From Masjid An Nabawi Ash-Shareef

https://youtu.be/Ir_IfT4260g Auto-generated transcript: Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, Alhamdulillah, wa bilalameen, wa salatu wassalamu ala ashraf, bi zanbi wal mursaleen, Muhammadur Rasulullah, sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi, wa sallamu wa sallam, tasliman kaseeran kaseera. Umma baadu, for those of you who can recognize this, you know where I am, I don't need to explain, that is the bottom of the green dome, the raudha of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alaihi wa sallam, and I am in Masjid Nabiyyat-e-Sharif, Alhamdulillah, it's a beautiful, beautiful scene. May Allah bless all the people here. What you are seeing here is the sufrat, the dastarkhans, the food that is being spread out, and all of this is privately funded. There are families in Medina who have been doing this for literally centuries. We're right through Ramadan, and then throughout the year, every Monday and Thursday, the days of sunnah fasting, they give iftar to anyone who wants to eat. Nobody will even ask you if you are fasting or not. You can just sit down and you will eat, and there's beautiful food. I'm in this area which is normally an open space. It's a small courtyard, but they have these beautiful, these beautiful umbrellas that automatically open and shut. That's a wonderful sight to see also when it happens. So beautiful to be in Masjid Nabiyyat-e-Sharif. I remember the very first time I came here was in 1997, when my wife and I came here for the first hajj. And it was amazing. When I came to Medina itself, and then especially when I entered Masjid Nabiyyat-e-Sharif, it was like coming home. Now, I've been, I've traveled all over the world. I've been to many countries first time, and I know the feeling of first time. I know how it feels. It's some anxiety. There is obviously some excitement, obviously, but there is also anxiety. There is, you know, some level of, I wouldn't say fear, but, you know, you're wondering what's going to happen and so on. But here it was like coming home. And I'm coming to a place for the first time, never been here before. And this is the barakah of Rasulullah ﷺ and his beautiful maqam. Imagine, I remember 2008 when I came here, my wife and I, we came for hajj and I spoke at the International Hajj Conference. When we came to Medina after completing hajj, as we came over the little hill, and we could see the minarets of Al Hanuma Sharif of Rasool Allah ﷺ, I know the thought in my mind was, what is it about this place, which was a little oasis, unheard of probably at the time, which sent out the call for the oneness of the worship of Allah SWT, which echoed all around. And people responded and people answered and people continued to respond and answer, no matter how many people malign Islam, no matter how many Islamophobes they are, no matter what, people come to Islam, Muslims are Muslims, they are proud to be Muslims, they are happy to be Muslims, and they are people who come here, they flock here from every nation in the world. Every country. Every area. Every part of the world. As I said before, another reminder from Makkah, every complexion, every hair color, every shape of nose and eyes and mouth, every stature, the tall ones, the short ones, the large ones, the not so large ones, the thin ones, everybody from, you know, everything, they are here. If Allah made them, they are here. SubhanAllah, they come and they come for the love of Allah and they come for the love of his Habib, of Rasool Allah ﷺ, and they come for the love of the house of Allah and they come for the love of the masjid and abu-yash-sharif. SubhanAllah, imagine, what was it that made this happen? And… Because you're looking at a man who was alone and he had no resources. He had a vision and he had an aim which surpassed anything that anybody can imagine, but he had nothing to make it happen. He had nothing to make it happen. Yet, Allah swt has caused him to be the cause of millions and millions and millions of people, the 1.5 billion already in this world living, and imagine all the millions in 1500 years who came to Islam. We ask Allah swt to help them. We ask Allah swt to keep us in Islam and for us to die in Islam so we can go and meet Rasool Allah ﷺ in Jannatul Firdaus, inshaAllah. My brothers and sisters, the issue is to have a sense of awe and love and majesty of the place. And this is something that we have in both the Hanumai. And frankly, even though these are fabulous buildings, if you look at the buildings, if you look at the magnificent structure, if you look at the Haram Sharif in Makkah, it's like a city, literally like a city. Without a doubt, it's like a whole city. It's, you know, the electric power, you name it. I mean, everything is like a whole city in one mosque. But that's not what impresses. What impresses is the sense of awe and majesty. And that is nothing to do with the building or the architecture or the structure or how big it is, how small it is. It is the history. It is the sense of majesty that this house was built by Ibrahim and Ismail and this house was the first house built on the face of the earth for the worship of one God, worship of the Creator alone without any partners. And similarly, the Masjid al-Abaish Sharif was the masjid that was built by Rasool Allah . Imagine, he, his blessed hands, he would have lifted the bricks, because he was in the thick, he was always in the thick of it. He never stood behind and gave orders. So he would have lifted the bricks, he would have, you know, plastered it with mud plaster. He would have done physical work in this masjid. And then he preached from this mimbar. This masjid was the center of the Muslim community and became and was meant to be and became a model of what a masjid should be in any Muslim community. Our biggest problem today is our masajids have been converted into literally houses of worship alone. A masjid is not just the house of worship. A masjid is the center of the Muslim community. It is where, it's the beating heart. It is where everything that is worth noticing happens. And that is why it's very important for us to keep that in mind always. And to make sure that we, that we, you know, treat our masajid like that. Respect for the masjid, respect for whoever is associated with the masjid, respect for the imams. This is so important. I've seen it so many times where there is a constant struggle between the imam and the board of the masjid. Constant struggle. Because many board members, just because they pay the imam a salary, they don't pay the imam a salary, they want to treat the imam like a servant. Inna lillahi unna ilaahi wajih. You are insulting yourself, like spitting out the sun, the spirit will fall in your face. Right? Here is the man, you call him imam. You call him, he is our leader. And you order him around like a servant. The man, because he is poor, because he needs your money, because he needs some favor from you, he takes that treatment. But remember, the one he is doing imamates for is Muhammad Rasool Allah . The one who is doing imamates in the name of is Allah. Subhanahu wa ta'ala himself. Fear Allah. Fear Allah and fear the displeasure of Allah and the displeasure of Rasool Allah . If you are mistreating and ill-treating your imams, respect them. Show them respect. It doesn't matter if the man is old or young. He is the imam. Decide, you want him to be the imam, treat him like an imam. Don't treat him like your servant. Right? Similarly, the masjid itself. Keep it clean. Make sure that you take care of it. These places, these haram al-haram places, they are not for you. This was for me because I was we need off the floor. It is so clean. And always, not just us, and with millions of people, the footfall here is incredible. Despite that, there is not a crack in the tires. It's not just a matter of spending money. Yes, indeed, the Saudi government must be applauded and must be thanked for the billions that they spent on the upkeep of these mosques. There is no doubt about that. Absolute no doubt. The money is important. The money comes without any impediment, without any hindrance. It flows like a river. But, the people implementing that, that is the key. These are people, the poor people, young people, old people, wealthy people. I know people here who come and work as servants in the mosque, leaving very lucrative jobs in their countries. They come and spend a year, two years, and more years here just for the khidmat of the mosque. Just for the honor of it, the pleasure of it, and the importance of it. They come and do that. There are people like this. Alhamdulillah, may Allah bless them. There are people like this who do this just for the honor of doing it. I ask Allah to help us to honor the masjid, to honor the people who are associated with the masjid, to honor the people who take care of the masjid, to honor the imams, to honor the Quran al-Kareem, to honor the halaqas and the jalsas and the classes of the Quran and the sunnah, and to send and salat and salam on Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahibu salam. Allahumma salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi Muhammad kama salli ta'ala idh-rahim wa ala alihi wa rahim wa inna kafidun majeed. Allahumma barik ala Muhammadin wa ala alihi Muhammad kama barakta'ala idh-rahim wa ala alihi wa rahim wa inna kafidun majeed. I'm sitting literally, I'm looking at the beautiful green dome as I'm sending durood and salam wa salam knowing that anyone from anywhere in the world can do exactly the same thing and their salam will be brought here just like mine is being taken there by the angels that Allah has appointed. So do that. Continuously send salat and salam on Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Wa salamu ala nabil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahibu ajmain bi rahmatika ya rahman wa rahmeen wa alamdilillahi rabbil azameen wa salamu alaikum.