How To Build A Strong Muslim Identity In Today’s Society | Surah Al Kahf

The Test of Social Pressure

The deception of following the crowd, the test in your deen, the test in your values. Allah starts with this because most people will be tested by this, by the pressure, the social pressure around them — and the least people will be tested by power. How many of us have ever experienced power? We all experience it to limiting levels, but all of us experience the pressure from the world around us.

Young Men Who Believed

The story of seven young men — or eight young men, or six young men, we'll come to that in a moment. When Allah introduces these people and introduces the story, Allah says they were young men who believed in Allah. Usually Allah starts by saying they were believers who were also young men, but this time He flipped.

He started by saying they were young men because it is exceptional. It is not likely, not normal, not usual for a young person — with all their distractions and their energies and their temptations — to stand up for what's true and stand up for their values.

Allah respects that. He knows it's hard, and so in order to honor them, the first thing He mentions is the quality that many of us don't realize is important. Even though they were young, they had firm certainty in Allah.

Whoever begins to take the effort towards Allah despite whatever is around them, Allah is going to make things easy for them. These young men live in a society — a pagan society, a society where people don't worship Allah and they don't live by the values of monotheism, the values of justice, the values of fearing Allah, the values of mutual harmony, the values of respect. They don't live by these values.

They live by different values. What are these young men supposed to do? The way we know a young person usually — a young person goes with the flow. They're pressured easily. They don't like to stand up for what's right. They don't like to be different from everybody else. When they study this in school, they call this peer pressure — the pressure from the people around you — because young people are molded by their environments.

So this is a terrible environment for them to be in. It's an environment where if they folded like a pack of cards, if they give up, they will just be like everybody else. What is the lie that we are told? "Everybody else is doing this. Are you going to be different? Everybody's doing this. Are you going to stand out, stick out like a sore thumb?" as they say. This deception, this lie is given to these young men, but they don't take it. They don't gulp it.

Integration or Disintegration?

And Allah says: when they realized that they wouldn't be able to live in that society and practice their values, they knew they had to find a cave. People in this country say the Muslims don't integrate into society — they have their own masajid, their own ways of life, their own little communities. "We want them to integrate better into society."

One of my teachers put it well: why would I integrate into something that is disintegrating? Why would I join something that's breaking apart? One in three young girls in this country are harming themselves with a sharp object due to depression and anxiety. One in three old people are dying due to loneliness. Why would I want to integrate? I would rather set up something better and allow my children to live on those values.

And so this is the thing — these young men, they don't integrate. They don't assimilate. They don't lose their values. "We're going to find a cave, a safe place, and we are going to live there upon our values."

Unity in Difficult Times

One of the important points we learn about these young men, these young people, is they were united. When you have a terrible environment — an environment of polytheism, of the worst values — you don't have the luxury to be divided. To be divided is a luxury. To have the luxury to have a conversation and say, "You know what, you're praying this way, I should be praying that way. Why did you do this?" — you don't have the luxury.

In situations like this, when the Palestinian conflict is taking place, Muslims are united on this matter, and you don't see them getting distracted by small things, because they say: look, there's a bigger problem at stake, let's focus on this. So they unite. But if we are to be divided — when you have such a pressuring environment — you will break internally. You will lose your younger generation. They were together.

Strategic Planning

They find a cave, they plan strategically. One thing very important about these young men: when they are in that environment where they are the minority of the minority, they plan everything meticulously and carefully. First example of that — they go looking for a safe place where they can't be found, a cave far from these people. Second thing, when they wake up, the first thing that is said is: "How long have you been sleeping for? What time is it?" They're aware of their surroundings. They're not dubious. They're not lost. They're aware exactly of what's happening around them.

It's very important for young people in this country and in any country to be aware of politics, to be aware of history, to be aware of the law, to be aware of what's going on — so that you can plan carefully. "How do I preserve my values?" One of them says to the other: "Go and look for food. Be careful, be alert, be cautious. Nobody should know where you're going. If they find you, they will stone you to death. They might criminalize you, they might legally prosecute you — and then the game will be over."

So this planning element is very important. Many times Muslims we say, "We just trust Allah" — this means, in plain English, we're going to do something with no planning. You park the car on double yellow lines. "Brother, double yellow lines!" "No, brother." You wake up and someone says, "Brother, maybe you should apply for a job." "No, the bird's going to come and drop the money on the doorstep." This idea — this is an abuse of it. It's an insult to this word.

Tawakkul is to take all of the means, to plan, to strategize — and then you say, "Now I trust Allah." Not to sit back and do nothing. So these young men, they plan. They choose a place. They choose a time of night to escape. They're aware of their surroundings, of the consequences of their actions.

Making Du'a to Allah

But the most important thing is to make du'a to Allah. Because these young men realized something very important: no matter how many they are, and no matter how many means they take, if Allah does not will it, it will not happen.

When they reach this cave, the first thing they do is they make du'a:

"O Allah, grant us mercy from Yourself, and guide us — because we don't know exactly where we are going."

So Allah blesses them. Allah looks after them. But He looks after them in a way they never expected. Maybe they expected the laws of the country would change. Maybe they expected that this far-right king who was anti-Islam would be replaced by someone. They thought many things. How did Allah solve their problem? He put them to sleep. They never expected that.

Sometimes the solution Allah gives you, the protection He gives you, is not the one you expected. Many people make du'a to Allah for a wife. Allah grants them something they didn't expect. One time a brother was saying to me: "I made a lot of du'a for Allah to grant me a spouse. Instead of granting me a spouse, one of my relatives passed away and I had to look after their child." I said: "Good. See, Allah helped you skip a step. You don't need the wife — you went straight to becoming a father. MashaAllah. Now you can look after the children." Allah sometimes gives you the thing you never expected. But as long as it came from Him, you should be content with it.

Standing Up and Speaking the Truth

One of the greatest things about these young men: they showed something to Allah, so Allah showed them what He was able to do.

إِذْ قَامُوا فَقَالُوا — they stood up and they spoke the truth to the king of their time, to the authorities of their time. This idea of kalimatul haqq — one of the greatest forms of obedience to Allah — to speak the truth to a tyrant, as it comes reported in the hadith:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4344; also reported in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2174)

This idea of al-qiyam bil-haqq — young people in these kinds of environments fall under pressure. They cannot stand up for their values. And so the fact that they stood up for their values, they held tight even though they were swimming against the current — this is the reason why Allah blessed them in so many different ways.

إِذْ قَامُوا فَقَالُوا رَبُّنَا — He said: "Our Lord. رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ — Lord of the heavens and the earth. لَن نَّدْعُوَا — no compromise. We will never make du'a to anything other than Him. We will never worship anyone other than Him. If we did, we have said a great lie. These people we are with, our surroundings, our society — they have taken other gods than Allah. Why don't they bring some proof? Because who is greater in error than someone who lies about Allah?"

This speech they give in the court of the king, in front of the public — this is not the speech of someone defensive, someone saying, "You know, Islam is about peace, and Islam really is such a lovely religion — tolerance, we can all hold hands." We are scared. We are terrified of speaking the truth about what Islam is. We are terrified about our values. We don't have the confidence. And these young men had the confidence. That's so important. If you don't have the confidence, then you will start to compromise. "You know, it's okay — you don't let me pray five times a day, I'll pray twice a day. Is that okay with you? Can we agree? Can we come to the middle? Can we split the difference?"

This negotiation tactic never works. They say: never split the difference. Never meet in the middle. If you have something and it's worth some value, stand by your value. Our values are clear.

Knowing Where to Draw the Line

One of the most important points in this society — in any society — is to know where to draw the line, and to say: "I will not compromise beyond this line." Salatul Jumu'ah — no way. My prayers — no way. You can call the bosses bosses — but the King of all kings is on my side. This is the mindset that allowed these young men to prosper.

When they took a stand, they took a stand by their values, and Allah blessed them by changing the laws of physics for them. When they went to this cave and they slept in this cave, Allah made it such that they slept for hundreds of years. But whenever the sun would rise, Allah would ensure the rays of the sun did not harm them. And whenever the sun would set, He would ensure the rays of the sun did not harm them.

If you take a stand for the sake of Allah, Allah will change the laws of physics in order to serve you, in order to protect you, in order to guide you.

The Gift of Inner Strength from Allah

If you want that confidence, that strength to stand by your values — you need a gift from Allah. It's interesting how everything starts in the heart and everything ends in the heart. Allah describes the hearts of these young men. Allah says: "I tied their hearts together. I gave them that confidence. I gave them that strength. Without Me, they would have completely faded away."

Allah also talks about the mother of Musa: "If I did not give her that inner strength, she would have fallen. She would have given up Musa to the guards."

There are moments in history — the pivotal points in history. The moment in which Abu Bakr and Muhammad, صلى الله عليه وسلم, are in the cave and a group of assassins is right above them. All of history can switch in that moment. The moment in which the mother of Musa is standing with a baby and the guards are knocking at the door — this moment, if she passes him on to the guards, the course of history changes.

In these pivotal moments, it is about taking a stand and about the guidance from Allah to have the inner strength to stand up for what you believe in, to have a clear stance, to not mince your words, to not mince the message.

Allah Does His Work

Allah intended for them to escape. When they wake up after hundreds of years and one of them sneaks out to go and buy some food — what do they find? The society has all embraced Islam. The society embraced Islam while they were asleep. They never expected that while they were asleep, Allah would get the job done — because they thought: we are the ones who have to go and make the change.

Sometimes we overestimate our role. We overestimate our job. We have to always remember: while the Pharaoh of Egypt was in his palace, Allah was preparing the one who was going to free Bani Israel — inside his palace. While these people were sleeping, Allah was doing His work and sponsoring the truth and changing society.

Allah does His work. We can either be means for that, or we can be observers on the sidelines. But Allah is the One who does the work. That's why Allah says towards the end of the story:

"All of this — why did I do all of this? Why did I send them to the cave, make them sleep, make them wake up, change the laws of physics? I wanted them to know one thing for sure: when Allah promises something, it will come true."

Sometimes in your life, Allah will show you these kinds of situations so you can become certain — the promise of Allah always comes true. It may take 300 years. It may take three seconds. But Allah does not leave His promise.

A Message to the Muslim Community

As a Muslim community, as a minority within a minority, we have to bring up our children upon the confidence of these seven, eight, nine, six young men — we don't know how many there were. We have to bring them up to be able to speak the truth without compromising the message, to be true to their identity. And all of that starts with them knowing who Allah is, and being willing to give everything for Allah — their commitment towards Allah. And all of that begins with us as parents, because they watch, they imitate — they don't listen.

And all of that ends with one very important point: wherever there be a small group of Muslims — oppressed, kicked out, exiled, hijab ban, niqab ban, salah ban — do what you wish. Allah's word will always eventually succeed. That is His promise.

Enjoy your five years of hijab ban. Enjoy your fifty years of occupation. Enjoy your hundred years of oppression. Eventually, the tables will turn.