 We began with the thanks and the praises of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saying to him Alhamdulillah and we declare this praise of Allah openly and proudly and we have no shame in saying Alhamdulillah Because we recognize that Allah is the true Rabb. He is the true. He is Al Haqq and He is absolute and And so our faith in him should be unwavering and our declaration of that faith should follow and There should be no moments in our lives no pressure no situation no stress That should remove that Confident foundation of the reality of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has chosen us He has chosen you Each and every single one of you have been chosen by Allah to attend this gathering today There are many of us who wanted to be here today But Allah said that so-and-so cannot enter into this gathering There are many who don't even know about this gathering There are many who long to be in this gathering and there's many who have refused this gathering altogether But amongst those who Allah has chosen Amongst those who Allah has called out by name Your name has been included your name has been called out by Allah and you have been selected to come here today So rejoice in the fact that Allah the supreme creator The Lord of the heavens and the earth the Lord of Muhammad Sallallahu alayhi wasallam the Lord of Jibril the Lord of Mikael the Lord of all the prophets and messengers The Lord of the mountains and the trees the Lord of the seas has chosen you Has called upon you Has decided that you be in this gathering right now and so for that we say Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us at the end of At the end of Surat al-Hajj, I believe he says Wa jahidu fil lahi haqqa jihadih That strive in the path of Allah strive for the cause of Allah as In the way that he deserves and so we are called To stand up For Allah his messenger and his religion In accordance with the right that they deserve from us So if we ponder About what we possess What blessings we have been given what ability we have? All of it is from Allah All of it is because of Allah all of the blessings that we have all of the claims to faith All of our understandings of spirituality all of the closeness that we feel all of that is because his Nabi Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam the community that we have the community that we feel a part of the families that we feel That hold us grounded and together all of that is because of the Deen of Islam So everything in our possession We owe it to Allah And so that is the in accordance with that we must Stand up and hold true For him his messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and his religion al Islam And so when we look at some people today Some individuals today Their faith is so fickle Their faith is nothing their faith is not worth one argument Their faith is not worth one doubt That when they're presented with something they're ready to give up their Allah They're ready to give up their Islam They're get ready to give up their Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam That's because these individuals are not shown the truth and the power behind the reality of this world The reality of our existence Everything we have is because of Allah all the blessings that we have come through the Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam Wa Ma'a Ar-Sallana Kaila Rahmatallil Alameen And all of the community and family ties that we are able to preserve are because of al Islam And so hold on to these things Hold on to Allah wa atasimu it comes At the end of the verse wa atasimu billah Hold on to Allah Don't let go of Allah so easily Who are maula kum? He is your master So that is the simple message of today That Allah is constantly choosing you So it is your turn to choose Allah It is your turn to choose Allah Who wajtabakum? He has chosen you He has chosen you Wa Ma Ja'ala Alaikum Fiddini Min Haraj And he has not placed anything in this religion that should be a burden upon you So the difficulties that you face They are not burdens, but they are struggles that he knows that you're capable of dealing with The struggles and temptations that you go through in every day At school or at work or with your families or with your siblings Wa Ma Ja'ala Alaikum Fiddini Min Haraj He has not placed even an ayaudah of burden upon you Everything that you face, he knows you're strong enough to handle He knows you're capable of handling So prove it, prove it to him and prove it to yourself Trust that Allah is the one who has placed this difficulty in my life And so he is the one who will give me strength to overcome it Millatahabikum Ibrahim, He wa Sammaakumul Muslimeen Min Qabi Wa Feehaadhaal Yaakoon Al Rasulu Shaheedan Aleykum Wa Takoonu Shuhadaa Aalanaas Fa Aqeemu Al Salaa Wa Aatu Al Zaka Wa Atasimu Billahi Wa Mawlaakum Fa Ni'ma Al Mawla Wa Ni'ma Al Naseer So why do I give this message today? Why do I say this message of be strong in your faith? Recognize the blessing of your faith Recognize what Allah has done for you Recognize the blessing of you being able to be here Recognize the blessing of Muhammad SAW Recognize the blessing of Islam Recognize the blessings of your families and your communities Why do I say all of these things? None of these things are new None of these things are new Why are we reminded of these things over and over again And especially why is this the message for today? Because as I ran in here Five, six minutes late I plan to be here on time And we all plan and Allah plans and Allah's plan is the best And so He is the one who wants this message to be delivered to you today That recognize the blessing you are in right now Because there are people who live today People who I'm coming from just now Who are on the threat of suicide Who are on the threat of their families falling apart Who are on the threat of having absolutely no support with their friends Who are at the threat when they go home to be abused by their parents Who are at the threat and so much pressure Because of school and because of work and because of their families That they think that they can't survive in this world anymore They're ready to say oh Allah take me away from this The pressure is too much for them Children Eleven, twelve, thirteen years old They're saying that this is too much for me And so I sit with them And I work with them And I talk with them And I'm thinking to myself I have to make Juma'at 340 But this poor child in front of me If she leaves this room she might commit suicide The struggle that these people are going through It's not an easy struggle It's a burden that all of our children bear these days It's a struggle that all of us face Some of us are stronger than others But some of us are weak And we need support and we need help And we need to express that help to those that we can trust So first know that Allah is there for you That your Prophet Muhammad is a mercy to you And there is forgiveness in this religion And then children be open with your parents Trust your parents and parents Make your homes an environment of trust Make your homes an environment of support How many kids come to me crying to me for 45, 50 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours My parents put too much pressure on me I can't take it anymore The only solution I have is I want to be dead Make your homes a place of love Make your homes a place of Allah Make your homes a place of mercy And seek help when you need it Seek support when you need it Come and be vulnerable with the people that you can trust And know in Allah you have the best of trusts And the best of providers He is the best caretaker that you can have And he is the best of help