ICNA-MAS Convention
Siraj Wahhaj – Be Genuine Invite Towards Common Grounds
AI: Summary ©
The importance of Jesus's teachings and his recognition as the father of Islam is highlighted. The challenges of keeping children into Islam and the importance of praying for peace and blessings are discussed. A young man named Daniel Ryder asked questions during a question and answer period. A woman describes her desire to let her son's death be related to a car accident and her desire to make an impact on her children. She talks about her own conversion to Islam and hopes that Islam will intervene.
AI: Summary ©
On
Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim Al Hamdulillah
Chateau La Ilaha illa Allah who want to who lash recolor
or shudder on the Muhammad Abdul Salam Mubarak.
Brothers and sisters in a few moments I'm going to tell you what I
believe was my greatest day as a day.
Of the many things that our Prophet peace and blessings be upon was he was also a die. He invited to the way of Allah subhanho wa taala.
Before I tell you about that day, I want to
make sure you understand this premise and make sure you understand it very well.
Well, Matt Kennedy nevsun and two minute Illa is Neela.
No one can believe except by the permission of Allah.
In the color Tatem and bapta Allah can Allah Yachty, Manisha
you cannot guide those whom you love. But Allah guides to the straight path, whomsoever He wills.
Many of you parents have come here at this conference, some of you have dragged your children
when they didn't want to come.
I was leaving a session yesterday and a mother told me ma'am.
I was bringing my child to a session and they didn't want to go.
And she made them go.
And then she told me that after the child got at the session, the child didn't want to leave.
And I felt great about that.
I felt great about this conference, I was hoping that there's some meaningful things that would happen as a result of the conference.
Those of us who have children know how challenging it is to keep your children into the faith of Islam. In New York City, there's an imam I know
who have a number of children. He said to me one day years ago, he said, Imam,
I've come to the conclusion that if only one of my child, be Muslim, then I'll be happy. I was sad to hear that.
You know, inviting people to Islam.
You never know what Allah do.
Thursday we sitting in our Masjid right before Serrato door. A young man 26 years old comes into the Masjid. He wants to become Muslim.
How much do you know about Islam not much.
One day before that was the young sister, a woman from Haiti.
Want to become Muslim?
We didn't do anything.
And then on the other hand, we have children, daughters and sons that we would love for them to be Muslim again, to pray again to wear hijab again. And no matter what we say seems as they go further and further away, as I travel around the country and around the world, people say Imam Suraj What can I do to my child, my child has left Islam.
I want to share with you what was my greatest day as a di e recognizing that it came from Allah subhanho wa taala.
About 10 years ago about this time,
a few days before eastern
Texas State University and San Marcos.
The Muslim Student Association, had a program invited Imam Suraj to be their speaker.
And the topic was, what did Jesus really say?
This place was in the Bible Belt
deep in the south.
And this place, the auditorium was large about 400 seats.
Every seat was taken.
Even the people that sat in the aisles they stood in the back. Even the door was open and the people couldn't get in. And there were so many people that some of the people sat on the stage.
And I told them
I was introduced by professor at the University
and before he introduced me he said to me Imam Suraj I want to let you know
that at some point, many of these students have a class. So they will get up, and they will walk out of your sermon and your lecture, I don't want you to think it's you. It's not you, but they have to go to some other class. I'm just giving you the heads up. He said, I said, Okay.
He invited me.
The first thing I told the students is that I'm not going to give a lecture about what did Jesus really say?
Rather than going to give a lecture about Jesus from an Islamic perspective, what does Muslims say about Jesus? How do we feel about Jesus peace and blessings be upon them? And the reason that I did that? Is that when you will make the title, what did Jesus really say you are implying to them that they don't really know. So they become defensive, right from the very beginning, Jesus from an Islamic perspective,
I'll tell you this.
We gave the lecture.
I'm expecting students to get up to walk out, not one student left.
And when the lecture was over, I said, it's time for us to pray. We're going to be going about 10 minutes, and we'll be back for questions and answers, and I expected 1/3 of the audience to leave. When we came back, no one left the seat.
And then we had a question and answer period.
And during the question and answer period, there was a young man, a senior
named Daniel Ryder.
sitting to my left,
he asked a number of questions. But his questions weren't challenging me, or Islam, or the Quran, or the Hadith. He was asking questions to get more and more about Islam.
This young man, Daniel writers, was the president of the Christian Association on campus.
When the question and answer period was over, he came to me privately. And we begin to discuss more of the issue about Jesus and Islamic position.
Brothers and sisters of all my life have given Dawa. If I'd ever been so sure that a person would take shahada to me, that young man then you read as took shahada that night in his heart, that's how I felt, and I'm telling you, I fell in love with him.
Fast forward.
Two months later,
I get a letter
from this young boy's mother, Mrs. Writer,
she said Imam Suraj, you don't know me.
But I am the mother of Daniel writers.
I want to let you know that you had a profound effect on him.
The reason that I got your address is that you gave him your card and his card was in his wallet, and I saw your card in his wallet.
I just wanted you to know that my son Daniel riders, was in a car accident and he died.
But I want to let you know that his brothers was in the car with him and all of them are fine. And I just thought that it was important for you to know the profound effect that you have on my son. Why say all of this, sometimes brothers and sisters, you can talk and you can preach, you can get very tired of the Quran. You can give it every Hadith. But there is no guarantee that a person is going to accept Islam. There is no guarantee that your children will stay into Islam. All I can say is this. Speakers before asked Dr. Yunus. Sheikh Mustafa, and all the others. There are two components of Dawa as I see it.
I want to ask the question, I want you to help me.
I'm going to name some prophets.
Because the Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him said Al MBO Equitana alerton, Omaha Tom Shatta Wale Dino, whom warhead prophets all of them were brothers. The mothers are different, but their religion is one.
One religion. We're the only religion that teaches us to believe in all the prophets. There are some people who believe in Jesus but don't believe in Moses, but don't believe in Jesus. There are some people who believe in more
Moses and Jesus but they don't believe in Muhammad peace and blessings be upon them. But Muslims, we are those who believe in every prophet.
I want to ask you a question.
Do you know any Muslim who have the name Zachary, you raise your hand.
Good look around. Do you know any Muslim that have the name Musa raise your hand? If you know any Muslim, they have the name Isa. Tao ood Sulaiman, Yusuf Yunus. Are you
notice about these prophets tell me something about these prophets
every one of them, children of Israel
yet we were the names.
There was a man
a Christian,
had the name Mohammed.
And he told his pastor that so many people made fun of him because he had the name Muhammad.
And the preacher told them you should change your name.
And he changed his name from Muhammad to some other name.
But we as Muslims, we honor and respect
those prophets. How many of you like me, were converted or reverted to Islam? Raise your hand
okay, all of you who converted to Islam like me?
You see these folks here? Who are born Muslims.
You see all those who are born Muslims.
You and I who will convert it we got something they ain't got
why you?
Let me tell you why. Because the prophets Allah Salam said
either Mr. Raja along the ISA Thumma I'm gonna be follow who as Ronnie, whoever believes in Jesus and then believes in me will have a double reward ha.
Because
in these are the same things that I said at that university,
because we believe in all the prophets.
Two things we have to do, number one, know our religion.
These learn Muslims don't look down upon them.
You are here to help them to guide them, stop looking down on them, stop judging them. They live the way they live because they don't have the guidance. As the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said that Allah said, Yeah, EBRD Kulu Condor loan a lemon her day to FASTA Dooney the comb, oh, my slaves, every one of you are misguided unless I guide you therefore acts me and I will guide you, you only guided by Allah's permission. Allah guided you, and you should be happy. And if Allah hasn't got other people, then you should do your best to help and guide them to Islam. How are you going to do it two ways. We got to know our religion, and how we treat them how we look at them. I
have done brothers and sisters, most of my Dawa a lot of my Dawa in airports and in planes.
If you don't want Dawa, don't sit next to me in the plane.
Go I'm gonna talk to you.
I remember we had landed in some city.
And everybody was getting up and they were getting off the plane. And I was sitting in the back and I noticed an old white woman
who was sitting there.
And she seemed to need some help.
I came to her and said, Madam, do you need help? She said yes, my luggage, my overhead luggage. So I reached up and got her luggage. An old white woman. I said, would you like for me to take it off the plane for you? She said no, no, I'm good. I said good.
I walked off the plane.
And the young white woman said to me, she says sir, I saw what you did.
I want to thank you.
People are watching you. People will make judgments about what you do as a Muslim. And by the way, by the way, when I got the lady's luggage, the old lady's luggage. I didn't say put your finger up c'est la ilaha illallah
Oh, no, I don't do it for her to take Shahada. I do that because who we are. I'm sitting in the airport in Atlanta, Georgia. And we're sitting at our gate on my way to Tennessee. And to my left was an old white man, and he was coughing, and he had a nasty cough. He was coughing here a nasty cough. It just so happened I had the best cough drops in the world, made that a honey
and had two packs. I took out one of the packs, I said, Sir, here, this will help you. He said, thank you. And he went in his pocket said how much I said no.
He took the one drop. And he put it in his mouth. Immediately he stopped coughing. He looked at me and said,
and everybody there was happy.
Because we didn't hear that nasty cough.
But that's who we are. That's how Muslims are. This is what we are. This is what we do. So therefore, like everybody else have said, how you how you act with people? How did they How did they know who you are? Most Americans, many Americans will never read one item Quran may never see one Hadith, but they see millions of Muslims, their neighbors, their doctors, their school teachers, their, you know, everybody around them. And so how Muslims show themselves in number two, learning about our religion, how we treat one another, and then learning what Islam says about the prophets that came before. Brothers and sisters. I'm gonna make a do I have for you, you know, I'm a very a
very regular guy. I don't think that my supplication is better than yours. And honestly, I don't think that, you know, yeah, you know, I'm remember Suraj you know, I got a special relationship with Allah. No, no, I don't believe that. But I do believe this. Allah say a call or a book and the only SDG block home your Lord said call upon Me I will answer. Therefore, whenever people asked me to make dua, Imam, could you make the art for me? I do it. I was in Dallas, Texas about a month ago. And I was at a terminal and I had to go to another terminal. So I'm waiting outside for a cab.
So Cab pulls up and said, Do you need help? I said, Yes. He said, Get in the car. So we drove to the terminal.
Is are you muslim? I said yes. So now Aleikum, he says he's a Muslim to from Saudi Arabia. You don't know me you don't know Imam Suraj
when I was about to get off,
he said, you know, brother,
I want you to make for me,
me and my wife been married for years and we don't have any children.
Make dua that we would have children.
I don't know. I made do and for him and his wife, maybe three weeks straight every day. Who we know him. Never saw him in my life. But he asked me to make dua.
I'm coming from Malaysia. I I learned in JFK. A cab driver picks me up.
You don't speak to me the whole drive drive home.
And I'm about to get out of the car, the cab and he said are you muslim? I said yes, possibly Muslim.
He said I am to
my wife has cancer.
Please make dua
and I did not been making dua, because this is who we are. We are brothers and sisters, we can at least make dua, how many of us even make dua. I was in Washington DC on a program years ago.
And the program was almost over and a young brother said to me, ma'am Suraj, there's a a brother in the hospital.
And please, can you make dua for him? I said How far is the hospital? He says so and so distance. I said, let's go. So he drove me to the hospital and got into the room. And he said to the brother, he says, Imam Suraj is here to see you. He said No, he's not.
He's, uh, yeah, he really is. He said, no, stop lying.
And I said A salaam aleikum.
If you could have seen his face.
Imam Suraj came to visit me in the hospital.
Little stuff.
My dua is for all of you, your children.
May Allah bless your children
to stay in the dean.
Those who left the dean to come back.
Maybe Allah here's our da Allahumma in the audible comment that was
Allah yesterday, yesterday Jabba Allah, Allah, the Prophet said, Oh Allah I seek refuge with you from a supplication. That's not answered.
I know you. I've known you for years. I don't know you personally. But I know your biggest concern when I travel is my children. My children have left the dean, my children, how often do we think about it? Maybe you couldn't bring them here at the conference. Maybe you did. Maybe they didn't attend any conference. Maybe they stayed in the hotel room. Maybe they watch TV, the whole conference? I don't know. But I pray to Allah in some way.
And some great way Allah will intervene. Realize and McKinley Nelson and to Mina Illa B is Nila. No one can believe except by Allah's permission. Oh Allah, help my children to come back to the faith of Islam. May Allah bless you as salam aleikum wa rahmatullah.