 We began by praising Allah swt, asking Allah swt for His help, His protection, His mercy, His blessings, His sustenance and praying and begging Allah swt to make us amongst the most successful individuals both in this life and the hereafter. Ameen Ya Rabbi Al Ameen Allah swt reminds us in the Qur'an wherean He swt says Inna haadihi ummatukum ummatan wahidah and this is addressing the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in which he says that this ummah of yours, this community of yours is a single community which is why Allah swt reminds us as people of the ummah to remain united. Now of course there's various different definitions of what united can be but if we go back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and I find that the American Muslim experience is generally very close to that of the times of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the reason behind that is because in the gatherings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ there were people of all different backgrounds within that one gathering. Of course where people, immigrants into this country come from when you go to different lands you generally find a people of a certain ideology, a certain specific mindset that all attend the same kind of masjid or community center or a prayer area or whatever you want to call it. But generally here in the west and more specific in the United States when you attend a masjid you go into a community center people arrive there simply because they believe in the oneness of Allah and believe in the finality of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. That is the uniting factor that brings people into our masjid. That is the common denominator that brings people together brings Muslims together here in the United States and as Muslims who live in the United States we must acknowledge that that this is the common denominator. This is the universal factor that brings us all together. But because many of us or our parents or grandparents come from different lands there are unique methods how we choose to practice Islam and worship Allah SWT. There's different ways people and the differences are various and we're not talking about differences here but in terms of your fiqh in terms of other areas and so on and so forth. But generally speaking the things that bring us together is that is the belief in Allah SWT and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Which is why it's extremely important for us to be able to turn to the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in order to understand and find similes and examples through how which we can live our lives here as Muslims in the west or as Muslims in the United States. And the reason I mention this and this is a very common message of mine and the reason I mention this is because as Muslims we become very excited we come together. But then that excitement and that unity that brings us together we we tend to begin to discuss our differences and when we begin to discuss those differences we're so hard and we're so concrete and not giving up some of the things that we come with that we end up instead of creating friends and communities we end up creating enemies. We end up breaking our communities and that is a very real fact with Muslims in the United States. People want to separate and as individuals I've I'm in my 30s I've lived most of my life here I was born in Europe I grew up at a masjid in the United States I went to the masjid where at my masjid people still call me by my first name or they call me beta but the reality is that as I'm growing up and I guess my hairs are getting a little wider than they were a few years ago I'm coming to realize that I now have children that live in my house that are almost as tall as I am and soon enough I'm going to be living with other men in the same house right it's just I'm the only man there right now I'm gonna have more men living in the same house and as a Muslim as one who is walking in this journey to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on this journey where day in day out in my community I see friends and people passing away and coming close to their Creator as an individual who thrives and strives to be close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala what is the legacy that I want to leave behind my children what is it that I want to leave behind with my children is it going to be the fact that oh my child we are Indian Muslims your grandparents are Indian so you should be a proud Indian or is it oh my child I come from a land where the Hanafi madhab is practiced and that's what I practice and you better practice that in order to be a successful Muslim what is honestly what is it that I'm going to leave behind what is what is my challenge what is it going to take and this is a very simple question I ask myself as an individual who gets to travel a lot what is it what is it going to take on my part to ensure that when my children are in their 20s and 30s and they're out on a business trip somewhere that they wait and they're in some hotel where no one knows who they are where they are that they are inspired to wake up in the morning at Fajr time and pray their Salat al Fajr because they love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala not because they're scared of Allah but because they love Allah that when they're going out to eat they make conscious choices right they're making sure that they're not just eating junk food they're not eating trash that fast food restaurants in this country serve that they're making a conscious choice to support local Muslim businesses no matter where they are what is it going to take for what what and what what is it going to take on my part to pass that along to my children it's a very very simple question yet the answer can be a very difficult one and I've come to realize as a schoolteacher it's not what you say that counts it's not what you say that counts it's what you do that counts it's what you do as a parent that counts these children are observing these children are looking at us day in day out and when I think of this it's an inspiration because again going back to the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us in the Quran the Quran we think that oh it's just the Quran it's just Arabic anyone can read the translation there's some very deep messages in the Quran learn to not just recite the Quran but learn to understand the Quran and just because you've gone through a tafsir of the Quran once in your life doesn't mean it's over it's a continuous process we need to continue that study you don't just go through the tafsir of the Quran one seven eight volumes and say alhamdulillah I've studied the Quran and now I'm an expert and I can deliver a Khutba it's not about that it's not about being able to deliver it's about being able to inspire oneself Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions you find the best example in that of the life of the Messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam peace and blessings of Allah be upon him what did the Prophet do the Prophet alayhi sallatu wa sallam taught but the Prophet alayhi sallatu wa sallam inspired the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam through his simple yet noble life inspired his companions and his inspiration was so strong that his companions wanted to be like him it wasn't just about hearing a message and conveying the message there's a lot of things that we convey on a daily basis we hear all kinds there's all kinds of people that say all kinds of things they may not be morally upright but we still convey their message there's great things that they've said there's quotes of weird people we still quote them because the quote happens to be a good quote and there's nothing wrong with that but the Prophet alayhi sallatu wa sallam became an inspiration and it was such a great example that his companions wanted to be like him they wanted to do what he did they wanted to dress what he dressed like they wanted to speak like what he spoke that's why Imam Tirmidhi and we've all known the collect the Shamail collected by Imam Tirmidhi the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam what he looked like what he spoke like what he walked like what he talked like how he met people how he met children how he met women right how he talked to people he didn't run away from people he didn't scream at children like the simple things that people do what what when you when we pass away how will people remember us when I leave this dunya how will people remember us I was reading an Islamic Horizons magazine not too long ago about a year or so ago and I was reading at the end you know they have the obituaries of certain Muslim personalities in the country that have passed away and there was one I remember within the first paragraph it was mentioned that people remember him to smile at everyone that he met that's how people remembered him and I was inspired from that day onwards to buy a box of chocolates and keep them in my office and I have a habit that whenever young children come to the masjid they give them candy not for them to come back to the masjid but this is a memory that they will remember that as a child when I went to the masjid there was someone who used to give me candy right just kindness kindness all around being that inspiration not just talking about the message going back to our children not just talking about the message but being that message and what did the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam do the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam during his lifetime even in the days of Makkah and then even more during the days of Medina the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam had companions who became his ambassadors and he sent these companions to the various different cities and towns right when the first group of people came from Medina Munawwara Musaab ibn Umayr radiallahu anhu was part of them what he tell Musaab was a young man he was a young man what he tell Musaab to do I tell you it's an amazing example he tells Musaab when you go back to your city when you go back to your town when you go back to Yathrib lead your people in prayer he made him a leader he gave him something to do and Musaab went back along with those 12 13 people back to Medina Munawwara right and their message was so strong that they came back next year with almost almost 80 people right their allegiance what did he do with Muaz ibn Jabal radiallahu when he sent Muaz to Yemen what did he tell Muaz to do oh Muaz listen make it easy for these people don't make it difficult give them glad tidings don't scare them that was the Prophet's message to the people but when they lived and they came many of the companions many of the companions when they came to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam as you and I may imagine they didn't live with him for years most of the companions at max lived with him for a few weeks they spent a few weeks in his company sallallahu alaihi wasallam but when they left from there they were inspired they were changed it wasn't just there's two reasons and I'm you know I want to bring these two things it wasn't just the actions of the Prophet alaihi sallam because a lot of people are good but it was also the ibadah of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam Allah naturally drew people closer to him because he was close to Allah Allah made it easy for him sallallahu alaihi wasallam to be so kind because he was close to Allah he spent his nights he spent portions of his night in remembrance of Allah that's what gave him the inspiration the divine power to live his days despite the fact that those days were in poverty despite the fact that those days were in difficulty and Allah allowed him Allah enabled him to become an inspiration so as parents we're talking about this unity this one ummah raising our children to be a part of the ummah right as parents who are teaching them it's Sunday schools are great but they're not going to be enough telling our children to do good is good but it's not going to be enough in order for us to have children who continue to remain muslims we are going to have to become muslims we are going to have to become inspirations for them we are going to have to take the message of mu'ad ibn jabal the message of the Prophet alaihi salam to mu'ad ibn jabal to make things easy and not difficult right be kind with your children be nice to your children and see people say a lot of parents this is very common a lot of parents will come and say oh we're nice we do everything for them yes true but sometimes there's no weight in our message and there may be no weight in our message because our our relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as a parent is not what it should be at that point in time as we get older as everyone gets older you know i mean it's a very simple thing you've heard this a million times in the last few years but when we all came to this country we all know we had nothing or we had a little bit and you know people grew and so on and so forth i remember when i started working i used to drive an old car live in a two on a one bedroom apartment i mean it's been 14 years things have changed now right i'm mashallah i have a big house i have two cars and two kids and beautiful wife and life is good alhamdulillah say alhamdulillah it's all good but has my ibadah with Allah increased right so when i used to pray fajr and it used to take me 10 minutes it should be taking me 15 minutes now right why do not why don't i wake up in the morning before before the time for fajr comes in for tahajud why not how come that hasn't come in yet in terms of dunya everything's coming in it's all good but in terms of my relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala how come that hasn't increased because our relationship with Allah is a direct factor through which our our our interactions happen to be with people that inspiration that power that all that Allah puts in us through which people are affected how come that hasn't increased right so when we talk about this next generation and when we talk about the ummah and when we talk about the unity of the ummah it comes through actions it comes through example yet it also comes through our relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and i tell you last night i i almost hadn't as i was boarding the flight i i just had this revelation and it was a very tough revelation my father is is mashallah blessed healthy he's in his late 60s and all he does is travel ever since he retired at the age of 45 he's a very content man doesn't have a lot of money but very content he retired at the age of 45 he's been on all he does is travel to see friends and family six weeks seven weeks ago in madinah munawara he fell down and fractured his femur he's been bedridden for six weeks for me to see my own father bedridden mind blowing right one of his very close friends last thursday i spoke to one of his very close friends last wednesday night after his cataract surgery i found out two days later that on thursday and friday he had two back-to-back um strokes right i went and see i went and saw him at the hospital on monday and the rehab home on tuesday as i'm boarding the flight yesterday another very dear friend of my father's calls me and says look i know your father is ill i let you choose when is the right time and when is the right method to break the news to him but um my cancer has come back and it's pretty strong right now and i just kind and this was right because he said oh there's a lot of background noises everything okay i said i'm getting ready to board the flight so he goes okay i'll keep my message short and we hung up it just dawned on me that life every you know these are amazing people these are people who i've known for 35 years of my life and it's they're getting old and things are changing for them and mashallah i asked myself that where do i want to be as a muslim as a parent as a community member as a leader in 30 35 years from now if i make it that far right i need i need to become that example and in order to become an example i also need to increase my worship and abadah with allah subhanahu wa ta'ala these are two things that go hand in hand i i need to become a successful muslim one who people look up to one who the community not just the muslim community the community at large respects that i have you know there's people i can convey my message to the people yet at the same time at the same time i need to build this relationship and bond with allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the bare minimum is great but the bare minimum won't suffice and i need to i need to connect my children not with an ethnicity not with an ideology not with certain kinds of people but i need to connect my children to allah that's my challenge right dr ridha basheer an amazing author on children's books and social but you know he i was with him not too long ago and he said we need to connect our children to allah for them to be conscious of allah for them to not necessarily fear but for them to love allah subhanahu wa ta'ala barak allah barak allah lana walakum fluqanil al-alim wa nafa'na wa iyakum bil ayat wal dhikil hakeem innahu ta'ala jawadun kareemun malikun barru al-raouf al-raheem fa astaghfiruh innahu al-afur al-raheem abdika wa rasulik wa salli'ala al-mu'minina wal-mu'minat wal-muslimina wal-muslimat wabarika al-muhammadin wa ala alihi wa ashabihi wa azwajihi wa dhurriyatih a'ala al-nabiyyi wa sallallahu alaihi wa sallam arhamu ummati bi ummati abubak wa ashaduhum fi amrillahi umar wa astaghfum hayaan uthman wa aqadahum ali wa fatimah sayyidah nisa'i ahlil jannah wal hasan wal husayn sayyidah shababi ahlil jannah wa hamzahu asadullahi wa asadu rasulik ridwanu Allahi ta'ala alayhim ajma'in Allahumma ghfilil abbasi wa waladih ma ghfiratan zahiratan wa batinah la tu ghadiru dhamba Allah Allah fi ashabi la tittakhiduhum gharatum min ba'di fa man ahabahum fa bihubi ahabahum wa man abgadahum fa bihugdi ahabgadahum wa khairu l-kurouni qarni thumman ladhini yaloonahum thumman ladhini yaloonahum Allahumma ayyidil islamu wa ansarah wa adillil shirkah wa ashrarah Allahumma wafiqna lima tuhibu wa tarzah wa jaal aakhirat na khairum min al-ulaa Allahumma nsurman nsaradina muhammadin sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa jaalna minhum wa khdulman khadaladina muhammadin sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa la ta jaalna ma'ahum ta'adalu ya'ibadullah innallaha ya'umru bil-adil wal ihsan wa ita idil qurba wa yannha anil fahshai wal munkari wal bagh ya'idu kum la'allakum tathakaroun fa dhkurouni a dhkurkum wa shkuru li walatakfirun