Sadullah Khan – Jumuah 21 July 2023 2 Muharram 1445
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All praise and thanks are due to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Salutations and peace be upon our beloved prophet
Muhammad
respected Ulema,
Khufath,
mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters,
I greet you with a universal greeting of
peace.
On behalf of islamia college majidu4khan
and the extended family, we'd like to wish
each and everyone.
May Allah
grant us all a blessed week ahead Insha'Allah.
Today it serves me great pleasure to stand
here and introduce our honorable guest speaker for
today who is the CEO of Islamic College
and whom I'm sure needs no further introduction.
So without further ado, I present to you
Sheikh Sadullah Khan.
In
the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful,
all praise is due to our creator, our
cherisher,
our nourisher, and our sustainer.
We bear witness that none worthy of worship
but Allah.
We bear witness, we believe in all the
prophets who came throughout history,
and we bear witness that prophet Muhammad ibn
Abdullah
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wa Salaam
is the final of all the MS studies
of
blessedullah
and huffal,
educators and learners, elders, brothers and sisters,
blessed mothers and youth,
I greet you with a Islamic universal greeting
of peace.
May the peace, the mercy, and the blessings
of Allah
be upon each and everyone present here at
this auspicious hour of Jum'ah.
Another year has started in our lives
according to the Islamic lunar calendar
as we are now in the 1st days
of the month of Muharram,
just as we are in the 1st days
of the new academic term,
term for the schools as well as colleges.
And we realize that time revolves,
morning,
evening,
days and nights as Allah says in Surah
Yunus
It's Allah who has made the sun
a shining bright
star and the moon reflecting lights
and ordain for these phases
that you might know the computation of years
and the reckoning of time.
Allah created all of this as a manifestation
of reality.
He makes signs manifest and apparent
for people
who have knowledge and understanding.
We know that time is cyclical.
Morning,
evening,
then morning again.
Day, night,
then morning again,
another day. Term starts,
term ends,
another term resumes.
Seasons come and seasons go,
then
another season resumes
year in
year out,
then
another year begins.
So time does revolve,
but
do we evolve ourselves
to a betterment in the process as time
goes by?
And as we know in the Quran,
the Surah that the prophet
used to recite and the Sahaba
used to recite among themselves upon the ending
of their meeting.
By the token of time, by the passage
of time, human beings are increasingly in a
state of loss except those who truly have
faith and those who manifest that faith in
good, positive, and beneficial action.
Those who themselves
stand by the truth and facilitate the promotion
and the manifestation of truth and those who
themselves are patient and facilitate patience for others.
So time revolves
but do we evolve to a betterment in
the process?
By these beginnings
and these endings,
we reflect
and we are supposed to learn the lessons
from the marching of time
because
a time will come in our existence
when the seasons and the years may come
and go,
but before the next season or the next
year comes, we may be gone
and we do not know
what time that will be.
Allah reminds us about this,
about our development from the womb
eventually to our old age.
We appoint a certain time for you
for being in the womb of your mother,
and then we bring you forth from the
womb in the shape of an infant
so that you may live,
develop, and grow into maturity.
Some people die in the process,
even before birth, during birth, or in the
youth, or as they grow up.
Others reach old age,
and eventually in their old age, they may
once again become weakened,
impotent,
even to the extent of losing some of
the faculties
of hearing, of sight, of memory, and of
understanding.
So as we enter
1445
of the Muslim
new year,
we say farewell to the previous year.
And between the farewell of last year and
the welcoming of the new year, there's much
for us to reflect upon.
Whether we are parents,
whether we are educators,
whether we are students,
each passing day is a day gone forever,
and each coming day
is a potential hope for attaining
our life aspirations.
The poet says in,
He
said, morning comes and then comes the evening,
and through the cycle of morning evenings,
our lives eventually becomes depleted.
Our lives go by.
Too often we miss the opportunities
that time afford us. That's why the Rasul
in Hadith, hadith,
don't abuse time. Allah has condemned the abusing
of time.
Until it's too late.
Sometimes
we miss the opportunities that times afford
us until it's too late.
Someone is
passed on and then we remember how good
they were.
A mother or a father, we never said
thank you and then they pass away, then
we remember what they've done for us.
A teacher
or educator
or a sheikh
may have helped us in life and guided
us, we never bothered to appreciate it.
And upon the deathbed or they're now in
the saccarital mode and now we want to
remember all the great things, but never in
our life we took a chance, the time
to say thank you or to appreciate.
But it applies to many things in our
lives.
You see,
very often we miss the opportunities that time
afford us
until sometimes it's too late and there is
no time left.
It could be in our studies
where we delay what needs to be done
until exams come,
and then it may be too late to
prepare.
For those who are doing matric, for example,
taking it relaxing now is July, August, September,
October, Inshallah, November we write exams.
That is true.
But if you leave our task
or work
or caring for a loved one or showing
affection to a special one
until it's too late, it becomes a problem.
For example, matriculant.
Preparing for your matric exam, when you delay
simple things, it eventually becomes difficult
because time,
time constraints.
And when you delay difficult things, it becomes
impossible.
Not because the task is impossible,
the time is not available.
Studying the night before exam
is a limited time. It's not that the
work is difficult, it's the time is not
left. Many people, they lose out because of
the
unappreciation
or acknowledgment
of the value of the time we have
at our disposal.
So
here we are,
Muslims,
in the 1st month of the Islamic Hijri
calendar,
and of course the Hijri calendar dates back
to the Hijri or the migration of Rasulullah
and many of his family and followers to
Yathrib, which later being became Madina
1445
years ago.
Leaving the old residence of Makkah
for a new domusall in Medina. You see,
moving on in life.
And the new calendar year being ushered in
this week is a good time to analyze
our path of moving
on. To reflect
and make personal resolutions.
Where am I?
Where could I be?
Where should I aim to be?
Where am I in relation to myself,
in relation to my creator,
in relation to my near and dear ones?
Where am I in relation to the world,
to the environment?
So as we prepare to engage the coming
coming
year, the pertinent question for each one of
us
in an uncertain world, in a troubled time
in our history,
how could my today
positively impact on my tomorrows? That's why the
verse we often read.
Be conscious of Allah and carefully consider what
you're sending forth for the future, what you're
sending forth for the model.
And therefore,
we need to realize that though life is
a challenge and a test,
but
Are people not aware
that they are being tested year in year
out?
And yet
they do not repent or turn away from
the errors
nor do they reflect on the lessons
from the past.
So knowing the potential of the human being
as as Allah is deemed as the best
of creation,
the creator commands us,
Every.
Allah commands justice
and Allah commands excellence.
And wise ones have reminded us the quality
of a person's life
is in direct proportion
to his or her commitment
to excellence.
So in an increasingly
competitive world,
constantly
build on the good
and always aim for ihsan
for excellence and goodness.
Aim
constantly build on the good
and always aim for excellence. Whatever it is,
whether in business,
whether in study, whether in sport, whether in
art you are doing, whatever
task you're carrying out, a job you are
doing,
the contract you are signing, in your dealing,
in your relationship with people, in your prayer,
in how you engage the poor or the
needy,
in every one of those.
Allah has prescribed that kind of excellence and
goodness in everything that you do, in everything
you do. It's a mark of a believer.
Goodness and excellence.
Excellence in execution,
goodness in intention,
and in the ability and the way we
handle things.
But remember,
that goodness and excellence in our faith, in
our deeds, in our behavior, in our studies,
in our work, in our profession,
it increases both our utility
and our relevance in this world.
The more you are value,
the more you excel,
the more you reflect goodness. You are more
useful to the world around you
And that decreases your utility but also your
relevance to the world
as well as your worth in this world
and in the hereafter.
At the same time, it's very important
as we finish 1 term into the next
term, as we finish 1 year into the
next year,
have the capacity and the ability
and the moral strength
to evaluate
perhaps our shortcomings.
What could have been done better and what
should we do differently?
If Allah wishes well for a person, he
grants that person the capacity
to see their own shortcomings.
So what do you do with it?
It's no you're seeing. Some people don't see
their shortcomings.
Then there are those who see their shortcomings
and do nothing about it. That's worse.
Those who don't see it, don't see it.
But those who see it and do nothing,
they are worse.
So do we see and realize where we
fall short?
And let it begin with relationships at home,
with our family and our friends and our
loved ones. We can't. We keep on wanting
to change the world and make everybody Islamic,
being Islamic in yourself.
You want to make justice and goodness everywhere,
feed your family.
You want to raise money to help the
poor in Palestine, by all means do so.
Do you have a brother or sister who's
out of job?
Do you have a neighbor who's in need?
It's your responsibility. It's our responsibility. Allah will
ask you. If a neighbor goes hungry,
Allah will ask a neighbor, didn't you have
a Muslim who was on your side? And
Allah will ask you.
There was one shirk.
He called his student and he asked his
student who was also becoming a alim, he
asked him,
you have a neighbor
who's going hungry for 3 days, and then
they have come to ask for food, and
people came and I inquired.
So he said to him, you know, I
want to
maybe expel you from the madrasa.
How did you not help your neighbor? He
said, Sheikh, I did not know. He said,
now I want to ban you completely. How
come you didn't even know about it? What
kind of neighbor are you that you're not
aware that your neighbor is going hungry?
Not helping is one thing, not even being
aware. And some people are neither aware, and
even if they are aware, they don't care.
That's not the way a Muslim is. Irrespective
of the labor, being Muslim or non Muslim
does not matter.
We are agents of change, agents of goodness
and Allah will test
and will ask those who go hungry, those
who are in need, those who are destitute.
You will ask, where were the Muslims then?
Because Allah asked through us.
Remember the hadith Qudsi?
Where Allah will say on the day of
Qiyama, I was hungry and you didn't feed
me. And you'll say, oh Allah, you are
self sufficient. You are.
He He said, don't you know someone was
hungry and starving?
Had you fed him and helped him, you
would have found me with him.
So wise ones have said that experience is
not what happens to a person.
It is what a person does with what
happens
around him and to him or to her.
Remember, however,
experience
only teaches the teachable.
There are some people who refuse to learn.
You can take a horse to the water,
you cannot make it drink.
So remember, however,
experience teaches only the teachable
and only those who want to learn.
If we fail to learn from experience,
whether it be in our homework, whether it
be in our studies, whether it be in
our teaching,
we set ourselves on the path to failure,
even for teachers.
If you find something doesn't work with your
students, try something different.
Find a better way of doing it.
It's something that may work for some students,
may not work for others.
Your job is to unlock that
because you are the key.
If we fail to learn from experience,
we set ourselves on the path to failure.
The question is,
are we willing to learn
or are we preparing to fail?
A believer always learns. And if you see
something doesn't work, you don't do it.
A believer has never bitten from the same
hole twice.
Once you make a mistake, you learn from
it. Next time,
you don't make that mistake. You learn from
it already.
And this prophetic tradition
intimates that a believer should not make the
same mistake repeatedly,
but also to learn from past experience.
Do you remember the experience you had the
last time? Don't repeat it.
It's only when you strive for excellence,
and I want to remind
specifically our learners,
not perfection. Only Allah is perfect.
When we strive for excellence,
then we will do simple things expertly
and acquire the skills
to do difficult things easily.
Some people are so stuck
with their mistakes
that they may have made,
whether it'd been their learning,
whether it'd been their behavior,
whether it'd been their attitude towards work, whether
it'd been relationships
with others.
They're so stuck with the negativity of the
past,
it prevents them from any positivity of the
future.
Among the most endearing things, for example, in
the eyes of Allah is Tawba.
And this is very empowering, not for the
Tawba's sake itself, of course, which is tremendous
thing. Allah
says,
Allah love those who purify themselves and those
who turn to him in repentance.
And repentance come after making a wrong, after
making a mistake.
If the Almighty Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
can keep the doors open even for the
sinner,
why are we closing the doors on ourselves
from our own errors?
But the way to do it is to
move on, to learn from it and move
on.
They
say,
It's a life transformational process.
It's a transformational process.
It's a forward looking progression.
It's a forward looking progression.
It's not to be stuck with the sin,
but to make and move on.
So be forward looking. Do not drive on
the road looking into the rear view mirror
all the time.
Look forward through the windshield
and pay attention
to the direction
in which you are heading.
Mistakes make us confront our limitations.
Of course, we are human.
We all make mistakes.
It makes us face our shortcomings,
but it could also motivate us to use
our strengths
to overcome our weaknesses.
Taking stock of ourselves
and charting the best way forward, whether it
be the new term or the new year,
is transformational
and always
a positive step and always
in the right direction.
If we change what we are doing,
then change for the better.
If we are continuing to do what we
are doing, then find a better way of
doing it.
Perhaps a more efficient,
a more effective
way of doing something.
Be brave enough to change if change is
required.
Change the methodology
or correct the cause of action.
At the battle of the confederates, the battle
of Hazar,
627
of the Christian era,
the opposition
far outnumbered the Muslims.
And since the Muslims were going to be
surrounded,
Salman al Farisi was not an Arab, one
of the companions of Rasulullah, sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
suggested an idea that Arabs never had, a
novel idea, an innovative idea.
He said, why don't we build a trench
in Persia? We build a trench if the
enemy is too big, so it keeps them
out, they can't.
And they dug a trench.
The idea was different from the norm of
the Arabs,
but it was innovative and more effective than
what the Arabs did traditionally.
So whether it be your teaching,
whether it be your work, whatever it may
be, if something better comes or you find
a better way of doing it, please do
so. That's your Islamic responsibility.
The idea of digging in the trench was
completely innovative,
completely foreign to the Arabs.
But it was innovative. It was more effective.
It was practical and it worked.
That is important.
You see people who normally make good judgments
are usually people who think sensibly,
who analyze critically,
who listen carefully,
who prepare strategically,
who plan practically,
and who act efficiently.
So think carefully.
Learn from the past,
but do not be stuck there. Before thinking,
as you said, plan appropriately,
act timelessly.
Some people do the right thing but at
the wrong time it's too late.
Start studying the night before exam, it's too
late. You're doing the right thing but
not the right time.
Live within your means. Try not to enslave
yourself because debt enslaves you.
And have always
be conscious of reality.
And do the best you can with what
you have from where you are.
Begin begin by valuing the time that we
have at our disposal because time is opportunity.
Sheikh ibn Attaulay in his hikam, his aphorisms
or wise sayings, he said
He said in his hikam,
the time that has gone by is irreplaceable.
The time that has gone by is irreplaceable.
And the time
that has arrived, the moment that you have
is priceless.
The moment that you have is priceless.
You see part
of human maturity, and this is important,
Part of human maturity
is the ability to reflect
upon what we have learned from the past
in order to prepare
for a more fruitful
and more productive future.
Let's take from the universal guidance of Allah
to step into the worthy and positive direction
of righteousness and rightfulness,
and let's ponder.
Where are you heading?
Well, the context of this verse was referring
to people
who were idol worshipers and those who were
inclined towards wrongful belief, but the question is
still a perennial question.
Where are you going to? Which direction are
you heading?
I
mean the guidance coming from the Rasool and
the guidance that we adhere to is a
divine guidance, a reminder for all of universe.
For those who really want to walk in
the right way,
You need to walk in the right way.
Having the guidance
is not good enough.
If I give you the exam paper for
tomorrow's exam, you're not gonna pass. Even if
I give you the paper, you must know
the content.
Having the Quran in your hand is not
sufficient. You must live by the Quran.
Having it in your hand doesn't mean anything.
It's good that you have it, alhumdulillah.
It's barakah. It's good, but it's not taking
you anywhere unless you walk with it.
And therefore, as we enter this new year,
let us make a collective resolution, Insha'Allah,
to manifest
the goodness
that can come from our sincerity and our
commitment
to excellence.
And let us manifest the ihsan
that emulates
through us as a gift from the almighty
Allah.
Allah says,
Be good.
Do good. Manifest goodness as Allah has been
good to you.
Be good
as Allah has been good to you.
We ask Allah
that our lives be filled with fear and
barakah,
the goodness and blessings,
and may this coming year be a year
that we commit ourselves
to that and to that goodness and excellence
of.
Excellence in our relationship with our creator, with
our family, with our friends,
with our neighbors,
in engaging in our work with our staff,
with our colleagues,
whether it be in our studies
and consciousness of the environment
and the world around us.
Khan for those beautiful and inspirational words. May
Allah
grant Sheikh Sadula Khan many more years full
with happiness and strength, so that he can
continue to guide and inspire us all, Insha'Allah.
Amen.
We are requested to make du'a for Sadiq
Dinie who is currently very ill in Victoria
Hospital with a broken hip and a weak
heart. May
Allah grant brother Sadiq Sadiq Thini, and all
those that are sick complete, Shifa and Kamla,
It is also the 76th birthday of Khayru
Nisa Shaykh, so we make du'a that Allah
grant Khayru Nisa many more years, filled with
happiness and strength and grant sister Khairunisa all
that her heart desires and more.
Alhamdulillah,
today, Islamic College has the honor of officiating
the Jumuah. The first adhan will be made
by Abdul Hafiz Talib, and the second adhan
will be made by Adam Oren.
Also, we make dua for, doctor Hayat.
Doctor Gulam Dazdaki Hayat was also in a
trial who'll be going a
major procedure.
We may to be,
a successor, Amin
and also
And from the Masjid side and the school
side, we wish each and everyone.
And also just a reminder to the brothers,
inshallah, another request. Just the collection of the
masjid are very weak. We ask the brothers,
Inshallah, to donate towards the masjid, the upkeeping
of the masjid generously.
We just ask the brothers to stand.
Quite a few people are standing outside.
There are quite a few spaces on, your
left hand side.
The school is occupying the right hand side.
So on the left hand side, the corner
there also there's a lot of space. And
we just ask the brothers to fold the
gaps now already inshallah
before the adhan goes, before we make our
sunnah salah so that we don't waste any
time after
the
along with.