Adnan Rajeh – Activism – Our Path Forward #2 Youth and Belonging
AI: Summary ©
The importance of multiple stories of surahs in building society and civilizations is emphasized, along with the need for guidance and finding guidance to achieve success. The importance of changing behavior and values to reflect one's age and success is emphasized, along with the importance of not harming oneself and not criticizing older individuals. The speaker warns against harming oneself and offers resources for those interested in Islam. The importance of youth and their dedication to their roles is also emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
Elements of what that word actually entails and
what it means. And I wanna do that
through explaining to you talk telling you the
story of the tale of 2 cities.
The tale of 2 cities. The Raqim and
Rahmat. And I'll tell you the tale of
2 of 2 separate cities. The city of
Rahim, or what they call today in
in in Amman in in it's close to
Amman in Jordan. And it's where the story
of Arilka have actually occurred. You can go
look it up if you're interested in knowing
a little bit more about this topic in
general.
But this surah that we recite every week,
that we recite before salah every single week,
and you're supposed to recite every week. We're
commanded to recite it every week for a
reason. There's a good reason for why we
have to do this. It's because it has
4 stories in it. These 4 stories tell
us how we're going to build our society,
how we're going to build our civilization, how
we're going to thrive, how we're going to
succeed. And the 4 concepts of these stories
are important. And yes, the story of Dhul
Qurnayn, it talks about political strength is important.
The story of Musa Al Khud that talks
about applicable knowledge is important. And the story
of that
it talks about usable or utilizable wealth is
important. But before those 3 stories, you have
the first 1 that the surah is named
after.
The story of Ahlulqah, the people of the
cave.
It tells us a story of of of
a few activists.
Tell of us tells us a story of
people who believed in an idea
because what stays is the idea. What stays
is the idea.
See, here's what we all know.
The Israeli government can bomb whatever they want.
They can bomb a piece of land to
to, you know, to oblivion if they want.
Bombing does not take away ideas.
Destruction of land and killing a people does
not remove the idea. The idea only gets
stronger.
It only gets stronger. The idea only becomes
more powerful in the minds and the hearts
of those who carry it. So it doesn't
matter what they do. They don't understand that
what they're up against is not a group
of people that are fighting back and they
have the right to fight back, but they're
up against an idea. An idea that once
the people who actually believe in that idea
become activists of that idea, this story will
end very quickly
and hopefully will end in a way that
is not filled with bloodshed and agony and
pain and nightmares.
The problem that we have today as an
Ummah is not that we have an enemy
that is relentless. It's not that we have
enemies in different places of the world that
continue to work against our best interest and
go work against justice and fairness. No. It's
our problem is that we have ideas that
we are not willing to dedicate our lives
for. That's the problem. This is the problem.
You have an idea that will only work
if you dedicate your 100% too. There's no
it doesn't work any other way.
It it doesn't function. You have to give
it your all. We all have to do
that,
and we don't. And because we don't, we
we fail. Because we don't, it's not working.
We're not getting anywhere. We're wondering why is
it there's so many of us there's so
many of us and most of us agree
on the basics. Why can't anything get done?
Like, why isn't it changing? Why is the
world still being ruled
by fascists and by
imperialists and by colonialists and by people who
have no
interest in the well-being of other human beings
aside from themselves, not even their they don't
even care about their own race honestly or
their own culture or own country. They care
about themselves and that's it. But why can't
we change that? Because Muslims, we don't see
the world that way.
As Muslims, we don't see the world that
way. We don't hope for higher just upon
ourselves.
Actually, we carry this because we believe that
the that book brings khayr for everyone, everyone,
even our enemy. If they are willing to
listen that this will bring khayr to them
and we prefer
that they find guidance than they find the
end of a sword.
The problem is was the commitment of the
people. See, that's the whole point of the
story of Al Kahf. That's why it starts
that way. It starts, in my opinion, I
can't get over how it begins. I really
can't. I've been talking I've been telling this
story for years. I love how it starts.
It's just such a slap in the face.
No 1 starts a story like that except
the almighty.
That's not how you tell a story. You
you start
with You give some introduction, some context. No.
I'm Hasibbed or you thought. Is that what
you thought? Shame on you for thinking this.
What did I think you think? Did you
think that what I did for the people
of the cave was some 1 time miracle
that I would never do again? Is that
what you dared to think? That's not what's
going to happen. I did it for them
and I will do it for a 1000000
people like them. I just need people like
them. I just need I need people like
them. I did something for them that is,
you see, to be miraculous. I will do
it again and again and again. It's not
Ajib, but that's what Imam al Khortobi says
in his tafsir verbatim.
Open his that's the reason word for word.
That's his wording. The people think that what
he did for the people of the cave
was a 1 time occurrence of a miracle
never to be done again. They are wrong
by thinking that he will do it again
and again and again because he is subhanahu
wa ta'ala the 1 who does not change.
The question are
there amongst us?
Are there I'm gonna talk about 2 pieces
in this story.
Again, in this in a few verses later,
he says again
Twice he would use the word fitia.
The word fitia has 2 meanings or or
brings forward, sorry, 2 meanings.
It
means
youth. They're young.
Means they they're young,
and it means that their numbers are low.
As they say. It's a it's a plural,
but it's saying that the numbers are it's
more than 2, but it's very small. The
number is very small. That's why at the
end
of
this
story,
The highest number the Quran gave is 7
is 7 people. So they're a small number,
not a 1, 000, 000, not a couple
of 100, not a couple of 1, 000
people. No. Just a couple. Literally just a
couple
just a 7 people. Top top 7 people.
All of them young.
All of them young.
They're young.
If you understand what I'm saying,
this is why this place exists. Look around
you. This place I I established this place
so I can talk to you. So I
can talk to you, the younger 1, whom
is growing up and maybe being told or
may or or is led to believe that,
you know, is is far from from you
ever having an impact. You you still have
time ahead of you or you you're not
ready yet. I'm I I built this place
so that I could talk to you and
tell you that's untrue, that Islam was built
on people like you.
It was literally built on people like you.
The Quran
fitya There's no second there's no 2 ways
to understand this word in the Quran. Well,
why there isn't? There like there's no second
opinion. It has to be someone who's under
20 in the Quran. Fitsya means they have
to be under 20.
Do you understand that?
If that doesn't blow your mind, then you're
not you're not thinking about the life appropriately.
Fizya, they have to be under 20. Over
20 is not a fatta anymore. Yes. He's
older now because 20 back then you were
married and you had a kid. You weren't
a Fatiya anymore.
Fatiya, you're a teenager. The Quran is saying,
Fatiya, they're teenagers.
Just a couple of them. Just a couple
of them. Do you understand what the Quran
is saying here? Do you understand the value
the Quran is is pointing at you as
someone who is young
and it's telling you, by the way, you
don't need a lot of people with you.
A few companions. You can't do it completely
alone. You need a few companions. 3 is
fine.
3 plus 1. 3 is fine. You can
be young. You can be a teenager just
with a just a couple of you. Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is willing to
to change
the way the laws of physics function for
you.
Aside from he's willing to change how the
universe works
for you.
It's just, are you willing to take the
the cause
as your number 1 priority? Are you willing
to are you willing to live for this?
Wallahi, this is why this place is here
so that you can learn to believe in
yourself, that you have that impact, that the
Quran sees you that way. You have to
change the way you see yourself. Have to
change the way you view yourself.
There's nothing there's nothing to wait for. There's
nothing to wait for. All you have in
life is right now. There's nothing else. What's
gone cannot be changed, and you will forget
about it with time. You'll be you'll forget
about it as time progresses. You'll forget about
the good stuff and the bad stuff. It's
just how life works. You'll never you'll be
50. You can barely you just have snapshots
of your life here and there. Maybe if
I show you a few pictures, you'll remember
something, but it's very difficult. And the future
is completely unknown. It's completely unknown. No 1
knows what's coming next. Not not a clue.
All you have is right now. So if
you're able,
If you can understand what I'm saying, if
you understand it, that mean you're that means
you're old enough to to actually do what
this what the Quran talked about.
Twice
twice in a very short story.
He would use the same phrase, fiti. He'd
have
ignored that to make it more generic for
all people. Everyone can be a hilgah. No.
This Quran in the story specifically was willing
to point out that it was younger people.
Not to say that if you're older, you
can't, but to make sure that our younger
generation understands. This is what the Quran expects
from you. This is how the Quran views
you. You have that potential. You have that
ability. You have that compassion. You have that
passion.
Even though you're young, you don't have a
lot of wealth, not a lot of networking
skills, not a lot of status.
Right? May there's not a lot of you.
3, 5, 7, top, small numbers. It's okay.
It's okay. They thought the same. The have
thought exactly what you're thinking as you listen
to me. Right? Yeah. This is I don't
know that that's possible. Yes. I don't know
if what you're saying has any merit or
2. They thought the same thing. It's because
they thought the same thing that this story
exists
in its in its current form. It's because
the Alikha have thought that. It's because they
were they were brave enough to take a
stand. They were brave enough to do qiyam.
They were brave enough to become activists for
the for the for Khayr, to take an
idea and live for it. They were brave
enough to take that step. But in their
hearts, they said to themselves,
how much can we, honestly, how much can
we do? Like, honestly, what impact can we
possibly have?
And they looked at each other and probably
nothing, but we still do it. They may
they got that far in understanding their deen,
which is good, and I want you to
be able to do that. Understand it that
far, that you are obligated to do your
best even if you feel somewhere deep inside
that it's not gonna do anything. Still do
it. They felt the same way. Probably not
gonna do anything. But they made the dua,
and I'll and I'll explain to you the
dua next week because the dua is actually
very meaningful.
And then they moved on with their work.
So, Allah, you don't think you'll have an
impact? Go to sleep.
We we closed their ears so they couldn't
hear anything.
In that cave
years counted year after year.
Then we brought them back to life again.
To see which of the 2 groups
was able to keep track
of how long they were there. This is
a this is a figure of speech. Let's
say, let's see. Bring it back and see
who outlasted the other.
Let's see which idea outlasted the other. Was
it your idea, the 3 younger people with
their dog? Or was it the dictator that
ruled the land and had all the wealth
and the power?
We brought them back to see which of
the 2 groups lived on longer. Let's see
which of the 2 groups 2 groups is
able to actually
withstand the test of time.
We tell you this story,
righteously so. We tell it to you truthfully.
They indeed were younger people.
They were youth.
That iman entered their hearts.
They internalized.
They internalized. It went from this
peripheral
superficial
understanding of a word to internalizing it in
their hearts.
They had full iman in their Lord.
And we increased them in their guidance.
We strengthened their hearts when they took their
stand.
They said and they stated it very clearly
that our lord is the lord of the
heavens and the earth.
We will never call upon another lord aside
from him. If we do, then we are
mistaken.
You know why the eye is there? It's
to say it's not about us. It's about
the idea. If we ever say anything aside
from this, then we're the ones that are
wrong. Do not listen to us anymore. Don't
get rid of us. Because it's not about
the person.
They were mature enough to understand this. That's
not about them. It's not about their movement.
It's about the truth.
The truth
is As long as we say that, listen
to us. The moment we don't
then we've gone in the wrong direction. If
we stop saying this, get rid of us.
Got objectivity.
And the second piece I want to share
with you about their story.
These are our people.
Our people.
That's what they said, our people.
You see that phrase?
Phrase is needed. Without that phrase, the story
doesn't mean anything. An activist does does not
feel that they belong
to their people.
An activist doesn't feel that a Muslim, that
doesn't feel that they're a part of an
and that these are his people or her
people, and these people deserve to be served
and saved and taught and educated and empowered.
If you don't feel like you're a part
of something, that you belong to a group,
it doesn't work.
It doesn't work. And so a Muslim who
who is understanding,
understanding activism, that doesn't feel that they belong
to an that these are his his people
that are worthy. They they they deserve their
time. They deserve their dedication.
They're willing to live their lives, sacrifice their
their leisure to make sure they take care
of them, then it doesn't go anywhere.
These are our people. They're mine. They're our
people.
They they they made a mistake. They have
shirk.
Where is there evidence for this?
But they still were their people.
That's the peace.
That's the peace that we have to bring
back.
See, our younger people don't feel that. That's
what they're missing. They don't feel that peace.
That's what's missing.
The younger person has to feel proud to
be Muslim, proud to be a part of
this of this nation, of this Umma,
and want to
to offer it all that they got. They
want to strengthen it. They want to sacrifice
their time and and their leisure and their
and give their energy and folk and dedicate
their time for it, but they have to
feel that they belong.
That is an easy thing to do. It
just requires the older generation to stop fighting
and to start welcoming others and to start
making people feel that they're more a part
of things. When you do that someone young
will dedicate their time you'll you'll you will
you will create you will generate Al Alkaf
you will generate the if you do that
piece. It's not that difficult. It's not that
complicated.
Just make sure they feel that they belong,
that they are valuable, that they are valued,
that they that they matter, that they are
part of something bigger than themselves. That it
took a lot a lot happened for these
youngers youngsters to say these words.
These are our people.
Yes. They made a mistake.
They shouldn't have done that. That's wrong, but
they're still our people.
This is our this is it. Look around
you. This is it.
For better or for worse, this is what
you got. You can like it. You can
dislike it. It doesn't make a difference. This
is it. You you you have nowhere to
go. You can't run away from from what
you have. This is your generation of Muslims.
You're gonna sit down and complain about it
all day long and talk about all the
negatives, or you can try and and do
something different. You can try and and and
add something.
Bring khair to the story.
In the story of Ahlul kah, right before
it,
we have an indication of his activism. Like,
in the story of Ahlul kah, just so
you don't don't think that I'm making this
up. No. He has talked about in this
in Surat Al Kahf right before the story
of Ahlulkaab. At the beginning of that page,
go read it today, he is told
means that you're going to
ruin your health. You're going to harm yourself
through worry or or sadness
about over other people.
You're going to harm yourself in sorrow over
people who won't believe. Don't do that. Meaning
the prophet alaihis salatu wasalam was so committed
that when he finished his dawah, the people
would sit down worried.
He would sit down in sorrow, in pain.
He was sad that the people he was
speaking to were listening to him, that they
were continuously doing Haram and they weren't accepting
the word of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. He
was being torn on the inside that they
weren't listening for their sake. He was sad
for them. The Quran and then Allah said,
no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that.
You Muhammad You Rasulullah Sallallahu Wa Ta'ala, don't
do that. No. Don't harm yourself for them.
Meaning, he was he was an activist on
a level that Allah
himself had to tell him
bring it down a notch. Take it down
a notch. Don't harm yourself for them. Not
that much. Yes. Dedicate your time, but don't
don't hold yourself accountable to the point where
you harm yourself. Don't do that much. It
had to happen twice in the Quran. Once
and before the story of Adhikaf and then
later on in Surat
That's that was him
The best
depiction of his activism in my opinion, the
evidence of it is the story I'm going
to tell you. I'm gonna end this with
story
inshaAllah ta'ala. And I hope the concept of
youth being the central piece in this story
resonates with my younger brothers and sisters who
just finished school. I hope they think about
this, they take it seriously, take it to
heart, understand that we we are waiting for
you. I am depending on you.
This place exists for you.
No offense to people who are older, but
that that's why this place exists. So please,
Yani, don't
don't disappoint. Don't disappoint.
And belonging, we have to make sure people
feel that we belong. The reason that the
Fisid Al Khaf did what they did is
because they felt they belonged. I'll end with
the story. The prophet alaihis salatu wasalam, he
you want to understand his activism, understand his
dedication? Here's his dedication.
He said the prophet alaihi sallam recited the
word of God
through the tongue of Ibrahim when he said,
oh my lord, indeed idols have taken a
lot of people astray.
Oh my lord, those who follow my teachings
are a part of my home. I want
them to stay with me. I want you
to save them with me.
And those who refuse to listen to me,
Those who refuse to listen to my teachings.
You are the most forgiving and the most
merciful.
That's Ibrahim alayhis salam making dua for those
who are kafir.
That is his dua alayhis salam to the
kuffar.
He was making he's asking Allah and they
didn't listen to me, but you are forgiving
and you are merciful.
If you punish those
who perform shirk, those who did not listen
to you, did not follow you, then they
are your servants and you have every right
to punish them. And if you forgive them,
then you are the unfathomable,
You are the unquestionable.
You are the all wise and you can
do what you want.
And
then he sat down and he sobbed.
Muhammad
Oh, Allah, my people, my followers, the people
who come and follow me later on.
It's my people. It's those who have not
I I it's those who I'm teaching. It's
those who I want this. I'm I'm handing
this baton to. Those are the ones. I'm
worried about them. Do you understand what degree
of activism that is? Not to be worried
about the people who are living with you,
but to spend time worrying about the people
who are going to come after you. The
people who are going to be born 1000
of years later whether they are going to
make it or not.
That degree of dedication is unheard of. We
can't we can't hold a candle to that.
I know that. I'm not saying no 1
can do that. No 1 can be that.
Alaihi Wasrat wa Salam is why he is
Rasulullah and we are not. But this is
the degree of activism and dedication he had.
He would sit there crying, Allahummaumma t ummatiyou
Allah my my
my will go back and tell his Lord.
And Allah knows all that what what which
occurred, but this is for the story.
Tell him that we will satisfy him through
his ummah. We will not break his heart.
He will be happy and satisfied with what
we do for his ummah.
That was the Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's guarantee.
That doesn't mean that you and I make
it, Yaniyah.
It's it's not a,
an out of jail free card. It doesn't
mean that we just make it on merit
of no. It means that if you dedicate
yourself what he taught Alaihis salatu wasalam, you
adhere
you adhere to his teachings, you parallel align
yourself with his life Alaihis salatu wasalam, you
walk the path that you think he walked
to the best of your ability, then you'll
make
it. Then you'll make it. If you do
your best to be like him out of
his salawat wa sama, then you will make
it. That is what Allah subhanahu wa'ala promised
him alayhis salatu wasalam.
And that's what it means to be a
Muslim.
I don't understand Islam any other way.
I I don't think you can.
I don't think you can. The idea of
Islam being, you know, adding 2 Eids a
year and
overeating at night for 30 days and,
you know, having
when you have a ors and being a
sheikh to talk for 15 minutes before you
marry someone off and all this other stuff.
If that that's not really what the deen
is about.
The the deen is is something different.
Islam is something much more meaningful. It's much
more profound. It's something that you live by
and and you and you die by too.
And if we can bring that back amongst
our youth,
if you could do that, if you could
just start seeing the beauty of that, reading
the stories of Sahaba, reading the stories of
of the prophet, so the prophet, alayhis salatu
wa sallam, seeing the beauty of living that
way. You live well. Wallahi, you live well.
You're not gonna be bored, nor are you
going to be upset, nor are you gonna
miss out on anything. You will find
serenity,
tranquility,
peace in your life that you will never
find anywhere else. You'll live well and you'll
achieve a lot.
And this ship will turn. And what's happening
today in Palestine and in Sudan and other
parts of the world
can be
can be avoided.
I hope that was a benefit to you.