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Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim al-hamdulillah, he Rabbi l-Alamin. Wa sallam wa sallam a’ala, ash-shara fi lam-vye wa l-wursalin. Muhammadu Rasulullah, insallAllah allih, he wa alaihi wa sallam, he wa sallam. Just leave and kassir and kassir. Afamab ad-umabratun sistus. We continue with our series on dhava and the right way of doing dhava in shā’a Llāh, we ask Allah SWT to help us to do the dhāvata wa sallam in a way that is helpful and beneficial and which results in presenting islam correctly and accurately in the most beautiful way possible for the whole of the world in shā’a Llāh.
Now, what is a flag? A flag represents a nation. It represents a country, it represents a nation. It’s a symbol of ideology of nationhood. A flag is a flag when it is flying on top of the flagpole and there it is solution. A flag is not a flag when it is hanging on a closed line after it has been washed. On a closed line, it’s a coloured piece of cloth.
The identity of the flag is unique. It is recognized by that identity and that is probably unconfidently displayed. It is not hidden or apologetic. It is out there in the public space symbolising what it stands for.
So, my question to you, my brothers and sisters in Islam, is, are you proud of your religion? Are you proud of your religion? Are you confident about your religion? Do you love your religion? And that is the reason why you must learn your religion because only knowledge can give us confidence. When you have knowledge, you say, I hope someone asks me a question. When you are ignorant, you say, what if someone asks me a question? What will I do? And you have to run and hide.
You know, I was, many years ago, I think it was 1994. I was in the United States and I was teaching a course for GE in a place called the Peachtree Resort. Peachtree Resort in Atlanta, Georgia. We finished the course one day and all of us, the facilitators, consultants, we gathered in the coffee shop. And one of our colleagues, he said that there is a cook training session also going on here and there are some of those facilitators, trainers who are friends of mine so can I invite them here to join us? And of course, we said, of course, absolutely, please do.
So he went and called them and about eight of them came. So once we had all settled down, the waiter came to take the drinks orders and every single one of the cook trainers when he was asked or she was asked, what will you have? They said, cook. So the waiter said, I’m very sorry. We don’t have coke. We have Pepsi. Can I get you a Pepsi? They said no. He said, cook. He said, well, I’m very sorry but I do not have coke. We have a agreement with Pepsi and we have only Pepsi. We do not have coke. So I apologize. Can I get you Pepsi instead? They said no, cook.
So I mean, it got very embarrassing. So this person says, can I get you anything else? And he said that since we are unable to give you what you want, whatever you order will be on the house free. So can I get you? What can I get you? And then he said, you know, we’ve all kind of milkshakes and drinks and tea and coffee in it. They said, no, cook. I mean, the guy was, we felt sorry for the poor guy but you know, what do you do? I mean, there’s nothing to more to be said. As I said, it became quite embarrassing but this was the reality. They said, we will have only coke.
Now I’m thinking to myself, here is a bunch of people, most of them do not even work for coke but they are in a coke program and they absolutely refuse to take or to drink anything other than coke. So what does that tell you about their confidence in their product, right? What does that tell you about their confidence in their product?
Now my question is that do we have, as Muslims, do we have such confidence in our religion? Are we willing to practice it openly, clearly without apology? We are not, we are not being arrogant about it but we are being very, very confident about this. Now can are we ready to do that, right? Are we ready to do that?
So this is the point that I want to say to you and to remind myself that if you want to sell something, the number one requirement is that you need to be confident about it yourself. You cannot sell something that you are not confident about yourself. This is the, this is the, you know, ultimate reality. You can only sell what you are confident about, nothing else.
So this is the, the thing that we need to, to remind ourselves as far as the Dhavat of Islam is concerned and that’s the reason why we need to, we need to study and learn our religion. The question I ask myself and ask you to ask yourself is what do you stand for as a Muslim? Ask, ask yourself this question and say, what do I stand for as a Muslim? What do I represent? Because that is the, that is what the world is asking.
Today we are living in a world which is, which seems to be more and more hostile and Islamophobic, the word got invented, right? I mean, I can remember this is a very, one of the most recent words which got invented Islamophobia, right? And you can, we can ask ourselves and say, why did this word even get invented? How come, you know, in the hostility against Islam and Muslim is nothing new? But today it’s got to a point where a new word has been invented.
So what do you do? How do you deal with this? Because many people ask this question, they say, what shall I do? You know, I’m trying to be a good Muslim, I’m trying to practice my religion, but I’m facing this kind of hostility everywhere I go. So what must I do? And the short answer is do what Rasulullah, he salallahu alayhi salam did?
Because Islamophobia or hostility against Islam and Muslims, as I said, is nothing new. It started from day one. It is 1500 years old. It started from day one. It started from the minute Rasulullah salam stood on Safa and called the people Wa Subhaha. And they came running and he told them that if you do not leave the worshipping of idols, if you do not leave the worshipping of idols, think which you made with your own hands and start worshipping the one who made you, then you will be in trouble. Because you will die one day and you will face Allah Subh’a’a’a’a.
It doesn’t matter what you believe. Whether you believe that is true or not, it is going to happen because that’s the thing about reality. Reality is that which does not depend on belief for its existence. Reality is real. Whether we believe in it or not, it is still real. And it happens.
So when we meet Allah Subh’a’a’a’, we will be asked, who did you worship? When we go into our graves, the first question, the very first question of the grave is Madrabuk. Who is your rub? Who is your creator, your sustainer, your maintainer, your protector? We know who it is and that is Allah Subh’a’a’a’a’, the question is, did you accept that? Did you believe that? Did you live by that? Meaning did you obey him? Or you obeyed your own desires? You obeyed your own knuffs. What did you do? This is the question. And this is the question that we will be asked when we meet Allah Subh’a’a’a’a.
So I remind myself when you that it makes sense to prepare for that. And therefore to build our connection with Allah Subh’a’a’a’a’. Remember this work of the Allah you are not doing it for ourselves. And if you are doing it for yourself, then beware. Make it the final thought. Right? If you are doing this work so that you would be known as this great die of Islam, this great person who used to speak so powerfully about Islam, this great speaker, that is this wonderful desire that people have to become speakers.
Everybody wants to know why some young fellow will come to me and say, please teach me how to be a speaker. So I tell them, make it the final thought, never ask to be a speaker. Ask Allah Subh’a’a’a’ to make you a doer. A person who acts, a person who practices Islam, a practitioner, a doer. And then from your practice and your action, if Allah Subh’a’a’a’a’a’ wishes, then he will turn you into somebody who also invites.
So the rule is be a flag. A flag doesn’t talk, but the flag is in the right place. Visible, confident, open, not hiding. And therefore the flag is saluted. We ask Allah Subh’a’a’a’ to help us to be flag bearers, standard bearers of Islam. In all our actions, in all our speech, in everywhere that we may be.
O Salallahu alaikum wa rehi wa sallhbi a’jma’im b’rahmatigaram wa rehi.