The Truth About Happiness: Islam vs. Modern Psychology | Jumuah Khutbah | Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi

Opening

The Universal Human Experience

Dear Muslims, there comes a stage in all of our lives, every single one of us where at some point in time, our needs as a human being are met - our physical needs, enough food, enough shelter, enough income, our family needs, we have our family, we have our spouse, we have our children, our community needs, we're engaged with our friends in a community. And from an outsider's perspective, if somebody were to look at your life he or she would assume, man this guy has made it, mashallah everything he has, checks all the boxes.

But you know, at that stage, that inside of you there is still something that is not right, something that is missing. Yes you have all of the physical needs that one would think is enough to live, but inside of you is a yearning and a fulfillment and an emptiness that has not been satisfied by all of what you have.

The Futility of Material Satisfaction

And the problem comes that it is a mistake to assume that ultimate internal happiness will come simply by having the needs of this world. We will never be satisfied no matter how much we have of this world. We will never find internal سكينة and طمأنينة and سعادة - internal pleasure and facility of the soul and tranquility is not found in the material possessions that we have.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 5001)

Our Prophet ﷺ said, if the son of Adam had an entire valley of gold he would want another, and if he had two, he would want a third. An entire valley of gold, a trillion dollars - if he had a valley of gold, would not be sufficient, he would still want another. If he had two, he would want yet another. And nothing will satisfy his belly except the dust of the grave, meaning, in this world you will constantly want more and more and more.

And unfortunately, those people who presume that this world will give them happiness, you find them constantly greedy for something bigger and better and more exciting. And as they rise up, they don't find that happiness. When they make it to the millionaire, the multi-millionaire, they still want more. Even though 10 years ago when they were only 50, 100,000 they said, once I get a million, I'll be happy. And once they get a million, they don't find that happiness. When he gets the million, I need 10 million. When he gets the 10, I need 50. When he gets the 50, such is the reality of life.

Learn from what our Prophet ﷺ said - nothing will make you satisfied if that is your goal. Life might be sweet, oh Muslims, physically, but our existence demands more than physical happiness.

Modern Psychology's Discovery

And by the way, this reality is not just religious. Allow me to go into a slight tangent here. Modern psychologists have now understood this and they've realized that for human happiness, for the flourishing of our internal happiness, material possessions are not enough.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

One of the most basic realities that every undergraduate has studied when they take an intro to psychology course - the first thing that they study is Maslow's Hierarchy. This is one of the most primal concepts of modern psychology. Around 80 years ago, one of the big giants of the field of psychology examined his patients, his office that he had, all of the people that are coming in, and he then presented a paper that changed the course of our modern psychological understanding and he presented what he called Maslow's Hierarchy.

And what he said was that there's multiple levels of needs that a person has. He says the bottom need, it is physiological, it is physical - you need food, you need water, you need safety, you need security. Then the higher up need he said is social, family, friends, community. Then he kept on going, self-esteem, actualization. He has five famous hierarchies in that chart and every student of psychology knows this.

Maslow's Later Realization

By the way what a lot of people don't know - Maslow towards the end of his life when he was 80 years old, he went back to this hierarchy and he proposed another hierarchy - not five, but eight levels. And the highest level in his own research was transcendence, spirituality. In order for you to find ultimate happiness there must be something in your life that is beyond just the physical, the social, the physiological. And he called it, because obviously he's coming from an atheist background or agnostic background, but something spiritual he called it transcendence.

And by that he meant something in your life like religion, like spirituality that gives your life meaning beyond the physical world that you live in, beyond just your life and death. And he only put this towards the end of his life when he himself was coming close to the end of his life.

The Islamic Perspective: Soul Before Body

Now obviously there's an element of truth to what he said, but we strongly disagree with the fact that he put it right at the top as if you have to first go through satisfying your belly, satisfying your family, satisfying your wealth - when you finish all the boxes at the end then you get to spirituality. No, it is the exact opposite.

For us as Muslims, more important than any need is the need of the قلب - transcendent need. This is where it begins. For Maslow it began with food, with drink, with air, with security.

(Ibn Taymiyyah)

Ibn Taymiyyah says: Know that the human soul is more in need of iman in Allah than it is in need of food and water. Exact opposite of what Maslow said. Know that the human soul is more in need of believing in Allah to flourish than it is in need of food and water. Because if you don't have food and water the body will die but the soul will still live. But if you don't have iman in Allah the soul will die - who cares if the body lives.

So we actually agree overall except we say don't put it at the top - everything begins with taking care of the روح and the soul.

Allah's First Command to Humanity

And Allah explicitly mentions this in the Quran when he sent our father Adam down to this earth. He gave him one simple maxim, one rule. Imagine the context - this is the first rule that Allah gave to our father Adam when he comes down, this is what you got to teach your kids, this is what everybody has to know:

Whoever turns his back to worshipping and remembering me, whoever leads a heedless life, whoever leads a life without religion, without دين, without ذكر, whoever leads a life only of the body - he turns away from the worship of Allah, Allah says فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا.

This word ضنك is only used in the whole Quran in this verse, it's never used anywhere else. Whoever turns away from my worship shall live a life that is ضنك. ضنك means constricted and tight. ضنك means you're never gonna find ease, you're never gonna be relaxed.

Notice how technical the term is, it is as if the world is vast, it is as if you're living in a large land, it is as if you see as far as the eye can see, but your body, your soul is feeling tight, constricted, empty - it is not fulfilled, you don't have happiness even though the world seems open to you. This is what Allah is saying, whoever turns away from my worship shall live a life that is constricted, a life that is narrow. The heart will never find ultimate happiness.

The Path to True Happiness

So the Quran very clearly teaches us that the liberation of the heart, the freeing of the soul to make one's internal روح feel سكينة - what is to be done? Allah says in the Quran:

Whoever does righteousness - مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ - whether they're male or female, gender doesn't matter when it comes to religiosity, gender doesn't matter when it comes to the pleasure of Allah. And that is real gender equality - not what people are saying now, real equality in the eyes of Allah, men and women are equal. Whoever does good deeds, whether they're male or female, while they have iman - what does Allah say? فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً - we're going to resurrect and grant them, we will allow for them a حياة that is sweet and friendly and luscious - حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً.

Whoever does good deeds while they have iman, doesn't matter what your gender, your race, your skin color, doesn't matter your level of income, doesn't matter how much is in the bank account, doesn't matter what you have, what you don't have - all of that is irrelevant. You want to find سكينة, you want to find happiness that is what you're yearning for, and I swear to you every one of you that has lived life - you know you will not find it in this دنيا.

Your heart is trying to find that tranquility and Allah is telling you explicitly, you want that tranquility - where will you get it from? مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ - start doing good deeds, start connecting to Allah and you shall be granted حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً.

The Nature of this Sweet Life

Notice the technical term, Allah did not say a life full of wealth, a life full of money, a life full of... no - حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً, a sweet life. You will enjoy living, you will feel fulfilled. Nobody said that life will become easier financially if you become religious - that's not what the Quran is saying. If you start praying, you start fasting, you're not gonna necessarily become a multi-millionaire. But the happiness you will feel when you are religious is more than what money can buy, the internal سعادة that you will feel when you turn to Allah, this دنيا cannot give it to you. This is what Allah is saying, internally you will be granted a sweet life.

Allah says in the Quran, إِنَّ الْأَبْرَارَ لَفِي نَعِيمٍ - the righteous are continuously enjoying the نعمة of Allah. When you have بر, when you have تقوى, you will constantly be in a state of internal bliss. بر, تقوى, leads to internal bliss, this is what Allah is saying.

The Prophet's Example of Finding Peace

And we see this in the life of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. When we have a difficult day at work, when the life, the politics of the office, when the drama of our family, when a problem happens in this دنيا, where do we find comfort? For many of us, may Allah forgive us, we plop in front of the sofa and start turning the television to the various channels. We might start listening to things on radio thinking that's gonna drown our worry out.

Our mother Aisha radiallahu anha said anytime the Prophet ﷺ was troubled with something, anytime he had a bad day - he also had difficult days. When you become religious doesn't mean the days themselves become difficult, it's how you deal with them, it's your reaction to them, it is the attitude you have and the internal coping mechanism.

Our mother Aisha radiallahu anha says whenever something troubled the Prophet ﷺ, he would rush to stand up in صلاة. He would rush to stand up in صلاة. Standing in صلاة gave him the internal peace, the fortification, the courage, the strength, the stamina to deal with the problems he was facing.

It's not that the problems went away - problems are there, whether you have money you don't, there's gonna be problems. Whether you have family you don't, there's gonna be problems. Problems are there, but internal courage, internal iman, internal stamina - where will it come from to deal with that? That stamina and courage will only come when you turn to Allah.

The Prophet's Love for Prayer

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

And in fact he himself told us, in that famous hadith he said: جُعِلَتْ قُرَّةُ عَيْنِي فِي الصَّلَاةِ - the comfort of my soul is found in the صلاة. The comfort of my soul, this is what makes me happy, this is where I find ultimate peace.

And he would say to Bilal, the muezzin, he would famously remark when it's time for the إقامة, he wouldn't say أقم الصلاة - nothing wrong to say that. He wouldn't say أقم الصلاة. What would he say? أرحنا بها يا بلال. What a beautiful way to say إقامة الصلاة. أرحنا بها يا بلال - oh Bilal, hasten up, let us find the comfort by your إقامة. Let us find the comfort, give us the comfort by standing up in صلاة. Hurry up, what are you waiting for!

So we see from the Quran, from the Sunnah that the internal emptiness that we feel, that yearning, that desire - it will only happen when we connect with our Lord and our Creator.

And Ibn Taymiyyah, one of the great scholars of our religion, he famously remarked: "There is in this world a jannah, a garden. Whoever enters the jannah of this world, shall enter the jannah of the hereafter. And whoever denies himself the jannah of this world, will deny himself the jannah of the hereafter."

His student said, "What is this jannah you're talking about?" He said that jannah is the sweetness of knowing Allah and loving Allah and worshipping Allah. That jannah on earth he called it - you will find jannah on earth, not a physical garden. You will find it in your heart, when your heart is attached to Allah.

And when it is attached to Allah, what is gonna happen? When your heart is attached to Allah in this world, it will be attached to Allah in the next as well. Whoever enters the jannah of this world, by attaching his heart to Allah, will enter the jannah of the hereafter.

And his student Ibn Qayyim famously remarked that in the heart there is an emptiness - in the heart there is an emptiness that cannot be filled, except with محبة with Allah, except with عبادة to Allah, except with ذكر of Allah. There is an emptiness - it will only be filled by loving Allah, remembering Allah, worshipping Allah.

And if a person were to be given this whole dunya and all that is in it, it would not fill that emptiness of the heart. But when he turns to Allah, then that emptiness will find happiness and satisfaction.

And I say to you, wallahi, you don't even need religious text to be taught this, because you and I have experienced this reality in our daily lives. We all know it from our experience. As I said, there are times when the dunya seems luscious and green to us, when we have everything the dunya can possibly want to offer, but still inside of us there is a restlessness. There is something missing. We don't have it, even though the world thinks we have it. Why?

Finding True Happiness Through Connection with Allah

Because we don't have that connection with Allah and this is why oh Muslim it is so important, we reprioritize our purpose what are we doing here? Allah has told us the purpose of life, I have only created you to worship me I don't want anything from you, I'm the one giving you everything, this is in the Quran I don't want any food from you, I'm the one giving you food, Allah is saying, all that Allah desires is to see us flourish by turning to him and worshipping him, and oh Muslim, this reality becomes especially important when the dismal situation of the ummah really saddens our hearts, where do we find happiness?

The Reality of Our Times and the Path to Joy

When we see what is happening in Gaza how can we possibly go about our daily life, seeing those images of children dying starving, how can we possibly get any joy don't turn to this dunya for joy, don't turn to this dunya for happiness let what is happening around the world be an incentive for you and me to turn over a new leaf let what is happening in Gaza be a catalyst oh Muslim who has long been away from this deen, oh Muslim who has not been praying regularly, oh Muslim who is involved in major sins do not give up hope of Allah's mercy never give up hope of Allah's mercy, you know and I know that you're not finding happiness in that lifestyle, we all know this so then turn to Allah right here and now.

The Call to Repentance and Hope

Make a niyyah to Allah that you're gonna try your best to be a better person knowing you're not gonna be perfect, don't worry if you're not perfect, keep on trying, that's the goal, don't worry if you fall tomorrow, you fall the day after tomorrow, stand up and walk again and then stand up and walk again and continue to do so, oh Muslim who is imperfect, oh Muslim who is sinning, oh Muslim who has an addiction a drug problem, a drinking problem, a porn problem, whatever your problem might be, Allah is ghafoor and rahim and you will not find happiness in drugs, you know this you will not find happiness in evil you and I know this.

So even if you're struggling, even if you're a sinner turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ask Allah to make it easy for you ask Allah to bless you, ask Allah to forgive you and in those few moments you are turning to Allah ask yourself, don't you feel so much better in that sajda in that istighfar, all of the haram of this world cannot get you what one sajda gives you, you know this and I know this, so then turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, especially in light of what is happening around the world and if they are struggling with such difficulty, then at least thank Allah that your tests and trials are much easier than theirs, thank Allah that you have a different lifestyle and ask Allah to make it easy for you to be a righteous and good person.

Two Categories of Good Deeds

And oh Muslim, I advise you two simple things, when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, whoever does good deeds, shall live a good life, there are two categories of good deeds and I encourage all of you to maximize both of those categories.

First Category: Private Rituals with Allah

The first category of good deeds are private rituals between you and Allah, such as salah, such as dhikr, such as Quran, such as sadaqah, this is your rituals, make sure you have a healthy dosage of rituals there is no substitution of rituals, in those rituals is the ultimate happiness in prostration, in lowering your head to Allah, is the ultimate liberation of your soul, when you lower your head to Allah, you break the chains of this dunya, you liberate yourself from every other problem that is there because now you are connecting to the Lord of the worlds, what problem can possibly harm you, so number one rituals, and especially salah dhikr, Quran, all of the rituals you are aware of.

Second Category: Service to Others

And number two, the second category of good deeds is helping other people to live better and easier lives, خدمة الخلق (khidmatul khalq), helping other people to live better lives, when your life becomes a life of service, when your life becomes a life of bringing smiles and khair and sadaqah, helping the poor helping those in need, helping your neighbors, all of a sudden your life becomes a noble life, you find dignity and happiness through service to others, your life takes on a meaning it never had before because for the first time maybe, now you realize, I'm actually, Allah is using me to help other people, what a noble thing this is.

The Wisdom of the Prophet's Advice

And this is beautifully demonstrated in a hadith reported in Musnad Ahmad and others, when a man came to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and he said, Ya Rasulallah, I'm complaining to you, my heart has become like a rock, I'm not finding pleasure, this is the hardness of the heart right, my heart has become like a rock, I don't have the sweetness of iman, I don't have the yearning that I should have, what should I do?

(Musnad Ahmad and others)

Finding True Happiness Through Service

So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said to him, go find a hungry person and feed him, and go find an orphan and hug him or help him. Go find a hungry person and feed that person, and go find an orphan and help that orphan. If your heart is hard, if you're not finding happiness, if you're not getting the سعادة that you want, the طمأنينة, the سكينة, then make your life into a life of service to others.

Start benefiting other people. Go find a hungry child, go feed that child, and all of a sudden your life will feel very noble. You will be excited to wake up and do something, you will want to do خدمة because Allah is using you as a benefit to other people. Find an orphan and take care of him, find a hungry person and feed him. This is the second category of good deeds.

Let every single one of you get involved in some type of charity. And by the way, I have to say this: yes, it is good to write checks to organizations - that's very good - but more important than that, find an act of charity that involves your time, your hands, your physical involvement with another life. Yes, I understand we cannot do this all the time and we have to send our checks overseas and whatever, that is the reality. But find an act of service that your physical body can do.

Go find a poor person that is in your extended neighborhood or relatives or family, go do something with your own eyes, see what is happening with your own hands. What does the Prophet ﷺ say? Go feed a hungry person, go find an orphan and hug him. This is in the hadith - wipe the hair means hug an orphan. This is literally in the hadith: go hug an orphan.

Because when you physically get involved in the life of other people, it changes you in a very different way. And this is why, oh Muslim, my reminder to myself and all of you: you know this dunya is not going to give you that happiness. You know it, I know it. Therefore, let not only your own lives and our lives, let the reality of what is happening incentivize you. Turn to Allah, prioritize your relationship with Him, and understand what all this dunya offers you will be left and gone, and what you have with Allah - that and only that will remain.

May Allah bless me and you with and through the Qur'an, and may He make us of those whose hearts understand and apply halal and haram throughout our lifespan. Ask Allah's forgiveness, you as well. Ask Him, for His غفور and رحمن.

The Reality of Gaza and Our Responsibilities

الحمد لله, all praise is due to Allah, the One and the Unique. He it is whom we worship and it is His blessings that we seek. He is the Lord of the oppressed and He hears the prayer of the weak.

As to what follows: Wallahi, brothers and sisters, it is difficult to even discuss anything when we see the images happening of Gaza. One could never have imagined that we will see the callousness that this world has shown us. One could never have imagined how the entire superpowers of this world, how Muslim countries, non-Muslim regimes that kept on telling us about human rights and democracy and dignity, how we can see the brutal, inhumane starvation of a million and a half people.

Every single day, hundreds of people are dying. We have seen video footage of children begging for food, and once they get it, the IDF soldiers shoot them in the back. We have eyewitness accounts, we have doctors from Dallas - their interview was on Al Jazeera and others. Our own friends and family have gone from other masajid, they've gone, they're online and their video testimony is there. We have non-Muslim doctors from England, Australia, even America - the whole world collectively, unanimously describing an inhumanity, a barbarity the likes of which we have never seen.

And I said it last week and the far right took my clip and distorted it, and let them do it again. I said it last week and I will say it again: this type of barbarity we didn't even find in the Nazis. Yes, they had other barbarities - I'm not comparing - but to shoot children in the back as they're begging for food, even Nazis did not do this. And I said it last week and they took that clip and they spread it viral: "He is saying that Israel is worse than Nazis." I said in one area they are. Yes, I'm not comparing everything - in one area.

To have children come walking 10 miles just to be given some measly bag, and then as they're walking back, shooting them in the back. British doctors have publicly said the IDF is using children as target practice - this was on BBC. The IDF is playing games: every day they have a different organ. Today we're gonna choose the knee, then they're gonna choose the neck, then they're gonna choose the heart, and every day the same organ is targeted by those snipers playing games with children. لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله.

Lessons for the Next Generation

And the world watches. What is to be done, oh Muslims? Wallahi, what can words do? But first and foremost, without a doubt - and wallahi this is so important for the next generation - the next generation who grew up in a different time and place than many of us did, who bought the illusions of those majestic slogans of human rights and democracy and "we're spreading freedom" and "never again."

Oh youth, listen and listen to me well: never be deceived by the slanders, by the slogans of those superpowers that claim to have your best interest at heart. Nothing but lies, nothing but propaganda. Where is all the freedom and democracy? Where is all that you told us and promised us? Never be fooled and understand: you have no ولي other than Allah.

You have no protector other than Allah and those who have taken Allah as their protector collectively. Yes, do not put your trust, your توكل, in any other than Allah and then the believers who believe in Allah.

This is a lesson for all of you: your passport, your place of birth, your upbringing, your education, your Ivy League PhD - nothing. Your religion and skin color will always make you second or third class in the eyes of the elite, and that is the reality. So it is a bitter truth, a bitter pill to swallow, but it is a pill that you all have to see with your own eyes.

Years from now they're gonna say, "Oh, we didn't know," "Oh, we're sorry." Years from now when the history books are written, they will make their excuses. But remember: you were here, you saw with your eyes. No excuse. Everybody knows what is going on. So this is a bitter pill, but it is an important pill for us as we mature and move on to the next phase of our lives.

Trust in Allah's Justice

Secondly, oh Muslim, no matter how bitter it is, we have to believe that there is wisdom and خير. We don't understand what it is, but we have to put our trust in Allah. And by the way, there are certain indications - wallahi, it is impossible that this ظلم goes unpunished. It's impossible.

This level of barbarity that we haven't seen in any regime in our lifetimes, this level of inhumanity that we have never heard about - do you really think the Lord of the worlds will allow that level of injustice to go unchallenged? Do you think there's no reckoning? Yes, the akhirah will come, we know that. But even in this dunya, have you not read the previous prophets? Have you not read what happened to them?

Allah describes Firaun and what happened to Firaun. Allah says about Firaun: look at what Firaun did. He was arrogant, he was متكبر, he was متجبر. He killed people, he killed children. Allah says in the Qur'an: he killed children and he let their mothers live.

I say, Allah described the people who persecuted the Bani Israel, the Firaun of his time - Allah described him as killing children and letting the mothers stay alive. I say the current descendants of those people are killing children and their mothers. They're killing children and their mothers. They're doing something even Firaun did not do.

But Allah says we wanted to bless those that were oppressed and give them power and show Firaun the evil of what he was doing. Allah wanted to make Firaun an example and Allah wanted to bless the oppressed.

The irony of ironies: the people that were oppressed in this verse, their descendants - or the people that claimed to be descendants of them - they're now the ones oppressing, in tactics worse than Firaun. So Allah is telling us the lesson there will also apply here.

Mark my words, oh Muslims: I have no doubt - and I don't predict the future, I don't have علم اليقين - but I know Allah's promise. I have no doubt that we will see the end of this apartheid regime in our own lifetimes. It is impossible that this level of barbarity is allowed to go unchallenged.

And Allah is making an example. The whole world has done nothing. We have done nothing. The people of Gaza do not have a human being to help them, but they have Allah. And when Allah is on their side, then Allah will take care of them. Even if I have failed and you have failed, when Allah is on their side, Allah is showing us: He doesn't need any of us. Allah is showing us: He doesn't need a single superpower. He will take care of it directly, because all of us have failed. لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله.

So this is a sign. And mark my words: because Allah does not allow such injustice to go without showing us the reality of that injustice, and what will happen to the tyrants and those who do such barbarity.

What We Can Do

And lastly, oh Muslims, even as our anger is strict and our compassion for our brothers and sisters is so much, still don't lose hope in doing whatever little that you can. Wallahi, I know it's so frustrating: what can we do, what can we do? But notice: the entirety of the world, except for our own politicians here, every country has changed its discourse. Canada, Australia, England, the European Union, everybody. Over 125 countries are now saying we're gonna recognize Palestine as a country.

SubhanAllah, our brothers and sisters in Gaza - wallahi, they had nothing to give. They gave themselves, and Allah has shown what happens when you stand up for His sake. So don't lose hope. We see collectively our voices made a difference. Collectively, the voices of the world coming together, rallying, petitioning - it had an effect. Maybe not the biggest effect we wanted to do, but it is still better than nothing.

And therefore, whatever you can do of du'a - most important is du'a, because it is du'a that will cleanse our hearts, du'a that will absolve us of our responsibilities. Du'a that we can say to Allah: "Ya Allah, I couldn't do anything, I could make du'a." And don't ever underestimate the power of du'a, the du'a of the مظلوم, especially the brothers and sisters in Gaza. But us as well - collectively make du'a.

Other than that, when the aid opens up, we need to be sending our aid to them. They don't have houses to live in - 2 million people. They don't have a single hospital. Allah knows how much will be the cost to rebuild, but collectively the ummah shall do it, insha'Allah ta'ala.

And then raising our voices, and never forget - never forget what happened in your own lifetimes. Mark all that is happening, make notes of it, remember it, so that you can tell your children this reality. There was no excuse for what happened. It happened under the world's watch, it happened under the UN's watch, it happened under our country's watch. Everything was coordinated and done in front of vivid cameras showing everything, and the world just sat there. Our Muslim countries just sat there, the United Nations just sat there. لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله.

So at least we will bear witness on the Day of Judgment that we will not forgive the tyrants, we will not forgive the ظالمين, we will not forgive those who were silent and didn't do anything. Never forget this reality, and understand: whatever you can do, insha'Allah ta'ala, it is still better than nothing.

To Allah we complain, and to Him we make du'a, and we ask Allah to protect our brothers and sisters in Gaza, to give them...

We ask Allah to give them صبر (sabr), to give them إيمان (iman), to give them courage. We ask Allah to lift the blockade upon them, so that they can get food and water and drink. We ask Allah to bring compassion to the hearts of the countries around them, countries that should know better, our Muslim countries. We ask Allah that they do something to bring in humanitarian aid to our brothers and sisters in Gaza.

And as I said last week and I say again, if anybody amongst you has a plan or something that we can collectively do, let us all come together, do whatever we can. We do have strength with Allah, we do have mass power if we do come together and collectively try our best. And indeed Allah is the one who is the lord of all, and we ask Allah for his aid and his help.