 Do not let anyone in the community ever tell you that you play too much football or that football will never make you religious. But it really is a pleasure to be here and it really highlights for us the importance of sport within the world of the youth. As well as highlighting for us the power that a youth may achieve. The Quran in many cases when speaking about the lives of the prophets of God you find that the Quran discusses their lives from their youth. The story of Nabi Ibrahim begins from his youth. The story of Musa even begins earlier than that. The story of Prophet Dawud begins from his youth. And therefore when you look at the examples of these people Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala stresses on the role of the youth and how much a youth can achieve in their lives. Hence Amir al-Mu'mineen states in Nehj al-Balaat in a quite beautiful line. He says the heart of a youth is like an uncultivated piece of land. Whatever you throw on it, it accepts. So he said to Imam Hassan, I tried to mold your heart before it hardened in order that you were able to take from my examples into your own life. When we just look at the words of Amir al-Mu'mineen for a couple of moments tonight, you see how powerful these words are. The heart of a youth is like an uncultivated piece of land. When we drive past an uncultivated piece of land, we begin to think of thoughts of how we should cultivate this piece of land. Some of us think of putting buildings there, car parks there, penthouses there, swimming pools there. We look at the piece of land and many ideas come. Some of those who propose ideas propose good ideas. Others propose not so good ideas. The reality is that everyone seeks to cultivate a piece of land. Likewise with the hearts of many youth here, it is our role to try and cultivate each other's hearts before others do. And the best way to cultivate hearts is through the means that is sport and especially through football. And the idea that myself especially when I began my lecture in career, I remember that I used to give examples from football players, from football teams. I don't do it as much now, but when I started off, I did. And when I did start off by giving examples of football teams, there were people amongst the crowds who would come out and say things like this person uses football examples. Of course those same people are quiet in 07, but the reality is with those people is that they didn't realize the universality that is football. The idea that football has this universal love. All of us here may have different personalities, different lifestyles, different educational backgrounds. Yet look how football has united all of us into coming together and sharing a passion. And that's why Rasulallah when he bought the religion of Islam, he didn't just bring something spiritually purifying. There is a lot of focus spiritually, but there's not many people who stress on the physical purification. There's no point in me being able to pray and fast and do Sujood for long hours if my body is not physically strong. There's no point in me being able to pray for long hours when I can't even cross the road. The idea is that Islam sorts spiritual and physical equilibrium within the youth. And that's why we found Rasulallah stressing on the importance of swimming. Rasulallah stressing on the importance of archery. Rasulallah stressing on the importance of being able to ride a horse. All of these in Arabia were sporting facets which many people used to engage in. Likewise today, although many of the sports have changed, there is a reality that the Muslim needs to look after his body. Why? Because Rasulallah used to say, Al-Aqlis Salim, the pure, submissive, peaceful mind will lead to what? Al-Jismis Salim. The pure, relaxed body. So here we find that the body has to be looked after. In this way, there's only a few pieces of advice that I'd like to give for myself on this night. And I know it's a night for all of us to enjoy ourselves, but at the same time, let us just reflect on a few things. I said that football was a means, not an end. What I mean by that is, when I was growing up, football was an end. It was as far as you were thinking. There wasn't any further thoughts. Football was everything. Whereas for everyone here, football should be a means to leading you on towards getting closer to Al-Muhammad. What I mean by that is, your Sunday shouldn't be the only activity in the community. Your Sunday when you play football should be a means for you to get involved more within your communities. And the idea that I see now, and I can envisage, that if I do come for a lecture within the mosque, I know now that everyone can now mingle with each other. And it's not just going to be a set of groups, because football was a means to uniting everyone. Don't let football be an end, where all you discuss is the football, football, football. But don't discuss any of the other activities in your community. Number one. Number two, take from the discipline that you've learned from your football and put it into your religious life. If you know that the sports centre has been booked at eight o'clock, you will not turn up at eight thirty or nine. You'll turn up at seven fifty five, ready there for the whistle to begin at eight. Bring that towards the mosque. Why isn't with the football pitch eight o'clock I can be there on time? Yet with the mosque I have to walk in at nine fifteen at the end of the lecture. Bring the discipline of the football world. Try and bring it and what you've learned towards your community activities. Look at the unity between five of you, how strong a bond it can create. Bring that unity within the mosque as well. Don't build rival groups. Rather, let everyone unite within the mosque and you'll see just how powerful you can become. Even with myself now, with all the schedule that I have in my lecturing, I still will make time like I did yesterday. This shows either that I've got too much time on my hands or I'm making too much money, or that I have some spare time to go and watch football and to go and relax. But at the same time, that's not the most important aspect of my life. It's part of my education and part as well of me enjoying myself with those around me. Therefore, the message which we'd like to bring over here with all of us is let us take this football as a means for us developing ourselves and making our community stronger. And as a final point, do not let anyone in the community ever tell you that you play too much football or that football will never make you religious. Because on the contrary, I'd rather hear about you who are playing football regularly than hear about them doing other activities. Sports can be a blessing in disguise. It can keep some of our youths away from the worst of places, from hanging with the worst of people, from being around places which may lead them to haram. Sports may actually bring people together towards bringing them closer to Allah SWT. So continue to stress on the importance of sports in your community. And we will see that this community which I was brought up in and which all of you have been brought up in will continue to be the strongest of communities.