Bashar Shala – The Power Of Thankfulness
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of thankfulness in Islam, including the use of shukr and "has been given" in religion. They stress the need to recognize and thank the wa titles in order to fulfill responsibilities and receive bounty. The importance of thankfulness is emphasized in everyday life, including reciting the shukr of the waah and expressing gratitude towards the wa titles. The speakers also discuss various fundraising events and fundraising, including virtual fundraiser for utilities and a social fundraiser for the next day.
AI: Summary ©
Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest
I bear witness that there is no god
but Allah I
bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah Allah
is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest Dear
beloved brothers and sisters in Islam, we hear
a lot of people around us this time
of the year talk about being thankful.
What is it to be thankful?
What does it mean to be thankful?
And how is it to be thankful?
And this is not to say we celebrate
or don't celebrate Thanksgiving.
But when we hear that atmosphere, it really
behooves on the Muslims to reflect and to
have an internal examination to see if we
understand that concept in our own religion, in
our own deen, and how is it different
from others, other beliefs and other creeds.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala elevated the status,
the maqam of shukr to be part of
iman, to be part of our faith, of
our belief.
Some of the ulama said that iman is
not but two parts.
Half of it is shukr and the other
part is sabr.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala associates shukr
with iman in the Quran.
What would Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala do
tormenting or torturing you if you have shukr
and if you have iman?
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is associating
both of these qualities in the heart of
Muslims together.
And Allah divided His servants, Allah divided us
to either being thankful or not.
وَهَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ إِنَّا هَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًا وَإِمَّا
كَفُورًا اللهم اجعلنا من الشاكرين Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says, human beings, they're either shakur,
shakir, thankful, or kafur or kafir.
These are the only two choices.
These are the two paths.
And that status of shukr, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala told us that Iblis himself, Iblis
himself la'anahu Allah, when he wanted to
lure the children, the sons and daughters of
Adam to Jahannam, to swerve them from the
right path in revenge to the fire inside
of him, he knew that if he makes
us ungrateful, not thankful, he would win.
And that's in the Quran.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in
the Quran that Iblis said to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُمْ مِن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ
وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَنْ شَمَائِلِهِمْ I will
come to them from their front, from their
back, from their right, from their left, surround
human beings.
Why?
ثُوَ لَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ And you will
not see most of them thankful to you.
Because Iblis, la'anahu Allah, جَحَدَ بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّهِ
وَلَمْ يَشْكُرْ لَهِ وَيُرِيدُنَا أَن نَجْحَتَ بِنِعْمَةِ اللَّهِ
سَبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى وَلَا نَشْكُرْ لَهِ Iblis himself was
ungrateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And Iblis wants to lure us into this
ungratefulness.
And that's why Iblis knew, لَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ
شَاكِرِينَ You will see the majority of human
beings ungrateful.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also testifies,
وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورِ Only a few of
my servants are thankful.
So this thankfulness is a rare commodity, is
a precious commodity, brothers and sisters.
اللَّهُمَّ جَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْقَلِيلِ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ الشَّاكِرِينَ
الذَّكِرِينَ That quality is rare quality.
Despite the billions of people that live and
lived on this face of the earth.
Shukr, the linguistic meaning of shukr.
And it's always something that applies to the
Islamic meaning of shukr.
Just like how salah and its linguistic meaning
means connection, to connect with.
And that's why salah is a connection with
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Zakah and its linguistic meanings means to cleanse
and purify.
And that's why zakah cleanses our hearts from
greed.
It cleanses our society from envy and crime
and poverty.
So the same thing, the meaning of shukr,
the linguistic meaning of shukr, is for an
animal or a camel or a sheep, when
it's given feed, it shows and it gives
back.
They say shakarat al-naqa, shakarat al-ibl.
That means this ibl, when you take care
of it, when you give it the feed,
it gives you back and it gives back
a lot and it shows on its appearance
and it shows on its behavior.
And so is thankfulness to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Thankfulness includes, first of all, to recognize the
ni'mah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
To recognize the gifts of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا And when
you try to enumerate, to count, to understand
the blessing of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
you will never be able to enumerate it.
It was narrated that al-Hasan al-Basri,
rahim Allah, was having some sweets.
Somebody brought him some sweets.
So he was sharing it with his friends
and students and companions and followers.
And then a man came by and so
they invited him.
And he said, take some of those sweets.
And he said, no, I don't want to.
لَا أُحْسِنُ شُكْرَهَا I cannot fulfill the thankfulness
for this ni'mah.
I'm not gonna have it.
And then he walked away.
And al-Hasan said, what a fool he
is.
What a fool he is.
He thinks that this is the sweets that
he cannot fulfill its thankfulness, cannot repay Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala for it.
Can he repay Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for a day of health?
Can he pay Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for a breath that he takes?
Can he pay Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for a sip of water that he can
have?
We cannot repay Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for his ni'mah.
But we need to understand, we need to
try to enumerate the ni'mah of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala although it is mission impossible.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, لا تحصوها
You cannot.
But reflect, but ponder, but think about the
ni'mah.
So the first part of shukr is al
-i'tirafu bi ni'mati Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
To recognize and admit the ni'mah of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The second is the acceptance of the ni'mah
and allowing the ni'mah to be in service
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So a ni'mah has to, just like when
you feed the sheep, it shows and they
give you back milk and meat, when Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us bounty, this
ni'mah has to show.
This is what shukr means.
How does it show?
Three levels.
It has to show in the heart.
The gratefulness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has to be the heart recognition of that
shukr to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That's why it's part of iman, the shukr
to Allah.
And then it has to show on the
tongue.
We have to say it.
We have to announce it.
We have to remind each other of being
thankful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And then the third, and definitely not least,
is al-jawarah, is the actions.
Is that ni'mah should show in what we
do, in how we live, in what we
give.
This is what the ni'mah.
This is the shukr of ni'mah.
So when we submit to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, and we know there is no
ni'mah except from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ Nothing comes
from any other source than Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Our health, our wealth, our families, our children,
our business, our aman here, our safety.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala aman
and safety and food for all of our
brothers and sisters that are suffering today.
We have to recognize that, and we have
to direct all the thanks to the source
that it came from.
And in the hadith of Qudsi, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala says, اَنَا وَالْإِنسُ وَالْجِنُ فِيهِ
نَبَأٍ عَظِيمٌ اَخْلُقُوا وَيُعْبَدُوا سِوَى وَأَرْزُقُوا وَيُشْكَرُوا غَيْرِي
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in this
hadith Qudsi, that there is a great deal
between me and my servants.
It's a wondrous affair.
I create, and they worship someone else.
And I give rizq, I give the ni'mah,
and they thank someone else.
So our act of thankfulness, first and foremost,
has to be directed only to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
So someone says, how about, مَنْ لَا يَشْكُرِ
النَّاسَ لَا يَشْكُرِ اللَّهِ What about, when you
don't thank people, you don't thank Allah.
Thanking people and recognizing that the ni'mah of
Allah came through them, not because of them,
they're not the source of it, but the
ni'mah that came, came from Allah.
And thankfulness to people, when you thank a
friend or a person who did you a
favor or gave you a gift or did
anything good for you, in your heart, you
should always have that hudur, that understanding that
this gift came from Allah to you through
that person.
And by thanking that person, and then also
thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you're fulfilling
the thankfulness that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has ordered and ordained.
And we should use that ni'mah in the
pleasure and the marzat of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
We cannot...
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when He gives
us ni'matul basar, ni'matul sama, ni'matul sahha, ni'matul
shabab, all of these bounties that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala gives us, hearing, sight, youth,
strength, health, wealth, all of that should be
deployed in something that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala loves and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is pleased with.
If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives somebody
physical strength, and they use it for ma'siyah,
somebody gives someone wealth, and they spend it
foolishly in things that are not in the
pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Or they use their eyesight in looking at
haram, or their hearing in listening to haram,
or their tongue in speaking ghayba and namima.
These are not...
These are ungratefulness acts.
These are acts of ungratefulness to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
And there are levels of that, brothers and
sisters.
It is...
The first level is to know the bounty
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and to
recognize it, and then also to use it
in His pleasure.
But there is a higher level of shukr,
and that is to thank Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala when things are not right for
us.
When we feel that we are in dire
straits, in times of illness, in times of
financial hardship, in times when our safety is
threatened, in times when our loved ones are
in trouble, that type, sometimes it's easy to
forget or not be grateful during those times.
Maybe we would practice sabr, that also shukr
has to come at the same time.
Omar r.a said, مَا أَرْصَبَتْنِي مِن مُصِيبَةٍ
إِلَّا حَمَدْتُ اللَّهِ عَلَىٰهَ عَلَىٰ أَرْبَعٍ Never I
have been hit by a calamity, by a
musiba.
جَبَرَ اللَّهُ مُصِيبَةَ هَدِي الْأُمَّ وَمُصِيبَةَنَا أَجْمَعِينَ He
said, never I had a musiba, a calamity,
a test, a trial, a problem, unless I
thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for at
least four things.
And there are different narrations of this particular
athar.
This is not a hadith.
First, أَنَّهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ فِي دِينِ That that
affliction was not in my iman, not in
my Islam.
The most precious thing that we have, the
best gift that we all share inshallah, is
our faith, is our iman, is our deen,
is our Islam.
And when the musiba is not in our
deen, alhamdulillah.
And that's how the sahaba always felt.
And they would be hit with unspeakable calamities.
A woman lost her husband, her father, her
brother, and all her children in one battle.
And whenever they asked her, what do you
want?
They would say, where is Rasulullah?
I want to make sure Rasulullah is fine
because he is the source of our iman.
He is the source of our religion.
And when she saw him, she said, كُلُّ
مُصِيبَةٍ بَعْدَكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ جَلَلٍ Nothing compares
after you, Ya Rasulullah.
And that's how we should look at it.
Our iman should be the greatest ni'mah that
we should guard.
And when the musiba, no matter what it
is, and every musiba is hard.
If it's not in our iman, we say
alhamdulillah.
We thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And then the second reason, Umar continues, أَنَّهَا
لَمْ تَكُنْ أَكْبَرْ مِنْهَا Every calamity, wallahi, can
be worse.
Every illness can be harder.
Every financial difficulty can be worse.
Every problem can always be worse.
And we thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
at the time of calamity, at the time
of musiba, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
Latif, Khabir, Rahmanun Rahim.
Allah could have made it a lot worse.
And there may be a lot of forgiveness,
a lot of blessing in this musiba.
And then he said, أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُثِيبُنِي عَلَيْهَا
الْجَنَّةِ That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will
reward me and grant me jannah for thanking
Him for this musiba, for sabr upon this
musiba.
وَأَنْ أَلْهَمَنِي اللَّهُ الصَّبْرَ عَلَيْهَا That Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala put my heart at ease
in facing that calamity.
And then he concluded, وَأَنِّي تَذَكَّرْتُ مُصِيبَتِي فِي
رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَى اللَّهَ عَلَيْهُ سَلَّمُ And I
always remember the greatest calamity that ever hit
us and that is losing Rasulullah ﷺ.
Ash-shukr, brothers and sisters, is not just
words.
It's not things that we say.
Ash-shukr has the level of the heart,
the level of the amal, and the level
of the lisan, not just the tongue.
The heart has to be thankful, the tongue
has to be thankful, and our deed has
to show the act of thankfulness.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says to His
prophets, Dawood and Sulaiman, who were given a
lot of ni'mah, وَأَعْمَلُوا آلَ دَاوُودَ شُكْرًا Fulfill
the act of thankfulness.
Do work thankfulness, not just say it.
And the ulema said, الجزاء من جنس العمل
That reward or thanking Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala has to be in the same kind
of the ni'mah that Allah gave us.
If someone is alhamdulillah wealthy, he has to
give from their wealth, or she has to
give from her wealth.
Not saying I'm going to volunteer here and
volunteer that.
Yes, alhamdulillah, that's good.
But the ni'mah that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala خطصك بها That is Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala specially gave you, is that wealth.
He didn't give it to many other people.
So we thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
by deploying that wealth and His pleasure.
There are some people that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala gave them certain talents.
They should deploy it in the way of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
There are people that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala gave physical health.
They should work and fulfill the thankfulness through
their actions.
اللهم اجعلنا من الذاكرين الشاكرين العارفين للمعامك والشاكرين
عليها الحامدين في السراء والضراء أقول قولي هذا
وأستغفر الله العظيم لي ولكم في فوز المستغفرين
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على محمد
وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين Brothers and sisters, please
come forward, fill all the gaps and make
room for our brothers and sisters here in
the back.
What is the reward of being thankful?
If we fulfill that thankfulness to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, how does Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala pay us back?
How does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward
us for that shukr?
First, we have to reflect that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala called himself as shukr.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made one of
his beautiful attributes, beautiful names is as shukr.
And the shukr of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala given back to us is nothing like
we can ever imagine.
It's an absolute.
We can never thank Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
But when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward
our acts of thankfulness by his own thankfulness
subhanahu wa ta'ala, it's limitless.
It's way beyond what we have given.
It's way beyond any problem that we have
faced.
It is way beyond anything that we could
have done.
Allah will give us eternal bliss, eternal reward.
نعيما و ملكا كبيرا And that's how Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala have the shukr to
his ibad.
So that shakr, the person that gives thankfulness
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will be
one of the first people that will be
called to Jannah.
Will be from the first groups that enter
to Jannah.
And will be saved from the torment.
وَمَا يَفَعَلُ اللَّهُ بِعَذَابِكُمْ إِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ Why would
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala torment you if
you are of the shakirin?
And then shukr in this dunya, not only
the thawab of akhira.
When we are thankful here in this dunya,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us reward
in this dunya.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives you
a ni'mah and you thank Allah for it,
Allah will increase the ni'mah.
Allah will put barakah and blessing in that
ni'mah.
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ And this is in the
Quran.
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَإِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ When you
thank Allah, I will give you more.
وَلَإِنْ كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ نَسْأَلُوا اللَّهَ الْعَافِيَةُ
And if you are ungrateful, my torment is
severe, my torment is hard.
The closer we want to be to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, the more thankful we
should be.
Because that is in Hadith Qudsi.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and I will
conclude with that.
أَهْلُ ذِكْرِي أَهْلُ مُجَالَسَتِي أَهْلُ شِكْرِي أَهْلُ زِيَادَتِي
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, those who
remember me and mention me, these are, this
is my audience, this is my group on
the day of judgment.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
be of them.
وَأَهْلُ شُكْرِي أَهْلُ زِيَادَتِي And those who are
thankful to me, I will give them more.
And in the dunya they'll give them more
and in the akhirah there is ziyadah.
And what is that ziyadah?
It is the looking at Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
It is the greatest, the greatest ni'mah, the
greatest bounty that the people of Jannah will
taste and they will appreciate.
And that is the pleasure of looking to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
اللهم اجعلنا من الناظرين إليك والشاكرين على نعمك
يا رب العالمين Dear brothers and sisters, today
we will be, and I just learned about
that here recently, we will be given an
opportunity to show our thankfulness to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala for the ni'mah that he
has given us.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave us the
ni'mah of safety.
Our brothers and sisters cannot even have a
salah, cannot even have a night of peace
in many places in the world without expecting
a bomb to fall or a hospital to
blow.
And alhamdulillah we have the bounty of aman.
We have the bounty of wealth.
Wallahi even the least blessed of us are
better than 90% of the worldwide population.
And we say alhamdulillah.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala specifically in
our community gave us this gathering, this bounty,
this center.
That is our obligation.
And to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
we need to make sure that we preserve,
we upkeep, and we show Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala that we are thankful for the
ni'mah that he has given us.
Our masjid brothers and sisters is in deficit.
And wallahi when I hear that it's painful
and hurtful.
Our community should not have a deficit.
And inshallah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala this
deficit will be filled very quickly after Juma.
Because this sadaqa that we give, and inshallah
all of you will hang out, hang around
and participate even if it is a little
bit.
This sadaqa, wallahi it is one of the
best sadaqa.
It's from us, it's minna, wa ilayna, wa
thawabuha alayna.
That sadaqa, it's coming from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala bounties that he put in our
hands.
And then when we give it, where does
it go?
It comes back for us.
This place needs electricity, this place needs utility,
this place needs security, this place needs upkeeping,
needs scholars, needs a lot of work.
And all of that returns with good inshallah
upon us and our children and our community.
So what kind of a better zakah, better
sadaqa that you can give?
And then on top of that you get
inshallah rewarded for it.
So brothers and sisters, show Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala what he loves to see today.
And inshallah brother Adnan will come and you
will respond to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
by the best thing.
Allahumma inna nas'aluka fid-dunya hasana wafil
-akhirati hasana waqinaa azabannar Allahumma aghfir lanaa wa
liwalidayna wa li mashayikhina wa li arbabil hukooq
alayna wa li man 3allamanaa fihazad deeni harfan
ya rabbal alameen Ibadallah inna Allaha qad amaranaa
bi amrin badaa fihi binafsih wathannaa bimalaikati qudsih
wathallatha bikum ayyuhal mu'minuna min jinnihi wa insih
faqala ta'ala wa lam yazal qailan alima
tanbihan lanaa wa ta'alima inna Allaha wa
malaikatahu yusallunaa ala nabih ya ayyuhal ladhina aamanu
sallu alayhi wa sallimu taslima Allahumma salli wa
sallim wa barik wa an'im ala abdika
wa nabiyika muhammadin wa ala alihi ajma'in
Ibadallah inna Allaha ya'mur bil adli wal ihsan
wa ita'i dhil qurba wa yanhaa anil
fahsha'i wal munkari wal baghi ya'idhukum
la'allakum tazakkaroon aqim al salat inna al
salat tanhaa anil fahsha'i wal munkar wala
dhikrullahi akbar wallahu ya'alamu ma tasna'a
Allahu akbar wa Allahu akbar ash hadu an
la ilaha illallah ash hadu anna muhammadan rasulullah
hayya ala al salati hayya ala al falah
qad qamati al salat qad qamati al salat
Allahu akbar wa Allahu akbar la ilaha illallah
haqqa la ilaha illallah muhammadan rasulullah adamahallahu wa
aqamaha wa ja'alana min salihi aliha Please
fill in the gaps.
Like I said, we have alhamdulillah.
We have a full house today.
Just make sure all the gaps are filled.
Straighten the lines.
Always the line comes from the center, from
just behind the imam and it spreads on
both sides.
So always start the line, the new line
from the middle insha'Allah and balance the
lines.
The right of the line should be just
as balanced as the left.
So do our best insha'Allah to stand
before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala like the
rose of al-Malaika.
Do as I have around the arch.
istawa wa istaqeemu ila al salati arhamni wa
yarhamkumu Allah Allahu akbar alhamdulillahi
rabbil alameen arrahmanir raheem malik yawm al-deen
iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'een ihdina
al-sirata al-mustaqeem sirata allatheena an'amta
alayhim ghayri al-maghdoobi alayhim wala al-dalleen
sabbih isma rabbika al-a'la allathee khalaqa
fasawa wallathee qaddara fahada wallathee akhraja almar'a
faj'alahu huthaan ahwa sanuqri'uka falatansa illa
maa shaa Allah innahu ya'lamu aljahra wa
maa yakhfa wanuyassiruka lilyusra fadhakkir innafaati thdhikra
sayadhakkaru man yakhsha wayatajannabuha alashqa allathee yasla
alnaar alkubra thumma laa yamootu feeha wala yahya
qad aflaha man tazakka wadhakkar isma rabbihi fasalla
bal tu'thiruna alhayata aldunya walakhiratu khayrun wa
abqa inna hadha lafissuhufi aloola suhufi ibraheema wa
moosa alhamdulillahi
rabbil'alamin arrahmanirrahim maliki yawmiddeen iyyaka
na'budu wa iyyaka nastaeen idhina alsirata almustaqeen
sirata allatheena an'amta alayhim ghayri almaghdoomi alayhim
wala addalleen idha ja
'a nasrullahi walfath warayta annasa yadkhuluna fee deenillahi
afwajaa fasabbih bihamdi rabbika wastaghfir innahu kana tawwabaa
assalamu alaykum warahmatullah assalamu alaykum warahmatullah inshallah
be patient don't run away from an opportunity
to please Allah subhana wa ta'ala don't
run away from an opportunity to thank Allah
subhana wa ta'ala wallahi this fundraiser shouldn't
take us more than 5 minutes it is
painful and shameful if it took us more
than that it is not a great deficit
and it's something inshallah that we can do
very quickly so jazakumullah khair assalamu alaykum brothers
and sisters before we start the fundraiser everyone
can just stay seated for like 5 minutes,
7 minutes that's all we ask we don't
do this often we don't ask for operational
funds very often it is important that's why
we're asking for it before we start the
pledge couple of important announcements number 1, tomorrow
5pm is winter code drive people bring your
extra winter clothes package it, it goes out
to the community number 2, Rahma Worldwide is
doing a Gaza fundraiser tomorrow at FedEx Center,
Shelby Farms please attend number 3, our beloved
brother Mohammed Soos his father passed away in
Aleppo a couple of hours ago please make
dua for him and his father inshallah it
will be at 5pm at MIC please show
up and show your condolences having said that
please stay put because the numbers will be
shown to you brother Lath please put the
numbers on the screen so you guys understand
what we're dealing with inshallah it is a
very achievable number and brother Adhan will talk
about that assalamu alaykum so I don't really
need to spend too much time after such
a beautiful khutbah that brother Bashar gave the
beautiful message that he gave to everybody so
I don't think there should be anybody that
needs to be convinced that we all need
to participate and we all need to help
our masjid so our ask is not that
much we have a deficit of about 100
,000 this will take us to next Ramadan
inshallah and I pray that Allah SWT gives
us the opportunity to witness the Ramadan so
I'm gonna start off with the easy ask
which is $20,000 for the utilities do
we have a brother or a sister who
is willing to sponsor the utilities for the
next three months to be able to keep
the lights on to be able to keep
the place warm and comfortable where your fellow
brothers and sisters can come and pray and
be educated in religious education the kids can
come and learn Quran and become a sadaqah
jariah for you do we have a brother
or a sister who can donate $20,000
inshallah $20,000 anybody who is thinking about
it this is your opportunity this is your
opportunity to do good and gain all the
hasanat you can $20,000 it's not a
lot of amount for some people you can
give over three months inshallah sisters can also
contribute so if we don't have anybody for
$20,000 do we have two brothers or
sisters or family that can do $20,000
$10,000 each inshallah it's not a big
ask you can spread it over a few
months inshallah $10,000 $10,000 it is
our masjid brothers and sisters wallahi this is
coming back to us so do your best
dig deep inshallah we have volunteers outside with
forms you can fill up the form you
can go to the kiosk you can donate
go to the website $10,000 that's about
$200 a week and may Allah SWT bless
your wealth and your money inshallah and you
can do it if you are sitting here
and you are comfortable and you are listening
to the khutbah you are praying I think
this is your obligation to do the right
thing I don't want to ask anything else
so is there anybody here that gets free
things from MLGW do you get free utilities
do you get free telephone service so why
the masjid has to be free can somebody
answer that I'm sorry I'm being a little
upset here but can somebody answer that why
do you expect the masjid to be free
it's not your responsibility it's not my responsibility
to pay for this inshallah our community has
always showed generosity and we know there was
a lot of fundraisers here recently this community
raised over about a million and a half
just in the last few weeks and I
know inshallah there is a hundred thousand to
keep this masjid going so if you can't
give 10,000 I understand 10,000 could
be a big amount of money but you
can give 10 dollars you can give 100
dollars whatever you can you need to donate
and you need to contribute for the services
that you use can we have people inshallah
for 5,000 I'm sorry I'm interjecting you
brother no problem 5,000 dollars inshallah and
that's easy Allahu akbar barakallah fik who else
for 5,000 barakallah 2 3 mashallah mashallah
Allahu akbar 4 barakallah fik may Allah reward
you all who else for 4 we need
4 more jazakallah khair barakallah are you raising
it for dad good jazakallah khair barakallah fik
anyone else for 5,000 any of the
sisters inshallah for 5,000 let us know
so brothers this is the end of the
year so you don't only get reward from
Allah SWT but you also can get your
money back part of the money back from
Uncle Sam as tax deduction so keep that
in mind too use this opportunity to maximize
your tax benefits like I said inshallah all
of you here that are not saying anything
will donate don't leave this place without donating
wallahi anyone for 2,500 inshallah we can
have at least you know at least 10
people for 2,500 anyone for 2,500
and then you can split it over over
a few months and you can even pay
200 a month 250 a month wallahi we
pay more for much more unnecessary services 2
,500 barakallah fik jazakallah khair may Allah reward
you and reward your family inshallah anyone else
for 2,500 barakallah fik jazakallah khair barakallah
fik barakallah fik jazakallah khair barakallah fik here's
another 2,500 we have three we need
more barakallah fik another one that's four yeah
subhanallah yeah like I said we have 2
,000 people if each family gives 1,000
we will have more than enough anyone else
for 2,000 for 2,500 2,500
inshallah barakallah fik jazakallah khair barakallah fik we
have five alhamdulillah who else who else for
2,500 I know people are leaving anyone
for 1,000 anyone inshallah we'll give 1
,000 dollars