Make It Happen

Make It Happen

All praise is due to Allah, and His praise and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his family, his companions and his followers until the Day of Judgment. I bear witness that Allah is the only one worthy of worship, and Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is His last and final messenger.

My dear brothers and sisters, today I would like to speak to you about someone from Pakistan — someone who many people don't know much about. But this man contributed a lot. But before I take you all the way to Pakistan, I would like to take you to Baghdad first. I would like to take you not only into Iraq, but I would like to take you back in time — to the time of Imam Ahmad rahimahullah.

The Trial of Imam Ahmad

Imam Ahmad rahimahullah, for 20 years, was tortured by rulers. He was under house arrest, he was arrested, he was threatened to be killed, he was prosecuted unfairly, he was not allowed to teach, he was not allowed to speak. It was unbelievable — the amount of difficulties that he had to deal with over the course of 20 years rahimahullah.

Imam Ahmad rahimahullah, after that, became عَلَمٌ مِنْ أَعْلَامِ أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ — one of the most recognized names in Islamic history. To such an extent, it was said by some of the ulama:

Allah saved the deen after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam twice: يَوْمَ الرِّدَّةِ بِأَبِي بَكْرٍ، وَيَوْمَ الْمِحْنَةِ بِالْإِمَامِ أَحْمَد — the day of al-riddah, when people after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam passed away and many Arab tribes left Islam, and Abu Bakr brought them back; and when many people deviated from the Sunnah during the Abbasid period, and Imam Ahmad brought them back.

The Man in the Dark Cell

Imam Ahmad rahimahullah was watched carefully by people. And one time, people noticed that he always mentioned a man by the name of Abu al-Haytham. He would say: اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِأَبِي الْهَيْثَمِ، اللَّهُمَّ ارْحَمْ أَبَا الْهَيْثَمِ.

Then his son Abdullah said, "My father, I always hear you talking about Abu al-Haytham — in your salah, at random times, you pray for him. Who is Abu al-Haytham? This is someone whose face I have never even seen."

Imam Ahmad said: "It was one of those very dark nights. And in jail, it's so dark — no light. I didn't even see who was there. But I knew, in the corner, there was the voice of a man who told me: 'I am Abu al-Haytham. And I am well-known in this prison — because I always get caught. I steal things, I break the laws. I am a regular customer of the prison, زَبُونٌ دَائِمٌ فِي السِّجْنِ. Everybody knows me as Abu al-Haytham. I do a lot of bad things and I always get caught — sometimes drinking, sometimes robbing people, terrorizing people, gang — you name it.'"

"'Over the course of the years, I was lashed 18,000 times — which means I was caught a lot. And I say to you, Ya Ahmed, I am so strong — I don't bend my back. I deal with these guards with full confidence. And I am upon falsehood. I didn't show them any kind of weakness — and I am upon haram. I am doing things which are wrong.'"

"'Ya Ahmed, you are upon the truth. Ya Ahmed, you are holding up the religion. You are holding up the Sunnah. Don't show them your weakness. Be strong. They are going to torture you — this jail is known for that. Be strong.'"

Imam Ahmad said: "What concerns me the most is that I am worried about the lashing — I am worried that I cannot take it. And after a while, I will give up. I will tell them what they want to hear."

Abu al-Haytham said: "Don't worry. The hardest one is the first one, or maybe the first couple. And after that, your skin will go numb. Don't worry — that's the easy part."

Imam Ahmad said: "Nothing gave me support like this man. No one supported me like this man. No one brought me strength like this man. So I always remembered — I am doing this for the sake of Allah. And he was doing it for the haram. And he was patient and strong. So I will be even more strong. It's just the first couple. It's just the beginning. And after that, it will get easier." And that's how it was.

Be at Least Abu al-Haytham

My brothers and sisters, I'm not suggesting — but if you can be an Imam Ahmad, at least be a Abu al-Haytham. But don't steal. Don't be a thief. In other words, if you cannot be an Imam Ahmad, a famous Imam with all this knowledge, at least be that person who supports. At least be that person who feels: "I can contribute." Don't ever look down upon yourself. Don't think that you cannot do anything and cannot contribute.

Allah says in the Quran about the believing man from the family of Pharaoh:

"A believing man from the family of Pharaoh who concealed his faith said: Do you kill a man merely because he says my Lord is Allah?" — Who was that man? Nobody knows his name. Yet he stood up and made a difference.

And in Surah Yasin, Allah sent three messengers to a town. Yet a man came running from the far end of the city and he supported the three messengers. He didn't say: "They have three messengers — who needs me?"

The Man from Pakistan

And now let's take you to Pakistan. A man in Pakistan decided that he would dedicate his wealth, his money, and his time to spread the Quran in Pakistan. He said: "I want to take the level of teaching the Quran to another level. I want to go where the Quran was revealed." So he went all the way to Mecca, looking to bring teachers from Mecca to go to Pakistan and teach the Quran. And he said: "I will pay whatever it takes. I will provide whatever they want."

He went to Mecca, and at that time, the Imam of Mecca was Shaykh Abdul Zahir al-Samih, from Egypt. He was the Imam of the Haram but he was sick and did not show up that day. So our man prayed behind whoever was leading the salah that day — a random person. He said that man's Quran was terrible. He said he made so many mistakes that he had never remembered praying behind someone who made that many mistakes.

He said: "I came to Mecca for Quran teachers — and that is the kind of Quran they have here? What a shame." So he decided then and there to start a very solid program to teach the Quran in Mecca.

Shaykh Khalil al-Qari

He went back to Pakistan to a shaykh he knew — Shaykh Khalil al-Qari. He said: "I want you to go to Mecca and start teaching." Shaykh Khalil said: "No, no — Mecca? I'm in Pakistan. I'm not going to Mecca. Mecca has its own." He said: "No. It's a shame that in Mecca, the land of the heart of Islam, we don't have good Quran — and you are the best Qari in the country."

He convinced him until he agreed. He moved him and his entire family to Mecca. And Shaykh Khalil became the Imam of a masjid near the Bin Laden family's area, not far from the Haram.

A Chain of Luminaries

Shaykh Khalil had a student who became exceptionally skilled and memorized the Quran very quickly. That student was none other than Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ismail, who later became the head of Shu'un al-Haramayn — the head of both the Two Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina, and the senior Imam there. He was a student of Shaykh Khalil.

Then a young Yemeni man loved Shaykh Khalil's recitation and studied under him. Later, he became one of the most recognized voices ever to lead salah in Mecca — Shaykh Ali Jaber rahimahullah — and one of the most incredible people in memorization. They said that over the course of 40 years of his life leading prayer, you could not count even on one hand how many mistakes he made in qira'at.

Then another family came to Shaykh Khalil, from Burma. They said: "We have a son whom we would like to invest in, and we heard you are the best Quran teacher." They brought their son to him, and he studied under him until he became one of the most recognized voices leading salah in Medina. He later became one of the Imams of Madinah.

So from Shaykh Khalil's students came people who led salah in Mecca, led salah in Medina, and thousands upon thousands of Imams — all by the grace of Allah, and through a man who dedicated himself to teaching the Quran. But what is so unique is the man whose name we don't even know — the Pakistani businessman who started it all.

And when these shuyukh — Shaykh Ali Jaber, Shaykh ibn Ismail, and others — were asked who taught them the Quran, they would say: Shaykh Khalil from Pakistan, and they gave him the credit.

The Halaqat al-Quran

One day, the people in Mecca said to Shaykh Khalil: "We would like you to supervise the Halaqat al-Quran." If you ever go to Mecca, you will find Quran circles in the Haram — he is the one who started that. It became an official, legislated structure, and was replicated in Medina.

And one day he visited Medina to ensure that the Quran circles were organized. An Egyptian scholar heard him teaching and said: "That is a beautiful recitation. I love your Quran." They spoke, and the scholar invited him back to his hotel. He said: "By the way, I didn't get your name?" He said: "My name is Muhammad Siddiq al-Minshawi." And he took Shaykh Khalil to meet Shaykh Abdul Basit and Shaykh Ismail — the greatest Quran reciters of Egypt — and he praised him before them.

Just a businessman who wanted to invest in the right way.

Be a Means of Goodness in 2025

Let's make this year, the year of 2025, a year where you say: "I want to contribute. I want to plant the seed for something good." Sometimes you can reach the highest goals in Jannah through your own deeds. But Allah has made another way as well — through helping others, being the means of goodness, and having that goodness work for your akhirah.

May Allah make us among those who hear the speech and follow the best of it.

أَقُولُ مَا سَمِعْتُمْ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَحْدَهُ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى مَنْ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ، أَمَّا بَعْد

Second Khutbah: Make Things Happen

Make sure, my brothers and sisters, that we are among those who make things happen — not just those who watch things happen, or even worse, those who ask "what happened?" You don't want to be among those.

Love the truth. Love the khayr. Even if you are so deep in the haram, so deep in the wrong — love the khayr. Don't lose that love. Because that is the rope you will hold on to one day, and it will pull you out.

Don't ever make doing khayr a justification for you to continue doing the haram. Don't say: "Okay, I'll donate a thousand dollars" — and use that to drug yourself into thinking you've compensated. You think you're doing it to avoid quitting the haram. No. Some of the salaf said: quitting one dirham of riba, of interest, is better than doing 70 hajj. So that should not justify continuing what is wrong. But at the same time, being involved in something not right should not stop you from doing something good while you are still striving to change.

Speak Up, Advise, Participate

Al-Hasan al-Basri was there. Then Mutarrif said: "Give advice to people." He said: "I am worried to say something that I don't practice 100%." And Mutarrif said: "And who does 100% of what he says? We all try." The shaytan would love that — because he will make no one speak, no one advise, no one participate. Everybody needs support. Everybody needs advice. Everybody needs help. Even Imam Ahmad needed the help of that man in the cell.

We need to learn how to help one another, especially those who are oppressed.

A Word on Our Oppressed Sister

With this, I want to mention at the end of my khutbah something that many masajid are speaking about today — our sister who has been in jail for so long. And regardless of the complications of her case, the amount of injustice is clear. She came, unfortunately, at the wrong time. May Allah bring relief to her soon. Ameen.

She is miskina. Unfortunately, there is no political will behind her. That is why there are so many Muslims today — if you notice — who have petitioned President Biden, before he leaves office, to reduce her sentence. A woman who reported that she was raped multiple times, tortured, accused of things with evidence that — I am not going to place myself in the role of the court — but at the very least, a little leniency should be shown for someone of her character. It has become a big political issue. There is no doubt that people like this deserve leniency and deserve to be helped.

May Allah make it easy for her. But at least knowing her name, knowing the complexity of her case, reading about it — that creates a level of awareness. I am not advocating for any kind of violence. A lot of people, by the way, have advocated violence in her name, which is wrong — and her own family has criticized that. If you remember, not long ago in Dallas, somebody did exactly that. That is not the way to help. The way to help is through legal means. Inshallah, we will post on our social media links to ways you can support her through her legal counsel, one of whom lives here in Houston with us.

In any case, my brothers and sisters, I hope this khutbah inspires us to always be part of goodness. May Allah forgive our sins and guide us to the best of His speech and actions.

Du'a