Ali Hammuda – Palestine Reimagined #12 Just Before You Leave Palestine
![Ali Hammuda](https://artwork.muslimcentral.com/ali-hammuda-150x150.jpg)
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
So start this conversation with yourself today. It's
crucial. Even if you avoid it now, it's
gonna confront you eventually.
What are your preparations for those good deeds?
That can continue after your death.
Countless Muslims worldwide,
including many Palestinians living just a stone's throw
away from Al Masjid Al Aqsa,
are unable to visit Al Masjid Al Aqsa.
Due to circumstances
beyond their control,
particularly the challenges posed by the occupation.
Now in contrast
some of us from distant lands
Are graced with the opportunity to tread its
sacred grounds, and pray within this amazing Masjid.
Often making the journey annually.
But just before you fly back home ask
yourself this question.
How can I know that I've fully taken
advantage of the opportunity that I had and
this blessing of being in Philistine?
Yes, I've done the praying and the sightseeing.
How do I measure my connection with Al
Masjid Al Aqsa? And my commitment to its
cause thereafter?
I'm going to suggest
3 criteria,
which by the way don't include Palestinian desserts,
but you've tried or olive oil that you've
purchased.
Test your claims of love and commitment to
Palestine,
and how future proof it's going to be
on the basis of 3 criteria.
Or you can call them the 3 V's.
The first V,
my transfer from absence to presence.
Let's call that voyage.
Number
2, my transition from sin to piety.
Let's call that
vow.
And my transition from meaningless
to profound meaning.
Let's call that vision. Those are your 3
Versus Allow me to elaborate.
The first one we said my transfer from
absence
to presence.
That's your voyage.
In other words, make a point, of frequently
visiting Al Masjid Al Aqsa, in groups of
families and friends,
as couples.
In * from its pure air, prostrate on
its blessed land, supplicate to Allah on its
holy sanctuary for its aid.
Reading about the cause of Palestine and the
virtues of a sham, that's one thing. But
only a visit in person can illustrate the
full extent of what has happened over the
decades
and only a regular
visit.
Is proof
that you love what Allah Almighty loves.
So find a recommended travel agent that offers
a full program then book your trip. And
I stand baffled at those of us who
toured every holiday destination.
Preferring to return home with souvenirs,
a tan, debts,
over the everlasting deeds offered at Al Masjid
Al Aqsa. And my belief is that today,
Al Aqsa should be the masjid that we
love the most of all.
Not because it trumps Al Masjidu, Al Haram
in Mecca, or the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
is majid in Madina. But because it is
ill. It is in captivity.
And by our nature, we give most affection
and attention to those children of ours who
are least well. That's your first v, your
your voyage.
The second criteria, the second V is your
vow.
My transition from sin to piety.
The moment you arrive at Al Majidul Aqsa,
don't delay.
Capitalize
on the passion that grips you. And immediately
bow to Allah to rid yourself from any
remnants
of sin
that you still latch on to from your
previous ways.
But you will say to me, what is
the relevance of mentioning this?
In light of Palestine
transition from sin to piracy.
I'll say to you there is a link.
The prophet
said,
on the night
that I was taken
on a journey, the Isra.
I was presented with 2 cups,
there in Palestine.
A cup of milk
and a cup of wine, out of hospitality
and a test. I looked at them and
I chose the milk, and Angel Jibril said
to me,
praise be to Allah, who guided you to
choose the fitra, the natural way. Had you
taken the wine, your nation would have gone
astray.
It was there in Jerusalem,
not long after he had arrived from Mecca,
when he was presented with these 2 cups.
And it was there in Jerusalem
where he chose the pure and natural way.
So now that you have arrived at the
same destination,
it is upon you my brother, my sister
to make a similar decision of courage and
wisdom.
To choose the natural way.
To promise Allah Almighty that you've spilled out
the cup of sin from your life. Whether
in the form of dress,
Internet browsing,
relationships,
business,
all their likes. And show him that you
have picked up there in Jerusalem, the cup
of Imaan.
And then the third of the V's, if
you remember,
my transformation
from meaningless to profound meaning. That is your
vision.
Measure yourself against that criteria as well.
From this day onwards,
promise Allah that you will live pursuing a
noble Islamic vision.
But again, you will ask me, what is
the relevance?
Why are you mentioning this in light of
Palestine? I say to you, there is a
link.
And remember this link when you look at
Al Majid Al Aqsa, because the prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam said
that Sulayman blew Dawood, Lamma bana baytul Maqdis
SaAllallahu Khilal
and Falathah.
When Prophet Sulaiman, the son of Dawood, finished
building Baytul Maqdis Al Masidul Aqsa, he asked
Allah for 3 things. What did he ask
Allah for?
He asked Allah for a judgment
that will be in harmony with His judgment,
and he was given that sound judgment.
Du'a number 2
He asked Allah for a kingdom that no
one would have after him the like of,
and he was given that.
What was the 3rd dua he made and
underline this one?
And when he finished building the Masjid Al
Aqsa, He asked Allah that any person who
comes to him,
Intending only to pray,
that he emerges free of all of his
sins as the day his mother bore him.
In another narration,
the Prophet
added,
As for his 2 requests,
Soleiman was granted them
and my hope is that he was granted
the third.
Allahu Akbar,
Think about
the countless people
who have prayed in Al Majid Al Aqsa.
And consider the immense reward prophet Suleiman and
all of those involved in its construction can
expect.
This was one of Suleiman's projects for the
hereafter.
A vision in his life
that he pursued.
So I ask you now the question in
light of this third criteria, what will be
yours?
What is your Islamic vision? This must be
a question that bothers you enormously.
And should positively irritate you till you find
an answer for it.
What is my project for my home in
the hereafter?
How will I prepare
a dowry for paradise?
What life vision today
will yield the greatest rewards on the day
of judgment and will serve me when I
have died?
Imagine with me a family man,
the sole breadwinner of his family,
receiving news from his doctor that he has
only a month to live.
He's got no savings set aside,
no other source of income for his family.
I want you to envisage the urgency that
grips him.
Think about his restless
determination
His meticulous avoidance of wasting any time or
resources As he searches
desperately for another source of income to secure
his family's financial future before his time runs
out.
It is within this context, this analogy.
I remind you of the hadith that you
know.
When a person dies, all of his deeds
they come to a halt.
They end except from 3 sources:
A continual charity,
beneficial knowledge that you'd left behind or a
righteous child who makes Dua for you. That's
it.
In other words,
you've also been put on notice.
Your days on earth are also numbered.
Your source of income of good deeds
with death will come to an end.
So it's time to begin that search.
Today we speak many different languages,
we have different ambitions in life,
but on the day of judgment as we
stand on that plane of resurrection
And the scales are established,
and our deeds are weighed
with angels descending,
and paradise and * in sight, full display,
and with Allah Almighty, the one true King.
They are present,
there will only be one language.
That is the language of good deeds and
sins.
So start this conversation with yourself today, it's
crucial. Even if you avoid it now, it's
gonna confront you eventually.
What are your preparations for those good deeds
that can continue after your death?
And for those unsure
where to start,
the prophet
gave
amazing examples of what a continual Qudid may
look like. As examples, he said
There are 7 things that will continue to
benefit a person
in their grave after their death.
Whoever taught knowledge,
or flowed a river, or dug a well,
or planted a palm tree, or built a
mosque, or passed down a Quran, or left
a child to make dua for him after
his death. These are examples.
Now think about what suits you.
What suits you?
Transcribing lectures.
Financing the editing and publishing of an Islamic
book.
Recording lectures for people who can deliver.
Sponsoring a student of knowledge until they return,
setting up a transformative halaqa in your local
Masjid.
Think about what you're good at, what you
enjoy,
what you may have graduated in.
Think about your opportunities,
think about your limitations,
Then brainstorm ideas to channel your circumstances towards
an Islamic project at any scale. It's your
sincerity that will give it weight, not its
might in the eyes of the people.
Everyone's dream today is the so called passive
income.
And I'm making a case now here
for you to think deeply about creating a
passive income of good deeds. So that they
may continue to serve you in your grave
when you're no longer around to create them
yourself.
This is the blessing
which Imam Ibn Al Qayyim
described when he said in his beautiful words.
What a sublime status it is.
And what a noble and exalted distinction it
is.
For a person to be busy in his
lifetime with his various tasks or to lie
in his grave,
his body decomposed and scattered, yet his record
of good deeds
continues to grow.
Good deeds are written in his favor every
moment, and acts of kindness are directed towards
him from unexpected sources.
He said by Allah.
These are the true honors and gains.
And let those who compete.
Compete for this.