Salaam alaikum or Rahmatullahi or Varakat. It's Millahi Rahman Rahim in the name of Allah Almighty, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Al Hamdulillahi was Salaam Ala rasulullahi was habi ajmain. My brothers, my sisters, it is actually an honor for me to be here this evening. When they say Blackburn, it is not befitting to say Blackburn in some circles without saying Sharif immediately after that.
Have you heard it Because of the number of Muslims here, because of the number of masjids here, because of the number of institutions here? I've heard people from far and wide saying we're going to go to Blackburn. You know why? Because we will be able to raise our children a little bit better. Well, you can raise your children anywhere, insha'allah, by the help of Allah, if you're serious about it. And today I want to talk about something very, very
interesting. Do you know this event is actually an Abdullah aid event? How many of you have heard of Abdullah aid before? Put up your hands. Not many. OK, put your hands down. And that's why we're here to tell you Abdullah Aid was founded by brother Shakil when he lost his son Abdullah, who was a few years old, to a muscular condition whereby it's called a spinal muscular atrophy SMA. He lost his child. He couldn't believe it because Allah had blessed him with everything.
He had the world basically in his hands, something that a lot of the young people would desire for. He had it already. But when his little one was diagnosed with a sickness and illness, he was helpless when the doctor told him he's got a few months to live. What? Who do you think you are? Are you Allah? That's what he said because he was upset. And obviously the doctors are not always correct. How many have been given a few hours to live and they're living right now.
They're probably attending this function, right? So it happens that sometimes when Allah wants goodness from someone, he starts the path in a way that looks very negative. How many of us have turned to Salah and prayer, have improved ourselves in our own personalities and characters after we've lost something or we've suffered?
This afternoon I was speaking in Salat Al Jumah in Preston and I said sometimes people are brought to the Masjid by Allah because Allah inflicted them with some harm that nobody could
help them resolve. They knocked on every door and none of those doors opened until they came to the door of the Masjid. When that flung open, as they entered the Masjid, they say Allah Muftahali, Abu Ahmadiq, you know the dua when you enter the Masjid, O Allah, open for me the doors of your mercy, that's Allah. So doors of mercy are open through prayer. Sometimes when we're far away from Allah, Allah causes something to happen in our lives when he loves us in Allah
either. Ahabbab de Nittallah. The Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Salem says when Allah loves his slave he tests him with tests and more and he gives him a greater reward the greater the test. Hence look at the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Have a look. But the tests he went through, The challenges, the difficulties, the hardships, Do you know what he said? Oh Allah, for as long as you're pleased with me, I don't mind all of this. I don't mind if you're pleased with me.
It's OK. Homeless person, no food, struggling with bad health. Imagine someone had to whisper in your ears for you is Jannah. You would smile and be excited, living under a tree, struggling with the cold. But you know, hey, there is a beautiful place I'm going to be in for eternity. I'd rather have that than here. But man is such. When you have everything laid down, sometimes you tend to forget Allah. You dress in a way that Allah is not pleased with you.
You speak in a way. It's displeasing to Allah. You carry yourself in the way, Displeasing to Allah, your relationships, displeasing to Allah, your connections, your business dealings. Displeasing to Allah. Why? Because everything is there on
the plate. So Allah says I'm going to take one thing, two things, three things, everything away 1 by 1 until you come and realize you know what everything is from Allah. Ultimately I've got to go back to Allah. That's why we as Muslims are taught to say the term Innah Illahiwa Innah Ilaharaju. We belong to Allah and unto him is our ultimate return. My brothers, my sisters. When little Abdullah passed away, brother Shakeel was broken.
He decided already that I am going to make sure I help all those who whose children have a similar condition, not knowing that it was just the beginning. And so, being a successful businessman, he started with his own wealth to assist people, reach out to people, connect people. Very soon everyone else wanted to participate in it. He formalized the structures of what is now known as Abdullah Aid, and things began to flow. I didn't know of Abdullah Aid
either. But then he had another child, Mashallah, and then he had another child, Subhan Allah. That child, Mariam had a similar condition. And I'm not going to go into details, but trust me when a few years are back, medicine had said there was absolutely no cure for this. Just a few years later the man broken once again and that's when I got to know him and I met the brother. I told him don't worry, Allah is there. Cure is in the hands of Allah.
Don't give up By now he'd helped hundreds if not thousands of people in different countries of the world. And I said one thing to him, my brother. Allah helps those who help one another. Khan Allahu Fion Al Abdi ma Khan Al Abdul Fioni Ahrii. Allah will help those who help others. You have been helping others for a long, long time. I don't think Allah's going to let you down this time.
But how? It was impossible and subhan Allah there was 1 injection or therapy that was required that costed a lot and unfortunately it was not on the NHS list and it was not possible to pay for it for whatever reason. And so it was delayed and what that would have done for the child is it would have stopped the atrophy at that point. So if you've lost your legs, you've lost them, but you won't
lose anything else. If you've lost more than that, you've lost it, but you won't lose more after the therapy. Again broken to say we've got the money, we've got everything, but we cannot get access to this jab. I said, Brother, I'm sure Allah has a way. You know when someone of deed tells you bear patience, bear patience. What do you mean bear patience? How long should I bear the summer fork?
For As long as you can. Allah rewards those who bear patience even if their problem is not resolved by mere virtue of them being patient on the Day of Judgment. Allah will say I didn't resolve your matter, but I'm going to reward you with paradise because you were patient in Allah says Allah recompenses those who bore patience on earth unlimited in an unlimited fashion. There's no limit to it. Allah does it Himself. So Allah Almighty in his infinite wisdom knew what he was doing.
We didn't. But I knew I had to tell the brother. Bear patience. In the meantime, I got to see the activities of Abdullah Aid first hand and I told him. My brother, you do visit so many countries. Either you join me or I join you when I visit Africa. Let's go. Let's see. Perhaps we can do something in a bigger way. And mashallah, we visited Nigeria, we visited the Gambia, we visited Sierra Leone, we visited various other places and everywhere we went first hand.
I saw how the donations come in, how they are channelled, how they are spent and I felt very much at ease. Why? Usually when you hear about charities, you don't know who's at the top. Usually when you hear about charities, I'm not saying that they're corrupt, all of them, but sometimes you don't know what might or might not be happening. And as they grow bigger and older, they sometimes become a little bit more, you know, should I say relaxed regarding
certain things? Not as stringent as they were at the beginning, but then I saw the brother with his own resources fill the gaps and I said Subhan Allah, this is a course to to to assist in the meantime one day he tells me Guess what, there is a new injection that has come up and we just managed to be selected as one of those for the trials. Nick of time that one injection did not stop the atrophy.
My brothers, my sisters, instead of stopping it, it started reversing the effects of their entire atrophy. So although the legs had almost lost, whatever they did, the muscles were being rebuilt slowly but surely. Now do you understand why Allah blocked this and blocked that and blocked that? Because first door closed, second door closed, third door closed, 4th door closed. Allah knew that the fifth door is to flinging open wider than all four put together. That's why.
Why am I saying this? The theme of tonight's event is healing through helping you help others. Allah helps you, but you heal at the same time. Did you know that when you assist others, the fulfilment that you get within you is something that releases some form of whatever it may be. I'm not a doctor, but I do know spiritually you are fulfilled to a degree that you begin to appreciate the small favours of Allah in your life and consider
them large and very big. Go and see the children crying across the globe. We went all over, We've been to the Middle East, we've been elsewhere. I've been with Abdullah Aid and I wouldn't go and waste my time if I thought that there was anything wrong with such an organization, such a charity. And Mashallah Tabarakala, the work not second hand, first hand done reaching out personally to people, delivering the goods to the people. Subhan Allah, what joy and fulfilment I got, I can't even
describe. And yet I was there in my own way as a volunteer. Later on, I agreed to become an ambassador honorary to say, inshallah, we'll take this course, we'll work for it, we'll actually promote it, let the people know who and what Abdullah aid stands for, where it came from, who is behind it, what they do and what they've achieved so far and what they're aiming to achieve.
But in your lives, my brothers and sisters, it's impossible not to have a problem or an issue or a difficulty or hardship. It's impossible. The reason is when Allah made you, He already wrote your examination paper before you were born and there have to be some tough questions there. Otherwise it's not called a test. Allah says we created you to test you. If Allah says He created you to test you, you're going to have
some difficult questions. When you have an examination at school and all the questions are quite easy. What happens to you? Even if you've got 100%, everyone else has 100%. So the horse and the donkey are tied with the same rope, right? No one knows the difference. But when you have difficult questions, five people in the whole hall got all of them right. And now we're talking about the horses and subhanallah.
A few of them didn't even know what language the paper was written in because they've been sleeping, pretending like they attended all the Zoom lessons and they didn't. You know what I mean? But my brothers, my sisters, when Allah has written your test, your hardship has to come. It's impossible for anyone. No matter what level you're upon in terms of physical fitness or wealth or social standing or religious standing. You have to be tested by Allah.
And one of the ways you will assist yourself in resolving your own matters and problems is by assisting others. Help others and Allah will help you. Help others. Allah will help you. You have a major disaster. You can sit and be depressed about it and cry and you know be feel pity for yourself and whatever else. Or you can get up and empower yourself with the Quran. Read the words of Allah. Look at the Serie of the Prophet Muhammad, his life, his biography. Check what he went through.
Stand up, find other brothers or other sisters of a similar condition or worse reach out to them even if it means with a kalima paiiba with a good word. Inshallah, things will be OK. What was that? Reassuring. I don't even know how. I just believe in Allah. And I come to you when you've got a big disaster and I tell you you'll be fine. I'm going to come here next year and you know what? We're going to go and have a race outside and this person can't even walk right now.
What did you do? Put a smile on their face, gave them hope, Did you know? And we've all seen it through COVID that the psychological condition, he determines it to a great degree, Whether or not you're going to heal the way you should. Imagine when people dump you into a small little dock and they don't want to even come anywhere near you, you're half dead. You'll be fully dead. You'll be fully dead because you've got no one to talk to, no one to look at.
Your loved ones are not nearby. There's nothing happening. And what happens? You're gone. May Allah grant Jannah to all those who passed on during this virus and mellah eradicated completely for all of us. Mellah grant Shifa and cure to all those who are struggling not only as a result of the virus but any other sickness or disease. Just that dua the angels say oh Allah, give this person better than what he's asking for, for
the others. So make a dua, you will be healed through helping others and if you make a dua for someone else for their cure or their goodness, do you know what will happen? The angels are making a same or a better dua for you. So when you say shafaq allahu, may Allah grant you shifaq. Cure goodness, good health, good condition. The angels are saying, oh Allah, give this person a better condition.
So what happened? You were healed by virtue of you having made a dua for someone else, but that's got to have an element of selflessness in order to achieve that. If you are selfish, the day you're struggling, you're alone. You never reached out to others, and guess what? It's very difficult to interact with people, very difficult to interact with people. It becomes more and more difficult. Some are slightly easier, but generally it's not so easy. You have friends.
You're bound to have misunderstandings. One day. Solve it. This life is too short. Resolve it. Give and forgive. You may not forget because you're a human being, but let it go. It's OK. I don't need to hold it. Is it worth it? No, it's not. Let it go in families. You will have disputes and misunderstandings in every single extended family. I have not yet, in my few decades of existence seen a single extended family without some form of politics.
Not one. If there are any in Blackburn, then you deserve the sheriff, my brothers, my sisters. It's normal. It happens. You're not the first. Why? It's a test from Allah. What are you going to do if I cannot protect myself from someone's harm? I need to. I need to perhaps take a step back. But you don't need to become ugly about it. I met a man, divorced, a very, very, very bitter divorce, and he comes out some years later when his ex, who had troubled him mad, was in need.
He says, I will ensure that I fulfil the financial needs and obligations of this woman by virtue of her being the mother of some of my children. What heart does it take? A person who harassed you, troubled you, you know, spread rumours about you, did whatever, but you have it in your heart. And you offer, you say, listen, I'm here to assist Visa Bilibna. Not even directly. Indirectly. I will make sure she's OK. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Some of us, even amongst our own close family, we're not even prepared to return a Salam. What healing do you want when you're not making an effort? The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam speaks about who should greet who you suddenly Mussorhiro Al Al Kabir. A young person should greet the older. Those in smaller numbers, meaning those who are sitting, those who are standing should greet those who are sitting, etcetera, etcetera.
There is a long narration, but he says, hey rukum manyabda obis Salaam. The best from amongst you are those who start the Salaam. Don't waste your time wanting to know. You're supposed to have greeted first. That's why I kept zipping. No man, anyone can greet anyone. Salaam alaikum, how are you? Peace be upon you. You know what? That statement is so powerful if only you thought of its meaning. Peace be upon you, the angels are saying, and peace be upon
you in a bigger way. Hey, I'd rather say it first any day. Salaam alaikum. How are you, my brother? Even if the guy is just looking at you miserable, no problem. I love you. It's OK, I'm happy, but I've got my own problems. But I'm OK, you see, because you need to have a good feeling to towards Allah. Allah will solve your matters. You will not heal if you are all alone. You need to interact with the right people.
Yes, if there are toxic people who are part of the major problem that you have, there is no harm in taking a step back. There is no harm in protecting yourself to a degree by taking a step back. Yes, but don't become ugly. As I said, don't become ugly. That ugliness will rebound. Make dua when you pray and supplicate. Learn to make a positive prayer. Pray for goodness. Don't say Oh Allah destroy them, oh Allah destroy them.
Oh Allah break them, oh Allah finish them, oh Allah crack them, whatever other words they are. No, relax, say Oh Allah bless them, guide them, soften their hearts, bring them closer. Oh Allah, help us resolve our problem. Oh Allah grant them goodness. You know why? When you make a positive dua, the angels are saying or will I grant this person the same if not better, Why should I waste my dua make negative to us? One day there was a scholar asked why is the Umar struggling
so much? Everyone's fighting each other. So he said. Because perhaps maybe people are all making dua of destruction of one another. That's what it is everyone saying, well I'll break him finishing and you've got problems with someone. First thing, you curse them. For what? Are we not part of a family? I guarantee you, if we could have the lineage of everyone seated here taken back 15 generations, there would be one man. One man, One man. Did you hear what I just said?
I guarantee you, no matter where you come from, go back 15. Let's make it 21, man. We are the children of that particular person and today, because we are 20 generations down, we don't even know each other. We don't even care for each other. We look at each other and we start judging each other in the nastiest ways, not realising that everyone has their journey. I'm not saying don't correct people, but I'm saying do it in a calm way. Everyone's got their challenges.
Everyone has had an environment that they've grown up in. Perhaps I have by the will of Allah, by the help of the Almighty and by the work of Abdullah Aid, I've actually been able to visit places where we've seen people struggle and suffer beyond my ability to explain to you. And when we have to say this is what's happening, it already waters down what exactly was on the ground.
So when I see something, and it's really taken me by emotion and it's really, really made me so, so soft, it's softened me. It's really made me realize so many things. I desperately want to carry that to you and to the world, to tell you that you know what, here is an issue, here is a problem. And this is what I've seen by the time I take it to you, be it video, be it, whatever else, be it tonight, it's already watered down. It's like a translator, you
know. I always tell people in some of the massage they want a translation of the talk and I say do not interrupt the main speaker, Let him flow. You can have a translation on the side, or later on someone can give a summary. The reason is when you pause for translation, half of the power of the speech is already gone. It's diluted. And if you were to keep on doing that, the translation itself is already 1/4 of what the man was saying anyway, and this is my experience.
In the same way, by the time we get to you with what happened in Indonesia or in northern Idlib or wherever else in Yemen or Afghanistan or whatever else it may be, it's already half 1/4 of the impact. But trust me, Anfik yabna Adama Unfik alaik Hadith Kutsi, Allah almighty is saying, O son of Adam, spend and I will spend on you. Spend and I will spend on you when you pledge to give to a good cause on a regular basis, be it a daily, weekly, monthly
basis or annual basis. If the pledge is made from your heart, Allah Almighty who has written that sustenance for the recipient will automatically have to give it to you because someone's risk and sustenance is coming through you. You have to receive and then they will get. Allah is not going to block them, He won't. Their sustenance is written. And when you pledged, Allah says we will give it to you so that you can give it to them.
That's why there was a brother opening a business a few years ago in South Africa. And I told him, he said can you advise me? You know, I I'm planning to give a large chunk to charity. I said no, my brother, no, my brother. The moment your business isn't just starting, be realistic. Just say 1% of my turnover, I'm going to give it. What did we just say? What percentage, What percentage? One 1% of my turnover, I'm going to give it now that's a that's
an amount, right? I was speaking to him not long ago. He said, my brother, the figures are in the hundreds of the millions. You know what? It's really crazy that 1% is mad, mad, mad large. I told him, brother, don't ever, ever give up on what you promised. Allah. He's watching. He knows what you said. It's just a promise that's over and above the 2%. Zakat. Zakat is not on your turnover. Zakat is on the small amount, which is your savings and whatever else in your stock.
This is talking about turnover. That's that's something very different, 1%, Wow. And I told him, perhaps Allah is granting you the baraka because of the good that you're doing. You've pledged and you're giving and Allah says I'm going to give so that it gets to those whom I have written their sustenance fault. This man is going to give them, don't worry, give a little bit. You watch the beggars in Africa where I come from, sometimes you give them something.
What do they do? Some of these guys, if you gave them A5 pounder, which is a lot. I mean, I'm just giving you an example, but it's probably smaller than that in most cases. Give A5 pounder or they've made A5 pounder in in a few hours or in a day. They will take from it a little bit at times the good from among them and they will give even a pound. If that guy gave a pound out of 5 lbs, what percentage of his earnings did he give away?
20%. That's way bigger than a guy who has 20 million and gave away 100,000. You follow what I'm saying and that's why in one of the battles when the prophet Salallahu Alayhi was asking for donations and he clearly said then we need the wealth, we need whatever we can gather because we have a cause here to protect. The Dean of Allah and one of the Sahaba worked all night. He came the following morning, he was paid with a measurement of dates. He brought that measurement of
dates. In fact he had two. So he kept one and he gave one to the Prophet. Salallahu sallam. And he said, oh messenger, this is my contribution. A few kilos of dates. A few kilos of dates. So one of the hypocrites commented they were laughing at him and saying in Allah, Allah raniyan Ansari, what does Allah need? This guy's few kilos of dates here.
Guess what happened? Verses were revealed in the Quran that we read up to this day where Allah says those of you who scoff and laugh at these little donations that people have given Allah will make them a laughing stock at some point. Do that. The man gave 50% of his earnings. Allah looks at the percentage, not at the figure. And Allah looks at the sincerity, not at what you've done. It's the near. It's the intention that matters. So my brothers, my sisters, let's develop a culture of
giving, A culture of helping. A culture of volunteering with our own means. A culture of being there for others, starting with our own families, even if it's just a good word, A culture of saying a good dua for people, a culture of developing ourselves and becoming human beings who have beautiful hearts. When someone sees you, they feel happy. They know this person's not going to harm me. That's the true meaning of a Salaam alaikum. Peace be upon you.
Means what? This is the opposite of war. I guarantee you that me. I'm not going to harm you. I love you my brother. I'm not going to harm you if we feel the genuineness of that Salaam the prophet Salallahu Salaam says Allah I do. Look. Umm Allah Amrin, should I not show you something? If you were to do it, it would result in deep love and affection between you as an ummah genuine care for one another. Spread Salam amongst yourselves. Salam means beginning with Salaam Alaikum greet.
Have you noticed nowadays people don't greet, they just don't greet. And if you greet, they look at you like you're an alien. Have you seen that it happens more and more. Salaam alaikum. They pretend like I don't understand you're Russian, by the way. But what's wrong? Greet each other. Allah, make things easy for all of us. I told brother Shaquille that I speak for about 30 minutes and I've got this little clock that
told me it's 30 minutes. But inshallah, my brothers, my sisters, the idea here we have gathered today in order to thank Allah for allowing us to be used to serve His cause, for allowing us allowing us to take part in goodness. There are so many aid organizations. Try to donate to as many as you can for whatever you are comfortable with. But make sure you donate, make sure you give. And when you give, a love will give you. It's not just about this zakah.
Maybe I should talk about that for a moment. Zakah is a small percentage. In most cases it's approximately 2 1/2 percent. It does go beyond that for some who are in mining, some who are in farming, etcetera. But in most cases it's 2 1/2 percent of a certain type of wealth that you've maintained over a year that never belonged to you. It was always a must. So by you giving your zakat, the only thing you've done is you've just fulfilled something. Something that wasn't yours.
You took it out of your system and gave it to whom it belonged to. That's all you did. But the real donation is beyond that. The real donation is your money, your wealth that is yours, not connected to Allah, not connected to anyone else. How much are you going to give? That is the donation. Let me give you more examples of that. Salah, your five daily prayers, The far of this is the father. You have no option but to fulfill the five obligations.
How are you tested? By Allah, you're tested by what are you going to do on your own? You're coming into the Sunnah. Let's dive in. You've done the Sunnah. Let's go into the nephil. You've done the nephil. Oh, let's add Tahajudi and so on and so forth. That's the real test, Tahadi, you you went for Hajj. Hajj is the father. If it's father on you, it's there. You fulfilled it. Are you going to go for Umrah? It's voluntary.
It's not compulsory. So every pillar of Islam has within it something that is compulsory that's there and something voluntary. Look at fasting To fast the month of Ramadan is an obligation. You owe it to a lie. If you don't do it, you're sinful. But the test is are you going to fast Mondays and Thursdays? Are you going to fast 13th,
14th, 15th of every month? When non-muslim doctors confirm that this type of fasting or intermittent fasting or whatever else it may be is beneficial and much of that we start fasting, we start fasting. But the Prophet of Allah told us
this a long time back. My brothers, my sisters, even if you were to just follow that Sunnah without having known what the benefits are, he would benefit and the quality of your life would improve just as a gift from Allah for you for practising upon the teachings of Islam. That's why I started the talk by telling you that Subhan Allah, Allah Almighty has given us so much. Sometimes He takes things away in order for us to achieve a bigger, much bigger, much bigger goal that he wants us to
achieve. Don't despair. Don't despair. Your problems, your issues, your difficulties, your hardships. Allah will help you. Allah will solve them and in the interim, help others reach out to others. And inshallah, we will all achieve goodness. I pray that Allah grant every one of us alleviation in our own difficulties and issues, no
matter what they are. Those of you who are ill and sick, in whatever way, may Allah grant you cure and Shifa, complete and speedy those who have passed on from our families and from the Ummah. May Allah grant them paradise. May Allah make it easy for those who are left behind to go through the struggles of them not being in their lives anymore. But may Allah unite them once again in general ferdos. And remember, as the circle broadens, we should be worried about our brothers and our
sisters across the globe. And thereafter the circle becomes even broader where we care for humanity, be they Muslim, non-muslim, whoever they may be. And after that the circle broadens where we show kindness towards animals as well. That's a part of Islam. Do you not know of the narration where people achieved paradise by being kind to cats and dogs? Have you heard of it? When I read the hadith of the man who helped a dog quench its thirst, I think to myself that was designed by Allah.
Why a dog? Why a dog? One of the reasons is because it would definitely make clear that the intention here is solely for the sake of Allah. That's why if it was a lovely bird, colourful bird, and you rushed to help it, it would be different. Maybe if it was a beautiful kitten, maybe that looked so cute. Yeah, perhaps you know, but a dog painting stray dog somewhere in the desert for someone to reach out to it, especially as a Muslim.
It goes to show this was only done because the giver of the life of the dog requires us to try to save that life that he gave. And in return, Allah gave this man Jannah paradise. So what? If you're going to save the life of a human, imagine what you're going to get. Let me word it differently. If saving the life of a dog got the man paradise, what do you think saving the life of a human being will get you? And I Pella Grantas paradise I could only had or Salallahu Salama.