Last Friday, as I was preparing to give khutbah at a local jum’uah here in Memphis, I was brainstorming for topics to talk about. As I was reading the morning news, I couldn’t escape news of the death of our brother Michael Jackson, may Allah forgive him and grant him mercy – you’ll notice I refer to him as “our brother” because I really firmly hope and believe that he died a Muslim. I began to read many articles, from news websites and Wikipedia, about his life growing up, and I was surprised to find out that he actually had a really difficult childhood and teenage life. Some people who were close to him referred to him as “the clown who cried out of misery after entertaining people at a party.”
As I scrolled down on the Wikipedia article, I read about all of his accomplishments, his fortune, his fame, his prestige, the love that people all over the world had for him…but I couldn’t stop thinking that, despite all of this so-called pleasure, all of his riches and his fame, his closest family and friend said that he could never find happiness. And so, I had found my khutbah topic. Michael Jackson’s death sent shockwaves across the internet, and as Muslims, we have a couple of options: we can sit and talk about him, trying to debunk whether he really was a Muslim, talking about him being in Dubai or Bahrain or Saudi Arabia, or we can hope and pray that he was and try to derive some lessons to actually yield a fruitful conversation. Thought about logically, the second choice seems way better.
Instead of sleeping like I should be doing (to hopefully make my ridiculous stuffy nose feel better), I, in a fit of nostalgia, started going through my old Xanga posts and stumbled across something…
When I had started taking Islam more seriously couple of years back, someone taught me an important lesson:
“If all the tears collected of this Ummah were put together, we could offer clean water for millions. Don’t cry and die – cry and work, cry and pray, cry and succeed, for indeed the Gardens of Truth are for the predators and ones who use their tears as fuel to change. Heaven was not made for those who merely believe, but for those who work. So work and Allah (swt) knows best).”
Today’s khutbah was about how the Prophet’s character was not only a prime example for us to emulate, but also the concept of his representing of Islam in an honorable manner is noteworthy as well. We, as Muslims here in The West, need to understand that we are known to be Muslims, thus our actions are noted and associated with Islam.
Hopefully everyone benefits, and any discussion, additions, comments, or criticism is readily accepted and appreciated, jazakum Allahu khayran.
13:24 long, given at Germantown Community Center in Germantown, Memphis, TN.
This last Friday, I gave khutbah at a local Islamic School in Memphis, Tennessee. It was the students’ last day of school, and I had to come up with a topic that would be 1)appetizing to 5-13 year olds 2)short enough that they’d listen and 3)easily understood by elementary/middle school brains. I sat on Friday morning, a few hours before jumuah, staring at a blank page on my laptop’s screen. What would be a good way to encourage these kids towards piety?
I figured the best way to motivate the kids to use their summer vacation in a productive, wholesome way would be to talk about jannah. But how? Should I just describe it to them, citing Qur’an and hadith as my sources? Should I use an analogy to compare jannah to something they already knew? I decided to do both.
Alhamdulilah, Mehreen and I have been accepted to the IlmSummit program, run by AlMaghrib Institute, this summer. We’ll be, insha Allah, staying in a hotel for 14+ days with other students and the scholars, having daily seminars and classes on a variety of topics insha Allah.
The goal of this program is to be semi-exclusive so that the community of the accepted students will support them financially, in an effort to have them come back and spread the knowledge they’ve gained, whether it be in a youth halaqah, giving khutbah, etc.
As an online community, Mehreen and I try to write beneficial articles that support Islam here in the US, as well as anywhere in the world. We’d love for you to gain some major good deeds by supporting us financially in our venture to go and gain some knowledge, so that we may spread it through our blog, among other avenues, to people who will benefit from our studies insha Allah.
Giving good messages through good humor while still abiding to Islamic principles is a fine art, not mastered by most. The brothers from Lota Pani Pictures, though, have got it down pat. Aatif Sharieff and Ibrahim Zuberi (left and right) are the geniuses behind this wholesome comedy, may Allah bless ‘em. It really is a blessing from Allah to be able to do what they do, so brothers and sisters should definitely support them.
Most people have seen the Halal Mix Tape Vol. 1 video that was a hit at ISNA a few years back, and is still growing in popularity all over Islamic websites. If you haven’t seen it yet, here it is:
Allah is with the broken-hearted. The breaking of a heart opens it to Allah's light. The dunya is designed to break your heart - Hamza Yusuf 1 week ago
IANT YOUTH: We need to get a youth tahajjud & suhur at IANT one of these last 10 nights. Maybe this Saturday, prayer and IHOP - who's down? 1 week ago
Last Friday, as I was preparing to give khutbah at a local jum’uah here in Memphis, I was brainstorming for topics to talk about. As I was reading the morning news, I couldn’t escape news of the death of our brother Michael Jackson, may Allah forgive him and grant him mercy – you’ll notice I refer to him as “our brother” because I really firmly hope and believe that he died a Muslim. I began to read many articles, from news websites and Wikipedia, about his life growing up, and I was surprised to find out that he actually had a really difficult childhood and teenage life. Some people who were close to him referred to him as “the clown who cried out of misery after entertaining people at a party.”
This last Friday, I gave khutbah at a local Islamic School in Memphis, Tennessee. It was the students’ last day of school, and I had to come up with a topic that would be 1)appetizing to 5-13 year olds 2)short enough that they’d listen and 3)easily understood by elementary/middle school brains. I sat on Friday morning, a few hours before jumuah, staring at a blank page on my laptop’s screen. What would be a good way to encourage these kids towards piety?
Giving good messages through good humor while still abiding to Islamic principles is a fine art, not mastered by most. The brothers from