Footprints in the Sand: Lessons from the Pious | Muftī Azeemuddin Ahmed | 03/15

The Importance of Sunnah: Not an Option

There's a saying:

Whoever takes the Sunnah lightly, eventually he will be deprived of the fard. And whoever takes the etiquette and mustahab — preferable things — lightly, he will be deprived of the Sunnah.

This is how Shaytan is working right now. He says: "Brother, why are you speaking about miswak and topi — is this a fard? You're right, it's not a fard. Leave it." Then the next thing: "Is it important to have clothing that's covering properly? Why don't you just be welcoming as it is? It doesn't make a difference." And you finish with that. And after a while, subhanAllah, you've got nothing left of the deen, basically. You can take it from there.

The idea is the deen doesn't tell us to be rough with people, harsh with people, judgmental with people — etc. But we cannot, in the process of saying that — of making our space welcoming, of teaching people with kindness — we cannot say that Sunnah is not something I'm going to even highlight.

And this is where I mentioned yesterday too: those who are in leadership positions, who are giving khutbah — at least when you give khutbah, at least when you lead salah, there has to be some sense. When you say, "I want to act in the masjid the way I act outside — I don't wear a topi outside, why should I wear it inside?" No! We don't need to know what happens outside. This is a sacred spot. When you come here, act different. If you act in the masjid the same way you act outside, game over. Then what's left? There's no sacredness of the masjid anymore.

When people say, "Brother, I want to be real, I want to be authentic" — in the process of being real and authentic, how are you authentic? In the bathroom, you don't have clothes. You're in the shower, you don't have clothes. Are you going to be like that outside? What's inside my small intestine and large intestine — is that what I am authentically? That's inside me. But is that something you and I want to share? No! So in the name of being authentic, we are becoming completely complacent in regards to any good deed.

How the Ulama of the Past Treated the Sunnah

The ulama of the past, they would treat Sunnah as fard. They don't leave it. And one of our ustaz, Mawlana Suleyman Mulla, says something beautiful. He says: the Sahaba did what they did because it was a Sunnah — and we leave what we're leaving because it's a Sunnah. "This is just a Sunnah, leave it." And they would say, "This is a Sunnah, I have to do it." Look at how it changed.

Now you see — Mawlana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, while working on Badhl al-Majhud, the commentary on the hadith of Naza'ir in Abu Dawud, came under review. His sheikh, Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, said to him: "Note this hadith and give it to me — I will recite it in tahajjud tonight."

In their devotion to the Sunnah, the elders never worried about gaining less reward. As my father once said: attending to the call of nature according to the Sunnah is more rewarding than optional salah performed against it. Allahu Akbar.

Using the bathroom according to the Sunnah is more rewarding than performing nafl salah — right, against it. Because Nabi ﷺ said that the one who has to use the restroom and is holding himself back — it is makruh for him to pray salah at that time, because he will not be able to focus. He'll be rushing — "Quickly, let's pray and go to the bathroom" — and then have to do wudu again. But the one who goes to the restroom and then comes back and prays properly — using the bathroom according to the Sunnah, and then praying properly, is more rewarding than praying nafl salah while needing to use the bathroom. Why? Sunnah. You're praying the nafl salah without Sunnah. You're going to the bathroom with Sunnah.

That is why the nafl ibadah — the mundane acts — of our pious predecessors is probably more rewarding than our qiyam al-layl in the masjid, because we are neglecting every Sunnah and making so many major mistakes.

The Sunnah of Using the Restroom

When you use the bathroom — the mundane daily necessity — make sure you use it following the proper Sunnah. Which is, of course, among many things:

• Enter the bathroom with your left foot
• Recite the du'a before you enter
• Do not spend unnecessary time there — it is a place of shayateen

In and out. A person should not be spending time there. It is not a restroom — what's the place to rest? The masjid. The phone — people pick up the phone when they're bored, pick up the phone when they're depressed, pick up the phone when they're sad, pick up the phone when they're angry. The solution to every problem is to pick up the phone. And that is actually the biggest problem. Coming into the house of Allah solves that.

Firm Footedness in the Sunnah: Istiqamah

So here — Mawlana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri is saying that when there is a hadith, he said: give me the note of this hadith and I will recite it in tahajjud tonight. Meaning — there are certain narrations about the order of the surahs, how the order of the surahs may be arranged. The idea is that if there is something

غَيْرُ مَعْمُولٍ بِهَا — something which is not even practiced on — but if the Prophet ﷺ even did it once, our elders would say: this is something I would like to at least once in my lifetime practice on. That's what he was saying. The sheikh wanted to recite according to the Mus'haf of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, only in tahajjud, out of his desire to act upon all the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Because the Mus'haf of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was slightly different from the Uthmani Mus'haf — that which was compiled in the time of Uthman, radiyallahu anhu, when everything was standardized and one final Mus'haf was prepared. So that order — which is not practiced — that's why he said: I don't want to do it in fard salah. Make a note of the tartib of the surahs. I want to do this in tahajjud salah, so that at least once in my lifetime I practice on that.

Mawlana Ashiq Ilahi, the biographer of Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, writes: "The firm footedness of the sheikh in Sunnah — better known as istiqamah — was so transparent that to bring proof for it was like showing a lantern to the sun. There are so many who love the Sunnah, but rare are those whose love for the Sunnah has permeated the recesses of the heart."

This is better translated as fana'iyyah — or self-annihilation — meaning the habits and traits of the self are completely annihilated and replaced by the character of the Sunnah. You don't have — "What ice cream do you like?" Whatever the Sunnah is. The Prophet ﷺ didn't have ice cream. That's it. Every single habit, every mizaj, every temperament — no likes, no dislikes. Whatever the Prophet ﷺ did, that's what I do.

So when you practice on it so much, what happens? It becomes natural. There's an imitation process. And after the imitation, you do it so much, so much, so much, you actually just become like that person. Doesn't that happen? You imitate somebody so much that eventually — without even thinking — everything you say or do, you're just exactly modeling someone else.

Like people who try to copy someone else's Qur'anic recitation — their tone, their lahja, their tune. And what happens? If they're really good at it and they're doing it consistently, they begin to sound like them. That's why our teachers didn't like this. Our asatidah say: don't try to copy anybody else. You can listen to various qaris and then be original. But in order to make your own recipe, your own tune, you need to get an idea of what sounds good. So you can listen to multiple qaris — listen, listen, listen — but then do not try to copy them. It's not munasib. You should be original. Alhamdulillah. Allah wants to see something original from you.

So the point is — he followed the Sunnah so much that he didn't have anything of himself anymore. Whatever he did, all his traits and all his habits were completely annihilated and replaced by the Sunnah. This is called fana'.

Fana' means to come to an end. So what does fana'iyyah mean? You lose yourself. You don't exist anymore. You lose yourself in the muhabba of Allah.

The sign of achievement of this most extraordinary level is that one does not even forgetfully or reflexively commit any act that opposes the Sunnah. You do not forget a Sunnah. You know what your spouse says when you didn't fulfill something she asked you to do? "I forgot." Yeah, it's a problem. "You're always forgetting. You don't love me enough. You don't care about me — that's why you forget." Honestly, that's the truth. If your main concern, your fikr, is how can I look and act like Rasulullah ﷺ — we won't be able to forget the Sunnah. And if we forget, immediately we'll come back and redo it.

That's like — if someone enters the masjid with their left foot instead of the right, how many times have you seen someone back out and redo it? "I entered the masjid with my left — how can I do that? Let me reverse. Let me redo it." This is how you have to force yourself. If I did not enter properly, if I did my wudu but forgot the Sunnah, forgot the miswak — force the nafs: let me do the Sunnah again. Let me redo my wudu with the du'a and with my miswak. That's the only way it's going to happen, my friends. When we have to punish our nafs and tell our nafs: no. Anything you do — it's not according to the Sunnah? You did your wudu but there's no miswak in there, no du'a, you didn't wash each limb three times, you didn't gargle your mouth properly — even if the fara'id are done, not acceptable. I'm going to do it again. Practice makes you perfect.

How do people practice one jump shot? They sit there for six hours, two hours, keep on doing it, and eventually become good at it. Similarly, if we want our life to be molded around the Sunnah, we have to keep on repeating an action.

Imam Abu Hanifa and the Ayah of Separation

Imam Abu Hanifa, rahimahullah, mentioned that he spent the whole night reciting:

"O transgressors, today is a day that you are not going to be allowed to mingle with the pious ones — you have to be separated." He kept on repeating this ayah, thinking: what if, on the Day of Judgment, when the separation call is made, where will Abu Hanifa stand? What if Abu Hanifa will be pushed out? Repeating it, again and again, just thinking about this.

How to Bring the Sunnah into Your Life

May Allah grant all of us tawfiq for Sunnah. The best way to get Sunnah in our life — these stories are a great way to get motivated — but they say, "I don't even know the Sunnah." So get a book on Sunnah.

Shama'il al-Kubra — we have it, check online. Five volumes. Or there's a book called Sunnahs — many books like that. Grab Zad al-Ma'ad — a beautiful book by Ibn al-Qayyim, subhanAllah, on the Sunnah. From sleeping to drinking to eating to using the bathroom to meeting with the spouse — how did the Prophet ﷺ lead his life? When we start reading this, insha'Allah.

Then spend time reading about how the mashayikh's and the Sahaba's lives were devoted to following the Sunnah. Hayat al-Sahaba — the aspect of ittiba' al-Sunnah. How did the Sahaba follow the Sunnah?

Abdullah ibn Umar and the Same Spot

Like Abdullah ibn Umar, radiyallahu anhuma — the famous story. He's traveling on his conveyance. He gets off — and it's not easy to jump off a camel. He gets off and tells his partner: wait. He goes into the bush. Two, five, ten seconds. Comes back. "Let's go." So his companion said: "What did you go there for? What was that?" He said: "I was going with the Prophet ﷺ on this same journey, right here, at this same spot, years ago. And the Prophet ﷺ got off and went to relieve himself in the bush. And he came back quickly." "But why did you come back so quickly?" "Because I didn't need to relieve myself." "So why did you go?" "Because this is the same spot where the Prophet ﷺ stopped."

That's called muhabba. You don't ask: "Is it Sunnah or is it fard?" If you love him, you won't ask this question. Who asks this question? "But it's only Sunnah." Wallahi, if I said this — this is a sign that my heart is devoid of the love of Rasulullah ﷺ. You would never say something like that. You do not ask: "Is it Sunnah, is it fard, or is it wajib?" These are things the Sahaba never asked. These classifications never existed for them. The one who is in love with Rasulullah, the one who knows that there is no salvation without love for Rasulullah and there is no salvation without following the Sunnah — why are you even asking a question that is not relevant? Do you want to get to paradise? Do you want Allah's love? Then just do it.

Someone will say today: "Any Sunnah you mention, you might as well be on a camel — go ride a camel!" It's a knee-jerk response. Am I here trying to argue with you? If you want to argue, I'm stopping right now. That's the end of it. I'm not here trying to argue. I want you to be in a super high place in Jannah — that's why I'm giving you and myself some advice. And if you don't want to take it, leave it. But don't be a smart aleck about this. This is an issue of love. Do you have to get off the camel to use the restroom? No. But if you love someone — what do you not do to imitate them, to make them happy, to be close to them?

When Allah says: "O people, if you love Me, follow My Habib" — you cannot imitate Allah, you cannot follow Allah directly. You have to follow Rasulullah ﷺ. So I want us to ensure that in our home, in our discussions with our siblings, with our spouses, with our young kids — please stop the classification discussion. "But Baba, that's not so important—"

The Story of Qari Tahir and His Son

Remember one of the mashayikh who came here before Ramadan — from Medina — he was speaking about his father. Qari Tahir's son — he said: "I told my father, Baba, I would like you to stay with me. Can I host you?" So his father said: "I have two conditions. Number one: you have to live super close to Masjid al-Nabawi. Number two: no matter what day it is, there should never be a day where your tahajjud salah in front of Allah is less than one hour."

These are the two conditions. You live near the masjid, and in order for me to stay at your home, your tahajjud has to be one hour long. He said: "Okay, I'll do it." So he said: "One day I got caught up, and I ended up on the musalla for an amount of time less than one hour — maybe 50 minutes, maybe 45 minutes. My father went for Masjid al-Nabawi for Fajr, came back, and asked me: 'How come your salah today was less than one hour?'" This mawlana is saying: "I told my father — but my dear respected father, tahajjud is not fard. It's Sunnah. That's it."

He told his wife: "Pack up. We're not staying here anymore." He said: "How dare you make this classification — to speak to me like this, to say tahajjud is not fard? You never said that before. What made you say this today?" So he said: Allahu Akbar — what shaytan made me say this? He felt so regretful. He went on his feet, begged him: "Please, please don't leave. I made a mistake. I'll never make this mistake again. I will never make this mistake again — and belittle the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ like this."

So after a while, when his anger subsided, he said: "On one condition — that you perform 100 raka'at of tawbah." A hundred raka'at. He did it. Imagine the level of muhabba and love between son and father — that the father can say this to the son, and the son can also obey.

And I was thinking: no father should listen to this and say, "I'm going to try this one at home." Because the father who says this, and whose son obeys him — you know that father is praying 200 raka'at. That's the point. The effect of my speech is not there because my action is not there. My amal is not there. Yaqeen is not there. That's why it falls on deaf ears.

When we live by example — whatever level you and I expect from the next generation, we should be double. I'm reading 6 juz — please, can you read 3? I'm spending an hour and a half in tahajjud — can you do 45 minutes? Okay. But when I'm missing my Fajr and I say "you pray tahajjud," when I don't know 10 surahs and I say "you become a hafiz of Qur'an," when I don't remember the last time I prayed 20 raka'at of taraweeh — and I tell my son: "Go, you gotta go lead salah somewhere" — it's not going to work.

You see that's why today's generation is not listening to the older generation, for many reasons — and one of those reasons is that we're not living by example. So every single father and mother, husband and wife, who are worried about their next generation — ensure that we actually live by example.

So this is how we have to change the discussion at home. Do not allow the statement "it's just a Sunnah." Remove that. Don't allow that. Say: this is not acceptable in my house. You never say "it's just a Sunnah." Because today it's just a Sunnah, tomorrow it will be just a fard, after that it's just Islam. As-salamu alaykum — out the door. They won't even say as-salam. They'll say "hi, hello, bye-bye." That's what it's going to be.

A stitch in time saves nine. If I don't take care of this issue right now — this is a small thing, you say. No. Our parents were so particular on our haircuts, how we're sitting, what time we show up — all those things. Because the small things are what will have effect on the big things. This is exactly what I said: if you take care of your adab, Allah will inspire you with the Sunnah. If you take care of the Sunnah, Allah will take care of your fara'id. But if you take the Sunnah lightly, eventually you will start being deprived of the fard.

So sunnah mu'akkadah — let's all make niyyah that we will never miss our sunnah mu'akkadah intentionally. And if we miss it, we will make it up immediately. Sunnah before Dhuhr, sunnah after Dhuhr, sunnah after Maghrib, sunnah after Isha, sunnah before Fajr — within the time period you can make it up. This is the same thing we need to pass down to our next generation.

The Story of Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and Praise

Mawlavi Hakim Muhammad Ismail Gangohi Ajmeri wrote a qasida in praise of Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and read it out in his gathering. Even while the sheikh admonished him, by the sheikh's affection for him, he continued to read on. When he finished, the sheikh lowered his head, then took up a handful of dirt and threw it on him.

Hakim Ishaq protested: "Sheikh, my clothes have become dirty!" He replied: "This is the punishment for praising one in his presence. What can I do? It is the order of the Prophet ﷺ."

The Prophet ﷺ has said that whoever praises you to your face has basically cut your neck. And the wording of the hadith: throw soil upon the faces of those who praise excessively.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 3002)

The ulama have explained what this possibly means in different ways. But the wording is like this. So take one point from this — at least we should run away from praises.

Now sometimes when someone is praising you: "Oh brother, please, man — honestly thank you, but honestly I'm not like that." "No, no, you're really like that." "Nah, man, I'm so bad." "No, no, why do you say that?" So when we are doing self-deprecation, mashaAllah, we're giving him fuel to say even more. This is also from shaytan. When we belittle ourselves in front of somebody — at times what happens? The response is even greater. "Al-faqeer, al-naqeer, al-qitmeer" — and he says: "No, you're Hazrat, you're Sayyid, you're fulan fulan." The way shaytan gets us is 'ajib.

The nafs — when we belittle ourselves in front of somebody, at times what happens is the response is even greater praise. Someone gave me some advice long ago to make my speeches more powerful and attractive to the audience. He said: "You need to make self-deprecation in your speech. Make fun of yourself through jokes — the crowd loves that. They love a speaker who makes fun of himself." What are you talking about? Imagine how horrible this is — that I am ridiculing myself and humbling myself for the sake of praise. And what type of double — this is like double riya. Double riya. You have deceived yourself thinking you're humble, but the whole purpose of this completely fake humility is to get more praises. This advice was given to me 20 years ago — way before Instagram, before "how to make your post better," before "what is trending," before "how to get people." If people who speak like this are going to be thinking of this, what can happen? What do you expect of the audience?

May Allah protect us from riya. Riya is not easy to detect. It's so hidden. So the point is — sometimes the best way to deal with praise is, in your heart, start thinking about all the sins you have done that no one knows. We do not want to give off the impression that "oh, we hate praise and we're so humble" — because then that causes even more praise. The point is: at that moment when someone is praising you, think about all the mistakes you have done.

The Advice of Mawlana Abdul Bari

One ustad — Mawlana Abdul Bari, the son of Haji Farooq rahmatullahi alayh — he was doing taqassos when I was in my first year. An amazing, beautiful soul, mashaAllah. So one day I asked him for advice. After I graduated, I said: "Hazrat, when I go to give speeches in different places, they introduce me — 'so-and-so is like this, he memorized Qur'an at this age,' fulan and all this stuff. How are you supposed to go speak without that getting into your head?"

He gave me a beautiful, powerful piece of advice — a nuskhah. Something that if you use this, honestly, alhamdulillah, it won't make a difference what anyone says. He said: "Before you go up to give a speech, do a little bit of muraqabah — meditation. Think of ten sins you have committed sometime in your life that, besides Allah, no one knows. Think about that for a few minutes before you go up to speak. And then you won't have this problem."

What an amazing piece of advice. When I share this with people, they tell me: "Sheikh, I cannot practice on this advice. Because if I do this, I'm going to run back into the parking lot and go away — I'm not going to be able to show up." Okay, don't run to the parking lot. Realize that I'm sitting here not because I'm somebody. Allah placed me in this position. Otherwise, I deserve to be not even in the parking lot — I deserve to be in the dump. When a person thinks about his sins like this, he will never fall into arrogance.

Who's going to give you this advice? A spiritual doctor. You're not going to get this on Google. You're not going to get this from Gemini. You're going to have to get this by sitting with a ruhani person who is an expert on the war plans of the nafs and shaytan. He knows how the nafs and shaytan work, and he'll give you advice on that. That's what we all need. We all need to be connected to a scholar who is an expert of the nafs and shaytan — and everything you do, take advice from them.

The Need for a Spiritual Mentor

These talks — I know they're beneficial. I'm benefiting when I speak; I can imagine you all are benefiting too. But if a person knows this talk is happening and says, "No, I want to sit in the back and just read Qur'an in the lobby" — you had Qur'an the whole year. You're supposed to be reading it all year. Do we have these talks every year? Are we even in the masjid the whole year? On a Sunday after Asr, you see this? Right now you can read one juz — it's sufficient. No problem. But brother, work on the problems we have. But this is what people do: "No, I gotta read, read, read. Reading 8 hours a day of the Qur'an." And the whole year — not even 30 minutes? Why do you not even read 30 minutes? You don't even read 10 minutes. Because we have spiritual diseases. These talks focus on spiritual diseases. By reading 8 hours and binge-reading Qur'an, it's not going to change us. You've already done this so many times. This is going to be another Ramadan where you do 5 khatams, 3 khatams, 2 khatams — and then as soon as Eid day comes — not even Eid night — we're gone. We're wasted, finished. This is the deception of Shaytan.

Tell all the brothers who are in Sunnah I'tikaf: now make sure you attend one to two programs a day. "But I have to catch up on my Qur'an goals." No — you need to read Qur'an the whole year, my friend. You don't need to read 60 khatams right now, or 30 or 20. Read Qur'an every day — one hour a day, half hour a day — that is far better than 8 hours a day in these ten nights. I'm serious. That's what's more important. Why are we not able to do this? For some of us, this is the tenth I'tikaf we're doing. For the seventh I'tikaf, we're back to the same thing. Are we here for Isha on the day of Eid? If you're not here for Isha on the day of Eid, that's all baqwas. What's more important is salah with jama'ah on a regular basis than saying 2,000 Durood Sharif, 5,000 istighfar, 10,000 this, 5,000 that. This has all become just a ritual — a checkbox, checkbox, checkbox.

The key thing is there have to be non-negotiables. And for us, salah with jama'ah is non-negotiable. Daily Qur'anic recitation — non-negotiable. Getting a spiritual checkup by a spiritual physician — non-negotiable.

One youngster, just a few hours ago, sitting in I'tikaf — Allahu Akbar — reading Qur'an like no tomorrow. You know what he asked me? He called his dad a Fir'awn and asked: "Should I just focus on myself and leave the Fir'awn?" Ya akhi — what is the point of your I'tikaf if you think your dad is Fir'awn and you're reading one Qur'an a day? It's not going to help you. You need help. Go ask for help. Don't say "he" — make it about yourself. Hypothetical scenario — say: "I have a horrible relationship with my dad and I regard him to be a Fir'awn at home and I'm tired of his narcissism. But at the same time I'm sitting in I'tikaf and I have these grudges against my dad. Is that a problem? Or should I just focus on reading Salat al-Tasbih?" That's the point. And I told him exactly what I'm telling you: brother, this is why you need to put the Mus'haf away and take it easy on the Qiyam al-Layl — and come sit in the talks. And after the talk, come and ask. Don't say "he said" and "she said." Say: this is me, this is my problem. I have a problem with my dad. I have a problem with my wife. Whatever the case may be.

This is why Hajj and Umrah and I'tikaf is not changing people — because they're not addressing the real demons they have inside. They're simply going with emotions. This message is for all those who are in this masjid and all those who are listening: we all have demons. I have mine, you have yours. But we've got to address them. I have a teacher — do you have a teacher? I have a shaykh — do you have a shaykh? That's a simple question I'm going to ask you. I never said I'm perfect. I'm filled with flaws. But that's why I'm constantly in touch with my asatidah, constantly sharing with them what I'm going through, constantly taking advice on a regular basis.

When was the last time you checked in with anybody? That's the simple thing I'm telling you. If you don't check in — this is arrogance. You think you've got it all sorted out. You don't have it sorted out. Whether you're 70 years old or 10 years old, there are tons of issues. Let us not be arrogant. And I'm saying it in a very strong manner because this is what it is. We don't like to humble ourselves in front of people. I don't want to sit and ask a question. We'll ask about Iran, Turan, everything else — but what is my problem? I don't want to be humble about it.

Find a spiritual mentor. Immediately. Today. Say to someone — alhamdulillah, they're still alive — and how long have we got them? We don't know. But while they're still alive, reach out to them and say: "I have this issue. Every time I look at my mother, I get upset — and I'm doing I'tikaf. How do I treat this?" Just ask. Ask question after question about spirituality and about your soul. This is the key thing we all need to work on.

And so my message to the sunnah I'tikaf brothers is: please sit down. I am available. I said this five days ago when we started I'tikaf. We're more than halfway through. If you're here in sunnah and nafil I'tikaf — come. Just say: "I am sitting down with you. Give me time. I'll sit after Maghrib right now. We'll sit after Isha." Or tomorrow morning or whatever the case may be. And if you see me busy, just come and say: "I need to speak with you today." Come with something short: "This is 2 minutes. This is the major, biggest problem in my life. Biggest problem in my life is this. How do I get around this spiritual disease? I'm involved in this major sin. How do I get rid of this?" If I know the answer, I'll give it to you. If I don't, I'll say: let me know by tomorrow, I'll find out and get back to you. Simple as that.

Whether you're here for one night or ten nights, please reach out. Write down on a piece of paper before you come so you have your thoughts clear. Or you have my phone number — hopefully you're not on your phone all the time. But everyone's got my number. If you're listening online: 815-549-1687. It's been there for 20 years. Send me a WhatsApp. Don't make it super long — bullet point: this issue, this issue, this issue. What's the solution? I'll leave you a 30-second voice message. But if you listen to it, insha'Allah, it'll help you. And then next: once you finish doing whatever I ask you to do, ask: how do I handle the next thing? It's simple as that. The solutions are not long. But we have to simply ask. And number two — follow through. If you ask and follow through, it will happen.

Every Scholar Had a Shaykh

This is what we see among all of these mashayikh. You could say with tawatur — there is no scholar whose books are in the library today who did not have a shaykh. There is no scholar whose books are in the library who did not have a mentor — after becoming a scholar himself. Why are we thinking we don't need a mentor? Why are we thinking we can get along in life without anyone telling us?

How many of you here — if you don't show up for salah with jama'ah — have somebody to pull your ear? I'm asking the 50-year-old professional sitting here. I'm asking the business owners here. I'm asking the doctor sitting in this crowd. The engineer. The IT professional. Who in your life can say: "Hey, you haven't gone to salah with jama'ah for three days — what's wrong with you?" That's the problem. You have nobody. If you don't have anybody, you're in trouble.

If you have a wife who can say that — alhamdulillah, mashaAllah. Pray two raka'at Salat al-Shukr after Maghrib that you have a wife who gets upset at you for not going to salah with jama'ah and calls you out. "Honey, let's go for dinner." "No, we're not going for dinner. We're not going anywhere. You don't even go for Isha, and you're telling me for dinner? I don't want your dinner. I'm not going out for breakfast. I'm not going anywhere. Look at how you wasted your Ramadan. Forget about the Eid party. I don't want Eid clothes — because I'm not happy. Because I have a husband who doesn't even care about Ramadan, doesn't read Qur'an, doesn't go to the masjid, doesn't go for Fajr even on a weekend. Why are you trying to show this love with this clothing? I don't want to see that. I want to see a righteous husband — which you unfortunately are falling below where you need to be." If you have a wife like this, mubarak to you. Alhamdulillah.

But for a lot of us, we don't have a wife like this. Our parents are not there, or they don't know, or they simply feel like they can't say anything — "You're 40 years old, man, come on." So now we have nobody. And that's why we're in this situation.

Today is Fajr — we should cry on this. Both side prayer halls — upstairs, downstairs. One brother I just met said: "I remember Darussalam pre-Covid. I used to pray Fajr on the big nights downstairs." Where is the ummah? I spoke to Sheikh Hisham at IFS right now. He told me: pre-Covid, Fajr in the last nights of Ramadan — the entire main prayer hall, including overflow in the lobby — it would be a Jumu'ah crowd for Fajr. How many safs today? Four safs. This morning. We have a major problem. We have a major pandemic — an epidemic — way worse than Covid. Covid created such a spiritual sickness within us that we haven't rebounded back.

This is right now in our own masjid. If we cannot make it for Fajr in the final nights of Ramadan, what will we be able to do?

Closing: A Call to Action

My ask for all of us: let's be real with ourselves. Immediately get a mentor. Immediately acknowledge that we are super weak, super filled with mistakes and flaws and sins — and we need help. I don't want to be that statistic — that 70% that used to show up but doesn't anymore. Please reach out to somebody. And first — I'm here to connect you with somebody. You say: "This is my temperament. I am from Florida. I am from New York. Can you connect me with somebody over there?" Okay, we have contacts, alhamdulillah. "I am of Palestinian background. I am a convert. Can you find me somebody I can relate to?" Insha'Allah, we'll work on that. But if in the masjid we're not asking for assistance, what's going to happen?

So let's not just focus on lots of ibadah. Let's focus on the most important aspects — which is tazkiyah: getting rid of haram from our life and bringing Sunnah into our life. And Sunnah is not just how you spend the 27th night. Sunnah is how you spend the entire life.

What I am most in need of — what I just shared with you — please make du'a for me. Ya Allah, allow me to implement this within my own life. Allow all of us to be, insha'Allah, the best role models of Sunnah. And allow us all to always have some elder, some senior, to whom we can resort and get advice from — again and again.