 أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين بارئ الخلاق أجمعين باعث الأنبياء والمرسلين ثم الصلاة والسلام على خير خلقه العبد المؤيد والرسول المسدد حبيب إله العالمين أب القاسم المصطفى محمد وعلى أهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين وصحابته المنتجبين صلى الله عليك يا رسول الله صلى الله عليك يا سيدي يا رحمة الله سعاد كربلا يا ليتنا يتنام سادتي فنفوزا فوزا أظي أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الرحمن الرحيم بدفئة كثيرة مع الصلاة صلى الله علي محمد وعالي محمد أعوذ العالمين أب إمام زلحسن والحسين أعوذ العالمين أب فاطمة الزهراء مع أكثر أكثر أكثر أكثر في حالة عيوننا يبدو أن الناس يقومون بأمور قوات يعني يتحركوا أكثر أكثر أكثر مستحيلة أكثر مستحيلة لهم rather than just plain numbers أكثر مستحيلة ليست أكثر أكثر about the quality of things the things that we have in life the things that we need the things that we use quantity is not necessarily a good thing people usually look for quality for example would you rather have three cheap cars each one values three thousand four thousand dollars but there are three and they're old they're used you know they could stop at any minute on the freeway or you would rather have one car brand new more expensive obviously but it's more efficient at the end of the day you need one car that will take you to places having three cars won't help that much you need a car that will take you to work that will take you out with your family in the winter it has a heater in the spring in the summer it has air conditioning it takes you to places thus most people would prefer to have one good car rather than it might be expensive rather than having three cars or four cars but they're not all expensive more is not better also would you rather have three homes that are you know not overly priced two bedrooms each and not so good of a neighborhood or have one home five bedroom in a good area in a good neighborhood it might have a pool in it might have a nice view which one would you rather have one house one home or three homes obviously you choose one home that's better has better bedrooms more bedrooms might be more expensive but all you need is one you don't need three homes unless you have three wives then that's another story of course I'm not encouraging anyone to have three wives as you know that wise man once said and we believe in one Allah one qiblah one Quran and one wife no more than that you would rather have one instead of having three because all you need is one if you were given a weak vacation you could go whatever you'd like you have the option of touring Europe within an entire week within an entire week you would tour the whole continent of Europe that means you have maybe you know 10 hours in each country no more or you'd spend that entire week in one country like France for example which one would you rather do see all of the country see more you know you'd be able to come back home and say that you saw all of Europe within one week or you choose one country for an entire week and enjoy it enjoy France for example the beauty of France Southern France which one would you rather choose of course most people would choose to go to one country for an entire week and see that entire country because it's about what it's about quality it's not about quantity thus in our day-to-day lives we choose quality over quantity we choose that is what is more practical what is more efficient what is more useful plain numbers don't really benefit us صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم الآن an Islam does Islam look for quality or quantity some might say according to my reading of Islam according to what I've heard Islam is all about quantity Islam is not about quality Islam is about numbers the more the merrier the more the better really they say yes سوف نعطيكم بعض الأجهزة أول نعتقد أنه في إسلام يوجد 124.000 أفضل 124.000 الله لم يرسل أحد أو أخوة أو ثلاثة ليست even 100، ليست even 200، ليست even 1.000 124.000 أفضل حتى يمكنك فقط أنت لذلك يقول أن إسلام is about quality إسلام is about quantity ليست quality the answer is that you've misunderstood الله سبحانه وتعالى has said 124.000 profits now for the sake of numbers not because of quantity no but because previously transportation was very rare very difficult there were no planes, no trains no cars, not even bicycles there was no internet there was no facebook or twitter transportation was difficult communication was was difficult thus, الله سبحانه وتعالى had to send a profit to every single city perhaps every single village الله سبحانه وتعالى speaks of the Qur'an and the Qur'an speaks of villages وتلك القرى on those villages to every single village الله سبحانه وتعالى would send a profit would send a messenger why because transportation was impossible you can't have a profit that would move from one country to another from one continent to another that was just not possible thus for all the various countries for all the various civilizations for all the various cultures الله سبحانه وتعالى needed to send a profit a messenger so it's not about quantity الله just wants to send 124,000 profits because he had nothing else to do he was looking for numbers no that is one two they were not sent all at the same time the 124,000 profits were not sent in the same year or in the same month we're talking about thousands of years a period of thousands of years these profits were being sent one after the other I remember that a lot of these profits were killed they were massacred according to some narrations by Ahl al-Bait that Bani Israel and between between dawn and sunrise which is how much about an hour and 15 minutes an hour and 20 minutes maximum an hour and a half Bani Israel every day between dawn and sunrise between Fajr and sunrise they would kill so many profits every day they were being massacred and keeping in consideration they were not all sent at the same time we needed 124,000 profits so it's not about quantity that in Islam we look for quantity no صلى الله عليه وسلم another thing some people might misunderstand is the daily prayers the amount of prayers that we have they say we have in Islam the five daily prayers that's 17 units these are mandatory these are an obligation to that we have 31 recommended units correct the مستحبات the نوافل the recommended prayer is to pray before the morning prayer and after and after and the 11 units of صلى الله عليه وسلم we have 31 or 34 34 recommended units that adds up to 51 units a day 17 are recommended 34 I'm sorry 17 are mandatory and 34 are recommended that's 51 units that's quantity that's a lot that's a big quantity of prayers every day and we have a hadith that say الصلاة خير موضوع صلاة is the best thing that you could do الصلاة خير موضوع فمن شاء استقل ومن شاء استكثر ومن شاء استقل or if you'd like to pray more that's up to you that's up to you meaning Islam looks for quality Islam looks for quantity the more you pray the better the more the merrier on ليلة القادر there's 100 units 100 ركعة on ليلة القادر that means more is better is better in Islam this is also not correct yes we do have 51 units but don't misunderstand it we do have the 17 mandatory units every day the 5 daily prayers and we have the recommended prayers but this depends on your let's say your spiritual appetite how much can you handle how much are you craving depends on you that's why 17 of them are mandatory the rest are recommended depending on you depending on your mood depending on your spiritual appetite how much would you like to pray how spiritual do you feel today how thankful do you feel today that's up to you Allah SWT leaves you room for you to decide depending on your mood how much you like to do it's like working out you know some days you're in the mood to work out for an hour other days you work out for 5 minutes and other days you don't work out at all it depends on how much energy you have how much passion you have and are you in the mood or not in the mood when it comes to prayers of course the recommended the mandatory prayers the 5 daily prayers that does not depend on your mood that you have to do that's an obligation that's like having you know the 3 meals every day or at least 2 meals every day you can't say I'm not in the mood to have breakfast or lunch who's not in the mood to have breakfast or lunch you have to have breakfast or lunch and dinner sometimes the 5 daily prayers are a must but the rest that depends on you there's a hadith that says إن للقلب إقبال وإدبار that the heart it has good moods and it has bad moods if you're in a good mood if you feel spiritual take advantage of it do prayers do recommended prayers take advantage of it and if you're not in the mood don't force yourself you don't need to force yourself to do the recommended prayers that is not a must in fact because when you do and you're not up to it you're tired you're sleepy and you force yourself you begin to hate that you begin to hate that worship becomes a drag so don't force it I like to have my children pray with me when I pray but only when they're in the mood when they're not too busy in playing when I have their attention and I could get them to come and pray and I'll encourage them to come and pray I'll get them to pray but when I tell them to pray and they don't of course my kids are young we're talking about 6 and below if they're not in the mood I'm not going to force it on them because I don't want them to hate Salah I want them to grow up liking Salah enjoying it so I'm not going to force them at that age yes we do have a lot of recommended prayers but at the same time we have quantity but at the same time we have quality pray there are recommended prayers when you feel like it when you're in the mood don't force it on you صلى الله عليه وسلم one day he told his companions he told them that there was a man there was a man that got his Christian neighbor to become a Muslim and then after he helped him convert to Islam he got him to leave Islam how? he told him he said one day this Muslim neighbor he spoke to his Christian friend he spoke to him he convinced him that Islam is the right religion the Islamic beliefs are the right beliefs now that he convinced him now that his Christian friend converted to Islam he went to him the next day early in the morning before Fajr he woke him up and he told him let's go to the mosque we need to pray the morning prayers told him okay he got dressed and he went to the mosque in the middle of the night before the morning prayers they went they waited he told them we have a couple of minutes before the morning prayers they prayed صلاة الله they waited until it was sunrise I'm sorry until Fajr they prayed Fajr together the Christian man who had just converted to Islam he wanted to get up and leave he told them no no no it's discourage to sleep from Fajr till sunrise it's very Makru so we have to stay awake let's stay and pray when he got him to stay when it was sunrise he told them what's the rush you're gonna go home and sleep let's stay in the mosque and we say Quran so he got him to stay until it was close to noon told him it's not worth going back home because the noon prayer is in a couple of minutes so let's stay for the hour they stayed for the hour he told them listen عصر is in about an hour and something it's in about an hour and a half so his mind as well let's just stay till عصر he got him to stay till عصر after عصر he told them listen we haven't had anything to eat from morning till now so his mind as well let's make the intention of fasting let's make the intention of fasting and what's the point of having lunch so they made the intention of fasting he told them let's wait till مغرب we're not gonna go home and eat so let's just stay till صلاة المغرب they stayed till صلاة المغرب after that he told them عشاء in about an hour they stayed till صلاة العشاء and then they went back home this man was exhausted by the time that he went back home he needed someone to carry him back to his house when he dropped them off when the two neighbors the new Muslim the former Christian they went back home his Muslim neighbor told him should I wake you up tomorrow right before فجر told them listen I'm sick of being a Muslim and I went back to being a Christian because if this is Islam forget about it forget about it I do not want to be a Muslim you see Imam صادق there's a true story he was a Muslim and then he got him to abandon Islam he ruined all of his work don't be like this person you see Islam is not just about quantity prayers prayers prayers one after the other or fasting every day worshipping all the time no Islam is about quality it's the quality of your worship it's the quality of your دعاء it's the quality of the recitation of your Quran Islam doesn't tell you to recite Quran five hours non stop as if it's a marathon as if there's a race there's quality sometimes ten minutes of the recitation of the Quran beautiful recitation by understanding what you're reading is more valuable than reading an hour of Quran without understanding without having a clue of what's being recited what is being said some say Islam looks for quantity how they say Islam says bear children produce produce children as if we're rabbits just have as many children as possible where they say رصور الله has said رصور الله has states تناكحوا تناسلوا فأني أباهي بكم الأمام اليوم القيامة ولو بالصقد رصور الله says marry and produce I will be proud of you on the day of judgment I'll be proud of your numbers even if there's miscarriages I'll be proud of them too and another hadith رصور الله says produce and have either رصور الله or one of the Ahl-Bait why ليكثروا من قولي لا إله إلا الله so that the word لا إله إلا الله will spread on the face of this earth another hadith that the best women in my nation are those that are child bearing that produce children they're the best women in my nation so some say that child bearing let's produce as many children as possible I was of this opinion formerly I was of this opinion that Islam is against childbirth not haram but highly discourages childbirth and that we are recommended to have as many children as possible and this is the reading of a lot of people however after taking a close look at these hadith looking at their context where are these hadith coming from what is the background we come up with a different conclusion if we analyze correctly you see these hadith were being stated at a time when Islam was still fragile Muslims were still outnumbered Muslims were a handful they were a minority a very small minority Islam needed the greatest number of people as possible greatest number of followers Islam needed numbers Islam needed followers that is why رصور الله some ask why didn't رصور الله fight Abu Sufian why didn't he fight Mu'awiya why didn't he fight Yazid but Imam Hussein fought them why because Islam was still fragile Islam needed numbers Islam was too fragile to have fights arguments and wars during the days of رصور الله but then at the time of Imam Hussein when Islam had spread there were good numbers and it spread between the true believers and the hypocrites thus when we take a look at these narrations we see that they come from this sort of context that Islam needed numbers that is why Islam says produce make numbers make children you know sometimes we have to look at the context of certain hadith the time and place play a major role today there are some scholars there are some muchtades and the house and the Islamic seminary they believe in the time and place the theory of time and place as zaman والمكان there are certain narrations we have to contextualize them we have to look at what time and what place that these narrations come out of and then we decide perhaps some narrations are not applicable at all times let me give you an example for men it is recommended to put on حنة on their beard and on their hair and something that this law is applicable to all times while we have a hadith by Imam we have contextual support Imam was asked why don't you put حنة he didn't put حنة he said no he said because it was recommended to put حنة at a time in which Muslims were outnumbered there were very few and many of them were old this occurred when صلى الله عليه وسلم performed عمره year 7 perhaps after Hijrah he went into Mecca while Mecca was still controlled by قرش and they would spy on رسول الله they wanted to see him to see his followers they wanted to see how many numbers are they what are their capabilities if we were to attack them can we attack them do they have big numbers, small numbers are they young, are they old so رسول الله told his companions especially the elders to dye their beards why so that they look what so that they look younger and obviously when you look younger you look stronger, more powerful رسول الله wanted to scare his enemies wanted to scare قرش so he had them dye their beards and dye their hairs another another ruling that time and place had an issue you know in صفحة and مروة for those of you that have been to حاجة عمره there's a part where people have to jog men have to jog have you seen it? you have to jog there's two green lights or there's one big green light you have to jog why? some historians say that رسول الله purposely he made his followers jog in that area why? because قرش they were spying on the Muslims رسول الله wanted them to jog you know when you jog when you see a group of men jogging they look what? they look strong they look powerful, they look athletic that would scare them so رسول الله told his companions to jog in that area because they were being watched they look more powerful, more athletic right? so some things we have to look at you know look at the context at what time, at what place for example today the Muslims we are in big numbers Islam is the second largest religion in the world Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world we have lots of Muslims across the world is it still recommended to bear a lot of children and to produce a lot of children? I don't know if we have big numbers what if the big numbers are harmful like in some countries where they lack resources having a lot of children will do damage will do harm is it still recommended to have a lot of children is it still more is better quantity is better or how about in some countries where raising children becomes a challenge becomes a difficulty like here in the west raising children here in the west it's a difficult we all know that we grew up in the west we saw how much of a challenge it is to grow up in the west and protect your faith protect your children not fall into temptation that is tough raising children in the west is a major challenge is it still recommended to have a lot of children in the west I don't know thus we can't just say quantity is better the more the merrier no we have to contextualize صلى الله عليه وسلم on the contrary we see that Islam concentrates on quality not on quantity we just have to reread certain things we analyze certain things and we will see that Islam looks for quality Islam is not just about numbers the more the merrier no Islam is about quality in Islam we believe that it's the intention that counts it's not about the action it's about the intention in a hadith ان الله ينظر إلى قلوبكم ولا ينظر إلى أعبالكم that Allah looks to your heart not your actions Islam doesn't care about the quantity of the action Islam looks at the intention behind that action was it a good intention let the action be small let it be a small deed but if the intention was big the intention was solid that's what matters when Imam عليه الصلاة he donated his ring in صلى الله عليه وسلم I'm sure you've all heard it there's some some stories that came and analyzed what was the value of the ring of Imam عليه الصلاة some say it was the value of 300,000 dinars it was the value of the entire revenue of Iraq back then and Iraq was a very rich country back then it was worth so much you know that's silly you know why first of all when Imam عليه الصلاة wear a ring that has the value of 300,000 dinars do you think Imam عليه could spend so much on a ring that's one it's not about the amount it's not about how much that ring had a value and a cost it was the intention this beggar was ignored by all of the Sahaba in the mosque except Imam عليه الصلاة it was the value of the of the intention not of the action it was the intention of Imam عليه الصلاة it was that thought right you know some people they build huge mosques you know but they do it to show off it doesn't matter you could build the largest mosque in Canada or in North America or in America but if your intention there's something wrong with your intention and you're doing it to show off you could spend millions and it doesn't matter and you can build a mosque size of an apartment but you did it with a sincere intention that's what matters during the days of رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله when he built there were hypocrites that built another mosque another mosque just as beautiful just as large the Quran condemns that mosque any mosque could be very beautiful could be very large but the Quran condemns that mosque and الله صلى الله عليه و تعالى order the prophet go and demolish that mosque go and demolish it because that mosque was not built with pure intentions it was built out of competition they were trying they were trying to compete with مسجد قبا رسول الله ونن demolish that mosque that mosque was called مسجد ضرار the Masjid of competition it was destroyed because of the intention and مسجد قبا was recognized because it was built on solid foundations لمسجد أسس على التقوى من أول يوم أحقق أن تقوم فيه the Masjid of Quba it was built on solid foundations on piety so it's the intention it's not about quality another example we have in Islam we have narrations that say to think to contemplate for one hour is greater than the worship of 70 years 70 years what does that tell you that tells you that it's quality not quantity you could worship for 70 years it could be meaningless if it doesn't come with thought if it doesn't come with belief if it doesn't come with understanding if it doesn't come with understanding it's just a bunch of exercise you stand, sit, bow, prostrate it's a bunch of exercise you fast you're going on a diet if it doesn't come with understanding the Hadith says تفكرة الساعة خير من عبادة 70 سنة just to think and contemplate for one hour is better than the worship of 70 years think think about Allah's creations think about why Allah created you why did He create us why, what's the purpose He could have not created me what would have happened but He created me and He gave me all of these gifts He gave me a mind a heart my organs, my hands my feet, my eyes He gave me logic He gave me so much for what for me just to eat and drink and sleep and that's it and Allah has created me for a greater purpose for a higher purpose to serve to produce to achieve to do something to touch people's lives to leave marks on people's lives positive marks to affect people's lives to benefit people think thinking for an hour thinking of why Allah created us what's the mission what's the goal of this life it's better than 70 years of meaningless worship الذين يذكرون الله قياما وقعودا those who remember Allah while standing وعلى جنوبهن and while they lie down ويتفكرون في خلق السماوات والأرض and they think about the creation of the earth and the skies ربنا ما خلقتها ذا باطلا صبحانك فقنا عذابنا oh Allah you did not create all of this in vain and without a reason without a purpose there's a purpose behind this life there's a name and objective I'm not punishing to say that all of this came by coincidence and life has no ambition and this is the end this is the end after we die there's nothing it's all about this life these people have not thought these people have not contemplated they've not given this life enough thought صلى الله عليه وسلم about quantity the more the merrier is Islam about numbers or is it about quality we also believe that one scholar is more valuable than 70 worshippers عالم ونواحد أفضل من 70 عابد this is a hadith one scholar is more valuable than 70 worshippers why because these 70 worshippers when you worship who benefits from your worship people the community your family and friends and neighbors no you're the only one that benefits you only get to go to paradise that's it but a scholar benefits everyone people benefit from a scholar people are guided people are touched people learn from a scholar people are inspired by scholars that is why one scholar is more valuable than 70 worshippers it's about the quality it's like that companion of Yunus عليه السلام Prophet Yunus when he called his tribe to his faith and religion they didn't listen to him in fact they kept on harming him they kept on abusing him to the point that Yunus عليه السلام was fed up he asked Allah to bring his wrath and punishment upon his people Allah answered his prayer he said tell them that within 3 days Allah will punish them the first day the sky will turn yellow the second day the sky will turn red on the third day the sky will turn black and if the sky turns black I will punish all of them Yunus عليه السلام he lets them know and he leaves he only had 2 companions Yunus عليه السلام only had 2 companions he was a regular person a layman the other was a scholar when he decided to leave he told his companions I'm leaving who's coming with me the layman told him I'll come with you the scholar said I'm not leaving I'm staying here he told him you'll be punished along with everyone else when the wrath comes it comes for everyone he said no I'm staying on the first day the sky turns yellow they realized that Yunus was what he was telling the truth he was not lying they came to his house they saw that he had left the second day the sky turned red Yunus was not to be found they went to his 2 companions one of them was gone there was one left where's Yunus he said he left didn't he warn you he told you that Allah was going to punish you but you didn't listen they told him but do something do something he said I'm not a prophet I'm not a messenger of Allah I don't have any miracles they told him but do something if tomorrow the sky turns black we're all doomed he said I can't do anything there's one thing that you could all do what? seek forgiveness from Allah repent to Allah repent sincerely go out in the desert all of you separate the women from the children separate the mothers from their small infants and let everyone beg and cry perhaps Allah can have His mercy on you and indeed they went out in the desert and again worshiping crying repenting seeking forgiveness the sky is cleared up and Allah removed His wrath because of whom? not a prophet because of a scholar one scholar all it took was one scholar that is why our Rasool الله عليه وسلم says أفضل من أمبياء بن إصرائيل the scholars of my nation are better not the same but the prophets of many Israel one scholar can sometimes be greater than a prophet why? because of what he achieves of what he does so it's not about numbers it's not about numbers another example الله سبحانه وتعالى one Quran just one he didn't need to send several books several Gospels كل ما فعل was one Qur'an and that Qur'an was enough it's eloquent, it's a miracle in itself it's full of guidance it's about the quality of this book not quantity could have sent us a thousand books but all it took was one book the Qur'an and look at it today till today it's an everlasting miracle it still gives us guidance it still gives us inspiration till today and another example الله سبحانه وتعالى sent twelve imams that's it to the previous nations he sent them so many prophets 124,000 prophets but to this nation all he needed was twelve imams we didn't need in the hundreds we didn't need in the thousands because these twelve valuable imams were enough they did the job they served the purpose they delivered the message they're still living off of their achievements off of their teachings and their guidance till today الحمد لله we didn't need anymore الله سبحانه وتعالى tells us in the Qur'an he tells us that how many of few people they defeated how many few numbers defeated big numbers sometimes all it takes is to dedicate people to become victorious and to achieve كمن فعة قليلة غلبت فعة كثيرة بإذن الله والله مع الصابرين you know in the beginning the first days of Islam people were you know they were afraid they would say we're outnumbered how could we fight in the battle of Badr they were only 313 while the Mushrikeen they were a thousand how can 313 people defeat a thousand الله tells them كمن فعة قليلة غلبت فعة كثيرة there are so many small numbers that defeated big numbers والله مع الصابرين and Allah is with those that are patient and requires patience 20 people that are patient that work diligently hard work it pays off they'll do a better job than a thousand look at it wherever you go it's not about numbers it's not about the quantity it's about the quality look at this Majlis Masha'Allah there's a group of dedicated people group of dedicated young men they're not a lot they're just a handful if they could put on a successful program together and have a lot of youth come together and then out of ashura it takes a couple of people a handful of people dedicated patient persevering and it puts on a successful event and the name of Imam Hussein عليه السلام and the name of أبا عبد الله يا أيها النبي حرض المؤمنين على القتال إن يكوم منكم عشرون صابرون يغلبوا مئتين oh the prophet tell your followers if you have 20 men or patient that are strong that have perseverance they can defeat 200 they can defeat 200 وإن يكوم منكم مئتون يغلبوا ألفين من الذين يكفرون or you could have 100 that are patient they could defeat a thousand they could defeat a thousand so it's not about it's not about just numbers we believe in Islam another example we believe that there's a hadith that the prayers the two raka'a of a married person is equivalent to what to the prayers to the prayers of a bachelor person of a bachelor who would have to pray 70 units a married person prays two raka'a it's equivalent to 70 units 70 raka'a of a bachelor it's not about quality of how much you pray it's about who prays you see when you're married and you pray this person is protected this person is disciplined this person has a stable life he can concentrate better on his when he's married when you're not married you don't have that concentration your mind is everywhere right? you have to think of a lot of things but when you're married you're stable you're comfortable you're satisfied you have a stable life your Salah will count more your Salah will be rewarded more رك'a تاني وصليهما متزوج خير من 70 رك'a وصليهما أعزب regarding the people of the cave Allah SWT in the story He says that people were guessing how many they were سيقولون ثلاثة رابعهم كلبهم some will say the people of the cave they were mentioned in the Quran an entire chapter is mentioned after them صورة الكهف an entire chapter right? how many were they? you would assume they were 100 youth they were 50 youth they were no wasn't their quantity wasn't their numbers سيقولون ثلاثة رابعهم كلبهم they will say that there were three there were only three and the fourth was their dog ويقولون خمسة ساديسهم كلبهم some will say no there were five and the dog was the sixth رجما بالغيب ويقولون سبعة وثامنهم كلبهم some will say no there were seven and the dog was the eighth قول ربي أعلم بعدتهم ما يعلمهم إلا قليل say Allah knows their numbers what I understand from this verse is that don't ask about how many they were ask about what they did what they achieved they weren't mentioned in the Quran because they were a big number no it's not because they were a big number it's because of what they did their action was big not their numbers their numbers weren't big my dear brothers and sisters don't be deterred by numbers are you not a big number? doesn't matter you gather on a Thursday night you're five people that's fine these five people they you know they have a huge value in the eyes of Allah because these five people could have been somewhere else but they gathered to recite du'a kumayn to pray to recite Quran these five people are enormous in the eyes of Allah because it's about the quality it's not about the quantity don't be deterred by numbers just because you have big numbers doesn't mean anything مسلم ابن عقيل has thousands of people praying behind him when he answered didn't he where were they where were they when he fought he fought by himself he had big numbers there were quantity but where was the quality who was there to defend مسلم ابن عقيل look at Jews today Jews across the world how many Jews are there in the world how many would you say 10 million 20 million I don't think they're more than 20 million 50 million maximum 20 million maximum look at what they're doing look at how powerful they are is it because of their numbers Jews are abundant in their numbers no they're not abundant in their numbers but look at how powerful they are they have the most powerful lobby in the world they control universities campuses college professors the media magazines wherever you go they're in control they don't have big numbers they don't control with their numbers they control with their power with the effect that they have with their money with their influence and we Muslims we're 2 billion and look at where we are look at where we are today we're ridiculed we're made fun of they ban us from wearing hijab they ban us from wearing niqab and we're 20 we're 2 billion what have we done is it about numbers if it's about numbers we're a lot more we outbeat everyone else but what have we done let's learn صلو علي محمد و علي محمد you know there's some Muslims they should learn a lesson all they look for is quantity quantity numbers let's gather numbers it's all about the numbers but as for the quality no no who cares about the quality who cares about the quality as long as we have big numbers let's have a lot of satellite channels you know I remember just 10 years ago or 15 years ago there weren't any satellite channels there were no Shi'a satellite channels 15 years ago today masha' Allah we have over 50 satellite channels in English in Arabic in Farsi in Urdu in Swahili in Turkish and I don't know in so many languages in so many languages we have satellite channels every day now there's a group that wants to start a satellite channel no in English we have maybe 3 or 4 every day you'll hear a group that wants to start a satellite channel and is it just about random numbers no if you had quality I could understand some channels if they have the quality I get it but a lot of these channels unfortunately today one of our problems is that we have so many satellite channels and a lot of them are what poor quality poor programming poor lectures it's very poor for others where they see these programs it's an embarrassment why? why have 50 satellite channels when we could have 5 but of great quality of great quality whether it's in Arabic or Farsi or Urdu or other channels another issue is Islamic centers in some cities they don't have any Islamic center or maybe they have one I've been to some cities there's only one Islamic center people there they have only one choice one option we only could go to that Islamic center they don't have any other options there's one speaker one Majlis one place to go to no other options and there's other cities there's so many Islamic centers you have so many options to choose from now sometimes these Islamic centers are needed you know it's a very big city and you can't commute there's traffic you know people are scattered everywhere that's fine but when you're in one area and I'm not talking about a specific community I see this in a lot of places in one area you have this center that center this center and you have 10 people here 20 people here 15 people here and they're scattered everywhere they're divided everywhere why? why? just because we want to have big numbers of Islamic centers we want to say that we have 20 Islamic centers in this city we have 30 Islamic centers in this city why? instead of having one place you know and I wish that all of these places they had quality and it's no they don't have quality it's just there's a bunch of places there's no quality you know for me a quality place is not in the building it might be an old building it doesn't have a qaba and the minarets it doesn't have the dome no you know to me what a successful Islamic center is if it has youth if it has youth people people like you if that Islamic center is full of youth it's a successful Islamic center but if you come when the youngest person is 60 years old with all due respect to the ones that are 60 years old you know that's not a successful Islamic center that's not a successful Husaynian that's not a successful mosque a successful mosque is the one that brings in youth that caters to the youth that deals with youth problems youth issues that's a successful Islamic center but we unfortunately we're always thinking about the quantity let's start an Islamic center and then let's see how it goes what kind of quality what kind of programs we could have no first think about the programs at our Islamic centers do we have interfaith programs do we invite Christians and Jews to attend our events do we invite a Christian priest or a Jewish rabbi and we have a dialogue and a conversation do we do that most of our centers we don't do we have intrafaith do we bring in scholars from other schools of thought do we welcome them into our Islamic centers and we have such events we have dialogue we have debates we have conversations these are the programs and events that youth are looking for but to open an Islamic center and have traditional programs just like others and you go into a place and it's empty of youth you aren't doing a service for Islam we are not doing a service for Islam believe me we're just increasing the numbers we're not doing anything quality wise even when it comes to Majalis you see a Majalis here a Majalis here a Majalis there and it's the same thing we're only dividing the community we're not uniting and it's not about the quality there are some Majalis also and I have to say this you know there's some places and this happens in all cultures and in all countries as well they bring in the reciters and the speakers who draw the biggest crowds right this person has a nice voice let's bring him this reciter is famous let's bring him because they bring in the largest crowds quantity right well what about the quality what about the quality of the people that you're bringing is it just the masses are you bringing the educated crowd which kind of crowd are you trying to to draw you see my dear friends Islam tells us about quality it's not about quantity it's not just about sheer numbers صلى الله عليه وسلم at Badr at the battle of Badr رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم all he needed was how many 313 the mushrikeen were a thousand yet these 313 were able to defeat those thousand even though they were outnumbered by what what was the ratio 3 to 1 3 to 1 yet the Muslims achieved because they had they had quality members they had quality soldiers they had they had they had others right إمام المهدي عليه السلام عجر الله فرجه all he needs is 313 he doesn't need an army of a million he doesn't need an army of hundreds of thousands for God's sake all he needs is 313 one of the reasons why the إمام is not reappearing is because he doesn't have the 313 for God's sake it's just 313 yet the إمام still doesn't have them whenever that number is completed he has the right amount of followers he'll come out and we all claim to be followers of إمام المهدي عليه السلام how many Muslims are there how many Shi'a are there out of all of these followers of Ahl-Bait we don't have 313 that's a shame that's a shame that إمام all he needs is just 313 because it's about quality it's about the quality of these men إمام حسين عليه السلام began a revolution with how many men with just 72 men look at what he did it was just a couple of hours the battle of عشرة when we think about the battle of عشرة we imagine it to be a couple of days or a couple of weeks it was just less than 6 or 7 hours have you heard of the Hundred Years War in Europe there was the Hundred Years War who talks about the Hundred Years War it took a hundred years but no one remembers the Hundred Years War but look at how many people remember this battle that lasted for a couple of hours from morning till the afternoon إمام حسين لد the morning prayers with his companions صلاة الفجر and it ended with صلاة العاصر the Imam prayed it by himself lying on the battle ground from صلاة الفجر to صلاة العاصر that's it you would think that the battle of عشرة there were millions all that had was 72 men look at what they did look at the remembrance that they left look at the revolution that they made look at the millions that they've inspired all that was was 72 men but which kind of men حبيب ابن ملحر this is a great companion who was a veteran from the battle of بدر who fought with رسول الله and he also fought with إمام حسين علي السلام this scholar this huge man like حبيب ابن ملحر you see what's beautiful about كربلا عشرة is everyone participated old men participated حبيب ابن ملحر youth participated القاسم علي الأكبر young adults and young men participated أبل فضل عباس how old do you think أبل فضل عباس was you know we imagine أبل فضل عباس to be a 60 year old man أبل فضل عباس was in his 30s he was probably 34 32 34 years old أبل فضل العباس women participated in the battle of عشرة the mother of وهب the mother of the 10 year old child little girls participated in the battle of عشرة رقية and سكينة and among those that participated were infants even infants participated in كربلا this is what makes كربلا كربلا because it's about the quality it's not about the quantity of the numbers إمام حسين علي السلام could have had a thousand people but it wouldn't have had the same effect there were only 72 men