UM Episode III - The Golden Age of Spain by Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

The Home: Where the Heart Is

The question was: what is the challenge that our youth face in our daily lives? Some of you might say it's the environment. Some might say education. Others might say surrounding. What if we told you it's the last place you'd expect? What if we told you it's our homes?

I'm sure you guys have heard the cliché saying, "home is where the heart is." And for most of the youth, though, I'm sure they have a hard time identifying what the home is to them. It may just be a physical place where I live on South 72nd Street. That's my house.

But in the Qur'an, Allah says in Surah An-Nahl, Ayah 80, that Allah has made for you and your homes an abode. And the word abode itself — it means home, dwelling, or residence. So if you actually take a little translation of that, it's: so Allah has made for you and your homes a home. It's repeated twice.

So if you look at it in a deeper meaning, the home shouldn't just be like a place where you go to sleep, eat, or take a shower. It should be a place where you actually relate, feel safe, feel comfortable, and it should have some spiritual aspect to it.

A Two-Way Effort: Parents and Children

One of the biggest problems we had to realize was that it is a two-way effort. It is the parents and the kids as a whole. So first we'll start off with the parents and their duties.

Moment of honesty — we're in the House of Allah right now. How many kids over here right now feel that they can honestly talk to their parents about anything and everything? I would say half of you are even afraid to raise your hand because you're afraid your parents might see you right now.

As parents, they have to build an intimate relationship with the kids so they can feel comfortable and can talk to their parents. The kids right now should not feel uncomfortable to let the speakers know how many of them can confide in their parents in anything and everything.

Since you want to build an intimate relationship, you have to talk about something that is really intimate, something that is very delicate. A lot of families and youth don't really have that talk with their parents. And when the kids and the parents have that talk, that intimate relationship — it's like a stepping stone. You'll reach for better things and the kid will actually feel that he can actually confide in his parents. He'll feel more comfortable to reach to the parent and talk to them about anything.

You can also find other mutual interests, whether it's sports or books or other hobbies. One thing that should be made clear: if the parents themselves do not care about the rights of their children, if they do not give proper religious education, if they neglect their character building, if they put so much work upon them that it's beyond their strength, if they behave towards the children tyrannically — then it is they who are compelling the children to revolt against them.

To put it simply, we as parents are responsible for teaching our young ones, but we should teach them in an aspect where we do not forget our rightful duties as parents, and we do not push our kids away. We do not treat them like just an object or a child. We become their friend in the process.

I actually took a psychology course last semester, and they did a study where they put a bunch of people in a room who had some kind of disorder, or they had social anxiety, or they were very uncomfortable talking to people in public. They put in a control subject where the same person would purposely talk to the person who had the disorder and tell them something intimate — whether it be something personal that happened to them when they were a kid, or just even basic similarities. And we feel like that's actually very essential for kids, because mainly kids and youth feel like they can't really relate to adults. So if parents and youth could find that middle point where they could somehow connect on one similarity, that's just a way that we can initiate that relationship between the offspring and the parents.

The Tree and Its Roots

You've heard the metaphor that if a tree's roots are strong, the tree grows straight. That's kind of the lives of our kids that we are experiencing, because throughout our lifetimes, our tree will go through hardships. Bad soil, not enough water, not enough sunlight, infestations within it. That's kind of like the life of a child. You go through hardships, you go through trouble, you go through different outcomes in life. But what helps out is whoever is taking care of us — they have to guide us to an extent where they can make sure it grows straight. Because at a point, once a tree has grown so crooked that it can never be straightened out, that's the point that you know you've lost connection and the ability to make anything better.

Whenever you go outside and you see trees growing, you'll see two sticks standing on the side attached to it — helping it grow straight. Imagine those two sticks as our parents. They're within our sight, and they're helping us grow straight.

I'm sure a lot of the parents are actually thinking to themselves, "What are these kids talking about? They don't really know what they're saying, they're just young." But as we said earlier, it's a collective effort. It's not one person's responsibility alone to put that together. It should be a collective effort. Everybody should play their part.

The Prophet said:

"Take care. Each of you is a shepherd, and each of you shall be asked concerning his flock. A leader is a shepherd of his people, and he shall be asked concerning his flock. And a man is a shepherd of the people of his house, and he shall be asked concerning his flock. And a woman is a shepherd of the house of her husband and of her children, and she shall be asked concerning them."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 893; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1829)

If you extrapolate that, it also falls on the kids too, so it's not just the parents' responsibilities. As I said, it's a collective goal. Everyone should chip in to improve the atmosphere of the house.

A Word to the Youth

The kids and ourselves — we're not stuck. Our parents aren't the only ones at fault. We grow up in a sense where we feel like we're invincible. We can take on the world by ourselves. We know everything about the world. Quite honestly, we don't. We need our parents to guide us. We need our parents' strength to become our strength.

So when we start treating our parents as our friends, rather than waiting for them to treat us like their friends — that's not going to work, because their job is to teach us. Your job is to learn from them, and your job is to befriend them while you're doing that in the process.

Going back to what I said about where the heart is — there's much wisdom in it. We have to be that heart. We have to keep that house going. We have to keep it strong. We have to keep it as healthy as it can possibly be. Mainly, we always have to keep it in accordance with Islam. We have to respect our parents.

This is mainly to the youth — I know it's hard for kids, like I said, that they don't really find that connection. But as soon as you find that point where you guys could match, kind of hit the same page, then that's the first step. And from there, inshallah, you'll reap the benefits of that.

"O Allah, I ask You for beneficial knowledge, and for provision that is halal. I ask You for righteous deeds that are acceptable to You. And I ask You for a tongue that is constantly remembering You, and for a heart that is constantly in awe of You."

Pleasing Allah Above All Others

Today, me and my sister want to talk to you about something that is truly unforgettable. I want to wake you up in order for you to realize the challenges we as Muslim youth face today, and how to face these weaknesses and challenges. Instead of focusing on things we are doing, let's focus on things we aren't doing.

Today, we the youth are trying to please others other than Allah. We always have this goal to please others — to please our friends, our relatives. We never realize that Allah is the only One we should and we must please. We must keep in mind that one day we will face Allah. We won't face anyone else. So no one else can judge us.

Sometimes acceptance seems like our top priority in life — acceptance with family, relatives, and other people in our lives. The weakness our youth face today is primarily acceptance with friends. Pressure and popularity with friends can lead us to do haram and make Allah disappointed with us. For example, if someone buys a car and pays interest on it because his friends are pleased with him — this is unquestionably haram. This person has his friends pleased with him, but Allah is not pleased with him.

Unfortunately today, it seems that pleasing our friends is more important than pleasing Allah. Today, the youth forget about pleasing, fearing, and sacrificing for Allah — the One who created us and brought us to this world. Instead, we worry about what others think and try to fit in.

If you have friends that only care about material things and want you to be the same as they are, then leave them. Don't be like them. Don't sink to their level. Be better. Put Allah as your top priority. Have friends that will accept you for who you are, not by what you have. Because pleasing those friends won't carry you to Jannah in the hereafter.

We all know that the dunya is deceiving. There are a lot of temptations and desires that take us to places and actions that we don't want to do. We must try our best to ignore our temptations and desires, because Allah is the reason that we are here. This life is actually a test. How long do we live? 60, 70 years?

Do you guys want to go to Jannah? Okay, that was an easy question. Now here's a difficult one: how do you plan on getting there? Do you think it's by pleasing others and by displeasing Allah? Or by following others and not following Allah?

The dunya is taking advantage of us. We're supposed to take advantage of the dunya — to use whatever time Allah has given us to actually please Allah. So when we do face Him, we know what to say to Him. We were good servants of Allah.

Honestly, I think this dunya is the hardest test. It's not chemistry, it's not stats, it's not health — it's this test. And there are a lot of temptations. That's why Allah gave us two study guides: the Qur'an and the Sunnah. We must follow them in order to please Allah.

Allah said in a Hadith Qudsi, as narrated by the Prophet:

"Whoever draws close to Me by a handspan, I draw close to him by an arm's length. Whoever draws close to Me by an arm's length, I draw close to him by a fathom. And whoever comes to Me walking, I come to him running."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7405; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2675)

So we take one step toward Allah, try our best to become good Muslims, and Allah will help us and make it easy for us. If we have a goal, Allah will bless that goal and make us achieve it, inshallah.

A lot of people say, "As Muslim youth, we have a lot of time to become good Muslims. Maybe when we grow up we'll start praying." But honestly, even sixty or seventy years is not enough. People in the past used to live longer. I want to conclude with a story I've heard about the Prophet — and don't quote me on anything because it's a story I've heard.

One time the Prophet was walking in a graveyard, and he sees a woman weeping and crying on her son's grave. He asks her, "Why are you crying?" And she tells him, "Oh, my son, he died at the beginning of his life." He asked her, "How old was he?" And she tells him, "650 years old." He paused for a second and said, "One day there will come a time where people will live from 60 to 70 years" — which is our time right now. And then she told him, "By Allah, if I were to live through these times, I would spend every moment worshipping Allah in sujood."

SubhanAllah — you have to think about that. Even if you live a hundred years, Allah can take your life right away, even if you're 20 years old. It's not enough time.

The Golden Age of Spain (Al-Andalus)

Alhamdulillah, I've been given 35 minutes, exactly, to cover approximately 850 years of history. So, obviously, there's no way I can do justice to this topic. But instead, I am going to share a few takeaway points, because the purpose of this Saturday night halaqah and get-together is to create brotherhood and unity, and to bring a change within the youth. How can we — from the well-read student of history to someone who has absolutely no idea that Spain was ever ruled by Muslims — at the end of this night, inshallah, pick something practical to take back home, and implement it within our lives, and become the future leaders that the whole community wants us to become?

The Spread of Islam After the Prophet

A brief history: we know in the era of Prophethood, while the Prophet was in Madinatul Munawwarah, Islam spread — especially after the conquest of Mecca, and in the last three years of the Prophet's life, Islam spread through the Arabian Peninsula to its very end. And the Prophet himself never travelled outside of it.

After the demise of the Prophet, when Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) took the reins of the Khilafah, there was a lot of internal turmoil. People were openly leaving the fold of Islam. There were people who wanted to claim some of the fame and have a stake in the vacancy that was created by the demise of the Prophet. So Abu Bakr very heroically challenged them — whether it was Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab, whether it was Aswad al-Ansi, and other great liars who claimed to be prophets. Abu Bakr quelled all the fitna at that time, united the Muslims under his Khilafah in the Arabian Peninsula. And towards the end of his very short Khilafah, the expeditions toward Iraq and Sham began, but were nowhere near completion.

Next, Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) ascended the Khilafah, accepted the position of Amir al-Mu'minin. And it was during his reign that we saw great prosperity, and we saw Islam spreading much further than the Prophet had left it — all the way to Palestine, to Gaza, past Sham, past Iraq, all the way up into North Africa and into Egypt. Amr ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with him), the famous conqueror of Egypt. And Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah being the conqueror of Sham, which includes Syria, Palestine, and Jordan. And Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him), taking on Iraq and present-day Iran — what was Persia at that time.

It was after the death of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), during the era of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), that the expedition moved further west, all the way towards north-western Africa. SubhanAllah — we recall Uqbah ibn Nafi (may Allah be pleased with him), a great servant of Islam who has so much under his name. Thousands of people were saved from the hellfire, thousands of people were saved from oppression in this world, due to his heroic leadership in Africa.

The City of Sadness: Asafi

Interestingly, there is a city in Morocco — my brother happened to visit a few years ago — at the westernmost tip of Africa, where the land meets the Atlantic Ocean. That village or town is named Asafi. The name means sadness, remorse. Why would you name a city sadness and remorse? Why would you want to live in a city that had such a depressing name?

But SubhanAllah, the people of that town have never changed their name. Because it's not a story of sadness that you and I may think of. It's not a story of depression. It was one man's calamity. One man's sadness. One man's heartache. But what was that heartache? It was such a strong imprint in history that till today, a whole city is named sadness.

It was the sadness that Uqbah ibn Nafi felt in his heart. As he was moving west from Egypt, through Libya, through Algeria, through Morocco, he came at last to the end of the continent. And he took his horse to the furthest point. He allowed his horse to put its legs into the cold, rapid waters of the Atlantic. And at that time, he looked in front of him and all he could see, for miles and miles, was the beautiful glittering Atlantic Ocean. No sign of land. No sign of man. No sign of inhabitants. No method of going anywhere.

At that time, he exclaimed: "How sad! What a great remorse! That I do not know if there's anything further than this. Any population, any inhabitants of any land, further than where I am. If I knew, if I had the means of going there, most definitely I would have taken this horse and jumped in — to reach the furthest portion and the furthest corner of the world where human beings are inhabiting. I would love to be that one who introduces them to Allah."

That was his sadness. That was his remorse. Someone who has the whole of Northern Africa on his name. But that's not enough for him. Till the last drop of blood is in the body, till the last breath we have, the Sahaba and the Tabi'een and those who follow their footsteps wouldn't do less than their utmost.

My respected brothers and sisters, this comes to no surprise — Americans and people today are as ambitious as he was. But for different reasons. For different things. Just recently, I was visiting a young brother's business. He's probably 30 years old. Alhamdulillah, he's doing very well in the dunya — driving a $130,000 car, he's got many businesses. So I asked him to join me. He said, "Oh, I'm taking a class." I said, "What type of class do you need? You're making all the money in the world." He said, "I'm taking a real estate class." I said, "For what?" He said, "Well, I've got too much ambition. I can't stay in one place. I can't just sit and collect the cash. I have to constantly be doing something more. I have to be opening up a new business, running, doing something, pushing myself. And I like the challenge that the world offers me. That's what keeps me going."

I said, "My dear brother, I love you for the sake of Allah. And that talent that you have, that drive that you have is amazing. But only if you can channel it in the right direction. Allah has blessed you that for the next 7–8 years, you'll be able to show up for work with nothing to worry about. But SubhanAllah, I'm not telling you to leave your work. Spend 8–9–10 hours at the office. But spend a couple of hours learning the deen. Spend a couple of hours learning how to recite Qur'an." And he acknowledged — "I don't know how to read Qur'an. Never was taught. Never had the time to study it."

So the ambition — and I'm sure all of you know people who have much greater ambitions than this young man. But their ambitions are for themselves. For the most part: how can my empire expand? How can my name become known to the world? How can I do something that will be remembered by generations to come?

But the Sahaba and those who followed their footsteps — it was completely different. They always wanted the challenge of the next step. But it was for the sake of Allah. They were greedy and selfish for the wealth and the fame of the hereafter. That's what they had their eyes on. That I want to be that person on the Day of Judgment, when trillions of people will be in one place, and I want to be that person whom Allah says: "Let this person stand up. Let him come here, and let all of you witness that this is the man I have honored today."

And the Prophet said that on the Day of Judgment there will be people whom the Prophets and the martyrs will look upon with envy — knowing very well they are not Prophets, knowing very well they are not martyrs. But they enjoy such an exemplary status. The Sahaba asked: "Who are these people?" The Prophet answered:

"They make Allah beloved to His servants, and they make the servants of Allah beloved to Allah. They encourage them to do such things which are pleasing to Allah, and prohibit them from doing such things which are displeasing to Allah. When they do this, Allah begins to love them."
(Reported by al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; referenced in various collections of hadith)

What do you get out of this? A status on the Day of Judgment such that the Prophets and the Shuhada envy. SubhanAllah.

Tariq ibn Ziyad: The 19-Year-Old General

Continuing on with this history — one of Uqbah ibn Nafi's companions then moved the flag of Islam northward, toward modern-day Portugal and Spain. And then came the famous, famous young man.

How many of you here are 19 or above? SubhanAllah. How many of you are just 19 exactly? This brother — our MC for the night — is 19 years old. What is a 19-year-old brother doing? This man's name is Tariq ibn Ziyad. SubhanAllah. He is 19 years old, and he assembled an army on 4 ships — 7,000 people on 4 ships. Can you imagine how huge those ships must have been? And we are talking about 92 Hijri. That is 81 years after the Prophet's demise. Look at how fast this is moving.

He arrived at the outskirts of Spain. And the mountain on which he embarked and landed with his army was later named Jabal al-Tariq — which you all probably know in English as Gibraltar. So that was Jabal al-Tariq. The place where Tariq ibn Ziyad landed.

He brought out his army. They are in a foreign land. These are the Berbers — new Muslims — North African new Muslims, and Arabs from not-so-famous tribes. Not very wealthy people. Not very educated people. Very simple people. He goes with them, lands here in Spain, in a foreign land — a land of lush gardens and beauty, very different from Africa and from Arabia.

After some time, he addresses his army and gives them this powerful speech: "We are going to face an enemy tomorrow. King Roderick is coming." And then he addressed them and said, "Do you all desire to go back home? Do you all desire to see your children? Do you all desire to see your wives? Do you all desire to go back to your dwellings?" And of course, some of them eagerly said, "Yes, of course! Let's finish up quickly and we'll go back to our homes."

He said, "Well, okay. I want you to look behind this mountain — what do you see?" And lo and behold, his army of 7,000 looked behind them, and they saw that the sea was on fire. Those massive ships that they had boarded and had traveled on the night before were all set alight. All burning.

Imagine the immediate response: the enemy has attacked from behind! But my dear friends, you all know very well that that was not the enemy attacking. It was the general himself — the 19-year-old — who had ordered the ships to be lit on fire. And then he turned to them and said: "In front of you is the enemy. Behind you is the sea. The only way to get back home is that you show your valor tomorrow. You put forth your courage and your faith in Allah. And if you survive, then you'll have many boats to use to come back home. And if you don't survive, then you don't deserve to go back home."

SubhanAllah. A 19-year-old. That's why Islam did not have — and does not have — a concept of adolescence. Either you are mature or you are not. Once you hit a certain age — 14, 15 years old — that's it. You have to stand in the front line. That was the type of aspiration and the feelings that the Sahaba, the Tabi'een, and those who came after them created within the young.

That's the same thing that we want to create within ourselves and yourselves. A generation of young men and women who can look beyond themselves, who see dreams not of their palaces in this world, but instead see dreams of their palaces in Jannah. Who do not look at simply lucrative careers for themselves, but instead make decisions in life based on what's best for the community — who choose careers based on what is good for the community, instead of what's good for their own belly or their own bank accounts.

Those men and women, until they are created from our midst, we cannot expect help to come from anywhere. Those men and women cannot be imported. They have to be locally made. They have to be locally born. They have to be locally created, locally educated, and locally trained to be able to hold the reins of this country in the centuries to come.

The Conquest and the Golden Civilization

92 Hijri became the inaugural year of the Muslim rule in Andalusia — modern Spain and Portugal. 7,000 Muslims, with 5,000 coming as reinforcements (though there is a difference of opinion among historians whether Musa ibn Nusayr's 5,000 arrived before the battle or after). Either way, it was either 7,000 or 12,000. Roderick of Visigothia, on the other hand, came with 100,000 — fully armed with knights and horsemen. And here you have these new Muslims, ill-trained, without cavalry or capital. But my brothers, they went against each other with something else. One had the flag of Allah, and one had the flag of his own desire.

And this is what the ulama say — a very important point. When Muslims align themselves with Allah and the Rasul, and they put their faith in Allah and the Rasul, then Allah puts His support behind the Muslims. And then it's not an equal match. It's not simply between Muslims and others. It's a battlefield — not only a conventional battlefield, but a battlefield of technology, of science, of medicine, of any sort of competition in which people engage with each other. When Allah and the Rasul are obeyed by the Muslims, the competition doesn't become between two communities. Instead it becomes between Muslims — Allah and the Rasul — and another community.

Can they ever lose? Obviously not. When Allah and His Rasul side with someone, how can you expect them to lose? But when the Muslims leave Allah and His Rasul, then Allah steps out of the equation and says: "Fine. You guys go ahead. Whatever field you're competing in — whoever has more means will win. Whoever has more technology will outcompete the other. Whoever has a higher IQ, better skills, a stronger work ethic will win." Because Allah and His Rasul are no longer in the equation.

Allah, on that 28th of Ramadan, 92 Hijri, gave victory to Tariq ibn Ziyad. But my brothers and sisters, we need to understand this: the whole effort of da'wah by the Sahaba was not about land. It wasn't about wealth. It never was about that. And no sooner did any king, any ruler, any Khalifah make it about land and wealth and palaces — no sooner did they make that decision — than Allah's help was snatched away from them and their fall began.

Over 800 years, the Muslims ruled — beginning from Tariq ibn Ziyad. And Andalusia became the center of everything. It became the center of Islamic architecture, which was unrivaled and is unrivaled. It gave birth to Islamic fine arts. It gave birth to Islamic pottery. It continued the tradition of Islamic and Arabic literature. It became a place of learning other sciences — most famously astronomy and medicine.

And there was no idea of "Islamic sciences" versus "secular sciences." There was no dichotomy between science and deen. Instead, it was all deen. Because everyone was studying all these sciences for the sake of their deen, for the sake of Islam. Astronomy — why were they able to advance so far? Because our Salah deals with the sun and the moon. Our fast deals with that. And along with that, Allah orders us in the Qur'an:

"We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth." Allah orders us to look around us. And:

"He has created for you whatever is on the earth — all of it." So there is absolutely no opposition between science and Islam. This is a very important point to note. It was the religiosity and the deen of these individuals that propelled them to be the best physicians, the best astronomers, the best chemists, the best biologists. Because there was a motive behind it: how can I please Allah? How can I see Allah's greatness in the things around me?

Just like a person who prays tahajjud, who memorizes the Qur'an — it's hard work. But it's done to please Allah, and that's why it becomes easy. How do you last 18 hours in a hot summer day fasting? Because you're doing it for Allah. Similarly, those people studied these sciences for the sake of Allah. And that's why they gained the fame they did. SubhanAllah — the surgical instruments that they created, from stomach surgery to instruments used by ophthalmologists, outlasted all the centuries, all the way up to just before World War I. It lasted 800 plus years. Because the deen was the reason that propelled them forward.

The Muslim technological renaissance, if I may call it, came hand in hand with the religious renaissance. When the great jurists and scholars were there, along with them their colleagues were the greatest scientists, the greatest physicians, the greatest astronomers of their towns. They were going completely hand in hand. There was no such thing as: "Brother, are you a dropout from high school? Is that why you're going to study deen?"

This is what people say today. People come up to me and say, "You're such a young, intelligent, bright mind. Why did you and your parents waste your talent like this?" And these are, believe it or not, born members of the ummah of the Rasul of Allah. They say, "You inspired me. My children love you. But why did you waste your time becoming an imam? Why did you not go and become a physician?"

SubhanAllahil Aliyyul Azim. I had to say this slowly and frankly. I said, "My respectful and loving dear uncle, you have disrupted me so hard that no one else has disrupted my life that hard. You have basically said that what I've done for 15 years of my life is a complete waste of time, waste of energy, not good for anyone — that I haven't benefited myself and I haven't benefited anyone else."

This whole concept that if you study deen, then you probably didn't know anything else — my dear friends, I'm talking to young brothers and sisters: we can't change the mindset of all of our elders. But you at least can change that mindset. And you can change it by becoming that person who has every single AP credit under his belt, who becomes a valedictorian, who's got all sorts of scholarships from universities — but then says: "Because Allah has blessed me with this intelligence, because I have the ability to learn languages, because I've mastered sciences, because I'm so athletic — I'm going to use these talents that have been given to me by Allah. I'm going to invest them back into the deen. I'm going to use these talents to serve not just my brother, not just my family, but the entire community. And not serve them only in this world, but to stand for them as a guide to the hereafter."

When you go for Hajj and you see people standing with their group's flag in the midst of three and a half, four and a half million people — people are lost, people are away, and when they see the group leader standing there with the flag, they say, "Alhamdulillah! Brother, thank God. We got caught in the crowds. We thought we were going to get trampled."

I ask the youth here today to aspire to be the flag bearers tomorrow. Wallahi al-Azeem, wallahi al-Azeem, wallahi al-Azeem — tomorrow they will come. There will be some from the Falakih community, right here in this room, whose names will appear in newspapers, whose pictures will come in magazines, whose names may be on a plaque in Milwaukee City Hall. And there will be others who won't get any of that — who won't get a simple thank you letter, who won't even get a handshake.

But tomorrow, on the Day of Judgment, when the sun will be right above our heads and people will be drowning in their sweat — Ka'b al-Ahbar says that if a man were to have the iman of 70 prophets, he too will fear that he will perish that day — on that day, there will be some Milwaukeeans, inshallah, who will be standing with a flag. And all the people on that day will be rallying towards them and saying, "SubhanAllah — look at us, so we can get some of your light. Look at us, so we can find the way in this chaos of Yawm al-Hashr."

Aspire to become that young man and woman who tomorrow will hold that flag, and who will save the people — not only of Milwaukee and Wisconsin, not only of this country, but the people of the world. It's all in your dreams. If a 19-year-old young boy can do this and leave an imprint in history, what can our 29-year-olds do today? Can we not uplift at least this mission? Can we not uplift at least this community? Most definitely we can. But it requires a resolve. It requires clarity of vision. It requires a purpose in life — a purpose greater than yourself. A purpose that might be very different, unique, and strange from the vision and purpose of all those who are around you.

The Marvels of Andalusia

Eight hundred years brought forth Cordoba, Granada, and Madinatul Zahra. I don't even have time to mention the wonders of the architects and craftsmen of Andalusia and what they did. But SubhanAllah — Google it. Look at pictures of Andalusia. You will see the marvel that they created. Madinatul Zahra took 40 years to build. Fifteen hundred animals were used every single day — donkeys, horses, and camels — to move goods and stones. Twelve thousand servants were working around the clock once the king moved in. A magnificent city — the largest city ever built from scratch in that era.

The point, my dear brothers, is: why did the renaissance of the Muslims take place hand-in-hand with the Islamic renaissance? On the other hand, the Western renaissance and the Industrial Revolution took place not when their religion was at its highest. Great scientists who tried to speak their mind were not only not allowed to voice their opinions — if they did, they were sent to the gallows. SubhanAllah.

Both had their moments and ages of renaissance. But one came holding on to their religion, and one came by abandoning their religion. We cannot follow the path of the other. We need to realize that for us the system is different. Our Islam is a way of life that allows science to thrive within it. While others may find that advancement requires secularism, Muslims absolutely do not. For us, it is because I pray, because I hear the khutbah of my imam — this is what makes me the best in my field. This is what motivates me. Because one day when I want to call in sick, when I say "I've done enough," I remind myself: SubhanAllah, there is a snowstorm and all the other doctors are not here. Who is going to take care of the patients? I know I have to go through the snow. But I'm doing this for the sake of Islam. Maybe I'll be able to invite someone through my medical work.

And that's why when they write their prescription, they'll say:

"In the name of Allah, Who is the One Who grants cure" — here is a prescription for your medicine. That's the type of Muslim who excels in his field. Because he's not doing it simply for clocking in and clocking out. And that renaissance came along with this spirit.

The Lights of Andalusia

In Spain, in Cordoba and Seville and the other cities of Andalusia, there were paved roads with lanterns — kerosene lanterns being meticulously maintained every day, for miles. And at that time, the whole of Europe was truly, literally, in the age of darkness. It took a whole seven centuries for London and Paris to get those lights. Seven centuries. While one city of Andalusia alone had 900 public baths. And not a single public bath was available in Western Europe at that time. Centuries later, the concept of hygiene that we hear about today came in much afterwards. The concept of taharah and hygiene — this is a concept of Islam.

The Fall of Andalusia: Lessons for Today

Whatever goes up, comes down as well. And hence, 800 plus years of khilafah — of leadership, of imamah, not only in running masajid and madrasas and Islamic universities, but leadership in every science that the Muslims enjoyed — came to an end.

And unfortunately today, Spain is a witness to that. It's that sore spot that one can never forget. As I was researching for this talk tonight, I was reading various writings — there is so much written on this topic. But to see the disgust and the hatred that people still today have for the golden era that we had, and how they try to cover up the facts. Every good thing, they'll come up with an alternative story. Every beautiful advancement that we had, they'll give the credit to someone else. But the sad part is that we begin to fall into that trap — that we are not good enough to reach the top, that we have to borrow from others, leave our own ways, forget our heritage, and cut ourselves off from our forefathers in order to move forward.

Wallahi, there is no one more disgraced, and no one more foolish, than ourselves if we believe that.

What Led to the Fall

One of the main things that led to the fall was oppression. When Muslim rulers began to oppress their subjects and the non-Muslims under their governance, Allah's support was removed. As one scholar beautifully writes: Allah has a loyalty with justice. Even if a non-Muslim ruler is just, Allah will still prefer to give him leadership and power over a Muslim leader who is oppressive. Allah will snatch away leadership from Muslims if they are unjust, because that is the love Allah has for all of humanity.

Second, they became engrossed — completely engrossed — in worldly pleasures.

One scholar makes a very amazing conclusion. He says that the Prophet's stay in Mecca was for 13 years and in Medina for 10 years — 23 years total. More Muslims, and more non-Muslims accepting Islam, came in the last 3 years than they did in the first 20 years combined. Why is that? Because this was after the conquest of Mecca, when Muslims were living in peace. The non-Muslims of Arabia had stopped fighting. Muslims were now the leaders. The non-Muslims got a first-hand experience of dealing with Muslims — in business, in living next to them, in relationships, in transactions. And in those 3 years, the non-Muslims were able to see the true character of Muslims, which led them to realize that if there is any truly beautiful religion that teaches high morals, it is Islam.

Allahu Akbar. That is what, unfortunately, the Muslims in the last years of Andalusia forgot to do. They forgot to intermingle with the whole community. They forgot to use their talents to impress upon the non-Muslim citizens the beauty — not of their architecture alone — but the beauty of Islam. The beautiful teachings of the Qur'an. The beautiful teachings of Rasulullah. So all of the great achievements of the Muslims were then regarded as achievements of the conquerors, not of beloved Muslim brothers. Seeds of hatred were planted into the hearts of the locals. And when the fire of nationalism was ignited, the Inquisitions took place — and bloodshed, to say the least.

Muslims were sleeping. They were happy in their massive palaces. They were happy in their beautiful gardens. And they didn't realize: these people, if they stand up and get upset at us, it's because we're not doing anything for them. Instead, we are reaping from their country. We are basically enjoying the wealth that they're supposed to have, while they get nothing. We're not providing for them any service. We're not providing any benefit. If that fire of nationalism comes within them — the way it happened in Spain — then Muslims, wherever they may live, will never be saved.

So that's why Muslims in this country need to realize — youth and adults — that we are very blessed. We have peace. We have health care. We have wealth. We have beautiful homes. We've got great universities. But we have to live in a way that the citizens of this country — our fellow non-Muslim citizens — realize that we are not a burden upon them, but instead we bring to them such good that they cannot bring for themselves. That we bring such change for the poor, for the uneducated — that if the physicians serve, and the engineers serve, and the lawyers serve, and Muslims collectively serve, then let's begin to offer services to this community that needs it so badly.

The economy is what it is. This is the opportunity for Muslims. We have to be opportunists. We must use this time to show our true nature, our true character, to show the legacy of the Prophet. Wallahi, before a time comes — Allah forbid, Allah forbid — that the history of Spain is repeated anywhere else. Because we can't allow that to happen. And that will happen if we stay focused only on our own lives, our own luxury, and our own careers.

We have to, my dear brothers and sisters, focus not only on our Muslim brothers and sisters, but on the wider community of citizens of this country. I ask Allah to continue the prosperity and the peace that we enjoy in this part of the world. And may Allah allow our Muslim brothers and sisters in other parts of the world to witness once again those years of prosperity, and those years of peace, and those years of justice.

Wa akhiru da'wana anil hamdulillahi rabbil alamin.