What Legacy will you Leave Behind
By Yusha Evans | 2026-01-16T14:47:34.247383+00:00 | Topic: Hereafter
What Legacy Will You Leave Behind - Yusha Evans
Opening Greetings and Khutbah
السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
"[English translation here]"
صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ
Introduction
Push and then how can we get involved. What are some ways that really we can get involved? Because you can get motivated to do something and then not know what to do with it and then that motivation is just going to fizzle off. It's not really going to do much about it. I mean yeah, you can get motivated and you can run around and be yeah let's go and then what do we do next? You have no idea.
But first I want to tell you a story and this story is a hypothetical story. It's a fiction story and this is allowed in Islam to tell hypotheticals to prove a point.
The Story of Abdullah ibn Fulan
This story is about myself and a brother named Abdullah ibn Fulan. He's a fictional character but trust me you'll end up knowing who Abdullah is very soon inshaAllah.
Now myself and Abdullah we've been friends for a very long time. We're brothers in Islam. We're roommates. We've lived together for a long time. I've known him. I know his family. I mean I know this guy very very well.
Now Abdullah has a disease but this disease is a novelty disease. It's a disease that's never been heard of. It's a disease that afflicts him worse than any physical disease that's ever existed. He's in constant pain. From the moment he wakes up in the morning to the moment he goes to bed at night. If he can sleep. He's in constant constant pain.
And this disease, tea is going to keep me going inshaAllah, this disease is not a terminal disease meaning it's something that won't kill him. It is just something that he will persist with until he dies for some other reason. But when he dies this disease will cause him to face the most painful physical death that any human being has ever known. It is a very painful way to die.
Now I know this about Abdullah. I've lived with him. I know him very well. But I've known this about him for so long I've become desensitized to him. You see I can come home, As-salamu alaikum ya Abdullah, kif haalik? He's rolling around on the floor in pain. I'm hurting, I'm hurting.
My response (إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ يَشْفِيكَ اللهُ - in shaa'a Allaahu yashfeek). You know, that's it. May Allah cure you. (شَفَاكَ الله - shafaak Allaah). You know, that's it. And I walk away. I'm used to this. Maybe when somebody comes to the house with me one day and they see Abdullah and they say, My God, how do you live with this guy? How can you sit here and see him in this pain and you don't do anything about it?
I'm like, he's like this every day. This is something that's odd to you but to me this is normal. This is how he is every single day. I'm used to Abdullah by now. So don't get too stressed out about it. He's going to be fine. And this is the way we live.
The Pill
Now let's say someone comes to me on the streets one day and they hand me a pill. They put a pill on my hand and they say, If you give this pill to Abdullah and he takes it, he will be cured instantly. It will cure him completely. He will never suffer from this disease again and he will never have any of these problems from it. Nothing will remain of the disease. All you have to do is convince him to take this pill.
Now, what do I do? I go home and I put the pill in my dresser drawer, in my wardrobe drawer and I don't give it to him. I don't give it to him. Why? You might say, Why don't you just give him the pill? I have my reasons. Let me tell you.
My Excuses
First and foremost, I'm busy. I'm really busy. I have a job. I have family. I have school. I have so many things going on in my life. I don't have time to be messing around with this Abdullah and this pill. I just don't have time. I have my reasons.
Number two, I'm not qualified. I am not qualified to be prescribing medication to him. If he needs medication, he needs to either be prescribed through a physician or pharmacologist. Somebody that's qualified to dispense medication needs to be the one giving Abdullah this pill. I'm not giving him the pill and be responsible for what happens. I'm not going to do it. I'm not qualified. End of story.
Number three, I know Abdullah and I know he's stubborn. I know he's stubborn. No matter how much I try to convince him to take this pill, I might have to fight with him for days, hours, weeks. Me and him might get into it over this. This might cause our relationship to dwindle. Because I might get in a fight with him trying to get him to take this pill because I know how stubborn he is. So I'm not even going to risk that. If he wants the pill, he'll get it or somebody else will give it to him. It's not my job. And I leave it. So I have my responsibilities. I have my reasons.
The Question of Responsibility
Now let me ask all of you. In this hypothetical situation, am I free from my responsibility or any blame in this situation for not giving him the pill? Am I free? Or do I have a responsibility to give it to him? Do I have a responsibility?
If I don't give it to him, let's say I don't give it to him and he dies. And he dies this horrible, painful death that I could have prevented had I tried to give him this pill. When we face Allah on the Day of Judgment, do you think this will be a question that will be accounted for? Yes. Every single moment of your life is going to be questioned about.
This will be questioned. And I will be brought in front of Allah, hypothetically, if this situation existed. I would be brought in front of Allah along with Abdullah ibn Fulan because I've oppressed him. I oppressed him by having a condition I could have eased him from. I didn't do it. Even though I was within every capacity to do so, I did not do it so I oppressed him in a sense.
So therefore, on the Day of Judgment, he would have every right to get justice in front of Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ for me. If he were to say, Ya Allah, I was dealt with unjustly, I want my justice. Then Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ could choose that justice. I could end up having to give Abdullah ibn Fulan my good deeds because of this. Because I've wronged him, I've oppressed him, I've harmed him. And if I run out of good deeds, well guess what? He's going to give me some of his bad deeds and I could go to hell over this.
It's very, very possible because that's a serious oppression that I've given him. I did not give it to him. And do you think my excuses would have been proper in front of Allah? I didn't have time? You didn't have time. You saw the guy every single day. I didn't have knowledge. You had enough knowledge that it would cure him. That's enough. Number three, he's stubborn. Who knows? Who knows? Did you even make the opportunity? Do you know if he would have taken it or he would not have taken it? So I wouldn't be questioning in front of Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ
But you know the beautiful thing about the Deen of Allah is if Abdullah ibn Fulan died firmly having patience with Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ who knows? Allah could have counted him as a Shaheed. Who knows? And maybe on the Day of Judgment he comes in front of Allah and says, Ya Allah, I forgave him a long time ago. You forgive him. And we both could go to Jannah. It's just the Deen of Allah.
The Diseases of the Soul
But there are people you know every single day. There are people you know or people you encounter or people that you do business with or people that you work with or people that live next door to you or live above you or behind you that have a worse disease than Abdullah ibn Fulan. They have worse diseases than Abdullah ibn Fulan. And these are the diseases of the soul.
Shirk - The Greatest Disease
Such as shirk. People committing blatant shirk in front of Allah. Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ says that there is no greater dhulm than shirk. Shirk is dhulm adheem. It's the greatest wrong and evil that a human can commit. And you know people that do this every single day. You know people who do this every single day.
Even some of us who call ourselves Muslim, we do this every single day. You have people who make dua to the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and Ali and every other wali that they can get their hands on. This is great outright
The Hadith of Red Camels
As the Prophet ﷺ said to Ali when he sent him on the day of Khyber. On the day of Khyber he handed him the flag. And he said, go to these people and go to them gently and convey to them the message of Islam. He said:
"For by Allah if one of them accepts Islam on your hands, it is better for you than red camels."
Now I've heard a lot of lecturers refer to red camels like Bentleys and Ferraris. And it's not even a close enough analogy. Because I don't think I've ever heard any brother ask if they'll be able to drive a Bentley in Jannah. But the companions asked about red camels if they would have them in Jannah. Well we have red camels in Jannah. This is how much of a beautiful property it was for them.
So the Prophet ﷺ said a person coming to Islam in your hands is better than you than these red camels. And there's another narration where it ends that if someone were to accept Islam on your hands, it's better for you than the whole world and everything that is contained in it. Is everything the world is contained in it. Why? Because you enter into a process by which people accept guidance.
The Multiplication of Rewards
And the Prophet ﷺ and this is narrated in Bukhari, that he said:
(Sahih Muslim)
"Whoever calls to guidance, whoever calls people to guidance, they receive the reward of the guided one without the reward of the guided one being lost."
Correct? Those who call to guidance receive the reward of the guided one without the reward of the guided one being lost. What does that mean?
How many of you in here would like to be wealthy? Raise your hands. You would like to have money and be wealthy. Have some type of wealth. Raise your hand. If you don't raise your hand, you're only fooling yourself.
We ask for that. We would love to be wealthy. But the greatest wealth is the wealth of حَسَنَات. The wealth of good deeds. Because there is a sign, metaphorical sign, when you reach your death, there's a metaphorical sign that says, leave everything here except your deeds. You leave everything right here except for your deeds.
But da'wah is a way by which one can become the most wealthy in حَسَنَات. Due to this statement of the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Because what does it mean?
If I were to give da'wah to someone and they were to accept Islam through the tawfeeq that Allah has given them, then every good action that they do, whether they give charity, whether they pray, whether they fast, whatever have you, they get a reward that goes on their scale as well as I get the similar reward that goes on my scale.
If they pray, Allah counts it as if I prayed. And that prayer goes on my scale. If they give sadaqah, Allah counts it as if I've given sadaqah. If they fast, Allah counts it as if I fasted. Why? Because I received the reward of the guided one without the reward of the guided one being lost. So I get an equal reward to them.
What kind of business would you get into where you can get this kind of reward? Where you can get this kind of reward?
Now let's say that person I gave da'wah to goes and gives da'wah to 50 people and they all accept Islam. Guess what? The person who gave them da'wah gets all of those 50 people's reward as well as I do. Because were it not for me giving da'wah to the first one, he wouldn't have given da'wah to the second and the third and the fourth and the fifth.
So it becomes a very big business, a tijara that you can get into with Allah whereby with which you can get more hasanat than if Allah gave you 10 lifetimes you would be able to outdo through evil. Just think about that. If one person comes to Islam and guides another 50 or 100 or 500, you don't know how long that scale goes forward or down.
Those people can be doing enough good on your behalf that even if Allah gave you 10 lifetimes, you couldn't outdo them in doing evil. And this is the process by which we are forgiven. It's the scale of Allah الْمِيزَانِ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ on the Day of Judgment and then Allah's forgiveness upon all of that.
So this is a business with which we can get into that we don't understand. This was the vision of our Rasul ﷺ was to share the message of Islam with the world. To just simply give them the message.
Say, La ilaha illa Allah, you'll be successful. That was his simple da'awa.
Addressing the Excuses
So we cannot say that these people are ignorant or arrogant. Because it's not your responsibility. If they're the most ignorant person on the planet, guess what? If you tell them say, La ilaha illa Allah, or accept the message of Islam, or you give them some da'awa, and they say, look I don't want to have anything to do with you Islam, you and all of you get out of my face. Guess what? خَيْرٍ I walk away.
I walk away, that's it. I make du'a for you, may Allah guide you. That's it. We walk away and we move on to the next person because it's not in my hands. I should not even feel bad. You know why? Because people rejected,
there were better people who rejected better people. If they spit in your face, there were better people who spat in better people's face than your face. If they try to insult you, better people than you were insulted. So we have to understand this.
That this is a process with which we're going to go through. We're going to have to suffer. Da'awa is not a life that's going to be glitz and glamour and all this that and the third. You're going to make yourselves a public enemy with shaytan. And when you make yourself a public enemy with shaytan, shaytan is very crafty. He's very ingenious. He's very well equipped at his job and his task. So he's going to use all of that against you. Because you're bringing people away from what he wants to take them to.
خَيْرٍ no problem. I see you and I know what you're about. You might get me today, I'm not going to fall down and roll in the mud. I'll see you again tomorrow. And maybe then tomorrow inshaAllah I'll win. This is a battle that we continue to wage on.
But we cannot say that these people are too arrogant or too ignorant to understand the message of Islam. If someone like Umar ibn al-Khattab could understand the message of Islam, these people can understand the message of Islam. These people can understand the message of Islam.
The Question of Qualification
We also have to ask ourselves the second question. How many of you in here have thought about giving da'awa before? Raise your hand. You've thought about it. Raise your hand if you've thought about going out and sharing the message of Islam with someone. How many of you in here have not done it because you didn't think you're qualified enough?
We've all been there. We've all not done it because we thought we're not qualified enough. I want to explain something to you and ask you about this qualification thing.
Da'wah is Part and Parcel of Islam
Da'wah is something that we have to define properly. Because it is part and parcel to Islam. It is part and parcel to Islam. There is no Islam without da'wah. It does not exist.
People once asked me, if da'wah is so important why is it not made a pillar of Islam? I said, what are you talking about? It is every pillar of Islam. It is the backbone of every pillar of Islam. There is no la ilaha illallah without the da'wah. How would anyone know of la ilaha illallah without the da'wah? How would you know about salah without the da'wah? How would you know about zakah without the da'wah? How would you know about fasting in the month of Ramadan without the da'wah? How would you know about hajj without the da'wah?
It is the backbone of every pillar. You take away this backbone, the pillars become weak.
The Command to Call to Allah
People ask me for one evidence. One evidence, prove to me that da'wah is so important like you say it is. Allah
جَلَّ وَعَزَّ has given us more than enough evidence. And I spoke about it today in our khutbah. In the khutbah today, this was the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. His sunnah was da'wah, that's it.
But if you wanted to ask me, give me some certifiable, verifiable evidence that will give me all I need to know and help me to share the message and help me to tell somebody else that this message is important. There's a verse from Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ in Surah An-Nahl that tells us everything we need to know.
Allah says, convey or call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and with good speech. And when you discourse with them, it should also be in a beautiful manner. Even our arguments, our debates should be beautiful. We should remain on the side of Hasan.
But there's one word in this verse that tells me everything I need to know about the position of da'wah. Does anybody know what that word is in this verse? It's grammatically. It grammatically tells me everything I need to know. This is why some of the evidence of Allah upon us is even through language. Just the language of the Qur'an and the way Allah chose to speak to us is an evidence.
اذغ comes from what root word? What is the root word of دَعْوَة دَعَا دَعَا and da'wah come from the root word دَعَا which means to call, and when you see it in Surah An-Nahl it says which has taken what form? أَمْر. It has taken the form of an أَمْر grammatically. Allah has taken the word دَعَا which means to call, and made it grammatically imperative.
اغ, giving us an explicit command to call. An explicit command. Just like when Allah says وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ . It's an أَمْرِ . It's a command from Allah to establish salah. It is fard to establish the salah. Allah has constructed this verse ادْعُ إِلَى سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ to say the same thing.
It is an imperative command to establish da'wah. To call people to the way of Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ upon hikmah and upon hasanah, upon beauty. So this verse commands us. Commands us.
That means that if someone is not doing da'wah, according to the ulema, they are committing sin. If you are living in a position where da'wah can be done. Now if you told me you lived in the Prophet's masjid all day and you never left, and there is no one to give da'wah to, خَيْرٍ no worries. You live in a utopia. MashaAllah, TabarakAllah.
But if you live in an area where da'wah can be done, and you are not doing it, you are sinning in front of Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ . We just have to accept that fact. We are committing sin. Because it's an imperative command from Allah. And it's a general command.
Allah doesn't say يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ or يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ . He doesn't say يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا or يَا أُمَّةَ الْإِسْلَامِ or يَا أُمَّةَ مُحَمَّدٍ. Or whom Allah is speaking to in this verse after the Prophet ﷺ. It is a general command. اذغ. Anyone who reads this verse has been given an order from Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ to call into the way of Allah with wisdom.
Also the Prophet ﷺ was commanded to say:
Say, this is my way. What is my way? أدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ عَلَى بَصِيرَةٍ. I call to Allah upon Basira. Which means sure knowledge, deep knowledge insight. أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي. Me and those who follow me. Meaning that I call to Allah as well as anyone who follows me.
So if you say you follow the Prophet ﷺ the Prophet is commanded by Allah to say if you follow me you will be a da'i or a da'iya. This is the way we are. This is just our path. This is what we do. We call to Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ . This is our purpose. This is our vision. No matter what it is that we do. Da'wah is something that is imperative in our present condition.
The World Needs Guidance
In our present condition it's imperative. We live in a world where there's so much ignorance. How many of you would agree the world has gone crazy as a whole? The majority of the world right now is lost. They have no idea what's going on and they're in downright madness. Raise your hands. You got to interact with me. Please interact with me. You would agree. خَيْر
If that's the case, who's to blame? Somebody's got to be to blame. Shaytan's not to blame. Shaytan's going to run away from all of us on the Day of Judgment and say, look, I called you, you accepted. Who's to blame if the world's going to hell in a handbasket? How are they supposed to know what's right and wrong? How do they know? Who is the job been laid upon to tell the world what is right and what is wrong? Whose job is that? It's our job.
Is it not our job?
You're the best nation because you command people to do good, you forbid them from doing evil, and you believe in Allah. So if the world is going to hell in a handbasket, we should turn around and look and say, did we not share some blame? Yes, we share some blame, if not a majority of the blame. Because we are not out there telling them, this is right, this is wrong, this is خَيْرِ this is
Go towards this, stay away from this. This is the straight path. Now if they go on after that, then that's their responsibility. They've just rejected, no problem. But we have not even offered them the solution. We haven't offered them the solution.
So what do they do? They fall on whatever they can fall upon, democracy, which is a farce anyway. But they fall upon democracy or whatever, a dictatorship, whatever they can have to put together, that's what they're going to use. And guess what? We have to give credit where credit is due. They're doing a pretty good job to not
ARABIC TEXT (CRITICAL - PRESERVE EXACTLY)
1. ARABIC WITH FULL HARAKAT (CRITICAL): - ADD harakat/diacritics (فَتْحَة، ضَمَّة، كَسْرَة، سُكُون، شَدَّة، تَنْوِين) to ALL Arabic text - Even if source PDF shows Arabic without harakat, YOU MUST add the correct harakat - Example: رحمها الله → رَحِمَهَا اللهُ | كما ربتني → كَمَا رَبَّتْنِي - This is essential for proper Quranic/Islamic text pronunciation
2. Quranic verses - wrap in GREEN/EMERALD box WITH CLICKABLE REFERENCE:
⚠️ CRITICAL: ONLY use green/emerald boxes for ACTUAL Quran verses (Allah's words). ⚠️ CRITICAL: ONLY ARABIC TEXT goes inside the green box. English translation goes OUTSIDE/AFTER the box.
HOW TO IDENTIFY QURAN vs HADITH: - If text is preceded by "The Prophet said", "Prophet ﷺ said", "He said" (referring to Prophet) → This is HADITH, use BLUE box - If text is preceded by "Allah says", "In the Quran", or you recognize it as a Quran verse → This is QURAN, use GREEN box - Words of the Prophet Muhammad are HADITH, not Quran - When in doubt, use YELLOW box (rule 5)
FORMAT (Arabic ONLY inside box, English translation OUTSIDE):
"[English translation here]"
CRITICAL RULES FOR QURAN REFERENCES: - NEVER output "SURAH:AYAH" as literal text - replace with actual numbers like "2:255" - NEVER output "0:0", "null", or any placeholder - NEVER output "(Quran SURAH:AYAH)" - this is a placeholder, not a real reference - If you cannot identify the EXACT surah:ayah number, DO NOT use green box - use YELLOW box instead (rule 5) - Only use green box if you are 100% certain it's Quran AND you know the exact reference
Example: For Ayatul Kursi, use href="https://quran.com/2:255" with text "(Quran 2:255)"
3. Hadith (Prophet's words) - wrap in BLUE box:
⚠️ USE BLUE BOX when Arabic text is introduced by: - "The Prophet said", "Prophet ﷺ said", "The Messenger of Allah said" - "He said" (when referring to the Prophet in context) - Any quote attributed to Prophet Muhammad
⚠️ CRITICAL: ONLY ARABIC TEXT goes inside the blue box. NO English, NO references inside the box.
FORMAT (Arabic ONLY inside box, reference and translation OUTSIDE):
(Source Name)
"[English translation here]"
NOTE: Put the source reference OUTSIDE the box as a separate line. If source is unknown, omit it entirely:
WHEN TO USE BOXES vs INLINE: - Use colored box: When Arabic text is a COMPLETE standalone verse/hadith on its own line - Keep INLINE (no box): When Arabic is mixed within an English sentence (like du'as, short phrases)
HADITH LINKING RULES (CRITICAL - prevents 404 errors):
A. Allowed slugs ONLY: bukhari, abudawud, tirmidhi, nasai, ibnmajah, riyadussalihin, nawawi40
B. Standard format: https://sunnah.com/[slug]:[number] - Sahih Bukhari 1234 → https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1234 - Sunan Abu Dawud 890 → https://sunnah.com/abudawud:890 - Jami at-Tirmidhi 111 → https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:111 - Sunan an-Nasa'i 222 → https://sunnah.com/nasai:222 - Sunan Ibn Majah 333 → https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:333 - Riyad as-Salihin 444 → https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:444 - 40 Hadith Nawawi 5 → https://sunnah.com/nawawi40:5
C. SAHIH MUSLIM - ALWAYS use SEARCH link (never direct): Muslim uses alphanumeric suffixes (224a, 224b) that break direct links. - Sahih Muslim 567 → https://sunnah.com/search?q=muslim+567 - Sahih Muslim 1234 → https://sunnah.com/search?q=muslim+1234
D. Volume/Page references - NO LINK (plain text only): If reference mentions "Volume" or "Page", output as plain text without hyperlink. Sunnah.com uses in-book numbering only.
E. Deduplication: If hadith appears in multiple books, link to Bukhari only.
F. NO GUESSING: If unsure of the exact number, output as plain text (no link). A missing link is better than a broken 404 link.
4. Arabic honorifics (صلى الله عليه وسلم) - keep INLINE with names, no boxes
5. Du'as and unidentified Arabic - wrap in YELLOW/AMBER box (NO REFERENCE AT ALL): Use this for supplications (du'as), prayers, or Arabic text you cannot identify:
⚠️ CRITICAL: ONLY ARABIC TEXT goes inside the yellow box. English translation goes OUTSIDE/AFTER the box.
FORMAT (Arabic ONLY inside box, English translation OUTSIDE):
"[English translation here]"
⚠️ YELLOW BOX = NO REFERENCE LINE. Do not add any "(Source)" or "(Quran X:Y)" text. This is the DEFAULT for standalone Arabic when source is uncertain. WHEN IN DOUBT, USE YELLOW BOX.
ENGLISH TEXT
STRUCTURE: - Headings:
HEADING
- Subheadings:SUBHEADING
- Paragraphs:TEXT
EMPHASIS (Use generously for visual interest):
1. BOLD - Use for: - Allah, God references - Prophet Muhammad, Prophet names - Islamic terms: taqwa, iman, salah, zakat, hajj, jannah, jahannam - Names of companions (sahaba) - Key theological concepts
2. UNDERLINE - Use for: - Direct commands and imperatives - Critical warnings - Call-to-action statements
3. HIGHLIGHT - Use for: - Key takeaways and main points (1-2 per section) - Memorable quotes or wisdom - Important definitions - Powerful statements that summarize a concept
4. ITALICS - Use for: - Transliterations of Arabic words - Book titles - Emphasis on specific words
INLINE ARABIC WITH TRANSLITERATION (CRITICAL FOR BRACKETS)
When Arabic text appears INLINE with English (not in emerald boxes), wrap the entire Arabic + transliteration in a span with dir="ltr" to fix bracket direction:
CORRECT FORMAT: (Arabic text - transliteration)
Example: Alright everyone, (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)
This prevents the parentheses from appearing inverted like )( instead of ().
RULES
1. FORMAT 100% of content - do NOT skip, summarize, or truncate 2. Return ONLY HTML - no markdown blocks, no explanations 3. Preserve ALL Arabic exactly as it appears with full diacritics 4. Always use dir="ltr" spans for inline Arabic with parentheses
have guidance. To not have guidance, they're doing the best they can. They're doing the best they can with nothing, with nothing.
Because if you don't have guidance, you have nothing. So we have to step back and say, hold on a second, have we done our job in conveying the message properly to them? Have we done anything to say that, look, we've done our job?
Have we here in Britain, have the Muslims of Britain stood up and said, look, this is what is good. If you follow upon this, you will develop the most peaceful society on the planet. Forget telling them Islam, Islam, Islam, this is good. This is something that will help you. If you eradicate this from society, it will make society better. If you implement this in society, this will make society better. Quit telling them to implement Islam, because half of us don't even know what we're saying.
If they were to say, okay, tell me Islam, well we don't have any idea. But the good things that Islam teaches, we should teach that this is good. Alcohol, bad. This is a bad thing. This is an ill upon society. We are on the forefront of eradicating alcoholism from Great Britain and Wales, all of the United Kingdom. The Muslims are united upon this fact, because there are a lot of things we're never going to unite upon. But there are some things we should be able to unite upon, especially when it comes to doing good.
Look, drug abuse. Islam is completely against it. So we are on the forefront of the anti-drug campaign in Great Britain. If you need any help, we're here. We're here.
Caring for the Needy
Homelessness. Does Islam not teach us how to deal with people who have nothing? People who are less than us? Absolutely. Let me ask all of you a question.
Do you think the neighbors that live around this masjid that are not yet Muslims, I don't use the word non- Muslim, because it negates their Islam, they can be Muslim, Allah knows. They're not yet Muslims. They're *kuffar*. Not yet Muslims. Do the people around this masjid that are not yet Muslims know? Let's say there's a single mother who lives behind the masjid. She's struggling. They don't have food to eat one night.
Do they know that there's a place right here that they can come and get food for her and her children? And that's required and mandated on us by Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ to provide for her. From the zakah that we pay forward. Do they know that? They don't know that. They have no idea.
They'll go stand in the line at DSS for 10 hours, 2 days, dragging their children around. When she doesn't know there's a center right down the street that is mandated by our Creator to help her and her children. They don't know that. You see if people understood this about Muslims, these things were being put forward about our *deen*, then you would see a country that was more welcoming to us and more welcoming to Islam.
We think people are entering to Islam in droves now, imagine if they knew the goodness that we had the capability of doing and that we were commanded to do by Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ We don't know.
The Hadith of the Orphan
How many of you know the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
"Me and whoever takes care of an orphan will be like this on the Day of Judgment."
Anybody heard this hadith before? Raise your hand. Me and whoever takes care of an orphan will be like this on the Day of Judgment. How many of you in here would not like to be like this with the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ on the Day of Judgment? This is the most best place to be. I mean if you're like this with the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ on the Day of Judgment, you might as well prop up your lounge chair, lay back and just relax. You, you're good to go. You are good to go.
I'm sure there's orphanages right here in Bradford. Are there not? We don't know where they are. Half of us don't know where the closest orphanage is to our own home. If I were to ask you, let's leave the masjid right now, let's go walk to the closest orphanage, I guarantee you and I'm not going to embarrass you, 90% of you have no idea.
Who are at that orphanage? And if you have never been to an orphanage, do yourself a favor, go and visit. Look at these children. If you're a parent, it will kill you. I have two children, *mashaAllah*, one on the way. When you go to these places, these are children who when they wake up in the middle of the night with a nightmare, they don't have anybody to run to. They have no one to run to.
When they fall down and get a boo-boo, they have nobody that's going to kiss it for them. When they're sick, they have no one to hold them and comfort them and rock them, none. And you know what is the same about all of these children? They are upon the *fitrah* that Allah created them with. They are upon the *fitrah* that Allah created them with. They are Muslim. They are Muslim until someone comes and takes them out of that place and turns them into something else.
They are Muslims. We're sitting here crying about children dying all over the world. We have children right here in Bradford who are in need of you. Muslim children who are in need of you. Where are we? Where are we? And we wonder why. We wonder why Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ has not been on our side for so long.
These small things we don't even care about anymore. The things that made us so great, the things that made us so beautiful, the things that made the companions so spectacular people, we've lost entirely. We've lost entirely.
We have to wake up to some of these things because this is *da'wah*. This is *da'wah*. This is the best form of *da'wah* that you can do. Forget about standing on the street corner screaming and yelling every day. That has its place. But this is supposed to be first.
The Social Reformation of Muslims
The social reformation that Muslims bring to wherever they go is our greatest source of *da'wah*. This is what we were known for. To go to a place, make that place better because of our presence. If there was a world poll taken right now, if there was a world poll taken right now, where Muslims are a minority of whether or not Muslims have contributed to the society or not and would you like to see them just go? I guarantee you if that vote was taken, we would be gone. We would be gone, even from some of our own countries. We would be gone.
If they could create an island to put all of us on, they would do it. Why? Because we have failed in our ability to change anything, including ourselves. We've not changed.
We have to realize that *da'wah* is what makes or breaks this *ummah*. When the *da'wah* was strong, the *ummah* was strong because it is the backbone of this *ummah*. When the *da'wah* was strong, Muslims were conquering the entire world as we know it. Upon the *da'wah*.
When the *da'wah* was strong, very few Muslims lost their lives. Very few Muslims were oppressed. Very few women would ever get assaulted or mistreated. Children wouldn't get dragged through the streets. This wouldn't happen when the *da'wah* was strong because they understood that these Muslims are about what they say.
If they say they're going to do something, they're going to do it. They're going to benefit the society. But if you cross them, if you cross them, then you will see the other side of them. They're not cowards and they're not feeble whatsoever. But if you allow them to help you, they will help you.
The Example of the Companions
This is why the companions of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ would go and conquer a town, or conquer a city, or conquer a nation, and then when they were ready to leave and hand the leadership back over to their own people, they would beg them, don't go. Don't leave us, please don't leave us. And the entire town, or city, or country, or nation would accept Islam in mass. In mass.
Surah An-Nasr (110:1-2)
When you see the victory of Allah come and the people start entering the religion of Allah in crowds, in groups, in masses. This was seen in the lifetime of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ . It was seen in his lifetime and the companions saw this during their lifetime.
Now we see people coming into Islam and we see people leaving in Islam. The numbers are pretty much almost even in some cases. You'll see many people leaving as coming, but there's no real change. And even if you have people coming, you say that there's a million people accepting Islam every year. Then why are we not better? Why are we not stronger? Why is Islam not growing? Why is Islam still on the forefront of the news being equated with terrorism and all of these nonsense things? Why?
Because we are not presenting the better message. We're not presenting the better message. The media has a very loud voice and our voice is like a cry in the dark. Even though there's a great portion of us here that have the ability to do something about it. So we need to be involved.
The Question of Qualification - Revisited
Now not being qualified is not an excuse. What if I were to tell you, I've been Muslim for 15 years, but I've never prayed once outside of Salatul Jama'ah because I don't know how to pray. Never learned. What would you say about me? Am I a good Muslim? Am I a good Muslim? No. Some people might say, I'm not even Muslim. I never really even accepted Islam. I never learned.
Am I excused from praying? Am I excused? I don't know how. I don't know how. What am I going to do? If I don't know how, what am I going to do? Somebody tell me. Learn. Learn to pray. If Salat is incumbent upon me and I don't know how to pray, then what becomes incumbent upon me is what? To learn. It becomes incumbent upon me, wajib upon me, fard upon me, to learn how to pray. To learn how to pray.
The same way with *da'wah*. If Allah has given it to us as an *amr* in the Quran, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wa sallam has commanded us:
"Convey from me even if it's only one verse."
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
Then if you're not qualified, then it is incumbent upon you to become qualified. To learn how to share the message of Islam in the world. In whatever capacity you have the ability to do it.
Example of a Busy Doctor
There is one doctor I know from America. He's a Pakistani doctor and he's a nephrologist. Which means not only is he a general practitioner, but he specializes in the field of nephrology. Which is I think kidney diseases in children, because he's a pediatrician. He works at one of the most busy children's hospitals in the country.
He's also a president, a southeast regional president for ICNA, which is one of the biggest Islamic organizations in North America. He's also on the board of trustees at the masjid. He also runs the ISLAM DAWA program.
But every single day when he hands out prescriptions to patients or patients' parents, he simply tells them, you know I am writing this prescription due to the diagnosis that I've made. But know for sure that this medication cannot benefit you without the will of the person who created you, or the will of the one who created you. The will of the one who created you. So when you take this medication, say, in the name of he who created me, heal me with this medicine.
He's given a number of shahadahs like this. He's given a number of people shahadahs like this. And the ones he hasn't, he's given them the *da'wah* within the capacity that he has. Within the capacity that Allah has given him,
he supports the *da'wah*. If he didn't have an excuse, trust me, nobody has an excuse. He's the busiest person I know.
Ways to Get Involved in Da'wah
So we have to understand that we have to put things in proper perspective. We have to learn, what can I do to share the message of Islam?
For Taxi Drivers
For instance, for those of you who drive taxis, you guys have a pristine opportunity to give people *da'wah*. You have somebody trapped in your car with you for 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes. They can't go anywhere. They're going to have to listen to your riffraff anyway. You try to make conversation with them. Try to present the message of Islam to them. Present the message of Islam to them. They don't have to ever get in your car again. But you have done the job of conveying the message.
For Business Owners
If you own a business, your business is a source of *da'wah*. Our *da'wah* should be through our etiquette, through our *adab*. If you have a business, you should be known as the most honest business person in that area. You should be known as the person that everybody wants to come to, to do business with. This is just how the companions of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ were
This is how our *salaf* was. Their business was a source of *da'wah*. They would give, let's say that someone were buying from them a measure of grain and they were getting whatever, a kilo or whatnot. Then our *deen* teaches us, look, if the scale reads 1.01 kilos, the believer is the one who will add on an extra few grams here or there. Let me put a little bit more on just in case the scale might not be right. Because I do not want to take the chance of cheating you because Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ has revealed an entire surah about this.
So here, let me give you a little bit more, let me give you a little bit more to make sure that I'm just on my end. To make sure I'm just on my end. Do you know how far effect this has on people? This has on people.
Personal Story of Honesty
When people return to us, change, and we know that change is improper. And I've had it too many times, especially when taking taxes and things of that nature. They give you improper change, you hand it back, no, no, no, no, here's your money back. This is not how I'm going to do my business with you. You gave me too much, here's your change. It becomes a heavy effect upon *da'wah*.
When people see that we're not grubby little people who want to suck everything we can out of society. No, Allah has already written my *rizq*, I don't want it *haram*. I don't want it *haram*. Allah has already written for me *halal rizq*, I'll find that *rizq*. I don't need this one. I don't need this one.
And that's what I even told the man one day at the post office, right here on Barker Inn Road. He gave me five pounds extra after paying for something, I gave it back to him. He said, why are you giving it back to me? You
Summary of Excuses
You can't say you don't have time because all of you have your capacities. All of you do something that can become a part of da'wah, a part and parcel of da'wah. You can't say that you're not qualified because all of us either must be qualified or must be attempting to become qualified. And all of you know something about Islam:
Even if that means you only know how to hand a pamphlet to someone. This is da'wah. You have to be involved.
Number three, these people are not as ignorant as you make them out to be. Trust me, trust me. There are people just like me all over the world that want to know the truth. They're tired of living this life. They are sick of it. Why do you think they're stuck in the pub all day long? Because they got nothing else. They are miserable of the life they live so they drown themselves in whatever they can drown themselves in. Whether that's alcohol, whether that's drugs, whether it's football. Whatever it is they use that as a crutch because one thing is assured of us.
The Soul's Need for Allah
One thing is assured of us is that the soul was created to worship Allah. The soul was created to worship Allah. It can never be happy. It can never be happy without it. When the soul does not worship Allah, it's like a huge hole is in the middle of it. A huge gaping hole is left in the soul and there's nothing that can fulfill that hole or fulfill that need except the tawheed of Allah. That's it.
The analogy is this. If you think that the soul could be happy or filled with anything other than the worship of Allah, I give you a challenge. And if you can do it, then you can prove that the soul can be filled in this way. Go to the beach, whatever beach you want to go to, go to the beach, get you a shovel, take it with you, and go fill up the ocean with sand. If you can fill up the ocean with sand, with that shovel, then the soul can be filled with something other than the worship of Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ)
It's impossible. You would never do it. Even if you spent your entire life trying. This is the same way the soul has to be fulfilled with this rest of remembering Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ). Allah says it is only through the remembrance of Allah that the heart will find its rest.
These people need to understand that. That yes, your life is miserable. I know it. We know you're not happy. The reason you're not happy is because you don't have the worship of Allah in your life. You don't have the one who created you in your life.
They wake up in the morning, I don't understand how we can not feel for these people, that wake up in the morning, Allah gave you food, He gave you drink, and you thank someone else for it. When He woke you up in the morning, He woke you up, and you didn't even recognize Him. He gave you everything that you have. Your heart to beat, your brain to think, your blood running through your veins, the air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, and you don't even acknowledge Him. You don't even know who He is.
This should be something that pains us deeply. Because it pained our Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ). It bothered him. He cried over these things. He cried over this.
The Story of the Mother and Child
There was once a woman and a child around a fire, and we're going to bring it to a close. There was once a woman and a child around a fire. And whenever the fire would flame up, the mother would reach and grab the child and pull it back so it didn't get burned.
And the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) began to tear up and cry. And the companions asked him, because they knew if the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) cried it was for a reason, he said see how much this mother loves her child that she doesn't want it to be burned? They said, yes of course. He said, know that Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ) loves all of the souls He created. More than this mother loves her child, yet they are very persistent on going into the fire.
Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) created:
"I created jinn and mankind only to worship Me."
Surah Adh-Dhariyat (51:56)
They need to understand that. They need to understand that. If they accept it (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ). If they don't (الْحَمْدُ). They are Allah's slaves at the end of the day. They're not our slaves.
We Are All Slaves of Allah
They need to understand that. They need to understand that they are slaves of Allah, whether they like it or not. I tell everyone, you're a slave of Allah. They don't like to hear that. Christians don't like that word slave. Anyway, they say we're the children of Allah.
I said, if you're not a slave of Allah, then don't be in need. The slave is the one who is in need of its master. He needs his master. His master is over him. His master directs him. His master feeds him. His master clothes him. His master caretakes for him. If you're not a slave of the person who created you, or the one who created you, then don't take any of his needs.
Don't take anything from him. Don't take his food. Don't eat his food. Don't drink his water. Don't breathe his air. Don't take any of it if you're not a slave. You will always be the slave of Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ). No matter whether you like it or you don't. The difference is some of us accept that fact, and we submit to that slavery. We submit to it. We become submissive to the slavery, and the rest of the people just rebel against it. But it still doesn't make them not being a slave. They're just rejecting it. They've rejected the fact that they're a slave.
But we say about everything that dies:
"We belong to Allah, to Allah we're going to return."
Surah Al-Baqarah (2:156)
Every soul. So we need to be sharing this message with humanity. It's a simple message. It's a pure message. It's a beautiful message. We know for sure that there's nothing that can heal the world like Islam. We know for sure there's nothing that can solve the world's problems like Islam. We know this. This is part of our aqeedah. That Islam is perfect. Everything Allah has revealed is perfect. Everything in the system of Islam is perfect. It just needs to be implemented.
Walking with Izzah
This is the kind of izzah that the Muslims need to have again. We walk around with our heads down. Like we're humiliated. The only people that can humiliate us is ourselves. Because Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ) humiliates us. Because of our rejection of Him. We need to walk around with this attitude. It's not an arrogant attitude. There is no arrogance upon the truth. This is one thing the scholars are in anonymity about. That there is no arrogance upon the truth.
If I were to tell you that Islam is the truth, whether you like it or not, and if you don't follow it, you're going to hell. This is not arrogance. This is not arrogance. This is firmness. This is firmness upon the deen of Allah. This is istiqama.
To be able to walk around with this idea that I have the most beautiful way of life. You can call me what you want to call me today. Allah has called me a Muslim. Alhamdulillah. You can spit on me today. No problem. You can laugh at me today. No worries. You can get all of your anger and whatever you want out. That's not a problem.
I'm still going to walk around with my head up high and smiling. Why? Because Jannah is only for me and people who are like me. That's it. Jannah is only for me and for people who are like me. People who bear witness that there's nothing right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger.
These are the only people who will laugh after the day of judgment. So laugh today all you want. Mock all you want. No problem. You mock at me, Allah mocks at you. No worries. I'm going to have my dignity and my composure and I'm going to go forward.
You see that really affects a lot of people when we have this type of attitude. When we have this type of firmness. And we teach our children to have this type of firmness. Their deen is not a source of humiliation for them. It is their source of Izzah. It is their honor. The humiliation comes when they lose that. When they lose that.
The Hadith About Humiliation
As the Prophet s.a.w. said, as we bring it to a close, when you become satisfied with Inaa. Inaa means the haram business. We're doing haram business. And unfortunately it's killing us. Business. We need to learn how to do business properly.
One thing that I'm very skeptical about is doing business with Muslims. It's just a realistic fact. Let me be real where it's time to be real. We cheat each other like there's nobody's business. This car I want to buy is the best. Everything we sell is the best. Wallahi. Go to our countries. I've been to many of them. Everything you sell me is the best. It is the best. When you know that thing is not going to make it down the street.
We need to understand how to share this beautiful message. The Prophet s.a.w. said, when you become satisfied with Inaa. When this type of riba and haram business is okay with you. You're comfortable with it. You're comfortable eating it. You're comfortable paying your bills with it. You're comfortable feeding your children with it. You're comfortable. When you're comfortable with this, and you're satisfied with chasing the tails of cows and tilling the soil of the earth, means that the only thing you care about when you wake up in the morning is dunya, dunya, dunya, dunya.
What can I get from dunya today? Dunya, what do you have to offer me today? That's it. That's our life concern. When you become like this, and you abandon, when you abandon sacrificing and striving and working for what? Fisebilillah. For the sake of Allah. For the sake of Allah. Then what will happen?
سَلَّطَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ ذُلًّا
That Allah will place upon you dhulla. Humiliation. That Allah will place upon you humiliation. Dhulla comes from Allah. Humiliation comes from Allah. Allah humiliates people. And He has humiliated us, unfortunately. We have humiliated ourselves, and Allah has humiliated us. Dhulla will be placed upon you, and it will never be removed from you (حَتَّى تَرْجِعُوا إِلَى دِينِكُمْ). Until you go back to your deen. Till you go back to your deen, it will never come off of you. We need to realize this.
We need to wake up. We need to wake up. This dunya is a source of our humiliation. It is a source of humiliation.
The Example of Deen and Dunya
Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah and Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jazira rahimahullah said this dunya is like your shadow. If you chase it, it will run. If you chase it, it will run from you and you will be humiliated. You'll never catch it. Imagine if you were in a race to catch your shadow, and they were told, I'll give you a million dollars if you can catch it. You'll never catch it. You're going to lose. You will lose.
But the moment you turn around and walk away from it, don't even acknowledge it that it is there anymore. It has no choice but to follow you. The dunya is like this. The dunya is given to those who put it in its place. Put it in its place.
And one associate of mine from a long time ago said very beautifully about the companions of the Prophet, when it came to deen and dunya, that they wore the deen on their head like a crown of honor. That the deen was like a crown of honor upon their head. And this is what Umar ibn al-Khattab said, that Allah gave us honor through Islam. We will never seek it by any other means. That Allah honored us through Islam, therefore we will never seek honor anywhere else.
So they honored themselves through the deen, and the dunya was in their hands. So if something became misplaced what was on their heads, they would put the dunya down and fix that what was on their heads. The dunya was secondary. They would go and they would put it down in order to fix their deen.
But now we have reversed the process. The dunya is our izzah, it's our crown, it's that which we wear. What we have, the bling we have, the cars we have, the homes we have, this is all we care about. And that's our source of honor. And the deen is in our hands. If our dunya becomes misappropriated, we will put the deen down to fix it. This is why Allah has reversed the system with us.
Return to the Deen - The Backbone is Da'wah
So inshaAllah ta'ala we can wake up to this solution and realize that this dunya is a source of humiliation. We have to go back to our deen. We have to go back to our deen. And the backbone of our deen is the da'wah. The backbone of our deen is the da'wah.
We wouldn't know anything about Allah
We wouldn't know anything about Allah if the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ hadn't told us. Would we not? If he hadn't done the da'wah, we would know nothing about Allah. If he hadn't done the da'wah, we would not have the kitab of Allah. If he hadn't done the da'wah, we wouldn't have the sunnah.
If the companions hadn't done it after him, Allah knows where we would have been. We have our priorities screwed up. The companions of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ immediately after his death, they went out and shared the message of Islam with the world. This is why you find them buried all over. You find them buried all over.
It wasn't until 82 or 83 years after the death of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that the first renovation was ever made to the Prophet's masjid. It was exactly the same for 82 to 83 years before they even fixed the roof. The leaking roof of the Prophet's masjid was not fixed for 80 something years. Why? They had more important things to do. They had more important things to do. They had to share the message of Islam with the world.
Now the only thing we care about is having the biggest and beautifullest masjids that we can find. And they're empty. They're dead. They're like graves inside. Nothing's going on. And they're definitely not benefiting the society. They're definitely not benefiting.
With this many Muslims in Bradford, with this many Muslims in Bradistan, this place should be a beacon for Islam. This place should be a beacon for da'wah. This place should be a beacon for the epitome of what Muslims can do if you allow them to come to a place. But it's not like that now. But we can fix it. Everything can be fixed.
If you're not dead and buried in the ground yet, you can change. In sha Allah. In sha Allah you can change. I know some of our older brothers don't think that you can change, but wallahi, you can change. You can change. I've seen 90 year old men enter into Islam. You can change.
So please, in sha Allah, try to find a way to get involved in da'wah. If there's something going on right here in BD5 masjid, get involved in whatever way you can. If the only thing Allah has given you is money, use your money for the sake of Allah az wajal. If Allah has given you some knowledge, use it for the sake of Allah az wajal. If Allah has given you skills, use those skills for the sake of the da'wah.
Whatever Allah has given you and benefited you with in this life, repay him by helping someone else come to that same knowledge of la ilaha illallah that you have.
Final Reflections
And I want to finally, finally give you a couple of small little things to think about in sha Allah. What was the first thing? I think we lost the mic. No worries. What is the first thing that Allah az wajal created? Anybody know? First thing that Allah az wajal created. I don't know why I died.
The first thing that Allah created was the pen. Naam? Correct? And Allah told the pen to write everything. Everything that would ever happen from now until eternity. Within that book, Allah commanded that pen to write all of your names. Every single one of you in this room, Allah commanded that pen to write your name,
including mine, that you would be a Muslim. That you would be a Muslim. That you would be gifted with hidayah. That you would be gifted with guidance. Allah wrote that 50,000 years before ever creating you.
What have you done to repay Allah for that? Because it's not something you earned. Because Allah wrote it 50,000 years before creating you. You didn't earn it.
The Gift of Being Born Muslim
How many of you in here were born into Muslim families? Raise your hand. You were born and raised a Muslim? You were born and raised a Muslim? I can't put my hand up. We have any other people that reverted to Islam in this room? Am I the only one? The only person who reverted to Islam?
When it comes to people who are out giving da'wah, as a lifestyle, as a full time, what are some of their names? Anybody? Name some people you know who are out giving their life to the deen of Allah, to spread the religion of Islam.
Zakir Naik. Abdul Rahim Green. Ahmad Deedat. They're alive now. Yusuf Estes. Bilal Phillips. Anybody else? Abu Musab Awajri Al-Akri. Reba Islam. Anybody else? Okay.
Two things. Number one, after six names you run out. There's two billion of us. There's almost two billion of us in the world. We can only think of maybe six. If I helped you out, we maybe can get to twenty. People who have dedicated their lives to this da'wah. It's a big problem when Allah says:
Allah commands us to have an ummah that is doing da'wah.
But nevertheless, if I were to give you ten names, out of these names, the majority of them were what? What is synonymous about the names you gave me? The majority of them? They're reverts. The majority of them are reverts to Islam. The majority of them did not grow up knowing who Allah was. The majority of them were not raised hearing the book of Allah.
They weren't raised seeing salah being performed. They struggled to come to the truth, and now they are repaying Allah for that gift that He gave them by giving it to other people. You guys were born with that gift. You guys were born with that gift. Repay it. Because it wasn't something that you did. It was a gift Allah gave you, and the only thing He asked in return is to worship Him and share that with somebody else, insha'Allah ta'ala.
Closing
جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا for your attentiveness. First I want to thank you all, because the Prophet said:
"If you don't thank the people, you don't thank Allah."
Jami' at-Tirmidhi
So I thank all of you, and secondly, if I have said something that is correct, praise Allah for it. Because Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ began His book الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ that all praise belongs to Him, Him alone. If I have said something that is incorrect, or that has offended you, then forgive me, because I have no knowledge, and I'm ignorant, and I need forgiveness.
So forgive me now, so we don't have to deal with it in the judgement. And may Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ give all of us the ability and tawfiq to be involved in da'wah, to hear these words, to take the best of it, insha'Allah ta'ala, and benefit humanity.
سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ أَشْهَدُ أَن لَّا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا وَأَحْسَنَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
Question and Answer Session
Question: Is there a terminology that describes da'wah? The reverse is the same.
Answer: The reverse is the same. If you call to an evil action and somebody acts upon that evil because of your encouragement, you get rewarded, or excuse me, there's no reward, but you get punished for them committing that evil action. That's just the same way. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said anyone who introduces an evil, then he is culpable for that evil being introduced. No matter how many people it passes through.
You might not be the first person to introduce it, but if you've encouraged it, then you become part and parcel to it. Just like, for instance, murder. Murder was first committed by who? Do you know that he gets the reward, or he gets the punishment of every person who's committed a murder after him? It's like as if he committed and killed all these people because he was the first person to introduce it.
Just like the first person to ever introduce shirk into the world. I don't even want to be anywhere near this guy on the Day of Judgment. He's introduced shirk into the world for the first time, therefore he receives the punishment of all the people going forward.
So if you push someone towards an evil action, you get the reward of it. But it has to be that they acted upon your advice to commit evil. If you tell someone, go drink alcohol, and they go drink alcohol because you said so, then you're going to be punished along with them, even if you didn't drink yourself.
Some people in societies, they think that they do good and it will go on for good, but they fail to realize that it did. So these consequences of actions, is there a word for that? No, I don't think there's really a specific word that I've heard used, but there might be, but Allah knows. I don't know.
Question: If you can give some advice to the young lads here, who obviously go to this, they see things which are against their religion, and so they kind of, they've been taught one thing in the masjid and then one thing in school. So if you can maybe give them some advice, and some encouragement, and motivation inshaAllah to overcome.
Answer: Well for the young men in the room, and if there are any sisters, young sisters as well, you have to remember that it was the youth that made Islam what it is today. It was the youth, it was the shabab. It was the young men and women around the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, that made the deen of Allah great.
It was the people like Musab ibn Umair, who was barely a teenager when the Prophet, peace be upon him, sent him to Yathrib to call people to Islam. And he ended up bringing almost the entire city of Medina into Islam. He was barely a teenager, and he was in his early 20s when he gave away his life in the most beautiful way for Allah.
Ali ibn Abi Talib was a young boy when he accepted Islam. Barely at the age of 13, 13, 14, he used to walk around the streets of Medina protecting the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam. If anybody touched the Prophet, they used to get the wrath of Ali.
When Umar ibn al-Khattab entered into Islam, early 20s, the same with Abu Bakr, he was young. The same with Mu'adh ibn Jabal when he was sent to Yemen, barely 20s.
You have to understand the man who took Islam, how many of you here are from the subcontinent? Yeah, raise your hand. Subcontinent, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, all that. Asian. If you're Asian, what is the name of the man who took Islam to that part of the world? Anybody know? Muhammad ibn Qasim. Muhammad ibn Qasim Athaqafi.
Athaqafi, 17 year old boy who came from the people of Ta'if, whom the Prophet, peace be upon him, could have destroyed on the day of Ta'if, that he didn't destroy. One of their young men, 17 years old, took Islam to the subcontinent. We really have to see that it was the youth that made Islam.
The Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, said that Allah is amazed at a young person who worships Him. Allah is amazed at a shabab who worships Him. Also, Allah, azwajal, has made seven types of people to have the shade of the throne of His Arsh on the Day of Judgment. A day in which, trust me, we will be willing to give anything for shade. Anything for shade on that day, because it will be blistering hot. One of them, a young person who raised up knowing Allah.
Someone who is raised worshipping Allah, will automatically get the shade of the throne of Allah, azwajal. I can't get that. I was 18 years old when I accepted Islam. But all of you young men and women, you have the opportunity to get that shade of the throne of Allah, azwajal.
Also, the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, said that the shabab were the strength of this Ummah. That they were the strength and the backbone of this Ummah. Through their dua, through their sincerity, and through their worship of Allah, azwajal.
So, we need to understand that youth play a very prominent role. The Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, at his deathbed appointed Usama bin Zaid, who was the son of Zaid ibn Harith. 17 years old, he appointed him the leader of the biggest army that would ever leave out of the city of Medina. Abu Bakr was there, Umar was there, Abdurrahman ibn Auf was there, Ali was there, everybody was there. And some people complained.
They complained. He's a young man, how are you going to put this boy in charge of us? Of course, no one complained directly to our Rasul, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, but the rumors came to him. He marched upon his minbar, sick, marched upon his minbar and said, I've heard what you said. I'm telling you right now, by Allah, there's no one on this earth better than Usama, except for his father. Better than his father.
And, when Abu Bakr became the khalifah, they still wanted Abu Bakr to remove him. Remove him. And Abu Bakr said, you are out of your minds. I will not remove something which the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, put into its place. It's not going to happen. So, he sent him out and they gained a huge victory for Islam.
So, the youth are the people whom the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, entrusted many things to. He entrusted the youth with so much. So, so much. So, the youth are really the backbone of the ummah. They are. If the youth are weak, the ummah is weak. If the youth are strong, then the ummah is strong.
So, you have to understand that, yeah, it might be crazy. You might go to school and see all kinds of nonsense, but know that you're different for a reason. You're different. You're not like them. You don't want to be like them. What is the point of being like a people whom Allah has said that He will punish them and throw them into hellfire forever if they continue that way? Why would you want to be like somebody like this? If they jumped into a pit of boiling oil, you wouldn't jump after them.
Well, this is what they're doing in reality in the next life. We don't want to go behind them. So, we need to understand that Allah has valued the youth. The Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, has valued the youth. So, we need to value our youth.
The Prophet also said:
Take advantage of five things before five.
One of them is شَبَابَكَ قَبْلَ هَرَمِكَ Take advantage of your youth before you get old. So, worship Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ now while you're young. You'll find it easier when you get old. If you wait until you get old, it becomes very difficult. And Allah knows best.
Question: Sheikh, in your experience, what are the best dawah techniques for you?
Answer: Like, there's an organization called Aira. Aira, I would say is probably one of the most professional dawah organizations on the planet. I know the brothers very well. I'm very good friends with Ibrahim, with
brother Hamza, with Hamza Patterson, Yusuf Chambers. I've known all of them for a long time. When it comes to professionalism and dawah, they got it on lock.
I mean, they really are doing a fantastic job when it comes to dawah. So, getting involved is a beautiful thing to do. But when it comes to giving, the best way to give dawah, again, that's not something you can answer in a Q&A session.
The only thing I can tell you is being a good Muslim is a good source of dawah. But telling me, asking me that general question is like if I was a doctor up here and you asked me, how do I cure sick people? I don't know. What kind of sickness do they have? I'm saying dawah is specialized.
What kind of sickness do they have? Because if I just tell you give them all antibiotics, that's not going to help people who have viral infections. It's only going to help people who have infections. If someone has a virus, it's not going to do them any good. So, it has to be specialized.
But the best general form of dawah that we can do is to be good Muslims. To live our Islam openly.
As Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ says:
"And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, "Indeed, I am of the Muslims."
Who can be better than one who calls to Allah? Who can be better than one whose speech is good and they tell the people, indeed, without a doubt, I'm a Muslim.
So, by living our Islam openly, we show the message of Islam. Because trust me, when you live your Islam openly, people watch you. They want to see where you're going to screw up. They're going to see what you want to do. I mean, people are so worried now that we're being watched. Alhamdulillah, we're being watched. Before 9-11, we used to beg people to listen to us. We used to beg people to listen.
Nobody wants to listen to us. I'm out there giving dawah, nobody's even listening to me. 9-11 happens, that tragedy happens, taking innocent lives, it's a tragedy. Innocent people died, it's a tragedy. But Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ put the spotlight on this ummah. You want a spotlight? Here you go, take it.
You got all the spotlight you want. The microphone is here. People will listen to anything a Muslim has to say. If I step on a train, everybody's watching me. I get on a plane, everybody's got their eyes on me. We should say alhamdulillah for that.
We have a pristine opportunity now to give dawah through our actions. We're sad that they put microphones in the masjid. Who cares they put a microphone in the masjid? Maybe they'll get some dawah. The people gotta sit there and listen to this all day long. May they accept Islam and get guidance because of it. We need to look at the benefit in things.
There's a mahsulah in almost everything. We just gotta look for it. So there is a benefit behind all of these things. So we can live Islam openly through our actions. If they're watching you, let them watch you. We have
the stage, we have this pristine opportunity.
Let's take it and run with it inshaAllah. People will listen to whatever we have to say now. We're just not saying the right things. We're not using the platform that Allah gave us with any wisdom whatsoever on most accounts.
Question: Reading the Quran. My story to Islam is very long.
Answer: Much longer than can be put into a Q&A session. It was me reading the Quran for the first time. I accepted Islam as soon as I finished reading the Quran. Put it that way. In 1998 when I finished reading the Quran I 100% just accepted Islam after that. But it's very long.
But if you want to see the whole story, it's on YouTube. So you just go type in how the Bible led me to Islam and it'll be there. If you've got an hour and 20 minutes inshaAllah.
Anything else? Any other questions? No? Khair inshaAllah. Then we'll close it here. May Allah reward you and I look forward inshaAllah to come back and be with you all again one day.
Forgive me where I've fallen short and correct me where you find me in mistake. JazakAllah khair.
(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh)