Sikander Hashmi – Our Masjid Our Future KMA Friday Message
AI: Summary ©
The historical context of Islam is discussed, including Jesus' teachings and his influence on followers. The rise of Islam in various countries and its negative implications for society are also highlighted. The importance of educating children on Islam's negative consequences is emphasized, along with the need for acceptance in society. The community's support and expansion of their work are also highlighted, along with the construction of a new school and student summer camps. The community's work in 2023 is also highlighted, including student summer camps, winter camps, and activities for seniors. The community's support and expansion of their work are also emphasized, along with attendee donations for tax credits.
AI: Summary ©
Respected elders,
dear brothers and sisters,
my young friends,
It's been about 11 days since the prophet
has left
Makkatul Makarrama to make Hijra.
And he and Abu Bakr arrive
in the city of Quba.
They stay there for just a few days,
maybe 4 days, maybe a bit more.
And during this time, the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam
lays the foundations
of
the very first Masjid
of Islam you could say or at least
of his prophethood.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
personally
carries stones
and rock and sand with his companions
for the construction work,
for the building of Masjid Koba.
Tabrani Coates
from, Coates
Al Shimus bin Al Uman
is saying
that
She says, I saw the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam
when he constructed this Masjid, a Masjid
Quba.
He used to carry stones and rocks on
his back
until it was bent.
I also
saw dust on his dress and or his
belly.
But when one of his companions would come
to him and say, O Messenger of Allah,
by my father, my mother, you know, let
me take this load off of you.
He would say no and he would ask
the companion
to go and carry a similar load instead.
This was the work ethic of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Leading from the front,
being the one who's at the front,
doing the heavy lifting.
And when people come to relieve him, he
says no.
Don't relieve me but you also go and
do the same.
And that way
everyone works together and of course the work
gets done
faster. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refers to this
masjid.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refers to this very
first masjid
in Surah Tawba, ayah number 108.
Certainly, a mosque, a masjid founded on righteousness
from the 1st day is more worthy of
your prayers. In it, our men who love
to be purified.
And Allah loves those who purify
themselves.
And of course, the context of the revelation
of this verse has to do with the
fact that the munafiqeen,
right? The hypocrites
had tried to compete with this original masjid
by building another one right next door, right
next to it. Masjid Dharar.
And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam being the
the kind person that he was.
You know, when they invited him, even though
they were doing so with an evil mind
with an evil plot
to divide the Muslims. But even then the
prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam was contemplating going because
he felt bad,
rejecting an invitation to visit a masjid.
And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed these
verses,
instructing the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam not to
go to,
Never
go
Allah clearly favored this Masjid Mazadullah over Masjid
Durar and eventually Masjid Durar was destroyed.
Now the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam departs from
Koba
with Abu Akbar Radiullah Muhammadu.
In less than 4 kilometers he arrives in
Yafirib.
Then known as Yafirib renamed Madina to Marawara.
And there too it's not long
before the preparation
It's not long before he starts preparations for
the 2nd Masjid, right? His home base.
And today of course that Masjid encompasses
the entire city
at that time of his arrival.
So the area of the entire city of
Yasirib.
At the time the prophet is now encompassed
by
Masjid Anebly and
the surrounding courtyard.
Today,
so this is my brothers and sisters
is the effect of Taqwa,
of sincerity
and hard work
which attracts
the Barakah of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Now, of course, the prophets, the prophet's Masjid
is very special
but there's many other examples of growing Masajid
in communities
around the world.
Examples exist
around the world
of Masajid and communities, Jamah, that start that
started very small.
And now over time,
they have grown and people go there and
they visit and perhaps it's a historic site,
but it didn't begin
as a large Masjid. Most of them did
not begin like that. Most of them began
very, very small. Even, like, if you look
at the model of Masjid and Abdi when
it was first founded, it was nothing. It
was almost like a it's almost like a
shed. It's almost like a hut. There's no
dome. There's nothing. It's just, you know, barely
a roof.
Hardly any floor.
That was the foundation.
Brothers and sisters,
there's an Angus Reid Institute public opinion poll
that was released this week.
It found that 43% of Canadians
feel that Islam
is damaging to society. Once again,
43%
of people in this country feel that Islam
is damaging to society, and this is the
most negative feeling
out of all the religious groups.
And this is actually up 14%
from last year. So last year it was
29%.
This year has gone up. The negativity has
gone up to 43%.
Now normally,
it doesn't matter to us what people think
and what people say. What matters is Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. But when we live
in
a country
where public opinion
plays a significant
role in dictating government policies
and electoral platforms.
There can be many different implications
of such a rise in negative sentiments
towards
our religion.
The Dawa of the prophet
the foundation
of the new Islamic community
began, was formed in the Masjid of the
prophet
Similarly, our work,
our critical work of outreach,
of Dawah,
of education,
softening the hearts
must also start from our Masjid.
And indeed, there is lots of work to
do.
And we know that quite well. And this
number is just
a
an illustration or a a hint
of that.
Jabi bin Abdullah
related that the messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam said,
that whoever builds a masjid for the sake
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala like a sparrow's
nest or even smaller.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will build for him
a house in Jannah. So you see the
size is not the focus
in the teaching of the prophet.
The size and grandeur is not the focus
but rather
the focus is on getting
it started with sincerity for Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. The
translated here as sparrow is a small word
and its nest is the place where it
settles and lays its eggs.
And the Kaqah is singled out
for mention here because it does not lay
its eggs in trees or the top of
a mountain rather it makes its nest on
the ground
unlike
other birds.
Hence, it is likened to a Masjid. The
Masjid is a nest for the believers.
What is it?
Masjid is a nest for the believers especially
for our children,
our, and our youth. It's the home of
the jama'ah.
And being a part of the community is
critical as Umar Radiallahu Alhu related that the
prophet said,
adhere to the
adhere to the congregation. Beware
of separation.
Beware
of beware of separating.
Meaning from
the
who, that,
for indeed, Shaitan is with the one, meaning
the person who is alone, and he is
further away from 2.
And the prophet said, Whoever wants the best
place in Jannah, then let him stick to
the Jannah. Let him stick to the congregation
and the congregation is centered in the masjid.
And especially especially for your children, my brothers
and sisters and future generations. You know, if
you just teach Islam at home, will it
be enough?
You
know, plants
need soil, they need water,
but they also need sunshine and they also
need the right conditions. And this is where
the Masjid comes in. You know, we are
a relatively small community compared to some other
parts of Ottawa.
And our new Masjid insha'Allah
and center will give us much needed space
for programs and conferences and activities that we
cannot do here.
Right? We do not claim or aim to
be the greatest.
Right? We are nothing, but I really believe
that true sincerity
brings something.
Taqwa
brings something.
Sacrifice
brings something.
Baraka
means
something. And I believe insha'Allah that through the
fagul of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala insha'Allah,
this Masjid and this community
will do something,
will have some great positive impact somehow, somewhere.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us the
people of the Masjid. May Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala make us those to who he testifies
to.
Allah
grant us sincerity
and love. Allah
take our Masjid and our
children and grant our children ness of Eman
in our.
I would like you know, as the year
comes to
end, I would like to just highlight
some of the work that we have done,
this year in 2023.
The, you know, year is we, you know,
we started last year, and this year has
been a phenomenal
amount of work that has been done, in
the organization and the masjid.
You know, starting from our schools,
the summer camps, the winter camps,
and activities for seniors that we recently started.
Activities for,
sisters that are going on, the brothers who
are, you know, taking advantage of the Masjid,
and Masjid is, you know, full.
Most of the most of days in Usha,
this hall is usually full. And it is
has been possible only with the help and
and coming to the help of Allah
and coming together of this community. You know,
this come this organization, as you must have
noticed, is not a one man show.
You know, it is a come it is
a combination of efforts from so many people
in the community
who come forward, who want to do good
things, and who find an opportunity,
and who find,
that their skills and their knowledge and their
efforts are appreciated,
and they're contributing through many programs. You know,
this summer,
we had
this masjid hustling and bustling with children before
July August.
Like, we had camps running for both the
month of July August here, as well as
in the school,
about 200 more than 200 students
200 children had, you know, were enrolled in
our camps. We had overnight camps. You know?
Even now today, you know, there is a
camp that's starting in, for children starting in,
in 2 days' time in 3 to 4
days' time.
You know, and this has only been possible
with the help of Allah
and bringing the community together.
You know, we are also active in many
other fronts such as, you know, when the
LGBT issue came up, earlier this year. You
know, our imam was there and our community
was there. Many representatives of Islamic
Association
were there, and we have been speaking imam,
you know, as part of a team that
speaks to,
the board members of OCDSB on a regular
basis to highlight
the needs of our students and to listen
and to speak to them
and represent our, you know, our,
community,
whether it's Palestinian,
crisis,
you know, the war in Gaza, the attack
on Gaza that happened. We are there. We
are speaking to the political representative every day
and every often.
Whether it's,
any type of political activism, we are involved
in those activities activism today. And, you know,
and we're covering so many things through this
organization, Alhamdulillah,
in a very short time that,
no, I could I'm really proud to say
that this community, Alhamdulillah, in Canada, is one
of the
one of the most active,
Masjids
in Ottawa. You can ask, your friends and
you will see that
we have achieved a lot, and that has
only been possible with the blessings and, you
know, and,
blessings for Allah
as well as the hard work of the
community members
who you don't see often in the stage
in the front who is speaking, but they
are working very hard. And they come together
through different,
programs and activities to do the program.
Inshallah, we will start a construction of our
Majid. This is you know, we wanted to
start earlier this year, but couldn't happen due
to technical reasons.
But Inshallah, we are all slated. We have
signed a contract with McDonald Brothers.
It's a construction company that built Jam Umer
and that built the extension of the school
in the front, and that has built many
other churches and other,
institutional buildings.
And, of course, we need your support
as much as you can inshallah.
And the year is coming to an end,
31st December. So,
any donation you make today inshallah will be,
you'll get the tax written back by February,
March, whenever you file the tax letter inshallah.
So please support us so that we can
continue to do this work and we can
expand this work and we can do more
work. Inshallah.
Right? We built we built
I just wanna mention something. You know, there's
a lot of question nowadays about imam and
board members and stuff like that. I just
wanna say, I'm very happy, and I'm still
not saying this because he told me to
say that.
We've I have no complaints with any of
the board members.
The community
every single one of you have given an
immense love,
and care, to me and my family, and
I really appreciate that. So there's there's no
issue here, and I just want to be
open about that. Nobody has told me to
say this. I'm saying it out of my
own free will, free of accord.
A lot of, I'm giving a lot of
freedom. You know, of course, we consult on
a lot of things. We're in regular touch.
But, I don't feel like I'm restricted in
any way, and I'm able to say whatever
I want to do whatever I want, and
I really do appreciate that. So I wanna
say
and for transparency, I want the community, to
know that as well. Brothers and sisters,
you know, we have,
brother mentioned, construction will be starting soon. And
I can tell you that once construction starts,
you know, the funds will be going out
very, very quickly.
We are coming to the end of the
year. This It's a great opportunity to maximize
your tax tax credits.
We like to do the math. So we
know that if you make a $500 donation,
it's will cost you approximately $340.
Okay? Now it can vary depending on your
income level and so on. But approximately $340
which is about, you know, 93ยข a day.
Okay? That's what we're talking about. So inshallah
today, our target is on this Friday inshallah
this weekend to get 100 donors who can
give $500 each inshallah.
Okay? So are there any brothers and sisters
who would like to raise their hands and
commit
and be the first ones? This is to
take that.
We got 1.
Second one
bless you both. Number 3,
4.
Number 5,
sisters, I can't see you, but I trust
you're raising your hands as well. Number 6,
and also brothers and sisters in the pool
room. Raise your hand up just for the
commitment Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is watching, but
I'm counting the ones who are in front
of me. So, I think I had 6,
7
outside. I see that.
Brother, may Allah bless you. Now, December 7.
Okay. Number 8, who can commit?
Very quickly. I'm not gonna take too long.
Don't worry.
I value your time very much. Number 8,
inshallah. Anyone who I can see? Okay. I
assume someone has raised it at least in
the basement. So that's number 8. Okay? And
there must be 1 in the pool room.
So that's number 9 and there must be
another one in the sister side. So that's
10. Okay.
Can we get 2 more inshallah?
2 more?
Bless
you. Okay.
Yes. Bless you.
Reward every single person who has made the
intention right now. Reward
every single person who has contributed up until
now. You know, none of this would be
possible.
1st and foremost,
if if it wasn't for the mercy of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala because we are not
capable of anything except if Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala enables us and through the father of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, that's number 1. But
but you also have goodness in your heart
and you have good intentions.
Ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to accept.
Ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to get Baraka
in all of your affairs. Ask Allah
to protect you, your family, your children
until the day of judgment
and make them all die upon the ilaha
illallah Muhammad of Rasulullah. Ask Allah
to gather you, your loved ones, your future
generations,
your ancestors, everyone in general for those. We'll
take a quick break and we'll continue.
To make your donations, of course, you can
have the machines outside. You can also give
online at kanada muslims.ca/