 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين الحمد لله الذي أنزل الفرقان على عبده ليكون للعالمين نذيرة والصلاة والسلام على خير خلق ونور عرش أفضل الأنبياء والمرسلين حبيبنا وسيدنا وسندنا وشفيعنا ومولانا أبل قاسم محمد صلوات الله محمد والمحمد وعلى آله التيبين الطاهرين المأسمين المظرمين أما بعد فقد قال الله سبحانه وتعالى في جتاب المجيد وقوله الحق وهو أستق الصادقين بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم يأيه الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله والتنظر نفس ما قدمت لغد اتقوا الله إن الله خبير بما تعملون ولا تكونوا كالذين نصل الله فأنساهم أنفسهم وليك هم الفاسقون صدق الله العلي العظيم صلوات الله محمد وآله المحمد الله صلوات الله محمد وعلى آله التيبين الطاهرين المأسمين سبحانه وتعالى all praise belongs to Allah and I begin in His blessed name for granting us this life and this existence and the ability to recognize His infinite mercy and to consider us as His representatives on earth to promote good and forbid evil and to be the flag bearers of justice and equity on earth and I bid you my respected Sheikh Jaffa my respected sisters and brothers in Islam السلام عليكم جميعا ورحمة الله وبركاته as we continue on these nights of Ashura as you know that the event of Ashura took place on the 10th day of Muharram which is why it's called Ashura and of course we prepare ourselves and discuss those moments upon which we try to reflect as to why this event has taken place and what the message behind this event is and hopefully we can take lessons from them so that we can apply them upon ourselves to better ourselves and as you know it culminates till the 10th of Ashura so these companions that we speak about who became martyred all became martyred on that same day unless of course it happened especially like مسلم النقيل which happened in Dhul-Hajja otherwise you will notice that the companions of Karbala all became martyred on that same day within a few hours but of course for the sake of brevity because we have no time we need to discuss these personalities and there were many as we know we hear the 72 but actually there were more than 72 there were over 100 who became martyred in Karbala and historians say at least 16 soldiers from Yazeed's army absconded their positions and ran away and joined the army of Imam Hussein عليه السلام 16 interestingly in history not a single one on Imam Hussein عليه السلام's side left to go to Yazeed's army not a single one though they knew they were going to be butchered and annihilated physically but nonetheless not a single one left that's proof positive to show that when our blessed Imam Hussein عليه السلام stated that my companions are the finest in the world undoubtedly that is so true for he selected them he chose them and he welcomed them because they were the only ones who were capable of truly holding the banner of justice and equity for humanity so these companions that we speak about and tonight I will speak of some of these companions particularly two of them one his name is Anas Ibn Harif Asadi as you know he was a companion of the Holy Prophet so these were old men and Muslim Ibn Awsaja Al-Asadi he was also from the Banu Asad tribe he was also a companion of the Holy Prophet Muslim Ibn Awsaja as you know was also a memorizer of the Quran and he was in his 70s and Anas Ibn Harif some say was well in his 90s quite old what's beautiful about Karbala is the fact that not a single age group has been left out in remembering the tragedy of Karbala not a single group young and old not short rich and poor every strata as we say of the society has been represented in Karbala women children adults everybody dark skin brown skin light skin everyone was there people from various faiths as I mentioned the other day and you find that he was present and people of all faiths and backgrounds were in that army there were owners of servants and servants themselves everyone was present in that so we have to ask the question who are these people and why were they there and why is it that nowhere in the annals of history do you find such representation across the board that is purely representing the moral argument for the promotion of good and the demotion of evil that's the only reason they were there not a single one was there to guard their property in fact they were giving it away you see they gave everything for themselves you know for the sake of Allah everything we amwalim وامفسهم في سبيل الله when Allah says they struggle وجاهدوا باموالهم with their wealth وامفسهم with their selves for the sake of Allah as we say ونصكي ومحياية ومماتي لله رب العالمين ونصالاتي my prayer my sacrifice for Allah how do we reach that stage these conversations are very important for us so that we understand that it is because of Allah we exist it is because of Allah we persist and it is because of Allah we benefit and we will return to Him please understand that when Allah says بالذكر الله it is the remembrance of Allah it starts down this does not mean you sit in the corner and do tasfi all day this is not what Allah means when Allah says ذكر الله doesn't mean that it includes that but it doesn't exclusively mean that ذكر الله is every breath you take every transaction every relationship every sentence we utter every pleasure point we have every sad moment we have when hearts become tranquil we are living in a world today where society is very confused as you know and I will talk about this and I know some of you may not like what I am going to say but truth is essential and I think we need to face it I know that within some cultures we are addicted to certain substances by which we find to be an instrument of social social relations such as شي شا أرغيلي you will notice is actually a hundred times more deleterious more dangerous than cigarettes now cigarettes are bad even cigarette companies like R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris all agree unanimously that if they were to expose the true dangers of such such substances they would go bankrupt but they are very smart what they do is they any society that's litigating such as the United States where lawsuits can easily be placed upon them they protect themselves by financing anti-smoking ads so that should they ever go to court they will present an argument that look we were conscientious and conscious as a company that we warned them and even the surgeon general say smoking is bad for you on the box interesting when you read a box when you buy a product a food it says don't eat this this is poison for you would you buy it? no but cigarettes we do it's weird something wrong with the human race but we find that our addiction is so strong in that direction for what? oh it calms me down it makes me think better it takes me in the right direction think about it when Allah says ذكر الله meditation cogitation reflection is better for you than all these outside substances that are dangerous harmful they harm our environment today you find that global warming by some foolish people they call it a fake issue they call it you know it's false when it is so true that we're finding unprecedented storms and unprecedented melting of the Arctic zones that will flood the world people don't realize these are all blessings of Allah and we're destroying our environment thinking there's nothing wrong with it the hydro carbons that we produce in societies today that are so dangerous and deleterious when we are intelligent enough to have EV cars you know electric cars which insha'Allah soon will come about and thank God for that but what we find is in the process we're highly destructive and causing destruction in our nature killing animals just because of some issue we're killing elephants, we're killing lions we're killing all kinds of creatures to find some substance from them because they're going into these jungles and killing and destroying and causing their extinction with no regard that Allah has placed all of this as a gift upon mankind and we need to be conscious about it but why are we so reckless with it why are we so careless with it it's because we've lost our ways we've become apathetic and we are confused and we're therefore angry and anger leads to self-destruction I remember a girl who was asked that question do you do drugs in the United States it was on television do you do drugs and this girl an American girl Caucasian girl gave one of the best answers I've ever heard with wisdom she said I haven't gotten angry enough to start it brilliant answer I have not gotten angry enough meaning many a times children and adults who indulge in such opioids and self-destructive behavior it's because they've lost hope and hence it leads to anger it leads to loss of faith because I don't have anything else now it's like I'm free falling and there's nothing I can hold on to so why not just self-destruct when Allah has honored us as I mentioned yesterday God says we have made you special we have chosen you among all creations brothers and sisters we failed to understand the basic realities and this is why we're there and I want to talk about this today because Allah is going to question us on judgment day then he's going to question us that what did you do with my gifts that I gave you did you abuse them رسالة الحقوب if you read by Imam Zendr عبدين عليه السلام Imam describes everything has a right the floor has a right trees have a right animals have a right atoms have a right our skin has a right our eyes have a right there is not an object not a substance in this universe that does not demand its own right just like you and I as human beings have our right but when we violate those rights then Allah will question us on judgment day that I endowed you with so much what did you do with it now why do we become self-destructive I believe when we are misinformed misaligned when we lack understanding we're confused it's like being lost in a jungle and your GPS is not working it's a very very precarious state of existence if you ever get lost somewhere and you don't know which direction to go it's a very uncomfortable feeling even when the earth shakes it's a very uncomfortable feeling I experienced it in the Philippines I was on the top floor of a hotel in Manila and the earthquake was taking place and my whole room was moving literally 4-5 feet like a ship you know like I was literally on the seas and I knew I had to leave the room but I was thinking should I take my passport should I take my things do I have enough time do I take the elevator do I take the stairs because I'm on the top floor those few minutes were so full of trepidation when Allah said we have created mankind the state of trepidation uncertainty slippery you can never guarantee anything somebody promises you something that doesn't mean they will deliver it there is no such thing as stability with humanity or with nature per se anything could happen the earth can crack and throw you down the building you're in can collapse there is no guarantee there is only one guarantee which is Allah and we return to Him that is guaranteed you and I can do to change that and I remember I walked away and I took the elevator I felt calm when Allah says when the earth shakes and for the first time I experienced it realizing oh my God how blessed we are to be within stable foundations and Allah says I have made you in a state of trepidation you can do with it now if you lose hope in it you become angry you lose hope and you find people are very irritated you find when you drive on the roads people have road rage even if you get near them if you don't give the signal they get angry they're blowing their horn at you people are full of anger here one time I arrived at 2 o'clock in the morning I went to look for something to eat I said okay at 2 o'clock in the morning why are you blowing the horn at me like nothing but anger full of anger rage find a reason to vent and if there's somebody who can punch or somebody who can scream at or some explicative you can use by which to vent vent vent vent we forget that that venting leads to negative reaction what goes around comes around when we're venting others will start venting too and before you know it we have chaos and next thing you know we're killing each other and then we're realizing why we're doing this when Allah says I have your stability فأقم وجهك للدين حنيفا فترة الله التي فترة الناس عليها لا تبديل لخلق الله ذلك الدين القيام maintain your faces upright فأقم وجهك للدين حنيفا فترة الله التي it's a system of God عليها in which he is placed upon mankind into you and God doesn't change his system لا تبديل لخلق الله ذلك الدين القيام this is the upright religion the uprightness that we must focus and figure out where our problems are when I study the world's movements today in the United States depression has increased by 30% suicide has increased that much more people are killing themselves in the United States then they're getting killed think about it including our children why? these smartphones have become a means to depression research shows anything over two hours of social interaction leads to depression why? you might think that I'm connected with the world yes but it's a different kind of world it's a make-believe world many a times you don't have to face the facts in the cyber world I've seen kids come to camp they don't even know how to shake my hands they're looking like you think they're like semi-autistic or something but then you listen to them socially oh chatter away my God opinionated Mr. Fancy Schmancy so I look at them and I said what is this with you? bipolar? like why are you this way but there you that way well there I can hide under this garb so they live two lives multiple personality syndromes you know like we're believing that we are two different creatures and then we can't face the facts so we live in cyber world now we live in virtual worlds and our entire fantasies in virtual worlds where we can control kids who are addicted to gaming I had one boy who came to me last year in the lecture he sat there he said this is the first time I've come to listen to a lecture so what have you been doing? he says I'm busy playing games I said all day he says yeah 18 hours a day I mean you could tell I said why do you do this? he says what else is there to do? I said can I give you a word of advice? he said yes I said I think you've lost control I think you calculated life and you felt there's no hope he's looking at me 16 year old boy smart he said what do you mean? I said I think you've calculated loss of control in life and that joystick gives you control and you're so in love with the joystick it gives you power is that true? he said I never thought of it that way but you might be right I said my advice to you is get out of that joystick leave your cocoon and get out of that cave and start facing facts for when you meet people it's a beautiful relationship researchers say one of the best things you can ever do is say hello to a stranger you know how you succeed in life say hello to a stranger you might think what? succeed in life? that's right just say hello to a stranger you'd be surprised who you will meet and that person may open up your life in a thousand ways if you ever study people who are very successful you ask them how did you get here? how did you know Mr. X and Mr. Y and Mrs. X and Mrs. Y? oh I said hello to that one and that one opened up and then the next thing the conversation started and we started sharing relationships and before you know it I was partied to this growth many a times we live in cocoons we don't even leave our own little world so when our young children are depressed it's what we call symptomatic in the sense that there's something missing and that's why the child is there it's not because this thing is so attractive that it has absolutely eclipsed everything else no it's interesting you go to restaurants I see it sometimes you see mom, dad everybody mom, dad everybody's on this on a dinner table it's interesting five people sitting they're all on this that's an indicator something's wrong with this family like why would you be on a phone people say like if you're not on the phone you're weird right I mean you're sitting on a dinner table look at each other smile and say what happened today what happened at school today look at them in the eye no I'm in my little world you know I have kids who say I say what are you doing I'm talking to my dad I said this is across the table I know I said why don't you say hello to him I can't and my dad cannot say hello to me it's only through this medium I said we have a serious problem صلاة الله بحمد و المحمد today we're living in a world where we're chasing so many dreams it's good to chase dreams there's nothing wrong to chase dreams it's nothing wrong to be ambitious it's good to want to conquer the universe do it Allah says but do it properly do it in the right ways don't lose you know your connection with Allah you and I are created humans think about it look around us there are all kinds of creatures there are so many creatures in the world we cannot count them if you go into the sea today our measurements of what lies under the sea is probably only 20% of what we actually know what the ocean holds جاكو ستوسفن his entire life he said I know only a few percentage points of what lies in this great ocean it's so great that's just the ocean on earth what about space what about the planets out there what about the creations out there but let's examine the creations on earth today we see quadruplets, bipeds we see creatures that are on their bellies Quran mentions them but you and I are humans we're supine homo sapien sapien intelligent with speech we have the power to control our environment we take creatures and use them to our benefits think about it that's how powerful we are as a creation and Allah says I made you that way I enabled you this now let me ask us a question what did we do when we were nothing to ask God to make us humans because you and I could have been born donkeys we could have been born horses we could have been born dogs pigs snakes atoms something trees but we're not any of the above we're humans who chose us as humans who decided to make me higher in the stage of creations Allah says I did I chose you subhan Allah isn't that enough I don't need to talk further isn't that enough proof against us should we be self-destructive isn't that enough I ask anybody in this room isn't that enough that I could have been born a cow waiting to be slaughtered after I was milked think about it when you look at that cow it's a mercy of Allah it's incredibly a merciful creation Allah says but I made you better than this one this one is subservient to you how dare you cause trouble on earth ذهر الفصاد في البر و البحر بما كثبت ايدي الناس by the hands of mankind you're creating fit mind فصاد Allah says how when I chose you human I could have made you a donkey and all day you would have been carrying things on your back for nothing although donkeys are a beautiful creation let's not underestimate them but Allah says I made you better than them لقد خلقنا الإنسان في أحسن تقويم ثم رددناه أسفلا صافلين we made mankind in the best of form then we load them to the lowest of the low why because when human beings refuse to admit and accept this mercy this unwarranted mercy undeserving mercy you and I have received mercy that none of us on this earth deserve don't you and I dare say I deserve to be human by what standard do you and I deserve by what quality do you and I deserve to be humans please answer me I want us all to think about this if anybody's got an answer talk to me after this lecture I'm curious to know because it's absurdly ridiculously logical isn't it but Allah says I created you I shaped you I made you unique even your fingerprint is unique that even if you're identical twins and you share identical DNA matter yet your fingerprints are different and if you look at the biometrics of a human being their eyes all of their factors put together makes you so unique you are one of a kind in the universe isn't that incredible Allah says I shaped you this way I shaped you this way Allah says I shaped you this way I gave you this endowment I gave you ألم نجعله عينين وليسان وشفاتين وحديناه نجدين did we not give you two eyes عينين وليسان tongue شفاتين two lips and guide you to the path are you not happy with this this is the conversation when I see people smoking then what makes me most we've lost hope in this humanity that God you made me human I'm not happy let me poison myself does that make sense if I ask a child this question you know what makes me really sad is when we as adults are reckless in our behavior and then we become role models for our young generations who consider it cool to be smoking this trash smoking weed people come to me say it's medicinal brother it's medicinal ماذا تعلم about medicine? Where's medicinal? Like spinning is that, I'm medicinal. Really. I said you know what tetrahydro cannabinole is? It's an alcohol that causes your brain to shrink. And it leads you to psychosis. Did you know that? You know they've legalized marijuana in the United States. Wait another 20 years and see. We'll have zombies walking around all over America. Because when this stuff is legalized And everybody's taking it over the counter And you got this multi-billion dollar business starting now And they've liquefied it now of course Different grades, different colors too. We're so sophisticated these days. You know, got all kinds of designer stuff too. It's amazing. We're not, it's not enough. Just give me something. Take me to cloud nine. الله says I love you. I'll take you to cloud nine. And you'll be eternally happy. الله I like this substance. Do you know that it shrinks the brain Leads to psychosis And our little children are thinking You know, he's smoking. It's so cool. You know in our high schools how many kids do that? 80% of our kids are smoking weed today. 80%? Why? Is it because weed is just so delicious It's more delicious than bananas and you know Apples and it's just amazing. It's the greatest thing in the world. Every morning that's all you want. It stinks. Has a disgusting smell. You walk around and it's like you haven't taken a bath for a week. Yeah, but brother, I need it. For what? But it calms me down. I said, let me tell you something. You know, we've got physicians who get licensed And then they are licensed to prescribe this stuff. Now you've got cocaine. We've got morphine. Oh, it's not enough. It sort of takes me to cloud 4, you see. I need to go to cloud 12. Oh, fentanyl. That's what you need. Fentanyl. It'll take you right to cloud 12. Yeah, you take one extra drop of it. A milligram and you're dead. People are falling like flies today. Like flies. Fentanyl. Like tens of thousands of people are dying every single day. With fentanyl. People are buying cocaine. It's laced with fentanyl. And I'm thinking, what is wrong with humanity? Are we that deprived? Are we in such a bad state? Maybe if you're in prison And maybe you're getting whipped every day And you've got no hope And you're being tortured every hour Maybe you need some palliative care Which is where fentanyl is Fentanyl is a palliative drug It's an opioid designed to remove your pain Healthy sister, what's wrong with you? Oh brother, too many problems Can't handle it My husband doesn't love me My dad is always fighting with me We were supposed to be richer than our neighbors We just couldn't get them Mercedes It's a big problem I can't stand this Why did God even create me? You know what's hell? People think hell is when you burn in hell forever No, that's temporary They will remain in that fire for a period You know who will go through real hell? The one who insists on not being happy to be human People like Yazid and Muawiyah Were not happy to be human Not happy Iblis is not happy to receive the grace So Allah lowers him to the lowest of the law That's why Allah says لقد حلقنا الإنسان في أحساني تقوى So Allah lowers him to the lowest of the law لقد حلقنا الإنسان في أحساني تقوى ثم رددناه Then we lower you You know why? Allah says I am so merciful that after I create you I let you decide what you want You want to enter مقام محمود With the prophets and the imams? I will give that to you You want to enter the lowest levels of hell? I will reward you with that too You decide If people go to the lowest level of hell They didn't just go haphazardly They worked hard If you examine Yazid He was constantly working hard to create fitna Constant He never stopped أمري بن ساد مروان بن حكم All these people if you look at them They were constantly working hard They worked hard to create fitna Muawiyah lived his whole life Creating fitna Fitna He used to sit with أمري بن أس And the prophet used to see him And Muawiyah sit together And the prophet said When these two sit together Sit between them So as you know Abdullah ibn Abbas Is walking and he sees these two guys Sitting together Abdullah goes and sits right between them So they look at him and said You couldn't find a spot And he said The prophet told me When the two of you sit together I need to sit between you Because I know When the two of you are together You're working to create trouble So I'm here to stop you from creating trouble Some people just work hard Shaytan Iblis When he fell from grace Rather than ask for forgiveness from God God I was arrogant I'm sorry I shouldn't have done this You commanded me to bow And you are the almighty You are the authority You are the merciful one And therefore I seek forgiveness No Oh no He says You took me from my position Because of that black mud creature Called Adam Huh Vendictiveness Arrogance There are people like that In our societies Vendictive Oh my God If the earth was to crush itself I will never forgive Have you heard that people People like that And then they go into prayer Allah أستغفر الله ربي أستغفر الله You can't forgive one brother You're asking Allah for his takfar How much you forgive your brother Huh Allah says وصارعوا إلى مغفرة من ربكم وجنة عرضوا السماوات والأرض وعدة للمتقين الذين ينفقون في الصراه والدراه والقاذمين الغيذ والعثين عن الناس والله يحب المحسين هيسن To protection and forgiveness إلا مغفرة من ربكم That a paradise awaits you Greater than the earth and sky Put together But this is a calling For the God conscious one Or isn't that للمتقين Who are they الذين ينفقون في الصراه They give charity in good times And in bad times صراه والدراه والقاذمين الغيذ They hold back their anger They swallow it They don't get angry easily They're not out there to vent They don't vent You know why they don't vent Because they see the mercy of God They see too much grace They see the uselessness of anger They don't find value in it For anger is poison Anger causes more anger Which leads to more destruction And then when we wake up From our anger We find we've destroyed too much الله سوف القاذمين الغيذ والعافينة عن الناس And they forgive mankind And they forgive mankind والعافينة عن الناس Do you and I forgive? I use the example Of vindictiveness as follows I heard it from somebody It's brilliant Just take a half filled bottle Of water Even an empty bottle Hold it like this I ask you Is it heavy? Said no, no, no Not heavy I can hold it 24 hours later No, it's okay I can still hold it 2 hours later It starts going down 3 hours later Like this But you keep doing this 24 hours later It's really hurting This bottle is vindiction I'm carrying something Somebody did yesterday And I can't let go And my body is trembling It doesn't move It's going into paralysis But I can't let go Of that bottle Did you get it? That's us God says If you don't forgive You die موتو بغيديكم قل موتو بغيديكم Tell them Die in your anger For what is it with you? You're asking for God's mercy When you should be forgiving When you should be loving And when you should be caring And sharing And giving And forgiving No I'm angry Why did this person do this to me? Why? I'm entitled The universe is for me Really? Alhamdulillah It is for you But you are the universe That's what you forgot So the verse I started In سلطة الحشر Allah beautifully says يَاَيُّا الَّذِينَ آَامَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهُ وَالْتَمْذُرْ نَفْسُنْ مَا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدْتْ All you who believe Be careful of your duty to Allah And let every soul consider What it has sent on for tomorrow And be careful of your duty Surely Allah is aware Of what you do The second verse وَلَا تَقُونُكَ الَّذِينَا نَسُوا اللَّهُ And be not like those Who forsook Allah So he made them forsake themselves When you and I are indulgent in haram And we are poisoning our bodies We have forsaken Allah And therefore Allah says I forsake you And when you forsake yourself You become destructive Now you kill yourself And the sad thing that I mentioned In Allah says here It is who are the فاسقين Who are the فاسقون Transgressors People who put themselves in a state of peril فاسقاء in Arabic Is when you put yourself in danger Why? We've lost hope But Allah says وَتَنْتُرْ نَفْسُنْ Be aware of what you send tomorrow Tomorrow is what counts You and I today Are the product If you look at yourself in the mirror No, you are who you are Because of your thoughts yesterday What you thought yesterday Is what you are today Don't forget that We are who we are If you go back ten years Five years a year Examine what were you thinking then You will see I'm here now I was thinking that way I'm here today Because of that thought Okay So if you know that And we are the product of yesterday's thought Then why don't you think about it Then why don't we Why don't we dictate tomorrow For ourselves by today's thoughts So let's change our thoughts today And let's reframe And reform ourselves By which to become cognizant Of our duties And you take into consideration Just one thing When you see a dog When you see another creature Even when you see humans Say wow I'm human That's amazing That's incredible I'm human I could have been born anything Wow God says now what do you want with it You don't like it Create trouble I give you free expression Go kill people Steal, cheat, lie Stab yourself Kill yourself You can Allah says إنها هدينه السبيلة إما شاكرا وإما كفورة He guided us to the path Whether we are grateful or ungrateful Are we grateful You know when you look at Karbala And we look at these companions They were extremely grateful The world is watching gasping Like oh my God They're going out there to get killed How did they have such gods They've taken an account We're grateful What God has given us We can't pay back And shame on us If we stand in front of God When we pray Thinking we're doing something Allah says in the Quran يَمُنُّونَ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ أَسْلَمُوا قُلَّا تَمُنُّوا عَلَيْهَ إِسْلَامَكُمْ بَلِلَّهُ يَمُنُّوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ هَدَاكُمْ لِيْمَانْ سورة الهجرات Allah says They put a burden on us On you يَمُنُّونَ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ أَسْلَمُوا You know when people became Muslims In the early days With the Prophet They were like I did a favor See I accepted Islam I've done a great thing for you They used to look at people who were not Muslims Ah kafir, kafir نجِس, kafir Like oh I'm special You see I become a Muslim So that's kafir now You see he's going to hell I'm going to paradise Really Since when did God allow such attitude We are many of us by the way Especially in the Abrahamic religion Sadly Are experts in sending everybody else to hell Jews do that Christians do that We Muslims do that Sunnis do to Shi'a Shi'as do it to Sunni We all do it Ah he's going to hell Paradise is only for me Like really Allah created billions of people Just only you can go to paradise And that's God is merciful So God takes the majority Throws them in hell But not me Because I'm very special That's not Islam Nowhere in the Quran Does Allah ever say such things Never وعمل الصالح وعمل الصالح فهنا معجر من ربهم لا خوفون عليهم ولاهم يحزنون إنديد the believers The Jews Christians The Saviens Provided you believe in God And promote good deeds Believe in Allah Believe in the day of judgment And do good deeds For you لا خوفون عليهم There is no fear for you Do not fear لا خوفون عليهم ولاهم يحزنون And don't be distressed For mercies for you So I speak with sincerity To my young generation especially Please I know we live in a caustic environment An environment that's usually rough and tough I know I see people If you're not tough And you don't carry those guns And you don't walk around With some mannerisms By which to protect yourself In this wild, wild West we call it That you may not survive You learn to be crude And rude And harsh And you think it's the only way to live This is not the way Allah wants us to be Allah wants us to be gentle and calm And kind and wise And patient with wisdom These are the qualities of the people of Karbala You know why we reveal them? It's because of this They were so majestic in their character They had the sublime nature By which the inner qualities came out Why? Because they consciously examined The inner souls You and I must examine our inner souls How often do you and I meditate? You know in our school in Michigan at wise For the first 10 minutes All our students have to meditate They meditate They introspect And if you have ever done guided meditation It's amazing When we talk about intelligence There's one thing to call emotional intelligence You might think IQ Because of the real reason lies Intelligence quotient is the intelligence level Of being able to see things in a rational way People with very high IQs Don't necessarily succeed in life In fact some of them fail Though they score the highest scores in school They don't succeed Because there's a whole dimension Of social transactions That are essential to complete a human being And perceptions are what drives us Researchers have studied That human beings first 6 years upon birth Is entirely emotional You know when you speak to a child who's 5 years old And you're being rational with them You must not do A because of B Because of C They have no idea that they're smiling Yeah okay Sure Whatever mom Sure They're not understanding They're seeing you smile They're seeing your body language They're sensing your energy That's all they're doing They're being highly emotional Children are not logical or rational This is why when we listen to the Hadith Of the Rasool Allah SAW SAW You find he said Every human being has 3 stages First 7 years Second 7 years And the third 7 years First 7 years Your child is a prince Or a princess And the third 7 years Your child is like a servant Or obeying your commands And the third 7 years Your child is your advisor These are not Haphazad conversations Harvard has done studies Top universities in the world Including Stanford Did studies on these matters Where they found out That this is brilliant This is exactly what the prophet has stated Stanford did a study Just exposing the power of patience Patience You know the professors who come to Stanford Used to bring their children To this nursery So they decided to conduct research Many years ago And it was a profound research To show you When Allah says إن الله مع الصابرين فبشر الصابرين اللذين إذا أصاباتهم Give good news to the patient one Not talking randomly He created us He knows us So they took these kids At Stanford And told them That we want to give you a marshmallow Kids love marshmallows But if you wait 10 minutes The person says I'm just going to go outside And do a quick errand When I come back If you can wait I'll give you two marshmallows Simple isn't it? Simple So one group of kids says No no no no I'm not waiting I want my marshmallow now We are like that Many of our kids Mom, if you don't give me my iPhone Right now I'm going to stop breathing I'm going to scream Please don't scream please I'll be embarrassed Now It's the now generation Highly impulsive You see that And then it leads us To become compulsive So those kids Said I want the marshmallow Then a group of them Said no For two marshmallows We will wait Now you know For a five year old Ten minutes is like eternity They bite the nails Like marshmallow When is this marshmallow Oh my Ten minutes Guy goes outside Come back ten minutes later Gives these kids two marshmallows They follow these kids Till teenage Till late teenage Till the twenties And all the kids Who asked for marshmallows Immediately Were flunkies Depressed Into drugs Lost Out of focus And all the kids who waited Were successful Focused Planning their future Just a little explanation Of a child's ability To sustain ten minutes Of patience By which to get marshmallows Is indicative Of what you and I really are So when Allah says والتنظر نفسهم ما قدمت لغاد Take care of yourselves For you are the universe You might think Outside is your universe It's peripheral to your universe So please understand Brothers and sisters On that day Allah says يوم لا ينفع مالون ولا بنون إلا من أطل الله بقلب سليم On that day لا ينفع مالون Your wealth ولا بنون No, your family will help you Look at us today We're all Charging to build our empire On this earth I need my fancy car And my fancy watch And my fancy house And if I don't have it Machiavellian style I'll cheat and I'll lie And I'll be a crooked And I'll say ألرار And then I'm going to cheat you حج I went to Hajj Oh good you're Hajj You're honest Here's my thousand dollars Good Run away with it Because you hide under that Why? Did Allah say to do that? No Allah says None of this stuff You're running for Is going to help you لا ينفع مالون ولا بنون إلا من أطل الله بقلب قلب My heart When it's at peace It will help me So Allah says On that day Your mother When she's next to you يا يون الناس تتقوا ربكم وخشوا يوم لا يجزي والد عوالا دي ولا مولود هو جازن عوالا دي شيئا Wow This is deep In Surah Al-Rukmah And Allah says Oh man can Beware of that day The father won't help the son No the son will help the father Your universe Is you You and I Will be saying نفسي On that day Allah says On that day You will be broken into three groups وكنت مزواجان ثلاثة أصحاب اليمين أصحاب الشمال And صابقون الصابقون أولائك المقربون في جنات النعين Three groups You and I In this conversation tonight Should make a promise That since I am the universe And I have been blessed to be human I will abstain from the Haram And I will abstain from the poisons You know when I see my brothers and sisters Working out Keeping themselves fit Being careful of what they imbibe And drink And eat And only good food that they eat I said Bravo Bravo I admire you for that For that's how you and I should live For on judgment day The body will speak for you Or against you And said Oh Allah This creature that you endowed me To be his skin To care of me So stop this nonsense of drinking And by the way And drinking and smoking You find unfortunately Secondhand smoke In cigarettes And in Sheisha Is more dangerous Than Sheisha For the one who takes it Now don't say Oh that's even better now Alhamdulillah That's not the point It's already dangerous It's already a hundred times worse In cigarettes But people who get around you You're killing them So that's what we call Social irresponsibility And Allah will question us On judgment day You poison the environment Knowing that you're hurting others You know if I go into a room With Sheisha My head spins I get dizzy I get sick I come back and say What is that stuff And there are people who live by it Why do they live by it Because we have lost hope Why Because we think the external Components are the solutions To our lives And I'm saying this Forciferously Without any Hesitation That the real solution is not outside The solution is inside We have students who come We have a very negative attitude When they come to school Sometimes you know They got off the bed From the wrong side They're angry But I don't want to study today Or they are You know Contentious in class They want to challenge the teacher So in the afternoon We take them from meditation They all come in this big hall In our theater And they all do meditation Those same boys and girls Who are negative They walk out With positive thoughts Smiling Shaking hands And we say Observe Observe Ten minutes Of inner thought Of meditation Look at the change In the sky's behavior And that's all it takes And the minute you're smiling And you're feeling good You no longer have a desire To smoke You no longer have a desire To curse You no longer have a desire To do Haram What is the real What is the real What is the reason for that Because you took Account of yourself عليكم As I mentioned yesterday عليكم يا يولدين آمنوا عليكم أنفسكم Take care of yourselves Allah says I have endowed you With too much Within yourselves And the solution lies in you You and I are humans We're extremely intelligent Researchers show That if you just imagine That you're taking something That's positive for you Your body reacts positively You might call that The placebo effect Psychosomatic induction Which we call Where your brain produces The results Without any outside Agency of chemistry And your body Internally now Begins to react Researchers show That when you complain You actually create Atheroids in your brain With glial cells And it becomes so Habitual after a while That because you have So many pathways to complaining That 24 hours You're complaining So let's not think Oh I only complain Because it's a very Good reason for me to complain No It becomes a habit And then suddenly You find people Are constantly complaining No matter what you give them They're always seeing The glasses are half empty Because they are so Addicted to complaining So you might think Smoking is an addiction Even complaining is an addiction Even cursing is an addiction Even looking at people's False is an addiction All of these Requires ذكر of Allah الذين يذكرون الله You know Allah سبحانه وتعالى Mention this beautifully إن في خلق السماوات والأرب واختلاف الليل والنهار لآيات لأولي الألباب الذين يذكرون الله قياما وقعودا وعلى جنوب إم ويتفكرون في خلق السماوات والأرب They make reflection They're constantly Standing Sitting On their side That in the creation Of this universe And the alternation Of night and day Are signs for people Deeply rooted in knowledge They reflect standing Sitting and lying on their side Wondering What is this universe All about Researchers have found In today's modern world That when you and I Can touch the nerve Of why You will know What to do And how to do If you cannot touch Meaning Why are things happening The way You won't know What to do with what Nor with how You will be confused And when you don't know The why of things You start to destruct You start to smoke You start to get into fights You start to look for faults Everything negative Starts to become your modus It becomes your nature When Allah says My zikr Will calm you down What is my zikr I am the cause You are the effect And your effect Is dependent on the cause Forever And I guide you For ultimate goodness I made you And there is nothing In the universe You can do To escape Your return to me Allah says If you and I Simply know this And focus Now when a friend says Hey come Let's smoke this No sorry I don't need this Well come on There's a party going on All the friends The teenagers suffer the most Is loyalty My God loyalty You know why Teenagers suffer from loyalty Loyalty I've had kids who come to Mrs. Hajj I go to clubs I do haram I smoke I do this I've decided to stop I said are you ready to stop He said yes I said where's your phone He said here I said I can guarantee In the next five minutes You're gonna get a phone call He looks at me He said how do you know I said watch I said I dare you When that phone rings If you pick it up You're lying Five minutes later His friends are calling Hey where are you Come on Sending text messages He says Hajj They're calling me I said go ahead Pick it up No no I know As you see they're calling you Aren't they Loyalty You need that And if you say no And you don't answer them They'll curse you And if they curse you You no longer have friends And if no friends Oh you're like alone In the desert Oh my God I have no friends I'm gonna die They don't love me anymore Where am I gonna go now I'm so bored Wallah I'll do anything for you brother You know I've been doing this for Too long Right Isn't it true Now the day you give it up A person says If I lose all my friends Who are asking me to do this Haram But I know it's wrong I said I got two options for you Don't answer them Or answer them But if you do answer them There's a condition You're gonna change them And you're gonna stop them Oh brother I don't know I said well As Allah says in Quran يا يحيى خذ الكتابة بقوة Oh يحيى take the law By the hands and move Are you ready to go to your friends And say excuse me I don't think we should do this today What Are you kidding me I'm the one who sets the trend You're gonna follow me No no no I'm not going with you What happens to your friends They'll curse you They'll damn you They'll threaten you Loyalty I know people who end their friends Loyalty I know people who end their 40s And 50s Who haven't given up this Teenage loyalty Give it after they're married Even though they're the kids They're still loyal They're living like children They haven't grown Subhan Allah What happened to us When we cry for Imam Hussein Who sacrificed everything Companions who give everything You and I cry Hey Haat من الدل Hussein Oh my God Look at people today His message continues to grow The message of Imam Hussein Is causing revolution In the Middle East It's the lovers of Imam Hussein Who are causing the tyrants To be afraid Netanyahu cannot sleep at night Not because of anybody But because of the lovers of Hussein Remember that If there's one group of people He is afraid of That he can't sleep at night It's the ones who love Imam Hussein Don't forget that Study it You will see It's the lovers of Ahl al-Bayt Who are shaking the world today And demanding justice And there's nothing in the world That can do to stop us That's the power we have And I conclude on that Tonight That we go to Karbala And you see old companions People who lived with the Prophet Seeing trials and tribulations Upon the Prophet From good moments To horrible moments People like Ammar Ammar ibn Yasr was a companion Of the Prophet Who was one of the early companions Of the Prophet When he became a believer When I went to visit his grave In Raqqa I cried I cried so much When I was on his grave Raqqa You know what I say today And I remember touching his grave And I said Ammar You're a companion of the Prophet How did you have this energy Oh Ammar I am a servant of God Pretending to be good I need your spirit Teach me How to be a follower You follow the Prophet The way you followed Amir al-Mu'mineen Up to your old age That you didn't give up this life Until you did it for Allah You Ammar I asked myself when I was in his grave And I said Ammar As you know the Prophet said Oh Ammar These believers will kill you And they will be wearing They will be carrying black flags It was Muawiyah's flag And it was Muawiyah's army That killed Ammar And the believers all remembered The Prophet said these believers Will kill Ammar And yes It was one of the most honorable companions Of the Holy Prophet Ammar in old age Went to Raqqa To teach people to pray Imam Ali al-Salam Had become the Khalifa at the time Muawiyah had already positioned himself As the governor of Damascus Imam Ali sends him a notice Step down You're no longer the governor I'm the Khalifa You're no longer the governor Muawiyah refused He challenged Imam Ali al-Salam And Muawiyah was killing him Discriminately causing fitna So Imam puts together an army And he moves from Kufa Coming towards Damascus Through Raqqa That mountain was called Sifin It's high mountains You can see it Hills flat surface on top And you can see it When I was there The Euphrates is right there I stood there I said once upon a time The footsteps of our blessed Imam was here Once upon a time The footsteps of Imam Hassan And Imam Hussein was here This is why Ziyara is so good Ziyara Visit Ziyara Visit If you can Touch the surface Feel it Feel the energy It will live with you forever If you and I want to escape The mala'a of this dunya Go to these people Hold on to them Say you are my role model I want to live by your sayonah Imam Ali was like that But I always imagine In my day-to-day troubles That I have in life I say what is my trouble Oh I have a problem here I have a problem here And now I'm ready to condemn My society I'm ready to condemn Everybody I maybe even go And ask Allah Like what wrong did I do Then a mark comes in front of my image Say you're complaining How about me I became a Muslim early on And then my parents joined me My mother So my aunt And Yasser And in front of my eyes They were both killed In front of my eyes They were stabbed with spears And I watched my mother die In my hands I watched my father die In front of my eyes In front of me My parents were both Shuhada Killed The first martyrs to be killed In Islam Were Ammar's parents Subhanallah You and I would have become Muslim Still recently no one I was a pagan before I became Muslim My parents became Muslim And look at the Bala Both of them died No Ammar said they became Shuhada They got closer to Allah They are not dead They are alive They are alive They are alive So really Ammar You have that belief For every time I have a little problem I'm ready to condemn God And condemn religion And condemn my Islam You have that much courage Ammar Ammar says yeah You are a fool If you condemn You're a fool If you lose hope Never lose hope Oh Hassan Don't lose hope This is a companion Then Ammar was doing Wudu He sees a cloud of dust He inquires who's that He says Amir al-Mu'minin And he's going to now face Mu'awi's army He pours the water He said what value Is this water for Wudu If I cannot pray Behind my master Amir al-Mu'minin He ascends his horse You know how old Ammar was an old man Very old man He climbs up the horse And he rides up the hill And he joins Imam Ali And becomes martyred In the battle of Sifin An old man If that is not a lesson for you and I On earth to live by As a why As a purpose As a goal That when shaitan brings me drugs And brings me alcohol And brings me haram I said no My objective is the prophet And his Ahl al-Bay Through the footsteps of these great companions Ammar ibn Yasr Shame on me Tonight Same old people How honorable they were You know in that age As I mentioned the other day Holding a sword in old age Is not easy Swords are not light They are very heavy If they are light They can snap They didn't have the materials we have today The alloys that we have today Those were actual steel Heavy duty steel To lift that with an armor Wearing an armor Wearing a shield On a horse Or riding with arrows Coming at you Is not a joke Yet you find these companions Like Mufslim ibn Awsaja Imam Hussein I will turn this light off You leave Mufslim looks at him And says Then what You die And we live on What for? Life has no meaning without you Allah on judgment day Will question us That you are our master Allah has commanded us To love you Even the prophet said لا أسألكم لا أسألكم عليه أجرا إلا المودة في القربة The prophet said I want no reward from you But that you love my new ones And my new ones are my قربة اللهم إنها أحلبيتي وخاصتي وعمتي لحمهم لحمي ودمهم دمي The prophet is talking about his أحلبي إمام حسن إمام وثير When the prophet made this dua In front of the Christians And in front of everybody else So You find that He says Mufslim ibn Awsaja Says We can't leave you I swear to God If I am burnt And brought back 70 times I will not quit fighting with you This is an old man Old man in his 70s You find What valor You know my dream Long time thinking Allah says Well تندر نفس المقدمة لغد Pay attention What you will do for tomorrow Then let you and I Have this fantasy That my Lord When I reach the age of Ammar When I reach the age of مسلم When I reach the age of أنس ibn Harif Oh Allah Give me that strength That even if I'm 100 years of age I don't quit In doing your work God forbid I lose hope The way shaitan lost hope in you God forbid that when I get old I lose hope in my path So you find That Muslim ibn Awsaja Goes forward And as he's fighting An old man And he gets struck And now he's breathing his last Imam Hussein notices him He goes towards him And says How lucky you are And Allah recites Imam Hussein Recites the verse You know من المؤمنين رجالون صدقوا He recites this ayah That among believers Are those who have kept Who have given themselves Some have done it Some are waiting So as you know مسلم ibn Awsaja Was from the Banu Asad tribe And they were all from Kufa You find that حبيب ibn Adha'a Was also from the Asad tribe And they were friends And حبيب ibn Adha'a Is next to Muslim And مسلم ibn Awsaja Is breathing his last Bleeding And they say حبيب ibn Adha'a Is wiping off the dirt On his face That relationship of people Who long says Allah says فتا من الموت In كنتم صادقين Have this desire To become شهيد If you are truthful I look at such people And I say you are old Your parents were killed In front of your eyes You never quit You love Allah so much Because you are so connected With this great grace of God That in your old age You didn't use that as an excuse Though Allah has excused you From fighting Due to old age Allah is in Quran says If you are old And you are sick You are not obligated to fight But they said no No We cannot live this life Of being humiliated Except with dignity And what an honor To get Shahada What an honor And Muslim said But that 70 times I will be killed And I will be born again To fight for you Will not happen I will only die once And I will be alive Forever Oh Hussein Oh my master How can I not die for you So as he is breathing his last Habibi is wiping his face And says How lucky you are To be ahead of me In reaching the pool of Kauthar And to see the messenger And Amir al-Mu'mine And Fatima al-Zahra And all the prophets How lucky you are to see that They see it Long term vision They see it And he said Before you die Muslim What is your last wish So that I can fulfill it Imagine Habibi بن Mada'a On a battlefield While swords are being wielded And blood is gushing everywhere Death is all around them He's having such a deep conversation They are the ones who are reflecting Standing sitting Remembering ربنا ما خلقتها The battle and سبحانكه my lord You didn't create this in vain This is meaningful And you know what Muslim As a companion of the prophet Half of Quran Says You would think that he would say Okay well say goodbye to my family I miss them Nothing Nothing He in his weak voice And his weak finger While he's bleeding He looks at Habibi بن Mada'a Then he looks at Imam Hussein Was standing next to him Don't ever leave this man Keep fighting And defend him Until your last breath This is my last will And believe me Historians are stunned By this sentence They care for nothing But the agent of Allah This is what true love of Allah Implied And you find that Muslim Asa جاب Breeds his last And Habibi بن Mada'a They all say إِنَّا لِلَّا وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ أنسي بن حارث Was also present Brothers and sisters أنسي بن حارث His eyebrows were hanging He couldn't see He was that old Okay He comes to Imam Hussein For permission to go forward to fight Ken and Imam look at the person Of this old agent Say go fight Imam looks at this man's valor His sparkling eyes He says I am ready to go An old man Historians say he took his belt You know And he tied his eyebrows So that he can see That's the valor we're talking about Islam When you and I stand up On that day And you say I am so careful of my duty Not only will I avoid the Haram But I'm going to rise to the occasion That when I am called to fight for justice I will make sure I am effective to kill the enemy You know You find that he ties his eyebrows Ties it And then ascends his horse And then he rides forward towards the enemy And Anas ibn Harith Also becomes Shahid Imam Hussein Witnesses All of these people And he carries them Back to the tent Upon their death This was truly truly A heavy burden May Allah give us the patience That they'll fake To understand And to reach this Enormous stage of sacrifice Brothers and sisters Maybe we will never be In that stage like Karbala But every single day There is a little Karbala in us Please let's practice that أللعنة الله أللقوم الظالمين وسيعلموا الذين الظلموا أيامون قلبين ينقليبون بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم رب نغفر لنا وليخواننا الذين الصبخون بالإيمان ولا تجعل في خلوبنا غلل الذين آمنوا ربنا إنك رؤوف الرحيم دعونا نقل 5 times أما يجيب المتر إذا دعا ويكشف السوء نسأل الله سبحانه وتعالى To cure our ailments To cure our Those who are in need of our prayers To keep us healthy And to give us wisdom and vision To avoid all the dangers Of this society So we become the true role model soldiers To hold the banner That Allah created us for بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم أما يجيب المتر إذا دعا ويكشف السوء أما يجيب المتر إيشف السوء أما يجيب المتر أما يجيب المتر إيشف السوء والمتاين أما يجيب المتر إيشف السوء برحمتك يا رحم الرحيم اللهم يكال حجة ابن الحسان صلوك حتى تسكنه برحمتك يا رحم صورة المباركة الفاتحة صلوات يا رحم الحسان إيشف الساوي أما يجيبから ماذا؟