Nadim Ali – Muslim Activisim
AI: Summary ©
The importance of continuously pursuing knowledge and learning to be change agents and finding healthy aspects of Islam is emphasized. The speaker also emphasizes the need to work on removing negative behavior and making necessary changes in the overall society, including seeking healthy aspects of Islam and working to get paid. The importance of embracing the concept of "the best charf" and being a representative of Islam is emphasized, along with representing Muslims in prayer and being a reminded of Islam. addresses systemic racism and encourage people to come to the reminded home.
AI: Summary ©
All praise belongs to Allah, the most high.
We thank him, and we seek his aid,
and we seek his forgiveness, and we seek
refuge with him from the evil of ourselves
and from our bad actions.
Whoever Allah guides, then there's no one who
can mislead him. And whoever Allah calls to
go astray,
then there's no one to guide him.
I do witness that there is no deity
except Allah who is unique and without partners.
And I bear witness that Hamid is his
worshiper and his messenger. Be the peace and
blessings
will love be upon him and his family
and his companions and those who follow them
with good intentions until the day of judgment.
All you who believe, fear Allah as he
should be feared and don't die,
except as Muslims. Then all you who believe,
fear Allah as he should be feared and
don't die,
except as Muslims.
The new mankind, be careful of your duty
to your loved womb who created you from
a single soul, and from it, he created
its mate. And from the 2 of them,
he spread forth many men and women.
Be careful of your duty to Allah whom
you demand your mutual rights, and be careful
of your duty to the wounds that void
you.
Indeed, Allah is al Muqai over you.
All you who believe fear Allah
and always speak the truth, he will cause
your deeds to be beneficial
and he will forgive for you your sins
and whoever obeys Allah and his messenger,
then he has truly achieved a tremendous accomplishment.
Indeed, the best speech is the book of
Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance
of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
and the most evil of all affairs are
newly invented matters, which has no precedent in
Islam. And indeed, all innovations are straight,
and each astray is in the * fire.
Oh, Allah, save us from it. Oh, Allah,
except our door.
Allah says for
each one. There are successive angels
before and behind protecting
them by a lost command. Indeed, a law
would never change a people's state of favor
until they change their own state of faith.
And if it is the law's will to
torment people,
it can never be averted
nor can they find a protector
other than him.
Also,
indeed, the most
beloved
among you to me
and nearest to sit with me on the
day of judgement
is the best of you in character. It's
Hadith from.
And when we look at the particular,
our law says it will not change
our state of favor. In other words, we
we're in a position of goodness. He will
not change our state of favor until, again,
they changed their state of faith.
Because we have to recognize that Iman
is dynamic. And when we always talk about
dynamism,
it's like when you're riding a bicycle.
You're gonna pedal. You're gonna move.
You stop pedaling.
You may coast. And if you don't start
back pedaling, do
you? You're gonna tip over.
Same thing with faith.
If we don't do faith enhancing
actions,
then it can get depleted.
And it's just like, you know, we go
into a convenience store
and you hear the salons. Assalamu alaikum.
And you got Coke 45.
If they still sell Thunderbird, all that all
around, giving big salons.
There's something wrong. There's a there's a,
you know, basically, there's a contradiction
there
that as Muslims, you know, we
we have the best deen on the planet,
but yet we don't actualize it in in
in our behaviors.
And that's a lack of faith when you
feel as though you have to sell alcohol
or sell drugs or engage in all sorts
of illegal behaviors and just to make a
living. That means that we're not allowing,
you know, our Lord to give us the
the provisions that we need. And again, it's
about us initiating action.
As the prophet
said, you know, if you walk to Allah,
he will run to you. You go to
him as if running, he will come to
you as if flying.
You and so and that's the whole thing
of what iman does. It helps you
to to believe that if we're going for
something something that's good for us, then the
Lord will give it to us. And we
have all the tools to do a staccara,
you know, making this a lot, fasting, giving
up the chatter. We have all the tools
in our toolbox, but we have to start
using them.
We have to start using them, brothers and
sisters. Again,
a lot would not change a people's state
of favor until they state they change the
state of their own faith. And and again,
in another verse you hear talk about how
law does not change the condition of the
people until they change what is in their
own heart.
And that was one of the first I
had I learned as a Muslim back in
1978.
I said, oh, that makes sense to me.
I didn't know anything about Islam.
You know, the Lord gave me I barely
knew Fatihah. But when I heard that,
I knew that Islam is a way of
life that's about action.
And again, indeed, the best, the most loved
among you to me
And the nearest to sit with me on
the day of judgment
is the best for those of you who
are best in character. And as the prophet
said, he only came to change character.
He only came to change character.
You know, we can get off into all
sorts of mysticism and all of it, but
he just won. The Arabs of that day
has just become better people.
All their poetry, all of their their their
their literature was just based it was soaked
in alcohol.
It was soaked in ignorance.
And when he came, he said, that's not
cool.
We shouldn't be about that. And it took
13 years for them to just stop drinking.
Took 13 years. Several iahs were revealed. 1st,
you carry
with your mind be fogged. And then, you
know, again, the the the the,
the first that came just condemning the alcohol.
Then they stopped,
but it took them
a while to be able to adjust to
this new reality.
And just like for many of us,
we have to adjust to the new reality
of Islam.
We can't
practice Islam and practice Islam.
In other words, you can't bring your ignorance
into this deen.
We have to recognize first recognize the ignorance
in us. This is important for us to
be change agents, be continue
engaging in continuous
changing
and not rest on our laurels. We just
take your heart out and we disappear.
Just to learn this a lot.
I had to go to the mosque several
times
a week,
But we get brothers and sisters taken child
and I'm gonna see them to a year
later. And all they know is salaam alaikum.
And so
their class is not only a person, but
their classes virtually.
There's no excuse to learn your religion. No
excuse not to learn your religion.
And we have to be of those who
continuously learn. The prophet, peace be upon him,
said to seek knowledge from the cradle to
the grave.
What's that mean? You just get your diploma,
you get your degree, and that's it? No.
You have to continuously seek knowledge.
It doesn't necessarily mean you have to to
be a scholar,
but you want to be as learned as
possible.
Because the prophet
said that one learned
worshiper is harder on the double than a
1,000 ignorant worshipers.
One learned worshiper is harder on the double
than a 1,000 ignorant worshipers.
You know, so we have to, you know,
be of those to be as learned as
possible. And, again, many of us may not
become
scholars,
but we have to learn
our religion, learn the basics of our deed,
and also use that
as a grid to, you know, get rid
of our own defects, rid ourselves of personal
defects because we have to compare ourselves to
the proper peace be upon him.
You know, we say we wanna follow the
sooner,
But
we we can follow it and dress, which
we think may be the way that the
prophet, peace be upon him, dressed.
But a better sunnah is to follow him
in character. Follow him in behavior.
Follow him in the way that the prophet,
peace be upon him, dealt with people. As
he said, the best of you are those
who are best of their families. He said,
I'm the best of you because I'm the
best to my family. He talked about the
importance of treating the women
well.
He talked about, again, not engaging in in
in intoxicants.
He said if something, you know, intoxicates
a little, it's it's forbidden.
And so we try to rationalize
the ignorance that is in our heart.
And he says that, no, that, you know,
everything can rust
and even the heart can rust.
And that which removes the rust from the
heart is, again, that remembrance
of Allah.
Remembrance of Allah. We have to be of
those who remove the rest from our hearts.
As I stated last week in regards to,
the talk that
Hidra for the migration
is not just a physical.
It can also be spiritual and psychological. In
other words, getting away from the negative
going towards the positive and healthy. That's what
we want to to be of those. We
wanna be of those who are seeking
healthy
aspects of Islam.
On the authority of Abu Sayyid Abu
Anhu, he said, I heard the messenger of
Allah
say, whoever of you sees an evil, let
him change it with his hand.
And if he is unable to do that,
let him change it with his tongue. And
if he is unable to do that,
then with his heart.
And he says that is the weakest of
faith.
It's, again, that's a strong hadith, Muslim hadith.
And
so that evil not doesn't necessarily have to
be societal evil. The evil can be internal
or external.
And we have to ask ourselves, what continuous
evil reside in us?
What are we actively
working on getting rid of?
And once we get to the point that
we are content with our own personal development,
then we must work
to make the necessary changes in the overall
society because there's so many things in society
that that we need to change. We can't
be content
with ourselves
as long as there's discontent in the overall
society. And we hear it on the news.
We read it, you know, online. We see
what's going on.
And as Muslims,
you know, what is our role
in
being a change agent?
We can't just work to be here just
to get wealth.
You wanna get the package. You wanna get
paid.
Once you get paid, what are you gonna
do with your time? We all have the
same 168
hours in the week. What are we doing
with our time? Because, again, time may have
a voice on the day of judgment.
Your limbs will have a voice on the
day of judgment. Your skin will have a
voice on the day of judgment,
and it will tell on you. It will
tell on you. You know, again, we can't
just work to gain
wealth
and not have the proper mindset
once
we attain the wealth.
And it's not against Islam to have wealth.
It's what you do with it. Because your
wealth will have a voice on the day
of judgment as well. How you got it
and what you did with
it? How you got it? How you attained
it? And what how did you disperse? What
did you spend it on? You all have
a voice.
And
when we look at
the existence in the hereafter,
it's like a germ
trying to perceive us.
Because, you know, we read these things. We
read these things in the Quran. We read
this in the Hadith.
And we say, what do you what do
you mean? Your skin will have a voice.
Again, a germ, you believe in germs. You
know, you know,
let somebody with COVID cough. You don't believe
that there's somebody with COVID cough on you.
You believe in germs. A germ trying to
perceive our existence
is similar
to us trying to perceive the existence in
the hereafter.
If I've said anything that's inconsistent with what
Allah has given us, take full responsibility for
that. If I've said anything, and the true
gains, the new insight is always our praise
belongs to Allah.
And whoever
reported that the messenger of Allah has said,
richness does not lie in the abundance
of worldly goods, but richness
is the richness
of the soul, heart, and self.
Again,
not about having diamonds and gold. It's about
having contentment in your soul.
And we have to be of those if
we wanna be of the winners.
You know?
We have to attain that level of con
contentment,
and then we are in a position
of
of
of being able to make societal change. When
we look at people like Elhadijah, Malik al
Shabazz, Malcolm X, and people who are Martin
Luther King and Nat Turner,
and look at, people who sojourned the truth
and all of the people specifically
from our community, from the African American community
of the former and with with descendants of
the formerly enslaved,
they never gave up. And you notice all
of them had,
you know, some aspect of faith.
As the poet says, the stream in which
I bathe my face helps me soar above
this place. So they basically
are able were able to pull on
a fountain
that that that's immense.
And so we have to be
just
inspired by them
and not just basically just read about them
in the audience. We talk about them. They
were all individuals, and they all had their
faults.
And we all have our faults,
but it doesn't mean that we can't make
a significant contribution in society. A lot of
them got your boss. You know, he's you
see his his prison picture
online. You see that.
He he the prison was just, as they
say, you know, they buried him. And then
from that seed, he grew into what we
read about to this day.
We read about the the infidelities of of
Martin Luther King,
but
he's more so remembered
by the how the fidelity that he had
towards his people and the work that he
put in and didn't care about the fact
that people were threatening him and blew up
his house and all of that.
And so so we have to be of
those types of change agents to use the
Islam
to make significant changes, not just
practice it as a religion.
Because if you're practicing, then you're just acting.
But if you're actualizing,
then it becomes real.
A lot does not change your condition until
you change what is in your heart. We
just can't complain about it. We have to
be involved in all aspects of the overall
society.
You look at the violence in the society,
the poverty in the society, the homelessness
in the society.
What are we doing
to address it? You know, we have agencies.
You know, if you can't even do it
if you can't do something
physically,
you can you can contribute to it.
You know, we have organizations that help people
you know, throughout the week. You know? And
that's why we always ask,
you know, for, you know, the funds and
and whatever you can give. You know, again,
we appreciate that.
You know, the masjids,
you know, they're not just places of prayer.
But people come to the mosque
for every little thing for the most part.
And so
you have to understand that that's the role
that that we see, you know, even
the not yet Muslims.
They they look for Muslims,
you know, for certain certain types of of
character.
They look to the Muslims.
And so we have to represent the prophet
peace be upon him. Represent all of his
companions.
Represent
and internalize and actualize
this deen.
If we believe in Allah, let us, you
know, be of those who are
doing the work that Allah tells us to
do,
addressing
the overall society
issues.
The prophet, peace be upon him, said, the
best charity is that which is given
when you are self sufficient. In other words,
when you paid, when you have the business,
when you're able to take care of yourself
financially stable, The best charity is that which
is given when you are self sufficient.
And start with those
for whom you are responsible.
So that's just the stuff.
And, again, if he gives us the ability
to attain wealth, you know, we love to
have,
you know, just businesses in this area, in
this community, in this city, in this state,
in this country. There are Muslims who are
doing things around
around the the world.
You know, we love to be able to
provide affordable housing,
but we have to do the work.
We love to be able to feed people
healthy foods too. To be able to have
the the necessary markets where people can eat
and and not just, you know, just,
depend on fast foods. As Muslims, again, it's
not just about
establishing, you know, everybody wanna have a masjid.
But the masjid is like the gas station.
You come to the masjid to get full,
and then you empty out in the overall
society, and you come back to the mosque
to get full. And right now,
the the throughout the country,
the massages
are empty.
And so what does that mean? The Muslims
are empty.
I know we've had this this this,
pandemic,
on us, but
I'm encouraging you brothers
to start to come back to the Masjid.
Because we get we give them shaytay, you
know, they use everything.
Shaytan will oh, you don't have to go.
Take the necessary
precautions and get to the Masjid.
Prophet peace be upon him. And, you know,
we heard this I think many, many times
that when you pray in congregation, you get
25 to 27 times the blessings
than praying at home.
Not saying you have to come every day,
but you have to make an effort. I'm
going to make Fajr this many times a
week. I'm going to make Isha this many
times a week. I'm going to basically make
sure door is is being established
every day or a certain day.
Make a commitment, brothers and sisters.
Because we
we have the tools.
Allah gives us the ability to make necessary
changes in ourselves
and overall society
because Islam is a worldwide phenomenon.
And the attacks on Islam is worldwide
from whether it's in Europe,
like, who's that? I'm on to New York.
It might be. He he didn't determine he
heard the term Islamophobia.
He said, man, that's just old fashioned racism.
He just put a fancy name on it.
But we see it in Europe. We see
it in India.
You know, we dealt with it. We're pros
at it. Our people have dealt with it,
and so we have a lot to offer
the world.
They're being Muslims are being killed in India,
Myanmar,
different parts of Africa.
And we haven't received that type of oppression,
but there are organizations,
specifically from India,
coming
to America, trying to turn the American population
against the Muslims here because they see the
growth of Islam.
And so we have to do the work.
We're gonna be meeting with some people, you
know, in in a little while,
to basically see how we can help
address that. Because they're basically feeding
on the
overt racism
that we are seeing in the overall society.
You know? Again,
You know, we pushed it back in the
19 fifties sixties, but
it's, you know, it's it's it's rising back
up. The the overt racism. And they said,
oh, okay. It's my cousin over there.
Doctor Hood.
And so we have to be a villainous.
We have the Islam now where we can
address it properly.
The oppression
throughout the planet is widespread, and and we
have to basically not only,
practice
and implement the Islam, but also give the
dawah.
There's genocide
all throughout the planet. And so we have
to address it, start speaking up. Our generation
dealt with not only racism over here, but
the apartheid in South Africa. And the Muslims
were actively involved
in the apartheid movement
in South Africa.
Muslims were actively involved.
Some of Mandela's closest companions were Muslim.
And as a result,
when you go to South Africa,
Islam is highly respected there. And so we
have to address there, whether it's the police
abuses here,
the so called justice or justice system,
abuses in this society.
You know, we have to deal with the
prison industrial complex,
but that's being, Muslims are being oppressed there.
You know, there's plenty of work to do,
brothers and sisters.
And, again, let us not be of those
who are just seeking reward
in the hereafter
or or just here. We wanna seek the
reward
in the hereafter.
Let us, again, first of all, be active
in bringing ourselves
of sin
and then
we're gonna we become the righteous warriors.
I believe whoever
narrated that the prophet
said, trials will not cease afflicting the believing
man and the believing woman
in their self, children, and wealth until they
meet Allah without having any sin.
Trials will not cease afflicting the believing man
and the believing women in their self, children,
and wealth until they meet a lot without
having any sin.
And so when we look at this particular
ID,
we see what the job is. We get
rid of the sin
and then,
you know, we do we can do the
work.
In one translation, our lord give us
the good in this world,
which is good
in in in the hereafter.
And that which is good
is good and save us from the torment
of the fire.
We want the best in this world and
the best in the hereafter, and we have
to save ourselves
from the torment of the fire.
And we ask the law to
help us to lead and renounce
all which you have prohibited
and increase in us our ability to hold
fast to
the the morals and values
that Allah asked us to have.
He guide us to show
show obedience to you, Allah,
in obedience to the messenger in
obedience to those whom he have ordered us
to show obedience to in order,
in in accordance with your state. Because we
if we're saying that
we believe that there is no deity but
a law
and that Mohammed, peace be upon him, is
his messenger,
how close to how far are we from
that?
Because based on our actions,
you know, we're very far from it. And
so but as as long we have as
as long as we have breath in our
bodies,
we have the ability
to become closer to Allah in our actions,
brothers and sisters.
Our lord, take us not to task if
we forget or fall into error.
Our lord, lay not on us a burden
such as you did lay on those who
have gone before
us. Our lord, lay not on us a
burden which we do not have the power
to bear and overlook our faults and forgive
us and have mercy upon us. You are
our protector and grants the victory over
the
discipline
of
people.