My Community

Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.

smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam O Allah Muhammad al al amin, Amina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa Tabby in a woman tambien v San elijo Medina Dini, we're back. We always praise Allah subhanho wa Taala. For indeed, no matter how much we praise Him, it will never be enough.

Even if we were to remain in the condition of frustration from the beginning of our time to the end of it, it would not be enough in terms of the gratitude of Allah subhanho wa Taala or showing gratitude to Allah subhanho wa Taala

we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his entire household, all his companions, we ask Allah Subhana Allah, Allah to bless them all. And to bless every single one of us. Brothers and sisters, it is an honor to be in your midst, I see so many familiar faces. And one of the main reasons that drove me to this beautiful I can call it city of yours is that

when we had the month of Ramadan, every single day, there were so many people who drove all the way from the strand right into Cape Town.

And every day someone would tell me when are you coming to strength? So Subhana Allah I counted about 90 times and then I said, Okay, we better go lava Akbar Allah. May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us, well accepted from all of us. I see. We have put the curry cup on one side and we've come to the real curry.

We think Allah May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us. This is the real food that we need the spiritual food.

My brothers and sisters, you know, I want to start off with something interesting. This evening, I just let Salah to Madrid. And someone

said something a little bit earlier. That made me remember a true story that happened some time back where there was a young man who was not so religious, but he started Mashallah. So he came for Salah, and the Imam started reading Surah Baqarah. Now you know, Surah Baqarah is a long Surah Al Baqarah means a cow. So the Imam continued, and he continued, and he continued and this man was like Subhanallah What's happening? So he was really so tired and so, you know, exhausted at the end of all, that he said, Now, when they have completed he said, which surah was it? So someone told him Bukhara which means a cow. So he said, oh, whoa, that was a long Surah Baqarah It was a long surah

cow, yo, now I better ask the next time he reads a surah so that I know whether to start or not.

So when he got for Salatin marry, the man started Adam tell Okay, fast. farfalla on boo cabbie.

See, this man asks the man next to him. What surah is this? He said, it's the elephant. He said, I better go. He

said, I better go in. If the car was that long. I wonder how long the elephant will be. Not realizing that he was told no, no, no, don't worry, this is one of the shortest.

May Allah subhanho wa Taala. Bless us really my brothers and sisters. We should be interested in serving Allah subhanho wa Taala was the Imam of the community or the Gemma is instructed to be conscious of the elderly and the week behind him. The rest of us should understand what is the sooner recitation so we should not be demanding that he go even shorter than that, which was the son of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. May Allah bless her soul, May He grant us goodness if you cannot read standing, you read sitting. If you cannot read sitting you may lie down and read your Salah. Did you know that suddenly Eman for inlanta spotter *a, Aiden phylum testator, phylogeny,

read standing, if you cannot read sitting if you cannot, then on your side, may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us goodness this evening, we are going to be talking of my community, which means every one of us belongs to a community. We have children, we have youth we have older people, and we have those who are very old and we have male and female. We have the wealthy we have the poor, we have the knowledgeable and those who have less knowledge. And we have all different types of people we have those who are laborers and those who are professionals and so on. Those who are employed and those who are employed is May Allah subhanho wa Taala make us all fulfill the correct role that we

are supposed to be fulfilling. My mothers and sisters we need you in society. You are the mothers you are those who have given birth to us.

We are proud of you, we will look after you, we will respect you. And we ask you to make it easy for us to respect you. That is important. So sometimes it's our duty to respect our sisters, our mothers, but they make it so difficult for us to do that by being unreasonable by doing things that are really not what they are supposed to be doing regarding us or even regarding themselves or any other condition or situation facing the society or the community. May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us all. I mean,

so my brothers and sisters here we are seated we have from amongst us the young moments ago I was speaking to Brother Abu Bakar telling him that chocolates you get the mega big ones I'm not so sure if you've seen the huge chocolates when I was in London, at the duty free they had one kilo bar, one kg bar of what Cadbury and they say that the British one tastes different from our one so you got to try it you know, one kg Subhan Allah I said that is a Grand Mufti man. It's a big one

and then you get the one which is a little bit smaller. So now with us here in this part of the world, you get 210 grams Have you seen that? The normal average one now there's what the arrow meant as well. And then you have the one which is 190 grams the the the the the one that's not so bad is

the cashew and coconut if you tried it by the will of Allah see everyone likes it, Mashallah. It's the texture in the mouth, under 90 grams. And then what happens? You get the very small ones, the 40 grams, the 20 grams, those little mini ones, they look so cute. So Han Allah, Allahu Akbar moments ago, I saw my little youngster on the side, they they said, That's minimum because it reminds me of the little bar of chocolate. So

I hope I'm not the kg.

The truth is, we've got to cater for all members of society. Ask yourself, Am I living a life such that I've contributed to my family, to my society, to my community, to my nation, the oma at large and human beings at large. And on top of that, my ecosystem, the environment, even the animals when I can reach out to them thereafter. Amazing. That's my duty. So every one of us young and old, ask yourself, how have I reached out to my family members to start with you are young, your mother, extremely important respect her shaytan will give you the edge to utter a word of disrespect, blocking when you want to scold or just look at her smile and tell her mom, I love you.

And then she'll tell you, did you want to sway me?

say, No, I didn't I just teach a pan out. I wanted to swish a pan.

It's important when you are young, respect your parents shape and might come to you to say a word against your father, because he's told you what is right, put your game away, stop playing this gap game. It's very dangerous. And it's really unacceptable because of the nudity and whatever else. And you look at him and you say, dad,

everyone else is playing the same game. That's the answers that you get sometimes with the children. How can I not have an iPhone when everyone else has an iPhone or an iPod or an iPad? To be honest with you know, if you say I I, when are you going to look after your family and your society and your community? You've got to use a Samsung, by the way. So you say we we all of us. That's why they call it Nintendo Wii. You heard that wow. AKA, Allah bless us. You must be thinking this man must be playing games. The reality is no, we hear from people what goes on, believe me. People come they complain. They say good words. Sometimes they tell us things. And we know that, you know, while

society does need entertainment, but we need to know our limits. And we need to know what is beneficial. There are so many games that we have through playing we learn something, not just playing aimlessly, where a lot of the games of today shooting, killing, fighting, nudity, and so on. Some of these games are so dirty, that they allow you to do things with the opposite sex that you wouldn't even have thought of May Allah protect us and it's just a game. And now it's growing in society and community, the adults and the older people. I had to debate with an uncle 55 years old to start playing games.

Akbar, may Allah protect us in our homes? How will we contribute to society when I've been reduced to a person who's on the phone? 24 seven and that's it. So when the uncles greet you or someone greets you, your brother, your father, your mother, you're not interested, you haven't heard it.

Allah safeguard us, we need to know the limits. So to start with when you are young, be careful how you talk to your siblings, sibling rivalry. You know the rivalry that happens amongst brothers and sisters that sometimes can get out of hand and seep through generations although it started from nothing. When parents have children make sure you are fair and just don't say that one's dark skin complexion. I don't want to talk to this one's face so every time I go to the mall, let's go. Why? Because I want to be seen with a beautiful child. No way that is from shape man, but it is

happening. People do do that. And people feel that they can get away with it not realizing Allah will catch you. You have caused the suffering of your own child, you need to go out of your way to say I love you to all those children of yours, you will love them you will help them through their crises. They are your duty and your responsibility placed on your shoulders by Allah subhanho wa Taala. We want a beautiful society. Look at how lovely this Masjid is full to capacity. We want this to be seen on a daily basis, my brothers and sisters, we want to see it on a daily basis. If we have a society where lots of love is spread when people make a mistake, we don't go around slandering,

backbiting spreading tales, tweeting and you know, doing all sorts of things and beaming and what have you that shows that we are not bothered of or for the correctement of society, but rather we are interested in destroying society by labeling people until we will be labeled, everybody's labeled. So nobody feels like coming to the masjid. Because when I go to the masjid people look at my false and rather than being Muslim to think of how to correct me, they are worse than the non Muslim to think of how to destroy it.

So if you were to come to the machine, and someone sees you make a mistake, let's wait another way. If someone wants to come to the machine, and we saw them make a mistake, would we walk out of the machine and say Did you see that guy? Did you see what he did? That's not the Islamic way. That is man community being destroyed. The next day the man will not come to the masjid. He won't and if he doesn't come to the masjid, the jamara is broken if the jamara is broken, the communities over

this Salah Salatu JAMA, the congregational prayer has been given its status in Islam, primarily because it is part and parcel of congregating the oma in order for them to get to know one another for the correct reasons they can reach out to one another, they can help in the development of one another. And they can resolve the matters of one another, they can solve the crises that are facing them individually, as well as collectively. That is the reason why Salatu jamara is so important. 27 times more reward to read your Salah in JAMA. That's not just for nothing. It's because I'm supposed to go to the house of Allah to be able to fulfill the acts of worship, such as smiling at your

fellow Muslim, if you were not to mix with others, how would you earn the reward a wise pot might tell you, I'll go in front of the mirror and smile.

That doesn't help get to the society, make sure the community learn to help learn to contribute positively, when you see negatives do not make it more negative by tweeting about it by going out and literally telling the whole world that this man or this woman is like this, and I saw them doing this and that but you have not solved the problem. So of what benefit were you to your own community you destroyed or contributed towards the destruction of your society. We walk into the masjid because a man reads his Salah raising his hands. He might be a Shafi. The other one might be this, the other one might be a Hanafi whatever it is, we have hatred in the heart sometimes just because

they are doing things differently. If that's the case, forget about my community, forget about it, it will be cracked into 50 pieces.

In our own homes, we are taught to compromise when it comes to food and drink and so many other things. You want to paint your house and you have a meeting with the people in the home. Your wife tells you I wanted for example beige and then you say I wanted white and your daughter comes and says I need it move. Don't ask me what color that is, but it's just a color. And you look at it and say sorry. And then whatever happens, the rest of the people are upset. That doesn't occur that shouldn't occur. You need to compromise. I can't say okay, I'll make patches one this one that one does, what that's not how it works, but I need to adopt what one has said and then the rest need to

be happy. The next time we do it inshallah, we'll try and see what you say, Allahu Akbar, in society and community you need to have a bigger heart because you are not sometimes blood family but you have a bond thicker than blood, which is the Shahada eyeshadow, Allah Allah illallah wa Sha, Allah Muhammad, Abu Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So you need to have a big heart if you want community to develop, learn to love the children of others. The reason why we suffocate we pick on the others kids, we pick on the widow when a child is mischievious. We want to eradicate them, we want to penalize them because it's not my child. And when my child is mischievious, I deny it. And I

say it can never be my own kid. So how then can we develop society from a young age the teacher is said to be favoring x, y and Zed By whom? by a fellow student or a pupil who's a little child who comes back home and the parents believe the child and begin to dislike the entire system, and perhaps pull their kids out of the school based on something like that.

And something that was not even the case in reality.

When it's our child we are quick to defend, use the same tactics regarding the children of others. Now you may know how to come have you hit bunny if he might have been enough see that adage we know of by heart. None of you are true believers until you love for your fellow brother what you love for yourself. So if that's the case, what you love for your children you love for this, I will defend my kids I must defend this I will look for excuses for my kids. I must look for excuses for this. This is my community. This is how I develop the love and instill it from a young age in the children and this is how they will develop to be youth who will be interested in the masjid

when the youth come to the masjid, you know, once I saw a young man and he walked into the masjid with a T shirt, and the back of his t shirt had an advert and he was wearing three quarters you see three quarters now To be honest, that is not the ideal dress for the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala but the bigger picture is that that boy came to the masjid after so long. Now there are two ways of looking at it. One is ignore the dressing for now. Now make him feel comfortable that he's come to the house of Allah so much that he keeps coming one day he will hear very soon from someone to say Mashallah, oh, you can give him a gift of

my son Mashallah. I'm so proud of you. This is a gift for you. And not just the two lamb thing, a proper 200 grand thing. And he will be so proud you wear it every time he comes. You solve the problem without talking, why my community that's what it is. But what we do a young boy, if you want to come with a chair, advertising all those things at the back. And if you want to come with these three courses, this is the house of Allah. I don't want to see you here again. Say thank you uncle. I was just waiting for someone to say that.

Allahu Akbar when he goes home, he tells that there has been struggling to get into the machine. He says they told me don't come there.

My community, I am facing issues. People might be dealing in drugs, Allah protect us. They might be hooked on to adultery, gambling, whatever bad habits they have, when they come to the house of Allah, they are the guests of Allah. Be careful how you look at them and how you treat them. That could be the moment of repentance of that individual. How do you look at them? Do you make them feel comfortable? Or do you just look at them? Hey, this man.

You take three steps to the other side. Never. No matter who you are, it's your community, your society. That might be the wall moment of repentance for the sister or the brother who knows and it was me who chased them away from the house of Allah, my community I need to contribute to my society, my alma by making people feel part of one family, my brothers and sisters, we should be loving one another for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala.

People look at one another brother, where do you live? So he tells you Khayelitsha. So now you look at him differently. Oh, and you walk away? The minute he says I live in Crawford. Hey, how's it going? What's happening? I was there the other day? Why? Why is that the case?

is where he lives and the exact financial standing of his relevant to the development of your society and community? The answer is no. In fact, they must contribute more if Allah has given them the means to contribute more. But for me to judge a person based on whether he lives in a shack, or whether he lives in a palace will lie that is not the correct Islamic way of looking at people. I will be facing the rough of my own thoughts. At some stage in my life. Your child might come to you 20 years down the line and say that I'd like to get married.

Then what happens? You can say Oh, Mashallah, there's quite a lot of people I can show you that I've already made my mind up.

And then he comes up with someone, a place that you used to look down upon, you have to swallow your pride tail between your legs and say, welcome my new family.

Why? What was his error? What was his mistake? Some of us our pride stops us from allowing our children to marry brilliant people solely because of their financial standing where they live. How can I develop my own bar, if that's the racism I have? Or if that's the hierarchy system I've placed which does not exist in Islam, how my community requires me to cut through these barriers and to be able to bring together people and to be able to love one another for the pleasure of Allah bearing in mind. My focus is paradise.

I want paradise. I will make people's lives easy. So Allah makes my life easy.

I make people's lives easy. So Allah makes my paradise easy. If I make someone's life tough, how do I expect

To walk into paradise with ease,

may Allah grant us goodness, my society, my community, I am a part of it, I need to contribute to it. And you know what, you need to have a very big heart. If you'd like to contribute to society, you need to overlook you need to understand you need to tolerate you need to forgive, you need to donate without wanting in return that acknowledgement sometimes.

That is how you build society. If I want acknowledgement, I will get it in the dunya what's left for the ark era. The best charity is that which your left hand does not know what your right hand is spent. That is the best charity but some of us may Allah protect us. We will never donate unless my name is mentioned. Unless you make a big deal. We walk out thank you fans. Thanks, guys. Yes, it owes me the money knows for me. Thanks. Thanks, guys. This is me me. Yes.

There are people who have contributed more than my millions. And we don't know them because their contribution was in kind not in cash. There are people who have contributed more than our millions by walking to the masjid for Salah every single day and keeping the masjid alive the house of Allah. That is the contribution my brothers and sisters you want to contribute to your society. Point number one come for Salah was Gemma

without a joke as young as you are as old as you can be. Point number one you want to build society I tell you, Allah subhanho wa Taala did not merely give the value that Salatu Juma has just like that in order to just dish out rewards, there is a reason behind it. And for this reason, you are not allowed to miss the Juma you're not allowed to miss the Juma the Friday prayers you need to come early. The earlier the better, the greater reward for he who walks in early and you come you meet your brothers, you smile at them, not in order to make them feel uncomfortable in the house of Allah. But in order for you to reach out in a beautiful way, my brother, you are part of my broader

family.

And we should make it easy for others to do that to us because sometimes I have a good heart and I want to come into the masjid and I smile at the brothers and then someone comes to me and says you know what? I'm in desperate need of 10,000 rounds. And I know you got it.

Now what happens? You're putting the huncle on a spot in a corner.

The next time he won't come to the masjid. Why? Because people are pushing him for his money. No. Like I tell the doctors yesterday I met

a neurologist in the city of Durban. And when I met him Mashallah, it was a very social discussion. So I was sitting with him and I Salaam Alaikum. How are you? And you know, we introduced each other and what have you and so on. And the moment later I told him, You know what, I want a bit of your advice. And I asked him a little piece of advice. And I told him, I am going against my own words. Because I normally tell people when you see a doctor, when he's not, for example, say in the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala don't start telling him Hey, you know what, my back is aching Doc, you know, what do you suggest? Come? You know, you start saying, Hey, you know, I got this pain from

long. Luckily, I'm seeing you here. That is not the platform. If you're very close to him, you may so I told him but this is a social discussion, social gatherings. I don't feel so bad. He said, No, no, no, it's only a pleasure and an honor. But the point I'm raising is imagine you come to the house of Allah. Say for example, one of the top surgeons in the country happens to be in the same Masjid in my community. I'm talking of this land, for example. And one of the top people the top businessmen top sportsmen top, whatever else it is, would they feel comfortable to walk in, greet people walk out, just like how you would walk in greet people and walk out You are the guest of

Allah, no one made you feel uncomfortable. No one pressurised you into things that you would not be happy with.

So the man comes in Mashallah you greet him and so on. And you don't have to make his life tough. So today, you know, it's hard for him to walk in and walk out, he won't be able to come. But Alhamdulillah whatever you can by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala affording them the respect that they deserve, and at the same time, their little free space and understanding of is a top doctor and I need him make an appointment.

He's got a surgery, let me go there.

And if I really need to get there urgently, perhaps I can write a note and give it to him. Or maybe I can talk to someone who knows him to say, you know, please can I just make this the problem was asked, you know, once I was chatting with a Muslim man, and he told me I don't like to do business with Muslims. And I told him but why I'm not a businessman, so I wouldn't know I need to learn from the people. He says they always asking the Muslims for discounts but watch them walking into the non Muslim shops. They will never ask for a discount. They will pay the price and walk out happily with a smile and the goods will be half the quality of what We have provided.

And I said is that the case? He says Yes. Is that true?

See, everyone's laughing and smiling. Yes. We cannot give a Muslim brother the business. We must scrounge the biggest discount we can get out of him squeezing but if it's a non Muslim, we pay happily and we walk out. Is that true? How can I build my community they need the money, they need to become wealthy as well so that we can have a beautiful musty next time with the air conditioned by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala not forgetting that we will have to foot the bill of electricity. Allahu Akbar Yes. I was thinking if everyone has to pay 10 grants for every Salah they read in the house of Allah, they would read at home

this facility you have right now is a beautiful carpet Mashallah electricity, lovely place we can meet What have you paid for it? A lot of us know. Am I right?

Can't we take out a little bit of money to the masjid and say, You know what, they've got electricity bills. They've employed the mom's more advanced cleaners. They've got so much they've got carpet, they want to renew it, they want to renovate and so on. They must never ever have to go out for a collection because every Salah I read is worth more than 50 grands I'm only gonna pay 10 grands for once Allah. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. I think we'd all be wanting to be imams in those massages. The salary 35,000 Mashallah, whoa, we need the job.

But we haven't thought about it. Okay, downgrade the figure to one grand per Salah. Imagine today I think we look like more than 1000 year perhaps. I don't know.

If we were to all give a rain for a Salah that we read what would go vows? If this rugby curry cup 200 grands a ticket. We ready to bribe the people for what? For the curry in the cup Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar.

You know, someone was telling me I don't think you're gonna get a big crowd because today this carry cup I said, No, the muslimeen will come.

And here we are. Here we are, by the will of Allah Subhana Allah Allah. May Allah grant us goodness, I'm sure there are so many people listening to us on air as well. Mashallah. So this is my community, the development of my community is my concern. Today we become miserly to spend on our own family members. How then are we going to spend on community and like I said, the cornerstone of spending on my community is I don't want acknowledgement from anyone. I just want to have seen what I did in

Lahaina

Comm. jazza.

Indeed, we feed you for the sake of Allah, we don't want from you any Recompense. Nor do we want you to say thank you, nor do we want any form of gratitude from you. All we want is Allah subhanho wa Taala. To have witnessed what we did for us. That's enough.

How many of us are ready to do things in a big way solely for the sake of Allah, no one knows you are the man behind the scenes. No one knows today shape and makes us want to be known as a person behind the scenes. So you're no longer behind the scenes, you're actually in front of the scenes. And if you're not acknowledged, you feel bad, I'm no longer donating because the last time they didn't acknowledge me. If that's the case, keep your money.

That's a bit harsh.

In fact, give it will still give you acknowledgement. Don't worry.

About May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us all. We need to build we are losing society because of the way we look at one another the fact that we've turned away from the same rules and regulations that were used to build the first society which was built by Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the Sahaba are ready to give their lives for one another. We are not even prepared to give a few rains for one another.

So something has gone wrong. And the reality is our Salah has gone upside down.

Salah is so valuable. It is one of the founding pillars of the deen. It holds up your tent. Amazing.

So you come early, you meet the people, you get to know them. They are amongst us right now those who are struggling financially, really amongst us. May Allah make it easy for you. There are people who have debts and there are others who are tycoons, perhaps millionaires, may Allah grant you Baraka in your well. We need to reach out to our community before our wings spread elsewhere.

What's the point of me donating 50,000 lands somewhere else far away when there is a city right next door? It's like a man collecting. I'm going to say this but it's Haram. So please don't use this. A man collecting funds for Palestine outside with a tin and he was collecting, collecting, collecting and collecting. So one day someone asked him Hey, are you collecting all this money? Do you really go to Palestine? He's just come home. Come home brother.

When this brother went home, he saw a flag outside and he says Welcome to Palestine.

If that's the case, you are deceiving people, but he is trying to pass a message to say Hang on, people will only give if I say Palestine, my house is a Palestine here, man.

Allah grant us goodness, we have such a responsibility, we need to reach out to both. We need to reach out to both. But there are people amongst us there are widows who whose lives have really struggled after the loss of their husbands. They have suffocated, nobody's reaching out to them. So who reaches out to them, people of other societies, other denominations and faiths reach out to them in a way that we lose them from our community. What happened to my community? It flopped, because I did not reach out to the widow.

The elderly, my parents become old. How can I just send them out? You know what? You go into this old age home and that's it. Even if the best option is an old age home? I need to be there on a constant basis. Find out phone them, man, I love you. What do you want to take them anything to make them smile? Even if it means one rose Subhanallah there was a brother. Every time he goes to the graveyard. He used to bring a rose back home.

And his wife used to say, Wow, this man is so romantic. So one day his friends asked him, they asked him Hey, how can you bring a rose? He says I just go to the grave, pick up the rose and take it Oh.

That's not how we should be operating. But the point I want to make is even that was bringing a smile at all.

We are not even thoughtful to me that man was thoughtful, although he was doing the wrong thing. But he was thoughtful. But for us, we're not even that thoughtful. We see everything in front of us. No, we can't do that. Why? I'm a Muslim. I got a big beard. I can't be romantic.

What are you talking about?

Allahu Akbar. Allah subhanho wa Taala. Grant us goodness. We need to learn and we need to understand you contribute towards the elderly, your own relatives just by visiting them, asking them what their needs are. They don't need much. When last Did you visit an old age home and they told you the next time you come here bring me a Mercedes. They've never asked for anything more than a premium newspaperman. Sometimes they'll tell you I just need a radio the batteries in here, you know, they're not what two Duracell batteries will make that man's life. He listened to those old radios which have the tuner you know.

And then they get a voice on the radio today. So panela and they excited they're smiling. They're making a big why to Duracell batteries you can afford yourself you can go for sino tech. No problem works to one 10th of the price it will work. The only thing is your two hours will last two weeks.

My community I can't give two Duracell batteries to my elderly who

raised in this beautiful city or place of mine. How can I not contribute to them? We drink the water from the same depths. We went through the same hurricanes when they were rains we felt the same rains, everything happened by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala and I cannot turn to the uncle and say Uncle, I am a son of this particular city. I know you are here in the old age home, is there something I can do for you Subhana Allah, He will tell you, hey, just make do for us. The fact that you're here to sit with me for 15 minutes you've made my week. You know why they count the weeks nobody's visited them. Then comes the missionaries with all their big sacks and baskets and bouquets

and they say in the name of Jesus we are giving you and if this happens every day, all day for so many weeks, you tell me what will happen to my community.

We are supposed to be reaching out to others in the name of Allah subhanho wa Taala we haven't yet reached out to our own. Like I said, we have widows we have orphans in our midst. Nobody pays their school fees, nobody's bothered. Sometimes we don't even want to look at them, we see them as a burden. When the Prophet sallallahu Sallam says, and our calf Iulia timika.

Myself and the one who takes care of an orphan shall be like these two fingers in Paradise and he brought together the first two fingers.

He was an orphan himself. Imagine if they treated him the way we treat orphans today, what would have happened Allahu Akbar to society yet society was built through the respect of widows and orphans.

The Hadith says a person who is striving to serve the needs of the widows and the orphans is similar to he who is standing in prayer all night and fasting all day, similar in reward.

Why is that reward placed not because Allah just wants to dish out reward purpose less now there there are many reasons for that. One of them is to develop the oma my community, my society, my people. I need to

Watch out, I need to care for them, we will have misunderstandings, we may have people who have usurped the wealth of one another. We might have divorces within our communities of people who are good on either side, but they did not get along. The reality is I need both those families in my community. So I need to be a person who can try to mend the link. And the bare minimum is even if they don't get along, I will ensure that I will treat them both in a way that whoever is wrong, can learn a lesson. And whoever is right does not become so arrogant that they begin to trample thereafter upon the rights of those who are wrong. Because sometimes someone oppresses you. So you

were right. But the way you deal with them, it swaps it flips. You become the oppressor without realizing, and you want to justify it by say, but they did this. Imagine a little boy comes to you. And he says, uncle, you're silly.

So little boy,

perhaps, you know, you need to retaliate, react, maybe you actually allow it, but they don't normally like

for him to come up and say that to you. He needs guts, something must have happened. But anyway, let's say, under normal circumstances, we do get a bit upset. So we're upset. So now you snatch him up and you hit him and he's on the ground? What did you do? You are wrong, because your retaliation was far more he just said a word. You could say a word back to him to say, Listen, don't say that to the other anchors because you don't know what's going to happen. Or you could say Listen, why do you say that? engage him in discussion, or perhaps have a decent chat with his parents. But we would say your mother didn't teach you. That's what we would say sometimes bare minimum, go to the Father make

a big noise, you know, your son, he's got no respect. And you break in community because you didn't know how to react to a small issue.

So to develop my community, I need to know how to react to issues that occur in society. I need to tolerate people, someone might want to sit in the corner and read Quran slightly loudly. You know, when I walked into the one of the massages in the UK, I was surprised when I read the notices saying these windows shall be open, these windows shall be shocked. And then I immediately my mind told me exactly what must have happened in this must you

see, so they had to come in and make a rule you like a you want to be having cool air of UK, you go into that corner, and you're a person who likes to be in the heat and everywhere boiling, you know, you need to go into the other corner. So you need to make sure because sometimes some of the people who want Kool Aid are right next to in the south, a person who wants the place to be boiling. The two of you are standing together what happens shapen just comes in the sentences that guys start massaging both of you guys, come on, here it is. So you look at him. It's a sweet open.

Country, no, no, we fighting over the window, my community, my community, so we won't come to the masjid because he wants heat or he wants cold and I want heat or vice versa. Whatever it is.

We've only talked about the basics.

in this society, in this community, we have people who are employed, if those who are employed, and we have the employers as well, if those who are employed are treated well. Believe me, society, blossoms, it grows, it blooms, it actually multiplies in a beautiful way. If the growth is so great that others can learn. But the minute

there is a problem between employer and employee and you happen to be from the same community you find community company, this one talking bad about that one, this one next thing he is fired, and this happens bad words, we don't want to see this person, I won't go to this machine because the money there is from that guy, and you know, he's a dirty fellow and so on. Well, Allah accepted some of his wealth to be used in some direction. So Allahu Akbar, may Allah grant us goodness.

There are so many things that will contribute towards the development of society. one of the cornerstones also is when you see the progress of someone in community never become jealous of

whether they have more knowledge than you whether they have more wealth than you whether they have more children than you whether their children seemingly are more successful than yours, never become jealous, pray for them. They are part of your society, you will be proud that a son of your community has made it to the top of the globe.

Not that my own son, sometimes it might be the son of my community, but when we have a good community, we're proud of the achievements of the children of one another. When we have a sad community, we become upset. Someone says Mashallah, that son of strand has achieved so much that you don't know that one day. He's a drug addict. So you only had a bad word to say but the world knows him as a good man. Allahu Akbar. That was jealousy. That's what it was. It was jealousy, jealousy crumbles my community. It can build society. It burns relations. It

burns everything.

So when we reach out to the elderly, when we reach out to the orphans and the widows, when we reach out to those who would like to get married in our midst, they are perhaps brothers and sisters, most of the sisters who are now of age. And you know what? nobody's talking about getting married, not at all. And Father says, Just wait, a proposal will come from the ceiling.

You need to do something, it's your community, look out, see, go and talk to people ask those who've got sons and those who have sons reach out to the daughters of your community, before you go elsewhere. And the problem and the difficulty is, we do not talk to our own children. So we haven't developed them why I'm after money. And then after something else,

like we normally say they go to school, so you don't even know what goes on their adversity. You think they have to education? Why should after money they after honey, love Akbar, Allah protect us.

So what happens to society? People don't know. It is not about yourself, you alone, it is the broader picture when you die. People think oh, this man was very successful. He made so many millions for himself. The reality is that does not gauge success of a Muslim. This man contributed to society, this man made sure that this happened in the masjid, this man was interested in the secret, there are those who are sick, how many of us visit those who are sick? Do you know there are so many in our midst who are suffering illnesses, some of us have already suffered those illnesses. So if we visited them, we could give them a good way. But we couldn't be bothered why we haven't yet

realized the value my community. So what happens? Others reach out to them, others reach out to them.

Do you know when a person is sick leave that hospital bed is one of the loneliest places you could be, especially when it is prolonged.

We are a community. We need to go there for the sake of Allah. Not just because you want something out of him or her know for the sake of Allah, it's my society. So this is why we say the youth keep yourself occupied. Yes, you have curry capping all those things. Put that aside for a moment. Let's talk about the reality. How many times have we visited the Sikh as a group of youth. And I encourage you want community to develop, take an interest in your children, little children, you the elderly, take your time to greet the children, to smile at them to pat them on the back to acknowledge their achievements. Ask them something and say something positive. As a result, you find them attaining

the confidence they need, they will then get up in society and be able to help be able to talk be able to contribute. Today, we become so jealous of the children of others that you know what happens when they are for example, someone gets up in the machine and gives delivers a good talk, we say no ways this person here shouldn't be there. Why? Well, who else is going to do the job? We're not worried but not him. But he's a son of your own community? Why is it that you look at him that way? It's sheer jealousy. So this is why to eradicate that one of the the ways of doing it is we need to start treating our youngsters in a beautiful way you look at someone give him a good look and greet

him and acknowledge him. You don't need to pick on little errors as you look at him for the first time.

A brother the way you shaved your beard is wrong. Come on, man, that's got nothing to do with you. I'm your Muslim brother, you really want to tell me something? First, develop a link with me. So show me that you really keen and interested in me developing? And then I will listen to you without any form of a question mark? Because I know you are genuine.

I know you're a person who cares. So the little children we see going to school and so on. Sometimes we show no interest in them. Nothing. Not at all. Sometimes parents got no time for their own kids who go to grade one and two, and so on.

Spend the moment son, what are you doing? I'm in grade one. I that's great. So what do you learn and what ever he tells you say well done work hard, man. I'm sure we can see you a leader tomorrow. Those words even if he told you something that didn't make sense.

What did you do? He'll never forget you from a distance you look at your a that uncle let me go Santa Monica, how are you? Why did he come to greet you with a smile? You are the light that showed him that he can be a successful child. That's what it is. That's my community.

So we need to show an interest but today we see a child is behind the car, the plan the light, a match agrees and the next thing we start swearing and yelling and so on. No, not at all. That's not how it's supposed to be. Greet the child. Call him. Talk to him. Give him a sweet give him something. Remind you nowadays people giving your children sweets I teach my kids don't take it from strangers. And that's what we should be because we live in a society where they it could be anything. May Allah protect us, but to

Be honest with you talk well to the child, my son. You know what? I'm so proud of you such a clever child. Now, if you do this type of thing, it's not going to go down. Well, you know, if this is the wrong thing to do, you choose your words, talk to them in a way that they can listen to you, they will look at you and they think about it. Sometimes they will need you to talk to them four or five times before they will understand what you're saying or digested or taken. But that's development of my community.

Imagine that was your own child, may Allah grant us goodness?

And then the youth need to get engrossed in involved in the development of community as well. You know, we have recreation sometimes and I know here you have one of the most beautiful beaches in the strand, Mashallah people come here, holiday resorts, there is a flea market there, a friend of mine, sell some some losers there, Mashallah, on a Sunday, we ask Allah to grant us all Baraka, believe me, this place is so beautiful, what have I done to contribute in such a way that I can do something not only for the Muslims, but at the same time, people can say the Muslims have contributed in this way, doesn't have to be something big, something small, but something meaningful, we will achieve

more than one thing. One is, we've cleaned the beach, for example, two is we've occupied the youth, it was better than going to the club. And for your information, it's even better than playing those computer games at home, why I did something meaningful, and we teach them the culture of contributing to community, your responsibility, your social responsibility, very important. You need to be bothered about the underprivileged, those who are less privileged or your environment. Imagine if you just start up an initiative.

And you get up and you say, Subhana, Allah, right, youngsters, let's get all together. And we want to collect all the clothes that have not been used for the last year. Please don't put them in this box.

In your cupboards back at home, anyone who has clothes that they haven't worn for one year, please bring it in, donated.

Ready to do that.

And I'm sure the youth will take care of the box.

You won't find it being sold in the flea market, don't worry. But we will distribute it, we will give it Let it be clothing that is good. Voila, here we have so much clutter. Last night I attended a function where we were talking about the disaster that's in Syria, the humanitarian disaster at the moment and I said that if we had to take out the excess that which we don't need, and we don't use, you know, we have so much in our fridges, in our cupboards in our drawers everywhere in the home, if we had to take out the excess that which we are not using, we would alleviate the suffering of everyone on the globe. Believe me, imagine the clothing all of us, myself included, we have more

clothes than we need.

The last time I said that one men outside said so can you give me a buyer.

But what I mean is we've got more than we need my brothers and sisters and people are struggling. So if I want to build my community reach out, there are people who are homeless, you might not be able to give them a home. But what you can give them is a blanket,

or a piece of clothing or some food, the excess, not the dirt, but the excess packet nicely and present it you don't just throw it I ate half an orange and throw the other half to a bigger that's wrong islamically we never ever meant to do that. Presented properly. If you've eaten half of it, make sure it's cut, it's sliced, it's put properly and it's given presented in a way that you are thankful that they accepted it from you. This is what it is. That's when you can develop society. When that man who cannot afford food and doesn't have it sees you and you've given him left overs. But the way you presented the leftovers is such that you've taken care of his respect in society.

That's what has happened.

Because you can give the same food in two different ways. Allahu Akbar, we reach out my brothers and sisters, there is so much that we can do to develop my society, my community. Remember I'm using the word mind because I am involved in it. But there is a broader picture I can only become a part of it. I tell you, those of us who've gone through May Allah protect us debt in our families disaster for example, a huge accident loss of a family member and so on. You realize the value of community

and I hope the community reaches out to people who are in need

someone passes away say for example here and now. How will we reach out to them and their family will we facilitate the burial and so on and they will we contribute towards costs if they cannot afford and what have you What will we do or is each one just amassing for himself? The day something happens to me. They will reach out to me had I been a person who reached out to others

Simple. So my brothers and sisters, let's contribute positively. And I want to end on one note.

There are so many distractions around so many things that are pulling us in all directions. It's becoming more and more difficult to live as a community and a society, it's becoming more and more difficult with the distractions, the technology, the age, and this lack of wealth and the trends that are overtaking the youth, the love of the latest of everything, may Allah protect us, we need to know our limits. And we need to know how to address those issues. Because if you just get up and start blasting all these issues and say, This is how I am and that's how I'm and this is how it may well be Haram. But there is a way of coming across to the people to explain to them the harms of it

in such a way that even if you did not use the word how long they will give it up bearing in mind that this thing is not good.

So there is a way of doing things. And today, the environment is such that it calls us towards that which is very bad in such a sweet way that we think that success lies in that.

Let's take a look at credit. The dish of credit cards like no man's business to anyone and everyone, and they encourage you to buy things you cannot afford, not at all after you bought it and then suddenly you paying for it. And after a while you've made an error in payment or you lost your job and your life is a mess. Why? Because they were not bothered in building my community. They were bothered in building their own business making a profit out of you. That's what it was. So it's important for us to realize, to live beyond your means is something that will result in the crumbling not only of yourself, but society at large. living beyond your means be happy. I'm a poor

man, I can't afford a car. I can't afford a house I will walk to the machine and I'll buy a bicycle so what I go to pick up my daughter for example, and I put her on my bicycle I've got a little seat at the back and I will pick a lot away from the machine or from the school very happily and my daughter so happy to be there.

But no, we look at those people have got that car. I'm gonna show them I can have it as well. The minute we've got that mentality society crumbles, because now we want to live beyond our means. Allah says Be happy with what you have. May Allah Subhana Allah Allah bless us, May He grant us every form of goodness, really, like I say, it's been an honor and a privilege to be in this beautiful place. I've been longing to come here. Brother Mohammed has been telling me for so long When are you coming to the stream? Everybody's been telling me everybody's been and I said you know what, inshallah one day and it has happened and I hope it's not the last tomorrow inshallah we will

be at the Mountain View Masjid or mountview Masjid by the word of Allah same time, for similar reason. It really been telling me for a long time some years on end, but by the word of Allah subhanho wa Taala The time has just, you know, been made possible by Allah subhanho wa Taala We hope to see some of the faces I hope a few of the words I've said this evening can be of help to myself, firstly, and inshallah to instill that feeling of love and the genuine care within our hearts for one another, to be able to solve our matters and problems, to be able really to reach out to one another, the elderly, the orphans, that widows, the children, the boys, the girls, the kids, the

babies, all the categories of people, we need to reach out to them and we need to look at them as though their problem is mine. That is the society even if I cannot solve it for them, the mere fact that I have a concern and I make a do out who's do our will be accepted only Allah knows May Allah grant to to all those who are seeking ILA may grant Rama to all those who have passed away and may He make us amongst those who are successful in this dunya and the next are Salatu was Salam ala nabina Muhammad Subhan Allah Subhana Allah homovanillic shadow Allah Allah Allah antenna South zero Ghana, togo na