Challenges Faced by Reverts – Motivational Evening

Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah, who are Allah, Allah, he was rbh mine, my brothers and sisters.

We know

that Allah Almighty has created us for a purpose. We all know that.

And we also know that the world that we're living in,

is actually temporary.

We have something amazing awaiting us. I am a person who

firmly believes that the struggles of this world and the journey here is temporary. The ones who are the real winners are those who can strive in a way that the hereafter is secured for them.

I may never have days of happiness and joy, the way I might think others are enjoying themselves and being happy. But I have my connection with my maker through my struggles. And that's the way I shall live my life right to the end. I want to welcome you to begin with, because I know that we're talking to those who have recently reverted to Islam in the last few years perhaps.

And I want to take it back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him because there are so many similarities. To be a Muslim in today's world is not easy. People look at Muslims and think that these guys are bad people. These guys don't have good character conduct. These guys are extreme, these guys are intolerant and so on. I tell you, that's the furthest from the truth. Unfortunately, there might be a few elements in our societies and communities that let off

a bit of a feeling that these are hard and harsh. Nonetheless, as you grow in Islam, you begin to realize that in actual fact, it is a religion filled with honor, dignity, fulfillment of rights of all categories of people. And if we lead our lives with these rules and regulations, following them to the best of our abilities, and growing in our relationship with Allah on a daily basis, then we have succeeded. When people are convinced that I need to worship my maker alone. I shouldn't be worshiping anyone but he who made me so I say Oh, you who made me You are the greatest. In other words, Allahu Akbar, Allah, the name of the creator, the nourish the cherish the sustainer, the

provider, the protector, the cure, the one in whose hands lies, absolute control of every aspect of existence, Allah,

He is Al Illa, who, which means he is the worshipped one Alma Liu, who, the one who is worshipped, what makes him deserve being worshipped, simple. He created. That's what makes him deserving of being worthy of worship alone. He's the maker. So I say whoever made me, I worship you and you alone, no one else and nothing else. Anything that was created is not deserving of my worship. Anything that I found on Earth is not deserving of my worship. I worship He who created myself and everything around me. That's the Abrahamic concept of worship. And godhood Ibrahim alayhi salam said clearly what Jai to what Jay here Lila the furbearers sama?

aroma, honey, I turned my face in worship, to He who created

the skies and the earth, in purity, I will worship him alone. And he says, Why am

Meenal Moshiri keen, and I'm not going to associate partners with Him in worship at all. Not at all. So it's not easy in today's world to come about and say, You know what, I want to be a Muslim. It's not easy. For some people, it might be easier because they have folks around them who are more understanding or they are relatively independent. So they don't need to worry about what's my mum going to say? What's my dad, my family going to say at times? What's my spouse going to say? And I know of people who say, what's my children going to say because they have adult children. But some people are not that

worried because they don't have a system where they need to worry about others. They are relatively independent. So on different levels, you have people who have different concerns. So

Therefore, when a person declares their faith, it's up to them whether they want to announce it in public or not. I usually tell a person who says, I'd like to do my Shahada. Would you like it to be videoed or not? Some people don't want it to be videoed, it's your right. It doesn't need to be made into a big public scene. I don't want the whole world to know, just yet. The day I am ready for it, maybe, or I'm a private person. I know Muslims, who are Muslims for a long, long time are born Muslims, who are such private people that they don't want to appear on any video or photo ever. I'm sure you know, a lot of them. Is it wrong, it's not wrong, I don't need to make a big scene, I don't

even need to go and declare my Shahada in public. It doesn't need to happen in public, it can happen in private, between you and perhaps one or two witnesses to witnesses would be better.

And only because they can bear witness this person was actually a Muslim. In actual fact, it starts off in the heart, and everything starts moving and you start questioning and thinking and then there is a moment where it comes onto the tongue, you declare it with the tongue, and you start working towards it. Those are the three aspects of declaration of faith, to say something to believe it and to work towards it. Those are the three aspects of it. So Al Hamdulillah, we thank Allah so much that he's given us the opportunity to declare the Shahada. I know from amongst you, there must be those who have struggled so much with so many aspects and that's why we're here today. Not just to

honor you but to actually enjoy some time with the family of the OMA.

Here you are what do we want from you today? Nothing. Besides just get together greet you get to know you, we might get to know a few of your stories, you have an issue or two. Let's see where we can help what perhaps we may be able to do, we may not be able to do as much we might just offer you a prayer in some cases, because it's difficult to do everything for everyone. But here we are to lend you an heir. We are part of a family. We feel the connection, there should be a connection. If you have an issue or problem here we are today, masha Allah, may Allah Almighty strengthen all of us.

So later on, I will give the opportunity in sha Allah to some of you who want to share anything motivating with us, you want to share a little bit of your journey because of our numbers, we can only give you about a minute I think, but nonetheless, you can share something you can you can say a few words, something that moves do something that changed your life, a word of encouragement for others, some issue of distress, maybe even a question that you might have, that we might be able to help you with in terms of answering it. So start preparing that inshallah in your mind,

nonetheless, my brothers, my sisters,

when the people in Makkah, were informed about the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him his mission. They knew that this was from Allah Almighty because he never called towards himself. It's not about him. It's about the message and the owner of the message Allah.

I need to lead my life in a way that does not draw people to me, but rather to the message and I want to tell you something very interesting. Had I not been quoting Quran and Sunnah and teaching the deen of Allah, you would not know me? Do you realize that? We wouldn't know each other. Today, quite a few of you walked in and said, I've been watching you for a long time and it's overwhelming to finally meet you. And I'm like, Yeah, Mashallah. But I'm trying to break it by saying, hey, well done. Welcome to the evening. I hope you enjoy yourself and so on. Because I'm a human just like you. It's not about me. It's about the message, not me. I'm happy to see you. You might be happier

to see me Subhanallah because you've been watching me I haven't been watching you.

Today, I'm gonna watch you Mashallah. The next time I see Yeah. Why don't you at the reverse event? Yes, I was at Marcela Nice to see you. See, I'm happy to see you again, even happier. But it is overwhelming. Don't forget, it's just a normally it's just a normal ordinary guy. That's what it is. Allah used him to say a few words, guidance was from Allah. That's it. I'm happy that I was a vehicle in the case of some, but there are so many others who do the same thing I do, and even better than I do it. And guess what? It's all serving the cause of Allah to drive people towards worshiping their maker alone. That's how the people of Makkah knew the Prophet Muhammad peace be

upon him was speaking the truth because he never he never called towards himself. He called towards a message that was driven by the maker himself. I'm asking you to worship whoever made you. Is that unreasonable? It's not. It's reasonable. It's very reasonable. It's the most reasonable sense

Since in existence, I'm asking you to worship, I'm asking you to worship the one who made you and worship Him alone. It's the biggest favor someone could have ever done for you.

And what do I want from you? Nothing?

Nothing. If you feel like you want to say a prayer, say it Subhan Allah.

May Allah bless this person or these people who Allah He and I pray for everyone may Allah Almighty bless all of you, and all of the Ummah, those who are struggling right now, as we're speaking, it would be wrong for us, like I say, in all my speeches, not to mention the brothers and sisters of ours who are struggling in Gaza and in Philistine at this moment, may Allah subhanahu wa taala, grant them ease and victory, may Allah subhanahu wa taala protect them are we supposed to feel for them, if you don't feel for people struggling, you're not part of the Ummah,

where one body, one person struggling and Hamdulillah, there is a sister in our midst, who is hard of hearing, and she speaks using sign language somehow, I develop the skill of speaking to her. Some of you might have seen me communicating with her at the door. They were surprised when did you learn that? I said, Well, I don't know. I just started saying

that the sisters in our lives, may Allah bless her

SubhanAllah.

It worked, you see, may Allah subhanahu wa taala. Grant us goodness, we've been blessed my brothers and sisters to get together today here

in order to remind each other you know what, it's a struggle. In the case of a lot of people, it's a big struggle. Let me tell you, when they accepted Islam, in the face of the family members of theirs, who were rulers and leaders of Quraysh, you know what happened?

They were persecuted. Look at beloved murabaha. And look at the stories of those who struggle just because they said, I'm a Muslim, I want to follow this man. And I want to worship my maker alone, and I don't want to worship anything else. They struggled, they suffered.

And that's why it is said that they were free from hypocrisy in Makkah, because you couldn't easily be a Muslim

couldn't easily be a Muslim.

The same applies in today's world, you will you and I know that in most countries, people look at Muslims, very negatively. So why would I want to be a Muslim?

Unless I'm convinced I wouldn't. So for those who have taken the step, it's because you were convinced, so well done. And then you will face challenges

in life, sometimes to the degree that people start thinking, you know, what, are these Muslims really who they claim they are? Very sadly, it's a question that people ask, because you come across some who don't care some who lead their lives in a way that you would really wonder if it's the same Quran that they're following. Don't you agree? It happens.

So when a person says, I'd like to declare my Shahada, the first thing you hear is degree Am I right?

And then they say their shahada, a shadow, a shadow, Allah, Allah ilaha illa been through the drill, right? Mashallah. A bear witness, and I bear witness that Muhammad Salah Salem I bear witness Allah is the only one worthy of worship a bear witness that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is his final messenger. And what do you hear? Come on, say

immediately after that, what do you hear?

Isn't it and sometimes if they the louder the guy says it the louder the responses if you say

what do you get? Coming to you guys are sleeping and I'll try that again. No, I think you go deaf.

But yes, they say loud and you get an Allahu Akbar. And then people come Congratulations, brother. Congratulations sister. MashAllah Tabata Kala, and there's excitement and his warmth, and so on and so forth. And guess what happens after that? You're on your own.

You're on your own. Why?

It's Allah, Allah Almighty. At times, there are people who will be with you, they will assist you, they will be around you. But a lot of the times you're going to have to make an effort to find to look for to search to get a group of people to get like minded people to find the nearest Masjid to find a masjid where perhaps they might understand you and your circumstances and your situation. And you might want to find people you might find them online, you might just be all on your own. You're worshipping Allah, Allah, He all of these, I've come across.

So what happened? You want to get married? You want to interact in society and community you want to and people say, Oh, but that's a revert. I'm not going to allow you to marry revert. You heard that before.

I can't allow you to marry

but shame shame upon those who say that. Really, the reason is the Sahaba the Allahu Anhu whom were all reverts all of them 100% of them

Abu Bakr revert or revert with man revert ally revert or of the Allahu Anhu Jamia, and may Allah be pleased with all of them. Imagine someone comes and says, I don't want my daughter or my son to be married to a revert. Wow, that means if Ali Allahu Anhu was here, what would you have said?

Agree? Oh, but that's different. How is it different? Because the Prophet sallallahu sallam was there? Oh, fair enough. Wow, the Prophet peace be upon him was there? Is this not his message his followers? Are we not part of his ummah?

These are the challenges that reverts face.

I have fought on behalf of quite a few people, speaking to families to say, Don't block this.

Ensure that you help them in fact, so much so that I always tell people, if you have reverts, make sure that you help them

in their lives with things that otherwise their families would have helped them because a lot of the times families want nothing to do with you thereafter, you're a Muslim, how could you be a Muslim? These Muslim IQ people are quite dangerous, right? I'm sure you've heard that, right.

Dangerous, okay. So you're always taught, go out of your way to be even kinder to your parents, to be even better to your mum, and your dad and your siblings and everyone else. And when they see a difference in you, then perhaps they might at least realize Islam is a decent faith. I want to tell you one of the things I've specialized in, and I've been consistent over the last 20 to 25 years. One of the things I've specialized in, is to introduce Islam to the haters who hate Islam. How

just by tapping every day, a little tapping, what do you tell, tapping? I've used terminology and words that you wouldn't actually want to delete. But you'd have to nod your head and saying That's right, and then quickly flick on because why that's a Muslim, not supposed to be reading that. And the next day, you see another tapping and you got to look it in the SEC make sense? What's happening slowly, but surely, in your heart, there is something building, what is it? You're listening, you're reading, or you're checking a tweet of a Muslim guy with a big long beard. And nearly every one of those tweets, relates. And you're just saying no, but you were a hater. What's happening in your

heart. The minimum that's happening is your hatred is diminishing slowly but surely.

I met a sister

on a train years back in this country.

Older than me, she looked at me and said, I know you.

And I want to tell you something. I'm not a Muslim, but I used to hate Muslims.

What you've done, you've made me change my mind. I no longer hate them. I still don't like you guys. But I don't hate you guys.

And I acknowledge that Islam is a heavenly faith. Oh, wow. That's all I needed. Because guidance is in the hands of Allah. So there are people who specialized in different things. I know what I'm doing. And that's why you find born Muslims are sometimes when you've when you've increased yourself in knowledge, you might not understand exactly what this guy is trying to achieve.

But everyone's specializes in different things.

So therefore, you get people but this guy doesn't do this, this guy that it's okay. It's fine.

When we had this idea of inviting the rivets to be able to share and speak and give them an opportunity to say things. We were all so excited. I couldn't wait for this day to come. And it's come.

And may Allah make it easy because at times, it's difficult. I know people whose families don't even know they're Muslim. And for them to pray is an issue to have halal food is an issue. I remember someone asked me a question. A young person 14 years old saying my folks have given me a little shelf in the fridge to put my halal food. Is it okay because I asked a scholar and he said it's contaminated and It's haram. And I said the scholar doesn't realize where are you living, how you're living, how old you are, what circumstances you're in, what's your financial capacity? Nothing. You go ahead and thank your folks for at least acknowledging and giving you a shelf in the fridge come

on Subhanallah our pork is going

To be at the top and your beef can be here with that halaal stuff that you got. Wallah, it's good enough for me. Don't you agree? Should you not go and congratulate those folks and say, Thank you, man, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Give her a nice big hug. That's your mom, or your dad, whoever it was. Because there are others whose folks are so hostile, they would never want to have anything to do with you. But just because you said La ilaha illAllah. That's it.

So sometimes you get scholars who are going to tell you things without putting themselves in your shoes. And without understanding, listen, what's my circumstance? What's my situation, you're talking about an ideal scenario, in a totally

different world. The world is not ideal. So we're here to say, congrats. You've made it this far. In sha Allah, don't be overwhelmed by the comments of the people might be a bit too late to say this for some, but you move at your pace and at a good pace. There are so many born Muslims who are not really practicing every aspect of Islam slowly but surely they will come one thing at a time, sometimes a little bit more. Sometimes something happens in your life that makes you change a lot of things overnight. Alhamdulillah. So if we can acknowledge that there are born Muslims in that scenario, what about those who who have reverted to Islam and there are slowly but surely coming in,

and everyone says, But sister that's haram. But you know, you try to post something. I remember a sister recently, and I have a habit sometimes when I come across something I comment. Sometimes when I come across something, I comment I do online. Sometimes you have to, and people say why were you watching the system?

And I'm like, I wasn't it was actually just passing on my FYP. And I heard something very interesting. And I felt that I could respectfully acknowledge and encourage, so I did. So what's the big deal?

Why were you following that? I was following the system.

That's a question, right? If it was wrong, for me, it's even wrong for you. But it's social media. It's a real world out there. I'm not saying we're living in an ideal world, in an ideal world, things would have been very different. But we live in the real world. A lot of times, a word of encouragement from a person we look up to, would reassure us to a degree that we've never been reassured before. Is that not true? So I commented.

And this sister was a revert.

Going down reading some of the comments there. People are saying, I think you're lying about your Shahada. You're not doing this your your lipstick is this and you're What are you commenting about? What are you watching? What are you thinking? The person declared their shahada, you want them to become a nun? Is that what it is? The guy has declared his Shahada. You want him to be the Imam of Masjid Al haram overnight. He can struggle for a while they don't know how to read Quran, they may not be able to practice certain things because of their circumstances, or they might just be weak. I'm going to do things but give me sometimes I'm here to tell you. You know what's right and wrong

slowly but surely inshallah you move at your pace, keep it a good pace, don't go backwards. We're all moving at our paces. Don't let anyone overwhelm you. Because they're going to tell you you need to do this. You need to do that as as you're running to do this, someone's gonna say you need to do that. And that's and guess what happens when you end up doing it? You're gonna get another wise crack telling you that well, that's not good enough. You know, you're gonna now need to do this and that that's not right. Come on, forget about the negative comments of the people. You will be strong steadfast thank Allah for your faith. And insha Allah slowly, but surely, you can go ahead by the

will of Allah subhanho wa taala.

When the person acknowledges in their heart that they are believers,

and they know what's right and wrong, and believe it.

If they have faulted the fallen, they're still believers, because they believe

a sin doesn't make you a disbeliever. It's only when you deny something, then you can say, well, I just believe in this, I don't believe in it anymore. Or I don't believe in something that's different, but I believe in it, but due to my weakness, I haven't gotten there yet.

Like I said, it's not ideal, but it's something

So alhamdulillah move at your pace. And guess what?

We will try our best to help you even in your social lives.

Someone needs to get married. Well, hamdulillah

there is a lot happening. We have simply Nika, that's an app that I'm involved in. And inshallah you'll hear more about it through the

the Light upon light events that are going to be happening this coming week in sha Allah.

It's a way of getting to know people, you need to be very careful. Obviously, we've tried with simply Nikka to minimize the negatives that we've found

In a lot of other apps, some of them are really good. But the negatives we found we've tried to minimize all of it and get something that is probably the closest you could get to what is ideal. May Allah make it easy. introductions, not so easy. You need to attend sometimes events you need to participate. You need, people need to see you that you need to interact with people. And then too sometimes you can have an interaction with someone and they could really be feeling that this person is good enough to be a spouse and they could want to communicate with their folks or your folks and someone could be an obstacle simply because you believe it. They need to be educated. That's what it

is. May Allah Almighty make it easy?