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Sincerely, Abdirahman Kaariye

He is an Imam, a humanitarian and an educator with an infectious smile. Meet Sh. Abdirahman Kaariye.

Did you ever wish you knew the scholars, preachers, and teachers of Islam better?

Join our all-new talk show, every Wednesday, hosted by Sh. Ibrahim Hindy and Sh. Abdullah Oduro, to learn their stories, the challenges they face, and share a laugh or two!

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
Salamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Jazakumullahu khair for joining us once again for our weekly talk show Sincerely Yours. I'm your host Ibrahim Hindi. With me is my co-host Sheikh Abdullah. How are you doing Sheikh? Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. How are you? Alhamdulillah. It's great to see you again. I'm excited inshallah for this session. We have a great guest and I think we're gonna have a great conversation. Like always everyone we let you know we want to hear from you and so put in the chat. Let us know where you're coming from. We want to connect with all of you. Sheikh Abdullah what's going on in your neck of the woods? Alhamdulillah the weather's nice. I think the weather's nice with you as well. Y'all may hear a drill or something in the background. I got a maintenance man here, but everything's good. There's no earthquake or nothing going on just for the record. Alhamdulillah. It's improvement in every way, you know. Everything's good. Alhamdulillah. See sister Fatima coming from North Carolina. Inshallah. I'm starting to recognize the names. I know she logs in and watches us every week. Alhamdulillah. Sister Sara, Salamu Alaikum from Ethiopia. Inshallah. And brother Brian from Chino, California. I hope I pronounced that right. My Canadian accent might come out. I pronounce all American cities. We have Mr. Hassan Ali. He says, may Allah reward you both. Sheikh Abdullah, will you be doing Quran 30 for 30 this Ramadan? Sheikh Abdullah, you want to break the rumors on all this conversation? Will you be back for Quran 30 for 30? Oh, I don't know those rumors man. You know when they say the word on the street is this, I'm like, what street is that? I don't know what street it is. I got a little fitness challenge for all these imams, including you Sheikh. We're gonna put you on the spot, man. You have to bring it. You have to bring something. You have to bring something. Inshallah. But yeah, definitely. Inshallah.
Sounds good. Inshallah. He is confirmed. He's signed his contract. He will be back. Inshallah for Quran 30 for 30. All right, let's get moving. I got a question. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to answer this. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to answer this. Let's get moving. Actually, one thing I wanted to say, you know, I'm coming live this week, not from Canada, but from the holy city of Mecca. Alhamdulillah. I don't know if I should do this, but I'm going to give it a shot. Maybe you can see from outside my window. I know the reflection makes it a bit tough, but that is the Haram right there in Mecca. That's a picture, right? Sorry? Is that a picture? Alhamdulillah. They gave me a nice view. Wow. You're in Dar et Tawheed or what? No, this is the Hilton. Dar et Tawheed is right in front of me, actually. It's right there. Alhamdulillah. Wow. Look at that. I'm making dua for everyone. Inshallah for all of you who follow us and who tune in every week. I'm making dua for each and every one of you. SubhanAllah, grant us all an invitation to his house. May Allah SubhanAllah forgive all of our sins and show us his mercy. Ameen. Alright, so we have a great guest this week. We have Shaykh Abdur Rahman Karia, who is an Imam, humanitarian, and educator. Shaykh Abdur Rahman has a BA in education from Highland College, and an Islamic degree in Sharia from Al-Azhar University, and currently pursuing a Master's degree at the Islamic University of Minnesota. He serves as a country director for Helping Hand for Relief and Development, which is an international NGO and Imam slash community engagement at Dar al-Farooq Center. Join me in welcoming Shaykh Abdur Rahman. As-salamu alaykum, Shaykh. Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.
My two favorite Shaykhs of yaqeen. I'm happy to be here with both of you this evening. And this is a nice program that happens, and I was like seeing it every week, you know. So I was like, man, this is the best chilling spot to hang out with Shaykh Abdullah and Shaykh Ibrahim, mashallah. Mashallah. Thank you for having me, and welcome, as-salamu alaykum, to the audience. Glad to be here with the yaqeen team here. Alhamdulillah, jazakallah khair for joining us. It's great, alhamdulillah, we get to have this connection, and you know, all of us, different places in the world, but able to connect together and learn from each other and build that brotherhood and that sohbah, that companionship between each other, a light of blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. So Shaykh, you know, part of this is all about getting to learn, you know, the mashayikh, and the people of da'wah who are in, you know, across North America, who are giving da'wah and for the people to get to know them better, and build, you know, inshallah, a connection with them, and you know, hopefully humanize each other a little bit more. And you know, I was looking, this is going to go off script a little bit, sorry. But I was looking at you Shaykh, and I think your father is an imam as well, is that correct? No, no, no. Sometimes people, you know, they mistake me because of the last name. There was another imam by the name of Muhammad Kariya, but the name Kariya is a very unique name in Somalia. In the northern regions of Somalia, you find the name Kariya.
And it means, surprisingly, you know, in the Somali language, which is amazing, is that when the woman gives birth, at the time of birth, based on the difficulty of that pregnancy, she will name the child. So for example, you've heard of like, you know, Rage, Shaykh Saeed Rage, for example, like Rage. That name Rage means that at the time of birth, the child was, you know, not delivered as expected, the due date. So it's Rage, he was late to. So then because of that situation, that child would be named because of that, you know, occurrence that happened. So Kariya actually means when, if the mother had a lot of difficulty during birth and labor, and it was like, so then she will say Kariya, meaning it was a difficult child to give birth to. But that is the original name. In the Somali language, the names come from circumstantial situations, you know. Yeah, that is the, but the name is Abdur Rahman Aden Kariya. So I know a lot of people make that mistake. Beautiful, beautiful. MashaAllah, that's really interesting. So now I can give Shaykh Saeed a bit of a hard time. I'm coming late. I know I'm late because he's from Toronto as well. You know, my first Hajj was Shaykh Saeed. Shaykh Saeed Rage. Really? My first Hajj when I was like a new Muslim, I was probably my third year as a Muslim, third or second. And I made Hajj with him and as him, Abdur Rahman Afriqi. And that's the Hajj that SubhanAllah, because he knew the shuyukh.
So I was trying to get him to let me get in Shaykh Arun Uthaymin's tent. Oh, wow. Yeah, so he was, and you know, him and some of the other talaba tul'am that were more advanced, they would, you know, I was like, where were y'all brothers? I was like, why did y'all take me, man? I didn't know any Arabic. You were like one person away from meeting Shaykh Uthaymin. No, but I ended up going on my own and I found him. MashaAllah. And I couldn't even get in. I mean, the first Hajj that you got the chance to meet Shaykh Uthaymin. Wow. MashaAllah. I didn't get to meet him. I got to see him. I got to go in the tent. But like really at the door of the tent, it was packed. And I couldn't understand him because I couldn't understand Arabic. But I saw him teaching everything, subhanAllah. It was amazing. I mean, it was my first experience of seeing an a'alam, you know, at that caliber. Yeah. It was amazing. MashaAllah. I mean, yeah, you know, Ajeeb, one of the people that, you know, that once I learned Arabic, that touched me a lot was Shaykh Uthaymin. You know, when he used to read his books in his, in the middle, like, because a lot of his books, people, they think that he hadn't written and he authored them, but they're, you know, transcribed from his recordings. So one of the earliest books I read was that he was doing the Sharhaf Ujrumiyah. And in the middle of the book, you know, he's giving examples. And then he'll say Intabi, Intabi. And then, which means like, pay attention, pay attention. And I would be like, what's going on? But, you know, that must have been, MashaAllah, a remarkable opportunity to have witnessed the sight of Shaykh Uthaymin. Oh, yeah. He was a murabbi. I mean, murabbi is like, he's teaching you, he's raising you while he's teaching you. Right. Just like that.
If he doesn't see you paying attention, like sometimes, like, because I used to listen to all of his tapes and write and, you know, and he'll just stop and then tell someone to pay attention. Or he'll stop and ask a student. You know, sometimes I knew the students, you know. I was like, wow, you know, MashaAllah. That's when he is probably definitely, not probably, but definitely of the top ones that I benefited when I was in Al-Midiyah. Until today, SubhanAllah, you know, Rahim Allah, Ta'ala, Rahim Tawasiya. His method of teaching is exactly how I love his dynamism when he would teach. So, Allah Rahmah. Allah Rahmah. That was the first Hajj, MashaAllah. He's at like a really high standard. A high expectation, yeah. I mean, I don't know what you're doing in Umrah now, Sheikh. No, I had, MashaAllah, I had i'tikafs with the Sheikh and, you know, it was, may Allah reward Sheikh Saeed and Abdurrahman Al-Afriqi. Those were the two that, you know, SubhanAllah, that they kind of made it easy for me. The Hajj as well, they gave me, you know, the Hajj was authentic, MashaAllah, and Sahih, and, you know, getting to see Sheikh Abu Thaymeen, I got to follow. I think I followed them or something like that to the tent, and I eventually, eventually got there. Alhamdulillah. I think that's one of the best experiences about, I mean, we haven't been to Hajj because of the pandemic, but the experience that you get from there is that you see like all the ulema that you used to hear about, read their books. You just hear like, Fulan is there, this person is here, and they're walking past you. You're like, what, you know, like, I think that's the best experience about the Hajj is like the gathering of the ulema, you know. I mean, I didn't meet anyone like Sheikh Abu Thaymeen during my, you know, Hajj experience, but I think that's definitely the hallmark of the Hajj experience as well.
Like in Arafa or in Mina or in Muzdalifah, you bump into someone in the bathroom, you're like, whoa, you know. It's true, subhanAllah. It's like the real conference of Muslims, right? The real convention. Yeah, mashallah. Yeah, alhamdulillah. So Sheikh, like, let us know like your journey towards knowledge. You know, when did you decide to pursue knowledge? When did this like himmah, this, you know, importance or aspiration for knowledge come in your life? Yeah, well, you know, everyone has a unique journey when it comes to the seeking of knowledge and that burning desire comes, you know, at different occasions in your life. Sometimes it comes from a situation or circumstance, and at times it comes out of, you know, seeing other examples of scholars that you want to kind of, you know, emulate and go and tread the path that they took. And I think for me, it's a combination of both. There was obviously the typical story of it starts from reading the Quran and trying to memorize and struggling tremendously. I was in high school. I started memorizing the Quran and I had a lot of challenge, you know, because of the environment I grew up was not conducive at that time. Like it was a struggle to be a Muslim in high school. I mean, to this day, I'm still like I'm at awe with anyone that survived the high school life in America. Because that moment in your life is where like you could just, you know, take a twist and a turn that will lead you down a dark road.
And I think I have to give credit to some brothers from Tabligh Jama'at that, you know, years ago, they used to come knock on my door and they said, you know, just come out to the masjid and pray. And, you know, and it was always there, but it was like connection to the deen was always there. But the desire to seek knowledge always comes after you have established your religious duties. Right. You are praying your Salah regularly. You're fasting Ramadan. You're observing your obligations to Allah. And you feel like, wait, I don't understand the purpose of why I'm doing this. And there's that burningness that's coming. So around after I finished high school and I was in my first year of college, that's when things started to settle in. I was memorizing the Quran and it was a struggle, you know, reading the Quran and not understanding, you know, like to memorize one page of the Quran that time used to take me the entire day. It was like a day, entire day mission, like from morning to evening. I'll start Fajr. By the time I finished that page, it's like at night. And I would be like, this is exhausting, you know. And the reason that's happening is because you're in an environment that, you know, that doesn't allow you to, to obviously, Alhamdulillah, we have established institutions now in the US. But at that time, there weren't any, you know, US based institutions that you could go and, you know, sit in and learn. So and this was during the the revolution that was happening in Egypt. And I had set my eyes on going to to Medina, but it didn't work out. Then I said, OK, you know what, I'm going to try. And the only goal I had at that time was just to complete, you know, the Quran.
You know, Somalis, you know how it's like it's a thing like we got to finish the Quran, you know, it's not like, you know. So at that time, that's when I decided to go in in the middle of a, you know, the Arab Spring that was happening in Egypt to go and say, I'm going to go and live there and memorize the Quran. It was a huge risk. But SubhanAllah, you know, those those moments in where you are doubting yourself, you're not sure if this journey will actually, you know, even come, actually see the fruits of that journey. But when I when I got there, it's a mindset you have to then frame yourself in a mindset that I'm here to seek. And I think that was the first stage was the struggle with the Quran, not finding an environment and not having a schedule. Right. And then the burning, the burning situation that comes into the mind to to you as a person, you're like, wait, I want to pray a Salah that I know this is correct. I want to be able to fulfill the rights of my zakah. I want to be able to fulfill these obligations and knowing how to do it properly. So I think that's that those that burning desire came. And I think the biggest hindrance for me and why I chose Egypt was that I was like, I don't understand Islam and I cannot understand Islam and less than until I understand Arabic. So Arabic was the first like, you know, passion. It comes from there and it's into the root. It's not like, you know, you just want to be a master in all the science of Islam. You just want one single thing. You're like, I just want to memorize the Quran. Then you're like, well, now I have to understand the Quran. I got to study Arabic. And then after understanding every like, well, what is Arabic going to do for me?
It's not going to, you know, I have to now master a science in Islam and go into a institution that allows me to, you know, seek and increase my knowledge. So I think that those were the first initial steps about the pursuing and pursuing in a professional setting in the presence of actual scholars. Because, you know, when you're in the U.S., sometimes you feel a little bit kind of you have to first exhaust your resources. And I think in those, you know, in those years, compared now, if you compare it 10 years, 12 years later, 10 years ago, the experience of seeking knowledge 12 years ago, 12, 13 years ago, seeking knowledge was like it was it was difficult. It was not accessible like how it is now. And after you exhausted all your resources, you're like, well, there's nothing I can do now. I have to travel overseas and and see what I can gain from there. So it started what started off as innocent, then turned into something really, really serious. You know, let me ask you, let me just rewind for a minute because you mentioned and I really want to touch on this. I think it's important that. Parents know, I think it's important that even the youth themselves know themselves know, but it's about the youth in this day and age with social media, as I tell a lot of the moms and you, you know, we did not have social media that changed the game. Yeah, I'm talking about from the aspect of distraction. The fit and was is like exponentially, you know, present and ready to just distract you and take you out of your game.
You mentioned when you were in high school and I'm glad you made that interlude of like you don't know how, you know, I mean, figure of speech, but how the youth are making it. I mean, like today with all the distractions, you know, you put something up, you post something and then everybody sees it in a matter of seconds. And that could be somebody's reputation and then they have to deal with their reputation, you know, and they may be Muslim. You coming from, I mean, still in the Somali community. Being that it's unique, but at the same time, it's a normalcy. Why do I what do I mean by that? Normalcy mean that you have a lot of Somalians, you know, in the high school. So you're let's say you're generically represented that they know your culture. I mean, you can be a teacher. You could wear a shawarma and everybody would, I mean, the Izhar and it's like, oh yeah, it's Adi, you know what I'm saying? I remember when I was in high school, we used to be jealous of this one guy that had a beard. We wanted a beard and we didn't like this dude. You know what I'm saying? We later found out he was Muslim. But then it's unique because you may be different in the whole grand scheme of things. Right? So you can practice your deen, but at the same time, the quote unquote, let's, I don't want to say the West, but the culture of the West is is knocking at your door. You'll see something get affected, whether it's joining a gang, whether it's taking drugs, whether it's having partners or so on and so forth within that general community. Yeah. How did you navigate through that? Because you brushed over it. But I want to I want to just ask, what were the things that kept you, you know, that kept you, you know, grounded or just kept you firm in those days? Well, I, SubhanAllah, that's a profound question. And to me, it's still a mystery.
I understand that answer. I get it. Yeah. But but but but I think first of all, like we have to realize that the environment, I think it started off from maybe, you know, in junior high or what they call it, middle school, where you are in an environment where you're being exposed to things, you know, whether it's, you know, they're introducing to you things like substance and drugs and gangs. And, you know, because I grew up in an environment that was like from the projects, you know what I mean? So I seen like the like a lot of guys get in with, you know, violent gangs that were doing really, really bad stuff. Right. And a lot of youth were slipping up. What some of them were actually, you know, they had a lot of potential. Like they had tremendous amount of potential to succeed, to they were doing very well in their studies. And then suddenly, you know, they get to their, you know, later years in high school. That kid is no longer the same innocent, you know, kid that walked through the hallways in ninth grade. You're like, what in the world happened? The transformation that happens. And I think there's a there's a thing that we have to realize that one, like the the environment itself is pushing you towards that direction. Right. You have friends that are evolving and changing. You're going through physical change in your body. You start and you come into an environment where you have no crazy shahwa, you know, because at that time is a lot of shahwa. Right. But you come in there and you don't have a crazy shahwa. You don't have all this stuff. You start off innocent. But then if you don't know how to control that shahwa, you don't have a place where you can, you know,
control your nafs, then it leads you. And it starts off from, you know, obviously a sexual relation in high school. Then it leads to going to house parties. I mean, the first thing that we have in high school, right. The first event that's done every year when you go to high school, it's a homecoming event. Right. And that's and that goes down. Right. Like it's. And then ninth grade, you're like, what is homecoming? I've never seen it. And it's a pep rally. You get the whole entire school energized. And then, you know, you're when you're a junior or a senior in high school, if if you play for sports, if you're into a particular group of a class of, you know, friends you roll with, you're going to be introduced to certain, you know, environments that will not be conducive to your Islam. And I grew up in obviously in a post 9-11 era where, you know, being a Muslim in in high school at that time was was seen like, whoa. You know, like, you know, you're Muslim, you're Muslim. And now, alhamdulillah, things are a lot, lot better. But at that time, there was like to even show your identity as a Muslim was hard. Right. So there's a lot of factors that play. There's a physical change that happens to this teenager. Their body is changing. Their the way of thinking is changing. They have urges that they don't know how to control. And at home, no one is talking to them about these issues. Then they go into an environment where they're being pulled and being told, come into this place. Right. Come and do this stuff. And then in addition to that, once you get to like your later years of high school and junior and senior year, you're no longer hanging out with the same crew that you came to high school with.
Now you're hanging out with even maybe college students. You're going to college parties and all this stuff. And that's another insanity that is, you know, that this person cannot handle even. So how do you survive in an environment like that? I think a lot of the immigrant parents who have not went to high school here don't know the reality of what happens in high school. And there's a huge fascination in America with the high school life. You know, the there's always like a reminiscence of high school, like they have reunions. They have so much movies around, you know, the high school life, TV shows. And it's always about that life. And and when you're in that environment, the only way that you can survive is, you know, first of all, is creating sohbat, friends. And sometimes those friends are not always loyal to the same kind of commitments that you have in life. And at that age, how do you even know your direction, your purpose and where you're going? You're just like you're an innocent kid that's just, you know, trying to make it and survive, let alone, you know, keep redeeming your identity. But I think one of the for me, at least the biggest benefit I had was that I I went. My parents never stopped me from going to my regular Islamic studies. So so in coordination with my high school, even though most high school students, they tend to drop out of, you know, the Dixie or the Madrasa life or the Maktaba life after, you know, the they hit a certain age. But I can that environment and going there every single evening allowed me to still maintain my Islam and my identity.
But I have friends. One of my my closest friends when I was in high school, Brother Anwar, Allah have mercy on him. You know, we were we were very tight. We were very close. We went to middle school together. We went to high school together. And right around maybe 10th, 10th or 11th grade, we you know, we split it. We parted ways. It was just like we could not continue our relationship because either I would have to go down that path or I would have to, you know, end this relationship. And sometimes, you know, and I I think one of the things that I didn't have guidance, but had I been in this state now, I would have pulled him back from it and said, no, don't go there. I should have been the better friend, because if your friend goes the wrong direction, decides to go, you know, he gets into drinking and all these other things. And inshallah, Allah forgive him and have inshallah have mercy upon him. But one of the realities is that, you know, we cut off someone and we're like, no, I cannot do this. I can't hang with you and I have to keep my Islam and deen. But then you realize that you could have helped them, pull them out of that hole that he was going through. But subhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, you know, people find hidayah in another part of their life, in another experience. But those moments when you're that young and you're that exposed, it kind of it is the most formative parts of your life. And it could drastically change the trajectory of where you're going in life. So I don't I wouldn't say I wouldn't send my kids to high school in America. But if I had that choice, I think a lot of parents who are immigrants and raising kids in the US
don't understand the reality of what's happening there and the culture in the in America around high school environment. And obviously now with social media, I am 100 percent sure that there is 10 times the effect and push to get, you know, our youth involved in things that they should never even be exposed to, let alone at that age. So it's a very elaborate question. Absolutely. Right. So, I mean, ultimately, it was I guess it was just you being that Islamic environment that you consistently stayed in was an anchor for you to stay strong and make the I guess you see the right choices. Because, I mean, you gave the example with your friend, Alhamdulillah, that allowed you to make those choices to you. And sometimes you do have to separate, man. I mean, sometimes you got to just you had to separate. Sometimes you have to cut up people. You have to just otherwise it's your own survival. Right. Right. And, you know, I just I just wanted you to mention that because, you know, I'm almost sure there's almost I'm sure that there's a lot of youth like you, a lot of youth like me, like Shiki Ibrahim, that that's what's going on. But also the parents need to know that it's not easy. I mean, it is not easy in these environments, man. I mean, it's not I mean, even in Islamic schools to a certain degree. Right. So I'm glad I'm glad you touched on that in the very beginning. But what would be the solution? I think the solution starts at home. I think there is nothing more important than a parent regularly, especially when, you know, brothers and sisters, because I think sisters who go to high school deal with their own unique experience that is completely different than what guys are dealing with.
And and what I've seen in my experience in in my youth coaching and my teaching youth programs and stuff like that, I see that a lot of the time, you know, our sisters are tested with a lot of shabuha and doubts in their faith and their Islam because they're visibly Muslim. They tend to be seen over wherever they are. So they get tested a lot. Our brothers are tested with a lot of shahwat and they're put in places where, you know, it's just like the party life. And they encourage that. The college life encourages that. The high school life in the later years encourages that. There's the jock mentality that exists there that these are the popular kids, the home king and the home queen, the prom mentality. I mean, you can just see that there's a whole terrible culture around it. It's not even education. It leaves the bound of education. So those environments affect Muslim kids, regardless of whether you raise the best kids at home, that environment, when they step into it, it's going to affect them. But one that parents can do is being aware of the type of things that they are involved in. My mother knew every friend I had when I was in high school. She knew every single person I knew and I talked to. And obviously, you know, I didn't have a cell phone at that time. I'm surprised. But I used to call my parents, you know, on the school phone to get picked up because that was life. Now it's like you got kids that are exposed to and they got like an entire computer 24-7 with them. So it's a different culture, a different life, a different situation.
But at the core of it, there is an environment and a culture around it that is more detrimental to the Islam and the identity of Muslim youth than the education that goes in there. All right. So I just want to remind everyone watching that if you have any questions, inshallah, for our guests, please put them in the chat. We are monitoring the chat, inshallah. So if you have any questions, there will be a portion, inshallah, where we put some of your questions for our guests, inshallah. You know, Shaykh, I think that was a really interesting point. You know, the boys are more tested with like shahwat, with desires. And girls seem to be more tested with doubts where they're asking them, why do you put on this hijab? Why do you believe this? Why do you? So they put all these doubts in their minds. It's really interesting distinction. SubhanAllah, my father refused for me to go to high school. So and we didn't have at the time an Islamic high school in our city. So I had to do like at some point, I did correspondence, at some point I did homeschooling. And, you know, part of me growing up, I'm kind of like, you know, did I miss out on something? Did I miss out on some of the social aspects? Did I lose some of like that, you know, social development and being able to deal with different people? But at the same time, you know, the fact is he saved me from having to make big moral choices at a really young age, which is what these kids are being put into exactly what you're saying. Like these young kids and they're so innocent. And then it's like, here's these massive choices. And they take one turn and they become something completely different. Right. And subhanAllah, it's a tough thing. And I think parents just have to be really, really aware of what's happening right now. And like you said, like what we went through in high school is probably like a cupcake compared to what's going on right now.
SubhanAllah, things seem to get like more and more difficult and more and more strange. Absolutely, absolutely. SubhanAllah. So you were homeschooled, huh? Okay. That explains a lot. I don't know if that's a good comment or a bad comment. It explains a lot. But, you know, like I still see the parents this day and Alhamdulillah, my family has been really involved in building Islamic schools. I mentioned this, Sheikh Abdullah, before, like my father has built or helped build five schools, if we count like elementary and high school separately, five different Islamic schools across our province. And I still tell people the best thing you can do is homeschool your kids. It's still the best thing because Islamic schools are much better than the other option. But, you know, if you're a dedicated parent and you have the time and you have the ability to kind of like cater something for your child, I don't think there's anything that can beat that. Yeah, absolutely. I agree. MashaAllah, tawbarakAllah, your family is big in schools, mashaAllah. Alhamdulillah, my father has always had this idea that like the most important thing for kids is to build that environment for them, to have an Islamic school for them. So he dedicated so much of his life to try to build Islamic schools. MashaAllah, mashaAllah. So Sheikh, you are residing in Minnesota, correct? Yeah, I recently moved to Minnesota. You're probably wondering, you know, I moved from Seattle to Minnesota. Alhamdulillah, we just completed winter. So at least that's what they're telling me. Yeah, I live in Bloomington, Minnesota. So you mentioned that you went to the, I guess, are currently still going to the, no, you finished, the Islamic University of Medina in Minnesota.
The Islamic University of Minnesota. There's a program that I'm doing with under Sheikh Waleed, Dr. Waleed Al-Manisi here. We're actually in the same masjid. I am one of the imams of the masjid here. So one of the big factors that I came here for was to be able to sit and learn from him. And I am doing a master's program in the importance of Islamic waqf and the historical benefits of establishing waqf. So like endowments, sorry. So endowments traditionally were always in the Muslim ummah. And now you're finding less and less of them. And it's more of a study into some of the benefits of waqf and why the institutions of America need to have waqf. So it's sort of a research as well as academic paper that I'm putting together. So I'm doing it under Sheikh Waleed. And then obviously there's Islamic, you know, there's rules and certain aspects of waqf or endowments that are pertinent to today. The financial system in the world runs differently than what it was, you know, hundreds of years ago. So how do we bring the traditional concept of endowments in Islam to present day today here in the US and in America? OK, I want to make a waqf right there. I want to rewind. From high school to Minnesota, what took place? I mean, what made you because what you mentioned right now is not done. Well, no, mashallah, I'm going to say it is still done, but in a different way.
Be traveling for the knowledge. Yeah. Right. What took place before you actually made the decision to come to Minnesota? Like you mentioned, you were consistently studying. What were you studying? Where are you studying? What were some of the hardships you went through while studying? If you could share that with us. Yeah. So, you know, obviously it started off when I was in first year of college doing my Tafidh and then went to Egypt. And it was an Arabic program that I started in, you know, in a learning Kafa Haluk and all the way up. So and then after that, after I finished my Arabic program there, I enrolled into what was considered to be a Al-Azhar High School or it's called Ma'ad Al-Buhuth. You go there. So first of all, Al-Azhar doesn't accept anyone to be placed in the university level unless you finish their high school. Doesn't matter. You can have a PhD. You come there. They're going to tell you, go back to high school. They'll place you. You have to have a high school degree. And the high school degree is actually extremely rigorous. It prepares you for the university level. And we were like my first year. It started me in the in the last the last year of high school in Al-Azhar. And we were doing 14 subjects. Right. And 14 subjects of like physics and chemistry, all in Arabic. Yeah. They had these like little small books, you know, that they would give you after every so 14 subjects like that.
And then we continued. And Alhamdulillah, one of the things I did not just sit. And do was was just the university curriculum. I think one of the benefits was traveling within Egypt itself. And this is relatively at a time where things were better. After the, you know. After the fall of Mubarak and things got a little bit better and we were there from all those transitions, it was very chaotic in Egypt at that time, but that started off from there. We left. And the only reason we left, you know, or at least I left Seattle was because a lot of the institutions that I was trying to go here in the US were not capable to produce the type of, you know, academics that I wanted to seek out at that time. So I was like I needed a more focused. There's even in my initial year, when I before I went to Egypt, I had talked to the Sheikh by the name of Sheikh Taha Karan. He passed away last year. Allah Arhamu. He was from South Africa, and he was a giant in the field of of Shafi'i and, you know, collecting manuscripts and things like that. So I used to read his writings and I was like, I want to study under him. And I talked to him at that time. This is like, what, maybe 2010. And we had a long conversation. He's like, well, in order for you to go, he said, like, everything is there. But the medium of instruction is in English. And at that time, I was like, nah, nah, I don't think you're really learning Islam unless you're learning it in Arabic. You know, that was the mentality. The mentality was that the only way to, you know, understand it. Which, you know, it was it was it was a understanding of mine that I felt maybe that, you know, Islam could only be understood.
I think now reflecting back, I do feel that it was important for me to, you know, learn Arabic and and get the medium of instruction, Eric. But when you come back to hear the, you know, the audience that you're speaking to and you're educating and you're if you're in Islamic academic circles, you're going to make you're going to need to master, you know, the the English language as well. I think that happens to a lot of people who have high credentials in this country who are, you know, Mashallah, very, very, you know, knowledgeable people that we know. But they're limited in their reach to the Dawa and their teaching because of the medium that they use is is Arabic. And you can't reach much here. So I think for me, thinking about it now, I'm like, maybe I should have went to South Africa. But then a lot, you know, a lot shows for me Egypt and Egypt was it was truly a blessing. So what started off from there continued in, you know, like Taliban and does not finish. It's not like, OK, today I graduated from this so and so university or this college. Now I'm I'm done. I can hang, you know, my my the towel and, you know, and call it quits. I think what I feel like my biggest growth in my, you know, Islamic leadership, in my Dawa, in my teaching was when I came to the US and began doing, you know, the Dawa and teaching and serving the community. If you you gain all this knowledge and you come back and you just sit with it somewhere in the books, you will never be able to know how to pass that knowledge and how to pass the end that you have. And I think that's the key to to your growth.
And I think the they you know, they they they do say that you retain about I don't know how much percentage, but a higher percentage. Definitely. If you reteach something, take any book that you have studied in your years and you go back to the ones that you've taught, you always mastered that subject much better. So I think that that was the biggest growth, more than even the the seeking of knowledge itself and being in those places and sitting at the feet of scholars was actually having students and teaching on to others. That was the biggest growth that I experienced. Now, that's that's a beautiful thing. I mean, yeah, it's a cattle and, you know, it's a comeback and giving to the people. Yeah. MashaAllah. So it's about a cool. And I know you know, you know, you know, you know, knowledge only increases when you when you spend it. So that's that's definitely the case, you know. And even also a review. I remember my share. We were studying humbly. Fiction, I'm a Russian. He would always say Roger or Roger or Roger and Roger or Roger. Review your Masada, review the issues that we've taken months ago, a year ago, review, review. And he always he always say, I mean, we don't see about the whole lot of one. If they just do not that you have, you can possibly forget can be a cause for you to forget the previous knowledge. That's why you have to review. I mean, you know, you know, memorizing the Quran, you know, you have to, especially coming up in this month now, within two weeks. You know, review is a review is crucial. Otherwise you have the little kids correcting you in the. So, Sheikh, you want to play a play some rapid fire questions down for it. All right. Let's see what you got, what you got. OK. What's your favorite city?
But you can't say Mecca or Medina or Minneapolis, because that would be kind of sad. Yeah. Like around the world in the US. Around the world, in the US, around the world, anywhere, everywhere. Favorite city. Hargeisa. Masha'Allah. Yeah. I mean, if you're really talking about in the US, then I'd probably say still Seattle. Seattle is my favorite city in the US, but globally, I like I like home, man. Oh, Sheikh Abdullah dropped off. Well, it's me and you for now. No, it's good. Baraka. Sure, it's just the Internet issue. I'm sure he'll be back, inshallah. OK. You prefer shay or coffee? Coffee, definitely. I'm a coffee enthusiast. Masha'Allah. You do like you got your own like latte machine. I got I got an entire lab, Sheikh. Really? I'm very, very particular about my beans and my my roasting style. And so you get the beans and you roast them yourself and then you grind them up. Perhaps. So there's yeah, definitely like the the the roasting. I have a brother who does it because he has really nice machine and he uses a lot of, you know, it gets the right temperature. But for me, it's about the type of roast. Right. And I like it light roast. I like my beans from Ethiopia and I like I like it pour over or drip. I don't I don't I mean, I drink all types of coffee, but that's my to go. You know, and yeah, definitely coffee more than tea. So let me ask you, is there a Somali coffee like there is a Somali tea? Absolutely. Someone said, Alhamdulillah, coffee is halal. It was a time where, you know, some of the scholars thought that it was not permissible to drink coffee. They thought it was a form of a drug, you know.
But Alhamdulillah, the coffee is halal and tea is halal. Sometimes it becomes a form of addiction. You get headaches if you don't get them, especially now with Ramadan coming, you know, and it's going to be it's going to be a tough morning for all of us. You know, the coffee withdrawal that happens. But you were saying that is there a special type of Somali coffee? Yeah, we we don't have beans that are particular Somali, but we have a style called the Gahwa or the Somali style. Very spicy. There's a sister at our masjid every Ramadan. She brings like a jug like every night of like Somali tea and then like serves it out to everybody. MashaAllah, may Allah reward her. Somali tea is awesome. Shafak Dallah is back. Technical difficulties. Welcome back. It's good to be back. All right, chocolate or vanilla? Oh, that's a good one. Chocolate or vanilla. I mean, vanilla, you can mix with anything, but alone by itself, chocolate definitely. Never heard that before. That's a good one. Do you like your steak well done or rare? If you have to choose. Definitely well done. I know you're big on this, Sheikh. This is your field. You and I don't see eye to eye on this one. I'm not going to say anything out of the world, but I know for sure that this is your field. All right. Do you prefer mountains or oceans? Definitely mountains.
I grew up in Seattle, Sheikh. It's true. Mountains are beautiful. What language do you wish you knew? Oh, that's good. What language? Okay, well, I felt like I learned the three that I cared about a lot. But I think, yeah, if today, so one of the things that I work on is this, we're building this digital library, right? And it's the largest collection of Islamic manuscripts, you know? And we're digitizing them on this platform called Almia. It's an ad tech company. And the manuscripts that we see a lot where there was a lot of Islamic writing on, besides Arabic, are the top three, Farsi, Persian, Turkish, two, and then three Urdu. So if there was any three, it would probably be one of those three. I think that would definitely help in seeking, you know, like Ghazali wrote a lot of Farsi books, you know? Yeah, it's true. So you would be able to, so I would say Farsi, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. What's the name of this? Is it going to be an app? Is it like Maktab al-Shamila? So Maktab al-Shamila is like, what, maybe 10,000, 20,000? I think it's 11,000. I think it's reached 11,000. We have 100,000 manuscripts. Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. And then we're trying to source, obviously, inshallah, we'll get this project going. But the goal is to get to a million books, both manuscripts and actual, you know, books that are authored by, you know, masha'ikh, and make it a source of reference for students of knowledge for, and develop in other language.
Right now, the largest collectors of Islamic manuscripts are universities based in the US, you know, Yale, Harvard, they collect manuscripts and invest millions of millions of dollars into sourcing them and digitizing them. And they get a lot of funding to get this kind of work going. And we would love to be the only, because this is our books. These are in our tradition, and someone else is dedicating their entire life to, you know, and, you know, doing this kind of work. So the one thing that we're trying to do is make it more accessible. And right now, it's not accessible, some of these manuscripts, you can't even, you know, find them anywhere, but they're collecting them, they're going to go to Turkey, they're going to go to Morocco, and they're going to go to, you know, some of these guys that collect them, you know, in Syria, they took all the manuscripts out. And some of the universities now have them. University of London has the largest source of Islamic manuscripts from Syria. It's just a little hobby that we do on the side, which is very fun. Alhamdulillah. Masha'Allah. Someone in the chat is saying, I should ask you, since you know Arabic, which Arabic dialect you like the best? But I feel like that might be too political. Obviously, you know, like Masr-ul-Dunya, right? You know that. Masr definitely, I don't know if I like it, but I think it's the most common. And I think my ears have heard enough Masri. My friend likes to say that the Egyptian dialect is like the Jamaican dialect of English. We're like the Jamaicans of the Arab world.
One thing you'll find is that the Egyptian dialect is the most understood Arabic, even though it seems the furthest away sometimes from Arabic, you know? And sometimes, you know, like when you hear them speaking, you're like, whoa, is that even, you know, do I, did my ear catch that? It's so fast. But even for me, it was hard to, because even when you were studying, a lot of the scholars, like they're talking in Fusha and they're like, MashaAllah, you're understanding them. Suddenly, they'll switch to Amir. And you're like, whoa, what happened? I lost you there. So you're forced to learn Amir, you know, if you live in Egypt. Come on, you got to give us a sample, man. What you got? That was the first thing, that was the first experience I had when I went inside. And, you know, there's this place we used to buy like all the furniture and stuff for the house. And the lady says, so I'll tell you one thing. This is a very funny story. My first day, I was, so we went on the, you know, the autobus, these metro buses that go all over Cairo. And so when the guy is driving the car, you have to tell him, you know, to stop on the side. And there's a phrase you have to say. And if you don't say that phrase, he's not going to stop. He's going to keep on going. So, and the guy, I see my house and I'm like, tell him, stop. Qif ya sa'iq, qif, qif. I'm like thinking, you know, like, you know, I'm like, I'm talking to you in Arabic.
Why are you responding? So I'm thinking, ya sa'iq, I'm thinking. So I'm thinking he understood me. He stops to the side. But it's not a full stop. It's like he slows down enough for you to get off the car. He's a stuntman. So you have to be like, you know, you got to be running when you get off the bus. And my first experience, I got off and the car is still moving and I wanted to just get off. And I just rolled. And with the, and I got up, I dusted myself and act like no one, no one's seen that. Or when you go to the grocery, you'll be surprised how many people don't understand, you know, Fusha. So you say, ureed wan ashtari baybatan. La la, hada ma yunkina. This will not work, you know, but this is, this is the nature of, so they don't understand you when you try to speak to them Fusha, they'll laugh at you. Make dua, make dua inshallah. I remember the first time my brother told me, I was learning Arabic. I didn't even get to Al Medina yet. And he was like, he was talking to a taxi driver and speaking Arabic. And then the driver was like, sadaqallah al azim, sadaqallah al azim. That's the phrase that's made for those that don't know. That's the phrase that's made after you read Quran, the verse of the Quran, sadaqallah al azim, Allah spoke the truth. So they say that as a, as a outro to, you know, reading a verse of the Quran to say that whatever was spoken was Allah spoke the truth. So when they hear you speak the classical Arabic, i.e. the language of the Quran, they'll say sadaqallah al azim. They're not familiar with it. It's a very common, you know, unless like they studied it formally in school.
Many of them won't even understand what you're saying. It's actually a deeper point about like literacy in the Muslim world and in the Arab world, because not only are they disconnected from the Fusha, there's even studies now about standard Arabic. So like Arabic that's spoken on like news channels, which is not technically Fusha, but it's like the standardized Arabic. Even that the average person has trouble understanding. So, you know, in the Arab world, reading books is probably the lowest compared to other places in the world. And if they do, they'll write it in their dialect now. Yeah. So there's a deeper point about like needing to like the more we connect to the Fusha, it actually increases our intellectual ability, not only increases our connection to a Sinan, but our intellectual ability, our ability to understand, to express ourselves, to write. So there's actually like, you know, it's a dark humor almost when we laugh about the state, unfortunately, of the Muslim world in this regard. We ask Allah to bring us out of the state that we're in. Ameen. All right, Sheikh, we have a few questions maybe that we can cover. Actually, a lot of really good ones. This is a brother. He's in high school. And he's asking a couple of deep questions. The first one he's saying, I go to school right now. I'm involved in dawah. I have two questions. How do we deal with girls? Do you have any practical advice for that? And then the second question he's asking is also since we're trying to give dawah with guys who are lacking, they're not praying, they don't have basic knowledge of the deen. What should our main focus be? Should I try to what should I try to call them to? So the first question he asks is the brother, he says he's in high school and he wants to know how to deal with the temptations.
Right. And at that age, that's like earlier I was talking about how you have urges and temptations and you're young and those urges sometimes are hard to control. You know, the Prophet ﷺ one time he's talking to a group of youth and he says, you know, whoever has the ability and the means to get married, then you should because that is better for them. But if someone cannot, then one should lower their gaze. And fast because that will allow them to. And there's a correlation between fasting and the urges. The scholars, they say that fasting reduces the urges that you have for sexual need. And it's a human need. It's not something that we are bashful about and we don't talk of it as Muslim. No, this is a human need, just like you have a need for eating and drinking and all these things. But we live in a hyper sexualized society. There's constant push for us to become more and more open about, you know, and just whatever you desire, just do it. But these were prophetic advices that were given to us. But in addition to that, I think finding methods that work until you're able to, you know, the number one thing is don't fall into haram. Right. And Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't tell you don't do zina. He says, don't get close to zina. Don't even bother, you know, getting close to it. Because when you look with the eye, when you hear or when you even make those moves, you're going to be in a position of vulnerability and you're going to fall into that mistake. For that reason, Islam has placed so much parameters so that you don't fall into zina.
Right. Tells you lower your gaze, both the men and the women to lower their gaze from each other, to fast if you can and restrain yourself. In addition to that, Islam told you that, you know, while you're fasting, you're doing all of these other things, then never be in the company of a woman alone. Right. Or vice versa, because the third will be shaitan. These instincts will come and these are prophetic guidelines that we live by. And sometimes they're hard. People slip. You might look at the wrong thing. You might have the wrong thought, but it's a constant on and off that you have to push off. And I think, mashallah, you said you were in the space of da'wah. That's a good environment to be in. But if you have the means and inshallah, you are inshallah planning and you have this urge and you feel like it might lead you to a bad place, then take it into a halal route. And one of my biggest advices in the Muslim community that I would say is, you know, we need to make marriage easy in this country or in the Muslim culture. There's a lot of tendency to make marriage extravagant, difficult, hard. And when people do want to end up getting married, we're like, you know what? You need to come back after you finish college and then you come back and get married. Once you have a, you know, one hundred thousand dollar plus salary and you have all these things. And they're like, how is this young guy going to what is he going to do until then? There has to be a better approach to how we as parents approach this matter to make sure that our brothers and sisters are not falling into this thing. So the second question the brother asked here is that since we are giving da'wah with guys who are lacking, not praying and don't have basic knowledge of deen,
what should our main focus be? What should I try to call them to? And I think this is a very simple approach. Da'wah is not about, you know, telling someone that, hey, you know, you know, it's not about trying to put down others. The purpose of da'wah, udu'u ila sabil li rabbika bil hikmati wal mu'ilati al hasana. That the goal of da'wah is to call onto the way of Allah with wisdom and with good, good counsel, good advice. That is the what Allah tells us in the Quran and we should never try to push the person away, but rather welcome them. And one of the things I say is mentorship and companionship is much better than just simply advising. Words don't have that much of an effect. And and having that, you know, just simple relationship will allow that person to ease into a place where they can pray, a place that where they feel comfortable, a safe space. You have to create a safe space for people to feel comfortable to be themselves while still you're able to influence them. And that was, I think, the condition of the Sahaba that they went to environments and they influenced the environment and the environment didn't influence them. But the people that they went and met didn't influence them. So that that's my second, my second thing. Or second response to the second question. Sorry? That was my response to the second question, but Abdullah. JazakAllah khair, I think that's beautiful advice. A few other questions we got here, maybe an easy one. I'll make it shorter this time so we can get through more. That's actually the hardest one. Is it an easy question? I don't know. I would say probably the.
So the Somalis, we eat a lot of goat meat. And my favorite thing is hilibadi. And it's called it's goat meat, but it's made with like it's it's a delicacy in Somali. So it's with a lot of spices and it's very soft. And there's two types. There's the Hanid and there is the Mandi style that, you know. So we have both of them. We make it at home. Actually, it's very common in that region of the world. But that's probably my favorite Somali dish at home. Mashallah. I need to try this because I love Somali food. But usually it's like the goat Sukar, right? Yeah. So they have the small pieces and then we have like a nice. But you have to. I don't know. Maybe you're rolling around with some Somalis who are not making you good goat meat. You got to get your run with the Somalis who cook you the real stuff. Yeah. I need like a Somali auntie to make me food, right? Yeah. Otherwise I'm just going to the restaurants and the restaurants are not like no matter how good they are, they're not just home food, you know. Let's see what other questions we have. We have a few good ones. This is a long one. I don't know if we're going to be able to see it on screen. She says in Malaysia, most parents send their children to school in the morning and the summer classes in the afternoon. It's only for primary classes, ages seven to 12, but they don't continue this in secondary school. She says, I think it is more important to continue this for students in the ages of 13 to 17. We could avoid a lot of present social issues that our teenagers are facing now. What do you think? Basically saying, like, don't you think like the ages of 13, 17 is more important? For Islamic growth and education? Yeah.
More equally important, I guess. Yeah, no, absolutely. I think those are extremely formative years for Islamic education and for Tarbiyah. I think Tarbiyah doesn't start from when the child is in high school. It starts from when the child is at the age of seven. As Prophet ﷺ said, you know, teach your children in prayer. And when they reach a certain age, then make sure that you are holding them accountable. When they reach the age of 10, you're holding them accountable. Why? Why start with the prayer and the salah and teaching them the importance of it? Because someone that is praying salah every day, five times a day from a young age is in an environment where they are, you know, see, the idea of thing is that someone that prays five times daily salah is very hard for them to lose their connection to Islam. Very hard. And I say this because you're, you know, you have to make wudu. You have to go and pray. For men, they go to the masjid. If you start from that age, it helps, right, to mold them into, you know, being consistent with it for the rest of their life. But it's not the salah. It's the discipline now that you establish until that age. But what's the difference between the years 12, 13 and older? And, you know, this big gap that happens is that, you know, people, especially boys and girls, they go through a development in their physical body and in their emotional state. So it's not the same type of person you're dealing with. There's a growth, there's change happening in their body.
They're having different urges. And if you are not addressing that stuff, then obviously that person will act on it, will get advice from someone else, will be told how to live their life. But it starts from that age and it continues. And then there is change in the course once they get to that age as well. There are certain things that it's now it's even very hard to distinguish at what age is a child exposed to, you know, things that we thought, you know, you're not old enough to know. Because now kids are exposed to pornography and all sorts of things because of the accessibility that exists. Right. So even at a younger age, nine, 10 years old, we have seen reports that have come out statistically that most kids have been exposed to those kind of things at a very young age. So I think it's at home establishing a very strong communication with your child. And some communication does drop between the parent and the child once they hit a certain age. So it's upon the person to the parent, the mom and dad to adapt to the child's situation. Once you see that they're falling off, they're having a friend or someone that they feel more comfortable with than their own parents, their own mom and dad. And it's creating a safe space for your child to be able to talk to you and communicate with you without putting barriers. And I think in our, you know, we come from Islam doesn't have that. Islam does not put barriers because that young boy comes to Prophet ﷺ, he said, He said, go brother, give me the permission to commit zina in front of the Prophet, in front of the companions, in the Masjid of Prophet ﷺ. He asked the Prophet ﷺ this question.
And on the other hand, you know, when we don't have those kind of dialogues and questions with our own children, because we say we don't want to open that discussion. But rather, we should be creating safe spaces for youth, for young kids to be able to feel comfortable, especially at home with the parents. Because if they're not feeling comfortable with you, they're going to feel comfortable with someone else. And that's, I think, a very important thing. And I definitely agree that these primary, you know, years from seven to 12 are extremely important. And they're not less important than high school life or when they're in teenage years. Absolutely. Well, Sister Owes makes sure that we ask this question, which is the last question we typically ask. She says, Sheikh Ibrahim, don't forget the last question. What is something you wish you knew when you were young? That's a good question. Yeah. Shout out to Sister Aisha for always reminding me about this question. Well, I think one thing I wish I knew was the value of time. I think now when you get older and you have a very busy life, you tend to say, I wish I could have done things better when I was younger. Time is extremely undervalued when you are young and when you have, you know, like when you're young, you're you have time to spare, but you got no money.
And when you get your middle age years, you know, you got you got a lot of time, you got a lot of maybe you have more access to wealth and you're financially stable, but you have no time because family and and and then you're older when you're really old and you are limited on time. Because you're you know, you're going to your place. So I think for me, the biggest maybe wish and thing that I knew when I was younger was the value of time, because, you know, time is not guaranteed and you can never get the time that you lost. As the poet says, you know, in the Nafra who believe in a car. Ha ha. But could lay a woman mother, you know, you know, we are we celebrate the passing of time and the occasions that, you know, we're older, we're getting older. We're celebrating a birthday and an anniversary. We're celebrating these occasions. Every time we celebrate this. But every day that passes also is a closer to our final destination. That is leaving this world, departing it. And I think there was one thing that I could value and spend more time and been more protective of was my time. And I think anyone in this group who was listening would agree to that, you know, because we were very careless at that time. He says, and what to end, so my only yet to be happy. The poet, he says, time is as valuable as long as you protected.
Well, I will ask him, I like, you know, but it is easy to waste and squander time. So the only the only reason why time is valuable is if you make it matter to you, like how money matters to us. No one just goes and wastes money for no reason. Just drops 20s on the ground. You know, no, we were protective. We're like, I'm going to use this money for something that's going to benefit me. Time should be seen that way too. I think that for me is definitely one of the things that I would reflect on if I was younger and go back to a younger me and tell myself, do these things and don't waste your time with this kind of stuff. Insha'Allah. Jazakumullahu khair, Shaykh. I know Shaykh Abdullah has had, he got frozen and he's not sure he's trying to fix it, but I'm sure he would, you know, have a love to stay for the whole session. And I know, I know your time is very late. It is a little bit late. It is 3am here. Alhamdulillah I had a lot of fun and this is a great session. Jazakumullahu khair for giving us some of your time. Really appreciate it. And I know, you know, the advice that you gave is very valuable to everyone, alhamdulillah, that was watching. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you know, add this to your scale of good deeds on the Day of Judgment. And may He bless us for gathering together to remember Him. SubhanAllah. You're in a very special place, Shaykh. You should be today just taking this, sinking in this dua. You're in Mecca and you just came from Umrah, masha'Allah. So this is, they say the dua of the, you know, the person that made Umrah is accepted, insha'Allah. And you're in a very blessed place. Don't forget us. Did you reach Nisfu Sha'ban yet? Did you reach half of Sha'ban? I think that will be tomorrow night. Tomorrow night. Either tomorrow or the night after. You are, masha'Allah, in a very blessed, Shaykh, make dua for us and keep us in your prayers.
And all the audience that, you know, we're part of this thing as well, for tuning in every Wednesday to this program. Insha'Allah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept all of our dua. May He accept all of our ta'at, all of our good deeds. May He allow us to live to Ramadan. May He allow us to make use of our time in it. Ameen. And I'm keeping all of you insha'Allah in my dua while I'm out here, biidhnillah. And you as well, Shaykh Abdurrahman, jazakAllah khair for your time. And insha'Allah we'll be back next Wednesday, same time, 7pm, Eastern Time. We'll be here. We hope all of you will be able to join us as well for then, biidhnillah. JazakAllah khair. Assalamualaikum. Waalaikumussalam. Waalaikumussalam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.
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