Team Fajr with Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 10/14

Opening Remarks & Program Overview

Let me get some rest, and then we'll reconvene at 10 a.m. And insha'Allah, we have a beautiful packed program today, with a workshop on the miraculous nature of the Qur'an, and then followed by the Salah of the solar eclipse, at about 10.45, insha'Allah, which will be performed out loud. The Salah itself — the original Salah of Rasulullah ﷺ lasted throughout the eclipse, to such an extent that the Sahaba fell down due to the length of it. And so we'll be doing it in about 20 minutes, and then we'll continue with the second portion of the miraculous nature of the Qur'an, and then have a break before Dhuhr and after Dhuhr, insha'Allah.

The rest of the program will continue. The schedule is, of course, besides being available on the WhatsApp group and the website, but it's also printed on a very large paper outside in the lobby, so you can keep track over there as well. Insha'Allah, we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept this conference, and all the attendees and the presenters, and make this a means of attracting Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy upon us and upon the entire ummah.

And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to create within myself and all here, a burning desire to follow the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ in every aspect of our life, through the barakah of this event. And may He make us all from amongst the revivers of the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. We ask Allah that He allows us all to hear such things throughout the day that will be of great need and importance to all of us. And through the barakah of our attendance in these programs, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala inspire the speakers to say those things which are beneficial for us in this world and in the next, and which will help us be guided in the challenging world that we live in, and the various difficulties that we are faced with.

The Power of Du'a

Beloved friends, one of the powerful aspects of the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ is the aspect of turning to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in du'a — turning to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in du'a in whatever circumstance we are going through. This is a central element of our faith and of our deen, that we resort to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for help in every single situation, be it small or large. And not only do we resort to Him in that situation, but then we have this absolute faith that this lifting up of hands, and this beseeching in front of Him, and pouring our hearts out in front of Him, is not a futile exercise.

But rather this is one of the most powerful things that a human being can do. That we ask the one who answers, and we knock on the door of the one who opens, and we seek assistance from the one and only who actually can do something for us. This is our faith, this is our teaching.

That is why no matter how tough a situation a Muslim is faced with, his and her belief in Allah, and use of du'a, and trust in du'a, remains consistent. And through the barakah of that faith, and through the barakah of that du'a, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes even the most bleak, most challenging and difficult day, bearable. This is what we talk about:

Du'a is the essence of all worship. (Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 3371)

Du'a is the weapon of the believer. (Mustadrak al-Ḥākim, Hadith 1812)

This weapon is something so powerful, that if we were to understand the significance of du'a and the power of it, our lives and our destiny would change. Why not? When the Prophet ﷺ says:

Nothing can avert destiny except du'a. (Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2139)

Nothing can avert destiny, nothing can change destiny except for du'a. Some ulama say this means: if there were hypothetically something that could change a person's destiny, it would be du'a. Or actually, that there are certain things that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has left to a human being's du'a — that if a person, depending on the type of du'a he makes, something will happen or will not happen. So it's not just a hypothetical issue; in reality it's like that. That if you make long enough du'a, and strong enough du'a, filled with conviction, then what you are wanting, and what you need, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make that happen.

And so for a believer, there is always some silver lining in the situation. No matter how challenging it may seem — everyone goes through pain, everyone goes through difficulty, everyone goes through problems. No one is leading a life that is problem free.

It may seem to us that people who have wealth do not have problems. It may seem to us that people who have position and power do not have problems. It may seem to us that people who have many children don't have problems. It may seem to us that people who are married may not have problems. It may seem to us that those who live in the West, and those who live in America, they have no problems. This may seem to a person who is on the other side of the fence.

But ask the person who actually is in that situation, and he knows very well. He thinks that he is the only one who has problems. He thinks he is the only one who is suffering.

Beloved friends, difficulties and problems are not only not specific to Muslims — rather, they happen to every single individual, and every single person goes through some sort of suffering or pain, or loss of wealth, loss of blood, loss of life, loss of health, loss of fame, loss of name, loss of strength, and many other things that come their way. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in the Qur'an how to handle these situations.

The Rotation of Hardship and Victory

Amazing, amazing is the situation of a believer. As much as we see that the Muslims are oppressed across the globe — by their own and by others — and as much as we see that the Muslims are on the receiving end of oppression, by outright disbelievers as well as hypocrites who claim to act as believers but are not, it's never been the case that staying Muslim is not the best thing. The best faith to have is that of Islam. The best worldview to have is that of a Muslim. And one big reason for that is our belief in the power of du'a, and our belief in the Hereafter.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah Āl-'Imrān, in the fourth juz':

If you suffer wounds — if you suffer injuries in battle and outside of battle, wherever it may be; if you suffer physical pain, emotional pain; if you suffer financial loss — فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِّثْلُهُ — the qawm, that nation, your enemies, have also had to suffer. You're not alone in your loss of life, in your loss of family, in your loss of children, in your loss of parents, in your loss of homes, in your loss of property, in your loss of your business. You are not alone.

Your enemies also have had to suffer, sometime or the other. Not today, then yesterday. If not yesterday, then ten years before. But it's never just been that the Muslims are the ones who have to suffer. Muslims suffer and others suffer as well — sometimes more, sometimes less.

And if today you feel like you're getting the brunt of it, today you feel like you're the only one suffering, today you feel like you are suffering disproportionately, then remember that this is how Allah has it. Sometimes it's in your favor, and sometimes it's not. Sometimes you have the upper hand, and sometimes you have the lower hand. Sometimes you come out victorious, and sometimes you come out defeated. It's not always one party that wins in this world. But rather Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Himself says that He gives victory by rotation.

Victory comes by rotation, from the time of the Prophet ﷺ — and of course before that as well. That's why when Abu Sufyan was asked by the Najashi about the Muslims during the migration to Ethiopia, he was asked, "Does he always win?" He said: الْحَرْبُ سِجَالٌ بَيْنَنَا — the war goes like a bucket. A bucket: when you have one bucket and ten people trying to take water out of a well, you rotate. I take my water out, then I give it to you, then you take it out, then you give it to someone else. He said, the war is like a bucket that moves around a group of people. Sometimes he wins, sometimes we win.

And you know what — that's how it usually is. You don't always win. Even if you are on the side of haqq, you don't always have victory. Otherwise if the Muslims were always getting victory, then who would want to remain a non-Muslim? There would be no test. It would be a no-brainer that you go with the winning team.

Those of us who like to watch competitions and tournaments — you're gonna see two teams that are similar in strength, then it's fun. You have a tournament up to five or seven games, and three games they won, two games you won. That's exciting. But if you have someone winning all five games and beating by 20 points every time, there's no fun in that. You know from the very get-go how it's gonna happen. There's no excitement. This is how it works here. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows Muslims to win, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows non-Muslims to win. And He wants you to not judge the Hereafter based on what you see here.

And this cricket match — and apparently there's a game going on today between Pakistan and India — I know. So the Qunūt Nazilah was not for the cricket team. Not for Pakistan, and not for Palestine — just setting the record straight. As much as we support whatever team you support, you cannot make this an issue of Islam and kufr. Because what type of message do you send? The one time out of a hundred times that we win — mashallah, Islam wins. And then the other 99 times, what happens? That we're losing. That's not good. Islam and kufr is not based on cricket. And this is not how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala judges the Hereafter based on who wins and who loses these games. It will not even be judged based on who loses and wins wars, much less cricket games.

So the way Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made this dunya — even if a person loses all the wars, and a nabi who is not just a general of the Muslim army, not just amīr ul-mu'minīn, but is the very source of any introduction to Allah that his community has — there have been hundreds and thousands of anbiya who were killed by the people of the past, especially the Yahood. The prophets have been killed. And what could be a worse crime than that? But there is no doubt that the nabi is successful, and the nation that did this to him will be in hellfire forever.

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not want you and I to make a judgment of what awaits us in the Hereafter based on what we see happening here. That perspective, that vision — Islam gives us. Hence, there's never a moment we're depressed. There's never a moment where you lose a beat. There's never a moment where you lose your momentum. Instead, you and I have been taught by the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ to look at the big picture. And the big picture doesn't stop when you and I die, doesn't stop at the end of this world, but continues long after that — or rather, we may say it just begins after that.

As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

The worldly life is not but amusement and play. And indeed, the abode of the Hereafter is the ultimate life. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is equating all the achievements of Muslims and non-Muslims, all the building and destruction of empires, of wealth, of structures, of homes, of buildings, of agriculture, of advancements in technology, of literature and knowledge, the writing of millions of books in hundreds and thousands of libraries across the globe — all of that in one phrase: لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ. Mere play and enjoyment. That's all it is. Everything from A to Z.

Like the example of a board game — Monopoly or any other game kids like to play today — where you have money, you have coins, you have currency, you have houses that you've purchased, you have real estate, you have all of those things. But when the mother comes and no one listens, the food is ready and no one is coming downstairs — the mother may come and just close the board game and put it away. What happens? Instantaneously, the millionaire has become a pauper. And the pauper has become like his millionaire friend. Everyone is the same. Come and eat spinach together. You are all the same. Instantaneously everything is gone.

As my ustad, Maulana Choksi Sahib would say — and he would give this example from Surah al-'Ankabūt — when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Indeed the weakest of homes is the home of a spider. He would say: when a person goes out for vacation or away from home, the spider says, "Wow, let me stretch my legs — got a lot of space here." And so now he begins to build. He had a little small house there in the corner of the garage. But the garage has not been opened for two or three months. So now he says, "Let me stretch my legs." And he begins to weave a big web from one end of the garage to the other, and from here and there and here and there. Before you know it, the whole garage has got a huge web, and he's enjoying his massive mansion that is thousands of times larger than the small little web he used to have in a corner.

When the owner comes back to the house and opens up his garage, the first thing he sees is this huge web. He doesn't get intimidated. He doesn't get afraid. He doesn't say, "Oh, it seems like someone has taken over my home — I guess I'll go look for somewhere else to move." No. He takes one broom, and with one swipe — before the kids are even in the house — the entire massive thousand-times-bigger house that the spider had is gone. In seconds. Done.

He says that's what death is. When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala comes after you at that appointed time — for all of us — all the widespread assets and all the widespread wealth that we had in multiple accounts and multiple investments will instantaneously be wiped out. Finished. And when the Day of Judgment comes, then everything else — even the heirs are not going to get anything. Everything is going to be gone. Rather Allah says:

We are going to be the actual heirs of the world. Indeed, We are the ones who are going to inherit the earth. وَمَنْ عَلَيْهَا — We are going to be the last ones remaining after those who are on it die. وَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ — And to Us, everyone is going to come back.

So this aspect of suffering, when you put it in the context that this worldly life is amusement and play, and the actual life of the Hereafter is the ultimate real life — let us not be over excited and trigger happy over the fact that we have a paid-off home, or that we are about to get a paid-off home, or we just got an Islamic financing for a home. Let us not be over excited and elated that we have just made it to this country and are going to build our dream. These are honestly small little things. The real question is: shall we have a home in the Hereafter or not?

Today, the one who lives in a five-million-dollar home and the other guy who is outside begging for five dollars — who will be successful in the long run? We don't know. It may seem to be the one who has the large home, but it may not be. It may be the one who is on the street, who is under a bridge, or who last night and the nights before has lost his entire home, and maybe all his family as well. He may be the one who will actually be more successful.

Lessons from Surah Āl-'Imrān: Why Suffering is Permitted

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in Surah Āl-'Imrān says: if you suffer, then the nation — i.e., your disbelieving enemies — have also suffered. And this is how the days of victory rotate amongst you all. Sometimes you are successful, sometimes your enemy is successful. And this is exactly how it has been from the earliest days — الْحَرْبُ سِجَالٌ. Do not expect victory all the time. Why else?

And for Allah to make His knowledge apparent of who the believers are. Again, if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala were to give victory in this world to the believers all the time, then how would you know who truly believes in Allah, and who is there only because of the material benefit they see? If you have free food at an event and somewhere in between there's a talk of deen — how many people have come to listen to the talk, and how many people have come to eat the free food? You don't know. But now if there's no free food, and the talks and the program are long and far away — now the people who come, at least you know they didn't just come for the food. So when Muslims are not enjoying victory all the time, you know that someone who is being a Muslim is not doing so just because it's popular, because it's the "in" thing to do.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not necessarily make the deen always trending. Sometimes it trends, but sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it is غَرِيب. As the Prophet ﷺ said:

Deen began as a strange entity, and it will once again become a strange entity. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 145)

You search for it, you can't even find the real one. What's trending is not deen, it's something else. The real deen will be hidden. You'll have a hard time finding it. To find the true deen, you will have to go searching with a magnifying glass — because what meets the eye will not be deen.

The number of people claiming to be Muslims may continue to increase — 1.2 billion, and it might keep increasing. But that's not deen. The deen will become very strange, very unique, very awkward, out of place. That does not mean the number of people who claim to be Muslims will reduce. There will be Muslims, and there will be hypocrites all over the place. But how many of them are truly following Islam? That is the question. That a person will have a hard time finding.

The Hadith of the Nations Devouring the Ummah

You know that famous hadith where the companions were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ, and he said to them — what will happen to you when a time will come:

The nations will soon invite one another to devour you, just as people invite one another to eat from their dish. (Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 4297)

When the nations across the globe will invite one another to devour the Muslims and attack them mercilessly — the way a group of people sitting around a plate invite one another to eat and partake from the meal. You have one big plate, a big piece of lamb and rice, and four, five, six friends are eating from it. And how we sit there and say, "Come, come, come — don't be shy." And we'll take off pieces of meat and give them to our friends. This is how the Muslim ummah will be devoured — surrounded from all sides.

What did they do to the Ottoman Khilafah? How everyone took a leg and the ribs and the breast meat — they cut it up. Including what happened in Palestine. All the coins from the early 1900s have "Palestine" written on them. It's a more recent phenomenon — it came, was cut up, labeled with something else, and handed out to everyone else. And then the ones who were actually living there, who had been there for a thousand years, are being told: "Go back to where you came from." Where are they supposed to go back to? SubhanAllah. Allahu Akbar.

I was just reading a comment from a previous prime minister or minister of defense from years ago — the wish was that Gaza should just go into the sea. But since that can't happen, they'll have to deal with it somehow. SubhanAllah — you come from somewhere else, settle there, and then say these people must go into the sea. But this is what Rasulullah ﷺ already warned us of. The immediate question the Sahaba asked was:

Will our numbers be few on that day, O Messenger of Allah? (Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 4297)

Is that why this is happening? Is it because we don't have enough arms? Is it because we don't have enough numbers? Is it because we don't have enough generals? The Sahaba are surprised — in Medina, they are few in number compared to the rest of the Arabian Peninsula, and of course the Romans and the Persians haven't even come towards Islam yet. They're definitely in the minority, but no one is daring to devour them. So why would that happen later?

So the Prophet ﷺ responded:

No, rather you will be many in number on that day — but you will be like the foam of a flood, and Allah will remove the awe of you from the chests of your enemies, and Allah will cast wahn into your hearts. (Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 4297)

No — you're not going to be few in number. بَلْ أَنتُمْ كَثِيرٌ — you're going to be in large numbers. This is why I was telling you — when the deen becomes a strange entity, it doesn't mean your numbers are going to be less. You're going to be in large numbers. Like we now have over 56 or 58 Muslim countries across the globe. What's the point? وَلَكِنَّكُمْ غُثَاءٌ كَغُثَاءِ السَّيْلِ — But you'll be as useless as the foam on a floodwater. Just like the garbage that floats on top of a river or lake — that's how useless the ummah will be.

You've got a 500-million-dollar yacht, a 600-million-dollar palace, a 500-million-dollar football team you own, a billion-dollar soccer team you own, a one-kilometer-tall building, and 300,000-dollar cars. What is that? It's all garbage floating on top. Means nothing. وَلَكِنَّكُمْ غُثَاءٌ كَغُثَاءِ السَّيْلِ — all that wealth, all that so-called fake clout, all that money and bling that people and countries have, is just foam on top. Like when you see soap suds in a washer — you put your hand in and there's actually no substance below. You squeeze it, there's nothing to squeeze. That's what the Muslims will be.

Stop trying to create more foam. Create something that's maybe small, but if you touch it, there's something there. You squeeze it, it's gonna hold back, it's not gonna cave in. That's what you need. A small group of Muslims, but they have something. Numbers mean nothing. Our deen is not about a numbers game.

Many Muslims today — youth and adults — who want to practice Islam, a traditional outlook on Islam, a sunnah-infused Islam, an honest attempt of following the sunnah — they look around and see that's not popular anymore. When it comes to any issue — halal meat, moonsighting, Islamic finance, the proper method of getting married without going through the haram of dating — they hear: "But everyone else is doing that. Everyone today follows calculation. Everyone eats machine-slaughtered meat. Everyone dates before marriage." Since when did public action become a proof in the deen?

You hear this very commonly: "Everyone is doing it." And then: "If you keep trying to remain conservative, you will become not only a minority, but irrelevant." And the worst one: "They've reached the moon, and you're still talking about moonsighting?" What does that have to do with our deen? You follow the deen even on the moon, wherever you go.

Understand that "the times" are foam — hollow, empty, useless. 56 Muslim countries, and you see what's going on. Where is everyone else's aid? Where is everyone else's arms? Where is everyone else's aircraft carriers? It's all fake — reality is nothing, it's all empty and hollow. That's where we have already reached.

The Meaning of Wahn

Rasulullah ﷺ said Allah will take away the fear of you from the hearts of your enemies. Spilling the blood of a Muslim — they will know there are going to be no consequences. No one's going to stand up for him. Just like that little kid in school who's new to town, an immigrant, with no one to look after him — they know you can pick on this kid and he's got no one to support him. And that's what they do. The Muslim may have the largest number of countries, but you need a brother who will actually do something for you. And these brothers don't care.

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — who will take it away? Who will take away the fear of you from the enemy's heart? Allah will take it away. Rasulullah ﷺ is not saying "they" will take it away — Allah will take it away, as a punishment. My friends, why are we sitting there knocking on other people's doors? What we're doing — the Qunūt Nazilah, the 25 million salawat, the Khatm al-Bukhari tonight insha'Allah, and fasting, and Tahajjud — that's what you have to do. Because the only one who can put that fear and awe back is the one who took it out. There is no power in the world that can restore the Muslims' respect except the one who took it away in the first place.

And Allah is not going to do that if we turn our backs to Him and to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

وَلَيَقْذِفَنَّ اللَّهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمُ الْوَهَنَ — And then Allah will put wahn in your hearts. Your fear and awe is taken away from their hearts, and wahn is placed in your hearts. The Sahaba asked: مَا الْوَهَنُ — what does wahn mean? The Prophet ﷺ said:

The love of the dunya and the dislike of death. (Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 4297)

The love of materialism and the dislike of going to the Hereafter. Are we not all suffering from this? If there's anyone who is not suffering from this, it's the people of Gaza.

The People of Gaza: Living Examples of Imān

I know people who have been in jamaat across the entire globe — certain individuals who have been on four-month jamaats every year since 1974-75, who have been to 35-40 countries. I asked them: from all the spots you've been, what was the most amazing place you've been in your life? They said it was Gaza. I said, wow — I didn't expect that. What was it that you saw there that was so amazing?

He said: the level of imān that I saw, and the level of qualities of the Sahaba within the people. Even though they've been living for decades in a jail — all two-plus million people, with every single thing 100% monitored and 100% controlled. You have what — 65% unemployment or something like that. Every single thing is extreme. Everyone calls it, even the UN calls it, the largest open-air jail in the entire world. One member of the UN said: "If there is hell on earth, it's in Gaza." He didn't say this now — he said it in 2020. Materialistically speaking, it's hell. There is zero opportunity for anything.

But he said — when you went there, the level of ikrām, the level of respect, the level of love, the level of hospitality of the people there. They came all the way from South Africa, very well-to-do people. And not only did the people of Gaza not allow them to feed them and spend money on them — every single day the visitors were fed multiple times, and on the way back, every single person was packed not only food for the journey home, but gifts for their family back in South Africa.

Allahu Akbar. He said: that level of hope — there's no depression, no depression. Just yesterday I saw a clip of a person who had just lost his entire home and probably many members of his family. And he was sitting outside, and he said:

A man praising Allah after losing his whole home and those inside. That's how these people are. When their child is born, they look at him and say: "I don't know if you're going to make it or not. However, you're Allah's trust — you're an amānah from Allah. As long as Allah wants me to have you, I'll enjoy and take care of you. Whenever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants you to be taken away from me, then we'll meet you on the other side." That's the mentality of these people.

Every single person is going for salah and leaving the house — not today or yesterday, but every day — not knowing if they're going to make it back alive, not knowing if they're going to see their parents again, their spouse again. It's the norm when you're living in a jail like that. So what happens? What does that situation do to them? It makes them people who are simply disinterested in the dunya. They just want a simple, humble, small, comfortable life — just a place over their head and some food to eat. And if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chooses to take even that away, then the choice is not theirs — the choice is Allah's.

And they have the hope that for every single thorn prick that they suffer, they're getting ajr in the ākhirah. For every single setback, a huge reward is waiting for them. And if they lose their home, their parents, their children — it never goes in vain. There is no such thing as a Muslim's blood being spilled in vain. Whenever a Muslim loses his life, we know that something beautiful is waiting for him in the Hereafter. Even before that blood touches the ground, insha'Allah, the soul of a shaheed is enjoying paradise.

That is the worldview that Islam gives us — a worldview of extreme hope, of extreme conviction: do not judge yourself or your family's future based on your suffering. Don't think that if you are in difficult circumstances here, you are disliked by Allah, or that you are going to lose out in the long run. Understand that every apparent setback is in reality a promotion in the ākhirah. Every single time you go through difficulty, Allah:

Allah is not mistaken, Allah is not misled, and Allah does not forget. أَحْصَاهُ اللَّهُ وَنَسُوهُ — People forget, but Allah does not forget. Allah is writing it down. It's already in the knowledge of Allah. Every single form of oppression against a Muslim — to the extent of people simply mocking a believer.

Surah al-Mutaffifīn: The Last Laugh Belongs to the Believers

As it comes in Surah al-Mutaffifīn, on the Day of Judgment the believers will be sitting on beautiful huge thrones:

And they'll be simply watching as the disbelievers who mocked at them are dragged into hellfire:

Indeed the transgressors, the oppressors, and the sinful disbelievers — they used to laugh at the believers. And when they used to pass by them, they used to signal to each other with their eyes — "Look, look, look."

Today, there are people out there who are laughing at the killing of innocent Muslims. Wallahi, no one should ever rejoice over the killing of anyone — whether a Muslim or a non-Muslim, it doesn't make a difference. The children of a disbeliever or non-combatants — there is no reason for anyone to rejoice over the killing of innocent people. That's not what our Islam teaches us. We should never rejoice that. And I want to say this with all the wrong that has happened against the people of Palestine — still, we should hold to the understanding that a proper war happens between warriors, between people who are part of an army, not with innocent people. Our deen teaches that you cannot take out your anger on innocent people — and especially not children.

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ends Surah al-Mutaffifīn with:

What a way to end a surah. Allahu Akbar. Have the disbelievers been given their reward — thawāb, from the word thawāb, jazā' — except in lieu of what they used to do? There's no zulm here. You deserve what you're getting. You should have known it was coming when you did what you did to the Muslims in the world. You had your time to laugh in the dunya, you had your time to rejoice. But the days of rejoicing are over for good.

And now in the ākhirah, there's no الْحَرْبُ سِجَالٌ بَيْنَنَا — one day it's you, one day it's you. No. Once it's over there, it's:

The group that is in paradise — enjoyment forever. You will never die, you will never grow old, you will never become sick, and you will never suffer. Those are the housekeeping rules of Jannah. And on the flip side — those who end up in hellfire — there won't be a single moment of rejoicing, not even a moment of stress relief, not even a moment to catch your breath. May Allah protect us from that ending.

The Test of Those Who Suffer and Those Who Are at Ease

So beloved friends — let's go back to the ayah of Surah Āl-'Imrān where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is making this suffering rotate so that Allah can make it apparent to the world who the true believers are. Now tell me — who are the true believers? Those people in Afghanistan, those people in Iraq, those people in Sham, those people in Yemen, those people in Sudan, those people in Palestine. All of these Muslim communities, each one of them.

We talk about Palestine right now — but how many of us know about Sudan? The dead are in the thousands, hospitals are finished, masajid are gone, schools are gone. Just because the world's attention is elsewhere, you don't know. You're not from Sudan. You're not from Yemen. You're not from Morocco, from Libya, from Lebanon, from Syria, from Iraq. Each place, my friend, is worse than the other. Some of them have been suffering not for one or two years, but for 20 years. Entire countries are finished. Some places, five million have died, eight million have died. Some places, 80% live under a dollar a day.

And consider what happened in Libya — 20,000 dead and increasing, still looking for bodies weeks later. Consider what happened in Malawi — one of the third poorest countries of the world, which has a large Muslim population. A friend of mine was telling me about the cyclone that came — the worst natural disaster they've ever had. No more rations. Everything is finished. People are eating grass, roots of trees. He said a janazah happened in the next village — a father and son died because they ate a poisonous root. Nothing left to eat. So they ate the root of a tree, which was poisonous, and they died. One of the worst ways to die — more than a bomb, more than a bullet — has got to be hunger. Cannot imagine what could be more painful than that.

As Rasulullah ﷺ made this du'a:

O Allah, I seek refuge in You from hunger, for indeed it is the worst bed companion. This is one of the beautiful du'as from the book The Accepted Whispers, which contains 200 beautiful du'as of Rasulullah ﷺ. If you heard the du'as in the Qunūt Nazilah today and wished you knew what was being said — take a book like this and make a habit of reading through the English and the Arabic. Insha'Allah every week you'll cover du'as of the Prophet ﷺ from the Qur'an and Sunnah, until a day hopefully comes when you have memorized some of them.

We have millions of Muslims, and millions of children, who are going through hunger as we speak. The suffering is unbelievable across the globe. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is allowing this to happen — and it is in His knowledge — but this is a way of granting and guaranteeing all of these people the highest levels of eternal Jannah, insha'Allah.

وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنكُمْ شُهَدَاءَ — and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants to take witnesses from amongst you to speak up on the Day of Judgment. وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ — and Allah does not love the oppressors, whether you're a Muslim or a non-Muslim, whether you're a so-called Muslim or an open enemy of the Muslims. Allah hates oppressors.

وَلِيُمَحِّصَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا — tamhīs means strengthening, purifying. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants these tests that come in the world to become a means of purifying, sifting, and strengthening the Muslim ummah. Who are the ones who will say: "I don't care what happens — no matter who does what to me, I will never give up my لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ"?

You know how many people — just to get asylum in this country — go online and declare themselves atheists and ex-Muslims, and then say, "We are being persecuted by our Muslim community in our Muslim country, and so we seek asylum." There are many thousands of people who do that. And then you have people who say "we are LGBTQ and we are being oppressed" — just to get here, to get to the West.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is allowing this whole difficult process to make it very clear who the true believers are and who are not. وَيَمْحَقَ الْكَافِرِينَ — and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants to destroy the disbelievers. Just as يَمْحَقُ اللَّهُ الرِّبَا — same word — Allah destroys riba. يَمْحَقُ اللَّهُ الْكَافِرِينَ — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants to destroy the disbelievers. But they don't seem to be getting destroyed right now — they seem to be getting stronger. Yeah, they're going to get destroyed. They're building up the case against themselves in the Hereafter.

When you have a sting operation by law enforcement — a drug bust — do they bust them right then and there? No. You watch them for weeks and days. You might even let one or two deals go through. But you're building up the case because you want to get the cartel leader. You need to build a case that the judge will never be able to throw out. That's what is happening — the case against the disbelievers, the charges against them, are just being built one upon the other. So then the sentence they get is going to be harsher than ever before. The destruction is not going to happen immediately in the world — what they're doing is creating a case to be built against them.

Do You Think You Will Enter Jannah Without a Test?

And then Allah says:

Do you seriously think you can enter Jannah? Just because you say لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ? Just because you ended up praying salah? Just because you, subhanAllah, ate halal food — that's it? Just by eating halal steaks and wings and burgers and pizza does not give you a ticket to Jannah. You have to do something beyond just eating.

وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا مِنكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ — without Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala making it apparent who are those from amongst you who have done jihad. What jihad? Sacrifice of any sort. Coming for Fajr and sitting here is jihad. Waking up for Tahajjud is jihad. Guarding your gaze is jihad. Turning down a haram investment and sticking with a halal one that may give you a lesser return — that is a form of struggle. All of this is a form of struggle. وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ — and who are the ones willing to remain patient and steadfast.

A Wake-Up Call for Those Living in Comfort

All of this, my friends — all the youth who are becoming depressed, all the adults who are becoming depressed about what's happening — understand that nothing, not a leaf can fall without the permission of Allah. Thousands of people cannot die by starvation or by bombs without the permission of Allah. We need to take the lessons from whatever is happening and understand that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala may be angry at me. I will never say Allah is angry with those people who are dying in Africa or in Gaza or in Yemen. Those, insha'Allah, are all immediately shuhadā. Allah is pleased with them — hence He put them through that. Just like the Prophet ﷺ has said:

The ones who go through the most difficulty are the prophets. (Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2398)

So these people who are suffering — we hope that they can remember us. We hope that they can make du'a in their suffering: "O Allah, have mercy on the ummah of America, and all those who are enjoying luxurious lives — health, wealth — but for some odd reason don't want to thank You, for some odd reason turn their backs to the masjid, to the deen, to the Qur'an, to the sunnah, to the Prophet's ﷺ way of life."

The people overseas who are dying every day — they are not leaving Islam. They are not forsaking Islam. They are increasing in their du'a. What gives you the reason to leave Islam? Why are those in the West, enjoying the highest levels of luxury every day, leaving Islam? While those who are suffering have not once thought about leaving Islam? How many reports are coming out of Gaza, or Yemen, or Sudan of ex-Muslims? How many reports of a mass exodus from Islam from all these war-torn countries? There's none. Because it's not happening.

In reality, the true bichara and the masakeen are us. Every youngster who drives an $80,000 car, lives in an $800,000 home, goes to an $80,000-a-year college, but is leaving the fold of Islam — he's going to go to hell for eternity. Eternity. He's living it up. The people of Gaza don't deserve as much sympathy — or the people of Yemen or the people of Sudan — as much as this person, who is going straight to Jahannam if he doesn't come back to Islam quickly. And that is unfortunately our community. We have thousands of people who've already left Islam — verbally, through their actions, and through their hearts — and many other thousands whose lives are that of a non-Muslim.

Beloved friends, we need to utilize the events that are happening today, and have happened in the past, and will continue to happen — sometimes here, sometimes there — across the globe. We need to use this as a moment of wake-up call and reflection. And say: subhanAllah, how can I sit there and sin? How can I sit there and listen to haram? Let us make tawbah from listening to haram, from watching haram, from thinking haram, from investing in haram, from earning in haram, from speaking in a haram manner, from fulfilling our lustful desires in a haram manner. We have to have a mass exodus from shahawāt — from fulfilling lustful desires in a haram manner. And we have to fill up our masajid. If we don't fill up our masajid, then we cannot expect anything but difficulty to come our way.

The scary part is — we are enjoying life. It takes one second for the tables to turn. One second. In any part of the world. And this is another one of the du'as you can learn:

O Allah, I seek refuge in You from Your blessing being taken away from me, from Your well-being moving away from me to someone else, from Your sudden punishment, and from any and all forms of Your anger. That is a du'a we Americans need to make for ourselves. Because we're really enjoying ourselves.

Alhamdulillah — the level of freedom, the level of everything else we have here, is just outstanding. We ask Allah that He doesn't treat us and punish us based on our laziness and our lax attitude towards the deen. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He never takes away the safety and security to practice deen that we have here. And the safety of our homes, the safety of our jobs, the safety of our wives and our children and ourselves. May Allah allow us to continue to enjoy this safety in the years to come.

And allow all those across the globe who are suffering to also enjoy peace and security. And if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has willed otherwise for them, then may Allah grant every one of them patience. And allow them to see their abodes in paradise even before they leave this world. And may Allah allow us to win in our test — which is a test of gratitude and shukr — and allow them to win in their test — which is a test of patience and sabr. Ameen.

Closing Announcements

Quickly we'll do just a couple minutes of dhikr and then we'll do a short du'a and leave. Alhamdulillah, the food is now ready. Those of you who are listening online, please do be ready to tune in at 10 AM. We'll have Salatul Kusūf — the solar eclipse salah — insha'Allah at around 10.30 or 10.45. So spread the word, please join us. And the program will end insha'Allah with du'a tonight at 10 PM.

My request for all of you today is to do a minimum of 5,000 salawat insha'Allah. There's a bookstall outside — tasbih counters are available there if you need one. Pick up a book on the seerah or sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ from there, so that you're walking away with something tangible insha'Allah. And come back tonight with 5,000 salawat or more. If you're not able to come or you're listening online, please deposit it on our website, masjiddeas.org/salawat. So we can have a collective du'a insha'Allah of millions of salawat.

Come in huge numbers — the way we come for Khatmal Qur'an — all of you local people, please invite your neighbors. Where else are you going to witness a gathering where the entire Sahih al-Bukhari insha'Allah will be recited between Isha and 10 PM, cover to cover? We'll have a group of ulama sitting there, reading cover to cover the entire Sahih al-Bukhari — for the specific situation of Gaza and the Muslims across the globe. And then millions and millions of salawat, and a collective du'a after that. You don't want to miss this. So please ask your fellow neighbors, classmates, friends, relatives who are in driving distance to please make it out here at the very least by Isha.

After we finish the du'a right now, stand up and perform our Salatul Ishrāq — two raka'ahs. In these two raka'ahs, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala insha'Allah will make it a means of fulfillment of our needs, and will give us the reward of an accepted Hajj and Umrah.

On the way out, the food is going to be served not in the masjid basement — it's going to be served from now on in the seminary banquet hall, because the hifz class starts at 8 o'clock. All of you are welcome. Just go through the courtyard and take the ramp by the gym to enter insha'Allah.

Jazakallah Khairan to our sponsors of the breakfast. If you ever want to become a sponsor for Team Fajr, there is a sheet on the way out by the office where you can put your name down. Additionally, all the out-of-state students and brothers who are here — of course enjoy the nihari breakfast. But besides that, if you want to participate and audit some of our Alim classes, the Alim classes will be happening until about 10 or 10.30. You're more than welcome to audit — just let the teacher know that you would like to sit in, and insha'Allah you're welcome to join for an hour or two.

Wassalāmu 'alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh.