 Ali Muhammad especially the brothers by the door you can move forward and You can move forward and you can move forward and you can move forward. You can move forward and you can move forward and you can move forward. You can move forward and you can move forward. You can move forward and you can move forward and you can move forward. Swain you're gathering with remembrance upon Muhammad as a gift to the soul of Sayyidi and Maulai Abu Abdullah al-Hussain recite the second Salawat. To hasten the reappearance of Sayyidina and Maulana Sahib al-Asri and Zaman recite the third Salawat with the loudest of your voices. In the past decade the Muslim community in America has faced many obstacles and difficulties amongst the obstacles and difficulties that we faced was for example the burning of the Quran by Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center based in Florida amongst the challenges that we faced was the discussion in regards to the Sharia Allah and how for a very long time the media used the discussion in regards to the Sharia Allah as a tool to belittle the religion of Islam or to attack the religion of Islam or to defame the religion of Islam and amongst the most recent of challenges that we have witnessed is the release of this movie that portrays the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam in a demeaning manner. However all those challenges are foreign challenges meaning those challenges come to us from outside the Muslim Ummah. However the American Muslims in America also suffer from obstacles within and we also face different challenges within and amongst the primary of the challenges and the most difficult of our challenges if not the most difficult of our challenges as the absence of American Muslim Imams within our communities. Imams that have spent their childhood by Imams I mean spiritual leaders. Imams that have spent their childhood in this country. Imams that have spent their teens in this country. Imams that can relate to the children in our community. Imams that can relate to the teen in our community. And Imams who can relate to an average Joe within the American society. Spiritual leaders that understand the American culture and how an average American things are absent within our community today. Recent numbers indicate that there are 12 million Muslims in America. Now if this number is true the number of Muslims in America is double the number of Muslims in Jordan. It is triple the number of Muslims in Lebanon and it is four times the number of Muslims in Kuwait and it is five times the number of Muslims in Qatar. Now imagine how many scholars there are in Jordan. How many scholars there are in Lebanon. How many scholars there are in Qatar. How many scholars there are in for example Syria. We are in need of the same ratio in this country as well to lead and to serve the American Muslim community. While there are six million Jews in America. Numbers indicate there are 500,000 American Jewish rabbis serving the Jewish community. And while there are 12 million Muslims in America. Numbers show that there are approximately 1200 Imams. 1200 Imams serving 12 million Muslims. And rest assure half of those Imams cannot communicate in the English language. So they cannot give a sermon in English. So we are left with 600. 600 of those Imams physically they live in America. They pay taxes. They take their kids to school. They speak English but physically they live here and mentally they live where? Pakistan, India, Yemen, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon. So we are left with 300. Out of those 300 half of them have not had the proper Islamic education. What do I mean? As in there are doctors in the community. If a person has a passion to become a physician and he reads couple of books about medicine he doesn't become a doctor, right? If people have a passion for law and they read couple of books about law and they are inspired about law. They don't become attorneys. Similarly if you like to become an engineer you have to go to school. There are many who are inspired by Islam. They are educated Islamically and there is nothing wrong with that. That's very beautiful to know about our religion. But they cannot be the authority when it comes to religion. So if we divide that by half we are left with 150. Take one fourth of that about 18 or 17 of them belong, would belong according to the ratio would belong to the religion. According to the ratio would belong to the Shia school of thought. So 2.5 to 3 million followers of Ahl al-Bayt in this country are served by approximately 18 to 19 individuals who physically, spiritually, mentally live in this country are educated and can serve the community. And I'm not undermining anyone. However brothers and sisters the month of Muharram and I said this MashaAllah in this community everybody is in the sign business. I said we have to make, we have to write the mission statement of Imam Hussein and we put it in the entrance of the house of Imam Hussein and the institutions that remind us of Imam Hussein especially in the 10 days of Muharram. So we come in and we see the mission statement of Imam Hussein. What is his mission statement? Let's not deviate from the mission statement. Let's not forget the mission statement. Let us not spend so much time about things that are irrelevant to the mission statement of Imam Hussein. What is his mission statement? What is his mission statement? I have not gone out but for the following reasons. When he was leaving Medina they came to him they said Yabna Rasulullah what's going on? Why are you leaving? Don't you know the people of Iraq? He said yes I know but I am leaving for the following reasons. I am leaving for no other reasons but the following. This is what he said. What is it? Not fame, not popularity, he states. Not position, not Khilafa, Hussein knows. He will not reach such things. But to perfect the ummah of my grandfather Rasulullah. Let me ask you the ummah, the Muslim ummah today in America is it in that perfect state? Let's ask a simple question. Pew as a research center based in the United States of America you can all go and look at the numbers and polls that they released in regards to Islam and Muslims in the year 2010. They suggest that 52% of Americans opposed the building of a mosque near ground zero, 52%. 39% of Americans would not be comfortable if they had a Muslim neighbor. 30% of Americans would not feel comfortable and they would be nervous if there was a Muslim man on their flight. 18% of Americans would feel nervous if there was a Muslim woman on their flight. 54% of Americans believe Islam is more likely to teach violence than any other faith. Is this a perfect state? Look at the state of the ummah in the Middle East besides the wars and the bloodshed and everything else. Look at the ratio of literacy versus the ratio of illiteracy. For those who don't know, let me share with you. And the cradle of Islam and the sanctuary of Islam and the birthplace of Islam where Allah sent the first revelation to Rasulullah stating what? Stating pray? Fast? Do Hajj? No. No. The first revelation is to teach, to learn yet 60% of the population of Saudi Arabia is literate. The rest are illiterate. The ratio of literacy to illiteracy and for example Pakistan is 70 to 30 and Yemen at 65, literacy rate is at 65%, and Egypt it's at 70%. 30% of the people do not know how to read and write. And Libya it's also 68%, almost 70%, and 30% of the people cannot read and write. And of course if you don't read and write many people who are illiterate they can't get jobs or if they get jobs they're not going to be the best of jobs. So if they're not going to be the best of jobs in the end of the day they still have to bring bread and put it on the table. They still have to pay rent. They still have to pay tuition for their children's schools. They still have to buy clothes. All the spending is there. Lack of jobs. The economy is in a terrible state and hence you see the violence, the bloodshed. The lack of basic needs and basic goods. This is the state of the ummah. The least we can do here as American Muslims is to try to change what is happening in the country that we live in. Change our status. Change the way we live today. And many people say well why does this relate to me? What does this have to do with me? I tell you that's... Imam Hussein could have easily said that and stayed in Medina. He could have said I didn't put Yazid in power. Other people did. From the day of Saqifah, Yazid was created. Imam Hussein could have said I didn't. I was in the cause and I'm sitting here in Medina carrying out my activities and Imam Hussein was very busy, many people. They don't know Imam Hussein and they're not aware of Imam Hussein's acts before he left Medina. When Muawiyah appointed Hassan Yazid before he appointed Hassan Yazid he had an advisor. He had a Christian advisor who told him you think Muawiyah if your father Abu Sufyan was present he would let you give the Khilafat to Hassan and Hussein? So he said to him no I don't think my father would but what am I going to do with Hussein? I've already wrote a treaty with Hassan I have to give the Khilafat to Hussein what am I going to do with Hussein? I can take care of all the rest of those guys but Hussein I won't be able to put my son Yazid as a Khalifa and Hussein won't accept. So he said to him this Hussein that you talk about Hussein Ibn Ali who is he? He said to him if you like to meet Hussein go to Medina enter the Masjid of Rasulullah and take a right when you take a right you'll see a man sitting on the mimbar he saw a man who was looking at him and he's speaking he's speaking eloquently he talks to people and he speaks to them of the hadith of his grandfather and his father and the people sitting do not blink an eye they give him they give him their undivided attention that is Hussein Ibn Ali that is the influence of Hussein Ibn Ali what am I going to do with him so Imam Hussein he was busy he was already executing his Islamic duties but Imam Hussein chose to perfect the ummah and today if we want to perfect our societies and if we want to protect our community and our ummah we need those who represent first of all bring us the knowledge of the Quran the knowledge of the hadith the knowledge within history the knowledge within for example the Islamic philosophy the knowledge of the knowledge of the word we need those individuals to come and bring us the basic and after basic the in depth knowledge in regards to Islam the scholars and the scholars and that is why I have chosen to speak about this notion tonight and examine chapter 9 verse 122 an extremely important verse Allah in this verse says Allah in this verse says Allah in this verse says all the believers would not be able to travel far from each everyone from every community there shall be individuals who travel and take the meaning what where in the Islamic sciences وَلِ يُنذِرُ قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ And return to their communities and share that Islamic knowledge with them. Many people probably didn't know this verse existed in the Quran. الحمد لله نا وِنَا We'll examine this verse in the following manner. Number one, why was this verse revealed? Number two, after we speak of the reason why this verse was revealed, we'll speak of the notion within the Holy Quran and within this ayah that the representative must be part of the community. Number three, we'll examine the fiqh in regards to this ayah, the Islamic jurisprudence in regards to the ayah. And number four, we'll examine how the ayah divides the community into two main categories that if they were to work together, they will be able to conquer the highest mountains of success and perfection. And last but not least, we will examine the different forms of travel within the Islamic ideology. Why was this verse sent down? Verse chapter 9 verse 121. Scholars have given three opinions. First opinion, they say that Rasulullah would carry on his activities every day, meaning he would give hadith, he would give the tafsir of the Quran, the Quran would be revealed, Rasulullah would say why this is revealed, where it was revealed. While people were traveling, while people were at war, while people were preparing for battles for example, so they couldn't be present there, they couldn't write the hadith, they all couldn't hear Rasulullah all the time and sit next to him. So this ayah came to solve this particular problem that not all of you need to be present there. Some of you can be present, they take the information and they reflect that information on to others. The second reason that the ulama have stated on Asbabul Nuzul of this particular ayah is that some people when they became Muslim, for example such as Abu Dhar, when he became Muslim he would return to his people, he would spend some time, three months, six months, a year with his people to convert his tribe, to convert his village, to convert his people. He would teach them Salah, he would teach them fasting, he would teach them the basic principles about Islam. When he would return they would tell him, you don't know what you missed out. Quran was being revealed, hadith was being given, so your knowledge now is a lot less than what it could have been if you would have stayed here. So people were being discouraged, they become Muslim, Rasulullah says to them go on, try to speak to your village, go and try to speak to your family, go and try to speak to your tribe, we are going to stay here, because if we stay here we are going to miss out. This ayah came to solve this particular problem that not all of you need to sit with Rasulullah all the time, there shall be a group of people recording the knowledge and passing that knowledge on to others. But the third reason is by far the most popular opinion in regards to the reason why this verse was revealed. The reason why this verse was revealed according to the Mufasereen, is because everyone started migrating to Medina, when Rasulullah came to Medina, people from Mecca, people from different parts of the Islamic world, especially the surrounding cities and villages came to Medina. So they left their villages, the Muslims, they left their villages, left their hometowns. They came, they sat in Medina, why are you here? We have to learn from Rasulullah, we have to see Rasulullah, hear the Quran. How else would we hear? How else would we read? And the societies began to suffer, because for example every society needs physicians, every society needs teachers, every society needs for example farmers, every society needs different individuals that make up the society. Now if the majority of them leave and come to Medina, that society is going to suffer, the ayah was revealed stating, listen, not every one of you should come to Medina. From every small village, from every small community, from every town, from every tribe, send several people to Rasulullah. Let them receive the fiqh, hear the fiqh means what? All Islamic sciences. Let them learn of their deen, their faith, their religious affairs, and then come back and share that knowledge with you. This is the reason why this verse was sent down. Now the verse also speaks of a notion that the person has to be one of the community, not an import from outside. And this notion is also embedded within the Holy Quran. Look at, for example, how Allah refers to the Prophet Nuh, the Prophet Hud. Hud, his community didn't believe in him, they were punished. But yet Allah refers to him as Achaahum Hudah, their brother Hud. Meaning he was a brother to them, he was one of them, spoke like them, acted like them, lived like them, can relate to them, can understand them, understands their culture, understands their language. He's one of them. He's not a foreign to them, Achaahum Hudah. Another statement Allah and the Qur'an says Achaahum Saleh, the brother Saleh. Saleh has people, one of them, not even one believed in him. But yet Allah says their brother Saleh because he acted like a brother to them. He was one of them. He was not seen as a foreigner to them. And Allah, when referring to the Arabs, speaking to the Arabs within the Holy Quran, he says Rasulan Minkum, I have chosen a Prophet from amongst you, one of you, to come and share the knowledge with you, to be a Prophet amongst you, not somebody foreign to you. Why? Why the need for us to have a member from our community, not an import? It's very obvious that at times people from other communities and other societies would not be able to relate to our society in our communities. They would not be able to speak of our needs. They will not be able to specially relate with the youth. They will not be able to relate with children and teenagers growing up in this country. And this is a fact that we have been keeping aside for a long time. Many people say Sayyid, what motivated you to go to the Hausa? What motivated me is that absence of Imams that intrigued me. I'm being honest. When I sit and I hear and I give an hour or two of my time and go home, I'd like to see change in my day-to-day life. I'd like to take something back with me. I remember I was in a state two years ago and the season of, I can't say because you'll know, and I was there. So the youth as soon as I arrived calling and we want to see you and I ended up spending every day while I was there and counseling, marriage counseling, pre-marriage counseling, divorce counseling of young adults, of people my age. And I remember I came across a couple, they came and they sat and they spoke to me and when they were leaving, this gentleman's wife told me Sayyid, really, thank you. I wasn't going to come because my last experience was horrible. I said, how come? She said that when we went to another Imam, as soon as I arrived, he said, I can't bring you into my house. I can't bring you, for example, into the office. I don't remember whether it was the office or the house. Fix your hijab. You're wearing makeup. You have to change all of this and then you come to marriage counseling. But today you didn't do this with me. You see, with the youth at the door, if you send them back, they're not going to come back. They're not going to return. A wise thing would be to speak to them, to solve their marital problem, to bring them together, to give them happiness, then they'll come. When they come, you can speak about, you can speak about hijab, you can speak about Salah, you can speak about Siyam. And sometimes, yes, we'll bring speakers that can relate to the whole community in the month of Muharram, in the month of Safar, in the month of Ramadan. But that is not enough for the whole community is in need of a spiritual leader all the time. The community and the youth of the community, especially are in need of a spiritual guide at all the times. Somebody they can relate to, somebody they can speak to. I myself, for example, would be afraid if I went to my father, who is also an Imam, and he is my father, to tell him about, for example, some of my difficulties at high school or college. Because we're always concerned that we will be judged by those who didn't experience this. They were in my shoes, how would they know? Therefore, Allah and the Holy Quran speaks of the notion that this representative has to be part of the community, has to be a brother, has to be someone that can relate to every aspect of my life. A person that will not judge me, a person who will accept me, a person who will hear my problems, whether they're in regards to drugs, whether they're in regards to alcohol, whether they're in regards to parties, whether they're in regards to having doubts about my religion. Don't tell me this is not part of the community. Don't tell me, say, this is the wrong community. Nobody here has doubts. Here, nobody, Alhamdulillah, all our kids. No, this is something, unfortunately, the Western culture has not just struck. Well, we live in the West, so we're influenced at first hand. But the Western culture is no longer, no longer belongs in the West. It belongs to the whole world now. It's an imported culture that exists everywhere. So this is the second notion. And the third notion within the ayah, Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, speaks of the wajib and the fiqh and the Islamic laws in regards to this particular notion. What do I mean? The scholars have divided wajib into two categories. This type of wajib is known as wajib al-ayni. What is wajib al-ayni? Wajib al-ayni is mandatory acts, and there is no way around it. Prayers, as a mandatory act, there is no way around prayers. If I'm alive, I have to pray. I can't hire someone to do my prayers. I can't pay someone to do my prayers. Prayers, I have to do myself. Fasting, if the month of Ramadan comes, I am not ill, or there isn't an Islamic reason for me not to fast, I have to observe fast. I can't say, well, I'm going to hire somebody to fast for me. No, that's wajib al-ayni. Hajj is also wajib al-ayni. My khoms, I have to pay it myself. It's wajib al-ayni. Those are wajib al-ayni. They're wajib that do not change. I have to carry them out myself. The other wajib is called wajib. Who can tell me? Kifai, Masha, who said kifai? Ahsan, make a salawat for this brother. And a second salawat for me. And a third salawat for yourself. Allahumma salli ala Muhammad. The second form of wajib is wajib al-ayni. What is wajib al-ayni? Wajib kifai, wajib kifai is when there is a wajib, and the wajib is mandatory upon every member in the community. For example, if there is a death incident, it is wajib and mandatory upon everyone in the community to watch the body. That's wajib. But if one person does it, then it's no longer wajib upon the others. But if everyone neglects it, it's haram on everyone. Number two, they have to coffin the body. They have to put it in the kifai. If one person does it, then the wajib is removed from everyone. But if no one does it, then the haram falls on everyone's shoulder. And everyone is still liable for putting that person in the coffin. Same goes for salat al-mayid, praying on the body. It's wajib on to all Muslims to pray on that body. But if one person does it, then no longer is wajib. Same goes on the burial. We need to bury that person. If one person buries him, it's enough. So it's called wajib kifai. If one person does it, the rest are no longer liable. But if no one does it, everyone is liable. Go look at all the books of our scholars today. They tell you this ayah speaks of wajib kifai. It is wajib and mandated for a group or certain individuals, whatever is needed. Individuals to seek this route of seeking knowledge or else everyone is liable for this wajib. It's called wajib kifai. Now while we understand that this is a wajib kifai, let us come to the next notion of how Allah divided every community into two parts by this ayah. The first part are the minority, the very two or three people, maybe more, maybe less, who have gone to seek this knowledge. This is one part. The second part is everyone else, the teacher, the lawyer, the doctor, the businessman, the merchant, the professor, everyone else that carry the financial burden. Hand in hand, those two will make a prosperous community, a community that can conquer success, that can conquer the highest mountains of perfection. Let's start with the responsibility of the minority, who are the ulama, the spiritual leaders, the guides. What should motivate me to go, for example, to the city of Najaf? What should be my incentive to, for example, study the religion of Islam? What should be my incentive to go to Qom or to go to Karbala? My incentive should be to become an individual that if when people see me and they look at me and they observe me, I remind them of Allah. And when they speak to me, they gain Islamic knowledge from me. And when they observe me and observe my behavior, they are reminded of the day of judgment. That is the criteria of the Alam according to Rasulullah and Ahlul Bayt. My reason should not to become a celebrity and a superstar. My reason should not be for fame and popularity, but my aim should be Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. That's the first rule. Second, there will be difficulty. There will be difficulty. My grandfather narrates that he went in the presence of Alam, a marja, a grand marja of our time. Maybe I shouldn't mention his name. And he said, I saw a black ball in front of him. So I said to him, what is this black ball? He said, this black ball represents the days when I had barely reached the city of Najaf. Nobody knew me. I was by myself. And I was a student. I didn't have anything to eat. The little money that I had, I would buy books. I would go to the Hamam because the Hamam was to pay and people didn't have showers, Hamams in their home. So he said, what is the ball? He said, the ball at night I would walk in some of the Najaf's neighborhoods and I would find what's in the garbage. Maybe a piece of chicken, maybe some vegetables, maybe a piece of bread. I would come home. I would wash it. I would boil it and then I would eat it. I didn't have food to eat. This is the number one aim. Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. To truly in the day of judgment say, I dedicated myself to Allah. I dedicated myself to Hussein. I dedicated myself to Ahlul Bayt. And the only way for us to feel that is if we go and we sit with those ulama and we learn from those ulama and we comprehend the messages of those ulama because those ulama do not just teach me what's in the book. With their practice by observing them and looking them, I see the book being illustrated and demonstrated. Something you don't feel in a university. Some people say, well, we can do this here in New York. I can go and become a alem. There's nothing wrong with that. You can learn and it's something beautiful. But they say, obviously this is a joke. They say that Amulana, he went to Africa to start a hauza. So he gathered a lot of people and he said, you have to study now. And he left. He went to Najaf or Karbala. A couple of years later he came. He said, I have to test those guys. They've been studying for three, four years. Let's see what they learned. Maybe, you know, they're ready to go out there. So he said, let me ask you a basic question. Who was the prophet that spoke to animals? After a long while, one of them raises his hand. He says, I know. He said, who? He said, the prophet, terrorism. So sometimes you have to be at the hauza. You have to be in that environment not to only receive the sciences and the knowledge, but to also feel the spiritual essence and presence of the ulama. Another aim of the alim is to, another aim of the alim and a spiritual leader is to serve his community unconditionally. I don't mean become a servant, you know, 24-7. No, unconditionally. Serve the community unconditionally. And I'll tell you how. There was a marja by the name of Ayatullah Najaf, who lived in Najaf. And he lived in the time while the Iraqi government was drafting people, recruiting people for the army. So when he came home on the first day, a lady came to him. She said to him, Ayatullah, my son, I have one son. How is he going to be drafted? He's going to go in the army. Who's going to take care of me? My husband's deceased. This is my husband. This is my son's name. Please go and speak to this guy. He knows your respect to you. Maybe he can let my son go. So he said to her, okay, give me the name. He wore his aba and he went. He told the recruiter there. He said to him, please excuse this man from the draft, from the army. So he said, Maulana, nobody's excused. Nobody can get out of this. Everybody has to come. I apologize, but you can go. So he came home. As soon as he came home, an old man came to him. He said, Maulana, I have a son who's running the business. I'm very old. If this son goes, who's going to run the business? We're going to stay without anything. So please, this is his name. Go and speak to this guy. Maybe he can excuse my son. He wore his aba again and he went. He said, this person has, he has an old father and this is his name. Maybe you can excuse him from the draft, from the army. He said to him, Said, Maulana, I already told you. There's no exceptions. Why are you coming back? So he went back. Again, he came home. A group of people came. Three, four youth came to him. Said, Maulana, we can't go to the army. Those people, we don't believe in them. They're not doing the right thing. So please, this is our names. Go get us excused. So again, he went. The third time, the guy said, I told Allah, I thought you're a mustahed. I thought you're, but seems there's something wrong with you. I told you this is the third time. You can't keep on coming. Nobody's excused. No exceptions. He said to him, Allah, if people come to me until the morning, I'll return here. He said, why? He said, because there is something I am aware of that you are not aware of. And that is the thawab and the walk that I come from my home to this place and in solving my people's problems and their concerns. Allah says, if you solve one problem or to try to solve one problem of your brother in the dunya, Allah will solve a thousand of our problems in the Akhirah. One of them is to grant us paradise. One of them. One of them is paradise. Ayatullah al-Uzma, al-Sheikh al-Ha'iri, who is the founder of the house of Qom, one day was sitting inside his house, very cold day, snowing. He was sleeping. Someone knocked at the door. So the khadim opened the door. The servants opened the door. His name was Ali Agha. He opened the door and he slammed the door. So, the Ayatullah came. He said to him, who was it? Why did you slam the door? He says, Sheikh, it's a crazy lady in the middle of the night. She wants me to go and visit her house. I don't have time. So I told her, come back tomorrow. The Sheikh said, but what was her condition? He said, I don't know. She said, she has an ill husband. I don't know. So he said, but Ali Agha, what will we answer Imam Az-Zaman tomorrow? What will we answer Allah? We have to go. So the Ayatullah wore his Aba, his Imam and he ran out behind the lady. He tells her, stop. She's heartbroken. She's running, crying home. So he followed her until the house. He saw an old man. No heat, no power, nothing, no food. Shivering. He's about to die. So suddenly, so he called Ali. He said, go bring him medicine. Go bring him eat, take care of this man. Then he tells his servant. He says to him, what would he, what would we have done? If this man would have died from the cold weather tonight. Tomorrow, Allah on the day of judgment would have held me responsible. Yes, you were the founder of the Hausa, but what happened to this man who died while you were sitting at your home in your comfort? So number one should be for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and more importantly to serve the community unconditionally, wholeheartedly with passion, with love and the second group or who are those who carry the financial burden. Those who have to put the efforts to build the mosques, to sustain the masjids, the imam bargas, to print the books, to, for example, if there is a need for a radio station, develop one. If there is a need for a satellite station to develop one or the rest of society. And hand in hand, this society can become a successful Islamic society. Now, many of you are probably wondering, I hope my son isn't listening to this lecture. I don't want him to tell me I want to go to Qom tomorrow. What am I going to tell him? I hope he's not going to be telling me I want to go to Najaf. It's obvious. Why? Because the community at large has also been injust. As in we haven't done our part. We haven't done our part in choosing the smartest, the brightest, the most eloquent members of our society and telling them, listen, we see leadership skills in you. We want you to go and come back. And in this journey, we will support you. And when you come back, we will support you because we are in need and our community is in need. But for a bright, successful, eloquent, young man or young woman today, the first thing they'll ask themselves is, I can get into law school. I graduate, get employed, make two, three hundred thousand dollars a year, love a good life. And I'll donate some of it to the Masjid. Why should I bother and go? Imam Hussain, remind yourself of the mission statement of Imam Hussain. Inni lam akhroj ashiran, wala batiran, wala mufsida bal kharajto li islahi umma tijaddi. The perfection of the umma needs initiative. The last but not least of the portion of this ayah speaks of the different forms of travel within the Islamic ideology. The first travel is the travel that the ulama have indicated is haram, saffar ul mausia. A travel where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is displeased with. A travel when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is disobeyed. And unfortunately, I hear some of the youth, for example, we're going to a vacation to Europe. We're going on a vacation to, for example, Vegas. We're going on a vacation to California. We're going on a vacation to, for example, I don't know where. And there, we're a little free to do whatever we like. Make sure before you travel, brothers and sisters, adults, younger brothers, younger sisters, everyone. Before you take such trips, there is an ayah in the Holy Quran. Keep this ayah everywhere, whether it's on your phone somewhere. Somewhere you look at this ayah all the time. The ayah says, This is enough. Is he not aware that Allah is watching? Allah is here. Allah is also on Vegas. Allah is also on California. Allah is also on Dubai. Allah is also on Africa. Allah is also on Switzerland. Allah is also on Italy. Allah is everywhere. And we cannot escape Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the ulama have stated, if we take such trips, the salat is what? Salat umusafirun fil maqsiyah. The salat is not broken. The salat remains full as a reminder for this person to escape from such traveling. The second form of travel is, no, a vacation. For the sake of myself, I want to have a good time. But a vacation that reminds me of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. When I see the skies, and I see the vast earth, and I see the creation of Allah, and I see the different animals, and I see the fish in the ocean. When I see this, I am reminded of Allah and Allah speaks of such people traveling on earth. And he says those people, when they see Allah's beauty, they say, oh Allah, ma khalaqta hadha batalan. You didn't create all of this for no reason. Ma khalaqta hadha batalan subhanaka faqina hadha banar. Oh Allah, give us awareness. Oh Allah, rescue us and refrain us from your punishment. Traveling to them reminds them of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And by far, the greatest form of travel could also be traveling to gain halal rizq. Business trip, but in order to gain halal rizq. Rasulullah says, if a man dies in such a trip, he dies as a martyr. Ma taqaddan ala ayalah, a person who goes out of his way, travels, leaves his family, leaves the comfort of his home in order to gain halal of rizq. Amongst the greatest forms of travel is also travel that is mentioned in this ayah in regards to seeking Islamic knowledge. Looks like my time is getting short, so I will just mention the hadiths. Rasulullah says if a man travels or a woman, obviously, this has, Rasulullah says when a man, he means man and woman, they travel to seek knowledge, Islamic knowledge for every step they take. Every breath they take, the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky. And the angels in the heaven ask for forgiveness for him. Imagine the value that Allah has given to knowledge and seeking Islamic knowledge. Imagine the value. Imagine this grand position. Rasulullah says an hour of the Alam looking into his Alam, an hour, one hour of the Alam looking into his Alam is superior than 70 years, not 70 hours, 70 years of a person standing up for Salah in the middle of the night. One hour of Alam looking into his Alam. This is the position that Allah gives to those who seek knowledge. Furthermore, if this person were to die, he would be resurrected in the day of judgment, not only as a Shahid, but amongst the prophets of Bani Israel. Amongst the prophets, he will be resurrected with the prophets, with the Anbiyaa, with the Rasul chosen by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And indeed, amongst the greatest form of travel is also the travel to seek the inner spirituality. To go to Umrah, to go to the visitation of Imam al-Raza, to go to Hajj. But you know where I'm getting. There is nothing equivalent to that visit to Aba Abdullah al-Husayn. Allahu Akbar. 1000 Hajj, 1000 Umrah. Jihad with Rasulullah. Is this it? No. Imam al-Sadaq says whoever visits Husayn has given allegiance on the 15th of Sha'ban, has given allegiance to 1,124,000 prophets. Man arada an yusaf hame'a wa arba'a wa ashrin alf nabi fal yazr al-Husayn. This is Husayn. Further, Imam al-Sadaq states something unreal. He says manzara al-Husayn, ke manzara allaha fi arshih. Whoever visits Husayn, he's visited Allah and His throne. Allah and His throne. The visitation of Husayn, what else does it have? The forgiveness of all of our sins. Some people say we go to Hajj every year because this one visitation of Husayn forgives all the sins. Bring sustenance and risk and it's one year of protection from illnesses and death. According to Imam al-Sadaq, this is Husayn. This is Husayn ibn Ali. And tonight is the night of crying, wallah. Why? Because tonight the heart of the beloved of Husayn is weeping. Tonight we remind ourselves of whom? Of Sayyida Zaynab, ummu al-Masa'ib and her two sons. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us the visitation of Sayyida Zaynab, insha'Allah. Let us take our hearts, our souls, our minds all together towards that shrine in Damascus, the shrine of Sayyida Zaynab, ummu al-Masa'ib, al-Sabirah, Zaynab ibn Tua Ali. We say to her Ya Sayyidatana wa maulatana. All of you are aware of the position of Zaynab and all of you are aware Sayyida Zaynab does not let anyone go without giving their hajjah to them. Ya Sayyidatana wa maulatana. All of us who love Zaynab, all of us who will cry for Zaynab and her tragedy tonight. Ya Wajihatan, Brothers, we are already passing, let us bring the passion of Karbala to this gathering. Ya Wajihatan, Sayyida Zaynab, as known as ummu al-Masa'ib, the mother of all tragedies. Why? Because Zaynab was there when the house of Fatima was attacked. Zaynab was also there when her mother Fatima Tuzahra passed away. Zaynab was also there when her father Amir al-Mu'mineen was struck by the sword. And Zaynab was also there witnessing Imam al-Hasan's martyrdom. But indeed the greatest of tragedies of Zaynab had remained. Why? Because Fatima Tuzahra, Amir al-Mu'mineen had told her Zaynab. There will be a day when your brother Hussain will be all by himself in the deserts of Karbala. On that day Zaynab do not leave your brother Imam Hussain before he marched towards the enemies. He came out and he said, who is there to give me my horse? And there was no one of the companions to bring the horse, but suddenly he saw his sister Zaynab crying, coming out to him. Saying, I saw my sister's stepbrother Salmanoun without a care. Have you ever seen Hussain, a sister bringing a horse to her brother that will not return him? Imam Hussain sat on the horse, he took some steps. As soon as he took steps, he heard a voice. What was the voice? The voice would say to him, Mahla Ibn Zahra. Hold on, other son of Zahra. Who is it? She says, it's me, your sister Zaynab. What do you need? Hussain, get off from the horse, she got off from the horse. She said to him, Hussain, she kissed the chest of her brother Hussain. Saying, oh mother Fatima, this is the day you were speaking to me about. This is the day that you kept reminding me of. And indeed on the eve of the 9th, she went to her sons, Aoun and Muhammed, and she said to them, oh my beloved, tomorrow Aliun Al Akbar is going to make his mother proud. Tomorrow Qasim is going to make his mother proud. Are you two going to make your mother proud? She said, they said to her, oh mother, our grandfather is Amir al-Mu'mineen and our grandfather is Ja'far al-Tayyar. Tomorrow we shall make you proud. Allah Akbar, the next day they went to Aba Abdullah al-Hussain. When Imam Hussain saw them, traditions say that when he glanced at them, he began to cry. He began to cry because they reminded him of his years of Imam Hussain when they were kids, when they had their father Amir al-Mu'mineen, when they had their grandfather Asulullah, when they had their mother Fatima. So he began to cry and he said to them, return to your mother because after they kill me, after I no longer am available, then your mother will be all by herself and your mother has seen enough tragedy. So they went back to their mother Zaynab and they said to her that Imam Hussain says to us, we cannot fight. Imam Hussain took the hands of her children, Allah Akbar. Imagine a mother dragging her own kids, bringing her own kids. She said to him, Hussain, what am I supposed to answer? My mother Fatima will tell me, you saw my beloved Hussain going towards our martyrdom but you did not send your sons before my son Hussain. What am I going to say to my mother? I'll say Leila gave her kids. I'll say the other mothers gave her kids but I did not offer my kids. Ya Aba Abdullah, allow my face to be clear and pure and to glow with my mother Fatima on the day of judgment. Imam Hussain gave those two brave man permission. They went to the battle, Allah Akbar. They began to defend one another in the battle and every while they would look back at their uncle Hussain. Every while they would look back at their uncle Abalfa. The uncles, are you proud of us? Until they shouted out, As-salamu alaika ya'amma. Imam Hussain went to them, he held them, he kissed them and the first thing they asked was ya'amma, ya'aba Abdullah. Did we defend you right and are you proud of us? Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar. Sayyidiya Sahaba Zaman. Sayyidiya Sahaba Zaman. I'll tell you because I know your love for your aunt Zaynah. Heart was full of grief but what about the day when she went back to Medina? She goes to the house of Hussain. The house of Hussain is empty. The house of Aliun Al Akbar is empty. She goes home and she sees the place of Anan Muhammad empty. Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar. Ya Zaynab Ya Sayyidati wa Maulati, salamullahi alaiki. Wa ala sabruki, wa ala istiqamatuki ya Sayyidati wa Maulati. All of us all together. Now let us remind ourselves of that land where Imam Hussain fell as a martyr. If you can all together raise your voice insha'Allah for a few minutes, two minutes and insha'Allah we will conclude the Majlis. Those who have the love for Karbala, those who heart their hearts are departing towards Karbala all together. Karbala, Karbala, Karbala. All my shee'ah, every time the martyr do not forget me. Karbala, Karbala, Karbala. Shiaateemah ma sharabto ma adb ma adkoro Awsame shahiqateen doboor balaa Karbalaa