Mirza Yawar Baig – Define Yourself
AI: Summary ©
The speakers stress the importance of personal definition and investment in oneself, family, and ability to create a legacy. They emphasize the need for anticipation and participation in democratic processes to ensure everyone is represented and addressed. The speakers emphasize the importance of protecting privacy and avoiding instant pleasure, as well as protecting individual privacy in the election process. The speakers emphasize the need for engagement and cooperation in achieving goals and emphasize the importance of avoiding instant rewards and protecting one's interests and privacy.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillāhi r-Rahmāni r-Rahīm, al-ḥamdu liLlāhi
rabbiyāi l-'ālamīn, wa-salātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalá
ashrafī l-anbiyā'i wa-l-mursalīn, Muḥammadun
Rasūlu Llāh ﷺ taslīman kathīran kathīran.
O my brothers and sisters, it is very
important in life to define ourselves.
Everything depends on how I define myself, how
do I see myself, who am I?
Based on that, what do I do, what
can I do, what can't I do, what
is appropriate, what's not appropriate, what gives leverage,
what does not give leverage, and so on
and so forth.
Now, Allah swt made the laws that run
this universe, including our world.
They include the laws of physics, which we
call natural laws, but those are not the
only ones that Allah made.
There are others, which are equally powerful, non
-negotiable and inescapable, that govern and determine the
success, influence and happiness of human life.
Those who learn those laws and operate according
to them can have as much success and
influence and happiness as they wish.
Those who go against those laws, they pay
the price.
Sometimes they drag others into that mess as
well.
So, my question to myself and you is,
are we spectators or players?
How do we define ourselves?
Are we spectators or players?
The difference is skin in the game.
Spectators can watch and scream and scream encouragement
or abuse, wear T-shirts and caps and
discuss the game, but they have no impact
on the outcome.
They don't decide who wins or loses the
game because they have no skin in the
game.
They don't bleed for the cause.
They don't invest time, money, sweat and tears
to help their side to win.
They just scream from the stands.
That seems to be our situation as Muslims
today in the world.
We don't want to invest.
We don't want to bear inconvenience.
We don't want to stand in the street,
in the rain or sunshine to make our
voices heard.
We want someone else to do it for
us.
We want someone else to lose their jobs,
get doxxed, get brutalized by the police, even
go to jail for our cause.
But we don't even want to be seen
with them.
Yet we want our cause to win.
Well, all I can say to you is
good luck because you are going to need
a lot of it.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala created a world
of cause and effect.
Those who benefit from a rise in the
share price are shareholders in that firm.
Not those who read the financial times, but
have no money in the firm.
So, therefore, my advice to myself to you
is invest in yourself.
Invest in your family.
Invest in your society.
Ask yourself, how much money did I spend
to enhance my own knowledge, my own skills,
my own ability, my own understanding of life?
If we want influence, we have to do
this.
If you want power, start contributing.
It's like a tweet.
I saw the other day by somebody who
was obviously against BDS and the boycott campaign.
The tweet said, I want to boycott everything
made by Muslims.
Can someone please send out a list?
I mean, how tragic is that?
Now, remember, we came to give, not to
take.
Our teacher taught us.
And we were supposed to teach the world.
But instead, we forgot the teacher and his
teachings and started learning from others.
We didn't even have the sense to ask,
who am I learning from?
What is his interest in me?
Why would he teach me anything to benefit
me?
I remind myself and you that in the
life of every man and woman comes a
time when a window opens.
And they have a unique opportunity to make
an impact and influence others.
To succeed, we need to anticipate and prepare
for the opening and act with courage when
our window opens.
The window doesn't stay open all the time.
The window shuts.
And once the window shuts, life is over.
Even if you remain alive.
Our window is open now.
As I mentioned, once the window shuts, life
is over, even if you remain alive.
Because to live is not merely to draw
breath.
To draw breath is to survive.
To live is to create a legacy of
honour.
We hear two statements usually from well-meaning
but confused people regarding politics.
One, I am not interested in politics.
And the other one, politics is dirty.
Well, guess what?
As somebody said, you may not be interested
in politics, but politics is interested in you.
It's like a deer saying, I am not
interested in the wolf.
If the deer wants to survive and thrive,
there is only one way.
Get interested in the wolf to influence him
in your favour.
That's what we must do with politics.
Become interested, contribute, participate and become influential.
As for politics being dirty, that is true
as a description of the current state.
But that doesn't mean that it must necessarily
remain that way forever.
Anything dirty remains dirty for one reason only
and that is because those affected by the
dirt have got used to it and they
choose to remain with the dirt.
If those affected by dirty politics do what
they do when they encounter dirt in anything
else, the dirt will go the same way.
So, let us complete that statement, politics is
dirty and add, but we are going to
clean it.
Believe me, it will happen.
It is waiting to be cleaned.
The cleaning cannot happen without us getting our
hands dirty.
But once we start washing, both the fabric
of politics and our hands will become clean.
Politics is the art of influencing.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent us to
influence.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ
أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَعْمُرُونَ مِن الْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ
الْمُنْكَرِ وَثُوبِرُونَ بِاللَّهِ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
said, you are the best people, your best
of people, best community ever raised for the
benefit of humanity.
You encourage good, you forbid evil and you
believe in Allah.
What is encouraging good and forbidding evil if
it is not influencing?
Tell me.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us that
our job is to clean society from all
kinds of evil and promote all kinds of
good.
Good governance comes at the top of that
list.
Society can only be cleaned by insiders, by
citizens.
Participating in society does not mean only living
in the place and having shops and buying
and selling things.
To participate is to be interested in the
welfare of the place.
That means to do, to invest time and
energy and money and talent and all kinds
of resources to help to do whatever is
necessary to ensure good governance.
It means to cooperate and collaborate with others
to make that happen.
It means to make societal change both our
long term and short term goal.
We can and must move from a position
of deciding which of two bad choices is
the least harmful to deciding which of two
or more good choices.
Is the most beneficial.
It can happen but not without participation.
We must play the game.
Not just watch from the sidelines and brainwash
ourselves that we can do nothing.
What is the role of Muslim citizens who
live in democratic countries?
Not only in this one, any democratic country.
Should they participate in government from voting to
standing for election to discharging their responsibilities in
different capacities in local and national government or
not?
Or should they abstain from doing any of
these things?
And if they should abstain, then tell me
how are they to ensure that their rights,
their needs and their issues are represented and
addressed by a government that they did not
elect or show any interest in.
We have multiple examples in the world and
historically about what happens when you refuse to
participate in governance.
None of them is good.
It's not about political parties but about being
interested in and being willing to contribute to
the nation.
We must understand that working to ensure good
governance is the most important part of citizenship.
That is the secret of power.
Not merely casting our vote, important though that
also is.
But standing for truth and justice and advocacy
of worthy causes, helping the weak, volunteering our
time and talents for the benefit of society,
putting our money and effort where our mouths
are when it comes to helping others.
We the people of the nation through the
ballot box have delegated the authority.
Please understand this.
We delegate the authority to run the nation
to those we elect, to those we elected.
But the responsibility remains with us.
We retain the responsibility for their success or
failure.
I recall my favourite quote.
It says, we get the government we deserve.
Somebody said this, not me.
It's my favourite.
We get the government we deserve.
Changing society is not instant coffee.
It won't happen overnight.
We have the example of the Syrah of
Rasulullah s.a.w. where Rasulullah s.a
.w. with him at the helm and the
best of all generations at his command.
It took them 23 years.
Societal change is running a marathon.
It's about the long haul.
We must convince ourselves that our society needs
change and that nobody else is going to
do it for us.
And get used to working for the long
term and stop looking for instant rewards.
Take the case of all the Sahaba who
died before Fatah Mecca.
None of them saw the victory of Islam.
Musa ibn Umair, Abdullah ibn Jahash, Sa'ad
ibn Mu'adh, Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib, Khadija
ibn Khuwailid, Zaid ibn Haritha, Jafar ibn Abi
Talib, Radhi Allahu Anhum Ajma'in and many
others did not see the victory of Islam.
But they didn't get tired.
They didn't lose hope.
They didn't stop investing.
They did not despair or even slow down
their efforts for Islam.
They continued with undiminished energy and dedication.
They didn't have donor fatigue and activist fatigue
and this.
We have invented these terms to justify our
laziness, to justify the fact that we don't
want to move for our own benefit.
To move for your own benefit is the
absolute basic minimum, self-interest.
It's not even something to talk about.
If we do only that, we should be
ashamed of doing that.
We are supposed to do things for others'
good.
Not only for our good.
But we don't even do that.
So where are we?
Islam was victorious because of these people.
Because they invested themselves in the victory of
Islam.
Even though they did not live to see
that victory themselves.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is their
witness.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا آحَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ فَمِنْهُم مَنْ
خَضَىٰ نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُم مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَفْدِيلًۭا
Allah said, among the believers are men, and
rijal here is not a gender statement, it
says man being somebody who has nobility, whether
it's a man or a woman, rijal.
Among the believers are men who have proven
true to what they pledged to Allah.
Who is saying they prove true to the
pledge?
Allah Himself.
Some of them have fulfilled their pledge with
their lives, others are awaiting their turn.
But they have not changed their commitment in
the least.
وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَفْدِيلًۭا Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
praised them and called them ar-rijal, real
men, real people, real people of nobility.
People of honour who were true to their
word, did not break their pledge.
Our pledge with Allah is for life.
Our akhirah is the reward for that pledge.
So how can we get tired?
How can we give up when Rasulullah ﷺ
never gave up?
And his Sahaba never gave up.
He is our example and to that we
must remain true.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala honoured the Sahaba
and told us about their attitude in times
of danger.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, وَلَمَّا رَأَى
الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْأَهْزَابَ وَلَمَّا رَأَى الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْأَهْزَابَ قَالُوا
هَذَا مَا وَعَدَنَا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَدَقَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
وَمَا زَادَهُمْ إِلَّا إِيمَانًا وَتَصْلِبًا Allah said, when
the believers saw the enemy alliance, they said,
this is what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ
promised us.
This is what they promised us.
The promise of Allah and His Messenger is
true.
And this only increased their faith and submission.
Because at that time, as you know, the
Manafiqin were trying to frighten them.
They were trying to say, this is what
Rasulullah ﷺ brought upon you and these people
are going to destroy you.
They said, no.
Nobody can destroy us without the will of
Allah and Allah will protect us.
Now, brothers and sisters, we must realize that
our task is to establish in our lives
our starting with myself and yourself.
A system based on the worship of Allah
ﷻ alone, obedience to Him and to His
Rasul ﷺ.
Focused on benefiting all of humanity.
We must change the present system based on
predatory capitalism and the worship of the self
to a system based on compassion and social
responsibility.
This takes time and sustained effort and investment
of all our talent and resources in something
which we truly believe is worth it.
It is a generational project for which we
must volunteer to go into the foundation to
be buried, known only to the one to
whom is our return.
On our shoulders will stand future generations who
will take it forward and see our vision
to its fruition.
But do we have a vision?
That is the real question.
This is what Rasul ﷺ had and his
Sahaba understood and shared with him.
And that is what gave them the energy
to continue in the face of apparently unsurmountable
odds, to keep contributing everything with unwavering sincerity
and enthusiasm.
That is how they won and history is
witness.
What are the odds when the creator of
the universe is with you?
Think about that.
In democratic societies, citizens delegate authority, not responsibility
as I mentioned before.
If those who delegate to whom authority was
delegated fail, it is the duty of citizens
to take back the authority and delegate it
to better people.
We must realize that to give ourselves good
government is our responsibility, not somebody else's.
In conclusion, I would like to state clearly
and unequivocally that Muslims living in democratic countries
must participate in government in every way, knowing
that it is entirely in keeping with Islam
to do so.
They must participate because Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala orders them to support all that is
beneficial for everyone, Muslim or otherwise.
And to do that in a way that
showcases Islam for the rest of the world.
Muslims must participate in democracy because it is
only by participation that we can ensure that
our interests are addressed and our needs are
met.
We have seen examples of what happens when
we don't participate.
We are used and discarded.
That must not happen again.
That is the key.
You must go to vote, whether it is
raining or not, whatever the situation is, you
must go and vote.
Remember, this is the only opportunity that you
have in a democracy to be heard, to
influence your own future, and to protect yourself
from those who wish to hurt you.
Remember, any party, a party is not elected
by the majority of the population of the
country, but by the majority of those who
go and cast their vote.
This is the key to modern democracies and
the reason why we must vote.
If you don't enroll yourself and don't go
and vote, then don't blame anyone else for
the result.
You are responsible and you will pay the
price.
I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
save us from ourselves and to save us
from all kinds of misguidance from shaitan and
to guide us to him and to his
pleasure.