Sunaa’ al-Hayah

- Life Makers -

Episode 18: Introduction to the Second Phase

In the name of Allah (SWT), the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful; all praise and thanks be to Allah (SWT), the Lord of al-Alameen (the universe).  Peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah (SAWS[1]).

Welcome to you all in the first episode of the second phase of Sunaa’ al-Hayah (Life Makers).  As you know, the celebration we held marked the conclusion of the first phase.   Actually, before we start the new phase of our program dear fellows, I would like to remind you that the name of our program ‘Life Makers’  implies  production process, where a production phase starts, ends and then is followed by a new one.  Thus, in order to proceed with the second phase, we need to have a look at how we have progressed.  Do you remember how we used to be when the program first started? We were a group of religious-minded, well-mannered people who love Allah (SWT) and Islam, yet we were tied down with ten shackles: passiveness, lack of seriousness, irresponsibility, lack of real distinct objectives in life and inability to identify priorities.

The product, that is us, has been enormously developed.   We started to experience a great change in our personalities.  How? We were able to get rid of the negative traits that have been accumulating within us for years, in no more than 3 months.  The word ‘positiveness’ used to sound weird, and was seldom used by us, but not anymore, for in 3 months only, thousands of young men started taking thousands of positive actions.  The forum at www.amrkhaled.net demonstrates the number of positive deeds that took place within that period.  We were really excited to see that hundreds of thousands of young men participating in the projects of ‘Don’t harm us with your smoke’ and ‘Guardians of the Future.’  Our efforts were so effective that the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized them and awarded us with a prize.  In addition, the project of collecting used clothes enabled us to collect one and a half million bags.  Things have changed, a new spirit prevailed and thousands of people started to experience a change in their personalities.  That was the product of the first phase.

The process of freeing ourselves from the ten shackles of the first phase and exiting the dark room resulted in the following three outcomes:

1. The revival of hope, especially in the souls of young men and women.  We were able to free ourselves from the accumulative shackles which have been hindering our way for long years, in such a short period of three months.  Dear fellows, at the beginning, I used to tell you that we can do it but in fact, I was afraid.  Nevertheless, deep inside I had a feeling of individual hope.  Now, we can all see that our accomplishments are tangible and real.   This turned feelings of disappointment and failure into a spirit of hope spreading among youth of both sexes; men and woman.

2. We started to feel that the revival concept of our nation is within reach, where it did not seem to be an option before.   Even in the minds of religious people who perform the actions of worship like praying and fasting but never dreamt of the idea of revival, although all great civilizations started with an idea in the minds of people.

3. We discovered our abilities, along with the fact that we are not the type of people who are good for nothing, whereas Western people are good at everything.  We are really able to think and produce ideas and inventions when we are free from the shackles.

Do not ever underestimate these results; they form the cornerstone of our revival.  Just imagine what could be achieved through them?  Dear fellows, the accomplishments that took place so far were the result of individual efforts.  I am not claiming here that we have changed the situation in the Arab world; I am only saying that thousands of young men and women have started to work, on the other hand, others are still indifferent to what is going on, doing nothing for the countries and religion.  Our target now is to join these efforts and direct them towards the revival of our nations, which is the core of the second phase of Life Makers.

In the second phase, we invite those who could free themselves of their shackles, to join hands to attain to our goal of reviving our nation.

The requirements:

·        Achieve a giant accomplishment, i.e. the revival of Muslims.

·        Achieve extraordinary progress and work in full capacity.

·        Achieve success in the second phase that is 10 times the success that had been achieved in the first phase.  We need ten times of production and not ten times of the number of participants.

We are discussing here a revival of a nation.  In the first episode of the first phase, I mentioned that the target of that phase was to encourage men, women, youth, children and elderly people to take an effective part in the progress of their countries, and I was really worried that that dream might not come true.  I swear to Allah (SWT) if that was the case, we would have stopped broadcasting this program, but as long as we achieved success, we proceeded in planning for our ultimate goal.  Dear fellows, we will take the word ‘revival’ as a title for the second phase of the program, and from a more realistic point of view, we can say that it represents the beginning of our march towards revival.  The word revival has a very valuable and sweet sense.  It pleases Allah (SWT) and this is the best part of it, but how can Allah (SWT) be pleased while Muhammad’s nation is lost.  Tell me for Allah’s sake, will the Prophet (SAWS) be pleased then, even if we pray and fast? The Qur’an was originally sent to teach us how to progress and develop.  The sense of the word ‘revival’ is so sweet but so difficult and requires enormous effort to please Allah (SWT).  Let the Prophet (SAWS) be proud of you on the Day of Judgment, when you stand before Allah (SWT) and tell Him, “O Allah, I have committed sins and mistakes, but I was loyal to your religion and I worked and exerted efforts to support and elevate it.”

The essence of revival is in the respect we have for ourselves and the respect that others have for us.  We are not a bunch of rebels or a mentally retarded nation, or terrorists.  We are respectable people.  We need revival in all fields (science & economy) so that we can overcome the unemployment problem and give our young people the chance to produce, invent, excel and win prizes.  We need revival in translation, science, social institutes and charitable institutes.  That is only for your sake, Allah (SWT), and for the sake of our craving to satisfy you.

Have you ever seen a plane taking off? Can you imagine the enormous energy needed to achieve the taking off process? This is exactly the same situation for the second phase.

·        The plane needs to acquire a certain speed to fly.  In other words, it can not fly unless it reaches an extraordinary speed to push it up.  The same theory applies to us as well; we need to acquire a flying speed to push us forward into the second phase.

·        The plane usually takes off at 160 nautical miles; the pilot can not take off at 100 nautical miles.  We need to reach these 160 nautical miles through effort + thinking + people’s reaction through our website, fax and phone + ideas + young active people who are capable of producing.

·        The second phase is the take off phase.  The engine of the plane in the take off phase operates in its maximum capacity, and so should we.  We need young men and women to work with us using their ultimate capacity, especially in summer.  I would like to specially address women here because I know that when they believe in a certain idea, their pushing power becomes 10 times stronger than that of men.

·        When the plane reaches the altitude of 1,000 to 1,500 feet above sea level, the power of the engine starts to decrease from 100% to 70%.

·        During the take off process of the plane, the fuel combustion reaches its maximum rate.  Take for example, during the Jeddah - New York flight, the plane flies 7,000 nautical miles in 12 hours and burns 80 tons of fuel.

·        The plane has to run over the runway long enough to acquire the speed which enables it to fly, and we as men and women need to run for 4 months to show Allah (SWT) that we mean to reform, help others, wipe people’s illiteracy and solve the unemployment problem.

·        In the example of Jeddah - New York, the plane needs to fly at an altitude of 35,000 feet.  If the altitude is low, the plane will run out of fuel because the adverse winds facing the plane will make it consume more fuel and thus the fuel will run out quickly.  The higher the plane flies, the less its consumption of fuel will be, as there is not much wind in the lower layers.  As for us, our adverse winds are so heavy; we need to fly as high as we can to avoid the resistance of the adverse winds, to be able to achieve a great revival and go on without crashing.

We feel very enthusiastic about the coming phase but it is a rational enthusiasm.  We know how to reach the speed that enables us to start off without causing any accidents or damages to our countries, which we hold very dear.  Our burdens are so heavy.  We could have lived at a time where Islam was stable and prosperous or at a time like ours.  Which time seems more appealing to you? To live at a time of stability or at a time like ours? Actually, our time is better despite the fact that we feel depressed about it, but it will grant us enormous rewards.  It resembles the time of the Companions, which was not a time of strength or revival either.  Try to imagine the coming generations referring to us as the people who reaped what they planted and try to imagine the reward of Allah (SWT) on the Day of Judgment.

Examples:

• Do you know that the burden that you have to carry is just like that of the believer mentioned at Surat Ya-Seen? Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “And (there) came from the remotest part of the city a man going speedily, he said ‘O my people, closely follow the Emissaries.’” (TMQ, 36:20)[2].   At that time, there were already three emissaries in the city.  He could have just prayed to Allah (SWT) to grant them success but he did not do that; he decided to take action himself.

• The ayah then continues in which Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “Closely follow (the ones) who ask of you no reward and they are right – guided.  And for what should I not worship Him originated me, and to whom you shall be returned.  Shall I take to myself apart from Him, gods whose intercession, in case The All Merciful wills any adversity to me, shall not avail me anything, nor shall they rescue me? Lo, surely (in that case) I should indeed be in evident error.  Surely I believe on you Lord, so hear me!” (TMQ, 36:21-25).  Can you feel the words? In the second phase we need people to exert their utmost effort and make the world hear it.  This can be done by a young man who exerts effort to wipe illiteracy + invent something + excel in his studies and be the first in his faculty.

• Allah (SWT) says (about the man) what can be translated as, “It was said: Enter the Garden,” (TMQ, 36:26) and after he did, he was still carrying the burden of his people.  Allah (SWT) also says (about the man) what can be translated as, “O, would that my people knew (what I know). With what (Grace) my Lord has forgiven me and He has made me among the honored.”  (TMQ, 36:26-27).   We will all say that we just need to enjoy being in paradise and that is it.

• Dear brothers try to carry the burden like the little weak hoopoe (type of bird) that flew from Yemen to Palestine to save a nation.  He had weak wings but willpower produces wonders.  When he saw people worshipping the sun in Yemen, he decided to fly to Palestine to inform Prophet Solaiman (AS) (Solomon) about it.  Allah (SWT) tells the story in what can be translated as, “I found her and her people prostrating (themselves) to the sun, apart from Allah.” (TMQ, 27:24).  Then he stood firmly before Prophet Solaiman (AS).  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “I have encompassed that which you have not encompassed, and I have come from Saba to you with a tiding of certitude. Surely I found a woman ruling over them, and she has been brought (much) of everything and she has a magnificent throne. I found her and her people prostrating (themselves) to the sun.” (TMQ, 27:22-24).  At the end, he expressed his sense of agony and responsibility as Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “So that they do not prostrate (themselves) to Allah.” (TMQ, 27:25).  We need young men and women to be like that hoopoe.  In other words, we need 1,000 million hoopoes to work hard in summer.

• We need that kind of people who can act like the ant which what mentioned in Surat an-Naml (The Ant).  It was so tiny and could have been crushed under the soldiers’ feet, yet it felt responsible and stood to warn its fellow ants.  Allah (SWT) says (about the ant) what can be translated as, “O you ants, enter your dwellings (lest) Solaiman and his hosts definitely crush you, (while) they are not aware.” (TMQ, 27:18).  This ant was responsible enough and accepted to scarify itself.  It could have been crushed, all for the nation of ants.  Think about it, nation of Muhammad (SAWS).

The difference between the first phase and the second phase:

What was required in the first phase was to unbind yourself.  In the second phase, you are required to unbind your countries and the Muslims.  In the first phase you have tried yourself, have you been beneficial? Have you unbound yourself?  In the second phase you must start and take off.

It is like a sports team doing warm up exercises, but the game has not started yet.  The exercise ends successfully with the team’s physical fitness becoming more enhanced.  All of that happens before the beginning of the game, so the game is the second phase.  Also, it is much like a student studying well in his secondary phase.  He passes, then finds himself in university; a completely new society.  That is the second phase.

All the people who have worked with us in the first phase, don’t be satisfied by just thanking Allah (SWT) and being proud of what you have done and stop there.  That was just the training part, are you be satisfied with just that? The game will start, so where will you be in the second phase? Are you going to work or not?  Also, people who have not worked with us in the first phase, you will not be able to work with us because our program is ‘industry making.’  That is why, in order to know how to work, you should go back and listen to the first phase.  Not necessarily all of it, but just understand what we did so that it builds a great power inside of you.  People who have become enthusiastic for a while, then they stopped and got bored, I say to them, look for people you agree with, we make life together, there is an association of  Sunaa’ al-Hayah in many countries in Sudan, Egypt, etc.  You will not be able to work alone in the second phase.

A similar idea; taking off cannot take place unless the pilot and his assistant put their hands together on the handgrip and push it forward.  If, at the moment of take off, anything shakes the pilot's will and another helping strength will be there.  That is why we have to put our hands together.

• Our Master Ibrahim (AS) (Abraham) told his son Isma'il (AS) (Ishmael), “O Isma'il, Allah ordered me to build him a home.”  Isma'il (AS) then said, “O father, obey your Lord.”  Ibrahim (AS) replied, “Would you help me?”  Isma'il (AS) answered, “Yes, I will help you.”
• Our Prophet (SAWS) mentioned it and said, “Who will help me in delivering my Lord's message?” The rest of people didn’t want to help until al-Ansar (the supporters) came and joined their hands and said, “We will help you, Allah's Messenger.”  Then the nation was born.

In the first part of the second phase, we will talk about ‘willpower’ without which nothing will take place.  The ‘will’ is something internal.  Sometimes it is dormant, other times it is a huge giant inside of you.  You are the only one able to bring it out; the hidden secret is inside you, so we want to bring it out.  A huge hidden strength, if you decide to bring it out, you will be able to do unexpected and extraordinary achievements.

Just like Aladdin’s lantern, when you rub it, the genie comes out and says, “Here I am, at your service.”  You can ask him for anything and he will instantly bring it to you.  It is not an illusion because the will inside you is extraordinary.  I do not mean that we are going to create fairy tales, Allah (SWT) forbid.  On the contrary, you are going to do things beyond your imagination.  When the ‘will’ initially steps in and starts penetrating into your body, your veins, arteries and every cell in your body will be revived and start creating extraordinary powers and energy within yourself.

Psychologists say that:

·        Natural people use only 8% of their abilities.

·        Successful people use  40% of their abilities

·        Great people use 60% of their abilities.

What about you, what percentage are you using? From where has this power come from? Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him (his) soul created by Me.” (TMQ, 15:29).  You have a huge energy, its origin is from Allah (SWT), but it is dormant; an extraordinary power that can be released by a single word.

Examples:

1.      In the Ein Jalout battle between the Muslims and the Tatars, the Muslims, on their way to the battle, were somewhat worried of fighting the Tatars.  They entered Baghdad and started the battle.  Here, Qutoz shouted a word that created something unnatural inside the Muslims and continued to penetrate within their souls until they achieved victory; the word was Wa Islamah (O’ our Islam).

2.      The Imam Ahmad Ibn-Hanbal, when the issue of the creation of the Qur’an occurred, was imprisoned.  He said, “I’m neither afraid of killing because it is Shahada (martyrdom) nor of prison because my home and the prison are one, but I’m afraid of being flogged.”  After awhile, they entered to take him for flogging and fear started showing on him.  However, Allah (SWT) elevated the ‘will’ inside of him by putting a thief in his way.  The thief noticed the Imam’s anxiety and understood that he was afraid of being flogged.  At that moment, he said a word that changed his body’s chemistry.  The thief told him, “You are on the righteous path; if you are to live, you will live praiseworthy, if you are to die, you will die as a martyr.  Do you know that I was flogged 18,000 times separately and I was steady for Satan so stay steady for Allah?”  The jailer said, “I flogged him (the Imam) to the extent that if he was a mountain he would have collapsed, yet he remained steadfast, unmoving until he fainted.  I brought him some water and asked him to drink but he told me, ‘I’m fasting, today is Thursday.’”  The jailer continued, “I flogged him on his back until he was torn.  Every time, I thought that the next time the whip will come out of his mouth.”

Our religion is the strictest order in this world that urges the ‘will’ inside us; Fajr (dawn) prayer, fasting, Hajj (pilgrimage) and Qiyam (night prayer).  One of the advantages of all these, is vitalizing the will.  I know a young Spanish man who asked me once, “Do you fast in Ramadan from dawn until sunset for 30 days even in summer?” I answered, “Yes.”  He added, “You are supposed to lead the whole world.  If we had a law in our countries to build up the ‘will,’ we will not be able to put together a law better than yours.”

Listen to the following examples:

• In Badr, the Muslims were 313 and the disbelievers were 1,000.  Notice the difference in strength! This is actually the difference in ‘will.’
• In Uhud, the Muslims were 700 and the disbelievers were 2,000.  Can you see the difference?
• In Khaibar, the Muslims were 1,400 and the disbelievers were 10,000.
• In Mo’ta, the Muslims were 200 and the disbelievers were 20,000.
• In al-Yarmouk, the Muslims were 20,000 and the disbelievers were 250,000.
• In conquering Iraq, the Muslims were 18,000 and the disbelievers were 120,000.

You can call this difference a difference in ‘will.’

• Saladin achieved all these glorious victories, while his body was filled with small boils and he could not ride a horse.  Nevertheless, he stepped on these boils with his ‘will’ until he achieved what he wanted.

• In these days, we have Khaldun as a model of amazing willpower.  When he fell down on his head at the age of twenty, he was paralyzed yet; he became a great computer programmer using only his tongue.
• A sister of ours came from Egypt particularly and is with us now.  I spoke about her in past episodes.  She is a blind young woman who learned the Braille language and she has converted all Sunaa’ al-Hayah lectures into Braille language and gave them to blind people.  She is a model of positiveness, willpower and insistence on success in life.

This episode’s project:

It is a project to test the willpower or a preparation for the take off period. A surprise, somewhat difficult, I know.  It is the Marathon Project.

·        The marathon is a 42-kilometer walk that came from a warrior whose tribe was involved in a very big battle.  When they achieved victory, he ran 42 kilometers to his country only to bring the good news of victory to his country.  He said, “We achieved victory,” and then he died.  That was because he ran all that distance without being fit enough for it.

·        We are going to do that marathon by walking since walking is one of the most essential things in building willpower.

·        Doctors say that the best sport to build up endurance is walking long distances because all sports (except the running marathon) need either muscular strength or skillfulness.   As for running, it needs endurance.

·        A great scientist was asked how he thought of his great ideas.  He answered, “I walked a lot.”

·        Send us, via our website, the distance you have walked for two weeks.  This week will be for training because doctors say that walking such a distance requires daily training.  Half an hour a day for ten days until you reach the distance of 42 kilometers.

Examples:

·        The Prophet (SAWS) and the companions walked more than that distance.

·        Our lady Asmaa’, the daughter of Abu-Bakr (RA) walked 3 miles both ways while she was 7^th months pregnant, to carry food to the Prophet (SAWS) and her father in Thaor cave.

·        Our lady Um Salama emigrated from Makkah to al-Madinah on foot.

·        Our master Ali Ibn-Abu-Taleb (RA) emigrated from Makkah to al-Madinah on foot.

·        In the al-Reqa’ battle of the 700 kilometers, every seven were exchanging one camel to an extent where the Companions’ nails fell off and their feet became raw and the soles of their shoes were frayed.  They tore their clothes and tied their feet with them because they were no longer able to walk.

·        The distance of Hajj is about 40 kilometers from Makkah to Mina then to Arafat, and then to Mozdalefa and back to Makkah again.  There is a preference between scholars: what is more beloved to Allah (SWT), performing Hajj, walking or riding? The Prophet (SAWS) started Hajj by walking but he was told that people wanted to see him, so he rode.

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