Mufti Menk – Dealing with Loss
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of finding happiness in life and finding happiness in life, as well as the importance of making a positive impact on one's life and others. They stress the need to make a positive impact on one's life and share deeds and deeds that occur after death. The speakers also emphasize the importance of respecting family members and not fighting with Microsoft.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah wa alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala
Rasulullahi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.
My brothers and sisters, this evening I'd like
to talk about something very very important.
And I know many people don't like the
subject, but it's something we have to talk
about.
I received a message from one of my
friends, who is in his forties, saying that
he lost his father, who was in his
seventies, in Ramadan.
That's quite a few months ago.
And he says, I don't know why, I
cannot get over the loss of my father.
I get up at times, I feel anxious.
I cry.
I don't know how this will improve.
And I don't know what to do.
I feel like I'm an orphan even though
I'm so old.
And I feel like something is missing.
And I really miss my father.
And it's very difficult for me to continue
and to keep going in life.
Okay, so you've got the scenario, right?
We have someone who's in their forties.
We have a person who passed away in
their seventies.
They've passed on so many months back.
And we have someone who's married with children,
who is struggling to cope with that loss.
Now the first thing you and I need
to know is, it is human.
It is human.
It is normal to miss someone.
It is natural to feel sad.
It's okay to cry.
All of that is fine.
We are human beings.
From amongst us in this hall today, and
those who might witness this later, we've lost
loved ones.
We've cried.
Many of us have been there.
We've lost our parents.
So obviously, one of the most important statements
is that, it is human.
It's okay to cry, to miss someone.
These are qualities that are very very acceptable
and very human.
But Allah gives us mechanisms to cope with
the loss.
Allah gives us mechanisms to look into the
future with hope.
Allah gives us goodness for us to be
able to look forward to something that is
a silver lining upon that grey cloud that
looms.
And this is Allah, and Allah alone.
So, every time we suffer a loss, the
first thing we're taught to say is, إِنَّا
لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَجِعُونَ I
start off from the end of the verses.
Allah says, those are the ones who are
rightly guided.
Who are they?
They are the ones whom the blessings and
the mercy of Allah descend upon.
Who are they?
They are the ones who say, إِنَّا لِلَّهِ
وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَجِعُونَ And when do they say
this?
They say it whenever they suffer a loss.
Those are the believers.
Those are the rightly guided.
And I thank Allah for giving us parents
who taught this to us, for giving us
teachers who taught us that every time there
is a loss, what do you say?
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَجِعُونَ Why?
Because it reminds you who you are, who
the person was, or who the thing was.
It's not necessarily the loss of an individual.
Any loss.
So, whatever you've lost belongs to Allah.
It always belongs to Allah.
You and everything else, and everyone else will
be returning to Allah.
And who do you belong to?
You don't belong to yourself.
You do not belong to yourself.
If you don't belong to yourself, can you
ever say something belongs to you permanently?
No.
Only temporarily.
Your children, who do they belong to?
Allah.
Because you belong to Allah.
Your spouse, your parents, everyone belongs to Allah.
But temporarily on earth, for a system that
was divinely designed, Allah wants you to be
able to say, my father, my mother, my
child.
But Allah says, I can take them away
at any time.
It's part of my system and part of
my plan.
What is the system of Allah?
That people will die.
People will go.
People will return to Allah.
You will go, I will go.
I am preparing for the day I meet
with Allah by seeking lots of forgiveness and
having hope in His mercy and becoming a
better person.
That's why we are seated here today.
To be able to become better people.
To be able to improve in our prayer.
To be able to improve in our dress
code.
To be able to improve in our abandoning
that which is haram.
To be able to improve in the fulfillment
of that which is obligatory.
To be able to do that which is
charitable and voluntary to earn the pleasure of
Allah.
That's why I'm seated here this evening.
None of us are seated here just to
pass time.
We want to learn something.
We want to go back becoming better people
and more conscious of Allah who made us.
That's why we're here.
That's why I am here all the way
from Africa to let you know that Allah
has a plan.
And Allah loves you.
And if you've lost something, for as long
as you have not lost your connection with
Allah, you have actually gained.
If something has brought you closer to Allah
that looked like a loss, it was not
a loss.
If you lost your father and as a
result you started dressing more appropriately, what was
that?
Your father was always going to go.
May Allah grant him Jannah.
But guess what?
His going was a blessing for you because
now you're preparing to go as well.
La ilaha illallah.
Blessing.
Some people, it takes the death of an
individual for them to get a jolt to
turn to Allah.
Some people don't need that jolt, they already
turn to Allah because they see something or
the other.
Some are more fortunate, they've had a good
upbringing.
Some have had good friends that brought them
towards Allah.
I know people who went to the universities
for example and they've become better people.
And the opposite is also true.
You need to understand, if Allah has favored
you to connect with Him more and more
each day, Wallahi, you are blessed.
Some people turn to Allah when they have
a sickness.
Some people turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala when they've lost their money.
When the crypto goes down, it shot through
the 100,000 mark, right?
And right now it's gone down to what?
70 something, 80 something?
What's it sitting at?
See, we know it.
I was just waiting for someone to answer.
The others I can see the answer on
their lips but they refuse to admit.
We know what it was, right?
May Allah bless all of our monies and
our sustenance and our homes.
But more than anything may Allah bless our
faith and grant it growth.
Ameen.
So, the loss, Allah says, when you lose
something, when say this person lost his father,
yes, it's okay to miss the father, but
try to look at how fortunate you are
that you had a father for 45 years.
Others have not had a father for that
time.
Some have lost their fathers in their teens
when they had not yet gotten married.
If you ask me, I have children, how
many years would you like to live?
The true answer is, when Allah knows it's
the right time for me to go because
he's pleased with me, let him take me.
That's the right answer.
But if you ask me as a human
being, I'd like to perhaps see my children
at least comfortable or settled.
Minimum.
The problem is once those children are settled,
now what do you want to see?
Grandchildren.
Thank you so much.
Now you want to see your grandchildren.
Will it ever stop?
So Allah says, we will stop it.
That's it.
We will stop it.
Because then you will want to see your
grandchildren getting settled.
And after that, you're going to say, Ya
Allah, at least a few great grandchildren, let
me see them.
Am I right?
Allahu Akbar.
So Allah says, we will choose when to
go.
My brothers and sisters, the Prophet Muhammad, peace
be upon him, used to say, Oh Allah,
keep me alive for as long as you
know that life is good for me.
And take me away when you know it's
better for me to go.
Wallahi, that's not an easy dua to make.
It's a sunnah dua.
You have to make it whether you like
it or not.
Because ultimately, no matter how long you stayed
for on earth, you have to still go
back to Allah.
But if you got to the desired place
which is paradise, even if you stayed on
this earth for 20, 30 years, it was
worth it.
It was worth having stayed less and going
to the right eternal destination than having stayed
longer and going to the wrong place.
So that's why when Allah knows it's good
for me, Oh Allah, take me.
And this is why the Prophet, peace be
upon him, used to say, اللهم اجعل خير
ايامنا اواخرها اللهم اجعل خير ايامنا اواخرها وخير
اعمالنا خواتمها Oh Allah, make the best of
my days, the last days.
You know when I'm going to go.
Just before those days, make everything the best.
I give an example usually of a Pakistani
singer who turned to faith before Allah took
him away to me.
I look at it and I say, that
was the love of Allah for that man.
Do you know his name?
Junaid Jamshid.
When I heard his story, I happened to
meet him not before, not long before he
passed away in the crash.
I met him at the airport in one
of the countries.
And we sat together.
I was with my wife, he was with
his wife.
And we spoke for a while.
And I'm thinking to myself, this is the
guy who used to sing.
And he was literally famous for his singing.
He quit it and he turned.
Not knowing that I'm not going to live
long.
That is the translation of the dua, اللهم
اجعل خير اعمالنا خواتمها Oh Allah, let the
best of our deeds be the last of
our deeds.
When we're doing good deeds, then you take
us away.
Imagine that's not an easy dua.
It's a sunnah dua.
It's a reality.
I need it, you need it.
It's preparation for the inevitable.
The only thing that is absolutely certain for
us who are alive here is that we're
going to die.
Everything else is uncertain.
How much you're going to earn, who you're
going to marry, your children, whatever else is
all uncertain.
What is absolutely certain is, you're going to
return to Allah.
So, if your father has lived beyond the
age of 60, 70, you are more fortunate
than the ones whose fathers have passed away
earlier.
To the degree that if someone's father passed
away before they attained the age of puberty,
they are then considered an orphan.
Who is an orphan?
In Islam, an orphan is the one who's
lost his father or her father before attaining
puberty.
You're an orphan.
And what is the rank of an orphan?
The rank of an orphan is very very
high.
It goes to show, yes, there is a
loss that was suffered by this child.
There is a parental deficit as a result
of the loss of the father of this
child.
So the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wa sallam says,
انا وكافل اليتيم كهاتين في الجنة Myself and
the one who takes care, who takes care,
who looks after an orphan will be like
this in paradise.
We know that.
Hadith of the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
And guess what?
You've got to realize you're fortunate you have
a father.
You're fortunate you had a father.
You're fortunate you grew older, you got married,
your father was there, witnessed it.
You're fortunate that you got children, your father
saw them.
And then he passed away.
Wallahi, that's a blessing.
Now what do you do?
You pray for him.
You seek forgiveness for him.
You do a few good deeds, inshallah, to
help and to benefit perhaps within that which
is permissible.
You might want to do a hajj, you
might want to do some umrah, you might
want to give some charity and so on,
on behalf of your father.
So you say, O Allah, I'm doing this
for your sake, and I'd like you to
reward my father.
That's the way.
You make dua, just to ask Allah, O
Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, grant
him jannah.
اللهم اغفر له وارحمه وسكنه في الجنة.
Even if you repeat that a hundred times,
a thousand times, each time you say it,
it benefits your father directly, you as a
child.
What a great blessing.
And then you have to understand the favor
of Allah, because there are others who lost
their fathers, like I said, at a time
when they couldn't make ends meet.
They didn't know.
I know of some kids who grew up
and developed bad habits simply because there was
no father figure there.
He passed away.
And that's why it's important for community to
take care of the orphans.
Look after them, give them importance.
To stroke your hand on the head of
a child, of an orphan, is something you
will be rewarded for.
Because you're showing care, you're helping them, you're
giving them hope and courage.
When we have children, we always look at
the children depending on the cultural background and
the families.
In some families, unfortunately, they say, you're useless,
you're not gonna achieve anything, you're going to
fail, you're a failure, you're disgusting, you are
this, I regret ever having you as a
child.
Every word that you uttered is written against
you.
And guess what, it affects the child and
it shall be held against you on the
day of Qiyamah in front of Allah.
You were the parent.
No matter what you were supposed to say,
encouraging words, my son, you will manage.
You will do it, you shall do it,
you are doing it and I'm here to
ensure that you do it and I'm proud
of you.
Utter empowering words.
We are taught to empower, not to destroy.
Have you ever visited a special needs classroom
at a school where there are children with
special needs?
Go and look at those teachers, they are
trained to empower those children to take them
out of whatever hardship they are going through.
They will be patient with them again and
again.
What about parents?
How can you be impatient?
Don't ever make a dua against your own
child.
And beloved children, if your mother or father
has made a dua against you, Allah will
never allow it to go through if it
is not deserved by you.
Allah is not unjust.
Allah knows He is just.
In fact it will go back to them,
to haunt them and harm them.
So as a parent, yes your dua is
very important.
Don't just curse your kids even if you
think they are deserving of it.
Don't.
Say a good dua.
At that moment perhaps when something negative happened
from your child and you feel they deserve
whatever dua you are going to make for
them, why don't you seize the opportunity to
say the best of duas.
I always take cue from the Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him, when he looked at
the companions and he said, اللهم أعز الإسلام
بأحد العمرين Oh Allah, grant strength to Islam
by the acceptance of Islam of one of
the two haters from the strong men of
Makkah, Umar ibn Khattab or Amr ibn Hisham
who was Abu Jahl.
He could have cursed them, he could have
said whatever he wanted to them, but he
knew these are people of my family.
They were related to him from the same
tribe.
Related, Abu Lahab and uncle.
Abu Jahl, related.
He says, Oh Allah, regarding Abu Jahl, he
says, Oh Allah, soften the heart of this
man so that he come.
Allah did not bring Abu Jahl.
But Allah brought Umar ibn Khattab.
He came in.
He became one of the best source of
strength and power.
That was Umar.
The Prophet peace be upon him says, When
Umar walks down a gully, shaitan can't walk
down the same gully.
He has to go down another route altogether.
Even shaitan was afraid of Umar ibn Khattab.
رضي الله عنه So, it was a good
dua against enemies that brought them.
Khalid ibn al-Walid, the Prophet peace be
upon him made dua for him.
He came, yet he murdered so many Muslims.
With us and our children, where are we?
Why do we have to utter these words
that are negative and bad?
We are destroying our families, our blood, our
progenies.
We are not doing any goodness to anyone
around us.
Don't ever do that no matter how culturally
it might be normal or within the family
circles people might be doing it.
Don't do that.
Say a good dua.
So when a child makes dua for a
deceased parent, Wallahi, it is very beneficial.
It's one of the few things that's mentioned
in the hadith that when you die, your
deeds are gone.
They are sealed.
Besides a few, if you have done a
charity, given a charity, such as a waqf,
I'm sure you spoke about the waqf a
little bit earlier.
If you have done a charity such as
a waqf, which the reward of it or
the charity lasted longer than your life.
You keep getting a reward until the charity
keeps benefiting people.
You might have heard of Uthman ibn Affan
r.a, and the charity that he started,
the waqf that he started to this day,
there are properties in Medina Munawwara under his
name.
The benefit of which goes to so many
different causes.
The reward of which goes back to him.
And how many years down the line are
we?
1440 something odd years.
So, now I want to bring something that
I had to say to help this person
overcome or cope with the loss of his
father.
Gaza.
What's the conflict going on now on earth?
The worst one.
Gaza.
What's happening there?
I want to tell you what's happening there.
Innocent men, women, children, grandfathers, babies being
unalived as we speak now as well.
Right now.
Hospitals being burnt.
Infrastructure destroyed.
With an excuse.
The excuse is the lamest on earth.
A genocide being committed and nobody is doing
anything about it.
We are so helpless.
It is happening now.
I want to bring to your attention a
few real stories.
I saw a video clip with a child
5 years old having lost everyone.
The mother gone, the father gone.
The siblings gone, everyone's gone.
Besides a 3 year old sibling.
Who's left?
The two of them.
5 year old and 3 year old.
Some of you might have seen this video
clip.
And this 5 year old is carrying the
3 year old and saying don't worry I
am here.
Allahu Akbar.
Don't worry.
I am here.
I will look after you.
We will get food and drink.
We are going to go.
I will clean you.
I will find water.
Don't worry.
Imagine you are talking of the loss of
a father at the age of 40 something.
This is 5 years old.
Not only father.
Father, mother, brother, uncle, aunt, grandfather, grandmother.
All of them gone.
Genocide.
Here you are kids and you don't realize
they will unalive you too.
The moment they can.
And it has happened.
And it is happening.
And that's why we say what happens a
lot of the times on earth is people
let the genocide happen and then they do
an investigation after everyone has died.
And they come up 15 years later to
say it was a genocide.
That's what's happened.
But it is happening now.
They don't even want us to talk about
it.
Now I'm thinking here I am unable to
cope with the death of my father in
my 40's while he was in his 70's.
How do you think this 5 year old
is coping?
How is the 3 year old coping?
Saying to his little sister, carrying her.
I'm sure you've seen the clip.
Some of you or maybe most of you.
Don't worry.
I am here for you.
I am here.
I will do carrying.
And the reporter stops and says, where are
you going?
I'm going to get help.
My sister is injured.
How old are you?
5!
Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar.
Look at this.
After watching that I said, wallahi we are
favoured.
Wallahi we are favoured.
And we are responsible.
We need to reach out to these people.
I don't even know if the same are
alive.
And I can give you another story of
a lady who lost her husband, her parents
and everyone around and she says, it is
better for me not to have survived this.
Because I am injured and look at all
my family.
Everyone is gone.
I just went out to get something when
I was coming back.
The whole building was gone.
I saw another one where there was a
child sleeping on top of a grave.
And they are asking the child, why are
you here?
No, this is my mother's grave.
I just want to sleep close to my
mother.
Have you seen that one?
Wallahi it's there.
Can you imagine how these children have to
cope not the loss of one person everybody
in their whole circle.
May Allah forgive us.
So when you think of that, it becomes
a little bit easier when you look at
your own life.
You are privileged.
You are honoured.
You have food.
You have drink.
You have a home.
You have family members.
You have parents or maybe one of them
or even if you have lost them.
You are already an adult.
You are affording things.
You have children and grandchildren perhaps of your
own.
And here we are at least say the
five daily prayers.
At least turn to Allah.
At least prepare for the day that you
are going to lose your life.
At least prepare for the day by quitting
some of the sins that you are engaged
in.
You know what you are engaged in that
needs to stop.
Today is the day to stop it.
We are human.
I am human too.
We are involved and engaged in things we
are not supposed to.
Including myself perhaps.
Different things.
On different levels.
I need to strengthen myself regarding certain things.
And so do you.
Today is the day.
We must promise Allah.
Oh Allah I am going to become a
stronger and a better person for your sake.
Ultimately I am going to return to Allah.
Those who cheered you on in your sin
will not be able to help you the
day you return to Allah.
Those who cheered you on when you did
something bad or displeasing to Allah.
Those who were there to push you towards
the displeasure of Allah.
They themselves will be in a huge mess
on that day perhaps.
But they won't be able to help you
definitely.
What will come to you is not only
your good deeds.
But the good deeds of all the others
whom you encouraged to do good deeds.
They will come to you as well.
That's the beauty of Islam.
You know if I want to do business
with you my brother.
The brother here looks like a business man.
MashaAllah.
You into business?
MashaAllah give you barakah.
If I want to do business with you
and I come to you and I say
brother let's do business.
I expect to get a portion of whatever
the deal is between us.
In the case of Allah he says I
won't give you just a portion.
I'll give you everything that happens on the
other side.
100% of it not just you.
Anyone in the whole equation.
So say between him and I.
How much are we gonna make?
Say 1 billion pounds.
Say Ameen.
Ameen.
MashaAllah.
So we make a billion pounds.
How much you reckon is mine?
How much you reckon is his?
Yes.
60-40.
Which way?
60 for me?
You're my brother.
You're my brother bro.
No let's keep it at 50-50 because
he's gonna be doing the hard work.
I'll just make the dua.
Okay.
So basically we have a 50-50.
When we take 50-50 how much does
he have?
500 million.
How much do I have?
500 million.
I promise you if I told him brother
imagine if Allah dropped another billion for me
every time you made a billion.
Oh that would be amazing.
Allah says when you encourage someone to do
good you get a full reward of all
the good they've ever done completely right up
to the day of judgment and if they
taught someone else who taught someone else who
encouraged someone else you keep on getting reward
after you've passed away in your grave and
that's why when you have helped someone declare
the shahada you get a full reward of
the rest of their good deeds forever and
ever and Nabi Muhammad being the source right
at the top imagine the reward he gets
every moment of day and night billions of
people every time they say Allahu Akbar the
reward goes to Muhammad he taught us all
the goodness we have Allah chose him so
if you want goodness sometimes maybe you know
myself if I were to tell you the
honest truth I tell myself sometimes and I
speak to Allah I say oh Allah my
deeds are broken I fulfill my salah I
try sometimes the concentration is there sometimes it's
not there I want to do more of
the Quran I need to do more of
this I need to be more charitable I
need to be this and that oh Allah
I'm so weak I don't even know if
you're going to take me to Jannah through
these you know the mercy that you're going
to have because of these deeds but I
ask you that all those whom I've encouraged
for years on end to do good perhaps
the goodness they've done at least have mercy
on me as a result of all of
that you follow what I'm saying that's what
keeps me going people say what made you
drive all the way to Glasgow by the
way I drive on my own you might
have figured that out and I drove all
the way coming in from Preston and it
was about a 3 hour drive, fog and
whatever and I'm going to go straight back
and I can tell you something what is
it that motivates you, you know what motivates
me I come in I see 3000 people
and I tell Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
ya Allah have mercy on me at least
on me at least I'm going to try
to encourage them to do good at least
have mercy on me I'm a rep, a
rep of whom of Allah, I've come here
to sell the products, of what, of Allah
I've come here to tell you let's turn
to Allah, today is the day and it
is the day, I promise you we need
to encourage each other and when you encourage
someone else, it does so many things for
you, I can mention two number one is
you get a reward and Allah strengthens you
because imagine you say, brother did you pray,
let's pray but you don't usually pray what
happens, you start to pray because you how
could you be telling them to pray when
you yourself don't pray so you want to
start praying, tell others to pray and then
you join them to prayer as simple as
that, you want to dress appropriately well at
least tell someone close to you or someone
you've got a good relation to to say,
why don't we consider doing this together, now
what happens you didn't judge them you didn't
abuse them, you didn't belittle them, but what
you did do is you put yourself in
their shoes and you said let's do it
together let's try to do the right thing
that's when you achieve what are you doing,
you're preparing for the day you're going to
meet with Allah and the rewards will keep
clocking one after the other, one after the
other, going back to what I said initially
when Allah has favoured you to understand that
favour you need to look at those who
have less than you in that regard you
suffered a loss look at those who have
suffered a greater loss today I brought in
front of you the example of the children
of Gaza and the mothers of Gaza and
the people of Gaza who have lost their
entire families, all their belongings and everything, they
don't even know where they're going to go
their houses are gone, their property is gone,
they don't have proper food they don't even
have water to drink if you know what
they're doing, it is crazy, you would not
imagine that would happen to anyone and here
you and I are seated and we're not
even thankful to Allah for the fact that
I can turn the tap on and water
in Glasgow you can drink from the tap,
am I right?
look at the nods, you can do you
know how fortunate you are most countries on
earth you cannot drink tap water and that's
why a person on the day of judgment
who wants to see the recompense of all
the deeds they did, notice a moment ago
I said we will enter Jannah through the
mercy of Allah, not through our deeds, but
our deeds will invoke the mercy of Allah
so you cannot enter Jannah with your deeds,
don't even try, don't ever tell Allah, oh
Allah I want to enter Jannah through my
deeds, I read Salah, I did Zakah right,
I want you to check my deeds and
let me go to Jannah, don't even try
saying that don't even try, you say oh
Allah I want to enter Jannah through your
mercy and Allah will say because you tried
hard to pray and to do this and
to do that, I will have mercy on
you and I will grant you Jannah, there
we go, so I can only enter Jannah
through the mercy of Allah and how do
I get the mercy of Allah?
By trying hard to pray and to fulfill
what he said and to abstain from what
he's prohibited and I keep seeking forgiveness so
when a person wants to enter through his
deeds, he will be told, did we not
give you good health and quench your thirst
with cold water, those two have already depleted
all your acts of worship how's that you
had cold water, pure proper water to drink
to quench your thirst and we gave you
good health, those two sufficient, all your good
deeds are taken to pay for those two,
what else what else do you have, you
have nothing else ask those who have an
illness and sickness may Allah grant you cure
they are the ones who will be able
to tell you the value of health, you
never ever recognize the value of your health,
until you fall ill and then you say
wow, I had good health sickness is something
that cannot be seen by a healthy person
they won't realize it, they don't know it,
they haven't tasted it, they won't be able
to explain it, the same applies when you've
lost your child it's worse than losing your
father when you've lost your child it's worse
than losing your spouse at times and that's
why people who've lost their children if you
have not lost a child yourself, you won't
ever understand what they're going through, but Allah
says bear sabr upon the destiny that I
chose and because of your sabr, I will
give you paradise, what is sabr sabr is
to endure to thank Allah for whatever He
has given us, to be able to praise
Allah, you could shed tears, tears is not
a sign that you don't have sabr, but
you are enduring, it's natural and normal to
cry sometimes, like I said right at the
beginning, but I'm saying oh Allah help me
through the loss, oh Allah grant us a
reunion very soon, where will we be reunited,
in Jannah I'm going to meet with you,
I'm going to sit with you talk to
you, who are you addressing your loved ones
whom you've lost you will be reunited وَالَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا وَاتَّبَعَتْهُمْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُمْ بِإِيمَانٍ أَلْحَقُنَا بِهِمْ
ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ Allah says those who believe and their
families followed through in belief, we will connect
their families with them, we will let them
join each other in the hereafter you join
each other come let's go, eternity you'll always
be together, may Allah grant us goodness and
then I want to look at something that
a lot of people take for granted if
I were to ask you who is the
best of creation say a name, Muhammad sallallahu
alayhi wasallam the most noble of all prophets
of Allah, Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the most
favored by Allah, the most loved by Allah,
is it not Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, we
believe that we are mu'mineen so if someone
is so loved by Allah, why did Allah
allow him to be born after his father
passed away and he was an orphan at
birth is that not a question that a
human being might ask well as a believer
I can answer that for you and say
if Allah did that for him it means
that if you are an orphan you are
not disadvantaged, perhaps Allah loves you more than
others right perhaps your chances of success are
greater than those who may have had both
parents perhaps because Allah chose the best as
being one who would be an orphan, let's
go further a little while later he lost
his mother how old was he six who
took care of him thereafter his grandfather, two
years later he lost his grandfather, imagine what's
going on, loss one after the other and
who are you talking about no ordinary person,
not you, not me, someone whom in your
language and mine we would say he doesn't
deserve it, if he was most loved by
Allah he wouldn't have gone through this, Allah
says no it's part of the plan, when
I love someone I test them, when I
test them more it's a sign that I
love them even more, for as long as
you are happy at the destiny of Allah
or you are pleased you are not fighting
with Allah you're good don't fight with Allah,
he knows best why what happened happened he
knows best why whatever happened to you has
happened, is happening or shall happen, he knows
it trust him, trust him so Muhammad sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam he ended up and I'm
fast forwarding, he married and after that he
had children from Khadija bint Khuwailid r.a
and guess what he lost all of those
children one after the other, besides one he
buried some of them in infancy he buried
some of them while they were in childhood,
he buried some of them when they were
adults and besides Fatima r.a all his
children passed away in front of him, imagine
how he felt, he cried at one stage
the tears are mentioned in the hadith, when
Ibrahim his son was in his hands and
the soul was being taken away and the
sahaba r.a are watching the tears of
this man the greatest of all and they're
looking surprised because you're supposed to be happy
at the decree of Allah, indeed I'm happy
at the decree of Allah but these tears
are just a sign of mercy that Allah
puts in the hearts of those who are
merciful innama hiya rahmatun ja'alaha allahu fee
ibadihi arruhama, it's mercy it's okay to cry
I shed a tear, not because I'm upset
with Allah, I shed a tear not because
I'm angry at the destiny I shed a
tear because I'm a human and you know
what, I'm going to miss my child and
it's okay as much as I've suffered a
loss today may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
gather us together in jannatul firdaus you have
to prepare yourselves all of us, not by
being doomed, not by becoming anxious but by
telling yourself, oh Allah make it easy for
me by telling Allah, oh Allah make it
easy for me, oh Allah grant us goodness,
oh Allah do not test us with tests
that will be too difficult for us to
pass because tests and calamities will come to
you, they do come to you and I,
and all of us oh Allah the day
you take someone away from my family, make
it easy for me, oh Allah let me
be there for as long as you know
it is good for me to be there,
oh Allah if you take me away, look
after my children my grandchildren, look after my
progeny Ibrahim a.s made a dua oh
Allah my entire progeny keep them on the
deen rabbana waj'alna muslimayni laka wamin dhurriyatina
he made a dua for the dhurriya, which
means the progeny him and Ismail, he says
oh Allah make the two of us surrender
and submit to you and from our families
and progenies so you make a dua not
just for yourself, your progenies your families those
who are to follow generations later perhaps your
dua could have been the reason why they
will be on the path it has happened,
think future my brothers and sisters like I
said it's a difficult topic to navigate but
I'd like every one of us to make
a dua for our brothers and sisters in
Palestine, Gaza for the young who are suffering
like I mentioned for the sisters the widows,
the children the elderly for those who have
passed on and martyred people sometimes say why
did Allah do that to them I said
Allah did not do it, the Israelis did
it clear as that you can't blame Allah,
when a thief steals you don't say why
did Allah do it, the thief did it
don't be mistaken Allah told you what not
to do on earth and you're doing exactly
that right now there is a semi block
out or a black out on the news
so hardly anything comes, a lot of the
social media is actually algorithm in a way
that you don't see the news anymore as
much they're getting to that because atrocities they're
engaging in right now are worse than the
ones they started off with that's what's happening
and this is why I say we make
dua for them, we pray for them, may
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant them victory,
may Allah grant them safety and a return
to their own lands, and may Allah almighty
safeguard the ummah, may Allah bless all of
you and grant you goodness may Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala help us to pray for
one another to reach out to one another
to assist one another, in this ummah my
brothers and sisters, one of the major problems
we have is we're divided into tiny groups,
we know each other we are related to
each other at times but you go to
that mosque, I come to this mosque this
one goes to that mosque, no salam no
greeting, no kalam, no zero as though we
are operating completely different faiths, yet we are
uttering la ilaha illallah muhammadur rasulallah I'm not
belittling the difference of opinion but I am
saying it is about time we learned how
to navigate the difference of opinion you are
my brother, you will remain my brother, you're
a Muslim, yes you are I differ with
you in five matters and I will discuss
the difference but I respect you if your
life is in danger I will be here
to save that life of yours, that's the
way we should be look at the weakness
of the ummah, perhaps here in your society,
perhaps and the reason why I say perhaps
here is because it's everywhere, even in my
own communities, we're facing the same challenge, the
reason why we are weak Allah says, وَلَا
تَنَازَعُوا فَتَفْشَلُوا وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ don't
dispute amongst each other don't fight amongst each
other because what will happen, you will be
unsuccessful and your might will be totally lost
تَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ your power, gone, because you're squabbling
amongst yourselves, if we were united and we
were together, and we learned to respect each
other with our differences, and we called each
other Muslim, no matter what differences we had,
for as long as you're uttering the shahada
and you believe in it trust me, what
is happening today in terms of genocide would
never have happened may Allah almighty save us
all I am passionate about it because I
see and I witness, and I see those
who are excited to divide us, and I
see those who are trying hard to bring
us together I would love to be from
the latter and not the former may Allah
almighty protect us all