← Back to Be Proud of Your Islam
This content has been automatically translated. View original in Arabic
Episode 5 - Don't please people... instead call them to the Creator
They are not masters but a trust
They are not masters but a trust
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.
What do I gain when I realize the need of humanity for you as a Muslim? And when I realize what the world has lost with the decline of Muslims, and that Muslims are the last refuge? How will this reflect on my psyche, my life, and my behavior? This is the topic of our session today, and it will include some stories from personal experiences and from some friends.
This is not just for the callers to Islam, nor for those who mix with non-Muslims only, but it is a necessary session for all of us. The feeling of responsibility, dear guests, towards humanity is a task that is not easy, but it is also a great blessing, and I have personally benefited greatly from this feeling.
Through it, you learn that the nations that are superior to us are not masters but in need of us. It raises your aspirations and gives your life a great meaning, so you look at yourself with appreciation. This feeling of responsibility helps you to strive in natural and specialized sciences, and you see in that a great blessing from Allah. And it prevents you from being influenced by the forbidden desires that come to you from these non-Muslim peoples.
The feeling of responsibility determines the nature of the relationship between you and the peoples of non-Muslims, so you will not have a complex of inferiority and a feeling of inferiority towards them. At the same time, do not look down on them, but you are a role model for them. Learn that they need you, so have mercy on them and help them with their evil selves and the devils of mankind who tempt them.
This is the basis of the relationship of Muslims with other peoples: mercy, as taught to us by the Prophet of Mercy, peace be upon him, who said: "The merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Show mercy to those on earth, and the One in the heaven will show mercy to you." Notice: "Show mercy to those on earth" thus in general. And the greatest mercy is their guidance and bringing them out of darkness into light, and Allah has made that a reason for Him to have mercy on us ourselves: "The One in the heaven will show mercy to you."
Even what Allah has legislated of struggle with some of them is not to annihilate them or to tyrannize over them, but to break the backbone of those who prevent people from the path of Allah and to reform the conditions of the peoples. The severity with these preventers from the path of Allah is, in reality, a mercy to these peoples. And do not forget that you are from a nation that was sent to mankind, as if Allah is entrusting us with them, for they are a trust in our necks.
The feeling of responsibility towards humanity raises your aspirations and gives your life a great meaning, and makes you look at yourself with appreciation and say to it: "If you gamble on a high honor, do not be content with less than the stars, and if the souls are great, the bodies will tire in their quests." So you work to rise to the level of being from a nation to whom Allah said: "And I have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds."
And you see for yourself from this verse a share, by becoming what you see the suffering of humanity, you say to yourself: I am the responsible one, I must save these people with what I have of light. Instead of waking up in the morning and not knowing what to do, you remember that forty people commit suicide every second, and the cure for these and others is in your hand. Guidance is a flame of light that we must walk with and spread, otherwise we will burn if we do not fulfill its trust.
Notice with me, O brother, the Lord of the worlds says to humanity: {O mankind, there has come to you a conclusive argument from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light.} And He said to the People of the Book: {There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book by which Allah guides to the ways of peace those who follow His pleasure and brings them out of darkness into the light by His permission and guides them to a straight path.} The Lord of the worlds has sent down this light, so consider it and convey it to the people, to the people why? Because there is a Muhammadan nation entrusted with this light.
How many of us Muslims go to China and elsewhere east and west for trade and it does not occur to him at all to invite these people to Islam? How many of us go on vacation to see beautiful nature and relax and it does not occur to him to bring with him missionary pamphlets in the language of the people of the country, or to count the reward in treating them well to make them love Islam?
Peace be upon you.
Two of my friends had business visits to China. One of them said to a colleague, "Why don't you become a Muslim then?" They explained Islam to him in about a quarter of an hour, and he accepted Islam. This was a scene of him reciting the two testimonies of faith. They then asked him, "Why do you love Muslims?" He replied, "I have a Muslim neighbor who owns a restaurant. Every time he sees me, he smiles at me and greets me, so I came to love Muslims and wanted to become like my neighbor."
My two friends dealt with an electronics trader, then recited some verses from the Quran to him, which greatly moved his heart, even though he did not understand the meanings. They then explained Islam to him, and he embraced Islam, prayed with them, and remained in contact with them. This brother named himself Umar, and here is a picture of him with the other brother, the shop owner who also embraced Islam. These two brothers are not scholars in the typical sense, but they carry the concern for Islam.
How many of us have a neighbor or colleague who is not Muslim and have never invited him to Islam? It was by the grace of Allah that a Christian in my hometown accepted Islam after a dialogue and embraced Islam well, and he married a Muslim woman. It was by the grace of Allah that my first experience in da'wah was when I was in the first or second grade in school. I remember the features of a Christian classmate of mine. I once asked him, "Why don't you embrace Islam?" He said, "I will ask my mother," who did not permit him.
Here, I would like to mention some personal experiences to raise morale and confirm that these concepts are applicable. Otherwise, I am indeed negligent and seek forgiveness from Allah for this negligence. I ask the brothers to put their personal experiences in inviting non-Muslims to Islam in the comments to raise morale.
During my travels abroad, I would open religious discussions with those sitting next to me on the plane. I remember once discussing with an Indian man at length, using the concepts of Surah Al-An'am to support my arguments. When I pursued my PhD in America, it was by the grace of Allah that He surrounded me with brothers who love da'wah. I remember a brother from Egypt in the city of Houston who once brought up the story of the da'ee Yusuf Estes. When we heard it, we immediately decided to invite him to visit Houston and organize activities for the invitation of non-Muslims. Indeed, this was done, and I invited colleagues and my supervisor to his lectures, some of whom responded to the invitation, including a Jewish laboratory technician named Jacqueline Friedman. I also remember how an American medical or nursing student embraced Islam after one of his lectures, and the joyful moments of her crying and the Muslims' affection towards her and the Muslim women hugging her.
Among those who taught me were doctors who were kind to me and supported me. After my PhD thesis was accepted with minor modifications, and there was no longer any benefit between us, I invited some of them to lunch at a restaurant one by one. I would speak to them in general terms and listen to them, then say to each of them, "You, Doctor, have done well to me during my studies, and I thank you and wish you well. I would like to speak to you about Islam." One of them would say to me, "I respect your religion and have no problem with Muslims," especially since all of this was after the events of September 11th. I would say to him, "But I want to talk to you about Islam for your own sake, for your own good." It is true that they would apologize, saying that they were not currently thinking about the subject of religion. Unfortunately, some of them would say this, but at least I tried to fulfill some of what was required of me towards them.
Therefore, some have wondered, "You speak of the concepts of faith and shirk, and you have lived among polytheists according to these definitions?" I say, yes, and I did not argue with them about their religions but invited them to their religion. If the days were to return, I would not change anything except that I would be more active in inviting them, and I seek forgiveness from Allah for my negligence in this regard. For I, may Allah honor you, was not following up on discussions with them, especially since I was more preoccupied with inviting Muslims in sermons and lessons, and also preoccupied with studying science, medicine, and scientific research, and with studying Islamic law, which I began there in America. In Jordan, there were some initial studies and readings in interpretation, but I became more and more active in studying Islamic law there. I would organize with my Muslim brothers activities for the week of inviting to Islam to fulfill part of my duty towards non-Muslims.
In America, I knew brothers who carried the concern for inviting others. They would speak in a way that made you love them despite yourself, and many people embraced Islam through their hands. I knew the brother Ibrahim, who would create any reason to talk to people about Islam. If he stood in a line and saw someone in front of him wearing a T-shirt that said "I love Jesus," he would tap the T-shirt wearer on the shoulder and say to him, "I love this T-shirt because it says 'I love Jesus,' and I love Jesus. Do you know why? Because I am a Muslim, and Islam says about Jesus this and this and this."
Ibrahim worked in a car detailing shop owned by a Muslim. I met the shop owner one day, and he said to me, "A customer once came in and sat with Ibrahim while the customer waited for his car to be detailed. It was not long before Ibrahim came out saying, 'The brother took the testimony of faith.'" I knew friends of mine who would go to prisons on Saturdays to invite the prisoners to Islam in what is known as "prison da'wah," in coordination with the prison administration, and many people embraced Islam through their hands. I saw examples of this that I admired, brothers from whom I learned a lot in carrying the concern for da'wah.
Even after I returned to my country, I deal with students who are not Muslims, and I know that there are Christians among my students and others who follow some series such as "Good Opinion of Allah" and "Journey of Certainty" and benefit from them, and I am pleased with that and ask Allah for their guidance. And because of our sense of responsibility towards humanity, I and a number of brothers and sisters launched a project to translate episodes of "Journey of Certainty" and the series "The Woman" into world languages, asking Allah to make it a means for whoever He wills to enter Islam, and some beginnings have started for that, praise be to Allah.
The sense of responsibility towards humanity is a great incentive to excel in your studies and work and contribute civilizably so that you can be an ambassador representing your religion well. It is not required of us, and this is an important note, it is not required of us to postpone our mission of saving humanity and calling them until we advance economically and industrially and reclaim our lands as the traitors say. For no matter how advanced nations are in science, they do not have what can save humanity in this world or the hereafter as long as they are cut off from the preserved revelation, while you as a Muslim have this great treasure.
When Muslims opened countries and spread guidance and stopped the enslavement of servants by servants, they were not industrially and civilly superior to other nations, but in their hearts was the light of revelation that makes progress in science beneficial and meaningful instead of being a burden on humanity. And at the same time, this does not mean that Muslims should rely on their backwardness in natural sciences.
Therefore, on a personal level, I was very keen on excelling in my studies and research in America because I am one of the ambassadors of my religion to those around me who are non-Muslims. I excelled over all my colleagues academically, thanks to Allah the Almighty, and they were of different nationalities and religions, so that I would not appear as someone who failed in science and work and came to cover his failure by convincing himself and those around him that he has something that distinguishes him from them. And I was not ashamed of my Islamic identity, so I saw myself as a dwarf before them, unfit to call them as some see themselves unfortunately, but my keenness to represent Islam well was a great motivation for success and good work.
I remember the day of the PhD thesis defense at the University of Houston, it was a Friday morning. I presented the PhD thesis in a distinctive way, according to the testimony of the committee, thanks to Allah. And at the end, in the section that means acknowledging the favor, I said: "I would like to thank Allah," I did not say God, I said: "Allah who helped me and facilitated my affairs after some difficulties in the research." Then I thanked those who helped me from the doctors and colleagues. Then I went and gave a speech at the Al-Farouq Mosque in Houston about the pride of the Muslim, and I remember how the Muslims came after the speech hugging me saying: "You made us hear something we wanted to hear for a long time, something deep in our hearts that moved it." Then after the speech, I met one of my supervisors in the PhD, Dr. Richard Bond, for lunch to tell him about Islam.
And in all of this, I strive to be an ambassador for Islam, so I strive to represent it well. And I corrected a mistake in the protocol that was used by Dr. Richard Clark's lab, so he thanked me for that. And I corrected mistakes in the most circulated books of pharmacology, so my name was put as one of the reviewers, and I contributed to science with research in international journals. And researchers in Switzerland asked me for a model I used in one of my researches to benefit from it, so I sent it to them. And Western magazines asked me to referee researches submitted to them, so I accept if I can. And I started with brothers and sisters a project of animations and illustrations of pharmaceutical and biological concepts to publish them to whoever wants globally. And I see all of this as worship, worship by which I draw closer to Allah and seek Allah's help in it, worship because it contributes to the acceptance of people to Islam and knowing that it is the religion of success.
The sense of responsibility prevents you from falling into seditions, and helps you to adhere to good morals while seeing yourself as an ambassador of Islam. We lived in an atmosphere of seditions and desires, and we did not accept to be affected by them, nor did we graze with them to betray Allah and the Messenger and betray our trusts, but we remembered that they are targeted by our call, and that we should be influential in them, not influenced.
It happened that someone approached me in a suspicious way, so I closed the door, and I sent a message of invitation to Islam via email to those who did that, and I avoided dealing with them afterward. When you have a goal at this level: saving humanity. You will be ashamed while you are moving in place, and complaining about not being patient in prayer, or not being patient to leave corrupt films. O sister, fix your hijab, O brother, lower your gaze. And then, O brothers? And then? There are great missions waiting for you. And this is what we said in the article "When will we shave? When will we speak?" later.
You were created for a purpose, if you had realized it *** so beware of yourself that you graze with negligence
Even if, and this is an important point, even if you remain sinning afterward, and even if you remain sinning, this should not prevent you from calling others. Do not add to your sins the sin of negligence in the mission of saving humanity, but rather you will bring down the mercy of Allah upon you by calling to Allah.
How many sons of Muslims go to foreign countries and their morals are corrupted and they are bad ambassadors of Islam, to the extent that some non-Muslim house owners refuse to rent their house to the Arab as the brothers informed me in some of those countries unfortunately. How many Muslims have allowed themselves to cheat other Muslims whom they deal with and push them away from the path of Allah instead of calling them to Allah? Why do we talk about our duty towards humanity? So that people like them may feel how they betray Allah and the Messenger and betray their trusts and their duty to save humanity, but they were a burden on it and turned people away from the path of Allah by their behavior.
Your sense of responsibility makes you account for every action you take because you remember the warning of your Lord, the Almighty: {And do not take your oaths as a means of deceiving one another, lest a foot should slip after it has been made firm, and you taste evil [consequences] for [the evil use of] that by which you hinder [others] from the path of Allah. And for you is a great punishment.} Ibn Kathir said: "Because if the disbeliever sees that the believer has covenanted with him and then betrayed him, he will no longer have confidence in the religion," meaning he will no longer trust the religion, so he turns away from entering Islam because of that, and therefore He said: {And you taste evil [consequences] for [the evil use of] that by which you hinder [others] from the path of Allah. And for you is a great punishment.}
This is, dear guests, the blessing of the sense of responsibility: it determines the nature of the relationship with the people of other religions so that you learn that they are not your masters but in need of us, it raises your concerns and gives your life a great meaning, it helps you to strive in science and work to improve the representation of your religion, and it makes you ashamed to be influenced by forbidden desires.
Contemplate, after you have seen the blessing of the sense of responsibility, how Allah the Almighty, when He entrusted us with calling the nations, this is for our benefit in the end. Contemplate the saying of Allah the Almighty: {Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever is misguided is only misguided [for the harm] of it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And We would never punish until We have sent a messenger.} So work and do not let the frustration of the reality of your nation and the wrongdoing of those who wrong from it affect you, {And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.}
You may ask: Well, where in your speech are the texts of jihad, severity, and harshness towards the disbelievers? Will we not be ashamed if we confront non-Muslims with them? I will answer you in the next episode, God willing. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.