Nuh

I do not expect all viewers to take part in this project, however with every new project we need new youth (girls and boys) to take the initiative and to bear the responsibility. Others don’t find themselves suitable for such projects; to these I want to say that we still have 11 fields ahead of us. Each group can participate in the project they choose and according to their interests and abilities. That way we will all be working together.

The revival we are after is not like that of Europe, which was based on utter materialism. We are after a unique revival - a revival in all the areas of industry, agriculture and technology. Those who will take it upon themselves to achieve this revival will be connected to Allah (SWT) after pleasing Him. They will seek the way to paradise and revive the souls that were killed by unemployment. They will spare us from the collective duties that we will all be asked about if they are left undone.

Today’s episode comes in continuation to the previous one about small industries. These are the industries based on simple and small things that require a small number of youth. Examples for such industries include clothes (shirts, socks, and ties) and all school and university stationery. Unfortunately, we import all these things; we even import the simple adhesives and materials used in wrapping. We import tableware such as forks, spoons and plates.

Regrettably, the greatest dream of any youth is to work in a multi-national company so that he can brag about it to his colleagues; but how many of us can work in such companies? Where will the rest go? They will have to work in jobs that they detest, or in another separate field, accepting the humiliation from their employers, because they have no other way of making a living. The employer will then feel a great urge to take advantage of the situation. Such youth usually end up sad and fragile. They either work in areas they hate or they are left as easy prey for unemployment. Why aren’t the parents encouraging their children to have their own small industries at an early age?

We export our raw materials and import them fully manufactured, and we pay heavily for the difference. In Islam if one Muslim does one of the collective duties, he will spare the whole Ummah (Islamic nation) from being asked about it, but if no one does it (provided that we are able to) we will all be asked about it on the Day of Judgment and the punishment will be divided between us.

Imagine your balance of bad deeds, on which is placed the punishment for 70 million erasers that are used by our children. We will all feel great shame in the hereafter just as we feel it in this world. When we say to Allah (SWT), “we have worshipped you,” He will say to us, “I didn’t create you just to worship me, but to revive the Ummah.” We are the best Ummah brought to mankind, yet we can’t even produce simple rubber bands, adhesive tape, medical plasters or sewing needles.

We have faith that from the youth of the best nation brought to mankind, we have those who will take the initiative - engineering students, pharmacy students, housewives and mothers, who will encourage their children to find proper jobs. There are very simple projects, like the production of bed-sheets, that don’t even require anything more than a sewing machine.

Ninety percent of the multi-national corporations started with just a small room before growing. We have what they lack; we have faith and dependence on Allah (SWT). Allah says what can be translated as, “Said two men of the ones that feared Allah (and) whom Allah had favored, ‘Enter in upon them (by) the gate. So, when you enter it, then surely you will be overcoming them. And so put all your trust in Allah in case you are believers.’” (TMQ, 5:23)[1]. We make a great deal of dua’a (supplication) asking for victory but we have to start by taking the necessary steps.

Small industries are indeed the first step on the path to revival. They are characterized by taking minimal risk, due to the small capital required, and they do not require sophisticated administration because they only need between two or three and a maximum of ten or twenty to run them. They occupy a small location and they do not require extensive experience. Thus anyone can start them: men, women, old, young, girls or boys.

I chose this project because it is achievable. Sisters and brothers, these small industries are certainly the way to our revival. These words are not just mine but they are the words of the specialized committee that we chose of professors and businessmen from all over the Arab world. They analyzed the most suitable projects that could accomplish a revival in industry and at the same time could be carried out right away by the youth. They came up with the conclusion that small projects are the answer and that the youth have to push them forward with all their might. We took their recommendations and we proceeded to our governments’ officials in industry. We held a seminar where they all assured us that the answer lies in small projects.

There are scenes from the seminar that stress the words of the Egyptian Minister of Industry, who emphasized that a revival would never start except with small projects and that the success stories of the large international companies started out as small projects. He also stressed that the governments could only help by creating the general environment.

I am reminding you that whoever goes into such industries will spare us all from the burden of the neglected collective duties. That was why the Prophet (SAWS[2]) used to divide the various areas between his companions: for example Zayd Ibn-Thabet was assigned to learn languages and Uruah Ibn-Masoud was assigned to learn how to manufacture tanks (very basic versions of war tanks with spears protruding out of them that could be easily moved on foot).

The Association of Developing Small Industries in Dakahlia (Egypt) sent us a film showing us how to train the youth in various small industries. They met with many youth there.

The Suna’a al-Hayah club in Lebanon succeeded in establishing a small industry that they started while we were still on the first phase of our project. Their efforts have started to bear fruits. With us today we have both Muhammad Nour and Um-Solaiman from Beirut; they are the ones responsible for running this project. The idea started with an orphanage (for orphans and handicapped). They wanted to live off their own efforts and Allah (SWT) granted them the necessary funding through a volunteer who financed the whole project – Allah (SWT) blesses any effort. That is why I am asking the youth to toil and to invent and to stop thinking about money because Allah (SWT) will definitely provide it (if Allah (SWT) wills).

Volunteers trained for the orphanage because the project required experience. At the end they succeeded in having their own products in the markets like candles and furniture, etc – they are all small industries that require small capitals.

We will provide you with all the requirements through our program. How will the required experience reach our youth? On our website (www.amrkhaled.net) we have provided you with ‘The Consulting Office.’ Two types of people will participate in the Consulting Office;

Thousands of youth will access the office daily to propose their ideas and interests. They will be answered by thousands of experienced people who will advise them and train them. We started by asking the experienced people to join us and we have heard from 1,200 experts so far. They cover various specialties and they come from more than 28 countries. This was the initial step that we took care of. Now, we need the youth to join.

This is like the Forum on www.amrkhaled.net. Thousands of young people access the Forum daily, presenting their ideas and interests, and getting advice from older people. I also access the Forum daily to hold discussions with young people and offer them help in their personal and religious lives. The Forum has made great progress. We will present the same idea on the website in the field of industry.

To begin with, we ask those who have scientific and professional experience to dedicate some of their time and work as volunteer consultants. They can help in the following five things:

We have already posted an initial invitation on the Forum for such consultants. Fortunately, we have received an answer from 1,200 consultants from 28 countries, including Arab countries as well as from Arab scientists and experts living abroad.

Let us remind you of the first episode in which we said that we would only succeed when we formed a partnership with experienced people. Now we know where we can find those experienced people. Hence, the role of the Life Makers youth is to get more of these consultants without whom we cannot succeed. These consultants will offer their services seeking Allah's pleasure and His great rewards:

1- They will be rewarded for saving thousands of young people. In other words, the consultant who volunteers two hours of his time to save a young man from unemployment and loss will take the reward of someone who saves everyone.

2- They will be rewarded for paying the zakat (charity) due for the experience Allah (SWT) granted them. Man is obliged to pay zakat for every blessing Allah has bestowed upon him. Didn’t the Prophet (SAWS) say, “With every bounty there is a zakat?”[3]

3- They will be rewarded for being the best of the Muslims, since they acquired knowledge and taught it to others. Didn’t the Prophet (SAWS) say, “The best among you are those who learn then teach others?”[4]

4- They will continue receiving reward even after they pass away. The Prophet (SAWS) said, “When man dies, his work ends except for three things.”[5] One of these three things is knowledge from which other people benefit. After they die, they will lie in their tombs as if they are lying in paradise and they will continue to be rewarded for what they did.

If a consultant refuses to offer his help and holds back his acquired knowledge from others, then he should bear in mind the following Hadith in which the Prophet (SAWS) said, “If one is asked about knowledge he acquired and he holds it back, Allah will leash him with a bridle of fire on the Day of Judgment.”[6]

Dear youth, you should ask all experts to watch this episode. You should tell them how much you need their help. The website mentions the names of many industries requiring experts. We need experts in the following industries to register their names:

Any expert in such industries should register his name. He will then be asked about his experience in the five fields needed by young people - he may have experience in presenting ideas, helping in feasibility studies, production, marketing or financial and administrative matters.

He is required to register his data and state the hours suitable for him and the days in which he can offer his services. Young people should then communicate with those experts and follow in their footsteps.

We are responsible for getting the people to communicate with each other and for making a link between Muslims of different ages. As for myself, I cannot take a young man by the hand and teach him how to produce and how to work. I only present the idea agreed upon by experts, bring its glad tidings before you, call for the project and connect the people together. If you access the website today, you will find the Consulting Office perfectly ready.

There are many Arab experts who should access the website and determine the field of their experience. They can offer their services in the glass industry, metalwork, plastic industries, marketing or cost assessments. There may also be experts in the field of export to foreign markets. That means that a commercial consultant – for example one who knows the needs of a certain country - can offer his services. The same applies to experts in preparing feasibility studies etc.

We cannot deny the role of experienced women who should participate directly with their experiences. Women play a very important role, for they can encourage their husbands to participate and present their experience before youths. A woman shares the reward with her husband when she follows him, reminds him of his role and becomes sure that he is carrying it out to the end.

The same applies to children, who should encourage any member of their family who has experience in one field or another to register his/her name as a volunteer consultant. Children can do the work of this consultant via the internet if he/she is too busy to do it.

You can participate by whatever means possible. You can even dedicate two hours of your time to take an expert to the location of the workshop or factory of a Muslim brother who is establishing a small project. You should bear in mind that when consultants interact with young people via the internet, they will be encouraged to establish friendships with them. They will indeed visit them in their workshops if they just sense how serious they are and see that their small projects are gradually turning into major ones.

We are trying to make a course for the river so that its water can flow and bring good to us all. Today's idea will eventually result in industrial progress.

· If a woman, for instance, wants to set up a small factory where children’s bears and dolls are manufactured, she can log-on to the site. There, she will have the ability to search for textile experts in order to consult them for the fabric type that does not cause allergy to children or the dye which ensures children’s safety when they put a doll in their mouths, and so on.

These experts are qualified to present ideas or projects required in the Arab world. They can also present good alternatives for imported items. Therefore, the Forum will be accessible all the time to receive new ideas and offer any consultations. We have already provided some ideas that we are going to discuss now and publish online. Young people can think about such ideas and experts can add to them (the list is ready). Hence, in this way we are going to establish together the greatest consulting office that can provide all the information and experience required for small industrial projects.

One may say that it is not enough to publish this project online. As a result, another branch of the Consulting Office is going to be in the mosque.

Every mosque should include a committee for developing small projects just as it includes a committee for zakat. The elders of each mosque, who are the experienced, the businessmen and the district seniors, shall take charge of establishing this committee. We are not restricting such committees to mosques only; they can also be established in churches. It is a call to all the religious categories in the Arab countries.

Young people are expected to participate in the administrative work, and to ask the mosque attendants - especially parents - to provide youths with possible ideas. Anyone who has experience in a certain field should volunteer. Accordingly, available specializations and experiences will become known to everybody.

In this way, any young man thinking of starting his own business who needs a certain piece of information can contact the relevant expert in the mosque. He can have an appointment with him, say, between the Maghrib (sunset) and 'Isha (evening) prayers or after the Jumu`ah (Friday) prayer. He may even meet the expert in any place the latter wants to talk to him and to learn from him. In the same neighborhood, young people can exchange the experts' data. Thus, if a certain experience is not available in one mosque, one can find it in another mosque in the same neighborhood.

Through this Consulting Office, whether on the internet or in mosques, we will be able to provide a great deal of information about the commodities and products which young people can produce, as well as where and how to produce and market them.

Why should the project be restricted to the internet and mosques only? Why don’t you, the Life Makers youth, establish consulting offices throughout society? Why don’t sports clubs include a committee like those for swimming pools and those for women? There should be a committee for small projects for which we select an expert to take charge of. We should convince the club’s board of directors of the idea of this committee and start establishing it.

Young people can also request statistical information from the concerned parties in their countries. Customs could give great assistance if they issued detailed information about the quantities of imported commodities. Actually, many businessmen are ready to produce the commodities that have an appropriate market in their countries.

There is one remaining point. Many youths cannot fund these projects. Although these projects do not require much money, many young people are short of funds. It is worth noting that the governments of all Arab countries have established credit funds as a means of financing small projects. These credit funds have been established to lend money to serious youths. The addresses of these credit funds in every Arab country will be listed on the site as well as the terms of their loans.

Young people, you should know that I received calls from a large number of businessmen in Arab countries after the first and second episodes. We declared the need for partnership between the experienced persons and businessmen, and young people. They expressed their willingness to offer any required help in the Life Makers project.

I believe that the role of businessmen concerning small projects is to send any new idea related to the market requirements via the internet, fax, program telephone numbers or mail. There are also very important pieces of information that have to be sent, such as the types of commodities they import which can be manufactured in the Arab countries.

In this way, young people will realize the opportunities available to them. They will know that we are going to list all the commodities they need and obtain through importation online. As for the Life Makers youth: your role is to look for all businessmen in the Arab countries and list their ideas and the commodities they need online.

Training is indispensable for the implementation of any idea. The whole world is in a state of ongoing training except for the Arab world. We ignore the importance of training, though our Prophet (SAWS) cared for it, as proved in the story of the man and the wood.

Starting today, we will organize three specialized courses in the following fields:

These are the courses offered to youths. It is a huge project as you can see. That is why I said that the things achieved in the first and second stages of the program were few as compared to what we are required to do now.

I have more important words to say to thousands of youths who are to set up small projects. Perform the collective duties which we have neglected and free us from sins. Save thousands of youths who lead life in death because of unemployment. Success cannot be gained without patience, endurance and perseverance.

The term ‘work’ is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an in 359 situations. It is mentioned in the Ahadith thousands of times.

- You are ordered by the Holy Qur'an to work as hard as you can. Allah says what can be translated as, “He it is Who has made the earth subservient to you (i.e. easy for you to walk, to live and to do agriculture on it); so walk in the path thereof and eat of His provision.” (TMQ, 67:15). You are ordered to walk from one end of the earth to the other and are promised to get sustenance in return for your efforts.

- The Prophet (SAWS) said, “If you put your complete trust in Allah, Allah will provide you with sustenance just as He provides it to birds. They start their day with empty stomachs and wind it up full and content.”[7] The birds only fill themselves with food when they go out at dawn seeking sustenance.

- Whoever spends his night in exhaustion due to strenuous manual work from making his living gains Allah's forgiveness.

- Ali Ibn-Abu-Taleb (RA) used to say, “I prefer the producer to the worshipper. The worshipper is the only one who benefits from his worship. In contrast, all the people benefit from the producer.” Then he would say, “What a wonderful thing if the dressmaker considers his needle as his rosary (beads) and the carpenter considers his saw as his way of saying that Allah is the Greatest.”

- It is narrated that the Prophet (SAWS) saw a worshipper and asked about the one who was providing for him. He was told that it was his brother. The Prophet declared his brother to be a better worshipper.

- There are sins that are only obliterated by the sinner's efforts to provide for his children, let alone those who are striving to provide for their nation. How many of their sins will be forgiven? Moreover, the sinner in this case may be a martyr, like Abdullah Dhul-Bijadain.

§ Consultants: register your names with the Consulting Office, whether you are lawyers or conductors of feasibility studies.

§ Parents: encourage your children to take part in the project, even if they are still in secondary education or undergraduates.

§ Life Makers youth: ask everyone you meet to watch the program and establish consulting offices in clubs and mosques.

[1] 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.

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

[3] Weak Hadith.

[4] Weak Hadith.

[5] Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

[6] Reported by Ibn-Majah.

[7] Sahih Ibn-Majah.

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Episode 36: Small Industries – Part 2