 Salamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Amma ba'ab. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in numerous verses assigned the responsibility to each one of us in all of our actions and our engagements. There's always a tension between individual responsibility and collective responsibility or engagement. And we are seeing some of this reflected in today's society and no more so than the calamity of individual responsibility for wearing masks. But it touches on a deeper issue in terms of taking responsibility and where is your responsibility, stands and can be articulated, and where are the collective responsibility and accountability. Now Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in many verses assigns to the one on self for all actions. For example, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala man amila salihan fali nafsihi. Whoever does good deed is for your own self. That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not diminished or increased by your own actions. It is only for your own self. For man amila salihan fali nafsihi. For man apsara fali nafsihi, whoever gets foresight and whoever gets an understanding is for your own self. So in essence, you are taking accountability for that. Wa man shakara fa inna ma yashkuru li nafsihi. Fa inna ma yashkuru li nafsihi. That whoever shows gratitude, he or she is showing gratitude to their own selves. Wa man tazakka fa inna ma yatazakka li nafsihi. Whoever gives in charity, your charity is to your own self. Because that's what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will show you at the day of judgment what you have put forth ahead of you. Wa man jahada fa inna ma yiljahidu li nafsihi. Whoever struggles in the way of Allah, he is struggling for his own self. So many verses is specifically attaching and addressing the individual responsibility. And one of the most encompassing, la taziru wa ziratan wizra ukra, that no soul shall bear the burden of another soul. So at the foundation, every one of us is accountable for all of our actions individually. Now in the Quran it shows there is a lot of tension where each of the prophets addressed his people, ya qawmi, or ya qawmi. So it is always a tension between the individual responsibility in terms of belief, in terms of action, in terms of zakat, in terms of struggle, in terms of attending to one's own heart versus the group dynamic. Now why is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala again? Ibrahim alayhi salam is talking to his people as well as his family, his father. Well again, one of the most difficult is to actually confront your own father, right? Because the household is your first school, right? The way you speak is from your parents. The way you eat is from your parents. Whether you like spicy food or the hummus that's not spicy is your parents. The manner by which you sit, the type of clothing you wear, the colors you appreciate is your parents, it's your household. So that's why by six years old, most of your personality is already formed. It doesn't matter if they're on, it's refinement and beginning to work on how to possibly sometimes not show your own self to others. So the prophet Ibrahim alayhi salam is taken on his father and his family and his father turns on him. Again, the group versus the individual. And he was guiding them to that which is righteous, that you're worshipping idols, they don't do good for you or bad. And they said to him, we found our forefathers doing this and we're continuing on it. So again, group versus the individuals. If you think about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and we're in the year 1434 in the Islamic calendar, not only that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam stood against or at least pointed against his own people but his own family, his own uncles turned on him, his extended family in Makkah. And they had to leave. First they left to Abyssinia, some 83 of the companions at the time, including the daughter of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam, make it to Abyssinia, to Ethiopia. We don't realize this. But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam opting to send his own daughter out to Abyssinia to escape the group pressure in Makkah. And what were they looking at? That what you're saying, O Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, is disrupting our ways, patriotism. O Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, you're disrupting our economy, business interest. We need to open up faster in order for our affairs if we turn from many gods in Makkah the tribes are not going to come. You're asking us to demolish all these and tell everyone to come for the one God. That's going to actually impact our trade, our money. And we worked hard to get everybody to come to Makkah because the Makkans used Makkah and the Kaaba, the sacred as a way to become the custodians of the trade. Again, we know that in finance today the security system that you have behind your credit card is the most important because that's where you trust that nobody when you pay a payment on the credit card or your ATM card that is going directly to the merchant that you're buying. And those who are technologically advanced are able to jump and what you call steal the transaction. So if you put it in the Quraish period, they were the custodians of the trade because you don't want to cross those who are custodians of the house of God because you're upsetting God if you cheat, but they were cheating themselves. And they were, again, that's where you could use the sacred in order to do things as appropriate for you where you tell other not to do things that are not appropriate. Do as I say, not as I do with the Mekhans standard. So again, group dynamics versus the individual that this is will violate, will undermine our economic status. They opposed the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam out of arrogance and envy, right? Now, Allah could not find anyone other than this orphan to be the leader like Abu Jahl, Abu Lahab, right? They were looking that we should be the leaders of Mecca. We are better right now financially. We're more successful now. And Benny Hashim, they lost their standing in Mecca financially, they lost their standing in Mecca in terms of leadership. And they couldn't come with anything to compete worldly. So they say we have a prophet. So that's what the Mekhans, what you call, if you wanna say elite at the time, we're looking at that we are more deserving of this than this orphan. So they were actually looking because in the Mekhans society, the group has standing and therefore an orphan has no standing in the society even then. And also today, the orphan is in a very weak position. And that's the reality in terms of human dynamics. So how to relate to individual responsibility while at the same time carrying on collective action? The Hadith, yadullahi ma al-jama'ah. The hand of Allah is with the group, right? If you leave out the group, that this will actually cause you harm. Again, emphasis on group. So in here the action, collective action is needed but within it individual responsibility. Which means that people have to be ready to challenge their self in matters that requires for people to stand up. Otherwise you often gets to be silent because group pressure. So you can't say, well, he told me to do this. You might get it in one setting or the other. You might get it around your family. Say, he told me to do so. But with Allah that does not, you can't pull that on God. You might put it on your manager, right? That he told me to do this and this and I just did it. It might fly, but that will not fly with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You can't use this or you can't use this in family relations, husband, wife, kids, and so on. But that's not going to fly with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's why also if you don't know the ruling, consult your heart, right? If you don't have a mufti, if you don't have a sheikh, if you don't have anyone, if you don't have Google 1-800 to ask for a fatwa, consult your heart because it tells you what's right and what's wrong. Why? Because Allah is with you. That's why. Wa nafakha fihimun ru'hi that the spirit of Allah is within you, your heart will not lie to you. Now you might shield yourself and what you call dilute yourself. You might have lack of courage to confront what you're doing. You might not be a person that is open both with your own self, with your Allah, but if you consult yourself, yourself will tell you what's right and what's wrong. Why? Because you are with Allah by yourself. Allah is within you. Because you're carrying the spirit of Allah, that's why the spirit does not die. Why? Because it starts from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The body goes, right? It's subject to inalienation, so we have a duality. So consult yourself at the end of the day. And don't point the finger to someone else. Even if they wronged you, again you go to a judge and they will investigate whether they wronged you and the wronging that occurred to you whether correct or not. So, now Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us to take ourselves into account. فَمَنَّكَتَ فَإِنَّمَ اِنْكُثُوا عَلَى نَفْسِهَ We will violate their covenant, their trust. It's only violating to their own selves. Even though if you think that you're criss-crossing this, you're cheating this person, you're harming this person, it is only you're doing to yourself. Why? Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is, will take recompense for whatever you did. Good or bad, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will be the judge. And you cannot escape, right? All of us understand that we have two angels on the right and the left that are recording whatever. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is in essence telling you that we are with you wherever you are. وَمَعْكُمْ اَيْنَمَا كُنْتُمْ He is with you wherever you can and you're recording all your actions. The wise from among us is the one that reconciled their affairs in this world. Reconciled your affairs in this world so you don't have to stand in front of Allah for Allah to be both the judge and the one that implement the judgment because you did not reconcile yourself in this world. So taking responsibility for our own self. Lastly, I would say that rather than think of this responsibility as weakening, this is the most empowering element in terms of our tradition. It is saying to you, don't point the finger to someone outside. Point the finger to your own self. Empower yourself to change your own condition. Because the person who says you outside is basically saying someone outside is making me do this, this being a weak person inwardly and outwardly. But the person who says it is me who did this. Again, you're beginning on the path to change your own condition and your own positionality. Now, we tend to often shield ourselves from doing this for a variety of reasons. We don't wanna press our social relations, our family relations, our business relations, our community relations, our position in society, our presence on TV, or TikTok, whatever it is. All right? Those are the reasons for why we don't do it. But it's the right thing to do and this is what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is asking us to do. I'll say this one and I'll send it all back. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. So my advice to you and to myself is to begin on a small, weekly basis to enumerate those things that you want to change and take ownership of. your own self for them if you're a person that is quick to anger don't tell me that somebody is pushing your button right if they're pushing your button the button belongs to you not to them so you need to think about your own self in that if you are a person that is blaming others for whatever whether it's a mask or anything else take ownership of that if you're a person that has tightness of your fist in terms of not spending from a Yabcal right whoever is a miser is a miser think about that and the worst condition of miser is to be miser on your own family because that is of the central obligations and if you're not doing acts of worship don't blame anything anyone else just look at your own self without again trying to create what you call this tension and then collectively say how to relate to others so you could actually empower and strengthen each other in righteousness again I do believe that yadullahi maal jamaah there's a blessing in our collective work while always maintaining our individual responsibility which is again is the fine tension that we have individual responsibility but collectivity of action to make a change because all change take collective action the Prophet s.a.w. was empowered by all of the people that came around in Fakhadija radiallahu anha Abu Bakr radiallahu anha Umar radiallahu anha Usmar radiallahu anha Ali radiallahu anha Abdulrahman bin Awf right all of the people that came around him right Aisha radiallahu anha all of these made the Prophet s.a.w. successful in relations to his mission they empower them they gave him support after Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala again this is not the negation and the Prophet s.a.w. actually said that he was given Nusrah by his companions and so it's very important to think about individual responsibility and collective actions and collective work to bring about change I call you call me that I ask for Allah I want to come for you but they're going to know I don't want to say something on the day you let me know I'm a little bit of a slima Allahumma salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala ala Sayyidina Muhammad kama salli ta ala Sayyidina abrahim wa ala ala Sayyidina abrahim fil alamina inna kha hamid al-majil Allahumma inna da'in fa amminu Allahumma dina fee man hadayt wa aafina fee man aafayt wa tawallana fee man tawallayt wa barik lana fee ma waqina wasraf anna bil khairi sharra maqadayt fa inna qata qdee bil khairi wa la yuqda alayt wa inna hu la yuza luman walayt tabarakta rabbana wa ta alayt rabbana rodana l-islami raddan jamila rabbana rodana l-islami raddan jamila rabbana rodana l-islami raddan jamila Allahumma ya muqalliba al-qlub thabbat kulubana la taadik Allahumma arina al-haqqa haqqan wa zukna tiba'a wa arina al-batila batila wa zukna shinaba ya Rabbi al-Alamin Allahumma raham il-muslimin wa al-muslimat al-akhya'im inhum wal-umwati ya Rabbi al-Alamin Allahumma raham il-muslimin wa al-muslimat al-akhya'im inhum wal-umwati ya Rabbi al-Alamin Allahumma raham il-muslimin wa al-muslimat al-akhya'im inhum wal-umwati ya Rabbi al-Alamin Allahumma shfi marda al-muslimina jami'a Allahumma shfi marda al-muslimina jami'a Allahumma shfi marda al-muslimina jami'a ya Rabbi al-Alamin Allahumma khaffif an ikhwanana al-muslimina fee kulli makan We will dedicate our days in Afghanistan, Palestine, Somalia and Kashmir to Allah. Allahumma, khafifahum, Allahumma, khafifahum, Allahumma, khafifahum, Allahumma, khafifahum, Allahumma, inna maghlooboon, fansurna, Allahumma, inna maghlooboon, fansurna, Allahumma, inna maghlooboon, fansurna, Wa akhru da'wanah, Alhamdulillahi, Rabbalalameen. Wa akim al-salah, Inna al-salah, tatanha'a anil fahshai wal-munkarih al-dagi. Ghaidukum, la'allakum, tadakkarun.