With Pain Comes Reward | Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed | Miftaah Graduation 2022

The Story of the Lion Tattoo

He said, one time I went to a barber and I was sitting there, and in those days, the barber, he was responsible for cutting hair, and also, if someone wanted to get a tattoo, the barber would give tattoos. So the tattoo artist was the barber, because he would cut your hair, and if you wanted a tattoo, he would give you a tattoo. So this guy goes in, he's watching this guy getting a haircut.

After getting a haircut, he tells the barber, he says, give me a tattoo. So, he says, usually you can tell people's insecurities by which tattoos they get. So, okay, you might not be a powerful person — I want a lion's tattoo.

So he says, this guy asked for a tattoo of a lion. He said, okay, no problem. So the barber just started drawing this tattoo on his back, and he just started — where the guy's like, what are you doing, what are you doing? He says, I'm making the tail of the lion. He says, forget the tail. It was so much pain. He said, forget the tail.

He said, okay, cool. He puts his needle back in to draw the lion again, and he sees so much pain he couldn't tolerate. He said, what are you doing, what are you doing? He says, I'm drawing the feet of the lion. And this guy says, no, no, no, I don't want no feet, I don't want no feet. And he puts the needle back in his back, and he starts drawing the head of the lion. So much — so painful. I'm hoping no one ever felt that pain before.

So, he says, what are you doing? He says, I'm drawing the head of the lion. He says, no, no, no, I don't want it.

So this barber, he stops. And he says, even God didn't create a lion like this — no tail, no feet, no head. Forget it, get out of here.

Allama Rumi's Lesson: No Reward Without Pain

Allama Rumi, being an observer, said something. He says, this person wanted something, but did not want to go through any pain for it. He can never get it. And that's how life is. That's how life is. Miftaah is a story of that.

Whatever we have today — Iqbal, he says: everyone sees the celebration. Everyone sees the food. He's saying that wine — you're sitting there, this is the time of just chilling, you're sitting there drinking. That's what you see. But he said, don't forget that this grape, the wine that you're drinking — he's talking about wine, but he said it's orange juice, mango juice — he says, don't forget that this was once a fruit, and this tree that this fruit came from, it received nutrition and growth from the rainwater. So the water was a source of this fruit coming to you. And he's saying, remember, that water that came down was actually tears. It's tears that give nourishment to the tree, to the fruits, and that make you enjoy the happiness more. There's a whole story behind it.

He says, the nourishment of the heart is unpleasant situations. It's the effort you put in, the pain you go through — that's what makes life more memorable.

The Prophet's Words While Building the Masjid

The Prophet ﷺ never said poetry, but the first time people heard him say something was when he was building the masjid — his masjid — and he kept on repeating:

"O Allah, there is absolutely no life except for the life of the Hereafter, so forgive the Ansar and the Muhajirin."

The Statement, the Form, and the Reality

I say this — the words, the statements of a kalimah, is a statement. Then there is a picture, a surah of something. And then there is the reality of something. All three are different things.

One is:

You said a statement. That's a statement — there is reward for it. The second category is the surah of it: turban, beard, hijab — this is a surah. There is reward for that as well. But the true reward and change in someone's life comes when they develop the essence of that thing — the haqiqah. Statement has a reward, surah has a reward, but the transformation in your life will come from the haqiqah of something.

A Personal Reflection: Teaching Through Grief

So I end with this — whatever you see over here, continue your journey. Don't stop. And all of you people who are — two of you came and said my brother's name — and actually, for us, these few years were very painful. We would come straight from my brother's cemetery, visiting him, visiting my mom, come straight here, teach you guys. It was very difficult.

But, you know, what happens in life is — you have to start realizing that our life should not be dictated by what we will have fun doing. Rather, change the things you have fun doing. Change them. A time will come when you'll start enjoying salah. A time will come when you'll start enjoying worship and reciting Quran and learning. So now that will actually be therapeutic for you.

So for us, teaching you brothers and sisters was very therapeutic. That was the time when we felt good. That we felt like the world was in a good place seeing you people. I remember the first day I came to teach — imagine, my brother passed away October 5th, and we had class the first Sunday after October 5th. Because we as teachers decided that this is the only thing that will give us therapy. This is the first thing that will give us comfort. And I remember the first Tuesday I came, some of you were sitting there when I came to teach. Actually that was beautiful for us.

So instead of you thanking us as teachers, I want to thank all of you for giving us the opportunity, for giving us that classroom, for giving us that brotherhood and sisterhood, that love in this community throughout America — without which we could not carry on and move on. For giving us that motivation to keep teaching and the dedication that you keep coming back. May Allah bless all of you.

There Is No True Graduation in This World

Don't stand here saying it was a nice three years because you guys live half an hour away. There's no such thing as a graduation ceremony in this world. There's no such thing as a medal ceremony in this world. Yes, they're just there for motivation. The true award ceremony is when Allah gives us a book of deeds in our right hand. When the Prophet ﷺ awards us with water from his pond. These are just moments to motivate each other.

If we think that I finished three years, I'm done with this part of my life — what's next? — that's not how we should do it.

An Open Invitation: Keep Coming Back

You are more than welcome — I will veto Mufti Abu Hab on this. I saw the certificate right here and it says Certificate of Completion for Naveed Khan, Miftaah Summer Intensive, and it has Sheikh Abdullah and Mufti Abu Hab's name on it as a signature. It doesn't have my name on it. I thought I was a co-founder too. But I'm not, I guess. Dean of faculty and co-founder director — so I gotta give myself a title now.

So as someone who's responsible for Miftaah, I give all of you permission — whoever graduated from third year, come back Sundays and Tuesdays for free. Don't pay for it. Just come. Sit in class. Come if you can come once a week. Just be part of the environment. Trust me — Islam is: the moment you stop coming into the environment, whatever you gained you'll lose. So fast. So don't lose it.

Keep coming back. Come back. Sit in the back. No one's gonna bother you. No one checks a wristband — are you a student, and did you pay for this year? Don't do that. So don't stand here and say that you're gonna leave. I wanna see you at least once a week if you can come. Put it as part of your schedule. Maybe every few weeks. But don't think that you finished and you can leave now.

Jazakallah khair. وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلَامُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ