 All praise is due to Allah, and we were greatly tidaken on Allah's squares. answer myself if you have any personal concerns or third-hand concerns. Let's pray old greetings with the satisfying blandness of the prophets and the people of Islam and Assembly. Reflected brothers and sisters, we begin with praising Allah as he Fuqa Alahu Wa Ta'ala he is most worthy in deserving of being praised. We ask Allah Almighty to forgive us of our sins, our shortcomings, our weaknesses. We ask Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala to keep us guided to prevent us from being misguided and from misguiding others. And we ask Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala to bless his noble Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah Sallallahu alayhi wa hadihi wa sahbihi wa saddam to bless his noble companions, his family, and the righteous everywhere. I struggled a little bit to think of an appropriate topic for today's hukba, not because it was anything unique about today, but rather where I was in terms of my own reflections. Because my sort of two leading principles with regards to coming up with a topic for the hukba is generally where am I with regards to my own headspace, my own reflections. And at the same time, to come up with something that is topical, that is relevant. Because I think that one of the real challenges that we have as a community is conversations that occur in our community, let's say they start here at the minbar, that are relevant, right? Oftentimes, we complain, at least in hutch tones, probably not on a communal level yet, about the hukba topic of today and what we heard and how it wasn't relevant and it really wasn't very engaging. And so that obviously presents a challenge for me at times because oftentimes where I am with regards to my own reflections, isn't necessarily topical. And so that is the challenge that I found myself today. And I usually don't begin my hukbas this sort of autobiographical, so please excuse my indulgence, but I'm just trying to keep it real, right? As it were, especially when I'm talking to an audience that is largely younger than me, which is always refreshing. But you know, and so I just try to be vulnerable and real at the same time. And so what I hope to do is to be honest and true to myself in presenting where I am with regards to my own sort of personal headspace and reflections. And at the same time what I hope is something topical at the same time. And so I want to begin by referencing a dream, a dream that is attributed to Mambanik, I don't know if you'll know who I'm, one of the great legal scholars, jurists of our tradition. And it is said that Mambanik had a dream and in his dream he sees a figure who he identifies as Medican moat, the angel of death. And he asks the angel of death in his dream as to imagine any one of us would, whether we're conscious or unconscious, whether we're in our dream or in reality, if you were to be confronted by the angel of death, what would you most likely ask the angel of death? Is it my time, right? How long do I have to live? And so Mambanik asks that exact question, how long do I have to live? And the angel of death, Medican moat, only responds by beckoning him with this gesture of five. What does that mean? Is that five months, five minutes, five hours, five years? What does that mean? How long do I have to live? And again, the only response that he is able to elicit and able to, the only response he gets from Medican moat is that gesture. And so he wakes up and he's confused and he's concerned. And so he goes to a scholar, a renowned scholar and interpreter of dreams. And he asks Ali Birati and he asks, what does this mean? What does this dream mean? And he says, Ya Mambanik, what you ask is one of the five areas of knowledge, of information that is known only to Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Inna Allaha, indhu ilm wa sa'a wa yunazilu ghaif wa la ya'lamu maafil arham wa mad tadali nafsum madad taqsibu ghada'a wa mad tadali nafsum bi ayi ardin tamut. That to Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, belongs the knowledge of these five things. When the day of judgment will begin, when the moment of the end will be, when the rains descend down, when the rains fall, and I'm sorry, that which is contained in the wombs of the mother, that which is contained in the gender and life expectancy and those type of things, only Allah knows. That which is contained in the wombs of the mother, that when the hour or when rain shall descend from the heavens, that which every soul shall earn tomorrow, so one's risk and one's sustenance, where and when that person or how much that person will earn tomorrow is only with Allah. And the place and the moment of a soul's death is only with Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. So these are the five areas that only Allah knows. And so where I am and where I wanted to reflect on today is with regards to our own mortality. And I say that again, knowing that I'm speaking to an audience that is largely people who are younger than me. But the fact of the matter, brothers and sisters, is no matter how young or old we are, no matter if we're the best shape of our life, the best health, clean bill of health, clean slate of health, you don't know. The reality is that life by its very existence, life by its very nature, excuse me, is a terminal condition in that every moment that passes is a moment that you will never enjoy again. And that's not to be a sort of macabre or sort of depressing reflection on death. And that's not what I hope to do today. But rather for us to be cognizant of the fact that our mortality is closer to us as the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said than the heels of our shoes, the heels of our sandals. That's how close we are day in and day out with regards to our demise, to our mortality. And it is said that the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would reflect on death, depending on different riyah, different traditions, at minimum 70 times a day, perhaps more, that he would reflect on death. And I would submit to you, brothers and sisters, that that reflection was not a reflection to be morose or depressing, right? It wasn't a bleak outlook on the part of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. But rather it was a few things. First and foremost, it was acknowledging that death is a reality, right? Death is a reality, right? We say that every soul shall taste death, every soul. That's an inescapable reality. Where do you think you can hide and escape death? It'll find you even in the loftiest of towers. It's inescapable. The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he once said something very, very profound and everything the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam tells us is profound. But he said, وَمَا يُدُرِكَ لَعَلَّى السَّاعَ تَقُونُ قَرِبَةَ What will make you realize, what will make you be conscious of the fact that death is near? But before I reflect on that prophetic tradition, I want us to pause and take a moment to reflect on the sort of theological sensibilities of those around him. That is, who the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, was speaking to, his community that he was addressing, their theology, their outlook with regards to God and the afterlife. And what we know about 7th century Arabian Hijazi theology is that it wasn't so much a denial of the belief in God. They had a belief in God. Even in spite of their paganism, they believed in a supreme being, a God. And so, when we think about the theology of the time, it wasn't a denial or rejection of the fact that God exists. But one of the interesting components of that theology was with regards to their concept of an eschatology, their concept of a life after death. They believed that death was the end of existence and that was it. That was it. That was the end of your legacy. And the only way that you were forgotten is if your children and offspring and your tribe didn't venerate you and celebrate you after death. That's how you were forgotten and you went into oblivion. But there was no concept of a life you're after. There was no concept of an akhira where every soul is held accountable for their actions or where based upon how they lived their lives in the Hayat ad Dunya, in the life of this world, they would be judged accordingly. And according to that, they would be either afforded bliss, i.e. paradise, jannah, or jannah, the hellfire. That was the component of the theology that they struggled with or they lacked. And certainly, when we see the early revelations of the Qur'an, Juz'amda, for example, the 30th chapter, the 30th part of the Qur'an, the 30th Juz, and you look at the theological conversations that is happening in those verses and in those surahs, they deal primarily, among other things, of course, but with regards to this concept of theology, with regards to an afterlife, that you will be held accountable for how you live, that this life isn't just it, that there's a purpose to this existence. And the purpose of this existence is that your akhira, your life you're after, is predicated upon. That is to say that the life you're after is based on how you live this life. They're directly related, that correlation. And so that was the sort of backdrop of the people that the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, was engaging. And that's why he says, What will make you realize that the moment of your end is near? Now you can interpret that to say that the day of judgment is near, but the reality is that every soul, the reality is that for us, our day of judgment begins the moment we die because our records are closed and we are accountable for Allah. So regardless of how many years or centuries or epochs of time exist between your moment of death and the day of judgment, regardless of all of that time, the fact of the matter is that our day of judgment, our reckoning, our isa, begins the moment we breathe our last. That's the moment. So, and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and his Hadith, and we'll sort of wrap up with this, is what's interesting to note and reflect on is how the Prophet is phrasing this, right? Because in the Arabic language, you can say wama adharaqa or you can say wama yudrika, right? And there's a difference. And it's not as subtle as it sounds in Arabic. It's a very distinct difference. And the difference is that when you say wama yudrika, right? It usually, I'm sorry, well, let me take the other one. When you say wama adharaqa, it means that there is a possibility per chance you will understand something. So if the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would have said wama adharaqa la ala sa'a tapunu qariba, that what will make you realize that your end is near, the idea would have been in the construction of the Arabic language that there's a possibility that you'll get it. You may just get it. You'll figure it out. But when in Arabic you say wama yudrika, right? It means that you'll never, ever truly understand. Because the fact of the matter is, today I'm reflecting on death. When I go home and I'm with my children or when I'm planning for next week, I sort of exist in a bubble of my own self-contained and self-created immortality. A guarantee that I'll live till next week. A guarantee that I'll still be here next year to plan for my daughter's 10th birthday. Whatever. I mean, just give me an example, right? Birthday party's a hot on me. Just throw me an example, sorry. So that's just, but that's the reality that we, and even when we think about our own vernacular in the way in which we converse and we talk, the reality is, regardless of, even if you're a marginally practicing Muslim, right? And I don't take that, I don't use that expression lightly. The fact is, you know, your language is generally peppered with what? Insha'Allah, insha'Allah, Alhamdulillah, if God willing, this'll happen. Praise be to God, praise be to God in the name of God and so on. That's just the way we've constructed our vernacular, the way we speak, right? Regardless of how, quote unquote, practicing we are, or what have you. So our culture is sort of infused, Alhamdulillah, you know, praise be to God, that that's the case, that our culture is infused with often remembering God, right? Whether we're conscious of it or not. But the reality is that the remembrance of death is not only something that is not part of our vernacular, it's in fact something that we shy away from. It's not regarded as good polite dinner conversation to talk about death, right? I'll say this very story, and again, my clippings are never this autobiographical. I don't know why I'm in this space today, but if you, again, indulge me. I was probably 21 years old, maybe 20. And this is back in the day, you know, you had Mina, Muslim youth in North America, which was a subset of Isma and so on. Anyway, long story short. We're at this Mina conference, right? This big conference, and you know, I was sort of the, I was the, what do you call it, opening act to the headlining speaker. And at that time, the headlining speaker was someone I had never heard of. Maybe you've heard of Chek Habze Yusuf. At that time, I'm talking again, I'm dating myself, circa 1995, who's this young Imam? May Allah always keep him young and preserving half of the law. But at that time, certainly, young sort of white-hit Convert Imam from California, who talks about the great weather out in the Bay Area. This is Dallas, by the way, circa 1995. And we were asked to, it was a Mina conference going on, but at the same time, a family approached some of the Mina organizers, and they asked us to give a speech at a graduate event. So they pulled whatever speakers they could, and somehow Chek Habze got dragged into that. And I did. So at the graduation speech, this is young man graduating high school. God bless him. Pray that he went on to beautiful things. Top of the eye chose was about reflecting on death. And so after I got done with my labored conversation and talk, Chek Habze gets up there and the first thing Chek Habze says is he says, well, now that you've lost your appetites, let me kind of, and then he had his beautiful reflections. But anyway, talking about death is certainly not seen as polite dinner conversation, right? In fact, even in our western vernacular, the way we speak, we try, there's almost these clever euphemisms people use, right? Person dies, you say that person kicked the bucket. He bought the farm, right? He's fertilizing daffodils. I mean, that might be not one you've heard of, but whatever, these are common euphemistic expressions people use when we talk about death. Because nobody wants to talk about death. It's not pleasant. And yet we know from our tradition that the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, reflected on death at minimum 70 times a day. And as I said at the very outset, brothers and sisters, that I would submit to you that that reflection of death was not a depressing morose reflection on death, but rather the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, was teaching us that by reflecting on death, we would enhance our lives. And what I mean by that is if you imagine that every moment that you lived was your last, that when you left to work this morning, was the last time you would see your wife, or the last time you would be with your children, or that when you left your parents this morning, when you went off to school, that that was the last time you would ever see them. Would you be worried about the fact that the coffee wasn't strong enough? Would you be complaining that it was eggs for breakfast instead of French toast? Would you argue about the fact that the laundry wasn't put away the night before? And I'm not saying these things aren't important. They are in their own ways, right? I like laundry being put away. But the fact is that when we reflect on death, or when we think about the fact that our daily interactions with our spouses, with our parents, with our children, with our brothers and sisters in our community could truly be the very last moment you have with that person, that would enhance those, that reflection would enhance those relationships. What kind of a relationship would you have with your wife, with your children, with your parents, with your community members if you realize or reflect it for a moment that that could be the last time you ever saw that person? Right? The last time you ever saw that person. And I say that also not only to be mindful of how we would interact with others, but imagine how we would interact with Allah, with God. Imagine if you knew that the prayer you're about to pray right now in shortly, very shortly. I know people are getting restless when past four o'clock. All right. That could be our very last prayer. How, what would be the quality of that prayer? What would be the reflection, the fushua, the contemplation within that prayer, right? Imagine. Imagine if you knew that this weekend when you fast, this is the top of the part. The fasted the 10th of Muharram, right? Fasted Muharram. And you realize that that might be the very last time you ever fast. Imagine the quality of that day and how you would spend that day, right? You would live each moment to its absolute fullest. And finally, brothers and sisters, I submit to you that the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, called upon us, exemplified this reflection of death and one's mortality, not only to enhance our lives, but also to be mindful of our legacy, of what we leave behind. Because the fact of the matter is, as one of my teachers likes to say, none of us here are getting, none of us are getting out of here alive and none of us are gonna get away with anything. And what he means by that is, none of us are leaving this earthly existence alive where we're all going to die. And none of us are going to get away with anything that we did in this life. That's what Yom Unhesad is about. That's what the day of reckoning and accountability is about. Is about mitigate, is about true justice. Is about all right, all wrongs being right. That's what that day is, right? And so the fact is, brothers and sisters, how a legacy, what we are leaving behind, how will you be remembered? How will you be remembered? What is the legacy that you leave behind, right? That is a reflection of our own mortality, yes. But more importantly, but it's not a selfish or a narcissistic or self-absorbed reflection of mortality, but rather it's, what am I doing with my life? Am I doing something with my life that will truly be something that others will benefit from after I die, right? Is my life's work a Sadaqat of Jaria, right? Is it a Sadaqa that will be, that will go into for posterity, right? For our future. That's the reflection that the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is calling upon us. So I ask and I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us the ability to understand the profundity of not only this particular reflection of this beautiful tradition, but all of the various parts of our tradition. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless our communities, bless our families, bless us individually and collectively, keep us in good health and well-being, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us of our shortcomings. I say this to all of you, and to all of you in the hereafter. All praise is due to Allah, His mercy, His mercy, and His forgiveness. I seek refuge with Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evil of our deeds, for whom Allah has protected, and has not misguided, and has not misguided, and has not misguided. And I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and He alone is no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah subhanahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sahbihi wa sallam. O my children, be mindful of Allah, his rights to fight, and do not die except when you are Muslim. O my children and people, be mindful of your Lord who created you from a single person, and created your husband from her, and a man from them, and many women. And be mindful of Allah who has cursed us with His mercy. May Allah have mercy on you. O my children and people, be mindful of Allah, and say to a great people, that your deeds will be reformed, and your attacks will be forgiven. And whoever comes to Allah and His Messenger, will have a great victory, or even later. Subhanallah. Rabbika Rabbil Izzat, Ya Ma Yusifoon. Wa Salamun A'lam Musaleen. Wa Alhamdulillahi Rabbil A'lamin Wa Ahfim Al-Salaam.