When Considering A Career...

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

أَمَّا بَعْد — فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ ﷺ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

When Considering a Career

Brothers and sisters in Islam, the title of our khutbah is When Considering a Career. This khutbah is based on an observation I made over 20 years ago, and 2 years ago I found a study confirming it.

The overwhelming majority of our youth — they all believe, they have this firm belief, that when they get old they will be successful, they will be famous, or in the least case they're going to be millionaires. It's almost impossible to find a young man or boy who does not believe that they're going to be a successful millionaire when they grow up.

The reasons behind that: on television and on the internet, what happens is it creates an illusion that wealth is readily achievable — because they see people living lavish lifestyles, and they see successful entrepreneurs, so they believe that this is very easy. And then they see social media influencers that project an image of luxury and wealth, and they don't fully disclose the effort and the amount of work it took to reach that level. So the result is that young people believe that this is easily attainable.

On top of that, from the reasons: lack of financial literacy. They have unrealistic expectations. They don't know about investing, personal finance, the time and commitment to build wealth — so they just imagine that it's easy. And then there is the mentality of the get-rich-quick scheme — this mentality is very prevalent in our times. You always hear stories of people who suddenly went viral, became an overnight sensation, or they won the lottery, or someone started a company and then sold it for a billion dollars, or he built an app and someone bought it for 300 million dollars. So you see this all around you and you start to believe it'll happen to you. And then there is what they call optimistic bias — they underestimate the challenges and obstacles.

The Lesson from Imam Abu Hanifa's Story

In this khutbah we want to look at statistical probabilities of making it to the NBA, or becoming an MMA fighting champion, or a famous YouTuber, or an actor — and some other things to consider. But I'd like to begin with a narration mentioned by Imam al-Dhahabi, narrated by Abu Yusuf, who is a student of Imam Abu Hanifa rahimahullah:

"When I wanted to choose a career path to study — when I'm seeking knowledge — I started to ask about each branch or science and then what is the end result."

It was said to him: learn the Qur'an. So he said: if I memorize the Qur'an, what happens next? They said: you sit in the masjid and then the very young kids and the youth come and recite upon you, and then one day one of them will surpass you or become equal to you — so you will lose your position. Then he said: so what if I hear the ahadith and write them down until there is no one in the world comparable to me? They said: when you get old and weak, the youth and the young will gather around you, and then inevitably you will make a mistake and they will accuse you of lying, and that will be counted against you. So he said: I have no need for that. Then he said: what if I learn al-nahw — I learn the language? They said: you will sit and teach the youth and they will give you a dinar or three. So he said: then what if I learn fiqh? They said: you will be asked questions, you will give fatwa to people, and you will be asked to become a judge even if you are a young man. He said to himself: there is no knowledge better than this. So I sought out fiqh and I learned it.

Now I want one thing from this narration — and I admit there are some things wrong with it, but I want to share them for the sake of honesty. Imam al-Dhahabi rahimahullah himself commented: he said it is unlikely that Imam Abu Hanifa chose fiqh because of his status and becoming a judge. What's the proof? In his life, when he was offered to become a judge, he completely refused it — and he caused tension between himself and the khalifa. And also, the Qur'an — and the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5027)

"The best of you is the one who learns the Qur'an and teaches it." It's not just about someone surpassing you in recitation or anything like that. So it could be that the people he was consulting were just not knowledgeable — they were average laymen giving him wrong estimations of the end result. Or it could also be that some of his estimations were due to him not being learned at that time; if you study his biography, he started to seek knowledge when he was much older than typical. And it's also not motivated by money at the end of the day — because you're going to get one or three dinars, that's why he doesn't want to become from the nuhaat — the linguists.

But what is good about the narration — and that's the only reason I mentioned it — is that this young man kept asking: what is the end result of pursuing this? What is the end result of spending my time doing this? And this is what the khutbah is about. This khutbah is not about crushing dreams or telling you which career to choose. It is about: what is the end result of what we spend the bulk of our time on?

The "Medina Brothers" Example

For example, when you speak to youth who spend hours playing video games, their answer is almost always that there is such-and-such who is a gamer and he won a tournament and he won over a million dollars. But statistically, you have less than a one percent chance of becoming a millionaire gamer.

I'm going to give you an example, and remember this for the rest of the khutbah. I call this the Medina brothers. I would meet these young brothers who want to go study overseas at the Islamic University of Madinah. One particular brother — he applied to the Islamic University of Madinah and he's waiting for the response. So in the meantime he said: I'm just going to drive a cab. If I go to school I have to stop it. If I start a career I have to end it to go to Madinah. So he started to drive a cab, and for five years he's driving this cab waiting for Madinah to respond.

In those five years — and this is not about being a cab driver or putting down being a cab driver — the point is that he spent five years driving a cab. He could have spent four years and gotten a degree, and even started one year into his master's. He could have started a career at a company.

So what's the answer? The answer is: you live your life as if Madinah University doesn't even exist on the planet. You sent your application form, and then you work towards your degree and you study and you work as if Madinah doesn't even exist. And if the call comes through one day, you drop what you're doing and go pursue your passion. But if it doesn't come, you still advanced as a person — you still studied, you still built your career. You didn't just wait and stay on hold.

The Statistical Reality of Popular Career Dreams

Mixed Martial Arts / UFC

So learn and acquire skills. Do what you love and consider whether it's halal or not. Let's look at mixed martial arts. MMA has blown up and all our youth everywhere — I travel the country and I just meet people and they're in mixed martial arts. There is nothing wrong with that. Learn it, enjoy it, have the skill. But don't let it consume your life. Don't let it take you away from your studies, or take you away from learning your religion.

There is a difference: learning boxing and sparring is permissible, but pursuing a career in that — not permissible. You're hitting people in the face; that's the whole aim. And the Prophet ﷺ explicitly prohibited striking the face. So you don't pursue a career in something like that.

And by the way, becoming a boxing champion — there is a less than 1% chance of that. And there are many other things to consider. So many of our youth will just disappear from the masjid. Where are you? Just mixed martial arts. The median annual salary in 2024 for a UFC fighter was $51,370. 43% of the fighters made less than $45,000 a year — which is very little, with no health insurance and no retirement. The top earners made $112,000 a year. But how long does it take to become one of the top earners? What are the odds you'll become one of the top earners? And then how many years can you keep doing that, with it taking its toll on your body — for just $112,000 a year? And then the people look at the millionaire fighters, and the odds of reaching that are even lower.

Basketball / The NBA

Look at basketball. Nothing wrong with basketball — learn it, use it to get into shape. But if you look at trying to make it to the NBA — and wallahi, it's not about crushing dreams, just follow with me:

• 0.03% of high school basketball players make it to the NBA.
• 3% of high school basketball players make it to college division basketball.
• 1.2% of those who make it to college divisions make an appearance in the NBA.
• There were 500,000 high school basketball players. Only 16,000 made it to college divisions. From those 16,000, only 110 made an NBA appearance — not become a star in the NBA, just an appearance.

And consider other factors like the average height of an NBA player is 6'6". Consider all these things.

American Football

In American football, there were 1,083,000+ high school players competing, and 251 became pros. Statistically, that is 0.023%.

Soccer

In soccer, they say for an American soccer player to make it to the top tier levels, it's a 1 in 55,393 chance. Only 1.4% of college soccer players will make it to the pros.

YouTubers and Actors

YouTuber — less than a 1% chance of becoming a popular YouTuber. There is a massive pool of creators, millions of people, and only a small percentage will have enough of a following and earn enough income from being a YouTuber.

Actor — to become a top-tier actor, it's roughly 1 in 1.5 million. Only 2% of actors are going to make a living from acting.

The Key Message: Have a Plan B

So one more time: do what you love, make sure it's halal, be realistic, pursue your career — but also know your odds. Have a backup plan. That's all we're saying. Going back to the Madinah example — what is your Plan B? Because there is a 99% chance you won't make it. So what do you fall back on?

For the adults who don't understand why this khutbah topic — I've been dealing with this since 1994, that's exactly 30 years. And I'm telling you, it's overwhelmingly insane the number of youth who all believe they're going to be famous and millionaires and successful. They tell you how many cars they're going to have. The guy's 8 years old and he tells you he's going to have a giraffe as a pet. I'm very aware of it and I'm telling you — so take it into consideration.

What Should Guide Your Career Choice

I'm speaking to the youth now. When choosing a career, take into consideration what the ummah needs, what the community needs. Take into consideration benefiting people and living to please Allah azza wa jal, and also calling to Allah's religion.

It is narrated by al-Tabarani that Abdullah ibn Dinar narrates from a number of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat lil-Tabarani; also reported in other collections)

They asked: "Ya Rasulallah, who are the most beloved people to Allah?" He said: "The most beneficial of them to others." — You would imagine a hadith about who is the most beloved to Allah would be something about the longest hours in prayer or the longest days in fasting. But it's the one who benefits others the most. He didn't even say lil-mu'minin or lil-muslimin — the ones who benefit people the most.

And the hadith continues: of the most beloved deeds to Allah is to bring happiness to a believer, or you remove a difficulty from him, or you settle a debt for him, or you push hunger away from him. Then the Prophet ﷺ says: "And to accompany a brother of mine on an errand — on an issue, a problem that he has — and he didn't say to solve it, just to accompany him in trying to solve a problem — is more beloved to me than to make i'tikaf in this masjid of mine for one month." The Masjid al-Nabawi, where one salah equals 10,000 — and the Prophet ﷺ would prefer to walk trying to help his brother take care of something, and that is more beloved to him than to make i'tikaf — never leaving the masjid, in constant worship — for 30 days.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2199)

In Sahih Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever of you is capable of benefiting his brother, then let him do so."

So the reminder is: live to please Allah. Live to be beloved to Allah azza wa jal. Worship Allah and call to Allah.

Your Legacy — With Allah, Not With People

There are many talks by Muslim speakers on the internet — many, many talks about leaving a legacy. In my personal opinion, that is very harmful, because the focus is on leaving a legacy — something to be remembered by. So it leads people to market themselves, to do things to grab attention, to make their name memorable — and it can lead to doing things with the wrong intention.

The better way — and there is a khutbah that we gave on this minbar about that, it's on our YouTube channel — is to focus on your legacy with Allah azza wa jal, with sincerity, working towards what pleases Allah azza wa jal. And if you do that with sincerity — if you look at the lives of the great who lived before us from the Muslim ummah, they started off working sincerely for Allah. They weren't trying to get famous. They weren't trying to get recognition.

In any aspect of Islam — do we give sadaqah to get famous? Do we fast so people know that we fast? They always started sincerely. Some of them got famous, some of them got recognized — but they weren't motivated by people recognizing them. And that's the problem when we push for everyone to just leave some kind of legacy behind. People have done crazy things just to be remembered. But focus on your legacy with Allah.

Du'a

With that, we ask Allah azza wa jal to make us of those who see the truth as a clear truth and follow the best of it, and to make us of those who recognize falsehood as a clear falsehood and abstain from it.

وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ وَبَارَكَ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ — وَقُومُوا إِلَى صَلَاتِكُمْ وَرَحِمَكُمُ اللَّهُ.