this. He didn't feel right taking the money. Because he said, I've done no work, I'm returning to you what belongs to you. Therefore I don't deserve to be paid for this.

But the man is still trying to pay him. You know how we do. Take it. No, I'm not going to take it. Take it. No, take it. Finally Abu Bakr just walked away. He said, I'm not taking it. I'm not taking it. I fear Allah, I'm not taking this.

So later on he said, I couldn't find my sustenance in Mecca, so I decided to go somewhere else. So he got on a ship to go to another land, and maybe seek some sustenance in that way. On his way, on this trip, a storm came and broke this ship into pieces. Many people died.

He said, but I was able to hold on to a piece of the broken ship, and the wind blew me, and the wind blew me, and the wind blew me to an island. Can you imagine what he's thinking at this moment? That, subhanAllah, I left Mecca to try to go and seek sustenance, and I am almost dying in the ocean. I was better off where I stayed.

He said, I got to this island and I couldn't find any people. So I went to the masjid. He saw a masjid, so he went to it. And he sat down and he started to recite from the Qur'an. And his recitation was very beautiful. And some people were coming by this masjid, they heard him, and they all came rushing in, and said, subhanAllah, you recite Qur'an so beautifully.

Please teach us and our children how to recite Qur'an, and we will pay you and give you a place to live. So he started working there, teaching them to recite Qur'an, he had a place to live, he was doing okay. One day they saw him reading from some of the pages of the Qur'an that were in the masjid, and they said, you know how to read? He said, yes, I know how to read.

They said, none of us know how to read or write. So if you will teach us to read and write, we will increase your salary and pay you even more. So they increased his salary and he's doing okay now. He's making a good sustenance. But after a while he decided that he wanted to leave there, this is not where he wanted to be. And they realized that he was going to leave, so they decided, they said, we have to keep him here. And the easiest way to keep him here is let's get him married. If we get him married, he's not going anywhere. So they asked him, there was a girl who had recently been orphaned from a very good family, from a very good lineage, one of the most beautiful women of that town. And she's an orphan now. They asked her, will you marry this girl and stay here with us? He refused, no, no, no, I'm not trying to stay. And you know the debate went back and forth, marry her, come on. Finally he agreed. And the nikah was arranged and the girl was brought to him. And he said, as I looked from her feet all the way up and started to look, I wanted to look at her. He's now permissible to look at her. He said, I got to her neck and his head dropped and he started to cry. And the people there thought it was because he thought she was ugly. And so they were shocked. And the girl was so broken, she just ran off. And the people are like, oh my God, you've just embarrassed this girl, she's from a pious family, she's the most beautiful girl of this town, what do you want? He said, no, no, no, I don't think, it's not because I think she's ugly. He said, on her neck, she was wearing a necklace that I saw a long time ago. I found that same necklace on the streets of Mecca one day. And I gave it to an old man. And all of the people in the masjid started chanting, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. They said, that necklace and that man you gave that necklace to was this girl's father. And we used to openly hear him speak about you. We used to hear him talk about a man that he met in Mecca who was one of the most pious men he had ever met in his entire life. And we used to hear him make dua to Allah for you to be married to his daughter. And here you are. You see, sometimes Allah's plan doesn't make sense to us. Abu Bakr at the time he left Mecca, when that ship was broken, and he was being pushed about by the wind, he probably didn't understand what was Allah doing with his life. Had no idea. Little did he know that he was only answering the dua of his father. He was answering the dua of his father, he had no choice. It was the qadr of Allah for him to go there. So he got married to this girl, they had children. Long story short, he became a very wealthy man in that place. So you see, sometimes Allah's plan might not make sense. Like right now when we look at the Muslim ummah, the plan, I don't know what the plan is. No idea. People have asked me, what do you think Allah's plan is for this ummah? Wallahi, I don't know. Allah knows best. But I do know that Allah's plan is perfect. And Allah is testing this ummah like He has not tested this ummah in a very long time. Allah is putting this ummah through hardship like it's not been put through in a very long time. I mean, I live in America. Donald Trump is all the proof I need that Muslims are going through some struggles.

This guy is... I don't know, he's a walking tragedy, man. And he's bringing out all of the rednecks in America, openly hateful towards Islam.

How To Overcome The Struggle

So yes, and guess what? You think the struggle is tough now, it might not be over. You need to face up to the reality that it might get worse. It might get worse, it might get a lot worse. Are you ready for that? It might get a lot worse. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do about it? You're gonna drop that coal? You're gonna drop the burning ember? You're gonna give up? You're gonna sell your soul? You're gonna sell your akhirah for a measly price in this world? Is that what you wanna do? No.

So what do we do? What do we do? We do what we can. This is all Allah has asked from us.

Fear Allah as much as you have the capacity to do so. All Allah wants you to do is what you can do. Do a little bit. Do a little bit. Do what's within your capabilities.

Number one, worship Him as He created you to worship Him. Give Him the abode that He deserves, the worship that He deserves. Worship Him alone. With wahdaniya. Don't worship anything other than Him.

Number two, put in a little bit of effort for His sake. Put in a little bit of effort for His sake. Allah asks us a beautiful question in Surah As-Saff:

A transaction, a tijara, a business? Yes. Allah is asking us about business. Can I guide you to a business that will avoid you a painful punishment? It's a rhetorical question because no one wants to be punished. Allah says, do three things and I won't punish you.

Believe in Me and My Messenger, one and two.

And then struggle hard, put some effort in for My sake. Do some work for Me. With your money that Allah have already given you, give it back to Me, some of it, lend it back to Me. And then give Me أَنفُسَكُم give Me your time, yourself, your energy, your talents. Use them for Me.

That would be better for you if you only understood it. And then Allah tells us in the next verse:

I will forgive you your sins. And then I'll enter you into Paradise. And I'll give you beautiful homes in the most beautiful part of Paradise. This is the great achievement of your life.

Then Allah says something else:

And I'll give you something else which you love, which is close to your heart, which you beg for. I will give you My help, I will help you. I'll help you. And I'll make you victorious. I will help you and I will give you the victory. So give glad tidings to those who believe.

You see this ummah, we think that we have تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ. We say we believe in Allah and His Messenger. But what we're missing is the active particle of that agreement with Allah. Is that we do some work for Him, that we do something for Him, that we struggle for Him, that we strive for Him, that we sacrifice for Him.

You see this ummah has lost its meaning of sacrifice unless it's forced upon us. Unless that sacrifice is forced upon us, this ummah has lost the meaning of that.

Working for Change

Before I leave you, my last few seconds, I want you to think and remember that everything is not always so bad. Every non-Muslim is not your enemy. Whoever's been infiltrating the minds of our youth with that idea has lost his or her mind. For you to think that every non-Muslim is your enemy, you've already lost this battle. You've already lost your mind in the process. Every non-Muslim is not your enemy.

At the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he never viewed every non-Muslim as his enemy. Ever. There are plenty of people out there who do not believe what you believe, do not believe in who you believe in, but are not your enemy.

And wallahi, they will stand by our sides if we are willing to do what's right and stand up for what's good. We need to start waking up this ummah that we need to be active in this world doing good. Being active, helping the homeless, helping the needy, helping the alcohol abuse problem, helping the drug addiction problem, helping the homelessness problem, helping the orphans problem.

We need to be involved in this world. We cannot live separate to it anymore. We cannot act like we're not responsible for the people who live next door to us, or the people who live in our neighborhood, or the people who live in our city, or the people who live in our state, or our country.

We cannot continue with this idea that we are separatists and that we are going to worry about only ourselves and we could care less what happens to the rest of the world. Because that understanding and that idea has put us in this position in the first place. Allah has taken the leadership from this ummah because we don't deserve it right now.

If we deserved it, Allah would give it to us. Allah will not give this ummah what it does not deserve and has not worked for. So if you want leadership to come back to this ummah, work for it. If you want dignity to come back to this ummah, work for it. If you want people to respect you, work for it. The way our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) worked for it. The way his companions worked for it.

The Gift of Islam

And I leave you with this one last small thought. If that's not enough to wake you up, and I know I'm over my time, 30 seconds. Don't freak out on me. I just took a 16-hour flight, no sleep. I can take a minute.

And I may have said this last time I was here. And I might say it every single time you allow me to come back here. Because this is what keeps me going. This is why I get on 16-hour flights coming here with no sleep. Leaving this conference and going straight to Kenya, probably with no sleep. Leaving there, going straight to another country for the next four weeks.

Because I have a message to deliver. How many of you in this room are Muslim right now? Raise your hand, you're a Muslim. How many of you were born and raised a Muslim? You grew up knowing who Allah was. Put your hands down. How many of you came to Islam later on in your life to reversion? You didn't grow up knowing who Allah was. It won't matter for this.

You know I used to think when I accepted Islam in 1998, that I had done something to accept Islam. I used to think that I brought myself to Islam. You know that I struggled and I worked hard and I studied and I finally found the truth.

And one day I realized something that keeps me motivated to this day. What is the first thing that Allah created? What did Allah create first? The pen, al-qalam. There's a lot of wisdom behind this. And Allah commanded that pen:

[Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6614]

Write. And the pen wanted to know, what do you want me to write? My Lord, He said, write everything. Whatever happen, ever. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that the pen has been lifted and

the ink has become dry, and that is a book that is with Allah.

I want you to think about something every day that if this doesn't make you want to work for Allah, then your iman is dead, dead, dead. When Allah was writing in that book your story, when He wrote your life, when He wrote my story, He wrote in my story, He told that pen, write December 1998, I will guide him to Islam.

Before I existed, before my parents existed, Allah wrote in a book that is with Himself that you would be a Muslim. He willed it for you, and you didn't earn it, you didn't deserve it, you didn't do anything for it. Allah gave it to you as a ni'mah from Himself.

What have you done with your life to repay it? That's why you are Abdullah, that's why you are Amatullah, that's why you are the slave of Allah, because you are in debt that you cannot pay back. And the longer you live, the deeper that debt becomes. The only people who enter into Jannah are the people who Allah forgives them of their debt.

This is why I do what I do, because Allah gave me a gift in 1998, that I didn't deserve, I didn't earn it. He willed it for me and gifted it to me. So that gift, I'm gonna use it and I'm gonna share it with as many people as I can. That's what this ummah needs to be about. That's what our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was about, sharing the gift.

Question and Answer Session

Question: You said that we who are Muslim and born Muslim did nothing to deserve it, but what about those who became Muslim later in life, did they do anything to deserve it?

Answer: Nope. None of us did anything to deserve it. If I go around thinking that just because I decided to leave Christianity after reading the Bible, decided to look for other religions and finally found Islam and decided to accept it as the truth, that I deserve to become a Muslim? No. How could I deserve something that Allah already written for me?

Maybe Allah looked at me for some reason and thought that I deserved it, but personally do I think that I deserved it? No. But Allah gave it to me. So he saw, this is a question that I wrangle with everyday and I've asked Allah many times, why me? Why? What is it that was in me that caused my Lord, the Creator of all things, He who holds the heavens and the earth, He who controls the balance of everything in this universe, what caused Him to look at me and decide I'm going to guide Him to Islam?

Wallahi, I cannot think of any reason that I deserve that. Therefore, I am in debt. I'm in debt. That's a gift. A gift is given to someone who necessarily didn't deserve it but they were given it anyway.

Allah's wisdom to why He guides, we will never know that. Allah guides whomever He wishes and His wisdom is ultimate in that fact. And I will ask Him, there will be something I would seriously want to know on the day of Qiyamah. Why me? But do I think that I deserved it? Did I do something to earn it? No. No, I don't think I deserved it. I was given it too as a gift and I'm very grateful for it. Extremely grateful for it.

Question: How about those who never became Muslim? Why weren't they gifted with Islam? What did they do to deserve and not be gifted with Islam?

Answer: Now we're asking questions that are getting way beyond my pale of ability to answer. But I can very simply tell you that the reason why Allah does not guide people is the same reason why He does guide people. It's with Him alone. That knowledge is with Him alone. That knowledge is with Him alone. Maybe Shaykh Haytham could elaborate better than that. But Allah knows why He does not guide.

This is why the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, Whomsoever Allah guides cannot be misguided. And whomsoever Allah leads astray cannot be guided but except by Him. Allah chooses His guidance for whom He wills and He chooses misguidance for whomsoever He wills. And He best knows that. And this gets into issues. This is an area where I behoove Muslims not to go too deep into. It's the issues of qadr. This is an issue where many Muslims have gone astray and lost their aqeedah based upon this issue.

[Shaykh Haytham responds:]

Yes, if you allow me, Shaykh. I know this is a very sensitive issue to be explained. But please listen carefully. The Shaykh, may Allah bless him, he was speaking from an adab perspective. So from an adab perspective, yes, we believe that Allah jalla wa'ala guides whom He wills to guide.

But also from a technical perspective, from a qadr perspective, yes, if we just leave it up to that point, then we will, as the sister asked, we might think that Allah jalla wa'ala is being unjust. And He selected people to guide them, and the other people He did not select them to guide them, just arbitrarily. And this means that Allah is what? Is unjust. He selected people and He just sends them to paradise, He selects other people and He sends them to hellfire, and they have no choice. Yes, they have no choice, though they have no power.

But Allah jalla wa'ala proved in the Quran that you earn things:

"And Allah has created you and what you do."

And:

"Because of what your hands have earned."

So He added earning to us, which means that we as human beings earn. We choose. Allah jalla wa'ala guides those whom He knows that they want guidance. So actually they wanted guidance, so Allah jalla wa'ala aided their guidance. That's why Allah jalla wa'ala says:

"As for he who gives and fears Allah, and believes in the best, We will ease him toward ease. But as for he who is stingy and considers himself self-sufficient, and denies the best, We will ease him toward hardship."

He will guide him more and more. So initially the person himself what? Yes, wanted guidance. And this summarizes it. And the one who doesn't want guidance, meaning internally, so Allah will abandon him and Allah will leave him alone.

Is it clear? So the first one, he deserves guidance because what? He did something, although little, to get guidance. So Allah guided him. And the other person didn't want guidance, he turned away, so Allah turned away from him. That's why Allah says:

"So when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate."

When they turned away, Allah turned away from them more and more.

"And those who are guided, He increases them in guidance."

Those who were guided initially, yes, they want guidance, Allah Jalla wa Ala increases their guidance. And this summarizes the issue of what? Of iman bil qada'ul qadr.

Again, please brothers and sisters, sorry to take much of your time. The issue is, initially the person wanted guidance, and he did something by his heart to get guidance, Allah will give him more and more. The person, the other person, the disbeliever, internally, although Allah created in his heart, belief in him and submission to him, he rejected that. Yes, so he turned away from Allah, then Allah as a result turned away from him, because Allah is so just, and Allah gave opportunities for all of us, equal opportunities for all of us.

Jazakumullah khair.

Question: You mentioned earlier that you don't feel sorry for what's happening in Syria, because it's a blessing from Allah. And I'm wondering, do we as a Muslim then have an obligation to help those people? Or is that like a blessing from Allah that it's good for them? Or do we have to help them in their...

Answer: Okay, what's a blessing for some people in disguise might also be a test for the other people. You understand? While these people are suffering in a sham, going through this fitan, this struggle, this stress, this trial, we might also be being tested in our response to that. You understand?

Because we go home every night, we sleep in our nice warm beds, we have a refrigerator full of food, we have ready available running water, we have all the luxuries, we get in our warm car and drive out throughout the city. So we have a lot of blessings. So it might be that we are being tested, like they're being tested. Their test might be the blessing in disguise. And our test might be a hardship in disguise if we don't respond to it correctly.

Because everything is a test. Everything is a test. So yes, we have an obligation to help. But what I'm saying is, I'm not going to say that, I feel sorry in the sense that these people have come back to Allah. There are people who I've been able to speak to that have gone through these, some refugees that have gone through these

struggles that say they are thankful to Allah for what is happening. Because the people are coming back to Allah.

The masajids are becoming full again. These people are thankful to that. So it's all about perspective. It's all about perspective. And our same situation, our perspective might be to look at them and feel sorry for them while we don't feel sorry for ourselves, while we have all this luxury. You understand?

Because those people when they go through that struggle and that test, and if Allah grants them Jannah for it, they're not going to be feeling sorry for themselves for what they went through. They would go through it again if they could. But if we don't respond appropriately sitting in our lap and life of luxuries, we might be the ones who actually should be feeling sorry for. Because we might regret it in the end.

So yes, everything is a test. I'm not saying don't help. I'm a person who actively helps, tries to help this refugee crisis. But at the same time, I like to put things in proper perspective. Is that if we feel sorry for them, we should also feel sorry for the other Muslim countries that are lost right now, that are doing so much fisq and facade and all these other things. We should feel just as sorry for them now as we would be if Allah decided to test them in the same way. Does that make sense?

Question: Also, what kind of charity should we prioritize? Because we as individuals, we can't help all the Muslims in the world. And also should we like, can we also help people in Africa, like non-Muslims? Or do we like prioritize the Muslims in need?

Answer: What you prioritize, that's a personal decision. But priorities go on the most urgent matters. What's the most urgent? But you can't forget about where you live either. You have to be doing some good in the community in which you live. But what is a priority is a priority.

You know, you have to understand what's the more urgent matter. This is about 15,000 urgent matters right now in the world. That's why I said the world is in chaos. So you have to pick what is within your means that should be at the top of your list.

Okay, this is an important matter that needs to be dealt with right now. That one kind of maybe can wait to tomorrow when I can get to it a little bit more. So it's up to you what you feel you're best capable of and what's the biggest priority that we see right now in front of us.

Closing

May Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace.

جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

End of Lecture