Looking after the Youth (with Sign Language) - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

We praise Him, we ask for His help and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whosoever He leads astray, none can guide him.

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

O you who have believed, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul, and created from it its mate, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for mercy. Verily, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak a just word. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great triumph.

As for the rest, the truest words are the words of Allah. And the best guide is the guide of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And the worst of things are its innovations. And every innovation is a creation. And every creation is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

Looking After the Youth

I would like to dedicate today's khutbah to my youth brothers and sisters in Islam. I would like to shed some light on the importance of this age — the youth age — as well as the responsibilities that we all as a community have towards the youth. Also, the responsibilities that the parents of the youth have towards them. And then the youth themselves — they are also responsible for their own actions and deeds.

The Responsibility of the Parents

Let me begin with the first point, which is the responsibility of the parents. And why is it the first one? Because the responsibility of the parents comes before the responsibility of the youth themselves. Because they are your children. Before they reach the age of youth, you as a father and mother are responsible for their upbringing. You are responsible for their tarbiyah.

And always remember the hadith of your beloved prophet:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 893; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1829)

Every single one of you is a shepherd, and you are going to be questioned before Allah about your flock. You have to answer to Allah whether you have fulfilled your responsibility towards the people and the children that were dependent on you. So as a parent, as a father and mother, you are the first one who has this responsibility — to give the best tarbiyah to your children, your sons and your daughters.

Allah has instructed us in the Quran in Surah at-Tahrim:

O you who believed, save yourselves — and then your family, your children, the people you are responsible for — save them also from the fire of hell.

So we as parents, fathers and mothers, we are responsible to give the best tarbiyah to our children. And for this, we need to make every single effort that we can to give them the best future. And when it comes to giving them tarbiyah, it's not only making the money for them and earning for them. Rather, dear parents, you have the responsibility to direct your children towards the path of Islam.

You are the most responsible in this case. You have the responsibility to guide your children and to direct them towards the religion of Allah. O father, O mother, you have the responsibility to connect your son and your daughter with the religion of Allah. You are responsible for their connection with the book of Allah, with the religion of Allah, with the house of Allah, with the masjid of Allah.

You need to teach them. You cannot leave this responsibility with someone else — with the imam of the masjid, with the teacher. You are the most responsible person in the life of your children. So realize your responsibility. Teach them about the religion of Allah. Teach them the best people within the history of Islam. Teach them the teachings of your beloved Nabi, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Teach them the seerah and the lives and the biographies of the heroes of Islam.

Teach them the lives and the seerah of the companions of Rasulullah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him — and especially the youth companions. How they served the religion of Allah. How they were obedient to Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Teach them the seerah of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Talha, Zubair, Abdullah ibn Umar, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Muadh ibn Jabal, Zaid ibn Thabit.

Unfortunately, many of our children are not even aware of these names. They do not know the names of the companions of Rasulullah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Yet they know many, many football players and the actors and the actresses and the musicians — they know them very well, better than they know the companions of Rasulullah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And who is blameworthy for this? The parents.

You have the responsibility to teach them the seerah of the companions of Rasulullah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And when you give them tarbiyah, you must give them your valuable time. You have to spend your time with your children on a regular basis. Keep an eye on their companionship. Keep an eye on their society. Keep an eye on their friends and advise them. If you realize something strange in your son and your daughter, it is your responsibility as a father and mother to direct your child in the right direction and guide them.

You must build a very, very strong relationship between yourself and your children. As a father and mother, if you do not have this strong relationship — to the level that your children are not confident in approaching you as a father and mother whenever they face any challenge, any problem, whenever they have any doubt about the religion of Allah — then it is a clear indication, a clear sign, that you as a father and mother have failed in fulfilling your responsibility.

You must have a very strong relation with your children, with your son and daughter. If something is going on in the mind and the heart of your daughter, the mother has the responsibility to pick it up and direct her daughter in the right path. Do not ignore them.

And by Allah, if you spend half an hour with your children on a daily basis, Wallahi, it is better than earning one million pounds for your children. You are busy in your business, you are busy in your job, you are busy in earning money — having the excuse that you need to give a better life to your children. Yes, this is your responsibility, but have balance in your life. Do not ignore them.

Your children are more important for you than your wealth, than your palace, than your mansion, than your house, than your car, than your business, than your job, and everything and anything that you have in this dunya. Your children are more important. Do not ignore them. This is your responsibility. And remember, on the Day of Judgment, you as a father and mother — as parents — you will be held to account before Allah. Realize this responsibility.

The Responsibility of the Youth

And once the parents have realized their responsibilities, the youth themselves need to realize their own responsibilities as well. O my youth brothers and sisters, you are the future of this Ummah. You are the respect, the honor, the dignity of this community. If you stay on the right path, you will be giving good reputation and honor and respect to this community. And if you are astray, if you are off track, then the whole community will have bad reputation — just because of you. Realize your responsibility. Realize your value as well.

Allah has granted you this precious life and this youth age, which is the best time of the life of a human. Allah is going to question you specifically with regards to your youth age. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has said:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2416 — on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud; graded Hasan by al-Tirmidhi)

The feet of a servant of Allah will not be able to move from their place on the Day of Judgment until he is questioned about five things. The first: every single one of us will be questioned by Allah on the Day of Judgment about our life — however we spent our life. And then the second question will be specifically with regards to the youth age. Your youth age — you will have to answer to Allah how you spent your youth age while living in this dunya.

If you spent it in the worship of Allah, serving the religion of Allah, serving the community and the creation of Allah, then you have the glad tidings of your beloved Nabi, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. That is reported in a very famous hadith, reported by Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1031 — on the authority of Abu Hurairah)

Seven types of people will be granted shade on the Day of Judgment, where there will be no shade except the shade of Allah. And one of those seven will be a youth — a young person — who spent his youth age in the worship of Allah.

You are so precious, so important for the religion of Allah, for the creation of Allah, for the community. Do not waste your life. Do not waste your time. Do not waste your skills. Do not waste your efforts. Spend them in the right way so that you can be rewarded on the Day of Judgment by Allah.

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said in a very famous hadith:

(Reported by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, Hadith 7846, on the authority of Ibn Abbas; also in Shu'ab al-Iman of al-Bayhaqi)

Take the advantage of five before five. And one of them is: take advantage of your youth age before you reach old age.

Our elders — may Allah preserve them — those who sit on the chairs around this masjid, ask them about the importance of youth age. They wish and they desire to worship Allah more and more. They wish to spend their time more and more in the house of Allah. They wish to recite the book of Allah more and more. But they are not able to do so because of old age. Allah has granted you strength and power and energy — use it in the right way. Take the advantage of this before you reach old age. Take the advantage of your youth age and make the best usage of this age.

And my dear youth brothers and sisters in Islam, this is also your responsibility to realize. As I said, you are a great asset for the community. Whatever you do, you will be the front face of the community. Any community, any society is judged based on the acts and the deeds of the youth.

A Message to the Murderer — The Sanctity of a Muslim's Life

If you are on the street committing crimes, dealing with drugs, killing and murdering, then you will be held to account before Allah, and you are blameworthy for this. And especially what has taken place recently within our community — our dear brother Abdul Rahman, who was shot a few days ago, and yesterday we performed his Salatul Janazah. This incident has broken the heart of the whole community.

And I address the murderer directly: Fear Allah. This is the best time for you to repent to Allah. And keep in mind the statement of Allah:

Whoever kills a believer deliberately, intentionally, then his punishment is the fire of hell — he will remain in the hell forever. And Allah is angry at him — the murderer, the one who has killed an innocent soul without a right that Allah has legislated. And Allah's curse is upon him, and Allah has prepared for him a great punishment.

The great mufassir of the Quran among the companions of Rasulullah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him — Abdullah ibn Abbas — was of the opinion that killing a believer is similar to committing shirk with Allah. So if you die having killed one mu'min, one believer, intentionally, without the right that Allah has legislated, and you die without repenting to Allah, you are going to stay in the fire of hell forever.

This was the opinion of Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him. And Allah says in that same ayah in Surah an-Nisa: Allah is angry at him, Allah's curse is upon him, and Allah has prepared for him a great punishment.

If you do not repent, you cannot hide from Allah. You may hide from the authorities. You may hide from the creation of Allah. But remember — nothing is hidden in the heaven and in the earth from Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do. You cannot escape from the punishment of Allah — if not in this dunya, then on the Day of Judgment. Repent to Allah.

Rasulullah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said — in a hadith reported by Imam at-Tirmidhi, on the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with them both:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1398 — on the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and Abu Hurairah; graded Hasan by al-Tirmidhi)

Look at the value of the soul of a believer in the sight of Allah. Your beloved Nabi, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: if the whole creation of Allah in the heavens and the whole creation of Allah in the earth all get together to kill one believer, Allah will throw all of them in the fire of hell.

Did you not read the ayah of the Quran:

Whoever has killed one single soul without right and without corruption and mischief in the land — it is as if he has killed the whole of mankind. The one who has murdered one soul has murdered in reality the whole community.

Repent to Allah. We are going through the blessed month of Ramadan — the month of repentance, the month of seeking forgiveness of Allah. Turn back to the path of Allah. Repent to Allah.

And my youth brothers and sisters, take care of yourself. Take care of your souls and the life and your youth age that Allah has granted you, and make the best usage of this age. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to rectify our mistakes and our errors. And may Allah allow us to repent to Him within this blessed month.

The Collective Responsibility of the Community and the Masajid

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, when it comes to the matter of our youth, the parents are responsible, and the youth themselves are also responsible. Along with this, we all — every single one of us as part of the community — we are also responsible. Every single one of us must make our efforts to bring our youth to the religion of Allah. This is the collective responsibility of the whole community and society.

You cannot ignore it by thinking that it is someone else's son, someone else's daughter who has done such and such. Rather, if it is someone else's son and daughter today, it can be yours tomorrow. Your children, your sons and daughters, they are part of this community. What are you doing? Ask yourself. By Allah, wake up. Dear fathers, dear mothers, brothers, sisters, young and elders — get together. Do something for your youth. Protect them. As I said, they are the most important asset of your community.

And the responsibility also lies on the centers, the Islamic schools, and also the masajid. The masjid should be the hub of the community. The masjid should be the place for the youth. The masajid must open their doors for the youth. They must have activities for the youth specifically — not only religious and spiritual activities. They must also provide social activities for their youth. The leaders, the leadership of the masajid, must realize their responsibility — that you have taken this responsibility on your shoulders, and now you have to serve the community. And the most important part of your community are the youth: our young daughters and our young sons. You cannot ignore them.

Alhamdulillah, we have the masajid where we pray five times a day, where we come to listen to the reminder and the lecture and the khutbah and conferences and talks. They are all good. But are they really enough for the youth? No, by Allah, they are not enough.

The Prophet's Example with the Youth

Look at the seerah of your Nabi, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Your Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, always put great emphasis on the tarbiyah of the youth. Although he, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not have his own son who reached the age of puberty or the youth age — but he did not ignore the youth of his community, thinking that they were not his own sons and daughters. Rather, he always paid great attention to the tarbiyah of his youth, the youth of his community. That is why the youth companions of Rasulullah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, were very well connected — they were so connected with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

If the youth are not connected with the imam of the masjid, if the youth are not connected with the masjid, with the management of the masjid — then this is an indication of failure. Every single one of us has the responsibility to address this issue. We need to realize this and beg Allah to give us the ability to play our part in this important matter.

And I would suggest the management and the leadership of this masjid and every single masjid up and down the country: you need to realize your responsibility, and you need to team up with the youth workers. Get them engaged. Open the door for them. Invite them. Do something for your youth — the great asset of your community.

Du'a — Closing Supplication

May Allah give us the ability to understand our responsibility. May Allah enable us to fulfill our responsibilities towards our youth, our sons and our daughters. May Allah protect them. May Allah protect them from the evils of Shaytan. May Allah safeguard them and protect them from the evils of street crime. May Allah guide them towards His religion. May Allah give us the ability to connect them to the religion of Allah.