# Age is Nothing but a Number | Making An Impact | Dr. Omar Suleiman

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Lecture
**Published:** 2025-01-07
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/IQZepftmtSc
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/lecture/age-is-nothing-but-a-number-dr-omar-suleiman
**Topics:** Allah

## Description
Is age a barrier to driving real change, or can youth and experience complement each other? How did the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ empower his young companions (RA) to lead while honoring the wisdom and guidance of elders? By exploring the Seerah through the lens of age, we uncover empowering lessons on...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytanir-rajeem. Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil-'alameen. Wa al-'udwana illa 'ala adh-dhalimeen. Wa al-'aqibatu lil-muttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik 'ala 'abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin salallahu alayhi wa sallam wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasleeman kathira. Firstly and foremost, I want to thank Ibn Khaldun for hosting us, alhamdulillah.

**[0:19]** I have fond memories of coming here a few years ago. It was one of the most notable events that I've had in my life, and I remember the warmth of everyone that was here, alhamdulillah. And mashaAllah, I see many old faces, or familiar faces I should say, and new faces as well.

**[0:35]** So may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala bless you all and use you all for good at all times. Allahumma ameen. I'm going to start off inshaAllah ta'ala tonight by giving you something to hopefully recreate the seerah of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in your mind

**[0:54]** with the lens of age. If you were to live around the community of the companions of the Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam and you were to say, where are ash-shaykhan? Where are the two sheikhs? Who are those two sheikhs referring to?

**[1:12]** Abu Bakr and Umar. May Allah be pleased with them both. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam called them as-sam' wal-basar. They are my hearing and my seeing. And he used to say, I, Abu Bakr and Umar went here, I, Abu Bakr and Umar saw this, I, Abu Bakr and Umar believe this, I, Abu Bakr and Umar do this, I, Abu Bakr and Umar do that.

**[1:31]** They were the signs of the coming of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and the signs of the departure of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. They followed him everywhere he went. They sat with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, they prayed with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, they cried with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, they laughed with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam,

**[1:47]** they argued in front of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, they reconciled in front of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, they hiked with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, they went to battle with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, they shared their dreams with him alayhi salatu wasalam. These are his two companions, his two close friends.

**[2:05]** Radiyallahu anis-sahabati ajma'een. May Allah be pleased with all of the family and companions of the Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Now when I say put an age lens to it, who can guess what was the age gap between the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam

**[2:21]** and Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Let's start with that. How much older was the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam than Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyaAllahu anhu? Are you throwing me a peace sign or are you saying two years? Two years. And we know this because Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu died the same age

**[2:40]** as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, 63 years old, on the same day, in the same manner, in the same presentation, and he is, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, entering the same realm and rank right beneath the Prophets because he is the best after the Prophets.

**[2:57]** May Allah send His peace and blessings upon them all. And his khilafah was two years radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu and he was 63 like the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Okay, how much older was the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam than Umar al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu?

**[3:13]** Let me hear some guesses. 13 years? No. At minimum, 13 years. At minimum, the age gap between the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and Umar al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu is 13 years.

**[3:33]** Possibly more. That changes things a little bit now when you look at the dynamic of these three friends and how they are around. That Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was in his 20s when he embraced Islam.

**[3:51]** That story of Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu marching through the streets of Mecca, first wanting to kill the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and then marching through the streets of Mecca, chanting out proudly that he is a Muslim, not fearing dying for following

**[4:08]** the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. The day that Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu wanted to end Islam versus the day that, as Ibn Mas'ud radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu says, was a victory for Islam, the first public profession and protest of the community of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam behind

**[4:25]** Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, he was a man in his 20s. Changes things a bit when you think about the imagination of the seerah around the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. His looking up to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, of course as a Prophet, but also

**[4:40]** as someone who is an elder to him. His looking up to Abu Bakr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Laqad ata'abta man ja'a min ba'dik. You have exhausted everyone that comes after you, who is essentially the one layer between him and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in terms of rank, in terms of superiority.

**[4:59]** His role model after the greatest role model salallahu alayhi wa sallam. His older brother, his khalifa, Abu Bakr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. It's really interesting because we're doing a talk on should the youth lead and there's a young person coming up, a young man who's deciding he's going to lead.

**[5:19]** Give him two more years. But in the meantime, can we return him to his parents inshaAllah. So it changes the dynamic a little bit when you think about what that looks like. The question that I have today and I actually want to answer systematically is should young

**[5:37]** people lead? You know, when you talk about what's happening with the global youth movement for Palestine, when you're talking about the encampments across college campuses in North America, when you're talking about the zeal of young people, there is a clear energy, a clear sincerity,

**[5:56]** a clear redemption of this generation that isn't afraid to stand up to one of the greatest injustices that we have ever seen in our time, which is the genocide in Gaza. But should young people lead? And I'm going to answer the question right away and say yes.

**[6:14]** It's actually the secret ingredient of Islam. Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was a decade younger or more than his two best friends and his zeal, which he is noted for, the energy, the enthusiasm that sometimes needed a little

**[6:30]** bit of refinement, a little bit of being guided, was not something that was condemned by his elder friends. Rather, it was appreciated and then adjusted. When Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu himself becomes aware of the zeal, when he becomes

**[6:47]** aware of his voice being too loud, when he becomes aware of his energy being maybe a little bit too far placed in a certain direction, the same person, salallahu alayhi wasalam, who will refine him, will preface his refinement with reassuring him that this is good.

**[7:05]** Hadha khayr. This is good. When Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu comes into a gathering with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was speaking to some of the women in the community and when they heard Umar radiyaAllahu anhu coming in, they hid behind the curtains.

**[7:20]** Why? Because their voices were getting loud with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and Umar radiyaAllahu anhu doesn't tolerate disrespect of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. So when he walks in, he says, you enemies of Allah, you lower your voice, are you afraid of me but not the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam?

**[7:37]** What are you doing? And they shout out and they say, innaka ashaddu wa aghladh. You're rougher and harsher hearted. And Umar radiyaAllahu anhu was the man that if a child told him ittaqillah, fear Allah, he immediately said, what did I do?

**[7:52]** He would be brought to tears. The big strong Umar would be brought to tears when someone said fear Allah. So he wondered, am I really ashaddu wa aghladh? Law kunta fadhan ghaleedh al-qalb. Allah says to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, if you had these qualities, then lanfaddu min hawlik, then they would flee from you.

**[8:10]** The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam reassures Umar radiyaAllahu anhu and tells him, but you are a man that when you take a path, the shaytan will take another path. So he reassures Umar, not to say there isn't room for refinement, but he reassures him

**[8:26]** in the process. There is a zeal, there is an energy, there is something special to be refined. But he was guided through the wisdom of his elders, of his Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam who was his elder, and of the man who would be closer to him than his older brother himself,

**[8:47]** Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. When you think of Ali radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, before that 8 or 9 year old Ali radiyaAllahu anhu stands in front of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam on the day of Safa. Now by the way, subhanAllah, in any dark episode of the seerah, there is someone who shines.

**[9:07]** Like Uhud is a devastating episode, but Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu would say that was the day of Talha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, he shined, and we know other luminaries shine. And one of the loneliest moments of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam when he stood on Safa and he called the people to Islam for the first time and his uncle shouts out to

**[9:25]** him and curses him, there is a young boy that shines and says, Ya Rasulullah, ana u'inuka, I will support you, I'm here for you. Now the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam doesn't dismiss him. Don't you think that the Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam, who in Ta'if did

**[9:43]** not see an 8 or 9 year old boy come forth to say I will support you, and who made du'a for the children of Ta'if, don't you think that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam's heart was full looking at Ali radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, standing in front of him saying Ya Rasulullah, I will support you.

**[9:59]** Where did he get that from? The tarbiyah of the man, salallahu alayhi wasalam, that he was saying he would support. Because even though the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam had just become a nabi or prophethood had just been bestowed upon him, he already trained Ali radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu in his

**[10:17]** house on his sidq and amanah, on being a person of truth, who is committed to the truth. And being a trustworthy person, who is committed to maintaining the greatest trust, and there is no greater trust than the trust of divine revelation.

**[10:32]** He was nurtured in that, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, and he was looking to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, not just as a prophet, but as a man who embodied the qualities that he was calling the people on the basis of. You see when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam stood on Safa, and he said that if I was to

**[10:49]** tell you that there was an army that is behind this mountain, that is coming to attack you, you would believe me. The people said, you are as-sadiq, you are al-amin, you are the honest one, you are the trustworthy one. If you are a person who makes that type of a claim in public, the first person who can

**[11:06]** call you out is someone that grows up in your home, and could say, are you sure dad? Are you sure mom? Are you sure you're this person that you claim to be? You know sometimes they'll always mention this, that you can read the faces of the family

**[11:23]** of someone who is receiving an award, like at the Oscars or the Emmys, and sometimes they're applauding, and sometimes as the praise is there, you can see them almost rolling their eyes, like yeah, if only you knew what I'm dealing with. But it was Ali radiyaAllahu anhu who saw the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in his most intimate moments, and said, Ya Rasulullah, I will stand with you because I have seen

**[11:42]** what type of person you are, and I will stand with you. And that fills the heart of the Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam. Continuing to break it down, we're still in Mecca right now, okay, I want you to focus on Meccan Seerah with the lens of age for a moment.

**[12:00]** Of the 10 promised paradise, al-'ashr al-mubashshireen, how many of them were muhajireen? How many of them were from the people of Mecca? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, all 10 of them. All 10 of the 'ashr al-mubashshireen, the 10 promised paradise, were from the muhajireen,

**[12:19]** were from the early Muslims of Mecca. Now of course the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam gave bushra, he gave the glad tidings of Jannah to multiple Ansar as well. But when you said the 10 'ashr al-mubashshireen, the 10 promised paradise, you're talking about 10 muhajireen, they're all from the 10 of Mecca.

**[12:35]** The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam heard Umm Sulaym radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha in Jannah, the mother of Anas ibn Malik radiyaAllahu anhu, a Madani woman, Ansari woman. He heard the footsteps of Bilal radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, who's not included in the specific 10, but I mean you can't hear a person's footsteps in Jannah unless they're guaranteed

**[12:52]** Jannah, but the 10 'ashr al-mubashshireen. Now let's look at this from an age perspective. Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was 25 or 26 years old when he embraced Islam and he's one of the last of the 'ashr al-mubashshireen, if not the last of the 10 promised paradise

**[13:10]** to actually embrace Islam by the way, in terms of order of embracing Islam. Ali radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was 8 years old. Talha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was about 11 years old. Az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was about 18 years old.

**[13:26]** The two neighbors of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam Talha and Az-Zubayr, my two neighbors in paradise embraced Islam before they hit the age of 18. Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, 17 years old, according to some narrations.

**[13:43]** And you continue to go on, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, 14 years old. Al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam, whose home would become the first house of Islam between the age of 12 and 15 years old. Ja'far ibn Abi Talib radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu.

**[13:59]** Here's an easy way to remember the ages of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam's cousins. Talib is the oldest, Abu Talib. And all of his kids are 10 years apart. There's Talib, who's closest to the age of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam.

**[14:15]** There's Aqeel, who's second. There's Ja'far, who's third. There's Ali, who's fourth. And they're a decade apart. Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, the first ambassador of Islam to Abyssinia, 18 years

**[14:31]** old. That speech that he gave to an-Najashi radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, he was most likely 20 when he gave the most consequential speech in early Islam to set the stage for Abyssinia.

**[14:47]** Mus'ab, who the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam sent to Medina, 22 to 24 years old. So you have a 20-year-old setting the stage in Abyssinia. You have a 22-year-old setting the stage in al-Medina. Our mother Aisha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha.

**[15:04]** You know, subhanAllah, it's interesting to me. There are all these debates about the age of Aisha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha. And somehow it becomes a source of doubt for Muslims. Whereas it should actually be a source of certainty that through this young woman, thousands

**[15:23]** of narrations of our Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam were maintained. Thousands of fatawa of the fiqh that we have are derived from the mind of that woman, her heart and her tongue. Her heart loved the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. Her tongue repeated what she heard from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam.

**[15:41]** Her mind could think at a different capacity and was able to derive jurisprudence from what came to the heart and came to the tongue of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. And look at what's been preserved through her precisely because she was young when she married the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam.

**[15:57]** One of the reasons being and one of the hikam, one of the wisdoms of her being the youngest wife of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was that Allah 'azza wa jall who does not make mistakes in His decree, who showed the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam through a dream, Aisha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha as his wife, that Allah put something special in her heart

**[16:16]** and her mind and her attitude to preserve the religion through her and partly through her youth, her curiosity, her inquisitiveness, yes, her jealousy over the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam which is actually endearing.

**[16:31]** All of that has something to do with how young she was and subhanAllah she says, we know that she married the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam after she reached the age, she consummated the marriage after she reached the age of puberty which is all that really matters at that time. But she says, I woke up to the world, like look at the language, her tarbiyah, I woke

**[16:51]** up to the world, not I was born but like I woke up to the world and my parents were believing in Allah and the Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam. Her formative memories as a child is Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu following

**[17:07]** the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam around. Her formative, her most formative memories of her father was not the first time he played with her or tossed her, was not the first time that most fathers and daughters have a moment that they share, her two most formative memories of her father was when Abu Bakr as-Siddiq

**[17:26]** radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was on his way to Abyssinia and then told to come back and he was leading salah in his courtyard, the courtyard of their home and there was a crowd that was forming around the house because of the softness and tenderness and sincerity of the voice

**[17:42]** of Abu Bakr. That's one formative memory. The second formative memory is when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam came into the house to give them the news of the hijrah, that Abu Bakr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu would be his companion in the most dangerous mission that existed at the time, fleeing death.

**[18:02]** And she says that he cried happy tears. As-suhba ya Rasulullah, I get to be with you O Messenger of Allah. I didn't think that people cry out of happiness. Her waking up to the world is Abyssinia and hijrah and her parents being believers.

**[18:20]** That's her waking up to the world. Don't you think that there is a genius that's preserved there? Don't you think that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam showing preference to her in public spaces, man ahabbu an-nasi ilayk, who's the most beloved to you, just like the

**[18:36]** Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam shows preference to his companions in different scenarios. Don't you think that that was a sign that this woman is not just a wife but she's a leader in the making? Pay attention because if you love what the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam loves, you

**[18:53]** love the family of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, you love the companions of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, pay attention. It shifts the lens altogether. We haven't even gotten to the hijrah. These are just the Meccan youth around the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. In the hijrah, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam arrives in Quba. It's already a youth affair. How so?

**[19:15]** He would divide his time salallahu alayhi wasalam between two houses. He stayed in one house in the day, he stayed in another house at night. In the night time, he stayed in the house of Kulthum ibn al-Hadam radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu who was the chief of the tribe that reigned the area of Quba, Banu 'Amr ibn 'Awf.

**[19:32]** So he stayed with the chief, he received the delegations, he spoke to the leaders from the house of the senior, the elder. He recognized his position so in the night time he was there. In the day time, he spent the night, or he spent the day in a home that was called Bayt al-'Uzzab, the house of the singles.

**[19:51]** The home of Sa'd ibn Khaythamah radiyaAllahu anhuma where all the youth were staying. So as he's negotiating salallahu alayhi wasalam between the different tribes, he's also practicing what he preaches and spending his day with the youth and spending his evening with the elders.

**[20:09]** Even though you could argue that when you come to Medina and you need to be taken seriously, you should focus your energy on building with the tribal leaders, on building with the rabbis of Medina, on building with the people that would turn out to be the hypocrites because their power is being threatened.

**[20:27]** Why are you spending so much time with the young people? Why do you believe? I mean if you think about it subhanAllah that the du'a of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in Ta'if was for the youth. Why do you believe so much in these young people? Why are you putting so much time? How do you even have the time for these ahadith to come?

**[20:45]** Like you think about how many hadith of the youth are received from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam while he turns around on a horse or on a camel to talk to Abdullah ibn Abbas and say, Ya Ghulam inni u'allimuka kalimat, let me teach you some words oh young man.

**[21:00]** Or Anas ibn Malik radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, while he's tracking him down as he sends him out for an errand. Do you know how busy the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was? To go chase after Anas radiyaAllahu anhu and to turn around and talk to Abdullah ibn Abbas radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhuma.

**[21:16]** What was he doing salallahu alayhi wasalam? What type of genius was he implementing? We're still in Quba though. Ali radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was the last person to arrive in Medina because he walked from Mecca to Medina.

**[21:32]** The young man at this point now, only a teenager, about to become the son-in-law of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. Walking from Medina, his feet were full of blisters. Right now you take a train or a bus and it's still exhausting.

**[21:47]** Imagine walking and looking over your shoulder every second in the desert to see if your enemies have pursued you. It was a youth affair. When the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam gets there, I can go on and on about the ages of Zayd ibn Thabit, al-Miqdad.

**[22:03]** All of them are teenagers, they're in their 20s. The main Ansar, teenagers are in their 20s. But I want to not belabor that point but instead build on something here. When al-Abbas radiyaAllahu anhu saw the young men that were telling the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, we'll take you in.

**[22:24]** I want you to imagine the scene where he takes the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam to the side and he says, are you sure? Why was he saying are you sure? Is it because Medina didn't have enough agriculture? Is it because it wasn't strategic? Or was it because they're too young?

**[22:41]** They're just kids. They're not ready to bear the amanah of your mission. And boy did they prove the world wrong. Al-Ansar. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, if I could become something, if I could identify as anything it would be with the Ansar but Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala chose him to be a muhajir.

**[23:05]** The Ansar. Let's talk about what this means. For one, the Ansar were willing to sacrifice in ways that those who were older than them were not precisely because they were clinging to false idols.

**[23:21]** And I don't just mean the stones that they were worshipping. They were clinging to false idols. The Ansar were a bunch of young people who were sick of those false idols. That's why Aisha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha mentioned that the Bu'ath wars where the elders killed each other off in Medina were a gift that Allah presented.

**[23:44]** Qaddamahu li Rasulihi salallahu alayhi wasalam. A gift that Allah presented to the Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam because the Ansar were young people who didn't want that anymore. They were removed and detached from the old idols. The false ways of their parents, the false ways of their society.

**[24:05]** And because of that, there was also an ability, a willingness to sacrifice everything. To the point, subhanAllah, there's the ayah, walladheena idha anfaqu lam yusrifu wa lam yaqturu wa kana bayna dhalika qawama

**[24:21]** The people who when they spent, they don't spend too much nor do they hold back too much. Meaning they don't overdo it and they don't underdo it. Now let me give you a scene here.

**[24:36]** I'm someone that's had to fundraise for many causes. Masajid, Islamic projects. I can't imagine someone raising their hand and saying, I'm going to give this much. No, that's too much. It's okay.

**[24:51]** Calm down. The Ansar were so willing to sacrifice everything that they had to be tempered in their sacrifice. SubhanAllah, what an attitude. yuhibbuna man hajara ilayhim

**[25:07]** They loved the people that migrated to them. To the point that they were willing to give so much to their brothers in mu'akhah that they were potentially putting their blood brothers and their own families at risk. Spirit of sacrifice.

**[25:23]** What do we get in return? Jannah. Done. It's there. There was a willingness to sacrifice there that's connected to their young zeal. Now the scholars start to break this down. And they say that in some ways, the youth are less tainted by sinful ways.

**[25:42]** By the way, I'm going to say to the elders, I promise I'm coming to the second part of this talk. So don't be too mad at me. InshaAllah ta'ala. But the youth are potentially less tainted by sinful ways, by the false idols. What does this mean?

**[25:57]** The Salaf had a beautiful quality amongst themselves. Where an older person would see a younger person as al-Muzani says. And he would say about the younger person, sabaqtuhu bish-sharr

**[26:12]** I have preceded that person in sin. Meaning I have accumulated over the course of my years too many sins that have made this young person more innocent than me. And the young person would say, sabaqani bil-khayr

**[26:27]** So and so has preceded me in good. I can't reach the level of this elderly person, this pioneer who has done so much good. sabaqtani bil-khayr You've done so much khayr. I can't reach up to you.

**[26:42]** And the elder is saying to the younger, sabaqtuka bish-sharr I have committed too many sins before you. And this created the perfect balance and harmony amongst the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and the blessed generations that immediately followed.

**[26:59]** Young people can be less tainted by sinful ways. And because of that, young people are often open to new possibilities. Why? Because they're divorced from many old ways that don't come from the deen. Now I'm going to give a disclaimer here.

**[27:14]** It's important here not to conflate jahiliyyah with good old values. Not everything that is old is bad. Not everything that is cultural is bad.

**[27:29]** Not all values that were inherited are jahiliyyah. Because they're not explicitly referenced in the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. In fact, many of them align. And because there is a general wickedness that comes from generation to generation.

**[27:45]** Because the best generations are closest to the Prophet ﷺ. thumma alladheena yaloonahum Those that follow those that follow. And then it continues that way. If you took the values of a non-religious person from a generation prior.

**[28:00]** And compared them to the values of a non-religious person today. It is far more likely that the values of the older generation will align more with fitrah. With goodness. Than the values of the younger generation.

**[28:17]** Because that's the sunnah of Allah ﷻ on this earth. So that's actually very important not to conflate. But at the same time, how do you unpackage all of that? How do you filter? It's no secret that the older that all of us get, the more rigid we get.

**[28:34]** And our packages, our identities have been formed. And that's why subhanAllah, a lot of times it's really interesting here. Like one of the hadith where the Prophet ﷺ mentions a person who is ma'dhur. A person that could be forgiven on the day of judgment. He mentions ﷺ a person who dies too young.

**[28:50]** Like a child who dies before the age of maturity. And he mentions a person who died between 'Isa ﷺ and Muhammad ﷺ. Because they didn't get the proper revelation. And he mentions ﷺ someone who is, the pen has been lifted from them because they can't comprehend.

**[29:05]** And he mentions shaykh. A shaykh. But he doesn't mean this in terms of a scholar. But someone who is too feeble to be able to comprehend. So too young, too old. The formation is too old to penetrate at that point. By the way, this is a point of medical feebleness.

**[29:22]** This isn't like someone that just happens to be very old. Right? Or else we wouldn't condemn the old folks around the Prophet ﷺ who rejected him ﷺ. But it's hard to unpackage and filter that as you get older.

**[29:37]** Now the other side of that is the praise. Imagine a person who becomes Muslim at the age of 70 years old. I know people that have become Muslim at 70, 80. I know someone that embraced Islam at 90 years old.

**[29:53]** I'm like, SubhanAllah, what an amazing person. How blessed are you? Your whole 90 years you got your sins out. And Allah guided you in the last moment. And you died upon that. Allahu Akbar.

**[30:09]** This is someone, aradallahu lahu khayr. We just say Allah wanted good for this person. Alhamdulillah for this person. We're happy. So it's not good or bad. It's what you do with the position in life that you're in at the moment. But young people are generally more open to new possibilities.

**[30:25]** Now anytime, I want you to follow this in a systematic way. Anytime you embark upon new possibilities, you are that much more prone to new mistakes. Because the mistakes of the old have already been recorded and documented

**[30:41]** and you're told not to follow in them. But once you start to explore new terrain, new possibilities, you're inherently more prone to make more mistakes. Because this is new.

**[30:56]** You are new and this is new. Now here's where we get to the hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. I want you to remember this sentence. Young people will make mistakes. Will make mistakes. But there is one mistake that is disqualifying or particularly disqualifying.

**[31:18]** And I'm not talking about shirk and sinfulness. Those are spiritual nullifiers. I'm talking about something else in terms of approach. There's one mistake that becomes a nullifier. And this is where we come to the hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. laysa minna man lam yarham sagheerana wa yuwaqqir kabeerana

**[31:39]** He is not amongst us who does not show mercy to our youth and honor to our elders. When you make a mistake, what do you ask Allah for? Mercy. Forgiveness.

**[31:55]** And there are well-meaning mistakes. And there are particularly sinful mistakes. Like there are mistakes that you make because you were driven by sin and you pursued that sin. And young people generally have more shahwah, they have more desire.

**[32:12]** So they're more likely to be overtaken by the fire of that desire and end up falling into sin. But then there are mistakes that you make in the capacity of doing something good. And it's already hard enough to replace the desire for sin with the desire of good.

**[32:32]** And shaytan is trying to make excuses for you so you can continue to listen. He's the one kindling that fire of evil. Like come back over here. The Muslim space is hostile. The masjid is hostile. The Islamic organizations, they're this.

**[32:50]** Those people are too judgmental. Those people, come back here. It feels better over here. Let me warm you up here. Shaytan is waiting to make those excuses for you. And so if you've already sacrificed that warmth and you've gone to the fire of himmah for deen, passion for this religion,

**[33:09]** when someone is cruel to you or someone criticizes you, even if fairly, it can be crushing. Like why am I doing this in the first place? I should have just done what all the other youth are doing. Why did I sign up for this in the first place? And subhanAllah, that's where you find the Prophet ﷺ was extremely careful with how he corrected the youth.

**[33:31]** Because yes, they should be corrected. But how he corrected them. Tell me when the Prophet ﷺ said to a young person, you fool, why did you do this? It's a word. It's a difference of approach. SubhanAllah, Abdullah ibn Umar (رضي الله عنه), and I have to remind myself of this because I have a son named Abdullah ibn Umar,

**[33:52]** and he drives me crazy sometimes. If you're watching this, I love you son. I love you more than you drive me crazy. Sometimes, you know, it's like, I was meant to be a girl dad. Daughters are easy, sons like, subhanAllah, but I love him so much.

**[34:09]** I'm like, gotta correct him, gotta correct him. And he's so energetic, mashaAllah. I'm like, gotta correct him, gotta correct him, gotta correct him. And subhanAllah, because we're human, you realize when you use a negative word, especially if you call your kids names, and you think about these hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, don't make du'a against your kids.

**[34:27]** Don't identify your kids with something evil or pray against them or crush their souls. But especially when someone's trying to do something good, even when they make a mistake, like how you deal with them coming to you with their first sin, like when you catch them with that mistake, it's like, how do I deal with that? It's going to change whether or not they repeat that sin or not.

**[34:45]** You know it. You know it. You know how surprised your kids can be like when they make a mistake and you go, you know what, I still love you. I'm glad that you admitted it to me. Now let's work on, like, wait, what? What's happening here?

**[35:00]** But that can be the difference maker of them leaving that sin. Now when your kid tries to do something good, it's another thing. So back to Abdullah ibn Umar. Abdullah ibn Umar radiyaAllahu anhuma has this dream. The Prophet ﷺ said, who has a dream? Who has a dream?

**[35:16]** He would ask for the kids to share dreams and the companions to share dreams after salah. Which shows you, by the way, that Abdullah ibn Umar, even though he was young, he knew if he had a dream, the Prophet ﷺ would listen to him. So he wanted a good dream so he could share it with the Prophet ﷺ. Instead he had a dream that the angels were taking him to hellfire.

**[35:32]** And then as he was going to, they didn't throw him in there, they said, this is not your place and then they took him to Jannah. So it's a good dream because the end is Jannah. It's a scary dream because he saw hellfire and he saw people in it that he knows. Terrified him. So he asked Hafsah radiyaAllahu anha,

**[35:50]** his sister, who happens to be the wife of the Prophet ﷺ. Can you ask him what it means? The Prophet ﷺ knows what he says is going to get back to Abdullah. So how does he start off? He says, ni'ma rajul. Abdullah. What a good young man Abdullah is. If only he'd pray a little bit more at night.

**[36:06]** Had the Prophet ﷺ responded and said, Abdullah doesn't pray at night, Abdullah ibn Umar would have been too afraid to show his face to the Prophet ﷺ probably after that. It would have crushed him. So he said, ni'ma rajul.

**[36:22]** Abdullah. What a good young man Abdullah is. If only he'd pray a little bit more at night. And Abdullah ibn Umar (رضي الله عنه) says, I never missed qiyam al-layl after that. I never missed the night prayer after that. Imagine if the Prophet ﷺ had said, Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night.

**[36:39]** Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night.

**[36:54]** Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night.

**[37:09]** Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night.

**[37:24]** Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night.

**[37:39]** Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night.

**[37:54]** Abdullah doesn't pray at night. Abdullah doesn't pray at night. So their parents look at them and say, MashaAllah, you prayed the whole salah. On the other hand, you got those people that come late to salah. Some of them hit three cars in the parking lot, and hopefully just cars, right?

**[38:11]** Slam the doors, throw their shoes all over the place, and like they're running to the salah because they don't want to miss the salah. Now there's a person who does this repetitively, and then there's a person who is used to being at salah early, and like this is their first time, so they're very nervous and anxious. Abu Bakr walks into the masjid, and the Prophet ﷺ does ruku' and he's behind the rows,

**[38:33]** and so he goes, Allahu Akbar, and then he goes, I don't know if the camera caught that or not, but that's what the hadith shows.

**[38:48]** He entered into ruku' and then he inched up into the rows. He doesn't want to miss ruku' and he is not yet to the rows, so that was his pretty smart reasoning, by the way. I can do both.

**[39:06]** And the Prophet ﷺ simply said to him, Zadakallahu hirsan. How beautiful. There's like so much wisdom in the statement, like it could honestly be a book. Zadakallahu hirsan. May Allah increase you in zeal.

**[39:24]** I love that you wanted to catch the first rak'ah so bad, but don't do that again. And instead, when one of you catches the salah, you catch it what you caught. So if you miss ruku' make up a rak'ah. But just prefacing it with saying, Zadakallahu hirsan.

**[39:40]** Imagine if that's how we corrected the youth of today. And we should assume good intentions. Zadakallahu hirsan. Like I know you meant well. And may Allah increase you in well-meaning. But maybe consider this next time.

**[39:58]** Beautiful. It changes the entire dynamics of a community. So the Prophet ﷺ specifically mentioning rahmah towards the youth indicates that they're going to make many mistakes. Hence, mercy will be needed.

**[40:13]** And youth complain about what? Judgmentalness and people are unforgiving and people are cruel and people are mean and this and this and that. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized what's needed as diagnosis is rahmah. They need mercy. And the elders feel what?

**[40:29]** Disrespected. Made irrelevant. Habibi, you've been working for two weeks. I've been working for 20 years in this space. Who are you? What are you talking about? How do you brush people aside? Tell them they don't know what they're talking about.

**[40:44]** Your whole life is bid'ah. Your whole life is innovation. Your culture is this. You don't know what you're talking about. Who are you? They honor the elders. Waqar is like literally putting a crown on the head of glory.

**[41:01]** Put the crown of glory on the head. You insist on their place. You insist on their place in the majlis, in the gathering. You insist on treating them the way that you would treat your father or your mother. What a miserable culture that turns the word uncle or auntie into something derogatory.

**[41:21]** Oh, the uncles, the ammos, the khaltos. What a miserable twist of fate. That you turn words of honor into words of degradation. And may Allah forgive all of us. Because we all at some point grappled with this idea of dismissing our elders.

**[41:39]** It's a fact. At least I won't make myself immune to it. At some point, especially when you're young and you're getting involved at first, you start dismissing your elders. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam is saying, put the crown on your elders.

**[41:55]** Benefit from them and lower your wing of mercy towards them. Because if you take that hirs, if you take that zeal, that Allah has blessed you with against tyrants, and then you let that zeal make you a tyrant towards your elders,

**[42:12]** then it is all in waste. Completely defeats the purpose. Allah gave you that strength, that courage, that willingness to sacrifice and stand up in front of a brutal tyrant. Don't you dare stand up in front of your elders with that same tyranny and with that same rage.

**[42:30]** And as you're railing against the system, railing against the system of man, the moment that you start railing against the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam and you're shattering boundaries, know that you're in loss.

**[42:46]** Complete delusion. And he is, salallahu alayhi wasalam, innama ana lakum bi-manzilati al-walid I am to you like a father. u'allimukum I teach you. The minute you start to rail against the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and question and shatter,

**[43:02]** is when you've taken that quality and you've taken it to a level that's no longer beloved to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. You're conquering obstacles. You're transcending the boundaries of creation. The moment that you start to transcend the himmah,

**[43:20]** the boundaries of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, you fall into haram. And so it's important for us to know, every good quality, as Imam al-Ghazali rahimahullah says, every good quality that Allah has given to us has the potential to become a bad quality and vice versa.

**[43:35]** Sins have the potential to become good deeds, both in material as well as in inclination. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam saw khayr in Abu Jahl. He saw good in Abu Jahl. If Abu Jahl turned his leadership the way that Umar radiyaAllahu anhu did, he would have.

**[43:51]** And side note, by the way, maybe the age factored into it because Abu Jahl was significantly older than Umar radiyaAllahu anhu. Right? His insistence upon his ways. But if Abu Jahl turned that leadership into good, he would have been like Umar radiyaAllahu anhu.

**[44:06]** The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam saw it inside of him. So every sinful quality and sins can become good deeds. And likewise, good qualities have the potential to become sin as well.

**[44:21]** And so this is the case for individuals, this is the case for communities, this is the case for generations. That your greatest potential has the potential to become your most devastating pitfall. And it's important for you to recognize that. And you account for that potential pitfall

**[44:38]** by holding yourself accountable to Allah, to His Messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam, and to those who preceded you. The last thing that I'll say here. Young people have courage. There is a courage that comes from that zeal that we have to nurture

**[44:54]** when we see it. It's special. Young people can have incredible courage. But courage is not the same as recklessness. What the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was calculated courage. It means being sure to not violate the boundaries

**[45:10]** of Allah as you're pushing the boundaries of oppression. And subhanAllah, with that being said, how do you determine the difference? Many would have said that the Ansar were being reckless, not courageous. Many of the naysayers in Medina,

**[45:26]** because there is an equivalent to an Abu Jahl in Medina society. There's Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. There's always equivalence, these personalities in every society. You're being fools. You're being reckless. You're turning away from the ways of your father. The same way that the youth of Mecca were taunted.

**[45:43]** But it was courage when it was connected to the character of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. So just as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam celebrated that innocence and that idealism and that courage of the youth as a community of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, we should do the same.

**[45:59]** But the elders were always honored in this community. Who was the person that if he walked into the room, they said, this is walid an-nabi salallahu alayhi wasalam. This is the father of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. They treated him like a father. Does anyone know? Al-Abbas radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. He was so honored.

**[46:15]** The paternal uncle was like the father. He was so honored in the community of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. It was like walid an-nabi salallahu alayhi wasalam. The father of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. So the whole community treated him like a father. So much so that when they entered Jerusalem, by the way, the non-Muslims thought al-Abbas was the khalifa. Because of how much honor

**[46:32]** he had from those that were around him. The last thing I say is, dear brothers and sisters, one of the signs of the end of times. And this is a warning to the youth. As the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam mentioned, al-amatu talidu rabbaha. That a mother will give birth

**[46:48]** to her master. And one of the extrapolations of that, as Ibn Hajar rahimahullah mentioned, is that children become the masters of their parents. They treat their parents like slaves. And we see that breakdown of the family as we talk about the attack on family values.

**[47:04]** It starts from inspiring tughyan, inspiring rebellion of the children on their parents. Not disagreement. There is no greater disagreement than Ibrahim alayhi salam with his father. The father of monotheism and a father who makes idols.

**[47:20]** Ya abati. Ya abati. My dear father, I love you. Why are you worshiping these things? You know, la ta'bud ash-shaytan.

**[47:37]** Inni akhafu 'alayk. I'm worried about you. I love you. I respect you. But why are you doing this? So when you talk about the breakdown of the family, it's inspiring the tughyan, the rebellion of the children against the parents. Now what's the community manifestation

**[47:53]** of that behavior? When you have children that don't respect their parents, of course what that means at the community level is that the youth don't respect their elders either. But there's an overall inqilab, a revolt, a flipping of the affairs with the youth

**[48:09]** and the children. And that's why just like, subhanAllah, you have the young companions of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, you know who else were described as being young? The Khawarij. The generation of people that read the Quran So much so that their eyes would be

**[48:26]** bloodshot, that they would buzz like bees, that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said to the sahaba, tahqiroona salatakum, you would belittle your prayer when you see how much they pray, you would belittle your fasting when you see how much they fast. They're the dogs of hell. What are they?

**[48:42]** Described as. Hudatha al-asnan. They were young people. Young people who surrounded the house of Sayyidina Uthman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu and thought it was okay to set on fire the house of Uthman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu in his 80s. Young people who murdered sahaba, young people who

**[48:58]** thought that they could take things into their own hands this way. So there's the young of the Ansar who took in the message of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and there's the young of the Khawarij who completely misapplied it. Now there's a huge spectrum in between there. I don't want you leaving, assigning yourself either as someone like the sahaba or like the

**[49:14]** Khawarij. Huge spectrum. But what it comes back to is what the end of that narration is in some of the riwayat. laysa minna man lam yarham sagheerana wa yuwaqqir kabeerana. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said,

**[49:31]** wa ya'mur bil-ma'roof wa yanha 'an al-munkar. And they enjoin good and forbid evil. That's the completing factor. The neutralizer, the equalizer of the young and the old is al-amr bil-ma'roof wa an-nahy 'an al-munkar. Who's more capable of enjoining good and forbidding evil? How do we do that together as khayru

**[49:47]** ummah, as a collective community, as a collective ummah, and there is no greater evil or greater good that is relevant to you than your own good and your own evil. So may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us a community of leadership.

**[50:03]** A community that holds this amanah, this trust of this beautiful message. A community that stands for good, that enjoins good, that forbids evil. Together, that honors its elders, that inspires its youth. And may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to continue the youth movement

**[50:20]** that started in Mecca in the year 610. Allahumma ameen. Jazakum Allahu khayran. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. [Applause] To continue our discussion, I'd like to ask you a few questions.

**[50:36]** I wanted to ask a lot, but I'll keep them short so that our attendees can ask them as well. So I'll kick off with in the beginning of your speech, you talked about the global youth movement for Palestine and camp movements across university campuses. So

**[50:52]** in your opinion, how can youth maintain their motivation and resilience in the face of such challenges, escalating global conflicts, the genocide in Gaza, particularly when the weight of these global crises feels

**[51:08]** overwhelming. And what advice would you give to young people who are struggling with the scale of the struggles they're witnessing? Jazakum Allahu khayran. I actually want to say this as someone, subhanAllah, who is the child of a man from Palestine

**[51:24]** who was born before Israel. So you know those signs that say I'm older than your state? My dad's one of those people who could say I'm older than your state. SubhanAllah, he's deeply troubled by what he's seeing in Gaza right now. And he'll actually, subhanAllah, it really struck me.

**[51:40]** I mentioned this in a recent talk, that one of the defining moments for me in my life was when I was sitting with my father and he said at the breakfast table, this is exactly how he said it. He said, 1948,

**[51:56]** 1967, 2024. Just like that. 1948, 1967, 2024. And what he meant by that was that the scale of destruction that he had seen, that post

**[52:12]** 1967, he didn't think that he would ever see again. He's seen a lot and we know of course there's 1987, there's 2000, there's a lot in between. But he's saying 1948, 1967, 2024.

**[52:28]** He's saying 2024, not 2023 because let's face it, 2023, many of us had hoped that by the end of 2023, a ceasefire would have been in place, things would have been restored to the levels that we had seen in 2021 for example. Now to me that was very eye-opening

**[52:44]** because it helped me understand the gravity of the moment. The gravity of the moment as someone who wasn't alive in 1967 and not 1948. With that being said, those people that lived 1948

**[53:00]** and 1967 see us and our commitment to Palestine and recognize that we are the fruit of their effort. My father SubhanAllah, I have

**[53:16]** these scenes of him debating, he was sitting in a university, he's a university professor, English is not his first language. I have these memories, these core memories of him debating like four Zionist professors by himself in university panels. I remember him writing

**[53:32]** and I actually posted this on social media an ad 40 years ago that is still relevant today, putting it in the local newspaper at the time. Those pioneers, those elders see us as their fruit. Why are we so committed?

**[53:48]** Because they did not relinquish their commitment even though they were expelled from that land. There's also another element of this to directly answer your question. Youth are more prone to despair because we haven't

**[54:04]** seen the changing of circumstances the way that our elders have. And so, right now this feels like the end but those that are old enough will tell you that there were

**[54:20]** other times that felt like the end and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala brought life out of it. Not just in regards to Palestine, but in regards to many other things, personal tribulations as well. Communal tribulations. Like I marvel at our elders

**[54:36]** who have been committed to Islamic work for 40-50 years. It's like you work with the Muslim community for 5 years and like you're about to lose your mind. How do you go through all the meetings and the disputes and you don't think that stuff existed back then. They had their version of social media It wasn't social media

**[54:52]** but it was very social and it was very impactful just like media amongst themselves. Bitter disputes Gossip Egos. Things happened These are human conditions but they persisted And so, young

**[55:08]** people have a responsibility to look towards that and to say, you know what Alhamdulillah I look at my father and I say MashaAllah He's still there and he's still standing. He'll still go out to the protest but he gets mad at me when I don't tell him

**[55:24]** I'm going to a protest and sometimes I try not to tell him because I don't want him to have to walk all that or go through. He gets upset with me if I don't take him out to a protest. Still now. Still doing it Still going strong. And so we learn from the resilience of our elders as well. That they kept committed

**[55:40]** We too should keep committed and don't succumb to despair That doesn't mean don't be sad You better be sad Better cry when you see this type of torment But don't succumb to despair so that your efforts will stop

**[55:56]** Thank you so much I think this will have to be my last question and then I will let others ask their questions So you talked in your speech about benefiting from elders respecting your elders and then the elders will have mercy on the youth How do we do

**[56:12]** that when the youth and elderly have a generational gap when there's a clash of ideas when there's, you know, arguments What can we do then? So here's something that SubhanAllah I always like This is a question that I ask when I teach about

**[56:28]** the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam You know the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam used to joke, right? You all know that, right? Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam used to joke from his shama'il, he used to joke salallahu alayhi wasalam Now do you sometimes find some of those jokes not funny? It's okay to say yes by the way

**[56:44]** But you smile because you know that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was smiling and joking So like a joke loses relevance even like your parents jokes are not funny to you and your jokes are definitely not funny to them They're like crude and like disgusting like what are you doing like this is your laughter this is your humor now like

**[57:06]** Even your jokes are shameful, right? but You appreciate the fact that someone is trying to joke Because you appreciate the spirit that it came from. I'm using laughter because it's it's the it's the most obvious

**[57:22]** manifestation of emotion that we have Right most obvious like someone can be sad and they hide it but laughter has noise it has a visual to it Laughter is very obvious so you laugh not with someone sometimes you laugh at someone or You laugh at the fact that they're laughing or you laugh out of joy that they are laughing or but you're not necessarily

**[57:42]** Laughing because they're laughing What does that mean for the rest of our emotions and our interventions? I can appreciate the spirits of What a person is bringing without necessarily Seeing so much in what they've manifested. I can honor where it came from

**[58:01]** and so someone Might have a really bad idea Let me tell you subhanAllah It's painful for me sometimes and some of you may have this experience when you visit like an elder like I'm talking about a shaykh a scholar who used to be very sharp extremely coherent

**[58:17]** you know and Because of their age They're struggling to recall like a very basic fact like this someone who taught you Islam They're struggling to like remember something very basic and they're mixing up names and it hurts to see that and for me

**[58:34]** My parents right like I'm gonna die. My father is still very sharp mashaAllah But some are like, you know when your parents get older you hate to see your parents slip, right? And I mentioned that because even then The wisdom that comes out

**[58:51]** From that elderly scholar that no longer can recall the book reference That no longer can recall the name That's slipping here there. That's maybe a little slower and what they're uttering like even then That wisdom is so beautiful and profound and cannot be

**[59:06]** Uttered through chat GPT you understand So there's still some hikmah like Allah is inspiring something through that that you can benefit from So the generation gap is solved by the hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam yarham sagheerana

**[59:22]** Be merciful to the youth honor the elders wa ya'mur bil-ma'roof wa yanha 'an al-munkar All of you are supposed to be committed to enjoining good and forbidding evil not your titles or your positions The young person is happy to be in the first row or the second row

**[59:40]** you know, how one of the things that makes the elders so beautiful like Ibn Abbas radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhuma was a teenager When the elders of the companions were sitting at his feet to learn from him because they knew that Ibn Abbas had their own Allah gifted him with that knowledge

**[59:56]** Imam Shafi'i rahimahullah was teaching people the fiqh of fasting before he was baligh Before he reached puberty and had to fast himself Imagine being a 70 year old man sitting in the halaqah of Imam Shafi'i the kid It's because you recognize the value of what he brings. There's there's a class there. There's sincerity there that

**[1:00:14]** Something's coming out of this person that I can I can benefit from so just like everything else The nafs the ego is the hijab between you and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala all good things Once you remove the veil of your ego You can recognize the beauty of the person that's in front of you no matter what age they are

**[1:00:33]** I think we can now open the floor For questions from the audience, so if anyone has a question you can raise your hand By the way as we're waiting for questions. I want to mention that alhamdulillah. I mean Yaqeen is expanding Within Turkey. First of all, can you all give a round of applause to your volunteers?

**[1:00:55]** To all of the volunteers that put this together in a very short amount of time May Allah reward you all for your hard work and may Allah reward all of you who came But if you would like to be a volunteer for Yaqeen inshaAllah ta'ala, please do see the table outside As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. My name is Atia. I'm from Ethiopia and I have some questions

**[1:01:16]** My first question is like from a religious perspective Can a woman be a leader in society or a prominent figure? Yeah, I understand that women's has like important role in Raising future generations, but if she has the potential to play a positive role in society should she

**[1:01:38]** pursue that I would appreciate your guidance and views on this matter and Second question is regarding the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui So this is just one of many issues that the Muslim ummah faces and many of this are unknown or not discussed

**[1:01:58]** How can we ask the youth of the Muslim ummah unite and find the courage to address such issues? We see that the Palestinian issue has become easier to speak about but not all issues are As widely recognized or understood. So how can we raise awareness and take action?

**[1:02:18]** Thank you very much. Jazakum Allahu khayr Firstly the idea of permanent positions in Islam You know, I tend to find that like university structures Borrow from our tradition quite a bit like the concept of endowment is taken from the waqf

**[1:02:36]** There's so much that's taken the chair the robes You know, there's this idea of honoring someone over time to you have a tenure track you have emeritus professor emeritus I feel like these are very Islamically inspired to where someone can be honored without necessarily still maintaining

**[1:02:54]** The authority of the position that once honored them and I find that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam handled that seamlessly To where the elders of the sahaba were always honored But that doesn't mean you have to be the amir in the next battle Right. So there's the beauty of honoring someone even beyond their position their tenure

**[1:03:15]** And then there is the rotation of roles Which allows for people to remain sincere and committed to the cause not to their own credential So that's also very important and people should Accept that for themselves like the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam tells Abu Dharr radiyaAllahu anhu about leadership that innahu amanah

**[1:03:33]** That it is a trust wa innahu yawm al-qiyamati khizyun wa nadama and on the day of judgment it is regrets and loss So don't pursue leadership. That means don't ask to be a leader But if people find you fitting and they push you towards that then accept it with humility

**[1:03:52]** la tanzi' qameesan qamasakallahu bih. Don't take off a garment that Allah put on you You pursue it with sincerity, but don't pursue it yourself Right, or you accept it with sincerity, but don't pursue it So that idea of rotation of positions is definitely sunnah but honoring people

**[1:04:08]** Beyond positions is also sunnah like it's not the only way to honor someone is not through a title or position Is what I'm trying to say to recognize their legacy As for what you mentioned of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala free her and liberate her

**[1:04:23]** I believe that there was going to be a table about her plight, but their efforts to free Dr. Aafia that are global and Need people to join that effort bi-idhnillahi ta'ala she is potentially as they say the most wronged Muslim woman on the planet and

**[1:04:42]** Emblematic of woman of the woman to a Muslim woman the oppression to a Muslim woman. She has suffered all sorts of abuse Languishing in a cell in the United States where she shouldn't have been in the first place if you can dedicate yourself To that cause alhamdulillah. We need more people to raise that voice

**[1:05:00]** We need more people to work for her cause and to work for the cause of anyone that you know of that's oppressed To work for their cause bi-idhnillahi ta'ala Whether it's popular or not whether it's proportional or not work for these causes of good and allocate yourself inshaAllah To these causes of good. Thank you for the post you posted on Twitter regarding the whitewashing of the

**[1:05:22]** Crimes that has been committed against the Syrian People and then you know your comments about how every Palestinian would not be on that side And I'd also like to ask if you have anything to say in terms of comments regarding the

**[1:05:38]** Very just tough position that the Syrian youth are facing when they are confronted with a narrative that is just like Just just from a geopolitical perspective, it's just so unfair and I stress the people here because these are what I'm talking about the people

**[1:06:00]** Specifically when it comes to their position their unwavering position towards the Palestinian case Jazakum Allahu khayr. I want to answer this sincerely from a seerah perspective What blinded? The people of Mecca from the beauty of Islam was their tribal fanaticism

**[1:06:19]** That was what prevented Islam from entering into their hearts truly and for faith to enter their hearts truly What distinguished the Ansar was that they were the exact opposite of those who were blinded by that tribalism They saw people that were completely different from them from a different land who had no

**[1:06:41]** attribution whatsoever to them in the tribal sense as their brothers and as their sisters and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala had to temper their enthusiasm and their loving I mean the heart of the affair is love yuhibbuna man hajara ilayhim and So Allah places us all in different circumstances and

**[1:07:00]** It may be the sunnah of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. You know, I'm doing a series on it. Ah, so right now And I was mentioning like the peculiar nature of Egypt and Palestine Egypt and Gaza and history Egypt and Palestine particular Egypt and Palestine are not are interesting because it's always a prophet running away from Egypt to Palestine or from Palestine to Egypt

**[1:07:20]** Like these two lands are married by tragedy in that regard, but the sunnah of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is that prosperity never stays in one land prosperity visits different peoples at different times and Tragedy visits different people at different times and it may be that one day you are yad al-'ulya and the next day

**[1:07:38]** You're yad as-sufla. You're the upper hand and the next day you're the lower hand It may be that one day you're al-munfiq the other day you're as-sa'il You're the you're the giving or the receiving you don't know the way that rotation is going to be and so I say without hesitation

**[1:07:53]** That Islam cannot truly enter your heart and Fully encompass your heart until you see your brother and your sister Muslim as just that that The sweetness of faith will not be tasted the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam mentioned this They love Allah and the Messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam more than anything else and

**[1:08:12]** they love someone only for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala if that's the only attachment and Nothing else and they would hate to be thrown into jahiliyyah like a person would hate to be thrown into a fire And so I'm not gonna get into like the political analysis of this. I'm gonna say from a faith perspective

**[1:08:29]** Resist the fanaticism because it will prevent Islam from entering into your heart Resist the fanaticism because it will prevent you from tasting the sweetness of faith and recognize that Allah 'azza wa jall tests all of us in different ways We're all being tested in different ways. Let me tell you something about the Palestinian people in particular. I mean my parents lived the

**[1:08:51]** They lived the refugee experience and subhanAllah you wouldn't know it if you met my mother in the streets of the United States rahimahallah You met my father You wouldn't know the pain and the tribulation that he's been through but till today I

**[1:09:06]** Heard something from my father. We refuse to be someone else's burden Like I will not let someone treat me that way nor will I accept that for myself? And so that's a mindset as well that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

**[1:09:23]** has Tested all of us to rise to the occasion based upon where we are in terms of our circumstance And this is a matter of faith. I will not give you a political analysis. I'll give you a faith analysis Faith cannot be tasted unless that fanaticism goes and we ask Allah to protect all of us from it

**[1:09:40]** all of the Muslims from it the disease of al-'asabiyyah the disease of tribalism and all of its Manifestations may Allah remove it from us because how quickly does it lead to shirk and kufr may Allah remove it from us? May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala purify our hearts and make them firm upon faith. And when we say Allahumma a'izz al-Islam wal-muslimeen

**[1:09:59]** Oh Allah give 'izzah to Islam and the Muslims How can I say Oh Allah give honor to Islam and the Muslims and then humiliate another Muslim while making that du'a? What a hypocritical du'a then that is so when I say Allahumma a'izz al-Islam wal-muslimeen, I mean all of the Muslims I mean the Palestinians. I mean the Syrians. I mean the Somalis. I mean the Iraqis

**[1:10:19]** I mean everybody when I say Allahumma a'izz al-Islam wal-muslimeen, I'm including all of them So make sure that your du'a is with sidq your supplication is with truthfulness And if I said anything wrong or anything offensive, then please do not hold Ibn Khaldun responsible

**[1:10:36]** or anyone else but I say this with love to all of you here and Respecting and honoring the energy and the sincerity of the youth that are here May Allah increase you in hirs and ikhlas and sincerity in 'amal and 'ilm

**[1:10:52]** That is beneficial and in accepted good deeds As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Wa alaikum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Jazakallah khayr for everything that you do I stumbled across Yaqeen or like the page a few years ago when I was in like the lowest point in my life and like after Allah

**[1:11:12]** You were a guide and your lessons really helped me so Allah yaj'alha fi mizan hasanatik ya Rabb my question is How can we be respectful yet also remain firm in our opinions when we're talking to people who are older than us?

**[1:11:30]** let's say like your parents or your relatives and you're having a discussion and you feel like it's not going anywhere because they're Like firm on their opinion and at the same time you want to express your thoughts But you feel like you're arguing and you don't want to argue because that's not like a good trait to have just responding back

**[1:11:51]** But at the same time you want to make your point clear Jazakallah khayr First of all, thank you for your comment. May Allah keep you firm upon faith and reward you for sharing that I would say to everyone here by the way doing tadabbur on the Quran is not something that only scholars can do

**[1:12:08]** to reflect on the Quran To me the verses in Surah Maryam I Believe verse 40 Of Surah Maryam, but that part portion of Surah Maryam Where Ibrahim alayhi salam is praised is a manhaj is a methodology of communication

**[1:12:27]** Like if you study those verses and deeply Contemplate those verses it is the methodology of how to communicate to people Wadhkur fil-kitabi Ibraheem innahu kana siddiqan nabiyya Allah praises him and says verily he was a siddiq, a person of truth and a prophet

**[1:12:42]** idh qala li-abihi So the scholars say his sidq, his truthfulness shines in the way he spoke to his father When he said to his father, ya abati, lima ta'budu ma la yasma'u wa la yubsiru wa la yughni 'anka shay'a Oh my dear beloved father. Why do you worship that which doesn't hear you see you or benefit you in any way?

**[1:12:59]** He reserved all of his critique for the idol not for his father Ya abati, inni qad ja'ani min al-'ilmi ma lam ya'tika fattabi'ni ahdika siratan sawiyya Oh my dear father, there is some knowledge that came to me like the amount of disqualifiers in this verse

**[1:13:15]** Inni qad ja'ani, I didn't acquire it some knowledge came to me wa min al-'ilmi, some knowledge not all knowledge Not I know and you don't know Some knowledge came to me that happened to not come to you Fattabi'ni ahdika siratan sawiyya, so follow me and I'll guide you to a straight way

**[1:13:31]** Ya abati, la ta'bud ash-shaytan, inna ash-shaytana kana lir-rahmani 'asiyya Oh my father don't worship the shaytan, really the shaytan is disobedient to the Lord. He didn't say you are 'asi He said the shaytan is disobedient, but then he says ya abati inni akhafu

**[1:13:46]** Oh my father, I am afraid I'm afraid for you An yamasaka 'adhabun min ar-rahman fatakuna lish-shaytani waliyya That punishment would come to you from the most merciful and so you'll be a companion of the shaytan. So I love you I care about you. I'm not saying this to prove you wrong or to put you down. I'm saying this out of love for you

**[1:14:06]** lesson number one You can never use too many disclaimers and respectful phrases when you're talking to your elders Honor them with every title they have Put yourself down as much as you can so that they can hear the message that you're trying to give to them But remove the ego as much as you can. Lesson number two, la yanfa' al-qalb illa ma kharaja min al-qalb

**[1:14:25]** Nothing will benefit the heart unless it comes from the heart. They need to know that it's coming from your heart and Rarely, will you speak to someone that you love and that loves you and show them vulnerability and hesitation? Like I really didn't want to have this conversation because I love you and honor you so much and please forgive me

**[1:14:42]** For even saying this to you, but I'm just inquiring because I care about you. Rarely will that be met with complete arrogance? Sometimes however as in the case of Ibrahim alayhi salam's father What did he say?

**[1:14:58]** I mean, that's the worst response that you could possibly get. Who do you think you are? Get out of my face. I'm going to kill you. I mean, that's the paraphrasing I mean, that's the worst that it gets. So I mean sometimes it's not gonna work because their hearts are closed but I can tell you that rarely are we as good as Ibrahim alayhi salam in our communication and

**[1:15:17]** Never are our parents or elders as bad as Ibrahim alayhi salam's father in these verses And so take that communication take that that approach of humility inshaAllah ta'ala And if it doesn't work then try to find another way and keep making du'a because Ibrahim alayhi salam says

**[1:15:34]** That I will make du'a for you. I'm gonna go make du'a for you. So even though you just threw me out I'm still praying for you. I love you, and I'm making du'a for you So I'll make du'a to Allah to soften your heart in the process. So let people know that you're praying for them And that you show that care and concern for them. Wa lillahi at-tawfeeq.

**[1:15:50]** Now we would like to welcome Enes Yalman the director of international office at Ibn Khaldun University to give us closing remarks As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. Don't expect to tell anything about this heart-to-heart words, but I think that leadership is a

**[1:16:06]** Very visionary thing and Omar Shaykh Omar is a truly leader that whatever he said today entered our hearts from heart to heart Thank you very much. We are as in Ibn Khaldun University, we are very honored to host the first Yaqeen program today, and I'm sure that

**[1:16:23]** Yaqeen Kun 'ala yaqeen, that Yaqeen is Expanding and Turkey inshaAllah will be the best Place also to expand inshaAllah. Jazakum Allahu khayr. I don't want to use more the time but I have one request last request that if

**[1:16:39]** That is okay for you to have a short du'a from you to close the program. Jazakum Allahu khayr. Brother Enes may Allah bless you and reward you and by the way Please make du'a for brother Enes and give him a round of applause as well because none of this Is possible without him

**[1:16:54]** So we're very grateful to him and to everyone at Ibn Khaldun for hosting us today

**[1:17:54]** Allahumma aslih ahwal ikhwanina al-mankubina fee kulli makan Allahumma aslih ahwal ikhwanina al-mankubina fee kulli makan Allahumma aslih ahwal ikhwanina al-mankubina fee kulli makan Allahumma alayka bi-'aduwwika wa 'aduwwihim Allahumma alayka bi-a'da'i ad-deen Allahumma arina fee al-a'da'i Allahumma arina fee al-a'da'i 'aja'iba qudratik

**[1:18:10]** Allahumma arina feehim 'aja'iba qudratik Allahumma arina feehim 'aja'iba qudratik Allahumma arina feehim 'aja'iba qudratik Ya Jabbar, Ya Jabbar, Ya Jabbar We ask you O Allah to give victory to the oppressed We ask you O Allah to give victory to the oppressed in Palestine and all over the world We ask you O Allah to free Masjid Al-Aqsa

**[1:18:26]** We ask you O Allah to allow us to be amongst those that are of those that liberate Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa We ask you O Allah to allow us to be amongst those that pray in a liberated Masjid Al-Aqsa We ask you O Allah to direct our hearts to you and to all that's pleasing to you

**[1:18:42]** As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

## Other Episodes in "Lecture"
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- [27th Night Special Du’a Stream by Dr. Omar Suleiman #LaylatulQadr](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/ramadan-lives-27th-night-2026-dua-loop-omar-suleiman.md)
- [What Is Allah Preparing You For? | Lecture by Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/what-is-allah-preparing-you-for-lecture-by-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [This Is What Made The Prophets Unstoppable | Lecture by Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/this-is-what-made-the-prophets-unstoppable-lecture-by-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [The Most Amazing Wedding I’ve Ever Been To | Dr. Omar Suleiman's South Africa Tour 2025](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/the-most-amazing-wedding-ive-ever-been-to-south-africa-tour-2025.md)
- [Kashmir Is Calling: Keynote at International War Crimes Tribunal, Bosnia | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/kashmir-is-calling-keynote-lecture-international-war-crimes-tribunal-bosnia.md)
- [How to Reinvent Yourself This Ramadan | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/how-to-reinvent-yourself-this-ramadan-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [The People of Gaza Are Undisplaceable | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/the-people-of-gaza-are-undisplaceable-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Preparing for Ramadan - Making the most in Shaban | Lecture by Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/preparing-for-ramadan-making-the-most-in-shaban-lecture-by-sh-mohammad-elshinawy.md)
- [Finding Resilience Beyond the Illusion of Power | Lecture by Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/finding-resilience-beyond-the-illusion-of-power-lecture-by-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Why Did Allah Mention The Number 19? Your Test of Faith | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/why-did-allah-mention-the-number-19-lecture-by-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Waiting for The Mahdi or A Miracle | Lecture by Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/waiting-for-the-mahdi-or-a-miracle-lecture-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Tested Like the Prophets | UK Tour Wembley Stadium Lecture by Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/tested-like-the-prophets-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Finding Solace Through Patience and Wisdom | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/finding-solace-through-patience-and-wisdom-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Is Syria Really a Good Thing ? | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/is-syria-really-a-good-thing-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Consumerism and The Inflation of Self | Black Friday | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/consumerism-and-the-inflation-of-self-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Is Religion Making Us Complacent? I Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/is-religion-making-us-complacent.md)
- [Did the Prophet ﷺ See You in The Future? | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/did-the-prophet-see-you-in-the-future.md)
- [Grieving Doctors of Gaza | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/grieving-doctors-of-gaza-omar-suleiman.md)
- [To Love the Prophet ﷺ More Than Yourself | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/to-love-the-prophet-more-than-yourself.md)
- [Abu Bakr's (ra) Rare Speech | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/abu-bakrs-ra-rare-speech.md)
- [Becoming the Best Version of Yourself | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/becoming-the-best-version-of-yourself.md)
- [Be In This World A Stranger or a Wayfarer  | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/be-in-this-world-a-stranger-or-a-wayfarer-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
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- [How the Prophet ﷺ Inspired Young People | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/how-the-prophet-inspired-young-people-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
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- [With Hardship Comes Ease | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/with-hardship-comes-ease-dr-omar-suleiman.md)
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- [Hope and Potential | Episode 2 | To Know Him is to Love Him](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/hope-and-potential-to-know-him-is-to-love-him.md)
- [Perfection and Beauty | Episode 1 | To Know Him is to Love Him](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/perfection-and-beauty-to-know-him-is-to-love-him.md)
- [The Role of Parents in Instilling Faith - Roohi Tahir | Yaqeen/MAS Academic Conference](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/the-role-of-parents-in-instilling-faith-roohi-tahir-yaqeen-mas-academic-conference.md)
- [To Know Him is to Love Him | Introduction by Sh. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/to-know-him-is-to-love-him-introduction-by-sh-omar-suleiman.md)
- [The Flexibility of Islamic Law - Tesneem Alkiek | 2018 Yaqeen/MAS Academic Conference](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/the-flexibility-of-islamic-law-2018-yaqeen-mas-academic-conference.md)
- [Conflict Resolution: The Line Between Justice and Peace - Sh. Omar Suleiman | Lecture](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/conflict-resolution-the-line-between-justice-and-peace-sh-omar-suleiman-lecture.md)
- [Spiritual Personality - Zohair Abdul-Rahman | 2018 Yaqeen/MAS Academic Conference](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/spiritual-personality-zohair-abdul-rahman-2018-yaqeen-mas-academic-conference.md)
- [Racism in Our Ranks | Khutbahs with Purpose](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/racism-in-our-ranks-khutbahs-with-purpose.md)
- [Combating Islamophobia with Marketing and Design | #SXSW19](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/combating-islamophobia-with-marketing-and-design-sxsw19.md)
- [Meaningful Solidarity - Sh. Omar Suleiman | Lecture](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/meaningful-solidarity-sh-omar-suleiman-lecture.md)
- [Conversations at The Carter Center: Harmonizing Religion and Human Rights](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/conversations-at-the-carter-center-harmonizing-religion-and-human-rights.md)
- [How Yaqeen is a Resource for Our Community - Sh. Omar Suleiman | Making Principled Progress](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/how-yaqeen-is-a-resource-for-our-community-sh-omar-suleiman-making-principled-progress.md)
- [An Imam & A Pastor in Conversation on Loving Jesus](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/an-imam-a-pastor-in-a-loving-conversation-about-jesus.md)
- [Contextualizing the Life and Mission of Jesus | Lecture](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/contextualizing-the-life-and-mission-of-jesus-lecture.md)
- [How Yaqeen Heals Internalized Islamophobia - Dalia Mogahed | Making Principled Progress](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/how-yaqeen-heals-internalized-islamophobia-dalia-mogahed-making-principled-progress.md)
- [How Yaqeen Works to Educate the Public - Dr. Jonathan A.C. Brown | Making Principled Progress](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/how-yaqeen-works-to-educate-the-public-dr-jonathan-a-c-brown-making-principled-progress.md)
- [Personal Accountability in Life and Faith - Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy | Lecture](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/personal-accountability-in-life-and-faith-sh-mohammad-elshinawy-lecture.md)
- [Station of Certainty | Lecture](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/station-of-certainty-lecture.md)
- [Appreciating Scholarship: Intro to Islamic Law - Tesneem Alkiek | Yaqeen in NY](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/appreciating-scholarship-intro-to-islamic-law-tesneem-alkiek-yaqeen-in-ny.md)
- [The Infinitely Merciful and the Question of Hellfire - Mohammad Elshinawy | YM Youth Conference 2017](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/the-infinitely-merciful-and-the-question-of-hellfire-mohammad-elshinawy-ym-youth-conference-2017.md)
- [Atheism: Doubting Your Doubts - Asadullah Ali | Yaqeen in NY](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/atheism-doubting-your-doubts-asadullah-ali-yaqeen-in-ny.md)
- [Seeds of Greatness: Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/seeds-of-greatness-malcolm-x-and-muhammad-ali.md)
- [The Pursuit of Certainty - Sh. Yaser Birjas | Lecture](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/the-pursuit-of-certainty-sh-yaser-birjas.md)
- [Islam, A Coherent Social Justice Tradition | Omar Suleiman | 16th MAS-ICNA Convention](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/islam-a-coherent-social-justice-tradition-omar-suleiman-16th-mas-icna-convention.md)
- [Does Islam Need Saving? An Analysis of Human Rights | Nour Soubani | 16th MAS-ICNA Convention](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/does-islam-need-saving-an-analysis-of-human-rights-nour-soubani-16th-mas-icna-convention.md)
- [Dealing with Isolation: Learning from Islam’s Original Converts - Omar Suleiman | Lecture](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/how-the-brother-of-khadijah-ra-became-the-shaytan-of-quraysh.md)
- [Repentance in Islam, Tawbah A Cornerstone of Faith - Roohi Tahir | 16th MAS-ICNA Convention](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/repentance-in-islam-tawbah-a-cornerstone-of-faith-roohi-tahir-16th-mas-icna-convention.md)
- [Why Do Innocent People Suffer? - Sh Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/why-do-innocent-people-suffer-aleppo-sh-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Reclaiming the Narrative About Our Prophet ﷺ | Part 2](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/reclaiming-the-narrative-about-our-prophet-ﷺ-part-2.md)
- [Reclaiming the Narrative About Our Prophet ﷺ | Part 1](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/reclaiming-the-narrative-about-our-prophet-ﷺ.md)
- [Reviving a Lost Sunnah: Adoption and Foster Care in Islam](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/reviving-a-lost-sunnah-adoption-and-foster-care-in-islam.md)
- [Religious Minorities Under Islamic Rule - Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/religious-minorities-under-islamic-rule-tasneem-alkiek.md)
- [Dr. Jonathan Brown - How to Approach Hadith - Verifying and Understanding Hadith](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/dr-jonathan-brown-how-to-approach-hadith-verifying-and-understanding-hadith.md)
- [How Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Dealt With His Enemies - Sh Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/how-prophet-muhammad-pbuh-dealt-with-his-enemies-sh-omar-suleiman.md)
- [Rise up to Reclaim Our Narrative #SupportYaqeen](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/rise-up-to-reclaim-our-narrative-supportyaqeen.md)
- [Why Some American Muslim Youth Are Doubting Their Faith](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/why-some-american-muslim-youth-are-doubting-their-faith.md)
- [Cultivating Conviction (Yaqeen) - Mohammad Elshinawy](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/cultivating-conviction-yaqeen-mohammad-elshinawy.md)
- [Prophet Muhammad - The Epitome Of Mercy](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/prophet-muhammad-the-epitome-of-mercy.md)
- [Islam’s Take on Modernity and Progress](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/islams-take-on-modernity-and-progress.md)
- [Is Islam to Blame for ISIS?](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/lecture/is-islam-to-blame-for-isis.md)