Kalusha Bwalya

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

All praise is due to Allah, and His praise and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam. I bear witness that he is the only one worthy of worship — Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala — and his messenger Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his last and final messenger.

The Story of Kalusha Bwalya

My dear brothers and sisters, in one of the African countries — all the way down in the south of Africa, where the largest waterfall in the world is located, a unique country that is bordered by 8 different countries — in that place, a boy was born and turned out to be a very famous athlete in his country. He loved playing football, or as we call it here in America, soccer. And quickly he became very famous, very well known, a champion in his country, which is Zambia. And he worked so hard to make a name for himself so he could take his national team to the international platform, to be recognized.

And he was able to achieve something very unique — for whoever knows this game and the world competitions related to it, the FIFA World Cup — his country became a qualifier for the FIFA World Cup while he was a main player in his national team. He was super excited. For a young man to be going with his national team to play on an international platform, with all the opportunities that you can think of — he was super excited.

But he was denied that opportunity to go with his team. He was not allowed to travel with his team to play any of their last matches. He was sitting in his home, just hearing about his team, how they were doing — basically accomplishing and writing history without him.

But all of a sudden the news came: the national team of Zambia were traveling — I think from Uganda — and their airplane crashed. No survival. The whole entire team died in that airplane crash.

Right before hearing that news, he was questioning: Why am I not part of the team? Why am I not traveling with them? Why am I not joining the next game? He was mad, he was angry, he was confused. And when the news hit — yes, he was happy that Allah had saved him. But at that point he did not know yet what Allah had saved him for.

Because soon after that, he became Kalusha Bwalya — he became one of the most recognized names not only in his country, not only in Africa, but also worldwide. He didn't know that Allah subhana wa ta'ala had another plan for him at that time.

What Kalusha Did Not Know

Kalusha became one of Zambia's most celebrated footballers and earned over a hundred cups in his lifetime. This man earned the African Cup of the Nations — known as AFCON — with his team. Then later on, he joined one of the Dutch teams and was named the best player and the best assistant player three times. He didn't know at that time that his team would win the Championship League in all of Europe more than two times while he was on the team. He didn't know at that time that he would become the third-highest goal scorer in all of Zambia's history. He didn't know at that time that he would be nominated and win as the African Footballer of the Year — he was voted the 12th best player in the world, ranked number 12 worldwide.

He didn't know at that time. Kalusha was not aware of what the plan was for his future. He didn't know that he would represent his country in the Olympic Games. Kalusha didn't know that he would win the Dutch Super Cup with his team. Kalusha didn't even think at that time that he would become the coach of his national team — it didn't cross his mind at that time when he was looking at the news, just happy that he was saved and not among the people who were in that crash.

He didn't know that he would become a member of FIFA — the international governing body for the whole of soccer worldwide. It didn't even cross his mind. Then in 2008, he became the President of the Football Association of Zambia, and he later on became even the Minister of Sports in his country.

A career — and the point is not to mention his career. The point is: I bet you anything, at that moment when he was just looking at the airplane crash, he was just thinking, you know what, I've just been saved. But it's not just your life being saved — what Allah subhana wa ta'ala had saved him for was something that never crossed his mind.

The Best Choice Is What Allah Chose for You

And many things happen to us in our life — we get mad, we get angry, we get upset because we lost that opportunity, because things didn't go the way we wanted or planned. And we don't realize:

We don't realize that the best choice is what Allah chose for you.

What I think is so important — in a time like this where I can tell you there are so many things that do not make any sense, there are so many bad things happening where you have no hand, no way, and you don't know what to do about it. When you start calculating things and planning and thinking about it and looking at it from a different angle — does it work this way or that way? I'm not sure. A time of instability. A time where there is no clarity. A time where things change rapidly in a way that you have no control over.

At that point, you know that your best choice — the one that will never disappoint you, will never let you down, will never ever disappoint you in the future — is when you choose the side of Allah subhana wa ta'ala.

Taking the Means — But Not Forgetting Allah

We emphasize a lot — especially in certain cultures — on the issue of taking the necessary means, and focusing on making sure that you take the necessary means to achieve success, work hard. And in our society there is so much emphasis on working hard, planning well, and all of these things — which is right. But I think that so many times it's lost in the translation, it's lost in the middle of this — that we forget the concept that whatever means we take, it is something created and ordained by Allah. And we forget that this setup, the means that you take — the only way it becomes effective and has an impact is because Allah allowed it to have an impact. Otherwise, you can take all the means in the world and it will not come to the conclusion that you want.

Have you ever wondered — one day — why in this world we see people plan things perfectly, execute things perfectly, but the outcome is a disaster, the outcome is not what they wanted?

Ya Shaykh, I raised my kids very well. I taught them very good manners, very good principles. I took them to this school, I took them to that halaqah, I made sure they had good company. But he is hooked on drugs, Ya Shaykh. He is — and she is doing this and that.

You know what, I have a perfect business plan. I followed the procedures 100%. I thought it was 1 + 1 = 2, it's going to be straightforward. But did it work?

Have you ever thought — you have seen in life, and I'm always wondering — I know people so smart, with no lack of intelligence, no lack of commitment, so excited, such hard-working men and women, and still they don't make it. They are not successful, they are in debt, and things are not going well in their life. And I have also seen people — I don't want to say I know them — they don't know how to run even a goat. Give them two cats, that's too much responsibility. Yet Allah subhana wa ta'ala gave them so much money. There is no high IQ, none of those things — but they are millionaires in business.

And you know, I've met a lot of people — very very rich, very very powerful — and you would say, very, very — I'm sorry, but the reality is, look around you and you wonder: how can this happen? How can someone be so successful like this? I always ask myself this question, because I've seen this in life. But I always come back to: Allah subhana wa ta'ala allowed these things to happen. Yes, when you do hard work, this will lead to this, and to that — most of the time. But Allah subhana wa ta'ala wants to show you that it happened just because Allah allowed it to happen, and it can happen in a completely different way.

A Lesson from Imam al-Shafi'i and Imam Malik

Once, al-Shafi'i — as a young man, so excited — he was talking to his sheikh, Imam Malik, rahimahullah, and he was telling him, no, you have to work hard. And Imam Malik believed in taking the necessary means. But Malik wanted to teach this young student a lesson that he would never forget later in his life. He said, yes, you work hard, but if Allah subhana wa ta'ala wants, He will bring to you your provision.

Al-Shafi'i said, as a young man, no, show me how Allah will bring my provision. And they parted. Al-Shafi'i went out, he worked, he made some money, he bought himself dates — and he loved them. Then he said, let me gift my sheikh. So he went to Malik, rahimahullah, and said, Ya Malik, see — I earned these dates that I am gifting you because I worked so hard today in the market, and that is why I was able to buy them. Then Malik said, and I earned that date without working so hard today — Allah brought you to bring the dates to me.

This is not a call for us to be lazy. This is not a call for us not to take the necessary means. But it is a call for us to cool down — to put your heart at ease, to put your mind at ease. Because it is so hard to deal with what is happening in the world today if you are just going to look at it through the lens of the worldly, materialistic way. That is not a good thing.

May Allah subhana wa ta'ala provide our hearts with the coolness of faith and the coolness of certainty, and make us among those who trust in Allah's goodness.

I say what you have heard, and I ask Allah's forgiveness for me and for you.

Second Khutbah — Trust, Connection, and Reliance on Allah

Praise be to Allah alone. Peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet.

My dear brothers and sisters, it is so important for us to make sure that our relationship with Allah subhana wa ta'ala is always based on trust — based on a complete trust and submission. Make sure that you are connected to Him. Call upon Him in the time of ease and the time of hardship.

Don't make your relationship with Allah subhana wa ta'ala such that you call upon Him only like the way you call 911 — only when there is a crisis, only when there is a calamity, only when something bad has happened. You don't call 911 when everything is going good. That is not how Allah subhana wa ta'ala is. He is not your ambulance. Yes, He will be there for you in the time of crisis, but it is so important also to be there for Him all the time — not for His sake, because He does not need you, but for your own sake.

Make sure that you always have that — no matter how dark it is. You know that this world can be so dark, and things are so dark around you, and the only light that you can get is when you go to His side.

I want to assure you that Allah subhana wa ta'ala does not disappoint His servants. He does not disappoint the believers. And when Allah subhana wa ta'ala sees goodness from you, expect nothing but goodness. And even if for a moment it seems and looks like something bad, or not going in your way — just wait. And if it is not today, it is in the Hereafter.

But just don't let anything — from all these problems around us in the world — shake your trust in Allah.

Du'a — Closing Supplication

May Allah subhana wa ta'ala fill our hearts with trust and dependence and reliance on Him. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala give us always the strength to hold onto His rope and to always hold onto His promise.

And we ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to make us among those whom He gives the coolness of iman and the coolness of faith in our hearts. And we ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to make it easy for us. And we ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to protect us and to protect people around the world — especially our brothers and sisters in Gaza and other places where they are persecuted and things are going very hard for them.

We ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to give them strength and to support them.