 Alhamdulillah all praise belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who is the one who is regularly taking the believers out of darknesses into light. He is the Lord who alternates waktilafi layli wa n'ahar, who alternates between the night and the day, who alternates between hardship and ease, between adversity and between relief. Alhamdulillah that we are in a period where while we are seeing immense immense immense darkness and evil and oppression and atrocities and a genocide that continues to take place in front of us that our brothers and sisters and the children in Philistine are getting a few days of somewhat of a of relief somewhat some form of a break from the intensity of the atrocities that have been committed over the past few weeks while the world much of the world sleeps and much of the world watches we are in a very different time now where things are getting worse and worse and worse and the question for us as believers and as an ummah is how attuned are we to the time that we are living in and how awake are we in responding appropriately to the time that we are living in there is a time where generally life will continue everything will be smooth smooth sailing we continue to live a very very specific type of lifestyle especially those of us Alhamdulillah if we're in the west living the suburban community lifestyle not much of a need to be super attuned to what is going on around us or the types of ideologies that are present around us or the type of brainwashing that has been happening around us for decades and then there's a time when there's an imperative for the ummah to wake up when there's an imperative for the ummah to start to realize what has been happening for decades while maybe we've just been asleep maybe we've just assimilated in too many ways into problematic forms of thinking and problematic ideologies in this time that we are living in and this is something that everybody is seeing on the news every single day we are seeing a level of evil hypocrisy and satanic practice that the world has not openly witnessed in a very very very long period of time even though it has been happening and Alhamdulillah people are calling it out there are people who are doing something about it but it's not enough it's not enough because to defeat kufr and to defeat darkness takes resilience it takes strength and ultimately it takes a level of reliance on our Lord that is unparalleled that we have to tap into that exists deep down inside of the hearts of every single one of us because it is a form of the iman that you have been blessed with there is a resilience that exists but it's not easy to just tap into it requires hard work it requires struggle it requires effort it requires a form of active effort not passive effort and we are seeing it in our brothers and sisters in Philistine that no matter how difficult the hardship is getting no matter how many that atrocities are being committed no matter how much oppression is going on it's as though the resilience gets stronger it's as though the suburb gets stronger it's as though the toak will get stronger it's as though the resistance gets stronger where is this this this this belief where is this iman this prophetic this saintly character coming from it's coming from a people who have understood their true reason for their existence and they should be exemplars and role models for the mu'mineen and they are now not just serving as exemplars and role models for the mu'mineen but they are serving as exemplars and role models for people to become the mu'mineen that masses of people are starting to wonder where is this resilience how did you get this resilience non-muslims people who don't have faith yet and they are starting to open up the book of Allah because they the people are saying this is only coming from their faith and they're starting to open up the book of Allah that the generation of of of younger folks who haven't yet been brainwashed by problematic western ideologies who are starting to realize oh Islam isn't as evil or as vilified as they've tried to make it to be because there is a reason why they want you to think that your faith is less than there is a reason why they want society to think and society to believe that there is a certain form of lifestyle that we should live that we should elevate and another form of lifestyle that is backwards and that is debased and that is problematic and that has also because the true life of the believer they know people who are in control know that the true life of the believer when practicing this this knowledge that we have been given and when practicing this sunnah that we have been given by our messengers when we really put it into practice it has transformed every single civilization that it has touched not just a light transformation i'm talking about a total inward and outward transformation that these societies have become societies who maybe were societies of ignorance and now they have become societies of knowledge this is what that Allah told him to go into a period which was full of what ignorance wrong practices all sorts of wrong that were being done all sorts of of of evil that were being committed all sorts of darkness that existed and what brought them into light knowledge what brought them into light was a awakening up through this type of uh that realization of what your purpose is here on earth and this is starting to become very clear in the time that we are living in that what type of ideology actually elevates people and what type of ideology debases people you have on one form the people of kufr the people of nifak the people of hypocrisy the people of sin the people of sheer evil the people of zionism who continue to commit mass atrocities and then they mock the atrocities that they commit and then they laugh and they do all the things that Allah mentioned in the quran that people will do that they mock at the believers and they laugh at the believers and they lie about what they're doing and they spread false propaganda and they spread false news and they perpetuate it and perpetuate it until what for people with a thinking mind it's very obvious who's lying and who's telling the truth you don't even have to have anyone advocating for the truth to watch the type of lies that are coming out of the tongues of these human shayateen and there are human shayateen there are shayateen al jinn which we understand as a concept at least and hopefully we are aware of spiritually in our life that these forms of shayateen exist that's the normal type of demons that exist and then there's human shayateen there's human shayateen that people who have their hearts have become so darkened and so covered up and so full of ignorance and of jahiliya that the heart has become completely hard and now this person is entrenched in their kufr and they are from the hizb of shaytan they join the party of shaytan they become one of the the people who assist shaytan in spreading evil and spreading kufr in spreading disbelief in spreading that atheism and spreading all forms of problematic understandings and ideologies and they do exist and hopefully it's starting to become at least somewhat aware to us that there might be people who we've regularly associate with or or approaches or or concepts that we regularly just took for granted that are rooted in these things it doesn't mean the people in it of themselves are the problem but the concepts the ideologies they have to be challenged they have we have to really understand that this is not simply a physical situation no no no no this is an intellectual a psychological a moral war in the same way that it is happening physically that it is happening physically but the world is starting to the world is starting to wake up and you and i have to ask ourselves what is our responsibility as the umma of the prophet sallallahu alaykum to do more what is our responsibility to actually have the courage to act up to speak up to say something to be somebody this is no longer the time for sleeping this is no longer the time for sleeping as an umma this is the time for the umma to wake up because people's true colors are coming out Allah mentioned this was going to happen he says in the Quran that and we in surah isra which is the surah about about masjid al aqsa that the prophet alayhi sallallahu alaykum he took him from masjid al haram ilal masjid al aqsa and he mentions in the surah that we warn the bani israel the children of israel in the scripture that you will cause corruption in the land twice and you will become extremely arrogant extremely arrogant a trait that Allah hates Allah hates arrogance Allah hates haughtiness Allah hates this pretentious type of attitude many of the scholars that they are now saying that the second time that the the bani israel that this verse is applying to is the time that we are living in that there is a power that we are seeing with these people that is unparalleled in terms of their control over the affairs of the dunya and but then Allah says what Allah tells them that the arrogance will delude you that this delusion will start to happen and then what he also tells them that if transformation and internal reform doesn't happen we will return you to punishment and we have made jahannam hell a permanent abode a permanent confinement for the disbelievers that anytime Allah calls somebody out he also gives them you have a way out of this but if you don't act up if you don't listen if you don't reform if you don't change this is what is awaiting you and we are seeing again in the type of of of darkness that is now being spread that literally and I'm sure many people are watching these things they're all over the internet they're all over social media that videos of of people watching the the tanks blow up uh raza and watching missiles drop while they treat it as though it's it's entertainment for them while they're on the other side in occupied Palestine known as they call Israel that watching all these things happen just mocking and laughing and posting videos of women and of children mocking them and laughing at them what kind of evil you didn't even as though you couldn't stoop any lower and you continue to stoop lower but the believer they are raised up in their maqam and what is Allah doing he has raised up the the the the the affair of the believer he has raised up the Palestinians he has raised up the admiration that people are starting to have the resilience that people are are are showing so what then is true victory at the end of the day is it victory only in the dunya or is it also victory in the Akhira where who has the true victory the people who have guaranteed eternal states of jannah in the highest levels of jannah for those al-atla with hopefully with the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam the people who have passed away as shahid and as shohadah in this cause or the people who think that they can continue to spread corruption and Allah gives them a limited period of time a little bit of time before he seizes them this is it and then then it is eternal eternal eternal damnation for these types of people this is what Allah mentions in his book but we are seeing it and we are seeing resilience and tawakul and taqwa on one side and we are seeing sheer kufr on the other side but that is the the question we have to now ask ourselves when we see this type of resilience that are we actually taking heed as believers who live somewhat farther and maybe maybe not as associated with with this historically or traditionally are we actually transforming our life in some way because there are two types of colonization and occupation that take place there is the physical one the colonization and the occupation which takes place a physical land which has happened to the palestinians now for 70 80 years and then there's the mental colonization that takes place of the minds and of the hearts and the palestinians there have been colonized and occupied for 70 or 80 years but their minds are still full of iman and they have yet to be colonized in their minds you are seeing now today many of the prisoners alhamdulillah who were released that they're palestinians that were unjustly kept that they take women and children as prisoners and and i have unjustly kept them for seven eight 10 15 years that they look at the what types of things they're saying of how they kept their spirit alive and how they kept going while they were in this form of confinement and this form of imprisonment and the way they never let their psychology get damaged the way that their mind remain clear and understanding their purpose in life and that you were only we only created mankind and jinn to worship me that's what Allah says in the Quran that is the purpose of life and they have understood that clearly it is not without a doubt every single one of them when they're coming out the ones that at least i'm seeing they're making such that the shukr they're praying to their lord they're praising their lord that's what they're doing that's the unda that that that is the the level of taqwa and the level of iman not asking why was i in there for such a long period of time what was happening no alhamdulillah that all praise be due to Allah for the one who took me out of that situation and that brought me into the situation this is iman but what about us that's the question we have to ask the vast majority of muslims we have to ask ourselves around the world our lands might not be colonized or might not be occupied but our minds have become fully colonized and fully occupied by problematic anti-theistic atheistic western ideologies that go completely against what we are supposed to believe and we have just become part of the system without ever questioning it without realizing it are are the way we approach our our earning of our wealth the way we approach our lifestyle the way we approach what matters to us the way we approach the types of gatherings that we have the way we approach what we elevate what we watch what we listen to all of these things it's very very very subtle the way it happens until someone is not aware hold on a second where are my values what are the values that my messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam taught me what if he came into my home today would he be proud of the types of things that are going on in my home or would he be would he be would he be ashamed would he be seeking forgiveness would he be upset would he be grateful or would he want me to to make a very significant change you have the best thing ever been that has ever been sent forth to humanity the best ideology is the ideology that this umma has this is the best way there is no greater person and there is no greater way than the way of say the Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and that is a nothing full stop but why do we give greatness and elevation to the way of the Qusar why do we give greatness and elevation to their ideologies to their methodologies the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam he warned us that this time will come he said the people as you get closer to the end of time the people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to to share a dish that's what's going to happen to the umma and he said they asked him they said yadus allah will that because of our small numbers at that time is that what's going to happen he said no no no you are going to be many in number numerous in number we are 1.5 or so billion muslims in number right now even in the united states there are millions of muslims there's a significant amount of muslims in the united states he says but you will be literally like the foam of the sea like the scum of the ocean unweighty people that will be carried down by torrents and Allah will take the fear of you he will remove the fear of you from the hearts of your enemies and and and and this this dignity that you have as a believer this awe inspiring dignity that the believers used to have it will be removed and they asked what is the cause for this yadus allah what is the reason for this and he says love of this dunya love of this dunya and the dislike of death this will be the main thing that will happen the main focus for the western capitalistic society that you and i live in is the dunya that is the main focus everything is about earning money gaining more money establishing more getting more and then continuing that cycle that's the at the heart of it in dunya the distractions of the dunya they continue to expand so we have to ask ourselves what is our purpose why did we come to this country why are we in this country we are supposed to be in this country to lead other people not to be led astray no but to lead other people to the way of the prophet sallam that is the reason why we are here to teach other people to show other people to show them our akhla not to hide away change our names just kind of make it seem like we're just one of everybody else that's not the point no stand firm as believers every time you cower every time you waiver think about the palestinians think about the fact that they are yet to cower are yet to waver the children among them the seven year old the nine year old the 11 year old all the way to the 78 year old they are not wavering so why do we waver where is our iman where is our strength where is our tuwakbo where is our spine this is a call to the whole muslim umma we have to wake up the the leaders of the muslims are asleep right now because their hearts have hardened many of the leaders of the umma had a chance to do something they met they talked they spoke at the summit of many many many muslim countries and what issue the statement you have the the the control of the fuel supply the oil supply of the entire world in your hands and embargo could easily solve half of the and put enough pressure on the zionists and on the western countries no didn't do anything why because when your hearts are hardened and when you have your mind has been colonized when your mind has been occupied it doesn't matter if your land is still there so you're falling prey to what the zionists want you're falling prey to the westerners want how are we going to answer the prophet sassan when he asks us what did you do to help the children what did you do to help the women who are weeping and who are begging and whose limbs were being blown off and they were asking to help how are we going to stand in front of him and say that let alone stand in front of our lord this is a wake up call things are different now this is not the same as it's been for the last 20 30 years we don't know where things are going but many of the scholars are starting to say the signs of the end of times are becoming closer and closer and closer and this has been happening for the last 20 150 years or so but it's becoming very very apparent it's becoming very very apparent at the end of time there's only two kufr and iman that's it those are the only two ideologies that exist that the jaal will deceive people if he is the chief deceiver the chief deluder when he comes the way in which he would deceive people will be through making things seem great on the outside but they are completely filthy and full of kufr on the inside and he will make seem things seem not great on the outside but they will be beautiful and full of iman on the inside and it is mentioned in the hadith of the prophets of some when we ask Allah protect us and our children our loved ones whoever will be around at this time from this that he said the belief there will be believers from the mu'minun who will go to sleep believers and wake up kufr at the time of the dajaal how is that the case because when the mind has been slowly occupied and colonized by a dajalic system for decades then it's not going to be so hard to believe what someone is saying like this that's why you constantly have to reform you constantly have to resist you constantly have to question who what am i letting into my mind what am i letting into the mind of our children we are losing as an umma we are losing our as especially in the west we are losing our family values we are losing the things that hold us together we are losing what's important these are the types of things the character the akhlaq the way the the elevation of knowledge the elevation of ibadah this is what always helped the umma think differently and this is part of a project don't think that this is unintentional it is completely intentional this has been part of the project of the western society for a long period of time what did they say at the time of the romans give them bread and give them circus and just keep them entertained and occupied in their own things so that the political elite could control things the way they want to control things what is the equivalent of that literally every single period of the year in this country there's some sports event or season or something going on it's football now oh the niners oh this then it's the warriors then it's the giants then it's the a's then it's soccer then it's this sport this sport keeping people occupied this event this event just so that the minimum amount of time you do have to devote to anything go to work come back from work take care of family the one or two hours extra that we should be devoting to learning this theme to giving victory to this theme to serving this umma our mind is occupied by this show by that show by this sporting event it's intentional don't think it's unintentional this is not the way of the believer the way of the believer is to do something different every now and then for leisure okay it's fine but but if push comes to shove all of those things they're not going to benefit us all of the haram that comes associated with these problematic ideologies they're not going to benefit us and when push comes to shove all of the corporations that are behind all of this who are they standing with look at disney sending how many millions to the zionists that continuing to promote zionist propaganda they've been they have they've had problematic ideology and messaging in their shows and in their movies for a long period of time which goes is antithetical to muslim values but now at this point it's like a brazen like literally we don't care we're just going to do it all of the media question what you consume question what goes in question what your children are consuming this is intentional project to try and mess up the the the the the the courage that this umma has the elevation that this umma has Allah says we know but bunny adam there is an ennoblement that he has given you but it is not found through kufr it is not found through wasting time it is not found through problematic ideology it is not found through letting our mind be occupied and colonized by problematic thinking it is found through following the way of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam i'll call you holy hada was toxic for allah Allah says in the Quran has the time not yet come for the believer's hearts to be humbled at the remembrance of Allah and what has been revealed of the truth to wake up to be humbled at the remembrance of Allah Allah knows that people we are going to be distracted and we are going to have this ups and down in our life but he says there will be a time has the time not come for the believers to be humbled for their hearts to be humbled so for their hearts to be awakened by the remembrance of Allah and by the truth that has been revealed and not to be like those of the scripture who came before who were spoiled for so long that their hearts became hardened and many of them are still rebellious don't think that the bunny israel and that the christians and the jews were not given guidance no no no lots of guidance was given but when you change things when you alter things when you water things down which is what's happening also now to our umma the guidance starts to go away and now it becomes what the nafs wants instead of what Allah wants don't let your nafs and let my nafs we cannot let it dictate the way we approach our life we have to think practically what can we do what change can we bring in our life to actually start to oppose this system of kufr that we are living in and now to give victory to what's important in our life so that we can if things do get worse and if things start to get worse or whether whenever we meet Allah we are on the side of justice and we are on the side of truth practically there's three or four things that first there's a level of seriousness which the believers need to take our lives it's not this life is not a joke Allah says we did not create you just in vain it's not just for fun that's not the point there's a purpose to your life a purpose to our life so to realize that to talk about it to internalize it to talk about it with our children to talk about what is that purpose what is that prophetic mission that this umma has been given there's a reason why every single one of this umma exists and why we are in the exact place where Allah placed us we now have to ask ourselves are we living up to that reason and the second is emphasize learning in our homes we must go back to the way of emphasizing learning meaning knowledge the muslims used to have regular gatherings of knowledge regular teachings regular reading of a hadith regular reading of texts in their homes many of our homes now the tv that's all that's on we take a quick break to pray maybe put the tv back on that's what's who's teaching us who why are we letting them teach us i would say if you are serious about this have a period of your time where you just put the tv away don't buy more televisions put buy more bookshelves don't buy more media don't buy more streaming services of the zionists and of the kufar buy more of the knowledge that Allah wants you to gain that has been directly streamed from Allah through the prophets that's what we need to fill our minds with not all this other nonsense challenge the thinking the methodology don't make your homes the same as the homes of the kufr of the kufr system that we live in that's not supposed to be our home no we need to wake up have some level 20 minutes read a hadith through your children or with your spouse read some book with your with your family you're far the we need to learn it we need to rectify we need to improve it the third is that reform the priority you and i give to the dunya and this really goes back to the way in which we engage economically in the system that we live in this is a economic system rooted in kufr and rooted in things that are displeasing to Allah the main thing being interest Allah says in the Quran Allah and his messenger wage war on the one who's taking interest it is a very very very serious and my malik was of the opinion it is amongst the highest of sins the worst of sins and yet many of us as Muslims we just don't even question it anymore we might have one car we got to go i two or three more luxury cars i have oh i have the bends got to get a tesla got to get this got to get a bmw all on interest loans without even questioning hold on a second is this pleasing to my lord or can i just be sufficient paying off one car on cash releasing it we have one home have to get a vacation home and a home in tahoe and this home in that home this is what this is the type of things that happen in when we just immerse ourselves in a system which is not which is not in line with the prophet sallam system his system is one what you have extra have you spend it but donate the rest don't just continue to hoard and continue to hoard don't just continue to allow for things that are antithetical to our religion to get into our minds we have to question these things we have to actually wake up and realize this is going to cause darkness to our hearts when we engage economically in the wrong way and lastly and we'll end with this that do not let ourselves spend time socially in our social gatherings if they're gatherings that are happening all the time where we are sinning where we are doing haram where we are doing inappropriate things they should be gatherings at least five minutes where we are doing some remembrance of Allah when we get together five minutes where we are praying for our victory for our brothers and sisters five minutes where we are doing some form of dua and leave off the kufr Muslims in our society especially in suburban America are the way in which our social gatherings have started to happen we have weddings now with Muslims where women are openly dancing in front of men there's complete every there's open dance floors happening after the wedding what what if the prophet sallam came here what would he say is this the way of the believer that we have no differentiation between the way in which we're supposed to function and the way in which the kufr want us to function no challenge these things this is wrong it doesn't matter if it's a cultural phenomenon challenge it this is not the way of the believer we have to wake up because the more darkness the more darkness of gatherings of darkness the more problematic gatherings the more gatherings of sin that happen the more the heart darkens and the more that we invite the darknesses of the shayatin into our lives and into the society we live in you and i are supposed to be people of noor who bring noor who bring light who bring goodness into the world not to be people who bring anything else so question all of these things and realize that it is the hard stuff that that we have to change it takes more effort that's what's going to make the biggest difference and anytime you and i are struggling to say you know what how do i really practice this deen in the way Allah wants me to practice it think about the people of gaza think about the brothers and sisters who are suffering think about the that there's there's infants that are being born who their parents have passed away and they don't have no they don't even know who with the name of the child is and the doctors are saying you know we're going to name this child salih we're going to name this child this we're going to take this child in that when the the the mother and the father of someone passes away the neighbors who are still alive say we're going to take this child in this is the way of your own life this is the character of the muslims this is the character of the believers this is the character of not being self-centered but caring about other people this is these are the people who are exemplifying the values of the muslims and it is time for us to begin exemplifying those values while we are still in a state of peace and of sakeena and of security and we ask that Allah give us assistance and give us and and and most importantly our brothers and sisters in philistine victory in Allahumma alaykutu yusallu ala al-nabiyayu haladina aamun usallu alayhi wa sallim muslima allahumma salli ala sayyidina muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahmi yusallum allahumma filin mu'mineen al-mu'mina wa al-muslimin al-muslimad ya Allah ya qawwi al-yamatin ya arham al-rahmiin we ask that you pour your mercy ya rabbal alameen down upon our brothers and sisters in philistine ya Allah and that you that you assist them and that you give them strength and that you give them assistance and that you heal those who are suffering that you accept those who have passed away is in the highest ranks of shuhada ya rabbal alameen ya Allah we ask that you assist those who are struggling in your way and give them victory over the kufar and give them victory over the oppressor and over the occupier ya rabbal alameen we ask that you give the believers strength ya Allah and that you give us strength to transform our lives in the best way possible ya arham al-rahmiin we ask that you give the palestinians as much suburb in to wakul and give them away out of this situation and give them peace in this life and the next wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa baraka ala Sayyidina Muhammadin wa la alihi wa sahbihi sallam wa akima as-salat