Mustafa Khattab – Remembering Syrian Kids

Okay. So,

small request before we start

inshallah. Once you finish salah,

if you can't praise salah to sunnah, this

is good Alhamdulillah.

But,

you don't need to go around and keep

talking because people are finishing up their Fard,

and some people are praying soon. And you

guys are very loud in the back, and

this is not nice. Right? People look up

to you because you study here in the

Islamic school, and they look up to you.

And if you make the noise, this this

is not the best image you give about

the school.

Today,

I'm gonna tell you a short story, and,

so bear with me. It is not the

funniest

story. You like funny stories? But,

it's, it's actually

it's actually a tragic story. We don't have

the mic, so please,

pay attention. Don't talk to your friends.

If you want to talk, you can step

outside.

Okay.

So basically,

this story can apply to any one of

you. Can apply to any one of you.

Say for example,

your mom is expecting a baby.

Right?

She is

5, 6 months,

pregnant,

and

you can't wait to hold your brother

and play with him.

Right?

And you are thinking about the day you're

going to play soccer together, you're gonna go

to school together, he's gonna sit with you

next next to you on the bus,

and, you're going to, go and and play

and swim and play soccer, and you're building

all these dreams.

And all of a sudden,

your house is attacked,

and the house is destroyed, and

your dad is killed, your mom is taken

to the hospital, and the hospital is targeted,

and your mom dies with the baby.

Right? And you also were injured in the

attack,

and you lost your leg.

Well, you think this is like a terrible

Hollywood movie gone wrong,

but this scenario happens all the time in

Syria.

We hear the stories, we see the images,

and terrible things happen.

Everything that you hold there in your life

can be taken away from you in one

second.

And when you go to the hospital or

your mom goes to the hospital, you think

Masha'Allah she's gonna be saved there, but it

seems that hospitals are one of the,

common targets of the, of the attacks.

And we feel sorry for the our brothers

and sisters there, but the point, I'm not

telling you the story to,

to break your heart. I'm telling you the

story, so you can appreciate the Ni'amah

that you have here.

When I ask you, what would you like

to be when you grow older? Some of

you say, well, I would like to be

a doctor,

I would like to be an engineer,

I would like to be a teacher,

I would like to be a lawyer,

anything.

If we were to go now to Huhta

in Syria, and ask the young ones in

Syria generally or in Huhta in particular,

what would you like to do when you

grow older?

The only thing that they have in mind

is, I I don't want to die.

This is the only wish they have.

We're not talking about being a doctor, engineer,

lawyer, teacher, anything.

They just want they don't want to die.

They want to live. This is the only

thing they have in mind, and they have

seen death

in the last 7 years.

They either lost someone they have known, like

a colleague or something, or they lost a

family member,

someone they love,

even the masajid are attacked, the homes are

attacked, the hospitals are attacked, there's no place

which is safe safe for someone to survive.

Now when I hear some of you,

you know, they can't sit still in the

bus because it is too comfortable for them,

and they want to move around, and they

want to make noise, and and they feel

like we're limiting their freedom. And if we

tell them when it is time for salah

to be quiet and give people some peace,

or show respect to the teachers,

or maybe eat your lunch, the burger, or

the shawarma, or the good food you get,

and, ah, every day, you go, what is

this, man? I hate you.

Sometimes

you guys, you take things for granted and

this is not the right approach.

You are treated like kings.

There are people in this world, they cannot

even find water, and if they are sick,

they cannot find medicine.

They cannot find a shelter. They cannot find

clothes. They cannot find nothing,

and sometimes we are spoiled by Nama,

that our comfort life

will make us,

you know, not appreciate what we have. I

know some of you will hate me, but

that's okay. I just wanted to, to open

your eyes that there's a lot of suffering

in this world, and I want you to

appreciate everything you have. When you go home,

appreciate your parents, because there are some your

age will be going to bed tonight without

their parents by their side.

Some of,

some people your age

will not have their brother or their sister

with them.

Some of them will not have a school.

Some of them don't have a place to

pray, some of them do not have a

hospital to go to. So appreciate the little

you have. Right? If you have a little

house, say Alhamdulillah.

Thank Allah for your parents.

Thank Allah for the teachers.

Thank Allah for the school.

Thank Allah for the Masjid. Thank Allah for

the hospital.

Thank Allah for the school bus,

and

thank Allah for

the imam.

That I'm sharing this message with you.

So we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to

make it easy for our brothers and sisters

in Syria.

On Saturday I was in, Waterloo.

We're fundraising

for medical supplies for our brothers and sisters

in Syria and in Huta. And Alhamdulillah with

the help of the community there, we're able

to raise around 45,000.

And this money will be used to buy

medical supplies,

for them inshallah.

And,

so what you can do for them, before

we, I'm talking about me, you, and the

teachers, everyone in this room, we cannot stop

the war. We cannot

protect the defenseless people over there. Only Allah

subhanahu wa ta'ala can do this. The least

we can do is to make God for

them, and if Allah has blessed you with

money, then maybe you can consider donating,

through a legal charity. So,

would help the refugees and the people who

are suffering there.

For listening to the message, and we ask

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless this country

and make it easy for our brothers and

sisters to ask them.