Faith Under Fire | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Opening Du'a

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said — after I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate — "Say, this is my way. I call to Allah as I see, and so do those who follow me. Glory be to Allah. I am not of the polytheists."

This short i'tikaf that we are making in His house, from Maghrib to Isha — may it be a means of all of our salvation, a means of our forgiveness, a means of the direction of our hearts being changed towards that which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants it to be. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He makes our gathering here a means of reviving Iman in our hearts.

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He makes our gathering here a means of all of us enjoying the benefits of the sohbah and the companionship of the angels of the masjid. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that whatever type of need or worry or concern with which we have come to the house of Allah today, we ask Allah that He allows us to hear something which will address that, which will become a means of removal of that worry and concern, and which will become a means of giving us strength and direction in our lives. Allahumma ameen.

The Unchanging Sunnah of Allah

Honorable beloved brothers, dear respected friends — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has a dastur. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has a certain way of doing things. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has a sunnah.

You will never find Allah's sunnah to change. You will never find anything that can bring about a change in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's way of doing things. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Himself — He is above and free of all change. He is above and free of all hudoof. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was present when nothing was present. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will also be present after everything comes to an end.

Allah jalla jalaluhu does not get affected by conditions. Allah does not get affected by situations. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not get affected by any happenings of this world. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is above and pure —

Because Allah is the creator of all of that. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, being the creator, does not get affected by the creation.

The Bedouin's Praise of Allah

And so a companion, praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he praises Allah in this beautiful manner. He says:

O Allah, O the one who the eyes cannot see. And O Allah, the one who the mind cannot conceive. And O Allah, the one who the best of describers cannot describe. And O Allah, the one who the happenings and the incidents of this world do not change. And O Allah, the one who is not afraid of calamities.

O Allah, who knows the weight of the mountains. And O Allah, who knows the volume of the oceans. And O Allah, who knows the number of raindrops. And O Allah, who knows the number of leaves on every single tree. And O Allah, who knows every single thing upon which the sun rises and upon which the sun sets.

O Allah, the creator of all the heavens — yet none of the heavens can hide from Allah what lies above it. And the creator of all earths — yet no earth can hide from Allah what lies below it. And O Allah, whom the ocean cannot hide from Him what lies beneath it. And O Allah, that no mountain can hide from Him what lies in its craters, inside it.

Then this Bedouin companion says — the best portion of my life should be the last portion of my life:

O Allah, make my actions — the best actions of mine — the last actions of my life. And O Allah, make the best day of my life the day I meet You.

Three things he asks after praising Allah: O Allah, make the last portion of my life the best portion of my life. O Allah, make the best actions the last actions of my life. And O Allah, make the best day of my life the day I meet You.

The Prophet ﷺ hears this companion praising Allah in his salah. He instructs a person and says: I want you to wait until this person finishes his salah, and then I want you to call him and tell him that Muhammad ﷺ is calling you. So that person finishes his prayer, comes, and greets the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ asks him of his tribe — where is he from, what is his name, where does he come from.

After he introduces himself, the Prophet ﷺ goes on to gift him. What does he gift him? A nugget — a brick — of gold. This Bedouin receives it, surprised, and says: Ya Rasulullah, are you giving me this, gifting me this, because of the relationship that we have with you? Meaning, further up in his lineage, he was connected with the Prophet ﷺ. And when the Prophet ﷺ had asked about his lineage and he mentioned it, he said: Oh, maybe you are giving it to me because we are related.

The Prophet ﷺ responded: Indeed, relationships do have their rights. That a person needs to take care of his blood relatives. You are right — but I did not gift you this bar of gold because of us being related. Instead, I am gifting you this bar of gold because of how beautifully you have praised Allah. Because you have understood Allah — that Allah is above and beyond anything and everything you can imagine.

Allah Is Beyond All Comprehension

He is such that if the mind is comprehending something, it cannot be Allah. Because Allah does not fit into anyone's mind. Allah does not fit in your imagination. If Allah cannot fit in your imagination, how can He fit into this world? Because you can imagine things that are beyond this world. There is no restriction to the power of imagination. There is a restriction to how far I can see, how far I can hear, how far I can touch, how far I can smell, and how far my voice can reach — every single thing has limitations.

But something that goes way beyond all of that is the قُوَّةُ التَّخَيُّلِ — the ability to imagine. A person can be sitting on the floor, a beggar on the street, and yet be imagining that he is the king of the world. There is nothing to stop that. The power of imagination is strong.

But لَا تُخَالِطُهُ الظُّنُونُ — Allah is that Being whom even the wildest and strongest imaginations of a man cannot comprehend.

The eyes cannot comprehend, the eyes cannot capture Allah. Rather the opposite — Allah is the one who is fully capturing everything, including every single person, and every single person's eyes, and where every single person looks.

Allah is the one who knows the treacherous misuse of the eye — whenever the eye looks at something it is not supposed to look at, Allah is the Being who knows that. وَمَا تُخْفِي الصُّدُورُ — And Allah knows what is hidden in the chest. And not only that —

Allah knows the secrets. And He knows that which is more hidden than the secret. That which is more hidden than the secret is in the knowledge of Allah.

Allah Has Taken Responsibility for Our Sustenance

There is not a single moving being in this entire world but that its rizq and its sustenance Allah has taken upon Himself. Allah tells the Prophet ﷺ:

May Allah give me and all of us the understanding of this ayah. Say ameen. Order your family to pray salah, and remain steadfast on salah. Not one day you do it, and another two days you don't, or three days you do it and one day you miss it. No. Pray salah — and then Allah immediately after that says: We do not ask you for sustenance. Meaning, salah is one of the powerful means of bringing sustenance to our home, to our family, to ourselves. And Allah Himself is taking responsibility.

That is why the ulema say — how strange! When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has taken responsibility for something, we say: No ya Allah, I want to take that responsibility. And when Allah gives us something to do, we say: No, I'm not going to do that. Allah gave us responsibility to do the a'mal of hidayat, to lead a life in accordance with the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. But a person says: I don't have time for salah, I don't have time for tahajjud, I don't have time for tilawat of the Quran, I don't have time for dhikr, I don't have time for dua. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in multiple verses of the Quran says: I have taken responsibility for your rizq. And a person says: No, no, no — this cannot be His responsibility, this is my responsibility. And in the process of that, I must go, and if I have to break ten orders of Allah, so be it. Why? Because I am responsible. Look at how shaytan has deceived us.

Many people say: Talab al-rizq al-halal is so important, halal rizq is important. Very true. It is mentioned in a hadith that rizq halal, faridatun ba'd al-farida — that seeking halal sustenance is an obligation, but after another obligation. And what is that other obligation? The first obligation is salah. There is no rizq in the process of missing our salah. That which comes in its place is something else — a punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the form of something that merely looks beneficial.

The Lesson of the People of 'Aad

This reminds me of — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, remember the Qawm of 'Aad:

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the Qawm of 'Aad in Surah al-Ahqaf. He says they didn't listen to their prophet — they disobeyed him. One day they were standing outside in very intense heat, all pushed out of their homes. And they looked up and saw a nice, beautiful cloud coming — the kind that brings a cool breeze before rain — coming their way. And they said:

Great, at last — a nice rain cloud that is going to bring coolness to our area, that is going to bring much needed water to our land. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran — no, no, no, you got this wrong:

This is what you demanded. In this cloud is a very strong, powerful wind — and with that wind is a very painful torment. It will destroy every single thing by the command of its Lord. And in the morning there was nothing left but their dwellings. Every single person had perished.

They were thinking: in this is rizq for us — rain. But instead, that very thing brought destruction. The same water is rizq, isn't it? There are people dying for water all over the world. People saying: if only our land could have water. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the controller of the benefit and harm of every single thing.

Allah says: I have created every living thing from water. Water is very much needed. Fire is very much needed for being able to gain warmth — as Musa alayhi salam said:

I see fire there. I am going to go bring some warmth for my family, and perhaps find someone who can guide us through the desert. Fire is important. Wind is important. Rain is important. But the benefit or harm of these things is completely, directly, 100%, only in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And the sunnah is: those people who submit themselves to Allah's command and do what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has asked them to do — Allah will take care of His work. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make the forces of nature subservient to man.

The dunya has been created for your service, and you have been created for the service of the Hereafter — for making sure that you sow the seeds of the Akhirah.

Whoever wants the crops of the Hereafter, whoever wants the fruits of the Hereafter — We are going to increase him in what he will get. We will increase and take care of his investments, so that his investments will roll and roll. And so much more We will add from Our own end. On the Day of Judgment, a man will be shocked at what a few dollars of sadaqah that he gave to someone in need — what type of return Allah has given. Unbelievable what sadaqah does, SubhanAllah — not only in the Akhirah but in this dunya.

And whosoever wants only the return of this world — We will give him a portion of it. You are not going to get all of it no matter how much you try. And he will have no share in the Hereafter. May Allah protect us.

The one who is protected from the greed of his inner self — those are the successful people. Because greed kills anyone. When greed comes in, a person can never have enough.

Nothing Fills the Son of Adam Except the Soil of the Grave

As the Prophet ﷺ said:

If the son of Adam were to have one entire valley of gold — you know what a valley is? Imagine a valley between two mountains. Imagine if this entire prayer hall were filled with gold — how many hundreds of generations could live from top to bottom from that? But we are talking about a valley of gold much, much larger than this entire prayer hall. The words of the Prophet ﷺ cannot be false. He is the most truthful. He said: if the son of Adam were to have a valley of gold, he would wish he had two. And then the Prophet ﷺ says it so beautifully — nothing will fill his mouth except for the soil of the grave.

That when he is lowered into the grave, and the soil of the grave is placed upon him —

And that mud — the whole family sits there and throws it on the face of the father, the grandfather, the one who built that massive company. When that soil gets right inside his mouth, the Prophet ﷺ says, that's when he'll realize: it's over. But now what's the point? We should have had our eyes awakened in the world when we had the opportunity — when we were still alive. This is the sunnah of Allah.

The Wisdom of Our Teacher

Our ustad, our teacher, Mufti Muhammad Ali — may Allah preserve him — would say, when students come to class: the teacher gives one dars, one 45-minute lesson. But every single person walks away with something different. And he said: you walk away based on what you came in with. If you come in with an espresso cup, that is how much you are going to walk away with in knowledge. If you bring a chai cup, that's what you'll walk away with. If you bring a tumbler, a jug, a bucket, a drum — that's what you'll walk away with.

So anytime — any Jumu'ah khutbah, any reminder after Maghrib, after Asr, after Isha, after Fajr — the ball is in your court. What you want to take away from what's happening at the front is not in the hands of the speaker; it is in your hands. You need to make sure that your intention is correct, that you have the most sincerity, the most desire, and the most humility and humbleness in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Trust me, there will not be a program, a talk, a short reminder, where you don't walk away with something beyond your imagination — if it all comes down to our humility and sincerity.

So I ask Allah to make myself and all of us absolutely sincere in every gathering we ever attend. May Allah make us humble. May Allah make us from those who walk away from every gathering beyond what our expectations are. May Allah allow us to listen with the intention of practicing, and listen with the intention of propagating. Allahumma ameen.

The World Is a Place of Challenge

Beloved friends, the sunnah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is this: the one who leads his life in obedience to Allah, Allah jalla jalaluhu will make certain things start happening. And another sunnah of Allah is that He has made this world a place of challenge. And so the famous hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2822)

Jannah has been surrounded by difficulties. Jahannam has been surrounded by enjoyable things. As is mentioned in a hadith — Jibreel alayhi salatu wasalam was called by Allah: O Jibreel, I have created Jannah, take a look at it. What do you think? Ya Allah, anyone who hears about this Jannah will do anything and everything he can to get in. This is just too good, too beautiful. Then Allah asked Jibreel to come back again — and this time, Allah surrounded Jannah with difficulties. When Jibreel looks at it, he says: O Allah, I am afraid that very few people will be able to make it.

Then Allah says: O Jibreel, come take a look at Jahannam. And Jibreel says: O Allah, whoever hears about Jahannam will do his level best to run away from it. Then Allah surrounded it with desirable things. Jibreel says: Ya Allah, I am afraid that very few will be able to escape it. Allahu Akbar.

This is part of our deen — it teaches us that to follow the deen, once you make your intention to change your life and start practicing Islam, understand it is not necessarily going to be a walk in the park. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will intentionally put challenges. Today, if a person wants to go study in university, play basketball, play video games — no one is going to stop him. But if a person says: I want to come and study the deen, I want to go in the path of Allah, I want to come to i'tikaf in the masjid — what happens? You have all these people starting to come and stop you.

You know how many students call me? Right now it is the beginning of the academic year at our madrasa. Every day I get calls from sons of our ummah saying: Can you please speak to my dad? And on the other side, how many dads would say: Sheikh, I would give you a thousand dollars — I am positive there are people who would say five thousand dollars — if you could just bring my son and connect him to Allah. He has just gone off. And yet, you have sons who want to come and study the deen for a year, but the moms and dads will say: absolutely not.

And the sons are crying the way people cry to get married when the mom and dad say no. Wallahi, I am not exaggerating. They are doing a'mal every single day. They say: Sheikh, for the past three weeks we have not missed the Fajr. These are college kids. They're fasting in the summer. They're giving sadaqah every single day. What do you want to do? You want to marry someone? No — I want to study in the madrasa for one year. But my parents say no.

This is the test. Sons are being tested by parents who don't understand the deen. And parents are being tested by children who don't understand the deen. Allah has made it like that. And Allah wants to see how committed you are.

Our Responsibility as Parents

When your son says: No, I'm not coming to the masjid — you say: Okay, go. Khalas. I don't care. Fine, I tried. Is that called trying? That's not called trying. How many dads you ask: But where's your son? And he says: He's got his own schedule. What kind of answer is that? It's somehow by blaming our kids that we think we're not responsible for their misguidance. When in reality, 100%, we are number one responsible as dads. We are responsible for our children.

And after everything a person has done — like the stories of Lut and Nuh — if after every effort you did your full effort and Allah chose not to give them hidayah, then you can say okay. But look at Nuh alayhi salam — till the last moment. 950 years of dawah. The last communication between him and his son is mentioned in the Quran:

Nuh alayhi salam speaks to his son and says: O my son, jump into the ark and do not be from amongst the rejecters. Can you imagine — do you think this is the first conversation? 950 years he was giving dawah. Imagine how many times he must have spoken to his own blood, his son who has his DNA. The last moment is mentioned in the Quran. And he is saying: Son, come, please come. He knows this son doesn't want to believe — but it is your son. You have to keep on trying until the very last moment.

And what is the response?

Baba, don't worry about it. I got this. You see this mountain? I am going to take shelter in that mountain. It will save me from the rising waters. And as father and son are talking — he is screaming from the ship: Come, come — a massive wave came in between father and son. And his son drowned right in front of his father. He didn't just drown a sad death. He drowned in kufr.

This father, seeing what happened, it hurts him so much. And he says: Ya Allah, my son is from my family — please forgive him.

O Nuh, your son is not from your family. Indeed his actions are not righteous. Do not ask Me about things that you have no knowledge of. I advise you against becoming from amongst the ignorant ones. This is a prophet — an Ulul 'Azm prophet — and Allah says: I advise you not to do something which would make you from amongst the jahil.

Ibrahim Alayhi Salam and the Story of Azar

Ibrahim alayhi salam — on the Day of Judgment, he sees that Azar — his uncle or his father, there is a difference of opinion among the scholars — has died in kufr. It is mentioned in Surah al-Shu'ara:

O Allah, do not disgrace me on the Day of Judgment. I am Khalilullah — Your friend. You have given me this position. Ya Allah, do not disgrace me. Azar is my elder — my father or my uncle. And for him to be thrown into hellfire in front of billions and billions of people is a disgrace for me.

It is mentioned in the tafsir that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will change the shape of Azar into that of an animal — a ram — and out of respect for Ibrahim alayhi salam, that animal will be dragged across the plains of the Hashr and then thrown into hellfire. And no one will know at that time who this is. Allahu Akbar.

When I read this, it hit me. Who are we, man? This is Ibrahim Khalilullah — the father of this ummah. What type of position has Allah given him? But subhanAllah, Allah is free of all want and all need. لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ — He cannot be questioned about what He does. He chose not to give hidayah and iman to Azar. And look at how He is accommodating Ibrahim's feelings — yet nothing is changing. Azar must go to Jahannam.

And then you start thinking — SubhanAllah — where are we? Why do we have this super, super relaxed feeling that everything is chill? We're buddies with Allah. Everything is okay. We are set.

The Danger of Overconfidence in One's Iman

I eat my daal chawal every single day, my roti, my biryani, my kabsa, my cultural foods — if I don't go to Paradise, who is going to Paradise? My name has an Arabic sound to it. If I don't go to Jannah, who would go to Jannah? What is that supposed to mean? Why do we have this crazy level of overconfidence that our names are written on the palaces of Jannah and we can read it right now? This is foolishness.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Referenced in works of Imam al-Ghazali, Ihya 'Ulum al-Din, and classical hadith commentaries)

Anyone who is not afraid about losing his faith is a hypocrite. And a true believer is the one who is constantly afraid about the preservation of his iman. Just think — when was the last time anyone sitting here thought: you know what, the way things are going, I might lose my iman? And not just sad and relaxed — but worried about it, crying about it.

We are meeting so many people — IT professionals, physicians, businesspeople, lawyers — how many hundreds of people have you met in your profession, in college, in the workforce, who have Muslim-sounding names but when you ask them, they say: Maybe our dad used to practice, or my mom does practice, but I don't. We see that all the time. The fear needs to come into me — SubhanAllah, what if I become this?

The stats are staggering. Some of those who have done research have shown that about one-quarter of those born in Muslim homes today are no longer Muslim — and that is from about fifteen years ago. SubhanAllah, what the stats are now, Allah knows best. Across the globe we are seeing this massive exodus of people leaving the deen.

One imam, at a very popular masjid known for accepting reverts, told one of my colleagues: the average time we have gathered in which a revert brother stays Muslim is three weeks. Three weeks. Now let us ask ourselves — how much do we keep up the excitement from Ramadan after Ramadan? Remember Khatm al-Quran night — where this place was? Any masjid? How many days, how many hours, did it take for us to lose that crowd? The night of Eid, already you see you're at 10–20% of tarawih attendance. And the day after Eid — even for Isha — finished.

You know why? When actions are a result of a strong environment only, they are not long-lasting. We are a by-product of our environment. We are not a by-product of the powerful iman in our hearts. We are going with the flow. So when the flow changes, we change. There's a flow now towards riddah — towards leaving Islam. That is the in-thing. In school, if you raise your hand and say you believe in God, you are going to get dirty stares.

One student was saying: in college, the professor asked: How many of you believe in God? Most said no. About three said they do. Then the professor asked: How many of you believe in Satan? One or two raised their hand. And he was more shocked at the belief in Satan's existence than anything else. The idea is — believing in the unseen, in the ghayb — is being ostracized, pushed down, regarded as something that makes no sense. This is for illiterate people. This is the opium of the masses. Are you serious? You believe in God? You believe in the Hereafter? The Day of Judgment? Come on, man. We live in the era of AI.

But that is the trend now. For us to preserve our iman in a time when the trend is towards leaving the deen, we have to make a lot more effort. If our children and ourselves are practicing the deen only because of our environment — my beloved brothers, this is not going to last. When the environment changes, when push comes to shove, and you are put under a pressure cooker, then we will see how many people remain Muslim and how many leave Islam.

Faith Under Fire: The Example of Ashab al-Ukhdud

That pressure cooker — when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala increases the imtihan and the challenge such that remaining a Muslim is regarded as something like the Ashab al-Ukhdud — anyone who is a believer, thrown into the fire, into the trenches. There is a reason why Surah al-Buruj is in the Quran. Because there are many burujs, many khandaqs, many similar incidents that have happened and will continue to happen in the world. Some of them are happening right now as we speak. Just on the basis of iman and Islam, people are being killed, people are being burned to death, people are being starved to death.

Let us ask ourselves — today, in an environment of absolute peace, absolute luxury, absolute comfort — if today I cannot fulfill the number one obligation, which is salah, how will I be able to fulfill any other obligation when things become difficult? As the time goes closer to the Day of Judgment, to practice Islam will only become more difficult. The Prophet ﷺ's basharat hadith — you have heard it tens of times from your imam and your guest khatibs:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2260)

A person who holds on to the deen will be like the one who is grabbing a burning ember. Come on, let us understand this. Next time you go for grilled lunch somewhere, a barbecue over the weekend — I want you to think of this hadith. Go close to the barbecue stand. Feel the heat. Just imagine taking your bare fingers and putting them on the metal skewers. Then imagine taking your bare hands and picking up the grill. Then imagine reaching right inside the barbecue stand, finding a nice red-hot ember, and grabbing it with your bare hands and holding it.

When there is a metal spoon in a teapot on the stove and you accidentally touch it, you get a blister and you are looking for an ice pack. What will happen if you take an ember and hold it in your bare palms? What would that do to your flesh, to your bones, to your nerves, to your entire hand and arm? The Prophet ﷺ gave this example. No world power, no worldly reward — no one offering you the mayor's position, a mansion, a hundred million dollars — can make you hold that ember forever. The only thing that can make you do this is belief in the unseen of the Akhirah. Because Jannah is infinite. The pleasure of Allah is infinite. Akhirah is infinite.

And the desire of the infinite can somehow give you this miraculous power that Allah gives at that time — that you say: I will die, I will lose my arm, lose my hand, but I am not going to give up my Islam. There will be people who hold on to the ember. And they will not give up the deen. Because Allah will open up the veils of the Akhirah in front of them. They will see where they are going. Allah will give them strength we cannot imagine.

The Testimony of Those Who Were Tortured for Their Faith

One of my students from Kashmir was telling me about his grandfather — one of the elders of the movements there trying to help the Muslims of that area. He said: fifty to sixty years ago, he was imprisoned. And he would be tortured in jail with huge whips and logs on his bare back. His grandfather told a friend: when he came out of jail, he said we would be waiting sometimes with our shirts off, ready. The torturers would come with their big batons to hit their backs. And we would wait. الِانتِظَارُ أَشَدُّ مِنَ الْمَوْتِ — As they say, waiting is more difficult than death.

He said: we would wait and wait — and nothing would happen. Why would nothing happen? SubhanAllah — he said: they were actually hitting us, but we did not feel it. I am telling you with a clear chain — there are only two people between the person this happened to and me sharing this story with you. This is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala shut down all the pain sensors. You lose your hand maybe — but you do not feel it.

And here is the example — Ibrahim alayhi salam, when he was thrown into the fire. The fire still looked exactly like fire — it glowed, it crackled, it rose high. Only the property of heat was removed. And only for him. For Allah, who has complete vertical integration over all of creation, He can do whatever He wants. So for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to give an unbelievable level of strength to a Muslim at the end of times — that he says: do whatever you want, I am not giving up my iman — yes, that is going to happen. But those are not people who just woke up one day and said: okay, I guess I will be a Muslim. No. They worked on their iman their entire lives. They worked on believing in the unseen. They led a life according to the sunnah. And then when it becomes the day of broil — when from a gentle temperature it becomes five hundred degrees — these are the only people who are going to last.

That time is coming. Some of that time has already arrived in certain parts of the world. Let me ask you — and you ask me — are we ready for it? Do we have what it takes? Do we have what it takes to say: Ya Allah, I am going to be the last man standing. I do not care what happens. I do not care what I lose.

The Two Hadiths: Fikr of Dunya vs. Fikr of Akhirah

Today, young medical professionals call me and say: Sheikh, I signed up to a hospital, but I might not be able to get off on Fridays. What do you think? Two or three weeks later, he calls again and says: Alhamdulillah, I told them the lunch hour is not very long, I have to go 15–20 minutes, I'm not going to be late to Jumu'ah. What do you think about that? I said: Habibi, what is left of Islam? If Jumu'ah is the very last thread — and now even that, half of it, you are giving away — what are you going to do in five years? How are you going to raise your kids? If this is the dad doing this, what is going to happen to the kids?

And this is not push and shove — nothing. You are a free man, you can get a job anywhere. But in our minds, subhanAllah, we have been duped into thinking that the hospital, the office, the investment firm — this is the raziq. This is going to provide for me. If I don't bow down to it, give up my salah, give up my haya, give up my morals and principles, I am going to die hungry. Guess what? The one who fears the creation of Allah, Allah will make him subservient to the creation. And the one who fears Allah, Allah will make him fearless in front of the creation. That is the system.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4105; also recorded in Musnad Ahmad)

Whosoever's thought and concern is the dunya — three things: First, Allah will make all his affairs disorganized. He will not know what he is doing in life. Confused, overwhelmed, needing sleeping pills, coffee, yoga, exercise. Second, Allah will put poverty dangling right in front of his eyes — sitting on millions but worried about poverty. This is the azaab in this dunya. Third, after all the running after the dunya, only that amount of dunya which was destined for him is what he is going to get.

And whosoever's concern is the Akhirah — Allah will gift him with three things: First, Allah will make all his affairs organized. He will say: Alhamdulillah 'ala kulli hal — content. Second, Allah will make him rich in his heart. Third, the dunya will come to him at his feet, disgraced.

Beloved brothers — the problem is not about our knowledge. The problem is iman. We know these hadiths. What have I said new to you today? The issue is: do we have the quality of iman so strong that it can motivate us to practice on what we need to practice, and to leave what we need to leave?

The Effort of Da'wah and Reviving Iman

This is what this effort of da'wah is about — how can we work on our iman and the iman of every single person of the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ? The Sahabah radiyallahu anhum ajma'in would sit down and say: come, let us renew our iman. We want every single masjid to have halaqat — brothers sitting throughout the day and throughout the night, speaking about the greatness of Allah, the power of Allah, the signs of iman, Allah's help with the prophets, Allah's help with the Sahabah. By listening, discussing, and giving da'wah towards these things, the iman starts increasing. By speaking about the treasures of Jannah and the tortures of Jahannam, the yaqeen of the Akhirah will become strong in our hearts. When our yaqeen becomes strong, it will be easy to lead a life of ibadah and sunnah, and easy to leave the life of sin.

My beloved brothers, this is not going to happen by sitting down. We have to get into an environment. By watching an archer, you don't become an archer. By watching someone teaching how to swim on a whiteboard, you don't become a swimmer. You actually have to go into that field — into the maydan — and practice. Practice makes us perfect. This maydan of da'wah is where we practice on our iman. By giving da'wah to others, as they say, it is tazkir for others and tarkis for ourselves — it is to strengthen our own iman and remind others.

Those who sacrifice, I will give them guidance. You have to sacrifice. Remember I said at the beginning — come closer, that is a sacrifice. Sit with talab, with desire — that is a sacrifice. Then Allah gives.

When we go out in the path of Allah — yes, it changes the status quo. You live in a 4,000 square foot home and now you are sleeping in a masjid. Guess what? Who deserves to live in a bigger home? The Prophet ﷺ. Who deserves to sleep on a bed? The Prophet ﷺ. Who deserves to have a massive spread? The Prophet ﷺ. Think about how much sacrifice he made. So who are we? If we have to humble ourselves, go out and sleep in the house of Allah, go to different homes, invite people to the masjid — and yes, someone will swear at you. Someone will say: you are probably jobless, unemployed, uneducated, coming to my house. And you are the most educated person in town. But you keep quiet. You say: there is no one more educated than the Prophet ﷺ. There is no one more powerful and more beautiful than the Prophet ﷺ. Yet how was he insulted? I am going to stay shut. I am not going to say anything. When someone insults you like that and you stay quiet — that is chiseling at all the horrible gunk collected on our heart.

For the sake of Allah, learn how to get abused. For the sake of Allah, learn how to hear things from your fellow Muslims the way Rasulullah ﷺ did. SubhanAllah. But you love them — because they don't know any better. The Prophet ﷺ — his face would be bleeding — and he would say:

O Allah, guide my nation, for indeed they do not know. When are we going to get this concern? When are we going to cry for the Muslims who have become weak in iman? When are we going to cry for our own sons and daughters?

Wallahi, my heart goes out to myself and all of us dads. Are we honestly concerned about our sons? The one who is truly concerned — he will lose his hair. He will age faster. He will be crying over why his son does not pray Fajr in the masjid. If you and I know where our children are headed if they lead a life of sin, we would lose everything we have in concern for our kids. But we don't understand.

So many times after a bayan or Jumu'ah, someone comes up and says: I heard you talk. My son left Islam two years ago, ever since he went to college. My daughter is no longer practicing. And I say: I'm so sorry to hear. And then: So, where are you having lunch? What happened? How could you ask about lunch after sharing that news? If you had said your son died in a car accident, that would have been much easier to digest than saying your son left Islam. But there is no fiqh, no concern, no understanding.

How can I face Allah on the Day of Judgment with children who were born into fitrah — Muslim children — and I was just worried about money, money, money? I didn't train them. Today we met a young man who left Islam and blames his father. His words — the only relationship, the only thing I got from my dad was money. Besides that, he gave me nothing. SubhanAllah. That's what he said.

So many children are resentful in our communities because moms and dads are not doing the proper tarbiyah. Or they don't know how to do tarbiyah — they make fun of their children, compare them constantly, break their heart, break their soul, break their spirit. My beloved brothers, beloved fathers, beloved mothers — we need to realize where our children are going. While I am alive, I should see my children praying salah in the masjid. While I am alive, I should see my daughters leading a life of modesty and haya according to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Are We Raising Our Children Like Animals?

One of the ulema recently said a powerful example. He said: today the human being is raising his kids the way animals raise their kids. A mother buffalo and father buffalo raise a baby buffalo — the goal being that the baby buffalo grows up to give 25 liters of milk a day, like the mother. A father donkey and mother donkey raise a little donkey — the goal being that the son donkey carries 250 kilos on his back, like the father. The goal is entirely material — how can our offspring carry the burdens of the world like we do?

He said: today the Muslim is raising his children in the same manner. Baba used to earn fifty thousand — my son should earn five hundred. Mother used to earn a hundred — the daughter needs to earn two hundred and fifty. How can my children earn more money and live in a larger home than I did? So then what happens? We declare we have raised successful kids. But what is the definition of success in our muashara? The successful child is the one raised to earn a lot of money. You never taught him istinja. You didn't teach him how to speak to his mother, his father, his grandparents. You did not teach him how to read Quran. You did not teach him how to wake up for tahajjud. You did not teach him how to ask from Allah. But as long as he can make money, that is called successful child rearing.

This is why when anyone wants to study the deen or go out in the path of Allah, they panic. No, no, no — it is going to affect his college, he might fall behind in class, he will start earning money a little bit less. I remember in 2005 or 2006, I had two students in a summer hafiz class. One boy did poorly. The other memorized beautifully — almost an entire juz. When the summer ended, both fathers came to me.

I advised the father of the boy who did poorly: send him back to school, try the evening madrasah, get him connected to the masjid. The father said: No, no, no. He has to do full-time hifz. He has to become a scholar, a mufti, a hafiz. He is in sixth or seventh grade — I don't care how many years it takes. And then he told me: I am an uneducated man of the dunya. Allah never kept me hungry. With my little meager job — alhamdulillah — I have eaten every day. If I make my son a hafiz, an alim, a mufti, is Allah going to make him hungry?

On the other hand — the boy who did so well. I told his father: can you please put him in full-time? He is super smart, he can finish in a year and a half. The father said: No, no, no. If I put him in, he will fall behind in grade school. He falls behind in grade school, he falls behind in high school. He falls behind in high school, he falls behind in college. He falls behind in college, he falls behind in medical school. And he will be lost. That father, by the way, was a neurologist.

This reminded me of the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4105)

Look at the difference. The uneducated man working in a lock factory for $8.50 an hour, living in a small home, driving a car you could barely open the door of — and yet he is saying: I am going to make my son a hafiz, an alim, a mufti. Allah will not make him hungry. And the neurologist — worrying that two years of hifz will damage his son's earning potential ten years down the line.

The Concern of the True Believer: Bilal's Du'a for His Torturers

No matter how difficult things will be, there will always be a group of people who remain firm on the deen. There will always be a group that لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ مَنْ خَذَلَهُمْ — no matter who forsakes them, they will not be harmed. That is the goal — that you and I make so much effort now that us, and until the Day of Judgment, our generations become amongst that group who will remain steadfast. And that in the process we make an effort on as many people as possible.

At the end of the day, this is the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ. We have to love them — whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim. We should all hope and desire that each and every single one of them be safe from the fire of Jahannam. You know how much concern the Sahabah had? An interesting narration about Bilal radiyallahu anhu — between the tahajjud salah and the adhan of Fajr that he himself used to give in Masjid al-Nabawi in front of the Prophet ﷺ — in that blessed time, he used to make du'a. For who? For his torturers in Makkah — for their guidance. Allahu Akbar. Making du'a for those who tortured him. The kuffar of Makkah: may Allah guide them. This is what you call a true ummati. We do not walk around with vengeance, wanting to destroy everyone. No — we want to be saved from hellfire and we want everyone to be saved from hellfire.

This desire — this is the true sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. Today we are having a hard time having fiqh even for our own kids. Wallahi, my heart goes out to all of us dads.

A Madrasah of Iman: The Call to Go Out in the Path of Allah

My beloved brothers — the problem is not about knowledge. The problem is iman. We know all of this. The issue is: is our iman of the quality that can motivate us to practice and to leave what we must leave?

The effort of da'wah is about how we work on our iman and the iman of every single person of the ummah. The Sahabah radiyallahu anhum would sit down and say: come, let us renew our iman. That is what we want. Alhamdulillah, you see from time to time — jama'ats coming. These are not just random people with nothing better to do. SubhanAllah, there are people just as busy as you are. But fiqh is coming into their minds. Allah opened it for them — you know what, I need to spend some time working on my iman. Just as someone works on their English skills, their driving skills, their field of expertise — I need to work on my iman.

Even those who have a concern for deen — alhamdulillah — may understand: I need to perfect my tajweed, my fiqh of salah, my Quranic Arabic. But SubhanAllah, we have forgotten that we need to work on iman. Iman is something we have to learn. Iman is something we have to practice. Not just tajweed. Not just fiqh. Not just seerah. Iman — the basic thing, the foundation of all of Islam.

That is exactly what this effort of da'wah and tabligh is. Mawlana Ilyas rahimullah emphatically said: I have not made this into a group. I never even gave it a name. If a name were to be given, it would be called Tahrik al-Iman — a movement of iman.

So this is what we are asking the brothers, inshAllah. Take some time out. Go out in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Not by listening to talks alone — alhamdulillah, we will gain, but we already knew all this. What we need is to ourselves be the ones who are walking, who are going out. When we leave our home, when we make sacrifice like the Sahabah did, when we give up the comforts of our home, when we give a little bit of wealth, when we spend in the path of Allah — that is called mujahida. Sacrifice.

And Allah says in the Quran:

I just took a college kid who had never been out before. Last weekend — two high school students. I said: I am going to khuruj this weekend, do you want to come? Their fathers said: can you take my son? I took these two boys. SubhanAllah, for 24 hours. They both messaged me afterwards: this is the first time we went. We cannot believe what we just experienced. We did what we normally do — a bit of masjid work, what we do. But these young graduating high school students said: we understood the deen in a manner we never had before. You know why? Because they sacrificed.

Today we live in a drive-through, microwaveable deen. No sacrifice. You sit back and get your deen on a channel. That is why things don't make sense to us. But when you start sacrificing, things will automatically start making sense.

Everything has a course. No one says: I don't want to come for the full eleven-month course, I will come for ten and a half months. There is a unit. The unit for learning iman — the madrasah al-iman — is four months. Go out for four months with sincerity, with humility. This is the moving khanqah, the moving zawiyah, the moving spiritual laundromat going around — you clean yourself and you clean the rest. Each masjid becomes your own khanqah as you move. You read the Hayat al-Sahabah, you beg Allah at night, you give da'wah to people. You walk in the footsteps of the Sahabah. Within hours and days, you will start feeling things you have never felt in your life. The same verses of Jannah you read all your life — it never made you cry. Now you read them and you start crying. Verses of Jahannam — you never cried before. Now you don't even know why you are tearing up.

Think about your grandmothers. Think about your great-grandmothers. Did they all graduate with masters degrees in Arabic? But SubhanAllah, they loved the Quran and they cried — because the iman was strong. We have knowledge at the tip of our fingers, but the iman is not where it needs to be. That is why we are suffering.

I myself — I will be very honest with you. I have spoken at this stage many times, alhamdulillah. Two weeks ago I was in England attending an ijtima. I listened to some of the bayans of our ulema, and SubhanAllah, it touched me. I said: that is it. I am going to stand up and go for four months. And that is exactly what I am doing right now. It is my first week. Yes, are there things on my plate? Of course. Who doesn't have things on their plate? But if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala puts the intention in your heart, Allah is the one who will facilitate it. You do not worry about that.

If Allah puts the intention in your heart, stand up and say: when am I going to do it? It does not have to be tonight. Two weeks, a month, two months, whatever the case may be. But at least today, I want everyone of us to stand up and say: you know what, I am going for an iman course. Just get up and give your name. Allah will facilitate the rest.

We want everyone to become a mu'adhin — a da'i. Inviting people wherever you are. It is a mu'adhin course. Four months, inshAllah.

If you are a 19-year-old who cannot go right now — you cannot go immediately — but make the niyyah: as soon as possible, I will go out for four months. That is what I am asking. I spent 18, 20, 26, 28, 30 years to become an engineer, a doctor. How many months have I spent to learn my iman? Just think about that.

The previous masjid I came from — wallahi — the entire prayer hall was being used to play soccer. All day, kids playing soccer in the prayer hall. That is what is going to happen when the effort is not made — empty masjids becoming soccer fields. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow our coming here to become the means of our guidance and the guidance of thousands of people in this area. Please make du'a for the success of all those who are doing the efforts of deen in any way, shape, or form across the globe. May Allah grant them ikhlas. May Allah grant them sincerity.

May Allah keep all of you happy, and take care of your needs of this world and the Hereafter. May Allah keep this masjid populated. May Allah protect this masjid and all of our masajids from fitnah, from fasad, from infighting. May He keep us all united on the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Wasalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.