Sincerely, Yours
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Sincerely, Mohammed Faqih
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Jazakumullahu khair for joining us for the new season, I guess, of Sincerely Yours. Alhamdulillah, we've been away for a while, but we're happy to be back, right Shaykh? Right, of course, of course, happy to be back. Yes, mashallah. Welcome. Alhamdulillah. So I'm your host, Shaykh Ibrahim Hendi, alongside me is Shaykh Abdullah Al-Duru. And as always, if you haven't been part of this session before, we love your questions, your chat, anything you'd like to put in the chat field, any questions you want to direct to our guests, inshallah, we'd love to get those. We also have a link in the description of this video that has a link that gives us feedback. So if there's any broad feedback you want to give us, any particular speakers you want us to invite, go ahead and send that to us, inshallah. Any ideas you have that we can include into these sessions, we'd love to hear from everyone, inshallah. And, you know, those of you who are out there around the world, let us know, inshallah, where you're coming to us from. We love to give salam to everyone around the world. And subhanAllah, we have people in every corner of the world who join us in this program and, you know, are able to bless us, alhamdulillah, with their attendance and with their insight, inshallah. So let us know, inshallah, where you're coming to us from. And in the meantime, inshallah, I will introduce our speaker for today, bismillah. We have Sheikh Mohammed Faqih, who traces his roots back to the ancient city of Harar in the Horn of Africa. Originally from Yemen, his forefathers immigrated to East Africa and played a central role in the Islamic history of the region. He completed a B.A. in Islamic studies from the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America and graduated in Qur'an memorization and recitation from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He's also an instructor with Al-Maghrib Institute and an imam at the Memphis Islamic Center. We're really happy to have Sheikh Mohammed with us. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
We're so happy to have you with us. May Allah bless you. Alhamdulillah, bismillah al-khair. We're happy to have you. This is our first session in a few months, alhamdulillah. We're back live and, you know, we love to speak to different imams and teachers and scholars around North America, you know, to help, inshallah, the audience to get to know everyone better, alhamdulillah. You know, Sheikh Mohammed, actually today somebody sent on a feedback form. They said, please give my salam to Sheikh Mohammed because he did our nikah in 2005, I think, or something like this. And they said, alhamdulillah, we're 16 years married and they wanted to send you salam and make dua for you. So I just thought to offer that, alhamdulillah. It's, I know, one of the many blessings that you've helped people with in the community. SubhanAllah. 2005? I have to dig up the email, but I think something in that range. That's a long time ago, mashaAllah, alhamdulillah. I'm glad they still remember me and make dua for me. They're not making dua against me. We hope they don't get divorced, Sheikh, so alhamdulillah. May Allah bless their marriage. Most of the marriages that I do, mashaAllah, are doing very well. I have a high success rate. Alhamdulillah, baraka, baraka. Do you do pre-marriage counseling? Yes, yes, yes. First of all, salam alaikum to you and all of your audience. May Allah bless each and every single one of you out there. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Yeah, speaking about that, I do actually require for the past 15 years, a pre-marital counseling.
And there is clear indication that they actually engage in some sort of marriage prep course or program and do pre-marital counseling. It's not that they're not going to have problems. They have tools. They're much better to deal with problems in the family, in the public, in each other. And their expectations also are at the right place. Generally speaking, going through the marriage, you have a much more prepared person who doesn't do that. I tell people very often, Shaykh Ibrahim and Shaykh Ahmed, prepare for the marriage much if not more than you prepare for the wedding. When it comes to the wedding, a lot of people, they're very meticulous about the little details, right? Matching the color of the napkins with whatever the seats and everything. And I wonder if we put the same amount of effort into our relationships and our marriages, I think we would have been in a better place. So yeah, I do require that, Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. That seems to be really important that you don't realize when you're getting married, but afterwards, being able to talk about these important things, how to have those tools to deal with problems between each other, talking about money before you get married. People don't understand marriage is almost a financial partnership as much as it is a spiritual kind of partnership. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah you have that high success rate. You're lucky if you're high.
Shaykh, you know, usually we start these sessions with a lot of questions and finding out about the person we're interviewing. You know, you and I spoke before and we wanted to reflect a little bit on our friend Shaykh Muhammad Sharif who passed away recently. I know you mentioned to me recently, many of the scholars and teachers from Al-Maghrib were visiting you in Memphis and Alhamdulillah you had a chance to process it. And I'd love to know if there's anything you'd like to share, any thoughts, inshallah, that could benefit all of us. Yeah, Subhanallah. It's one of these, you know, events in your life that kind of change how you look at things. I think, you know, the moment I received, I don't think I'm going to forget that moment when I received the news or when I finally realized that I was flooded with messages regarding his passing. And Subhanallah, I intentionally wasn't looking at my phone for about three hours. There was a window of three hours where I was looking. This is before it became public. And once I walked out of the thing that I was conducting and looked at my phone and saw the messages, Subhanallah, it reminded me the moment when Umar, radiallahu anhu, to realize that the Prophet did pass away. Right? That it was, that my knees could not carry me. Umar was walking around enthusiastically and aggressively telling people the night before the rumor that the Prophet,
salallahu alaihi wa sallam, came out of the hujra after seeing the body of the blessed Prophet, salallahu alaihi wa sallam. And Abu Bakr came to make the announcement. Umar wouldn't listen to him. And Abu Bakr, you know, the story when Abu Bakr recited that verse from the Quran in which Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, informed the believers that the Prophet, salallahu alaihi wa sallam, was mortal like everyone else and that he's going to die like everyone else. And when Umar finally, you know, when that verse hit him and as if it was revealed that day and he made that realization, he said, my knees couldn't carry my weight. Like he collapsed, radiallahu anhu, he collapsed, fell down on his knees and he broke down. So subhanAllah, it was a very similar moment when I read it and it finally hit me. I just I couldn't stand still. It was painful, though Allah, azza wa jal, informed us in the Quran that we are all going to die. Kul nafsiyan and dhikatul mawt. But Sheikh Muhammad was one of these people that had a very, very special place in the hearts of those people who knew him very well. And I happened to be one of the one of the people who may have been his inner circle that knew him at a very intimate level. And he was he was an amazing person. I just wish I had realized how special he was. Like I knew that he was special. He had a very special place in my heart. SubhanAllah, just many of our righteous brothers, you don't realize how special they are to God. And then the stories keep coming out.
Dealing with his loss, especially, I don't know, it was extremely difficult, but it was it was something that a court, and Alhamdulillah, out of the grace of Allah, azza wa jal, Allah azza wa jal allowed us to gather. You know, so a good number of colleagues and fellow and a lot of instructors and friends, people that I consider like family, showed up and they came and and it was very, very beneficial for all of us. Alhamdulillah. Sheikh, your connection is breaking a little bit. I don't know if you're able to get somewhere closer to the Wi-Fi or something along those lines just to enhance it. Can you still hear me? We can hear you. It's just it's cutting a little bit. Or if you have a different connection. Connection. What's that? If there's a different connection, if possible. Yeah. OK. Sorry, Sheikh. Yeah. Oh, no, no problem. Sheikh Abdullah, did you know Sheikh Mohammed? I think you came after him at Medina, correct? You're on mute, Sheikh, I think. MashaAllah. Can you hear me now? Yeah, I hear you. I came in 1999, so I think when he graduated was the year that I came.
Yes, subhanAllah. Actually, Sheikh Yasser Qali picked me up from the airport. I think that's when he was trying to get into his master's program. Yeah, it was. Yeah. So right when he graduated is when I came. So I never had the opportunity to meet him. SubhanAllah. MashaAllah. Sheikh Mohammed, one point I wanted to mention, you know, just as you were talking, you know, connection better. It's a little bit worse. So to let everybody know, Sheikh Mohammed, the power in his house went out. So he had to move to the masjid to set up for this. So here's maybe the Wi-Fi in the masjid is a bit weaker. What about you, Sheikh Ibrahim, until he comes back? How did you know Sheikh Mohammed? I know he's from Canada, correct? Yeah. So he grew up in Winnipeg, which is a little bit far from where I am in Toronto. But his father moved, his family moved to Toronto, and his father was would run the bookstore in the same masjid. My father's the imam. So even as a young teenager, I was, you know, I don't spend time with him because my father would take me to the masjid. And then sometimes, you know, he's in his office talking to somebody or counseling or something. So I'm just sitting in the masjid. The masjid would be empty. But Sheikh Mohammed's father, he would be there. And so, you know, I spent a lot of time with him. And, you know, I met Mohammed a few times when I was younger than that, but I didn't really know him. And at that point he was in Medina. So he got back from Medina and he went to the US. And then, you know, his father was telling me he's starting this program. He's teaching people about Islam. And I heard from some of my friends in the States, they're saying, yeah, we attended this program. So I emailed Sheikh Mohammed back then.
I said, like, I want to be part of this. I want to help whatever we can do to bring Al Maghrib to Toronto. And so I worked with Al Maghrib in Toronto to bring it here. Basically, my first year of university, I was doing that with him. So, alhamdulillah, I had a very close connection to him at that time. I was talking to him basically every day at that time period. And yeah, like my family knows his family quite well. SubhanAllah, it is like Sheikh Mohammed just mentioned, it's very shocking. And I think there's a point about taking people for granted. Because since Sheikh Mohammed Sharif moved to Dubai, which was maybe 10 years ago, to be very honest, and it doesn't feel good to admit this, I wasn't really in contact with him. Like I saw him maybe once or twice at Hajj after that during those 10 years. Maybe once he came to Toronto and I met with him. But I wasn't like in constant contact with him. I wasn't sending him messages and things like that. And just like Sheikh Mohammed mentioned, when somebody passes away, you realize, oh, I didn't take advantage of this person enough. I didn't spend more time with them. And I think that's one lesson I've been taking myself from his passing away is that some of the brothers I know, I need to reach out to them more. I need to talk to them more. I can't just be in my own bubble and not interacting with people. Because you should think like, what if this person passes away? People in your life that you know, what if they pass away? Am I doing enough to take advantage from their knowledge, take advantage of their mannerisms and their good akhlaq and their good way of looking at the world? Am I taking advantage of that? Or am I just seeing the person whenever I see them and that's it? That's a question all of us need to ask.
Because I'm sure we have people in our lives that we value a lot and we don't take advantage of them. We don't spend enough time with them. We don't try to learn from them. And so figuring out who those people are in your life and making sure that you do more to connect. And I think especially men have this problem. We know that men are more likely to have suicide than women commit suicide. And the reason, one of the reasons about that is women are more social. And men are very, can get very used to going to work, coming home and not talking to anybody. You know, we can get used to that very easily. And it's not good for us. So to reach out to our brothers in Islam and to build that connection and to talk to them. It takes effort, it takes some commitment, but we don't want to be in that situation where somebody passes away and we say subhanAllah, why didn't I take more advantage of that person? Why didn't I connect with them more? Why didn't I, you know, spend time with them rather than probably just not talk to anybody? Which is what subhanAllah a lot of men tend to do. Sheikh Mohammed, is it better on your side? Seems more disconnected. SubhanAllah. You know, it's interesting. Until I hear his voice, I'll speak. What's interesting is everything you mentioned, you know, mashAllah, Dr. Usman Omarji mentioned it on one of our Tarbiyah. You know, for those of you out there, mashAllah, in the Yaqeen family, we have inner durs, like Tarbiyah sessions. And I think he mentioned it. On one of our all hands meeting, I think it was, he was talking about the importance of, you know, getting together and having these social groups just within the communities to make sure, because there's times that people need help and they need to talk to someone. But most importantly, it's interesting how you mentioned this and the mechanism of al-Maghrib facilitated that with the tribes. Right. I mean, with the mashayikh, there's the ukhuwa, there's the network, there's the brotherhood,
because they're all working together, teaching with each other, traveling with each other. You know, but then the whole the whole concept of these tribes that which was interesting. Maybe the viewers don't even know what I'm talking about. Would you mind expanding on that just just briefly? Because those tribes created groups of students of knowledge, you know, that facilitated the knowledge. They were like the Al-Ansar, right? They facilitated the ilm being brought there, the shaykh and things of that nature. And I always tell people that, you know, especially my community, you know, it's I just come up and speak. The microphone's ready. Everything's ready. And it's the people in the background that really are overlooked. And they need to be made a lot of dua for because without them, without Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and them, you know, it wouldn't be made possible. So you just might touching on that real quick, you know, about the whole tribe concept. I think that was phenomenal. Yeah. So the way that al-Maghrib works, it goes from city to city and they teach courses. And so they essentially, you know, the student group in a particular city, they would call it a tribe, a qabilah, and they would give them particular names. And, you know, really the group is like you mentioned, the one that's putting together those sessions and they build connections. And that's actually something I was mentioned, like my friends were reaching out when we heard the news and we reflected on this. How many friends do I have till now? And, you know, it's been many years since we were involved with al-Maghrib. I still have them now from the time that I was helping organize with al-Maghrib. So, yeah, I think imagine every city has people who are friends because they met back then and until now. So, SubhanAllah, there's a lot of blessing there. And we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to bless Sheikh Muhammad with the reward of all of that. Sheikh Muhammad, you look good now. I think you're ready to go. InshaAllah.
So, you know, Sheikh, actually, I wasn't going to say this or post it, but I remember an incident, SubhanAllah, and Noor, I know you know brother Noor, he reached out to me as well. He's saying, do you remember this time we had gone to Ottawa where al-Maghrib was at that time? And Sheikh Muhammad was doing a session for us similar to what ended up becoming his visionary seminars. This is maybe like the first iteration of it. And I remember the day we got there and Sheikh Muhammad came into the offices and he had this big smile on his face and he went into the office. He sat with Noor and he spoke to him. I was outside of the office. We. Then he came for the session with all of us. And he told us today I saw a dream where I was in paradise in Jannah and I was serving the Salihin, the companions of the righteous people. This is maybe in 2003 or something, 2004. I don't remember exactly. But SubhanAllah, he shared that dream with us back then and we remembered it now. SubhanAllah, I forgot about it. And Noor said, do you remember it now? SubhanAllah, we remembered it, that dream that he had. And I think SubhanAllah, he was very focused on serving people and serving the community. And I think, inshallah, we ask Allah to make that dream a reality and that he's in Jannah serving people. Ameen, Ameen, Ameen. SubhanAllah. Rahim Allah. Allah, ya Rabbi. Yeah, he will truly be missed. He is missed already. SubhanAllah. Are there any lessons shared from his life?
Oh, there are many out there, especially some of those who are much closer to him and were in constant contact with him. I have great memories, but I never cherish many of these special moments that we had. A lot of people don't know that in 2007, Sheikh Mohammed Sharif, it was his second hajj, I think it was his third hajj after he graduated. So we performed hajj, we were roommates. We went from one place to another. So when you perform hajj with someone, your hajj buddies are like, you were hajj buddies with Sheikh Mohammed as well, right? No, we were not in the same group, but alhamdulillah, we spent some time and we'd meet up over there, alhamdulillah. Can you hear me? Yeah, but I just saw a picture one time of the two of you together. So I assume you were together. Yeah, we were together. Sheikh, you're cutting again, subhanAllah. So you get to see the real person and who they are. I mean, you really get to see them and get to know them.
So that's something that I'm happy about, because Allah gave me the opportunity to get to know them. So I didn't think a lot about those trips that we made together, whether it's for Maghrib or hajj or just leisure. But I can't stop thinking about them, and then those special moments keep popping in my head. I remember there was one particular moment when I was upset with the way our hajjis were being treated. And those who know me, they know that I don't get upset easily. So I was upset. Muhammad comes to me like, you know, take it easy, calm down. I said, well, it's not about me. It's about the hajjis being abused and so on. That our bus was stolen from us. And Sheikh Muhammad said, you know, just say Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik. And that was his strategy. Anytime someone complains, anytime someone is upset or frustrated, he will actually make them say Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik. Rahimahullah ta'ala. So I told him, but you know, and this was the morning of the day of Arafah. We're in Mina. We're about to go to Arafah. Some of our hajjis got on the bus and then another group came and they just took over the bus.
They just they just, you know, force themselves into our bus and then we started getting off because they overfilled the bus and they wouldn't let go. So I asked, I was so upset by the way that another group were treated by these hajjis from a particular part of the world. So Sheikh Muhammad is like that person you're upset with. Just imagine that person now is dead. That was the other hajji who just abused you, who did this. Now, if that person drives dead in front of you, what are you going to do? I said, may Allah have mercy on him, may Allah forgive him. So he said, just make dua for them right now. Just ask Allah to forgive them. I said, yeah, inshallah. Yeah, subhanAllah. Shortly after that, you know, you know them, right? Who? I can't, you have to say it again, Sheikh. Oh, the connection is bad, Sheikh. They use them a lot. The four wheelers? No, no, the two wheel, motorbikes, motorcycles. You said they call them the babat? Yes, yes, you said the babat, yes, yes, of course.
He's like, I'll do it. Yeah, I mean, yeah. We have a connection. A bit hard to hear. Let me see if we can get him to change his connection again, inshallah. Yeah, but Allah SubhanAllah, he said his electricity went out, huh? Yeah, subhanAllah, he called me earlier and said the electricity in his house was cut. So we had to move to the masjid to try to make it work. SubhanAllah, it just seems like a very weak connection. Every time he speaks, it starts cutting, subhanAllah. But, inshallah. So it was, wow. So how old were you when you went to, I mean, your father was the imam of the same masjid that Sheikh Mohammed's father, Sheikh Mohammed's father was at the bookstore. Yeah. Yeah, so like most of my high school years, he was there, and to university as well. Alhamdulillah, his father is such a kind man.
Yeah, I spoke to him recently, of course, after we heard of what happened to Sheikh Mohammed. And, you know, throughout the conversation, maybe like a hundred times, he just kept saying alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. And that's the kind of person he is. And, you know, you can see the effect in his children as well. SubhanAllah, it's a very difficult test to bury your own children. Even, you know, when you're older, it's very difficult. We know our Prophet ﷺ, you know, buried all of his children except one during his life. So, subhanAllah, it's a significant test. We ask Allah to keep him and his parents and the siblings all patient of this trial. Yeah, subhanAllah, there's so many lessons I can take from his life. You know, one of the things people don't realize as well, some of the sisters mentioned this, is that before Maghrib, they didn't really have access to learn. Because sometimes there are halaqat in the masjid, but they wouldn't, sisters couldn't join it in the men's area. Sometimes the microphone won't be turned on, so they can't hear it. Even if the microphone is turned on, they can't see what's happening. So, Maghrib was maybe one of the first times where the sisters were included, in the West anyways, an opportunity for them to study with the Shaykh in the same room. And so a lot of sisters said, you know, we had no way of gaining knowledge. Remember, there's no YouTube at this time either. So, this was the first time they were able to study Islam with the Shaykh. And it's had a great effect. You know, a lot of people I know got married in Maghrib, meeting spouses and have, you know, good families and things like that now. Just off of, you know, that approach that they took at that time.
I think about, subhanAllah, one incident that happened with me, was we were at a conference, an Islamic conference, we were manning the booth. And, you know, at that time Shaykh, I was younger, maybe like 20 years old or so. And I would care a little bit too much about, like refutations and things like that. You know, different Islamic groups. You know, when you're younger, sometimes you're a little bit immature, and that's the stuff you care about. But I remember I heard someone say something negative about Shaykh Muhammad, and about Maghrib. So, I told him, we were there at the conference, and standing at the booth for many hours. And I said to him, you know, Shaykh, I heard this, this, this, this. And he didn't say anything, and I could see he looked upset. And then, you know, a few minutes later, he took me aside, and he said, listen Ibrahim, if you hear someone say something bad about me, anything negative about me, don't tell me. Because I want my heart to feel, you know, good towards other Muslims. You know, perhaps the people I'm talking about are people he's going to meet, he's going to talk to, and he doesn't want to have that negative thought in his heart. And SubhanAllah, that was the kind of person he was. He never said anything bad about anyone. And as a 20-year-old, that was kind of a slap in the face, a lesson for me to learn, you know. That's good. You still remember it. You still remember it. Shalom. SubhanAllah. And, you know, people would criticize the Prophet for a lot of different things. And, you know, maybe some of those criticisms have some merits, some don't. Allah knows. But I remember when people would bring them forward and say, people say this about Maghreb, people say this about that, he would just say, they're doing what they think is right. Like even when they're criticizing himself, he said, they're doing what they think is right. So even then, like he didn't even want his students to think badly of the people who are speaking badly about them. Right, saying, why are you going to this program?
No, he wants them to make excuses to say, you know, they think what their position is is the right position. So like we shouldn't feel bad about them, you know, living by their principles and wanting to say what they think. And that kind of respect for other Muslims is something, and we're in a lot of need for it. Yeah. Yeah. SubhanAllah, man. Yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead. I'm listening. The other thing I was just thinking about was, you know, I remember reading about Omar ibn Abdulaziz, rahimahullah ta'ala, the great khadifa of the Muslims. And, you know, subhanAllah, there are books and books, biographies of his life and his rule and the things that he did. And they said, subhanAllah, look at how much is written about the reign of Omar ibn Abdulaziz. And then look at the khulafa that were before him and after him, the rulers before him and after him. He said, they said those rulers ruled for 10, 12, 15 years, 20 years. And yet there's more written about Omar ibn Abdulaziz in the two years he was the khalifa than in the 30, 40 years, those before him and those after him were the khulafa. And they said, this is a sign of ikhlas, of sincerity. Is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives you barakah in your time, that in a short period of time, you can do so much. We know this, of course, with our Prophet ﷺ. You know, his Prophethood was only 23 years. And you read all the hadith, all the insights, he's able to do so much in such a short period of time. And I think that was something in Sheikh Muhammad Sharif because he started so many different initiatives, so many different programs, empowered other people to do those things. And, you know, SubhanAllah, he passed away at 46, 47 years old. So in a short lifespan, he was able to do a lot. And that's, you know, some inspiration for us
that we can also do a lot in a short period of time. But I think the reason for it is being sincere. He just really wanted to serve people. It wasn't about himself. I thought it was strange when he told me, I'm going to stop teaching and leave. I thought, why would you do that when you have the audience and you have the classroom? Why would you do that? He wasn't interested in that. SubhanAllah, he didn't like the fame that came with it. And he just wanted to work. Even if behind the scenes, he just wanted to work. And so that's a lesson for all of us to take. It's really prioritized our sincerity and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will make us more impactful than we could even think of. Yeah, yeah, mashAllah. MashAllah, SubhanAllah, yeah. For those in the chat, mashAllah, if you want to ask questions, you can go ahead. I'll make Sheikh Abdullah answer them. InshaAllah. Put them on the spot. SubhanAllah. Maybe there's a couple we can take. Sheikh, this is a question. How can I deal with anger? I always cut people off. What should I do instead? This is, I think, connects a little bit with what we were talking about with Sheikh Muhammad Sharif where he's always making excuses for people. Sheikh, what would you advise this sister? I always cut people off. What can I, what do I do instead? I mean, SubhanAllah, Bismillah, wa salatu wa salamu ala rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma baad. You just got to think about how much you want to be heard, you need to hear yourself, right? If it's something that someone is saying that angers you, you know, it's going to take practice. It's going to take tadarru. You know, you have to just practice and, okay, if I want to be heard, I want to listen to them as well. And in that healthy exchange, inshaAllah ta'ala, you'll be able to reach a heart or reach an ear where they'll listen and not just hear you.
Sometimes you have the right to be angry, but imagine if someone knows that they're going to do something that would make you angry and you're quiet. They know that you're taking a lot of control to control yourself and that's going to make them think differently and maybe even change their way of dealing with you eventually, not at that moment, especially if it's relatives, the other ones that know how to push your button. So if someone knows that they can push your buttons, that's an indirect way of them having kind of control over you. They know that they can make you angry and you get angry. It's an indirect way of control. So the last thing that we want is someone to control us. When we think that getting angry is a way that we can exhibit our control, in actuality, and I'll leave with the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, is the Prophet ﷺ said, لَيْسَ الشَّدِيدُ بِالصِّرْعَةِ إِنَّمَا الشَّدِيدُ أَلَّذِي يَمْلِكُنَّ نَفْسَهُ أَنَّ الْغَضُرُ He said that shadid, the one that is harsh or strong even, is not the one that can wrestle. Rather, it is the one that controls himself in times of anger. So just think about that. The self-control is the best form of self-mastery. So may Allah ﷻ make it easy upon you and having the sincerity to ask the question, you're already almost there to alleviate the process. It's not just a one-time thing, it's a process. But just asking the question shows a level of humility, inshaAllah, of acknowledging that which all of us have at different degrees, at different times, with different stimuli. May Allah ﷻ make it easy on you in making that effort, inshaAllah. Ameen. Ameen, ya. Sh. Muhammad, you're back? Yes. Can you hear me now? Yeah. Yes, inshaAllah. Alhamdulillah. Much better? Much better. Very, very. You went home? Yeah. That's the beauty of living five minutes away from the masjid. Alhamdulillah. Allah, we've moved you around today a bit. No, no. I found out that the power came back, so I came here.
Except that there was no time to really fix the lighting issues. No problem. As long as we can hear you, Shaykh. That's the important part. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. So, Shaykh, I shared in the time you were gone just some lessons I learned from the life of Shaykh Muhammad. I mentioned to Shaykh Abdullah an incident where I was younger, I was more immature, maybe 21, 20 years old. And I mentioned to Shaykh Muhammad some negative things that were being said about him and about the institute. And he took me aside and he said, if you hear something like that, just don't tell me. And it was because he didn't – these are people, maybe he's going to see them, maybe he's going to interact with them. He doesn't want to feel in his heart something negative towards the person. And subhanAllah, I've never heard him say anything bad about anyone. And I thought that was a really important lesson. I'm wondering if you have other lessons you want to share, inshaAllah. Oh, I mean, that was him. I can attest to that. As a matter of fact, if you didn't tell me what he told you, I would have probably predicted what he – the exact same thing. I would have said he said one of two things. Probably this would have been – this was one of them that I was thinking about. So that's who he was, Shaykh Muhammad. As a matter of fact, there were times when he – when someone is mentioned or something negative is being said about someone that Shaykh Muhammad knows doesn't like him, Shaykh Muhammad would actually defend that person. Like he will actually try to defend that person or defend the honor of that person. Or he will say things like, there's no point of bringing this up. We just – don't waste your time. And subhanAllah, Shaykh Muhammad had benefited from some of that.
He was one of our mentors more than some of us, you know, with regards to this, because we have a common mentor, subhanAllah, who's like this. This is Habilullah, a heavyweight scholar. May Allah subhanAllah bless him and protect him. Shaykh Salah As-Sawi, who's like this. Genuinely, subhanAllah, you know, doesn't like to entertain or listen to people saying negative things about other people. And when you tell him that someone said such and such about him, you know, there are times where, you know, he would actually defend that person. Say, well, that person is saying that because they – to them, you know, they think they are upon the truth and that what I'm doing is wrong. So they are just being protective of their religion. So what if Allah subhanAllah pardons them for their intention? Though the action itself is unwarranted, but, you know, so he says, you know, and this is exactly, you know, what, you know, what Shaykh Muhammad used to say, things like that. Or he would say, don't tell me, you know, don't bring it. And it's actually prophetic, right? Because the Prophet ﷺ used to not want to hear negative things about people, especially if there's nothing you can do about it, right? What benefit is there for someone if someone comes to me and tells me that so and so doesn't like you or so and so says such and such about you, okay? So how is that going to make any difference? People don't have to like me, you know. I think, you know, subhanAllah, one of the lessons I learned from Shaykh Muhammad is that you should be comfortable with, you know, loving people unconditionally and not being loved by them. You know what I mean? In my opinion, if you only love someone or like someone because
they love you or they like you or they respect you, then that is in a way self-love. I like you or love you because you love me. So I, you know, but, you know, loving people, you know, loving the creation of Allah ﷻ, loving believers, loving Muslims, loving the ummah of the Prophet ﷺ unconditionally means that we really apply the verse and practice. So we should be accepting of people and, you know, offer people the best we can, make excuses for them. If we can't find an excuse, say maybe there's an excuse that I don't know, pardon them and just move on. Waḥmatullāhi ʿalayhi. He was serious, he was committed, he was punctual, he was cool, he was funny. My daughter, a few days ago, she found an old clip, video clip from our trip to Malaysia in 2015. And you know how you record something it's on your phone and then it goes on the, you know, iCloud and you forget about it. She's like, I thought I saw this person somewhere. So she brought me, she dug up a video of his that I recorded in which I'm like, I'm in his face, right, with a video recording him trying to talk in Malay, right. And he looks at me and he goes like, I hope you run out of space on your phone. He says it with a big smile.
I think that's so important, by the way, for leaders is to love the ummah, like you said, especially today's day and age, subhanAllah, criticism comes from every corner and everybody wants to say something. But you're right, subhanAllah, that idea of just liking people if they like you is really just about yourself. Yeah, I even one time told him, you know, that someone was mentioned and I'm like, I'm not a fan of this person, right. And part of the reason I'm not, I wasn't a fan of that person is because of their attitude towards Al-Maghrib and Sheikh Mohammed Sharif in particular. Sheikh Mohammed Sharif looks at me and he says, but this person without specifying the gender is a great leader. So here I am, you know, you know, feeling, having negative feeling towards someone because of their attitude towards someone, towards Sheikh Mohammed and Al-Maghrib and people that I know to be good people. Right. And I just expressed how I didn't say anything. I just said, I'm not a fan of this person. Right. So I'm not going to win. And Sheikh Mohammed says, but this person is an amazing leader and you have to be impressed with their leadership and their qualities. So he was really special. He was a unique person. I think part of that is, you know, the optimism he had. I mean, we see that he'd be like, you know, if you want to make a million dollars, you can do it. If you want to study the Dean, you can do it. He was always positive. Everything is doable and everything is hope. He has that
hope towards things. Sometimes it was even not hope, only hope. It was actually a keen to in the promise of Allah that Allah answers dua and that if you're sincere in your pursuit of something that Allah Azawajal will either give it to you or give you something better. So you shouldn't stop pursuing it and have, you know, have yakin, have certainty and trust in Allah's promise. And he made dua like that. I mean, dua was a lifestyle for Sheikh Mohammed. Those of us who are very close to him. And as I said, I can, I'm not going to claim to be of the closest of the like, but I was of the, maybe the second, you know, uh, layer of, uh, of his inner circle. Um, and we've seen him. I mean, as I said, we room together, we made hash together, we traveled together, we ate together, we did a lot of things together. Um, you know, uh, that many people didn't have the chance to do. And I've seen him, right. You know, praying Sikara about different things. And you know, one of those moments that I will never forget was in Ottawa. He took me and I, and I mentioned this in other, on other occasions, a lot of people don't know that I'm the guy that she talks about. I found out from people that he talks about my story in his, in some of his, um, presentations that he gives regarding the power of dua. Uh, in 2006, uh, if I remember correctly, um, we were walking him and I were taking a walk in Ottawa, uh, in one of the parks, I forgot the name of it. And then we talked about something personal that I was dealing with and he's like, you need to pray for it. I said, I do pray. He's like, are you praying properly? And then we did this exercise together. Uh, and then we made dua together. And, and it was, uh, you know, later that day, um, we went to the mall and at the mall, Sheikh Mohammed takes me to this place, to, to a Gap store, actually, I don't forget that.
Um, and he's like, you need to purchase, uh, a couple of sets, one for a boy, one for a girl for you. And I didn't have children back then. And, uh, he said, that's the level of certainty that you should have, inshallah, in the promise of Allah that soon Allah will answer your dua, that your dua is answered and that soon you, you may have a child. So I want to buy a gift for that child. Sheikh Mohammed ended up paying for it. Of course, I had returned one of the sets, the pink one. I picked a blue, a baby blue and a pink. And when he insisted that he would pay and he overpowered me and there was a little, little, uh, physical struggle, um, in front of the cashier. So I decided not to take the other set. I took only one set, the blue set. I later came to regret that decision because within two years of that, uh, of that incident, um, um, my son, who was a twin, uh, was wearing it on his first Eid. He was only a month old. Uh, his first, uh, his sister, his twin sister did not get to wear the set Sheikh Mohammed wanted to buy for her. So SubhanAllah, within, within two years that that dua was fulfilled. So that was, that was him, Rahim Allah. He had, you know, faith in Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, you know, and, and we saw that those who were close to him saw that. Yeah. Ooh. And I think SubhanAllah, like that optimism is so important to be a leader, to have that. And I think it does go towards, you know, him always seeing good in people because instead of looking at things negatively, he always wants to look at it positively. So if you mentioned somebody and they have flaws, he wants to look to the good side of the person rather than the flaws that they have. SubhanAllah.
And his optimism was actually was contagious. Maybe contagious is not the right word, but it was, it was, it would rub off, right? Like we, you know, like, you know, there are people who are very positive, but they're also, there are, there are people who are positive and they're inspiring and they, they inspire those who are around them. And no matter how much negative negativity there is around them, it doesn't affect them. Right. Cause they just keep giving. So Sharif Muhammad was one of these people that actually inspired those who were around him. He made a huge difference and he wasn't necessarily the most talkative, right? Who knew him very well, know, know that he was an introvert, right? He wasn't the most talkative, but when he spoke, he actually dropped gems. Right. And even when he joked, by the way, he was very classy and funny, you know? So and, and I don't know, I thought I heard you mentioned something about his father in 2000. Yeah. In 2011, I got to meet his father. When I saw his father, I was like, okay, now I know where all that, where, where, where all that awesomeness is coming from. His father is just an amazing person. May Allah bring peace and tranquility to his heart. May Allah reward him for his loss and give him, grant him the reward of, of people of patience. Right. He's an amazing and amazing human being. SubhanAllah. And you know, my condolences, you know, and thoughts are with his father, his mother, his sister, his wife and his children. SubhanAllah. So yeah, Sheikh Mohammed was, was someone that inspired those who are around them. He also helped, you know, bring the best out of the people around him. You know, there are some people that you want to hang around these people because they make you feel good about
yourself in a positive way. They don't fool you. He was very honest, right? He was very honest, but he, you know, he, he made you, he even made some of us comfortable embracing our weaknesses. That is okay. It's okay to, to admit your fault and to realize your flaws and, and acknowledge them and do something about them. There's, you know. Yeah. I remember when he put out an audio message about his struggles with doing Hajj, even though he had done Hajj many, many times. I don't know if you remember that Sheikh. But he spoke about, you know, sometimes seeing things during Hajj that were very heartbreaking and really like disturbed him. And I thought when I heard that, I don't know any other speaker who would be that vulnerable and open about, you know, the way that they feel about things. And he was, he was more courageous, I think, than a lot of people, because even the things he mentioned, you know, made sense. He mentioned once seeing an old man and, you know, really hungry and he's cut off from his group and he's lost. And Sheikh Mohammed is like, I don't know what to do for him, right? If I spend hours helping this person, then my own group is going to suffer. And, and we've seen that in Hajj at times where people had situations and it does, you know, really hurt your heart. And I think because he was very, he had an empathetic type of personality, it was very, very difficult for him. But I just thought, you know, a lot of people might have that same feeling, but everybody would be afraid of saying something like that, because then we're worried that people are going to say, oh, he's, you know, they're going to make one assumption or another. But he was very open about the way that he felt about things. And I think that's part of his
courage. He was willing to, to be different than everybody. And at the same time, like, when you hear that from someone else, it makes you feel a bit better about yourself. Because when you have some of those feelings, you start thinking something wrong with me. You know, am I crazy? But when you see somebody else also having the same struggle, then, you know, it strengthens you. And so I thought he had that ability to, to share about himself that maybe things that everybody else was not ready to hear about themselves. And that is actually a sign of maturity. When, when there are certain things that once we embrace them, and we come to terms with them, that shows a level of maturity. When you come to terms with your own mortality, for instance, and you are able to, to, and also embrace your own vulnerability or flaws that you're imperfect. These kind of things are signs of spiritual and, you know, mental maturity. When a person is able to, to, to talk about and one of the signs is that the individual is able to really talk about them and process them in a healthy, healthy fashion. But by the way, speaking of Hajj, and you know, one of the lessons we used to often talk about, like, or exchange is, and there are a few things that Shaykh Muhammad and I have had in common in terms of our personality. And one of these things is, and I just wanted to offer this as a nasiha for those who are watching us. Everyone in your life, and especially, I always look at Hajj as a, as a, you know,
as a reflection of our life, right? As Muslims, as Muslims. Because you see the ummah there, right? And I tell people, everyone that you meet in Hajj, even that person that prays next to you and does something that annoys you, or that person that comes out of the blue and asks you for directions, right? Or the person that comes, wants to scam you, because they realize that you're coming from the West or something, and they want to take it. Any, any person that you run into in Hajj is, and life for that matter, is someone that Allah ﷻ sends your way to teach you something. So try to learn a lesson from that person, right? It may not be necessarily their wisdom, you know, maybe it's their ignorance, the way they treat you, right? They're, they're, they're either there to teach you something about life, about themselves, or about yourself, right? It's an opportunity for you to really learn something about yourself. So it's something that, that we should really appreciate. Appreciate everyone in your life, regardless of, you know, their, you know, how they, they influence you. They are a gift from Allah ﷻ. Even the person that I would advise you to keep distance from, right? Sometimes someone might say, what are you talking about? There is this person who is extremely toxic in my life, right? Maybe one of the lessons that you should, you should know is that you don't need these people. As long as you have Allah, you're
fine, right? So don't become too dependent on others, right? Yeah, so how... Sheikh Abdullah, I have to say that you're one of the people that I feel like I need in my life, but I don't know how to access. Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah. I have to come to Dallas, Sheikh. No, no, no, no. I have to come to Memphis, man. I've been meaning to come there, Subhanallah. I'm telling you, people there, you have, you have big fans here in Memphis. Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, except for my Allah, Sheikh. My Allah, except for my Allah. Who is Danis Siddiqui? Oh, mashAllah. That's my remote workout partner. MashAllah, he's... Danis Siddiqui loves you, man. He's like, he's a great brother, man. Allah bless him. Always smiling, always happy. MashAllah, very helpful. Just an exceptional, exceptional human being. MashAllah. Allah bless him. You know that our center is, area-wise, the largest center in North America, right? Really? No, I didn't know that. Yeah, Memphis Islamic Center sits right now currently on a 55-acre piece of land. Wow. Yeah. And with the opportunity to expand even further. So it's massive. It's huge. Well, that's a lot. May Allah bless you. That's a lot. I know you are a survivalist. I know you like to work out and stuff like that. I think you would love to spend a few days here. So here's an open invitation to you and Sheikh Ibrahim. Have a look, Allah. The community would love to host you, inshallah. Allah yabarik fi you, Sheikh. Allah yabarik fi you. Allah yabarik fi you. Inshallah.
Well, Sheikh, usually we ask the audience to give us questions. I don't see too many of them. But here is one that's maybe a difficult one, inshallah. I'll send it out to you. The question is, is it allowed for a Muslim woman to go on dating sites looking for a good Muslim man? I'll leave this one to you. It's a difficult one. I mean, I think I don't see anything wrong with people using, in a proper fashion, using any platform, as long as it's not shady or it's not a bad thing. So I would say matrimonial, there are some, I'm not here to advertise for any particular matrimonial service, but if there is a reputable matrimonial platform for Muslims, I would start with that. I don't see anything wrong with people, again, using the online services to find a life, a spouse. Marriage is something that is needed. It's holy, it's godly, it's prophetic. And we live in a really difficult time where people don't have the same lifestyle that they once did, where they can get to know each other and interact with one another. So any halal means to get to know someone for the sake of completing half our deen, inshallah ta'ala, is something legitimate. And I encourage people to do that. But I have to caution them and tell them to be careful and make sure that they really take their time and they do their due diligence in getting to know the person, and also not to get emotionally invested or attached.
But premature emotional attachment can be problematic. It will blind you. It will make you miss some of the red flags. And also, it helps to have someone, be it a male or a female, whether it's a brother or a sister looking for someone. It's good to have someone mentor you or someone that you basically, that would counsel, help, that you consult while you're going through the process. And I tell people, please make sure that whoever you consult is someone that has experience, has knowledge, experience, and someone who has done well in their own relationships. Ta'qil al-shaykh la yaqtihi. I apologize about the poor connection. Inshallah, we'll fix it bi'iman Allah ta'ala. Shaykh, what advice would you give to the listeners here, the ones that are listening now and in the future, from what you've seen, you know, from your experience as an imam, but then also coupling that with the leadership of Shaykh Muhammad, you know, with your leadership of being an imam of a masjid for many years, dealing with different types of people, experiences, backgrounds, beliefs, opinions, even if you will, but then seeing the leadership of Shaykh Muhammad al-Sharif, rahimahullah ta'ala, and dealing with it in a different spectrum.
I mean, even more, dare we even say more of a confined spectrum from the aspect of talabat al-alim, students of knowledge, and then also from the aspect of leadership of the general community from hajj as well. What advice would you give those young, aspiring brothers and sisters and those that are trying, it's difficult for them to find closure with this, you know, as you know much better than I do, with a lot of the people that look up to him, and you know, it was devastating. What advice would you give them, inshallah? Well, I mean, saying that you should, you know, leaving a legacy is important and remember that, you know, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, inna nahnu nuhyi almawta wa naktubu ma qaddamu wa atharahu, that your athar, your impact is going to be remembered and mentioned. And obviously, I don't want us to really focus on what is going to be said about us in the sense that we're doing it for that. You know, we're not doing, you know, we should be sincere and do something to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we shouldn't worry so much about, oh, what are people going to remember us for or say about us. But, but nonetheless, right, whatever is going to be said about us and whatever is going to be highlighted of our lives is the one that matters. And subhanAllah, in one of the last messages Sheikh Muhammad gave, right, he talks about how what really matters when death comes.
This is one of the recent talks that he gave is how much salah you made, how much sadaqa you gave, how many lives you have touched and how many, you know, hearts you have, you were able to really heal and how much Quran you read, how much dhikr you did. That's what, you know, it's a amal al-saleh, baqiyat al-salehat, that's what it's going to. So, so take advantage of every opportunity. One of my teachers and mentors, one time I found him in the musalla, he was the dean, he was the head of the institution. He was in the musalla, cleaning the musalla and we have, we had two, you know, crew of people who are providing janitorial services. Yet this, you know, highly educated, you know, academic, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless him, one of our teachers, he was in the musalla cleaning. He was actually picking things and cleaning the musalla, he said. So I said, doctor, so and so, let us do it. You know, we can do it or I can call so and so to come and clean. And he's like, he looked at me and he said, son, anytime you find an opportunity like this, right, don't, don't, don't, don't give it away. Don't, don't, don't miss out. Don't say, OK, it's not my responsibility. I'll have someone else do this. You know, perhaps you should ask yourself, because he said, I always ask myself, what if this amal, this, this hidden deed, this, this is the only thing Allah is going to accept from me. Maybe this is the moment Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So take advantage of it and don't wait for someone else to do it. It's not, you know, and it's later, you know, when I read, I was only 19 at the time. Later, when I read that one of the, I think it was Umar ibn Abdul Aziz one time wanted to do something and one of his servants said, I'll do it for you.
He said, no, I'll do it. And he went and did it himself. He said, I got up. I was Umar ibn Abdul Aziz. I came back as Umar ibn Abdul Aziz. Nothing changed. Right. So, so what advice that I have for, again, my aspiring brothers and sisters in dua and talabat al ilm and imams and people who go, humble yourself. You know, humility is a beautiful gift. Humble yourself and do not refrain from doing anything to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, especially serving Muslims. Be at the service of the servants of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And at the end of the day, as the hadith of the hadith, you know, in which one of the sahaba said that we passed by a janaza in the prophet and the sahaba. Faaathna wa alayha khaira. And the sahaba said good things about that person and they, they praised that person. So the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said wajabat, right, which is something I find difficult to translate. You know, sometimes I said, you know, so the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam affirmed or confirmed or guaranteed or approved. Right. So he said, so he said wajabat and then marghul bi janaza and then they passed by another janaza and they said negative things about that person. They, they spoke about that individual's, you know, awful history and the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said wajabat again, the same thing. So Umar said ma wajabat, the message of Allah. What is it? You know, that, that you're confirming or guaranteeing. He said the first one, qala hadha, this one, you said you praised him. So wajabat lahul jannah. Right.
Jannah, jannah was guaranteed or confirmed. And the other one you, you mentioned, you know, the wicked deeds that he did. So for wajabat lahul naar, that person earned hellfire because of it. Then the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said antum shuhada'ullah fil ardi. You are the witnesses of Allah on earth. So the Muslim community would witness and see whatever someone is doing. And eventually they're going to remember the good things that that person is doing. The things where that individual is, you know, the difference that that person made. So, so I say, you know, serve Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala directly in your own personal ibadah between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and do your best. And also serve Allah through serving the servants of Allah. And be patient with Muslims. Muslims require a lot of patience, whether it's one of the greatest lessons of Hajj, but being a community leader and a Hajj leader teaches, if it doesn't teach you this lesson, then khalas. If you get frustrated and you give up on people, then then you're not the person, you're not made, you're not cut for that. If there's any lesson we learn from that is that you have to be patient with people. Sabr, nur, it's not easy. You know, I used to be so inspired by imams whose hair, right, turns gray like Sheikh Abdullah in the service of the Muslim community. Like they just keep serving the community. They keep doing for for decades. And I'm like so amazed, inspired by them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless them. Right. And so I said to myself, I should dedicate my life also for for something like that. And it requires a lot of patience. Right. And the Prophet ﷺ said,
الذي يخالق الناس ويصبر على آداههم خير من الذي لا يخالق الناس ولا يصبر على آداههم. He who deals with people, interacts with people and engages people and is patient with them is better than a person who does not do that. So so again, those who give up too soon or walk away or want to do their own thing or want to be freelancers or they don't want to have any any. They don't want to have to answer to anyone. They don't want to have to answer a board. They don't want to have to answer to the community. They don't want to have to answer to anyone. They're really missing out on that. Right. They're depriving themselves from that. Right. Even if you are the head of if you don't have to, even the Khalifa back then had to answer to the community. Umar ﷺ, Abu Bakr ﷺ, Umar, Uthman, Ali, they had to answer to the people. You're always going to have to answer to someone. Right. So you just have to be patient. Do your best and ask Allah ﷻ for acceptance, for qabool. JazakAllah khair. JazakAllah khair. JazakAllah khair, Shaykh, for all your time and we really appreciate all the lessons that you shared and the advice that you gave us. May Allah ﷻ enable us to be able to follow that. Ameen. Ameen, ameen, Shaykh. And inshallah, we hope to have you back inshallah in the near future and continue this conversation biidhnillah. JazakAllah khair for joining us and inshallah we will be back on Wednesday inshallah. I believe Dr. Tasneem Al-Keeq will be our guest inshallah so we hope everybody will be able to join us for then biidhnillah. At the same time 7 p.m. inshallah Eastern Time, 8 p.m. Central. JazakAllah khair and salam alaikum.
Wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullah. JazakAllah khair.
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