# To Live and Die as a Man | Iman Cave

**Author:** Sh. Abdullah Oduro
**Series:** Iman Cave
**Published:** 2025-05-08
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/V9nhQZq-thg
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/to-live-and-die-as-a-man-iman-cave
**Topics:** Allah, Faith, Family & Community, Marriage

## Description
Who's holding you accountable for your goals this Ramadan? Sh. Abdullah Oduro shares how men can build strong bonds during Ramadan, from working out together and breaking fast as a group, to calling each other out and pushing each other to be better. Faith isn’t a solo journey, it's built with the...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** As-salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you all. I'm Abdullah Oduro and we are here at the Iman Cave. Maybe we'll say the Iman Fire. Alhamdulillah, I'm here with some beautiful, beautiful brothers. And as you know, the companions of

**[0:17]** the Qur'an, at times they would sit around and they would say, they would say, come together and let's believe Allah for the duration of an hour, remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, roughly. So, as we know, at times it's important for men just to get out. And I have some beautiful brothers here. I have to my left, brother,

**[0:37]** all the way from down under. Is this your first time in the States? No, been a couple of times. A couple of times? First time since COVID. Masha'Allah, how are you finding this so far?

**[0:53]** It's a beautiful community. Masha'Allah. And a lot of love. That's nice. And I'm seeing a lot of unity. And I'm seeing a lot, a lot of young people really embracing the deen and, and finding that the religion has given them

**[1:08]** tranquility in their lives. That's beautiful, man. And that's needed. That's needed. That's needed. And masha'Allah, we have three of those. We have some examples right here in front of us, man. Even though there's cameras on us and things of that nature, it's a bonding moment. And it's important that men come and bond together at times to remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the blessings that he's given them for

**[1:26]** making us men and being conscious of wanting to be and stay and strengthen as men. Right? Joshua. That's right. That's right. How are you? I'm doing good. Good, good, Sheikh. So how long have you been here in the States? I've been here all my life, specifically here in Dallas. But you're originally from the place that has the second best jollof rice.

**[1:44]** We don't want to get into this type of debate so early into the discussion, Sheikh. I don't know, man. I'm from Australia. I don't know what you're talking about. What's the first? Oh, from Ghana. I'm glad you asked that. That's a great question. That is a good question. Is this tomato sauce? Yes, tomato sauce. That's the best one. That's the best one. Josh, and all the Nigerians out there, we love you.

**[2:01]** I gave you a plate, bro. I gave you a plate one time. All I remember is it was red and it was just good. I mean, this is very clear. And shout out to West African way as well, masha'Allah. I love it. Senegalese are the ones that started the jollof rice, but we know who's holding the throne. The red one. The best one.

**[2:16]** Alhamdulillah. This is a beautiful debate. You know, when people in the masjid, you know, they're like, what's when I talk about the jollof words, they say, what's jollof jollof? I say, look, it's the West African biryani. And they're like, oh, okay. I get it. That's what I was. No, but alhamdulillah, man, I really, I really appreciate you brothers coming out here.

**[2:33]** And I think this is very, very important. I'm talking about, you know, there's something called rites of passage, right? Where men have events or situations in their life to where they learn and transition on what a man really is. You know, you'll find it, maybe, you know, for some people it's going out into the woods and coming back with an animal, whatever it is.

**[2:50]** Sometimes you're just sitting around and you're learning from people that are older than you. Yeah. Right. And Sheikh Ahmed, how was it for you? I mean, walking around grave sites at the age of 14, what was that really about? What was the background for that?

**[3:07]** You know, I pondered about life early. I used to, I didn't, look, I grew up, I didn't like team sports. I was a single sport person because I thought I'm doing the hard work. I deserve the glory. And you know, subhanAllah, when we pray, I used to think to myself, I'm praying, I'm getting the

**[3:23]** ajr. I'm connecting with Allah. When I went to the cemetery and I seen the names, I would read names. I would look at pictures. I would look at ages. And I remember the first two graves I ever saw was a 30 year old and a 90 year old next to each other. Wow.

**[3:38]** And I thought to myself, he outlived him by three times. SubhanAllah. What's behind that? Why did he have three times the chance than this man here? Yeah. Yeah. This started, I would, I would calculate, I think in my head, like, why? Like, what's the reason? He had more chances, you know, subhanAllah.

**[3:54]** I didn't understand qadr back then. Predestination. And when I'd look at the photos, I would be able to think to myself, you know, the photos they put on the graves, I'm not saying halal or haram, but they were doing it back then. You know, the people in suits and a happy moment in their life.

**[4:10]** The people dressed up nicely, those photos they put, they're not putting in a photo when he died. They're putting a photo in his happiest time of his life, his weddings and, you know, good moments in the life. And I would look at those photos and I'd say to myself, when that photo was taken, he was in such a happy moment in life.

**[4:26]** He didn't think of death. He didn't know death was waiting for him a month later, a day later, a year later, or 10 years later. SubhanAllah. That's how I used to think. I mean, with these young guys in front of us, I want to start with Josh. You converted to Islam.

**[4:41]** Reverted to Islam, right? From Nigerian. I mean, I have West African non-Muslim parents as well. It can be challenging at times, but that fire of Islam that you had in you as a youth. Talk about that. Tell us about that. How that was in the beginning. I really found that a lot of the values that my parents had taught me from the time I was

**[4:59]** young, you know, being raised in a more traditional African home. It really aligned perfectly with the religion of Islam. So, I mean, how old are you when you go in by yourself and you're reflecting and pondering?

**[5:14]** Teenager reflecting and pondering. I mean, that's not common. I mean, it may be if there's an event that happens in your life. Was there a certain event that took place? And then you say, you know what? Okay, I got to really think, man. When COVID-19 hit, you know, in 2020 and everything like that, you know, being away from the outside

**[5:33]** influence, being away from friends, being away from, you know, classmates and things like that. All the external noise was turned inwards. No one else to impress or, you know, no like party to go to or something like that, you know. Now you have to turn that energy inwards, you know, and that's exactly what I did.

**[5:50]** That's a huge transition, especially for a young man realizing, look, who am I trying to please? Who am I trying to validate? Was that when Islam came into picture? That's definitely when Islam came into picture. So it kind of answered, it kind of filled that void. SubhanAllah. Exactly, yeah. And that's huge for a man, because like for me, it was when I was 19, 20,

**[6:06]** and that was one of the main features for me. It's like, who am I really trying to impress here? Another lesson that can be learned from my own experience is like having the right support group around you. Yeah. You know, me and my guys, we went to the same high school for— Oh, y'all went all three? All three of us. All three of us. Oh, for real?

**[6:21]** Same high school, same college. Three, three, four. Yeah, same college, too. SubhanAllah. Wow. Did one of them call you to Islam? So me being—I was able to go to them, you know. That brotherhood was there, you know. Nice. Support was there. It was one time, like we were on a group FaceTime or something like that,

**[6:40]** and that's when they were praying only like one or two prayers in the masjid, you know, because it was COVID time and everything like that. There was one time they were going to the Isha prayer, the night prayer, and they invited me to come out. Just come check it out, see how it is, you know. I mean, you're 17, 18, you're bored, you know.

**[6:55]** You're just trying to figure some things out. So, you know, I was like, why not? Let me come check it out. So, Muhammad, how was it for you? I mean, growing up as a young man, I mean, let's say before you— when did you meet Joshua? Well, it was that sophomore year, so I'd say— 10th grade. Yeah, 10th grade. What was it like for Muhammad at that time as a young man?

**[7:12]** You know, growing up where I grew up in Seattle, I'd say it was difficult in hindsight, but, you know, growing up as a kid, there's so much going on that I don't realize. Where I grew up, there's a lot of gang activity, but alhamdulillah, there's a lot of pros of growing up where I grew up, like all Somali area.

**[7:28]** So you go to school, they talk about this and that. I mean, I know, and I'm an old Muslim, I'm still going to the masjid. Even as a kid, I'm like, I know this is not right. You know what I'm saying? So, hold on. So you said a Somali community. And I almost—I mean, it's probably the same thing over there in Australia, because big Lebanese community.

**[7:44]** Yeah. Right. But not everyone's an angel. No, no. When we were young, you know what we used to do, like when we were 18? Sorry, when we were about like 22, 23, we'd go to the nightclubs in a group and pick out the boys. We'd walk in the main shahshadi, you know shahshadi? Yeah, of course.

**[7:59]** We'd go into the nightclubs and we knew where they'd all go, the 18-year-olds. Because as soon as you turned 18, you were allowed into a nightclub. And we'd go in there, man, and it was like they saw Doomsday. Were you the Aussie Martha at that time? Yeah, man, I was big. I was like 260, 280 pounds.

**[8:15]** We'd go in there and we'd just grab them and put them in the van and get them out of there. And they would not dare to put a fight up. And you knew their moms and dads and everybody. We knew their moms and dads, but we did it because we loved to save—we wanted to save them. We didn't want them to fall into wrong and sin.

**[8:32]** But we cared about our generation. And they were only a few years younger than us. That's how much we care about our generation. I mean, even though you see, you know, it's one nationality, everybody knows each other. Was that similar in Seattle? Everybody knew each other. That kind of made the peer pressure even harder, right?

**[8:49]** 100 percent. 100 percent. Everybody knowing each other, especially when some of the peer pressure was just so normal, you wouldn't even consider it as peer pressure, you know? Like I'm around all my friends and it might be that their, you know, older brothers are so used to doing a certain sin that they just think,

**[9:05]** oh, my older brother does it, you know, as a young man, you look up to your, you know, older brother, your father. So they're thinking, oh, this is something that's a'adi. This is what's supposed to happen. I didn't have an older brother, but I looked up to my dad a lot. I still look up to him, alhamdulillah. When I look back at 2018 to now, what is that, seven years?

**[9:22]** And I'm able to think, I'm able to see now in hindsight how Allah guided me in certain ways, how Allah placed certain people in my life or took out certain people in my life, had me fall back to the deen, right? So that's why I feel like I was pulled out of that situation and placed in a better one.

**[9:37]** Alhamdulillah. Mm. So, so you, but it took time for you to look back. You had to go through some trial and error. 100 percent. 100 percent. Now, speaking of this fire, actually, the main thing that guided me back, I was in a house fire. 2021, August, my house completely just burned down to a crisp almost.

**[9:57]** This is post COVID. Post COVID. Hey, I mean, don't just, don't package it. Okay. Okay. So I'm home. Basically, I was home alone at this time. I was, I would consider myself still like, you know, I still had that, that jahili mindset, you know what I mean?

**[10:12]** I'm in a better environment, but I'm not around the people who I am around now. And I wasn't thinking the way I thought now. So I just wake up five minutes. I'm the only one home. Everyone is out doing their own business. I wake up five minutes before I start hearing a fire alarm. So I heard a fire alarm and I'm upstairs in my room.

**[10:31]** So I come downstairs. So I opened my door and I see smoke coming up from, you know, the bottom floor, the first floor. I go downstairs and I see like my entire living room, that entire area, my parents' room is up in flames. What went through your mind?

**[10:46]** What was the first thing that came to your mind? I'm really like in panic mode, but I just opened the door and I tried to alert my parents, you know, there's a ring camera. So I tried ringing it so they can see what's going on. But it was really just a blur to me. I just remember I ended up running out the house and subhanAllah, I was the only one home.

**[11:03]** We didn't go back to the house for a year and a half. It had to be remodeled and everything. But I'm just thinking, you know, Allah, like I was woken up. People die like this all the time. They keep sleeping. They inhale the smoke eventually or they can wake up and it's too late. The main entrance can have a fire. So Allah pulled me out of that situation.

**[11:19]** The fire. And I'm thinking at this time, you know, why me? Like, why would Allah do that to me? Like knowing that you're not doing much in Islam, knowing that if you're not on your prayers or you're doing a certain sin, you kind of feel, shaitan's tactic, of course, but you kind of feel like you're pulled away from Allah. So I'm thinking, is there something I did?

**[11:35]** Like, is Allah giving me a chance? I just had to ponder. What do you think Allah saved you? Obviously, your time wasn't up. Because every time when it's up, it's up. But what do you think Allah saved you? Why do you think he preserved you? I just thought Allah saved me because he saw something in me that I didn't see in myself.

**[11:54]** At that time, I didn't know. I didn't know why, but I'm like, you know, you still know, you know, that everything happens for a reason. I still have a level of qadr and I still believe. I still believe. I'm just not very, you know, knowledgeable on the deen. So I'm like, this had to have been for a reason.

**[12:10]** And we never know. That means, may Allah take me when he's most pleased with me. So sometimes I think, obviously, Allah wasn't most pleased with me at that moment in my life. Give him a chance. He gave me a chance to take me when he's most pleased with me. Could be the rida of your mom and dad. It could be a good... SubhanAllah. And that had to be a process, man, because as I think you mentioned it earlier,

**[12:28]** it's like you think, probably thinking to yourself, man, I'm the one that caused this or I'm probably going to be blamed for this or, or, or... Muhammad, did you ever think if you had died in that state, how would you meet Allah? I kind of feel like I know the answer to that. And that just scares me, shakes me to my core.

**[12:43]** Just thinking like, what were you doing? What khair were you doing? I was, I was being dumb. How would Allah be pleased with me? We know that one of the attributes to a shaheed is the one that dies as a burning victim. Do you think you would have been in that? If I were to think honestly, I wouldn't feel like I would be classified as a shaheed at that point.

**[13:03]** Your time wasn't done. Allah has a bigger plan for you. Yeah, and he brought you here, man. I mean, you never know. Alhamdulillah. You live the legacy of your father and you'll be a father soon as well. Alhamdulillah. Inshallah. Which leads me to Karar. Al-Iraqi. As we know, you know, may Allah have mercy on your father.

**[13:22]** If you could just unpack that for us, man, like really how, what happened to him and how that transitioning into being a man to where you're here with us today. When my father died, I think it was 2006. I was born in 2002. I didn't hear that much stories until I came to Iraq. But they told me how he died and it was, they were targeting him, a certain group.

**[13:41]** Since he was working with the coalition, because, you know, after the army fell, the Iraqi army were like forced into a coalition with the American army. Okay. They attacked our house multiple times when my mom was in there, when I was in there, when my brother was in there, but he was out on duty. They couldn't get him.

**[13:57]** Everything, like, my mom was, I didn't believe her until she showed me the pictures. They would like throw grenades at the front yard. Happened multiple times. And one day he was going on patrol and IED blew off on his Humvee. And IED is a certain kind of bomb. Yeah.

**[14:12]** Improvised explosion. I went back to hear more stories from his best friend. And he was telling me when I was watching your dad's body, it was like, you look at him, it's like freshly showered. You would not even think he got, he was burnt.

**[14:27]** He was a burnt victim. And when I pulled the rest, like from here, from the chest and down, he said, when I pulled the sheet, I was like burnt, the whole thing burnt. So from then, my mom obviously took care of us. She had to. She had to take care of us from there.

**[14:44]** How was she? How was she? I mean. My mom, she's been through a lot. And well, I don't give her even enough credit. May Allah forgive me if I ever did some type of small wrong towards my mom. But I always think I never even appreciate her.

**[15:00]** I appreciate my mom and I love my mom, but I never appreciate her enough for what she did for me. Yeah, this is real. I don't think we can, man. It's good that you're mentioning that, man, because, you know, you're acknowledging that and you're realizing that what our women do for us, our mothers, man.

**[15:17]** The Prophet ﷺ mentioned her three times for a reason. Yeah, ummah, ummah, kathum, ummah. You know, the hardest funerals and when people ask me the question, what was the hardest funeral you ever did? I've watched thousands of people. I answer in less than a second, my mom. Picking my mom from a coroner up, putting her in a grave,

**[15:35]** laying her on her side facing Makkah. It was the hardest day of my life. I'll never forget it. This is the lady that took me to pick my tiabaid. This is the lady that nurtured me, fed me,

**[15:53]** hid little things I did away from my father, protected us. Ummi, ummi, ummi. They don't get the credit they deserve. That's why Jannah is under their feet. Under their feet, man. The reason I don't give much credit to my mom is because I was born with a kidney problem as well. From the womb. My dad actually wanted two sons.

**[16:10]** He had two daughters, they're my half-sisters. He just wanted two sons, two boys. When we were born, he was told that I was the one with the kidney issue. He was still happy. I said, it's fine, I still have a boy.

**[16:27]** After he died, so basically the kidney and everything, and the curfews that the military had to put on during the night, you cannot go out during the day, certain curfews that the military had to impose. My mom was instructed by a doctor to use a tube of a way to cure me.

**[16:49]** I wouldn't go too much into it. So when the curfews happened, she had to do it all by herself. The doctor had to show her how to do it. And obviously in Iraq time, during the war time, they don't care if the hospital is closed. My stepdad was telling me, he was like, Americans, they could see you from,

**[17:06]** you could be a civilian, but for them you're a threat. So in the middle of the night, they could just shoot you. My mom couldn't leave the house, and I was a baby with a kidney problem. And she had to do everything medical by herself after the doctor showed her. And I can never ever repay her back, Wallah.

**[17:23]** And every time, I get even mad, not that second, but then it could be a month after, I ponder, Wallah, this is crazy. She's the one who did the doctor's job during the war. So how, I mean, Joshua, what, you know, the word legacy can be a loaded term.

**[17:42]** I mean, now that you've been Muslim, we're in the same boat. My parents are not Muslim as well. What can you at least say as, what do you wish to leave? For me, I just want to just be able to deepen my connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and my knowledge and be able to develop that knowledge and be able to teach

**[18:02]** and to educate and to show the beauty and the light of Islam through the way that I carry myself throughout my life. You guys live in a Western country. You are walking Dawah.

**[18:17]** The Prophet ﷺ was a walking Qur'an. His manners were the Qur'an. If we can be one tiny, tiny ounce of that, you have potential Muslims all around you here. Wallah, you ask me coming from Australia and seeing you have a beautiful, beautiful community

**[18:36]** and people are actually kind. I've noticed people are actually respectful. Yes, sir. No, sir. We don't have that. Yeah, they call that the southern hospitality. I heard you have a chance, you have a platform, you have a potential to spread Islam to these people.

**[18:52]** They're lost. They're all lost souls. The only true person that's not lost is the one who finds Allah. So, Karar, you mentioned a kidney. You kind of breeze by, you mentioned like a kidney transplant or kidney failure and you had to get...

**[19:07]** So, I was born. My mother and my dad knew about the kidney. Then I came to America and you know here they really do medical checkups and everything. They told me, your kidney is bad. You're young, you have like what? You have 5-10 years. Yeah, 5-10 years until it completely goes away.

**[19:25]** One kidney. Both of them. Both? Both of them were bad. Interesting thing, I made du'a for righteous friends and everything. Allah blessed me with these people, with everybody that I'm surrounded with. And I went to Umrah. I made du'a for my kidney. I was like, Allah, please help me. I have no one but you.

**[19:42]** But back then I wasn't religious. What made you decide to go to Umrah and you weren't religious? The people around me. When you're looking back in the time when you weren't religious too, you know you made du'a for righteous friends, right? Which brings you to another du'a for your kidney.

**[19:57]** Yeah. Right? What happens after that? It was me and my mom. Sat down with the doctor. She was like, you have 3% of your kidney left. Do you know that? Wow. Before that I looked at my mom and she started crying.

**[20:12]** And my heart broke. She's seen her son. She took care of her son from taking care of medically back in 2003, 2004, 2005. And now her kidney is 3%.

**[20:27]** It's like she failed, but she didn't. She didn't want me on kidney dialysis. But then she's like, he has 3%. It's like a walking miracle. I don't even know how he's standing right now. I don't even know how he traveled two countries. Two months later, I get called.

**[20:43]** I stayed up until 5am that day. I slept at 5.30am. I get a call at 6am. I picked up the phone. Hello? Hey, this is Dr. Da-da-da. So there's a person that came with a kidney transplant. And he has antibodies, so we cannot give him the kidney transplant.

**[20:59]** Do we have a kidney on ice? You got to come here in 45 minutes. Whoa, this is... 45 minutes? Yeah, I was like, whoa, I just woke up. Allah knows best. But there's a list behind you too. They probably would have went to the next person. Absolutely. Yeah. And Alhamdulillah, Allah always blesses me with a Muslim doctor for some reason.

**[21:16]** Always a Muslim doctor, Alhamdulillah. And he came into my room. He's like, did you know you were at the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the list? It was like 2000 people ahead of you. And you were like at the bottom. SubhanAllah. And every single doctor that came, he's like, I don't know who you worship, but you got to keep worshipping.

**[21:33]** Come join me, you'll get the same benefits. Yeah, so I jumped out of bed. I called my mom. I was like, my mom started screaming. She was in Iraq at that time. She started screaming. I was like, I said something dumb today. I was like, but I'm scared of the surgery. She's like, if you don't get to the hospital right now, I'm going to give you surgery.

**[21:49]** And then I woke up my brother. We got to the hospital and that's when I notified the other brothers that were like helping me. I swear to God, if it wasn't for the environment that these brothers and multiple other brothers that helped me, without the help of Allah, I would have never stayed sane.

**[22:05]** They say the first 12 months is the hardest because of rejection. I had a rejection. You did get a rejection, but they got onto it straight away, right? Yeah, straight away. They put your meds up, your immunosuppressants. They played around with them. Yep, just like that. I'll tell you something. You know how many bodies I've washed because the kidney failed after a transplant?

**[22:24]** SubhanAllah, man. You're counting the lucky ones. I'm counting the lucky ones, but you're counting the lucky ones because even though you got a kidney, it didn't mean it was going to work. Imagine being on that high of the kidney and everything and subhanAllah, it doesn't work. And the agony is getting it ripped out again. So that's a blessing on its own for it to even connect with your body and to work.

**[22:42]** There's a pocket in there Allah has created in the human body that fits a kidney perfectly. Wow. Did you know that? No. I know that because I did a kidney transplant. SubhanAllah. And I remember telling the professor, I said, Dr. Penny, where are you going to put it? He said, amazingly, Ahmed, over here in the body,

**[23:01]** there's a special pocket that fits a kidney perfectly and protects it. You know when I was on dialysis, I said to the doctor once, I said, come here, come here. This big machine, I used to do the hemo. So the blood would go through my neck. I had it in my neck, not in my arm.

**[23:16]** And I'd sit seven, eight hours because I was a big boy. And I said to him, come here, come here, doctor. What's this doing for me? This big machine spinning and blood going in and out. And he said to me, it's giving you about 10% function.

**[23:33]** And I said, for eight hours, 10% function, and the almighty creator has given a person two healthy kidneys, 100% function without doing any machine. Allah. This is what I pondered. This is what really got me, SubhanAllah. I remember when I was going to surgical tech school,

**[23:48]** and I was in Houston. We were in a hospital called St. Luke's. And it was my first time seeing open heart surgery. And it was a well-known doctor named Dr. Cooley. He has like scissors, room behind, whatever. So they were like, yeah, they had to stop the heart

**[24:04]** in order to replace an artery on the heart. So they had this big machine, the cardioplegic machine with the wheels. I'm like, what's that? And then my instructor, she was like a very staunch Christian. She was like, the Lord is the one that's allowing all this to happen.

**[24:20]** I'm like, this big machine for that small heart? And that's when I was like, I just started telling people around me, I was like, see, this is why I'm a Muslim. I was like, this is why I'm a Muslim, because he can create this small heart. And we need this whole cardioplegic machine that replaces the plasma

**[24:35]** and all this for the blood to let the blood function. My friend, his heart transplant rejected. He had to stay hooked onto that machine at home for six months. Couldn't go like in a five square meter. Everything was in a five square.

**[24:50]** Six months till they got him another heart. If that turned off, he's dead. He's got no heart. Did you know Ali, the brother that died of cancer? Ali, yeah, yeah, subhanAllah. He used to always pop his head into the funeral room. When I'd come back after funerals and I'd be cleaning,

**[25:07]** he would just show up. You all right, Ali? Just look at the washing table. And he knew his day was coming. I still remember, when you just mentioned him, his face came into me and the way his eyes would look at the table. And I knew him before he was sick.

**[25:23]** He was a little rascal. Used to run a maqanah. SubhanAllah, how he humbled himself when he got sick. And he really, really, he said one quote that I had to hear a doctor, a guy in a white coat, to tell me I'm going to die

**[25:38]** when Allah swt is telling us this whole time that we're all going to die. But when the doctor told him in a white coat, you're going to die, when the whole time we all know we're going to die. The humans, subhanAllah, some of the turning points in life is sickness.

**[25:56]** And I've seen some of the most blessed deaths when people get sick. You find them turn back to Allah so much. You find them humble themselves. You find them, they let go of everything. They forgive everyone. They're calling people on their last days with cancer, pancreatic cancer,

**[26:12]** asking us, please get in contact with this brother. I want to just tell him, samahni. They're trying to, it's blessed to have a sickness that's going to bring you to death because you've got time to prepare a bit. I'll tell you now, subhanAllah, it's all due to Allah for giving us life again.

**[26:33]** But my darkest days was when I was sick, but my best days was when I was sick. Because I used to not have patience to sit 10 minutes. If I had a doctor's appointment and he was running 10 minutes late, I'd go crazy. And all of a sudden I said, I'm going to sit you for seven to eight hours a day

**[26:51]** for three to four days a week. You're going to sit to a machine. You can't eat, so you don't go to the toilet. You want to pass water, get the bottle, sometimes the water. Because that machine takes water out of your body too, because you start to carry water. Sometimes they would take 12 pounds of water off me in those eight hours.

**[27:09]** Sometimes they'd take too much water and I'd walk back to the car park and I'd cramp, electrocuted. I would look at my phone and my past life, what I was, the people I was with, the flights, the travel, and I would just look and go, this is never going to happen again.

**[27:27]** I always think of like, how can I thank Allah for what he gave me? And when I talk, I tend to talk a lot and they ask me like, why? And I'm like, there's, when you talk about Allah and the blessing he gave me, there's never an ending to talking about Allah.

**[27:42]** How do I thank Allah? I could never thank Allah what he gave me throughout life. War, my mom, my kidney, everything. And he was like, give back. That's the best way. And to give back to the ummah.

**[27:57]** And I'm just a youth, like, you know, on TikTok, he gives advice. I'm so proud of you guys, man. I'm so proud of every single one of you, man. And there's many more out there, but you guys are in front of us now and we're hearing this live. And I come from a whole foreign country and I feel like I've known you all my life.

**[28:15]** The Sheikh, I feel like he's my brother. I feel like you're my brothers. I feel like we didn't just meet an hour ago. I feel like we've actually known each other all our lives. This is what Islam is about. That's what it's about. MashaAllah. And you see how, because someone contributed and gave their time to you, you made the effort and the action.

**[28:31]** And then now you're giving back. SubhanAllah. And you made the step. But the thing about the masculinity, the manhood, that you had to take that step. Because you took that step, look what was on the other side. What final advice would you give us, us being where we are right now, and we all want to have an impact in the dunya and in the akhira.

**[28:47]** We really do want to build a house in the akhira, trying to balance everything, especially with some of the school work, marriage. How can we find that perfect balance and try to balance the dunya and the deen at our age right now? You will be challenged in life. Allah promises us the calamities will come.

**[29:03]** And every calamity comes, a bigger one is coming. It's preparing you for the ultimate, which is death. Allah tells us, Worship Allah until certainty comes. Allah described death as certainty. No matter what you're going through, remember that the more Allah loves you,

**[29:20]** the more He tests you, the more He raises your ranks, the more He wants to bring you closer to Him. The hadith says, There's a bewilder you that the affairs of the believer are all good. So whatever is coming your way, know it's from Allah.

**[29:35]** You remain patient, you remain steadfast, you remain on your prayers, and keep asking Allah to use you for good, and leave the rest to Allah. And you're doing it all trusting in Allah. So keep moving forward, hold the line, and know that you're living for an ultimate purpose.

**[29:52]** And that's to hate, that's just to worship Allah by Himself, which is shown through your actions. Allah bless you brothers.

## Other Episodes in "Iman Cave"
- [How To Be The Man Your Community Needs | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/how-to-be-the-man-your-community-needs-iman-cave.md)
- [Getting Shot Was My Wake-Up Call | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/getting-shot-was-my-wake-up-call-iman-cave.md)
- [Brotherhood in Ramadan | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/brotherhood-in-ramadan-iman-cave.md)
- [Lead Your Family this Ramadan | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/lead-your-family-this-ramadan-iman-cave.md)
- [Overcoming Obesity and Depression | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/overcoming-obesity-and-depression-iman-cave.md)
- [Is Gender a Social Construct? | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/is-gender-a-social-construct-iman-cave.md)
- [Our communities are broken. Here’s how to fix them | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/how-one-man-is-inspiring-black-youth-through-s-iman-cave.md)
- [Motivation is Overrated. Here's Why | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/motivation-is-overrated-heres-why-iman-cave.md)
- [From Orphaned Parents in Africa to Changing Lives for Orphans | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/from-orphaned-parents-in-africa-to-changing-lives-for-orphans-iman-cave.md)
- [Significance of the Sacrifice | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/significance-of-the-sacrifice-iman-cave.md)
- [Raw Truths for Divorced Dads | Part 3 | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/raw-truths-for-divorced-dads-part-3-iman-cave.md)
- [Raw Truths for Men: Uncensored | Part 2 | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/raw-truths-for-men-uncensored-part-two-iman-cave.md)
- [UFC Fighter Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady is Unbreakable | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/ufc-fighter-abdul-kareem-al-selwady-is-unbreakable-iman-cave.md)
- [Divorce: Problem or Solution? | Part 1 - Before Marriage | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/divorce-problem-or-solution-part-one-before-marriage-iman-cave.md)
- [Arrested for What!? | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/arrested-for-what-iman-cave.md)
- [Bravery, Tawakkul, and Risking it all for Allah | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/bravery-tawakkul-and-risking-it-all-for-allah-iman-cave.md)
- [Overcoming Addictions | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/overcoming-addictions-iman-cave.md)
- [Focus in the Age of Distraction | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/focus-in-the-age-of-distraction-iman-cave.md)
- [Why Me? | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/why-me-iman-cave.md)
- [Confidence through Combat Sports | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/confidence-through-combat-sports-iman-cave.md)
- [Masculinity through Allah's Names | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/masculinity-through-allahs-names-iman-cave.md)
- [Mentorship, Purpose, and Contentment | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/mentorship-purpose-and-contentment-iman-cave.md)
- [Mother's Strength, Father's Prayers: Success through Struggle | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/mothers-strength-fathers-prayers-success-through-struggle-iman-cave.md)
- [Husain Abdullah's Sajdah that Broke the NFL | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/husain-abdullahs-sajdah-that-broke-the-nfl-iman-cave.md)
- [Discipline: Who Are You When No One's Watching? | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/discipline-who-are-you-when-no-ones-watching-iman-cave.md)
- [Lead with Integrity | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/leading-with-integrity-iman-cave-with-sheikh-abdullah-oduro.md)
- [Sami Hamdi's Path to Purpose | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/sami-hamdis-path-to-purpose-iman-cave.md)
- [Series Trailer | Iman Cave](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/iman-cave/series-trailer-iman-cave.md)