Mustafa Khattab – 40 Years Old
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
I bear witness that there is none worthy
of our worship except Allah
July 1st
July 1st,
Canada turned 150,
and July 1st, I turned 40.
So it's a very special day for me.
It's the day I was born, and it's
the day I got married. So it's a
very special day for me and the family.
But I'm not here to talk about myself,
to talk about myself.
I'm here to talk about the concept
of life and the fact that when you
reach the age of 40, this is the
peak of your life based on Islamic traditions.
And I will talk about some of the
good things that I have done in my
life so far because I don't expect to
live another 40, and I'm gonna talk about
some of the mistakes that I made and
I'm trying to correct, and I'll share some
of the teachings of Islam about the age
of 40, Simul Khikhma, the age of wisdom
in Islam.
This number 40 is very
important and very significant in the Quran and
in the teachings of Muhammad Asal.
So you read, for example, in the Quran,
in Sura Araf, chapter number 7,
that Musa Alaihi Salam was fasting for 40
days when he went for the appointment with
Allah
You read, for example, in Sura Maidah
that Banu Israel, the children of Israel, after
they left with Musa Alaihi Salam from Egypt,
they were in the wilderness
for 40 years.
We know that Muhammad became
a prophet at the age of 40,
and most of the prophets became prophets at
the age of 40, most of them. And
even till this day, in most constitutions, or
I would say most, but many constitutions
in the world,
one of the requirement or the minimum age
that is required for someone to run for
the highest office in a country is the
age 40. Sometimes they're 35, but in many
cases, it is 40.
When the prophet
speaks about
the stages of development of the baby in
the womb of the mother, from nufa to
alaqa to mubra,
it takes 40 days for every stage to
be completed.
Some of the scholars, when they wrote books,
they made sure that the number 40 is
there
for Baraka and so on and so forth.
Walu arbayin na wiyya for iman Nawi, Rahim
Al Allah.
40 Nawi's. That that's the book. The title
is the 40 Hadith
from the Prophet SAW
There's another beautiful hadith in Sayyid Muslim.
The Prophet SAW says,
mankamahalayi
arba'oona
laayushrikoona
bilahi shayan illa shafa'ullah
shafa'ullahahu shafa'ullahahuwati'iwati
wahilaatfara'ullahajal
The Prophet SAW says, the Sahih Muslim,
if someone dies,
and they come to the Masjid for a
funeral, and if there are 40 people who
pray
funeral prayer on that person,
this person is going to Jannah, and these
people will be like Shafa'a for him or
her. So the number is very important, and
there are so many other evidences in the
Quran and the Sunnah,
but, this is enough to establish the fact
that number 40 is important.
In Surah Khaf,
when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala speaks about the
prime age of your life, Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala specifies the age of 40.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surahta,
Surah number 46.
Ayah number 19.
Surah,
Surah 45, chapter 45 in the Quran, ay
number 19
He says when someone reaches the prime of
the life and they reach the age of
40
They pray to Allah and they say Allah
forgive me and shower me with your blessings
along with my parents. So he's making Gaurav
or she is making Gaurav for himself, themselves,
and their family, and they're asking Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala to bless their children, and they
say, you Allah, we turn to you in
repentance,
and we are fully submitting to you.
So this is a special, Dua at the
age of 40. So what is special about
the age of 40?
If you read in the Tafsir of Nikathir,
he says when you reach the age of
40
he says in his tafsir,
you reach the prime of your life physically,
mentally, emotionally, and so on and so forth.
In every aspect, this is the peak of
your life when you reach this age.
Before the age of 40, and this is
supporting supported by modern science.
Before, they used to say when you are
age the age of 20, you reach your
prime in terms of mental ability.
But recent studies show that 40 is the
age of maturity physically and, mentally and so
on and so forth. When we are younger,
like, you are 17,
19,
you change your mind all the time.
I talked to some of the brothers and
sisters in in this in their youth. They
change their mind all the time. So they
come to me, oh, I'm not sure,
which way I want to go. I want
to go to college, to school, or this
school.
So I want to be a doctor.
5 minutes later, no, I want to be
an engineer. 5 minutes later, I'm just I
will I will, drive Uber. Right? So they
change their mind every 5 minutes,
and the same for the job, and the
same for the person they will marry.
They basically love every person they meet in
the street. So one day I'm gonna marry
Fatima,
another day I'm gonna marry Zaynab, a third
day, no, I'm like, I'm gonna marry, Maria.
So they change their their mind all the
time. Right?
But when you hit
this age, you start to grow, you start
to mature, and you think very clearly.
And after this age, there is a certain
age that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala speaks about
after the age of 40. You you reach,
you know, you live a way longer life
after this, and now you are thinking emotionally.
People are not talking to me anymore. My
kids got married, and they moved out. There's
no one here for me. So you start
to get emotional.
Right?
So at the age of 40, you start
to think because now you reach the prime
of your life. You are the healthiest,
and your memory is the best, and so
on and so forth. And some people have
good memories at the age of 70, 80,
I'm not saying, but generally,
this is the prime of your life. And
personally, I don't think, as I said, I
will live another 40. So this is the
peak.
When I look this way, from the peak,
I see my childhood,
and I look on the other side, I'm
getting old,
I have doctor appointments all the time, and
so on and so forth. I'm getting ready
that every day passes by in my life.
I'm getting close to the end.
So I'm getting there. So I have to
think very clearly now, and reflect on my
life. Am I doing the right thing?
Am I fulfilling my obligations in this life
towards my creator,
towards my family, my children, my community, and
so on and so forth?
So now this will give you a better
perspective of your life. And if you're not
doing the right thing,
this is probably the right time to start
because we don't expect to live another year,
another 30 years, another 40 years.
So what are your achievements in life?
If you are getting there close to 30
or 40 or you're past that age, what
are your achievements in life?
And the Prophet SAW Alaihi Wasallam tells us
in the Hadith you have to leave a
mark,
you have to leave a legacy,
whether it's some beneficial knowledge our element,
to the people,
or if you don't have the knowledge, what
about money? You left a legacy for people
for
cancer research,
a donation for the homeless, and so on
and so forth,
and the poor, the orphans. You left a
legacy in terms of money to help the
people. And the prophet says, if you don't
have the knowledge, and you don't have the
financial ability,
At least
raise good children
to be good citizens,
and this will be your legacy.
So you have no excuse not to leave
a legacy behind.
And I think of some people who died
young in Islamic history. I think of Sa'd
ibn Mu'adh, one of the great Sahaba of
Muhammad SAW. He was at the age of
38,
Wa Ihta Salaam or Ashur Rahman. When he
died, the Prophet SAW said, the throat of
Allah was shaken when this man Saladin Umuah
died at the age of 38.
What did he do?
What is the achievement so that the throne
of Allah would shake for him? You read
about Imam al Nawawi. He was in his
forties
when he died.
40 40 something is not a very old
age. Right? But he left a great legacy.
Right now we,
so on and so forth, Rial al Salihin,
and so on and so forth. He left
a great legacy behind.
So what is my legacy?
I also think about
my life and purpose in in in this
world. Is my purpose here to please everyone?
This is something you cannot achieve.
So try you might as well you try
to please him.
Forget about the people. Yes. You're trying to
be nice to everyone. You do your best.
But believe me, you cannot please everyone in
in this world. It is very difficult. It
is very hard.
So, we know the story
of Joha. Everyone knows the story when he
was walking with his son, and they have
the donkey with him. So the father was
on the back of the donkey, the son
was walking. They passed by a group of
people, and the people said, look at this
ruthless man.
He's ruthless. He has no
kindness in his heart. His son is walking.
He's on top of the donkey. So Guha
got off the donkey, he put his son
on the back of the donkey, and he
passed by another group. They said, look at
this impolite kid.
He's on the top of the donkey, and
his dad is walking. Where is the respect?
For the seniors.
So he got on the back of the
donkey with his son. Both of them
were on the back of the donkey. They
passed by another group, human rights group. They
said, oh, where is the animal rights? Both
of you are on the back of the
donkey. So they both got off the donkey,
and they walked, and they pulled the donkey
with them. They passed by a 4 group,
and they said, look at these crazy people.
They are walking, and the donkey is walking
with them. Why did Allah create donkeys? Right?
So he said to his son, forget about
pleasing people. No matter what you do, no
matter what you do to please people, no
one would be happy with you. People just
would walk all over you
if you try to please them, and they
will complain that you're not flat enough.
You might as well please him. Yes. Be
good to everyone, but he is priority number
1.
Be honest, be sincere, be kind to everyone.
The problem with some people,
and this is not a problem with him,
is
you live a decent life. You are an
excellent human being.
If you are a religious leader, if you
are a politician,
you are a teacher,
Egypt. Right? You live an excellent life. You're
honest. You're sincere. You are a family person.
You provide for your family. You give charity.
You help everyone, and you make one mistake.
And then after you, they cross you out
as an evil person. There's nothing good about
you. But with him, you live a life
of sin, you do terrible things,
then at some point in your life, you
turn to him and you ask for forgiveness.
You promise that you will mend your ways.
He will accept you.
People don't accept. He accepts.
So, umadas will try to please him and
not please everyone. As long as you are
doing the right thing, it doesn't matter if
people are pleased with you or not. Right?
In in some cases, I'm not trying to
criticize everyone. Believe me.
Last week, we're in
Toronto here. They had their Halal Muslim fast.
People go, they eat. And someone was asking
me, what was the best food you ate
at the Halal Muslim fast? And I said,
the the free samples. Right?
As long as it's free, I'm happy.
I'm kidding. But anyway, someone was outside protesting
that Muslims eat meat.
And it is the same people who 3
4 months ago, they were at the board
of education. They were protesting that Muslim kids
are praying Jummah,
and they are the same people in the
future who make, you know, you know, complain
that Muslims are consuming too much air, they
are breathing too much, or can contaminating the
air.
You just do the right thing. If you
are a vegetarian, alhamdulillah, if you're a carnivore,
it's up to you. I'm not judging people
or telling them what to do. You just
live your life as long as you're not
harming anyone, and salas, move on. You cannot
guarantee the satisfaction of everyone.
Even Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If if you
do
a survey
or, you know, you give people's votes
on his existence,
you will not get
30% of the votes will not go to
all, you know, he would only get, like,
20%, 25% of the votes that he exists.
Right? And so on and so forth, and
he is the worthy of worship.
So no one is pleased fully 100% with
anyone, even Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. People question
him.
Kids with cancer? Why did he do that?
Right? People always complain.
People always brag. They they don't understand that
this life is a test, and we are
here to be tested.
Someone is tested in a different way than
you. We take care of each other. We
support each other. But eventually, we are not
here to stay. We will leave this world
at the end of our life and and
chalas. But try to be good to everyone.
So my job is not to please everyone
or offend anyone either. The fact that I
have the freedom of expression or freedom of
speech, I don't have the right to go
and offend people. Doesn't matter their faith,
their choices, and beliefs in life. I don't
have the right to offend anyone.
I have free choice. I have the freedom
of speech, freedom of expression, as long as
I'm not offending
anyone or getting out of my way
to be offensive and make people feel miserable
about themselves.
If I want to please everyone in this
world, Imam Mustafa, I'm talking about myself now.
If I want to please everyone in this
world, I'm gonna leave this job as an
imam and a teacher, and I'm gonna walk
around in the streets and give Ox Free,
ice cream.
Everyone will love me, everyone will be happy
with me. But, again, not everyone would be
happy with your choices in life.
The other thing is
sometimes I receive
invitations to go and debate with someone. Like,
I have received, like, someone would call me,
can we go and and debate about this
and that and that? And I told them,
I don't expect to live under the 40.
I don't have time for debates, but I
have time for work.
We we don't want to waste 2, 3
hours of our life to debate about someone
and something or whatever, a belief. It's up
to you.
We are smart enough or educated enough to
figure out what makes sense and what doesn't
make sense. I don't have time for this,
but I have time so we can work
together
to alleviate the suffering
of people. We can work together to serve
the homeless,
the orphans,
to stand up for the rights of minorities
like First Nations, like Charlie Angus is here
with us. He's a a great advocate of
First Nations rights, and he's a great man
known for his integrity.
So this is something I'm willing to do,
to volunteer,
to work for the poor and the homeless
and the needy and the orphans, to stand
up for the rights of First Nations,
African Americans,
and so on and so forth, to stand
up for the rights of
Muslims who are abused in China
and the Palestinians,
the Yemenis,
the Libyans, the Hadathis, the Syrians, the innocent
women and children who are targeted for nothing.
I believe in the dignity of all human
beings, and everyone
deserves to live a decent life, a dignified
life.
I believe the life of a Muslim is
as precious to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the
creator of everyone. The life of a Muslim
is as precious as the life of a
Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist, a Hindu. They
are the creation of Allah, and Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala says in the Quran
He's the creator, and he said,
I dignified and I honored all my creation.
All human beings are dignified in front of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So I respect everyone.
Regardless of their choices in life and their
belief systems, they are accountable to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Allah is the judge, not me.
So as long as we respect everyone,
we love for each other what we love
for ourselves,
and we have for respect for everyone,
we as a community
Muslims, non Muslims, we are as strong
as the weakest link among us.
So we take care of each other, and
we ask
Allah to give us the best life in
this world and to give us the best
in the life to come. Bismillahum
So in the last 5 minutes of
the life of this Kufa
I'll talk about some of the,
now thinking about
the 40 lives that I lived on your
planet
and the fact that I don't have another
40 to live. So I reflect on the
good things and the bad things.
So the good things
I'm gonna be politically correct here. One of
the best things that I have done in
my life my wife is downstairs.
She's is here somewhere.
Marrying my wife is one of the best
achievements in my life.
It's a survival technique. I'm happy. She's happy.
Everyone is happy.
Political political correctness is important.
Coming to Canada is a very important step
in my life where I enjoy freedoms, democracy.
I live a dignified life here with human
rights. Alhamdulillah.
So I came in 2011, Alhamdulillah. I'm happy,
and and I'm trying to contribute,
for the well-being of of this society.
Number 3, studying at Al Azhar, Alhamdulillah. And
number 4,
doing the first translation
in the history of Canada, the clear Quran.
So, alhamdulillah, I'm proud of this. The mistakes
I'll talk about one mistake.
The mistake my biggest mistake that I made
was not to come to Canada sooner.
So So I wish I came earlier,
to contribute to the well-being and the, greatness
of of this society, Insha'Allah.
As I said, I don't have time to
hate anyone, and I don't judge anyone. Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala is the judge. I don't
hate any other human being.
Even Donald
Trump. I don't hate him.
We should be building bridges,
not walls.
I don't hate him, not even George Bush,
but I disagree.
And I dislike tyranny
and abuse of people and abuse of power.
We should be building bridges, not walls.
So,
finally,
this is the last reflection. I don't know
I could be mistaken.
We would live in this world,
and we will die
not knowing the whole truth.
Because what we know from the media
is
what they want us to know. Right? It
could be
70% of the truth, 90% of the truth,
and sometimes we found out we found out,
like, 50 years later, 70 years later that
we were told lies in the news.
Everyone knows that Johnson lied about Vietnam.
Everyone knows that George Bush lied about Iraq,
and so on and so forth. We don't
know the whole truth.
Who killed John f Kennedy in 1963?
Who knows? But there is a day of
judgment.
We believe in as Muslims.
All secrets will be disclosed.
So we will see things on the day
of judgment, and we'll say, oh my goodness.
I didn't know. Like, no one told us.
This is amazing. Like, what was going on?
Everything from who took the Nutella from the
fridge,
all the way to politics, and what was
happening behind our backs, who was telling the
truth, and who was lying.
So at least now we what we can
do is to trust the people of integrity,
and we work together
for the well-being of our society. The last
thing I will say, Talasse, in the last
minute,
when I reflect on the Quran, I was
working on the translation of the Quran, the
clear Quran for 4 years now.
And I noticed something.
That whenever Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala speaks about
the Day of Judgment, which will happen who
knows 1000 of years, 1000000 of years, well,
I don't know.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala always talks
the logic says, the logic says if Allah
is talking about the Day of Judgment, He
should talk in the future tense.
This will happen, and this will happen in
You Matayama on the Day of Judgment, but
it is very interesting that Allah talks in
the past tense.
Right? He said he talks in the past
about judgment, it already happened in the past.
The people of Jannah paradise, they are already
there. The people of Jahannub, they are already
there.
Justice is fulfilled, and justice is established. Everyone
received what they deserved.
In the past. So I said, Subhanallah, what
is what is going on? It should be
in the future. Why is Allah talking in
the
past? Number 1, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is
not limited
by our standards. So for Him, there is
no past, there's no present, and there's no
future. So this is number 1.
Number 2,
the scholars say Allah
says that this day is coming for sure.
For sure it is happening. There is nothing
that is going to stop this day from
coming, Yomul Qiyam at the day of Jarmim.
So it is it it has already happened.
Khalaf finished.
And number 3, when I tried to reason
this concept in the last 15 seconds of
my Khutba,
When Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala speaks about this
world compared to the next life,
He says,
The
next life is the perfect life.
The person will cry on the day of
judgment and say, I wish I have done
the right thing for this true perfect life.
So this means that this life we are
here, like, in this world, it is not
perfect. It is not complete life.
So this life com compared to the next
life, the perfect
true life, we're basically living like a cartoon
movie.
It's like a cartoon movie. It is not
real. We do the right thing. So what
I'm trying to reason, this life is like
a 1 hour
30 minute movie, like Pixar, Disney movie. This
is how I think of it. The movie
is like, say for example, 1 hour. 1
hour movie,
for Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
everything is done, the movie is over, justice
is established for everyone.
But for us,
this 1 hour movie is going at a
slow motion
thing. It's taking 1,000 and probably 1,000,000 of
years to watch, but the movie is already
over. Justice is established.
Everyone received their place in Jannah or Jahannam,
and this is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
speaks in the past. Who knows? Allah subhanahu
wa
ta'ala to give us a dignified life in
this world, and we ask Allah
to give us ri'zah and to give us
the best in this life and the best
in love to come. And we ask Allah
to use us for the service of humanity,
and we ask Allah
to give us the best according to the
best of our intentions and to give us
sincerity in everything we say and do.