Saad Tasleem – What Makes You Special

			Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah ala alihi wa sahbihi Allah, Allahu Allah,
Allah Allah, Allah, Allah. Allah Allah. Allah Allah Allah Allah, Allah. When
		

			Allah alameen wa Marina
		

			lokomotiva Marina Tao de la bella was a fly cinnabar was Sara Monaco Rahmatullahi wa barakato.
		

			What makes you special?
		

			We live in an age.
		

			We live in an age, in which we are told that what makes us special is being recognized. We live in
an age in which we are told that what makes us special is our popularity. What makes us special is
the amount of attention we get. What makes us special is the amount of acceptance we have amongst
people. We live in an age where we can measure
		

			our
		

			we can measure our success in this life, according to the number of people that like us, the number
of people that follow us, the number of people that look up to us. And this view of what success is,
this view of what makes us special is constantly being reinforced in our current modern day culture,
whether it be TV or movies, media, whether it be social media, an aspect of our lives, that is
become part of who we are. Now, every time we log on to our phone, every time we open up our phone,
the idea that the more people that like us, the better we are, the more special we are, this idea
keeps getting more and more reinforced.
		

			So what happens in this world, in this world where not everyone can achieve that. Not everyone can
have that huge following. Not everyone can have that huge recognition. Not everyone can have that
immediate validation from their peers and from the people around them. Well, what happens is that we
have a whole generation of people, a whole generation of Muslims and and actually a whole generation
of, of human beings that log on to their social media. Every time they compare themselves to others.
They compare themselves to society's idea or society's view of success. They in turn, feel like they
just don't match up. They feel like they're not successful. And so how to love for us. As believers,
		

			we have to change the paradigm. We have to go back to the definition of success given to us. By
Allahu Allah. You see, Allahu Allah is the one who created us. And Allah created us to be different
from one another. Yes, our origin is the same. Yes, we are all human beings and we share that
humanity. We are all created from a male and a female as Allahu Allah. Allah says, Yeah, you
Hannah's in a holla panakam in the current
		

			Oh people we have created you from a male and a female. Meaning in our humanity, we are equal. In
our humanity, we are the same. And then Allah subhana wa tada tells us of how we are actually
different. What do I now come? Sure, oh acaba, Ella. And we have made you into peoples and tribes
Lita out of food, so that you may know one another. So that you may recognize your differences so
that your differences can be used to help one another, so that we can make up for each other's
shortcomings so that we can use our strengths to help other people. And then Allahu Allah gives us
our most important principle, when it comes to our value. When it comes to our worth, when it comes
		

			to our definition of success as believers
		

			a lump sum How do I doubt I says, in a karamba Kumar, in the law here at Qualcomm, that most
certainly, definitely the most noble amongst you are those who have the most taqwa those who have
the most piety, those who have
		

			Have the most God consciousness, those who are there who are the strongest in their relationship,
but Allahu Allah, those who are strong in their spirituality. Indeed, that is where our nobility
comes from. It doesn't matter whether we have 10 followers or 10,000 followers or 10 million
followers, because as a believer, we turn to
		

			Allah and that is our measure of success.
		

			That is the measure of what makes us special. This is true. Now my brothers and sisters, this was
true yesterday. And this was true in the very beginning of time. This was true in the very beginning
of the creation of human beings. This was true without them either he said,
		

			this was true. With new hat. He said, this was true. With Ibrahim I said, this was true with
moussaka he said, this was true. He said, he said, Oh, and this was true with Mohammed Sal, Allahu
Allah, he was sending them. And so the Prophet sallallahu I knew he was sending them came
		

			to bring us back to that very idea. This very idea that changed the world. Back in a time, where
people looked at their lineage, they looked at their tribe and who their father is and who their
father's father is, and that is how they judged their ability. In a time like this. The Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam brought the message from Allah subhanho wa Taala. In
		

			the law, he at farrakhan, the most noble amongst you, and to the people at that time, nobility was
everything.
		

			Their lineage was everything their tribe was everything. tribalism was rampant. And to these people,
the prophets I send them brought the message of Allah that our nobility, our honor, our rank, our
mom, our place comes from our relationship with Allahu Allah, Allah. And this is something that no
one can take away from us. People can strip away whatever they want from us. They can take away our
wealth, they can take away our resources, we can be born and living in a war torn area. But no one
can take away our taqwa no one can take away our relationship with Allah.
		

			That is why we say today, Muslims in China, who are being tortured and rounded up and put in
concentration camps, that these Muslims are honored by Allahu Allah because they are striving and
struggling to hold on to their faith. Why are they being persecuted?
		

			For one reason for their Islam,
		

			the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar? Why is there a genocide taking place there? Why are they being
eliminated, for one reason, because of their faith?
		

			Why are Muslims in India being persecuted for their faith? And we would think to have had a law that
if someone is persecuted for a certain thing, that they would leave that they would put it aside.
But what we find now and time and time again, throughout the history of human beings, that people
who hold on to their spirituality, people who hold on to their relationship with Allah, Allah, that
nothing can overcome them.
		

			And that is why we have to change the paradigm of success, what we consider to be success. You know,
Subhanallah We live in an age. We live in a time of slogans. We live in a time of catchphrases.
		

			People are told, follow your dreams.
		

			As young people are growing up, they hear these inspirational speeches. Sometimes when you graduate
high school at your high school graduation, sometimes during your college graduation, they invite a
speaker and the speaker the keynote speaker comes and he says something like follow your dreams.
		

			He says something like and you may have heard this before.
		

			If you do something that you love, if you work in a field that you love, if you have a job that you
love, then you're never going to work a day in your life. That I know we've all heard
		

			This, especially young people were told, find something that you enjoy, find something that you have
personal you have personal enjoyment in. But the reality is my brothers and sisters, how many people
have the luxury? to do exactly what brings them enjoyment? How many people can look at their life,
look at their career, and say, You know what, I go to work? And I have a great time. I'm just loving
it the whole time. Is that a reality? for the vast majority of people? The answer is no. What about
the brother? What about the brother, who toils away day after day, working, striving hard at a job
that is not fun. A job that is not great, a job that they may not enjoy
		

			a job that doesn't have recognition, a job that won't make them famous online, a job that won't be
recognized by people out there. What about the brother who's driving Uber every day,
		

			to provide for his family working day in and day out? Is this person, not special? Is this person
not a person of value? Is this a person not a person who has worth? The reality is if we strip away
what society tells us today, if we strip away the norms of our culture in our environments of today,
we would find that if we go back to our fifth law, we go back to our natural inclination, but we
naturally know to be good and true and correct. What naturally brings us satisfaction, that brother
or that sister who works tirelessly for her family, or for his family will find that indeed, that is
worth more than any type of recognition that they can get from hundreds and 1000s and millions of
		

			people. I asked you, my brother, or my sister, who is a parent,
		

			when you look at your child,
		

			and your child is two or three or four years old, and they look at you when you come home, with eyes
full of love, and adoration.
		

			And they you can see the love pouring out of your little child. What is that worth? Can anyone tell
you, oh parents, or mother or father, can anyone tell you that a million followers is worth more
than the adoration of your child.
		

			I don't know about you. But as a parent myself, I can tell you that nothing nothing, no amount of
validation or recognition or praise
		

			is equal to two minutes of my four year old looking up to me. And knowing that I'm there to help and
support him. Knowing that I'm is everything.
		

			This is the value that you have. This is the value that is not given to you. This is the value not
that you have to seek from other people. This is the value of who you are as a human being. And this
is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught us this very issue. Because if we look at the
lives of the companions, what we don't find is celebrities. We don't find companions, who would seek
out leadership, companions who would want to make their name known. What we find is companions
working tirelessly and quietly. But working for the sake of Allah has kind of ajala we have
companions who no one knew anything about what they're doing, except the prophecy send them we have
		

			an incident where the prophecy send them is wearing a cloak, a garment, which is very beautiful,
gifted to the pastor send them from another land. And some of the companions they see this
beautiful, beautiful garment and they say oh messenger of Allah, we have never seen something as
beautiful as this.
		

			And the pastor sent him says, if you think this is beautiful,
		

			then this is nothing compared to the handkerchief, upside, or the love of Java and in general
		

			because the process and the new the value of this companion, the first set of knew of this
companions with because of their connection with Allah subhanho wa Taala. And what we find is now
that today, you know, when we
		

			read the stories of the companions, we find that they were all known for different things, things
that we may not in this day and age, we may not think much of
		

			Abu huraira
		

			who divorced himself from the world, but took a break, took a break from wealth, and just dedicated
his life to being with the Prophet salallahu alaihe was sending them to live with the person to be
with them to learn from the process and
		

			and who would look at Abu huraira and say he is achieved something great at that time. But today,
when we go back to the books of Hades, over and over and over again, we read the name of Bill
Herrera, narrated by Abu huraira narrated by Abu huraira narrated by da da,
		

			da.
		

			This is what Allahu Allah tells us, but in the law,
		

			the law has, Allah will not allow the reward to be lost of those who work towards goodness,
		

			those who have a son and what they are doing, because our measure of success is their son, it is not
recognition. Our measure of success is are we doing the best that we can do with the circumstances
that we that we have been given? The reality is when we compare ourselves to the whole world, when
we get on to social media, and compare ourselves to others or compare each other to others, we're
not taking into account circumstances, we're not taking into account people's unique abilities, or
their unique challenges. This is why we turn to Allah. Because a lot knows what unique challenges
you had a Muslim. Allah knows what problems you had, what difficulties you went through, and allow
		

			will never ever leave you without being validated. Either in this life, or the afterlife. And a
celebrity on the Day of Judgment is going to be a real celebrity. a celebrity in this life, may have
a million followers or 2 million followers or 5 million followers. Imagine coming on the Day of
Judgment. When all of mankind is raised up, all of mankind is looking up and then you are brought as
a person of sun, a person who did their best in the circumstances that they're given. A person who
is now being told that this is a person of Paradise Woods who have said I'm injured with peace. This
is a celebrity. So we asked Allah subhanaw taala to make us celebrities. On the day of judgment, we
		

			ask Allah Subhana Allah to reward those who are working behind the scenes, we asked Allahu Allah to
reward those whose name we have never heard. Those who quietly work away those who go unrecognized
by people. The backbone of our oma, my brothers and sisters are not the celebrities, yes and 100.
And they have good to offer and I'm not here to bad mouth celebrities. And I get the irony of that
standing on stage. But my point is that we value the people whose names we haven't heard. We value
that single mother who was working two jobs to provide for her children. We've got we value that
brother who leaves his house early in the morning and comes back late at night working whatever jobs
		

			he can to put food on the table for his children. All in the wild trusting in Allahu Allah tiada all
in the wild, hoping for reward from Allah subhana wa tada Allahumma amin cada la junta Allah Allah
Subhana, Colombo behenic a shadow Allah.
		

			Allah God Lake wa Salam alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh