Reflections from Masjid Al-Aqsa & Jordan with Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Opening Du'a

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our Master Muhammad and upon the family of our Master Muhammad. Blessings and peace.

O Allah, ease my heart and ease my affairs. And ease my tongue so that it understands what I say. Glory be to You, there is no knowledge for us except what You have taught us.

O Allah, teach us what benefits us. And benefit us from what You have taught us. And increase us in knowledge and action.

O Allah, enlighten our hearts with Your knowledge. And use our bodies for Your obedience. And guide us to what You love and are pleased with — in speech, action, intention, and guidance. You are capable of everything. O Wahhab. O Fattah. O Jabbar.

Quranic Verses of Gratitude and Taqwa

And your Lord declared: "If you are grateful, I will increase you. And if you are ungrateful, My punishment is severe."

O you who believe, fear Allah. And look at what you have put forward for tomorrow. And fear Allah. Allah is aware of what you do.

Introduction: The Purpose of This Journey

Respected brothers and sisters, our dear students, volunteers, and all those who are present here today — Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

I thank Allah who has blessed us all — this muhabbat and love for deen, and muhabbat for efforts of deen, muhabbat for the ummah, that has inspired us all to come in such good numbers tonight to His house. And this speaks volumes of the muhabbat and tawfiq that Allah is giving all of us to be connected with some of the very important aspects of our ummah.

And in this time that we have together, I ask Allah that He allows us to hear that which is most important and relevant for all of us.

Initially the announcement was made that there will be no live streaming, and the purpose was to get all of you present here. But because of the number of people who are connected with Darussalam — thousands of them, alhamdulillah — who really wanted to listen, that's why we decided to offer it for those who are not in the area, who cannot drive to the masjid, for them to be able to join and listen.

Kheir, beloved friends. I'm not going to share anything brand new that you haven't heard before. My purpose is to simply share what I felt. Because whatever I saw, I've already seen it in the newspaper and TV and clips and whatnot. But there's something called ayn ul-yaqeen — there's something called going and seeing yourself.

The Number One Purpose: Softening the Heart

What is the number one purpose when you go on these types of trips? You're not going to help anyone more than you're going to help yourself. How do we help ourselves? You help yourself by softening your heart. This is, I would say, the number one problem we're facing — that our hearts have become hardened. My heart has become hardened. With all the things we consume, from the food to media and everything else, ghafla and heedlessness has taken over us.

And the Prophet ﷺ's teaching is that when a person places his hand over an orphan, then his heart softens up. There's a reason why he said that. Because this is how life is. Most of us have parents, and so we think this is normal. But we need to be reminded that no, that is a blessing of Allah upon you — but there are people who lose their mom and dad. Some lose their dads before they're born, or when they're very young. Some lose their mother, some lose both. And when we see people who have less than us in the matters of dunya, then we become appreciative of the blessings of Allah upon us.

This was the number one purpose of this trip. There's not much help that one man, or two men, or three men can do — how much you can do. The purpose is that if we come back motivated and our hearts soften up, then insha'Allah our lives can come right. So more than anything else, this is a journey of our own islah. And I think any humanitarian trip that we take on, the niyyah should be islah al-nafs — that we are going to bring change to our own self.

That person whom we're giving to — alhamdulillah, that's great. But he does not need what we're giving him as much as we need to fix ourselves. He needs it for his dunya, he may die. But our situation is that, Allah forbid, if we pass away with this level of ghafla, we don't know where we're headed. So this is something we should always remember — that when we are going for any relief work, down the street here or overseas, the goal is to help our own selves.

Story of Abu Yusuf: The Son Who Changed

Alhamdulillah, with the helping hand of the organization, they reached out and said we want to take an ulama trip — imams, six or seven of us — traveling from different parts of the country.

On landing there, I want to share with you just a quick story. The brother who picked us up, Abu Yusuf, was a very nice person. Halfway through, he mentioned his son. He said, "You know, my son died." I said, "Oh subhanAllah, I'm so sorry to hear. How old was he?" He was in his mid-twenties. And how many other children do you have? He said, "I have none. I just had one son and he passed away." So I said, "How did he pass away?"

He said, "My son was really not following the deen. He was going off track, had the wrong crowd. But Allah one day changed his heart and he came to me and said, 'Dad, I've changed my life. I've made tawbah.'" So the father said, "I was wondering — how long is this going to last? This is one of those phases." Kind of skeptical. But he said that actually his son really genuinely did change his life. And so for every salah, he would come and take his dad and remind him, "Let's go to the masjid."

He said, "Honestly speaking, Fajr salah — I used to pray it, but very rarely in the masjid. Always at home. My son would wake me up and say, 'Baba, let's go to the masjid.'" One day it was super cold and it was snowing outside. The son came to wake him up and said, "Let's go." He said, "Where?" The son said, "To the masjid." He said, "It's snowing outside, how are you going to go? I'll pray here, you go to the masjid." SubhanAllah.

The son said, "Baba, it seems like the shaitan got to you." The father said, "Wallah, I can never forget those words. When my son is telling me the shaitan got to me — when my whole life I've been saying you are the shaitan. But today my son has gotten such basira and foresight that he's telling me, 'Dad, it seems the shaitan got to you — that you don't want to go to the masjid just because it's snowing outside.'" So they went to the masjid. They got late and were running. He said, "Dad, don't run to the masjid. If you're late, you're late. Walk."

Then eventually after salah, the imam told the dad, "You need to learn from your son." A year in, one day on the blessed day of Jumu'ah, the son prayed Fajr, went back home, went to sleep. The father went to wake him up, and he was out cold. They called the ambulance, and they said he had no heartbeat — they pronounced him dead.

So the father at that time told me something which was just so powerful. He said, "At that time, wallahi, you know what I said? I said, 'Ya Allah, this is a trust and amanah You have given me. And now You have decided to pull back this amanah. And I am pleased with Your decision.'" He said, "I have no idea how I said those words, but I said it." And I was getting goosebumps listening to him explain this.

Then he said, "My son's friends carried the janazah. I did not have the himmah — the ability — to go into the grave. They lowered him in, my son." His son was over 6 foot 2, 6 foot 3, two to three hundred pounds — a very built, big guy. And the friend said, "Abu Yusuf, when we were carrying Yusuf, it felt like it was a feather." And when they put him into the grave and the time came to turn his body towards the qibla — with such a big, heavy body, and also heavier after death — he said, "We literally just pushed a little bit and immediately it turned over towards the qibla."

And the fact that Allah took him away on the day of Jumu'ah. What he was saying is that when Allah is pleased with someone — as the hadith mentions — when Allah is pleased with someone, He opens up a door of goodness for him towards the end of his life. Now that end for this boy came at 25; for others it may come at 75 or 85. And He allows that person to get involved in that work until eventually he passes away while doing that work.

So this is the desire every one of us should have right now — regardless of where we are in the matters of deen — that: ya Allah, please open up a door of goodness for me, not at the very end of life, but now. That I start doing such actions that are pleasing to You, and then do not allow me to leave that until death. May Allah accept this du'a on our behalf.

On Patience in Difficulty

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1469)

Whoever tries to remain patient, Allah will give him that patience. So my dear friends, anyone who's going through difficulty — don't ever say, "This is more than I can handle." If Allah is giving it to you, that means, insha'Allah, you can handle it. But just ask Allah to give you the strength. We are not supposed to ask Allah for sabr before difficulty comes, because we don't want to be in a difficulty in which we have to do sabr. But when the difficulty does fall upon us, then remember — Allah is the only one who can give you that patience.

Visit with Shaykh Ahmed Al-Khudari: Three Pieces of Advice

That night, we went to go visit Shaykh Ahmed Al-Khudari, who is, by the Hijri calendar, 109 years old — and about 100 by the Gregorian calendar. One of the most senior ulama of the entire country. Going to visit him — four floors down in his basement apartment. We got a chance to sit with him and he gave us some advice. And at this age, he is always receiving guests from the royal family, as well as women and men who come to study deen from him, all the time.

He shook our hands and gave us a piece of advice that I want to share with you — the hadith of Abu Hurayrah radiyallahu anhu — three pieces of advice.

Number one: Fear Allah wherever you may be. Don't fear Allah only in the masjid. Fear Allah in your bedroom with your spouse. Fear Allah with your children. Fear Allah with your business partner. Fear Allah when you're angry. Fear Allah when you're overly happy. In any situation you find yourself in, make sure you're afraid of Allah.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1987 — declared Hasan by al-Tirmidhi)

Number two: وَأَتْبِعِ السَّيِّئَةَ الْحَسَنَةَ تَمْحُهَا — Mistakes will always be made. We will make mistakes, no doubt about it. But when a mistake is made, then follow it up with a good deed. And تَمْحُهَا — it will erase it. Dear friends, we're all making mistakes. As soon as it happens, pick up your tasbih, say astaghfirullah a hundred times. Open up your app and send some sadaqah. Call your parents and share some nice words with them. Whatever it is — sins happen. We're all sinners. But follow it up with a good deed — insha'Allah this will wipe it out.

Third: وَخَالِقِ النَّاسَ بِخُلُقٍ حَسَنٍ — Treat people with the best character. And he emphasized the fact that character is not only in the masjid. Our deen teaches us character everywhere.

My dear brothers, this elder scholar at this age still goes to a masjid every week to give a dars. And what was so amazing — he talked about the value of time. His son was telling us his schedule: two hours in the night, two hours after Isha — a total of four hours of sleep. He is blind in one eye; with the other eye he uses a magnifying glass to read his books. And the rest of the time is used in the dhikr of Allah.

Now while he's sitting there doing dhikr, naturally when you're lying on a sofa and he's too old to sit up, you might fall asleep. If we start falling asleep during Quran or dhikr, we just fall asleep. What does he do? The son said he pinches himself to stay awake. And we actually witnessed that while we were speaking — because we were speaking to his son for quite a while, and he is hard of hearing and couldn't hear us. We saw him repeatedly — as soon as his eyes would close, he would pinch himself to wake himself back up — with a huge tasbih, constantly doing dhikr of Allah.

He always has a screen on in his room showing the Ka'bah live from the haram. He uses that to watch it. So we asked him, "We need you to be making du'a for our little masjid and madrasah." Alhamdulillah, his son was kind enough to allow us to place a note there, so that every time the Shaykh looks at the Ka'bah and makes du'a, he can also be making du'a for all of you over here.

The Dream and the Significance of Scholars

Dr. Amjad Rashid, a very senior Shafi'i scholar of Jordan who had visited us last month, took us to visit Shaykh Ahmed. He mentioned that 25 years ago, he had a dream in which he saw Shaykh Ahmed — and behind the Shaykh was a massive fire. The Shaykh was hearing this for the first time. When he heard it, he said, نهار! — "Fire!" And yes, the obvious interpretation is that Allah is using a scholar like him to protect those lands and the ummah in general from huge problems — just as Umar al-Khattab radiyallahu anhu was described as a great door: once it is broken, it will never be fixed again. That was a reference to his shahada — he was a barrier against fitna.

I want us to think about the value we need to have for our elders — whether they are scholars, elderly parents, or grandparents. They are a huge blessing wherever they are. Our community is one that stresses the importance of elders. We need to do everything we can to enjoy their company and presence, get their du'a, visit them, make du'a for their long life and health. Because when these mashayikh are gone, and when these elders are gone, Allah knows best what is going to happen.

That is why the Prophet ﷺ said in one hadith: mawt al-'alim — the death of one scholar is like the death of an entire tribe. And it will leave behind such a huge space that nothing in this world could ever fill it. At the very least, let us make a general du'a: Ya Allah, give long life to our elders. Give long life to our mashayikh. O Allah, allow their shade to be over us for a long time. That's a really important du'a we all need to be making.

Visit to the Grave of Shu'ayb alaihissalam

On Monday morning, alhamdulillah, when we came back to Jordan, on the way to a refugee camp, we were blessed to be able to stop at Shu'ayb alaihissalam's grave. I got a chance to perform two rakat there. And as I was there, immediately all the ayat of Shu'ayb alaihissalam started coming to mind.

My dear brothers, I want us to understand that these prophets — every single prophet — none of them had a walk in the park. No prophet had a walk in the park. Every prophet was persecuted. Every prophet was attacked. Every prophet was made fun of. The prophets were eventually killed — hundreds and hundreds and thousands of them. The death of a prophet, the assassination of a prophet, the ridicule of the prophet — that does not affect the message of truth. This is such an important point.

Prophets came and they left. But the truth will remain. All of those verses of Shu'ayb alaihissalam in the Qur'an, where he is saying that his people are making fun of him:

They started being sarcastic: "You're very smart, you're very forbearing — is it your salah that stops us from doing whatever we want in our business?" When you see the ulama even today being made fun of by millions of people — "Why are you coming and speaking about this? Why does the deen have to always butt into this?" — these type of statements should not make you feel that the deen is going to go away. Prophets come and go and they die in the path of Allah. Islam will stay. That is something very important for us to remember.

The Refugee Camps: Special Needs Children and Their Mothers

Afterwards we went to a refugee camp — specifically to the building that helps disabled kids, and a lot of them orphans. This was initially built by the UN, and then they left it — they just built the building, but nothing else was happening inside. So now it's people like ourselves who've donated in the past, and alhamdulillah, are making this building fully functional.

These are all special needs children. We went and spent time with the kids. They are being taught soft skills, how to make things, how to communicate. They're given their medical checkups. We had an opportunity to play with these kids. Wallahi, this was very eye-opening. Because something that you take for granted — that you can sit on a swing, sit on a seesaw, jump on a trampoline easily — here you've got all sorts of special needs kids who can't do anything without support. While you're giving them juice, you've also got to hold the bottle for them.

That is so important for us to go through — whether in this country or anywhere else — dealing with children who are special needs, and who are in reality gateways to Jannah for their parents and anyone who serves them.

We had an opportunity to address the mothers — a huge gathering, maybe 50, 60 or more. Mothers of all these special needs children. They told us, "Please try to give them some words of comfort, because it's very hard." Not only are some of them widows, but they are all staying in the refugee camp, and on top of that, they have one or multiple disabled children.

One of the things mentioned was the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat of al-Tabarani; also referenced in al-Bayhaqi's Shu'ab al-Iman)

"Indeed, your Lord has some special moments in the days of your life where He sends down a breeze — فَتَعَرَّضُوا لَهَا — present yourself to it. It may well happen that you get one breeze upon you from Allah, and then you will never ever become wretched again." Ramadan is such a breeze. The tenth of Muharram is a breeze. Yawm al-Arafah is a breeze.

What was mentioned to these mothers is that Allah did not give them a choice to go stand in front of the breeze. Rather, Allah put the breeze in their home — in the form of a disabled child. That is a gift from Allah that we have to understand what is in it.

Another scholar with us mentioned that his mother was a pediatrician, and growing up, her office was inside the house. Some days she would tell her children, "Dress up today." Why? He said, "Today we have the mothers of Jannah coming to our house" — meaning the mothers of special needs children. That's what you get from the deen. No matter what your situation, you will find a Quranic verse or a hadith that can give you comfort. My dear brothers, what do people who don't have Islam do? How could they comfort themselves? How much we should be grateful to Allah that He has given us this deen.

One little girl, subhanAllah — about 4 years old, with thick glasses — came to give me a hug as soon as we entered. I was told that when her father was informed that a dhu al-ihtiyaj (special needs) child was going to be born, he said, "Alhamdulillah, I would rather have a dhu al-ihtiyaj child than a disobedient child. This is a rahma from Allah." So he named the girl Rahma.

Three Orphans and the Collapsed Home

Afterwards, we went to visit another camp, a refugee camp. And we saw, subhanAllah, the situation where three children had lost both their mother and father — both parents — and were living with their aunt in a refugee camp. We went first to the house where they used to live with their parents. The house was uninhabitable — the entire roof had fallen in, caved in. It looked like it had been struck by a missile.

These three kids were staying with their aunt in a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment. The aunt had her own children — maybe seven kids and parents in one small, tiny apartment. The boy said, "Every time I go into our old house, I see my mom sitting there, saying 'marhaba, come, come.' The memories were too haunting." So they didn't stay there.

But one night, when it was very cold, they needed a space heater. Two of the siblings went into the old house in the middle of the night, while it was pouring with rain. All of a sudden they heard a massive thud — and the entire front room's roof had collapsed, due to the rain. They were saved by maybe a meter or two, because they were inside the room where the heater was. We saw that — we walked through all of it.

Alhamdulillah, this organization is now rebuilding that house. We sat with the three orphans and spoke to them about their ambitions. The young girl — mashallah, her report card showed 97.4 — when asked what she wanted to become, said, "I want to become a doctor." The boy said, "I want to become a drill sergeant in the army, because my dad was a drill sergeant in the army." And the third one said, "I want to be a cook — I used to like to eat too."

The 10th grade girl, who had such amazing marks, said: "We have so many assignments in school that require a computer. If I could just have an iPad or something of that sort to study outside of school, this would really allow me to fulfill my desire of serving as a physician."

And the boy — I could see it very clearly — he didn't want pity. He said with his chest wide open, "I don't need a laptop. I can study myself. My sister — she needs a laptop." I saw this izzat al-nafs in him — that genuine feeling of self-respect, that "I don't need handouts." That is something we are so spoiled in, subhanAllah. What do we not have? Yet look at the constant complaining.

Food Distribution and the Huffadh of the Qur'an

After that visit, we went to an area where every single week they hand out meat to families. Amongst the recipients, there were orphans — and three of them were huffadh of the Qur'an. I asked them, "How did you memorize it?" They said, "Alhamdulillah, our mother taught us."

Dear brothers, you will see such a massive difference in the level of education within the refugees and the orphans — if someone had a learned parent, they were able to teach them. Otherwise the systems aren't really in place for that.

A Story of Winning Hearts Back to the Deen

In the bus, our guide was telling the story of an orphan boy who was completely away from the masjid — didn't want to sit with anyone connected to the deen. He had been burned by a bad experience with some people of the deen. The guide said to him, "I'm going to be going and handing out food at different places. You want to come with me?" He said okay. So mashallah, he befriended him.

And when the time for Dhuhr came, he said, "You can wait here if you want. I'm going inside the masjid to pray." He did the same for Asr. The next prayer time, the boy said, "Why are you telling me to stay here? I want to come in with you." By building that relationship and softening that image of Islam — because this boy had a bad experience — this same boy, mashallah, I got a chance to meet. He is an orphan who is now finishing his bachelor's in Hanafi fiqh at the university, completed his hifz, and become an alim.

Someone who was not following the deen at all. And there are many people around us in similar situations, who've turned away because something bad happened and they are traumatized by that. So instead of continuously speaking ill about them, what we need to do is build a relationship with them and bring them close. Honestly, it comes down to this — if there is muhabbat and love, they will listen. And instead of trying to force anyone to follow the deen, which many parents unfortunately do — may Allah protect me and all of us — the key thing is to make people fall in love with us. Once that happens, everything else, insha'Allah, will follow.

A New Home for $10,000

We went to another home — a small, tiny apartment in the refugee camp. Thousands and thousands of people live like this. In this particular little home, there were nine children staying there. And with just $10,000, they had a ribbon-cutting ceremony. They said, "Come upstairs, there's a surprise for you." We went up, and there was a thread with balloons — we cut it. Two bedrooms, bathroom, fully furnished. A respectable, beautiful home — for $10,000.

The brother taking me around said, "Do you realize what $10,000 does — the entire home, the level of confidence, the level of happiness you can give to an entire family of nine kids? And they were so excited to show us their home. Just for $10,000."

So many times we might be thinking, there are too many problems — how do I go about solving them? Brother, you cannot solve all the problems of the world. Allah never made you responsible for that. You're responsible for trying to solve one problem, two problems, five problems. You're not responsible for solving all the world's problems. This was a great example of a successful project with a small donation.

The Mafraq and Zaatari Camps

We went onwards to a much further refugee camp — the Zaatari camps. These are the largest refugee camps in the entire Middle East. Some are massive — we're talking about 250,000 people, entire cities. The Zaatari camp actually has walls of sand so no one can leave. It takes about five days to get approval to even enter. They have their own system — stores, masajid, some sort of economy. But once you're in, you're in.

One of the things we saw there was trailers — with four to five families living in a single trailer. Siblings, cousins, unrelated young men and women, all in one trailer. That is a serious situation, to say the least. What they told us is that to change someone's life forever is simply getting them their own separate trailer for their family — one that can last about 15 years. The cost? About $4,500 to $5,000. That's it. For $4,500 to $5,000, you're giving an entire family their own home.

The Mafraq Border Camp: Education and Muna's Speech

The Mafraq camp is about two hours from Amman, right on the border of Syria — we could actually see Syria, about a thousand feet away. This is a scattered camp that no one is officially taking responsibility for. You have farmers with huge lands telling refugees, "If you want to put your tent on our land, you can — you can work picking tomatoes or fruit for us." Basically slave labor, with nothing else offered.

What we saw was very shocking. You have literally palaces — four stories high — and right next to them, a hundred feet away, twenty-five refugee tents. Kids coming out from the palace, kids coming out from the camp. The kids from the camp, of course, had no shoes, no running water, no toilet. Collectively they were playing soccer together, and then when it was over — he goes there, he goes there. The dichotomy was shocking.

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

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

She basically said: "I'm an orphan. I don't have a dad to wipe my tears off. I don't have a dad to help me when everyone else has a father to take care of them. We've been suffering here with such difficulty." Then she said, "Look at my clothes — whether it's summer or winter, I've got the same thing. My mom and I have to share." Then she said, "Many times my mom will ask me, 'Why did you come home sad?' Because I've passed by a restaurant — and in my life I've never entered a restaurant. I see people going in and buying things and I can't buy anything. The sadness of that overtakes me, and my mother asks what happened, and I have to tell her."

And then she said something unbelievable. She said, "Many times there's food at home and one plate. And my mother will tell me, 'Dear daughter, go ahead — you eat, I've eaten.' And I eat whatever I can, and then leave some. And as I turn around to go to bed, I see her jump for it and start eating — because she had not eaten at all. She told me that so that I could eat." SubhanAllah.

Then she said, "We want school — but this one-room schoolhouse is for ages 5 to 18. How much can we learn here? I want to go to school but it costs money. It costs me $10 to get a school bus to go 20 kilometers to school. That's all I'm asking." The school session ended. We walked out. She was still continuing to cry — it wasn't an act. She was sitting there in the corner, weeping. So I told her, "I want to see where you live. Can I see?" She said yes, and took me in.

This is her house — all open. There is nothing there. She was saying how when it rains, everything comes in — the whole place. And the winter was coming, with extreme cold. Then she showed me the toilet — not a private en-suite, but a shared facility for multiple families. She was crying, telling me there was no way to even zip or sew it up. Just a hole to hold. And on top, completely open — so if it's raining, it rains on your head; if it's 20 degrees outside, it's 20 degrees in there.

She said, "The biggest need I have is a bathroom. Because every time we use the bathroom, our mom has to come and stand guard — because of how the toilet is. Our mother doesn't feel safe for any of us to use the bathroom alone. So she comes and stands outside every single night."

SubhanAllah. There were some toilets being delivered by Helping Hand that day. I asked, "Can we please give her one?" They said, "This one has already been destined for someone else." I said, "Okay, how much does a toilet even cost?" The toilet is a full structure — it has a showerhead, a wash basin, a toilet itself, a light inside and outside connected to a solar panel, and a large water tank on a metal frame. The entire thing costs $2,000. That's it.

So, I said, "We'll give you the toilet." The excitement on her face was incredible. Then immediately — she brought me a young girl, her neighbor, whose eye had a cyst that had gotten infected from dirt. A fellow medical professional with us said it just requires a small incision and some antibiotics. But this little girl was being bullied because she looks different. And Muna was like, "I feel bad because my little friend here is getting bullied." Something as simple as draining a cyst — she had no way to get that done.

One of the brothers made an important point: "We don't need doctors to come and give us a bunch of diagnoses and then leave. We have doctors in our own city. We need money to pay those doctors. More than your labor, we need money and we can hire four or five physicians, surgeons, and take care of everything." The importance he was stressing is: don't do what you want to do — do what's needed.

However, I will still say — it is most definitely important for physicians and non-physicians, men, women, and children all, to travel to regions like these across the globe, wherever they may be — for the purpose of softening our hearts, for us to become grateful, and for us to understand what life is actually about.

A Mother Waiting Ten Years for a Toilet

We went to another home and asked that mother, "What do you need?" Again — bathroom. We said, "Please can you wait in line?" She got so frustrated and said, "I've been waiting for 10 years. Ten years I've been waiting in line to have a toilet." I said to the brother, "Please can you order one? Let's just give her a toilet — how much? $2,000." He said okay. I asked, "How long to get a toilet delivered?" He said, "By Thursday morning." That's 48 hours.

Imagine — the power, the ability that every one of us here has to bring sudden change to an entire family's life within less than 48 hours with a simple $2,000 donation. That was empowering to see. Because usually we don't realize you don't need 100 million to do things. Simple, small things can change people's lives if you value that.

The Autistic Child and the Request for a Chain

Then I said, "Is there anything else you need?" The husband walked in with his autistic child. And the husband said, "Yes, we have one very big need. Can you please give us a chain or something to tie our son at night? Because our son — we have no doors, no zips, just an open tent — and the children run away. Three nights ago, he got chased by a wild dog, this autistic child."

SubhanAllah, naturally everyone started crying — thinking about which American autistic child's parent has to say, "Can I get a chain?" We have early childhood intervention, all sorts of physical therapy, this therapy and that. And here he's saying, "I just want a chain to tie my child so he doesn't get eaten by wild dogs." SubhanAllah. There's so much need for shukr, brothers.

Astaghfirullah — we said, "We're not going to get a chain. We will, insha'Allah, get a fence built around the house." What was very nice about this group was that anytime people came asking for help, the brothers would always say, "We are nobody. We have no control. We are simple, faqeer humans like you. You need to ask Allah. We heard what you said, we will try. But the provider is not me or my organization — the provider is Allah." That point was very good. In every single home, that was always mentioned: "Turn to Allah, make du'a, Allah will take care of your needs. We made note of what you want, but don't bank on us — bank on Allah." That tarbiyah, which I really liked, was constantly being given.

Muna's Dhikr and a Girl Teaching Qur'an

That girl Muna — I gave her the salawat and istighfar cards that we have here. I said, "You are mashallah a very good representative on behalf of your camp, and you care about them. Here are some cards — I want you to fill these out every single day, do dhikr, and hand them out to your classmates." She said, "I'm going to do that within this refugee camp, but I'll also take a bus whenever I have the money and give them out at the big school." But then she told me something powerful. She said, "Don't worry about it. Every single night before I go to bed, I still read:"

"I am pleased with Allah as my Lord, Islam as my religion, and the Prophet ﷺ as my Prophet." That was really touching — to say that no matter how tough situations may be, alhamdulillah, we are pleased with the will of Allah for us.

Another family — the older daughter, just 15 years old, was teaching Qur'an to the little kids in the camp. No shoes, barely any clothes, one hot room. She's not a teacher, but her mother had taught her some Qur'an, so she was passing it on.

We went to her house. She said she wanted to go to school but it costs $10 for the bus — twenty kilometers away. So she works three days a week picking tomatoes, six to eight hours a day, for a mere $10 — just to pay the bus fare to school for two days. Let that sink in. Six to eight hours of picking tomatoes — at 12, 13 years old, with her mom — just for a bus ticket to go to school.

For all the youth who are listening — we say, "Oh, school is so hard, school is so boring." Astaghfirullah al-'adhim. Do you understand what people your age, on the other end of the world, would do to have one day of your life?

The Hadith of Three Blessings

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2346 — declared Hasan by al-Tirmidhi)

Whoever wakes up on any morning — first, آمِنًا فِي سِرْبِهِ, feeling peace at home, not afraid of death or some enemy; second, مُعَافًى فِي جَسَدِهِ, he has 'afiya in his body, he is healthy; third, وَلَهُ قُوتُ يَوْمِهِ, he's got one day's food — not the garage freezer, not the basement freezer, not the double fridge, not the pantry — just one day's food on the kitchen table — it is as though the entire luxuries of the world have been brought to his feet.

We are all not just kings — we are super kings, rulers of dynasties, based on this hadith. One of the brothers mentioned he went to Turkey immediately after the earthquake. For six days he could not use a restroom. Six days. He slept in a car. He said, "I did not understand what this hadith meant until I went there." He said even the Turkish army and police were waiting in line for organizations like ours to give them food — there was nothing at all.

Then he said they went to one tent and gave a packet of food. The man inside said, "Please give me one more." They said they couldn't. After his insistence, they gave him another box. He went inside and came back out with 2,800 euros in cash. He said, "Take it." They said, "We're not collecting donations." He said, "I don't know — I have to give you something." He was a millionaire, sitting on wads of cash inside a tent — and couldn't even get a glass of water. When you say money doesn't buy everything, look at that example.

Then there was another tent with a white Bentley parked outside. The man's house was completely destroyed, but he still had his Bentley — and was inside the tent. The lesson from all of this: do not take anything you have for granted. If Allah wills, all the money we have is of no use. In one second, Allah can bring you to your knees.

Stories of How Allah Listens: The Last Night in Jordan

The Syrian Refugee and the Powder Milk

Dear friends, before we go to Quds, I want to share two stories from the last night in Jordan. Some brothers had Zelled me some money to hand out to the fuqara over there. So one brother took me around for about four hours, visiting different orphans in Amman.

And I want to impress upon all of you the importance of doing this — that it is not sufficient for us to simply tap our credit card and say, "My zakat is going to be spent somewhere." We're missing the spirit and the soul of sadaqah. There's a whole aspect of taking your hard-earned money, taking out zakat from it, and going to hand it to people yourself. This is something I encourage all of us to try to arrange. When you go overseas to whatever country you've come from, when you take your kids with you, please spend some time going to the homes of orphans and widows. By hand, in a respectful manner, give it to them. Listen to their story. Let your kids watch what type of lifestyle people are going through. And make them appreciate the blessings we have here in America.

I came to three orphans whose mom I was very impressed by — even while living in a dilapidated house, working at a water bottle factory from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. — she had raised them with such beautiful character. They served me water, offered tea, so welcoming. I told them, "You are orphans, but let me share something with you — you are far better than thousands of people who have both their moms and dads. Because as Ali radiyallahu anhu mentioned, a true yateem is not the one whose mom or dad has died. A true yateem is yateem al-adabi wal-'ilmi — the one who has no etiquette and no knowledge." And I said, "Thank your mother who has taught you this beautiful etiquette." That is a reminder for all of us — not to become so relaxed in our comfortable homes that we miss out on teaching etiquette, adab, and haya to our children.

Someone had Zelled me some money that evening. I said I'd give it out tomorrow morning. I walked out of the store at about 10 p.m. A man approached me. He said, "Ya akhi." I said, "Yes, what's up?" He said, "Brother, I need some help. I need powder milk — I have a five-month-old at home and we don't have milk for my child."

SubhanAllah. Within less than a minute of me receiving that money — I came out, and there was a person asking. He said he had walked 45 to 50 minutes and left his house at 10 a.m. It was now 10 p.m. — twelve hours he'd been looking for work. His entire shoulder was injured from a work accident. He was a Syrian refugee with six kids at home. He said, "I simply want to work, but my hand is injured and no one wants to offer me anything. And my kid is crying at home — I don't have milk powder."

So I said, "Let's go to a grocery store." The department store nearby didn't have milk powder — apparently you only get that at a pharmacy. So I said, "Let's buy some things." And the feeling of walking with someone and just allowing him to fill his cart — vegetables, sugar, salt, spoons. He said, "We cook on firewood or charcoal. All the smoke comes into the food." I said, "Let's solve that — what do you need?" He said, "A gas canister." And, "I just need a cover for the pot." Simple small things — soap, spoons. Imagine not having hand-washing soap. Two spoons for an entire household of eight. No electricity — borrowing from the neighbor, and as soon as the government finds out, that gets cut.

Alhamdulillah — that half of the money didn't get used up. I gave him the other half and said, "Go find a canister from another store and milk powder." Then I told him: "Brother, don't even thank me. I didn't know your name. You don't know my name. You must be making some special du'a. Because you walked for 12 hours looking for work, and Allah put it into someone in America's heart to give sadaqah right now — and then He used me to hand it to you. Nothing is coincidental. Understand the way Allah works: every need of ours, only Allah fulfills. People are just conduits."

The Widow at 1:30 a.m. and Her Tawakkul

The second story is from the last night after we finished going to different homes — about 1:30 a.m. Since it was the last night in the area, I went out to see what was around the hotel. I got some sweets from a famous Middle Eastern sweet shop and walked out. At 1:30 in the morning, a lady approached me with her son, who was visibly autistic, about 26 years old. She was begging in Arabic. I said, "What happened?" She just started crying.

She said, "I'm looking for food. My son is autistic. He needs medication. And I'm going crazy." And then she said — and I could tell she was not faking it, every cell of hers was giving up — "Today is the first day I hit my autistic child. Because of frustration. Because we have not had food. I don't want to be ungrateful to Allah — He usually gives us food. But today has been a particularly hard day. We had three-day-old bread that was left at home, and we ate that in the morning. Now it's 1:30 at night and my kids and I have not eaten anything." She was a widow — her husband had died.

She had left her 13-year-old sleeping at home and was sending a voice message to her daughter elsewhere, saying: "Your mom is with your 26-year-old autistic brother and she's losing it. This is the first time in her life she's had to hit him. And nowhere is anyone giving her even a slice of bread."

So I gave her the sweets first. Then I thought, this is not sufficient. All the money the brothers had handed me — I had used it all up visiting seven or eight homes. I was wishing I had more. But when I had gone to buy the sweets, I hadn't had cash — I used my card. When I opened my wallet to take out my card, I saw there was a $100 bill still inside. I had thought to myself earlier, "It's always good to have some cash at the airport." And I had left it there. Now I realized why that $100 had been kept there. Allah had sent this lady.

I gave it to her. Then she looked to the heavens — what a speech she gave. She said: "It didn't get left behind — it was meant for me. And you are not giving me because you want to give me. Allah is forcing you to give it to me. All these stores — I've been walking for the past hour, begging them for just bread. Not one of them gave me bread. Not one of them gave me a leftover meal. Until I lost it and went to the corner and said: 'Ya Allah, enough, I cannot handle this.'" And she began to cry.

But then she said, "Allah, You are so Kareem. I'm so sorry, ya Allah, I'm so sorry that I jumped the gun and was being impatient with You. Because usually You're always giving me. But today was that one day I didn't get lunch or dinner — it's 1:30 and my son is losing it. But ya Allah, You showed me today that not only are You giving me food, but You're giving me extra so I can even get medication." And she just started crying.

She said: "Look — you're giving because Allah wanted you to give. Because I just made du'a in that corner: 'Ya Allah, send me one good man to give me something.'" And I was like, subhanAllah — what yaqeen is this! This is the reality:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4949; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2647)

The Prophet ﷺ said: every one of us will be facilitated to live a life heading towards where we are going. If you're headed towards Jannah, you will end up doing the actions of the people of Jannah. And if you're headed somewhere else, you'll end up doing the actions of those going somewhere else. Generosity comes from Allah, and stinginess comes from our own shaitan and our nafs.

The Prophet ﷺ has mentioned:

One of the best forms of sadaqah is to make a Muslim brother happy. That's it — not even hundreds and thousands of dollars. Just bringing a smile on your Muslim brother's face is one of the greatest forms of sadaqah.

Journey to Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Masjid Al-Aqsa

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

Many people are asking: is it safe to go? I was asked at the border too. Honestly, I went in 2012, and the amount of police presence at the border at that time was far more than it is now at the Jordanian-Israeli border. It seemed completely calm. One brother with us went through within minutes, no questions. For me and the Mawlana, we got stopped for about an hour and a half — but we just had to wait, which happens to many of us. A few small questions, but overall, alhamdulillah, not too bad at all. The border crossing was empty. I couldn't believe it. There's no one there.

And that's the news I want to share with all of you — that no one's going. When we got into a taxi and went to the Aqsa, I was speaking to the taxi driver, and he said he couldn't remember how many weeks ago he had had a customer. This is an opportunity we can all use — we should all go and visit. Most of us have gone to the Haram many times, but Masjid Al-Aqsa is something we have neglected.

One of the most virtuous forms of Umrah you can perform is to wear ihram in Masjid Al-Aqsa. One of the brothers from our area, alhamdulillah — when he heard we were going to Aqsa, he canceled his Umrah flight, bought a new ticket, came with us to Aqsa, wore his ihram there, stayed for four hours, and then went on to Jeddah to perform his Umrah. So I encourage all of us, as we plan future Umrahs, to please try to include Jordan and Al-Aqsa.

When you go with wife and kids, things become even easier. Every family should go on their own — I would not suggest large groups. You don't need contacts. As soon as you come out, there are taxis and buses. You say, "I want to go to Aqsa" — that's it. You sit in and you go. You can book a hotel through any booking website for the night.

Inside Al-Aqsa: The Children, the Circles, and the Emptiness

When we went around and entered, they initially said don't come now — but they allowed us in for Asr. We prayed Asr, Maghrib, and Isha there. Even inside Aqsa, there were children coming with their Masahif, coming for maktab class — and the excitement, the Qur'an circles. People sitting there memorizing Qur'an. Children playing soccer outside. But deserted — there is almost no one there.

For Maghrib in one masjid we had maybe 20 or 30 people — one saf. In the main Qibli Masjid in front, maybe four or five safs. The sad part is that people are not coming. People are scared, or whatever the case may be. The masjid stands empty.

Al-Aqsa is the entire compound — let's remember that. There are multiple masajid within it. There is the famous Dome of the Rock. There is the cave underneath the rock. There is the Qibli Masjid in front, with a masjid below it as well. There are wells, madrasahs, amazing things throughout.

Walking through the alleyways of the old city — cobbled roads, signboards of bookstores, publishing houses, madrasahs — some of them 800 years old, 900 years old. The amount of history is just amazing.

On the way from the border to Al-Aqsa, you pass by the areas associated with Musa alaihissalam and Uzair alaihissalam.

Masjid Umar and the Covenant of Umar

This is the masjid known as Masjid Umar — the masjid where Umar radiyallahu anhu, when he came to take the keys of Al-Aqsa, was told by the monks, "We want your Amir al-Mu'minin to come personally — otherwise we will not give it. But we are ready to hand it over without a fight, just let him come." When the time for salah came, Umar was standing right next to an ancient church. But he said, "I do not want to perform salah in the church because it will set a wrong precedent." Such is the justice of Islam. So he prayed in that spot, upon which they later built the masjid.

And in Arabic and in English, they have the Covenant of Umar hanging there — signed as witnesses by Khalid ibn al-Walid, Amr ibn al-'As, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf, and Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan — 638 CE, 15 Hijri. In it, Umar radiyallahu anhu wrote:

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

The justice of Umar radiyallahu anhu — it was very powerful reading this in the middle of everything that is going on. To read this beauty of our deen was just amazing.

The Murabitun: Guards of Al-Aqsa

After we prayed Isha and were walking out — the Prophet ﷺ said that the reward of giving charity in Aqsa is immense; even giving money for the oil to burn the lantern in Aqsa has tremendous virtue. So there were workers there — 27 of them, beautiful young brothers, staying as security all night. One of them said to me, "I stay here all night. I have a 12-hour shift from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. My wife has already asked for a divorce. I have no money, barely anything. But we are happy with the pleasure of Allah, because we regard this as a huge service — guarding the masjid of Aqsa." They have nothing but walkie-talkies. But they said, "We are Murabitun. We stay here. We are not going to give this up for anything."

One of the brothers tried to give one of them money. He said, "Absolutely not." We said, "This is not sadaqah, this is a hadiyah." He still said, "No, I don't want this." Again — that izzat al-nafs, the sense of honor they feel in being there. Amazing.

Fajr Closed: The Most Important Lesson

We stayed at a hotel and went to try to pray Fajr at Al-Aqsa. Unfortunately they said no — you cannot enter for Fajr. And nowhere around that area could we find a musalla or a masjid that is open for Fajr. The only place to pray Fajr was supposed to be Al-Aqsa itself. And that was closed off — not only to foreigners, but even young Palestinians cannot pray Fajr there. They are not even allowing Palestinians to pray Jumu'ah. So we prayed together in our hotel room.

In the taxi on the way back to the border, the driver said, "It's very obvious that there is an attempt to even cancel Fajr salah in Aqsa. And no other masjid in the area is even open for Fajr." Why? He said, "Because they know — a group of Muslims that pray Fajr are a group of Muslims that are strong."

My brothers — how many of our ummah will have the tawfiq to pray in their own little room when the adhan cannot be heard and the masajid are closed? We have zero checkpoints, zero guards, zero intimidation when we come for Fajr. And what excuse do I have for not showing up?

I thought that this past year of non-stop massacre would change me and the ummah. And it has in some ways. But in one way our community has not changed is attendance for Fajr. I'm saying this from this morning. In the past 12 years in the masajid around, our Fajr musalli attendance — without the students — is exactly the same. And I say this with a crying heart. The community is growing. Look at the coffee shops and restaurants in 12 years. But how sad that in 12 years our Fajr attendance is exactly still where it was. So wherever your masjid is — that masjid is going to become a witness against you and I on the Day of Judgment. There was no checkpoint, nothing. Yet we continue to sleep.

The Prophet ﷺ said: the one who prays Salat al-Fajr in the masjid is under the protection of Allah. And whoever prays Salat al-Fajr with jama'ah, فَكَأَنَّمَا قَامَ لَيْلَهُ كُلَّهُ — it is as though he has performed salah the entire night. And the angels of the night and the angels of the day will both be present, witnessing.

I want us to understand that if we want to turn the tide across the globe, we have to start from doing something basic — which is Fajr salah in the masjid. If we youngsters at 18 or 19 are not doing it right now, what makes us think we'll do it when we become senior citizens?

I want to ask all of you to make this niyyah tonight. Right now Fajr is at its latest — 6:15 — which means this is the easiest time to start. Please say, insha'Allah, we will sleep seven or eight hours — as many as we need — but we will come for Fajr in the masjid. If the intention is not made, how will Allah give you the tawfiq? Please start carpooling. Tonight, message someone in your neighborhood and say, "From tomorrow I'm going to start." Isha is at 7:30 right now — it's very easy for us to begin.

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4772; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1421 — declared Hasan Sahih)

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever dies protecting his wealth is a martyr. Whoever dies protecting his land is a martyr. Whoever dies protecting his family is a martyr." So even if it were only about the land — but you will see it is way beyond that. The taxi driver who dropped us off at the border — an older uncle who said to us with such izzat al-nafs: "I was born here, and I will die here." And that is the level of connection and love they have for that land.

As soon as the taxi driver picked us up, the first thing he said was: أَنْتَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ، أَنْتَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ — "You are in Jannah, you are in Jannah." The level of excitement and love they have to be there is something amazing. And that is something I want you, and your children, and your spouse, to go and feel. May Allah take all of us there, again and again.

Take-Home Points

1. Commit to Fajr in the Masjid

The first take-home point is the importance of Salat al-Fajr. Please make this niyyah tonight. Start now, while Fajr is the latest it will be all year. Carpool. Message a neighbor. Say, "From tomorrow, insha'Allah, we start."

2. Dedicate Time for Du'a and Dhikr Daily

Let us make a commitment — every day, we will dedicate some time for du'a and dhikr. Brothers, do not underestimate the power of sincere du'a while you are crying — or at least imitating that you are crying. Say insha'Allah: before Fajr, or after one salah, I'm going to take out five or ten minutes and make du'a. What answer are we going to give to Allah if we did not even make du'a at this moment in our ummah's history?

3. Stop the Infighting and Disunity

The ummah is suffering — we need to stop infighting. Disunity starts from our own homes. For Allah's sake, let's stop fighting with our spouses, our siblings, our parents. Let this bleeding of the ummah bring some ending to our bitter domestic arguments. At a national, community, and organizational level — let's start working together. And it starts with husn al-dhann — having good thoughts about one another. Please.

"And do not argue with one another, otherwise you will lose heart and your strength will depart." The Qur'an is making it very clear — disunity and infighting will cause problems everywhere else. Let's say: I make tawbah from argumentation at home. And if you cannot do something good, please don't say something bad.

4. Be Ambitious

Let's all have ambition. Every youngster I saw — even the boy who was martyred, who was a computer science major and a hafidh al-Qur'an at 19 years old — even these orphans — none of them said they wanted to just sit there doing nothing. We have all the opportunities here to become the movers and shakers of the world. Yet many times our ambitions are non-existent. Make tawbah from wasting time. Take on a cause — I'm going to work towards eradicating poverty in one region, I'm going to take responsibility for educating one refugee camp, I'm going to work towards providing healthcare to this group of people. There has to be a bigger purpose in life.

5. Give Sadaqah Every Single Day

Beyond that — every single day, we should have a set amount of sadaqah. Ideally daily; if not daily, then monthly — 1%, 5%, whatever it is, besides zakat. Don't underestimate the power of it. Give to any good cause, but give. We are suffering a big problem of bukhul and stinginess, and we need to work as a community to fight back against it. I encourage all our high school and college youth — elementary school kids — to start now. A dollar a day, five dollars a day, whatever you can.

When you bring a smile to someone's face, you are actually building your akhirah. It seems like you're making someone's dunya, but you're actually making your own akhirah. This is the power of sadaqah.

Closing Du'a

Insha'Allah ta'ala with that, we will conclude. Dhikr cards are being handed out — please use them every single week. Make the niyyah — insha'Allah one card per week. Pick up those cards, and give them to every single child of yours, your spouse, your family. Let us conclude this night with dhikr and du'a.

O Allah, we ask You to accept this gathering. O Allah, accept all the brothers and sisters who participated from the beginning to the end. All those who wanted to come but were not able. All those who listened to portions of it. O Allah, all those who assisted in this journey and our travels — O Allah, we ask You to grant every single one of us ajar and qubuliya, ya Allah.

O Allah, much has been said — but words are words, ya Allah. Please allow these words to bring action to me and to all of us who are listening, ya Allah. O Allah, please do not allow these words to fall on deaf ears. O Allah, allow whatever was shared to become a catalyst for serious change in our lives.

O Allah, make it easy for all of us to become much, much more grateful to You. Allow us to constantly feel the debt that we owe You for the continuous blessings You give us, ya Allah. Allow us to become shakireen, ya Allah. O Allah, grant us tawfiq to enjoy even more blessings because of the shukr we are doing. O Allah, save us from being ungrateful. Save us from israf and extravagance. Save us from misusing the blessings You have given us for Your disobedience. O Allah, allow us to utilize every blessing You have given us for Your obedience.

O Allah, make it easy for our children and our grandchildren and our progeny in this country to value Islam, value the deen, and value the blessings of safety and security. O Allah, allow us to enjoy calm and security and peace in this country and across the globe.

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

O Allah, grant us all the ability to be generous. Save us from miserliness. Make us all extremely generous. Allow us to fulfill the rights of our relatives, of those close to us, and of the entire ummah — whatever right they have upon us.

O Allah, make us amongst those who are able to shed tears every night for the ummah, for our children, for our spouses, for our parents, for our siblings, for ourselves. O Allah, allow all of our hearts to soften. We seek refuge in You from the hardness of the heart. O Allah, for any sin which is causing our hearts to be hardened — we repent from that, ya Allah.

O Allah, whoever is going through problems across the globe — the families that we visited, the orphans and the widows, the refugees — and all the millions we haven't seen — O Allah, grant them all strength. Grant them resilience, tawakkul, and yaqeen. O Allah, fulfill their needs of dunya, qabr, and akhirah.

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

O Allah, make this masjid and this community strong. O Allah, protect all of our sacred masajid — al-Masjid al-Haram, al-Masjid al-Nabawi al-Sharif, Masjid al-Aqsa, and all the other masajid across the globe — from internal and external strife and fitna.

O Allah, whoever is sitting in this gathering — whatever desire they have, whatever needs they have — O Allah, we ask You to fulfill all their permissible desires and needs. O Allah, we ask You to grant us all that which Rasulullah ﷺ had asked You of. And we seek refuge in You from all that Rasulullah ﷺ sought refuge in You from.

Wa jazakumullahu khayran. Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.