Nadim Bashir – 4 Advices For Our Youth
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I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that in
this blessed month, and these blessed days of
Dhul Hijjah,
just as we have gathered
here today on this day of jum'ah, may
Allah
gather us along with our families in jutul
for those in the companionship of Rasulullah salallahu
alaihi wa sallam in his sahaba Amin
Amin. Just yesterday,
we witnessed another janazah
of a young man.
Brother Suman Khan, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
enlighten his grave. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
make this journey of akhir an easy one
for him. Him. May Allah
grant his
family, his parents especially,
sabrul jameel Amin Yourubiral Amin.
But yesterday was a moment for me that
there are so many people in our community
who have been passing away at a very
young age.
And this sort of led me to
give today's khutbah,
that today insha Allah, I want to just
share share with our youth.
And when I say youth, it's anyone between
the ages of 15.
It can go all the way even even
to 35.
But for our young professionals,
our young crowd here, and not only that,
but if you are a parent of a
teenager,
you can give them the same advice I'm
sharing with you today.
Today, in this khutbah, I want to share
4 things.
4 things that I believe
that the youth need to focus on, and
they need to keep in mind at all
times.
Number 1.
For our youth and our teenagers and our
young community members,
always remember
that you will be tested
at all times.
You'll be tested when it comes to your
faith.
You'll be tested when it comes to your
taqwa.
And how do we know this? We know
this from the Qur'an, the book of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
First of all, we learn from Surat Al
Kahf. A surah that we have learned from
Rasulullah
that we should be reciting
on a weekly basis, especially on the day
of Friday.
But more than that, if you study
the
very first story of talks about a group
of young men.
Allah
says that they
they had faith in Allah
But not only that, but Allah increased them
in their guidance, in their faith, and in
their taqwa.
Allah
talks about a group of young men
who were being called
in a direction other than Allah
There was a king at that time
who was calling people
towards his worship.
And these young men,
they felt that if Even if we stayed
at home,
and we were just to be
around everyone else,
and we go with the flow, as many
people say, just go with the flow,
then they would have engaged in the shirk
of Allah
But rather for their own protection sake,
what do they do? They change their environment.
They chose to go and stay in a
cave. As Allah says in the Quran,
They stay in that cave for
309 years.
Though they felt that they were there only
for a short period of time. But the
point of the story is that just like
these young men were tested in their faith,
our young brothers and young sisters need to
also keep in mind that their iman is
gonna be put to test
at all times.
We are living in unprecedented times. We are
living at times in a time where you
have other issues are going on in our
society.
The other ideas,
other entities,
other ideologies
that does not align with Islam,
our youth are being pulled in that direction.
And not only that, if that was not
enough, we see what's happening in Gaza. And
there are so many youth right now who
are questioning their faith, that where is the
help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? If we
are on the haqq,
then why is this happening? When we see
children
with That that You know, children without their
heads. We are seeing photos
where children are missing limbs on their body,
and yet our youth are asking that where
is the of Allah? I am losing my
faith in Allah. They will come and ask
me questions, and I wish I had the
answer. But the only answer I can give
is that this is in the hands of
Allah
I wish I had the answer, and I
wish I knew when the help of Allah
will come.
But I cannot give that answer because this
is not within
my realm. This is not within my control.
We have to put our trust in Allah.
No matter we whether it makes sense, it
makes sense or it does not make sense,
we have to put our trust in Allah
But the point is, brothers and sisters,
especially our young brothers and sisters,
our young professionals,
you are going to be tested when it
comes to your faith.
You're going to be tested when it comes
to your taqwa.
When sins are calling you in their direction,
what do you do in that situation?
Do you say, There's no one who's gonna
find out if I commit this haram. Or
there's no one's gonna know if I commit
this sin.
Then who am I fooling? Because Allah
knows.
Just like we saw in the story of
even Yusuf
Yusuf alaihis salam is a young man
being called towards zinnah. Even if the zinnah
had taken place, there is no one who'll
probably know about it. Of course Allah knows
about it. But what did Yusuf alaihis salam
do in that situation?
No matter if the odds are stacked up
against him, all the doors are locked.
But this was a moment of of a
test of faith. A test of taqwa. And
what did he say?
The law. He was being called towards zina.
Today there are so many of our youth,
boys and girls, being called in that direction,
and they are at a crossroads,
not knowing what to do. Brothers and sisters,
just like today we Just like yesterday, we
saw the janazah of a 26 year old
man, and we are seeing so many other
janazahs. Before this, few months ago, we saw
the janazah of a 21 year old, brother
Hadid Diwan, and so forth. We are seeing
so many janazahs. Our young brothers and sisters
need to realize and wake up that there
is no guarantees in life.
Something small can start happening in your life,
and it can change the course of your
entire life. Brother Salman, exact That's exactly what
happened to him. He has some pain in
his knee. There we They found a tumor
in his knee. No one could have even
thought about it. And when I tell people
that it happened in the knee, then the
first question they usually ask is, But how
was that the cause of his death? Of
course, did not spread through his entire body
by the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But our young brothers and sisters,
keep in mind there are no guarantees in
life.
Your life is in the hands of Allah
You have absolutely no control.
No matter if you go to the gym
everyday, you play sports, no matter how much
resources you have, your life is in the
hands of Allah. Your taqwa, your iman is
gonna be put attest
over and over again. And these times
do not fall into the traps of shaitan.
That's the first thing that our youth I
want to share with our youth that their
iman and their taqwa is gonna be put
to test. Always be ready. Number number 2,
the second advice I have for our youth
today
is that always
remain engaged.
Engaged in what?
There are so many things that are going
on in our community.
There are so many things that we can
do from a social services
perspective.
There are so many organizations
that are looking for help. There are so
many people who are looking for volunteers.
There are so many things, wallahi, living in
Dallas and Fort Worth. One of the blessings
that we have is that there are endless
opportunities.
But the key thing is you have to
be engaged in the community.
You cannot be isolated at home, not worrying
about what is going on in your community.
What is going on in the society?
And we learn this directly from the seerah
of Rasulullah
We're
talking about a time
where he says
He's telling his wife
that, I remember that time when he was
part of khillf ul fudool.
A man came,
he was a foreign man. He bought He
sold something to 1 of the Qurayshi leaders.
The Qurayshi leader said, I'm gonna give you
the money tomorrow, I'm taking this on credit.
The next day, this merchant went to this
To the customer and said, that you took
a product of mine, I sold you something
yesterday, I'm here to collect my money. He
says, What money are you talking about?
I don't owe you anything.
And the man does not have any other
evidence besides his word. So what did he
do? He went to the Kaaba, which was
a common practice that if you want to
get people's attention, you go to the Kaaba,
and you began to raise your voice. And
as it is naturally, when you began to
raise your voice, then people are gonna pay
attention. And that is when he made a
claim that one of your leaders,
he took something from me and he never
paid me. And they came together. They first
of all made sure that this man is
paid. But not only that, but they made
a pact
which was called hilfulfudool.
A social justice pact.
That no person in Makkah will come, and
they will be served unjustly.
There will be no justice and tyranny against
any foreigner here. And who was part of
that? It was Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wasallam who
was part of that. Was he a prophet?
He was not even a prophet at that
time. Which means that you're talking about a
young man, a young Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Wahi has not come to him yet, but
he understands
that I can be sitting at home isolated,
you know, playing video games, and sitting on
social media, and chatting with that person or
this person, but rather, let me go outside.
Let me make myself useful. Let me engage
in my community.
This is what I'm asking the youth to
be. Be engaged in something. Do something with
your life. You all have a different passion
about something. Some people may have a passion
of social justice. Some people may have
a passion of education.
Everyone has their own passion,
but remain engaged with others. We also find
even the story of Musa
Think about today,
if you found a prince,
any prince,
if you found a prince, usually these are
kids who, and young men, who have grown
up in prosperity.
They have been spoiled.
They get whatever they want. Why? Because they
are the prince.
They can get whatever they want. Their father
has everything.
And think about what would they do
in the community.
What would they do in the society?
Often we find princes in this day and
age, that they just All that they know
how to do is blow off money.
All they know how to do is just
be extravagant.
And the only time they will go and
do something is for their name and their
fame.
Now think about the prince of Egypt. Who
am I referring to? Musa
Musa was the prince of Egypt. He grew
up in the household of Firaun.
He could have done anything. But the Quran
says what?
The Qur'an is telling us that even a
man like Musa
who is the prince of Egypt, he's not
sitting at home, engaged in his own things,
but he's going out in society. He's looking
at what is going on in his own
country.
Because he sees.
He sees.
What does he see? That his own people
are being oppressed. So he goes out to
see what's going on. He's trying to get
an understanding of the issue.
Our youth, I'm asking you, there are so
many things that you can do in the
community.
There are so many holes to fill in
our community.
If you're telling me that you don't know
what to do, just go outside.
Just like Musa alaihis salam is going outside,
you go outside
also. Observe your community,
observe your masjid, observe the society, and ask
yourself, what do you need? What do What
can you do to help the community?
And wallahi, you will find something
that you can do to help the community.
So this is number 2. The first one
was that your iman and your taqwa is
going to be put attest. Number 2 is,
my second advice to the youth is always
remain engaged.
Number 3.
Always go out,
learn, and explore.
Learn and explore.
Once again, you could be sitting at home,
but go outside,
talk to people.
I understand there is a wealth of information
online.
There is a wealth of information online,
but the interaction, the amount you learn in
interacting with other human beings is something that
today many of our youth don't have.
They don't know how to talk to people.
They don't know how to engage with people,
and sometimes it can become a very awkward
situation. Why? Because they are they lack human
contact, human conversation, human dialogue.
Rasulullah
is our best example.
Think about this.
He is a 25
year old man, who got married to Khadija
But before this,
before this, he was a responsible
man.
Parents,
I blame you some of the Some of
you, I blame you for this too. You
want to make everything easy, so easy for
your children,
that you don't want them to go through
any difficulty in life. Life is tough.
If you don't man them up now, then
how will they become men in the future?
You want to pay all their bills, you
want to do everything for them, from a
to z.
And that is why, I'm gonna be very
blunt about this,
our young men,
especially our young men This happens a lot
to the sisters too. But the young men,
when they grow up, and they've been living
in a house where their parents
have done any everything for them, that in
life, the smallest things is gonna cause them
depression. The smallest things are gonna cause them
anxiety. And then you have older men, and
the smallest issues are causing them depression and
anxiety, and they can't take care of their
family. I blame the parents.
I blame the parents
because you babied those children.
So many of our young men, they are
overly mothered,
underly fathered.
The father is not in their life.
Teach your children, brothers.
Make
them into men.
Let them go out. Let them explore. If
they don't know how to do something,
tell them, you figure it out.
There It's not like they don't know how
to figure it out. You can go wallay
today on Google, YouTube, and find out anything
that you can.
How to do this, how to do that.
Tell them, you go and figure it out.
And when you have to When there is
no rock, rock unturned,
then you come to us and you ask
us.
But as parents, we wanna do everything for
them. Let them go out. Let them explore.
Rasul
is a shepherd.
He is a shepherd. You know how difficult
that job is as a shepherd?
Going out in the morning, taking the animals.
You cannot even communicate with an animal, for
God's sake.
But he's taught He's taking care of animals.
But what does that Being a shepherd, what
does that do to the Prophet
It makes him brave. It makes him strong.
It makes him patient. And that's why every
single nabi was a shepherd. And not only
that, but after that he became a businessman.
He became He got married at the age
of 25. But before this,
at the age of 22, 23, 24, what
is he doing? He's traveling
internationally
And he's doing business. He has that much
That much confidence in him.
That he's going out and he's doing business.
Today, we have so many of our 25
year old young men, who don't know how
to do the basics of their life. And
yet you find the greatest example for us
is is Rasulullah
He's an international businessman
at the age of 22, 23, and 24.
Let our kids, youth, go out,
Explore. Learn from others. See what's going on.
So this is my 3rd advice, that go
outside
and learn and explore.
And the 4th advice I have for our
youth
is,
I see a lot of youth, and the
reason why I chose this is,
I see a lot of youth,
they are they want to do one thing,
and they literally, they stick with it for
like a month, a month and a half,
and it does not work out, they jump
to the next
Okay, let me try this. And it's all
social media driven. It's all social media driven.
Because on social media, everyone is telling you
how to make a buck, how to become
a millionaire overnight. So what is happening is,
you find so many youth, they're looking at
this and they're like, okay, you know what?
This might just work out. And they do
some of their research. And they try for
like a month and a half, it does
not work, let's jump to the next thing.
And then this does not work out for
a month and a half or 2 months,
let's jump to the 3rd option. And what
happens is that they're jumping around over and
over again. And the key thing is
that when it comes to anything for
for anything to come into fruition,
you have to give it time.
You have to be focused.
Think about
Musa
for a moment. When he goes to Madian,
what did
his father-in-law, his potential father-in-law, what did he
tell him? He says,
It was a 10 year contract.
Musa alaihis salam was focused.
I'm not saying that you have to be
focused on one thing for 10 years, but
find some focus in your life.
There are so many you that I see,
That they're jumping around from one place to
another place, one thing to another thing. Even
if there is a young man who's into
knowledge and education,
then they're always jumping around. If they're into
social justice, they're always jumping around. Be focused
on one area.
Explore one area. Find your passion. Yes. It
might take a little time to find your
passion, to find your niche in the community,
to find something that you can do, and
you can excel,
and propel at.
But once you have that, then you excel.
Be focused in your life. So four advices,
once again, for our dear brothers and our
dear young brothers and young sisters. Number 1
is, Allah will Your your
your iman, your taqwa will always be put
to test.
Always make sure that you always stay ready
for that. Number 2 is
be engaged in the community.
Be engaged in the society, and see what's
going on. Number 4 is always go out,
explore, and learn, and communicate with others, interact
with others. And number 4 is try to
be try to find some focus in your
life. I ask Allah
to make us from amongst those who apply
these things with
I just want to take this, opportunity at
the very end. We've we've heard these before.
This is just a reminder for all of
us. Today
is the first day of the hija.
And the prophet he
says that there are no deeds that are
more beloved to Allah
except for the deeds that are performed in
mean that the deeds if you did these
throughout the entire year, any good deeds, any
khair, any hasanah you did throughout the entire
year, but the ones that are done in
these 10 days of the khaydah
are the most beloved to Allah
And so that is why my advice, and
just a reminder for all of us is,
let's try to ensure that we excel in
all the khair that we do. If we
read Quran everyday, try to increase in your
Quran. If we are doing try to increase
in your.
Less on our families, let's try to talk
about the al hija. Let's try to talk
about what is the al hija about. And
if you don't know, and you don't know
how to educate your children, I'm sure many
of us here, we probably have a television,
we have YouTube. Some kind of access to
YouTube is something. There is a plethora
of videos you'll find on YouTube on the
virtues of
Sit down as a family.
Look at, watch one video. Talk about it.
And there's gonna be so many perspectives
of these 10 days
of So once again, try to sit down
with your family. Once again, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, he does not swear upon things unless
they are extremely important. And Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala,
he has sworn on these 10 days.
The last 10 nights of Ramadan are the
best nights of the entire year. But these
days are the best days of the entire
year. So let's try to take this time
to come to Allah
to rekindle our relationship with Allah
I ask Allah to accept our good deeds
in these 10 days of Dhul Hijjah. And
And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala help us
witness the day of Arafah, minu rabbilalamin.
Allahum
Straight in line is filling the gaps.
There is plenty of mom space inside the
main hall so please come inside. Fill up
the gaps. Brothers in the back two rooms,
please come inside.
You'll find some room inside, the main hall.
Please come inside. There is still plenty of
space.
There should be no one. There should be
no one in the back two rooms if
there is space inside the main hall.
The back two rooms are for overflow overflow
purposes.
Sisters, please make sure the rows are straight.
Make sure there are no gaps in the
middle. Sisters,
brothers, please come inside the main
hall.