Why Are You Just Standing There

Why Are You Just Standing There?

Imam Siraj Wahhaj - MSA National Continental Conference 2013

Opening Remarks

Assalamualaikum, (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim), Alhamdulillah. Brothers and sisters, let me first tell you that I am conflicted this evening. I really was anxious to teach this evening. I had my teaching spirit. But the lateness of the hour, one of my beloved brothers, Imam Suhaib Webb and Yasir Qadhi haven't yet spoken. So, and Sister Nadia did such a magnificent job. So that I'm going to severely cut what I wanted to do tonight.

I was told that this session should be interaction. And this is what I do best. So, I will give you the shortened version.

The Power of Media and Advertising

I know none of you watch TV. But the average American child watches 40,000 television commercials a year. And you may not think it's much. You may think it's no big deal. But I'm here to tell you tonight that it is a big deal. The constant dripping of water on a stone will drill a hole in the stone. Drip, drip, drip, drip. I would like to ask you one question. What is your most favorite commercial that you've ever seen? I want you to raise your hand and tell me which commercial.

Yes, ma'am. Which one? Eminem? Why? How many of you have seen the Eminem commercial? Raise your hand. Why is it your favorite? Why and what? You like Eminem's? Yes. Which one? That open crafting style commercial. Instead of open Eminem style, it's open crafting style. Alright. Give me one more. Yes, sir. Geico.

Do you like it because you like it or do you like it because it's effective? People spend billions of dollars advertising. Procter and Gamble spent $4.2 billion in one year just to advertise. I'm going to put on the screen right now, in my humble opinion, is the greatest commercial ever. This is my opinion. You don't have to agree with it. I'm not going to give you a bad mark. Play it. I'm going to play it twice. Yes.

The Principle of Imitation

How many of you have seen it before? Raise your hand. How many of you think it's a great commercial? Raise your hand. Why? Why is it so great? Why is it so effective? Why? Yes. Give him a mic. Give him a mic. Does it help that Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players ever? Michael Jordan made millions of dollars playing basketball, but he made more money endorsing products.

Why? Because this company, Gatorade, understood a principle. That principle is that people will imitate people whom they admire. If they admire someone, they want to be like someone. And even though they cannot play basketball like Michael Jordan, but they want to do something that he does, so he drinks Gatorade, and they

hope that that would translate so that the people would buy Gatorade. These people that have these commercials are some who create these commercials are some of the most effective things in controlling and manipulating people. Think about this.

Targeting the Youth

Do you know that it is illegal to sell cigarettes to someone under the age of 18? Did you know that? The legal age of smoking cigarettes is 18 years old. Yet, 90% of the smokers started before the age of 18. Why is that? Alcohol is illegal until you reach the age of 21. True. So the government protects the children and they make it illegal to sell alcohol to children of people under the age of 21. So the government is concerned about the children.

But the fact of the matter is that alcohol companies are dependent upon underage children. One-fifth of the alcohol consumed in this country is consumed by underage children. Tonight, for the next few minutes that I have, and he's going to have to pull me screaming. Seriously, I'm going to be screaming. And I know he's going to give me a card. I know it. I know it. And if he does, my book is going to have to come out. Serious, man. So if you want to be bad enough to hand me a card, you got to hand me a card.

Raising the Bar

Tonight, for a few moments, it is my desire to raise the bar. You cannot come to ISNA. You cannot come to Washington, D.C. on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. You cannot. I refuse to let you come here to this conference and you walk out the same way you came in. I refuse to let that happen. You got to raise the bar.

A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and he wanted to learn about Islam. And listen to what the Prophet said, peace and blessings be upon him. Five prayers a day. Five prayers a day. And the man said, Is there anything more than these five prayers? The Prophet said, no, no, except what is extra. So if you do the five prayers, you're okay. And then the Prophet said, fasting in the month of Ramadan. The man said, anything more than that? The Prophet said, no, except what is extra. And then the Prophet mentioned zakat. And the man said, is there anything more than this zakat? He said, no, except what is extra.

And the man, he turned around and said, I swear by Allah, I will not increase it more than that, nor decrease it. This man will be successful. If he's telling the truth, he will be successful. [Sahih al-Bukhari 46, Sahih Muslim 11]

What Level Do You Want?

Let me stop here now. Sheikh Suhaib Webb, when I was in high school, probably before you were born, and whenever the students would get their report cards, some student, all he worried about, did I pass. In New York City, the passing grade was 65. So they look at the report card and say, oh, I got near 65, I passed. And then

there's another student, looks at his report card and sees 98. And he's disappointed. He's disappointed because he wanted 100. You know what? No 65. He don't want no 78. He don't want no 98. He wants 100.

My question to you, tonight, here, in this convention, what do you want? Do you want a 65? Do you just want to pass? Do you want a 70? Are you satisfied with where you are? You can't be taught by Yasir Qadhi and want to get a 65. No such thing. When he was top student in the class, and now one of the top in the country, not only among the Muslims, but among the non-Muslims, we have some of the greatest with us. Not just great because they speak at conventions and conferences and programs, they're great in their right, and the knowledge that they have will transform America if the American people recognize what we have.

The Man Who Walked to Mecca

So the question is, what do you want to do? So many of us are satisfied to be Muslim. I made my five prayers. I'm doing good. Young man in Bosnia wanted to make pilgrimage to Mecca, and all he had was 200 euro dollars. So he walked from Bosnia to Mecca, 3,600 miles at night. He spent in masjids and in schools and in the homes of people, even some Christians let him spend the night in their house.

I drove from New York City to Atlanta, Georgia, 900 miles I drove in my car, and I was tired. Yet this man walked. He walked 3,600 miles. And when the Turkish government heard what he did, they paved his way to go back. He's famous all over the world. They know about this man. He did good.

If you're asking the question, why did you walk to Mecca? Why did you do it? He would probably quote the prophet, who said, (الْحَجُّ الْمَبْرُورُ لَيْسَ لَهُ جَزَاءٌ إِلَّا الْجَنَّةُ - Al-Ḥajju al-Mabrūru laysa lahu jazāʾun ʾillā al-Jannah) "An accepted pilgrimage, there's no reward except paradise." [Sahih al-Bukhari 1773, Sahih Muslim 1349]

Beyond Just Acceptance: Entering Faith

So tonight I'm asking you, where are you? Are you satisfied? (قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا - Qālat al-ʾaʿrābu ʾāmannā) "And the desert Arabs said, 'We believe.'" [Quran 49:14]

The desert Arabs say, We believe. And Allah said, no, no, no, no. Muhammad told them that they do not believe. That faith, say that they (قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ - Qul lam tu'minu wa lākin qūlū ʾaslamnā wa lammā yadkhul al-ʾīmānu fī qulūbikum) "Say You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts.'" [Quran 49:14]

They have accepted. They make Salat. They fast in the month of Ramadan, yes. But faith has not yet entered the heart. Do you have faith? To what degree?

The Best of Peoples

Point number one. Allah says (كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ - Kuntum khayra ʾummatin ʾukhrijat lin-nāsi taʾmurūna bil-maʿrūfi wa tanhawna ʿanil-munkari wa tuʾminūna billāhi) "You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah." [Quran 3:110]

To what degree? I probably got five minutes. Ten minutes, good. You're a smart man.

Faith has not yet entered the heart, but I make Salat. Yeah, that's good. But you know what? It's for you. I fasted the month of Ramadan. That's good. But that's for you. I made pilgrimage. That's good. It's for you. The question is, what about the society?

Thermometer or Thermostat?

You know, this is the 50 year anniversary. Yeah, I see it of Martin Luther King's famous speech. And I've always said it. That you really, if you really want to hear a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. You ought to read the speech that he gave a year before he was assassinated in New York City, Riverside Church entitled, Why I opposed the war in Vietnam. You want to hear a speech of King? That's one of his greatest speeches ever. You need to read it.

But Martin Luther King Jr. was in jail, the Birmingham jail. He wrote a letter. And in the letter he mentioned two instruments. He mentioned a thermometer. And a thermostat. And he told his Christians that we ought to be more than thermometers. Because when you think about it, what does a thermometer do? It measures the temperature. Oh, it's 30 degrees. It's cold. Oh, it's 90 degrees. It's hot. But a thermometer can't do nothing. But register the temperature.

Oh, but if I was Suhaib Webb, I would be a thermostat. Because Suhaib Webb, he's a thermostat. When it's cold, he merely turns it up. Turn up the heat. If it's too hot, you turn it down. That's a thermostat. What about us Muslims. Do we merely complain? Sister Nadia said, do we merely complain about our condition or are we ready to change it?

Working for the Common Good

I close with this. If you can't help the people because it's morally right to do, then at least do it because it's in your best interest. Ever heard of the Congressional Black Caucus? Never? Now that you know, you've heard about it. The Congressional Black Caucus is those African American legislators who get together, work on behalf of their constituency, the African Americans. And the motto of the Congressional Black Caucus is black people have neither permanent enemies nor permanent friends, just permanent interests.

And you've got to realize that in America, all of us are in the same boat. The Muslims, the Jews, the Christians, the Sikhs, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the atheists, the black, the white, the male, the female, the rich, the poor. All of us is in the same boat. And if our neighbor's house is on fire, and if we don't put the fire out in our neighbor's house, sooner or later the fire is going to be in our own house.

How many Muslims do you know that have been murdered through gun violence? I know them. In Detroit, in Chicago, in New York City, in San Francisco, in Philadelphia, all over. America, Muslims are the victims of crimes just like everybody else. A Muslim driving a cab in New York City, shot in the head because somebody

robbed him of their money. Everywhere you look, and what affects the society affects the Muslims. Because we're in the same boat.

The Parable of the Boat

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told us that if that man on the bottom of the ship is going to try to drill a hole in the boat, he said, if you stop him, and hold him, well not hold, and prevent him. If you stop him, you save him, and you save yourself. But if you let him go, then you destroy him, and you destroy yourself. [Sahih al-Bukhari 2493] Self-interest. We're in the same boat. If America goes down, then the Muslims in America, we go down too.

What Is Your Vision?

When will you have your vision? Martin Luther King Jr. talked about his vision. Everybody in America is talking about their vision. Black people talking about their vision. Women talking about their vision. Homosexuals, gays talking about their vision. Everybody has a vision for America. Then the question is you as Muslims in America, what is your vision?

The Power of One Person's Courage

And I close with this. 1400 years ago, something magnificent happened. Do you know that Yom Jumu'ah, the prophet said, peace and blessings be upon him, is the best day. The best day of the week. We agree? In it, Adam was created. In it, Adam entered Al-Jannah. In it, Adam came from Al-Jannah. In it is the day of Yom Qiyamah begins. So Yom Jumu'ah is the best day. [Sahih Muslim 854]

And he said, peace and blessings be upon him, that in every gate of every masjid, there sits an angel and they call the people as they come in. Jumu'ah is so significant that you are not allowed to speak once the khutbah begins. Even if your friend speaks and you tell them, be quiet, then you have done something evil. You are not allowed to speak. Why? You can't interrupt the khutbah. True?

1400 years ago, Yom Jumu'ah, in the city of Medina, the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is giving a khutbah. And this will be my last point that I'm going to make. He's giving a sermon. And during the sermon, a desert Arab stands up in the midst of the sermon of the prophet and he interrupts him and says, Ya Rasulullah, this hadith is in Bukhari under the section Yom Jumu'ah and Istisqa. Ya Rasulullah, our livestock are dead and our children are hungry. There was a drought.

Now we're going to see what will the prophet say. He's interrupting the prophet. What will he say? He said, the man said, Make du'a to Allah for us. The prophet turned around and faced the qiblah. And he made du'a to Allah. He raised his hands. And he made du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

I bring forth to you a witness. His name is Anas ibn Malik. He said, I swear by Allah that when the prophet raised his hands, there was not a cloud in the sky. And by the time he dropped his hands, then clouds began to

gather like mountains. And they said before he walked down from the minbar, it began to rain. And it rained the next day. And it continued to rain until the next Friday.

The prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, began to give the sermon. And some narration said the same man. He stood up and said, Ya Rasulullah, the rain is killing the livestock and killing our property. Please make du'a to Allah to stop the rain. And the prophet turned around and made du'a to Allah. O Allah, around us and not on us. And he said all of a sudden, it stopped raining. [Sahih al-Bukhari 1013, 1014]

The Lessons

What's the lesson here? The lesson here is that number one, the prophet didn't stop him. Even though he interrupted the sermon because of the urgency of the moment. And then the other lesson is that what benefited, that man benefited the entire city of Medina because he had the courage to ask the prophet for du'a.

Brothers and sisters, we live in America. You live in Washington. You live in Chicago. You live in New York. You live in Detroit. Wherever you must look out for the benefit of the people in the society. May Allah help us and grant us success. As-salamu alaykum.