Love, Empathy, and Action: Transforming Lives Through Islam

Building Relationships and Softening Hearts

I'm not putting you under pressure to pray. So by building that relationship, alhamdulillah, and softening that image of Islam — because he had a bad experience. This same boy I got a chance to meet, an orphan. MashaAllah, he's finishing up his Masters or Bachelors in Hanafi Fiqh. SubhanAllah. At the university. Such a beautiful boy, finished his Hifz, and mashaAllah, became an alim. Alhamdulillah. Someone who was not following the deen at all.

And so there are many people around us who may be in similar experiences — who've turned away because something bad happened, and they're traumatized by that. So instead of continuously speaking ill about them, what we need to do is to build a relationship with them and bring them close to us. Honestly, it comes down to this: if there's muhabba and love, they will listen. And instead of trying to force anyone to follow the deen — which many parents unfortunately do, may Allah protect me and all of us other parents — the key thing is to make people fall in love with us. And once that happens, then everything else, insha'Allah, will follow suit.

Visiting the Refugee Camps — Jordan

We went to another home — this is a small little teeny tiny apartment that you see over here. These are what all the roofs look like in the refugee camp. Thousands and thousands of people live like this. And in this little house, I don't know exactly how many, but 9 children I think were staying there.

With just $10,000 — it was shocking — they had a ribbon-cutting ceremony. They said, come upstairs, there's a surprise for you. So we went there and there was a whole string with balloons. We cut it, and I was shocked. We were all shocked. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, fully furnished. It was such a respectable, beautiful, beautiful home. For $10,000.

The brother taking me around said, "You want to give a donation that leaves an impact? Do you realize what $10,000 can do for one family? The entire home, the level of confidence, the level of happiness you can give to an entire family of 9 kids — that mashaAllah, 'this is my home, come.' They were so excited to show us their home, and just for $10,000."

So many times we might be thinking, there are too many problems in the world — this is my own issue I dealt with. Brother, you cannot solve all the problems of the world. Allah never made you responsible for that. What you are responsible for is: if there is someone in front of you who asks you for money, don't say, "Brother, there are people dying in Africa." Right now you're not in Africa — you're here, and someone is asking you for food. So many times Shaytan does this to us. He says, "There are too many problems across the globe, you can't solve anything." No — you're not responsible for solving all the world's problems. You're responsible for at least trying to solve one problem, two problems, five problems. So this was a great example of a successful project — a small donation, and a house was built.

The Zaatari Camp — Cities Within Camps

We went onwards the next day to a much further refugee camp. Some of these camps — brothers, these are the largest refugee camps in the entire Middle East. And interestingly, as one brother reminded me yesterday: how many refugee camps are there in Europe? None. Only in the Muslim countries are there refugee camps — Muslims hosting Muslims as refugees. Some of these are massive. We're talking about 250,000 people. Entire cities. The Zaatari camp — they actually made walls of sand so no one can leave the camp. It's like a big jail, pretty much.

We couldn't get in because it takes about five days or so to even get approval. But they have their own system: stores, masajid, some sort of economy. But the issue is that once you're in, you're in. You can't leave. And naturally, the people running it are thinking, "These people are temporary, so we don't want to make them feel at home." They just want to make them feel —

One of the things we saw in the Zaatari camp is trailers. There are people with 4 to 5 families living in one trailer — siblings, cousins, and unrelated young men and women all in one trailer. That is a can of worms, to say the least. They shared with us some very sad stories, which I'm not going to mention here, but you can understand.

What they were saying is that to change someone's life forever is as simple as getting a separate trailer for a family. I asked, "How much is a trailer?" They said it can last about 15 years — about $4,500 to $5,000. That's it. $4,500 to $5,000, and you're giving an entire family their own home. That's something, subhanAllah, that Helping Hands has been working on.

The Mafraq Camps — On the Syrian Border

This is what we call the Mafraq camps, about two hours away, right on the border of Syria. We could see Syria — it was about a thousand feet away. At that border you have the Mafraq camp, which is basically scattered settlements that no government is taking responsibility for. The government's position is: "This is not official, so you're on your own."

So you have farmers with huge lands telling these refugees: "If you want to put your tent on our land, you can. You can work and pick tomatoes for us, or fruits or whatever else." Basically slave labor. "We won't bother you and we won't help you besides that."

What we saw, dear brothers, was something very shocking. You have literally palaces — four stories high — and right next to that, a hundred feet away, an entire area of 25 refugee tents. The kids coming out from the palace and the kids coming out from the camp would play soccer together. Then once it's over, one goes there and the other goes there. The dichotomy was shocking.

I'm not blaming those families. Honestly, we're just like that. We're not here to point fingers at anyone. But how many times are we leading a life that is so over the top compared to the people around us, and we never even think, "Hey, this house is so large — I need to at least feel some shame." And the Prophet ﷺ said:

"It is not befitting for a believer to go to bed satisfied while his neighbor next to him goes to sleep hungry." (Al-Adab al-Mufrad, Hadith 112; authenticated by Al-Albani)

You can't. It's not right. You have to feel the pain.

Muna — The Girl Who Shook Our Hearts

In this camp, they built, mashaAllah, a school. Dear brothers — education. What is the future of these kids if they don't know how to read, write, or speak? They don't know Qur'an, they don't know Seerah, they know nothing, because there is no education. So this was one supremely important effort that I feel we all need to be a part of — education.

Alhamdulillah, one of the sisters who lives in the camp, she's a teacher, and she teaches there — boys on one side, girls on the other side, in a small one-room schoolhouse. Very simple. I asked them, "How are you guys doing?" They said, "Very good." They sang a few nasheeds. The happiness and the joy, especially on the girls' faces — you could see they were so happy to study.

When we were about to leave, I told the brother, "Why don't we have one of the students speak?" So one girl from the back — Muna — she stood up and said, "Yes, I would love to speak." She was about 15 years old. And she gave this powerful, powerful speech that had all the imams literally turning to the sides of the wall, and some stepping out, to cry. It was such a powerful, emotional talk that shook us to the core.

She basically said: "I'm an orphan. I don't have a father to wipe my tears. I don't have a father to help me when everyone else has a father to take care of them. We've been suffering here with such difficulty." Then she said, "Look at my clothes — whether it's summer or winter, I've got the same thing. My mom and I have to share."

And then she said: "Many times my mom would ask me, 'Why did you come home sad?' Because I passed by a restaurant, and in my life I have never entered a restaurant. I see people going in and buying things and I can't buy anything. So obviously the sadness overtakes me, and my mother asks me what happened. And I have to tell her that I feel so bad that my life is such that I can't even buy something when everyone else can go into a restaurant."

And then she said something unbelievable. She said: "Many times there is food at home, on a plate. And my mother will tell me, 'Dear daughter, go ahead — you eat. I've already eaten.' And I eat whatever I can, and then I leave. And as I turn around to go to bed, I see her jump for it and start eating, because she has not eaten. She only told me that so I would eat." SubhanAllah. One plate.

And then she said: "We want school. This one-room schoolhouse teaches everyone from age 5 to 18 — how much can we really learn here? I want to go to school, but it costs money. I don't have money. It costs me $10 to take a school bus 20 kilometers to school. That is all I'm asking."

When the session ended, we walked out. And she was still crying in the corner — it wasn't an act. She kept on crying. So I told her, "I want to see where you live. Can I see?" She said yes and took me to her home. It was all open — a tent. Nothing there. She was saying how when it rains, everything floods in. And winter was coming.

I asked her: "Is there any need that you have?" She said, "The need I have is a bathroom." This is what served as her toilet — not a private ensuite, but one shared by multiple families. A hole in the ground, with flaps you had to hold closed with your hands. And the top was open, so if it was raining, it would rain on your head. If it was freezing outside, it was freezing in there too.

She said: "Our mother doesn't feel safe for any of us to use the bathroom alone. So she comes and stands outside, every single night." SubhanAllah. There were some toilets being delivered by Helping Hands that day, but the one destined for her had already been allocated. I asked: "How much does a toilet cost?" The toilet is a full structure — it has a shower head, a wash basin, a toilet itself, a light inside and outside connected to a solar panel, and a large water tank on a metal frame. The entire thing costs $2,000.

So when I asked her, "What's your biggest need in life?" she said, "Just a toilet." And repeatedly, every house we went to, we got the same answer: "The biggest thing that would change our life is if we could get a toilet."

So all of us, dear brothers — look at the bathrooms of our masjid. Look at the bathrooms of our rest areas. Look at the bathrooms of your local gas station. Look at the bathrooms of your own home. How often — 10 times a day we use a bathroom — do we realize what a blessing we have? A private lock and key. Not worrying about 10 people barging in. Protection from the cold and the heat. Warm water, cold water.

The Crisis of Water

Majority of these places, brothers — there's no running water. What they have are irrigation pipes for the farms. They use that dirty irrigation-pipe water — which is obviously not good for drinking — to wash their clothes, for showering, for everything. When it comes to drinking water, water has to be delivered.

We went to one home, sat down, and I asked, "What is your desire? How can we help you?" She said, "Please, can you give us water?" We said we're already delivering water. She said, "No, it's not enough." The brother asked why. She said, "Because we don't have any irrigation pipes nearby, there are no farms here. So everything we have, we just depend on whatever water you supply us — for washing, for clothes, for showering, for cooking, for everything."

Dear brothers — the way she was begging just to get water — no one should have to beg like that. When you and I just turn on the taps, brush our teeth, and let the water run for a minute, two minutes, three minutes — people would die for that. People would die for that. And that's why the Nabi ﷺ said:

"Do not be wasteful with water, even if you are on the banks of a flowing river." (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 425)

Even though the water is going right back into the river — make yourself accustomed to using less. Think about the people who don't have it. I remember a convert in Denver — subhanAllah. I was there after Fajr, he sat in the bayan. After Ishraq, he was making wudu. I saw him — he had done miswak, and then he had the water on a drip. A drip. And he was making wudu with it. I looked at him and said, "Brother, who taught you how to make wudu?" He said, "Oh, am I doing it wrong?" I said, "No — you're the only one here doing it right." Allah forgive us, how we make wudu. But that is the actual Sunnah — using as little as possible.

The Autistic Child and the Chain

We told Muna, "We'll give you the toilet." You could see the excitement on her face. But immediately she showed that she had concern for others too — she brought me a young girl. She said, "Can you please help her also? She's my neighbor. She has something on her eye." It was a cyst — some dirt had gotten in, it got inflamed. A fellow medical professional with us said it just requires a small incision to drain it and some antibiotics. But Muna's concern was: "I feel bad because my little friend here is getting bullied because she looks different." Something as simple as a small incision, and no one was there to do it.

One of the brothers was explaining the situation with physicians who want to volunteer. He said: "Your physician will come, look at all the problems, and say, 'You have this condition, you have that condition.' Then what? We don't need you to come and give us a list of diagnoses. We have doctors in our own city. We need money to pay those doctors. More than your labor, we need money — and we can hire four or five physicians and surgeons and take care of everything." The importance he was stressing was: don't do what you want to do — do what is needed. And what is needed, of course, is financial assistance delivered through a proper, sustainable procedure.

However, I will still say that it is absolutely important for physicians and non-physicians, men, women, and children, all to travel to regions like these across the globe — for the purpose of softening our hearts, for becoming grateful, and for understanding what life is actually about.

We went to another home and asked the mother, "What do you need?" Again: a bathroom. We said, "Okay. Please, can you wait in line? We've already given them out for today." She got so frustrated. She said, "I've been waiting for 10 years. 10 years I've been waiting in line to have a toilet."

So I said to the brother, "Please, can we just order one? Let's give her a toilet. How much — $2,000?" He said okay. It was Tuesday. I asked, "How long until the toilet gets delivered?" He said, "By Thursday morning." 48 hours. Just imagine — the power and the ability that every one of us here has, to bring a sudden change in an entire family's life within less than 48 hours with a simple $2,000 donation. That was empowering to see. Because usually we think, "I wish I could build a big madrasa, a big orphanage — I want to change the world, I need $200 million for that." We don't realize that simple, small things can change people's lives.

Then I asked, "Is there anything else you need?" Her husband walked in with their autistic child. He said, "Yes, we have one very big need." I asked what it was. He said, "Can you please give us a chain or something to tie our son at night? Because we have no doors, no zips, just an open tent, and he runs away. Three nights ago he got chased by a wild dog."

SubhanAllah — naturally, everyone started crying. Thinking about which American autistic child's parent ever has to say, "Can I get a chain?" We have early childhood intervention, all sorts of therapies. And here he's saying, "I just want a chain so my child doesn't get hurt by wild dogs." SubhanAllah. There is so much need for shukr, brothers. So much need for shukr.

Alhamdulillah — we said we'd take care of the toilet. For the chain, astaghfirullah, we were not going to get a chain. We said we would, insha'Allah, get a fence built around the home.

What was very nice about the group was that whenever people would come to us for help, the brothers would always say: "We are nobody. We have no control. We are simple, faqir humans just like you. You need to ask Allah. We heard what you said and we will try, but the Provider is not me or my organization — the Provider is Allah." That point was very good. In every single home it was always mentioned: turn to Allah, make dua, Allah will take care of your needs. "We've noted what you want, but don't bank on us — bank on Allah." That tarbiyah which I really appreciated about this group was constantly being given. No matter which house we went to, they would ask: "Are you doing your dhikr? Are you performing your salah?"

That girl Muna — I gave her the salawat cards that we have here. I said, "Listen, you are mashaAllah a great representative of your camp and you care about these people. Here are some cards. I want you to do dhikr every single day and hand them out to your classmates and neighbors." She said, "I'm going to do that within this refugee camp, but I'm also going to take a bus whenever I have the money and give them out at the big school." But then she told me something powerful. She said:

"I am pleased with Allah as my Lord, Islam as my religion, and the Prophet ﷺ as my Prophet." She said: "Don't worry — every single night before I go to bed, I still recite this." That was really touching. No matter how tough the situation may be, alhamdulillah — we are pleased with the will of Allah for us.

Another girl — a family of orphans. The older daughter, about 15, was teaching Qur'an to little kids. All of them, no shoes, barely clothes, in one hot room — and she's teaching them Qur'an. She's not a trained teacher, but her mother had taught her some Qur'an, so she was passing it on. We went to her house, met the family, and asked: "What is the greatest thing that you would want?" She said, "I would like to be able to go to school." I asked why she wasn't going. She said it costs about $10 for the bus to travel 20 kilometers, and they didn't have the money.

She works three days a week picking tomatoes — six to eight hours a day — and she gets a mere $10 for that. Did you hear what I said? Six to eight hours of picking tomatoes. Why? She said: "I work picking tomatoes three days a week so I can pay the bus fare to go to school two days a week." Let that sink in. Just for the bus, she's working three days picking tomatoes. A 12 or 13-year-old girl with her mother.

SubhanAllah — this is not the time for her to be picking tomatoes. This is the time for studying. But the means are not there. For all the youth who are listening to me — we say, "School is so hard, school is so boring." Astaghfirullah al-Azim. Do you understand that people your age on the other side of the world — what they would do to have one day of your life? The sacrifices they are going through just to get that education.

Names, Not Statistics

Dear friends, what I want this trip to do for all of us is to give a name to each person. These are not just statistics. They are genuine human beings with flesh and blood. They have a story. It is important for us to hear that story — to be able to empathize with their situations.

One family. Two disabled kids. An orphan mother sitting there. The shaykh walks in and says, "We have a group from America who want to donate. Please tell us what you want." Same answer: toilet. Okay, done. "What else?" "Nothing." Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. The brother was ready to give cash — whatever they wanted. And the answer was just: alhamdulillah.

So the brother asked her: "What are you saying alhamdulillah for? Look at what you have — you have nothing. Your kids are orphans, both of them are disabled." SubhanAllah — she got so upset. She said: "How dare you say that! I am saying alhamdulillah for the ni'mah of Islam. What could be a greater blessing than that? Why are you insulting me?" Islam is the biggest blessing we have. SubhanAllah — that hasbunallahu ni'mal wakeel, that tawakkul upon Allah, that reliance — we saw it constantly, mashaAllah.

A Hadith That Should Humble Every One of Us

Later on in the night in Amman, after we sat and heard success stories of lives that had been changed, one of the brothers mentioned a hadith. He said, the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Whoever among you wakes up in the morning secure in his dwelling, healthy in his body, and has food for his day — it is as though the entire world has been gathered for him." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2346)

Whoever wakes up — āminan fī sirbih — feeling peace at home, not afraid of being killed or attacked by an enemy. Number one. Number two — mu'āfan fī jasadih — he has good health in his body, he is able to walk. Number three — wa lahu qūtu yawmih — he has one day's food. How much, brothers? One day's food. Not the garage freezer, not the basement freezer, not the double fridge, not the pantry. Whatever leftover you brought from somewhere that is sitting on your kitchen table. One day's food. It is as though the entire luxuries of the world have been brought to your feet.

We are all not just kings — we are super kings. We are rulers of dynasties based on this hadith. How much Allah has given us.

The brother was also mentioning that he went to Turkey right after the earthquake with the organization. He said, "For six days I could not use a restroom. Six days. There was simply no place. So I just didn't eat." Then he said, "We slept in a car. I didn't understand what this hadith meant until I went there." He said even the Turkish army and police were waiting in line for us to give them food. There was nothing at all. And then in one tent, they gave a food packet to a man who begged for one more. After their insistence, they gave him another box. He went inside his tent and brought out 2,800 euros in cash. He said, "Take it." A millionaire, sitting on piles of money, who couldn't get a glass of water. And outside his tent — a white Bentley. His house had been completely destroyed. But he still had his Bentley. He was inside a tent.

The level of lessons we learn from this: do not take anything you have for granted. If Allah wills, all the money we have is of no use. Recently there was that cyber attack — one engineer made a mistake and entire bank accounts shut down, airports, financial institutions — about two months ago. In one second, Allah can bring you to your knees. This is something we must learn.

The Spirit of Sadaqah — Giving by Hand

Dear friends, before we get to our trip to Quds, I want to share two stories from the last night in Jordan. Some brothers had sent me money via Zelle and said, "Please give this to the fuqara over there." So, may Allah reward one of the brothers — he took me around for about four hours visiting different orphans in Amman.

I want to impress upon all of you the importance of this: it is not sufficient for us to just tap our credit card and say, "My zakat is being spent somewhere." Or to tap our credit card and get udhiya allocated overseas. We are missing the spirit and the soul of sadaqah. There is a whole dimension to taking an animal you have raised and love, putting a knife to it, and sacrificing it for the sake of Allah, then making meat packages and distributing them. There is a whole dimension to taking your hard-earned money, extracting the zakat from it, and going to hand it to people yourself. I encourage all of us to make some arrangement to do this. When you go overseas to wherever your family comes from — in every region all of you come from, there are enough places to give. Take your zakat and sadaqah, go to the homes of orphans and widows, and give it to them by hand, in a respectful manner. Listen to their story. Let your children watch what kind of life people are going through, and make them appreciate the blessings we have here in America.

I came to three orphans and their mother — they were so welcoming, with such beautiful character. They served me water and offered tea, living in a dilapidated house. Their father had died. The mother would leave at 6 a.m. and come back at 9 p.m. working in a water bottle factory. She had a job, alhamdulillah. But she would leave at 6 a.m. and not return until 9 p.m., and these three kids were alone at home all day.

I told them: "You are all orphans. But can I share something with you? You are far better off than thousands of people who have both their parents. Because as Ali r.a. mentioned — a true yateem is not the one whose parent has died. A true yateem is the one who has lost yateemul adab wal ilm — the one who has no etiquette and no knowledge. There are thousands of people in my country who live in gorgeous homes, 10 or 20 times larger than yours, with their parents and grandparents alive — and yet they have no concept of etiquette, no concept of how to greet guests, how to care for guests, how to greet their parents. You should thank your mother who has taught you this beautiful character."

And it is a reminder for all of us: let's not become so relaxed in our comfortable homes that we miss out on the most important thing — teaching etiquette, adab, and haya to our children. May Allah make all of us men and women of haya and adab, and allow us to teach and pass this on.

Allah Is Listening — Two Powerful Stories

Brothers, Allah is in control of all affairs. Everyone here has their own issues and problems. But understand — as they say in Urdu — there is sometimes a delay. An intentional delay, a ta'akhur from Allah in fulfilling your dua. But there is no such thing as a void, a darkness where Allah is not listening. Allah is listening, but He is intentionally waiting — because He wants you to continue drawing close to Him. If Allah gave you what you wanted immediately, you might never come back.

One person lost something and said, "Man, I don't know what to do — let me turn to Allah." So he started praying two rakats of Salat al-Hajah. In the middle of the first rakat, Shaytan — who of course doesn't want you to pray — immediately reminded him where the missing item was. Right then, he broke his salah and went to get it. This is how we act. If Allah were to give us immediately what we want, our ibadah would stop right there. How many people are coming to the masjid because of their problems? And as soon as Allah takes their problems away — then the path to the masjid, they sometimes forget.

Someone sent me money via Zelle after I shared how my day had gone. They said, "Can you please give sadaqah to someone on my behalf?" Couple hundred dollars. I said okay. I planned to go out the next morning. It was 10 p.m. So I walked out of the store — and right there, a man approached me. He said, "Ya akhi?" I said, "Yes, what's up?" He said, "Brother, I need some help." I asked for what. He said, "I need simlek — powder milk for kids. I have a five-month-old at home and we don't have milk."

SubhanAllah — within less than a minute of receiving that money, I walked out, and there was someone asking. I said, "Where are you from?" He said he had walked 45 to 50 minutes. He had left his house at 10 a.m. — it was now 10 p.m. He had spent 12 hours looking for work. His entire shoulder was protruding from a work injury. He was a Syrian refugee with six kids at home. He said, "I simply want to work, but my hand is injured and no one will hire me. And my child is crying at home. I don't have milk powder. It has been 12 hours since I left the house."

So I said, "Okay, let's go to a grocery store." There was a department store nearby — they didn't have milk powder; apparently you only get that at a pharmacy. But I said, "Let's at least get some things." And the feeling of walking with someone and just allowing him to fill his cart — with vegetables, sugar, salt, a glass, spoons. He said they cook on firewood or charcoal, so all the smoke goes into the food and into the house. I said, "Let's solve that." He said he needed a gas canister. Okay — gas canister. A cover for the pot. Simple small things, from soap onwards — things we never even imagined needing. Imagine not having hand-washing soap. Imagine you have only two spoons in the entire house for six kids, a husband, and a wife.

I said, "What about electricity?" He said, "I don't have electricity — I'm borrowing from my neighbor. And as soon as the government finds out, they're going to cut it." Alhamdulillah — after about an hour, half the money hadn't even been used up. I gave him the other half and said, "Go find a gas canister and milk powder." And then I told him: "Brother, don't even thank me. I didn't know your name, you don't know mine. You must have been making some very special dua — because you walked for 12 hours and were crying for your child. And somehow Allah put it into the heart of someone in America to send me money at that very moment. And I happened to meet you right there. Nothing is coincidental. Allah used me to hand it over to you. Just understand the way Allah works. Every one of our needs — it is only Allah who fulfills them. People are just conduits."

I shared this story with the taxi driver who drove him home as well — because with all those groceries, how was he going to walk 45 minutes? I said: "I don't know this man, he doesn't know me. But this is our story. I want you to also build your relationship with Allah."

The second story was the last night, after we finished visiting different homes. It was about 1:30 a.m. I wanted to see what was around the hotel, so I went to get some sweets — a famous Middle Eastern sweet shop with a very long line. I got a large Tupperware container of sweets and walked out. At 1:30 at night, a lady came to me — begging in Arabic, with her visibly autistic son who was 26 years old. She was in tears. She said she was looking for food, and that today was the first time in her life she had hit her autistic child — out of frustration, because they had not eaten. She said: "I don't want to be ungrateful to Allah. He usually gives us food. But today has been a particularly hard day. We had three-day-old bread at home this morning. Now it's 1:30 at night and my son and I have eaten nothing." She was a widow. Her husband had died. And she was breaking down.

I gave her the sweets. But that was not sufficient. SubhanAllah — the money the brothers had given me, I had used it all up visiting seven or eight homes. I was wishing I had more. But when I opened my wallet to pay for the sweets by card, I saw there was a $100 bill still inside. I had completely forgotten about it. I had thought, "It's always useful to have cash at the airport on the way back." And I had left it there. Now I understood why that $100 had been kept inside.

I gave it to her and said: "I was out distributing, and this $100 got left behind." Ya ikhwan — I wish I had recorded her speech. What she said was extraordinary. She looked up at the heavens, speaking to Allah, and then to me. She said: "No — it didn't get left behind. It was meant for me. And you are not giving it to me because you want to. Allah is forcing you to give it to me. I have been walking past all these stores for the past hour, begging for just bread. Not one of them chose to give me bread. Not one of them offered me a leftover meal. Until I lost it, went to a corner, and I said: 'Ya Allah, enough — I can't handle this anymore.' And I began to cry."

She had even left her sleeping 13-year-old at home alone and sent a voice message to her daughter elsewhere in the country, saying: "Look — no one here wants to open their door to me." But when I gave her that money, she said: "Allah, You are so Kareem. I am so sorry, Ya Allah — I am so sorry that I jumped the gun and was impatient with You. Because You are always giving me. Today was that one day — no lunch, no dinner, it's 1:30 a.m. and my son is losing it. But Ya Allah, You showed me today that not only are You giving me food, but You are giving me extra money so I can even get his medication." And she just started crying.

She said: "Look — you are giving because Allah wanted you to give. Because I just made dua in that corner: 'Ya Allah, send me one good man to give me something.'" SubhanAllah — what yaqeen is this? What yaqeen is this? This is the reality.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Every one of you will be facilitated toward that for which he was created." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4949; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2647)

If you are headed towards Jannah, you will end up doing the actions of the people of Jannah. And if you are headed somewhere else, you will end up doing the actions of the people going somewhere else. Generosity comes from Allah, and stinginess comes from our own Shaytan and our nafs. My dear friends — we need to constantly ask Allah for the ability to be a means of helping other people.

The Prophet ﷺ has mentioned that one of the best forms of sadaqah is:

"To bring joy into the heart of your Muslim brother." (Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, Al-Tabarani; referenced in Al-Targhib wa'l-Tarhib)

Not hundreds or thousands of dollars — just bringing a smile on your Muslim brother's face. The Prophet ﷺ said that is one of the greatest forms of sadaqah.

Our Trip to Palestine — Masjid al-Aqsa

Alhamdulillah — we went for about 20 to 22 hours to Palestine. It was something I didn't think was going to be possible, but Allah made it easy and we were able to go.

Many people ask: is it safe to go? I was asked at the border too. Honestly — I went in 2012. The amount of police presence at the border was far more at that time than it is now at the Jordanian-Israeli border. Alhamdulillah, it seemed completely calm. A brother with us went through within minutes, no questions. For me and Molana, we got stopped for about an hour and a half, but we just had to wait — which happens to many of us at other border crossings too. Overall, alhamdulillah, it was not difficult at all. Some people didn't even get questioned. The border crossing was empty. I couldn't believe it — there was no one there.

And that's the news I want to share with all of you — that no one is going. When we got into a taxi and drove to the Aqsa, I was speaking to the driver and he said, "I don't know how many weeks ago I had a customer." This is something we can all use as an opportunity. Most of us have been to the Haram many times, but Masjid al-Aqsa is something we have neglected. I made a commitment in 2012 that I would go back and encourage people to visit — but I never got the opportunity. And here I am today, as an ambassador saying: we need to visit. We need to visit.

One of the most virtuous Umrahs you can perform is to enter ihram from Masjid al-Aqsa. One of the brothers from our area — alhamdulillah, he was already on his flight for Umrah. But when he heard we were going to Aqsa, he cancelled his flight, bought a new ticket, came with us to Aqsa, wore his ihram, stayed there for four hours, and then went on to Jeddah to perform his Umrah from there. So I encourage all of us, as we plan our future Umrah trips, to please try to include Jordan. When you go with your wife and kids, things become even easier. I would not suggest large group tours — each family should go on their own. You don't need special contacts. As soon as you arrive, there are taxis and buses. You say you want to go to Aqsa — you sit in, and you go. When they drop you off near the gate, you can go online to booking.com or any website and book a hotel if you want to spend the night. It's all available.

When we entered the compound, initially they said, "Don't come now, you can't enter." But they allowed us in for Asr, and we prayed Asr, Maghrib, and Isha there. I want to share a few things.

Even inside Aqsa — children coming with their masahif, heading to maktab class. That was amazing. They were so happy, coming to maktab and Qur'an class inside Aqsa. Qur'an circles everywhere, people sitting and memorizing. Children playing soccer outside. But deserted of visitors. For Salah, Masjid al-Sakhra has its own congregation and Masjid al-Aqsa al-Qibli has its own congregation. We had maybe 20 to 30 people for one, and maybe 4 to 5 rows for the other. Just the sad reality that people are not coming. People are scared, or whatever the case may be. And that's why the masjid stands there empty.

Masjid al-Aqsa — The Entire Compound

Let's remember this: al-Aqsa is the entire compound. There are multiple masajid within it. There is the famous Dome of the Rock. There is a cave underneath the rock. There is the Qibli Masjid. There is a masjid below it. There are wells, madrasas — amazing things happening there. The old city, as you walk through its alleyways and cobbled roads, you see signboards of bookstores, publishing houses, madrasas — some 750, 800, 900 years old. The amount of history there is just amazing.

On the way from the border to al-Aqsa, you pass by the grave sites of Musa a.s. and Uzair a.s. We prayed Dhuhr at Masjid Umar ibn al-Khattab. This is the masjid built on the spot where Umar r.a. — when he came to receive the keys of al-Aqsa and all of Palestine — the monks said: "We want your Amir al-Mu'minin to come. Otherwise we're not going to hand it over — and we're ready to give it without a fight. Just let him come." SubhanAllah.

When the time for salah came, Umar r.a. was standing right next to the old, multi-thousand-year-old church. But he said: "I don't want to pray in the church, because it will set a wrong precedent." This is the justice of Islam. So he prayed in that spot, upon which this masjid was later built.

And in both Arabic and English, the Covenant of Umar is hanging there on the wall — witnessed by Khalid ibn al-Walid, Amr ibn al-As, Abdurrahman ibn Awf, and Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan. 638 CE / 15 Hijri. It reads in part:

"In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. This is the security accorded by the servant of Allah, Umar, to the inhabitants of Aelia [Jerusalem] — to all of them, without distinction, be they well-disposed or ill-disposed. All of you are safe. He guarantees to them the security of their persons, possessions, churches, and whatever relates to their religion. Their churches will not be transformed into dwelling houses, nor will they be destroyed, nor will anything be taken from them or from the ground on which they stand, or from their crosses and possessions. They will not be constrained in their religion, and none of them will be troubled or hurt..."

The justice of Umar r.a. — reading this in the middle of everything that is going on — was very powerful. The beauty of our deen was just amazing. Alhamdulillah.

The Murabitun — The Night Guards of Aqsa

After we prayed Isha and were walking out — the Nabi ﷺ said that the reward of giving charity in Aqsa, even giving oil for the lanterns, is immense. Sitting in the Hijaz, far away, the Prophet ﷺ gave us this virtue — that if you can give even for the oil used to burn the torch in Aqsa, do that.

There were workers there — 27 beautiful young brothers who stay as security throughout the night. One of them said to me: "I stay here all night. Would you not rather I open the masjid gate than someone else open it?" He said: "It's a tough job. We barely get paid anything. We have a 12-hour shift, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. My wife has already asked for a divorce. I work 12 hours here, barely earning anything, and then go pick up my kids and take them to school. But we are happy for the pleasure of Allah — because we regard this as a great service. This is guarding the Masjid of Aqsa." MashaAllah. They have nothing except walkie-talkies. But they said: "We are murabitun. We stay here. We are not giving this up for anything."

One of the brothers tried to give him money. He flatly refused. "This is not sadaqah, this is hadiyah." He said no. The izzat al-nafs — the dignity — they felt in being there was extraordinary.

Fajr in Aqsa — A Wake-Up Call

We stayed at a hotel and went the next morning to try to pray Fajr. Unfortunately, they said: "No, you cannot enter for Fajr." Nowhere in the surrounding area could we find a musalla or masjid open for Fajr. The only place to pray Fajr was the Aqsa — and it was closed off. Not just to us — if a young Palestinian wants to pray Fajr, do you think they're going to allow him? They're not even allowing him to pray Jumu'ah. So we prayed together in our hotel room.

On the way back, our taxi driver said: "It is very obvious that there is an attempt to even cancel Fajr salah in Aqsa. If Isha has so few people, imagine Fajr — and they are actively, actively stopping it." I asked why. He said: "Because they know that a group of Muslims who pray Fajr are a group of Muslims who are strong. And not only are they stopping Fajr in Aqsa — no other masjid in the area is even open for Fajr."

My brothers — how many of the ummah is going to have the tawfiq to pray in their own little room when no adhan can be heard and the masajid are all closed? That was a very deep point that struck me. The kuffar understand that a Muslim who prays Fajr is a Muslim to be reckoned with. And I want to impress this point: we have zero checkpoints, zero guards, zero intimidation when we come for Fajr. What excuse do I have for not showing up and performing this salah? This is a very tough question I have to ask myself.

I thought this past year of non-stop massacre would change me and the ummah. And it has in some ways. But in one way that our community — I'm speaking about right here, right now — has not changed, is Fajr attendance. I am saying this from this very morning. In the past year, subhanAllah, and in the past 12 years, our Fajr musalli attendance — excluding the students — is exactly the same. And I say this with a crying heart. Honestly, we are in a bad shape. The community is growing. Look at the amount of coffee shops there are, the amount of restaurants in 12 years — what kind of place we have become. But how sad that in 12 years, our Fajr attendance is exactly still where it was 12 years ago.

That masjid is going to become a witness against you and I on the Day of Judgment. There was no checkpoint, nothing — yet we continue to sleep in our homes. My beloved brothers, if we want Allah's help to come, we have to start from the basics. And that is praying Fajr in the masjid.

The Nabi ﷺ said: whoever prays Fajr in the masjid —

"He is under the protection of Allah." (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 657)

And whoever prays Fajr with jama'ah —

"It is as though he has performed salah the entire night." (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 656)

And whoever prays Fajr with jama'ah, the angels of the night and the angels of the day will both be present witnessing. The fada'il and the virtues of Fajr with jama'ah are so many. I want us to understand: if we want to turn the tide in this world, we have to start from something basic — and that is Fajr salah in the masjid.

If we youngsters at 18 or 19 are not doing it right now, what makes you think when we become senior citizens, we'll do it? Most of us, mashaAllah, youngsters have our own cars. I want to ask all of you to make the niyyah tonight. Fajr is at its latest of the year right now — 6:15 a.m. Start, whichever masjid is your local masjid. Say, insha'Allah, I will sleep however many hours I need. But if you never make the intention, Allah is not going to give you the tawfiq for it. That is the issue.

If you are struggling — you've set multiple alarms, you've slept on the floor one night, you're drinking extra water before bed, you're reading all your duas — and some days you make it and some days you don't, and you feel guilty when you miss — mashaAllah, don't give up. Allah is watching you. But if you never even made the intention, and you're already preparing to sleep through Fajr or just pray at home, then we're in big trouble.

This one year — the horrors we have watched — should have woken us up and made us say: "Okay, I have to start praying." So I want to ask all of you: please start carpooling tonight. Message someone in your neighborhood tonight. Say, "From tomorrow, I'm going to start." It's the best time to start — Fajr is the latest it will be, and Isha is early. From tomorrow, Isha is at 7:30. So it's very easy for us to begin.

The Beauty of Aqsa — One More Story

Overall, alhamdulillah, it was a safe trip to Jerusalem. I encourage you to make the niyyah to visit. The economy there needs Muslims.

We saw the Dome of the Rock, the mihrab of Zakariyya a.s. in the basement of the Qibli Masjid, and the panoramic view of the entire compound. One of the streets leading to the masjid had a restaurant with a sign that read:

SubhanAllah. We stopped there and talked to the owner. He couldn't believe it. He said, "I haven't seen a foreigner in months. How did you all end up here?" They get so excited because they depend on whatever we purchase. So this is the simplest thing we can do — go and visit. You will feel something I don't have words to describe. You have to go there to feel what Muslims are going through.

I want to say this very clearly: many of us among the Desi community have grown up thinking, "Oh, they're just fighting over land." First of all, even if someone were to fight to protect their land —

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever is killed defending his property is a martyr." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2480; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 141)

But you will see that it is way beyond that. Most Palestinians have someone in Chicago or somewhere in America. The uncle who dropped us off at the border taxi — he said: "With my passport I can enter Jordan. But I'm in my mid-60s. I have never entered Jordan and I never will leave this area. I was born here and I will die here." The izzat al-nafs with which he said those words was so powerful.

And the taxi driver who first picked us up — as soon as he did, he said:

"You are in Jannah." The level of excitement they have just to be there is something amazing. And that's something I want you, your children, and your spouse to go and feel. May Allah take all of us there again and again.

Take-Home Points

First: The importance of Salat al-Fajr. Please, insha'Allah, make the niyyah tonight to start coming to the masjid for Fajr.

Second: Let us make a commitment — every day we will dedicate some time for du'a and dhikr. Believe me, brothers — do not underestimate the power of sincere du'a while you are crying, or at least trying to cry. Every day, before Fajr or after one salah, take five or ten minutes and make du'a. What we have seen this past year is that many of us are becoming desensitized — astaghfirullah. Don't let that happen. If you need a jolt, read a brief account of what's happening and then make some sincere, specific du'a. What answer are you and I going to give to Allah if we did not even make du'a at this moment?

Third: The ummah is suffering, and we need to stop the infighting and disunity — and it starts from our own homes. For Allah's sake, let's stop fighting with our spouses, our siblings, our parents. We are watching the ummah bleed — we have no time for bitter domestic arguments. And at a national, masjid, community, and organizational level — let's work together in the spirit of unity. And where it starts is with husn al-zann — good thoughts about one another.

"Do not argue with one another — otherwise you will fail and your strength will depart." The Qur'an is making it very clear: disunity and infighting will cause problems on every front. Let us say, "I make tawbah from argumentation at home." And if you cannot do something good, please do not say something bad. Let's stop attacking one another on text, WhatsApp, in lectures, at gatherings. Constantly backbiting and speaking ill of individuals and organizations — that is not helping our cause at all.

Fourth: Have ambition. Every youngster I saw over there — even the boy who became a shaheed while in a Gaza hospital, a computer science major, a hafidh of Qur'an, 19 years old — no one among them said, "I want to sit there and binge-watch Netflix." We have all the opportunities here to become the movers and shakers of this world. Yet many times we see that our ambitions are non-existent — do a small job, make a little money, and sit there watching reels, YouTube, Netflix. My dear friends, astaghfirullah al-Azim — make tawbah from this. We cannot afford to waste time. Be ambitious. If you're inspired by anything said today, say: "Ya Allah, I'm going to work toward this." I want to eradicate poverty in one region. I want to take responsibility for educating one refugee camp. I want to provide healthcare to this group of people. Take on a cause. You cannot say that your entire life is an 8-to-4 job and nothing else. There has to be a bigger purpose.

Fifth: Every single day, set aside a fixed amount for sadaqah. Ideally daily — if not daily, then monthly, as a percentage. Besides zakat, take out sadaqah. Don't underestimate the power of it. Give to any good cause. But give, brothers, give. We are suffering a big problem of bukhl and stinginess and we need to fight it as a community. I encourage all the high school youth, college youth, elementary school children — start now. A dollar a day, five dollars a day, whatever you can. And elders — make the niyyah that every single day, insha'Allah, you will give sadaqah. When you bring a smile to someone's face, you are building your akhirah. It seems like you are making someone's dunya — but you are actually making your own akhirah. This is the power of sadaqah.

Closing Du'a

Oh Allah, save us from israf and extravagance. Oh Allah, save us from misusing the blessings You have given us for Your disobedience. Oh Allah, allow us to utilize every blessing You have given us for Your obedience. Oh Allah, make it easy for our children, grandchildren, and progeny in this country to value Islam and the deen and the blessings of safety and security. Oh Allah, allow the upcoming elections to become in the favor of the ummah. Oh Allah, You know where what lies — allow the results to become favorable for the ummah.

Oh Allah, connect our hearts to the masajid. Allow all the masajid to start filling up. Allow our Fajr and Jumu'ah attendance to match one another. Allow the day to come where our Fajr and Jumu'ah attendance match. Give us the willpower to start coming to the masjid. Allow that willpower to be embedded in our children's hearts and minds. Make every one of us a peg of the masjid. Make us regular in the halaqas of Qur'an, dhikr, du'a, and ilm.

Oh Allah, grant us all the ability to be generous. Save us from stinginess and miserliness. Make us all extremely generous. Allow us to fulfill the rights of our relatives, those close to us, and the entire ummah.

Oh Allah, make us amongst those who shed tears every night for the ummah, for our children, for our spouses, for our parents, for our siblings, for ourselves. Allow our hearts to soften. We seek refuge in You from the hardness of the heart. Oh Allah, whatever sin is causing our hearts to be hardened — we repent from it.

Oh Allah, from the families that we visited — the orphans, the widows, the refugees — to all the millions we haven't seen: grant them all strength, resilience, tawakkul, and yaqeen. Oh Allah, fulfill their needs of dunya, qabr, and akhirah.

Oh Allah, all those youth and men and women in this country who are not being tested by what others are being tested — but who are losing their faith, losing their iman, having doubts about Islam — Ya Allah, bring them back to the deen. Protect them from doubt.

Oh Allah, make this masjid and this community strong. Protect al-Masjid al-Haram, al-Masjid al-Nabawi al-Sharif, Masjid al-Aqsa, and all the masajid across the globe — from internal and external strife and fitna.

Oh Allah, whoever is sitting in this gathering — whatever desire they have, whatever needs they have — fulfill all their permissible desires and needs. Oh Allah, grant us all that which Rasulullah ﷺ asked You of, and protect us from all that Rasulullah ﷺ sought Your protection from.

Wa jazakumullahu khayran. Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.