Muslims in the Summer (with British Sign Language) - Shaykh Hisham Abu Yusuf

Opening — Praise and Testimony

Praise be to Allah, we praise Him, ask His help and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, no one is misguided, and whom He misguides, no one is guided.

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

He is pure and chosen among His creation and His companions. He conveyed the message and fulfilled the trust and advised the Ummah. And Allah removed the gloom with it and left it on the white carpet. Its night is like its day. Nothing escapes it except destruction. So O Allah, send blessings and peace, and increase and grace and compassion and generosity and mercy upon our Master and Prophet Muhammad.

The Summer: A Forgotten Sunnah

By the grace of Allah, something we have been waiting for a long time has finally arrived. It is the beautiful sun that we look up in the sky to see. Alhamdulillah, we are grateful to Allah that the summer is finally upon us. But as we stand upon its footsteps, what is it that we should be doing as individuals and as families?

The first, for parents, for youngsters, for families alike — one of the most forgotten practices of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. We are very quick to enact and to imitate his clothing, his headgear, his food, his way of eating. But there is a practice that for long has been lost.

Allah calls out in the Qur'an when He says:

Why don't they traverse the lands and think about what they are seeing with their hearts? And why don't they then listen with their ears? It is not their eyes that are blinded — it is the hearts in the chest that have become blind.

The Creation of Allah Beckons Us

The summer, when we look at the summer, the beautiful creation of Allah beckons to us. It invites us. Come and see the wonders of what Allah has made. The hills, the mountains, the animals that Allah has created. How many chapters of the Qur'an were named after animals? The cow, the spider, the bee, the ant. You can keep counting how many of Allah's creation was mentioned in the Qur'an.

Allah demands, He asks:

Get out. Get out of your houses. Get out of your offices. Get off the hamster wheel. Allah demands — go out and see what I have created. This is a commandment in the Qur'an. It's an injunction, an instruction. It's not negotiable as Muslims as we come to the summer. We have to go outside and make time. Just as we make time to exercise, to eat, to work, to be with our families, we must make time for the outdoors.

Because the Prophet ﷺ asked us:

Spend time thinking about the creation of Allah.

Many of us have lost this practice. We have forgotten this sunnah.

The Prophets Were Trained in Nature

When we think carefully about the development of the prophets — how did they become the greatest of people? You wonder, what training ground did Allah use to make Musa, Prophet Musa ﷺ? To make Yunus, Prophet Yunus? To make Muhammad, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ? How did they train? Where did they learn? Where did they develop?

You'd be surprised to find the Prophet ﷺ learns leadership by spending hours and hours in the middle of an empty desert under the dark night sky looking after sheep. You'd be surprised to find the Prophet ﷺ hiding in a cave — the cave of Hira — up a mountain, far away from people. He needed his cave. He needed his time in nature. Because without that silent contemplation of the creation of Allah, we become too busy, too distracted to realize what it is we are doing in this earth.

Allah says in the Qur'an again and again:

Why don't they go out? Why don't they go out? Go outside, go outside, go outside. And yet still at the end, we don't get the point. As Muslims, when you go into the Peak District or the Lake District or the countryside, the people who should be enjoying the countryside — it should be us, the people of Allah. Because we are the people who know that every rabbit, every snowflake, and every shard of grass is a sign, a miracle that points us back to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The Second Blessing: Free Time

The other blessing that we have in the summer, in addition to the outdoors — the other blessing that we have, especially for young people, for children, for young men and young women — you have free time. Speak to those who are married. Speak to those with grey hair. They will tell you, these summer months — they will never return.

Now often as parents, we leave our children to enjoy these summer months and not utilize them. Or as youngsters, we look forward all year so that we can play console games and do whatever we want in these months. But the reminder and the request is — use these months well. Use your time well, because your time is never coming back.

Time Is the Most Precious Commodity

Every human being wants to live forever. Allah also informs us in the Qur'an — you cannot flee, you cannot run away, you cannot escape the reality of death:

Wherever you are, it will come and it will strike with no prior warning — even if you hid in the tallest of buildings.

Every young person thinks that they will live forever. They don't see the passage of time. And every person aging and growing old and seeing the days and months pass, they are more and more aware that their final day is near. But the young need to learn from the old. The young need to have the urgency of the old. We need to realize that it could be any moment that our time will be up in this world.

And when that realization strikes, another realization begins to fester. If I could go at any moment in time, what am I doing with these moments, these seconds that Allah has blessed me with? Everything in this world can be refunded and returned, but time cannot be returned. Everything in this world can come back, but time — once it's gone, it never returns, never comes back.

A Message to the Youth

For the young people listening to this, I say that in the summer break — the six, seven weeks that you have — everyone should have a project. Learn a skill. Learn a language. Go out into nature. Play a sport. Memorize some verses of the Qur'an. But do not sit idle, because an idle mind, as they say, is the devil's workshop.

When we look at the young companions around the Prophet, peace be upon him, one of the most important things we learn from them is they made best use of their time — the ones whose names we remember.

When the Prophet passes away, peace be upon him, he leaves behind a young boy by the name of Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, who is about 14 years old at the time. Now this 14-year-old boy has other friends, his mates, his colleagues, and they're playing around and having fun. And he says to them, "Why don't we go and learn from the Prophet's older companions? Because one day people may need us, they'll need our knowledge. One day we'll have to spread this knowledge." But his friends say to him, "Oh come on, enough of this boring and serious talk, let's play." He ignores his friends.

He goes and he sits in the sand outside the house of one of the Prophet's senior companions. The companion opens the door and finds a little boy sitting in the sand, wrapped up in a cloak. He says, "Cousin of the Prophet, peace be upon him, what are you doing sitting on the floor in the sand outside my house?" And this young boy, Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, says, "I have come to seek knowledge from you. And knowledge must be sought — it must not be brought."

That humility, that sense of purpose, that maturity, that urgency — that I need to use my time, even though I'm 15 — a 15-year-old can shake the Ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Was it not a 17-year-old Usama ibn Zayd that led the final army that the Prophet ﷺ sent to Rome? Was it not a 14-year-old Zayd ibn Thabit that learned the Hebrew language in 11 days because the Prophet ﷺ asked him to? The young people were the people who shook the world, who carried the message, who carried the responsibilities, who stepped up to the plate.

So young people, my request to you — everybody in your class is watching TikTok, everybody in your age group is playing Minecraft, everybody is telling you "chill out, kill time, relax — why are you so serious for?" Don't listen to them. Remember, you're here for a purpose, you're here for a short while. Any day we can disappear from this earth. Use your time wisely, because your time will never ever be returned.

A Message to Parents

Parents and families — coach your youngsters to use their time. Enroll them in the right programs. Help them develop. Give them structure. But most importantly, in this summer break, while the kids are at home, give them some quality time.

The psychologists tell us that today the average child only gets 20 minutes of quality time with their parents. 20 minutes. Please give them 25. Give them 45. Give them an hour. Because, O parents, these children will grow up and they will never be the same again. This is our opportunity. These six weeks, these seven weeks — this freedom of time that they have, this open-mindedness that they have as children — this will never return again.

The Example of Luqman and His Son

When we look in the Qur'an and we look at Luqman ﷺ in Surah Luqman, look at the kind of advice he gives to his child:

"My son, if there is even a mustard seed — in the heavens or on the earth — Allah brings it. O my son, if this seed is hidden somewhere in the heavens or on the earth, Allah will still find it. Allah is subtle, and He is informed of all things."

Luqman's time spent with his son teaches us that the greatest gift a parent can give their child is time spent in which they're teaching their children about Allah. They're coaching their children to recognize Allah. They're asking their children to see and understand and love and fear Allah. Because there will come a time when parents will not be around, and children will not be scared of their parents. The only thing we will leave with them is their awareness of Allah, Rabbul Alameen.

Summary: Muslims in the Summer

In summary, as Muslims in the summer:

Number one — we need to enjoy the outdoors, spend time traveling, hiking, exploring the creation of Allah as individuals and as families. This is a forgotten practice of the Prophet ﷺ.

Number two — for the youngsters out there, use your time this summer. Do not waste your time. Have a project, learn a skill, learn a language, do something — but don't sit idle. Balance it with entertainment and relaxation, but don't completely lose your time.

Number three — for parents, a very important message. As your children are at home and you have more time with them, use that time — because those minds and that quality time, that opportunity will never return. One day this child will become an adult, they will leave the house. And we'll all regret, in those summer holidays, why didn't I spend enough time with them? This is it.

Closing Du'a

Pray and send salutations upon those whom you have been ordered to pray and send salutations upon. By saying Allah's words — Allah and His angels send salutations upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, pray and send salutations upon him.

O Allah, forgive the Muslims, the believers, the living and the dead. O our Lord, You are All-Hearing, All-Seeing, All-Responsive to supplications.