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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
And peace and blessings be upon the honor of the Prophets and Messengers, Muhammad and the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings be upon him and upon his family, and peace and blessings be upon him and upon his family.
My brothers and sisters, one of the things that I have noticed sometimes is that
especially for people who are reverts or who come into Islam or realize that they are Muslims
and then they start practicing, is a level of arrogance.
Where they start believing that they are better than their erstwhile friends,
they are better than other people around them, and so on.
Now this is something which is highly regrettable.
And so I thought let me speak a bit about this.
The key thing to understand is that hidayah or guidance is from Allah.
It is from Allah.
And if somebody starts practicing Islam,
it is not because of something good about them
or something special that they have done or some way in which they are special.
It is just that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala,
decided to bless them and so Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala blessed them.
Now, therefore the thing to do, the correct attitude is an attitude of great humility and humbleness
to say that, oh Allah, I really don’t know.
I mean, I know I don’t deserve this, but you chose to give it to me.
And therefore I am most grateful to you.
And then what I need to do is to try my best.
I need to try my best to live up to that.
So if Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has blessed me,
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has caused me to be guided to Him.
Then what we need to do and think is to say,
well, let me not lose this position of favor with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.
Now, therefore the focus must be on yourself to say,
okay, Alhamdulillah, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala was merciful on me,
merciful to me, and Allah Ta’ala guided me to Himself.
And therefore I am going to make sure that I do not lose this position of favor with Allah.
Now, the way to,
to keep the position of favor is to focus on two very important things.
To obey Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in every single thing that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala commanded us.
And to do that in the way of Rasulullah , which is the Sunnah.
So I obey Allah the way the Rasulullah obeyed Allah.
Not according to however I felt and I believed,
not however I think and not according to some YouTube videos,
videos that I’m watching, none of that.
I will focus and I will,
I will, you know, be with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
and I will obey Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in the way of Muhammad Rasulullah ,
because that is the only way which is certified,
which is absolutely sure to be acceptable to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.
The thing to understand with regard to dawah is that dawah is,
is the sign of true compassion.
And the biggest sign of true compassion.
Think about this.
If a person feeds one homeless person one time, right?
Just one meal, a homeless person who’s need,
who need a food, somebody gives them one meal.
Now, obviously that one meal will not last him forever.
It lasts him for that one time.
You know,
the next meal time he or she is ready to eat again.
The next day they are ready to eat again.
So all you have done is to alleviate their difficulty or their suffering for a short period of time.
But anyone looking at that will say,
Swa Allah, what a wonderful kind person this is.
They have helped this person and they are kind to that person.
That’s just for a one time thing which happened one time.
How about somebody who is working,
who is concerned about,
who is shedding tears in the night for that,
who is doing their best to save someone from the hellfire,
which is permanent problems,
permanent suffering.
Somebody who is working to free someone from permanent suffering,
not something which is temporary, right?
Now, how about that?
Now, this is why dawah,
inviting people to Islam,
is the greatest,
greatest service that you can do to anyone, right?
So, this is something that we should always keep in mind.
So, when somebody is giving dawah,
this is what they are doing.
Now, that service cannot be given,
compassion cannot come in the guise of arrogance.
That service cannot be given if you look down on people.
So, many times I have heard this conversation
where people,
especially living in this country,
especially living in the West,
they say things like,
oh, these kuffar,
all of these are kafirs,
and their lifestyle is so bad,
so shameless,
so this, so that.
Now, I say, hold on a second,
just stop a minute.
First and foremost,
in Islam,
to call a non-Muslim kafir is haram.
It is not done.
It is something which Rasulullah never did.
It is something which is,
Allah mentioned in the Quran,
as a description of those who hide the truth.
There is nothing to say that you can go to somebody
and say you are a kafir.
This is not Islam.
This is just arrogant, ignorant talk.
So, that’s the first thing.
So, that’s one.
Second thing is,
if you look at a culture,
if you look at just one piece of that culture,
then saying that these people are so shameless
and they are so,
all kinds of negative stuff,
this is,
this is just to becoming,
just making yourself blind
to all the good things in this culture.
This, for example,
take America,
take, you know, most of the West,
you will find generally your interaction with people,
I have traveled so much,
you know, I have lived in America,
of course, the last six years.
I have traveled to Australia,
I have traveled in England extensively,
and so on.
Now, my experience of people,
is that,
I mean, I’m unique,
I mean, I’ve never had a bad experience.
This is something which I am most grateful
to Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala for.
But I’m saying,
even if I don’t take my own personal life experience,
if I ask most people,
most people,
they say,
by and large,
mostly our experiences have always been very good.
I know,
I know,
I see an instance where,
in Australia,
one of our friends,
forgot their new,
brand new,
in those days,
Blackberry phone,
Blackberry phone,
in the washroom,
and came back home,
everything else and gone.
This washroom was in a mall,
it’s a big,
there was a,
there’s a very big,
in Melbourne,
there’s a very big conference center,
next to that,
attached to that is a mall.
So, there are thousands of people up and down in that place,
and this person forgot their phone,
in the washroom.
They went there to,
you know,
to make good and so on.
And,
they came back home,
and now,
what’s the chance of finding that,
that Blackberry?
Almost zilch,
absolutely no chance.
But,
lo and behold,
next day they get a phone call,
and this person says,
you know,
I think I have your phone,
please come and take it.
It was a shopkeeper,
whose shop was close to the,
to the washroom.
Somebody went to the washroom,
found the phone,
took it to the shopkeeper,
and said,
look,
I found this in the washroom,
trace the person,
and give it back,
and that’s it.
Now,
imagine,
I mean,
I even,
I was speaking that day,
and I said,
if anyone wants to lose their phone,
do it in Melbourne,
because you’re sure to get it back,
right?
And,
another way,
I said,
if you really want to truly lose your phone,
don’t do it in Melbourne,
because you always get it back.
You’ll never lose it.
Someone will give it back to you.
Now,
this is,
this is my experience of,
very hospitable,
very kind,
very thankful,
very,
very,
you know,
honest,
and,
I went to a store in Perth.
I went to this,
store,
this,
grocery store,
big,
huge grocery store,
and the thing which I noticed was,
that there were no,
checkout counters.
No checkout counters.
Nobody sitting there.
I said,
amazing.
So,
you come to the place where you normally would have checked out,
you checked out,
and there is a,
an iPad kind of keypad,
which is,
embedded in the wall.
So,
you are supposed to enter in that,
what you bought,
and the pricing.
And it gives you a total.
And then you swipe your card,
and you pay.
And there’s no one there watching.
I’m sure there are cameras and stuff,
but,
there’s no one there stopping you,
watching you,
and there are no,
there are no,
no,
nothing there to,
prevent you from just picking up something and going home.
So,
I had bought some grapes.
I had bought one,
one kilogram of grapes.
So,
I asked my friend who was with me,
I said,
supposing I,
instead of,
whatever,
if I put in there half a kilogram,
what happens?
He said,
nothing happens.
You will pay for half a kilogram.
So,
I said,
I mean,
I’ve also picked up a couple of other things.
If I,
if I miss out one of those,
and I don’t,
and I do not enter,
that in the,
in the iPad,
in that whatever,
you know,
keypad,
what happens?
He said,
nothing happens.
And the chances of,
because I have all that in my bag,
even if there is a camera,
the camera cannot check the individual thing which I have in my bag.
So,
I can actually go there.
I can pick up four things.
I can pay for two.
I can pay for one.
And I walk home with the other two or three,
four,
two or three things free.
He said,
so I said,
I said,
what happened?
He said,
nothing happens.
I said,
how does this store run?
He said,
it runs because people don’t do those things.
Right?
If people do not do those things,
people are,
you know,
they are,
they are,
they are honest.
Now,
does it mean that every single person is honest?
I’m sure they are honest.
I’m sure that,
you know,
a couple of people who will,
for whatever reason,
they will take something and go.
It doesn’t matter.
It’s,
it’s still less than shoplifting,
which happens in,
in other places,
even though they have all kinds of security arrangements.
So,
I was in a bus.
You get into a bus.
There is no conductor who’s checking your seat,
your ticket,
or whatnot.
Even the driver,
in many places,
you pay the driver,
or you pay the driver,
or you pay the driver,
or you pay the driver,
or you pay the driver,
or you pay the driver,
or you pay the driver,
you put your money in that,
in some contraption,
which is next to the driver.
Here,
even,
not even that.
We just get in and get out,
and you put some money there,
next to the driver.
He’s not asking you,
how much did you put in there?
You,
you traveled so,
this distance,
this was the fare.
Nothing.
And if you don’t put anything,
and you walk out,
nothing.
People are honest.
So,
now I’m saying,
here is a situation.
Now,
I live in this,
in this town of West Springfield.
My neighbors,
all of them are white.
My neighbors,
when on my,
on the day when we put,
put our garbage bins out,
for the garbage to be collected,
any day which,
if I don’t bring in my garbage bin,
very quickly after it has been collected,
my neighbors bring it,
and put it in,
in front of my garage.
They won’t just leave it on the,
on the street.
Right?
When they take their garbage in,
if I,
if my garbage bin is there,
they take it and bring it inside.
Now,
I do the same thing for them.
When I go,
when we go out anywhere,
we have this thing.
If they go out,
they call us,
and tell us,
we’re out for the next five,
six days,
seven days,
whatever.
Can you please keep an eye out on our,
on our house?
And we do the same thing.
Now,
people are kind,
people are considerate,
people are,
you,
you want to cross the road,
absolutely no problem.
Anywhere you just stop,
on by the side of the road,
you know,
wanting to cross it,
cars will stop.
Cars will stop,
people will,
will wave you across.
So,
I’m saying here now,
we have a culture here,
people are not Muslim,
yes.
But,
but,
and when you say shameless,
this and that,
that is their culture.
They’re not trying to be shameless.
This is,
this is how they dress and so on.
But,
at the same time,
they are honest,
they are hardworking,
they are considerate,
they are highly charitable,
they take care of each other,
they take care of you.
You know,
I mean,
I can,
I can make a long list of all that is good in this culture.
Now,
you want to trash all of that and say,
these are kuffar,
these are,
these are shameless,
these,
Allah Allah khutab.
This is not Islam.
This is not Islam.
Please,
let us understand this.
Rasulullah did not go around calling people kuffar.
Right?
He did not go around saying,
all these Qohesh are so bad and they’re,
they’re miserable and they’re,
no.
He,
his whole thing was,
Ya Allah,
give them hidayat,
Ya Allah,
give them hidayat.
He is,
they say he went to Abu Jahl’s house,
the worst of them,
the,
the one who was his,
his worst enemy.
He went to his house.
They say,
over a hundred times,
can you imagine this?
Over a hundred times.
One day in the middle of the night,
it’s,
it’s,
it’s bitterly cold,
it’s raining,
it’s,
you know,
there’s a wind and so on.
And Abu Jahl has a knock on his door.
Who,
who is there?
Muhammad .
He says,
what are you doing here?
Look at this weather.
I mean,
why are you here at this time of the night?
He says,
I thought that maybe at this time I come and,
and present Islam to you.
Maybe,
maybe you will accept it.
I mean,
these are not just,
you know,
random stories for us to,
for us to think about and say,
this is this beautiful religion.
This is this beautiful Nabi
.
How can I try to be like him?
And the way you can try to be like him is
to be compassionate,
is to be kind,
is to be considerate,
is to make sure that,
you know,
we not only do we not harm anybody,
but we also help people consciously.
I remind myself and you that Islam,
you know,
Islam,
the way to the heart,
to the heart is through the belly,
right?
You convert people,
you convert people to your way of thinking.
You win hearts.
Islam is spread by the winning of hearts,
not by the cutting of heads,
right?
What’s the point of a bunch of dead people?
They’re not going to,
they won’t start the Kalima.
You are,
you win hearts by you,
and thereby you convince people that your way is a better way
than whatever,
whatever way they had been following.
So I remind myself and you,
let us become compassionate.
Let us become kind.
Let us become forgiving.
Let us remove arrogance.
Arrogance is a greased slide into Jahannam.
This is what Shaitan does with people who come to Islam.
He takes them the shortest route,
the shortest and fastest route into Jahannam
by making them arrogant.
So people think they are so great.
Oh,
you know,
they’re so bad,
so the whole time you see me,
you’re criticizing others.
You are in effect.
You’re saying I am better than them.
I am better than them is what Shaitan said.
He said,
I am better than him.
Adam,
you created me from fire and you created him from clay,
and that landed him in Jahannam forever.
Please let us be kind and considerate and compassionate
and humble,
humble,
humble.
Allah is the one who guided us.
Not anybody else.
Allah is the one who guided us.
This is the only thing that we have to remember.
Not anybody else.
And Allah did not guide us because there is something intrinsically fantastic about us.
Allah guided us in spite of the fact that we were as bad and worse than most people.
But Allah in His wisdom,
He chose to be kind to us.
He chose to be merciful to us.
And therefore He guided us.
Let us be hugely grateful for that.
And let us then do what pleases Allah ,
not what pleases us.
Let us be kind and considerate and present Islam.
Let us not distribute.
Let us not seek forgiveness against ourselves or the left and the right in the world.
Let us be grateful and considerate to God and to His
Ones.
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citizens and look at how many people are standing before the American embassies in different
countries wanting to migrate here or wanting to come here, you will get the answer, right?
So please, let us not do that.
Let us treat this country and these people and whoever we come across, look at the good
things of them.
Look at the good things.
Everyone has faults.
Let’s not get focused on the faults.
Let’s look at the good things.
And Alhamdulillah, if you see the faults, remember that there was a time when you had
all of those faults and more.
That’s why they say every sinner has a future and every saint has a past, right?
So if you think you are a saint, remember there was a time when you were not a saint.
You were a shaitan.
Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la is the one who saved you.
So let us not go back to the shaitani awsaf and shaitani qualities of looking down on
others.
We do not look down on others.
We look at ourselves and we constantly thank Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la.
For making us and guiding us to be what we are.
And we ask Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la to improve our condition.