Mufti Menk – Peace Respect & Unity – Light Upon Light Zanzibar
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AI: Transcript ©
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Bismillah walhamdulillahi wassalatu wassalamu ala rasulullahi wa ala
alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een.
Honorable President, Your Excellency, Dr. Hussain bin Ali
Hassan Mouini, and my colleagues who are here,
I actually have met the Mufti of Zanzibar
and the Chief Qadi whom I happen to
be in Medina Munawwara, studying at the same
time with him and a few of the
others whom I was so happy to meet
after a long time.
And I want to say something today to
this lovely crowd who is here.
Firstly, looking at this stadium, I thought I
was in Europe, subhanallah.
And I'm thinking to myself, imagine state of
the art.
In Zanzibar, I was here 10 years ago
or more than 10 years ago.
And I want to congratulate not only His
Excellency the President, but all of you who
are from Zanzibar, mashallah, tabarakallah, alhamdulillah.
The place has developed so much and I
am a witness as a foreigner, mashallah, takbir.
I want to tell you development can never
happen if you do not have peace.
It is impossible to develop without peace.
No country that has no peace has been
able to develop.
So when I see progress like that which
I have noticed here in Zanzibar, one thing
I can tell you is you are peace
loving people.
Maintain it, hold fast onto it.
And today I want to talk about how
some of the people might come to you
in order to make you dispute to a
degree where you lose your peace, be careful
of them and watch out.
Make sure that you understand as a believer,
we say we have iman.
Mu'min means a person who has belief.
Did you know that aman or aman is
also a similar root as the belief and
faith, and yet it refers to peace and
security.
I noticed when I was here many years
ago upon the invitation of a group of
students by the head who was brother Ghaid
Saeed.
Some of you may know him, may not
know him.
Humble people.
I came here, I stayed at the residence
there at that university and I moved around
noticing a lot of the beauty of this
lovely place.
And now years later when I have come
and I see so much of development, I
thank Allah and I pray to Allah that
in the same way we have managed to
develop and shall continue to develop our nation
and our beautiful country, we should also develop
our hearts, our spirituality, and our connection with
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
When you are young, you question your faith
sometimes.
It happens, it happens that you question your
faith sometimes.
You call out to Allah, you ask Allah
so many things one after the other, and
sometimes you think he's not giving you what
you want.
Don't despair.
We were there.
It happens to us as adults as well
that when we call out to Allah, we
are begging, we are asking, we want so
many things, and we think to ourselves, why
is it that he is not giving us
certain things?
I can tell you, sometimes as a result
of your supplication for A, you achieve B,
C, D, E, F until the end of
the alphabet, yet you are asking for A,
the barakah of and the blessings of, seeking
from Allah what you want.
Allah gives you a lot of what you
do not realize you need even more desperately.
So continue to ask Allah.
You will never ever suffer a loss by
asking Allah and supplicating and having hope.
I want to give you one example.
If there is a person who is terminally
ill, may Allah grant cure to all those
who have sickness, ameen.
If there is a person who is terminally
ill and they are about to die, the
doctors say that you are going to perhaps
die soon, you won't survive, and they make
dua, they ask Allah, they are supplicating, Oh
Allah, cure me, I know you will do
it, I know you can do it, I
know you shall do it, you are the
owner of cure.
For you it is so easy, you will
do it.
Do you know if your death is written
and you die, you may enter paradise as
a result of the hope that you had
when you were calling Allah for cure, and
Allah knew that he is actually going to
take you away.
So that hope alone is an act of
worship.
Have hope and understand that Allah Almighty will
always give you something in return of your
supplication.
Your dua will never go to waste.
Now, let's move a little bit further.
As believers, we sometimes have a few doubts
now and again from shaitan.
The devil comes and makes us think things.
I give you an example.
When we dress in a specific way, sometimes
people will tell us, Why are you dressing
like this?
You need to be modern.
You need to actually take off this dress.
You need to remove it.
So for them to say, take it off,
they are considered modern and they are allowed
to do that.
But for someone like me to stand up
and tell you, keep it on, they will
say, this guy is an extremist, this guy
is a terrorist, this guy is whatever else,
they use bad words.
But all we are saying is your morality
should not go down.
Your values should not go down.
Maintain your faith.
People have already dipped into a lot of
distance from Allah.
People have dipped into the devil's pot and
come out of it and they are telling
you, Wallahi, we have seen the darkness and
we will never go back there.
That's why many reverts who come to Islam,
when they become Muslim, they are sometimes stronger
than those who were born Muslims because they
saw the darkness.
They were dipped into the pot of the
devil and they came out of it.
They will never ever go back.
But you and I, when we were born
Muslim, when we come from an Islamic environment,
sometimes we don't appreciate the favor of Allah
on us.
I am here to tell you, maintain your
values, your morals.
Zanzibar is a beautiful place.
Predominantly Muslim, if not almost all Muslim.
And I tell you, greet people with a
smile.
Welcome them to your place, whether they are
Muslim or non-Muslim.
We welcome them in a way that when
they see how we live our lives, they
will search for the reason why we are
so good, so kind, so welcoming.
And they will then turn towards the deen
of Allah.
Just by virtue of your beautiful interactions.
When Allah brings tourists to you, because He
has given you beauty of the island, and
beauty of so much coast that you have,
and beauty of so many other things.
He brings people to you.
It is your duty not to forget Allah.
It is your duty rather to carry yourself
with such dignity, so much of beauty.
You know, as soon as they come, they
automatically realize what we have is actually not
as good as what they have in terms
of contentment.
We are happy.
We are a nation who is at peace,
and we will continue to be at peace
by the favor of Allah.
What is my sign that you are at
peace?
I see development.
Like I said earlier, it is not easy.
That's one sign.
But it's the main sign.
Peace.
You see a lot of development.
People can grow when everything is peaceful.
But if you look carefully, people may somehow,
especially nowadays we have access to the internet,
and online you will find people calling you
towards so many things.
Like I said earlier, when I tell you
to keep your dress the way it is,
or to cover yourself, people will say, why
is he saying that?
But when people tell you to uncover, to
undress, to remove your clothing, they will say,
wow, look at how modern they are.
Wow.
Look at how amazing this nation is finally
liberated.
Liberated from what?
Liberated from your connection with Allah.
I don't want that.
Liberated from what?
From the angels protecting you.
No, we don't want that.
We want contentment.
We want happiness.
We want internal bliss.
We want a connection with Allah.
I said earlier, there are those who have
already been in the darkness.
Wallahi, when they come out, they see the
light, and they realize, this is the path.
I cannot let go of this path.
Allah Almighty tells us, hold fast to the
rope of Allah, and don't let go.
Don't let go no matter what.
A day will come when you will return
to Allah.
You will be a happy person.
I don't care what they say about me.
I am going to develop my relationship with
Allah.
Earlier, my colleagues spoke.
And each one of them reminded us of
salah.
The prayer.
I wanted to really talk about prayer today.
Salah.
In a very detailed way.
But I noticed, mashallah, they covered the topic
so well.
Each one is reminding you of prayer.
Prayer, prayer.
Why?
Why are they reminding you of prayer?
I promise you, it is because success comes
when you connect with the owner of success.
And who is the owner of success?
Is it not Allah?
When you want success, connect with Allah, He
will give you the success.
You want wealth, connect with Allah.
He will give you wealth that comes with
goodness.
I don't want wealth that comes with evil.
I don't want wealth that comes with destruction.
I want wealth that comes with goodness and
the blessings of Allah.
So, connect with Allah and see what happens.
That's why, We heard it.
I promise you, if I have one message
for you today, it is, take your prayer
seriously.
Take your prayer seriously.
No matter who you are, take your prayer
seriously.
If Allah says, this is success.
I promise you, that is indeed success.
When you grow older, and I'm addressing the
younger ones who are seated here.
As you grow older, you will realize the
importance of this five daily prayer.
Wallahi, there is nothing that can overtake it
in terms of the success you'll achieve by
fulfilling it correctly.
May Allah grant us goodness.
So, people will tell you from all over,
that you are the one who is right.
You are the one who is the only
one who is right.
Anyone who says anything contrary to what you
are saying, is wrong.
And if they are wrong, you need to
fight them.
That's what people may teach you.
We teach you, that yes, when you follow
your faith, you are right.
You may want to believe that others are
wrong, correct?
Yes.
But you do not fight and cause disunity,
and you do not disturb your peace.
You might think, what do you mean, you
do not cause disunity, when we don't agree.
If I don't agree with you, say for
example, I have someone who belongs to a
different sect of Muslim, or a different faith
altogether.
Do I agree with them?
No.
Am I united?
To a degree, yes.
What's the difference?
I want to explain to you today.
Unity is not uniformity, rather unity is the
ability to respect someone with the difference you
have with them.
For a common purpose, you want to build
your nation, the nation is made up of
so many different people, each belonging to different
faiths maybe, different sects maybe.
You might even have some people who don't
even have a faith at all.
It does not mean I agree with them,
to be able to get along with them,
or to be able to respect the fact
that they are human beings.
They are human beings.
And the reason I tell you this is,
the world is changing.
So many people will come about with so
much difference.
So many people will come about with so
many weird things.
Are you allowed to disagree with them?
Yes, you are allowed to disagree.
You must disagree, if you believe they are
wrong.
But what should you do?
Do you respect them as a human?
Yes, I respect you, but I disagree with
you.
What does that do?
That will ensure peace, it will ensure stability,
and it will ensure growth.
Without that you are not going to grow.
If you want to fist each other, just
because you disagree with each other, you won't
grow.
You don't fist each other, you don't become
violent, you don't become physical, and you don't
even become abusive in the way you talk.
I don't need to call you a dog,
just because I disagree with you.
In fact, some people love dogs.
Don't you agree?
Some people love dogs.
So they say, well, I don't mind if
I really was called a dog, because you
know what?
Dogs are cute.
Trust me, it depends how you use the
word.
When you call each other names that are
abusive, in a tone that is abusive, with
the intention of abuse, you are wrong, no
matter how wrong the person you are addressing
might have been, in terms of your disagreement.
But you can't do that.
When I disagree with someone, I need to
at least let them know respectfully that I
disagree with them.
I disagree with you my brother, and I
disagree very very strongly.
But guess what?
You are a human.
Let's talk about it.
By me talking and addressing the matter, I
may be able to convince that person that
they are wrong.
Or they might convince me that I was
wrong, if in the case I was wrong,
and they managed to talk to me, and
to put forward whatever evidences they were.
But without that discussion, we are going nowhere.
So I'm here to tell you, make sure
that you connect with Allah, and you understand
how to treat each other.
How to treat each other.
Today, let's be honest, what are we facing
in the Muslim ummah?
We have different sects, different people.
This one belongs to this sect, another one
belongs to another sect, the other one belongs
to a third sect.
We will never be able to bring everyone
together on one platform, in one sect, and
say, right, you all need to believe exactly
this, and it's going to happen.
It's not going to happen.
It's not going to happen.
So what do I do?
I respect you, but I disagree with you
on two or three things.
I'm not going to say, you are not
a Muslim, you are this.
Nowadays they use the term, you are a
kafir, you are this.
For what?
Why?
Are they saying the shahada?
Yes, they are.
Well, at least call them Muslim.
That is the entry point.
Call them Muslim.
And you know what?
You can say, you are a Muslim, I
disagree with five things that you are saying
or doing.
But the other 5,000 things, we are
all one.
We are one.
The weakness of the ummah today is because
we are being fragmented by this ideology where
each one believes, he's the only Muslim, I'm
the only Muslim, that's it.
We are fragmented.
And if that fragmentation is going to happen,
how are we going to ensure growth?
Not just as a nation, but broader ummah.
There won't be growth.
If you look at what's going on across
the globe against the ummah, you will realize
it is primarily because we are fragmented.
That's what it is.
I believe and I've traveled to so many
countries that where we are fragmented, there is
an external enemy that is rejoicing and saying,
wow, these people are in small groups.
Don't allow that to happen.
Don't allow that to happen.
Learn to respect each other.
Learn to come together.
So, let me talk of prayer from another
angle altogether.
Look, the call to prayer is called.
How many times a day?
Five times.
Who decided that?
You did not.
Allah decided it.
And you have to adjust your life to
what the supreme maker has said.
In the same way, when you have rules
and regulations, whether it's at your school, in
your country, at your workplace, wherever it may
be, someone above you has decided those rules,
you will have to follow.
You will have to follow the rules.
When they say, this is the protocol, this
is the rule, you need to get here
at this time.
School, they say, come at 8 o'clock.
Can you just decide, I'm going to arrive
at 9.
They will punish you.
They will penalize you.
Maybe if you have a note to explain
why you were late once or twice, they
might excuse you.
But if it is more than that, you
will be penalized.
So, when Allah has disciplined you five times
a day to fulfilling the connection with Him
at specific times, one of the fringe benefits
is that you become a disciplined person even
with your timing.
May Allah Almighty make us from among those.
Then, you stand in a row.
The imam says, استَوُّ Doesn't he say that?
سَوُّوا صُفُوفَكُمْ فَإِنَّ تَسْوِيَةَ السُّفُوفِ مِنْ إِقَامَةِ السَّلَاةِ
Straighten the rows.
Stand shoulder to shoulder.
Stand all in one line.
For indeed, straightening the row is part of
the completion of your salah.
Now, when you are standing, you are standing
next to someone, you don't even know who
he is or you know who he is
and you do not get along with him
in the world because he has a business
similar to yours.
And you know what?
You are now in competition with him in
business.
But in that prayer, your prayer is not
complete if you are going to leave a
gap there.
You need to stand next to him.
Why?
No matter what, you are part of the
ummah.
You will have to stand next to the
guy next to you.
He is tall, he is short.
You like him, you don't like him.
He is a Muslim.
You will have to stand in the same
sub for that salah to be accepted.
That is Allah training you to adjust yourself,
to fulfill his instruction whether it suits you
or does not suit you.
For the betterment of the entire ummah above
the benefit of yourself.
I need to stand in a row.
I'm one.
I'm one of so many.
I'm not alone.
I can't achieve a thing alone.
I can only achieve when there is a
good team around me.
If there is no good team, I will
never achieve no matter who you are.
So this is why you stand in the
sub.
When the imam goes down, you go down.
Why?
You follow your leader.
You can't just break your rules all on
your own.
This is part of the broader benefit of
salah.
It teaches you an element of respect.
You know the theme of this light upon
light in Zanzibar is peace, respect, and unity.
Peace, respect, and unity.
All these three are interconnected.
You want peace?
You will have to respect each other with
the difference.
And that's one thing I want to talk
about always that people think, ah, we are
not united.
Wallahi, we are united.
It doesn't mean because you are different from
me in my thinking that I'm not united
with you.
I'm united, but I disagree with one or
two things.
If we were disunited because of disagreement in
our own houses, none of us think the
same.
Husband and wife who love each other so
much, they also have disagreements.
They are united more than you can imagine.
They've had so many children.
They are united, but they have disagreements.
So unity is not uniformity.
You don't need to be exactly the same
to consider yourself unity.
You know when you wear a school uniform,
the whole school is wearing the same color.
Look there, mashallah, everyone's wearing the same color.
That does not mean that they are united,
but rather they have uniformity.
Look at that, mashallah, tabarakallah.
They are happy that I noticed them.
Mashallah, I noticed you when I walked in.
And more than the fact that I noticed
the dress, I pray for you because you
came here, I think at 6 in the
morning.
May Allah Almighty bless you all.
And there too, I know you came in
very early.
May Allah Almighty bless you all.
When we go for hajj, we are all
wearing similar clothing.
That does not make us united.
No, it doesn't.
That's a rule of Allah that we are
following.
Allah wants us to follow it.
Yes, there are broader benefits of it, but
unity would be when the hearts understand we
need to respect each other.
I've been to many countries with one example,
and I want to say it again because
the reminding benefits the believers.
You know the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him, where he says, there
was a man who achieved forgiveness and ultimate
paradise as a result of quenching the thirst
of a dog.
Because he was out on a hot day,
he went into a well, and he got
water for himself.
He was very thirsty.
When he came up, he saw a dog
that was panting and sniffing at the sand
because it was so thirsty.
And he said to himself, look at this
dog, it is as thirsty as I was.
Let me go into the well again, fill
my shoe with water because I don't have
anything to put water in.
Let me come up, and let me give
the dog a little bit of water.
And he gave the dog some water, and
Allah watched him, and Allah forgave him.
That man achieved ultimate paradise.
If you think very carefully, why a dog?
Why a dog?
Why wasn't it a beautiful girl?
Wow, the man came up and saw a
lovely lady, and he said, let me go
and quickly get you water.
Because if it was a lady, there was
going to be a wrong intention maybe, right?
Do you know?
Maybe he saw...
It's like they say, when you are driving,
I don't know about Zanzibar, but I know
about Zimbabwe, right?
When you are driving, if a man gets
stuck with a flat tire, he will be
stopping the people, all afternoon no one will
stop.
But when a young lady is stuck with
a flat tire, 30 guys will fight as
to who must fix that tire.
Right?
Why?
Let's hope it's a good intention, but in
actual fact, you and I know, it's because
they want to win the heart of someone,
whom they don't even need to win the
heart of.
Subhanallah.
Go home and win the heart of your
own spouse, man.
Allahu Akbar.
May Allah make it easy.
Allah make it easy.
But it happens.
So, here there was a dog.
Imagine if such a great reward for quenching
the thirst of a dog.
What do you think the reward is to
quench the thirst of another human?
You don't agree with them, you don't see
eye to eye with them, you don't even
want to look at them, but because you
have compassion in your heart, you decided, you
know what, they deserve the water they need
to live.
Life is important.
Life is sacred.
I'm a Muslim.
I believe the life of the non-Muslims
is also sacred.
All human beings, the life is sacred.
You don't just harm and take life away.
No.
That's not permissible in the sharia, in Islam.
Allah does not allow that.
Allah tells you when you save the life
of a dog or you quench the thirst
of a dog, you will get a reward.
Imagine what will be the reward when you
quench the thirst of another human.
Subhanallah.
Subhanallah.
Are we ready to help each other without
knowing each other?
Are we ready to reach out to people
whom we don't know?
Are we ready to reach out to those
whom we disagree with?
At least talk to them.
At least get along with them.
It will help you in so many ways.
At least if you want to discuss some
matters, discuss them respectfully.
If you are prepared to do that, you
will achieve a lot.
If you are not prepared to do that,
how will you grow?
How will you develop?
Who caused that person to come alive?
Was it not the same maker who made
you?
Yes, it was.
Who brought you on earth at the same
time as that person?
Was it not Allah?
Today I'm here.
I'm living in this era.
You are also living in the same era.
Who made me live at a similar time
as you?
Was it not Allah?
It's Allah.
So I'm here, mashallah.
The interaction needs to be something worth remembering.
When someone meets you, make it a beautiful
experience.
When someone greets you, smile at them.
Give them a good word.
Say something.
Let them remember that forever.
They will remember, where I met brother Suhail,
he was such a lovely brother.
And I will never forget that interaction.
How do I know this?
I know it because this is how he
made me feel.
Sometimes we make people feel so unwanted.
But that was Allah.
Allah made you interact with them and you
failed the test.
You failed the interaction.
You failed it.
Why should I fail?
I must pass it.
My brothers and sisters, let's fulfill our duty
unto Allah.
Better your relationship with Him.
Two things.
I spoke about prayer.
And I spoke about your values.
Don't lose the connection with Allah.
Take your prayer seriously, always.
And number two, ensure you don't lose your
values.
Your standards are very high.
Go higher but don't go lower.
Don't let anyone fool you into believing you
need to lose yourself in order to modernize.
You need to lose yourself in order to
be liberated.
No, we will modernize with the connection with
Allah.
Allah did not say don't have the latest
technology.
Allah did not say don't have the best
roads.
Allah did not say don't have the best
houses, best vehicles.
Allah did not say don't develop.
He wants you to develop.
He wants you to be the most modern.
He wants you to have the best facility.
But with the connection with Him.
That's all He's saying.
You must educate yourself but connect with Allah.
And maintain that connection in the best way.
See what Allah does for you.
So may Allah Almighty protect the nation.
Guard this nation.
Wallahi, if you want to witness greater growth,
don't ever allow anything that happens in your
life to make you become physical or violent
or disrespectful.
Because if that is the case, you will
move backwards.
You know, you might be surprised.
As a religious person, standing in front of
you, talking about the importance of respecting with
difference.
The reason is, we witness destruction in so
many places.
When we see goodness, it's our duty to
remind you, this is a favor of Allah
upon you.
Consider it a favor and protect it in
whatever way you can.
Protect it.
Look at people, care for them.
These are my brothers.
These are my sisters.
Let me help.
Let me protect.
So what if they are not so kind
to me?
Let me continue to be kind to them.
That's a believer.
If they are not so kind to me,
let me continue to be kind to them.
Because I am kind, because Allah loves those
who are kind.
Islam did not say, be kind to those
who are kind to you.
No.
Islam says, be kind to everyone.
Who says that?
Allah.
When you are kind to someone, you are
kind in order to please Allah.
Not to please you as a human being.
No.
If you are happy, alhamdulillah, it's a bonus.
But if you are not happy, it's okay.
Allah is already happy.
When you give to a poor person, you
don't give to make the poor person happy.
You are giving to make Allah happy.
That's the intention.
But the poor person will become happy as
a result.
Your primary intention is to please Allah.
So here we are, a beautiful, beautiful stadium,
like I say.
And do you know what?
The last time I came, what did I
tell you?
I stayed at the campus of Zanzibar University.
Some of you might be familiar with exactly
where I was.
And this time I came, again, I felt
I was in the Maldives for a moment.
Where was I?
I told these people, from the air, I'm
looking, I see, wow, look at the blue
water.
Sheikh, it looks like we are flying over
the Maldives.
I said, what?
I said, just look, look, look.
Subhanallah.
And we came in, they escorted us to
a beautiful resort, Verde, wow, Verde.
I'm looking at this place, I'm telling myself,
is this really Zanzibar?
I need to let the world know, please
come to Zanzibar.
Zanzibar, Hakuna Matata.
Have you seen that one there?
Please come to Zanzibar.
I saw those brothers making a video, where
they had the picture, and they were saying,
welcome to Zanzibar.
And they jumped into the water.
I want to jump into the same water,
Inshallah.
Inshallah, it's so beautiful.
I want the world to know, Zanzibar is
a beautiful destination, halal friendly, amazing place.
It has developed over the last 10 years.
And it will continue to develop, Inshallah, Azza
wa Jal.
When you are planning your holidays, wherever you
are across the globe, consider Zanzibar.
Because Wallahi, you won't regret.
Not only will you see beautiful beaches and
lovely weather, you will witness the beautiful hearts
of the lovely people of this nation.
And you will also be treated with an
amazing market, where you can buy some of
the best spices on earth.
Do you agree?
MashaAllah, MashaAllah, beautiful.
Some of the best spices on earth.
So, the spice market, when I recall the
last time, just driving past and there was
a beautiful smell, and I'm thinking to myself,
just look, look at this place.
I wish I could just become invisible in
order to be able to walk through the
way I wanted.
MashaAllah, but well done.
Wallahi, I'm here to congratulate you as a
nation.
The leadership and all the way down to
the last person, you have done well.
Preserve it.
We are here to let the rest of
the world know as well.
This place is underrated.
We need to let the world know it
exists.
And you know what?
We need to let the world know, when
you are planning your next break and holiday,
consider Zanzibar.
Zanzibar, MashaAllah.