Kamal El-Mekki – When Considering A Career
AI: Summary ©
The segment discusses the challenges and obstacles faced by young people in theirselelf, including lack of financial literacy, social media, mental health, and mental health issues. The narration prompts them to consider various options for their careers, including education, becoming a judge, and learning a language. The speakers stress the importance of finding the end result of one's careers, rather than just trying to achieve something. They also discuss the benefits of pursuing a career in mixed martial arts, including gaining a high professional salary and being able to achieve goals. The segment emphasizes the importance of considering all aspects of a career, including motivated by values or desire to achieve something, and finding one's own success.
AI: Summary ©
Hayya ala as-salāmu
alaykum Hayya
ala al-falāhu
Hayya ala al
-falāhu
Allāhu akbar
Allāhu akbar Lā
ilāha illa Allāh This
khutbah is when considering a career.
This khutbah is based on an observation I
made over 20 years ago, and two years
ago I found a study confirming it.
The overwhelming majority of our youth, they all
believe, they have this firm belief that when
they get old, they will be successful, they
will be famous, or in the least case,
they're going to be millionaires.
It's almost impossible to find a young man
or boy who does not believe that they're
going to be a successful millionaire when they
grow up.
The reasons behind that is that on television
and on the internet, what happens is it
creates an illusion that wealth is readily achievable,
because they see people living lavish lifestyles, and
they see successful entrepreneurs, so they believe that
this is very easy.
And then they see social media influencers that
project an image of luxury and wealth, and
they don't fully disclose the effort and the
amount of work it took to reach that
level.
So the result is that young people believe
that this is easily attainable.
On top of that, they add from the
reasons, lack of financial literacy, they have unrealistic
expectations, they don't know about investing, personal finance,
the time and commitment to build wealth, so
they just imagine that it's easy.
And then they mention that there are so
many, or the mentality of this get rich
quick, this mentality is very prevalent in our
times.
You always hear stories of people who suddenly
went viral, became an overnight sensation, or they
won the lottery, or someone started a company
and then he sold it for a billion
dollars, or he built an app and someone
bought it for 300 million dollars.
So you see this all around you, you
start to believe it will happen to you.
And then they mention optimistic bias, they underestimate
the challenges and obstacles.
In this khutbah, we want to look at
statistical probabilities of making it to the NBA,
or becoming an MMA fighting champion, or a
famous YouTuber, or an actor, and some other
things to consider.
But I'd like to begin by a narration
mentioned by Imam Al-Zahabi, narrated by Abu
Yusuf who is a student of Imam Abu
Hanifa.
Qal Abu Hanifa, لما أردت طلب العلم جعلت
أتخير العلوم وأسأل عن عواقبها So when I
wanted to choose a career path to study,
when I'm seeking knowledge, I started to ask
about each branch or science and then what
is the end result.
فقيل تعلم القرآن It was said to me,
learn the Qur'an.
So I said, if I memorize the Qur
'an what happens next?
They said, تجلس في المسجد فيقرأ عليك الصبيان
والأحداث He said, you sit in the masjid
and then the very young kids and the
youth, they come and they recite upon you.
And then one day one of them will
surpass you or become equal to you, so
you will lose your position.
So then he said, so what if I
hear the ahadith and I write them down
until there is no one in the world
that is comparable to me.
They said, when you get old and weak,
then the youth and the young will come
and gather around you.
And then inevitably you will make a mistake
and then they will accuse you of lying
and that will be counted against you.
So he said, I have no need for
that.
And then he said, what if I learn
a language?
They said, you will sit and you will
teach the youth and they will give you
a dinar or three.
So he said, then what if I learn
fiqh?
And they said, you will be asked questions
and you will give fatwa to people.
And you will be asked to become a
judge even if you are a young man.
I said to myself, there is no knowledge
better than this.
So I sought out fiqh and I learned
it.
Now, I want one thing from the narration
and I admit there are some things wrong
with the narration.
But I want to share them for the
sake of that honesty.
Imam Al-Zahabi, rahimahullah, himself commented.
He said, it is unlikely that Imam Abu
Hanifa chose fiqh because of status and becoming
a judge.
What's the proof?
In his life when he was offered to
become a judge, he completely refused it.
And he caused tension between him and the
Khalifa.
And then also the Qur'an.
And Nabi ﷺ said, خَيْرَكُمْ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ
وَعَلَّمَهُ The best of you is the one
who learns the Qur'an and teaches it.
It's not just about someone surpassing you in
voice and becoming better than you or anything
like that.
So it could be that the people he
was consulting were just not knowledgeable.
They were just average laymen.
And they were giving him these wrong estimations
of the end result.
Or it could also be that some of
his estimations were due to him not being
learned at that time.
You study his biography.
He started to seek knowledge when he was
much older than the typical.
So it could be that the way he
estimated the end result also wasn't that of
a learned person.
And it's also not motivated by money.
At the end of the day, because you're
going to get one or three dinars.
That's why he doesn't want to become from
the Nahwi and the linguists.
But what is good about the narration?
That's the only reason I mentioned this narration.
Is that this young man kept asking, What
is the end result of pursuing this?
What is the end result of spending my
time doing this?
And this is what the khutbah is about.
This khutbah is not about crushing dreams or
telling you which career to choose.
But it is, what is the end result
of what we spend the bulk of our
time on?
So for example, when you speak to youth
who spend hours playing video games.
Their answer is almost always that there is
such and such who is a gamer.
And he won a tournament and he won
over a million dollars.
Statistically, you have less than a 1%
chance of becoming a millionaire gamer.
I'm going to give you an example.
And remember this for the rest of the
khutbah.
I call this the Medina brothers.
And I would meet these people.
Young brothers who want to go study overseas
in Medina Islamic University.
One particular brother, he applied for Medina Islamic
University.
And he is waiting for the response to
come.
So in the meantime, he said, I'm just
going to drive a cab.
If I go to school, I have to
stop it.
If I start a career, I have to
end it to go to Medina.
So he started to drive a cab.
And for five years, he is driving this
cab waiting for Medina to respond.
And in these five years, please focus on
the story.
This is not about being a cab driver
or putting down being a cab driver.
Some people just never focus.
Please focus with me.
Alright.
The point is that he spent five years
driving a cab.
He could have spent four years and got
a degree.
And even started one year into his masters.
He could have started a career at a
company.
The point is that.
So what's the answer?
The answer is, when you behave here, your
life, you live as if Medina University doesn't
even exist on the planet.
You sent your application form.
And then you work towards your degree.
And you study.
And you work as if Medina doesn't even
exist.
And if the call comes through one day,
you drop what you're doing.
And then you go pursue your passion.
But if it doesn't come, you still advanced
as a person.
You still studied.
You still built your career.
You didn't just wait and stay on hold.
So that's what we're talking about here.
So learn and acquire skills.
Do what you love.
And also consider whether it's halal or not.
Let's look at mixed martial arts.
And mixed martial arts is blown up.
And all our youth, everywhere you go.
I travel the country and I just meet
people.
And they're in mixed martial arts.
There is nothing wrong with that.
Learn it.
Enjoy it.
Have the skill.
But don't let it consume your life.
Don't let it take you away from your
studies.
Or take you away from learning your religion.
There's a difference between doing that.
Learning boxing.
Sparring is halal.
But pursuing a career in that.
Not permissible.
You're hitting people in the face.
That's the whole aim of hitting people in
the face.
And Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam explicitly prohibited that.
So you don't pursue a career in something
like that.
And by the way, becoming a boxing champ,
there's a less than 1% chance in
that.
And there are other things to consider.
So many of our youth, they'll just disappear
from the masjid.
Where are you?
Just mixed martial arts.
The median annual salary in 2024 for a
UFC fighter was $51,370.
43% of the fighters, they made less
than $45,000 a year.
Which is very little.
There is no health insurance.
There is no retirement.
The top earners made $112,000 a year.
But how long does it take to become
one of the top earners?
What are the odds you'll become one of
the top earners?
And then how many years can you keep
doing that?
With it taking its toll on your body
for just $112,000 a year.
But people look at the millionaire fighters.
And the odds of reaching that are even
less or even lower.
Look at basketball.
Nothing wrong with basketball.
Learn it.
Use it to get into shape.
But if you look at trying to make
it to the NBA.
And wallahi, it's not about crushing dreams.
Just follow with me.
If you look at the NBA.
0.03% of high school basketball players
make it to the NBA.
A small percentage of them make it.
3% of high school basketball players.
They make it to college division basketball.
And then 1.2% of those that
make that have an appearance on the NBA.
Look at it this way.
In another way.
They said there were half a million high
school basketball players.
Half a million.
Only 16,000 from half a million made
it to college divisions.
And then from those 16,000, only 110
made an NBA appearance.
They didn't become a star in the NBA.
Just an appearance in the NBA.
So if you want a career, look at
that.
And look at other factors.
The average height of an NBA player is
6'6", basically.
Look at all these things.
Consider all these things.
In American football, there were 1,083,000
and change high school players competing, and 251
became pros.
So statistically, that's 0.023% of those
who made it.
Soccer.
They say for an American soccer player to
make it to the top tier levels, it's
a 1 in 55,393 chance of making
that.
1.4% of college soccer players will
make it to the pros.
So play, learn, enjoy it, aim high.
The point is, going back to the Medina
example, what's your plan B?
So that's why I'm saying, this khutbah is
not crushing your dreams.
You can make it.
Have a plan B, because there's a 99
% chance you won't make it.
So what do you fall back on?
That's all we're saying.
YouTuber.
Less than a 1% chance of you
becoming a popular YouTuber.
There's a massive pool of creators, millions of
people, and only a small percentage will have
enough of a following and earn enough of
an income from being a YouTuber.
An actor.
To become a top tier actor, there's a
1 in 1.5 million and some change,
or a 0.4 zeros and then 63%.
And only 2% of them are going
to make a living from acting.
So one more time, do what you love,
make sure it's halal, be realistic, pursue your
career, but also know your odds, have a
backup plan, is what we're saying.
For the adults who don't understand why this
khutbah topic, I've been dealing with you since
1994, that's exactly 30 years.
And I'm telling you, it's overwhelmingly insane.
The number of youth who all believe they're
going to be famous, and millionaires, and successful.
And they tell you how many cars they're
going to have.
The guy is 8 years old.
And he tells you he's going to have
a giraffe as a pet.
And if you're not aware of it, I'm
very aware of it, and I'm telling you.
So, take into consideration when choosing a career,
I'm speaking to the youth now, take into
consideration what the ummah needs.
What the community needs.
Take into consideration benefiting people, and living to
please Allah عز و جل.
And also calling to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala's religion.
Narrated by Tabarani, that Abdullah ibn Dinar, he
narrates from a number of the companions of
the Prophet ﷺ.
He says, يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَنْ أَحَبُّ النَّاسِ
إِلَى اللَّهِ They ask, who are the most
beloved people to Allah?
قَالَ أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ The most beneficial of them
to others.
You would imagine a hadith of who's the
most beloved to Allah, something about the longest
hours in prayer, or longest days in fasting.
But the one who benefits others the most,
للناس.
Didn't even say المؤمنين or المسلمين.
The ones who benefit people the most.
And then, the hadith continues, of the most
beloved deeds to Allah, is to bring happiness
to a believer.
Or you remove a difficulty from him.
Or you settle a debt for him.
Or you push hunger away from him.
Then the Prophet ﷺ says, and to accompany
a brother of mine on an errand or
an issue, a problem that he has.
And he didn't say to solve it, just
to accompany him trying to solve a problem,
is more beloved to me, than to make
i'tikaf in this masjid of mine for one
month.
The masjid al-Nabawi, where the salah equals
10,000.
And the Prophet ﷺ would prefer to walk
trying to help his brother take care of
something.
And that's more beloved to him than to
make i'tikaf, never leave the masjid, and then
be in constant worship for 30 days.
In Sahih Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ said, مَنْ
اِسْتَطَاعَ مِنكُمْ أَيَّنْ فَعَ أَخَاهُ فَلْيَفْعَلُ Which, whomever
of you is capable or is able to
benefit his brother, then let him do so.
So the reminder is, live to please Allah,
live to be beloved to Allah عز و
جل, to worship Allah, and to call to
Allah.
أَقُولُ مَا تَسْمَعُونَ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُوا اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ
كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُسْتَغْفِرُونَ الحمد
لله على إنعامه وأشكر الله على تفضيله وامتنانه
ولا إله إلا هو تعظيمًا لشانه وصلى الله
وسلم وبارك على خير خلقه محمد وعلى آله
وأصحابه وأخوانه أما بعد There are many talks
by Muslim speakers on the internet, many many
talks about leaving a legacy.
In my personal opinion, that's very harmful because
the focus is leaving a legacy, something to
be remembered by.
So it leads people to market themselves, to
do things to grab attention, to make their
name memorable and it can lead to doing
things with the wrong intention.
The better way, and there is a khutbah
that we gave in this member about that,
it's on our YouTube channel.
The better way to focus on your legacy
with Allah عز و جل with sincerity, working
towards what pleases Allah عز و جل.
And if you do that with sincerity, they
might look at the lives of the great
that lived before us from the Muslim ummah.
And they started off working sincerely for Allah
سبحانه وتعالى.
They weren't trying to get famous.
They weren't trying to get recognition.
And wherever, in any aspect of Islam, do
we give sadaqa to get famous or do
we do an act of worship and fast
so people know that we fast.
They always started sincerely.
Some of them got famous, some of them
got recognized, but they weren't motivated by people
recognizing them.
And that's the problem when we're pushing for
everyone to just leave some kind of legacy
behind.
People have done crazy things just to be
remembered.
But focus on your legacy with Allah سبحانه
وتعالى.
With that we ask Allah عز و جل
to make us of those who see the
truth as a clear truth and follow the
best of it.
And to make us of those who recognize
falsehood as a clear falsehood and abstain from
it.
Allahم أرنا الحق حقا و أرزقنا اتباعه و
أرنا الباطل باطلا و أرزقنا اتنابه اللهم لا
تجعل الدنيا أكبر همنا ولا مبلغ علمنا ولا
إلى النار مصيرنا اللهم أبرم لأمة الإسلام أمرا
رشدا يعز فيه أهل طاعتك و يهدى فيه
أهل معصيتك و يؤمر فيه بالمعروف و ينهى
فيه عن المنكر يا سميع الدعاء و صلى
اللهم وبارك على مبعوث رحمة للعالم