Challenges Facing Muslims in the West

Allah. This was never the criteria.

The criteria was people's taqwa, people's khair. What kind of personality is he? What fikr does he have for the community? What fikr does he have for humanity? How can this ummah which Allah created for the akhirah be impressed by metal, by rubber, by bricks? This cannot happen. We were created for a bigger purpose.

Examples of Simple Living

The greatest of creation sallallahu alayhi wa sallam left this dunya. He had 11 patches upon his clothes. When Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiallahu anhu left this dunya, he had 14 patches upon his clothes.

When Umar ibn Abdulaziz, who was Umar ibn Abdulaziz? Umar was the most powerful man on the face of this earth. From Iraq to China, from the Caucasus to the depths of Africa, he ruled. And he's passing away.

And somebody says to his wife, change his clothes, Amirul Momineen is passing away. She remains quiet. He says again, change his clothes, Amirul Momineen is passing away.

Remains quiet. And the third time the man says it angrily. He said, can't you see the man's dying? Change his clothes.

How you let him die like this? And she said, I swear by Allah, these are the only clothes that he has. These are the only clothes that he has. But the man left a legacy.

He left something behind him. Today in Trinidad, in an island, we remember Umar ibn Abdulaziz, because these people were heavy in the scales of Allah. And I ask you, how will me and you be? When the greatest of creation sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, when Umar went into the home of Aisha.

The Prophet's Simple Life

This house was the house of Aisha, the beloved of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And he looks around and there's virtually no materialistic goods. Virtually nothing.

And his tears begin to flow. And he says, O Messenger of Allah, look at the opulence that the Romans and the Persians live in. You know the Kisra, the Persian Emperor, Mawlana Abu Hassan Nadwi rahimahullah writes, that the opulence that he lived in was such that every morning before he had an audience, they would have a curtain in front of him so nobody could see him.

And then they would place a crown upon his head. And this crown was so heavy that it would be suspended with gold chains to the ceiling because his neck would break. And then they would put his bangles on.

These were the same bangles that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam promised Suraqah ibn Malik radiallahu anhu. And then they would allow anybody to have an audience. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was sitting down and he sat up. He said, O Umar, even you, Umar, even you, don't you understand that my example is like a person, a traveler who takes rest under a tree.

You don't make the tree your permanent home. This is not our permanent home. Our permanent home is that which is by Allah.

That which is by Allah. He said, that is my example. A person who takes shelter and some rest under a tree and then he moves on.

Umar's Simplicity

And this had amazing bearing on Umar ibn Khattab. Umar became Ameer ul Mu'mineen.

And one day Hafsa radiallahu anha, she came in and she looked at the simplicity which Umar lived. And she said, O my father, Allah has given us great wealth today. Why you living in this simplicity? We are the most powerful people, the richest people on the face of this earth.

And Umar radiallahu anhu said, Oh Hafsa, remind me of the house of the Messenger of Allah. And he began to remind her until she broke down in tears. And Umar radiallahu anhu said, I have two companions who went before me, the Messenger of Allah and Abu Bakr and that is the path that I will tread.

That is the path that I will tread. When Umar ibn Khattab radiallahu anhu went to Sham and he's sitting with Khalid ibn Waleed and there was food that he had never seen before. And Umar began to cry.

And Khalid said, O Ameer ul Mu'mineen, why you crying? And Umar radiallahu anhu said, Look at those who came before us. Those sahaba who have passed away, they didn't see these foods. They didn't have these luxuries.

And Khalid ibn Waleed radiallahu anhu said, O Ameer ul Mu'mineen, for them is Jannah. For them is Jannah. And Umar radiallahu anhu turned to Khalid and he said, What a raw deal then.

What a raw deal. For them is Jannah, for us is food. We are happy with what we have.

The Believer's Perspective

Then this is why, you know, as believers we are people who invest in our Akhirah. We work in the dunya, Alhamdulillah. And I am saying nothing about people who got big homes.

Alhamdulillah, Allah has given you that ni'mah. Allah has given you a big car, but it should not make you forget Allah. It should make you do shukr that Allah has given you that.

But it should also create empathy in you. It should create a thirst, a concern. And the challenge and the talk that they gave me is challenges that we face in the West.

Nelson Mandela's Characteristics

Let me make this as relevant as I possibly can. Let me bring it home. You all know about Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela passed away, he was an icon. He was an example of a statesman. Even his enemies, people that disliked him had to come out and speak about him.

But you see that Nelson Mandela had many characteristics which a believer should have. And this is what made him popular. These are characteristics that believers should have.

He died on disbelief, he died on kufr, but the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam spoke about other people also in his time who died on kufr, but he spoke about the good characteristics that these people had. And Allah rewarded them in this dunya. For instance Abu Al-Bukhtari.

Abu Al-Bukhtari was amongst those who when the Muslims were boycotted, he ensured that the boycott be lifted. And he worked day and night. He was the cousin of Khadijah radiallahu anha.

And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, in the Battle of Badr, if you see Abu Al-Bukhtari, do not fight him. In the battle, he said avoid Abu Al-Bukhtari. Mut'im Ibn Adi was a man in Aam Al-Huzn when the Quraysh had lifted their protection from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Mut'im Ibn Adi gave the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam protection. When Mut'im Ibn Adi was dead, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam remembered how he gave him protection. Remembered.

Abu Talib died on disbelief. But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam remembered his uncle and the affection that he had. There was a man, a ruler called Anushirvan, the just.

He was Persian, disbeliever. But he was known as just. And this is why you can have a non-Muslim ruler who can be just.

And this is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam defined Najashi as (مَلِكٌ عَادِلٌ - "a just king.") Go to Abyssinia because he's a just king.

And Anushirvan, he was a Zoroastrian. But Umar ibn Al-Khattab read his entire biography. He read his entire biography.

Mawlana Shibli Nomani in Al-Farooq mentions this. Why? Because they had certain characteristics and unfortunately these characteristics the Muslims should have. And we have lost them.

The Quality of Empathy

Let me give you an example. Empathy. Empathy means that you feel for the other person. That you can relate to the feelings of other person. Now Nelson Mandela was a man who spent 27 years in prison for his people. 27 years is a big sacrifice.

And the truth is that he was not alone. There were actually Muslims in prison with him who spent 27 years. There were Muslims who fought for the ANC and died for the cause.

But when Nelson Mandela came out of prison, was his empathy just for the blacks? No. You look at the statements of Nelson Mandela. He did not accept the oppression of any person.

So what did he say? He said about Bush. He said Bush is a little man with no foresight. He wants to throw the world into a holocaust.

He said on another occasion, he said why is Israel taking the blood of innocent Arabs. And in 1990, when he was in Australia, he called Israel a terrorist state. In 1997 in Pretoria, he said that we the South Africans can never be truly liberated until the Palestinians are liberated.

Now let me recreate Nelson Mandela for you. In another statement he said, if there's a country which has caused unspeakable atrocities, it is America. He called Bush a small man.

Let me now, let me recreate Nelson Mandela for you. His name is Sheikh Abdullah Mandela. And he says all these statements.

He'd be on a watch list. He'd be very high on a watch list. He'd be banned from flying.

But was Nelson Mandela a terrorist? Nobody has the courage to call him a terrorist. Why? Because the man had empathy. He cared about the Palestinians.

He cared about the people in Iraq. He cared about the people in Afghanistan. And this is what the Muslims should be like.

We should not just have empathy for the Muslims, but we should have empathy for the non-Muslims. Don't we have a Nabi who was (رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ - "a mercy to all the worlds")?

Wasn't he a man who would go from tent to tent, and they would spit in his face. And when his daughter saw him, and she looked at him, and the Prophet saw the look in her face, and the Prophet said, don't worry my daughter, a day will come that this will reach all corners of the world.

Examples from the Sahaba's Empathy

He had empathy, and he had empathy far greater than Nelson Mandela or any other human being had. But where is the empathy that this Ummah should have? You look into the life of the Sahaba radiallahu anhum. Upon occasion Umar radiallahu anhu is sitting in the masjid, and two young men they drag in another man, and they drag him into the masjid, and they say, O Ameerul Momineen, this man has killed

our father, and Umar radiallahu anhu asked him, what did you do? He said, O Ameerul Momineen, my camel went into their land, their father picked up a rock, and he threw it at the camel, and it hit the eye of the camel, and the camel was in pain, and I got angry, so I picked up the rock, and I threw it at the father, and it hit him, and it killed him.

So Umar radiallahu anhu says to the young men, that's what happened. They said, O Ameerul Momineen, we want qisas, we want blood. He killed our father, we want his blood.

So Umar radiallahu anhu says to the man who killed the other man, he says, they want blood, that's what will happen. So this man says to Ameerul Momineen, he said, O Ameerul Momineen, I have a younger brother, I live far away, our father is dead, he left some wealth, I have hidden that wealth, only I know where that wealth is, allow me to go and collect that wealth, so I can give it to my brother. And Umar radiallahu anhu said, I've heard that one before, try another one.

He said, No Ameerul Momineen, I'm speaking the truth, I have a brother and he's young and that's the only wealth that we have. So Umar radiallahu anhu says, I will only allow you to go if somebody else stands guarantor for you. So the masjid is full, so he turns around and he says, is there anybody who will stand guarantee for me? And nobody says a word.

And Umar says, tough. And then he turns again, he says, isn't there anybody who's ready to assist a Muslim in his time of need? And a man raises his hand from the back of the masjid, it was Abu Dharr radiallahu anhu. And Umar said, Abu Dharr, do you know what you're doing? If he doesn't come back, it's your neck on the block.

And Abu Dharr said, yes I know, Ameerul Momineen. And the man goes, he's given three days. One day elapses, doesn't come back.

Two days elapse, doesn't come back. Third day comes, Asr time. And the two young men go to the house of Abu Dharr radiallahu anhu.

And they say, oh Abu Dharr, we told you not to stand guarantee for him. He's not gonna come back. Now it's your neck on the block.

And Abu Dharr radiallahu anhu says, Maghrib has not come in yet. And Abu Dharr is now walking to the masjid. And can you imagine? It's the talk of the town.

Abu Dharr, the beloved of the Messenger of Allah. Abu Dharr, the man regarding whom the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, that he's the most truthful man who walks on the face of this earth. And he's walking towards the masjid.

And he enters the masjid and Umar radiallahu anhu is standing, waiting. And Maghrib time is coming. And Maghrib time, close to Maghrib time.

And all of a sudden, the young man comes into the masjid. He breaks the rows and he comes to the front. And Umar is surprised.

He's shocked that this young man has come back. And he says, why did you come back? I sent nobody behind you. You were free to go.

He said, Ameerul Momineen, I didn't want people to say that the believer gave his word and then went against his word. Then Umar turned to Abu Dharr and he said, Abu Dharr, why did you stand guarantor for a man that you didn't even know? And Abu Dharr radiallahu anhu said, I didn't want people to say that a Muslim needed help and there was nobody there to help him. That a Muslim needed help and there was nobody there to help him.

And then Umar turned to the two young men and they said, Ameerul Momineen, you bear witness. For if there are men like these two in this ummah, we have forgiven him. We have forgiven him.

But you look at the examples that we have in this ummah. People were ready to put their neck on the block for other believers because they had this quality of empathy. And there are hundreds of examples in the life of the Sahaba radiallahu anhum.

Being Principled

But where are we today? They write one negative article about us and all of a sudden, you know, we throw in the towel. Nelson Mandela was loved. He didn't have to speak about Iraq.

He didn't have to speak about Palestine. But he did because he had empathy and we find this in the quality of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). The man was principled.

27 years in prison, they said to him, give up your resistance and we will let you go free. We will give you a post in the government. But he would rather stay in prison for 27 years.

Obama recently said, when I stood in the prison of Nelson, in the cell of Nelson Mandela, I was humbled. Subhanallah, what hypocrisy. You have over 200 people in Guantanamo Bay, which you have never tried, which you have never charged.

And you talking about Mandela? But the man was principled. But you look in the seerah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). You see this principle.

What did they offer the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)? They offered him what they offered Mandela. They offered him a post. What did they offer the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)? They said, oh Muhammad, if you want women, we will give you the most beautiful women.

If you want wealth, we will give you half of our wealth. If you want leadership, we will give you leadership. What did the Messenger of Allah say? No compromise.

No compromise. He said, if you put the Sun in one hand and the moon in the other hand, I would still not give up propagating this deen of Allah. This was principled.

How principled are we today as believers? Is it true that a non-muslim can be more principled than the believers? Is it true that those who live for the akhirah have less courage than non-muslims? I lived in South Africa three months before the first elections. I left South Africa. My studies had finished.

There was great talk about the people were saying that when we take over, we're gonna take that big house from the whites. We're gonna take that big house from the Indians. But what did Nelson Mandela achieve when he came out? After spending 27 years in prison.

Fateh Makkah - The Greater Example

27 years is a long time for the venom of revenge to run through your blood. They were so strict with him for a period of time that when he was in prison, he wasn't even allowed to look, raise his eyes at another black man. This is how he was treated.

But when he came out of prison, what did he say? He said, I fought. I fought the domination of the white man and I also fought the domination of the black man and he created one harmonious community to a degree as much as he could.

No backlash. But let me show you, let me tell you another example in history to a greater degree. When there was Fateh Makkah.

When the Muslims came back to Makkah and the Muslims are dominant. The Mushrikeen don't even put up a fight and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is now walking into Makkah and there was no UN then, no Red Cross, no Amnesty International. At the nod of one head, thousands of people's heads could have been removed from their bodies.

That was the norm at that time and the Muslims are now entering Makkah and they're the conquerors and can you imagine 13 years of persecution. There was never a day, never a morning which did not bring a new trial, never an evening which did not bring a new tribulation for the Muslims and now today they're walking, they're coming into Makkah and all the old memories must have come back. This is the place where Sumayya radiallahu anha was martyred.

The first martyr of Islam. This is the place where Khabbab was made to lie on hot coals until the skin of his back would melt. This is a place where Bilal was dragged through Makkah until his skin would peel from his body.

This is the place where the Muslims were boycotted for two and a half years and at times they would have to eat leaves to survive. All these memories came back and in the heat of the moment, a Sahabi called Sa'd radiallahu anhu, he said, (الْيَوْمَ يَوْمُ الْمَلْحَمَةِ - "Today is the day of bloodshed.")

Today is the day of revenge and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) heard him and he called him, he said, Sa'd come here and change that slogan, change that shout into (الْيَوْمَ يَوْمُ الْمَرْحَمَة - "Today is the day of mercy.") Today is the day of forgiveness and then the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) gathered all the Mushrikeen by the Ka'bah and all the Muslims are there and all the Mushrikeen are there and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, what do you expect from me? And they said, oh Muhammad you're generous, your father was generous, your forefather was generous, you're honorable, you're noble, we've always seen you to be noble and then the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, (اذْهَبُوا فَأَنْتُمْ الظُّلَقَاءُ لَا تَثْرِيبَ عَلَيْكُمْ الْيَوْمَ - "Go, you are free today. There is no blame upon you today.") (referring to Yusuf's words to his brothers - Quran 12:92)

The Transformation of Society

He said, go you are free today. There is no blame upon you today. They say, listen to this, they say that Mandela did a lot for the black people and undoubtedly did a lot for the black people but let me tell you, Fateh Makkah, 23 years before this Bilal was a slave and the slave in that society was a person who had no future.

You lived a slave, you died a slave, you were nobody, you had nothing and in a period of 23 years the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) changed that mentality to such a degree that he changed the mentality. Today everybody's sitting, the mushrikeen are sitting, the sahaba are sitting, the ten who are guaranteed Jannah are sitting, the people of Badr are sitting, the fathers-in-law of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), Abu Bakr and Umar are there, the sons-in-law of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), Uthman and Ali are there, they are all there and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says, Oh Bilal stand up and climb on the roof of the Ka'bah, the roof of the Ka'bah was the most holy roof, not just to the Muslims but also to the mushriks and he said, Oh Bilal you stand up and give the Adhan, call the people because he wanted to show a token of the society that he came to create. Bilal had left the servitude of man to the servitude of the Lord of man and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) wanted to show how he was elevated because this is his deen, this deen is a deen which assists people, which gives people hope.

If you look into the history books, how were the slaves treated before Islam? Historians give examples of, they would bet, the Arab would bet, can you shoot him in his left eye and they would shoot the arrow and they would hit the slave in his left eye and the slave would be dying and these people would be celebrating because they had won the bet, this is how they were treated and then came the deen of Allah and it gave people hope, this is a deen of hope, this is a deen, all those people who embraced, the vast majority who embraced Islam in the early times were people who were poor, people who were nobody in society and this deen gave them hope to the degree that those slaves, look at Bilal, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) once saw Bilal being tortured and he said who will free this slave, who will free Bilal and Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu said, me, O Messenger of Allah and then he went to Umayyah and he said to

Umayyah, Umayyah, free Bilal, sell me Bilal and Umayyah said I'll sell him to you because you're the one who corrupted him in the first place and he said how much, he said ten gold coins, so Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu goes home and he brings ten gold coins and he gives it to Umayyah and Umayyah begins to laugh and Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu said Umayyah what's making you laugh and Umayyah said, oh Bakr I swear by Allah if you had bargained with me and offered me one gold coin for Bilal, I would have accepted one gold coin and Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu said Umayyah I swear by Allah if you had bargained with me and asked me for a hundred gold coins for Bilal, I would have given you a hundred gold coins, he bought Bilal then he freed Bilal, and then came a time that Abu Bakr the greatest man to walk on the face of this earth after the Prophets would say, (بِلَالٌ سَيِّدْنَا - Bilal is our master," Umar ibn Khattab) the second greatest man to walk on the face of this earth would say (أَبُو بَكْرٍ سَيِّدْنَا وَأَعْتَقَ سَيِّدْنَا - "Abu Bakr is our master and he freed our master,") this was the society and this was the deen that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had.

The Spirit of Service

Where are we from this deen, where is the empathy, where is the spirit of service, where is the spirit of going out there and doing something, you look at the life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) he said (سَيِّدُ الْقَوْمِ خَادِمُهُمْ - "The leader of any people is their servant") (Tirmidhi hadith 2174) and in another narration the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said that the leader of any nation is their servant and he said that the only reward which is greater than serving other people is to be killed for a just cause.

The Two Challenges

Now these are the challenges that the Muslims have, there are two challenges one is related to yourself, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said the vast majority of people will go into Jannah because of two reasons, one is Taqwa, Taqwa is your relationship between you and Allah and the second he said good character, your good character is your relationship with other people, outside nobody's interested in your salah, nobody's interested in your fast, that's between you and Allah, but people do want to see where are the Muslims of history, where are the Muslims of the early times, where was that vibrant community, where are the Muslims of Spain, where are the Muslims of Baghdad, where are the Muslims from the time of the Sahaba radiallahu anhum, where are they, have they become people who only invest in the dunya and forgot about investing in the hereafter, because the truth is that only me and you are going to change the narrative, nobody else, don't expect the media to change the narrative, don't expect the world forces to change the narratives, there are vested interests in demonizing you, the only people who are going to change the narrative are me and you and therefore we are people who are not negative in nature, we are people who are positive in nature, we are positive, we trust in Allah.

See often when you speak to Muslims, they say now what can we do, we can't do anything, we're weak, the truth is bring a bond between you and Allah and you will see the help of Allah descend, look into the life of the Sahaba, we are not negative people, the Sahaba were not negative people, in every single

situation in early Islam, Muslims were the minority, but they were heavy in the scales of Allah, that's the difference.

The Weight in Allah's Scales

Upon occasion Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiallahu anhu is climbing a tree, and he had very thin shins and the Sahaba radiallahu anhum who saw his thin shins began to laugh and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, what's making you laugh? and they said, oh Messenger of Allah, it's the thin shins of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiallahu anhu and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, shall I tell you, if those thin shins were placed on one side of the scale and the mountain of Uhud was placed on the other side of the scale, those thin shins would be heavier than the mountain of Uhud, why? because those shins were for the sake of Allah, every muscle, every vein, every piece of skin was for the sake of Allah.

After the battle with the apostates, Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu wrote a letter to Khalid ibn Walid and he said to Khalid ibn Walid, you fought many battles but now go and face the superpower of the day, the Persians, because the Persians were interfering in Muslim matters in Bahrain so he said go and deal with them and he said because your men have fought many battles, those who are tired of fighting, let them go home, so he had 13,000 men out of those 13,000 men, 11,000 decided to go home, they were tired, they fought many battles, so he wrote a letter to Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu and he said oh Abu Bakr, I have only 2,000 men and I am going to face the superpower of the day, so Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu opens the letter in the masjid and the Sahaba are sitting there and Abu Bakr reads the letter out and then he looks around and his eyes fall on Qa'qa ibn Amr and he says Qa'qa you go and the Sahaba said what are you doing, you're replacing 11,000 men with one man and Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu said those ranks which have the likes of Qa'qa ibn Amr will never be forsaken by Allah, men were heavy in the scales of Allah and I ask you how heavy are we and if we are not heavy we need to become heavy because nobody else is going to come to change our situation.

Being Positive

And alhamdulillah we thank Allah the truth is that in many of the Western countries we have more freedom to practice Islam than many do in Islamic countries, alhamdulillah but that should never make us complacent, we should thank Allah but we are people taken out for humanity, so we are positive in nature, we are not negative because see nowadays people who are negative they are sometimes regarded as the most pious, you speak to them, no can't do that, no we can't do this, everything is negative so no that's not permissible, and he becomes a mufti without studying a day in his life, he reads a few fatwas on Google.

You know one day I was at home and somebody rang me and they said sheikh they rang me from Blackburn and he quoted me in a speech, so one of the teachers said where did you get that narration from, so the guy rings me and he says sheikh my teacher is asking where's that narration from, so I was at

The Importance of Being Constructive

So we are people who are positive, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said

(Muslim hadith 2623)

"Whoever says that the people are destroyed, he's the one who has destroyed them," why? because he said, ah we're destroyed, there's nothing we can do, he's the one who's destroyed them, why? because he's made them lazy and despondent and if you read it with the superlative form, then it means whoever says that the people have been destroyed, he's the most destroyed amongst them, because he doesn't trust in Allah.

Muslims are people of legacy but whoever is gonna change the situation is me and you, today no Umar ibn Khattab is gonna come, no Khadijah or Fatimah is gonna come, no Salahuddin is gonna come, you know there's a poet, he says about a poem, he says people come to the grave of Salahuddin and they say:

"Stand up O Salahuddin stand up, until his grave began to complain about the stench around it, how many times in the year are you gonna wake Salahuddin up, how many times are you gonna whip Salahuddin for your own cowardice, is it true that the living have started asking the dead for help?"

Our Legacy

He said is it true that the living have started asking the dead for help, my respected brothers and sisters, we are people of a legacy, we invest whatever we do in this dunya, look at this Darul Uloom, the people who are behind this Darul Uloom, for them this is sadaqah jariyah, Mufti Shabir who founded it, Mufti Wasim, Mawlana Abdus Salaam and all the other teachers, may Allah protect them all, this is all sadaqah jariyah, you leave this dunya but you invest in your akhirah, and for them it's a profitable transaction, what a bargain, what a bargain.

I ask you my dear respected brothers and sisters, when you leave this dunya, what will you have done to leave a legacy behind you, what will you have done that you will be in your grave and people will make dua for you, what will you have done that you will be in the depth of your grave and people will meet your children and they will say you know your father was a good man, your mother was a good person, we make dua for them, what will you have done that you are gone from this dunya but you left something behind you.

Final Story: Nooruddin Zinki

I'll finish off on a final story, in the time of Salahuddin rahimahullah, a man came with his case to Salahuddin and Salahuddin he was an alim, he was a Shafi'i alim, he would sit in the courts twice a week and he would look at the cases and he would judge them and he passed verdict against this man, so this man was offended, so he went to the grave of Nooruddin Zinki, Nooruddin Zinki was the teacher of Salahuddin, Ibn Athir says that since Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, the Muslims never had a leader like Nooruddin Zinki, that was over 400 years, he was very pious, he was a Turk but he was the teacher of Salahuddin, so this man goes to the grave of Nooruddin and he begins to cry and he said Oh Nooruddin, if you were alive I would attain justice today, if you were alive I would attain justice and Salahuddin heard about this and Salahuddin called the man, he reassessed his case and this time he passed judgment in his favor and the man begins to cry again and Salahuddin says why are you crying now, I passed judgment in your favor and the man says I'm not crying because of that but I'm crying in remembrance of a man that even from the depth of his grave he has an impact today, even from the depth of his grave his justice has an impact.

Conclusion and Du'a

My respected brothers and sisters, me and you are gonna leave this dunya guaranteed, there is no doubt me and you gonna leave this dunya, we need to invest in our Akhirah, we need to do something that when we leave this dunya we leave a legacy behind us, we leave pious children behind us, we do some sadaqah jariyah, we teach somebody, we learn, we teach ourselves because we are people who are active in our nature, we are people who reach out to other people, we are people who show empathy first, we are people of principle and that's how believers should be.

And finally I make a dua that Allah make your community prosper, say Ameen brothers, I'm making dua for you guys, may Allah make your community prosper, may Allah unite you even more than you are now, may Allah make you a role model for the Muslims all over the world, may Allah give us the ability to become that Ummah again, may Allah make this Madrasa and this Darul Uloom prosper, may Allah make those who graduate from this place, people who are active in their dawah, people who reach out to other people, people who make a change in the community, not only the community but globally, may Allah accept the sacrifice of the teachers, may Allah reward all those who organize this event, may Allah when we leave this dunya give us the ability to leave with (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ - La ilaha illallah)," may Allah on the day of judgment give us the ability to stand by the Pool of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and take water from the hands of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and may Allah allow us to enter Jannah with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the greatest blessing of all that when Allah allows us to enter into Jannah that Allah allows us to see His blessed countenance, may Allah keep us united in this dunya and reunite us in Jannatul Firdaus, it's been a pleasure, may Allah reward you for having a person like me here, Jazakumullah khair, Assalamualaikum warahmatullah.