‘And when the children among you have attained to puberty...’
[The Holy Qur’an, (24: 60)].
Youth is a very important step in the life of man. It is a stage where his intelligence is strengthened and where he is in a better position to understand practical life through reflection and analysis. If in his youth a person does not acquire a good formation, then he will waste his youth in vain and bad things, and this will put him in a dangerous situation, for his life will take a wrong turn (direction). But if in his prime youth the person prepares himself to follow the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and does the required preparation to take up his own responsibilities as they should be taken, it is then that he will be able to convert a dead nation into an alive one, through his good conduct and his enthusiasm to work — and this dedication of his become a model for others to follow.
History
has and will make mention of those youths who have and will serve humanity as a
whole, for these youths understand their roles in life and they do everything
in their power to improve the future of their nation by their good conduct,
their courage and devotion in (religious and material) work — in all phases of
their lives. They get also the faculty to control their mind, and direct it
away from all violence and banditry (because in tender age, a lot of children
have the tendency to amuse themselves or follow what others do, especially if
they commit wrongs).
Thus,
history shows us that nothing is gained without sacrifice, for the spirit of
sacrifice is found in man himself (it is in his innate character) and this
character takes form through a basic training. Once the youth is well trained
and has been embellished by high qualities of the body and mind, he shall
sacrifice all, even his very own life, to attain his objectives of prosperity
and stability of his country. When this happens, the young person in question
becomes worth of being called a youth.
A
youth is really the architect of national structure. Thus, it is important that
when this youth does a work he does it with discipline, sacrifice, vigour, patience
and especially he should know how to accomplish his work — he has the proper
knowledge of it.
Do you
know how is a house which has been built in concrete called? Another one built
with wood? Do you know another word to call them except being called a concrete
or wooden house? So, how will you call a national structure which has been
built on ignorance, lie, and dishonesty? Thus, all these depend on the
materials which you furnish to its construction!
The
fact that it is not easy, to attain a status like this; the youth needs a good
training. At the beginning itself, he must develop a physical vigour and waste
not stupidly his time in vain pleasures (such as cigarettes, alcoholic drinks,
dancing, gambling — like lotteries, betting on horses, etc. — spend the night
in clubs, discos, etc.)
There
is so much to say that a Friday Sermon is not enough to say that have to be
said. That which makes me very sad and concerned is the state of the young
Muslims, in which degrading state they have reduced the perfect religion
(Islam) to be. Even parents are not observing these sacred divine commandments
(found in the Holy Quran) and are not following the perfect model (the Holy
Prophet Muhammad — peace be upon him). We do not have to look further; we look
first-hand at the things which are happening in our daily life, here in
Mauritius itself. After having been victims to drugs, amusement, sorts of
vices; now people, especially the youths are being encouraged to get themselves
drowned in immorality, such as, the legalisation of prostitution and sodomy and
also, they are being encouraged to become players of lotto games and all sorts
of gambling.
A lot
of Muslims; be them men, women or even children; especially the youths are
falling prey to playing (and obtaining) illicit monies. Moreover the country is
filled with crime, robbery, rape, suicide, drug, alcoholic drinks which have
become a common routine happening. People are drinking all sorts of rum, beer,
wine and so on which are fogging completely their minds, turning them away
completely from morality and decency.
Life
is becoming more and more difficult and struggling, with the prices of all commodities
rising up in a flash (and this makes me recall all the revelations which Allah
gave me several times since the year 1999 till now, that Mauritius and the
other countries will witness such situation of crisis, where prices of all
things will rise up...)
Even
though prices of commodities are rising up, our Muslim brothers, sisters and
children are not taking any case of that. On the contrary they are spending a
lot more, showing their riches, and even though they may not be rich, they
spend much more than they can afford, thus doing wastage in all fields (not
only money).
It is
most sad to see what is happening in the Ummah
(Community) of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him); even more serious
what is happening to the Jamaat of the Promised Messiah (on him be peace),
where so-called great defenders of Islam have reduced to ashes his sublime
teachings — such teachings which are in fact a revival of the teachings of
Islam, of the Holy Quran. Will you believe how much show -off and wastage there
are in the Jamaat of the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) in such functions
as engagements, weddings and wedding feast (Walima)? There are those who have gone readily in hotels to
celebrate such events, with having slow music in the background and all
so-called defenders of the Jamaat of the Promised Messiah reunited, sitting
together with joy and contentment. In which level of baseness they have fallen!
Where is their so-called Amir's duty? Orders have been received not to invite
Munir and his followers. If it ever happens that we are invited, then they have
received clear orders to leave the function in question! But concerning Music,
this is allowed for them, in their perspective. Music can be turned on and these
people are encouraged to sit and concentrate on this Music. Thus Music has
become more important than people who have recognised the divine manifestation
— and you saw how this one engagement party turned out to be a piece of
show-off and extravagance where more than 200 people were invited to attend.
Where has the teachings of Islam gone — it has disappeared completely, it has
been ridiculed. Is Allah not in need of sending His chosen servant before His
wrath strike those people? Must a Warner not come from Allah to warn those
people? It is really sad and unfortunate to see the teachings of Islam trampled
under the feet of these so-called Amir or great defenders of Islam. Go and
perform the education of these youths found in the Jamaat through Tarbiyyat classes,
instead of spying what other people are doing, instead of backbiting, creating
hatred in the hearts of people who have the desire to follow the right path.
Thus
the youth, the one who have taken engaged himself to get married must take his
disposition also, and make his parents understand the importance of a simple
engagement ceremony, and an even simpler wedding which is filled with the
blessings of Allah and Divine favours. The youth must take the upper hand (if
his parents are not cooperating) to build his future. He must not let his Islam
die.
He
must be dedicated in his work; must be a person whom others can trust. He
must have a great spirit of sacrifice, and must be pious. He must avoid telling
lies. All these are essential in the formation of good character, without which
the future structure will be menaced. With all the necessary qualities, this
youth will be like a solid construction (like a concrete construction), who
will be a model for others to follow.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said: "You will not succeed in your duties, despite the riches which you possess, but you will succeed in your duties through the good qualities which you possess.
When
you succeed in inculcating these good qualities, these good values in you and
also, when you direct other youths, other people to inculcate in themselves the
same good qualities, then we can have great hope for the national collective
interest and the interest of the individual also. It is in this spirit which one
can change the destiny of a nation.
It is not so easy to obtain the spirit of sacrifice; one must have great training and behind the spirit of sacrifice there must be moral and spiritual strength, good conduct and honesty, it is only then that no trials of this world can harm you. The young people who have had the courage to demonstrate this perfect example have left their mark as an illuminating light for future generations.
Now, each youth of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam must make the necessary efforts to establish the unicity of Allah on earth. You must be kind and merciful towards the creatures of Allah. You must neither use your tongue nor hands to hurt others. Do not persecute others, but try with all your might to spread goodness everywhere around you. Do not talk in an arrogant tone (do not show arrogance) and do not hurt anybody, even he be your servant, or someone who works under you. Do not fool others, even if someone has once fooled you. Walk on earth with humility and gentleness and sympathise with other people in their problems, so that Allah may be pleased with you.
There are a lot of people who may seem polite outwardly but inwardly their hearts are filled with rancour, jealousy, and hatred and their minds are ever directed towards harming others. Moreover, there are some people whose exterior appearance is gentile, but they hold a wicked nature in them. Allah will not accept you as long as your heart is not in tune with what your tongue speaks.
Reform
yourselves and place your trust in Allah alone. Become like those rare youths
who wake up early in the morning to pray Salaat
Tahajjud, and who is busy worshipping Allah (make time to worship Allah
alone). When he does so, the youth will, if Allah wills, become such a person
who is blessed with good and true dreams, visions and also divine revelations.
Our elders have attained the ranks of ‘Abdal’ — and through their prayers,
remembrance of Allah and supplication, they have forged a strong relationship with
Allah and thus the divine light reflects on them and they become models and
guides for humanity.
Therefore,
you also, the youths, should become Abdal (dervishes; exceptional devoted
servants of Allah whose prayers are answered by Allah) in respect to the Deen
of Islam. An Abdal is a model of virtue. Do great efforts to approach Allah
more and more till people will recognise the truth of your piety, when they
will hear that your prayers are answered by Allah, and thus they shall come from
all corners of the world to ask you to pray for them.
O young
people, as from today, each of us, let us analyse our own conscience. Have we
illumined our own lives with these good qualities? Have we succeed in put
ourselves together and reaffirm our sense of duty and responsibility, having a
mind to serve others and sacrificing ourselves in the cause of Allah, by first
serving the people? Are we inculcating in ourselves really the sublime
qualities of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in our daily life?
With all these questions as guidelines, if your answer is yes, then you be
aware that the putting into practice of these sublimes qualities either
individually or collectively will render you pleasurable not only in your own
life, but moreover, you shall become a means to instill peace, tranquility and
stability in your surroundings, in your town (or village); in brief, in the
country as a whole.
A youth must become a good servant of Allah. A good servant of Allah is someone who establishes a special and privilege connection with Allah, his Lord. He will be able to establish this contact when he put his Islam into practice with his whole body, in all circumstances. The rewards and gifts which Allah has promised in the Holy Quran and which the Holy prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has mentioned in Hadiths applies for such a servant of Allah. Therefore, O my dear young people, putting in practice only a part of your Islam or with only a part of your body in a certain place, for a limited period is not wastage, but you may agree with me that this is just not enough. You must give your all (not a part of it) for your Islam and your Lord. Especially when we know that a hole in a ship can provoke a great shipwreck. Therefore, you must never underestimate a sin, for sin remains sin, and thus holds the ability to destroy the whole future of a person. The real taste to live in the pleasure of Almighty Allah is found in living plentifully our Islam, with our whole body, every time and everywhere.
O young people, never forget that when someone commits a wrong, a sin, Allah the Most High deprives him of the knowledge of religion because knowledge of religion is a light which cannot shine in the presence of sins. The one who commit sins does not like the company of the pious and hate their company. Thus people who commit wrongs lose all goodness in this very world. There is no success for such people and sins blacken their hearts, and when this happens, this darkness is reflected on their faces also.
In a
Hadith narrated by Abdullah bin Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) the Holy
Prophet said: "Through a good deed, a person acquires a light (‘Nur’) on
his face and heart. He is blessed in his food (and drink), obtains strength in
his body and people loves him. And when someone commits a sin, there is
darkness on his face and heart. And in his tomb also there will be darkness. He
is lazy, there is no blessing in his food (and drink), and normally people do
not like him."
Our
youths must be aware what divine favours are pouring down upon them and they
must inculcate in them to be thankful to Allah. In what way shall we thank
Allah? We must thank Him for everything that He has given us. There is nothing
on earth which we have obtained which has not come from Allah. We are high
indebted to Allah for all the favours which He has blessed us with, that it
will be impossible to count them. Thus, Allah the Most High wants it to be
grateful to Him and thank Him.
We
must thank Allah in three ways:
1.
With our tongue: for example, we recognise His favours with our tongue, and
express it: that it is Allah the Almighty who has provided with everything
which we possess.
2.
With our hearts: that is, it is not sufficient to express something verbally
without our heart joining in prayer to thank Allah the Almighty. Thus, we must
feel grateful to Allah through our heart also.
3. With our body as a whole: that is, we engage our whole body in such activities which will please Allah. We do not use any member of our body to do acts which will displease Allah. We do not look at, listen to, and speak nothing which displeases Allah. In this we learn to keep all parts of our body from all things which are hateful in the eyes of Allah and forbidden by Him.
Usually
what is important is that we show our gratefulness to Allah in our heart, with
our whole body so as to stay in the obedience of Allah the Almighty. This means
that, someone who engages himself in activities which is hateful in the eyes of
Allah; holds no gratefulness for Allah in his heart. Allah the Most High says:
"If
you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more, and if you are
ungrateful, My chastisement is truly severe." (Chapter 14 Ibrahim Verse 8)
When
we will have thankfulness for Allah in our heart, we will be able to express it
with our tongue and therefore it will become all the more easy to manifest this
gratefully in all our manners, ways of being, and activities. And it is this
which shall guaranty for us salvation in this world and in the next (the other
world).
"O
Allah! Enable us to engage ourselves in your remembrance, your thankfulness and
best ways to worship you." Aameen