alhamdulillah alhamdulillah alhamdulillah we thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for every single blessing that he has given us alhamdulillah for this beautiful magnificent amazing Gathering I am so honored and pleased and humbled to be amongst all of you today I am sad to admit this is my first first Mauna convention and I do apologize for delaying this was the first time I'm able to come and alhamdulillah Islam unites all of us right before on stage we had Dr alaf Hussein even though he looks like me but we are two different people he dresses like me we are two different people and Dr alaf and myself and you all we are all from slightly different places in the same Indian subcontinent but Islam unites all of us and even though my ancestors were from another place in the India subcontinent and I have to be very careful about politics because when I am an outsider I have to be very careful about internal politics so let me just say generically that I am so happy to be at Muna this particular week because I saw some images online that wall he made my heart jump for joy I saw a a a I saw a tyrant Flee for her life I saw somebody Whose actions were far from beautiful even if her name means Beauty but her actions were far from beautiful I saw somebody run for her life and wall my heart jumped for Joy my heart jumped for Joy I bades bades [Applause] bades and this is the Sunnah of Allah and this is the Sunnah of Allah Allah does not allow Allah does not allow tyranny to flourish and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala always takes into account the injustices of the tyrants and the evil people the amount of blood that was shed the amount of innocent Prisoners the amount of Pious people whose lives were unjustly taken W for the last 105 years we were crying when we saw what is happening there but the events of this week made our hearts filled with joy and we thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to see such a bright day and we make Dua for for the people of the land and for the protesters on the streets alhamdulillah alhamdulillah alhamdulillah say alhamdulillah alhamdulillah alhamdulillah alhamdulillah brothers and sisters my talk today will be short and sweet and it will be extracted straight from the Quran Surah verse 42 memorize it and we will extract from it a fstep strategy that Allah tells the prophet M the prophet mus was chosen by Allah to go to his of his time the of his time the Tyrant of his time and Allah said to him very few [Applause] phrases these are seven words and from these seven words Allah is telling Musa five strategies Five Points five methodologies do one 2 3 4 five in order to succeed and we will from this verse extract the five strategies of Islamic activism so please make a note of this make a point of this go back and study this verse and look at how M applied it in his life so that we can apply it in our lives the verse is as follows you and your brother go forth go to m go to you and your brother go to and go armed with my signs and never give up never become lazy constantly do my and worship me in this simple phrase in this simple Ayah Allah inst TRS M with number one go stand up and challenge do not be scared of f do not cower in silence Islam is not just about the private worship of Allah we must stand up publicly and preach against tyranny and Injustice when you see a you need to become a Musa when you see tyranny you have to stand up and preach against it Islam tells us whenever there is f you need to follow in the footsteps of M you need to go to m you need to stand up in front of f you need to try to stop the evil the Injustice of become active do not become lazy do not become cowards do not become scared you have to do something you have to challenge evil oh Muslims our religion is a religion of activism our religion is a religion of service our religion is a religion of community it's not just about worshiping in the Masjid it is also about bringing good in this and a part and parcel of our mandate from Allah is that we must spread as much peace as we can as much benefit as we can we cannot allow Injustice we must stop tyranny be active don't just sit in your house what was the first revelation of our Prophet sallai wasam after came down oh you who's covered up in a Shaw stand up and go outside and preach stand up be active oh Muslims the Quran is full of activity verbs go do pray fast be active whatever you do do do something do not just sit and give up do not just sit down and be lazy go do something we see the Tyranny around us we see the tyranny in our own land we see the tyranny in America we see the tyranny in Israel isab be active do something don't just sit around now what can you do everybody has a different role to play some people media journalism social media other people political lobbying other people education and preaching but something you have to do something and Allah created all of us with different talents some of you shine in some Fields others shine in others whichever field you shine in whatever you're able to do do something and do not trivialize the good that you do wall if the only thing that you can do is to help preserve the Iman of the Next Generation to raise a good family to contribute to your Masjid to volunteer in the Sunday School that is good enough because somebody has to do this job but you must do something Beyond yourself Beyond na go out and do something so the first commandment that Allah says to M go out and be active engage with the broader public do something let yourself become visible do not just lock yourself in your houses oh Muslims we cannot afford to be selfish about the religion of Islam the religion of Islam must be shared the religion of Islam must be made public and the only way to do that is to be active in our public spheres that's the first commandment and we translate this as be active number two you and your brother how many people did have on his side how large were the armies of f how many ministers did f have what is the size of the Elite Force of Marines Navy Royal Guards all of this becomes irrelevant when you stand up with your community even if it's just two people you and your brother of Musa you and harun you have to get other people involved and then stand up and preach the truth we learn from this Ayah that a part of Islamic activism is to gather the Muslims together is to help bring about a sense of community Allah says in the Quran cooperate together in good activities so the second commandment we have to get other people together whatever your project is whatever your good idea is you want to start a charity you want to build a Sunday school you want to raate awareness about festine you want to bring about a better system of government in your home country well then you need people to help you as long as you have people quality is more important than quantity you and your brother just two of you but you're going to begin the revolution you're going to begin preaching against F you're going to begin a trickle down effect that will bring about an entire change and so the second commandment that we learn from this is activism at a communal level you need people and you need volunteers and you need helpers you need an organization because all things require ire multiple groups to come together and in order to do so you will have to build Bridges you're going to have to win the approval of people and this is the reality of any group activism Subhan Allah in all of human history yes you have great leaders but those leaders require followers those leaders require people behind them those leaders require the the helpers behind them the and M you need a team you need to surround yourself with people that will help you and so that's why when Allah asked M to go to m the first thing he said y I need my brother harun I need an adviser I need a Helper and so Allah gave him harun we learn from this that activism requires Community activism requires groups of people to come together so that a change can be affected and once again what is that change every one of us has a role to play you decide what can I contribute bring together like-minded people and then get focused and go Point number three with my signs with my Miracles don't go unprepared don't go without a plan don't go without studying don't go without knowledge you need to have the aat of Allah now for M and harun the aat were divine Miracles well we do not have that type typ of divine Miracle but we have the ayat of Allah meaning the Quran and the ayat of Allah meaning the of Allah and the ayat of Allah meaning all of the knowledge that the prophet came with we have those aats so before we undertake a project before we go out and engage we must arm ourselves with knowledge with the Quran with understanding what we are doing we must must be prepared academically intellectually physic Ally we cannot walk in and challenge without having what we need and M and Haron had what they needed so when we are going to take on our projects when we're going to start our whatever projects they are we need to have a preparation idea we need to know what we are doing we need to have an agenda we need to have a plan we need to prepare ourselves with any preparation necessary and this is what Allah is telling M and learn the religion learn the Quran learn the have the aat of Allah subhah waala before you engage and as you engage follow those aat follow the knowledge that you have do not do something without knowledge because if you do it without knowledge without aat you will end up destroying yourself you will end up not benefiting but rather harming you must proceed with knowledge andm you must proceed knowing what you are doing and that's what Allah is telling M and go you and your brother with my never give up never become lazy never throw in the towel do not falter whatever you do do not give up and this phrase tells us an amazing reality Allah will reward you not based on the result but based on the effort Allah will reward you not based upon the end but based upon the procedure even if you do not see the end as long as you tried you are successful as long as you don't give up you keep on doing and doing and doing then alhamdulillah you are successful how many were the sahaba who passed away before the conquest of mekah how many were the sahabah who never saw the fruits of what they had done how many died tortured in mecah how many in the Battle of bad the battle of the battle of the how many died throughout all of those years are their lives in vain no of course not they are just as successful as those who conquered mecah Allah is not asking you to see the result Allah is asking you put in the effort never give up whatever you do the goal is bigger than you the project is longer than your life festine has been a project of the umah for more than 80 years three generations have gone by and Allah is telling us never give up do not give up keep on trying keep on striving try one tactic and then another and then another the goal indeed is the liberation of the land but whether we see it or not as as long as we put in the effort Allah will bless us so once you have decided your project once you have a group of people behind the project and you have an agenda and plan you have Vision you have strategy then Allah is saying do not give up success might be longterm success might be beyond your life that's all fine even if you don't see success if you tried you are successful understand this point sisters and brothers it doesn't matter if you see success it doesn't matter whether you're alive when mecah is conquered or not if you put in the effort you put in the struggle you tried your best Allah will reward you as if you actually finished the project even if you didn't finish the project never give up in fact the whole demonstrates this for us the prophet never gave up he continuously strived one issue after another no matter what happened when when the Battle of bad took place and then when the hij took place when the incident of th took place he didn't know what the next step was going to be but he kept on trying kept on knocking at different doors and this is the reality of our faith and tradition we live in very difficult time becoming very hostile to us islamophobia is on the rise the farri parties are all becoming more and more popular in Europe as we speak the far right is becoming the most popular in so many countries this very week more than 12 mid were attacked in England more than a dozen mid were attacked in England a sister had acid thrown on her simply because she wore hijab multiple sisters had their hijabs pulled off this is in England where as you know large percentages of the land is Muslim Subhan Allah what is the way to respond Allah is saying do not give up education preaching tolerance showing the reality of Islam we have to fight islamophobia through our actions we don't know which tactic will be successful we don't know which political party will be the most successful but we have to engage we have to try we can never give up this is the reality of our faith Dean and combined religion and spirituality combined and then the fifth and final Point never give up and especially never stop doing my never stop worshiping me and this least it is last on the list but it is definitely not least on the list and that is the constant worship of Allah subhah wa ta'ala activism must always have worship and I and Dua Salah and Quran you cannot have activism you cannot have political engagement you cannot have public engagement with the religion without private worship without a strong connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala no matter what you do make sure you are practicing Islam in your daily life make sure your Salah your Zak your your make sure your your make sure your Quran and your is down solid and that is why the first commandment given to the prophet Sall oh you has covered up stand the night in tud stand the night in tud the first commandment given you had better do your prayers on time there is no Islamic activism without Islamic worship there is no public engagement without private and connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala you must have the of Allah and the of Allah subhana wa taala when you engage in public activism now this Ayah mentions these Five Points here let us now extrapolate reality wise what do we do therefore in America in Europe across the world as I said first and foremost you need to decide what am I the most qualified to do where does my passion lie what do I want to do to contribute to the umah what do I want to do that is beyond my job my career my family my bank account how can I benefit the umah that is the question you need to ask yourself how can I benefit the umah and only you can answer that question because the umah needs benefit in many different fields the umah needs benefit in every single capacity whatever your job your career your family is there are things you can contribute even if you have no public speaking skills even if you are not good in engagement with the broader Society if you are visibly Muslim in your field if you are the best scientist in your lab the best engineer in your corporation if you're the most honest businessman in your entire Entourage of business people and everybody knows you to be a Muslim that is a contribution right there is a contribution your contribution doesn't have to be public speaking it doesn't have to be something that is in the Limelight it can be behind the scenes as long as you are contributing something to the umah once you know your passion once you know what you're interested in number number two get the people behind you this doesn't mean you need a large multinational corporation it doesn't mean you have to found MAA MAA is doing great work but you can do also great work with or without a large corporation with or without a nonprofit but you need a team sometimes that team is only your close friends sometimes it might even only be you and your spouse raising a children that is a project and that is great for the umah if that's the only thing you do that is a successful project and people need to do that but you have to have that vision and team so you and your team and then make sure you know what you are doing beti study what Islam says about this project if it is Corporation if it is NGO if it is Charity if it is political activism if it is journalism whatever it is find out what does the Shar say about this aspect what do I need to do to make it Halal what do I not need to do so I don't fall into Haram you need to learn the arm yourself with what Allah wants you to know if you're raising a family know how to raise a family what is the Islamic methodology what does the Quran and Sunnah say about children and by the way it's not as if you only have one project no we have all of us simultaneous projects that we are doing we have projects in our work projects with our family projects in our personal lives projects for the broader Community we all have different projects and for all of them we can follow these Five Points here so you and your workers find out what is the Islamic solution become active never give up never give up that is not a part of our trajectory not a part of our vernacular we will always strive to bring about positive change we will always try one tactic after another and if one tactic doesn't work we'll move on to a different tactic but we will never lose sight that we have a broader goal ahead of us and Subhan look even at the activism around us look even at the reality of politics in this in this country and in other countries 30 years ago 40 years ago who could have imagined the Muslims of this land mashallah thriving to this level it was not even in our wildest dreams Islam could be like this but still people strived people had some Vision they laid some foundation and based on that mahab here we are go ask the founders of munah when the first Muna convention happened how many people came and asked them could they ever imagine a crowd where 10,000 people have gathered together for the Mauna convention alhamdulillah that's what you call Vision you plan and you plant the seeds and Allah subhah wa ta'ala will allow those seeds to come to fruition you have to think Generations ahead or Muslims the projects not every project will be solved in your lifetime projects sometimes take a century or two projects are sometimes Beyond you he came after 97 years of being under Crusader control 977 years nudin zeni was the one who planted the seed nin did not see the conquest of al-a n did not see the freedom of festine but he planted the seed and that seed became Salah and Salah liberated we need to think like n zangi we need to think longterm and strategy we cannot be so shortsighted that immediately we will find a solution no gradual Victory is better than no Victory gradual change is better than no change and change must be done gradually and organically from within and before I move on I need to make a blunt plea especially to my brothers and sisters of Bangladesh learn from the mistakes of the Arab Spring oh people of Bangladesh learn from the mistakes of the Arab Spring see what happened our hearts were with the protesters our hearts were with what the people did we were all against the tyrants and rulers but unfortunately that entire region has been immersed in Anarchy and Chaos we need to learn from the mistakes of what happened there and some gradual steps and some freedoms is better than none so be careful be cautious and do not attempt too much change at once because it's going to backl flash on you learn to speak to the people at their level and bring them slowly but surely with you and do not become a tyrannical regime like your predecessors were because we see what happens when the realities are changed oh Muslims be careful of your own ranks for menting hatred and backtracking and Subhan Allah I know sometimes external forces are planted within us they are not a part of us and external forces are planted so that Islam is made to look bad we have seen video image and footage of some minorities being harassed in Bangladesh by people who claim to be Muslim we have to uncategorically State it is not a part of our religion to harass innocent civilians it is not a part of our religion to break down temples of other Faith Traditions it is not a part of our religion to harass and intimidate people on the street we all know this and if somebody from our ranks does this we need to St stop them and we need to come in between them and tyranny and Injustice even if their intentions are good their actions are bad and as we all know sometimes these people are not even amongst us they have been planted so that we have to make may look bad so be careful oh Muslims we do not divide amongst ourselves we are all against tyranny and Injustice we have to be United in our battle against tyranny and Injustice and then the final Point as we said is never ever forget your ultimate Victory is always in your connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala even if you do not get this dun the people of festine over 50,000 of them have lost their lives today 100 people died in an attack against a school every time we think Israel cannot stoop any lower and it goes even lower every time we think the red line has been cross they cannot do it and they do something even more evil 100 people lost their lives today Subhan Allah and yet still these are a people these are a people Allah has chosen them even though 50,000 people have died they have inspired 5 10 50 million people around the world people are embracing Islam because of the sacrifices of Gaza around the world Islam is now becoming something that people are interested in the the the is of the people of Gaza has been gained by the sacrifice of the people of Gaza their sacrifice has brought them that Isa which shows you you have to put in some effort and you have to sacrifice in order to get that blessing and Baraka from Allah subhah wa ta'ala the Iman of the people of Gaza is so strong even though their lives have been gone their Iman shines in spite of their death and they have inspired and they have inspired the entire umah never have I seen the umah United as much as it has been over Gaza never have we seen the emotions of the people rise up because of the people of Gaza and this shows you our strength is not in body counts our strength is not in physical our strength is in IM our strength is in R our strength is in tawa and the IM of the people of Gaza has shown around the whole globe and this is what Iman does follow that reality Andes Iman of the heart more than He blesses the strength of the body the people of Israel the armies of Israel the IDF it has more weapons it has more evil tyranny and yet the whole world has turned against them why because Allah has written that he and his followers will be victorious so be on the side of Victory be on the side of tawa be on the side of the people of Iman and learn from this reality oh Muslims alhamdulillah alhamdulillah we live at times where Allah has blessed us to be able to be active to be able to preach and teach to be able to bring about change Allah has blessed us to be in a land it has a lot of negatives but it also has a lot of positives yes there are negatives our country supports the apartheid regime of Israel that should make us very angry and we are angry at the same time our country also allows us to be active our country allows us to be a part of this country allows us to influence the system let nobody let nobody make make you feel guilty when you take your own Heritage and your right those of us who are Americans and I am an American citizen those of us who have nationality those of us who are part of the system we must for the sake of our Lord and for the sake of our country be a part of this system we must try our best to guide the system to what is to be more moral what is to be more better what is to be more noble and let nobody make you feel guilty for doing that this is our god-given right and it is our constitutional right we are Muslims we are Americans both of those things put together means I don't want my country supporting genocide I don't want my country supporting bombs I don't want my country getting involved in killing children how can I sit by and I see my country do this I have to stand up and go to the White House which is embodying and I have to speak out against that white house and I have to come together with as many people as I can and I have to gather my forces with the ayat of Allah with the knowledge of Allah and I have to influence the system I might fail in my lifetime I might not see the results but I'm not allowed to give up and as I do all of this I must constantly worship Allah I must constantly have a strong connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and if we do so brothers and sisters change takes a long while change is slow change is organic we have to be in it for the long run it's not a short-term Victory and I say to you again we are so happy that your Tyrant is gone but be careful because in the Arab Spring one Tyrant left and another came in its place we don't want that wall we don't want that if we don't want that then learn from what happened there and understand some progress is better than no progress and some victory is better than no Victory be gentle be easy be tolerant be compassionate follow the Sunnah of the prophet sallallah alaihi wasam and take the people with you as you go oh Muslims alhamdulillah alhamdulillah our religion teaches us that nationalities and borders are not as important to us as our faith are I might be from a different background than you my my people might be from a slightly different region than yours but what combines us is much more than what separates us what unites us is what makes us powerful and one We Are One um we are one people we are one nation and together inshal we will fight against all types of tyranny and Injustice together with the banner of Islam with the methodology of the Prophet sallallah alaihi was we will strive to make the world a better place we will strive to minimize the effects of we will strive to see Justice fill we will strive to see freedom for All Peoples on Earth and as we do this we must constantly worship Allah subhah waala that is what our religion teaches us that is what the of mam teaches us and that is what the of our Prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam teaches us oh Muslims I want to finish my talk today with a celebration of seeing the end of tyranny in the land of Bangladesh a celebration that indicates how much we love our Lord and Creator a celebration that indicates that we love Allah subh more than anything I want us all to join together with a loud that is going to demonstrate to the world around us we are so happy at what has happened in our land we are celebrating for Joy Allah is greater than any Tyrant Allah is greater than any Allah is greater than any evil person Allah is indeed the greatest so let us join together and let us from the depths of our heart celebrate the Praises of Allah with a loud are you ready brothers and [Applause] sisters I need a that the people in Bangladesh can hear even [Music] louder for [Music] [Music] [Music] the [Music]