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I would like to begin by reminding you of a supplication of the Prophet (SAWS[1]) that befits the start of the month of Sha’ban. The Prophet (SAWS) used to supplicate saying, “O Allah, bless for us the month of Sha’ban, and extend our life until Ramadan.” This is quite amazing; there is no other saying of the Prophet (SAWS) where he asks Allah (SWT) to prolong his life for any other purpose, except for Ramadan. The Prophet (SAWS) did not ask for his life to be extended until al-Hassan or al-Hussein grew up, nor until Islam became victorious, he only prayed for him to reach Ramadan in order to receive the great reward. If the Prophet (SAWS) was so eager to receive this reward, how much should we be repeating this supplication?

The meaning of ‘bless Sha’ban’ is to grant us during this month worship, prayer and fasting. By doing that, we will become ready for Ramadan, so we will receive the mercy, the forgiveness, and the salvation from hellfire. Also, so we will attain Laylat al-Qadr (The Night of Power), and we will end Ramadan with pure hearts, and a clean, white record, as white and pure as the clothes that we wear for the Eid prayer.

Today’s episode is a continuation of last week’s episode, where we identify the seeds that we planted, and see whether they have developed or not. In the last episode, we said that the novice thinks the seed is small, weak and buried in the earth. He looks at it hastily and loses hope because he thinks that it will not produce anything. He does not know that it is growing under the ground, and developing, and soon it will rise, move the dirt, and come out into the light; this is the case with many people who have heard our words in Sunaa’ al-Hayah. They thought that all we had were dreams and imaginings. They said, “Do you really think that you will change anything?” They watched us at first, and then they became bored and left us. We dedicate today’s and last week’s episodes to these people. We also dedicate them to the young men and women who participated with us in Sunaa’ al-Hayah, telling them that the seed that you planted will never go to waste as long as it is pure and sincerely for the sake of Allah (SWT). Allah says what can be translated as, “See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the sky (i.e. very high). Giving its fruit at all times, by the Leave of its Lord, and Allah sets forth parables for mankind in order that they may remember.” (TMQ, Ibrahim: 24-25)[2].

The fruits of our tree are endless; it gives its fruits at all times by the leave of its Lord. Therefore, you should not despair nor become impatient waiting for the fruits. On the contrary, persevere because the fruits will develop, by the will of Allah (SWT).

I want to give you an example of a strange tree that grows in China, known as the Bamboo tree. The tree grows from a small seed that is buried in the earth. The seed does not germinate for four years. Many farmers give up on this tree, and lose hope, but the seed has been working under the ground, strengthening its roots, and developing. After four years, a small plant grows. In the fifth year alone, something amazing happens. This plant grows to a forty-foot tall tree. This is roughly the height of a seven storey building; in just one year! This is how the laws of Allah (SWT) work in this universe, and this is how we are in Sunaa’ al-Hayah. If you look at our history, and the life story of our Prophet (SAWS), his companions, and at the life stories of all the prophets, peace be upon them all, you will find that this law repeats itself again and again.

When Prophet Musa (AS) (Moses) called the Pharaoh and his people, he was just planting seeds, and he did not know which of them would grow. One of the Pharaoh’s family was affected by these words and became a believer, so the seed grew in his fertile land. Days passed, and this same man, the believer from the family of Pharaoh, stood to defend Musa (AS), and prevented his family from killing him. Allah says what can be translated as, “And a believing man of Fir‘aun’s (Pharaoh) family, who hid his faith said, ‘Would you kill a man because he says: My Lord is Allah…’” (TMQ, Ghafir: 28). Allah (SWT) recounts the story of this believer in two and a half pages. Prophet Musa (AS) was himself a seed that his mother threw in the river out of fear of the Pharaoh’s aggression. She did not imagine that this infant who was thrown in the river would be honoured to speak to Allah (SWT).

When the brothers of Prophet Yusuf (AS) (Joseph) threw him down into the bottom of the well, none of them imagined that this small seed would one day be the saviour of the Middle East from famine, and a source of guidance for them as well.

Who would believe that our Prophet (SAWS) would escape the dark small cave of Thawr and that he would spread light and guidance in all directions from one ocean to another, and become a mercy for all creatures?

Ali Ibn-Abu-Taleb (RA) is another example of a good seed. When Allah ordered his honoured Prophet (SAWS) in the ayah which can be translated as, “And warn your tribe of near kindred,” (TMQ, Ash-Shura: 214), the Prophet (SAWS) gathered about thirty members of his family. They ate and drank, and then the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) asked them, “Who guarantees my religion, and my promises, and will be with me in paradise, and will be for my family?” No one answered him, so he repeated the same question three times, and again no one replied. Then Ali (RA), who was eight years old at the time, may Allah (SWT) be pleased with him, said, “I will.” The Prophet (SAWS) stroked Ali’s hand. (Musnad Imam Ahmad part 1/111, 159)

The Prophet (SAWS), being an expert on the value of seeds, cared and supported Ali (RA) until he became the Ali Ibn-Abu-Taleb we know. On the day of the Battle of Khaibar, the Prophet (SAWS) said, “Tomorrow I will give the flag to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and who Allah and His Messenger love, and he will be victorious.” Ali Ibn-Abu-Taleb (RA) was the one to receive the flag, and when the Jews saw him they were frightened and said, “By the one who revealed the Torah to Musa, you (the Jews) will be defeated.” He continued fighting, and became victorious while repeating, “I am the one who my mother called Haydara (lion).” (Al-Jam’ fi al-Syra al-Nabawia – part 2, p. 141)

Abdullah Ibn-Masud is another example of a small seed. The Prophet (SAWS) met him when he was a shepherd. When Abdullah heard the Qur’an, he liked it, and asked to learn more. The Prophet (SAWS) told him, “You are a young, yet wise, man.” After many years, this shepherd became one of the most knowledgeable people of the Qur’an. Therefore, do not underestimate the youth of Sunaa’ al-Hayah, with their sincerity and purity, and do not say that the youth of our Ummah (Islamic nation) is lost and useless because there is goodness in our youth, and they are our hope. We need to give them a chance, and then we will observe the goodness that Allah (SWT) will bring through their efforts. These youth are sincere and they understand the world we live in today. This is why they are useful seeds to be planted for the difficult years of our Ummah and our nations that are approaching. It is a time by which many other seeds will have expired.

Today, we will continue what we started in the last episode, and we will present to you some seeds that have developed. We will show you our projects that have started to be implemented, and the positive results that have started to materialize. This way we will awaken hope in our hearts; there can be no revival without hope and confidence in our selves.

The first seed that developed into a great tree is the seed of the struggle against the five narcotics. In a previous episode about drugs, we discussed their harm, and their potential of destroying our Ummah. We said that we wanted to implement the ‘Guardians of the Future’ project, which will train young men and women in the struggle to fight drugs. Their aim would be to educate everyone in schools, universities, clubs, neighbourhoods and streets. The goal was to raise a generation that despises drugs, after we have experienced one or more generations that have been badly affected by them. We announced the ‘Guardians of the Future’ project, and the issue was not mentioned again in any episode after that, but it isn’t over. We were caring for and supporting that seed. Before I inform you of the development of our project, let me remind you of the dangers of drugs. Let us review these statistics about the amount of marijuana that is available in Egypt (in tons).

The police, with their extreme efforts, could only confiscate 30%. Let us examine other statistics about drugs in the Arab world:

The number of young people dying as a result of drug use is multiplying across the Arab world. Ninety-four percent of cases develop from smoking marijuana and move onto hard drugs, especially those using needles. I want to remind you of a documentary that we aired in a previous episode about some addicts, and their need for help.

o Since 1992. I met a group of young people at school, and I learned drinking, smoking and drugs from them. We used to skip school and go to the Mokattam (a large hill in Cairo) to take drugs.

· Did you do anything that you wouldn’t have done if you hadn’t been an addict?

o Sure, I upset my mother a great deal. I would destroy the furniture when she prevented me from leaving the house.

o Yes, I did four times. I reached a stage where I was talking to myself; I had almost gone crazy.

o On the contrary, they are very widespread, much more than you could imagine.”

“The whole thing started with smoking. Then I started smoking Marijuana, even though in the past I used to hate the smoke, and I would leave the place where people were smoking. My situation then evolved to the use of heroin, even though I used to see the people taking it, and I was sure that I would never do it. In the ten years that I was taking drugs, I had two friends that I spent all my time with. I lost interest in all my previous hobbies, and I lost the concentration required for any kind of mental exercise, even just reading. This addiction led me to steal. First, I stole from my own house, then the neighbours’ houses. I have stolen my sister’s jewellery without anyone knowing. I have suffered a great deal, and have experienced shame and humility. There were times when I wished I wouldn’t see the morning, so that my daily grief would not be repeated.”

The government and the police cannot prevent the issue of drugs on their own. It is a matter of supply and demand. The authorities, the police, the law, and the government can fight the supply that the drug dealers offer, and in our countries they are doing even more than their duties.

The United Nations, after studying this case in different parts of the world, has come up with a report that states that it is impossible to fight drugs through the governments and the authorities alone. In this case they are only preventing the supply, but the demand still exists, and it increases. The only way to solve this issue is to eliminate the demand by community effort in education. This will help the young people to refuse drugs and cease demanding it. That is the role of the ‘Guardians of the Future.’

When we announced the initiation of the ‘Guardians of the Future’ project four months ago, we received applications from eight thousand youth, in addition to 700 doctors, who wanted to participate. We worked for four months to establish this project. An organization called ‘Right Start’ was established in England; it is a charitable organization that was established by the youth of Sunaa’ al-Hayah to supervise and coordinate all the other charitable organizations in the Arab countries. Its goal is to train the youth on fighting addiction. Why was it established in London? Because we intend for our goodness to spread to the whole world, in the same way that our Prophet (SAWS) was sent as mercy to mankind. We also want to send a message to the people in the West that the Muslims are not isolated from the rest of the world, and that they are not self-centred. On the contrary, they are people who spread goodness and mercy in any place, even in your countries.

‘Right Start’ started its activities in England by training the Muslim youth to spread education among the young people in the schools, whether they are Muslims or not. The British Police cooperated with them. This organization started to communicate with other charitable organizations that exist in our countries to coordinate the joint effort between them in order to spread the project. The first group to reply was ‘The Charitable Society for Guidance and Reformation’ in Lebanon, and the Ministry of Youth in Qatar. There was still an important question: who will train the youth that volunteered so that they can produce the expected results?

Allah (SWT) willed, and He is the One who plans. A highly respected agency was to take the responsibility of training the youth; the Dubai Police Department, under the supervision of Lieutenant General Dahy Khalfan Tamim, who is the recipient of a 2001 United Nations prize for the most deserving person in the fight against drugs in the Middle East. Major Ibrahim al-Dabl will be the trainer, and he is a certified United Nations trainer. It is worth noting that the Dubai Police Department is highly regarded in the Islamic world, and actually in the whole world. I was surprised to read a report in the Guardian, a British newspaper, suggesting that the British Police could benefit from the experience of the Dubai Police in their ability to maintain the security of their country with the different nationalities and ethnic minorities that compose it. Three agencies have cooperated: the Dubai Police Department, ‘Right Start’ (representing Sunaa’ al-Hayah), and ‘The Charitable Society for Guidance and Reformation’ in Lebanon. We will show you a video of the first day of training for the Lebanese youth, who will be the seeds for ‘Guardians of the Future’ in Lebanon.

Doctor Aytanee from ‘The Charitable Society for Guidance and Reformation’ based in Lebanon appears, “Drugs are increasingly spreading within the Muslim family, schools, and universities. Youth and adolescents have begun using them at an early age.”

Lieutenant General Dahy Khalfan Tamim, the general commander of the Dubai Police Force, “For 35 years I have never seen a program or a TV channel that took up the role of training others to fight drugs. This is something new and deserves all of our help to make it a success. All of us should firmly believe and be determined that this will continue. If we don't make this issue the talk of the council, the media, the taxi drivers, and street conversations, then the Dubai Police Force, Iqra channel, and Amr Khaled will not be able to achieve something that will be remembered.”

Mr. Amr Khaled, “Our hope is that those who attend this five day training course have come to work and not simply to watch and have fun. Each one of them must program their minds to think that they will change the face of Lebanon. Whoever does not imagine that this will be his role must start changing his understanding and reception in order to see himself in that role.”

We will now meet Lieutenant General Dahy, who says, “I'm truly happy to participate in this program which I consider to be the best. This program takes me back to 21 years ago when I was appointed as the General-Secretary of the Dubai Police Force. I had a personal conviction that I must approach the youth by creating awareness to prevent car accidents. This experience was successful, because the percentage of car accidents has not increased at all since I was appointed. Because of that reason, I firmly believe that creating awareness and building a bridge of cooperation between the police and the people is the only way to achieve our goals. In the Dubai Police Force we believe that safety is based on development. Let us then be the strongest, the most knowledgeable, the most organized, and the fastest to offer its service throughout the Arab countries.

“One of the instructions of His Excellency al-Sheikh Muhammad al-Maktoum is that we should build strong ties and have partners in every Arab country and in the entire world. In addition to that, I realized that there is a great challenge in this program and I love challenges.

“I advise the youth of ‘Guardians of the Future’ to protect the secrets of the youth they work with in order to win their trust and cooperation. This advice does not come from me as a commander of the Dubai Police Force, but as the Head of the Association of Accident Awareness and Protection. This is because I have seen adolescents in accident centres that ended up being misguided instead of aided. I therefore became a strong believer of creating awareness, because one who is aware has a strong personality and does not get shaken by the storms and the incidents around him, no matter what happens.

“As you know, a person in the Emirates can invest his time in business matters to gain a great deal of money and even millions of it, yet I feel that what I gain through serving society is far greater than the millions people make in their investments.

“My final advice to the youth is to make the program Sunaa’ al-Hayah the talk of the council, as well as the talk of newspapers, magazines, television channels, and all social gatherings, and especially the ‘Guardians of the Future’ project. By spreading the word about this project, we will increase the ripe fruits we will be able to pick in the near future. I wish you all the best.”

We thank Lieutenant General Dhahi and the Dubai Police Force for their cooperation. Unfortunately, many of the previous generations, and maybe our generation as well, have looked at the police force fearfully. We only hear of the police helping people in fictional stories. Thanks to the Dubai Police Force, this fiction is becoming a reality. We wish that all the other Arab police forces would take the Dubai Police Force as an example and extend their help to us. The quote “the police in the service of the people” will then become a tangible truth.

Mr. Amr Khaled ended the meeting with Lieutenant Dahy by giving him the program's armature expressing his gratitude and thanks for the efforts of their police force. Afterwards, Lieutenant Dahy gave the police armature to Mr. Amr Khaled in honour of the program ‘Life Makers.’

The project ‘Guardians of the Future’ will continue and we urge all charitable organizations or government sectors, whether from the police or the ministries, to cooperate with us. All they have to do is go to the Amr Khaled website and enter the site to coordinate and train youth in spreading awareness. In addition, we ask the youth that previously contacted us and registered their names as volunteers for that project to register with us again so that we can start training them after they pass the ability exams to ensure that they have what it takes to become leaders and take up this important role. This training will take place under the supervision of Major Ibrahim al-Dabl, the psychologist Doctor Abdul-Rahman Dhakir, and the social researcher Latifa al-Khidhr. This training program has been certified by the United Nations.

We therefore acknowledge that whoever believes in an idea that occupies his mind, develops a great determination, and lives for it, will eventually succeed. We succeeded in Sunaa’ al-Hayah because of our faith in Allah (SWT) and because we sought His help.

Do you remember the episode on culture and arts? We mentioned that we want an art that serves our journey towards the revival and should be produced by us to reflect our identity. You would not believe what happened afterwards. I was surprised by a phone call from six young men. They wanted to meet me to talk about the arts and the surprise was that they were the finalists in the program ‘Super Star.’ I met them and was moved by their talk and their desire to look for lyrics that would serve this revival.

I received the following letter from one of those youths and it says, “I participated with millions of other youths from different Arab countries and reached the finals. I became one of the top 17 in that show. I love singing and musical instruments and I have always dreamed of using my voice to serve humanity and to uplift the Ummah. I dream to use my voice in topics that motivate youth. I dream to be someone with a message to convey and to be with you in the revival by benefiting my religion through songs, but with a new strategy. The problem is that music lyrics are limited around passion or old, weak ideas. I know that this is difficult and I feel a big responsibility for the steps I will take. I greatly fear making a video clip that does not serve our country's revival and will misguide our youth. I dream of getting good deeds for this song and I seek Allah's satisfaction and the smile of our dear Prophet in a smart and beneficial way and in a way that suits today's needs.”

Let us help these artistic individuals by providing them with lyrics of useful songs for this revival. We call upon each talented person and poet to volunteer with some lyrics and send them to us at the Amr Khaled web site from now until the end of Ramadan. We will then organize a party on Iqra channel and we will present these lyrics and give them to those artists who are in need of useful words. We will then organize another party during Eid al-Adha, if Allah (SWT) is willing, to present the songs after they have been put to music and sung. We will call it the revival celebration and we will record the songs on tape and call it the tape of revival. This is therefore a call to the talented, to the artists, and to the poets to join us in this revival.

From the glad tidings of this seed, I received many letters from fine artists and one of them is from sister Salma Fayed from Mansoura. She is an artist and a poet and she said that from now on she would not draw anything unless it serves the idea of our revival.

Another glad tiding is that a great number of people from the youth forum wrote letters to Arab artists saying, “Since you are from the famous Arab stars, we urgently need you. We need your time, your skills, and your talents to awaken us and brighten our sights. Are you ready for this responsibility since you are talented? We are certain that you are ready. Please listen to the words of Mr. Amr Khaled in the episode of ‘culture and arts’ because we are waiting for your work to carry us further ahead. Your brothers and sisters from ‘Life Makers.’”

I was also moved by a letter that a youth, who is a graduate from the National Institute of Fine Arts in one of our Arab countries, sent me. In it he said that my words about culture and arts influenced him even although he is Christian. He agrees with me in creating arts that adhere to our culture and serve our revival. It is amazing what Allah (SWT) does in protecting and maintaining the seeds. Allah says what can be translated as, "...Assault them through the gate; for when you are in, victory will be yours…" (TMQ, al-Ma'idah: 23)”

The third seed is about the project of ending computer illiteracy. We will show you statistics that reveal what had happened during the last 4 weeks only:

We have therefore designed certificates of appreciation to all the trainees and trainers. All they have to do is enter the site, print it, and write their name so that they may save it as a memory and as an appreciation from the ‘Life Makers’ program for their efforts and cooperation. We will now run a film of one of the training sessions for using the computer that was held in a mosque. The beauty of it is that even the Imam of the mosque who is around 70 years old was trained.

Ibrahim Osama, a student in the College of Commerce, says, “We had a great deal of dead, free time in the summer and we watched the ‘Life Makers’ program. We liked the idea of ending computer illiteracy and we were motivated to do it. We decided to look for a place to hold our training sessions and that was our greatest obstacle until we found this mosque. The Imam and the administrative staff welcomed us. The Imam was our first trainee and he gave us a place and everything we needed. The idea transformed from merely a way to make use of our time to a serious and useful task. We felt its great importance and value and that Allah had bestowed us with this opportunity to take part in our country's revival. This is a great honour that I find difficult to express in words.”

See how our youth make us proud and increase our hope? I ask those youth and women who have not joined us yet to participate in this revival and gain the honour of doing so. When some youth used to ask me in regret, “We want to get closer to Allah but will He accept us?” I told them, “Allah forgives all sins.” They replied, “But we still make mistakes.” I say to them, “Allah is Most Merciful and Compassionate and He will not leave you if you try to get closer to Him.” I now say to Sunaa’ al-Hayah, is it possible that the Almighty, Allah (SWT), will leave us when we are working to elevate His word and cherish His religion? It's true that we have not yet reached the big fruit that is the revival. However, we are on the right path. If we have witnessed many achievements after only six months then, by Allah's will, we will be patient for the next 20 years by continuously working hard and with devotion until we make the revival a reality. Allah (SWT) is now showing us from time to time His glad tidings to put a smile on our faces and revive the hope within us.

We have learned to worship Allah (SWT) by the prayers we perform and also by our project of ending computer illiteracy or that of ‘Guardians of the Future.’ All of these are forms of worship that aim to satisfy Allah (SWT). ‘Life Makers’ is also an act of worship, as is stated in the following ayah where Allah says what can be translated as, “And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone).” (TMQ, adh-Dhariyat: 56)

If Allah (SWT) wills, we will repeat the episode on ‘culture and arts’ next week so it can be a message to all artists for what they will present during Ramadan. The following week’s episode will be a summary of the two episodes on ‘The Fruits of Life Makers’ to revive hopes before Ramadan. We will then have one episode left before Ramadan starts and it will be entitled ‘How to Welcome Ramadan.’

In Ramadan we will meet daily to energize our faith and we will take off after Ramadan in the projects of ‘Life Makers’ by working even harder. We will energize our faith in Ramadan and this is what happened to us in the previous years. We leave Ramadan with great faith but we don't exploit this energy in something beneficial, which causes it to wither away. However, this year, by devotedly worshipping Allah in Ramadan, we will take off with great power to work on our beneficial projects. By Allah's will, we will reach great results that are beyond our imagination.

[1] Sala-llahu Alahi Wa Salam = All Prayers and Peace of Allah be upon him.

[2] TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.

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