Bilal Assad – The art of giving dawah
AI: Summary ©
The importance of learning about Islam is emphasized, as it impacts one's life and non-Muslims returning to their identity. Other stories include a woman who was impressed by a partner's actions, a woman who was impressed by a partner's actions, and a woman who was impressed by a partner's actions. The segment also touches on the loss of a Muslim brother and the importance of learning about Islam in one's life.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah, wassalatu wassalamu ala rasulillah, salamu alaykum wa
rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
My dear brothers and sisters, I've given tonight's
topic a strange name, it's called Da'wah
Chronicles.
So basically I'm going to talk a little
bit about what Da'wah is, and then
I'm going to talk about all the challenges
and stories, and the lessons from my personal
life and the lives of other da'is
and sheikhs that I know, just to share
some of the experiences with you in relation
to Muslim identity, especially in the West, and
the challenges that we went through in our
lives, and some funny stories, and some stories
that require us to be patient and persevering,
and to illustrate, brothers and sisters, that Jannah,
Jannah, Paradise, is not for free.
And Allah, Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Allah's
product, what he has to offer, is very
expensive.
Behold, the product of Allah which he has
to offer is Jannah.
And Allah says in the Quran, Allah has
made a transaction deal with the believers.
Allah SWT has bought yourself in exchange for
Paradise.
What has he bought from you?
For you to worship him, and at the
end of the day, it's the benefit, it's
yours.
And Allah SWT does not want his worship,
but he wants you to represent this deen,
this beautiful deen on earth, the religion of
Islam, and Islam is not just a religion
that was born at the time of Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, contrary to people's understanding, it
was born from the beginning, from the time
of Adam, from before them, the jinns, the
angels.
For it has always been the same God,
the same message, all the time.
But just the name is new, Islam.
So during our journey in Australia, myself, and
overseas, and a few of my other colleagues,
we share with you inshallah, the journey of
dawah, calling to Islam, or inviting to Islam,
and the challenges of having a Muslim identity
in school, outside of school, at work, in
the streets, in public, everywhere.
So I begin with a little tiny story
here, just to tickle your fancy a little
bit, get you involved.
Back in 2005, for some of you who
were born at that time, there was a
tsunami that happened in Indonesia, in a place
called Banda Aceh.
Big tsunami, lots of people were killed, rahmatullah
alayhim.
So I went with my school that time
to visit the villages over there.
I went to Jakarta, and I was coming
down the escalators in one of the shops,
and there was a missionary man waiting for
me right at the bottom of the escalator.
I don't know about myself, maybe it's my
face, I'm always attracting these missionaries everywhere I
go.
Maybe that time I attracted them even more.
Just minding my own business, and this missionary
comes towards me and stops me.
He was a Christian, and the first thing
he said to me, he wouldn't let me
talk, the first thing he said to me
was, brings out a pamphlet and says, did
you know that Christianity is the largest religion
in the world?
Its followers are the largest, we are the
most.
So I listened more, and he said, because
God has blessed us, there are many of
us.
So I replied by saying, are you trying
to explain to me that the truth, God's
religion, the truth, is based on numbers, or
is it based on the content, the message?
I said, because, do you believe in Abraham,
peace be upon him?
He said, yes of course, Prophet Abraham.
He said, you know the Quran tells us
that Prophet Abraham was the only Muslim, or
the only believer of God in the entire
world.
I said, yes, something like that.
He said, numbers, said Jesus, peace be upon
him, they wanted to kill him, isn't that
right?
And he was the only one among a
few people.
I said, yes.
He said, so numbers does not prove anything
about the truth, or false.
And subhanallah, he didn't really listen, he just
wanted to give me the pamphlet.
I took it and went off.
And I remembered the hadith of the Prophet,
peace be upon him, which says, لَيَبْلُغَنَّ هَذَا
الدِّينُ مَا بَلَغَ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ This deen, this
religion of Islam, from the time of Muhammad,
peace be upon him, will reach what the
night and day has reached.
Until it will not leave out any house,
whether it's made of mud or brick, except
that it will enter, and those who are
in there will receive it with pride, or
they will receive it with misery, they don't
want it.
But it will enter, whether you like it
or not.
In other words, this deen will spread whether
you like it or not.
Who will accept it and who won't is
between them and Allah.
But Allah's guidance will reach everybody.
And today we don't find a single place
of the world, maybe there's somewhere we've never
heard of, except that Islam, the teachings of
Islam, has reached them.
Subhanallah.
And we all know about Indonesia, how it
is the largest Muslim population in the world,
in that country.
And how did Islam get there?
Through dawah, through Muslim tradesmen, not because they
went and told them about Islam and propagated
and started to do what missionaries do, they
merely went with their Muslim identity, they prayed
in front of them, they interacted with them,
and obviously through interacting, they showed them their
morals and principles, which the religion of Islam
shows them, and that is honest trade and
so on.
Now these people, they hadn't heard and seen
Muslims before, and to see them in such
a morality and such a guidance interested them
a lot.
And through them, Indonesia became the largest Muslim
population of the world.
Through the actions and behaviour of the Muslim
Arab merchants, who came in from Arabia, they
were the descendants of the Arabs of the
time of Muhammad ﷺ.
And in the 1600s, the Indonesian Makassan tribe,
they're called the Makassans, entered Australia and started
doing trade with the Aboriginals, the native peoples
of Australia.
1600s, before Britain, before the Dutch, before the
Polish, before any of them came to Australia,
the Muslims were doing trade with the Aboriginals,
the indigenous peoples of Australia.
And you can see carvings inside of their,
drawing inside of their caves till today, which
show interaction and trade between the Muslim Indonesians,
Makassans and the Aboriginals.
And you have even some funeral rituals that
they drew, similar, taking on similar rituals and
practices of Muslim funerals.
Subhanallah, and they never hurt them or denied
them or colonized them.
They traded with them in truth and honesty.
And throughout the world, you can see Islam
spread like lightning.
This is a deen, a religion, which people
have tried to make it look like it's
extremely barbaric, it's extremely violent, it's extremely backwards.
They even tried to get to the women
a lot to say it denies you your
rights.
Yet, several studies, and you all have seen
them, have shown that among the highest conversions
or reversions to any religion nowadays in the
21st century is to Islam.
You'll find several studies, let's just say that
among the top.
And that women being the largest to revert
or convert to Islam in the West, especially
in Britain.
There's an article in the Guardian, which says
that the largest conversions in Britain are women.
And yet, the most emphasis on trying to
make Islam look bad is usually it's about
women.
Usually it's about women.
Yet it's not working.
And the conversion rate of people accepting Islam
in Europe has increased by 400% in
the last year, according to the Globe Eye
News.
Some people will say it's because of birth
and because of migration.
No, these are conversions.
It's a bit difficult to show how many,
but there is a large influx.
And we can see it on social media,
how much this has risen.
But then again, brothers and sisters, truth is
not by numbers.
I just wanted to highlight that to show
you that all we have to do as
Muslims, number one, be proud of your Muslim
identity.
Number two, learn your Islam well.
Number three, practice your Islam to the best
of your ability.
For actions speak louder than words.
And you all know that in the time
of the Prophet ﷺ, when he wanted to
enter Mecca and do Hajj, the story of
Hudaybiyah, the Meccans people in there would not
allow them to come in.
So they sent a representative of them, and
they made a treaty, a Hudaybiyah treaty.
They said, we will have ten years of
peace between the idol worshippers of Mecca and
the Muslims of Medina.
Neither will harm the other.
Peace, and the Muslims can speak about their
religion, and so can the Meccans, the polytheist
Meccans can speak.
Nobody will harm anyone.
Ten years of peace.
But in that contract, there were unfair terms.
The disbelievers of Mecca said, anyone who converts,
for example, converts to Islam, you're not allowed
to take them away.
We have to keep them with us.
We can imprison them, torture them, do whatever
we want.
And anyone who, apostate, who leaves Islam and
goes back to the beliefs of the forefathers
of Mecca, you have to return them back
to us.
You can't keep them.
Among other unfair terms, which aggravated the companions
of the Prophet ﷺ.
But what did the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ do?
He accepted those terms.
And to the point where the companions were
so angry, because they also said, you're not
allowed to do your Hajj this season.
You have to go back.
They had travelled nearly a month to get
there.
And everybody was allowed to go into Mecca.
You're not allowed to refuse them.
That was the Arab protocol.
Everybody knew that, but they weren't allowed.
Among other terms, to the point that the
Prophet ﷺ took out his sheep, the Uthiya,
to do the sacrifice, at least, without entering
inside of Mecca.
And the companions would not obey him.
He said, do your Uthiya, do your Qurban,
do your sacrifice.
And they would not obey the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ went back into his house.
With him was his wife, Umm Salama.
And she saw him very worried.
She said, what are you worried for, Ya
Rasulullah?
He said, my companions are not listening to
me.
I fear a punishment from Allah bestowed upon
them.
Like those before me, the Prophets before me
and their people.
And then she said to him, let me
give you an idea.
You go out and slaughter your sheep in
front of them.
And they will copy you.
Because these companions love you and they imitate
you.
They're just angry at the moment because it's
an unfair deal.
Even Umar ﷺ says, Ya Rasulullah, are we
not on the right?
He said, yes.
Isn't Islam the truth?
He said, aren't they on the wrong?
He said, yes.
Then how can we accept to lay our
heads down and accept this humiliation?
Let's fight, let's fight.
Rasul ﷺ said, no, continue this way.
So he went and slaughtered the sheep and
all the companions followed him.
The point I wanted to highlight about this
story, is to show that the priority for
the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and the priority in
the Qur'an, and the priority of Islamic
teachings, is to have peace.
Peace with the enemy.
Why?
To open the doors, to teach Islam freely,
without fearing.
And that's why Rasul ﷺ, he said ten
years.
He wanted ten years, that's the objective, thinking,
far-sighted thinking, visionary ﷺ.
The treaty didn't last for two years.
Who broke it?
The allies of the enemy.
And that's when they entered Mecca anyway.
But in those two years, 40,000 or
so people had embraced Islam.
More, more, than the 15 or 16 years,
from the time the Prophet ﷺ received the
Qur'an, became a prophet, more embraced Islam
in just those two years, than all those
16 or 17 years.
Why?
Because of the treaty.
Ten years of peace.
Imagine the ten years continued.
And after that Islam spread.
I've just said that some people say Islam
spread through the sword, Islam spreading through migration,
through birth.
No, no, it never did.
That's part of it.
But again, it's not about numbers.
It's about the truth.
And Allah ﷻ is religion.
He's the one that takes care of it,
not us.
Some Muslims are very bad Muslims.
Some Muslims even make up their own version
of Islam.
They go on social media, some of them,
and they interpret the Qur'an their way.
There's a lot of them coming up now,
just the way they understand it.
This is my version of Islam.
The way I think of God.
No, even if we had seven billion of
them, that is not the truth.
In fact Allah says in the Qur'an,
وَإِن تُطِعَ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِي الْأَرْضِ يُضِلُّكَ عَن
سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ If you were to follow the
majority of the people of the world, they
will lead you astray.
وَمَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ وَمَا
تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ You will
not find the majority of people, even if
you tried counting them, you will not find
that the majority are believers.
وَقَلِيلُ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورِ وَقَلِيلُ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورِ
And only a minority, a small amount, are
truly grateful for the guidance that Allah has
given them.
So, brothers and sisters, it is not through
numbers.
However, alhamdulillah, those who embrace Islam, I have
seen, some of them became better, more knowledgeable,
and stronger in faith than many, many Muslims
who were born with that faith.
And we see people who were born with
Muslim families and leaving Islam because they were
never taught Islam properly or their desires are
stronger.
And then you see Allah SWT replacing them
with better people from outside.
Every person, if I learnt anything in my
life in da'wah, in the world of
propagating Islam and talking about Islam, it is
that every individual is a potential Muslim.
Every individual is a potential Muslim.
And never look down upon anyone.
Allah SWT brings us that example in surah
Abasa wa Tawalla.
Allah says, Arabic Abasa
wa Tawalla, he frowned and turned away.
Who frowned and turned away?
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Arabic When the blind man came to him
asking about Islam, he said, Ya Muhammad, Ya
Muhammad, tell me about Islam.
The reason the Prophet ﷺ turned away was
because there were high caliber, high value leaders
from other Arab tribes, a delegate who had
come into Medina.
And the blind man, Rasul ﷺ thought, I'll
talk to him later.
Let me deal with these guys before they
go.
Because if they convert to Islam, we've got
whole tribes converting.
He's thinking numbers.
He's thinking influence.
But Allah told him the other way.
Told him, why did you turn from the
blind man?
When the blind man came to him.
And then Allah questions the Prophet ﷺ in
a very kind and gentle way.
Arabic How would you know?
How would you know, O Muhammad, O Messenger
of Allah, that the blind man will be
of greater benefit and greater reminder than all
those who you're talking to?
Maybe not one of them will embrace the
truth, but that one man will embrace and
he'll have more of an effect than anyone.
How do you know?
Guidance is not in your hands.
Arabic And when you saw the blind man
move away, because the blind man tried, O
Muhammad, and he turned away politely, and the
blind man sort of, he can't see, so
he turned and said, maybe I'm not that
important.
And then Allah says, and then you busied
yourself with the delegates.
After that day, his name is Abdullah ibn
Umm Maktoum, and he became the muezzin, the
muezzin in place when Bilal r.a was
away in Medina.
And he was a very important man, Abdullah
ibn Umm Maktoum r.a. He was better
than a thousand of those delegates.
After that, the Prophet ﷺ used to go
to this blind man, and he would say
to him, every time the blind man would
come over, the Prophet ﷺ would visit him.
He would say to him, Arabic Welcome to
the one whom Allah taught me a big
lesson, because of him.
Allah guided me, or reprimanded me, or told
me why, because of you.
Openly he used to say it ﷺ.
And he never differentiated between the poor or
the rich, or the person of high status
or low status.
In fact, in the time of the Prophet
Muhammad ﷺ and thereafter, more slaves were liberated,
bought and freed, than any other civilization known
to that point, from our Islamic history of
course.
And among them was Bilal r.a, Suhaib
al-Rumi, Ammar ibn Yasir, the names go
on and on, who later on became leaders.
Now there are two types of people in
the Muslim nation, in the Muslim ummah.
There are those whom Allah ﷻ praises, as
those who embraced Islam, are righteous, they do
everything that pleases Allah to the best of
their ability, they're great with their family, they've
got extraordinary morals of deen, they do their
worship, but that's it.
Allah praises these types of Muslims.
Allah says this in the Qur'an, in
Surah 41 verse 30, Allah
says, Allah
says also about these people, and
in the hereafter, This
is by way of hospitality from Him, who
is most forgiving, most merciful.
These are the majority of Muslims and believers,
whether you were born into it and continue
to stay steadfast, or whether you embraced it
and entered Islam, at any time of your
life, and stayed steadfast, and you stay that
way till death.
Allah praises you in this verse, and talks
about you this way.
However, there is a superior group, above that,
and it's open for offer, for anybody.
The superior group, first of all needs to
meet this prerequisite, they have to be that
at least, first of all.
And it is not, an obligation for everybody
to do it, whoever can do it, has
the ability to do it, and wants to
do it.
What is it called?
It's called, what I said before, Da'wa.
Da'wa means, to invite to Islam.
The word Da'wa means, invitation.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala chose this word,
and said it in the Qur'an, and
the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam spoke
it, and it is the terminology we use,
when we talk about, propagating Islam.
We don't use the word propagate, we don't
use the word missionary, we don't use the
word, you know, say, or tell, or show.
We say, Ud'u.
Da'wa.
Which means invite.
Invite.
Invite carries many beautiful meanings.
Invite means, it's kind.
Invite means it's an offer.
Invite means you give bits of information, but
not too much, and you take it easy
slowly.
Invite means, you do not force a person,
you don't coerce a person, you don't pressure
a person, you don't threaten a person.
Invite means, it's up to the person to
accept or not.
We don't reprimand them, or swear at them,
or hurt them, or, return, even if they
were, hurtful in their words to us, or
they were bad to us, we don't return
the same bad, while we are inviting.
We invite.
And that is, the second group of these
believers.
Allah says after that, Surah
Ali'Imran verse 104, Allah says, There must
be a party who invite people to all
that is good, and enjoin the doing of
all that is right, and forbid the doing
of all that is wrong.
It is they who will attain true success.
So that's the superior group.
The ones who are righteous within themselves, and
on top of that, they are ready to
go, and be in the path, of where
there's going to be challenges, there's going to
be hurt, there's going to be places where
they have to, exercise extraordinary patience and perseverance,
they have to learn, they have to be
able, to persevere through it.
If nobody does it, then all the Muslim
Ummah, all the Muslim community is in sin.
But if some groups do it, then Alhamdulillah.
But of course we all have duties.
If you're married, you have a duty towards
your family, towards your children.
If you're a teacher, you have a duty
towards your students.
If you're a person of authority, you have
a duty towards the people you have authority
over.
And so on.
But we're talking about, at large, to the
public, to the community.
If you take part in building a mosque,
if you take part in establishing, you know,
a religious organization, or a charity organization, or
you establish an education institution, which teaches and
propagates Islam, then you would have taken part,
Insha'Allah, in Dawah.
But Dawah is not for everybody.
Not every Muslim has to, go on social
media, and put their two cent in.
Because some people, they ruin the situation.
Some people, they don't know how to give
Dawah.
Some people need training, and knowledge, and wisdom.
Allah says in the Quran, وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا
مِّمَّنْ دَعَىٰ إِلَىٰ اللَّهِ And who is fairer,
and more beautiful in speech, than he who
calls to Allah, and acts righteously, and says,
I am a Muslim.
Did you see the combination there?
Invites to Allah, acts righteously, and says, I
am a Muslim.
Three things.
You can't hide from your Islam.
You can't hide from your identity.
You have to be bold in saying, I
am a Muslim.
And not fear.
Unless of course, your life is at stake,
or something like that.
But a Muslim doesn't hide.
A Muslim doesn't need to change their name,
in order to be accepted.
Unless, there is a necessity situation.
Like it's got to do with livelihood, or
something like that.
But in general, a person doesn't change their
identity, doesn't try to hide it.
Doesn't try to, you know, look a certain
way, different to what they really believe.
No.
Identity.
I was once at the Mercy Hospital, and
I was going down the elevator, and I
see a man, with the, you know, I
don't know what he called it, the Jewish
way that they do the locks here, the
hat and everything.
He's like chief of heart surgery, or something.
The guy didn't care how he looks.
And that's why people think, well, you know,
if I look a certain way, it will
hinder my way.
No.
It's your attitude.
Anyway, brothers and sisters, Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala supports you, if you support your deen,
and if you give victory to Allah.
Of course, your mannerism, your character, your qualifications,
your skills, your experience, your attitude, all has
to be developed.
And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
Oh Prophet, good and evil are not equal.
Repel evil with that which is good, and
you will see that he, between whom you
and there was enmity, shall become as if
he were a close friend of yours.
Why is Allah saying that?
Right here.
He's saying it because he's getting us ready.
Once you show your Islamic identity, once you
speak about your deen, anyone asks you about
your deen, there are going to be challenges,
there's probably even going to be hurtful words
and treatments.
Not only from non-Muslims, it can be
from Muslims themselves.
Some people will go to a mosque and
say, that's why I never go to mosques
again, because 1, 2, 3.
No, the mosque is the house of Allah.
I've seen people who embrace Islam or they
weren't on a right path, Alhamdulillah they repented,
and they become leaders, they become influences of
others.
No need to let people decide whether you
go to the mosque or not.
People decide if you're going to be a
good Muslim or not.
Otherwise there's something wrong there with sincerity.
Maybe if the people are harming you, you
go to another mosque, but don't say, I
never go to the mosques, or I never
want people to see me, and I don't
want to look like a Muslim, because blah,
blah, blah.
Some people they say, I don't want to
pray, because I've seen people who pray, they
steal.
I don't want to wear the hijab, because
those who wear the hijab, they swear night
and day.
I don't want to be like that.
No, no, that's the shaitan talking to you.
It's getting a hold of you.
Always recite the Qur'an.
You by yourself can be an ummah, a
nation of your own.
And at the end of the day, Allah
swt will not question them, He'll question you.
What are you like?
What have you done?
Allah will not bring your mum and dad,
and your brothers and sisters, and your friends,
and the people at the mosque, and people
at work, and people at the school, and
your cousins and friends, and say, why wasn't
Muhammad on the right track?
Why wasn't Fatima?
No, Allah's going to ask me and you.
What did you do?
Each person on their own.
Brothers and sisters, for this reason, da'wah,
Muslim identity, does require a little bit of
patience and perseverance.
Alhamdulillah we live in Australia where we have
freedom of speech to a certain point.
Alhamdulillah we have safety and security.
I went to Germany, and I met some
brothers who lived in Australia, they got married
and moved to Germany.
So when you travel, you start to appreciate
where you are.
Here in Australia growing up, I even went
through that little phase, where I thought, man
we're oppressed here, we can't talk, we can't
do anything.
Yeah, there is some racism here and there,
there is some hardship sometimes.
But when you travel, you find that, hold
on a minute, I'm actually ten times better
over here, which motivated me to keep going.
Brothers from Australia went to Germany, they said,
brother over here, you do this or you
say that, you got no rights whatsoever.
There's not even any Muslim schools.
Here we have them, Alhamdulillah.
So I said, can't wait to go back
to Australia and continue to talking about my
deen, Alhamdulillah.
Their ears, Alhamdulillah, are receiving.
Now brothers and sisters, Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, he was our role model.
And Allah says in the Quran, لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ
فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ There has come
to you a great example in the messenger
of Allah.
Aisha radiyallahu anha describes him with the people.
What does she say about him?
She said, Rasul Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
never used to act upon his anger.
And he never used to treat a person
who mistreated him in the same way.
But he used to pardon and look past.
There is a difference between a person lowering
their cheek and letting the person step on
the other cheek, and a person becoming a
suck-up job, and a person who just
wants to be a people pleaser, and a
person who has integrity, stands firmly with their
religious beliefs and their strong, right, correct opinions,
but still not responding or acting in the
same way as other people's mistreatment.
And there is a difference between a person
defending themselves and a person acting with integrity
and good character.
But Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, never treated
other people in the same mistreatment.
And Allah subhana wa ta'ala says, Repel
evil with good.
What does it mean?
It doesn't mean be a goody-goody and
a nice, nice and let people walk over,
you know, it means don't go step down
to the same level.
There is a way for you to stay
with your integrity while still not acting in
mistreatment like others.
They say revenge is a dish best served
cold.
Isn't that right?
You know, have you ever heard that statement?
Like don't take revenge straight away, let the
time happen.
You'll find, you'll see things do change inshallah.
My brothers and sisters, so in Islam and
in deen, we have to have patience and
perseverance.
And Allah says in the Quran, did people
think that it would be enough for them
to say, I believe without being tested about
their belief.
We shall know who is honest in their
belief and who is a liar.
You believe there's going to be some tests,
which you're going to prove to yourself and
for the day of judgment that you deserve
paradise.
Doesn't just come like that by sitting and
doing nothing.
So there's going to be some things and
Allah tells us in the Quran, you shall
be tested with a little bit of times,
with a little bit in your life, with
your property and your family sometimes.
And then Allah says in Surah Al-Imran,
and you will hear definitely hurtful words from
the people of the book and those who
are polytheists.
You're going to experience a lot of harm
and hurt from them.
But Allah rewards the persevering and the patient.
Of course, not all non-Muslims are like
that.
In fact, many of them Alhamdulillah have encountered
goodness from them.
But Allah is talking to the Prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and throughout time and throughout
the world, we have experienced a lot of
hurt.
Just go open up the internet, type Islam
and see how many people just talk rubbish,
very bad things.
We should not talk the same.
We don't go and attack people's religion and
put it down and swear at people.
Allah SWT tells us do not swear at
their religions because then they will swear at
yours.
Adwan, meaning while your deen is precious, it
shouldn't be like that.
So we don't swear at other people's religion.
Even if they do, we move away.
We move away from them.
We don't open the door for them to
continue.
Once I was having back in my fiery
days, we had...
When I say fiery, I wasn't really fiery
back in the days.
But I was a little bit more energetic
than now.
So we had a little debate over the
internet.
I was at a mate's house.
And this guy hops on and he starts
swearing and swearing and swearing and swearing.
And I said, okay, we don't talk to
you people who swear until you're able to
talk like a human being.
The guy kept swearing and swearing.
So I wrote to him and I go,
nobody respond to him from among the Muslims
until he knows how to talk civilly.
And then in the end, he starts talking
nice.
He goes, all right, I'm not going to
swear.
Not like it means anything.
He said, okay, thank you.
It means a lot.
And we started talking, alhamdulillah.
We don't have to swear back.
You don't have to do all that stuff.
Thinking that, oh, because I swear at him,
yeah, see, I took care of him.
I took care on behalf of my sisters
and brothers.
No, no, it doesn't work like that.
So, brothers and sisters, Allah says all of
this in the Qur'an, وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ
قَالُوا سَلَامًا And when the ignorant address them,
they say salama, meaning they say a word
that stops the conflict and moves away with
their integrity.
And if they do attack them, they do
defend themselves.
Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did say, do not
wish to meet the enemy.
But if the enemy, if you are obliged,
and the enemy is in front of you
and you have to, then be like, be
strong as a lion.
But don't wish to meet the enemy.
We don't go looking for trouble.
My brothers and sisters, we look in the
past and we find the sahabas and the
prophets experienced all this hurt in the way
of da'wah.
Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu was once sitting in
a masjid and Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and
his family was sitting with him in Masjid
Nabawi.
And another man enters and he starts to
abuse Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu.
Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu stood there, sat there
and did not reply a single word while
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was smiling and
watching.
Then Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu couldn't handle it
so he replied.
Even though Abu Bakr had the right to
reply, but Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam wanted the
other Abu Bakr.
He wanted him up a higher level.
So then the Prophet peace be upon him
stood up and he left the masjid.
Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu raced after the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said, why ya Rasulullah?
He was abusing me, I had my right.
He said, yes.
But you see, when he was abusing you,
I can see an angel replying to that
man on your behalf.
And when you replied, the angel went, the
shaitan came, because the shaitan loves to ignite
between people.
He said, this is my opportunity.
And he says, I don't sit in a
masjid or in a place where the shaitan
is there.
So we learn to aspire to a higher
degree as much as we can inshallah.
We hear about Yusuf alayhi salam in the
Quran, Joseph, Prophet Yusuf alayhi salam.
His brothers threw him in a well, he
became a slave, he was in the dungeon.
And in the end he became the treasurer
when his brothers realized him, they said, our
brother, forgive us.
And even in that process, when they went
and they didn't recognize Yusuf alayhi salam, one
of their brothers, there was a trick between
Yusuf and one of their brothers, Benjamin, and
he said, I'll put the king's cup into
your bag and we'll act like you stole
it so I can keep you with me
here.
Long story.
But cutting the story short, Yusuf alayhi salam,
he said, one of you has stolen.
They said, who has stolen?
So he said, let's look through your bags.
He said, whoever has stolen will stay with
you.
So they looked through all the bags until
they found the cup of the king in
the bag of Benjamin, his brother.
Now his brothers, the other brothers, the ten
brothers, they said, if he has stolen, then
he also had another brother of his once
upon a time who was also a thief.
Because Benjamin came from the same mother of
Yusuf.
They shared the same father and the same
mother.
But the rest of the ten brothers shared
a different mother.
And they still had a rim for Yusuf
alayhi salam even decades later.
But they didn't recognize him.
They said, فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخُلَّهُ مِنْ قَبْلٍ If
he steals, then his other brother used to
steal.
Their step-brother, right?
And so Allah says about Yusuf alayhi salam,
فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوصُفُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ Yusuf
alayhi salam kept his rage inside.
He was angry, but he did not show
them that he was upset at what they
said.
And he never brought it up with them.
Because these things are visionary.
And in the end, they find out that
it was Yusuf alayhi salam and they said,
please forgive us, you know, we did not
do right by you.
And he says, لَا تَسْرِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ There is
no harm upon you today.
Come bring your families and live in luxury
and goodness and anything you want.
That is the state of the Muslim, of
the believer.
There is a story of a man named
Thumama ibn Athal رضي الله عنه was one
of the companions of the Prophet, peace be
upon him.
This man Thumama what happened to him?
Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was in Medina
there was an Islamic state established and these
people from the Hanafi, they were called the
Hanafi tribe not Hanafi school of thought, they
were called the Hanafi tribe and Rasul sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam knew that they were enemies
there was conflict between them and hostility.
And they didn't have a peace treaty with
the Muslims.
So back and forth there was hostility and
battles and so Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
one day took a pre-emptive strike and
he sent out a delegate of soldiers, they
went to that tribe they had a battle
and they were victorious and they brought with
them some of the prisoners.
Among the prisoners was this man Thumama ibn
Athal he was one of the leaders, high
status leaders, among them very wealthy and if
he embraces Islam, the whole of the tribe
will embrace Islam.
So they brought him and the Prophet peace
be upon him ordered that he be tied
to a pillar in the mosque why?
Who knows why?
So he can see the Muslims how they
interact with each other and learn about Islam
perhaps the man will like Islam and embrace.
So he said feed him and look after
him and don't tie him too hard and
everything and he stayed, right for a few
days.
Then the Prophet peace be upon him came
to him after a few days and said
What's going through your mind Thumama?
And Thumama said to him the following words
I can only think well of you oh
Muhammad.
That was a good response.
Then he said And if you choose to
execute me you would be executing someone who
deserved to be executed because I fought you
and I killed people from among you and
a noble blood which would even be more
satisfying and worthy to execute.
Then he said And if you choose to
be favorable and good to me you would
be doing good to a person who is
grateful and never forgets a favor.
And then he said If it is wealth
you want ask any amount I will give
it to you.
No pressure no coercion, no threat.
He gave him all options.
Kill me I deserve it.
Let me go I don't forget a favor.
You want money?
I'll give you money.
Good?
I see good in you.
Second day Rasul peace be upon him came
back to him.
What do you think ya Umama?
He told him the exact same words.
Third day he came back to him and
said what do you think ya Umama?
He told him the exact same words.
Then the Prophet peace be upon him said
Let him go.
Let him go.
The man went to a nearby lake secretly
bathed, said the shahada and came back.
And he said it again in front of
the Prophet peace be upon him I bear
witness there is only one God and Muhammad
and you O Messenger of Allah and Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah.
The story is the companions asked why and
he said I only saw goodness in this
deen, this religion opposite to what I used
to hear and I thought a religion like
this cannot be except from God and you
treating me the way you treat me I've
never seen any enemy do that and he
said the reason why I didn't embrace Islam
then is because I didn't want my people,
the enemies of you to think that I
was coerced or threatened or tortured or forced
to become a Muslim.
So you let me go, I became a
Muslim of my own accord and came back
free.
We learn from the da'wah, the invitation
of the Prophet peace be upon him, how
he used to teach Islam.
We have many many examples like that but
this is only one.
Now from this story we learn number one,
non-Muslims can be inside the mosque if
there is a benefit of them entering the
mosque.
Sometimes we have open days, some people object
why do you have non-Muslims?
That's what our duty is we're living in
Australia, we need to open, we need to
let them see what's going on.
You know how many people pass this mosque
in my time when I used to be
here, the public relations officer for many years
back in the days and how many people
we welcomed them in I used to see
them say come inside, how many people used
to say to me we've been passing this
mosque for five six years and too afraid
to go in, we don't know what's going
on, we start thinking all these thoughts this
is where they start to get themselves ready
for this or that.
You know one of the mosques I know
about in Newport they built it with large
windows that you can see inside, the entire
mosque is transparent and the plan they said
was because we want non-Muslims to see.
So that's a really good way of inviting,
let them see what we're doing.
Don't hide Islam.
So that's one.
Number two, we learn from this hadith, doing
good to those who do not deserve it,
that's a character that Allah loves to see
in a Muslim.
Number three, extra rewarding when you have power
over someone who doesn't deserve goodness, when you
have power over someone like this man and
he doesn't deserve it, you are extra good
to them, that is also a character of
a believer.
Number four, showing Islam with wisdom and beautiful
manner.
And number five, sincerity and honesty in conversion
or reverting to Islam without pressure or coercion
is a fundamental core of Islam.
We don't make people convert or revert because
we want to marry them.
We don't talk about Islam for people because
we want a business benefit from them.
We don't do that so that we can
for whatever benefit that we want.
You do not do that and a person
does not revert or convert to Islam because
they fell in love or because they want
a benefit.
No, it has to be sincere.
I remember a brother who came here to
the mosque back in the days again and
he said, I want to become a Muslim.
I said to him, why?
Normally Muslims will say to me, what are
you doing brother?
You might go outside and get run over
by a car and die and that would
be your fault.
You could have gone to Jannah.
I said, take it easy man.
Don't anxiety attack right now at me.
Just take it easy.
I need to ask him why so that
he knows what he's doing.
The brother said, I met someone and I
want to become a Muslim for her because
I love her.
Now to him, he thinks he's doing a
really good thing.
It's for love.
It's a beautiful thing.
I said, you can't become a Muslim for
love my friend.
You have to be sincere.
I said, separate the two.
He said, are you ready?
He thought about it and he goes, no
I'm not ready.
So he went.
He said, go study Islam.
I could have told him to say the
Shahada there and then but I don't agree
with that.
He's not ready.
He's not honest.
He said, I'm not honest yet.
Wallahi two years later, I thought I stuffed
up.
I said, what did I do?
Two years later, Wallahi he came back and
he said, now I'm ready.
And he converted.
He embraced Islam.
His kids went to our school which I
taught at and they graduated even.
So I'm not going to say more than
that.
Still a Muslim till today, mashallah.
We're talking maybe 26, 27 years ago.
Amazing.
So inviting to Islam with wisdom and beauty.
I remember a brother once entered one of
our Islamic organizations back in the days as
well.
And this brother was shivering.
And I still remember a great lesson from
one of my older brothers who had started
dawah and gathered a lot of the brothers
and sisters to start to teach about Islam
and help people who are in need.
And this particular brother walked into the center.
He looked completely lost.
He's shivering.
He's about to die.
He was on drugs.
And he said, look I've been on heroin.
I've been on drugs.
I just need to stay here, please.
I need to save my life.
He was a Muslim but didn't know much
about Islam.
All the rest of the members there, they
said, get him out of here.
He's going to steal.
He's going to do that.
The person in charge, he said okay, just
hide all the money.
Take everything that can be harmful away.
And he said, no one talk to him.
You stay as long as you need.
Gave him a place.
Everything.
Alhamdulillah.
This brother said to me, I know him.
And he said, that, just that, made me
really really work on myself and even if
I died, I was going to stop drugs.
It's a long story, but he went through
a lot of withdrawals and he almost died.
Maybe two months.
In the end, he was clean.
Until today, he's clean, mashallah.
We're talking about again, maybe 27, 28 years
ago.
You see, sometimes, Dawah is not just talking.
It's treatment.
We have just recently, a sisters group.
All of them embraced Islam.
And a lot of them had a very
ugly past.
Not their fault.
That's the life that Allah willed that they're
born into.
But the work that they did, getting sisters
together, finding homes for them, doing shared rental
places for them, for single mothers, those who've
come out of domestic violence and so on
and so forth.
And the amount of Islam that they propagated
and they invited was amazing.
We don't judge people based on their past.
My brothers and sisters, a few more stories
I want to share with you.
Dawah and Muslim identity starts from a very
young age.
So if you're a father or a mother,
make your children feel proud of their identity.
Not by talking, but by praising.
By taking them to events, Muslim events, letting
them see other Muslims, showing them the smile,
showing them the goodness.
I remember a friend of mine said to
me, six year old daughter said, where's the
man that smiles?
I said, who?
Me?
She said, yeah.
They remember a smile.
So little children, right?
When I was in year six, I think,
we had a substitute teacher.
It was a Muslim school.
And someone wanted to put on music while
we do our work.
Now me, the extremist, no, no, I'm joking.
Me, at that age, my dad told me,
Baba, you know, music, that world, you know,
Michael Jackson and all that is not very
good.
Because truly, what are the lyrics?
Beat it, beat it.
Right, you know I'm bad, you know I'm
bad.
And all that, right?
Some good lyrics, but these are the things
my dad used to teach me, not good.
Quran, good.
So I said, I don't want music.
Substitute teacher wasn't Muslim.
He says, let's vote on it.
And the entire class voted for music.
Only me.
I said, no.
So I said, alright, can I go to
another room?
He says, yeah, you can go to another
room.
I said, whoever wants to change their mind,
follow me.
No.
Stayed by myself for two periods.
Some of those students, mashallah, a lot changed
over time.
And they're religious leaders themselves.
Some of them did tremendous work later on.
But perhaps that day, some of them reminded
me of that day.
So from a young age, my father used
to teach me about the companions and say,
you're like this.
My favorite companion was Musab ibn Umair.
Why?
Because he was a good public speaker.
He was good at convincing people and talking
to people.
So I learned the art of talking.
And one day I said, oh Allah, give
me the art of talking.
You know, I got for example, some students
at Nuh, for example.
I would say, you're like that Sahabi was
it Ibn Umar.
The Prophet ﷺ said, you have clemency.
You have patience, for example.
Sometimes I look at my students and I
say, you're like Aisha, you're like Khadija, you're
like, it's nice to let the children see
themselves like a Sahabi.
Look back at them.
And you know what?
Every time I got teased or abused, I'd
remember the Sahabis and the stories my father
told me.
And I'd say, Alhamdulillah, I've got an entire
history of great, amazing warriors and people behind
me.
I'm not going to settle for this.
In year eight, I remember we had some
Greek friends and I had one Muslim friend.
And you know, my father taught me about
Islamic identity.
And all of them start teasing and whatever.
But we used to debate about Islam in
art class.
And we had back and forth, back and
forth until the end of the year that
Muslim friend and I, we started praying in
the portables because it was a non-Muslim
school.
And these same students, they used to come
to me and say, you know that friend
of yours, he used to swear a lot.
But after he came into this school, he
doesn't swear much.
You know, he's changed.
I said, that's Islam.
This guy used to walk into the corridor
and say, it was the Gulf War that
time, the Muslims are going to take over
the world.
And everybody's going, what's this guy?
I said, Habibi, calm down.
That's not how you talk.
At the end of the year, we had
a fight and we sort of split up
and split apart.
And then those non-Muslims used to fight
with us.
They came and they felt sorry.
They wanted to reconcile us.
And then I realised, hold on a minute,
they respect us.
There was respect.
And I learnt about the Sahabas and the
Prophets that even sometimes if a person is
your enemy, they'll still respect you if you've
got integrity and you're on the truth.
And then we became friends and, you know,
now we're sort of 40 something and we're
still you know, they ask about me, I
ask about them.
So the idea, brothers and sisters, is with
Dawah, especially living in the West and places
like this, we have to be very wise
and strategic in the way that we do
it, insha'Allah ta'ala.
I'll just have a couple of more stories
and then we'll go to Aisha.
Once we were playing soccer and then we
stopped to pray the Dhuhr and we put
the soccer ball in front of us.
You know, like Sutra, soccer ball.
And this man was walking with his kids
and his family and I could hear the
kid saying, and you know when you're praying
Dhuhr, it's absolutely quiet.
The kid from far away, Dad!
Their God is a soccer ball.
They're praying to a soccer ball.
Ha, ha, ha, ha.
And the guy, I hear the father go,
shh, shh, son.
Gotta respect them, okay?
Anyway, after we finished, we just turned around
and he said, look, we're sorry that my
son said that.
I said, no, no, that's fine.
How are you, buddy?
And then I started making friends with him
and the guy asked us what we're doing.
What's the worst that can happen that we
prayed in front of him?
He asked us.
The kid said a couple of words.
We were happy with it, that's alright.
And then we started telling him about what
we're doing and he was very impressed.
He says, it looks very peaceful.
Once I was praying, it was time for
Maghrib, almost gone, I was on the freeway.
Got out of the car, I'm praying on
the side.
You know how bad it is?
And cars are going, zoom, zoom.
One guy comes up, he goes, Osama!
Laughter Laughter Laughter And every hour I just
go, when's Rakuah coming down?
So I put my head down, maybe a
rock will come flying or something.
But no, Allah SWT protects you.
The Osama thing happened a couple of times.
I was coming out of the school where
I used to teach, coming out with all
my beard and everything, walking and another car
comes up and goes, doot, doot.
I looked at him and he goes, Osama!
You know what I did?
I go, I don't know, he just goes,
Osama!
And I go...
And then from a distance he goes, are
you alright, mate?
Laughter Be chill, be cool.
Who cares?
Words are not going to do anything.
Alhamdulillah.
Finally there's a story about Latrobe University.
When I was about 2021, Ahmed Didat was
coming down and we're bringing him down to
give some da'wah here, rahmatullah alayh.
If you know Ahmed Didat, the great scholar
of comparative religions.
So we're giving out some pamphlets in the
Latrobe University and I had some friends with
me who were very fiery.
So we found about four or five people
sitting propagating Christianity.
They were missionaries, Christian.
They called themselves born again Christians.
They're giving out some Bibles and everything, new
revised version.
And the boys, they're telling me, come on,
start them, start them.
I said, Habibi, we don't start da'wah
like that.
And then they're arguing with an atheist.
An atheist is really getting them.
So I came along and I asked the
atheist, what's the issue here?
And he said, you're telling me that God
has a son and he's got a family.
I can't accept a God who is like
me.
I said, that makes sense.
But you're telling me he has a son.
I said, no, he doesn't.
And then I recited to him, I gave
him some da'wah and he was very
impressed.
And then he said, can I have some
of these pamphlets?
So I said, look, I'm a Muslim but
these guys think I'm a Christian.
So I turned to them and they said,
that was very calm and very good and
they were very impressed.
And I said, yeah, because I'm a Muslim.
I was talking about Islam and it's because
you're telling me he has a son or
whatever.
And we got into a three hour back
and forth debate.
Some of the Muslims started coming out and
mate, they didn't look like Muslims.
And they're going, I know you, you're wrong
and you're this.
And I said, brothers and sisters, please stop.
This is not how you give da'wah.
We're going back and forth and I recited
one verse of the Qur'an from Surah
Maryam.
Wallahi, they went quiet.
And I remember that Joshua guy, he comes
up and he goes, in front of like
300 people they had gathered and he said,
that sounds beautiful.
What is that?
I said, that's the Qur'an.
And he entered his heart, just by reciting
a bit of the Qur'an.
Anyway, after that they established a Christian organisation
that focuses on finding problems in Islam.
Because it was that effective, alhamdulillah.
The point of that story is that we're
saying, alhamdulillah, learn your deen, learn and be
well equipped and be polite.
Say it with character and with integrity.
Not everybody can do the same thing in
the same way.
I had a brother who said to me,
I want to be able to speak so
people can listen to me.
I said, that's not, that's the wrong intentions.
Do what you can and you never know
where your message reaches, where the effort goes,
inshallah.
But do it right and know what you're
saying and do it with the proper wisdom
and proper knowledge.
And you never know.
Allah does not look at the outcome, He
looks at your effort and the Rasul sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam did say, talk about me
even if it's one sign.
I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
accept our deeds, to never let it go
in vain, to forgive our shortcomings and I
ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bring
relief soon for our brothers and sisters in
Gaza and everywhere around the world wherever there
are destitutes.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala lift your
pain and your struggles from your lives and
may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keep the
guidance and the noor in front of us
and yours and may Allah increase us in
knowledge, wisdom and goodness and make Jannah our
abode.