Nouman Ali Khan is a young, dynamic daee, who approaches
Islam in a sympathetic, understandable and practical way. He moved to
the United States at a young age, and rediscovered the beauty of Islam
while in college, from which he was motivated to learn it in greater
depth. After studying Arabic in Saudi Arabia and later in Pakistan, he
founded the Bayyinah Institute, under which he has successfully trained
thousands to master the Arabic language.
While his dakwah activities are centred in the United States,
his lecture sessions, which cover a variety of topics, are available on
You Tube. His appeal largely stems from his ability to put religion in
the relevant social context – his realistic approach and acknowledgement
of the social background in which most people live – has made him
popular especially among the young adults.
HOTD: What is your favourite surah/hadith?
Nowadays it’s Surah al Qasas.
HOTD: Which of the Companions of the Prophet do you identify closest with or is your favourite?
Mus’ab Ibn Umar Embassador of the Qur’an!
HOTD: Who are your modern day role models?
People you guys don’t know. Friends that are much older and have
raised great children and I only wish to accomplish what they have with
their kids.
HOTD: Someone wants to come back to Islam but doesn’t know where to start. What would you tell him?
The fact that they’re reading this means they already started. Talk
to Allah and tell Him your situation. Ask Him for counsel. He will
bring people and opportunities into your life you couldn’t even have
imagined.
HOTD: What makes you stand out from other prominent dae’es is
your relatively young age. What made you decide to take this path so
early in life?
I don’t consider myself someone that stands out first of all. Its
funny you say relatively young age because I feel old. Alhamdulillah
I’m 34 years old and a father of six wonderful children. To be honest
with you, when looking back at some of the milestone decisions I’ve made
in my life, it would be extremely ungrateful of me to say that ‘I
decided to take this path’. The turning point for me was when Allah, in
His infinite love and mercy, blessed me with the company of remarkable
friends that lead me to discover some remarkable teachers.
HOTD: So how did these individuals influence your direction in life?
The Arabs say ما يخرج من القلب يصل إلى القلب what comes from the
heart gets to the heart. The sincerity to the religion my best friend
had was infectious. The love of Qur’an and Arabic (in order of priority)
that my dear teacher had was infectious. I just pray the infection
stays strong and lasts till my dying breath while Allah alone knows and
has known all along where I stand.
HOTD: Now you dedicate yourself full time to spreading Islam –
either through the Bayyinah Institute or your lectures. What led to
this change?
The decision to switch careers was a passionate one. I was in the
technology industry like so many others. I have had a full time job in
one form or another since I was 16. I was actually very grateful to
find a technology job during the first year of my 4 year college career
that served to pay for my education. I didn’t want to burden my parents
with tuition and since I don’t come from a wealthy background, I
understood the responsibilities my father had in raising and eventually
marrying off his three daughters. I wanted to support the family instead
of being a liability. My job was going well, school was also going
well but after doing some really cool Arabic studies with my teacher and
getting exposed more and more to the Qur’an, I developed some very
strong sentiments.
How come I’ve never experienced the Qur’an like this before? Why have
I and everyone I’ve ever known underestimated the Qur’an and
oversimplified its message? Something should be done about that!
I started teaching Arabic courses and khutbahs here and there and
more and more my heart wasn’t in my career. The short courses I was
teaching once in a while at local masjids were surprisingly successful.
I was more surprised by them than anyone else. I’ll make the really
long story short for this interview. When I did decide to take the leap
of faith and go full time into teaching Arabic as a career which would
fund my own studies of the Qur’an, those closest to me were all
skeptical. They had good reason to be. But I was confident in my plan,
my ‘business’ plan had been attacked left and right by my close friends
in order to further refine my strategy and by the grace of Allah, I dove
in.
HOTD: Most people, when they decide to dedicate themselves to
Islam full time, face difficulties at the beginning. Was it the same
with you?
The success of Bayyinah and my own popularity online is what most
people see. What my closest friends and family know all too well are the
toil, labour, sacrifice and difficulty that were all a big part of
making this thing work. I look back and I wonder how I and my family
survived the ordeal of the first few years.
Before moving on to the next question I’ll just say that I have
tremendous respect for socially responsible entrepreneurship. That’s
what I consider myself. I know that a lot of times our youth see a
success story and say to themselves. ‘If he can do it, why can’t I?’
Though I respect the enthusiasm and appreciate the sentiment, I want my
young brothers and sisters to understand that I had never worked harder
in my life until I started working for myself. I used to think working
40-50 hours a week with full time college was tough. When I started this
project, those days seemed like a vacation! I’m grateful that I
delivered newspapers in the dead of the winter in Queens NY when I was
in high school, that I ran around in a shoe store helping customers try
out different sizes, that I got yelled at everyday for messing up one
thing or another at a travel agency…the list goes on and on. I’m happy
that I was responsible for my own finances from an early age because it
gave me respect for work and a sense of responsibility.
HOTD: How does it feel to be so well known?
I didn’t go into full time Islamic work with delusions of grandeur
and fame. I just wanted to teach and provide a valuable service. I
honestly didn’t expect the popularity that Alhamdulillah I and our
organization have enjoyed. He is the one who gives honor and He is the
one who can take it away at any moment. But I do want to underscore that
the help of Allah comes to those who remain committed, serious,
optimistic and most importantly sincere. May Allah count us all among
them.
HOTD: You went through a confused period about Islam during
your teens which led you away from Islam for a while. Alhamdulillah, you
are back on solid ground. What advice would you give if someone’s faith
in Islam is getting shaky?
I don’t like the phrase “solid ground”. I’m glad you asked this
question because its something I’ve been meaning to talk about from a
number of angles.
Before talking about those whose faith is on shaky ground, let me
talk a bit about myself. I am a very average Muslim. Take the YouTube
fame and the conferences and seminars away, and I’m just a Muslim. We
are quickly turning into a culture where the famous and outspoken among
us are assumed better than the rest somehow. It isn’t healthy. I and you
should be afforded the same exact benefit of the doubt in regards to
our faith. You shouldn’t have bad assumptions about me and I should
reciprocate that about you.
As for people whose faith is on shaky ground I can only say a few
things in this brief interview. I meet parents whose daughter stopped
praying and covering or whose son was a hafiz of Qur’an and is now
immersed in bad company. The situation is heartbreaking but I’d advise
parents of those youth not to lose hope. Just don’t talk about religion
to your teen for a while and just be a loving friend and support. The
heart has to get soft before it takes advice. This may take a while but
your love as a parent will give you the strength to bear this painful
task. I plan to give a khutbah addressed to such struggling parents
this week.
If you are from the youth that are suffering from fluctuating faith
take a good look at what you do in your solitude, who your friends are
and what your day amounts to. Where do your eyes wander? What is filling
your ears? Spiritually intoxicating intake is destroying your chances
at appreciating faith. There will come a time when your heart will be
completely incapable of spiritual replenishment and even the mention of
Allah, the afterlife or the Prophet SAW will agitate you. Allah changes
the hearts but at the very least you need to change your environment.
HOTD: There is now a culture of “celebrity da’ees”. Are they a victim of their own popularity? What is your view on this?
I’m observing two extremes in our community. Either we love certain
figures to the point where it starts resembling pop celebrity culture or
we hate them to the core. People idolize someone to the point where
their expectations of them become unrealistic and the moment they
discover that the person they so admired is not that different from
themselves, they develop an extreme hatred for the same person they
loved overnight! People are just people. You and I do some good things
and those good things don’t make us angels. We do some bad things and
those bad things don’t make us devils.
We should have a balanced approach in our sentiments towards our
da’ees in particular because this stuff can start messing with a da’ee’s
head. Too much praise and shaitan comes to a da’ee and say, ‘dude you
are the man’. And the moment the da’ee agrees with that whisper, his or
her sincerity is dead and gone. From then on their supposed Islamic
work is nothing more than a popularity contest.
I pray Allah protects myself, my peers, Muslim scholars, khateebs,
young graduates from Islamic universities and all who are trying to
spread the word of Allah and His messenger SAW from this form of
corruption that can creep into the heart without one even realizing it.
HOTD: How has the practice of Islam impacted your character the most?
I’d have to say hands down my answer to this question is that it has
made me optimistic and that optimism drives my patience with difficult
circumstances. I beg Allah to make me more patient and grateful. I see
every challenge in life as an opportunity. I don’t let put downs,
hurtful words and criticisms get in the way of doing what needs to get
done. Islam has also given me the freedom to accept my mistakes without
hesitation. I don’t feel ashamed to apologize when I mess up (and I mess
up a lot).
Also Islam has given me a chance to see the bigger picture.
I’m not able to underestimate the value of what others might consider
little things. Everything is part of the grand plan of Allah and even
small efforts made for deen should be treated with the utmost respect
and value.
Monday, 12 October 2015
Last sermon of Prophet Muhammad in English
Here is a Last Sermon of Prohphet Muhammad In Enlgish
Prophet Muhammad’s SAW Farewell Sermon / خطبة الودا, Khutbatu l-Wada
9 DhulHijjah 10 AH (9 March 632) at Mount Arafat
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) undertook his farewell pilgrimage in the year 10 A.H. His farewell pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the most significant historical events in the minds of Muslims, for it was the first and last pilgrimage made by Prophet Muhammad, as well as being the model for performing the fifth pillar of Islam, the Hajj.
Prophet Muhammad’s final sermon was delivered during the Hajj of the year 632 C.E., the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah, the 12th month of the lunar year, at Arafat, the most blessed day of the year. There were countless Muslims present with the Prophet SAW during his last pilgrimage when he delivered his last Sermon.
Even today the Last Sermon of Prophet Muhammad SAW is passed to every Muslim in every corner of the word through all possible means of communication. Muslims are reminded about it in mosques and in lectures. Indeed the meanings found in this sermon are indeed astounding, touching upon some of the most important rights Allah has over humanity, and humanity has over each other. Though the Prophet’s soul SAW has left this world, his words are still living in our hearts.
After praising and thanking Allah, Prophet Muhammad SAW said:
“O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and TAKE THESE WORDS TO THOSE WHO COULD NOT BE PRESENT HERE TODAY.
O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and that He will indeed reckon your deeds. ALLAH has forbidden you to take usury (interest), therefore all interest obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital, however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer any inequity. Allah has Judged that there shall be no interest and that all the interest due to Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib (Prophet’s uncle) shall henceforth be waived…
Beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.
O People, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under Allah’s trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers. And it is your right that they do not make friends with any one of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste.
O People, listen to me in earnest, worship Allah, say your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan, and give your wealth in Zakat. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.
All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.
Remember, one day you will appear before Allah and answer your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.
O People, no prophet or apostle will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the QURAN and my example, the SUNNAH and if you follow these you will never go astray.
All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness, O Allah, that I have conveyed your message to your people”.
last sermon of prophet muhammad in english
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