Update on the Closing of the Used Car Lot | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Update on the Closing of the Used Car Lot

Allah says in the Glorious Quran — after seeking refuge in Allah from Shaytan the accursed, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

Respected elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, dear community members, students, well-wishers — Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

I thank Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, who has brought this great night for all of us and this great day for all of us, alhamdulillah, where we are thanking Allah for the completion of a project that began many years back — a plan that seemed like a figment of someone's imagination. A small madrasa that begins on a small piece of land and a small home, alhamdulillah. But the desire and the plan probably was not even there at that time, seriously, that it would bloom into what it is today — and not only in terms of the community and student body, but in terms of also the space around the masjid.

As you are well aware, alhamdulillah, last night we were announcing that today will be the closing of the last remaining adjacent property to the masjid. And alhamdulillah, this morning, with the grace of Allah, that was completed. Alhamdulillah.

A Transaction with Allah

I want to utilize this opportunity to, first of all, thank Allah جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ for allowing this dream to come true for all of us. It's not one person or two persons, or one family or two families, but it's an entire United States community that is celebrating, inshallah, and thanking Allah for this God-given gift to all of us.

And Allah says in one place in the Quran:

Take the glad tidings of the transaction and the sale that you have made with Allah. And Allah says that is the ultimate success. In reality, this is what it is. It is not a transaction between us and a non-Muslim neighbor, but rather this is a transaction between us and Allah.

Whatever effort and money and time — blood and sweat and tears — anyone who has put into any of the purchases of the masjid from 2007 till now, this is a glad tiding, inshallah, for you and I. Whatever you did:

Allah shall not allow the reward of those who do good to be wasted. And the true benefits of this, we don't understand. We'll only understand and realize once you and I are lowered into the grave, our eyes shut, and then our deeds are presented to us. And we will see things that we never thought we did. And we will see things, inshallah, that we never thought — why are we getting credited for things that I had nothing to do with? But little do we know.

Allah says:

Whoever does an iota of good shall see its reward. And so no matter how seemingly insignificant our contribution may seem, Allah is watching. And Allah looks at ikhlas, Allah looks at sincerity. And Allah weighs things — Allah doesn't count actions, Allah weighs actions, as you are well aware. So those actions — what are they weighed by? They are weighed by the iman and the ikhlas that is in them. If we, with faith and ikhlas, do any good deed, beloved brothers and sisters, inshallah this is going to become absolutely weighty in the grave, absolutely weighty on the Day of Judgment.

A National Achievement for the Ummah

And so this is seriously a happy occasion — not just for those who are attending here regularly for salah, but across the country. It is an achievement for the entire United States community that alhamdulillah, this effort of building a truly national campus for Darussalam, alhamdulillah, has gone one step closer to completion. And now the idea of developing the area around us — the grand plan — needs to be put into action.

Because we could not make that grand plan until the last piece was purchased. And so that gives us an opportunity now to really sit on the drawing board and figure out what would be the best use of this place — one that will benefit the communities and the generations that are going to come, I would say, even centuries later. And this is an amanah of the ummah. This is a trust that Allah has given all of us. We're sitting here on a gold mine for the ummah. The ummah needs to benefit from this place.

Starting off with three students in 2008 in one bedroom of one house that is on this property, alhamdulillah it has grown to being now one of — if I'm not mistaken — the largest seminary in the entire country, the largest Darul Uloom in terms of students attending the alim program. Alhamdulillah walillah alhamd — approximately 250, taqriban, mashaAllah, students in the alim and alima program. This is something truly amazing, a gift which we never dreamed of. And a huge hafiz class, a maktab class, a ta'lim class, and other classes — about 450 students, and over 80 staff members, and growing. Alhamdulillah. This is again something none of us would have ever imagined, those who have been here from day one.

The Work Is Not Over — It Has Only Begun

And so now the job is not over. We have to obviously turn to Allah even more and say: O Allah, we didn't expect this. Now You gave this to us — now give us the ability to handle this. When a person has a little baby at home — a new father, a new mother — what happens? They get so worried, they ask everyone in du'a: "My God, I have become a new father now, I don't know how to handle this, this is crazy, this is amanah." Brother, this is not just one baby here. We have something huge. The ummah is looking towards you and I for solutions.

It is our community here — the Darussalam community, wherever you may be. The ummah is waiting for us to provide solutions and answers: for people who are leaving the deen, for people who are confused about the deen, for people who want to study ilm. So many issues that are piled upon the ummah's shoulders. And where are they looking? They're looking towards you. They're looking towards this place for solutions. And we have to provide that.

We have to stay awake at night, scratching our heads and thinking: how can we provide solutions? How can we be awake and alert to help the ummah in its darkest hour? To help the ummah when it needs us the most. We cannot — this is not the time to sleep now. This is the time to wake up even more and realize that we have been chosen by Allah to do this. And we have to:

Keep on worshipping Allah until death overtakes you. We have to make sure that we keep on working and Allah takes us away in a state in which we are serving Him.

As the ulama would say: use your tongue to learn and teach. Until your tongue gets tired, then start using your eyes to read. And until your eyes get tired, then start using your mind to merely quietly think. There is no rest until you fall asleep. And the next day you are back to the grind. So this is how it is.

Immediate Financial Need and Future Planning

We had to get a qard hasana, alhamdulillah, from some gracious members of the community — approximately $750,000 — which was taken as a qard hasana and needs to be paid back in the next few weeks or a month or so, inshallah. So that is obviously one job we have.

And along with that, we need everyone to start making a lot of du'a — O Allah, this property that we have now, the full 15 acres plus or minus, now needs to be built up in such a manner that we can sustain this place for future generations. The needs — the schooling needs, the housing needs, the dorming needs of staff and students — there are so many various needs. There are recreational needs, community needs, they need to be taken care of. So you have this space that needs to be built up in the very best possible manner.

This is the du'a we should be making. O Allah, guide us and inspire us with the best way in our affairs. What is the best way to move forward? Ya Allah, inspire us. And protect us from the evil of our nafs — so that we don't start making decisions based on what our nafs says, but rather what is best for the ummah.

Heartfelt Thanks to the Community

MashaAllah, Mawlana here has prepared sweets for everyone in the community on the way out after your sunnah prayers. InshAllah, enjoy the sweets. And keep this masjid and madrasa in your du'as.

And a very special, heartfelt — heartfelt, heartfelt — du'a and vote of thanks to all those brothers who answered the call: text messages, voice messages, phone calls in the past four days, and helped us raise a good portion of what was needed to be given for today's land purchase.

I want to say — my heart really... Last night, someone heard the tafsir, I think. Late at night, one brother messaged me and said: "My wife has two golden bangles and she would like to donate them." This morning, a lady came from the community, brought ten golden bangles, and gave them. SubhanAllah — this is iman. This is iman speaking. They want to be a part of something great.

So we are so blessed to have such women and men in our community who may not have a lot of means, but are giving from that which Allah has given them. And inshallah, it is the ikhlas of such people that has brought us to where we are. And it is the ikhlas of such people, inshallah, that will make all of us accepted, bi-idhni Allahi ta'ala, on the Day of Judgment.

Jazakumullahu khairan. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.