 او بلاح من الشيطان الرجين وسلاء الرحمن الرحيم وبيهين السنين صلى الله عليك يا سهدية مولاية يا رسول الله وعلى اهديدك المبنون صلى الله عليك يا سهدية مولاية مولاية وابنى مولاية عضاء عبد الله يا رحمة الله واسأل ويابا بنجاة نمى يا غيب يا مدنوم يا عدشان كربلا ما خالما انتمسك بكم ويأمنا لنجأ عليكم صادتي يا ريتنا يا ريتنا كناناكم ونفوزا والله فوزا عبيلة قال الله العديم في محكمة هداره كريم وطول كالحق ولا استخدام قائمين عول الله من الشيطان الرجين وقالوا مالي ها رسول يأكون الطعان ويبشي فينا الصواب لو لا ألزي عليهم بلك فيكون مماهو عملنا بالله صدق الله عليه العديم الله عبد الله when we visit one another. In a tradition from the messenger Al-Salam he states that Allah is Subhanahu و-Wada'ala there is no space and there is no moment when worship of God has reached its peak and reached its climax like when believers spend time with one another and help one another. And when we talk about community in Islamic context we have this term known as Ulma ونعمنا في نقام죠 وастиنا في دوار ، الحمد لله الذي جعلني من أم었 وحمد. فلللللىه وله شكراً بسجل الله لشخص بله وكاننا مع Soft to be among the number of community And the greatest of leaders and the greatest of creation And the messenger of God فلللللاه عندما نتحدث about this idea of community then it's important to understand that the foundation of it is the Messenger of God. Unless that our responsibilities in terms of cultivating this community also have to be taken from the instruction and from the divine teachings of the Messenger of God. And I'll try to keep this discussion brief for this evening but as we can all expect it will be done I agree with that actually. The first dimension is in terms of taking a look at the salient features of the community of the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام Secondly in terms of reflecting upon a tradition in which the Prophet عليه الصلاة speaks about the right of your fellow community members and thirdly in terms of thinking about the future of our communities as we take inspiration from the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم So firstly then what are those salient features of the community of the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم First of all before we get into these qualities it's important to note and important to understand that the Prophet عليه الصلاة is a personality who digs people from darkness into light who digs them out of ignorance into knowledge that the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام through his charisma through his etiquette through his words through his teachings through his behavior through the beauty of the space was a mechanism with a tool which allowed for so many people to feel influenced and to allow for so many people to feel a sense of belonging And if we're not striving in our very best effort toward emanating those sorts of qualities toward the people around us then we're not stepping or walking in the footsteps of the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم And again at the end of the day what is all this ritual about the tears and the beating of the chest and the poetry and the lack and the food and so on and so forth what is it about except to revitalize the teachings of the Prophet and his family in a way that we want to resemble their actions it's meant to be a reminder that cultivates us so that we're starting to take the next steps And when we come and we take a look at those silly features of the Prophet community we see the first aspect of the community of the Prophet of God عليه الصلاة والسلام was the accessibility of leadership was the accessibility of the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام himself the fact that he was there to answer people's questions he was there to spend time with individuals and that anyone and everyone especially during the early days when the Messenger عليه الصلاة والسلام was in Mecca that allowed for them to enter into Islam and become Muslims was because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would take the time in order to teach them in order to demonstrate them the reality and the depths of the teaching of this religion And Allah سبحانه وتعالى And this verse of the Holy Qur'an Chapter 25 verse 7 that I began with He states But the people of Mecca they would say that how come God sent down a human being who's exactly like us How could he be a prophet? How could he be a messenger? If he was a messenger if he was an angel if he was someone who flies if he was someone who has special powers if he was someone who can communicate with the jinn People ask me Chef, do you see jinn? I said I just told you guys every day they said but no, you said that some people can see jinn but you're a chef so you have to be able to see the jinn I said oh man I'm just a regular guy like you every time I look in the mirror I see a jinn And the messenger people were critical of him because he was too accessible So Allah سبحانه وتعالى quotes the people of Mecca when he stays وغالوا ما يعالوا وصولوا and they would say Who is this messenger? He is not a messenger who eats food and walks in the streets in food the messenger doesn't eat food the chef doesn't eat food and he eats jinn Well, he is not a chef and he walks in the market place with us he doesn't fly in the sky he talks down to see he communicates with us he engages with us How could it be? We are trying to teach something something unique and that was that he was so accessible and that a quality of a leader of a community and the quality of a believer toward their fellow brethren is to making sure that they always offer a space where those individuals belong whereby they always speak toward the importance of accessibility toward leadership إمان أمين المؤمنين عالي عالي السلامة والسلام When he writes the letter toward He tells Manik and Eshra Make sure that when you take the position of the governorship of Egypt which of course he never got because he was killed by Ma'alu before that because when you take that position no one thing and that you have to be accessible to the people in the way that they love you in the way that they adore you When I was leaving the Islamic Seminary the Holy city of Kebara when I was studying my very last day before I left Kebara I went to go and visit my teacher I told her to say محمد أبداً ودرسي ملس أنا ووطاً في محمد I told him Give me some advice before I go home He gave me a whole lot of advice spoke to me for a really long time and then he said and the most important thing that you have to do when you go back toward your community when you go back home is you have to make the people love you and I said to such a lovable person how could they not love me and he said be serious actually I never told them that I'm just serious though he said make sure that people love you I said exactly how you do that how am I supposed to do that because he said go talk to them go communicate with them and then he told me this verse and he said he tells the Prophet or he comes to the people of America who are disrespecting the Prophet by saying how can he be a Prophet when he eats with them and he walks in the market place with them and another verse of the Qur'an Allah SWT that if he had said that an angel to the community what would people say he's not like us why would we follow him in other words people sometimes they just don't want to believe they just don't want to follow but what we do have to understand is that the first most critical quality of the confederate community of our Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم was accessibility was the ability to demonstrate that he was there for anyone and everyone and you do not need to be in a position of leadership also to understand this every single one of us have something to give every single one of us have a skill every single one of us need to give a smile to the person who is sitting next to us every single one of us can ask the person next to us how you're doing it doesn't require that much and I've said this a couple of nights ago and I'll say it again we have been breathing together for seven days in honor of عبد الله I'm saying عَلِهِ سَرَابْسُمَا سَرَابْ in the sacred gathering of the Vajras of the grandson of the Messenger of God peace and blessings be upon him we've been sitting down with the sacred people for the last week how many of them do you know how many of them did you meet this year that you didn't know last year I honestly don't know half of the people who are living right now and that's my fault because we used to have dinner afterwards that other people in the Vajras I didn't even see this and I used to sit down and eat people who don't have the opportunity to do it so I said about it I told you guys last time you might be over for it no more any fact what I'm trying to say is create a door of access that allows for people to know who you are to spend time with you because the game of community is that important no more the same stealing feature of the prophetic community of the Messenger of God عَلِهِ سَرَابْسُمْ this idea or this notion of compassionate listening the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم when you picture a leader when you picture a prophet when you picture anyone who's the head of state and that's what the Prophet عَلِهِ سَرَابْ was for 11 years in the holy city of Medina where there were millions of people under his authority and under his rule and like that عَلِهِ سَرَابْسُمْ when he was in Kufa when one third of the world as we know it today was under his authority they would sit down and they would not speak all the time they would not lecture but they would be ready to hear what others have to say you know when you start and you ask that question how are you doing how is it going how are you feeling when someone actually starts to tell you how they're feeling it means that no one in a really long time asks them in a way that's sincere how are you doing because no one is going to come and talk about their issues to a stranger or someone that they expect only a week with breathing get to do with someone who is comfortable but we will create many a time in our communities culturally for whatever reason an opportunity for people to go and actually speak to their issues to speaking through their challenges to talking about their obstacles so across the عَلِهِ سَرَابْ وَسَرَابْ not a chapter 9 about the whole of Quran but it also states another way that the people of Mecca were critical about the prophet the first way that they would state that how could it be a prophet when he eats how the food and when he walks in the marketplace with us he's too accessible the second critique that the people of Mecca had about the prophet عَلِهِ السَرَابْ سَرَابْ they would say هو أُمُهِن that Allah Almighty says that one of the way that the people of Mecca would annoy the prophet is that they would state هو أُمُهِن that he's an ear in other words فالتالي يفعله يسمحه إذا كنت كتبه يجب أن تجده في حواليك ويخبرنا about ماذا يفعله فهذا هو يرد أخر أخي هل تأكد من هذا المشكلة؟ هل تأكد من هذا المشكلة؟ هل تأكد من هذا المشكلة؟ لا أحد يجب أن نشاهد أحد يجب أن نتساعد أحد يجب أن نتساعد وأننا نكتب من أجل الله عيس راكس ووصران يجب أن يتعب because they would listen compassionately and sometimes all people want to listen to that they've never been this example before many times the people they come and make an appointment to my office and they say I have something going on and I would like to talk about it as a short a point I learned for 50 minutes in an hour and for that hour I've never said anything they're talking, they're speaking about your issue they're crying, they're weeping, they're weeping and I'm saying, I'll love to see you I love you be patient I'm sorry to hear that blah blah blah whatever I did that I did that I said I really do have it promise and at the end of the conversation they're like thank you so much you've done so much for me you've changed my life I said seriously for the last hour I've done nothing except for nod and say yes but I'm sorry I wish you could be more helpful this is no you have no idea what you're doing as people they just want someone to listen to that and the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام again he creates that opportunity the second sale you feature of the messenger عليه الصلاة والسلام's community is that not only he was there to listen to others but he worked toward cultivating that environment amongst the members of this community and thirdly and finally is that it was a community again that embraced all people it embraced people with different backgrounds different ethnic backgrounds as well as different lenses and different spectrums of their religiosity when someone comes to the Medjahs of Husayn and Na'a'id Na'a'id at the time of عليه الصلاة والسلام who are mine or who are you who is anyone of us to say that this person doesn't deserve to be in the Medjahs of Husayn and Na'a'id عليه الصلاة والسلام they're coming to the Medjahs they're not in Husayn is your our Medjahs? they're coming here to take an emanation of the life from the grandson of the messenger of God peace and blessings be upon them and then we have the right to pass a judgment and an audacity to state that they don't belong with us because we've been doing this for a lot longer than they have it is said that one day Imam al-Assadah عليه الصلاة والسلام he gave a group of people he gave a group of people from Medjah who were going toward كردراء who were going to visit Imam al-Husayn صلاة والله and as they're on their way toward going to visiting Imam al-Husayn عليه الصلاة they were in the outskirts of the holy city of كردراء and as they were in the outskirts of the city of كردراء Imam al-Husayn صلاة والله he said go to that village and invite them to come with me tell them that I'm going for it is the hour of knowledge you're saying I want you to tell them that they should come with me that I'm inviting them and we did all these things together those companions should show up whatever you say you're our master but they went toward that village and just later they came back but with none of the people from that village Imam al-Husayn صلاة والله I gave you one task to approach the village invite them to come so that we can all make the hour of my grandfather I'm saying together they said all along the sign of that when we went in there we saw them and they're not like us he said that they don't know how to do they're kind of dirty I don't think that I don't think that we can really hang out with them we're good I like our group I'm comfortable the Imam al-Husayn صلاة والله he says imagine if we judge you the same way that you judge them think about that first imagine if Imam al-Husayn صلاة والله he looked at me he looked into my heart and he saw my son and he saw my life and he saw my transgressions I read something the Imam al-Husayn صلاة والله he says imagine if we judge you the same way that you judge other people we're in trouble if we do well if we end up in that situation we're in trouble so again the third feature of the messenger al-Husayn صلاة والله is a community that was in place that again had unique entry points and access points for all the people regardless of their religious spectrum or where they are between the very days of this great trial and that brings me again in the second dimension I'm going to run through this really quickly I know that this night has been really long but there's a tradition from the Prophet al-Isra'at والسلام in which he has outlined for us the right of the believer and I'll just run through a couple of them though they're 30 and we could actually dissect every single one of them in a lot of detail the messenger al-Isra'at والسلام says that for the believer for the Muslim that upon his believing brother or believing sister there are 30 rights that he or she has over him and one by one he goes through them he states and I'll read a couple of them he states the first quality of the believer or the first right of the believers over one another number one is that they forgive one another's mistakes is that they forgive one another's mistakes meaning that we let some things pass number one that we allow for our believing brothers and sisters when they make a mistake we don't call them out on it the Prophet al-Isra'at والسلام continues number one that you forgive your brother's mistakes number two console him during hard times number three hide his faults number four dismiss his pitfalls number five accept his apology number six defend him amongst those who backed by him or her someone is talking smack about one of your friends or one of your community members why don't you defend them in public we defend people we defend our own we stand by our brothers and sisters in our faith the Imam al-Isra'at والسلام continues he says amongst the rights of fellow believers one another is that when they get sick you visit them that when they die you go in to attend their funeral that when they're going through difficulties you're the first to arrive at their door towards supporting them in difficulty that when they lose their property you go and you find it for them and he even states something is seemingly insignificant is that when you're believing brother or sister sneezes you say that may Allah if you go through one by one every single one of these details as mentioned by the prophet al-Isra'at والسلام in terms of our responsibilities toward our brothers and sisters in faith we have to go back and reflect and really try to understand where are we at this lecture are we many people who have that sense of care and compassion and love in order to see for those around us or we are people who just say it's not that important going back to where that narration that I mentioned in the beginning that there is no way that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is a worship in the same way is when a brother goes to support his brother or a sister goes to support their sister in English out of their love for their faith and out of their love for their Jewish that's some deep stuff right there it's something very simple we learned from when we were a kid that the Muslim community for instance is like one body that famous tradition of the prophet al-Isra'at when one part of the body feels pain the entire body feels pain what are we doing when we take a look at the issue like the Muslim world today and kind of wear it's up how many of us remember them in Dawah every single day and talk to myself before anyone else and then how many of us know those around us might be going through this might be going through something they'll start doing this work when I came back from the Islamic Seminary four or five years ago and kind of be more so then started working over here at the Islamic Center I realized that people go through a lot of things as we mentioned earlier this amazing community has raised more than or close to a million dollars in supporting the center in terms of building out the center that supports survivors of domestic violence women and children raised close to nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars out of the individuals who come and see me out of week to week or month to month basis seventy percent probably of the individuals who come and see me are women who have relationship issues and who are survivors of one variation or another is domestic violence within our community you know think about that where is the light where are we building people out of darkness where are we walking to put such a large number of guns to come in again to support those poor animals and I'll conclude with this last point and then I'll move toward that to cheer up here a third dimension in regards to thinking about kind of where our community is going to be tomorrow but past the time you did not keep this message so that we only contain it within our walls it doesn't mean that we go and start and ask everyone to convert to religion and that's not what I'm saying but I'm saying is that we take a sense of inspiration from these days we take a sense of inspiration from after the day we take a sense of inspiration from the Prophet and his immaculate family peace and blessings to the environment and it's important that we carry out the values that of justice and that of love and that of community and that of patience and that of generosity and that of making a difference in this world that so desperately needs it and through these nights and creating the institutions that we need after these nights the mentionless is 45 minutes is 1 hour is 2 hours is 3 hours it's 10 days or 40 days or 50 days we take inspiration that the ritual doesn't cultivate a sense of spiritual in the heart and if the ritual doesn't cultivate a sense of distance outside that we're not doing anything that we're keeping the message in these four walls and we do what it is that we have to do and next year yes we're going to be a larger crowd but we're going to do the same exact things we did this year and we're not going to grow and there's no growth and there's no progress and there's no difference and there's no change and there's no revolution than what it's all about we'll talk more but tonight is the night that's far more important than anything else that we discussed in the last 2 hours or so for it's the night in which we recollect the tragedy of a man who represented the community of Hussain who represented the ummah of Hussain ص. الله عليه وسلم if only Hussain عليه السلام had no one in those last moments of the time in Muhrar for one of those individuals we did have in spite of everything that he had lost and that allowed for him to have a sense of solace that he had a sense of support وَلَا دَعَقْتَا لَا نَعَقْتَا you know for more children we hear the story about the Torah about us and we hear Charisma and we hear Bravely and we hear courage and we picture this man the giant and for those of you who have been the whole shrine in the city of Kevrah do you understand they remember the first time when I had eyes for a witness who was a blessed and fatherly of our father and our boss عليه السلام and they looked at it and they remembered myself when I was a kid pretending like I'm our father and our boss and you think about everything that he stood for in the Temple of Muhrar and you allow for your imagination to take you to this man's legendary station and status the brother of Hussain but not only the brother of Hussain he was the flag bearer of Hussain he was the caretaker of Hussain he was the uncle of the city and other than the Abbas one of his titles is Balh al-Hawaj the door to desires you ask in the intercession of other than Abbas and you'll find that Allah why did God give him that ability because he was the door of desires for the children and even though he wasn't able to serve his purpose in this junior Allah gave him hands and power to keep on from the time of Muhrar all of the companions of Imam Hussain and Al-Hussain and I think and other than that Abbas he goes toward Imam Hussain Al-Hussain he says oh my dear brother now is that moment allow for me to go and fight and Imam Hussain says no you are not permitted he says Oh Allah and why do you say he said all of your companions have been killed I am here I am your brother and I need to give my life in your life to which they Imam said no you are the flag bearer of my army you are the caretaker of Zaynah my daughter is the king and she looks up to you I have no way that I can allow for you to fight I'll leave you with this tragic one you know what Abbas Oh Allah you said that I am the flag bearer of the army one army Oh Allah you know he says it's only you and I everyone else have been killed I need an iPad has been killed God has been killed at this moment he says Oh Allah say Oh Allah it had me when I was up please give me permission at that moment Imam Hussain he looks toward the eyes of Imam Abbas his eyes that had been a flame he was ready to defend Imam his son he said I can't allow for you to fight and he embraces Abbas he said I'm sorry there's no way you are the flag bearer of the army you are my back you are my pillar I cannot allow for you to go and fight and as they embraced one another they heard calling and screaming from the children of Hussain Oh our father the thirst of Khedba is killing us I met Abbas he looks toward and I he said Oh my master please allow for me to go please give me permission Imam Hussain he said okay I will give you permission on one condition and that is that you do not go and fight because if you go and fight she will be killed and there's no one with me why don't you go toward the river you Frady see if the army of the army inside has a little bit of mercy on you let them give you a little bit of water bring it back for my children and then he said that at this moment I would have fathered Abbas I mean that Imam says no problem he goes into the tent he puts on his armor he wears his helmet he takes his spear he takes the vessel of water and then he goes into the tent and I want you all to take yourselves to where Khedba and I for just one moment I would have fathered Abbas the hope of the women and the children enters into the tent all of them they surround him and they say Oh I've been fathered Abbas Are you also going to go and fight when anyone goes they don't come back Are you also not going to come back he looks towards Sukena I said oh Sukena Don't worry I'm going to bring you water 100 generation states that when Abbas exists in the tent all of the children they're running behind him and they're calling out Y'all I'm Y'all I've been fathered Abbas the first is killing us please go and bring this water Sukena she looks to all of her cousins she looks to all of her sisters and brothers and she says Don't worry my uncle Abbas she always stays scared of me when I ask him for anything he always deliver and I promise he's going to deliver it but I've been fathered Abbas he embraces him I'm going to say Andade he gets on top of his horse he begins to ride toward the Euphrates and you know of the narration of states that when he begins to ride toward the river Euphrates the army of all of them they begin to call out This is the son of Adiyab not allowed do not allow for him to reach to Euphrates so the Imam Adiyasana Abbas begins to go and approach the river Euphrates he had his spirit in his right hand and as he's approaching he says that the right wing of the army Abbas Abbas moves the spirit and everyone from the army moves then he moves to the left and everyone from the left moves and they part the tradition states that the army of all of them they part like the river parts from Musa and he reaches the river Euphrates he looks down at that water he looks back at the camp with Adiyasana Abbas he sees the women he sees the children they're all watching what is going to happen to their uncle he has that flag in his hand then he goes down to the water Abbas Abbas he leans down he picks up some water he's also thirsty he's also tired he's been bringing back bodies from the morning until this moment he picks up that water and he goes to his mouth and he calls out yeah that's been bought and he goes and he takes that vessel of water he fills it up he gets back on that horse he raises the flag and he says look I told you the flag is returning back my uncle is going to return back soon when all of a sudden it is said that the army is going to return back soon when all of it is said that a man comes and he strikes up and opens it up Abbas his right hand he calls out O Allah he is in the I swear to God if you cut off my right hand that I will continue to defend the religion of Allah and I will continue to defend my brother Abba Abbas Abbas and at that moment the flag falls a little bit he says what is happening toward my uncle Abbas at this moment another man comes and he separates the left hand from Abbas Abbas at this moment it is said that that water begins to gush forth the flag falls completely to the ground Sikeda is saying O my uncle what is happening to my uncle Abbas and at this moment my friends the most the most epic moment of the tribes that he takes place so please forgive me I will narrate but I will narrate all of the details on the text of Muhammad on the day of Ajra it is stated that for manab he takes an arrow which pierces the right thigh above it above it Abbas another man comes and he takes a dagger which strikes the height above it above it above it Abbas at that moment he falls down from his horse but usually when someone falls down from their horse they have their hands to protect them he calls out and says O my master my last fear well on you Imam Al Hussain he gets on top of his horse he goes and he rushes toward his brother up in Abbas he goes and he approaches him he elites from his horse he takes his head his face is covered in his own blood he begins to wipe those eyes that has been pierced with an arrow that other eye that has been covered in dust and he said O my dear brother tell me tell me what is your last will how can I be to service these last moments do you know what Abbas said he said O my master say you need to reload please don't take my body back toward the tent because I would have disappointed okay now all the children they saw me in their home don't take me back toward the tent Imam Al Hussain he picks up the flag and he takes the horse Abbas got toward the tent when the flag is raised all of the children raised when the flag is raised all of the women's raised they come and they say that our brother our uncle our cousin he's returning but as he gets closer and closer Imam Al Hussain is the one holding that flag and as they get closer Imam Al Hussain is the one bringing the horse up in front of Abbas he said that saying that she runs toward the Imam she says oh Abba what happened to my brother Abbas Imam Al Hussain doesn't know what to say so you know what he does he goes toward the tent and he pulls out the pillar the entire tent falls and he said that's our army now we are without Abbas we are without water we are without water we are without a flag bearer we are without any hope and no Zain in one hour my dad will be severed from my body and you will be watching when that day flip خلاص he asks Allah الله says خلاص خالق he asks the Hossain رسال الله سبحانه وتعالى و انسى فرق الأمور و انسى فرق الأمور و انسى فرق الأمور للأمور لن ينزل كل كبير و الناس العالم God means good things in the world and he's the greatest and the greatest God has given us a peace And peace and happiness God is the greatest