Abdulbary Yahya – Your best investment in Akhira

			Michael has one of the some of the most hardworking
		

			instructors and volunteers, administrators. And it's, it's just, it's just the Brotherhood, the
brotherhood of of coming together to seek knowledge and coming together teach others, the
opportunity to have access to so many people and to work with people who are very professional in
trying to convey the message of Islam in the best possible way. At the beginning, there wasn't much
		

			out there, you know, if you were to look just at YouTube, or even social media, if you want to learn
about Islam or even lectures, there's there was no, there was nothing out there. We were just buying
CDs. And some people were still using a lot of music cassettes. At that time, even that was that
transition period. And there wasn't much out there. And so when among them came, it was, it was
revolutionary. And it gave the opportunity, so many people in the West, to seek knowledge in a
structured way, even though it was just basic, and it was just the beginning. But it gave those who
are thirsty for knowledge. And when that started, that started the trend also of seeking knowledge.
		

			And of course, later on, other institutions came about and other means
		

			ways in which people learn, especially through the internet, and with the development of the
internet and social media.
		

			So much, so many more doors have opened up, but still the foundation that was set. And the and the
people who started seeking knowledge, they many of them, many of the students actually became some
some of the more prominent members in the communities. And it did change a lot. And it wasn't just,
you know, of course, some of that was gradual, but I actually did see even a change in the community
from one weekend to the next, because of the classes going around the city or going around the
United States and around the world. To see many of those who are in middle classes and volunteers
have been so influential in the community, you can see that change, and it's one of the things that
		

			motivates, motivates the instructors, myself and other instructors, also, to keep on going to try to
give our you know, to, to, to,
		

			to continue to give whatever we can, until do whatever we can to convey this message because you
can't see the difference. And also, so many people have approached me, even with just just a simple
lecture that I may have given, or a class and a talk and so forth, and they would tell me, this is
the first class and that was the beginning of them,
		

			you know, changing and being better. And also
		

			to, there was the beginning of them
		

			their path of seeking knowledge, and, and that that in itself was very inspirational. And you know,
all you can do if you ask Allah Subhana Allah, that Allah subhana exceptional is one of the amazing
things about another because Well, it started with this is how, you know the foundation of not
living the dream, the reason for starting Almagro. When I was with Sheikh Muhammad, Sharif, even in
Medina, it was to give people the opportunity to learn and to make full use of,
		

			of technology, and also,
		

			you know, modern techniques in conveying this message. And it was one of the core things, and what I
mean, one of the things that
		

			shaped my machete, may Allah Subhana Allah have mercy upon him, that he mentioned from the very
beginning, that, you know, we need to make use of this because when we are in Medina, some of the
teachers actually were Alhamdulillah, there are so many great teachers, but there are some teachers
who would, as soon as they started speaking, it was like,
		

			it was like sleeping gas coming out of their mouth.
		

			So and so I know that I know, as a result of that, like that's, he said, You know, I if we could do
something to change, to have the people in Medina learn to
		

			learn
		

			speech techniques and how to convey this message better. They're very knowledgeable. But if we can
only improve on this aspect, it would make such a big difference. And so
		

			we were always at McGraw we're always trying to make use of whatever technology whatever benefit or
techniques that we can use to convey this message.
		

			We try to do our very best. And sometimes by doing this, you do get a lot of opposition. And right
now, even though many people are so used to coming together and halls and learning and seeking
knowledge, the way that McGraw was done, but at the beginning that there was a lot of opposition,
and because anything that's new, and even in terms of the technique that is used for the Dawa, and
so forth, you're gonna have people who will oppose to it and then eventually, people see it, and see
the benefits of it. And it starts to be accepted and not only accepted, but also copied. And I think
as long as we try to do our very best to give our efforts and do so sincerely, Allah subhanho wa
		

			Taala in sha Allah will, for blessing in their actions. And we asked, we asked them to like accept
it from us as Muslims, of course, we want to contribute, we want to do all that we can. And why
should a person contribute to the modem, number one, first thing is, when you're contributing to an
organization or an institute that's trying to spread knowledge, the first thing is that it is a
sadaqa jariya, you do it for the sake of Allah subhanho wa taala. And it's an investment and when
you're trying to invest in something, you want to invest in, that which will bring the best
proceeds, and that will, will help you in sha Allah, not only in this life, but also, after you're
		

			in the grave 100 years from now that the reward will continue to come to you, even after you are no
longer here. And so the first thing is, when you're supporting any institute that teaches people,
anytime people learn from it, from generation from one generation to the next, and from one group to
from a person from person to person, as long as they are still teaching that knowledge that they've
learned, you're gonna get the benefit of it, and you don't even sometimes you can't even imagine
		

			the reward that will come to you. And so that's, that's the first thing. Second thing, also you want
to, you want to contribute, and you wanted to be able to whether you're volunteering or
contributing, financial financially, you want to know that, you know, what's the, the money is being
used properly. And, of course, you know, with a mother Hamdulillah, we have,
		

			it's a very professional environment, everything is transparent, everything is clear. And you can
see the results, you can see the people,
		

			you can see the effects, the effect that has on the community and, and also
		

			contributing and volunteering.
		

			Doing so increases, of course, you know, to bringing more people in participating, when you
contributing from that aspect, you're only magnifying your reward, one of the things that really,
that stands out, and that I remember,
		

			and I appreciate is the fact that, you know, when,
		

			you know, when we started out Maghrib
		

			we started with very humble beginnings, I still remember the times, when we got together to the
point where I still remember that we, we would share hotel rooms, and literally in the very
beginning. And so and so you might see like a mug with all of the
		

			the halls and the decoration, and also the recording and the website and everything like that. But
at the beginning,
		

			you know, you have to start somewhere, right? So in Maryland, of course, and when I went to Sheikh
Mohammed Sharif.
		

			And just being with him
		

			during those times, which as Margaret wasn't much, and the struggles that we had to go through it to
see where we are at right now. It just shows that if enough people are sincere in sha Allah and put
in their efforts, that Allah subhanaw taala will make it prosperous, and will make people benefit
from it. And you'll see the fruits of it.
		

			As long as you continue to, you know, to face these challenges and, and do so for the sake of Allah
subhanaw taala it's just my most memorable thing is actually just from the beginning of how it
started when I first met Muhammad Sharif actually the first thing not even this is not even. This is
a the first thing that I spoke to him about the first conversation that I had with him.
		

			He spoke to me about the beginnings of El Mundo. It wasn't he didn't have a name for it or anything
like that. But to see
		

			to see his vision that he himself is just beginning to learn Arabic properly Arabic that was in
front of him and he was sitting right behind me. He
		

			We're sitting right behind, I did not know him. He knew that I was from America. And I knew that he
was, you know, he knew he spoke English like an American. So I didn't know where he was from. I
didn't even know that he was from Canada. Later on, of course, I found out that he's from Canada.
And during one of the breaks, he tapped my shoulder.
		

			He tapped my shoulder. And I turned around. And he said, his first words were, how would you like
working for me?
		

			I was like, I don't know, this guy here. The first thing he says to me is like, how would you like
working for me? And I say, whatever. What are you talking about? And so he starts to mention
		

			that,
		

			you know, when we go back to the United States, there are so many people who want to seek knowledge
who want to learn, they're busy. They're students who have regular school, a regular classes at the
university, and people have to work in the daytime.
		

			We have to give an opportunity for people who are busy to seek knowledge to learn this, Deen. And so
I want to start.
		

			And he was thinking about a night school, actually, I want to start a night school, would you like
to join me? Like, would you like to join me? So I looked, I turned around and said, Whatever,
whatever I'm thinking about, who is this guy with? I'm gonna be working for him. And after we
graduated, actually, we were separated meaning I was, I was in Asia, and I was in Southeast Asia for
a couple of years. And he was in
		

			Maryland, teaching at the Islamic school there. And later on, he ended up of course, you know,
		

			putting into
		

			practice or putting putting everything and setting up a Maghrib from the downstairs, or the basement
of, of alHuda, I think at that time. And so just, you know, how did he, how did he meet me, he met
me. In Hodge, I was bringing a group of pilgrims to Hajj and he had his group also, at that time.
And we were about to leave, and we were at the airport and did the * terminals. And it just so
happened that we we didn't I don't think we had a different flight.
		

			But he saw me. And he recognized me, he came to me. And he took my contact information. And he had
he was already planning. And he was already planning and thinking about
		

			what kind of into who to hire as instructor for his
		

			sort of like a weekend, night class for adults and busy students are university students are busy.
So Subhanallah, like just the beginnings of it, the thing I remembered about that the teacher
training and the method that Sheikh Muhammad Sharif was used was,
		

			I was always, I would always think that you know that, of course, the Quran and Sunnah, like that's,
we don't need anything else. We didn't need any other books. And so he's using all of these self
help books.
		

			And he's mentioning all of them that I'm getting from this book, that book and this book. And I'm
like, why are you reading all the while you're wasting your time with all these books? Like, you
know, we have the Quran and the suddenness we need, that's all we need. And that's it. I didn't, I
didn't say this to him directly. But this is part of his influence on me. And so, you know, and I
always used to, like, read books, in Arabic only. And I would like, we don't need all this stuff,
you know, this
		

			is self help books about even speech, and so forth, as he would summarize all of these books, of
course in in that in those courses, or in teacher training, or in the instructor training, and also
training for the volunteers. And then I started reading some of them when I said, you know, what,
this is this, this, this is very helpful. It's not many of the things that they're taking, they're
taking from the Sunnah. But it actually helps you to understand the sadhana and look at it from a
different perspective. And it helps a lot. And so actually, from that point on, I said, we should be
reading these books. So that's one influence he had when it came to these teacher trainings, because
		

			he's always taking the mentioning of some of these books. And those same books, I still have them
actually, I still have it in my and you know, who's reading them now my son is reading. Like, like,
literally, he just took a couple of books and he's reading some of those old books that Muhammad
Sharif suggested until to this day from the very beginning. That was just that's something that's
very inspirational, seeing what it is right now.