are we?

```بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم```

Assalamuaalaikum semua.. Asma tgk satu video ni, tajuk dia: Heroes of Islam by Syeikh Zahir Mahmood. He gave a talk in London. Dan Asma sgt lah tertarik sbb pertama: banyak kisah2 teladan drpd tokoh2 Islam. kedua: sbb dia ada English accent.. (hihi)

Apa itu "are we Men of Action" yg kita nak bincang hari ni?

Jom iqra'..

Have you ever wondered,

Why are we being oppressed? Why doesn't anyone do anything about it? Is there no one out there to stand up for us? And more important: where is God's help? He promised us! Didn't He promise us? Where is His help? [now before you guys go crazily angry with me for saying that, read on..]

Question: Why are we being oppressed?

I'll give you an example to answer this question.

Example: The ppl of Nabi Nuh a.s and Nabi Lut a.s; or modern day examples: Tsunami, earthquakes, typhoon.

What do these examples have in common? No relation at all you say?

Look at Nabi Nuh's ppl. There was a massive flood. Why? Look at Nabi Lut's ppl. They were perished by the turning of earth unto them. Why? The tsunami that hit Acheh, the earthquakes in China, the typhoon in America. Why, why, why?

They were all reminders of God. What happens when you sin? Allah reminds you. Now just bcuz it happened in US, it doesnt mean there are a lot of sinners over there and not here(pointing to myself). Allah is showing the whole world, reminding the whole world to go back to the right path. Allah is showing He has the power. Allah is telling us: Come to me, for I am very powerful.

Every time there is a disaster, it doesnt matter wether big, global ones like typhoons or small, personal ones like failing an exam, what Allah is hinting by giving us these reminders is for us to renew our faith.

So, why are we being oppressed? Now u know: ITS A REMINDER.

NEXT!!

Since you already know oppression serves as a reminder, what do we do after getting reminded by God Himself? WHAT CAN WE DO once reminded?

Allah swt said:

Ya Ayyuhal Lazina Amanu, Aaminu..

"O you believers, believe!"

Or in Malay: "Wahai org2 yg beriman, berimanlah!"

Now, why did Allah say that? I mean if you're already a believer of course you've already believed right? There could not be a person who is a believer but did not believe. It doesnt make sense. What did He mean?

Let me give you an example to answer this question.

Example: You know a man, he's kinda, erm, you know, he's one of those "aww~"

He's a liitle bit of a sissy, to say the least. Or in Malay: sotong, mak nyah, pondan.

And ppl come up to him and say: "Be a man!"

Now, what do these ppl mean, be a man? He's already a man! It doesnt make sense. Ah, but what they meant was, ACT LIKE A MAN.

End of example.

So now you know what Allah meant by "BELIEVE." Allah meant ACT LIKE IT!

Now, moving on.. The next question, which also happens to be the main point:

How do I act??

There are several things you can do. Of course you can do more, but let's trace the basic steps:

[NUMBER 1: GO BACK TO HIM]

Ah~ This is where hadeeth and stories from al-Quran come in.

When you ask how to do this, how to do that, you go back to al-Quran and Hadeeth. There are many examples we can learn, or better yet, we already know most of them. So to act like a TRUE believer, follow the examples of the past.

Observe them, take note, motivate from them, inspire yourself, try doing it. Little by little.

The reason why these stories were recorded is so we can inspire from them. Yet what happens to us? We get this 5 minute buzz, something's welling up inside, oh yeah, its welling alright, welling up, welling up, and then.. gone. Take it seriously, because today we're facing a lot of problems, but one day an Abu Bakar will come save us, an Umar will come, a Khadijah, a Fatimah will come and save us! So learn, and translate what you've learned into actions.

And you know what? You know what's the sweetest thing is? You know what Allah is doing? He makes it easier for us. SUBHANALLAH, ALHAMDULILLAH. Not only did He tell you what to do and not to do, He sent Prophets as examples, He makes us love goodness and hate evil. He promised us reward with Heaven and threats us with Hell. My friends, He makes it easier for us to do good. Imagine if He didn't promise us Heaven, YA RABBI, na'uzubillahiminzalik, I think no one would ever submit to Him. But He knew, He knew what we are, He knew how weak we are. And so He helps us in our jobs. He doesn't need to, it's already our job to serve Him but He helped us in so many ways, just to make it easier.

Could someone NOT love Allah for that?

[NUMBER 2: DON'T JUST SAY IT, DO IT, BE IT.]

Don't just say stuff and not do anything(pointing to myself). Yes, revolution comes through actions, not words. If revolution is through words, then we would have a revolution every hour. Because we are very good at talking, aren't we?

The help of Allah comes when we act. How many ppl, you and me, complain about things but didn't act? Submit to him now!

What's that? You've already submitted to Him you say?

Bollocks!(liar!) You think you've followed Him enough? You think what you did is enough? Look at those around you. Look how you treat them. Look inside you. Look at how little your faith is.

You expect Him to help you when you're hurting other ppl with your words and actions? You expect help to descend when you didn't do anything? My God, we really are the most stubborn of creatures, aren't we?

Has this ummah paid zakah and Allah withheld His help? Has this ummah prayed like they should and Allah still withheld His help? Has this ummah concerned for humanity and Allah still withheld His help? Has this ummah made Prophet saw their role model and still withheld His help? What are we doing? Nothing. And we expect His mercy?

Or do you have this warped perception that Allah is somehow OBLIGED to help you? As though we are Allah and Allah is our slave??? We must understand we are the slaves. Allah is Samad. We have to follow His way, and then maybe we could expect mercy from Him, not just by talking and going about daisily in our lives and Dunia is your maksud(purpose). You didn't do anything for your deen and now Allah is somehow obliged to help you? What a joke. There is something withhelding Allah's help, and it is mine and your actions.

Get His mercy by doing.

1.6 billion or 2.0 billion doesn't mean anything in the eyes of Allah.

which brings us to [NUMBER 3: QUALITY NOT QUANTITY, BE HEAVY IN THE SCALE OF ALLAH]

Allah said: "How often do you see a small group of ppl defeating a large number of ppl?"

Example: In the battle of Yarmuk. 140,000 Romans against 41,000 Muslims lead by Khalid al-Walid. What did he say to a young Muslim soldier when he compared the large number of Roman soldiers compared to Muslims? He said: Do not view it that way. Instead, marvel at how strong the Muslims and how weak are the Romans because weakness comes from being forsaken by Him.

If you lose Allah, you lose everything.

If you attain Allah, you attain everything.

In those times, ppl did not understand the concept of oppression without being avenged.

In Al-Muktasim's time: A lady was slapped by a Roman soldier in Bezantine. She cried out:"Al-Mukatasimah!!" Romans laughed at her saying: "He's far away, you think he's gonna jump on his black and white horse and come save you?"

News reached Al-Mukatasim, he sent out an entire army for the izzah of one single lady. MASYAALLAH. And he told each and every one of his men to go on a black and white horse. (sarcastic way of him to teach them a lesson)

Islam was a massive power back then, why is it not anymore? Because we lose sight of what's important, we lose sight of Allah. We didn't lose to the British, the Portugese, the French, the Germans, we lost to ourselves.

Be heavy in the scale of Allah.

Rasulullah had a dream. Abu Bakar was being weighed on a scale and on the other end of scale was all the muslims. And Abu Bakar weighed more. And then he dreamt of Umar and it was the same.

Why? Because these are ppl of quality, their concerns are for akhirah.

There is a hadeeth: Whoever have 1 concern for akhirah, Allah will suffice him all of his concerns. Whoever have concerns for dunia, Allah will give upon him his concerns, wa lam yuba'illahi fi ayyi waadin yamut. (and NOT Allah cares where he DROPS DEAD)

Take that Asma! He said He doesnt care where you DROP DEAD. adoiii~

Look at Abu Bakar: Aisyah narrates "my father was so thin that his trousers wouldn't remain around his waist, eyes sunken, cheeks protruding, fingers bony, and when he walks, he walks with a stoop(bongkok)."

Look at him ppl, he has the weakest of body but when it comes to Allah and Rasul, he has the strongest of will. That is a person loved by God.

Look at Abdullah bin Mas'ud: One day he was climbing a tree, and the Sahabah saw his thin shins. They laughed at him saying what thin shins you have. The Prophet came and asked them why they were laughing. They told him. And then the Prophet said: By ALLAH! If these shins were placed on 1 scale and mount Uhud on another, these shins will weigh more.

Look at Saad asawadi Sulubi, we all know about him.

These are the ppl that are heavy in the scale of Allah.

[NUMBER 4: ASPIRE TO BE THE BEST OF YOURSELF, DON'T RELY ON OTHERS TO DO IT]

When Rasulullah told his Sahabah to ask for Jannah, what did he say? He didn't tell them to ask for Jannah only. When you ask for Jannah, you ask for what Jannah? Jannatul Firdaus!!

Allah taught us in the Quran: Ya Rabbana hablana min azwajina..(so on)..Wa ja'alna minal muttaqeena imama."THE LEADER OF THE GOD-FEARING"

Not Wa ja'alna minal muttaqeen(GOD-FEARING) only, but muttaqeena IMAMA.

the famous kak bee

Says Kak Bee: Do you think Allah has sent us these many Prophets just so that we can be a mere common muslim? No, we must be the BEST of muslims, pray the best, study the best.. we are the best.

Why must we go expecting other ppl to be the best? Because Umar is dead, Abu Bakar is dead, Muhammad is dead. (excuse me) They're not gonna come today. WE have to come today. WE are the heroes of Islam.

[NUMBER 5: PUT BACK POSITIVE ENERGY IN SOCIETY BY UNITING]

Give salam when you meet is the basic thing to do when you meet each other. Cant? Then smile. Cant? Then give a nod. Cant? Then at least dont look away in an unfriendly manner(in Malay: menjeling). Cant? Then you can just die. (excuse me)

How do we unite? Ppl are always saying unite unite unite. But on what base? Syiah with Syiah? Sunni with Sunni?

Allah defines us as UMMATUL WASOTA, "moderate ummah"

What is our moderation? Its Allah and Rasul. So unite on that base. I am friends with you, I am okay with you because you and me have something in common: Allah and Rasul.

Allah and Rasul. Allah and Rasul. (say that 20 times more)

If you want to look for differences, there will always be one.

From the smallest of differences to the largest.

First you go: You are a non-practising Muslim, I'm a practising Muslim.

Then you'll go: You are a Syiah, I am a Sunni.

Then: Eventhough you're a Sunni like me, but you're a Pakistani, I'm a Malay.

And then: You're a north Malay, I'm south.

Then: You like to talk, I like to shut up.

There are always labels to set us apart. Focus on the positive and you will get positive.

If Allah and Rasul is our focus, we unite on that base, we act on that base, we think on that base, the result will be a strong ummah.

PICK UP A PENCIL, MAKE AN ENTRY, OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND SPEAK UP, you have all these wonderful ideas inside you and all you have to do is this. Start doing something and you will find that you are joining a sea of ppl doing something too. You think it's you against the world? No, it's us against the world.

I'll end this terribly long entry(i'm so sorry for that), by this dua:

MAY ALLAH MAKES US PEOPLE WHO ARE:

heavy in his scale. AMIN.

keep us united in this dunia. AMIIN.

and reunite us in Jannatul Firdaus, the highest Jannah. AMIIN.