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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلات والسلام على شرف الأنبياء والمرسلين محمد الرسول الله صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم تسليم كثيرا.
My dear brothers and sisters, friends, I was asked to deliver this address in Urdu because most people understand it. However, looking around, I see that the majority of you here are English speakers. You seem to be from our older generation or members of our mosque community who prefer English, even though they should know Urdu. Since their native language is not understood well by them either, I ask: Should I speak in Urdu or English?
English… half English, half English.
So, Insha’Allah, since you understand, we will proceed in English. In between, there will be some Urdu. Anyway, let us begin. First, I offer infinite thanks to Allah Almighty, and I request that you also express gratitude.
I am most grateful to Allah and I ask you also to be grateful to Allah that He chose to have us be born and exist in the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ, and to possess that awareness and confidence that we belong to the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ. This is an honor that the Prophets, such as Musa ﷺ, prayed for. They said, “O Allah, make me among the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ.” Yet, Allah did not accept that prayer. Instead, Allah told Musa ﷺ, “I have made you the Prophet of one of the greatest nations, but this specific honor belongs to the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ; you are not part of it.” Consequently, Allah granted us this unique distinction. Therefore, being aware of this status and constantly thanking Allah is extremely important.
Now, there is a benefit to having a sense of honor, but there is also a responsibility attached to it. The responsibility lies in upholding the position of honor on which you stand. For example, if you are an educated person, a university professor, a PhD holder, or a scholar like a Mufti, and then you walk around saying wrong things or abusing others, people will question your worth. They might say, “What is the use of having this education? Look at how you speak!” If a normal person says such things, no harm is done because they lack any special standing. However, if someone with high status behaves poorly, it becomes a major issue.
So, if you are an educated person, a Mufti, a Faqih (jurist), an Alim (scholar), a professor, or a doctor, and then you speak using foul language, tell bad jokes, or behave in ways inconsistent with your education, people will object. They will ask, “All your education, what is its value?” And, “Is this how an educated person speaks?”
Therefore, any position of honor demands a corresponding responsibility to uphold that honor and behave according to it. We are the Ummatis of Muhammad ﷺ. There is no other position of honor superior to this.
And therefore, our number one responsibility is to behave in a way that fulfills the duty of being part of the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ.
My brothers and sisters, we exist in this world, and everything we have—from the air we breathe, to the water we drink, to the food we eat—is from Allah. This includes our parents, teachers, children, families, countries, education, honor, authority, wealth, health, and even illness or poverty. I mention both blessings and trials because they all come from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. All of these are the Ni’mat (blessings) of Allah. The breathing we take, the drinking water, the eating, the health we possess or lack, the wealth or poverty, the authority or compulsion, our children, wives, and students—all are Allah’s blessings. Everything.
But amidst all these blessings, Allah has emphasized only one specific blessing above the rest. Although everything is a blessing, Allah stated specifically: “Look at this; this is my greatest Ni’mah.”
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِنْ كَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ
Indeed, Allah has blessed the believers with a great favor by raising their Messenger from among themselves to recite His verses to them, purify them, teach them the Book (Quran), and impart wisdom. For indeed, they were previously in clear error and misguidance.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala explained four things regarding this gift:
1. Yatlu alayhim ayatihi: He sent someone to recite His verses for them.
2. Yazakkihim: To purify them—both outwardly and inwardly.
3. Yu’allimuhumu al-Kitaba: To teach them the Book, the Quran-e-Majeed.
4. Wa al-Hikma: And to give them wisdom.
He also mentioned that before this, they were clearly misguided. So, I would like to tell you that this verse praises the elevated status of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. In this verse, the Prophet is described as having given us responsibilities. With every responsibility he was entrusted with, we have a concurrent responsibility attached to it.
So what is our job? Our job is to listen to that Tilawat carefully and understand it. This is our tragedy; we have separated listening from understanding. We often listen to the Quran as if it were a song or an empty ritual. At the beginning of any meeting, whether corporate or otherwise, we recite some Quran just for show. Then the Qari recites beautifully, and we say “MashaAllah.” But what does it mean? You didn’t understand a word because you do not know Arabic. Is there a difference between a singer singing and a Qari reciting without comprehension?
Please understand that learning Arabic is far from being a Muslim’s obligation in the way many think, but making an effort is essential. I am not a Mufti, though Bartham here is one. I am giving my opinion. At least make the effort to understand enough so that we grasp what the Imam is reciting during Salah. Even if we cannot converse fluently in Arabic, at least we must know the meaning of the Surahs. Why? Because Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was sent to purify us. So what is our responsibility? To submit to that purification.
Our souls and hearts will be purified when we stop doing Ghibah (backbiting), slander, lying, cheating, yelling, screaming, exhibiting anger, and cursing. We must remove our love for the Dunya (world) and replace it with love for the Akhirah (Hereafter). This is how we treat each other—our Mu’amalat (transactions) and Mu’asharat (social interactions). Our Akhlaq (character) matters immensely.
What does our home look like internally? What do our weddings look like? Hyderabadi weddings are famous, and I recently attended one in Chennai. Both families were very wealthy, yet the wedding showed complete segregation between men and women. There was no ostentation, no music. The food was simple: biryani, brinjal curry, some kebabs, and roti. That’s it. It is doable; it is possible to live according to the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ if we have the Niyat (intention).
Wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain wa rahmatika yaa humar rahimeen. Walhamdulillahi wabil alamin.