The Graduating Takmil Class of '26 w/ Muftī Azeemuddin Ahmed | The Compass Ep #26 | 06/08

Opening Du'ā & Invocation

Amongst the many other things that we could be busy with, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed you and I to be here in the masjid and blessed us with performing our salah together and sitting from one salah to the other in the remembrance of Allah in the house of Allah and attending this gathering for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's sake. And I ask Allah azza wa jal, through the sincerity of all those who are listening and the sincerity of those who are present here, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant forgiveness to all of us and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to hear and share that which is most relevant, most needed for all of us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to walk away from this gathering in a state that we feel rejuvenated and our hearts are reconnected, realigned with what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants us to be leading our lives with. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow this session — like all of our other sessions — to be a source of inspiration, inshallah, for myself, the attendees, and our co-panelists today.

Introduction: Celebrating the Takmīl Graduating Class

As was announced for the past few days, alhamdulillah, one of our brothers gave this beautiful suggestion for this Monday's podcast. As this is the last one of this academic year — the next academic year starts not too long later, in about a month inshallah — this would be our final Compass podcast session of the year. We'll see about the summer break, what happens, but for now the idea was: mashallah, why not celebrate the journey of our graduating takmīl students?

And also beyond that, along with the celebrations that will happen this weekend — they're graduating inshallah on Sunday after Salat al-Dhuhr, all of you are invited — to kind of learn from their journey as students. Many current students are sitting here; many current students are maybe preparing for exams, so they're listening from home or will listen afterwards. And then many parents who might be wondering: subhanallah, I wish my son could be here, or hopefully will be here — what are the things I need to plan for, what are the things I need to think about? So I'm hoping there are a lot of great things that we can talk about that will be a source of inspiration and that will answer people's questions.

This year we have 10 brothers graduating and 6 sisters graduating — so a total of 16, alhamdulillah. What we are actually witnessing is huge. Every single opportunity anywhere in the world where you have people like these individuals spending however many years — 8, 9, 10, 7, 6, 5, whatever it is — studying, that is huge. But then what they are doing when they graduate, and the work that they're doing, is so important for the survival of the ummah.

I remember something very nicely: when the CAIR director of Michigan came here and spoke at the dinner. Amongst his final and most beautiful points, he said: if it isn't for institutions like this that are producing ulama, CAIR is not going to be able to do its work. Why? Because there are going to be no Muslims left. CAIR is there for Muslims — to support Muslims, to help Muslims through their legal issues. If there are no ulama, what are we going to do? That really sums it up. The role of scholars is so huge in preserving the identity of our deen and ensuring that the flag of Islam moves on to the next generation.

So it is such a monumental occasion this week, and I want all of us who are listening to truly understand and appreciate the enormity of what we're witnessing — and to be a part of it, and to help support the next batch and the next generation of flag-bearers of Islam. This is no exaggeration. This is truly what it is: the role that these young men and women are going to be playing in the world is so huge that millions of lives, inshallah, will be affected — and for generations, for decades — actually, I won't even say decades — centuries — the effects of that will remain.

I gave it as an option: not all of our graduating students may want to immediately go on a public forum. So I said whoever is interested or comfortable can join me. So alhamdulillah, today we have — as of now — four, and I think a few of them are still on their way. And as always, our podcasts are just discussions. They're not pre-made questions shared with our panelists. It's on the spot. It's a conversation between myself and our guests, so it's meant to be very natural. And you can join our conversation by texting on Slido or scanning the QR code and asking something beneficial and relevant, inshallah.

First Memories of Dār al-Salām

So there are so many things in my mind right now. Let's talk about, I guess, the first memorable moment for all of you here. You came — first year? Second year? First year? Mashallah. So let's just talk about that. The moment you stepped in here — what things stuck with you? I can think back to 1998 when I went to Dār al-'Ulūm Zakariyyā — what is still as fresh as this morning. There are certain things that stick with you. What are those first, still-living moments — it's as though you're still living them — that left an impact? At that time you didn't realize that 8 years later, 7 years later, this memory is going to be with me.

Mawlānā Hamza (from Tampa)

The first time I came to Dār al-Salām was in April of 2019 — 7 years ago. There was a retreat going on and my father, myself, and one of our friends flew over here just to see what it's like, to experience it. Alhamdulillah, we already knew about Dār al-Salām for some time because my cousin — you guys all know him — he was here for some time before that. But for me, it was my first experience here.

One of the initial things that just stuck with me was the welcoming environment that Dār al-Salām had. When we entered, there was Mawlana Ali — some of you know him, he graduated about 5 years ago. He welcomed us; he knew us from before. So he said assalamu alaikum, took us inside, showed us where we were going to stay, showed us all the programs — everything like that. That was one thing I won't forget, because that was the initial first experience I ever had with Dār al-Salām, and that whole entire weekend was a life-changing moment for me.

At that point in my life I was young — I was 14 years old — I was growing up, and I was going into the next stage of my life. I didn't know what that would be at that point. Mostly people go to college — high school, college, whatever it is — at that stage. So at that point I didn't know exactly what trajectory I was going to take. But that moment, I can say, is what changed everything and what brought me to where I am today, alhamdulillah.

Some other things from that retreat that I just remember: it was nighttime, time to go to bed, everyone is still talking. And I remember Mufti Azeem — he just came into the basement — he was calling everyone: "Boys, go to sleep! Go to sleep!" And I never expected someone to say that to random kids he doesn't really know. But he thought all of us were his children — because he sees all the young kids, he worries about every single one of you, even if he doesn't know your name. He still cares about you just like he cares about his own kids. So that moment really stuck with me. Those few words stuck with me. But of course there are a lot of different things that could be said — that was just a few things from my initial experience with Dār al-Salām.

Mufti Azeemuddin: Subhanallah. I think what you're basically saying is that the akhlāq element — that someone showed you ikrām — really won your heart. And I think that's such an important point for all of us who are trying to work on the community. When you're doing community engagement now that you're graduating — okay, how do I make a program? Honestly, a flyer doesn't bring in people. You're going to learn this real soon. Flyers are good, but that's not what brings in people. It's personal connection. I was just introduced to a brother sitting here, mashallah, who drove an hour and a half to come to tonight's program — first time — because someone was out in khurūj, they met him, they won his heart over, mashallah, and they pitched it to him yesterday and he drove an hour and a half to attend tonight's program. Think about that. That didn't happen through a flyer.

So that is something we need to take back to our own respective communities as we graduate — the element of winning people's hearts. Once you win their hearts, alhamdulillah, they're ready to do anything. Jazakallah khair for sharing that reflection. What was the topic of that retreat, do you remember?

Mawlānā Hamza: The topic of the retreat was the Anbiyā' — so every single talk was about a different prophet. That was also another whole different inspiring thing. And then I decided to join the Tanwīr program out of that. We started with the summer, and then after a few weeks in, we realized — no, we're probably going to stick around, because this is what we're doing. Subhanallah.

There was about a month or two between the retreat and the summer program, and I remember that whole entire time I was at home, I was just waiting to come back because of such a nice experience I had here and I just wanted to come back and experience it again.

Mufti Azeemuddin: And those of us — local volunteers, ansar, students who are doing khidmat — this, right here in front of you, is the example of what ikrām does. Why we have to always present the masjid, welcome at the masjid with a smile. I have said this before: when I'm giving a talk in the retreat, if I see one person walking out — or even if I'm not speaking, I'm at the back — I'll always make sure I try to follow that person out to the courtyard and ask him what happened, why is he leaving. Because let's not look at the thousand only that are here; we may get questioned for the one that leaves. What did we do wrong? Because of one individual that has left, many times we think about — alhamdulillah — how much we have achieved, but we don't realize how much we didn't achieve, or rather how many people we turned away from the deen because of our own ill character or mistakes we have made. And we may be questioned for that. So this is a great testimony to all of you, and mashallah to the volunteers and locals — your khidmat in the retreats really goes a long way.

Mawlānā Muhannad (from Rochester)

So obviously there are many things, but a small description prior: I had a very normal upbringing and education growing up here in America. Alhamdulillah, my family is very religious, but something that we didn't have was an environment like this one. One thing is a masjid, but another thing is a community filled with people who are studying, and scholars who are available to answer our questions, and consistent programs. We used to live in a lot of smaller communities where that was not something that was common. So when I grew up, I didn't know anything about the ālimiyyah or anything like that.

So I guess the answer to the question of what really stood out was — it was everything — because everything was so new to me. And the pinnacle, or the thing that shows that the most, was the story of actually the brother of one of our classmates, Hussain, and his brother Hassan — Mawlana Hassan. The very first day, I remember we came in and they had a little — I tell this story all the time — they had little ice-breakers and a little breakfast for us, like how we do for the first years. And then we're sitting, everybody's eating and talking to one another. And obviously I don't really know anybody. So I still remember Mufti Sahib speaking to the second years at that time, telling them: don't crowd these kids, because they just got here, they want to feel welcome. So Mawlana Hassan came and he sat next to me and he's asking basic questions: where are you from, how old are you, what brought you here — and all this stuff.

And then as we're talking, he says: you know, I'm in my second year. And I was so confused, because mashallah, he has a full-grown beard, he looks like a grown man — and it turns out he's like 17 or 18. And we're sitting and I'm like, okay, second year — and I'm here thinking there's only one program, there's this one-year program that people come to and then after that they go do whatever. So I was like, okay, you're doing this one-year program again? And he said, no no, I'm in my second year. And I'm really confused. I'm looking at him — brother, I don't understand, second year of what? He's like, out of seven. Seven what? Seven years. I didn't sign up for any of that stuff. So then he was explaining to me — and I'm sure he looked at me like, man, this kid doesn't know what he got himself into.

But the reason I tell that story is just to show that I was very — not that we were far away from the deen or anything, alhamdulillah — but this was not a common environment for us. So these things were so new, to the point I didn't even know what we had signed up for at that time. So it's hard to give one answer. The community, the khidmah, the camaraderie of just a bunch of young guys sitting together, studying every day — whether you're fighting with the guy next to you or not — yes, that was it.

Mawlānā Mustafa (from Springfield, Virginia)

My first memory is very different compared to all my classmates, because I was basically raised in this environment. Hamza Ibrahim is my nephew — for those who don't know, he is Mufti Haroon Firdousi's son, mashallah, my sister's son, alhamdulillah.

Our family moved here from the city right when the masjid opened in 2013. So I did my hifz here right when it started, in this masjid. And then after that I went back to school — to CPSA — and I was planning on just going through high school and college. But one of my classmates from CPSA, now Mawlana Muhammad Hamid, he decided that he's going to start the ālim course. So after 7th grade he left to come here. And then he was like, oh, you should do this too. And I was like, oh, I don't know about that. So then he was like, at least just do the summer program. So then I decided to do the summer program. And then on the last week of the program, he was like, why don't you just stay here the whole year? And alhamdulillah, they had a program where you can do high school and the ālim course together. So he was like, you're not going to be falling behind on your secular studies, you can just do both here. And then alhamdulillah, I just stayed. And then alhamdulillah, now I'm graduating. Mashallah.

Mufti Azeemuddin: You know, the thing is — for those who are listening — for someone who had no idea what he signed up for, to someone whose father is a scholar and mother is a scholar, a graduate of a seminary — both equally — there is no guarantee that you're going to come and finish this program. Absolutely not. We should never think that if someone comes from an environment where they're seeing ilm throughout their life, their parents are ulamā, that they're naturally going to become scholars.

People routinely ask me: "Did your parents send you to South Africa, or were you forced into the ālim course?" And I said: you cannot force your son or daughter to do maktab. You can't even force them to open Qā'idah Nūrāniyyah. Especially nowadays — how do you force someone to become a scholar? It is fundamentally a wrong question, because you don't understand how it works.

So this is the tawfīq from Allah. Yes, there are parents — their job is to give good exposure. And I think all of us here, 100%, are products of that, whether we know it or not. Maybe our parents didn't know Dār al-Salām or didn't know madrasa, but they instilled within us some desire for something — and this is why we're sitting here.

The Role of Parents & Planting the Desire for Dīn

One reflection from Hajj last week that I didn't share: one of the brothers said his father has gone for Hajj 40 or 45 times so far. So he was wondering — what's the secret of his father doing this nāfilah Hajj? One of the women of the family told him: your father, as a young kid in India, would buy the train ticket to get to the railway station so that he could be the last person to see off the hājjīs — and he would also purchase a ticket to be there on the return, ensuring that he would be the first person that the hājjīs see when they came back. He would get their du'as. From a young age he had this desire to be right in front of the hājjāj so that they would remember him in their du'as.

Mashallah. My point is — where did this desire come from in this young boy? It came from his parents and the barakah of that desire — and 40-plus Hajj already performed. So this is something that we're all indebted to our parents for — the environment that they create in our homes creates within us a desire to go in the right direction.

Many parents will naturally ask: how do I get my son or daughter to sign up for a summer Hajj program, a summer Arabic program, a one-year program, or something smaller? They're not interested. And the answer is: what type of effort are you doing to create a desire within their hearts? Who are their heroes? What do you make them look up to? That is so important.

Instead of just saying, "Here, hold your hand and go do this program" — that doesn't work like that. Very subliminal messaging has to happen. Very quietly, but on a consistent basis, we have to create a pairing and a liking towards deen, towards people of deen, towards ilm and ulamā, and an affinity towards them.

For example: when there's a talk happening, make sure our children are present. This is what we learn from our parents — may Allah reward them. After the talk is finished, we all go as kids and go greet the speaker and ask the speaker for du'a. That unfortunately rarely happens nowadays. But this is something so important — that the child knows, whoever I don't even know what he spoke — Arabic, English, Punjabi, I don't know what they spoke about, I'm a little kid — but all I know from my childhood is that the one sitting on the mimbar, the one sitting on the chair in the mihrab, he must be someone important. Because my father made sure that till the end, he stayed, he held my hand and took me and made me shake his hand and ask him for du'a. You don't need to understand the talk. What you need to understand is the memory — that whoever is sitting there is someone important. Repeated exposure to this eventually will create this desire that one day I want to be in that position as well, or whatever else — good intentions of that sort.

Goals: Then & Now

Okay. This journey — I'll leave the mic for whoever wants to answer. Let's talk about the goals — like, what you had when you joined your first year versus now finishing your final week. You have your last exams on Wednesday, yes? Subhanallah. So what type of goals — what made you sign up to the one-year program or the ālim course? And the changes that happened over the period of seven years, your goals from when you were joining to where you're at today — it's a big question, and it can have very simple answers.

I remember when I joined, my goals were not big at all. I was a kid — I was 13 years old — very simple, really not huge global goals. But that's fine. As you're graduating now, this question is going to give you different answers 20 years from today, 10 years from today. And inshallah you can listen to this podcast 20 years later, inshallah.

Mawlānā Hamza

In the beginning of my journey of studies I didn't really have too much clarity — I was very young. And alhamdulillah, I am very thankful to my parents, jazakumullahu khairan — may Allah protect and preserve them. Like what Mufti Sahib was saying, I don't come from a background of ulamā. In fact, I don't believe there are any ulamā in my family in probably at least two to three generations. But my parents always made an effort. We came to the States in 2008 or 2009, and from the first memory I have of being young, my mom asked my dad that she wanted to learn how to drive so she could take the kids to the masjid. And both my parents made an active effort to keep us involved in our masjid.

Like what Mufti Sahib was saying, one of my role models growing up was the imam of our masjid. After I finished my hifz, I was speaking to my hifz teacher, my ustādh Qāri Ibrahim. He was asking me, "Oh, what do you want to do?" For those brothers who know me, I have a fond interest in cars. So I told him: I'm going to become an engineer, work in the automotive industry. And he said, "What are you going to do with that?" I was like, oh, I don't know, I like cars so I'll just mess around with that. And then the message that he gave me at the time still sticks with me: that Allah gave you a gift that none of us are capable of first of all deserving, and none of us are capable of carrying. Make more out of it than just going and working with some tools or working in a factory. So he initially advised: you should go study, learn your deen, learn who Allah is, and from there you'll have perhaps a little bit more clarity. That's essentially how I started studying — through his advice.

In the beginning my goal was very simple. I came from an environment where — as is in most Muslim environments outside of very few places like Dār al-Salām — there is a lot of murky waters. Sometimes you have bad company, sometimes you have unfortunate situations that happen. And so I had a lot of unclarity on: what is the deen, what do we follow, what do we believe, why do we do what we do? There are juristic practices. So I wanted to learn more about that — why am I who I am, why is my identity first Muslim and then everything else — just in an effort to become a better Muslim. That's as much as a 15 or 16-year-old can think. That was essentially the idea I had in mind.

And as I progressed throughout the years with the advice of the asātidah and with my mentors, I came to learn that — just like the analogy that one of my teachers mentioned — when Allah gives you wealth, when Allah gives you currency, or a home, or a family, there's a responsibility carried with that. The responsibility for wealth is very simple: it's your zakāt, your 2.5% every year, the sadaqah that you discharge, the nafaqah that you spend on your family. That's how you show Allah shukr for what He's given you. And for the ilm that Allah has given you — it's not something that you deserve, it's not something that you were entitled to — so there's a necessary zakāt that you have to give on this, which is that you have to spread whatever you're able to learn in a way that's beneficial to the ummah. It doesn't have to be the conventional route, but it has to be some sort of khidmah. Your life is now — you are indebted to Allah — for the sake of khidmah of deen. Everything else comes secondary.

One event that I can recall that gave me a little bit more direction: Mufti Sahib — may Allah have mercy on him — made a lot of effort and took time out of his busy schedule to take myself and my classmates to South Africa in November. And I think one of the objectives of that was to get some insight on the different things that are happening in the world. The ulamā of South Africa, mashallah, they have such an abundance of ilm that they are able to go into very unique fields, things that we don't normally see here. I still remember — I think it was the first night that we were in the country — we went to a Muslim scholar-run drug rehab. The scholar, the sheikh who was running the rehab, showed us around and told us how they work. And I remember hearing some of the strategies he was mentioning and I was like subhanallah — we have an idea of what a rehab is, and then he took that idea and essentially said: how can I implement the Sunnah into this, based on what I've learned? How can I implement the Sunnah into this and keep it brief?

From that I got some inspiration. So now I think — if Allah allows, if Allah accepts — based off of that unique creativity, that creative model that I saw over there, and various other khidmat that were going on, I think my goal has shifted from a — for lack of better words — selfish goal of just wanting to implement it into myself, to: I want to take this and present it to the ummah in a way that when I have to stand in front of Allah and answer for the blessing that I've been given, I have at least something to show. That: Allah, this is what I tried to do, this is how I tried to help the ummah. And I think that's kind of how my journey progressed.

The Misunderstood Path: Facing Family & Social Pressure

There's something I thought about — instead of having everybody answer every question, I'm going to ask a bunch of questions, and if any of you wants to answer any of them, please do.

Seven years is seriously a long time. And especially when you are the only one in your family doing it — you can't relate, first of all. When I went to South Africa — this is before WhatsApp, before high-speed internet, before smartphones — when I did come back home, I just lost connection with everybody. Because first, where do we meet? We used to be in school together. Then you call them when they pick up — their house phone. How long are you going to speak? Our lives are so different now. Immediately: "Hey, what are you studying? What did you watch last night? The shows. What are you doing?" These are the typical questions that high school and college students ask each other. What's your major, how is this, how is that. When you speak about what you are studying, everyone is giving you a blank stare. They have no idea.

This is not a joke — it's a real story that happened with me. When we came back after some time, one of my old school friends said: "Were you still in South Africa?" I said yeah. "What are you doing out there?" I said, "I'm doing the ālim program." He said — and I quote — "How many du'as do you all memorize anyway?" That's what he said. "How many du'as do you all memorize anyway?" Because he can't even comprehend what in the world an ālim program is. I don't blame him. That's how it is.

What we are studying is something so different — and may I add — so misunderstood. By who? By our own immediate family. You all have heard this: "Brother, when you graduate, you won't be able to get a job. No one is going to give you a daughter. You are never going to get married. You are going to be an outcast. You won't be able to, probably, speak proper English — or any other language — if you don't have a college degree. People are going to treat you like dirt." And where did you even get this motivation to do something so irrelevant, non-realistic, archaic? The list goes on.

The amount of doubt that is created in the minds of students of knowledge by their immediate family is a huge challenge — and that adds a lot to the stress of students of knowledge, which outsiders don't understand. You talk about medical students having a very difficult life — madrasa students similarly have a very difficult life. Because they are the most misunderstood people. Their course is the most misunderstood. There is no appreciation. And on top of that — not just no appreciation — they are always being talked down to. In the dawats, in the family get-togethers, the uncles, the aunts, everyone is saying: "Bhai, kitne saal ho gaye hain, time kyun zayi kar rahe ho? Fulān itna aage ja chuka hai" — "Brother, how many years has it been, why are you wasting time? Your cousin has gone so far ahead."

And it's so much that, guess what — the parents fall into this. The parents start believing their own siblings and uncles and aunts who keep attacking their kids, and they start scratching their heads: "Yeah, really, my son is wasting his life." I have heard this multiple times from the dads and moms of our students. "We feel so bad that our son has fallen behind." Fallen behind in what? What are you talking about? "No, yeah, he studied ilm, you know, but his cousin finished college." And then another one — when they go to get married, in the rishta process: "Beta, kya padha hai?" — "Son, what have you studied?" So then you say he went to madrasa, he did hifz, after that he did the ālim program, he did qirā'at, alhamdulillah, maybe even did takhassus, spent 9 years — mashallah. "Acha, bhai, education kya hai?" — "Okay, but what is his education?" After spending 9 years in madrasa — what is his education? What is his jahālah? 9 years of jahālah, ignorance? What are you talking about?

No one asks someone who has graduated from an Ivy League school: can you mention the farā'id of ghusl? Just the farā'id of ghusl. Give me the arkān of Islam. Give me Imān Mujmal, Imān Mufassal. Give me three proofs of the existence of Allah. Give me three proofs of prophethood. Give me three proofs of the veracity of the Quran. What invalidates a marriage? Simple — your marriage. What invalidates that? SubhanAllah. A graduate of an Ivy League school — does he know the answers to this? No one calls that jahālah — which is pure actual jahālah. If you don't know Allah, you don't know the deen — that person is jāhil, no matter what paper they hold.

And here we have people who have spent years upon years studying ilm — studying Allah azza wa jal's deen — in order to help you and your children and your family. But they are called uneducated, jāhil, people who don't have a piece of paper.

So I would like to ask all of you: how have you handled — or how did your family or yourself handle — this type of stress, this type of negativity, this type of naysaying? I know we all went through it, our friends went through it, and it was very tough. Many times you just have to face your family or your friend's family when you come back home every two years from overseas. But for many students, it's every night they go home, every weekend they go home — it's an issue. So how do you all deal with that, for 7 years?

Mawlānā Muhannad

Somebody is definitely going to have to answer after me, because that was what I was going to say — that alhamdulillah, my family, my parents, my extended family — may Allah protect and preserve them — mashallah, hearing this... I used to have friends, even when we were just in the first year — one year, in comparison to seven, is nothing — but I remember some brothers whose parents were very adamant even after they had already started the year: "We don't want you to finish, you're wasting your time doing this." And that was the first time I had heard that somebody's parents were like that. It was so foreign to me. This is not to say that this doesn't exist, but the way my family dealt with it was that they looked at everybody else like they were the crazy ones. "What are you talking about? How could you say that my son is wasting his life?"

And so — I guess I can tie this into the question — the way my family dealt with it was that for them it was so second nature. My mom and my dad — towards the end of my first year, this was right before COVID started — I remember talking to them on the phone when we were supposed to come back, and I said you know, I want to stay. And there was no hesitation. It was just: okay, I'm so happy for you.

And so I guess for those of us who were like that, and we see that — oh, this is such a huge blessing, alhamdulillah, my son or my child is involved in something like this — and then when we deal with people who are really confused or they feel like this path won't lead anywhere — we should look at them and say: who promised your son, daughter, whoever, that their effort in university or whatever job it is will go to something that will give them a future? At the end of the day, all this is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if a person sees everything like that, you're never afraid. And by extension — our teacher Mufti Sahib always mentions this — how can you think that you dedicate your life to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and His Deen and His Rasul ﷺ, and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wouldn't take care of you in the end? And even if you aren't taken care of in this dunya, then what could be a better abode than in the akhirah?

Somebody still needs to answer though, because I feel like I didn't give a good example. And even if it's not this particular obstacle — there were most definitely lots of other obstacles. Someone asked online too: how do you end up sticking around for 7 years? How do you remain dedicated? What are the moments when you suffered some sort of obstacle — maybe 3rd year, 2nd year, 4th year, 5th year — something where you thought: okay, that's it, I don't think I can continue.

All of us have had that. And I think a lot of people don't realize that we go through that. They think it's — you're so inspired, everyone is like the Energizer Bunny, constantly running, there's no such thing as a dull moment, no such thing as the blues, when you're down you're always super motivated — study, study. It's not that. That's not the reality of it. Making it to class every single day — especially in this final year, talk about your schedule — many times starting at 6:40, 6:30, right after Fajr, or sometimes 5:30. And this past month, Saturdays, Sundays, holidays — 12-hour, 6-hour, 7-hour extra classes. So there are moments. If any of you want to share when you thought: that's it, I don't think I can continue any further — whether it's 2nd year or 3rd year — please share that if you're comfortable. And then how did you get out of that?

Mawlānā Hamza Ibrahim (Mufti Firdousi's Son)

So actually, after my 2nd year I was like, I'm not sure if I want to do this. And then I decided to actually leave. So my classmates that I did my first 2 years with — they actually graduated last year. So I'm kind of like a year behind. But I feel like that gap year that I took in the middle was a good experience, because towards the end of my 2nd year I wasn't really appreciating this madrasa, and I was like, I don't know if I want to do this. And then I left and went back to — I went back to 10th grade. And then, once I left from this environment, I started to appreciate the benefit and the importance of this. So then I came back after that.

So like Mufti Sahib was saying about how the motivation keeps going — for me, I actually left and then through realization, I decided to come back.

Mufti Azeemuddin: That's so beautiful. Because a lot of people realize that what they left from was better, but their nafs comes in, their ego comes in, and everything else — "what are people going to say?" But honestly, we should not harm ourselves because of thinking about what other people are going to say. If you feel that you made a wrong decision by leaving something — no problem, turn around and go back. And it really does take, many times — that's why in talāq as well, subhanallah, after three divorces, the whole concept of halālah. You keep giving one divorce, second divorce, third divorce — "no, I want to go back again." No, you need to go get married to somebody else first. And then you realize: maybe that's your new life, or maybe now you actually have something to compare with. So this is — and I won't recommend intentionally for people to always do this, for kids to say "let me go see the other world" because you might not come back — but alhamdulillah, this is a success story of someone going and seeing something and Allah guiding them back and allowing you to appreciate this a lot more.

Mawlānā Mustafa

Subhanallah, I'm truly grateful that I've made it to the end of my studies here at Dār al-Salām. And even more grateful to the fact that, though I do understand that these objections come up in other families and students' lives, alhamdulillah, I had never had to deal with any of this. And if it ever so happened that we were at a dawat or someone's house where they weren't so familiar with what we were doing, my parents made sure that they explained to them exactly what it was — such that they, at the end, felt left out that they didn't enroll their own kids into this program or something similar.

So alhamdulillah, I'm grateful that none of this was ever something that came up in my life. But one thing I'll mention — especially to those listening online, and of course everyone here as well — if you're considering as a parent enrolling your child into a program like this, whether for one year or seven years, just one small thing I'd like to share: when you look at why we're even here to begin with, if you zoom out for a second — why are we even here in this dunya? The answer clearly is for the worship of Allah Ta'ala. That is our maqsad, that is our purpose here in this world, that is our primary objective. So is it so much to ask, is it so much to do, that just from all your years in this world — along with your prayers and everything — you can't dedicate just one year to Allah Ta'ala? After all, is this not your primary objective — to worship Allah Ta'ala? Is it so much to ask for one year? Or even a summer program — can that not be done to better understand what your primary objective is? Twelve years you spend in school, then many more years in college — all for what? All for this world. But we often forget: the ākhirah, the eternal world, what we're actually here for — how many years have we put into that? Have we put twelve years into that? Ten years? How many even months?

So maybe if you look at it from this perspective, it might help someone make a decision. And to the point Mufti Sahib mentioned a minute ago about people having misunderstandings of what we study here — I just remembered a funny incident. A distant family member was talking to me about what I'm doing and he was like, "When are you going to complete your hifz?" I was like, well, I completed my hifz a couple of years ago — this was, I believe, in the third or fourth year. And after he had finished asking me questions, I realized that his understanding was that I was here to read the Quran, and basically the course is just seven years of reading Quran. That was a really interesting experience. Alhamdulillah, that would have been a huge blessing as well — but nonetheless.

To the point Mufti Sahib was mentioning about obstacles — you should expect that. As Allah says in the Quran, when anyone tries to embark on a journey to better themselves — keep it very simple, not even committing to a one-year course or a seven-year course or a weekend program, just simply having an intention that I'm going to try to improve myself — you are definitely going to be tested. Myself and my classmates, I think we can all attest to this: be it minor challenges or major challenges, things will definitely come up in your way.

For me personally, I don't think I can pinpoint whatever it was that protected me from those challenges. Mufti Sahib, maybe you may or may not remember that at one point during my ālimiyyah, I had put in my application for college and I was going to leave and start a bachelor's during the third year. But I don't know how it happened — I spoke to Mufti Sahib and shared this with him, that I want to go study psychology. And Mufti Sahib gave me a lot of good words of wisdom, but he also didn't immediately just shut down the idea. He said: okay, speak to this person who is an individual who can give you an idea, and he's also a psychologist. And I spoke to that person as well, and that gave me some clarity.

But I think I will attribute my ability to overcome those obstacles not to the people who are directly involved. I think the biggest factor — obviously first and foremost the asātidah who are here and guiding us — aside from that, is the du'a of the parents. I don't think anyone could have guessed, looking at me when I was 12, 13, 14 years old, or looking at my family, that I was going to have an opportunity to study. But my mother — may Allah protect and preserve her — from a very young age, and my grandmother from what I remember in my childhood, they would constantly make du'a for protection of myself and my brothers. So I think those du'as definitely helped.

And I'll mention a point, since we were speaking about experiences with parents: alhamdulillah, my parents were very supportive, and a lot of my classmates as you're hearing were also very supportive. One point that a parent can take away from this is that if you are greedy — and I say this in a positive sense — if you are greedy and you want to have the best outcome from your child, the best place where you can put your child for the best return on investment is not going to be to make your child a doctor, not going to be to make your child an engineer, because that return on investment is going to be limited, it's going to stop at some point, that investment is going to end at some point. But if you are genuinely greedy as a parent and you want to be selfish for a moment — then put your kid in something that's going to make them a sadaqah jāriyah for you. Because there's going to be a point when you are no longer on this earth and that child is still going to be a sadaqah jāriyah for you.

And if you put them on the right path and give them the right exposure, then even after they have left this earth, the seeds that they have sown into the ground, the seeds that they have sown into the ummah — that will be such a constant source of reward for you that on Yawm al-Qiyāmah you will be looking at a pile of good deeds and wondering: I did not do any of that. I don't know where that came from. But all you did was give your children exposure and guide them to something that means more than just this dunyā fāniyyah. It's going to be more than just whatever little bit of wealth you can acquire — a nice house, a nice car, some nice clothes that are going to be tattered in a couple of years anyway. So I think that's a point I will carry — what got me through my obstacles was my parents and their du'as.

The Importance of Belief in What You Are Doing

Subhanallah. I want to add one thing here. When you are studying something that is misunderstood or not appreciated, as graduating students and current students you have to have immense belief in what you are doing. Immense belief. And this is the most important thing. As students, if we don't have that, what will happen is that eventually — the whole world is seemingly against what we are doing, they don't understand and appreciate it — those words will get to us. So none of us are discrediting any other field, but the idea is that this field is one of the most under-represented fields.

A lot of times people ask: "Brother, not everyone can become a scholar." So then I immediately ask: the Tanwīr class — we have how many, 45 students? I asked the 45 students in the current Tanwīr program how many people from their family have ever studied in a madrasa. One person — just one out of the 45 boys — said they have a family member. The rest of them are the first generation, the first people to ever step foot in a madrasa. So the idea is, sometimes when we are in these environments we think everyone is studying. It's not the case. There are very few people in your neighborhood, if any. How many are we graduating right now? 16, after so many years. How many institutions in the entire country have a graduating class this year? I don't know — maybe 4, maybe 5 institutions collectively. You are not going to get more than 40 or 50 students, probably 60 is a very big stretch, from the entire United States.

So this is something very under-represented. We do need people in IT and medicine and law and accounting and public policy and all those things. But guess what? All of those fields, if they do not have an Islamic perspective, then those fields — and the people in those fields — will harm Islam more than benefit Islam. It is the role of these brothers and sisters who are graduating to ensure that every Muslim who is in any field — besides this field as well as this field — is constantly realigning themselves with the actual purpose of serving Allah through their fields.

If we do not have — like one scholar came from India, Mawlana Abu Bakr, he came here and spoke to you all, he also spoke in the masjid in Urdu, mashallah amazing — he has a 3-day retreat for lawyers and a 3-day retreat for doctors in India, in Hyderabad. And from how many? 600, 800 physicians and 600, 800 lawyers come for a 3-day retreat. All of them attend lectures by ulamā and scholars who are explaining not only the fiqh of what they are doing and the various issues, but even more fundamentally — how to remain a dedicated, God-fearing, muttaqī, Sunnah-centered physician. A Sunnah-centered lawyer. And to ensure that you are serving Islam first before anything else.

So this is where all of us — the role that ulamā play is extremely important — in helping people in all different facets of life, in all different occupations, to realign themselves with the deen. And I say ulamā too, because the scholars also constantly need realignment, and that's why they refer back to their shuyūkh, their teachers, for that realignment.

Staying Dedicated: How Do You Remain Committed for 7 Years?

There was a question on Slido: how did you stay there for 7 years? How did you remain dedicated for 7 years? And this goes back to what Mufti Sahib was asking about the challenges we faced as students. Every single person has different challenges — whatever difficulties come to you from your family, from your studies, whatever it is.

I'm not going to talk about my own personal challenges, but I'll say one thing that helped me get through was a perspective change. Everybody thinks that their challenges are the biggest challenges and no one else is going through what they're going through. We all think: my life is so difficult, I already have so many things to think about, I made this mistake, and that mistake, everybody is angry with me, all these people around me don't know what's going on in my life — and that's something that sometimes you get into your own head and you start going deeper and deeper. But you just need to step back for a little bit and understand that every single person has challenges in their life.

Whoever you're looking at, thinking that person has a perfect life and you wish you were like them — trust me, that person has issues just like you have issues. That's just the reality of life. Allah created us as insān, and insān is going to have different challenges in life. But that's the whole point — you have to overcome those. Just keep going, over one challenge and then another, until you pass away. And in the ākhirah — that's when you have peace and your mind is free.

And something related: you go from one challenge to another. That's another thing I realized throughout my ālim course and even before that in my hifz. I always thought, "Oh, my challenges are so big." But every stage in your life, you're always going to have challenges. Just because something ended now, don't think that nothing is going to come later. What you have to understand is: the decisions that you make choose the challenges that will come to you.

Whether you choose to take a wrong path in life, stay around with the wrong crowd, go down the path of drugs, alcohol, women — later on in your life you now have an addiction, or no family, or whatever these kinds of issues. That's because of the choices you made when you were younger. Or you can make the right choices, and then later on in your life you still have challenges, but your difficulties are like: okay, now I have these children, and I want the success of these children. You have different challenges, but your own decisions are what got you to that level. Now you have different challenges.

So what you need to understand is: number one, you're not the only person who has challenges in your life. You're not the only person who has difficulties. You're not the only person whose parents are upset with him, or whose friends are upset with him, or who has these secret skeletons in the closet — everybody else has that as well. But what we need to do is try to overcome them.

Number two: don't think that just because you passed first year, passed second year, passed third year, that the challenges are going to go away. Rather, they'll still be there — they'll just be different challenges. Right now what you have to think about is making the choices that will give you the better kind of challenges that you can go through. As I mentioned before, you can either choose a path where you have challenges that are threatening your life or your deen, or you can have challenges that are just about making islāh of your children — whatever it may be.

I wanted to mention that even for myself, it was all the way up to the sixth year — sixth year — where I started thinking: this is the wrong choice. One year before graduation. And I discussed this with my parents, I discussed this with my brother. And subhanallah, alhamdulillah — that's the benefit of just having elders with you. And so whether it's your cup of tea or not, whether you like it or not — who cares — you have to finish it. So these doubts, these issues, difficulties — they most definitely come along the way. As long as you have somebody you can submit to, and if he says, "It doesn't make sense to me" — it's okay, it doesn't make sense, you just do it. If you have somebody in your life like that, out of love, out of fear, out of respect, there will always be moments like that where you might want to do something which is not right for you. But if you learn how to respect and listen and obey to somebody, then inshallah that will get us through life.

And I want to add to the point of madrasa students — sometimes they make a big deal of things, it seems like a big deal to them. I remember one boy who wanted to leave madrasa in dawrah — he was so upset. Why? Because of the seating arrangement. He was so upset at where he was sitting and some issue happened. He called me from overseas and said: "I'm going to leave madrasa, I'm so angry." Like — really? Come on, man. But it means, sometimes people get upset about first place, second place, or something else — but as soon as you graduate, the day your eyes open back at home, you look back and you cannot believe that that was an issue, compared to what issues you have in front of you.

Stories of Inspiring Teachers & Staff

There was a question: would all of you here share one or two quick stories of relevant, inspiring moments you had with different teachers, different staff members — individuals at Dār al-Salām that have left an amazing mark in your life? That one 30-second answer — something you saw someone doing that was just so inspiring that you're not going to forget. And maybe something you've never shared with anybody before.

Mawlānā Muhannad

Generally in our deen, it's best not to praise somebody when they're sitting with you — but because the praised person is the one who asked the question, inshallah, it's appropriate. Alhamdulillah, Mufti Sahib, especially in my earlier years and still now, he was always pushing me to go and travel and do programs around. But in the beginning there was no — "oh, students, just go and travel on your own" — it was: oh, if Mufti Sahib is going, then you go with Mufti Sahib.

I still remember we had gone one weekend or something, we went to Texas. And as usual, anybody who has traveled with Mufti Azeemuddin knows that the whole day — every second — you thought there were 24 hours and Mufti Azeemuddin shows you there are just 48, and that's still not enough time. Every moment is busy. You thought the schedule was going to look like this, and then you ended up doing four different programs in the span of what was just supposed to be one.

So naturally, I think this was in my first year — by the end of the day we were with, I think, Ramazan and his brother — two people who had come here and studied in the first year — and they were taking us around. Alhamdulillah, it was a great time. And at the end of the day, Mufti Sahib was speaking at a dawah, telling people about Dār al-Salām, we have these programs, people should come, you should send your kids, we're not here to fundraise, we're here just to invite you to come and see the environment.

At this point I was exhausted — so tired. And I still remember because one brother took a picture of me just sitting in the corner, completely knocked out in somebody's house. I had no idea where I was. So we were exhausted. Finally we go to wherever we were supposed to sleep. And as I'm resting — in the middle of the night at some point I get up to use the restroom or something — and I saw that after this whole crazy day, that I thought no human being ever probably did before in their lives, Mufti Sahib mashallah was still sitting and answering people's questions, making du'a, and doing ibādah. And obviously that's private — I'm sharing it now, I'm sorry Mufti Sahib, please don't be upset with me — but what inspired me about that was: oh, there are people who are willing to make that level of effort for the deen. And so to see Mufti Azeemuddin — the madrasa filled with not only teachers but also students and administration — everybody dedicated, everybody trying their best. And everybody doing it not because somebody's promising them a job when they graduate, or not because somebody says I'm going to make X amount of money — but: because yeah, I want to help the deen.

Mawlānā Hamza

There are too many to pick from, but inshallah, I'll try to keep it brief. First — of the asātidah, the staff member who really went above and beyond exceptionally, even though there are so many staff members who expressed their care, was Mufti Omar Najee. I remember at one particular event, I had some stuff going on that I was a bit stressed out about. And I kid you not — on a weeknight when he had to report at 6am for Fajr attendance — Mufti Omar Najee drove around with me until 3am and listened to everything I had to say. And the entire time, not an ounce of expression like, "Well, I have to get home." He was married, he had a kid at the time. And I said, "Your family's probably waiting for you." And this shows the sacrifice of not just the asātidah, but the families as well. He was like, "No, no, it's okay, my family is completely fine with this because they know that I'm not out for personal reasons."

Same thing with Mawlana Yusuf Ghose. There's so much to say about him, but Mawlana Yusuf Ghose — for those who know — he's one of the academic pillars of the madrasa, but he's also the person who will see that a student's face looks a little droopy today and he'll call them, pull them out of the class, and say: "Hey, are you doing okay? Is everything alright? Do you need any help with anything?" Just because of sake of time I'll end there, but literally every single ustādh we have some sort of story like that — of them expressing genuine care, not treating their job like a 9-to-5, 40-hour job, rather: this is the purpose of what they're doing.

Mawlānā Amjad

Mufti Omar Najee — he's known me for a very, very long time, and we already talked about him multiple times, but he's just been that much of an inspirational person to every single student. I remember in my first year I was struggling with Qasas al-Nabiyyīn. Many of you know this, but Mufti Azeemuddin was our teacher, and he told us to take a 10-line page and summarize it into 15 lines — and we had to do that in Arabic. As first-year students, you know that's pretty difficult. And a sixth-year student who is so busy with everything going on in his life — Mufti Omar Najee — took time out and was sitting with me every single day, helping me get those summaries done. And that's the only way I was able to pump those out every single day. It's kind of exposing myself, but yeah — mashallah. Make du'a for him: he has just departed a week ago for a one-year khurūj in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, leaving behind his wife and three children. May Allah protect them and may Allah make this one-year khurūj easy for him. It's not staying in hotels — it's literally going through some of the most difficult parts of the world. Alhamdulillah.

Lessons from the Classroom: Quotes & Life Experiences

Okay, so any quotes you remember from any class? Again, many of our attendees are not madrasa students — they have no idea what class was like from first through seventh year. Something that really stuck with you — a life experience that one of the teachers shared, some study skills, or something that they said. You all have — what — 15, 20 teachers, mashallah, from the first year till now. Each one is a gem.

That's what we tell people: in the madrasa — Dār al-Salām — you pay X amount of money, and you can get good engineers and a good architect, you can get a bigger chandelier than this. But what's beautiful about Dār al-Salām are the teachers. That's the most amazing thing, alhamdulillah. Well, there are many amazing components, of course, but that's one of the main components that attracts people. People don't come here to study because of the architecture — they come because of the teachers.

So if someone could share, inshallah, some of the things that you remember — till today. That's why if you ever attend any dars of mine, any lesson, I don't think I ever speak without speaking about my teachers. It's just not possible. Because we are constantly remembering, alhamdulillah, the lessons that they have infused within us.

And madrasa, my dear brothers — for those who don't know — is a place where there are awliyā'. Awliyā' Allāh. There are awliyā' hidden in madāris. It's guaranteed: you're walking through a madrasa and there's some walī of Allah azza wa jal sitting there. Could be a student, could be a first year, could be a seventh year, could be the one cooking in the kitchen, could be the one vacuuming the floor — there are awliyā' sitting there.

I've had students tell me — here, here — they're like, "Shaykh, I fell asleep in a 15-minute break in class and I had ziyārah of Rasulullah ﷺ." Some of them multiple times — week after week after week — having ziyārah of Rasulullah ﷺ. SubhanAllah. You don't get that if a person is not connected to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

How touching it was for me this week: after salah I finished, and I saw a young student of ours here — crying in du'a. Like actual crying. So after he finished the du'a I met him outside and said: "Listen, man, I don't have time, just get to the bottom of it. What's wrong? What's the issue? Why are you crying?" And subhanallah, he said: "Nothing — it's just that I missed my Dhuhr jamā'ah." He missed his Dhuhr jamā'ah because he overslept because of the exam schedule. The majority of students are awake all night studying. The masjids are open for i'tikāf. He said: "I missed my jamā'ah for Dhuhr, and that's why I was crying at Asr." Alhamdulillah. This is your typical ABCD — American-born, confused young American kid — who is crying. This is not the first time, and inshallah not the last time I've seen this, where people are actually crying with tears because they've missed — not qadā', but they missed jamā'ah. So this is — you could say — madāris are a place where these amazing things happen.

A Quote That Stays

At one point I was asking a teacher who I'm still very close with, and with whom I make a lot of mashwarah, about what inspired him and what kept him going through madrasa. And he shared a quote that, till today — and hopefully forever — I will remember. He said: "When I asked him what kept you going, he said that I felt that this was the most effective way of me repaying back an unpayable debt." Obviously he's referencing that everything that a person has, and what he feels he's been gifted, is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And obviously we can never fulfill the right of the blessings Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us. But he felt that in pursuing knowledge and leading his life in this way, this was the most effective way for him to at least show: "Yeah Allah, I might not actually be able to repay this debt, but I want to show that I at least want to try." So that was the quote.

Plans After Graduation

Let's specifically speak about plans right now. Where are you all headed? People want to know your journeys. And if you all want to share a few things about that, inshallah. Immediately where you're headed — from next week onwards — and then the next few years, some of you are continuing your studies, so what's your plan beyond that too?

Mawlānā Hamza

Inshallah, my personal plan is to do takhassus at Dār al-Salām — takhassus in hadith and tafsir, two more years, inshallah.

Mufti Azeemuddin: What does takhassus mean?

Specialization in hadith and tafsir — where you go more into the science of rijāl, the chains in the hadith books, also defending the hadith corpus as a whole, the authenticity of the Sunnah as a means of deriving sharī'ah alongside the Quran, and going more in-depth into tafsir to deepen our understanding of the Quran. There's a two-year course with that — Mawlana Yusuf, Mawlana Qutb al-Farhan Sharif, Mufti Sulaiman, they all teach in Dār al-Salām.

After the completion of that — things can change naturally, we never really know — but inshallah right now I want to do another takhassus after that, a takhassus in da'wah. Inshallah, one year in jamā'at, if Allah gives me tawfiq — there are so many benefits I've been hearing about from people who have done it. My own experience: every single summer break, alhamdulillah, for the past couple of years I've been able to go, and that's what gave me the biggest boost. And the only reason my dawrah was the way it was, and alhamdulillah I had a really good experience, was because of the fact that I went in jamā'at for a solid 10 days in the summer. So inshallah I want to fully do that for a year, if Allah gives me tawfiq. After that I would like to go into serving my community back in Florida, or wherever Allah takes me. There's no specific field I want to go into — rather, I want to see what the need is at that time and try to assimilate myself into that. Wherever the gaps are, wherever I can help — and try to do that, inshallah.

Mawlānā Muhannad

Inshallah, I'll be joining Mawlana Hamza as well in doing the takhassus — the specialization in hadith and tafsir here at Dār al-Salām. As well as I'll be teaching locally — Islamic studies and Qur'anic Arabic — inshallah. And also, mashallah, getting married this Friday, alhamdulillah inshallah! All are invited at 6pm — the nikāh is at 6, inshallah, on Friday. Mufti Sahib will inshallah be doing the nikāh, inshallah.

Mawlānā Amjad

Inshallah, with immediate plans — if Allah accepts — spend some time learning the art of da'wah and trying to get that experience, overseas in Pakistan inshallah. At the same time, we'll also be pursuing an education in psychology alongside teaching Qur'an at Masjid 'Uthmān, inshallah.

Mawlānā Mustafa

We graduate 6 days from today. Two days afterwards, inshallah, I'll have a flight booked to go to Faisalabad to spend time with my sheikh for the next 2 months. We learned our ilm here for 7 years — and even that is very little — but of course you have to couple that with islāh, the reformation of your own self. So I'll be going there for that specifically. Afterwards, I'll be serving here locally, inshallah, and at the same time studying the language, inshallah.

Mawlānā Hamza Ibrahim

The day after graduation, I'm going to India for jamā'at, inshallah. And then after that, I have a passion for Islamic finance. So inshallah, I plan to go study finance and then incorporate the Islamic aspect of it from the foundation that we built here in madrasa, inshallah.

Opportunities for Graduates: The Field is Wide Open

So there was a question about opportunities out there. Alhamdulillah, at the moment I think one of the safest industries protected from AI influence is the work that these brothers and sisters are doing every day. This morning there was an article about how banks are preparing for massive layoffs because of AI. And one of the things that at the moment is still safe is the role that ulamā play. Alhamdulillah. So unless they create themselves into — unless they create AI stuff for themselves, which some of them are doing — but as long as the human element will always be present, inshallah.

For those who've asked online: what are the opportunities? There are imam opportunities. There are youth director roles. There are Islamic school teacher positions. There are Islamic school principal positions. There are Islamic finance roles. There is what you call the people who can actually build seminaries. Mawlana Farhan just came in from Dallas and shared a beautiful experience visiting his classmate Mawlana Yassir in Dallas at the Ihyā' Institution — amazing work. Within the past 5 to 6 years, alhamdulillah, he's established a huge boarding school with multiple properties, students from so many states coming to study in the seminary called Ihyā' in Dallas. This is one of his classmates. And there's another graduate from here who's established an institution in Long Island, alhamdulillah. And when Mufti Omar — whose name we've heard so many times, mashallah — established a seminary out in Tampa.

The amount of opportunities for khidmah and service are huge. And there are many who've completed their 4-year degree and unfortunately do not have a job right now, or had one but lost it. But there's one thing I've told my students — and I said this yesterday to a student who was confused about how to address this issue with his parents: our senior generation, my teachers' generation — their fitnah and test as ulamā was faqr, poverty. And our test is and will be wealth. Meaning: they got tested with less wealth, and we're getting tested with more. So for those who are worried about whether you can get a job after graduating from a seminary — actually, the issue is you might get too much. The opportunities are too much. You have to make sure that that never becomes the goal, that we're not chasing the dunya. Alhamdulillah — earn a good halal income, take care of your needs, and then, as you just heard from so many of them, between Fajr and Dhuhr — say if you're a full-time imam or in an Islamic school teaching — there are still enough hours to do your MBA, to do an undergrad.

Many of our graduates from past years have already started their degree with one of the universities here — just a one-year, one-and-a-half-year course that allowed them to get an accredited master's. Even if they did not do a bachelor's. So they came to Dār al-Salām with a high school degree, studied there seven years, and now they're doing a year and a half with one of the universities here in Chicago, alhamdulillah — getting an accredited master's with which they can move on to another master's, go on to a PhD program, or what not. So alhamdulillah, things have changed a lot.

The opportunities for serving are huge. I think we all need to, inshallah, explore those opportunities and connect people. A lot of people have reached out to me: "Can I have one of your graduates come to our community?" And the answer is: "Brother, they're all taken," or "They're all busy." Alhamdulillah. There are so many masājid just saying: "Please — can you fly in somebody for an interview to serve in our community?" So the greatest need is there. A masjid is not the name of four walls — it's the name of the people within it.

The Greatest Muhsin: The Community

Last but not least, in this final minute or two: I want to remind my students and all of us here of something. Mufti Sa'eed Pahlānpuri, rahimahullah — a great scholar of hadith from India who taught in Deoband for about 40 to 50 years, mashallah — he visited our institution here multiple times. It is mentioned that one day he asked his students in class, and I shared this story with them and I'm sharing it here:

"You are graduating now. It's your last day of class. Who is your greatest muhsin — who has done the greatest favor upon you?" So they said: our parents. Some said: our teachers. He listened. He said: "Yeah, these are all true, but I'm looking for another answer." He said: "The one who has done the most ihsān upon you is the community. The community is the one that built Dār al-'Ulūm and funded it and continues to fund it till today. And if it wasn't for their tireless effort, their financial support, and their du'as — the structure of Dār al-'Ulūm Deoband, and for that matter the structure of Dār al-Salām, would not be there. Nothing would happen if it wasn't for the volunteers and the community members who put their blood, sweat, and tears into this institution." And he said: "They are the ones who have done the ihsān upon you. We are sitting here as teachers because of them. If they were not there taking care of it, we wouldn't be able to sit and teach you here." So he said: "That is why — make sure you remain dedicated to serving them. As you graduate from Dār al-'Ulūm, make sure you dedicate your life to serving the ummah."

And so I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of our community members — across the country and locally — for everything you have done and continue to do for Dār al-Salām and for our students. Only Allah can reward you in full for this effort. And I pray that these 16 graduates are in every one of your Books of Deeds. And the graduates from our 35 students graduating from our hifz program this week, as well as approximately 90 students graduating from our one-year program — all of them, between the men and women, are all inshallah going to be in the Book of Deeds of all of our helpers, our donors, our patrons, our well-wishers, our musallis, our ansar, our volunteers. Wallahi, this is a huge khidmah all of you are doing.

Graduation Schedule & Upcoming Events

I have shared the flyer here — please take a look at it. Sheikh Hashim Ahmed, a convert scholar mashallah, is going to be coming to teach the final hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari on Sunday after Salat al-Dhuhr. All of you will get an opportunity to listen in English as the last hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari is explained. You'll be able to witness a graduation ceremony where ijāzah will be given to all our graduating 16 scholars — women as well as men.

You can see on Friday: we have the ijāzah for the sisters in the Tartīl Qirā'ah ijāzah program at 11:30am — all sisters are welcome to join. And Friday evening: two back-to-back nikāhs, alhamdulillah — Mawlana Muhannad's at 6pm, and Mawlana Sulaiman Mahmood's after Asr at approximately 7pm.

On Saturday we have a bunch of graduations starting from 8:30am — the high school program, the two-year program for the girls — and then at 11:00am the girls' hifz graduation. At 2:00pm Saturday after Asr will be the one-year graduation — this year's Tanwīr class, which is the 14th cohort graduating, alhamdulillah.

On Sunday, inshallah, we'll have the ijāzah of the Qirā'āt — the Qirā'āt Sab' and Qirā'āt 'Ashr — as well as the 7-year Ālimiyyah program. I encourage and request all of you to please participate and take the barakah of such an amazing gathering.

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ — Āmeen.