A Muslim must know how to be serious.

[mariam.]

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I would like to shed some light on the importance of "Seriousness"serious than the high percentages in our Ummah, then they will be more powerful and they will prevail. Don't under estimate your importance, because you are the meter by which the potential of our Ummah is measured. What does that mean? I'll tell you. When sociologists what to predict which country will rise in the following few decades and which country will fall, they look at the youth, they study the condition of those who will be in charge of the country in the future. Let me give you an example of how this was applied.

The Muslims ruled Spain for 8 centuries during which they built a civilization that was superior to any other European country at that time. The Portuguese were always trying to end the Muslim presence in Spain but they knew that they could never confront them with military. So they sent their spies into Al-Andalusia to investigate the condition of the youth. When the reports came in describing how the Muslim youth used to compete in memorizing Quran and Hadith, or practicing Chemistry and reciting poetry, the sociologist would conclude that its impossible to drive them out of Spain as long as their youth were that serious about self-improvement. The centuries passed by until the time came when the spies would investigate the condition of our youth in Spain to find a young man weeping because his girlfriend left him. There was no longer interest in knowledge or anything fruitful. They were no longer serious about life. Then, and only then the Portuguese sociologists wrote their recommendations stating that the time was now suitable to root the Muslims out. We lived in Spain for 800 years, and we were driven out in 20 days!

Now take a look at us, the youth of the Muslim Ummah, do you think we are serious about self-improvement? Do we feel that we have a mission to accomplish in this life? Do feel that we have a message to convey? Are we serious enough to take the responsibility of this Ummah from those before us and get it back up and running? How are Muslim students ranked in schools and universities? Are they serious about their education? How's your younger brother doing? Does he ever get up from in front of those video games? I’m not trying to depress you; there truly is an awakening amongst the youth of our Ummah. I would be denying a fact if I didn't notice that, but still we need to be more serious with our lives and dreams. They say that childhood is energy without wisdom, and being an elder means having wisdom without energy, but youth and early adulthood is the best time you could achieve the combination between both. So lets take advantage of it!

How big are your dreams? How dedicated are you to accomplish your dreams and your plans? Do you think you're too young to contribute and have an impact on your Ummah? Do you know how old Prophet Abraham (pbuh) was when he destroyed all those Idols and was thrown into the fire? The verse says, "They said, ‘Who has done this to our gods? He must indeed be some man of impiety!’ They said, ‘We heard a youth talk of them: He is called Abraham.’" (21:59,60). He was a youth, below twenty years of age!! You are not too young to contribute, but you must be serious about your mission in life, and dedicated to it. What about Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist pbuh) how old was he when Allah made him a Prophet? Allah says, "‘O Yahya! Take hold of the Book with might’: and We gave him Wisdom even as a youth" (19:12). Can you feel the dedication in Yahya the young man? Take hold of the Book with might! Come brothers and sisters, lets take hold of the Quran with might!! We aren't too young to do that, but we need to be serious and dedicated. We are over One Billion Muslims, but why are we so weak? Because amongst the things we lack are seriousness and dedication. Do you know what will happen to our Ummah if we aren't serious? The same thing that happened to the Children of Israel.

After the Children of Israel fled with Moses (pbuh) from Egypt, Moses told them to prepare to enter the Sacred Land, Jerusalem. He told them that they would have to fight the tyrant that is currently occupying the Holy Land, but how did the Jews respond? "They said: ‘O Moses! While they remain there, never shall we be able to enter, to the end of time. Go you, and your Lord, and fight you two, while we sit here (and watch).’" (5:24). They weren't serious, they didn't feel dedication to their mission. So what was Allah's response to this? Allah said, "Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years: In distraction will they wander through the land: And don't feel sorry over these rebellious people." (5:26). But why forty years? Allah wanted to replace this unserious generation with a new one that was more dedicated. So Prophet Moses (pbuh) spent this time bringing up a new generation and they were the ones that entered the Sacred Land under the leadership of Yusha (Joshua). So if we, the youth of the Muslim Ummah, do not get serious about our mission and about personal self-improvement, the situation will only get worse until a future generation arises that will be more serious, more dedicated and Allah will grant them the victory we wasted.

This is another example of dedication and seriousness. During the Battle of Uhud, many Muslims started to flee and the enemy started to focus their strike on Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). So the Messenger of Allah while defending himself called out "Who would push them away from me and he will be guaranteed Paradise?!" So a group of Muslims rushed to their Prophet fighting fiercely to protect him, they were all teenagers. They started to fall one by one, martyr after martyr, until the last one remained, his name was Yazeed ibn As-Sakan. Yazeed (rAa) fought and fought like a lion until he was overwhelmed by his wounds and stabs and collapsed. He fell and his face hit the ground. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) cried out "No!!! Raise his face from the dirt!! Yazeed's face should never lie on the dirt, raise his face!!" The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) took Yazeed's dead body into his arms, looked up and cried, "O Allah, I bear witness that Yazeed has fulfilled his duty! O Allah, I am pleased with him!" Yazeed stood when many people fled. He defended the Prophet and gave his own life willingly to protect this religion. He was serious and dedicated. Muhammad Al-Fateh (Sultan Mehmet Fatih) is the Muslim leader who opened Constantinople when he was only 23 years old. When he was a child he heard that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said "Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will that leader be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!" That was it for Muhammad; he decided to be that man. That was his call, that was his dream and mission in life, and he was serious and dedicated, and Allah granted him success.

You don't have to conquer a city to prove you're serious. Lets take some examples to show people that were dedicated in a different way. Look at Margaret Thatcher, she is a non-Muslim, but she was a great example of seriousness and dedication. When Britain was at war with Argentina she continued to wear only dark clothes for four years. Whether she wore dark or light clothes wouldn't have an impact on the battle, but it was to show her people that she was dedicated and serious, and that her life during this war has changed. Salahuddin promised himself not to smile until Jerusalem was liberated; he wanted to prove to himself that he was dedicated to this mission.

Once Omar ibn Al-Khattab (rAa) saw a young man walking slowly like a weak, sick person, and asked him, "Are you ill?" When the man replied with no, Omar rebuked him and said "We do not like, or accept that someone from the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) walks like that!" So lets get up and raise our heads, we've got a mission to accomplish. Look at Germany and Japan, how did they recover so quickly after World War 2? They had serious youth. They are non-Muslims and look at how they developed themselves. Imagine if we become as serious, not only will we excel materially but also spiritually, we will have a balanced civilization, we will deserve to be as Allah said about us "You are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah" (3:110). Seriousness!! Lets try to be a little more serious about our lives

[swinginjazz]

Assalaam Alaikum, sister. When I read your post, I was moved. The words are very powerful. Did you write it yourself?

[Lina]

:sl:

It's written by Amr Khaled.

http://www.amrkhaled.net/articles/articles335.html

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

Masha'Allah, powerful words. JazakAllah Khair for sharing sister...:)

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[syilla]

InshaAllah...thank you for the reminder

[- Qatada -]

:salamext:


Jazaak Allaahu khayrun ukthi.

[vpb]

Jazakallah for the post.

btw as you mentioned muslims in spain maybe you might want to watch this video :
When the Moors Ruled in Europe

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...25&q=the+moors

probably many of you have watched it, but just in case i'm putting it.

[mariam.]

:sl:

It's written by Amr Khaled.

http://www.amrkhaled.net/articles/articles335.html

:sl:
sister lina .. :statisfie thank you so much for your explanation.

[zaria]

Jazakallah Khair