Contemporary Lessons from the Lives of the Prophets (pbuT)

I'm off, work

hamdu lillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah who Allah Ali, he will be here woman while I'm about

yesterday.

I was in Milwaukee

where there was the largest convention in Milwaukee where there was around 2000 people attending. And I gave the hook but in their largest messages and on the way to the hook, but I found out a very sad story that had happened two days ago. 30 national news. Probably many of you have heard of it. With that in Milwaukee, which is really one of the more open minded liberal democratic states. A sister was coming back from Seattle Fajr. And on the way back home, a car pulled up next to her. And this sister was in her late 50s, she was wearing a headscarf. Our car pulled up, and a man came out and started literally punching the sister saying take your hijab off, take your hijab off, and he

forcefully snatched the hijab and continued to punch this sister bloodied and bruised her.

And this sister thought that the end was near and she started saying the shahada show do Allah Allah Allah Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah Allah because she thought the end was there, until finally the coward ran away when somebody was there. When somebody saw him, and 911 came into Hamdulillah, the sister is fine. She suffered some fractures and quite a lot of blood was lost. She was interviewed on television. She didn't want to show her face, because she was scared for further retaliation, but they showed her bloodied hijab.

And Wallah, he this hit me so hard because it's the same Masjid that was going to give the hotbed This is yesterday, Friday, yesterday in Milwaukee, the same Masjid I'm gonna go to one of their own core sisters walking back from Fajr Salah, and it shook the entire community. Sadly, this incident is not isolated. And the fact of the matter is that across this country, we are hearing these Islamophobic attacks, this verbal and physical display of blatant bigotry and racism, that many of us have been totally and completely unaccustomed to, generally speaking, living in this great and free country. And ever since this president has been elected, in fact, even before he was elected

throughout his campaign, as you all know, he made it a point to vilify Islam. He literally said, I think Islam hates us. And he made this a campaign slogan. And he was elected on the basis of his bigotry, and xenophobia and racism and arrogance and bullying, and we see the effects trickling down right now, in another incident as well. Also in Milwaukee. In another incident, a man attacked his Arab neighbors house, hijab, the lady was alone in the house throwing bricks in and she calls 911. And he enters the house, she runs to the neighbor's house, the police come and as he's being arrested the interviews online, you could watch it as he's being arrested. Do you know what this man

says? I thought this is what Trump wanted us to do.

I thought this is what Trump wanted us to do. I'm a patriotic citizen.

With this mentality, brothers and sisters, it is not surprising that a lot of us American Muslims are feeling a type of trepidation, a type of fear, perhaps even paranoia. For the first time. Some of us might even be thinking of moving not overseas across the border to Canada but still moving nonetheless. My God, Luca Trudeau, subhanAllah Alhamdulillah, Allah Allah, Allah, Allah, what can we say? Contrast that to sama it will be night and day.

But the Canadian coals are too much for me. I'll stick right here for now for now.

For the first time, we're seriously considering the situation is so bad for us here. So today's short comments, brothers and sisters, I want to inspire all of us in light of the seerah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, I want us to be renewed rededicated achieve some optimism and courage by extracting some lessons and benefits from the life and trials of the first generation and especially of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and I'm going to mention five or six points in sha Allah that we can benefit from point number one. Our religion has commanded us that we always be optimistic and think the best thoughts of Allah and of the future. I

Our religion commands us that no matter what happens, we think the best and we put our trust in Allah that whatever is happening is happening for the best, even if we don't understand it. One of the most painful incidents in the Sierra of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was the slander of Arusha you all know the story if you don't look it up or read about it very painful incident, one of the lowest of the lows the slander of Ayesha, an evil vile slander was uttered about our noble, our chaste mother. And when the incident finished, Allah revealed Sudha Lhasa. And in Sudha Tala Zab Allah says, don't think that those who cause the slander and all that resulted is evil, for you know

better, who are Hyrule Lakhan whatever happened, it is for your own benefit and good. In other words, the good that will come out of this incident will far outweigh the evil Subhanallah an innocent, chaste lady, the greatest of all ladies alive at the time, our mother, the mother of believers, our Prophet systems wife, she is slandered in a vile, despicable manner. And Allah says once the incident is over, don't think it was for your detriment. Overall, what's gonna happen is gonna happen for the good Belle who are hired hola calm. This is the attitude that we have. Whatever happens brothers and sisters, we are in the hands of Allah subhanho wa taala. Whatever happens Allah

is in control. Colin, you see Dinah in LA, Khattab, Allahu La Nina. Whatever happens, Allah says, know that Allah has destined it for you who are Molana, he loves you, He cares for you, he shall protect you. So if you know that Allah is your Mohler, and if you know that everything happens by his other than do not feel depressed, do not feel despondent, do not despair. And look at the bright side after the Battle of God. When over 70 companions were martyred, including the uncle of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Hamza, and the Muslims were demoralized. And the Muslims were depressed, they're going back to Medina, tired, fatigued, lost 70 of their relatives and loved ones.

They've never suffered a setback like what does Allah say in the Quran, Wallah to Hindu, Wallah, Tyson who were untrammeled, don't,

don't worry, don't be in grief, and you will be the victors next time around. Don't worry, and don't be in grief, you shall win in the end of the day. Why? Because the truth is on our side, so it doesn't matter who's on the other side. When we err on the side of truth and justice, then Allah is on our side. And if Allah is on your side, then it doesn't matter who's on the other side, as Allah says in the Quran, in Jung Soo qumola who follow Hadith? If Allah is going to help you, no one can defeat you. So my first point brothers and sisters, do not despair. Do not grieve, do not become despondent, be optimistic, and put your trust in Allah. There is a wisdom even if I don't see it

today. I will see it tomorrow. Which leads me to my second point, what are some of these wisdoms? Why would such evil become rampant? Why are we being tested in this way? Many reasons can be said of them. Brothers and sisters, the Quran is very clear. One of the reasons why we are tested one of the main reasons why troubles happen and inflictions occur, whether they're of a personal nature, or of a societal nature, is that when we are in trouble, we discover our religion, and our Lord and our Creator. At times of distress, we call out to Allah subhana wa Tada. As Allah says, In the Quran, when they're about to drown, they make dua to him. When they're in suffering and pain, they make dua

to him. Allah never criticizes discovering Allah at times of distress. The criticism is to then forget about Allah wants to distress is over. It's human nature. When was the closest you ever were to Allah asked this question. And the response will be when I was suffering a severe tragedy when my son was sick when I had no money, no help and I had to turn to Allah. That's when my Eman was the strongest. So of the wisdoms brothers and sisters is these trials, these difficulties, they wake us up, they encourage us to come closer to Allah subhana wa Tada. And this leads me to my third point, at times of political strife, an amazing thing happens, the Muslim ummah begins to unite. And that

is one of the main goals of Islam. We've seen this for those of you who are old enough to remember America pre 911. Unfortunately, Muslims in America were very much divided on

ethnic lines, racial lines. A sad reality is that there was a big divide between immigrant Islam and between African American Islam, pre 911, not just immigrant versus African American with an immigrant Islam, you had the Arabs here that this is here, not even Arabs indices, you had the Philistines and Egyptian separate the Bengalis, and the Buxton is separate. But what happened after 911, we realized we needed each other, we form bonds, it's not perfect, there's still a long way to go. But after 911, we realized we need to unite together to combine our strengths. And we're seeing this more and more brothers and sisters, that as we recognize, as we recognize that we face a huge

problem, we face a rising Islamophobia industry, that is spending literally $85 million. We're facing Islamophobes that are in the White House. Now. We realize that along with the help of Allah, we need each other. So for the very first time and Hamdulillah we are building bridges between communities, there's a long way to go, we all recognize that, but at hamdulillah ethnicities are becoming meaningless. Now, even some theological issues, we realize this is not the time and place to split fine hairs over advanced issues of theology. So this is a positive, had it not been for that negative, we would not have seen this positive. And it is an essential positive to form bridges

of unity together, along with Unity brothers and sisters. And by the way, the Battle of budget is the classic example. When the MaHA Judoon and the Ansari for the first time they had to unite against the Quraysh. That was a very big deal. Before this time, they had never united the Quraysh the Horatia had attacked, as you know, and the Ansari had not signed up to wage war against the Quraysh. But the answer realized the Prophet system needs us then we'll hide you don't need us. And they joined hands and together because they joined forces. And Allah mentions in the Quran explicitly, when you combine together, when you unified then Allah subhanaw taala gave you victory.

So in the face of the oppression of Quraysh, in the face of the election of these bigots and Islamophobes we American Muslims realize we need to unify our ranks, and that is a positive of the positives as well, brothers and sisters, is that in this unity when we come together, we form special bonds. We form brotherhood, a hula hula is strengthened the Muslims who converted early Islam, the Muslims who migrated to Abyssinia, the Muslims who were under the boycott, each one of these Muslims, they form special bonds with each other. When you're in times of pressure, when you're in times of trouble, then all of a sudden, you're a hook, your brotherhood and sisterhood

reaches unprecedented levels. And those bonds are important. They are needed for the survival of an Oma. So during these times of difficulty, not only are we unifying, we are also strengthening those ties. And this leads me to my next point, in the face of adversity, in the face of trials and tribulations in the face of obstacles, we Muslims are going to have to learn how to surmount those obstacles, how to climb over those difficulties. In other words, we're going to have to get out of our comfort zone. We're going to have to get on the front lines and become activists, we're going to have to know what do I do with the media? What do I do with my Islamophobic? Neighbor? What do I do

with a negative comment at work? We're going to have to become active for the sake of Allah, we're forced out of our comfort zone. And guess what? That is a positive. That is a positive, because life is too short to live only for the dunya. It's as if this Islamophobia this negativity is prodding us go do something, go stand up, go get involved in your masjid, go write letters to your editor, do this and do that. And so Muslims are discovering the importance of activism and Hamdulillah. Brothers and sisters, we see this all across the country. We see Muslims, especially young Muslims asking, What can I do? How can I chip in we have people who are far from Islam, they were not

practicing Islam. But because of the recent incidents, whether it was a person of Islamic phobic attack, whether a cousin was denied boarding, whether this happened or that happened, they realized we're all in this together, I need to do something to help. And so in facing this tragedy, and facing this negativity, Muslims have to bring out the positive of their religion, and they have to become activists, and that is a great positive in the face of these negatives. Yet another positive brothers and sisters a very strange positive but it is there nonetheless. Yet another positive that exists is that at times of trouble and at times

of tribulation, especially political trouble, an amazing thing happens.

The righteous become more righteous, and the wicked or the evil or the hypocrites demonstrate their hypocrisy you see, of the greatest threats to any community are those whom you think are a part of the community, but they're not a part of the community. The Quran calls them when alpha code, these are the greatest threats. And in the Battle of Muhammad. Allah explicitly mentions that one of the biggest positives that occurred, even though 70 People had to lose their lives. Allah explicitly mentions and sweat out Emraan that have the greatest positives, is that you recognize the dangers of the hypocrites.

You saw the reality of these people when you needed them most. They turn their backs and they walked back to Medina knowing you will be left in your situation. And Allah says, that's why I had offered Lee Amis Allahu Habib them in a year. So I can separate the pure from the impure, the good from the filthy. If you look at what's happening now brothers and sisters, and of course, I'm not gonna mention names, but there are always your token, Uncle Tom's, if you like, Malcolm X had a harsh phrase for them. He talked about the house and the slave, outside field slave, the house slave and the field slave. And he said there's a difference between the House and the field.

We see this reality right here. And now. There are people born in Muslim families with Muslim names. And yet when you hear them speak, they're justifying each and every xenophobic act and Islamophobic policy. You see them all the time. They're the ones that come on Fox News every few days. They're the ones that Bill Maher and others like to interview. These are the people with Muslim sounding names. And yet they're the ones saying yes, you should profile the Muslims. Yes, Islam is evil. Yes, this Yes, that. So guess what we needed the rise of Donald Trump and his ilk to show us who our true friends are and who our true allies are versus our internal enemies.

And this leads me to yet another benefit to yet another benefits.

Leadership, and God knows we need leaders. Leadership is only formed in the thick of battle in the thick of difficult circumstances. And this isn't an Islamic principle only. Of course, it applies to the prophets and everybody that we know in our tradition. It's not just an Islamic principle, leaders are formed when they do things that are right at very unpopular times. Leaders are formed when they're politically incorrect for the sake of truth and justice. Look at Gandhi. Look at Martin Luther, look at Nelson Mandela. These people said truths that were politically incorrect for the time. And yet, even though they were imprisoned as we know, Nelson Mandela was declared a terrorist

by Margaret Thatcher and by Ronald Reagan. They both considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist. Why? Because he spoke out against the apartheid regime of South Africa.

How did Nelson Mandela gain that leadership in his people such that when he ran for office as the president, he won with a landslide election, Martin Luther King when he was alive, we know what the FBI thought of him. We know what our own government thought of him, but now there is a national holiday that we all celebrate in his honor. How, because leaders are formed in such difficult times. So we're going to see in the next few years, who our true leaders are, and we're going to see who the uncle tomboys are the ones who go to Fox News are the ones who are invited there and their and their pockets become fatter and fatter, and they become more popular with the people on top but they

lose their respect and credibility amongst the masses. We're going to see that and we're going to see our allies as well and we're going to see our leaders as well. And of the benefits brothers and sisters and with this inshallah we will conclude time is up of the benefits and perhaps this is of the greatest benefits. Allah says in the Quran for in number three, use run in the manners to use wrong with every difficulty shall be ease and then another ease along with it. With every pain, there's going to be some good with every suffering, there's going to be some benefit. We firmly believe that no negative happens, except that there are more positives that come out than the

negative. And look, we elected one of the worst xenophobes and bigots that has ever run for office. And he put in a cabinet that is effecting policies that are raised

cysts that are arrogant, that are xenophobic. And yet, how did the people react? What happened in the places of worship in the mosques that people want to support? What happened at airports when Trump announced he's going to ban Muslims from seven countries, mass protests in over 100 airports across this country?

That type of good will only come when there's an excessive evil and we see this in the Sierra as well. How did Tom convert? Because he crossed the Red Line because he did something he shouldn't have done with his sister and his brother in law. He was physical with them. Then he realized, whoa, that's not right. How did Hamza convert because Abuja Hall went too far. Sometimes when people go too far, yes, we suffer, but then other people step in and they become their friends, their allies, their supporters, and we no need those friends and allies and supporters in our struggle ahead. All of these brothers and sisters are positives, and we firmly believe that the positives are going to

outweigh the negatives brothers and sisters My time is up, but it has been my sunnah for the last three years when I conclude an Akena talk, so this is an IT can Asuna only that I do. It has been my sunnah for the last three years that are always conclude my talks here with a joint tech veer that is meant to signal and that is meant to indicate that in our hearts, there is no one we fear other than Allah, that in our hearts, there is no one we who we have our loyalty to unconditionally other than Allah subhanho wa Taala the point of the tech bill when we say Allahu Akbar, we are announcing to the entire world that I fear no more toe than I'm scared of no man, nobody has power to harm me

or to benefit me except Allah subhanho wa taala. So in this largest gathering of Muslims, I have been told there are over 10,000 people here, I want a tech via that is so loud that Donald Trump is going to be shaking in his pants. I want a tech bill that is so loud that Fox News will understand no matter how much they smear us, we are not going to be cowed down, nor shall we be silenced. I want a tech bill that's going to announce our presence to the rest of the world. We are here where American Muslims and we're going to stay here Are you ready for such a tech be your brothers and sisters?

That could be

louder tech

one last time we're gonna make the walls of this auditorium shake duck. Allah

does not come a low Harrison