Adnan Rajeh – Seerah Halaqa #23
AI: Summary ©
The speakers emphasize the importance of integrating Muslims into Habasha society, building strong personalities, valuing family, and finding a unified representation on front to achieve goals. They also touch on rumors of acceptance of Islam in Mecca and the importance of learning Arabic language to better appreciate its beauty. The speaker describes a man who felt mistreated and eventually lost protection, becoming a member of a group, and emphasizes the need for protection from evil behavior and a sense of belonging in individuals experiencing a feeling of belonging that is not something everyone can achieve.
AI: Summary ©
So today, we continue with the seal of
the prophet
I was contemplating whether I do one of
these sessions about Hajj,
and I've decided to just continue with this.
We did last year, I think, and the
year before, we took we would always take
a a session and just talk about a
little bit about Hajj in in the midst
of it. But I don't see the need,
Sunday next Sunday, which will sorry, next Saturday.
Tomorrow tomorrow, Saturday after, which is Arafah. I'll
I'll talk a little bit about,
Hajj, and I'll share a bunch of things
in the. So we'll make the Hajj, you
know, preparation
sessions this year a little bit shorter than
we had them the previous years. I I
used to do 2 weekends of stuff, and
I'm not sure how much it was helpful
because most people when I thought about it,
most people who are attending it aren't going
to.
Or else they wouldn't be here to begin
with. So I'm not sure if it's if
it did much. So we're just gonna,
stick to next weekend, so in Arabic on
Friday and then in in English on Saturday,
which is the night of Arafah. Otherwise, we'll
continue with the prophet
So I'll be sharing things in the anyways,
so in the so you're welcome to kinda
follow along with that if that's helpful for
you.
So last
week, we had concluded talking about the,
the
experience that the Sahaba had in Habasha, the
initial experience that they had in Habasha
with, with, the king of the land in
Najashi
after Am Amr ibn al-'Als,
tried his best to get them to be
sent back to, to Mecca. And had they
had they been sent back to Mecca, they
would have most definitely
been tortured or even killed. The majority of
them would have.
But due to Sayyidina Jafar, Abu'l alib's,
quick wit, his preparation, his clarity, and his
confidence, he was able to explain things in
a way that allowed the king to make
a just ruling,
that included keeping them in in in Abyssinia
for as long as they wanted to stay,
it would stay for quite a long time.
It would take them quite a while while
before they before they came back. During that
time, as I kind of explained, and this
is what I wanna touch base a little
bit on this week with you,
is
that they built they built a community there.
They truly built a community. And and the
reason and the reason or the way that
we know that they did is when they
came back.
When they came back to the prophet
many, many years later, they didn't come back,
the same number of people. They came back
ample the numbers were multiplied. Right? We got
almost twice, if not, three times the numbers.
They went a 100. They came back 300
people.
And they had they had obviously married amongst
each other and married into the people of
Habasha.
And a lot of people accepted Islam and
wanted to come. So when they came, it
was a little bit of a demographic,
a change to Medina and to Mecca because
a lot of them wanted to go and
live close to Mecca. So till this day,
there are places in Medina and Mecca where
the Ahbash live, where the people who come
from this background still,
still live there.
And, of course, they came with a change,
you know, with a with a different language
and a different culture. So it was a
challenge for them to integrate and a and
a challenge for the Muslims to help them
integrate. And the prophet
dedicated
resources and time for this,
issue specifically to allow the people from Habashay
coming,
to integrate. And he himself learned a few
words in the Habeshe language, alaihis salatu, speak
to them so they understood him. But during
the time that they spent there, they were
a productive community. They had a craft. They
came up with a craft and it was
mostly in in the in making clothing, and
making dolls, and making using fabrics. They out
of because of the fact that they used
a lot of animal skins, they had a
certain skill with with making certain types of
clothing and certain types of fabrics.
And the a skill that the people of
Habesha did not necessarily have, though they were
able to add something to that society. They
were able to bring something forward that didn't
exist there before. And doing that, they were
able to provide a service that allowed them
to be helpful and productive
and, and contribute
to the to, to the country that they
were living in in a positive way and
a way to take care of themselves. So
they wouldn't sit there, you know, living on,
social support from the country that they had
immigrated to. It is an important piece, that
the Muslims did not their work ethic would
not allow them to spend the time that
they're that they're living there,
living off, any handouts or or sadaqah or
zakat or whatever else that was available. But
rather, when they arrived in the land of
Abyssinia, they immediately
got involved in in in doing things, in
in providing in in producing something that gave
them value and that was valuable to the
society that they were a part of. And
that went on for a number of years.
And the reason I mean and an example
of this is what Umu Habiba, ramla bintabi
Sufyan, would say. So Umu Habiba has a
story, and I wanna share it with you
today.
Umu Habiba didn't was one of the people
who didn't have to leave. Right? Yeah. I
pointed this out to you a few weeks
ago. He did not have to leave for
Habasha.
He was this daughter of one of the,
nobles of Quraysh, one of the leaders of
Quraysh Abu Sufian Saqarib.
He did not need to leave by any
measure of the any by any measure, any
any structure of the imagination at all. Her
husband, Ubaidullah,
was also someone who had a strong roots
in Mecca, but they went there because the
prophet did
not wanna send just people who are poor
and weak. He wanted to send some of
the nobles, people who are who didn't have
to go, but went to show the Najashi
that he wasn't being sent just the people
who couldn't support themselves, but rather those who
come from nobility, from actual Yaniv status and
background. And that was to make sure that
the people who are being sent there because
they had to be sent there, because they
weren't safe to stay in Mecca, that they
weren't being thrown away, That they were not
being just removed from Mecca so that they
weren't a headache. Or rather, they were sending
with them people who had Yani status. And
it say, umu Habib, that was a lady
who had, Yani. It was one of the
ladies who had who had a skill. And
and that was the the the, the the
tendency of nobility back in the day. This
is something for you to kinda know about.
When we when we use the term nobility
back in the especially during this era, we're
talking about people who come from homes that
have they had wealth and they had respect
and status. They had people names in their
families that had done things for the communities
and for,
historically, that gave them that status. And there
were people who had a certain degree of
wealth. People of nobility.
Usually, what they would do is that they
would make sure that their children were the
most skilled and most well educated and most
well mannered people within the community.
Not the opposite.
So this is a this is a a
a problem that that I see that I
think is worth it. Yeah. I mean, unfortunately,
when we look at people who are who
are wealthy or, you know,
wealthier than the general public, you don't always
find that their
offspring or their children
are walking in with anything that's that's worthy
of of of that wealth. Like, it's it's
rather rather most of the time it's it's
it's kind of the opposite, unfortunately.
Nobility back in the day meant that these
this individual, if you're born in nobility, they
could read and write. They had a craft.
They knew how to present themselves. They knew
how to speak publicly. They knew how to
deal with people of of higher status and
caliber. This was they had skills. It was
actually that was the that was a differentiating
piece.
I mean, someone who came from a poor
background, usually, it wasn't the fact that they
had didn't have a lot of wealth. It
It was the fact that they didn't have
a lot of opportunities growing up to learn
the things and the skills that allowed them
to excel. That was that was the problem.
Today,
we have an issue.
People who have access to wealth and have
access to opportunity
are not ensuring that their children are growing
up with access to those things. So that
they have something to show for it once
they're mid late when once they're, yeah, in
their teenage years or in their early twenties.
They have something to show for the wealth
and the status that their parents had. Rather,
we're seeing most of the time the opposite.
That they're being born into a family of
a lot of wealth and opportunity
and privilege,
and these kids are ending up being the
ones who have the least awareness, the least
ability to take care of themselves,
and in the the least amount of they've
been manners in general. And and that's something
that needs to be reviewed a little bit
and revised. And I say this because almost
every person in this room, I mean, as
far as the world is concerned, is coming
from a house of nobility. Like from a
wealth perspective, you are doing much better than
the majority of people on this planet are.
So you and you have access to opportunity.
You have access to to education that others
do not. So you have to use that
appropriately. You have to make sure that it
reflects on how your children grow up to
be and who they grow up
to.
So and being the the daughter of nobility,
she wasn't some spoiled lady who was used
to being, served. Not at all. She
could read and write. Use Yeah. And he
invested her time teaching the children how to
read and write. She had a craft. She
knew how to sew. She is one of
the pioneers amongst the Muslims who began sewing
and making making,
things they could be they could sell. And
her her focus was making,
dolls for children. And that's what that's how
she lived. And she taught others to do
the same, and that was what they did,
and that's what they sold, and that was
their craft, and that's how they made a
living and continue to survive.
And that's important to understand that if you
are coming from a house of privilege and
wealth, then you must make sure that your
children have something to show for the privilege
and wealth that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gave
you. By having
by making sure that they're properly educated, and
they have skills, and they have abilities, and
they're able to actually
stand out. Not the opposite. We see people
come and children come from from struggling homes,
are the ones that are actually able to
do more. Because they're, you know, they carry
more responsibility and they work harder, so they
come in and they have a better and
the people coming from and the children I'm
working with that that come from privileged
homes are not, are difficult to deal with.
They can't speak to them. They don't listen.
They they have they lack manners and they
lack motivation. This has to change. If you
and this is not just.
You look at people like like Jafar Abdul
Tawhid. The reason he was a a public
speaker is he came up from a house
of nobility, not wealth, but nobility.
Abu thought it made sure all his children
had certain skill sets that they that they
could utilize.
People came from houses of nobility. They knew
how to the the biggest difference, they knew
how to use the sword and the shield
and and and and horseback riding. So they
were beneficial. They were they were helpful when
when when a war would happen or when
they when they needed to defend the area,
they were they were
impactful.
People came from backgrounds that weren't
because lack of opportunity meant they never learned.
They didn't know how to use a sword.
So they were useless in battle. So there
was no point of of of taking them
with you.
Not the opposite. The people come from
privileged homes that have more skill sets, to
be able to do more things, carry more
responsibility,
or else the whole equation is broken.
And today the equation is broken. It's it's
100% broken. And I know it's broken because
I've I've I'm I'm seeing it. I I
deal with with this age group. Totally broken.
The more privileged, the less likely it is
they're gonna listen to a word you have
to say, the less likely it is they're
interested in anything, the less likely that they're
going to be motivated to be better, and
they lack basic manners in general.
Kids who come from struggling homes,
parents that are
lower middle class, they're just coming with a
completely different, you know, attitude.
And they're more and and they're they're they're
I I have the ability to teach them
way more, and they're and they're more receptive.
So we have to think about this a
little bit. If you if you have that,
then Allah has blessed you within your life
with with with privilege.
Make sure that your children are taking away
from this privilege what they should take away
from, not what they should
they actually benefit. So that when they're older,
it shows that, yes, they came from a
house of privilege, so they ended up being
able to be actual leaders. And our ummani
is leaders. These people who can take on
leadership not by any means of of,
politics or or voting, but rather those who
will take on initiative and can and can
help this. Umma. And who else is going
to do this if not Muslims
who are coming from houses that are privileged
like the houses,
that exist here in the Western and Europe
and parts of the world where you have
access to opportunity,
education, and the ability to learn skillset. I
think it's something worth speaking about.
Lady of great nobility,
well educated,
instilled.
Her husband died there early on.
He was widowed in in, in Habesha early
on.
But she had to take care of herself.
And she didn't. She didn't come back saying,
well, my my husband, if she stayed. The
prophet
sent her, so she stayed there.
The fact that she lost her husband and
she continued to educate the children of of
all the Muslims to read and write, and
that she had started the business, basically, of
of of this craft of making these dolls
and sell selling them, which brought wealth for
her and wealth for, you know, the prophet
married
her. Married her when she was in Habasha.
And the person who did the before him
was in Najashi.
So the person who went and did the
hook before the prophet, alaihis salaam, upon and
did the aqid, being a person who spoke
on behalf of the prophet, alaihis salaam, in
asking for her hand in marriage was the
king of the land. To honor
So she's one of the of course, she
would come back to, Yaniqa
Medina when, during the time of Khaybar, and
she would live with the prophet
for the remainder of his years for the
3 or 4 years that that would live.
But the reason that he had, yeah, that
he had married her, alayhis salatu wa sallam,
was an act of honoring her status.
Showing the status of this lady
who and he basically was one of the
pillars of the Muslim community in Abyssinia.
Without her presence there, the things would have
looked different for them. And because of that,
and because the prophet
was aware of the status of this lady
and the impact that she had upon that
community,
it was chosen to be one of
one of the mothers of believers at her
of her time.
And especially when she was the first widow
in that land and she had lost her
husband. So it was made up to her
by being the one of the prophet Alaihi
Salam's wives. And she would stay without seeing
the prophet
for for a number of years. It would
be a number of years before she would
make it back to, to Madinah and and
be with her husband.
And she has a a a a significant
role to play when
who performed the who was, was was the
prophet
ambassador asking for her hand in marriage.
The 2 Surahs that were revealed to the
prophet to to the prophet
right before they went to, Habesha were and
Maliam.
And if if you ever followed my, my
thematic
Surah summaries that I've done in the past
and that I I do within my tafsir
sessions, they'll know that and Mariam, they fall
within a cluster of Surah from, from Isla
to.
And they talk about
they talk about what is needed to
to spread the message, to carry the baton,
to carry the responsibility of the message of.
What does that mean? The west required to
build that. Every surah talking about a different
aspect of the requirement. And Surat al Kahf
and Surat al Mariam talk about 2 different
things. The Kahf
is an important story you read every week.
And the reason that you read it every
week is because it talks about the 4
elements required for your ummah to become a
civilization, to be civilized.
To actually prosper, for it to start to
grow, and to be and to see a
a, a state of fruition. You need 4
things.
And, of course, you couldn't have imagined a
better surah to be revealed to the,
to the people who are on their way
to Habash and then this one. Because it
taught them the 4 things that they're going
to need if they're going to survive as
a community in a foreign land. Or later
on even, if they were to come back.
Because the Muslims and you have to read
This is the only story you have to
read weekly, if you think about it. I
mean, there are other stuff that you read
weekly, less less frequency. But this here, this
has a specific a specific sunnah. The specific
day of the week, the deep the way
the the hour that you're off, or you're
supposed to be off for this hour before
before Jum'ah, and before the khalib starts, you
know, to to give you the khutma, you
take a little bit of time. You recite
these 10 pages.
You recite these, the the this surah. Because
this surah teaches something so valuable, it tells
you here in the 4th, you want to
build a civilization? Here are 4 things. Number
1, you need the idea, which is the
story of Al Al Ghaff. Right? The story
of the of the people of the cave.
A couple of of youth. A 3 to
5 to 7. We don't know. Let's say
3 youth and a dog.
What impact could they possibly have? What impact
could they possibly have on a kingdom if
they did? Because they had a rich idea,
and they stood by the idea that they
had, and you need that idea. You have
to have something that you have to believe
in something. You have to believe in it
appropriately. For the first one, you need that
strong idea. You have to add that conviction.
You have to truly believe in what you
believe in. And you have to stand by
it and be willing to live for it.
You have to be willing to work for
it even if it seems like the odds
are not in your favor.
We have to have that strength. Number 2,
the quote the story of the
wealth. You have to have the proper use
of money. The right people have to have
the right amount of money that they use
it well. The story of the 2 men
with the with the and one was richer
than the other.
The
3rd story of the Surah. Yeah. Khadr with
Musa. You have to have the knowledge, applicable
knowledge. You have to have knowledge that you
can apply, that'll allow you to to advance
yourself and to move forward. So you have
to know things. If you're ignorant, you're not
gonna get anywhere. You have to have. And
then the 4th element which is the story
of you have to have power. You have
to have strength.
Whether it comes in unity, in numbers, in
politics, in arms,
whatever it comes in, you have to have
power. Without strength, without power, your civilization will
cease to exist. But these are the 4
elements. Until this day, these are the 4
that you need. The community that we live
in right now, we need 4. We need
everyone to have a
extremely strong conviction in the idea of what
Tawhid is, of what Islam is. You have
to believe in the idea to your core.
We have to have wealth that can be
used appropriately. We have to be well educated.
We have to know what it is that
we need to know. And that we have
to
come together and and and and bring strength
in whatever whatever form that is. And without
these 4, there's nothing.
Without these 4, nothing's going to happen. It's
exactly where we are. It doesn't matter. Here,
back in the Middle East where Muslims are
majority, makes no difference. These are the 4,
they need all the time. That's why you
read this surah every single week. Like here,
read it again. Next week, read it again.
Keep on reading it until it makes sense
to you. Keep on reading until you understand
what it is that you should be doing.
1 of these 4, you have to contribute
to all 4 or one of them. You
can't contribute to all 4, then contribute at
least to 1 of them.
So that you are strengthening this oh, sorry.
You're bringing you're bringing the state of fruition,
of prosperity to this nation.
So it turns into a civilization rather in
Rather than a phoretic phoretic
population scattered across the globe, but rather a
civilization that can carry its own weight and
that can bring khair. You have to have
all 4. And right now, we're struggling with
all 4.
As in Ummah, we're struggling with all 4.
We're struggling with the idea. We don't we
don't There's a lack of belief. There's a
lack of acceptance. There's lack of acknowledgement. There's
a lack of conviction and commitment to the
idea itself. We we lack this piece. We're
lacking it. Are you our young Muslim brothers
and sisters don't don't understand don't commit and
feel towards Islam the way they should, the
way they must, the way they need to
in order for this story to work to
begin with.
We struggle with wealth, there's a lot of
it, but it's not used appropriately.
A lot of wealth.
The Muslim is not
poor financially.
This community, for example, here in London is
not poor financially. We have money. There's money.
It's just it's not we just we we
can't seem to figure out how to use
it, and how we're going to actually benefit
from the wealth that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
has given us to to to advance our
nation, and our and our our our causes,
and our and our community. Knowledge people need
to be well educated.
There's nothing there's nothing impressive about large groups
of people who are ignorant. Nothing good comes
from large masses that are ignorant.
Large, ignorant masses have never done anything good,
historically. They just destroy things. You need masses
that are well educated. They not only understand
their deen, not only to understand what it
is that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la acquires of
them, but they understand the world. They understand
how the world works. So they have skills,
and they have knowledge. They have they they
have academic scientific driven mind that know what
to be curious about and how to be
curious about it. So they can be productive.
So you have to have Al'il. There has
to be knowledge.
And we struggle with that. We don't the
majority of it this is we're better with
that here in our community than we are
maybe elsewhere. But not really, because we lack
the diversity of it.
There's end of it, there's there's lack of
diversity. We don't have enough people in in
in all of the different disciplines. We have
a lot of, doctors and engineers and allahi,
doctors are coming out of our ears and
our noses, Yani. Doctors and engineers. You know,
the the joke that if you come from
a Middle Eastern family then you're What are
your options in terms of studying? So your
option is a doctor, engineer, or dead. Choose
one of the 3. There's nothing else that
you're you're acceptable to study. We like diversity.
Because we like diversity, we don't have we're
not able to advance and and move forward
our our causes because everyone's yeah. I mean,
there's a there's lack of, entrepreneurship,
and there's lack of people who understand media
and art and
human sciences.
We struggle with strengths. Even though we may
have a lot of numbers and maybe we
have a lot of we have ways to
be strong. We have ways to addification into
into it. How to use our weight in
in an appropriate manner. We just don't because
we're divided. Because there's a lot of politics
amongst Muslims that people are fighting over stupid
stuff, and we're just all well, the numbers
are already low, like, in in terms of
how and we're scattered all over the place
because we can't get along. And then we'll
and then and then the strength that we
should have, we don't
Understand that Muslims can throw any vote within
North America,
in any city? Like, the Muslims are, yeah,
there's a the population because because the majority
of Muslims are young voting individuals, you can
easily throw a vote. You can easily, you
know, determine something when it comes to easily.
Easily. It's not the art.
But we have no strength in organization, so
every person here will vote whoever he wants.
Just becomes like a personal choice. That's not
what it's supposed to be. Democracy is whatever
they call democracy in this part of the
world. It's not designed to work that way.
It's designed to work in in not as
individuals, but as silos. As in I it's
designed to work in groups, where where politicians
can go to groups and see what those
groups need, and then figure out how to
get their vote rather than than talking to
individuals or talking to large masses that don't
know what they want to begin with. They're
just excited about an idea here, an idea.
They're an idea that the politician will easily
will easily bucket the moment they get, voted
in. They will throw they will throw They'll
forget they even talked about it once they
get into office. Believe me. But when there
are some groups, when they have to come
and actually speak to an organized group and
there's a leader that's gonna point, this is
what we need for then they have to
actually stick to that. So we lacked we
lacked all 4. But that's why Surat Al
Kahf was given the the prophet Alaihi Islam
just before Jafar and Wahhaba left Abhishek. Here,
Jafar and you're here. Here's Surat Al Kahf.
Read it. It'll take care of a lot
of things for you. It did.
Why they had a strong community.
That's why they became very pro productive and
active. Why they were able to do so
much dawah. Why they were able to come
back with so many. That's why Islam is
still in Havelashah till today.
That's why because they had a strong community.
They knew what they needed to do. They
knew they had to have their conviction. They
have to be educated. They have to be
productive. They have to have wealth. And they
have to be organized and united. And they
did. They had all those elements.
Is why they were able to make so
much. And which is what we need here
today. I I've I've I've said this before.
I'm gonna say it again. The
the the closest analogy I can draw for
Muslims living in the West today are Muslims
who lived in Habash Abakkuk. Just the closest
analogy that I have. I don't know any
I'm I'm sure there may be other examples,
but I really can't. Anything else you give
me, I can argue the argument.
The counter argument is just too easy.
If if you draw the analogy to people
in Mecca, Mecca, they were being persecuted in
Mecca. They were being tortured. They were not
Nah. Medina. They had a country, Yaqin Medina.
They had a political leader that everybody.
Both examples don't work. Here,
the closest thing I can see is is
Habash.
So how do we draw some lessons from
them? Maybe we'll look at what was revealed
to them upfront.
Number 1 was sudulqah.
Four elements. Work on the 4. Within your
community, make sure you have the
Make sure your
your population is properly educated. Make sure that
the wealth is being used appropriately, make sure
that people understand their identity and have the
idea, and then utilize
whatever tools you have to have strength,
to have power.
Unity is my my best, the best guess
right now. A little bit of unity.
A little bit of
a unified representation
on front. B would be preferable
for all of us.
The second surah that was revealed to them
was Mariam.
And based on the last time's story, you
probably, like, we know why Mariam was revealed.
Jabal had to have that those verses. Sure.
I think it's be way beyond.
Way beyond that, actually.
The Surah of Mariam,
it talks about the fact that the unit
that will carry this message is the family.
You can go back to my Surah summaries
if you like and listen. I break them
down in maybe a 15 to 20 minute
Jany section each. But Mariam
teaches us that
the unit that's going to carry this message
within this yeah. Within the Surah from Isra
to a Nam al Kaaf and Mariam. Mariam
is a how is Islam going to be
carried? It's through family.
And it gives you the examples of these
families. Gives you a family,
2 spouses without a son. A father and
a son, a mother and a son.
Yeah. I know. I need 2 cousins. This
is what you have. You have Zakariya and
Yahya. Yahya and Asa. Asa and all and
his mother. Ibrahim and his father didn't get
along. Then you give the example of Musa
and his brother, his siblings. And then Ismail
Alisan, his his family. Then Idris alone. You
have all these families come in different forms,
and they they look different and they function
differently, but it's going to come from the
family. But it come from that that that
an essential unit without the family, Islam doesn't
go anywhere. Another lesson that was extremely valuable
for the people of Habasha. Extremely valuable for
the people of London, Ontario.
Very invaluable for these Muslims to have the
the emphasis of family.
That you can't we can't afford not to
work on our family structure.
We can't afford to ignore that piece. Or
for fathers and mothers to be distracted or
preoccupied with something else. Or to prioritize something
over it. Or to leave your children for
the community to raise, or to leave it.
You you could afford to do this. Honestly,
like, if you grew up in the Middle
East, or you grew up in the any
of the South the
Southwestern continent,
and you grew up there younger, it was
it was more feasible.
I grew up I grew up in a
village In a village, open the door, kick
him out. They'll run outside with the kids.
They'll come back up hungry.
Eat, go to sleep. Wherever he goes, there's
gonna be an auntie or an uncle. There's
some older guy here. It's the same it'll
be raised the same way. Like, everyone will
be held to the same standard. If they
make a mistake, they'll all get punished by
the same person for the same mistake that
they make it. Like, it was this unit
yeah, uniformed
any way of raising kids. So everyone came
up the same. The same basic ideas, same
basic values, same basic understandings of life. It
was easy because the streets were a part
of the community. Today, you leave your kid
for the street, what are you what are
you hoping for?
Might might as well not have a kid.
Just don't don't don't don't reproduce. Otherwise you're
gonna do just, you know, I don't know,
snip something and don't don't have kids. Don't
have kids. Because if you're if you're gonna
have a kid and expect the community to
raise,
then you've just thrown them away. Basically, you
just brought human being to this world to
be to to get lost. To live to
live in a state of complete loss.
If 60%
of the raising of children happened within the
society or the community, oh, yeah, back then
in the Middle East and parts of the
world where it's feasible. Today,
you can't afford for 10% of that happening
outside. You can't. You just can't because we
don't have setups that are appropriate for that.
Because the values that are being taught in
the schools and on the street are just
just garbage,
complete garbage for life.
And and they'll come back to you with
this garbage and you won't as a parent,
you have no idea how to answer. I
have this all the time. Parents come and
tell me, this is what I'm saying. Like,
this is what my kid is telling me.
Who's he hanging out with? Did he learn
it from you?
No? Where you learning it from?
Oh, his friend. Who's his friend? I don't
know. You don't know. Your kid has a
friend. You don't know the friend and he
just goes to his friend. He comes back
to you with of course, they're gonna come
back to you with questions you can't answer.
I can't answer them either.
Certain things kids shouldn't be exposed to at
the age of 6 and 7 because they
don't have the capacity to understand them. Because
it's just one degree higher of of they
just don't can't understand what's being said. It's
too complicated.
But now they're sitting there being exposed to
something that they shouldn't have been exposed to
for the next maybe 3 or 4 years
before they can understand it. And now you
have of course, they're gonna have questions. And,
of course, you're gonna struggle to answer. Everyone's
gonna struggle to answer them because it wasn't
appropriate.
So you have to have it doesn't mean
I don't I'm not an advocate of of,
of being extremely strict with kids, by the
way. I'm not an advocate. I don't think
it's helpful. I've seen it. I've seen that
type of approach. It doesn't work. It makes
things worse. They they they they revolt at
some point, and then they go and do
everything that they were strictly stopped from even
thinking about. What I'm talking about is just
being aware.
Well, make sure that they're exposed
to those who can at least offer them
something. If they're going to be exposed to
some degree of risk or
may it be an environment that is cold.
Safe environment with the of where what's happening
in your have the
and afterwards
or
else Yeah.
Already running in
If people are here,
somebody's the lucky one.
The lucky one,
somehow
still they'll hold on
to it. They still have some grasp of
it, and they're coming to the.
Outside of these doors
is a large population of Muslim youth
and and their Muslim parents
that are completely lost,
that are losing Islam by the minute. Meaning
the and if Islam is a, Yani
if if you if if you draw the
analogy of it looking like a,
the percentage of a of a battery
on your phone, it is dropping, Yani,
by the double digits every every day. I
guess dropping on a daily basis, just keeping
on dropping and dropping of how much Islam
is left in in these individuals. To the
point that all that's really left is just
Eid,
Barely, not even every aid, but aid because
it's a celebration and stuff. You see them.
I I I,
part of organizing. I was standing and welcoming
people during aid and and I see the
faces I've never seen before. And I've seen
almost all the faces of Muslims in this
city. I've given hope in every single room
but all across the city for 10 years.
I know how people look. I If I
don't know your name, I've seen you before.
I'm I know I've I've seen you around.
Like, we you're not *. But then on
the day of Eid, just
all these people come out from the woodworks,
never seen them before in my life. I
have no idea they existed.
In the 1,000, about 10000 people, 15,000 people
attend Eid. 3,000 people attend Jamont.
600 play Asia.
Yeah.
A 100 are attending Halakhat.
Understand? Like, a puny a puny percentage of
people actually listen to stuff.
The rest what are the rest doing? How
are they surviving? Are they able to hold
on to their units and their families? Are
their families strong? Are they educated? And are
they under because they kids have to learn
that Islam
is the way to go from their household.
I'm I'm a supplementary
course. Help out. Like the
we we complement that. I mean, we help
and make
it seem and we we give we give
an environment for it. We make sure that
there's mentors and people they can look up
to role model. They can they can see
a little bit more cool, something that they
want to be a part of. But they
have to be taught that Islam is their
way of life and the way of life
of their ancestors, and the baton is being
handed down to them in their house
by their parents,
siblings. That's how they learn this piece. It
becomes an issue of family, not just an
issue of of belief.
Issue of
family. Personal.
A part of your identity. That's why Surat
Maryam was revealed. That's why they had to
listen to this Surah. And you can go
back and read it and contemplate this space.
You'll find it extremely, extremely profound and very
and very telling.
So those are the 2 Surah that they
received just before they went. And, obviously, amongst
the other Surah that they learned, but those
2 were very meaningful to the people of
Haber Sheil. They were symbolic to them of
what they needed to do to build their
And they and they succeeded in doing such.
And I believe that we can take a
page out of their book.
We can take a page out of this
book of theirs, and maybe think about these
things, of how we can strengthen our own
community. What we can do
to improve this experience that we have here
by focusing on the 4 elements that are
required to build a prosperous society,
realization, community, or whatever you wanna call it.
And then focusing on the family, focusing inwards
on the family structure, allowing people to marry
at an appropriate
age, not wait until they are beyond their
productive
years of of of of childbearing and and
having not only women have
years of childbearing. Men do too.
Men do too. You you think no. No.
You do. You do. You you totally do.
When you are 25 with a child,
versus 35 with a child, versus 45 with
a child. Not the same.
It's not. The experience that I had with
my dad is different than the experience that
my 6 year younger brother had with my
dad, difference than the the experience that my
12 year younger brother had with with with
our dad. It's it's 3 different men.
Same kid, same guy, but 3 different experiences.
I got him when he was in his
prime.
So I walked a straight line.
My younger brother got him a little bit
and then my youngest brother, hello, since he's
tired, he's he's 40, he doesn't have time
to for this anymore. It's it's men have
a prime time as well of when they
should have children. It's not just the women
that well, we have a a years and
that they can't bear children afterwards safely. But
men do too. If you have a you
have a a man who's in his his
his his mid forties with a with a
with a child that's 2 years old, yeah,
he barely has enough, patience for his wife
to have patience for this kid. He can
barely just spend with this kid 5 minutes
before he's ready to throw him out the
window. There's no you need you you need
that. So when we when we talk about
building families, we have to start speaking. We
have to stop I just blindly
following the the example of the western western
civil western world. Monkey see, monkey do type
of thing. Come on. This is how they're
living their life. They don't know what they're
doing. They are not guided and they don't
have a purpose and they don't know how
they're going with their lives. We have a
different setup here. As Muslims, we have a
different reason for why we're living, whoever we're
going with our lives and the and the
value and importance of family. We can't afford
to wake into our 30 and 32 and
33 to get married for men and women.
No. No. No. This is this is the
this is not acceptable. This is wrong. It's
wrong on so many levels. It's wrong. Not
even on the level that I'm talking about.
Wrong on it's wrong on so many other
levels. I can't imagine someone who's living in
this society up to 30 with no intimacy
and no companionship. I don't understand how they
would do it. Like, whenever I run into
someone like that, I always ask how how
do you do it? What's your What what
did you do? You must have done something
because it's impossible. You're human. You're human.
How did you get through your twenties? Yeah.
Without companionship. What are you what are you
doing? Like you're not human? Why are we
drawing a blind eye to this? Why are
we acting like that doesn't that's not even
there? Why are we just we're not gonna
ask them the question. What do you mean?
Someone who who who hits puberty and spends
15 years without marriage in a society that
is what do you expect? Like I don't
understand. Like, I don't get it. I honestly
don't get it. I don't wanna and I'm
I've been holding back for the last 7
years from profanities on this issue. From actually
using the appropriate language for it. I'm coming
close to starting to to just let go
and say, here's the problem. Because we're all
acting like, no. No. It doesn't matter. It
doesn't matter. We have to wait more and
wait more. And every time someone has a
has a daughter and someone knocks on the
door. Nope. Not ready. She's Yeah. She's 30.
She's 29, 30. What what are you waiting
for? This is a human being here. She's
a human being. Yeah. What are you what
are you How does your brain work?
He's not tall enough or he's not rich
enough or he's not
a jib. Same thing for men. Yeah. He
I don't know.
There there are certain things I have to
change. If we are valuing the the sanctity
of the family, and what the family is
for Islam and for Muslims for our societies
and communities. We have to start talking about
these things in appropriate times. We have to
start facilitating them, allowing people to to build
homes and helping them helping people
find proper matches, proper spouses, and getting married
in in in a time where where they
are most likely more likely to allow their
more likely to to succeed
in their marriages. They can build healthy families
and they can have and they can raise
their children with attentiveness, so that these kids
can learn their deen from their parents appropriately
because their parents have time. And they have
the the the energy to actually carry hand
the baton down.
Masajid cannot raise children.
This, this is a,
a bad misconception.
I can't raise children here. I I Nope.
Oh, you have to do the most of
the heavy lifting. I'm the We're the cherry
on the top
at best.
You just, you know,
tap into their potential and just make them
believe a little bit more in themselves than
maybe what you did.
Just give them a little bit ignite a
spark. That's all. That's all we do here.
And then put a little bit of mentorship
and give them some information that they can't
get at home. That's it. But we cannot,
can't fix something that's broken.
Can't make something that doesn't exist exist. That
doesn't Masajid don't have that power. They don't.
The Arabs don't have that power either.
Expectation of what can do has to be
clear.
Of what it what what the actual capacity
of a masjid is has to be very
clear. And the masjid
cannot work with those who are not being
nourished at their in their own home. It
has to happen at home. It's why family
is so important.
Alright. I'll end with that. That that's the
end of my sharing pieces of what I
think we can learn from, you know, the
the community of Muslims in Habesha and maybe
what we could take from it for ourselves.
There's a lot more to it than that,
but, yeah, I need I'll I'll end with
that.
Interestingly enough, during their time there, a coup
happened.
Why? Because in in Najashi, because he he
says certain things in that meeting, and all
the priests around him got upset. If you
remember last week, I told you they got
upset when he said certain things. Things. So
there was a lot of of talk about
him. So a coup was put together. A
coup meaning they they tried to revolt against
him and get rid of him as a
king.
So he had to fight back. When the
coup occurred, and Najashi told
Jafar,
you guys need in Zubayr, and a one
was amongst them. You need to get out.
Because a coup is occurring. I don't know
if I will succeed or die. I don't
know what's going to happen next. And if
I die, they're coming for your next.
Like if I die, they're gonna kill all
of you, because you're protected under You know,
there's always in every society. They're gonna be
the racist. The ones who are filled with
hatred. The people don't like the immigrants. Right?
So in Najashi was was not one of
those, but that those people existed.
So he put them on a on a
ship.
And and he had them sail into the
middle of the Red Sea.
And told them to wait.
He asked them not to fight back with
even though the Muslims are ready to fight
with him. But, no, I don't want you
in this fight. It's not your fight. Go
again. So they were in the ship and
the idea was that they would stay there
and until they heard
word of whether in the Jashi was successful
and they come back or not and they
and they and they I need just go
somewhere. Figure it figure it out. You can't
stay here anymore. Right? So the story is
that they would be on the ship they
were on the ship. And at that point
there maybe 200 of them. And they would
perform yeah. And they would spend the whole
time
making dua and praying that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala would grant Najashi success.
And they're making dua for a non Muslim
king a non Muslim king at the time.
He wasn't Muslim yet. I told you that
he became Muslim, but not yet. He wasn't
Muslim yet.
And that's totally acceptable.
You stand by whoever is just in the
world. You make dua whoever is just in
the world.
Whoever is being just and fair, make dua
for them. Make dua for
They're just. They are showing some degree of
of care about justice and fairness. There's not
Muslims are not people who are who lack
the ability to show compassion and love, And,
for those who don't follow their faith, no,
for sure we can. The only time in
the Quran you're told not to is towards
those who show you animosity.
Those who are bearing arms against you.
Those who are actually trying to to to
to destroy your existence. Those are the ones
that Allah
and and closeness and fairness and help and
support to those who do not fight you
and those who do not oppress you in
your deen. You're welcome to show them in
the best of your the best of your,
of your ethics. So they stayed in the
in the sea for a number of of
of days.
And then finally,
the
word was sent that in Najashi
was,
he was successful in in
in in his,
in fighting the coup.
They went back and they continue to live
in Abhishek.
Something happened
though.
Something happened
within the first two years.
It cannot be accurate of exactly when this
occurred, but it occurred before Hejalah.
Most likely during the boycott that we'll talk
about a little bit. But it happened early
on.
A rumor made its way from Mecca
a Habash. A rumor.
At the time of, you know, where you
don't have social media, you don't have the
ability to
pick up the phone and call someone and
ask questions. Rumors were very powerful. Very powerful.
And what was the rumor? The rumor
was that
the people of of Mecca had accepted Islam.
Quraysh had accepted Islam. There was no need
to say there any. That was the rumor.
Because of this rumor,
a fourth of the Muslims went back. Not
all of them. A fourth. The idea was
that a fourth of them would go back.
They would see if that's the case. If
not, they would come back
again. Amongst those who who did this was
and
and
number
of them came back. What was the how
did this rumor occur? So the prophet, alayhis
salatu, was within his struggle
relation. He would cons he he would often
especially after the Islam of of of Hamzan,
Omarun.
And after the, negotiation period and during or
during that period as well, he would go
and he would recite the Quran sometimes in
front of the Kaaba. We do this quite
often, and sometimes when especially in prayer when
he was doing salah. So he would go
one day during Isha, and he was praying
in front of the Kaaba. And Surah Najim
was what was revealed to him
at that time, at least the second part
of it was. Surah Najim
talks about
The scholars of tafsir,
the majority of them, say that the second
part of was revealed before the first part.
This is very common in the Quran by
the way. For there to be verses at
the end of a Surah that were revealed
before verses at the beginning of a Surah,
that happens all the time. But the second
piece of the Surah was revealed before
when So at the end of the Surah,
these verses that you see over here that
I have highlighted for you.
So the prophet these are very powerful. One
who talks talks about Allah
And he is the one who who brings
laughter and brings cry. He is the one
who brings life, brings death.
He is the one who created the male
and female from a from a similar source.
He is the one who resurrect them again.
He is the one who granted wealth and
and and and may and and granted less
wealth. He made made some wealthy and some
not.
Is the name of one of the, of
the northern star. He is the lord of
the northern star that people would sometimes use
superstitiously
prestitiously or sometimes even worship.
So he he is the one who who
punished Ad, the first,
Arabic tribe to, Yani to to disobey. And
then Samud and left nothing of them.
And the people of Nuh, indeed, before all
of them, the people of Nuh were oppressive
and they were transgressive and arrogant.
And then Tafikah, the people of Lut, those
who performed a horrible sin.
And he punished them, and they were completely
smothered with their punishment.
What what blessings of Allah do
you question or do you refuse to show
gratitude for?
The this
the book, these words
is a reminder, is a warner. And it's
coming from the essence of the warnings that
Allah gave to the earlier groups. Meaning, the
warnings that came on the, the at the
tongue of Ibrahim, the tongue of Musa alaihi
salam.
The day of judgment is coming near.
Nothing
aside from
Allah can, yeah, and he can, can remove
it or or relieve you of its effect.
Is it from these words that you are
in a state of awe or a state
of lack of belief?
And you laugh and you refuse to cry
as you're continue to be in a state
of indifference.
So prostrate to Allah and worship, and we
should make the
So just like you perform this right now
and right here,
the prophet
once he recited
he went down in sujood, and the Muslims
did too.
And because of the level of captivation
that
the were in as they listened to these
verses,
once he said,
also fell in Sujood.
They fell in
sujood, realized what they had done,
put their heads up, and they had to
come up with the story to explain why
they did.
Right? So they start to make something up.
And they start to say that the prophet
in his as he recited this verse, he
said, he spoke highly of our,
of our, of our idols.
Of course, he didn't tell alayhi salatu wa
sama nor nor did they hear that. But
they need to come up with a way
to explain why it is that they prostrated
in front of the Kaaba with the prophet
alaihi wa sallam. Now that action alone
happened. The people of Mecca saw it. They
started to talk about it. It floated as
a rumor to Habakkuk that the people of
Mecca accepted Islam. Right? It had nothing to
do. They didn't accept Islam or anything. They
actually made something up, and they started to
accuse the prophet alaihi sallam of showing
during the time of, negotiation. They were asking
for something from it. Remember? They were saying,
maybe worship our lords for a year and
we'll worship your lord for a year. They
were looking for some compromise. So they they
played it that way saying, well, he compromised.
He he said I can't remember what he
said.
Something like that. And
are the are the idols. So they they
made up they made up a, like, something
that was similar would sound similar to a
verse, and then he said that. And that's
why we prostrated. He didn't say that.
But they tried to play it that way.
And it ended the whole story ended with
that, and that was the end of it.
But what happened, the witnessing of what yeah.
The the the witnessing of what actually occurred
with with all of these mushrikeen,
all of these noble mushrikeen, who, by the
way,
did this because they were listening to him
They they like I told you, they couldn't
help it. Once they started these are like,
I feel like the biggest, loss or what
what I really
try and do, and I don't know if
I do it
in any, you know, in any form of
quality, to try and help you understand. That's
why I do these this I've seen of
these, like, of these 2 of these smaller
ones, specifically. Because most people memorize them and
they have and it's easier to Yeah. I
need to to to comprehend.
Is that they're very very powerful.
Linguistically,
not only are they powerful in terms of
the rhythm that they bring in the the
artistry that they have, but also in the
profoundness in the in the and in the
and the message that that that they carry.
If someone understands the Arabic language, hears them,
they're just they're breathtaking. They couldn't help it.
Like, Ma'am, couldn't help but stand stop for
a second and listen to him, what he
was saying.
Even if they didn't agree with him and
but they couldn't. They had to stop him
here. It was just too interesting.
It was it was captivating.
And then sometimes the way he would recite
would be so powerful
and so emotional
that they responded
emotionally as he did.
So they could they couldn't help it. It
was just like a reflex and they just
couldn't couldn't help but do it that way.
And I feel like that piece is missing
sometimes, especially those those who don't know Arabic
yet.
We try our best to do as much
as I've seen as possible in this masjid.
Try and bring it closer to you so
you can enjoy these words. So you can
not only read them but understand them and
feel what they're talking about and appreciate the
beauty of what they what what they they
bring.
So the so the a quarter of the
Muslims came back and that's just why. Because
you'll be like, some people were thinking and
I could see some, you know, because like,
Arthman, I thought you said went. But how
was he there for, you know, for all
these other stuff that happened? This is how.
The way Avraham left, how was he here
for most of yeah. Because of this. Because
a quarter of them came back because of
this rumor. And they sent back saying that,
I don't no no one no one follow
us. It's a lie. But no one was
able to go back. They were they were
denied.
Once they came to Mecca to find things
out, they were held. They were all held.
None of them were allowed to leave. Go
back. And those when once they were allowed
to go to do whatever they wanted, the
prophet
told them you don't have to go back
state. They don't go back. There's no there's
no need need need go back.
The story that I like the most from
this return is the story of
Mabroon.
Uthman
was like Uthman ibn Affan, similarly,
was from a house of great nobility and
was
technically protected. He wasn't someone who had to
leave. He wasn't someone who had to leave.
Young man.
He came from a household of, of of
great wealth.
But he had a problem.
He when he came back to Mecca and
he was with the Muslims,
he was granted the protection of his uncle,
Al Waleed ibn Mughira. He was granted of
of his, of his maternal uncle, the way
he moved. So in Arabic, they call that
meaning you are in my
like, it's like you're my neighbor. You're under
my protection. You're under my wing. That's what
it means. So he was under the of
Al Walid. So no one said anything to
him.
So
he was there and he was with the
Muslims. And whenever, yeah, any the Muslims that
he was with, his friends, were caught, they
were all, yeah, any mistreated, beaten up, you
know, whatever happened something happened to them. But
he was always left alone.
He was always left alone. He never like,
he never got he he was never harmed
because of the fact that he was protected,
so we left him alone.
And after a while, he felt he didn't
like it anymore.
He didn't like it.
And it's a really weird thing. This is
one of the weirdest stories, but I love
this story, even though it's a weird one.
It's just it's a it's a very interesting
thought.
When you when you feel like you're a
part of a group, you want to be
like them. Like, you want to be in
the same situation that they're in, even if
it's a bad situation.
For him, that was his problem.
He was always left out growing up. And
the first time he felt like he was
a part of a group was when he
accepted Islam with the Muslims. But then it
happened again. Because he was wealthy and from
a great family,
he was never touched. All his friends that
he hung out with and he learned from,
and all of his friends, even Mas'ud and
and and Suhaib and and Bilal and all
these people, they were being persecuted. They were
being fought. They were fighting. They were it
was always a difficult situation, but he was
always left on the sidelines. No one spoke
to him because he was protected.
And he finally got tired of it. He
didn't want to be protected anymore. He wanted
to be like everyone else. He wanted he
was tired of being of not being a
part of the group. It's a really weird
thing, because it it because
and he want to be included when things
are nice. Why would you want to be
included when things aren't? Like, why would you
want to be a part of a group
that is being mistreated? This makes no sense.
Well, it does make sense. Oh, for sure
it makes sense. If you truly feel like
you belong to this group, you'll you'll understand.
When When it's not just a superficial belonging.
When you truly feel that these are your
people, these are my brothers, these are my
sisters. I live with them. I die with
them. And I don't want anything to inflict
them that does not inflict me. Either I
can protect them so they're like me, or
I'm gonna be like them. And I won't
accept anything in the middle.
Now had he not done what he's going
to do in the story, no one would
have blamed him. It would be totally fine.
Totally fine. Negative. But he did something that
he was not required to do, but he
did it anyways. I think it's worth, yeah,
telling the story. So he goes to his
uncle, Ubalid. He tells him,
Yeah.
I'm I would like to give you back
your protection.
What? Does someone mistreat you during my time
of protecting you? Tell me. So I will
I will annihilate them. If anyone harmed you
as they know that I am protecting you,
tell me who they are. And I will
completely destroy them and remove them off the
face of the earth. That's what he's he
gets into that. No
one has harmed me.
But I found a better protection than yours.
So he offends him.
He's one of the
probably the highest ranked person
in in Mecca at the time.
Probably the highest,
not amongst the highest, probably the highest ranked
person.
Who possibly has a better who possibly can
protect you more than me?
Who is it? I have the of Allah.
I don't need you.
So
accepted the, the revoking of the of this
protection.
As my wife walks out, he's feeling refreshed.
He feels happy. But no one knows.
Everyone thinks he's still protected. No one knows.
So he used to go, you know,
cause a a scene, so everybody knows. So
now he's like, every other Muslim.
So he goes, and what they used to
do back then, is that they would have,
poets. Poets were a big deal. Poets were
rock stars.
Poets were were literally rock stars. They would
come in. They would have their own posse.
They would come in with, you know, tens
and tens of people to protect them, bodyguards.
They would have things set up for them.
They would sit there. The whole city would
come to listen. You have to pay. Sometimes
you actually listen. And there was this custom
that if the if the poet Because there
were no microphones and stuff. The poet was
speaking, everyone
would
would be quiet. You were not allowed to
speak. You were not allowed to breathe heavily
when when the poet was speaking. And and
great poets, the greater the poet, the more,
you know, traction.
And Mecca, at that time, was had received
one of the great poets of this time,
one of Ashabimu alakhaatil Ashul. Labid
his name is Labid Rabia, who later on
would become Muslim, by the way. Later on
would accept Islam b. He's considered by some
scholars as as a Sahabi. Some scholars would
consider him as that. The majority don't because
he was late, but some some do. Anyways,
David Rabia was sitting on his, on his
podium,
and he was getting poetry. Poetry was a
big deal. Poetry is it it it was
used for everything. Not only was it art,
but it was the news, it was the
customs, the popular culture. It was everything. It
did literally it it it, you know, it
it raised the status of people and and
tribes and and and and and dumped the
status of other peoples and other tribes. So
the beat is sitting there and he is
saying his poetry, everyone's quiet. So perfect. This
will work perfect. He walks right in the
midst of the group. And the poet, he's
saying, and this is what Lavid is saying
in his poetry.
So he says, and he he gives a
piece of
a
poetry which said everything aside from Allah is
Everything
aside from Allah is So he would call
out and say, Sadak.
True. Everyone would look at him.
What are you doing?
So they let one it was a one
strike allowed to slide. They didn't. Then he
continued
and every every good thing in life will
at one point, everything good thing will come
to an end at one. So he would
yell out. And he knows that, you know,
it's it's poetry and it's not wrong, but
he just wants to cause a problem. They
yelled out, kadab, it's untrue.
The the pleasure of Jannah never ends. So
they look at him. What what what are
you doing? So people say,
Even he's in the protection of.
Right? So he calls out,
I've given back his protection. I don't want
it. So they beat beat him to a
pulp.
So they beat him close to death. Near
to near to dying.
And once he was finally pulled out from
their from the hands of the people of
Eden, he was lying there bleeding from his
eye. He's bleeding from an eye. And what
he walks by.
And what he walks by, he's on the
ground bleeding from his eyeball.
And
he said, you
used to be under the protection of someone
who would never allow something like this to
happen to you. So he answers them. And
it's the reason it's the answer is why
I'm telling you this. It's what he says
here
that I think did I write it down?
I didn't.
It's what he says here. How we and
this is just the answer is, you can't
think of this. You can't you can't script
it. It's just something comes out of the
yeah. I need a heart.
And indeed, my good eye
cannot wait
to go through what his sister has gone
through for the sake of Allah
My good eye can't wait. Like, one eye
is now afflicted. My other eye is waiting
for its turn to be afflicted for the
sake of Allah
The way he stood there and said, listen.
And he walked away. The scholars say that
he was asking you, like,
what causes you to to think like that,
feel like that? What causes you to be
someone like that? How could you like, you
know what? They didn't understand it. They didn't
understand. They didn't understand what it meant to
be a part of his
He brought something
that was unique, never brought before.
His his presence, his teaching,
being with
him brought something to his followers that only
his followers understood.
But no one else and today, what we
the remnants that we have of that still
exist within our. Like, you can still run
by people who have a remnant
of a
of someone of
to the prophet and
it'll fill your heart.
It will enlighten your life and the life
of everyone around you. Something's so these people
had had experienced something that was almost not
articulable.
You couldn't articulate. You can't ex you can't
with words explain exactly what it is that
they felt or they saw or they witnessed
when they were around him, alaihis salatu wa
sama. And the value of the teachings and
the principles that he brought to life, and
that they saw
light in. So for them, I don't want
in any way to be identified as anything
aside from Muslim. I don't want the protection
of a non Muslim person. An arthman. I
don't want. I want to be with I
want to be purely just with Muslims. Even
if that means I'm going to be bleeding
from my eyeball. It's okay. I'm looking forward
to more of this because it's for the
sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because it's
in support of the prophet
Something has to be special about this man
in order for someone to feel like that.
And
you have to you have to admit there
has to be something special. Like even if
you if you're listening to me, you're not
fully Danny, you're not, practicing Muslim or you
don't care about any of this. You have
to admit.
There has to be something special about what
he did out of his For someone to
feel like that and say something like that.
At at least,
to to admit this has to be something
weird. It's not possible for someone to feel
that way. To to want something like that
is impossible, but
Yeah.
They experienced something alaihis thought to us. They
experienced something with him
out of this world.
He did something for them that
they knew was was unique, was special, was
different.
They were willing to give up their lives,
give up the world for.
That's why it was so hard for them
for him to for them to go to
Habesheth to begin with.
But they went because he asked them to.
Because he asked them to, they went. Because
that was his his request.
Because they knew as long as they were
doing what he asked
they'll continue to be under his aura.
But continue to exist under his aura, alayhi
salatu wa sallam, for the time that they're
there.
And that's what he felt.
And and that's do you feel like you
belong?
Because if you don't feel like you belong,
then there's no point of any of this.
All of this is just a waste of
if you don't feel like you belong, that
this is your ummah, this is your story,
this is your cause, this is your deen,
You have ownership over it. It's something that
you're willing to live and die for. That
you are Muslim before everything and Muslim until
the bitter end. This is who you are
as a person.
That sense of belonging is important. If we
don't have that sense of belonging, there's something
that is if you don't have it, then
there is an essential piece that is missing.
And right now, in our ummah, there there
is an essential piece that is missing. There's
there's a real there's a lack of sense
of belonging.
A lot of our Muslim counterparts
within our societies don't feel like they belong.
A lot of them. A lot of Muslims
who come from certain backgrounds don't feel like
they belong. A lot of Muslims who come
certain age groups, they don't feel like they
belong. And when they don't feel like they
belong, they won't they won't do anything. They
won't add. They won't contribute. They won't participate.
And they won't help.
And it's on us to make them feel
like they belong.
That's what we can do. I'm not responsible
for what people do in their lives. I'm
responsible for my contribution to their story. Just
like you are. And we are responsible as
Muslims. If you feel like you will, if
you are blessed with that, you feel like
you belong to the ummah, and you're willing
to go that far. Like you you are
part of a community, you feel like this
is yours. You're willing to do everything to
to to protect it and for its for
its safety and for its prosperity.
There are people who don't. And the people
who don't, don't for reasons that you may
agree with or may you may disagree with,
it doesn't matter whether you agree or disagree
with why. The point is that they don't.
So it's on us to go figure out,
well, why don't you?
And what we can we do to change
that for you? That you have that sense
of belonging. That you can feel like you're
a part of this Qumqah. So you can
be like Usman,
where he preferred
that
over what he was in. Prefer it to
be on the ground
in pain,
but
a part of his nation, like everyone else,
a part of this
seen as one of
of
this group. Not seen as distinct or different
or on the other side. And that's just
something that's that's beautiful.
And we have to bring that sense back.
We have to bring that sense of belonging
back. For a diverse community and and there's
a lot of struggles that come with diverse.
Communities where people come from at least 25
or 27 different nationalities.
There's a struggle that comes with.
But it's something that's worth preserving. It's something
that's worth growing. Something that's worth because we
have a beauty within it that's unlike anything
else. When you do run into some Shabbat,
some people who do feel like they belong,
all of the the cultural and racial and
demographic differences, they dissolve.
It doesn't matter anymore.
Whether they're, you know, any Syrian or a
Palestinian or a Muslim or Indian, or Pakistani,
or Somali, or from any country in the
world.
From any background, it doesn't matter anymore. Because
what brings them together is something that's much
more powerful. Much more powerful and is more
meaningful, and they feel like they're a part
of something, and they want to be a
part of something. They never want to lose
that ever again, and that's what this whole
story is about. And that's you need we
need we need a few Uthman's and Bimavroun.
We need as many of him as possible.
And we need to generate the feeling he
had in his heart and the hearts of
Muslims. You have to find the way to
generate in the heart of every young Muslim
the feeling that Uthman had in his heart.
Where he's willing to give up everything to
be a part of this. And with that
inshallah, I hope that was a benefit to
you.