Bringing Changes in the Community- Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Bringing Changes in the Community

By Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.

Allah, the Exalted, said in the Glorious Qur'an — after I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, in the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful:

And fear a trial that will not afflict those of you who are unjust especially — and know that Allah is severe in punishment. Allah Almighty has spoken the truth.

Respected elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, students in Islam — Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

The Responsibility of the Prophet ﷺ to His Ummah

Our Prophet ﷺ, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, سَيِّدُ الْبَشَرِ، سَيِّدُ الإِنسِ وَالْجَانِّ — the leader of men, women, and jinn — was sent by Almighty Allah as a source of guidance for all of us. And as part of his prophethood, he not only gave us and shared with us injunctions of what to do, what not to do, what's right and what's wrong. But besides that, our Prophet ﷺ also informed us of all that will come till the end of times.

And that is what it means to be a Nabi. A Nabi is the one who shares with you the naba' — and the naba' is a very great news, the big news, big events. So the Prophet ﷺ shared with us the news of all such big events that will come till the end of times. And that is part of his responsibility — بَشِيرٌ وَنَذِيرٌ — as a giver of glad tidings, and along with that, a warner of what awaits the ummah.

The Hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr

So once the Prophet ﷺ was traveling, as related by Abdullah ibn Amr radiyallahu anhuma. He was traveling with his companions. And Abdullah ibn Amr says:

We were once traveling with the Prophet ﷺ, and we stopped to camp at a location. People began to involve themselves in different things — some people were fixing up their tents, others were practicing archery, some people were taking care of their needs, as they were in an expedition and they camped somewhere. All of a sudden, a person called out — a person called out on behalf of the Prophet ﷺ. Just as you have a mu'adhin of the masjid, the Prophet ﷺ had someone who would make announcements. So that person made an announcement. He said: الصَّلَاةَ جَامِعَةً، الصَّلَاةَ جَامِعَةً.

It was an announcement which meant that it's an important affair — come together. Sometimes it would mean that we're going to perform the salah for khusuf, for the moon eclipse or sun eclipse, or the Prophet ﷺ had to share an important message with the people. So he would send someone and say الصَّلَاةَ جَامِعَةً — come forward, come close, come quickly.

So the Sahaba radiyallahu anhum wa jami'een, who were busy with their own affairs, they left their things. فَاجْتَمَعْنَا إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ — they all gathered with the Prophet ﷺ. Then the Prophet ﷺ began speaking. He said:

There hasn't been a Prophet prior to me except that it was his responsibility — it was the right of the nation upon him — that he would inform and instruct his nation to that which was best for them, and he would warn them from the evil that he knew was to come in the future.

This was the responsibility of the Prophet — to look after the good of his community. And hence it is the responsibility of those who stand in the position of this podium, of the minbar of the masjid, to have that same level of sympathy and care and love and compassion for their communities. What needs to be said must be said. Sometimes they are glad tidings and happy moments, and sometimes they are sad and scary moments. But as someone who is in charge of taking care of his ummah, the Prophet ﷺ did not shy away from that. What needed to be said had to be said.

So he brought out this as an introduction — that it's my responsibility to share with you the good news and the bad news. So be strong as I share this with you.

The Best and Latter Portions of This Ummah

Then the Prophet ﷺ said:

Allah has put the best part of this ummah at its beginning — meaning from my era. And the next 30, 40 or so years is the best part. As mentioned in another famous hadith:

The best portion of my nation and my ummah will be those who lived in my century, those who lived in my era. And those who come in the century afterwards. And those who come in the century after that. That's why they're known as the era of the companions — the Sahaba — and the era of the Tabi'een, those who came after the companions. And then the era of the Taba' Tabi'een, those who came after that second generation. So three generations — الْمَشْهُودُ لَهُمْ بِالْخَيْرِ — the Prophet ﷺ has given testimony, bore witness to their goodness and their good times. But not for after that. The Prophet ﷺ took responsibility of the first three centuries of this ummah.

Then the Prophet ﷺ said:

But the last portion of this ummah — the latter portion of this nation, the latter portion of my people — will be afflicted with such things تُنْكِرُونَهَا that you will find very strange, and you will find them to be not good at all. If I were to share them with you, you would be in shock, you would be in disbelief. Not only would you dislike them, but you would say: "Really? Are such things going to happen? Is it possible?"

Trials Upon Trials

The Prophet ﷺ then said:

Then trials will come — fitnah, tests will come — each one of them will make the one prior to it seem insignificant. Each one that will come will make the trial that came prior to it seem insignificant and light and easy to handle.

Then a trial will come, and the believer will say هَذِهِ مَهْلَكَتِي — "That's it, it's all over. This is the place where I'm going to get destroyed. I've now been caught, it's all over. This is my pitfall — from this I will never be able to stand up again. I've lost my faith. I've lost my family. I've lost my sense of security and freedom. Everything is gone."

Then the Prophet ﷺ said ثُمَّ تَنْكَشِفُ — after some time, over time, of course things change. Sometimes it takes decades, sometimes it takes years, sometimes it takes longer. Eventually, of course, like everything in this world has come to an end — مَا عِنْدَكُمْ يَنْفَدُ — whatever is here shall come to an end. So every trial will also come to an end.

But then another one will come afterwards, and the believer will forget about the one he was all scared about and upset about previously. And he'll say, "No, no, no — it's this one, هَذِهِ هَذِهِ. This is the one that's going to destroy me. This is the one that I had been hearing stories about when I was a little kid. This is the one that I had read novels about, that I had read in history. I had studied the history of previous nations and I thought, subhanAllah, this will probably never repeat itself like this in any part of the world. But lo and behold, I see it repeating itself." And a person will get completely shocked and worried and say that this is going to destroy me.

The Path to Salvation

Whosoever wishes to be saved from the hellfire and gain entry into paradise — i.e. ultimate success — because ultimate success for a Muslim, for a Mu'min, is simply not limited to this world by any means. Because a person can apparently be successful here, but if he or she in the hereafter lands up in hellfire, then your belief and my belief is that there's no greater loser than that individual. And you and I believe that if a person suffers a difficult time in this world — ends up losing family, ends up losing wealth, ends up losing assets, ends up losing a sense of freedom — but in the long run, in the hereafter, if he finds himself in the gardens of paradise, then you and I believe that definitely that person is successful, although he had to go through a trial.

So the Prophet ﷺ said: Whosoever wishes to be saved from the hellfire and gain entry into paradise — i.e. get ultimate success — then I ask you to do two things.

Number one: Make sure when your death comes to you — whether it means peacefully at home in bed, or whether it means through a bullet to your head somewhere on the streets, whether it means at the hands of an enemy, within our circles, whatever the case may be — whenever your death comes, make sure it comes to you in a state that you have firm belief in Almighty Allah and on the Day of Judgment. Make sure all of these trials do not make your faith waver. Make sure these tests do not put doubts in your heart and your mind about the power of Almighty Allah. Make sure these trials and tribulations do not put doubt in your mind and your heart about the day when you and I will have to stand in front of Almighty Allah and be answerable to all that you and I have done.

يَوْمُ الْعَرْضِ الْأَكْبَرِ — the day of the ultimate presentation in front of Almighty Allah. The big day, the big presentation. People in the corporate world sometimes get worried that tomorrow or Monday I have to show my paperwork, I have to put on a presentation to various business departments of our company or a new client, and I have to stand in front of the boardroom and speak. Students get worried when they have to present papers in college and in high school. Almighty Allah calls the Day of Judgment يَوْمُ الْعَرْضِ الْأَكْبَرِ. That's the ultimate day of presentation. That's the ultimate day where your graphs, your PowerPoints, your slides — all better be in place. There's not even a glass of water for you to drink in between your presentation. Absolutely nothing.

You are standing face to face with Almighty Allah — لَيْسَ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ اللَّهِ تَرْجُمَانٌ — with no translator between yourself and Almighty Allah. And Almighty Allah is not the only audience. In front of you, you don't have millions, you don't have billions — you have trillions and trillions, and Allah knows how many, from amongst the human beings and the jinn — all lined up. Our Prophet and our companions of the Prophet ﷺ, our parents, our teachers, our elders, our children, our grandchildren — all standing to see how we have done.

There was a lifestyle that we portray to the world. A lifestyle we portray to fellow Muslims. A lifestyle we portray to relatives. But there was a lifestyle that Almighty Allah knew very well that we are leading. And that is the day when the covering will be removed. That is the day when the two-facedness will come to an end. That is the day when white will be white, black will be black, truth will be truth, falsehood will be falsehood — and all will be clear in front of Almighty Allah.

Number two: The Prophet ﷺ said — وَلْيَأْتِ إِلَى النَّاسِ الَّذِي يُحِبُّ أَنْ يُؤْتَى إِلَيْهِ — make sure you treat the people and you act with the people in the same manner that you would want people to treat you. Make sure you engage people in the manner you would like them to engage with you. Make sure you like and wish for the people what you would like people to wish for yourself. Always put people in your own shoes and say: Would I want this to be said to me? Would I want someone to do business with me like this? Would I want someone to speak to my child, my daughter, my son, my wife, my husband like this?

Every single time, keep this in mind — that everything we say, everything we do, we shall be questioned about. And the best way to ensure that we say only that which is right, and that we act in a manner that is right, is to put other people in your own shoes. Because we all have that sense within ourselves — that sense that I want to be treated in a manner that is honorable, that is respectable. We all have that sense of self-respect. But many of us forget it when it comes to other people. Many of us tend to forget it when it comes to other people's wives, other people's husbands, other people's children, other people's relatives — that our tongue becomes very loose. And not only just our tongue, but with our actions — in business, in cheating and deception and so forth, when we are handling other people's money, other people's business.

Put yourself, subhanAllah, in the shoes — if someone came to me and said, "Brother, I have no idea about this. This is all that my parents have left behind. I need you to take care of this. I need you to invest it properly because I am not smart enough in this field." How would you want someone to deal with your money? Would you want another Muslim brother to take advantage of your need? To take advantage of your helplessness? And rob you of that which your parents have left you? Rob you of that which you had saved up? Absolutely not, right? So in the same manner, when someone invests money with us, when someone comes up with a partnership with us, make sure that we take care of that money in the same manner.

A Wake-Up Call for the Community

My respected friends, my dear brothers and sisters — I can imagine, and I expect that all of you understood that hadith and how beautifully it applies to you and I in this day and age. The Prophet ﷺ is attracting the attention of the people, is waking them up and telling them that I have to tell you — not always just the good news. You can't always walk away from my gathering super excited and hopeful. Sometimes I have to tell you the truth. And the truth sometimes is bitter. Sometimes the truth is shocking. But the purpose of that is not mere intimidation or a scare tactic. The purpose of that is a wake-up call.

The Prophet ﷺ is waking up his Sahaba, who are in an expedition anyway, who are with him participating somewhere. But he is drawing their attention and telling them that you have to be aware that life is not that easy. Jannah doesn't come without a price tag.

Today is a day of sales, but nothing has been handed out for free. They may slash it by 10% but they already increased it 20% last night or the week before — and then they slash it by 10%. We fall for that — like, wow, what a great discount. But just last week they increased it. You all know that, we all know that. We still fall for it every single year, subhanAllah.

But Jannah is not only not free — it's not cheap either. The Prophet ﷺ said:

Listen — the commodity and the property that Allah is selling is very expensive. You have to pay a price for that. And that price and that commodity that Allah has up for sale is Paradise. That's the only thing Allah is selling. He wants you and I to purchase that Paradise with the price tag that comes with it. And that price tag is to love Allah more than you love anyone else. To love His Prophet ﷺ more than you love anyone else — even more than how much you love your own self. When you love someone more than you love anyone else, you'll be willing to sacrifice, you'll be willing to make changes in your lifestyle in order to please that being. Who is that being? Almighty Allah and His Rasul ﷺ.

The Changing Climate Facing Muslims

My dear friends, my dear brothers — as we stand here today, I stand here thinking that subhanAllah, I would never witness such a day in this country. A place where I was raised. A place where I was born. A place where I went to school. A place where I played in my backyard, front yard, drove my bike around the block. Went to school — public school, Islamic school. Went to college. And alhamdulillah, led a very peaceful and happy life with my fellow citizens, never having to be afraid about people ridiculing me, much less people accusing me of something which I am not responsible for. Much less people harassing me for something which I'm not responsible for. And much less being worried about personal and physical attacks — from people within our own ranks, from people down the street, from people within our own community.

But subhanAllah, the rhetoric has changed now. Something which I thought someone in a small chat room somewhere, or in a basement of some little building, would sit there and conspire against Muslims — that talk now has become mainstream. That talk now has become so mainstream that a person in front of hundreds of millions of viewers — hundreds of millions of people watching and listening to radio and news and TV — is able to, not once but multiple times, make such preposterous claims against the Muslim community. Preposterous claims against masajid. Preposterous claims against our men, women, hardworking people who are part of the fabric of this country.

I would never have imagined something like that could have happened. At least I would have imagined that there would be an uproar, there would be a cry from all ranks — our friends, our people would stand up and say, "What rubbish is this? What type of nonsense do you have? You should be pulled off the stage and the mic should be pulled away from you right now as you spew these words of hatred, as you sow seeds of animosity and hatred within the ranks of our citizens." But there was a very muted response, a very quiet response, coming from only a very few groups of people. And the entire party from which this person represents and is a front-runner to the presidency still enjoys and claims that his ratings have gone up since he has ratcheted up and increased his verbal attacks against Islam, and since he has increased his Islamophobic ideas and words — which I don't know even if he believes in or not, because if anyone has any Muslim friends would know that's a bunch of baloney — but in order to get polls, in order to get higher ratings, a person does anything. Allah knows best.

But the average innocent American today is falling prey to this rubbish, to this garbage, to these violent seeds of discord and hatred that are being shoved down his throat from every direction — from the top, from the bottom — and no one seems to care, no one seems to respond.

Do Not Be a Dormant Muslim

My brothers and my sisters — subhanAllah — this message is to you all. This message is to my family. This message is to my relatives. This message is to anyone and everyone who listens to this.

Just because the people are silent around us, just because people are mute — do not think that you can simply go about with your life, shopping till you drop, enjoying parties filled with music and dance, and leading a life disconnected from the houses of Allah, disconnected from the masjid. Leading a life not knowing how to even recite the Qur'an, or knowing the translation of the Qur'an, or knowing the message of the Qur'an.

No, my friends. If we thought we could lead a life as a dormant Muslim — the rhetoric that is taking place in this community right now is such that it would put all of us into one big pot. Whether you choose to keep a sunnah beard or you choose to shave every single day. Whether you pray Fajr in the masjid or you show up for Eid. Whether you dress in a scarf and a niqab or you choose not to dress in that manner — as long as you're identified as a Muslim, you're a target.

My friends, my brothers and sisters — by no means am I saying that these laws will be enacted tomorrow, and I hope that you and I never witness that day. But this is the method that the batil works. You plant the seeds 20, 30, 50 years in advance, until slowly people start getting accustomed to hearing the idea. And once the shock and the awe from the people is gone — when people think, "okay, whatever, I don't have time to read the paper anyway, I don't have time to worry about what's happening to some marginalized small group of brown people in my community" — then subhanAllah, these laws get enacted. As we witnessed in World War II. As we witnessed in the history of this country previously and in other parts of the world.

This is not something for you and I to sit back and say, "Life will continue as normal. We don't have to worry. Just go back to college. Go back to school. Go back to your party. Go back to your shopping. Go back to 8 to 5." No, my friends. This is definitely a wake-up call. And those of us who don't wake up at this time will most definitely have a much more rude awakening afterwards.

The Lesson of Sheikh Abul Hasan Ali Al-Nadawi

The call simply is for us to turn to the One who watches everything that happens — without whose permission a leaf cannot fall, without whose permission an eye cannot blink, without whose permission a morsel of food cannot go down our throats. Most definitely, everything that is happening in this world today is happening under the watchful eye of Almighty Allah. Turn back to Almighty Allah. Turn back to Almighty Allah. Fill up these masajid.

This is a weekend holiday — why should our masjid not have been filled on Thursday yesterday? Who was working? Where were the people for Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha? Where are the people this coming weekend? Where is the masjid with one, five, six, eight people for salah? My brothers and sisters — this has to come to an end.

In 1961, Sheikh Abul Hasan Ali Al-Nadawi rahmatullahi alayhi gave this amazing talk in Burma — a year before the coup. I want you to go and listen to that online. It's in Urdu but it's been translated into English as well. It sends shivers down the back, subhanAllah.

In 1961, he's giving this talk to a relatively calm area where Muslims have gone and begun to populate a non-Muslim country. And he says: "Listen — I'm not a sorcerer, I'm not a fortune teller, I'm not a magician, I'm not a prophet, I'm not even some wali of Allah. I'm simply a student of history. And I'm telling you — the past few days that I've been here, you brothers and sisters are well, mashAllah, established with your businesses. You're doing great in this country. But remember: if you become so used to this life of materialism and focus only on your businesses and stores, only on your professional life — and you do not make an effort of establishing the deen of Almighty Allah in this land, if you don't make an effort of reaching out to your fellow non-Muslim citizens and brothers and sisters in this country, and if you do not show your compassion and courtesy with them — times will change. Times will change overnight. And you'll see your businesses will not be able to protect you, your professional lives will not be able to protect you, your wealth will not be able to protect you, your children will not be able to protect you. You'll be thrown out as though you were never there in the first place."

A Two-Pronged Response

My brothers and sisters — when I read that, subhanAllah, previously and now as well — and the entire speech, I'm just giving you a few sentences of that speech — it reminded me of my task, my responsibility. It is two-fold.

1. Reconnect with Almighty Allah

Let us take this as a wake-up call and reconnect with Almighty Allah. Fill up our masajid, pick up the Qur'an off the shelf, start reading the translation, start attending the halaqat of tafsir, start attending the gatherings that scholars have all over this country and all over the city in different masajid.

Begin to do istighfar. Almighty Allah says:

Allah shall not punish them so long as they are seeking forgiveness.

Along with our fardh salah — at home and in the masjid for the brothers — at least Fajr or Isha. My brothers and sisters, let us, inshAllah ta'ala, make a point to start waking up for Tahajjud.

The Prophet ﷺ — one day he came out, subhanAllah, out of shock and fear, and said that Allah had informed him of such calamities that are about to come in the future. And then he told his wife, Umm Salama radiyallahu anha: أَيْقِظِي — go and wake up the ashab al-sahibat al-hawajir, go wake up those who are sleeping in the houses, meaning his wives — go wake up my wives for Tahajjud salah. Not that they would not wake up previously, but the fact that the Prophet ﷺ wanted to immediately have a response to what Allah had informed him of — the trials that are going to come — that the solution to this is through Tahajjud. The solution to this is through qiyam al-layl. Not just us, but our women, our mothers and sisters, our children.

But how can a person get up for Tahajjud if he is missing his fardh salah? So this is the key thing — along with the fardh salah, make an effort at home. If we can't wake up early in the morning — this is the best time, with Fajr time starting so late, never like this in the year as it is in the month of December — if we can't do that, at least pray two raka'at of Salatul Hajah before you go to sleep.

Oh Allah, I seek Your refuge from all sorts of trials — those that are apparent and those that are hidden.

Ya Allah, protect my family. Protect my children. Protect the generations that I am leaving behind in this country. Protect the masajid, the madaris, the Muslims all around the world. Make du'a for that. And specifically, the Prophet ﷺ asked us to make du'a from fitan, from trials. The Prophet ﷺ also taught us this du'a:

Oh Allah, if You have decreed to test my people in a very harsh manner, then please take me away — protected — take me away before that day when I lose my faith. That's the most important, that's the scariest part. Losing wealth is scary. Losing your job is scary. Losing your passport is scary. Losing your bill of rights is scary. Losing your freedom is scary. But the scariest part is to lose your faith.

2. Engage Your Community and Do Da'wah

Along with prayer, along with filling our masajid, along with reconnecting with the Qur'an, along with focusing on the tarbiyah of our children and building the Muslim identity within our kids — most definitely I cannot overstress — and this is a very short period of time, so I didn't have much time to even discuss this — I cannot overstress the need for everyone sitting here and everyone listening to this talk to start engaging the people around you. Non-Muslim colleagues, friends. People who ride the bus with you. People who ride the train with you.

My friends, you and I cannot be dormant Muslims. We have to start engaging our neighbors. We have to start communicating with those non-Muslims around us. At the very least — if the six million Muslims here have ten friends, subhanAllah, that is enough — millions to stand up and say, "We're not going to agree with that law. We're not going to agree with this type of bill of rights being snatched away from our Muslim friends."

No matter what the propaganda machine does — the ability you have and I have as Muslims to build those personal relationships with non-Muslims — that is priceless. No matter what hatred may be spewed through the media, if a non-Muslim knows you, knows your wife, knows your kids, and knows the genuine care, love, compassion, and character you have — I'm telling you, my brothers and sisters, what others will say and what the enemies try to create as differences between us — inshAllah — will not be possible.

But if we simply focus within our own parties, our own selves, and we do not start engaging our neighbors — and just a simple hi while throwing out the garbage, a simple bye while picking up the mail — long gone, that doesn't work. We have to engage. We have to get to the point. Start talking about difficult points. Start talking about our faith. Not only speaking, but also subhanAllah, living up to the character that the Prophet ﷺ taught us.

Closing Du'a

I pray and I beg to Almighty Allah that He allows myself and all of us to implement this two-fold, this two-pronged approach — of connecting ourselves with Almighty Allah and soliciting His help, and of doing outreach within our communities, of doing da'wah within our communities, and of truly living up to the message of Islam in our larger community.

I pray and I beg to Almighty Allah that He protects us, protects our youth, protects our iman, our health and our wealth, and keeps us stronger, inshAllah ta'ala.

We request, inshAllah, as we stand up to pray the sunnah, that we fill up all the safs. JazakumAllah khair.