Mustafa Khattab – First Things First
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AI: Transcript ©
World renowned scholar and Islam is right there
inshallah you can welcome him at the end
of the footba inshallah. I wish I was
able to you know let him do the
footba inshallah because
I cannot speak in front of him but
because this is my football to go that
the last football the last one right I
said that 2 footballs ago but this is
the last one InshaAllah. So hopefully InshaAllah you
will be invited again to give football and
give talks in the masjid InshaAllah.
I wanted to save this for
the last. So we're saving the the best
for last.
So today, inshallah,
this is one of the most important footbas
you can hear. The footba are priorities in
life. We spoke about this a long time
ago. We didn't give the time to go
into details,
but we as Muslim individuals,
we as members of the Muslim community,
we have to always keep this in mind,
priorities in life. And I'm gonna give some
practical examples,
from our lives here in North America
as Muslims, and I'll give examples from the
Quran and the Sunnah of the prophet.
We know that in Sharia,
not everything is the same. In Sharia, some
things are more important than others.
And first, they should come first in Sharia.
Right?
Then if you say, for example, coming to
Jumah
is more important, for example, than salatul Tarawim.
If you have to attend 1 salah in
a day,
so you're able only to go once to
the masjid in one day, should I come
to salatul Tarawim or salatul Jum'ah? It has
to be salatul Jum'ah. Salat al Jumaa is
more important than Taweef.
Also,
So also in sins,
some sins in Islam are worse than others.
Just like some good deeds in Islam are
more important and more significant than others. Also,
committing some sins are worse than others in
Islam.
So lying about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Right? To say that he has children,
whatever, is worse than lying about the people.
To say that, for example, someone traveled to
this country
and he or she didn't travel. Right? So
lying about Allah is worse than lying about
the people.
Removing
harm is more important or takes precedence in
Sharia than bringing about something good. And say,
for example, you have a loan to the
bank, you're paying interest all the time,
and you have 10,000 in your pocket. Should
you pay the debt? It's due, otherwise you'll
be paying interest,
or should you renovate your basement?
Who cares about your basement? You have to
pay the debt and the interest, so you
can get out of this, thing because it's
not acceptable Islamic.
So some sense it is not the worse
than others.
If you see someone drowning in linguntarium
and this person has a golden ring, you
don't ask them, okay.
You have to take out their golden ring
first before I save you.
No. You save them first, and you can't
give them a long talk about the golden
ring later.
But you don't have them in the water
to take off their ring before you can
save them. Right? This is nonsense.
We know that in Sharia,
if you are praying
and someone is in danger, their life is
in danger, you have to stop your prayer
and go and save them.
Right? Because salah, prayer can wait.
Saving a human lives
cannot wait. Right? So some things in Sharia
are more important than others. Right? So InshaAllah
we're gonna talk about some of these examples
later. I wanted to start with a story.
It's actually a book
that was published a few years ago,
miss,
Bowery Ware.
She is an Australian
nurse.
She worked for several years at the palliative,
unit at the church, palliative care, taking care
of the people in the last few days
or a couple of weeks in their lives.
So, she's been a lot of time with
these people serving them and taking care of
them and making sure that they were okay.
Then she wrote a book about her experiences
with these people. So the book's title is
The 5 Top Regrets of the Dying.
So, as she spoke to different people, non
Muslim,
they had regrets
in life.
Now, they are, you know, facing death, they're
about to leave this world, they had some
regrets.
They said, I wish I did these things.
So the 5 top regrets in their lives
were as follows.
So number 1 regret in their lives was
I wish I did things
and I lived my life
in the way that I want it and
my God want it, not as people expected
of me.
So, this is the first
regret in their lives, right? So this was
the number one regret that a lot of
people have. Now, because we're influenced by friends
in college, sometimes we go out of our
way just to do the things they do
to please them, right? So we do a
lot of religious and social and different things
to please someone. Not because you wanted to
do it, but see because you feel you
have to.
Right? So the pagans
at the time of Ibrahim alaihis salam, they
used to worship the idols
to please each other. It's a social thing.
Not because they were convinced that the the
idols could benefit or harm them, but they
just so they can fit in. Right? Otherwise,
they would be alienated by people. Alienated socially
and so on and so forth. So they
just needed to please people.
And we know in Islam, you have to
do what is good
even if you are the only one doing
it. Right? The numbers don't matter in Islam.
Right?
So you have to do what is right
even if you are the only one doing
it. Right?
Because what people do basically,
they go by what is acceptable socially and
what is not acceptable socially. What we call
the Ayb, the Ayb system. This is the
word that
in, you know, in a lot of homes
you hear this word a lot. This is
Aib, this is Aib, this is Aib. Aib
basically in Arabic means something that is not
socially
acceptable.
Even if it's acceptable in Islam. Right? So,
for example,
someone
in where I came from in the village
in Egypt would not give his sister her
share of inheritance
because it's aid in the village culture to
give your father's land
to your brother-in-law
as an inheritance. Right?
But also, you will give something through your
wife as well. Right? So this is the
point. Right? So it is you have to
do it Islamically. You have to give your
sister her share or inheritance from her father
or mother, but in the village culture it's
able. Right? It's not acceptable. Right? In some
places, if someone from
some culture
proposes to a sister from a different culture,
then the father will say, no.
No. Because,
you know, they are from a different culture,
they don't speak the language. Although, both of
them, they lived their whole lives, they got
education here, they both speak English, they both
are Canadian by culture. Right? But, no. I'm
from this country, this guy's from that country,
I'm not gonna marry them. So according to
them,
because they're always afraid about what people will
say their reputation as a family,
they will always say, but what are the
people gonna say about me?
Although this is Haram in Sharia, if someone
proposes
and this person is very good, you shouldn't
say no, you should you know, Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala says, when the prophet
says, Yani, you should make things easier for
the people. And And if you look at
the Sahaba, they came from different places, and
not in fantasy,
Bilal, radiAllahu,
so high the Rumi. The people came from
different places in the Muslim world, and they
were getting married to each other. There was
no problem.
Because as human beings and as Muslims, we
aren't 1.
Your color doesn't really matter. Right? What matters
is are you a good person or no?
This is what matters. Right? And they end
up marrying their daughter to someone from the
same culture and that he abuses his wife
and all that stuff. We hear the stories
all the time. Right?
If you look at the Quran, Allah subhanahu
wa'ala is telling us don't follow the crowd,
Don't swim with the current. Right? Just because
people are doing something, don't don't follow them.
Right? Just do what is right.
In the Quran of Hasid Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
that if you follow most people in this
world, they will mislead you outside. They will
lead you out of the way of Allah.
They will lead you out of what is
right and what is acceptable.
Right? And most people are ignorant, most people
don't think, most people follow blindly.
Then when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about
small groups, he says, Khalilum neba'i shafu. Very
few
of my servants are grateful
and thankful to me. So this is what
happens when he speaks about the majority and
the minority.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tell you it
doesn't matter who is saying what
as long as it is the truth, it
is the right thing you have to do
it regardless of who is doing it.
As I said, most people go by what
is acceptable culturally
and morally from their own point of view
regardless of their religion
just like the examples I gave. Right? So
for example, we know that the culture changes
all the time. We know that morality changes
all the time. I'll just give a few
examples from the Western culture.
A few years ago,
some drugs like marijuana
was unacceptable if you if you if they
catch you with marijuana, you go to jail.
Now in some places in North America, it's
legal to carry and use marijuana. Right?
Abortion
was not allowed legally. Now it's allowed.
Homosexuality
was not allowed. Now it's being allowed in
some places and eventually it will be introduced.
Right? The bill would pass and everybody would
have the right to do it. Right? And
so on and so forth. Right?
In North America, at least in America, no
woman made it to the White House.
44 presidents so far have been elected in
the US as presidents
and none of them was a woman. This
was not acceptable
in this society, but maybe in the future
a lady will be elected. Right? So people's
morals and ethical values and principles change all
the time,
but what doesn't change is what Allah gives
as principles and values.
Theft has always been forbidden in Islam.
Dating has always been forbidden in Islam.
Doing drugs, drinking, abusing people,
lying, taking bribes, all this is forbidden.
You will never find in Islamic issue that
was something was forbidden at the beginning of
Islam,
and later, a few centuries later, it was
halal. This will never happen.
People change all the time, but the laws
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the
divine values and principles
never change. So this is the first point.
She brought in the book
is where I wish or this is what
the people said, I wish that I did
things based on what I like to do
not based on what people expected of me.
A lot of prophets don't like to smoke,
they don't like to drink or date and
do all these things, but they do these
things just because
their friends do the same thing, and they
don't want to look like an idiot, so
they just copy them because they think it's
cool to do what other people do. Otherwise,
you'll be alienated. You're not gonna fit. Right?
So as they said, do what you think
is right and accept it Islamically,
not what will make people happy.
Number 2,
they said in the book, this top second
regret, that I wish I said the truth
and I was open and frank about what
I felt
and I didn't sugarcoat.
Right? If you see someone doing something wrong
you don't speak up because you're afraid the
people will say something.
And this is also in Islam, in the
hadith
in
in
all of the scholars questions of antiquity of
this hadith, but the meaning is accepted.
Why didn't you speak up? Why didn't you
stand up and say this is wrong? You
see someone abusing someone or been killing innocent
people for nothing back home, and the people
are abusing, killed in the streets. The women,
the children, they throw them in jail for
nothing, and you didn't speak up the mufti,
the scholar, this, that.
Oh, because I was afraid of the people.
Did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would say, I'm
the one worthy of your fear. You should
have been afraid of me, not the people.
Right? So this is also Islamic.
Speak the truth.
Be nice, yes, but you have to speak
the truth. Don't lie. Right? So it depends
on the approach and the hikna, choosing the
time, how you put it, your words, and
all these things.
Number 3,
the 3rd regret, they said I wish I
had more time to spend with my family.
Because most people travel here and there where
even if they stay in the same house,
they work 2, 3 jobs, provide for the
family, pay the bills, and so on and
so forth, but they don't talk to the
kids.
Their kids go to school 8 hours a
day, and as I always say, they're taught
by Magdub Alayim Alayim,
then by the end of the month you
expect them to be like Umar ibn Shattar
Alayim Alayim.
Right? You're fully yourself, and you don't have
time to spend with your kids, right, or
your family. If you calculate the time that
most of us spend with our kids before
they move out and get married,
it will be equal to like 2 weeks
in total.
That's like 2 or 3 minutes for a
week. Right? And even when you sit with
them, it is not a quality time. Right?
So by the time you make enough money
to support them, they're married, they're not living
with you anymore.
You You sit with your mom, you're always
on your Facebook account, you're playing with your
phone, and your mom is talking to you,
you're not even looking at her, you're just
playing or liking someone's post because they posted
their selfie, like,
all these things,
or their food, biryani. They took a picture
of the biryani. Right? Maklova, all the good
stuff. And their mom is sitting next to
them and talking to them about her health,
what she feels, and he doesn't want to
he doesn't want to look or she doesn't
want to look at her mom because they
are busy on Facebook.
The next thing is
their mom is dead. Their mom is not
there. Then they regret and say, well, subhanallah,
I wish I had time
to spend with my mom or my dad
or my brother or sister or my wife
or my husband and talk to them. Now
I want to talk to them. Now I
want to hug them and to be with
them, but they are not there anymore.
Facebook can wait.
Okay. Who cares about Facebook?
15, 20 years ago, when Facebook was not
there, people were talking to each other and
they were happy. Right?
But your mom and your dad, may Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala give them a long life,
maybe they will not be there forever. Right?
So the 3rd regret was,
we don't spend a lot of time with
the family or quality time with them.
The 4th regret was, we didn't connect
with our friends,
especially the friends you make in childhood. These
are the good friends. Right? You share memories
with them. So you remember your friends from
childhood,
the guys who used to bite you and
bully you and to steal your toys. These
are the good friends. Right?
Because when we grow older, someone may become
your friend because they expect something from you.
They want money or the guy wants to
marry your sister,
and start running around you. Right? Because they
want something from you. But these kids you
grew up with, they didn't expect anything from
you. Right?
You spend good time together, you know, they
are always there for you. If you need
something they will come to your help and
so on and so forth. Giving time to
Foranis.
And the 4th 5th
and the last one,
they said in the book, we wish we
understood
the meaning of happiness
and what it takes to become happy in
life. And as we said a few months
ago in the talk about happiness, a lot
of people think
that money will make you happy. And I
said at the time
that if money makes you happy,
why is it that suicide rates are very
high in rich countries? In Japan,
in most countries in Europe, in the US,
In poor countries,
they're not actually poor, like,
our countries back home, the Muslim countries, they
are rich, but the people are poor, but
sell our people back home, they are not
killing themselves.
Our rulers
are killing them, but they're not killing themselves.
Right? They're doing the good job. Right? So
they're doing that because the people have faith
in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They expect the
word in Athan, but some other people, yes,
they make a lot of money,
but money does not make them happy.
They buy medicine with it, but it doesn't
give them health. They can buy food with
it, but it doesn't make them happy, and
it doesn't make them comfortable. Right? And you
hear about Miley Cyrus, you hear about Lady
Gaga, you hear about all the actors and
the dancers, they make 1,000,000 of dollars, and
they kill themselves. The stories are so many.
Michael Jackson, you hear the stories,
right?
All of them. Right? Drugs,
whatever, painkillers,
Bruce Lee, and all these, and they died.
24 years old. 25 years old. He had
1,000,000 of dollars, and she had 1,000,000 of
dollars, and they just killed themselves.
And the actor who who did the lot
of the, Aladdin movie, the guy, the genie
in the movie, I forgot his name.
Robin Williams. He killed himself. What was his
name? He killed himself. Rob Williams? Robin Williams.
Robin Williams?
People thought he was the happiest man in
the world who was doing all these comedies,
he was very happy, he had 1,000,000 of
dollars,
but he was so miserable and he killed
himself. You know this story, I don't have
to remind you. So don't think that money
is what makes you happy. There are so
many other things. Doing the things that you
like, doing the things that please Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. Being with the people that you
love and they love you,
contributing to your community, helping those who are
in need, and so on and so forth.
The last thing I wanted to say to
understand how to classify your priorities, and I
mentioned this in the foot bath last year,
and I said any activity or anything you
do in life can be classified
into 1 of 4 groups.
Urgent and important,
not urgent, not important,
important but not urgent, urgent but not important.
And don't ask me to repeat them because
I can't. Right?
So
always keep these things in mind.
When it's signed for salah and you want
to play video games, how do you classify
them? It is time for a word. So
though it is urgent and important,
video games not urgent not important.
Right? And so on and so forth. So
now you know how to classify things Islamically
to achieve happiness in life. We ask Allah
to give us the best in this life
and the best of luck from this whole
life.
So, inshallah I have here an announcements before
I, I finish my footba and as I
said inshallah, this will be my
last footba here. So,
to achieve or to know the priorities in
life, one of the most important things you
need to do is to gain knowledge.
You cannot know the priorities or put them
in order without the knowledge.
And we know that the most important knowledge
in Islam, knowing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and
how to serve Him, then understanding the sunnah
of the Prophet SAW. And the best example
to follow for your priorities to be in
order to follow the example of the prophet,
sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam.
So the best people to follow after the
prophet
were the the members of the family of
the prophet
Then, the 10 Sahaba will have the news
of Jannah, then the people of Badr, then
the people who pledged allegiance to the prophet
under the tree, and the rest of the
Sahaba.
Right?
So you have to understand your rights
and your obligations toward Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and your rights and your your obligations toward
human beings,
and by extension all of God's creation.
Your rights and responsibilities
as a husband and wife, children and parents,
colleagues and friends, and so on and so
forth. So we have to always keep this
in mind, education.
This leads to the
next point,
and this will be the last one before
the quick announcements inshallah.
We have a priority in this community,
and the priority is to to have a
school here in St. Catherine's and to have
a community center. It's long overdue.
We know that several years back, we had
only a few Muslims here in this community.
They, arrived in the 19 sixties,
doctor Shaheed,
Antal Hamid Ali,
brother Osanic, brother Irfat, and they always
joke about this and because they came a
long time ago, and I said when the,
the First Nation came,
then brother Usad and brother Efat were there
at the border stamping their passports, pass pass
pass. Right?
It's just an exaggeration
how long they have been here in this
community. Right? But at the time, there were
only a few families here, then the community
started to grow.
Then they have the vision for 50 or
a 100 years, and they built the Masjid
in Naira Hall
in the 19 eighties. Then they built the
Masjid here in Saint Catherine's
in the 19 nineties. Allah
worked on Muhammad Ali and the rest of
the family and all the community members who
have contributed back then and all the years.
Right? Now we should have the vision
for the next 50 100 years to have
a school and a community center.
In one of the 4th verse I spoke
about the three components of a human being
the money, the not the money, the mind,
the body, and the soul.
So now we have to take care of
the
soul and the, and the the mind of
our youth. Right? We have to keep up
in taking care of their bodies. We feed
them, make sure they look good, we take
them to Hawaii, say, they play basketball, all
that stuff. But we also have to,
teach them the good things that would benefit
them. You know what is going to happen
in the schools, in the public schools, the
* education, and all these things. Right? So
we need to provide education that is acceptable
from a Muslim perspective. We have to have
our own schools.
So Insha'Allah,
this next month, September
11th Insha'Allah,
doctor Abdul Idrees will be visiting from Mississauga
to talk to you more in detail about
this project, the significance of the project, the
financial details, what we need to have, the
school, the community center, the gym, playgrounds for
the children and for the families. So for
each, we don't have to rent any holes
or any places after that. We'll have everything
in our community,
and we have the ability to do it.
Right? So the good news is
we have the resources, we have the money
to buy the school and the community center,
but the bad news is
the money is in your pockets. So it
will take a long time to fill your
heart with the iman, so we can get
into your pockets and purchase the building and
the community center.
I always say that Abdul Hamadani did his
best several years ago,
and it is now your time to do
your best. We can do it.
As I said before,
that lay contrary was not made overnight.
Several drops of rain came together and formed
what we see today as lay contrary. We
can do it. Everyone according to their ability
will be able to do it insha'Allah. Abi'
done in just 2 or 3 minutes insha'Allah.
I have 2 couple of announcements.
Mission Tanzania, says Abdul Piz
and her
comrades, her friends, they came back safely, Alhamdulillah,
from Tanzania.
They built the school, they helped the family,
and we thank them for all the great
efforts they have been doing, and we ask
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to give them success
in all their endeavors.
They'll be waiting outside in the tent after
the prayer, so inshallah go and welcome them
and talk to them about their experiences.
The tickets for the Ain party,
inshallah are also for sale, you can purchase
your tickets.
I believe it's on the 29th,
if I'm not mistaken. So inshallah buy your
tickets and hopefully we'll see you all, there
together.
Now inshallah, I'm going to introduce,
brother Jason
Gowrey.
He has been helping us with the translation
for the last, 7, 8 months. He heard
about the translation, the clear Quran that I've
been working on with a lot of people
from the community.
And he joined us and he has been
part of the editing team and he had
a lot of questions
that,
otherwise couldn't get answered growing up. So Alhamdulillah
he came and he joined us and he
was helping us I gave him surahs from
the Quran, Baqal and Nisaa these big surahs
at the beginning and he was helping with
the footnotes all these things. So eventually, Alhamdulillah
he said and he said,
all his questions that he had for so
long were answered about Allah, but the purpose
of our life and so on and so
forth. So today Shaulayi is here to take
shahada and join the community. So I'm gonna
call him so and pray Jumu'Allah.
So I'm gonna kindly ask him to,
to,
stand right here please.
So we will
say in English, then we'll do the Arabic,
we'll say I bear witness. I bear witness.
But there is only one God to worship.
There is only one God to worship. And
I bear witness. And I bear witness. And
I bear witness. So Mohammed. That Mohammed. Is
the prophet. Is the prophet. And the servant.
And the servant of God. And that you
believe in all the prophets of God. And
I believe in all the prophets of God.
Abraham. Abraham. Abraham. Jesus. And Moses. And all
of them. And all you believe in all
the scriptures. And I believe in all the
scriptures.
He over the last few weeks we have
been meeting together
sometimes once, sometimes twice a week and Alhamdulillah
he has learned how to pray the 5
daily salawat and he has alhamdulillah
in Arabic Alhamdulillah.
Very good pronunciation I'm very proud of you.
Last but not least we want also to
welcome sister Kayla.
She has also been helping with the translation
the clear Quran for quite some time and
she has been posting her favorite quotes on
Facebook. She's been asking a lot of questions
and Alhamdulillah she's also ready today to