Mufti Menk – Weve let them down
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the frustration of people affected by the situation and the need for everyone to take action. They emphasize the importance of protecting family members' mental well-being and investing in family and children. The speaker also touches on issues with negative behavior and family members, including disagreements and disputes, and the importance of Prophet Monica's words in the deed. The speaker emphasizes the need to work hard to achieve goals and avoid mistakes, protect mental well-being, and respect everyone's lives.
AI: Summary ©
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Bismillah walhamdulillahi wassalatu wassalamu ala rasulullahi wa ala
alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.
I'm seated here, I greeted quite a few
of you, lovely faces, many of them I
recognize, some I don't but nonetheless I feel
the warmth and the goodness and I cannot
help but to constantly feel a frustration in
me and the helplessness in me because of
what is happening to our brothers and sisters
in Palestine.
Palestine is our cause, Ashsham is our cause,
Lebanon is our cause, wherever there is anyone
across the globe being hurt or harmed or
attacked or oppressed, I swear by Allah it
is our cause.
Whether or not you and I are able
to solve the problem is a different matter.
Number one, we care.
Number two, we feel and we are hurt
and we are in pain and it gives
us sleepless nights wallahi.
So many times we see things, you and
I are in the same boat, we are
watching helplessly, we cry sometimes, it brings us
to tears, we cannot see sometimes.
All of us are the same because we
are human, we care, we believe, we are
connected and the frustration is such that we
blame each other, you are not doing, he's
not doing, she's not doing, that one is
not doing, this one is not doing, but
each one has a capacity beyond which they
cannot do what can they do.
So at times we recognize that frustration with
the blame game but we do believe, we
feel very let down by those in authority
because we think and we do know they
have much more than you and I have
in terms of clout or ability to resolve
matters.
So I start off with the dua to
Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal to help our
brothers and sisters not only in Gaza but
throughout Palestine and not only in Palestine but
in Lebanon.
Innocent people are being driven away and out
of their homes in a way that humanity
has not seen in history, in my opinion.
Recorded live on thousands of devices, documented to
the highest degree, you are, if you are
lucky, you are suddenly given a few minutes
to vacate and rush and go away from
what?
From the place you and your forefathers have
known as your own home that belongs to
you and your generations.
And this is happening in Lebanon as well.
You are told to just leave and to
go where?
We don't know, just go.
If you want to be safe, leave.
Men, women, the elderly, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandma,
great-grandfathers and mothers who can barely walk
and the children and the toddlers and the
newborns and the pregnant women and the disabled
and the blind and the deaf have to
all run.
Run for where and for what?
This is the situation.
May Allah forgive me for my helplessness.
May Allah forgive all of us for our
inability.
We have let them down.
Wallahi l-Azim.
On the day of Qiyamah they will hold
us accountable.
May Allah forgive us.
May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala forgive us.
And I'm so sorry for becoming emotional but
it bothers me 24 hours of the day.
Even in my sleep and I'm sure I'm
not the only one.
Most of us are probably the same where
we have sleepless nights, we have nightmares, we
watch things, we get up in the middle
of the night as though something happened to
us.
May Allah forgive us.
Now I'd like to draw a parallel with
something very interesting.
I said earlier that we feel and we
care and they are us and we are
them.
Who?
Anyone across the globe who is being oppressed,
who is wronged.
Number one, the lesson I learned is I
should not harm another person and I should
not oppress another person because while I want
to solve the problem of others who are
struggling, sometimes I am a tyrant or I
am a person who's causing issues to other
people.
Be it on a small scale, a slightly
larger scale, or a large scale.
In our home sometimes we are the problem.
We need to look into ourselves and correct
it because إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ
حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ Whether you like it
or not, we do know we have to
solve big problems but at least solve your
small problem.
Go easy on your family members, invest in
your children.
Time, time with your kids and your family
members is priceless.
صَدِّقْنِي Believe me, if I were to tell
you take your wife out on the weekend,
I'm not being a little wife lover as
they say.
Sometimes they blame you to say this guy
is so weak.
Wallahi we are so strong that's the reason
why we honor our women.
Am I right or wrong?
It takes a powerful person to walk with
his wife and spoil her and take her
to dinner and say my beloved this is
only for you.
You deserve more than this.
I can only give you this much.
What haven't they done for?
It needs a man to do that.
May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala grant us ease.
Investing in your family is something we are
lacking in today's age.
Many people don't spend time with their children.
They don't talk to them.
So what's happening?
They were not raised by the parents so
they know nothing.
They were raised by the screen or by
a maid or by someone else.
Sometimes they were raised by their friends because
no one was there.
So let's promise we invest our time.
You don't know how long you have those
children for.
I've met a lot of people who lost
their children.
It's not easy to sympathize with them.
It's not easy to express condolences.
They will tell you leave me alone.
You will never have you lost a child.
You say no.
Well then don't come to me.
You don't know what I'm going through.
That's the frustration.
But did you spend time with the child?
The regret is wallahi we didn't even spend
a moment and they're gone.
May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala not make us
from those who don't do the right thing.
May we be from among those who invest
with our children.
Then our family members, your brothers, your sisters,
you are bound to have disagreements and disputes.
It is normal.
You are a human.
When you are a human being, you will
have issues with your brother.
You will have issues with your sister.
You may have issues with the in-laws
of your family member who might not be
directly your in-laws and maybe your own
in-laws.
The point I'm raising is you have to
have issues with everyone.
Why?
It's part of your journey on earth.
Allah wants to watch.
What are you going to do?
And Allah says, the message is in the
Quran and in the Sunnah of the Prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him.
Make an effort, make an effort to fulfill
the rights of your family members.
Why is it mentioned so much?
Many of you speak Arabic.
This verse is referring to being conscious of
Allah regarding your family members, those who are
connected to you through the wombs.
Why?
Why does Allah talk about?
He knows there will be issues.
He wants you to resolve and solve and
He wants you to work hard to achieve
and this is why He speaks about, those
who are believers, they do good deeds.
They are the ones who connect that which
Allah told them to connect.
What is that connection?
It's your relatives.
It's not going to be easy.
That's why He repeated it so many times
and He gives a warning for those who
cut and chop off a relation without proper
reasoning.
If someone is totally toxic and they're bothering
your mental well-being, you can take a
step back, no problem.
It has happened from the time of the
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam all the way to
now and it will continue happening.
Someone really toxic, your mental well-being is
affected, even if they are closely related to
you, in a beautiful way, without being abusive
or without being vulgar, without being disrespectful, you
can take a comfortable step back.
Why?
Because you need to protect your sanity and
your peace.
But you are told to try your best,
try again and try again.
There is blessing in the trial even if
the problem is not solved.
Have a big heart.
Life is too short to have a small
heart.
Have a big heart and learn to resolve
matters.
When you train yourself to solve problems and
you train yourself to keep trying and trying,
Allah opens many many doors, the barakah, the
blessings, the sustenance, so much comes to you
and you don't realize it's because I tried
very hard to do things for the sake
of Allah, knowing that this was not going
to happen.
Sometimes we know this is very impossible, but
in Allah's eyes even if it was impossible,
let me give you a quick example.
The Prophet that is mentioned the most in
the Quran is Prophet Musa Alayhis Salaam.
Moses, may peace be on him.
His whole mission, if it was now, the
kids would have said it's a waste of
time.
You know why?
Astaghfirullah.
Because they don't understand.
How can someone who knows that the person
whom he is sending the messenger to is
not going to accept the message, but he
still sent him to the guy?
How?
Many kids ask us if Allah knows I'm
going to paradise, why is he wasting my
time?
If Allah knows, these are kids who ask
us the question, if Allah knows I'm going
to *, why waste my time?
You know, let me just do everything.
So I said well the true answer is
because you don't know.
That's why.
Simple.
Allah knows, you don't know.
So do you know?
He says no.
Well then work hard because you don't know
where you're going.
Allah knows.
What Allah knows and doesn't know, so long
as you don't know it, it doesn't make
any difference for you.
Right?
Keep hard.
That's the simplest answer, easiest answer.
Sometimes they are confused.
Well you know what, so but he still
knows.
We say but you don't know and keep
on repeating that because if I don't know
I will try.
I want to say brother has Allah written
1 billion dollars for you?
What's the answer?
The true answer is I don't know.
Right?
Has Allah written 1 billion dollars for you?
If you're a Zimbabwean, the answer is yes
with everyone.
We went there long back, we have billions
and trillions and quadrillions and they even cancelled
them.
MashaAllah.
But nonetheless the true answer is I don't
know.
So then why should I work?
You should work because you don't know.
That's why.
And keep working.
Who knows, it might be written.
Right?
Allahu Akbar.
Anyway, go back to the point.
The Prophet Moses was sent to a man
whom the one who sent him already knew
that you are going to spend years and
years talking to this guy and he's not
going to accept.
The Pharaoh will not accept.
Firaun is not going to accept anything.
In fact he will be arrogant, he will
punish, he will trouble.
But Allah says you want help with your
brother?
Take your brother.
Harun, take him with.
His brother Harun Bultan is here from Melbourne
before.
Now he lives in Istanbul and Ghana I
think.
And the reason I'm mentioning his name is
Allah is the first person to invite me
to Australia many years ago and I meet
him today in Ghana.
As he's coming up I say brother MashaAllah.
His brother Harun.
Gave him a big hug.
JazakAllah khair.
Anyway, the point being raised here is Harun
was given as a helper to Moses, to
Musa.
And Allah says And
Allah knew.
Allah knew it.
Right?
Which means go to him.
Tell him words that are soft.
Speak to him in a beautiful.
And Allah knows this guy is not going
to.
Why did Allah say talk to him with
a soft tone in a nice way?
Maybe he will take heed.
Maybe he will change.
Maybe he will fear Allah.
And Allah knows it's not happening.
Because the reward was in the deed, not
in the result.
The reward is in the deed, not in
the result.
You work.
You don't know what the result is going
to be.
The fact that you tried something, your reward
is fully written with the trial.
Whether or not it happens is besides the
point.
So some people say I'm gonna waste my
time with this guy.
It's not gonna help.
You need to stand up and at least
say something.
My brother, let's solve this problem.
You are my brother.
You know, we need to resolve them.
He says, I don't want.
Okay.
What did you do?
Allah wrote it for you that you tried.
He didn't listen.
You want to try again.
You get another reward.
Free reward.
Free reward.
May Allah make it easy.
So this point about the Prophet Moses is
a very interesting point to say, I learned
a lesson that I will keep doing something.
Never mind about the result.
Try to be nice to those around you.
You never know the moment when they are
going through something and their hearts are softened
to what you have just said.
I know so many people who have had
such a bad day.
Some have been fired from their jobs and
they say the person who smiled at us,
the person who said a good word to
us was the one who won our heart
at that juncture.
So many people in America and Dr. Muhammad
has lived there for so many years.
And he bears witness in the prisons.
They accept Islam.
They turn to Islam in great numbers.
Why?
They see goodness and kindness of Muslims who
come.
Don't worry, my brother, we will sort this.
SubhanAllah.
It's a moment when you are soft.
So, you know, I'm a public speaker.
I can speak all night, but I think
this place, Babel, has some beautiful food.
Notice, notice while Ibrahim, he spoke for a
few minutes.
Why?
Food, my brother.
Don't, don't, don't be, don't be mistaken.
He's my friend.
I can tell you the truth.
Dr. Salah spoke a little bit longer, but
he quickly said Habib Albi and he gave
it to me, right?
You heard that?
MashaAllah.
He gave it to me.
Here I am, wasting everybody's time.
Allahumma sa'al.
But nonetheless, SubhanAllah.
The people who are going through hardship at
that moment, someone needs to be kind to
them.
Imagine you suffered a loss.
Someone robbed you.
Someone took you for a ride and here
comes a man.
You see him in the masjid.
He's smiling.
He said, brother, don't worry.
It's going to be fine.
I also went through a loss and you
just keep going.
A day will come when you will gain.
That one statement can boost your morale.
Some people get depressed.
Some people go through mental challenge because I'm
a human.
If I suffer a major loss, it's normal
for me to feel depressed.
Come on, I'm a human being.
That's why Allah says, make dua.
Allahumma inni a'udhu bika minal hammi wal
huzni and so on and so on.
Make dua.
Ask Allah.
Why?
Because those are sicknesses.
They may bother you as a human.
It's normal, natural.
Something happened.
You had an argument at home or at
the workplace.
You feel down.
You feel sad.
The first person to actually come and smile,
maybe buy a little bouquet of flowers, say
something good.
The problem is solved like nothing ever happened.
So make an effort.
Go easy on people.
Today, I know and you know, we are
going through some tough times.
Anytime anything can happen.
Anytime anything can happen.
When Corona happened, oh, it was a shock
to all of us.
Now we do believe that there was a
little bit of exaggeration.
Maybe, maybe I hope I'm not in trouble
to say that.
But we believe that they sent us up
the wrong tree to a degree.
I don't know if you agree with me.
But nonetheless, we learned a lesson.
People lost their lives.
May Allah grant them Jannah.
And people struggled in their families, losing parents
and so on.
The world became so much more uncertain after
that whole episode.
Today, there is a lot of uncertainty, political
uncertainty.
There is so much of economic uncertainty.
So much.
Anyone today you can be gaining, tomorrow you
can be losing.
And that's why you don't know.
Go easy on people.
You also may have difficult days.
People lost their jobs.
Go easy on them.
Say a good word.
When you say a good word and you
push someone up, one thing that will happen
to you.
When you are low, Allah will send someone
to push you up.
Or himself, he will never allow you to
taste a negative day.
So learn to respect everyone.
May Allah Almighty grant us ease and goodness.
I want to thank brother Tariq, his family
and all the others.
Some of the brothers, I don't know your
names.
But wallahi, even the families, it was so
beautiful of you to have come this evening.
We feel so much at home and we
feel welcome.
The fact that so many, you are also
important people.
You also have things to do tonight.
If you were not here, you could have
done something maybe, you know, that was constructive
as well.
The fact that you came, it is an
honor.
Thank you so much for honoring us this
evening.
Inshallah, we won't waste too much of your
time.
You know, the food I'm sure is waiting
for all of us.