 Try to please leave that gap in front of the door completely open for the brothers that come late so they can adjust immediately. Yeah, more. If you can come, there's space. More and more. If you can make some more space by the door, please, thank you. There's plenty of space on this side. Al-Fatiha. And O the two sides of each believer and believer, I swear by Allah, I swear by Allah, whoever touches you will be safe. And we are safe, who has come? Who has come to you? O our Lord, O our Lord, we have been with you for a long time. And we have been through a lot. Allah said in His Noble Book of Judgment, and His Truth, and He is the most truthful, and He is the most truthful. In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. I am for those who fear their hearts for the remembrance of Allah, who fear their hearts for the remembrance of Allah, and what has come down from the Truth. Sween, you're gathering with a loud remembrance upon Muhammad, as a gift to the soul of Sayyidi and Mawlana Al-Qasim, recite the second Salawat. As a gift to the soul of Sayyidi and Mawlana Abu Abdullah Al-Hussain, recite the third Salawat with the loudest of your voices. What prompted me to choose my topic this evening was a discussion that I had with a young man not too long ago, a question that he asked of me. He came to me and he said, Sayyid, unfortunately I have been involved in excessive amount of sinning, and I often find myself leading a life of sinning, and I often find that my lifestyle has turned into a lifestyle of a sinful human being, as if I'm inseparable from sin. I have committed the major sins, and I constantly find myself committing those major sins repeatedly. Do you believe that it is appropriate for me to take part in the Majlis of Imam Hussain? Do you believe it's appropriate for a person like me to be present in such places? And my answer to him was indeed, if you choose to purify yourself, to purify your heart, to purify your entire existence, to purify your soul and your body, then this is the place for you. And if you choose to take steps closer to Allah, and begin a new chapter in your life, a life of peace, a life of tranquility, then this is the place for you. Allah SWT in the Holy Quran states, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem, Ya ayyuhal lazeena aamanu dkhulu fa-silmi kaaf fah walatat tabu'u khutwaatil shaytan. O you believers, if you wish to lead a life of harmony, if you wish to lead a life of tranquility and a peace of mind, then enter into the obedience of Allah and take yourself out of the disobedience of Allah. Ya ayyuhal lazeena aamanu dkhulu fa-silmi kaaf fah and turn to peace, welcome peace into your life, walatat tabu'u khutwaatil shaytan and do not follow the footsteps of the shaytan. Therefore I told him if you like to start a new chapter, a good life, then this is the place for you. And I will tell you why. Because Rasulullah SAW has stated and a very famous tradition, and a very famous hadith, Inna al-Hussein misbah ul-Huda wa safina tunnajat. Hussein is the torch of enlightenment and he is also the ark of salvation. What do I mean? Hussein is the torch of enlightenment. You see brothers and sisters, we live in a dark life. We live in a very dark world. And imagine if they placed you in a very dark room and this room was full of obstacles. This room was full of hurtful things. And they told you you have to get in from one side and get out from the other. Why do I resemble the staff to a room, a dark room? Because they ask the prophet Nuh, they said to him you're the longest living prophet of God. And when Azra'il came to take his soul away, he said to him, Nuh, you have lived for 1,500 years. Describe this life to me. He said I was placed in a room with two doors. I got in from one and I am exiting from the other. That's it, 1,500 years. Let's not be happy with the 70 and 80. They will pass very fast. So this is a dark room full of obstacles, full of temptations, full of desires and deviations. And we need a light switch. We need to turn on the light so we can refrain from those obstacles so that we do not hurt ourselves. And that light switch is Imam Abu Abdullah al-Hussain. Why does Rasulullah say Hussain illuminates our lives? Let me give you an example. When Imam Hussain left Mecca to Karbala, his long journey from Saudi Arabia, from Arabian Peninsula, all the way to Iraq, he would camp at rest areas, different rest areas. He stopped at a specific rest area. And it was not time for him to camp. So they asked him, you're camping early today. This is an early rest area. He said to them, don't worry, camp here, rest here. So they rested. And Imam Hussain sent his messenger to a man by the name of Zahir ibn al-Qayn. His messenger came to Zahir ibn al-Qayn. Who was Zahir ibn al-Qayn? He was ibn al-Qayn. He was amongst the most famous of the Tabe'een. And he was by far the richest man in the Arabian Peninsula. And outside the Arabian Peninsula. He was possibly one of the richest men alive in his time. He owned property all over the Arabian Peninsula, outside the Arabian Peninsula. He had cattle, he had camels, he had horses. And he was camping near the camp of Imam Hussain. And he was having lunch with his wife. So the messenger came and he said, Zahir ibn al-Qayn, he said, that's me. He said, I am the messenger of Hussain ibn al-Ali ibn Rasulillah. He said, what is the message? He says, the message is Hussain is nearby camping. And he's asked to see you. He's asked to meet you. Zohair ibn al-Qayn, the books describing the Sahaba and the Tabe'een, state, kan othmani ul-Hawa. What does othmani ul-Hawa mean? You know that when othman was killed, the death of othman was attributed to Imam Ali, wrongfully. And that led to the battle of Saf'een and that led to the battle of Jamal, the battle of Saf'een by Muawiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, and the battle of Jamal by Aisha, the Dar of Abu Bakr. The most hurtful times in the Islamic history, hundreds of thousands of casualties, because they accused Amir al-Mu'mineen of the murder of othman. Anyhow, this is a part of history that needs to be examined in a different lecture. So this man was othmani ul-Hawa, meaning he was amongst those seeking the vengeance of othman from whom? From Imam Ali. So he was against Ahl al-Bayt, he was against Imam Ali, he stood against Imam Ali and Imam Hassan al-Hussain and Jamal al-Suf'een. And he was also known to be amongst the bravest of Arabs. So he said to the messenger, go back to Hussain, I don't want to see Hussain, I have nothing to do with Hussain. Let me carry on my food, eating my food when he left. And the messenger remained for a little bit, maybe taking care of his cattle before he went back to Imam Hussain. His wife, Zuhair's wife, said to Zuhair, ya Zuhair, this is the messenger of the man who his name, his grandfather's name is mentioned every day in your adhan. This is the messenger of the man who his grandfather is the essence of your adhan. You just did adhan, you just prayed. This is the messenger of that man's grandfather, how can you refuse him? How can you say no to him? So he was moved, he was inspired. And I tell you, this lady needs to be the inspiration of the woman in the world today. And especially those who attribute themselves to the school of Ahl al-Bayt. And those who attribute themselves to the camp of Zaynab and Hussain, why? Because today as a wife, the most important thing for me should not be if my husband's company grows, if his bank account becomes larger by the day, if our house becomes bigger, if our cars are more lavish and more comfortable and our vacations are instead of twice a year, four times a year. No, what I should care of is my husband's faith, my husband's iman, my husband's persistence on the side of Haqq and justice and his defense of the position of Ahl al-Bayt. This lady inspired her husband. She said to him, go and see what Hussain wants from you. So this man, Othmaneel Hawa, he goes into the tent of Imam Hussain and he speaks to Imam Hussain for several moments only, only. And he comes back to his wife and he tells his wife, listen, for me it's a done deal, I would like to divorce you and I would like to give you all my wealth. Everything that I own, I will write it under your name. You're free to go. She said, why? He said, because I from now on will be joining the camp of Abu Abdullah al-Hussain. And the camp of Abu Abdullah al-Hussain, there's an inescapable death. Yazid has surrounded Hussain and he has ordered for Hussain to be finished. And I have decided to be on the side of Haqq. I have decided to be on the side of justice. I have decided to serve the grandson of Hussain, you're free to go. She said to him, Zuhair, you think it's that easy? You will go on the side of the man and I will become a servant of the woman of al-Muhammad. We will go together. This is when Rasulullah meant, Hussain illuminates lives. Hussain changes lives. And then Rasulullah says, And he is that ship of salvation. He is that escape boat, that rescue boat. What do I, we hear this hadith so often. What does it mean? You see back in the time of Rasulullah, people sometimes go on ships and the ship breaks and it sinks and they all die. There is one tiny bit of hope left in those who their boat breaks. What is it? The rescue boat. If a rescue boat happens to be nearby then they can get rescued and their lives will be saved. Rasulullah says, Hussain is that rescue boat. For those who are sinful, for those who have been separated from Allah, for those who have created long gaps between them and their Lord, hop on the rescue boat of Hussain. And Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq says, We are all the ships of salvation. We are all the rescue boats. However, But the rescue boat of my grandfather Hussain is much larger and it's much faster. Imam Hussain cures the physical illnesses and the metaphysical illnesses. Not too long ago, I was in Karbala and a man came to my grandfather and he said to him, I would like to tell you why is it that I am in Karbala today? He said, I had heard that Imam Hussain, the Majlis of Imam Hussain cures the ill. I've always heard that the ill people, they go to the Majlis of Imam Hussain and they receive cure. So I was, I had cancer and I tried everything. This man lives in Kuwait. He said, I went to the United States. I went to the UK. I tried every doctor. Nothing would help me. So he said, I had a Shi'a neighbor. A neighbor of the followers of Ahl al-Bayt. He said to me, listen, I have a Majlis in my house tonight. Come to this Majlis. Maybe Allah will cure you in the Majlis. So he said, this was my last hope. He said, I went to the Majlis and in the Majlis there was the remembrance of Imam Hussain. He said, I couldn't cry but the person sitting next to me was crying. He said, I put my hands on his tears. And I put them on my tongue. He said, then five days later I went to the doctor. I went to the physician. I did my exams again. I re-examined myself. And the doctor said to me, this, the report from a month ago, two weeks ago, is incompatible with the reports today. There is nothing wrong with you. You may think you have had cancer but you don't have anything right now. You're free to go. And that is, that is what motivated me to come to the shrine of Imam Hussain. To thank Imam Hussain. So Imam Hussain, no doubt. No doubt. He is the cure for the physical illnesses and you all know this. We have no doubt. But Imam Hussain is also the cure to the metaphysical illnesses, to the spiritual illnesses, to the illnesses of the mind, to the illnesses of the soul. He came. He was the general. He had 10,000 people under him. He came to Omar ibn Sa'ad. He said, what is that strategy tomorrow? What are we going to do? He said, the strategy is we will kill Hussain. We will behead him and take his head to Ibn Ziyad. He said to him, are you serious? He said, yes. He said, no. He said, no. He said, no. He said, no. He said, no. He said, no. He said to him, are you serious? He said, yes. He got out of the tent. He was looking. Drinking. Alcohol. Partying. The theft of religion. Hijacking of the religion. He sat on the back of his horse. He went to the tent of Imam Hussain. He says, He saw some of them in raku'a. Some of them in sujood. Some of them reciting the Quran. He stood right in the middle. And he said, That's a simple question. I see myself on one side the half fire and on one side paradise. And I will never choose anything above paradise. I came to Imam Hussain. On the several hours before the battle. He came to him. Imam Hussain sat to him, Who are you? He said, I am the cause of all this misery. Imam Hussain says, I ask for forgiveness. Allah will forgive you. Therefore those who tonight and the next upcoming nights and the previous nights find themselves stuck in a misery. On one side the camp of Yazid. The lifestyle of Yazid and Maras B. Frank. And on one side Imam Hussain. And the camp of Hussain. The camp of Ali Yun Al Akbar. It's a simple question. Ask yourself. Don't say, I have time. I have many years ahead of me. There is no such thing. As Ra'il will come knocking suddenly. Go. And when we want to examine this topic one of the most beautiful, one of the most mesmerizing verses in the Holy Quran as of Surah Al-Hadeed. What is the verse day? The verse states, Isn't it time for the believers to feel the humility within their hearts for the remembrance of Allah? Number one, why was this verse sent down? Number two, which name is constantly associated with the Tafsir of this verse? Number three, why is it that Allah asks in this verse, hasn't it been time for the believers to change and their hearts to become humble after the remembrance of Allah? Why is it that Allah asks us this question? And number four, what is the state of the khushuq and taksh'a qalubu hamlidhikrillah? And last but not least, number five, what is dhikrullah, the remembrance of Allah? This verse was revealed one year after the migration of Rasulullah from Mecca to Medina and reference to Salman al-Muhammadi. Salman, as you know, was a Megan and after that he became a Jew. He was on the Jewish faith, of the Jewish faith. But what Jewish faith? The Jewish faith was the Abrahamic monotheistic ornament, meaning one God, the day of judgment, usuluddin that we have. And after he was a Jew, he became a Christian. And a long story, you have to examine the life of Salman, insha'Allah, we'll examine the life of Salman in another session. When he became a Christian, this Jewish rabbi and the Christian priest shared with him what they knew of the end of time and the prophet of the end of time and the characteristics and the qualities of the prophet of the end of time. So he became an expert on the Old Testament, on the Talmud, on the Jewish literature, and then on the New Testament, on the Christian literature. But this priest that he was staying with was a corrupt priest. He would sell paradise to people, you know? And he would gather the money in his house. So when the priest died and they all came to his burial, Salman was there and he told them, listen, I know you're all upset that this guy is dead, but you should be happy. They said to him, why? He said, because I'm about to show you something you won't believe. This man, he wasn't selling you property and paradise. He was accumulating the wealth for himself. And he opened the basement of this guy's house and he said this is the gold and the silver and the money. Come and take it. This belongs to you. So of course they were very happy that they got their money back. And Salman continued his journey to the Arabian Peninsula. He became a Muslim. He migrated to Medina. And the Muslim, the companion, sometimes would come and tell him, Salman, tell us of your experiences. What's in there in the Talmud? What's in there in the Bible? What's in there in the Old Testament and New Testament? Tell us of your previous experiences. What did those guys teach you? And Salman sometimes would share this with them. So Allah sent down this ayah. He said, If you seek remedy for this heart, if you want this heart to become humble, then recite the Zikr of Allah, which is the Holy Quran. Now this is the reason why some scholars of course have stated this is the reason why this verse was sent down. Regardless some of the ulama refute this notion. Whose name is associated with this verse? A man by the name of Fudail ibn al-Aiyyan. Go look up Fudail ibn al-Aiyyan. He was one of the most immaculate people that's lived around the years 187 after the Hijrah. He was born in the year 87 after Hijrah and died in the year 178 of the Hijrah. What is the story of this man? The story of the man is that he would intercept caravans. This was his job. He would intercept caravans. He would steal whatever they had. He would take their wealth. And sometimes he would take advantage of them as well. One day he intercepted a caravan that came from Khorasan. He took everything they had. He stripped them off everything they had. And he saw this beautiful Persian woman also there. So he told one of his guys, he said, I want you to follow those guys. See where they're going, where they're going to reside. I want to pay them a visit tonight. And one of his guys, one of his men, took them. He saw where they resided. He came. He told Fudail Ibn al-Aiyyan. This is the house. So Fudail was done robbing everyone and finished everything. He's going to this person's residence. Without any hesitation, he's climbing the wall of the house to break into the house. Who can speak to Fudail? He was a gangster. He has a huge gang. So he was climbing the wall. And as he was climbing the wall, he looked into the house of the neighbor. He saw a man with his Sajjada with his prayer mat under the sky. And the man was reciting the following verse. Hasn't it been time for the believers to feel humility in their hearts? Hasn't it been time for the believers to feel that wake-up call? They are the ones who believe. They fear their hearts for the remembrance of Allah. He froze. He froze. In the middle of the night, seeing a man speaking to Allah, reciting this verse, he froze. He couldn't move. He asked himself, Hasn't it been time? Hasn't it enough for me? And immediately he shouted out, speaking to the man who was asking the question in the verse, Yes, the time has arrived. He got down from the wall. He sat on the horse. He doesn't want to go back to his old life. He's beginning a new life. He went somewhere and he saw a group of people asking, What should we do? Should we move now? Should we move in the morning? Are we okay? Are we going to be safe? He went to them. He said, don't worry about Fudail. Fudail is gone. Fudail is history. They said seriously? You know Fudail? He's dead? He said Fudail is gone. He's dead. He can move the way you like. Fudail will no longer harass you. They said, how do you know? He said, because I am Fudail. I am Fudail. For me, it's over. And Fudail ibn al-Aiyyan went and he became one of the students of Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq. Today the hadiths of Imam Ja'far are narrated to us through him. Some of the hadiths. Some of the mystic orders of Imam al-Sadiq are given to us by Fudail ibn al-Aiyyan. This man. Then Allah asks the question. When we examine the verse, Allah says, Isn't it time for the believers? Why does Allah ask us? Why doesn't Allah say, It's enough, all believers. It's enough for you. And you should take the words of God and become humble. No, Allah asks us so we ask ourselves. I ask myself tonight. You ask yourself tonight. Isn't it enough? I said several nights back to some of my friends. I said an average human being lives approximately 25,550 days. I want every one of you to go and calculate how many days you have over. How many days are gone? How many days you have left? That's it. That's if we reach the average. Sometimes Allah takes us way before the average. Ask yourself, isn't it enough? We sin and we sin and we need the life of a sinner. And we sometimes repent. Yes, sometimes we feel bad and that's why Allah gives us the time. Allah says as long as this person feels bad there is no punishment for him. I'll give him time. Maybe he will repent. Maybe he will come back. And at times, no. We return to the sin and we return to the sin until we become immune to the sin. Until the sin becomes part of our lifestyle. Until the sin takes over our life. Our existence. Then we cannot stop. Then that sin will stay with us for the rest of our life. Mastajirubillah. Allah asks, isn't it enough? Isn't it enough that this sin has become embedded in your life? Where are you headed? One day the Imam was walking in the streets of Medina. He saw a huge palace. And from the palace there was the sound of music. There was the sound of drinking. There was the sound of alcohol. There was the sound of partying. And he saw a lady taking out the garbage. So the Imam was walking. He said to her, Oh lady, who does this house belong to? She said this house belongs to a man by the name of Bishr. He said to her, Ya'amatallah, Abishr is he a free man or a slave? So she said to him, Ya'abdallah, how could he be a slave? Look at his house. Look at his mansion. Look at all the women in there. Look at the party. He said to her, that's what I thought. She said to him, what do you mean? How could he be a servant? He said, I thought he would be the abd of Allah. That's it. He walked away. When she went inside the house, Bishr told her, where were you? She said, I don't know. This man was walking in the street. He said to me, who does this house belong to? I said, Bishr. He said to me, Abishr, I said, no, he is a free man. He said, that's what I thought. He said, then what did he say? He said, if he were to be a slave of Allah, a true abd, he would be ashamed of what he's doing. Bishr, without wearing his shoes, without wearing his sandals, without wearing his clothes, ran out of the house. He went to the Imam, and he said to him, I have changed. For me, it's over. Alam yani, that question was asked of him, and indeed, he passed. And he was known from then on as Bishr al-Haafi. Bishr the bearfoot. He never wore shoes for the rest of his life. And today, if you want to learn mysticism, if you want to learn the closeness to Allah, if you want to learn how an abd truly loves go to Bishr al-Haafi, those personalities, really, we need a whole sermon, we need a whole speech to talk about those personalities. Bada'il ibn al-Aiyyan, Bishr al-Haafi. So Allah asks, and similarly, we have to ask ourselves, is it enough for me? That Allah says that we need to feel the humility in our hearts, the khushu'a. What is khushu'a? What is khushu'a? You see, when we sin, each sin creates a black spot on our heart. We either get to erase it or the black spot becomes bigger and bigger and bigger until it takes over the whole heart. When it takes over the whole heart, the soul dies. And when the soul dies, it could never be resurrected. When the soul dies, that's it. It could never be resurrected. Shim's soul was dead. Omar ibn Sa'ad's soul was dead. Imam Hussain on the Day of Judgment said there's one thing wrong with those guys. Their hearts are dead. And of course, this heart needs to be pure to feel the state of khushu'a. Allah says to Musa, He says, Musa, la tasa'uni ardi wa la samai. The heavens, the skies, the universe, the galaxies, they can never occupy me. Never. However, la tasa'uni qalb abdi al-mu'min. The heart of a believer can occupy me, a small heart. Allah is happy with the small space, believe me. Allah is happy to reside in that small space because it's a genuine space. Because it's a genuine heart. It's a pure heart. Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq, Salawat allahi, states, Anna haram allah, Anna qalb al-mu'min haram allah. The heart of the mu'min is the sanctuary of Allah, is the house of Allah, is the residence of Allah. Fa la tasqun qalbaka ghayr Allah. Don't allow anything else to reside in this heart. Why? Brothers, we have seen many people involved in the worldly desires, the worldly love. And Allah says this in the Holy Qur'an, wa tuhabbun al-mal al-hubban jamma. You love wealth, you love the dunya, al-mal wa al-banoon zina tu al-hayat al-dunya. People that are eager for position, for example. After 40 years remaining in position, the guy still wants to stay in position. After 30 years, he's still fighting for the chair. After 28 years, he still wants to stay in power. They never have enough, because Rasulullah states, the hubbun dunya being infatuated with the dunyas like drinking salt water. You will never feel that your thirst has been quenched. You always want more and more and more. In fact, the more you drink, the more thirsty you become. Or one million dollars. Some people say it, I get the million, and my life is going to change. Wallah, that's a lie. We should cry. Wallah, we should cry. We shouldn't laugh. The million has to become two, and the two has to become three, and the three has to become ten. And until the last moment, until the last moment, the guy, Azrael, he sees Azrael, he's thinking of his business. We never have enough. The dunya will never give us enough. But there is one feeling that will allow this heart to be at ease. To be at ease. The remembrance of Allah will put this heart at ease. Try it. It's a free trial. The remembrance of Allah will put this heart at ease. Allow Allah to occupy this heart. You will be at ease. This is the state of khushu' of the heart. Then Allah says, with the remembrance of Allah, the remembrance of Allah sometimes could be salah. Sometimes could be reciting the Quran. And sometimes it's mere remembrance of Allah. And any remembrance, I tell you, of Allah is good. As long as you have him in mind, that's it. When Musa was going to Mount Sinai, to speak to Allah for 40 days, wa kallamallahu Musa, taklima. He was on his way. There was an old man, he said to Musa, come here. So Musa came. He said to him, what do you need? He said to him, where are you going, Musa? He said to him, I'm going to Mount Sinai. He said to him, what are you going to do in Mount Sinai? The mountain of Thor. He said to him, I have been invited to speak to my Lord, to Allah. He said to him, I have a message for your God. Can you take it? He said, yes, why not? He said, tell him I hate you. Tell him I'm fed up with you. Tell him I have nothing to do with you. Tell him I don't want your wealth. I don't want the money. I don't want the health. I don't even want anything. Take everything away from me. I don't want. Musa was very upset. He said to him, what language is this? He said, listen, this is a message. Just take the message. So Musa, he went the first day. He didn't tell Allah. The second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the tenth day, the fifteenth day, the nineteenth day, twentieth, thirtieth, thirty-ninth. Allah speaks to Musa for forty days. The last day, Allah said, Musa, is there nothing else that we should discuss? Musa said, no, ya Allah. He said, are you sure, Musa? He said, ya Allah, there is a message from this guy, crazy guy, but I'm ashamed to tell you. He said, tell me, Musa. The message is it for me or for you? He said, no, ya Allah. He said it's for you. He said, so tell me the message. So he said, this old man, he saw me and he said, he has nothing to do with you. He doesn't want your sustenance. He doesn't want your risk. He doesn't want health. He doesn't want anything. And he hates you. Allah said, Musa, go to him. Go to him and tell him, I created you and I will never cut my rizq from you. Even if you ask for Allah to cut your rizq, Allah will never cut your rizq. Imagine a mother. Can she stop feeding her child? Allah says, tell him, I will never cut my rizq. In the month of Rajab, what do you read? Ya man, ya'a tae men, s'a'leh. Ya man, ya'a tae men, lam, ya'a sa'leh. Wa man, lam ya'a raih. Ta'annunan min hu'ar. Oh the one that gives those who ask him and those who do not ask him and do not know him. This is Allah. And second, tell him, Ya Musa, that if he's cut his rope with me, I have my rope always there. He can always take the rope and come to me. I will never cut that rope. I will never destroy that bridge. He is always welcomed and I will always accept him. This is Allah. The remembrance of Allah leads us to such conclusions, brothers, to such ends. The remembrance of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, also gives us an instant purification. Don't say, but say it, you come for ten nights, we become inspired, we may like to change, then you leave, and everything goes back to normal. Yes, 99.999999% of the time, it's this way, unfortunately. Unfortunately, this is the reality. But there is one person, two people, three people that know it will resonate. It will be their wake-up call. They will decide, they will change. They're going to be new individuals. From now on, I don't care about the wealth. I don't care about the popularity. I don't care about anything. The only thing I care about is Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's it. Because if I have Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, I have everything. And if I don't have Allah, and I have everything else, I have nothing. Imam Hussain, in Dua'il Arafah, he says, He asks Allah, he says, Oh Allah, what do they have, those who do not have you? What do they have? They have money, they have nothing. They have zero. And those who have you, what have they missed? They're not missing anything. Imam Zayn al-Abideen, in Dua'a, Abu Hamza, in Tamali, he states, Oh Allah, you never prefer in and a hijab between you and your abd. Walakin tahjubuhumul a'maludunak. Oh Allah, your door is always open. You're always there. You're very close. But our acts create a hijab between us and you, oh Allah. Walakin tahjubuhumul a'maludunak. And the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala purifies us, brothers and sisters. Sometimes we ask ourselves, why is it that we pray and the Dua'a is not accepted? Why? It's simple. Sometimes you go and you apply for a job. They tell you, have you been arrested? Yes or no? If you say yes, you're less likely to get the job. Have you involved yourself in a felony? If you say yes, less likely to get the job. Have you been, for example, all the negative things? If you say yes, less likely. If you say no, more likely. If you go with a clean slave, they'll tell you, this is the job. Welcome. If you have a clean slave to go to Allah, Allah says, this is your Dua'a. Welcome. But if you say yes to everything, do you lie yet, commit crimes? Yes. Reba, yes. Theft, yes. Ghiba, yes. Nameema, yes. Jealousy, yes. Hypocrisy, yes. How is this Dua'a going to be accepted? When Musa took his qawm, Bani Israel, with this I conclude. When he took them to pray for the rain, they had a drought. Allah said, oh, Musa, there is a man. Jubra'il, go tell Musa, there is a man in this community, in the people, he's a sinner. He's a sinful guy. As long as he's there, the rain is not going to come. Not even a single drop. So Musa, he stood up, he said, people, there is a sinful person amongst you. We all know what we do. We all know. It's inescapable. He said, there's a sinful person amongst you. And he knows who he is. Allah says, as long as he is here, the Rahmah of Allah will not be sent. So please try to leave the community. Try to leave the gathering. This person was not leaving. He was stuck. Musa said, Jubra'il, go and ask Allah who this person is. Give me his name. I'll take him out myself. Jubra'il went and he came back and he said, Musa. Musa, wake up. Allah dislikes this man because he exposes the sins of others. Allah has stopped his rain because this man is a man that's his job 24-7 exposing other people. You want Allah to do the same? Thank Allah if you know of a sinner that you have covered up for. Thank Allah. But then be afraid if you expose him. This is Allah's formula. Or her. Doesn't matter. At that time, the man standing there said, oh Allah, he went to the closest person to him. Nobody at that time can help him except the one. He was closer to him than his jugular vein. He finally woke up. He said, oh Allah, save me. Save me. Save my dignity. Save my honor. I truly have repented. I will truly not go back to the sin. Suddenly the clouds gathered and the rain began to pour. So Musa said, Jubra'il, tell Allah has he changed his mind? Jubra'il went and he came back and he said, no Musa, the man changed his mind. The man decided that he was going to open that beautiful chapter. That's clean slate for himself. And al-Husayn, al-Masbah, al-Huda, al-Safina, al-Najaad. Thank Allah for being here tonight. And Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq says that ship is much bigger and faster. And we all need to hop on that ship tonight. Why? When we examine the personalities of Ashura and tonight we come across a young man by the name of Qasim ibn al-Husayn. To him, he could have lived the best life. He could have had the best life. He could have become whoever he wishes to be. But yet he only saw Allah in his eyes. To him, happiness, to him the wealth of the world, to him the happiness of the world, was to stand next to his uncle in the day of Ashura. Imam Husayn says to him, Buna'i-i-Hasan, kaifatara-l-mawtudunak, how do you find this death that you're about to approach to? The death that you're walking towards, how do you find this death? He said, fain usratika ya'am ahla min al-asal, in order to protect you, in order to protect your cause, in order to stand next to you in a sweeter than honey, ya'aba Abdullah al-Husayn. And the nights are passing us very quickly, very quickly. We say to him, Sayyid, ya'aba Abdullah, until today you have not written our name of those of your khuddam, of those of your servants, of those who you glance at just like the glance that you gave to Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn. You looked at Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn and momentarily you changed his whole life. We are here for that glance only. We want that same glance that you gave to Haribna Yazid al-Riyah and we are here only for that glance, ya'aba Abdullah. We are only here for no other reason but to see your beautiful face in the first night of our graves. To receive your shafa'ah. We are here to put you in front of us and go to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, ya'aba Abdullah. And we are here to seek your help to become new individuals, better individuals. Ya Sayyidina wa Maulana Inna tawajahna wa stajfa'na wa tawajahna bika'il Allah wa qaddamna anka bayna yadai hajatina ya'a. He came to his uncle, his uncle looked at him, he said to him, O Qasem, O Qasem, come close to me, Imam Husayn hugged him and he cried and he cried. Qasem sat-tahm, ya'aba Abdullah. What is it that makes you cry? He said, those tears remind me of my brother Hassan. You are the only man who reminds us of my brother Hassan. I would hate to give you this permission. Then he insisted, he kissed his uncle's hands, he begged him, but Imam Husayn sent him back to his mother. When he sent him back to his mother, his mother said to him, take this, she gave him an amana and give it to Abu Abdullah al-Husayn. He took the amana, there was a amama of Imam Hassan, there was a sort of Imam Hassan, there was a dress for Qasem from Imam Hassan and there was a letter written by his brother Imam Hassan, saying to him, ya'aba Abdullah, there will be a day on the 10th of Muharram that there will be no one next to you. You will have no Ansar, you will have no companions and I have kept this son to protect you on the 10th of Muharram. So Imam Husayn cried and he put that amama of Imam Hassan on top of his son's head. He gave him the dress, he gave him his father's sword and he told him, barakallahu fiqh, I ask Allah to give victory to you. He sat on the back of the horse, a young man, his face full of light, the light of al-Muhammad. He went and he looked at the ocean of enemies and he said, tan'kuraif, anaa najlul-hassan, sabutunne be'us tafa mu'taman, aad al-Husayn, kal-asir al-murtahan, beina unaa tawba al-muzun. He says, if you do not know me, I am Qasim, the son of Hassan. I shall protect the grandson of the Prophet because you have turned him into a prisoner in this desert. He began to fight and he fought as a brave man. At that young age, historians say he was able to defend Imam Husayn with 120 men. And as Imam Husayn would watch him, suddenly there was a man, a vicious man who had waited for Qasim to pass next to him. He was saying, wait until Qasim, wait until Ibn al-Hassan comes next to me. Wallah laathkalannabihi ammuh. I'll make his uncle cry for him. His companion was telling him, isn't it enough? There are many people surrounding him. He said, wallahi laa f'al. Wallah will make Husayn cry for Qasim. He went from the back of his horse and he struck the young man with his sword. He fell from the horse saying, O'am, try to come to my rescue. They say, Imam Husayn went to him very fast. He sat next to his body. He held him. He sat to him, ya Qasim, ya'am. Azda ala ammuka an yujin fa'uk. Yawma qalla nasiruh. He says, Qasim, I've come to your rescue, but I've come too late. O Qasim, I've come to your rescue on a day where your uncle has no nasir. Your uncle has no mu'iyan. He hugged him and he went back to the eatance. He put him in the tents of Bani Ashim. The women gathered. The children gathered next to the body of Qasim. Qasim weeping for Qasim. Allah Akbar. Then his mother came, Ramlah, looking up the body. She said to him, son, if they killed you, why did they chop you into pieces? But I tell you, ya sahb al zamaya into the eatance. Moments later on the sons of Karbala, not only that, then the call came. Hear the cries of the brothers and the sisters, wallah. The call came from Umar ibn Sa'ad, looking at the body of Hussein under the son of Karbala. He says, what's the door of Hussein? The door of the body of Hussein. Sayyeda Zaynab says, I can hear the boots of Hussein. I'm telling you, ma'aza, sayyidi. Ya Fatima al-Zahra, ya Fatima al-Zahra, we want you to glance at this majlis tonight. The majlis of your son, the majlis of your grandson, two lines in Arabic for Fatima al-Zahra, and I ask you for your dua. A Fatima al-Alti al-Husayn al-Mujaddala Oh Fatima, you should have been there. A Fatima al-Alti al-Husayn al-Mujaddala Wa Qadmata At-Shanaan bishat T'ifu-Rati Thursday, next to the Efreities of Fatima. Then lulat'ante l-Khadda fa'a'an de-Hu Wa As-kan'ti, then lulat'ante l'Khadda Fatima, a'an de-Hu Hussein.