Mirza Yawar Baig – Living Islam #73
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of positive role models in helping people find and understand and understand negative negative emotions. They emphasize the importance of being a Muslim person to avoid negative consequences and offer a certificate to help those affected by hardships. The segment also touches on the historical context of the "soak of Rosa" in India and the importance of reducing salary cuts and salaries. The speakers emphasize the power of stories and the importance of learning from them to improve one's behavior. They also emphasize the importance of avoiding negative emotions and contributing to society in a positive way.
AI: Summary ©
smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam. ala ba will mousseline Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi, wa aalihi wa sahbihi wa seldom at the Sleeman, kathira and kathira
comma Babu, my dear brothers and sisters
as a brother
introduced me, one of the things I do is mentoring people.
And the key in mentoring is to help people
find and understand and no positive role models.
Now, no matter how much we would like that to happen, positive role models are not easy to get.
And also, even though it should be the case, positive role models are not always parents, they're not always teachers.
They're not always your within court superiors in your work.
They're not always alama all of these should be but you know, and I know that this is not always the case
also,
what should be even more is that the biggest and best positive role model for us should be Rasul Allah is Allah is Allah. But there again, that is not the case with a lot of us not because
he is not a positive role model but because most people do not know about Rasul Allah, he's always
most Muslims and I think I can make this as a general statement. Most Muslims know very little about the life, about the person, about the
experience, about the conditions that are seldom experienced and went through and there are very little about it. Now this is of course, one of the one of my pet peeves and one of my
constant reminders to myself and you that this is a deficiency that must be cured.
Absolutely like an emergency because that is what it is. It is an absolute emergency. For a Muslim, I'm not even talking about this from a religious angle because even though there is enough and more evidence from a religious angle, that as Muslims, we must absolutely learn about our lives. And we must emulate him because Allah subhanaw taala gave us this instruction and also gave us this order where he said I'll be live in a shack on a regime lockout gana la COVID en su de la he was Fortuna Santa, lemon gala yada to LA What are your well Akira was icon Allah cathedra Allah subhana wa Jalla said very early in the life of the Rasul of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is a good example
is the best example for the one who hopes and who looks forward to and who hopes in the meeting with Allah subhanho wa Taala. And who looks forward to the day of judgment for the one who does this. So this is the best example.com best example for you.
Feed.
Lehman fall, Lehman, Ghana Yahoo law while Yamanaka was the one who looks forward to the meeting with Allah, and the day of judgment was out of luck as you know, and who remembers Allah subhanho wa Taala a great deal. Now as I mentioned my time before, the day of judgment, the way Allah subhanaw taala described it in the Quran in many, many places, is a day that you will hardly look forward to because it is described as something which is so strenuous, so stressful.
So many problems with it and so many hardships in it. And this is long before Jana we are not talking about punishment, we are talking about the general conditions of the Day of Judgment, which everyone there will feel Illa Masha Allah except those who are last minute Allah wants to protect and we ask Allah subhanaw taala to protect us and to give us the shade of his arch on the day, when there will be no shade except his shade. This is the going to be the condition of the Day of Judgement.
Yet Allah Baraka is saying by this in this ayah the implication is that there will be some people who will actually look forward to that day. Now obvious logical answer is that the people who look forward to the day are people to whom these conditions will not apply.
general conditions for everyone, but for these people, those conditions do not apply because they know that they will be treated differently from everybody else. Right different variables, the simplest example I can give you is that in the days when we used to travel,
have mercy on us and bring back those days, the days when we used to travel Alhamdulillah those of us who had special access special positions in the places where we would be arriving even in places where which were carry which are characterized by a known for in very long immigration lines and a lot of hardship standing there and whatnot, you are not worried because you know, that somebody is going to meet you at the door of the plane and take you straight through bypass the line and you are out of the hole immigration and everything else in five minutes. So even though the general condition is that of hardship, you don't worry about it, because you say this does not apply to me
and Alhamdulillah This is what is going to happen to some people on the Day of Judgment, general conditions will not apply to them even though the general conditions will be there. Who are those people? Allah Allah gave us gave us a hint and gave us a direction for that they are the people for whom the life of Muhammad salla Allahu Allah He while he was Abu Salim is the best example meaning what doesn't mean that we that these are the people who will just read about his life and say wonderful No, no, no, these are the people who will make his life sallallahu Sallam their role model for their own lives. So if I'm more my life, on the life of Rasulullah sallallahu sallam, then insha
Allah, I can look forward to conditions on the day of judgment will be which will be different and which will be positive from everybody else. We ask Allah to make us among those people inshallah. Another value for this is Allah subhanho wa Taala said Colin kuntum to a boon Allah Fabiani, yo baby como la jolla.
Allah hobo Rahim Allah said say to them gamma Mohammed Salah while he while he was Abu Salah, say to those who claim to love Allah subhana wa tada all the xiaofei law he is and everybody say to those who claim to love Allah subhanho wa Taala
make my et ba Follow me, emulate me imitate me do what I do speak like I speak deal with people like I deal with people behave like I behave in every way. Look like me walk like me talk like me. If you do that, then what will happen? You obey Allah, Allah will love you. You will be Allah. Allah will love you. And what is the boundary condition? What is the first thing that will happen if Allah loves you? Your fear Lacombe roba como la hora Rahim, Allah will forgive all your sins and Allah subhanho wa Taala is the most forgiving, and the Most Merciful. And I imagine if you are one of those that ask Allah subhanho, wa Taala, to make all of you those who will be whose names will be
entered in the list of those who Allah loves. If you are somebody who Allah loves, believe me which hardship is going to touch you, which can which stress is going to touch you which danger is going to touch you How can anything negative possibly happen to you, no matter what the general conditions are. And believe me, this applies to general conditions in the dunya, as well as general conditions. If Allah loves you, then no stress or no hardship, and no problem or the dounia can touch you. And nothing of that can also touch you in the UK. Now you may ask this question and say that if this is true, then what about the MBA musella. Because who did a lot more than me, I lost. I loved the MBA
more than anybody else. But we also know that the MBA had to face the greatest hardships. So how is this logic now because I am saying that if Allah loves you, hardship will not touch you. Whereas you know from the lies of the Gambia, that they faced a lot of hardship, not little bit, they faced a lot of hardship. And we have no doubt that Allah subhanaw taala loved the Gambia the most. The thing to understand here is the issue of what is hardship, hardship from a Islamic perspective, from the perspective of the Kalam of Allah from the perspective of the life of Mr. Salim from his sunan from the keytab is not simply physical hardship, right. If physical hardship was there, we would not have
fasting because fasting is physical Archer Allah would not impose hardship on
the hardship that is that touches the people of taqwa, the people of faith, the people of Eman, the MPLA mussalam the Saudi head is hardship that raises their
And
and that's why I was one of them said if Allah loves you, he will test you. And we I of course always I always make do it Allah, this is something you don't have to do. This is what you do but with me Please love me and don't ask me because you know me or you know me and you know my weakness, don't ask me to make any toy any dog we want my dog. So my point is that even though you may see this, we know that because of these hardships, Allah subhanaw taala raises the urge out of those he loves and the value for that is Allah subhanaw taala said what another one nagambie sure you mean alcovy while you are you will not see him in a while he was he was Amara wabasha is savarin Allah
did not say they will be protected. No No we will test you with anger and with fear and with a destruction of wealth and with a with illness with bereavement and so on so on. And but for those who have sobor where Bashir is Saberi for them there is glad tidings for them. There is good news Who are these people are low in nalgonda where she is I levina. is a Sabo Tomasi baton Carlo in nadie, la he were in nyla. Here are you? Who are these people? These are the people who when they face the hardship when they face the most evil, they say we are from Allah and to Allah is our return. They don't complain, they don't more and grow they say oh, why me? Nobody Allah could not
find anybody else Laos, Mila No, inshallah hamdulillah. Allah coonley in goodness and badness in hardship and in ease in, in poverty, in wealth, in sickness and in health. Everything Alhamdulillah Allah kuliah and they say in Allah, Allah raggio this word we didn't come here to stay. Allah subhanho wa Taala takes us we go, Allah takes that which is dear to us. Alhamdulillah because we will meet them and we will meet what is dear to us and those who are dear to us, when we go to Allah subhanho wa Taala it's a matter of a little bit a couple of days here and there, what does it matter? This is their attitude and therefore I wonder what did Allah say? Why she decided Allah
Tomasi button Carlo in it de la una ley Roger.
La him Sardar, Tommy Robbie woroch Ma, what hola como como todos. Allah said on such people, there is the blessing of Allah and this is not this is not somebody is worthwhile. This is not the figment of imagination. This is not wishful thinking. This is the color of Allah Jalla gelato. This is what Allah subhanho wa Taala promised. He's around such people who when they are faced with hardship, this is not a lie. When they lay Rajon. They don't complain, they not moan and groan. Allah said of Buddha lay him, Salah, told me,
Allah will send Salam on them, Allah will send blessing on them and Allah will send His mercy, special mercy, General Mercy of Allah subhanaw taala for everything special mercy on these people, Where will I go home? Well, matado and Allah is giving the seal. Allah is giving this this certificate to say these are the people who are rightly guided. I remind myself when you my brothers and sisters, if somebody told a person of a man, what are you willing to pay, to get special blessing from Allah subhanho guaranteed special blessing from Allah subhanho wa Taala from Al Salam from Allah subhanho wa Taala What are you willing to pay? What are you willing to pay for the
special Mercy of Allah and what are you willing to pay for Allah subhanho wa Taala to be the witness that you are rightly guided we make Salah every Salah rochlin of Salah Masaki is in a certain Muslim is in a serata muster que sera de la Vina nom de la
Darlene here is the certificate that this dua was accepted for you and who is giving the certificate. Allah subhanho wa Taala jelajah Allah who
is saying this is the one who is the rightly guided one What are you as a person of Eman? What are you willing to pay? Tell me what will you say? I will say Allah dig everything I have. Everything I have dig absolutely everything I have.
Give me the certificate because this Everything I have is going to go anyway.
There is nothing that I have which is going to remain in any case, not my wife, not my children, not my parents, not my loved ones not my wealth not my Gods not my hope. Nothing is going to remain when I am placed in my grave I will be naked except for the Glock which covers everything is going to anyway.
So we kill but when that thing is wrong
In the father of Allah by the hokum of Allah, and if I have someone and I say, now you lie when Allah subhanaw taala is giving me the certificate to say, this is the right person, on the day of judgment, I get all of this back and more. And this certificate is my certificate for genmaicha.
Right? So please understand hardship must be viewed from the lens of email, not like anybody, people who don't understand Allah, they don't know Allah subhanaw taala. Now Dave,
and I were just talking about this before this session started about this whole Corona and the COVID, and whatnot. And as I was saying, I said, Look, we have to get out of this business of saying, you know, when this ends, when this ends when this finishes, believe me, I mean, I'm not a prophet now. And I'm not claiming to have any special knowledge, but my assessment is, this is not going to end. This is now the condition.
Right, this will remain now just now we are, we thought we are out of this in America. Now. latest numbers 400 people are dying every day of what is called the Delta variant.
It came from your game from there, whatever point is delta variant, 400. People are dying 400 Americans are dying every day. So when what is going well, we don't know when this will finishes wahala, maybe some new thing will happen. So we have to get used to this. And we have to say Alhamdulillah adequately *, we take our vaccinations. We don't follow all kinds of stupid conspiracy theories, we get vaccinated, we exercise caution, we wear a mask if we are indoors, if we are with other people who are unvaccinated. And we live our lives as normally as possible. Understanding that this is here to stay, we look at the positive aspects of it, which is that I can
work from home where I live in Massachusetts in the winter, believe me Why?
How many people are praying for the time when they did not have to drive on icy roads are through sleet and through all kinds of, you know, icy rain and whatnot, and through the snow to work everyday, right? And you got it, you got to sit at home and work Alhamdulillah.
So I'm not going to complain and say, Oh, you know what this work from home is so bad. Work From Home means what work from home means you have a home and you have work, which Alhamdulillah
we have to start looking at life in a different way. Now, you might say what is all this got to do with the topic of our lecture today, which is the power of the story. Everything has to do with the power of the story. What I'm doing for you here is not just giving you a lecture, I'm giving you a demonstration of the stories that you should be telling in your homes.
For many of us, especially I was wanting to say, especially in the West, but I'm going to change that because today the West is not a
direction. The West is not a particular part of the world. Right? In any case, the West was in because if the West is a particular part of the world, how does how is it possible that you call Australia a western country? How do you call New Zealand a western country? Then you can go further further east than Australia?
How is it a western country? So West always meant white man's land?
Right? That was the definition of West? Because if you are in India, how what why is it that we don't call Africa western country?
You call your question. But if you look at them average directly below that. So how come How come we don't call Africa western country. So we must understand this. So the West is not a direction West is a lifestyle. West is a mindset West is a philosophy West is a is a way of looking at life. Right? So all of these know, therefore there's no West West, West is everywhere. Now, if you look at this,
and say that in this world, of the so called West,
what is the dominant philosophy, the absolute supreme philosophy, which rules everything. That absolute supreme philosophy is the supremacy of the individual, the person.
Now this is the most diametrically opposite thing to Islam.
Because in Islam, the philosophies, the supremacy of Allah subhanho, wa Taala, and the submission of the individual to Allah subhanho wa Taala. Two completely opposite things. totally opposite. There's absolutely no overlap, and no connection between the two. Western philosophy is supremacy of the individual. Me, my life, my choices, I can do what I want, I can say what I want, I can eat what
I want I can act in any way that I want. And nobody has any right to question me or to want me or ask me to change whereas Islamic philosophy is what
I can do whatever I want as long as it is in line with what Allah subhanaw taala wants, but anytime, anything that I want to do or I want to say or any choice I want to exercise or any option that I want to use, if that is in conflict with what Allah subhana wa Taala wants, then my like and my dislike will be made subservient to what Allah subhanho wa Taala likes or dislikes.
And that is why the Hadees ami says Allah, he said you are a man will never be complete. You will never have a man until you make your desires subservient to the deen which I have brought.
And that is why Allah Subhana
Allah says Allah either money are either money.
Allahu
Allah said, Have you not seen them? Yasser Allah subhanaw taala, who have made their desires into their object of worship? Because what does that mean? What did we say?
Did we say la ilaha illa Allah? Or did we say la ilaha? illa Huwa?
What do we say? Did we say there's no one worthy of worship except Allah? Or did we say there is no one worthy of worship except desire?
This is the difference.
Now, that is the story that you and I have to change in our homes. Now, why the story?
You know, some time ago, a few years ago, and I'm saying this do you guys also to ask you to help me if you can, which is I had a thought in my mind a project were looking at, we have in in India, in India, meaning the subcontinent of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and so on. We have this concept of communities who are in certain lines of work almost exclusively. And because of that, they become very good at that line of work. For example, we have what we call the business communities. So we have the bodies, we have the Marbury's, we have, you know, the Jains and Gujaratis, right. So these are called business communities. And if you see a lot of businesses, if
not most of them, are, are controlled by these people. Now if you if you know them, and I know a lot of I got very good friends in all of these communities,
including my business clients. Now if you if you see their internal home, they, they many of them are most of them, their children and so on, they're not so focused on your on on, you know, Alitalia on on,
they're not focused on
educational excellence, they don't have PhDs and stuff, almost, it is a rule that the son or daughter, a, when they come back from school, they will go to the shop, right there is a shop, the father or the mother will be the shop, the son of the daughter, as soon as they come back from school, they will go to the ad from literally from the time they can, you know, they can literally walk through, they'll go to the shop, they just play around there and so on, when they are a little older, they will start stacking shelves, they will know the they will learn the in and out of business from the time literally their eyes open.
Now, in their homes, and this is partially my assumption. And also I have evidence for this in their homes, the stories that they hear
our stories of business deals, this is what your grandfather did, this is what your father did, this is what your great grandfather did, there was this piece of land which was which nobody wanted which was a waste piece of land or there was this farmland and it was going cheap and he bought it and today see there is this huge mall multi million dollar project on it and so on and so on. So, the stories are all around business, right. Similarly, you will have stories from communities, which are more academically inclined. So you have people whose families are full of scholars, and so on. So you will have this constant thing of saying, you know, so and so wrote so many books, my good My
great grandfather wrote over 100 books, and remember those are the days when people had to write by hand. It was there's no you know what sat in your lap was not a computer and there was no cut and paste and stuff. So the whole thing is that you know, Britain literally written by hand, he used to dictate something he actually had a pretty
Press in the house. In Bob, we had a printing press. And his his, the Hello says
his uh, what is the word for tacos? Well on him anyway, he was a point as well. So his, his name, there was Willa and the, the thing was called Villa Academy and it was a thing.
So this is the
stories in my life, for example, all centered around that around academics around learning. He was a he was a Mufti and he was a chef, a very big Sharpie scholar, he had the hellos, I hear the title of shamsul Allah from our king, that is our Hydra. So the point is that, you know, the stories now his story, my grandfather's stories, stories around, around that around academia, around reading, writing, writing books and whatnot and so on is over, right. So, my already my orientation is that is reading, writing, and so on and so forth. $100 rantala gave me some opportunity to do that my life also. So you have business stories, you have academic stories, then you have communities, which
are into more into the military. So in India, we have the six for example, lots of my Sikh friends, their fathers, grandfathers, whatnot, uncles and so on, are in the Army's different different, you know, parts of the Army, Air Force and so on. So, you have the six you have the in Pakistan, you have the Muslims, who are literally the same hands or names they are with a Sikh and Baba was a Muslim, you have Joe who is a Sikh and you have Joe Han, who is a Muslim and so on. So there are saluja will seek and saluja who is a Muslim, you have Rhonda who is a Sikh and Miranda who is a Muslim, they are the same culture names as well. Right? And again, the military tradition, so they
These are people who, who have a lot of people in the military and so on, so forth. So there is that tradition. Now, point is, these traditions mean that these are the stories that these children grow up listening to.
And these stories more than these stories, give them the framework and life of reference. So you have stories for example, one of the stories which I which I heard and read from my, from my shed, and Western Muslim,
Amana salmaan.
Another way down but God home from Durban, his father, the story is about his father.
Suleiman Nadia hunter lolly, whose many walks is one of the one of the most prominent and greatest allamah of the Indian subcontinent. He was a student of Mara shibli, no money around to lolly. And one of the greatest works that he did was the book which is called Syrah to NaVi sallallahu Sallam which is about the sea route which is Allah, which is an old shoe, which surely no one not really started, and then when he he was passing away, so he called sales manager Angela Lee and gave him this job. And he completed his book, The most significant thing about this particular
Sierra of Rosa Salem is that this is written for the authentication of the Sierra stories and details there says
use the soul of Hadith. So this is a this is not the usual sera book. This is a book of CNR, which is on the principles of RDS which means it is very, very strongly authenticated, every single story. And today when we look at the relatively new discipline of fickle Syrah, which is the fifth from this era, this is one of the books which is a very prominent in that now the story about him is that he used to carry two fountain pens in those days, you know, he was right one used to get two fountain pens in his pocket, one he used for his official work, which when he was working, and the other one he used if he had to write any personal letter, any letter on our father's personal day,
he would use the other meaning and story another principle of the story is that here was a man who was so conscious, who was what such stockwork who was so conscious of Allah subhanho wa Taala his
presence in his life that Allah is watching that he did not even use the ink from his official position to write something of a personal nature, he actually carried to fountain pens now, the now therefore now imagine what the people who are listening his son of course, and then from him, I heard the story and so on. So the point is that people listening to these stories, what is the impression that they are getting what stories are they getting Mara Kasim nano
The great scholar who was the founder of dark room Gilman, and that is why the graduates of the Omen they don't call themselves Deobandi this Akashi because it is in honor of Mara Qasim Nando de Mirage and narrow valley. When he when the when the mothers are was started, he used to take a salary of one rupee 50 paisa per month, one rupee 50 paisa per month out of the salary of one rupee 50 paisa. He used to send 50 paisa to alagar, where his mother ran to Lala where she used to live, then after a few years, his mother passed away. So, what does what does he do, he tells the the treasurer and the accountant of donnovan to say please reduce my salary cut that 50 paisa, I will take only one
rupee because that 50% is not required any work my if I was to send it to I have to allocate for my mother, my mother is no longer there. So I don't need that. Now, imagine we are talking this world about increase in salaries, we talk about when can I get a raise here is somebody who is asking for his salary to be reduced.
Because he said I will not take money for the work of deed, this is the absolute essential for which there was I mean, I have to live, therefore, for this absolute essential, no luxuries involved in this. Now, imagine people who grow up listening to these stories. That is why the power of the stories now, if you take the Sierra, for example, imagine this and I mentioned this before, I'm going to say it again, imagine this, there is this little boy who is maybe five or six years old. Right? He is going on a journey with his grandfather. His grandfather is a big ship, his grandfather is the head of the head of the tribe,
individually, personally, also is somebody who has huge persona, he has huge respect, very well known all over Arabia. So obviously, when they are traveling, this is not this is not just these two people. They have the retinue. They have cam people, cam followers, whoever is with them, and they are traveling. Now they come to the in the evening they have to camp. So in the desert, you know tents are being bought, camp is being set up. And then there is a campfire, and they have the food and so on. And his little boy, he says to his grandfather, he says my grandfather Tell me the story of the elephant. Now imagine here in the middle of the desert, which elephant?
Which elephant? Did this little boy see this he ever seen? Do you ever see an elephant? Not to my knowledge?
So what element is he talking about?
So his grandfather, maybe maybe the Godfather, smile, maybe he loves? And he says How many times do you want me to tell you this way? No, please, please, please tell me the story. I just put yourself in that place. So it's really why telling random Tell me the story. And that's what everyone wants to listen. Other people also want to listen, maybe somebody even told this little while ago, tell your grandmother Tell him to tell the story that tell you what, what is the beauty of this beauty of the stories. Not only is it a very interesting and unusual story, but the story is being told by the one who was in the story.
If I tell you the story, I am telling you what I have read.
But this one who is one to speak and tell the story, who is this person, he is the one to whom it happened. He is the eyewitness to the story.
So the grandfather said, you know,
we got news, to say that there is this great king from Emma Yemen, who was coming to attack MCC and his aim and His goal was to demolish the cab
to destroy the house of Allah. Today, those those who want to destroy the houses of Allah, those who want to shut down the houses of Allah, they must think about this.
So this person was coming, this king was coming to destroy the house of Allah. Now, why was this individual this grandfather? Why was he worried because it was his family's personal responsibility to look after the house of Allah. They were the people who had the key to the house of Allah.
So he said, Well, now we were in Makkah, we are a small bunch of people. We don't have an army or anything like that. Here, this kid coming with this army.
So what do we do?
So he says, Well, I mean, there was really nothing we could do. So we just waited. And then we got news to say that they have come to our camp down with insight or Mk Makkah. And then my camel
shepherds by gamma keepers. They came running to me and they said yazzie
They, they have taken our campus says, who has taken our gallons? The soldiers of this king?
To harana Hotel. Now what
do I say to these people? or What did you do? Did you try to prevent that which is easy? What can we do? We are Shepard, we have sticks, there'll be no weapons. There are the weapons, they would have killed us.
How many gallons 200 camels
200 calves, that was enormous wealth. 200 camels.
Grandfather says, You know,
I had a choice.
My choice was either, I could say, well, God, Allah, this is
what I had to lose, I lost, what can I do?
Nothing I can do.
Or I could have made an attempt to go and get the camels.
And remember, this was not about camels.
This was about me.
This was about my leadership. This was about my image. This was about my prestige. This was something which was going to write my destiny going forward. So as a leader, as a
chief of the drive, all of this is going through my head.
All of this is going through my heart. And saying that whatever I choose to do, or choose not to do, will define my brand.
Now, I'm not listening to that all these words, of goodwill used, because that's what, that's the one we're talking about, right.
But this was, this would have been going through his mind.
So he says to his grandson, and all the
people listening that he said, I decided that I had no choice. If I was a leader, I had to do this.
Now,
that does not mean that I have to do it. Without thinking without a strategy.
meeting a king is a very difficult thing. In any case, meeting again, was sitting in the middle of his army,
we just come to attack us. Imagine how difficult that is.
So he said, I thought to myself, what is a way of getting this? He said that remember that this army, they came with elements. They came with elements. And there are various measures how many element there was a telephone, telephone, whatever it was, but everyone is gonna is agreed upon that, that our we had one enormous elephant was like the leader of the elephants.
And that elephants name was Mahmoud.
And the elephant driver was an atom, whose name was nice.
So now the grandfather says that I found
was that I found was ILA I found a contract.
So I went to a Sir, I got arranged to arrange for me to meet the king. Now, how could owners do that? Because in that whole society owners was a big guy, because he was the driver of the biggest elephant, the king's elephant. So obviously, he had the Kings here. And he used to sit in the king's company.
So owners arranged for me to meet the king.
So he thought I went to meet the king, the king is in his Darbar. He's in his big, big tent. And, you know, there's his throne and whatnot, and
whatever it was, you know, carpets and this or that. And he said, when I walked into the tent, I saw a strange thing. And the thing was, this king stood up from his throne.
So I thought to myself, this is straight. I mean, Kings don't stand up for anybody. This man is standing up.
And then he came down from his platform, from the stage that he was sitting on.
He came down to where I was,
and they brought
seating for us. And he sat down and he asked me to sit next to him. So I sat next to him.
Boys, and I thought, this is a good thing.
And the king asked me, So
who are you? So I told him who I was.
The king said, What can I do for you?
So I said to the king, your soldiers have taken 200 capsules of mine belong to me. Please give them back. I came to ask you to return my camels
here
As you know, the king looked at me and his whole expression changed.
Until then you were looking at me in a very friendly way. And he was seem to be happy to meet me. But now he's fixtures.
And the king said to me, You know when you walked in here,
I was very impressed.
I said who this man, you know is so beautiful and big and, and such such an aura from him. I was very impressed. And that is why I stood up from my throne. And then I came out to meet you.
But now when I am talking to you, you came here from camels.
I mean, what can America you are the head of your team of your tribe. I am here to destroy the house of Allah, which you have. I am here to demolish that
and you are worried about camels.
So I'm sorry I'm in all the respect I had for you. Gone. I don't respect anymore.
So I said to the king,
he said to me, I keep walking
and Rob of the Campbells
that house you want to destroy has arrived. I am the ROB of the gamble. So I'm concerned about my Gamble's I've come to come to take my cameras rob you that how did you want to destroy also has
and that Rob is capable of taking care of his house.
So that was the end of that conversation. The king called the people is that giving back his camels I came away I brought my camels.
And then I went to the house
and I took the key and I hung the key on the door and I raised my hands and I said
you know what is happening here? You are seeing what is happening here. You know we are we are weak. We are not capable of fighting this key.
This is your house. I am handing it back to you. handing the key back to you. Please take care of those
two little boys there now what happened now What happened?
So the grandfather says then the sky darkened
the sky became dark.
They were what looked like clouds.
What was it? They were little birds, a Bobby
Bobby Swift's and these birds carried something in their claws and in their beak.
look like little pebbles
and they flew and they came over the army and is throw those pebbles
and whatever the pebbles hitch, the soldiers the animal whatever. The disintegrated.
Like cut grass.
They disintegrate.
That was the end of the army. entire army.
Now
30 years later, 35 years later, 40 years later
is Rob jelajah reveals directly
to
that little boy was now 4045 years old well on
our way lahemaa shaytani r rajim Bismillah Ar Rahman AR Rahim Alam Taka Eve
book IBS Hi Bill feel Allah Mia Yahya al Qaeda home fee totally out of sobre la him toy Iran Bobby Theroux me him me hija or Tim mill CG father Allah home God's FIM a cool
imagine
what must have been going
through his heart.
Imagine what he must have been feeling.
That is the power of stories. Start just a story. What are the lessons in that story? What is the message of that story?
The message and lessons of the story. That is the power of leadership, the responsibility of leadership. The risk that a leader has to take they have no choice in the matter. The power of darkfall Allah subhanho wa Taala gelatinize
complete and total faith and trust in Allah subhanho wa Taala
And the power of Allah subhanho wa Taala to do what he wishes,
irrespective of the power of those who want to stand against him
how many lessons and maybe you can find more lessons.
This is the power of the story.
There are many stories in the Sierra and I won't take more of your time. But I think this is enough because it gives you enough
food for thought and hamdulillah. We have spent 45 minutes.
My question to you is here is what are the stories that you are telling in your homes?
That is where it begins in the homes.
You know, last year on martin luther king day, it happened to be a Friday. And so my hope was on racism, anti racism.
And it so happened last night that, you know, gives us helps us. One of my very good friends from Africa sent me a little video.
And this little video clip was about a little white girl and her mother and from the accent it seems to be Australian Allah knows best.
The little clip was his mother took this video.
And she's talking to the little girl the little girl is doesn't look to me like she's more than more than three years old, at the most maybe even younger.
So this little girl has eaten some cupcakes. So the mother is telling her who ate the cup. Did you eat the cupcake cheese or no?
Who made the capex?
So the little girl is silent. So mother says, Are you telling me that somebody broke into our house and ate the cupcakes? The girl says yes.
To the mother says, Are you telling me that somebody broke into the house? They did not see in the TV. They did not see leveling system. They did not see the computers. They did not see anything. But he only ate the cupcakes is what he was telling me. The little girl says yes. And then she adds on her own. It was a black man.
The power of the story,
I can tell you that that little girl probably never saw a black man in her life until that point in her life.
She doesn't know what a black man looks like.
But the moment you are talking about crime or breaking into a house about stealing and doing something wrong, her instant association is black man. If it is a crime had to be a black man.
She wants to pass on the blame to a black man.
Now, how does that girl get this from? Where does he get? Where does she get it from?
dumb question, right? That is the power of the story. So ask yourself today a big challenge for a lot of people in the West. And of course, as I told you, the West is everywhere. big challenge for people is we do our best to raise our children. According to the laws of Islam, we view we do our best to have a Muslim home, to be to bring our children up as people who know Allah subhanaw taala, who worship Allah subhanho wa Taala Who are we have our homes and our societies free from it to the best of our abilities free from ship free from all kinds of, you know, things which are on Islamic yet in some cases, those children go astray.
I know specifically, two or three cases were to the best of my knowledge, whatever I know of those families, I cannot find one single fault in the way they brought up their children the way they the parents worked the bed the kind of atmosphere the parents created in the home what they used to say yet the children industry.
Now you might say Am I contradicting myself because on the one hand, I'm telling you about stories, the power of stories. And here I'm telling you that even though they did all this still the children went astray. So am I contradicting myself? No, I'm not contradict myself telling you know that you are not the only storyteller.
You are not the only storyteller. So remember that also, that your children are listening to many stories.
And they will pick and choose which ones will guide them and which ones will take them were
so easy for you to be aware of those stories that they are listening to and for you
To be able to influence them with stories which are so powerful that they wipe out and they drown out and they wipe out the other negative stories. This is the challenge.
And for that, as I demand myself, I knew there is nothing in the world, which is more powerful than the stories of Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam and his Sahaba regarding IRA management. That's the reason why we must do two things. One is study the Scirocco sources and study the seer of the Sahaba. And to get the ability to interpret that and to present that in the modern context.
How does it apply here?
How does it apply today?
We have a book club in which we were discussing this morning, capitalism.
And one of the one of the historians who's written an article where he says that Muhammad Sallallahu
wasallam said to the people, if you sell a house, buy another house,
if you take that money and use it for anything else, you will not have Baraka in that money. What are you saying? He's saying if you invest in real estate, and if you liquidate that asset, reinvest the money in real estate, don't take the money out of real estate.
This is investment advice, coming from who coming from a religious head. That person who wrote the article, the historian, he made a very nice comment. He said, What do you think Jesus or Buddha would have said if you ask them the same question?
But what Amazon seller is giving is a profit. But he is giving investment advice. Why? Because Islam covers every aspect of life. Islam is not restricted to inside the masjid. Islam is inside the margin, Islam is outside the budget.
And therefore, it is very much possible to take the stories of the Sierra, and to interpret them in the context of the of our modern society, and to help people understand the lessons from those stories. In our modern context, this is a skill which must be developed. This is something which I have started I have done practically all my life and my books are two books on Zero Based on this and so on. But I'm saying that this is something that each one of you must think about and develop and make sure that the stories that you are telling your children, the stories that you are talking about in your house are relevant in a modern context. Remember, there's a boundary we are not
talking about changing the story. We are not talking about making what is halal and winemaking Hello, what is or no, we are talking about taking the same story and looking at it from the lens of our modern world. And showing people how what rasulillah is an update in the seventh century is hugely effective, and usually applicable today in the 21st century. Because the principles are wish society was based then are the same principles on which society is based today.
That is the power of the story. So watch the stories that you are creating in your home. Watch the stories that are happening in your own irrespective of what you create. And that's another reason why it is very important to keep the company of good people.
Take your children with you. When you go to visit good people, involve them. When your good friends come to you. I'm not saying when I'm saying good I don't mean only religious scholars know Alhamdulillah anybody who is doing anything which is inspirational I handle including people who are not Muslim doesn't matter.
When they come home to get your children involved in that conversation.
Don't say my child is having an examination is starting somewhere. No sit in the hole. Throw away the phones. drove a social media.
Be with individual personal people physically. Listen to them, talk to them, listen to the stories of their of their lives.
Right.
Think about one of my dearest friends here in America is a man by the name of Harold Pease, pa See, make dua for him and
he and his wife Charlotte, two of the most beautiful people that I know Harold is 94 years old. Charlotte is 85 years old.
One day I went to his house, I standing I see him standing on a platform. Six feet up, which steps painting his house.
I said, for God's sake, I mean, what happens if you fall down? I won't fall down. I'm taking care. I said, Why don't you call me Just call me. I'll help you. He said, You know, this is what keeps me alive.
If I call you and tell you to do this work for me, I know you will do it. But this is what keeps me alive at 94. I'm doing his work. He built his whole house. His house is not a big house. But every single thing from leveling the land,
to all the carpentry work, the civil work, the electrical work, the plumbing work, every single nail was done by Harold piece himself.
That's inspirational. I made a video on that which is there on our channel, do watch it. That's inspirational. This visual. Here is a man who did do did all this work himself.
stories.
Stories, which reinforce good values, stories which reinforce positive things.
And stay away from the opposite of that
Jazakallah Ferran for coming and listening, I ask Allah subhanho wa Taala. To be pleased with you and never to be displeased, ask Allah subhanaw taala to enable us to create an environment which protects us and protects our children from all the negativity of this world. And which helps us to take the positivity of this world, believe me, not everything in the West is negative. There is a huge amount of positivity in the West.
I've seen more truth. And I've seen more honesty here than I've seen in other places. And hamdulillah. So I'm not here bashing the West. No.
If I was bashing the West, I would not be living here.
And here for us to understand that we take what is good from wherever it is. And we leave out what is not good from wherever it is. And we try to contribute whatever is good with us, to whoever is willing to accept our contribution.
Just like when our veteran was Allah Allah Azza wa salatu salam ala rasulillah
Allah Allah Allah will Karim Allah Allah He was IV ajwain burrata gamma Rahimi. Muslim aleikum wa Taala