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Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm, Alhamdulillāhi Rabbil ‘Alāmīn, wa salātu wa salāmu ‘alā ash-sharafī al-anbiyā’ wal-mursalīn, Muḥammadur Rasūlullāh ﷺ, tasliman kathīran kathīran. From my brothers and sisters, I have a formula that I call my formula for da’wah.
And the formula is, Iqra, Qum, Qum.
Now, I’ll tell you, in a minute I’ll tell you why I say that. And before we go further, I want you to reflect on this issue of da’wah, of inviting towards Islam. And feel the honor of the responsibility of this work. Because, you know, anything you do, you must do it with consciousness, not like a zombie, you know, just doing something. You don’t understand why you’re doing it, people don’t understand why you’re doing it. That is not a smart way of living. The smart way of living is to work consciously, and to be aware of the importance, the honor, the great opportunity, to build your own Akhīrah. Please understand, da’wah is not for others. Da’wah is for the Da’i himself, for herself. Because if you,
if you were,
not given this responsibility, if this was given to somebody else, then you would have lost out, right? Now, this, the reason I say the honor, is because the work of da’wah is the work of the Anbiyā’, Alayhis-salaam. Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā sent His Anbiyā’ to do da’wah, to present Islam to the people. So, the most famous example of that from the Quran is the Ashab al-Qaryah in the People of the Village, that Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā mentions in Surah Yāsīn.
So, these are people who Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā
sent two Anbiyā’, and then was the Aznaw-e-Saalis, and Allah said we strengthen them with a third one, right? And their job was to convey Islam, and convey the message of Tawḥīd, to the people. Now, after Rasūlullāh ﷺ passed away, because he is the last and final messenger of Allah, Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā gave this beautiful job to the Ummat of Muḥammad ﷺ. We are the first and last Ummah to whom this job was given, the work of conveying the message. The reward is that our da’wah will be accepted like the da’wah of the Anbiyā’ of Bani Israel, Insha’Allah. So, Allah gave us the work of the Anbiyā’, and along with the work of the Anbiyā’ come the perks. And the biggest perk of this work is to be able to do.
And the biggest perk is that your da’wah will be accepted like the da’wah of the Anbiyā’. Just think about that. So, as I said, let us not work blindly. Let us work with full consciousness of what we are doing, and why that is so critically important.
Now, my formula, IQRA, Iqra Qum Qum. Now, if you see, Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā mentioned in the Quran,
the first āyah which was revealed, “Iqra bismi Rabbika Alladhī Khalaq” (Quran 96:1). So, Allah is saying, read. Read. That’s the reason why it is so important to acquire knowledge before
we try to propagate it. Because obviously, you can only give what you have.
If you are ignorant, you cannot guide anybody else. Because you yourself don’t know where you are going. So, the person who is the most suitable person to guide others, the person who is the most knowledgeable, person who has the most knowledge, if you don’t have knowledge, you cannot guide others. And that’s why reading is so important. In this case, we talk about reading the Quran and Sunnah,
learning, getting a proper Islamic education, understanding the beauty of this religion, practice it with confidence, not hide under the bed for it, not try to pretend that you are not a Muslim and so on. So, very, very important to read.
And the second one, is Qum, is to stand. Allah says, “Yā Ayyuhal-Muzzammil, Qūmil-Layla illa qalīlan” (Quran 73:2-4). Now, this is not only stand as in stand, but to stand in the night before Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. In a state where a person is standing between bayn al-khawfī wa tawakkul. He is standing between the fear of the punishment of Allah and the hope of Allah. And the hope for forgiveness and the hope for reward. So, this is the standing before Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. Now, Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā gave this āyah, this āyah is from Surah Al-Muzzammil. And it is one of the earliest Sūrahs to be revealed. And Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā, in that began this Surah by giving Rasūlullāh ﷺ literally resources and ammunition. Ammunition to do his work.
So, in the night, the person who is interested in da’wah will stand and make du’a to Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. He will pray Tahajjud and he will make du’a and Tahajjud. And then in the daytime, he will go and do his work. Which is the second Qum. “Yā Ayyuhal-Mudassir, Qum fa-anzir.” Allah said to Rasūlullāh ﷺ, again this Muzzammil, Mudassir are the names of Rasūlullāh ﷺ. He said, Allah said, go out and warn the people. So, the sequence is, Iqra, which is we read and learn, acquire knowledge. Secondly,
Qūmil-Layla illa qalīlan. Stand in the night and build our connection with Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. Who are you doing this work for?
That must be clear and that connection must be built. And then be the work starts. Not just you wake up in the morning and start doing something. No. To prepare yourself.
And then Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā comforted us. And He said, Allah will protect you from the people. Yes. Allah will protect you from the people. Meaning that if you are doing the work of da’wah and you are, you know, if somebody wants to attack you or to harm you, Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā will not allow that harm to happen. Please understand this doesn’t necessarily mean that you will not be, you know, physically troubled in some way. That might be and that might be a means of khair and barakah for you and me. For example, if I am killed while I am doing the work of da’wah, then Insha’Allah this is Shahada. So, even though on the face of it, I have been killed. So, people might say, oh, that’s a sad thing. But in fact, it’s a wonderful thing because if that happens to you and me, while we are spreading goodness in the world, then alhamdulillah that death is a death which is to be desired. To die in a state where we are worshipping Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā and where thanks to our efforts, the world is a nicer place. And the people will say that it was a good thing that this person lived among us. That is what we need to do.
So, anyone who wants to do da’wah but is not praying Tahajjud cannot do da’wah. Make Tahajjud fard on yourself. This is so critically important. And this can be applied across the board. You can say that a person who wants something but is not praying Tahajjud and making du’a for it doesn’t really want it. He is only pretending. Because if he really wanted it, then how come he is not praying Tahajjud and asking Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā? So, the important thing is to understand that Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā gave Tahajjud Rasūlullāh as a gift for him to be constantly connected with Allah and to draw from the strength of Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā to convey the message of Islam to the people. So anyone, as I mentioned again, I repeat, anyone who wants to do da’wah but is not praying Tahajjud cannot do da’wah. He is not serious. So make Tahajjud fard on yourself. No matter where you are. No matter if you are travelling. No matter anything. Do not begin the day except with Tahajjud.
I remind myself and you that nothing comes without effort. If you seek ease and comfort, you will learn nothing and you will gain nothing. This is the law that Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā made. Like the law of physics for example. Gravity is the law of physics. And Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā showed us that if you want to truly succeed, then you have to be clear in your mind that you are willing to make the effort. Because if you don’t make the effort, you will not succeed.
So as they say, no pain, no gain. So we need to be very clear in our mind that we are willing to take the pain because that is how we will gain the rida, the pleasure of Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā.
So very quick thumbnail recap. IQRA, Iqra Qom Qom. This is the principle. Iqra as in read, learn, acquire sufficient knowledge to be able to convey Islam correctly in the right way to the rest of the world. The second one is to stand in the night Wa Rattilil Qur’āni Tartīlan
That we
That Allah said “Qūmil-Layla” To stand in the night, full night except a little bit and then to recite Quran in a beautiful tone. So this is the way of connecting with Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. Then ask Allah for His help. In the Hajj. And the third Qom is to Qum fa-anzir. Now the work starts. So stand up now and warn the people. Explain to them the problems of
not following Islam, not following the Deen and that they must practice and this will help them to Insha’Allah practice the Deen in a way which is beautiful and which will result in the pleasure of Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā.
Wa sallallahu ‘alā nabiyyil Karīm wa ‘alā ālihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi raḥmatik ya A’rūf wa Raḥīm