 About a month ago, I had the honor of being in Masjid al-Uqsa. And the iman of Masjid al-Uqsa, he points to kind of like a member that you can see off in the distance. And he says, there is a school there that 20,000 women scholars have graduated from, and they would teach in Masjid al-Uqsa, and they would travel to Syria, and they would go to Syria, and they would teach in Syria. And Masjid al-Uqsa is this incredible, incredible area subhanAllah, not a single space of it has not been walked upon by a prophet, not a single space of it, whether a prophet or an angel has not been occupied by that space. This is a land of blessing, this is a blessed space. And in that space what we see is this history of women scholars, this history of women teachers. Like Umad Darudat al-Sughra, may Allah's upon tell be pleased with her, that she came and she would teach where the dome of the rock now is, inside or outside, and then when her lessons were done, the Khalif at the time would come, he was her mahram, he would hold her hand and they would walk to Masjid al-Qibli where he would lead Salat. Many times when people see Masjid al-Uqsa, there's this like, that's not actually Masjid al-Uqsa, that's the dome of the rock. And it's interesting because that's not correct. The dome of the rock is one Masjid of five that is within the compound of Masjid al-Uqsa. So when you see that other one that everyone says, that's the real Masjid al-Uqsa, that is Masjid, it's called Masjid al-Qibli, but it's one Masjid of many Masjid within the massive compound of Masjid al-Uqsa. And within this compound, SubhanAllah, when Umarullah came into Jerusalem, came to get the keys to Masjid al-Uqsa, to Quds, to Quds. The very first time that the Adhan was going to be called in Quds. The very first Muslim to pray in Masjid al-Uqsa after the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam himself had prayed there. When Umarullah Anhu takes the keys and he comes in, and then it's a much longer story, but just focusing on the aspect of going into the place of Uqsa, he didn't know where Uqsa actually was because at that time, what happened was the Christians who had ruled previously, remember Surah Al-Rum, Surah Al-Rum, Surah Al-Rum, where Allah SWT says that they are going, Feeb al-Ru'isinin, Allah SWT is going to, he prophesies, it's Allah SWT, he's telling them, he's telling them that the Romans have been defeated, but they're going to get it back. They're going to defeat the Persians. And this is like shocking at the time. But what happened is the Persians had destroyed this area of Masjid al-Uqsa. Then the Christians came and they were not respectful of the area of Masjid al-Uqsa, so it had been turned into a dump. Masjid al-Uqsa was a physical dump. It was a place in the space of time where crusaders would keep it as a pigpen. It was a place where you can still see the markings of the crusaders, where they would latch their horses to the walls because they would keep it like a stable. So this area when Amr radi Allahu Anhu comes in, he doesn't exactly know where is the actual like place spaces of worship. And so one of the companions who used to be Jewish, who had converted to Islam, showed him radi Allahu Anhu where? And then he asked Bilal radi Allahu Anhu to make the Adhan. Now Bilal had bin al-Mu'adhin of Medina, but he had left Medina after the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam passed away. He used to make the Adhan in Medina and then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam passed there to make the Adhan in the city where the beloved Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was resting, where the beloved Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam asked him to make the Adhan. And when he would come upon the name of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in the Adhan, the pain of the entire city and hearing the Adhan was so different after the loss of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So Bilal radi Allahu Anhu asked for permission to leave Medina. And he was going with a group of people, including Ubadah ibn Swamit, and he was part of the Fatah of al-Aqsa. And when he was part of the Fatah of al-Aqsa and Umar asked him to make the Adhan, initially he said no. And then Umar radi Allahu Anhu encouraged him saying if the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was here, he would want him to make the Adhan. So Bilal radi Allahu Anhu made the Adhan. And when he made the Adhan, Umar radi Allahu Anhu just fell to his knees sobbing. It was the first time the companions had heard the Adhan from Bilal radi Allahu Anhu. But can you imagine that now it's in Masjid al-Aqsa? Can you imagine that now it's with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam led all of the prophets? Can you imagine that this is a space where the angels have been and the angels have come and Angel Jibril al-Alihi Salaam gives the revelation to Maryam al-Alihi Salaam that she's going to become the mother of Jaisa to Zakiri al-Alihi Salaam that he's been answered in his dua that he's been making and making. This space is where Um Haram bint Milhan, the companion radi Allahu Anhu was with her husband Abad ibn Slamet. Abad ibn Slamet is buried right outside of the wall of Masjid al-Aqsa. So if you go to the compound, there are graves on one side outside of the compound and you can go, his grave is literally at the wall with another companion Shaddad ibn Aus radi Allahu Anhu. When you go to see Abad ibn Slamet radi Allahu Anhu who is buried right at the wall where Masjid al-Aqsa is, this was one of the first scholars and judges of this whole area in Palestine. This is just the opening of this area. And who was with him Um Haram bint Milhan radi Allahu Anhu? So when we talk about 20,000 women scholars who graduated 20,000 women scholars who taught in Aqsa and went to Syria think about where that tradition began. It began with the women companions themselves. Because the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam took a nation who would bury their daughters alive and mentored them to learn from women as their teachers. So Um Haram, she was actually a relative of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and it could have been through blood lineage or it could have been through roda'a. It might have been because of the way that they would have the nursing system where if there's lineage that's established when people nurse each other's children. And so the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would go and sleep at her home. This is his aunt. And it wasn't just her. She also had a sister Um Sulaym radi Allahu Anhu. And their stories are so powerful because of who their personalities were and because of the fact that they were so intentional despite the hardship that they faced, the resilience that they showed and the intentionality of their worship as women is one that SubhanAllah we see the Um Haram was there when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam woke up smiling from a dream. He had this beautiful dream and she asked him, what are you, why are you smiling? And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam had fallen asleep because she was massaging his hair. SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, she was looking for something in his hair. And can you imagine the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam carrying the message of Islam, carrying the worry of the whole Ummah, worried about his own family members, worried about his own daughter losing his own son, losing every single one of his children except for Faltima radiAllahu anha and then going to who is like his aunt and just relaxing, just like spending time with his khala, just having that moment of peace and security. And so he is with her and when he is with her and she's going through his hair, combing through his hair, looking for things in the hair, he falls asleep with that kind of like hair massage SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and he has this dream and he wakes up smiling and when she asks about it, he tells the dream which is a prophecy of what is going to happen, that these companions, that they're going to be riding on the ship, that they're like kings and she asked to be a part of this group and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam doesn't respond with no, it's enough for you to stay home. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam doesn't respond with don't you know the fact that you're, you have a prophet falling asleep, taking naps in your home is enough for paradise for you. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam's response wasn't well you have responsibilities to your husband and your children. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam's response was you will be with them and another narration making to offer her SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. We have other narrations of mothers coming and asking about their reward and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam teaches us that their reward is in taking care of their home, is in taking care of their children, is in taking care of their husband. Every single woman companion had a different lifestyle, life reality, personality, life objective. And what's so powerful in the Seerah is that we see that their aims for Islam were appreciated by the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. Whether it was the Benu Ghi Faur tribe, the women of the Benu Ghi Faur tribe coming and asking to help nurse the wounded and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam at the battle of Khebar saying with a blessing of Allah giving them the blessings of coming or in another circumstance where it would be better for a woman to pray in her home because of the dynamic she had with her husband. Every single person's reality was reflected in the society of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and it's an obligation upon us as women really to mirror the nuances of that dynamic so that we don't have young women who go into a masjid space and many of us are blessed with MCC here and some of you asked the question in the other session. We do have a couple of amazing masjids, but what about all those masjids that don't have that example and where we don't feel like we can have a space and where our daughters grow up or our sons grow up not seeing that as what should be normative access? What about for them? And the message when someone grows up in that way not knowing that Islam is actually for every single one of us no matter what we are going through, the resilience that we're showing inshallah, that really can shift the way a person has their relationship with Islam in general and I get messages like that every single week and those of you who are from the generation of mothers and grandmothers in this room I'm seeing you nodding your heads and maybe you've seen that in your own lives maybe you've seen that in the lives of your children maybe you've seen that in the lives of your peers whose grandchildren are making a different decision and it's a very difficult one to acknowledge when we see that there could be a different reality if we were to mirror the society of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam She wanted to go on this expedition and I shall radiallahu anha she taught us a statement from the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam that the best jihad for a woman is what? What is it? No, but that's a very nice try, may Allah bless you. Louder. No, but very nice try. Hajj, Hajj. The answer is Hajj. But I love that multiple people said taking care of the family that is the jihad first may Allah bless every single one of you in every single way reward you all and the men and all of our umma, I mean and so I shall radiallahu anha learns from the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam this narration after the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam passes away I shall radiallahu anha wants to make Hajj again because of this narration because of the strength of this narration and her seeing that it is the best type of worship for women so she goes with the women, the mothers of the believers not all of them, but the majority of them wanted to go for an extra Hajj because I shall radiallahu anha had already made Hajj with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam the obligatory Hajj and what happened to her when she went? Yes, she got her period and what did she do? She cried, she sobbed and when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam saw her, he comforted her he connected that moment of pain for her to a great grandfather Adam Alaihi Sallam and what? He taught her the rights of how to make Hajj in this circumstance her sharing that narration is a gift for all of us until the end of time and Subhanallah Ibn Taymiyyah he was in a circumstance in his time period where he had to make a fatwa for what women should do when they are on their periods in Hajj and they can't finish Hajj before they leave before the time of Ibn Taymiyyah was a political there was political support for Hajj which meant that the ruler or the rulers of the area they would have Hajj caravans go out to meet the Hajjaj on their way back so you're going through the desert for days, months, almost a year depending on the place that you're coming from and there are bandits in the desert you don't have water and food so they had these caravans that would meet the Hajj caravans and they would provide for them the provision that they needed and the protection because if you're constantly meeting caravans there's less of a chance that there's going to be some sort of bandit coming through and trying to take your provision or even murder some of the individuals on the caravan but during that time the ruling class shifted and they no longer put the policy of protection for the Hajjaj that was suddenly gone and so the Hajjaj who would come into Mecca and the woman who used to stay longer with their caravan to complete Hajj after their period these caravans started to leave immediately and they were scared because if they're going to stay to complete the Hajj just because they're on their period and it's only going to be one caravan of their relatives or just a few people that's not enough protection in the desert for months at a time sometimes and so Ibn Taymiah looked at the reality of women and individuals losing their lives and their property because now they are stragglers on their own without the state's protection and so he made a ruling that he said he hit the people before, the scholars before him didn't even have to think about this issue it never came up for them but now he made a ruling that if a woman is in Hajj and she's on her period or Amra and she's on her period and she's not going to finish before she leaves and you can't always wait for Hajj groups to wait for you and realistically it's extremely expensive to delay for another week not everyone has that type of financial capacity you can't always leave your children for another week or your job for another week or whatever the circumstance and so now because of because of Aisha R.A. going through that experience and Ibn Taymiah going through an experience in his lifetime women today can go for Hajj or Amra and make Hajj or Amra if you are going to be there and your period is not going to finish and you cannot extend your stay then you can just go ahead and make Hajj or Amra in that state now there's a difference of opinion on this issue the Hanafis for example say that a sacrifice is required Ibn Taymiah doesn't hold that position because he says it's out of her hands but different scholars have different opinions don't just take this one statement and go for Hajj or Amra talk to your local Imam get some more information this isn't intended to be a thick session on Hajj or Amra the only reason I'm telling you this is because she went through Hajj despite the fact that she went through Hajj with the Prophet S.A.W she saw Hajj as the best she had because of the teaching of the Prophet S.A.W so after the Prophet S.A.W passed away she wanted to go again and then when she wanted to go again she went to Umar S.A.W who was the Khalifa at the time and he did not allow it because they did not have a Mahram now when I was younger I was invited to go a local masjid here asked me if I could go with a youth group as kind of like a Hajj tour guide for the high school students and at the time I only followed the position that it was Haram for me to travel without a Mahram and I didn't even know there was another position so I asked a local scholar why is it that there's a statement that I said that she went for Hajj like an extra Hajj like if her Mahram wasn't there he responded saying he prohibited her from going so actually she was in the wrong that's what he told me but Umar S.A.W if we look at the text that describes his response he allowed her because he was convinced by the strength of her proof he's not allowing her as the Khalifa as the one who is responsible for an entire nation including the mothers of the believers who are the highest caliber amongst the highest companions he's responsible for these decisions and so Umar S.A.W convinced by her proof he sent Uthman and Abdulrahman S.A.W with her to go and make Hajj with the mothers of the believers and so she had the state protection she had the state protection she had these great companions go with them and the reason that I wanted to mention any of that is because in that moment where that Sheikh told me well no, she was wrong Umar S.A.W didn't agree initially I have thought back to that moment so many times in my life and I thought why didn't he tell me that Umar S.A.W himself accepted her proof why was it she was wrong and that was the end of the statement we're talking about Aisha S.A.W why couldn't I have been taught it's a difference of opinion there's only one right answer and that perspective when we're looking at the women companions there's only one that shifts our perspectives of ourselves as women in Islam because when Um Haram asks to go she could have said well Aisha S.A.W taught us that later on, even if the statement about Hajj was made later on she could have then said well actually there's a better form of worship it's Hajj and that's what I should do which of course is 100% true it's the best such an important type of worship but she never amended her desire to go and she was 75 years old when Abad and Ibn Somit they had captured the Byzantine ships and for a long time Muawiyah he wanted Umar S.A.W to allow them to build a naval fleet and these are people of the desert they're not ready for a naval fleet so Umar S.A.W said no but later on, Uthman S.A.W said yes and so this was the first group that was going on a naval fleet and she wanted to go with them as 75 years old because years ago she asked the Prophet S.A.W to be with that group of people and the Prophet S.A.W told her that she will be with them and this really speaks to the prophecies of the Prophet S.A.W also because in addition to the fact that he had this dream and it did come true because literally it could have just not come true but it did but she didn't have to go it could have been her own personal decision she might have passed away before that time literally anything could have happened to stop her from going but she was with them and it really speaks to the prophecies of the Prophet S.A.W when Faltima R.A.W was told R.A.W was told that she was going to be the next one to pass away by the Prophet S.A.W amongst his family and she was they were measuring hands but it actually meant the most generous one the Prophet S.A.W prophesied who would go to Allah S.A.W next and every single time it was true because he's a prophet of God so when we see that Um Haram joins this battle we also see that her example is not in a vacuum because her sister Um Sulaym there are multiple narrations of the Prophet S.A.W saying that he saw or he heard someone in paradise and it was her it was Um Sulaym in one narration he mentions the footsteps of Bilal R.A the palace of Um R.A and he mentions her so Um Sulaym R.A the sister of Um Haram also a relative of the Prophet S.A.W she is one of these women who has a very feisty personality she has a feisty assertive aggressive personality she's one of the women of Medina who are known to have these descriptions and Um Sulaym at a battle she had a dagger and her husband Abul Talha is like one is to tell the Prophet S.A.W like look at my wife and the Prophet S.A.W is like why do you have a dagger and she's going to be there to defend she's going to make sure that there's no deserters from the Muslim army but she's there that's the point that she is there and the Prophet S.A.W knows that she's there and her husband knows that she's there and she is present Abul Talha he is the one who married her after her husband passed away and who knows whose mother she is Anas Anas the one who we have so many hadith from the servant of the Prophet S.A.W Um Sulaym was one of the first believers of Yathrib before he became Medina when Musa'ab ibn Umayr was there making da'wah to the people of Yathrib she was one of the first people to accept Islam and her son there's a category of women in the companions and that category is called the women who accepted Islam before their husbands the women who accepted Islam before their families these are the mothers that accepted Islam and guided their children to accept Islam she guided Anas from the time of childhood her husband came back after he was on a like a trade trip and he noticed that something was different about them and he was not happy about her conversion and then he went on another trade trip and he died and she was considered to be exceedingly beautiful and she was known to be like a noble woman and so now a lot of men want to marry her and Abul Talha is like her level so he comes to her and wants to marry her and Abul Talha there is one thing that she asked for him as her maher who knows what it is yes his conversion to Islam I have a lot of people tell me that their child who is in college or a young professional wants to get married to a man but the man is open to converting he is completely open to becoming Muslim but they are worried that it is not really Islam because it is actually out of interest for the daughter and so they don't want to say yes and I just think you don't know what is going to be the moment where someone becomes Muslim they find Islam, they accept it maybe they didn't find Islam other than through this woman but they found Islam co-workers are interested in getting married even though they accept the Shahada and now they are Muslim and they may not pray 5 times a day they may still be doing other things but they generally accept it but I have seen those people become the most committed to Islam in their families I have seen that they are the ones who can help their spouse go from not praying at all to praying 5 times a day and I have seen that they are not allowed to pray 5 times a day go from their children not caring about Islam at all to helping them love the masjid you don't know what moment is going to be the reason someone really falls in love not just with a person but with Islam so Abul Talha radi allahu anhu he wasn't interested in Islam at first he learned about Islam through Um Sulaym and she would ask him are you really worshiping idols are you legitimately worshiping wood if you got cold you would break it and use it for fire you are worshiping that and Abul Talha Subhanallah is one of the greatest companions radi allahu anhu ma so this woman who has this intense personality and her sister who wants to be with the group who goes in Cyprus this this household is also the one that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would visit out of love for them why? because Um Haram even though I mentioned her husband was Obadi ibn Somet this was the next marriage she had her husband and her son both were killed in Uhud they were accepted Islam very early when Uhud took place 70 people were martyred in Uhud 70 of the companions and she found that both her husband and her son were martyred and she took it with resilience she radiated resilience and then her brothers her brothers were appointed by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam a group of 70 of the of those who knew Islam those who were hafal of what had been revealed so far were asked to go and teach a tribe about Islam this tribe requested those who know about Islam to teach them and her two brothers went and her two brothers were massacred in this ambush against all of the companions who had went with them with this group and her brother Haram he smiled as he was being killed and he said I won I won it is said that there are people as they're passing away one of my teachers told me that when someone passes away sometimes they can see the place that they're going to be or an angel of goodness that comes and gives them glad tidings and that moment I'm going to tell you this panel when I was studying in Egypt there was a woman I had gone to the masjid so that I can ask the Imam if a group of us who were American studying in Cairo if we could study with this Imam and I didn't physically see him I mean we were like speaking through a barrier and I asked him like can we study Qura'an with you because he was known to be a scholar of Qura'an in that region and he said I don't teach women and I said we're a group of foreigners this is like access that we normally don't have in America this is way before like anything YouTube streams and like online classes and I asked can we study behind a wall even if we don't wear naqab we're naqab we will sit behind a wall we don't need to see you can we just study with you and he was very respectful and he said no and I was very sad honestly I just thought this is such an opportunity to study with a scholar like this and he's not comfortable teaching women may Allah bless him and I didn't know where else we were going to study with Qura'an with someone from this background so I went upstairs into the masjid and there were a small group of women there and one of the women was like can I ask you what did you ask the sheikh for like I went down to the sheikh's area where there's generally there's only men there asking questions so she was like what did you ask him and I was like you know I really wanted to study and he said he said no and then she was like you were truthful so Allah swt rewards your truthfulness and she said I am here because I'm going to be taking a tafsir class and it's just for women and at that point I barely knew any Arabic and they were all in Arabic she's like I will give you all of these books and I will give you my phone number Allah bless her and she gave me her phone number and I met her again one more time and then many years later when I was back it was actually not that many years later it was a few years later someone told me about a woman who was killed in Rabaa she was in a hospital and her back was facing the window and a sniper shot her and killed her and they said her name is Asma Saqr and I was like Asma Saqr I know that name but there's probably many Asma Saqr and then I saw her picture and it was the same sister but suddenly on social media I don't agree that this should have been done I was shocked to see it but it was her picture as she was covered in the burial shroud and her face was literally this I have never seen someone smile that wide in my life in life I have never seen someone with a bigger smile alive than I saw with her picture in the burial shroud just radiant and again I don't agree that that should have been spread on social media I was surprised to see it but that moment for me I thought of what she said you were truthful to Allah so Allah was truthful to you look at how truthful she was to Allah and how truthful Allah was with her she didn't live a very long life but subhan Allah the fact that in such a short amount of time she made such an impact on my life and the lives of the people that she knew the mercy of Allah and that commitment to opening a door of knowledge for someone who felt like the door was closed for me in that moment that was a moment that had I never known what happened to her I still held that moment with such healing in my heart when Haram is saying I won what kind of life did he lead and he was Muslim for a very short amount of time he accepted Islam early he accepted Islam early he learned the Quran as much as it had been revealed he was half of the Quran for that amount of the Quran and then I won this is the family that Um Haram came from so she's lost her husband she's lost her oldest son she has lost her two brothers and their reaction is not to say I don't have a space in the Muslim community or Islam only brings hardship or every single time I believe in Allah SWT more I'm tested even more or why isn't my da'a being answered that everyone around me that I love is being taken away all of these are very real feelings all of us have these thoughts and these experiences that's very human but what do they do with it they say how can we serve Allah SWT and the messenger of Allah in the way that's going to be the most effective and also in the way that fits their personalities the way that fits their personalities the great granddaughter of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam her name was Sukena this panel when I heard her story actually sheaqa muslima permal was the one who told me her story first and the way she told she was like she was like you would love her and the way she said it was like her personality was just like so like cool people wanted to be like her she was an influencer of her time she made a hairstyle as a preteen a hairstyle that became so popular in mecca it was so popular in other areas that she didn't even live in it was called the Sukeniya like people would do it was called the Sukeniya and she would make her hair like this really cool way and even the men tried to do it and then Umar ibn al-Aziz who was the Khalif at that time he was like stop men are not allowed to do this you will be punished this is only a woman's hairstyle and so when a man came and proposed to Sukeniya from her dad her father the grandson of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam do you know what he said he said listen listen to her so I told you about her right she has this like cool personality she has a hairstyle that everyone wants to have this is when she was really young so you can imagine as she's growing older and people know her as this like amazing and everyone wants to be like her and all these guys want to marry her and then what does he say he says that her heart is too connected to Allah she won't be able to handle being married she won't be able to give you your rights as a husband because her heart is too connected to Allah she does eventually get married and her life is so devastating one of the poems that she says is that to the people who murdered her father and then later murdered her husband she said you made me an orphan as a young person and you made me a widow as a woman the pain that she lived was so real and yet when you read about her or you read the lines of poetry that she would write her connection to Allah was so was so much more real that intentionality of being who you are that you face circumstances that shake you what do you go back to you go back to that connection that light internally that new to the Allah puts in the hearts of the believers that there are going to be times that we will stumble and we will not be who we want to be and I don't know if you feel this way but I catch myself frequently thinking I miss who I used to be I wish I could be that person again I wish I could be another person I wish I could be better there are times I have those thoughts where I just sit there and I'm like when am I ever going to be who I want to become and I know that the only reason I'm not becoming it is because I'm stopping myself I am stopping myself and yes sometimes it's because of outside messages and yes it's just the reality of being busy with life and all of those things but also I you know it's funny because I don't really care about what people think about you you should only care about what Allah SWT thinks about you and you should care about or sees you not thinks about how he sees you and what you think about yourself and it's like what if you're your biggest hater what if you're your biggest critic and the way you think about yourself is always one where you're never worthy enough but that's not how Allah SWT sees you why did he create you to be a part of this ummah why did he give you the examples of Um Haram and Um Suraym and Sukena why do we have the scholars who were women throughout our history you know it's a really funny statement there's a woman in another sentry I don't remember this sentry off the top of my head but she is in a masjid and she is approached by a man and the man says you woman, you come in here and you put your heads on the floor and you raise your bottoms up that's what he's referring to and then she tells him just put dust in your eyes and stop looking that's what she says to him he says he says I can't stop looking and do you know what she responds with she doesn't say well you don't deserve to be in the masjid which honestly I don't know I wouldn't have responded the way she did mashallah she was like I focus more when I'm here when I'm at home my children distract me and that moment for me was very powerful because she expanded on why the masjid was something she didn't have to do that she did not need to give an explanation she could have said well really just stop looking she could have just said that was enough but her giving us insight into that I don't know what happened to this man maybe that conversation helped him recognize why sometimes for women with children being in the masjid is so much more important than maybe someone in a different circumstance but the point is that she said I need this space I need this space and I need this space to be a place where I connect to Allah what impact is that going to have on her children and what impact is that going to have on the children who see their mothers and their grandmothers going to the masjid and connected to the house of Allah that is the legacy that we are given when Allah tells us I want to say I want to say I want to say I want to say I want to say I want to say I want to say that those who are for-most that they are the closest that they are in Paradise that verse, when we talk about it we talk about a very select few people who are part of that verse we cannot compare did Allah want to deny or any of the companions or any of those who came after them but we can follow what a companion asks Allah we may not have prepared what they prepared but we love them we didn't prepare what they prepared would they prepare? We never can prepare what they've prepared. But we love them. And the Prophet ﷺ taught us that you are with the one that you love. So we ask Allah ﷻ to make us of the سابقون الأولون, make us of the مقربون, make us of those who are in جنة نعيم, even if we know we don't deserve it. And then, even if we know we don't deserve it and we are harder on ourselves than anyone else is, and on top of that we may feel like we're never going to be good enough, we ask Allah ﷻ not because of my goodness, but because of your mercy, and not because of my actions, but because of my love for the people of action. Count me of those people. We live in a country where we do not hear the Adhan five times a day, and we do not hear the Aqama on top of that, but we still choose to pray. We're struggling to pray in public places, in random places, just to make Salah on time. Do you not think that the angels who are roaming the earth, who are sent to protect and make dua for you, are not acknowledging that, witnessing that, and praying for you? We're here for a reason, in this land for a reason, in this time for a reason. Every single one of us has a role to play. What that role is, we need to go back to what the woman companions did. Look at what our skills are, our interests, our passions are, and stop denying them, and instead say, how can I use this for the sake of Allah ﷻ's Panawata? May Allah ﷻ's Panawata use this for His Excellency. May Allah ﷻ's Panawata use this for His Excellency. Peace be upon you.