Mufti Menk – With or Without You
AI: Summary ©
The importance of avoiding missing a train and plane in life is discussed, including the need to be aware of the future and not to blame others for mistakes. The speakers emphasize the need to use the internet and not let anyone convince them to do the right thing, as many people struggle to obey instructions from Allah. forgiveness is also emphasized, and protecting people from evil behavior is emphasized. The importance of recognizing one's capacity to change and do good deeds is emphasized, as well as the need for rewarding actions and protecting people from evil behavior. The segment ends with a recap of upcoming events and a promise to do better in their lives.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
My brothers and sisters, how many of you
have missed a train?
Make a bit of noise.
That's almost everyone here.
Masha'Allah, you've missed a train.
Even by a fraction, by a moment.
So I want to give you a few
examples.
Imagine yourself having booked a beautiful cruise, a
holiday somewhere in the world and it's a
huge ship going from port to port, perhaps
city to city, island to island for two
weeks.
What they do is they will dock, they
will stop, they will let you come off,
they will let you disembark and spend the
day at that particular place and they will
give you a time to tell you 4
.30 you've got to be back and you
should have boarded the ship because five o
'clock we're going to leave.
Imagine a huge ship docking on an island
and you're in the ship enjoying yourself, five
-star cruise and suddenly when they dock, they've
stopped, you spent the day on an island
and as you are rushing back you notice
it's already five o'clock and what happened?
The ship started moving and you're standing there
waiting, looking in shock, in awe, looking at
the ship moving, looking back at the island
and thinking, now what?
Can you picture that?
Now what?
You are going to have to make a
plan B and C because you were late,
it was your fault if they told you
4.30 you've got to be here, you
should have been there at 4.20, at
4.15, at 4 o'clock you'd rather
wait.
The same applies all of you who said
you've missed a train, you should have been
there early waiting for the train.
The train does not wait for you, you
have to wait for the train.
Even if the train is late, you were
meant to be there on time so that
perhaps if the train pitched up, you wouldn't
miss it but if you were late by
a fraction of a second and those doors
closed, the fault is yours.
You are going to have to make a
plan B and C, you are going to
miss perhaps a lot of meetings, perhaps your
lectures at school or university or whatever else
it may have been, your work, you might
miss hours.
The same applies if you were to look
at an aircraft, if you are to come
to the boarding gate too late, the boarding
gates will close, you can see the aircraft,
it has not yet taken off.
Sometimes the doors are still open but because
they've closed the flight, you've missed it.
What's going to happen?
Plan B or C or D, you will
have to pay, you will have to change,
you will have to get accommodation, it's going
to cost you a lot.
Sometimes you should know as much as you
might blame yourself, if you were the lazy
one, if you were the one who was
at fault without anyone else to be blamed,
then as much as you are hard on
yourself, it's a lesson for the next time.
Don't become depressed because you missed the boat
or you missed the flight or you missed
the train, it's okay.
Let me understand, I need to do better
next time and I also need to make
sure that I'm going to make a plan
B for now.
But if it was not your fault, someone
else's fault, smile and thank Allah, thank Allah
even more.
Not to say you should not thank Allah
when it was your mistake but you share,
you have an element or a certain portion
of the blame that you know I was
at fault, I left too late, I did
not take into consideration the traffic and so
on.
So if you look at this you will
understand the level of blame upon you is
to a certain point but you have to
be happy with the decree of Allah.
I witnessed in Addis Ababa a few years
ago, we landed from Dubai and we were
taking off to Harare.
We landed, we got off the flight, I
met a few people on that plane, mashallah
and there was a plane going to Kenya,
it was going to Tanzania and Kenya if
I'm not mistaken and it was before ours.
So people rushed to that flight because they
needed to catch the connection.
Ours was a little bit later.
I saw a brother come to the gate
a little bit late and he was crazy,
mad, angry, he said it's one minute, one
minute, the flight is still here, the doors
are still open, everything is here, let me
on this flight.
They said sorry, no and he started saying
whatever he wanted to say, he lost his
cool.
I tell you what, that flight took off
sometime into its journey, they crashed and everybody
passed away.
The same brother thanking Allah after you were
yelling at the staff for your own fault,
whatever it was, he was delayed at security
or wherever it was but thank Allah.
Why?
You don't know the future, Allah knows the
future.
Brothers you still haven't turned on the lights.
MashaAllah.
I think we can turn them on at
about 50% inshaAllah.
I mean I'm not even facing this direction
because I can barely see anyone.
Make some noise there, let's hear you.
There it goes, see, subhanAllah.
So my brothers and sisters on earth, anything
that happens, Allah Almighty has set a time,
He has a fixed time for it and
He will cause your birth, your death at
a time that He has prescribed.
He will allow you to achieve something or
not to achieve it, He's prescribed it.
You need to know He's given you a
capacity that you need to ensure you've made
full use of.
Don't be lazy, work hard to achieve what
you believe is beneficial and don't ever blame
Allah.
Allah does good, He does not do bad.
Allah does good, He does not do bad,
subhanAllah.
So why I started off this way is
in life.
There are so many trains, the trains will
keep moving.
If we've missed them, all those who were
on the train will get to the destination.
By the will of Allah, we were the
ones who did not get onto the train.
If we missed the ship, it was us
to blame.
We are the ones who did not get
onto the ship but the ship got to
the next destination and the following one, who
was to blame, it was us.
The same applies to anything.
I tell you, when you do not get
up for Salatul Fajr, your friends got up.
They went to the masjid, they did their
Salah, you were snoring, you got up at
8, at 9, whatever time it was.
Guess what?
You missed the train, they did not.
They got up.
If you get up the following day, you
will catch the next train.
By the will of Allah, subhanahu wa'ta'ala.
If your friends are dressed modestly and you
are not, guess what?
Allah Almighty chooses His people whom He wants
to worship Him.
That's the reason why those got up for
Salatul Fajr and these dressed modestly because Allah
chose the people and Allah Almighty knows that
if one decides I'm not going to do
this, they are the ones who've missed the
train.
The rest of them are moving on.
I've been to Africa, I've been to so
many different places in Africa and Asia and
so many other places where I see people
who perhaps do not have much in terms
of material wealth but they are fulfilling their
Salah.
I will never forget in Malawi once we
saw or we went to a place that
was very rural, very very underdeveloped and as
we entered the place, it was time for
Salatul Asr and we heard in the bush
and so many people rose from Ruku' from
the position of bowing in Salah and they
rose up and I was shocked.
I see these poor people who have almost
nothing materially but here they are worshiping Allah.
No one is watching them, no one is
asking them, no one is telling them to
do that but they have a connection with
Allah and here we are, we missed the
train.
Who caught it?
They all caught it.
Where are they going?
They're going to Jannah and where are we
going?
Inshallah we go to Jannah too.
Inshallah we go to Jannah too.
Earlier brother Isa Khan was here speaking about
Quranly, the best Quran habit building app that
I've come across and I promise you when
I saw there was a stage when every
day 1 million verses are being read across
the globe within a certain time.
I'm sure that figure is gone much more
and in Ramadan it goes much more.
How many of those are yours?
Even if it's not counted on that particular
app but how many were yours?
If they were not there, you missed the
train.
The others are reading Quran.
You are the one who's not reading.
So you are the one who's lazy.
You are the one who's procrastinating.
You are the one who has not yet
started.
Who is to blame?
It's you and you alone.
The others are all on it.
There are people sitting around today, you won't
imagine how much of Quran they read, how
much of tahajjud they engage in, how much
of dua and adhkar they do but when
you look at them they might appear not
so religious but they are on the train,
on the boat, on the plane and where
am I?
I'm way off the mark.
May Allah grant me and all of us
good guidance.
So you look at someone and they tell
you, no I haven't missed tahajjud, mashallah, in
eight years.
Wow, subhanallah and here I am struggling with
Salatul Fajr.
Can you imagine?
So I am saying you must make sure
you push yourself because others are already there
at the station waiting for that particular train.
I can't be late.
In fact you and I would never want
to miss a plane going to a destination
for a holiday but we miss the plane
going to Jannah which was just to get
early for Salatul Fajr on time.
Many of us, myself included, guilty of sometimes
thinking to ourselves, you know what I will
do it just now.
When I'm on a journey sometimes we're traveling
and because we have a little bit of
a discount during the being on a journey
we sometimes say okay we will do Salatul
Asr at this particular time, we'll delay it
a little bit in order to accommodate for
XY and Z.
It's permissible but I tell you what I've
learned, do not do that.
Read it as soon as you can.
Fulfill your Salah.
You never know what might distract you and
your Salah will not be in place.
Can you imagine?
May Allah Almighty grant us ease and this
is why I say be strong.
Fulfill your Salah on time.
If you're not doing five, there are so
many others unsuspecting when you look at them
who are fulfilling all five Salah.
Who missed the train?
You missed it.
You have a bad habit.
There are people who quit the drugs.
You are the one who's still on it.
You are the one who's missing out.
There are people who gave up smoking.
You are the one who's still smoking.
How?
Your friends have given up.
The people who introduced you to the drugs
are already off those drugs but you are
the one who remained.
You need to work harder, do better.
The people who introduced you to the clubs
have left the clubs.
You are the one who's still stuck there.
The people who perhaps might have introduced you
to a sin, they've left it long time
ago.
They've plugged in with Allah.
They've realized it was a phase where we
were in the trap of shaitan and we've
divorced ourselves from that but there they are
achieving and here we are stuck where we
were.
May Allah grant us strength.
My beloved children, my brothers, my sisters, you
know what the right thing is.
You should do it and you must push
yourself because if you don't push yourself, nobody
is going to push you.
You are the one who will lose out.
When we go to Mecca for Umrah, you
see the people and you tell yourself, wow
Allah's brought them from all over the world.
Some of them have saved up for years.
I was in Indonesia not too long ago.
They told me between 30 and 40 years
it takes for a person to go for
Hajj after they've registered their names.
So they register at the age of 20,
they end up going at the age of
55, 60.
Do you believe that?
Subhanallah and this is why a lot of
them are older people because it's not so
easy to go.
They have a quota.
They have more than 250, 280 million people
in the country and so many want to
go for Hajj.
They just can't cope and this is happening
with more and more countries.
When you go and you see them crying
to Allah, where are your tears?
Have you ever cried to Allah?
Have you ever got up in the middle
of the night and said, oh Allah forgive
me, help me, strengthen me, love me, oh
Allah.
If Allah loves you, I tell you He
will help you to get up and to
obey Him.
One of the signs of the love of
Allah, you want to know if Allah loves
you, He makes it easier for you to
obey His instruction and command.
It becomes easy.
You enjoy your prayer.
You enjoy dressing appropriately and you don't mind
what people think of you.
I'm dressed appropriately in a better way than
I used to for the sake of Allah.
That's what I'm doing.
So this is a gift of Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala.
If you are not going to push yourself
to do the right thing like I said,
watch those who come to Mecca for Umrah
or for Hajj and they change their lives.
They come back a different person but when
we came back what did we do?
We got back to the bad habits that
we had before we went.
What was the point of the journey?
What was the point of the journey?
May Allah Almighty forgive us.
My brothers and sisters, it's very important for
us to realize that Allah gives you opportunities
and those opportunities are limited.
I'm going to read a verse for you
and I want you to look at the
Prophet Noah, Nuh alayhi salam.
When he told Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala that
I've called my people for 950 years.
I called them openly, I called them in
secret.
I called them during the daylight, I called
them at night.
I did whatever I could and you know
what?
They are simply not accepting the message.
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala told him something.
That's a lesson for all of us.
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala says, لَن يُؤْمِنَ مِن
قَوْمِكَ إِلَّا مَن قَدْ آمَنُ Allahu Akbar.
Oh Nuh, from your people nobody else is
going to accept the message, the rest of
them will not.
Whoever's accepted it has accepted it.
The rest of them, it's over.
The punishment had not yet come.
Allah told him, now we have a plan,
we want you to build the ark and
we want you to do whatever, knowing that
you no more have to call these people
towards Allah because none of them are going
to come to Allah.
That's what Allah says.
What does this mean?
This means that there was a time where
Noah was calling them, may peace be upon
him, he was calling them towards Allah.
They heard it once, they heard it twice,
they heard it as many times as Allah
wanted them to hear it.
Their ears received the message, their brains processed
the message, their system heard the message.
Allah will ask them about it but they
were given a quota, a number, a limit.
Allah says you are going to be reminded
500 times after that, it's over.
You are going to be reminded 5,000
times after that, it's over.
You are going to be reminded 50 times
after that, it's over.
Every one of us has a limit that
Allah has chosen already for us.
So whenever you hear someone reminding you about
Allah, reminding you about doing good, helping others,
worshipping Allah alone, staying away from haram, doing
that which is halal, being charitable, giving in
charity and so on, remember that that is
Allah, it's counted against you, it's written against
your name.
You heard it, well you heard it, there
you are.
It got to your ears, it did.
What did you do about it?
You are going to have to answer to
Allah.
You are going to have to answer to
Allah.
What did you do about it?
You heard it tonight, what did I say?
I have said we all need to do
better, we need to push ourselves to do
the right thing because others are already doing
the right thing.
Why should I lose out?
Why should I be the one who missed
my train all the time?
I must catch it, I must be there.
People must really get up for Salatul Fajr
when you get to the masjid, you will
be surprised to see people you didn't imagine
would be there for Fajr and they are
there.
Subhanallahi rabbil alameen.
May Allah grant us ease.
Imagine there is an examination at school and
you forgot to put your clock, I'm sure
it's happened to some people and you wake
up after the exams already over because you
were studying all night, you know the all
-nighters, you get them right?
All night we study because in the morning
there's an exam, just before half an hour
before the exam you fall off to sleep
and guess what happens?
Sometimes you end up missing the exam and
sometimes you didn't sleep all night, you got
to the exam like a zombie and you
can see it says 11 plus 11.
No my brother, it's just asking you 1
plus 1 but you can see double because
you were awake all night, right?
You got to look carefully.
If you missed it completely and you get
up and you see 10 o'clock, your
heart starts thudding.
Why?
You missed an exam.
What's gonna happen now?
Yes, what is going to happen now?
When Allah tests us, can you imagine?
Allah wants us to pass, He gives us
another chance and another chance and this is
why we say, when Allah says He loves
those who repent often, guess what the silver
lining is in that verse?
beautiful verse.
One such verse, there are so many others
where Allah says He loves those who repent
and in this one He says those who
are clean and cleanse themselves and so on
but the word used is tawwab.
Tawwab is someone who turns often, not just
one, many times.
Why would you repent?
Imagine I come to you I say I'm
sorry.
Sorry for what?
If I walked up to you and I
said I'm sorry, what are you going to
ask me?
For what?
For what?
And I say no but I am sorry
but what are you sorry for?
You might think I'm crazy, right?
If Allah says He loves those who repent,
who say, who apologize or who repent or
who seek forgiveness often and often, it means
it's preceded by a sin.
That means they may have sinned more than
once.
Allah says you know what, for as long
as you're not making a joke of the
sin, for as long as you're not belittling
or insulting Allah through that, you sinned out
of human nature, not out of insulting Allah
or not out of belittling the status of
your maker, human nature.
Allah says I will forgive you again and
again and again and again because if Allah
loves those who seek forgiveness, they have to
have committed some form of a sin.
Minor or major.
May Allah protect us.
I'm not belittling the status of a sin
in terms of how bad it is but
I am telling you that if you have
sinned because you're a human and you will
sin, don't lose hope in the mercy of
Allah.
Don't.
Never lose hope in the mercy of Allah.
No matter what it is, Allah will forgive
you and Allah will grant you the forgiveness
and he says he loves those who seek
forgiveness.
So with Allah, if you've missed the train,
guess what?
There is a train that's coming that you
just found out about after the train you
missed and it is faster than the one
you missed and it's going direct.
It's going to get to the destination 10
minutes before the other one.
Oh you're gonna smile and it's cheaper.
It costs less and you're gonna smile and
say oh just as well I missed the
train, right?
This is Allah telling you that when you
seek forgiveness, have hope in the mercy of
Allah, you will get to your destination.
When you've changed your entire life after seeking
forgiveness, Allah says we do you a bigger
favor than your imagination.
What is the bigger favor?
Allah Almighty says Those
who seek forgiveness or the one who sought
forgiveness returned to Allah.
Tawbah is when you've changed your life.
You came back to Allah.
You see if I do something wrong and
I'm walking on the wrong path and I
seek forgiveness, Allah will forgive me but there's
something wrong still.
I have not changed my life and changed
the whole course so chances are I will
probably fall in again and again and again.
Can I give you an example?
When you have bad friends who are all
into a certain habit that's haram and you
are with them and you say oh Allah
forgive me but you are still with them
and you keep sinning every time you see
them.
So you sinned again, oh Allah forgive me.
You sinned again, oh Allah forgive me.
You haven't changed but if you unplugged from
that group and got into another group that
was now doing the right thing, what did
you do?
You not only did istighfar but you did
tawbah as well.
You sought forgiveness and you'd returned to Allah.
You changed the path to the right path.
You walked on the right path.
You went with the right people.
You did the right thing.
Like I said, push yourself.
Allah says if you seek forgiveness by changing
your life and doing good deeds thereafter.
So it's not like I kept on doing.
If you do, you seek forgiveness, Allah forgives.
You do, you seek forgiveness, Allah forgives.
But Allah says you want a bonus, something
beyond your imagination.
You do, you seek forgiveness, you change your
life, you don't do anymore the wrong thing.
You started doing the right thing and you
excelled in it and now if you fell,
you fell not because you were walking on
the wrong path but it was something totally
unplanned.
It was something to a lesser degree perhaps.
Allah says when you've repented and changed your
life and done good deeds, those are the
people whom we take the bad that they've
done in their lives, we convert it into
good and we put it on the right
side of the scale and they are the
ones who will see those bad deeds as
good deeds that they did not even commit.
How is that possible?
You didn't do the good deeds, you see
them.
Because Allah says when you left something for
me and only me, then I consider that
an act of worship.
You did not need to leave it.
What made you leave it is because you
love me, you care for your relationship with
me and you want to please me and
worship me alone so I will go back
and look at all the things you could
have done and because you did not do
them out of your love of me and
your intention to worship me alone, I give
you a reward for it.
I convert it into good.
Subhanallah.
The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says
whoever intends to commit a sin and planned
to commit a sin and then does not
do it and abstains from it, Allah rewards
them.
Subhanallah.
I remember a youngster, I might have said
this before, I have said it but I'm
not too sure exactly where.
I remember a youngster when I said this
in one of my talks, he came to
me afterwards and he says is it okay
for me to just sit and plan sins
and then I don't do them because you
said Allah will reward you when you when
you've planned a sin and you don't do
it.
So can I just sit and plan sins
and plan sins and then not do it.
I said my son listen to me, that
is so cheap because you can do a
good deed and Allah says we will multiply
it ten times to seven hundred times only
Allah knows.
He will multiply the reward of the good
deeds if you've done them correctly in a
proper way.
So why do you want to suffice with
one reward for having not done something that
was supposed because if you did it you
would be sinful.
Allah is showing you when you don't do
it you have to get a reward.
It's like where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam was explaining that when you're married to
be intimate with your spouse is an act
of worship.
You must make sure you are intimate with
your spouse because you owe your spouse that
right and it is something Allah is pleased
with simply because he wants you to do
that.
Do you know this?
Allah wants you to be intimate with your
spouse and if you if you are not
intimate with your spouse and your spouse is
not happy with that you need to do
better by the will of Allah subhanahu wa'ta
'ala.
So why the Sahaba radhiallahu anhum were asking
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, oh messenger
you're talking of intimacy like you know we
sleeping with each other intimacy my spouse I
get a reward for it you know what
he said he says if the intimacy was
in haram would the person get a sin?
They said yes he would well if it
was in halal he would definitely get a
reward or she would get a reward.
You see what's going on now.
So the alternative if you stayed away from
haram you're rewarded you do that which is
halal you are rewarded multiplied subhanallah you know
I mentioned the issue of intimacy and I
must say my brothers and sisters many times
when people are married beginning of the marriage
everyone's excited and happy they go on a
honeymoon I still don't know why they call
it a honeymoon does anyone know call it
a honeymoon because I asked people did you
was there any honey there they say no
was there moon they say no so what
was there so one Sheikh answered me he
says no your wife is supposed to be
honey you know you're supposed to call her
honey you know and she's supposed to call
you the moon Allahu Akbar mashallah may Allah
grant us ease anyway those are theories but
after that period what happens then you might
have a child at some point and people
show it they're disinterested no more not intimate
why I don't feel it what do you
mean you don't feel like Allah asks you
to fulfill that in a halal way to
earn a reward as an act of worship
for the sake of Allah to be able
to do it because it's not just about
one person it's about both of you may
Allah help us to become more conscious of
one another's needs and try our best to
fulfill them in the best possible way I
mean that's a key a man saying I
mean so loud did you hear him don't
think you can get away that's a distinct
sound may Allah bless us all so the
point here is going back to what I
was saying about repentance seek forgiveness of Allah
because others have already sought forgiveness they have
changed their lives I've known youngsters who have
grown up and they've had a few bad
habits and I've met them after some time
and I've seen their lives changed and I'm
so happy super delighted especially most of the
time it's changed for the better and you
thank Allah oh mashallah look at this young
lad you know look at this guy subhanAllah
how Allah has brought him in the question
I have for you and I have we
come in now the excuse some people say
well Allah hasn't written guidance for me how
can you say that do you know that
you don't know that so don't use that
as an excuse people say Allah wrote it
you know someone committed a sin and comes
and says well Allah wrote it Omar Ibn
Khattab there was a thief who had stolen
they brought him you know to be punished
he says Oh Amirul Mu'mineen before you punish
me I stole because Allah wrote that I
was going to steal why do you punish
me you see so Omar Ibn Khattab radiallahu
anhu was extremely intelligent guess what he says
well Allah wrote that we were gonna punish
you so now come let's punish you simple
as that subhanAllahi rabbil alameen so don't blame
Allah what's happening in Gaza we don't blame
Allah we blame those who are perpetrating the
genocide they are committing the genocide you see
today is dedicated to Gaza even though it's
more than a year on but it's dedicated
the colors behind me depict and show that
it's dedicated to Gaza what happened earlier brother
Rahim came on what was it all about
it was about Gaza our hearts are bleeding
for everywhere on the globe where brothers and
sisters are bleeding and they are struggling if
we cannot reach them in one way we
will reach them in another way by the
will of Allah we feel helpless we are
helpless we were here last year talking about
the same and we will not let them
down today we will talk about the same
again may Allah Almighty grant them victory may
Allah return their lands to them and may
Allah Almighty protect all of them I mean
and don't belittle a charity you've given or
a do I you've made because trust me
do our works miracles happen and they do
happen I was speaking to a brother from
Syria and he told me you know what
miracles happen miracles definitely happen because we would
never have dreamt that this tyrant would have
actually disappeared so quickly I say thank Allah
thank Allah thank Allah it's a miracle that
happened no one would have imagined suddenly in
a short span of time and everything turned
and changed may Allah protect the people of
Syria may Allah grant them goodness may Allah
Almighty protect them from enemies within and enemies
outside because many a time we feel we've
been victorious and then we are let down
by so many factors may Allah Almighty protect
all of us so my brothers and sisters
imagine those people who are suffering what do
they need from you they need you firstly
to be connected to Allah to be able
to feel the connection with them if I
see a creature walk past here creature say
an animal say a cat say a dog
why would I care for the dog there's
a reason I'm a Muslim I worship Allah
I'm trying to please Allah the same Allah
I'm trying to impress created this dog I
need to make sure I'm not going to
harm this creature of Allah that's why the
Hadith speaks about a man who earned forgiveness
because he was kind to a dog a
woman who earned forgiveness because she was kind
to a cat subhan Allah subhan Allah this
is why because Allah wants you to connect
with him so that you realize and understand
who the rest of the people are today
in the ummah we have differences with one
another at times you have someone who goes
to this masjid that masjid the other masjid
I tell you one of the facts yes
I believe I'm on the right path but
these are my brothers and sisters I might
disagree with them on five important matters but
I tell you what I still consider them
my brothers and sisters of the Shahada come
what may because the enemy wants you and
I to dispute in a way that we
have no might no power no plan they
will destroy this when they're done with this
they will destroy the other while this one
was being destroyed everyone else was laughing or
they were saying they deserve it I'm sure
you've heard that sometimes right because we just
go to a different masjid they say they
deserved it they did not deserve it may
Allah guide them and guide us and guide
all of us but we are all needed
we are part of an ummah and this
is why those who preach division are the
ones who are far from Allah those who
want to look at that which separates you
and divides you without looking at the common
factors and I'm not belittling the differences of
opinion or I'm not saying that you have
to all be right I'm right I don't
want to belittle that I believe so where
I'm proven wrong I will change it I
need to have the evidence I need to
know I need to be convinced but at
the same time I need to also realize
as an ummah we have differences we will
let's discuss them let's see in a respectful
manner and while discussing them I still consider
you my brother you are still my sister
I still care for you and I care
for the whole ummah that's the only way
we will be able to protect one another
may Allah Almighty grant us goodness and ease
so my brothers and sisters this beautiful gathering
we have tonight I pray that we promise
Allah that we will do better in our
lives and we will not miss the opportunities
Allah gives us now can I tell you
what opportunities Allah gives us I started off
talking about three things the train the ship
and the plane Ramadan is a train the
ten days of Dhul Hijjah is a ship
perhaps for example and you have opportunities every
night at the time of tahajjud is a
plane Ramadan cannot come by when I have
not changed my life I need to jump
on that train and make use of it
and be on it full speed and make
sure that I'm not lazy it's only 30
days I always tell myself if Ramadan was
less than 30 days it wouldn't even say
hello it would be over and if Ramadan
was more than 30 days people would become
bored imagine the divine planning of Allah 30
days 29 to 30 beautiful timing you kick
off with a bang and what happens thereafter
you go forth and you enjoy it you
get to 15 days and you take the
end much more seriously but if Ramadan was
40 days I promise you it wouldn't have
the same impact it's not 40 days and
if Ramadan was only 10 days you're just
about warming up and next thing it's gone
Allah blessed you and I he knows you
and I he created us he gave us
a proper month and he says this is
the month of forgiveness the month of the
Quran the month of fasting the month of
charity the month of so much goodness do
the goodness make sure you do it and
we don't have to wait for Ramadan to
seek the forgiveness of Allah because you and
I might not see Ramadan a few days
ago a friend of mine from Malaysia 46
years old perhaps 47 years old suddenly heart
attack and he is in a coma apparently
brain dead and the family is deciding what
to do I wouldn't have imagined he messaged
me a few days before telling me inshallah
we will meet in January in Malaysia and
in Indonesia and subhanallah now he's in ICU
literally fighting for his life this is a
few days ago how old we would say
young not even 50 what guarantee do I
have you have that we're not going to
go so before we return to Allah let
us turn to Allah did you hear that
before we return to Allah let us turn
to Allah because it is only when we
turn to Allah that we will achieve the
success of this world and the next not
just one we will achieve the success of
this world and the next so push yourself
Ramadan comes push yourself a Friday comes a
Friday comes a Friday is the most blessed
day of the week take it seriously make
sure you make your dua supplication to Allah
ask Allah what you want seek forgiveness from
Allah there is an hour or a certain
time during the Friday within which no matter
what you ask Allah he will grant you
and he will give you if you are
serious about a dua or a supplication you
will repeat it from the morning of the
Friday throughout the day the whole day because
you know that at least one moment within
that whole day would have been the moment
when dua or supplication is being accepted so
Friday is another type of a train catch
the train your Fajr is a train catch
the train your dress is a train catch
the train what you listen to in your
ears is a train make sure you catch
the train sometimes you're on the wrong train
you sometimes you're on the wrong train a
little joke came to mind can I say
it can I say it talking about the
wrong train some people think they too clever
so this guy was going to London he
jumps on the train that was heading up
to Glasgow and he didn't realize because he
was busy on his phone or whatever it
was and so sometime later he's asking the
people saying you know what where are you
guys going meaning they said no we're going
to London we're going to Glasgow he's going
to London right so they got hold of
he started getting angry and upset and they
got hold of the guy who checks the
tickets and when he realized he tells him
don't worry this side is going to London
and that side is going to Glasgow he
said okay I'm gonna sit on this side
look at how foolish the joke was nobody
laughed come on laugh just to make me
happy there we go I love these little
boys they remind me of my kids when
I crack a dad joke they say tickle
me I want to laugh now Allah bless
you all Allah grant ease but nonetheless these
are all trains sometimes you're on the wrong
train meaning you have your earphones you can
either have something beneficial you're listening to an
audiobook you're listening to some Quran you're listening
to nasheed you're listening to a good talk
you're listening to something beneficial or you could
be listening to something that's almost * you
could be and sometimes it's so loud that
you don't even know people greet you and
you don't even care so it's up to
you are you on the right train sometimes
you do have those earphones but you're on
the wrong train and sometimes subhanallah we as
human beings need a reminder again and again
and these reminders should not upset you they
should make you happy someone got up and
reminded me to do the right thing if
you want to change something my brothers and
sisters tonight is the night tonight is the
night you want to change something you know
what you need to change you know what
you need to stop you know what you
need to do do it tonight by the
will of Allah Allah holds us accountable would
you not like to see solution across the
globe for the struggling that the ummah is
going through right now and not just the
ummah but humanity at large so much of
chaos I promise you the first step you
need to take is to recognize your maker
to recognize the one who made entire creation
and then you do everything else that needs
to be done whatever is in your capacity
because each one of us is given a
different capacity so whatever your capacity is use
that capacity to do whatever you can for
your brothers and sisters who are struggling I
always tell myself imagine if I've lost a
loved one they've lost all their loved ones
if I've lost some money they've lost their
livelihood and the livelihood of entire community if
I've lost some something a little accident a
motor vehicle their houses were blown to smithereens
and there they are saying alhamdulillah alhamdulillah and
here we are so stressed and depressed like
the world has come to an end yet
comparatively nothing has happened to us yet you
see what I'm saying may Allah Almighty grant
us lesson may Allah make us grateful people
and I want to end off by speaking
about gratitude gratitude my brothers and sisters people
say thank Allah thank Allah how do I
thank Allah the first way of thanking Allah
is by doing what he wants and staying
away from what he does not want you
to do that's the first way of thanking
Allah I thank Allah by worshipping him my
five salah shows that I thank Allah my
zakat shows that I thank Allah my fasting
shows that I thank Allah when I add
the Monday and Thursday it shows that I'm
grateful to Allah when I add 13 14
15 it shows my gratitude to Allah when
I start dressing more modestly it shows my
gratitude to Allah when I start doing the
right thing and when I'm staying away from
haram it shows that I'm grateful to Allah
so it's helped me to streamline myself in
line with Allah that's why when we get
up for prayer we say what just what
you hear lilladi fatara samawati well and it
goes on I have faced my face to
the one who created the heavens and the
earth Allah that's what I've done may Allah
strengthen all of us show gratitude to Allah
by quitting your bad habits gratitude to Allah
no matter what the bad habit is show
gratitude to Allah by doing the right thing
show gratitude to Allah by investing in your
children and your family members spending time with
them quality time with them teach them goodness
teach them Quran when you sit with your
kids and teach them Alif and Ba and
so on I promise you after your death
one of the best things you could have
ever done was the fact that you taught
your kids something they are reading after you
and you had taught them every letter they
read you're getting a full reward for it
every time they raise their hands in dua
you're getting a reward for it subhanallah may
Allah make it easy for all of us
that's how you show gratitude and with that
you also thank Allah verbally with your tongue
like alhamdulillah like a shook we thank you
we praise you oh Allah and your of
car subhanallah alhamdulillah la ilaha illallah allahu akbar
these are words of gratitude to Allah and
praise of Allah may Allah Almighty accept all
of us and grant us ease and goodness
may Allah accept this beautiful gathering here this
evening and may Allah Almighty grant us the
best of both worlds akulu holy hadha wasallahu
wasallama ala nabina muhammad wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi barakatuh