MSA National The Search for the Sound of the Soul
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-09T13:19:16.530127+00:00 | Topic: Purification
The Search for the Sound of the Soul
Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan - MSA National
Opening Remarks
I realize that it's Friday and it's 4:30 or so, which means you're extremely sleepy. We've already, you know, survived the khutbah this afternoon and then, you know, now there are three speakers that are going to come before you, so I understand the challenge that I have and actually more so you have, because I can stay awake because I'm talking. But you have to stay awake by listening, which is a lot harder.
But what I want to share is not very complicated. Inshallah to God, I don't think it will take you the whole 20 minutes. It's really a heart-to-heart that I want to have with all of you.
The Crisis of Faith
And something that I've been thinking about for the past few weeks personally in my life and the life of my family and my children. And that is that the very fundamental premise on which all of our faith is based, the fitrah, which is the subject matter of this discussion, is under attack. And that we are building an artificial picture of Islam, personally for ourselves and our communities oftentimes, that is really very hollow at its core.
And this is a very dangerous trend. An ayah that really makes me shiver when I think about the way Allah expresses this problem:
"The bedouins say, "We have believed." Say, "You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts."
The Prophet (peace be upon him) is warned about a dangerous group of people within the ranks of those who call themselves Muslim. And the big crime that Allah describes they have is that they say they believe with their mouths, but their hearts haven't come to believe. Their hearts have not yet experienced something called faith. This problem is a very serious one.
Understanding Fitrah
And I want to start in this conversation with something very, very basic. The fitrah is not something that's sound after you become Muslim. All human beings enjoy this predisposed sense of decency that Allah put and pre-programmed in all of us.
A sense of commitment to truth, to fairness, to mercy, to courtesy, to respect for others, of gratitude, of appreciation, of having regard. These are things that aren't just something Muslims are concerned with. These are things that humanity was gifted with.
And these are things that the Prophet (peace be upon him) excelled in even before the revelation started coming to him. He was already at the height of his fitrah. And actually we would consider, at least in my limited understanding of the sirah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the life of our Messenger (peace be upon him), that that predisposed decency that the Prophet (peace be upon him) lived up to even before revelation came, gave him his credibility to carry the message of Islam.
The Importance of Character
Not anybody can just carry any message and it'll have weight. People can give good speeches and people can talk. But when their character is not there to back up what they're saying, when people know them personally, they say, well you may be impressed with his or her speech because you know him only from YouTube or you know him only from that public forum, but I know them personally and I don't want to hear anything they have to say because I know what they're like in their personal life.
Which means there's something hollow. That wasn't the case with our Prophet (peace be upon him). There was a very deep introspection that all of us need and actually people that are up on this podium and the people that are sitting in the audience, none of us are an exception to this introspection. We all really, really carefully have to look deep inside and see what kind of people we've become.
Personal Concerns for Children's Fitrah
I want to get a little more specific. I want to be in generality. I'm really worried personally about preserving my own fitrah and the fitrah of my children. They're growing up. My oldest daughter is 10 now and I literally, I said this in Khutbah today, I talked to her just a couple of days ago and I said, I miss you. And she said, Abba, I'm sitting right here, why do you miss me? I was like, yeah, but you're not what you were when you were two years old.
And you know, you're so innocent. You were something else. I'm like, but that's still me. I was like, no, that's not you. And I'm going to miss this one in three years when you're a teenager, that crazy monster, that strange creature that, you know, all of the sky and the earth, they fear. That thing, I fear when a teenage girl is inside my house.
The Modern Attack on Fitrah
And I really, honestly, I'm worried because the fitrah of all human beings, not just Muslims, the fitrah of all human beings is under attack by a conglomerate of multiple, multi-billion dollar interests that are destroying our fitrah. If you even need some basic statistics, like the filthy pornography industry and its revenues, how does all of the tech sector combine? Google, Microsoft, you name it, you put all of those companies on one end and the filth industry on the other end outshines them in revenues. There are sociologists that are doing statistics now on what age the average child on this planet is exposed to this stuff.
This is a crisis situation. I have to be ready to talk to my ten-year-old, who even if she goes to Islamic school or she's homeschooled or she's in public school, it doesn't even matter, I have to have the heart, the strength of heart to sit her down and talk to her about the time when one of her friends is going to show her something on her phone. Or somebody's going to show her something on a mobile device.
Even if we don't allow that in our home, she will be exposed to it. It's a fact. It's a reality now. Her fitrah is in crisis. Her innocence is in crisis. She's going to be exposed to it.
Children's Exposure to Corruption
I was, you know, we have a children's halaqah in our neighborhood. And, you know, a relative, he conducts the halaqah. He's really great with children. And he asked the kids a question, what's, you know, what's the thing that you find so different about everybody else than yourselves in school? Most of these kids were in public school settings. And these are six-year-olds, seven-year-olds, eight-year-olds, nine- year-olds, ten-year-olds children. So six to ten.
Right? What do your friends talk about that you never talk about when you're home? What do you talk about that you never talk about when you're among Muslims? Well, all of them have boyfriends. And all of them have girlfriends. And all of them talk about these songs.
And all of them have an iPhone or an iPod. And they have these songs on them. And I don't know this, a child, one of my relatives came up to me, you know, to me even and said, you know, he asked one of those filthy four-letter words. He said, what does it mean? My friend was using it the other day. I almost cried because it's a seven-year-old kid. He has a right not to be exposed to this stuff.
Spiritual Contamination
You know? It's like, we worry about pollution and then, you know, environmentalists worry about the earth's water supplies being corrupted and the air we breathe being corrupted and the landfills contaminating the earth. We're worrying about spiritual contamination. Seriously.
The fitrah is being contaminated by the social environment in which the entire world is wrapped up now. And so, there's the story of, you know, not just the youth, the children that I worry about. And I'll talk to you about, at least I came up with my little scheme, a plan for how to try to preserve the children and the children of my family.
At least some level of fitrah is that I want to preserve and strengthen. How do I do that? I'll talk to you about that in a little bit. But before I do, I want to talk to you about the youth that turn to Islam.
The Danger for New Muslims
Young people, they find a spiritual calling, something happens in their life and they make a change in their life and may Allah protect you because you are the exception to the rules. Right? And you have
made some major changes in your life. Some of you are sitting in this audience now that couldn't have imagined themselves coming to anything that began with the letter I. You know, sometimes except that it's an Apple product or something, you know.
But it's like, no, it doesn't matter. If it's Islam or Muslim, why would I go there? And yet you find yourself sitting here today. There are some of you that are like that.
But even those that have made their way back, it doesn't mean you're safe. It really doesn't. Actually, it means the bombardment from shaitan is even heavier on you. You're even in more trouble. And the big danger on you is self-righteousness. That's the real big danger on you.
And on me. You start seeing others as people that haven't evolved yet. They haven't taken the leap of faith yet. You, Alhamdulillah, have already started to grow your beard. Already started to wear hijab. Therefore, you must be in the clear.
You're not. I'm not. We're not.
The Fitrah Under Attack
These are the outwardly aspects of our religion. The fitrah is constantly under attack in every way today. It's constantly under attack.
And so, one of the things that I... And this is a litmus test for you. I don't want to give you an academic discussion. Again, it's a heart-to-heart. It's something I've been talking to my wife about. It's something I've been talking to my cousins about. Because I'm worried about our family.
And as you guys, Muslims, you're the extension of our family. We're all a family. We're bonded by this La ilaha illallah.
A Personal Litmus Test
So, I worry about this for myself and all of you. Look, there's a personal litmus test. If, for example, you watch a movie. It's okay. You don't have to raise your hand. I know.
You watch a movie. And you see something disgusting. And you know what I mean. And it doesn't bother you. You didn't flinch. You didn't bother to turn it off. You forwarded it because somebody else is sitting there. Not because you felt bad. Then your fitrah is dying.
That thing in front of you is dying. If not already dead. Because you didn't even feel anything. That feeling is all you have as a litmus test. If you're in the company of friends and they're bad-mouthing one of your friends. And you just jump on the bandwagon without a shred of mercy for the person being trapped.
Then your fitrah is dying. And there's a problem. Your sense of decency is gone. You're watching the news. And you see some disturbing images of disaster. Or children in need of help. Or you just change
the channel and watch the comedy instead. Your fitrah is dead. It's gone.
That gift Allah gave you. That gift of humanity that Allah gave you is gone. And if that humanity, that human decency is gone. You can pray five times a day. That's fine. You can memorize the Quran too. It doesn't matter now. It doesn't matter. Because there's an empty shell on the outside. The heart is dead. That's a tragic state for you and me to be in.
The Problem with Sunday School Approaches
Somebody came to me this Ramadan. And they asked me about the curriculum they should have for their Sunday school. Someone from the Midwest flew all the way to Dallas to randomly run into me and pull me over after Salah outside the masjid so I can give them a counseling session on how to execute their Sunday school curriculum.
How much Arabic should they teach? How much Sirah should they teach? Which du'a books should the kids memorize? Etc, etc, etc.
You know how delusional we've become? How many Sunday schools across the country, and I think they're critical, but all they worry about is the outwardly of Islam. These kids are memorizing du'as. They're learning about the sirah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and they're taking multiple choice question tests on it.
And at the end of it all, nobody even dared or cared to ask, Hey, so how are things going in school? Do you really know why you're Muslim even? How do you feel about your parents? You know how many Muslim kids if you have an honest conversation with you will tell you, I hate my parents? You know how big a spiritual problem that is? How deep a spiritual problem that is?
The Danger of Academic Knowledge Without Character
When you see kids sitting there, they're intelligent, they can pass a test. You give them any test, they'll pass it. And that's the same for Islam. You can learn Hadith, you can learn Tafsir. That's fine. That's just like, you know, that's an intellectual ability. But it doesn't mean that you can become a better person. At all. At all.
People come for, I have a full-time program, and I tell them at the beginning of the year, if you're a bad human being, you'll be a bad human being at the end of 9 months who can speak a little Arabic. This is not going to make you a better person. If that predisposed decency is dead. If it's gone.
How many Hifz kids do I know? Hifz programs across our country here. And it's a tragedy. We're supposed to be thinking. Kids that have memorized the Qur'an. And they're playing outside while Salah is going on. Maghrib. Not Tarawih. Salah is going on, and they're playing outside, waiting for the, you know, playing basketball or watching a movie on YouTube or whatever.
Because the Hifz graduation ceremony is after Maghrib. And these are kids that have memorized Qur'an. And I don't blame the kids. I don't blame them. We didn't concern ourselves with their fitrah.
A Plan of Action for Children
So what plan of action do I have for my own children? I basically want to share some things with you. Some things that drive my thought, my discussions with my own children.
1. Instilling a Sense of Purpose
Number one, I want to instill in them a sense of purpose. I constantly tell my girls, especially because they're older now. Allah put you on this earth for a reason. Allah wants you to do something for Him. You have to figure out what you're really, really good at, and then you're going to give it to Allah. You're going to find some way of doing that for Allah.
Like I tell my older daughter, you're the older one. Everybody wants to be like you. Your younger sister always steals your clothes and takes your toys, etc. You know why? Because she wants to be like you. Well, you have to act like a leader.
And she says, no, she takes my stuff. No, no, no. She loves you. That's why she wants to be like you. You have to act big. You have to act strong.
I mean, sibling rivalries are natural. But when I start seeing an evolution, and instead of fighting, she's taking care of her little brother and little sister. And she's saying, did you finish your dinner? Did you go to the bathroom? Mama said, you better go to the bathroom. You know what happened last time. You know. When she does that, this is part of fitrah. This is really a part of fitrah.
2. Good Company
And then to a sense of purpose, good company. We have to make sure we and the people around us are in company that makes us better people. They're not company that reinforce our bad habits. It doesn't matter if they're... Let me talk about religious people. You can have long beards and backbite. That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about people that you hang out with that make you better fathers. That make you better sons. That make you better neighbors. That you actually do good things with other than talk. You do stuff with them. Good company. It's absolutely critical for ourselves. And we have to hunt it down for our children.
Even if we have to move to a neighborhood where you know other people are raising their kids in a good way. And your kids can be friends with their kids. It's a good idea. It's worth it. It's worth the sacrifice.
3. Hands-On Lessons
Then of course, there's hands-on lessons. You can talk about the Prophet's lesson of being charitable. But what does that mean to a child if you're not asking them to give up their favorite toy? What does that mean to a child when you take them shopping for Eid? They didn't go for themselves. They went for their cousins and got them gifts. They wanted not to even ask for themselves. Because they're instilling something in them.
Giving lessons about charity in a lecture or a talk is different. Hands-on experience is something entirely different. You know? We are over-indulging ourselves and our families. And it's creating a culture of ingratitude. We're just taking everything for granted. And it's destroying our children.
4. Respect and Regard
Then of course, the big one. The big two or three. I'll just mention two and I'll end. And that is respect. One of the things that destroyed the predisposed human decency in our culture is a lack of regard for all things. There is nothing that is beyond criticism. Nothing.
Everything can be made fun of. Everything can be criticized. Everything should have a star rating. Whether it's the book of Allah. Whether it's your parents. Whether it's your teachers. Whether it's the school you go to.
And you know what that does as a culture? When you're constantly thinking about criticizing and you're the customer. And you're supposed to be pleased. And you're in the position of judging like anything else. Oh, this is good, but... That's good, but...
Ask people... Religious community, right? The religious community. Ask them, what do you think about your masjid? Yeah, it's got a lot of problems. It's got da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Nobody ever starts, Alhamdulillah, we have a masjid. We actually have the ability, Allah gave us the blessed opportunity, to buy a house that's near the masjid.
We get to hear the Adhan and go make Salah in the masjid. There are some issues, but who doesn't have issues? We're all human beings. May Allah help us work through them. Nobody starts like that. Everybody begins with all the problems in their masjid. How much they hate their Imam. And how much the board members don't understand anything. And how the youth are so messed up. And how the parking situation.
Oh my God. We're just a complaining people. That kills your fitrah, you know that? That you're pre- programmed to criticize and not to be grateful. And I'm the same way. We're in that consumer mentality. And we have to snap out of that.
The Importance of Respect
Respect for things is the first step towards appreciating things. Respect for teachers. Your kids have problems with teachers. That doesn't mean they don't deserve respect. The utmost respect. They're giving knowledge. My children's math teachers. Science teachers. English teachers. Doesn't matter if they're Muslim or not. They deserve the utmost respect. Elders deserve the utmost respect.
Something I really appreciated about moving to Texas. I moved to Texas three or four years ago. At least in the neighborhood that I live in. Alhamdulillah. You go and when children see you in the line and they're going to cut you, they say, excuse me sir. Just because you're older. Or excuse me ma'am. Just the fact that they can show that respect is admirable.
A couple of these Mormon kids came to my door maybe a month and a half ago. Teenage boys. Red like a tomato. It's 106 degrees outside. And they're riding their bikes. Shirt. Tie on. Dressed up nicely. Sir, we'd like to talk to you about God for a little bit if we could. So respectful.
And I'm not at all amazed with the message of Joseph Smith. I'm not. But I am amazed at the fact that these teenagers are so darn respectful. What did your parents do, man? That's amazing. You see the Muslim teenager lately? You know?
Not to mention the level of commitment to not have an iPod or PS3 and to be out in the heat to go deliver God's word or what you think is God's word. That's admirable. We have to learn from some other communities about how they're raising their children. We've lost some of these basics. We have those teachings in our books but that's all they are now. They're just in our books. They're not making their way into reality.
The Disconnect Between Knowledge and Practice
We're giving lectures about being charitable and not being wasteful and we are the people that throw the most food away after every iftar and every Muslim event in America. We're the ones that talk about Allah having given us this earth as an amanah and we probably produce more plastic waste as a people than anybody else. Isn't that something? There's something off. There's something missing.
Fitrah is missing. Respect and regard for others is missing. This has to be re-instilled and then on top of that we teach our children the salah and the du'a and the tajwid and the Qur'an and the sirah and the fiqh. Yes, all of those things are absolutely critical but when that basic decency is absent all of that is shallow and they will learn it and they will throw it away when the time comes. They won't hold on to any of it. They won't hold on to any of it.
5. Reflection
Finally, the last thing I hope to instill into my children when they get to the age is reflection. I'd like them to be people of reflection. And reflection is not that you read somebody else's reflection. You have to become a person of deep thought yourself. You don't do that unless you become a person of reading. A
person of writing your thoughts. A person that appreciates literature. Because that builds thought. That builds understanding.
To me, actually, the greatest manual for developing reflection is the Qur'an. Really. And I'm not talking about studying an academic receipt of the Qur'an. Even a discussion, a basic discussion about the Qur'an with our families, ayah by ayah and little by little, based on scholarly sources, but in an easy language, you know what that does? It prepares them for a life of reflection. It really does. It starts seeing the world through the ayahs of Allah.
That's what we want. We don't want this book to be sitting on a shelf. We don't want it to be something that's recited beautifully alone. We want it to be something we think through. We see the world we're reminded of an ayah. We see a friend, we're reminded of the ayah about friends, you know.
We see nature outside, we're reminded about the gift of nature. We see night coming quickly, we're reminded about how time is a fleeting commodity. That's what we're supposed to be, a people of reflection.
Closing Prayer
May Allah help preserve our fitrah and nurture it. And may Allah give us the tools and the ability and the commitment to combat the attack against this great gift that Allah has given to all of humanity and that He has charged this ummah with, not only of protecting, but in refreshing it in the rest of mankind.
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