Nuh

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

We have reached the end of the first phase of our program 'Life Makers,’ however we still have three more phases to go. At this point, we really ought to thank Allah (SWT) from the bottom of our hearts, because we have accomplished the goal of the first phase of the program, which was to break free from the ten restraining shackles. We have broken the shackles that were holding us back and preventing us from rising up. The final goal of the program is to achieve a revival of Islam and Muslims all over the world. Some of these shackles were: passiveness, lack of seriousness, lack of responsibility, disorganization of time, the lack of a clear goal, being wasteful of resources and not using our minds. Today, we and all those who watch our program should say thanks to Allah (SWT), for we have managed to break free of these restraints. The projects we set to free ourselves of these shackles have been successful. We knew that the people would be eager to react, but we had never imagined that the reaction would be so great. We cannot believe how people are so keen to succeed, to move, and to add something, and that we can be moved and revived so quickly! Can you imagine, brothers and sisters, that during the three months of this program, we have accomplished achievements that had previously been beyond imagination? That is why I have started the episode by thanking Allah (SWT) for being free of the shackles and being successful in our projects.

Today's episode is one of happiness and celebration for our successful achievements. In reality, we wanted this celebration to mark the end of the first phase, and to separate it from the remaining ones. The human soul naturally tends to become happier and more hopeful when it feels that it has achieved something. Sometimes when we consider the path to revival, it seems too long, but I shall tell you that no, brothers and sisters, we have already finished the first phase. We succeeded in producing results and achievements. Thus, the aim of today's episode is to make you happy, and to fulfil the Hadith of the Prophet (SAWS) in which he says, “Anyone who brings happiness to a house of Muslims can have no reward except paradise.”

I want us to renew hope and to be pleased with our freedom from the shackles. On the Day of Judgment, Allah (SWT) will ask us about what we did for Islam. The men and women who gave their utmost efforts during the last three months will say, “Oh Allah (SWT), we have done such and such. We did not only pray, fast and wear the hijab, but we also succeeded in benefiting other people, and we understood that Islam meant excellence and seriousness in all we do. We learned how to be skilful engineers, successful lawyers, etc.” When books fly on the Day of Judgment, you, having been a life maker, will say, "Here! Read my Record! Surely, I did believe that I shall meet my account!" (TMQ, 69:19-20)[2].

When Islam comes on the Day of Judgment, in the shape of a person, it will pass by each one of us, saying, “This one defended me,” and “that one let me down!” When it (Islam) passes by you, you will smile and say, “O Allah, I was a Life Maker.” Islam will hold your hand up high and say, “You defended me!”

Do you remember, brothers and sisters, the aims of the program? Do you remember the sad young man sitting alone in a dark room, his hands tied, depressed, and in despair? We go to him and ask him, “Will you just sit there while the world, bright and full of hope, awaits you outside?” He tried to stand up but was unable to, because his hands were tied with passiveness and on his neck was the shackle of the lack of goals in life. We started to break all these shackles with him, and that was the first phase. His eyes became filled with a strong will and determination: that is the next phase. He ventured out and found a bright world outside. At the same time, there came many young men and women from their dark rooms, each holding the Holy Qur’an in their right hand and the logo of ‘Life Makers’ in their left hand. That will be the third phase: teamwork. Here is the idea of Life Makers in action.

Part 2 of the Celebration: The Records of Achievements

Just consider the period of time these achievements have taken, and you will soon come to the conclusion which I am trying to explain to you.

Here is a list of students’ organisations that took part in this project at school and university level throughout the Arab world:

· Articles in The Arabian Gulf newspaper (they all wrote about the project and arranged events to support it).

· The Religious Leader in Egypt supported a legal resolution to ban alcohol that is to be presented to the Egyptian Public Assembly.

Twelve thousand young men participated with us. They will be trained during the summer by 800 specialized medical trainers from various Arab countries.

It has been my intention to postpone announcing the results of the clothes collection campaign in order to make it a surprise. Today I have good news to tell you. We all know about the project and how it was spread across 26 countries. Those who had storage places (altogether numbering 3,200 persons) have complied and collected the clothes. All I can say to them is that you have a great deal of goodness in you, especially the women. People who were collecting the clothes have sworn that they were receiving brand new clothes with their labels still intact. This means that people bought new clothes to give out! Do you remember how I used to remind you, in every episode, of the Companions of the Prophet (SAWS)? How I used to ask you what you have done for Islam compared to what they have done? Today I can say that you will meet them on the Day of Judgment and tell them what great things you have done, and in such a short time.

The surprise is that in two weeks we have collected 1,500,000 bags. The goal was one million. I remember that episode when I was encouraging you and I was telling you that we could reach the target of one million, but deep inside I was telling myself that if we reached 700,000, that alone would be a success. We must bear in mind that this is only the number that reached me. I am sure that there are people who distributed the clothes immediately and others who did not inform us. It is possible that the number is even bigger than that. We are delighted by our success. Your nation, O Messenger of Allah (SAWS), has not finished their achievements yet. No, there are men and women who are successful, and who are still adding to the achievements. Do you remember the first episode, when I told you that this is not a program but a project to revive our nations? I assured you that one of our goals was to replace the state of despair and hopelessness with a state of hope and positiveness. I was not mocking you. Now, you can see what you have accomplished by yourselves.

Do you remember my friend, who when I told him that this is a project to revive a nation, said, “The nation is dead?” I replied, “Determination can revive a nation.” He added, “Impossible. The people are lifeless, it is no use.” I then said, “We will present models of people who have succeeded and you will see that I will speak for one hour and that the people will work for 24. They will encourage each other, and there will be a shift and then a revival.” He said, “We shall see.” Thanks to Allah (SWT), we have succeeded, and you have seen the record of achievements.

In fact, after reviewing the record of achievements, I was afraid that we might feel arrogant for what we have managed to do. Therefore, I want to recommend that you read the following ayah in which Allah says what can be translated as, “In the Bounty of Allah, and His Mercy (i.e. Islam and the Qur’an); therein let them rejoice. That is better than (the wealth) they amass.” (TMQ, 10:58).

I also recommend you to thank and praise Allah (SWT) very much for what has happened in the first phase. Remember the ayah in which Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, "If you give thanks (by accepting faith and worshipping none but Allah), I will give you more (of My Blessings)." (TMQ, 14:7).

The next phase is even greater, and in all truth I have hope that it will be achieved, nevertheless I am asking you for a much greater reaction. We have to give thanks to Allah (SWT), and we have to constantly remember the ayah in which Allah says what can be translated as, “And whatever of blessings and good things you have, it is from Allah.” (TMQ, 16:53).

Remember that it is not due to our own cleverness. Just look at how Allah (SWT) has revived us and revived our determination, and remember the ayah in which Allah says what can be translated as, “Is he who is dead (without faith by ignorance and disbelief) and We gave him life (by knowledge and faith) and set for him a light (of belief) whereby he can walk amongst men, like him who is in the darkness (of disbelief, polytheism and hypocrisy) from which he can never come out?” (TMQ, 6:122).

Part 3 of the Celebration

We would like to present a song to our Prophet (SAWS) and beloved teacher Muhammad (SAWS), for he is our leader and example. Furthermore, the episodes of Wa Nalqa al-Ahebba (Meeting the Beloved Ones) were designed to remind us of him, and so is this program, through which we shall become productive Life Makers. It is in English, since Life Makers is not limited only to the Arab World, and will be performed by our brother Sami Youssef from Britain. While listening to the song, I would like us to remember the Hawd (bowl of water) of the Prophet (SAWS) on the Day of Judgment. Imagine your extreme thirst on that day. Suddenly the Prophet (SAWS) will call, “Come, you are from my Ummah (Islamic nation).” Then you will run towards him, see him for the very first time, and as soon as you reach him, he will give you a sip from his Hawd with his kind hands, after which you will never feel thirst again.

Sami Youssef’s speech after the song: “As-Salamu Alaikom (Peace be upon you). This is my first visit to Lebanon and I am honoured to be part of this excellent and noble project which has benefited us so much and which has proved that we, through self-confidence and our reliance on Allah, can achieve great results. We should all be proud of our identity and our Islam and initiate good deeds since this is our responsibility and our promise to Allah. We have to put our talents to good use since every one of us has a talent; no one is born a musician or a philosopher or a great person. These things develop over time. The Prophet discovered and developed the talents of his companions, like Khaled Ibnul-Walid, Ali Ibn-Abu-Taleb, and Omar Ibnul-Khattab. All the Prophet’s companions were talented and he gave them all responsibilities to fulfil.”

Whoever wants this song by our brother Sami, or any of his other songs, can find them on the website, www.amrkhaled.net.

Part 4 of the Celebration

Now, we shall honour some people who have worked very hard in the first stage of this project and have set examples of Life Makers. Within three months only, many people have done acts worthy of honour. Those who attended with us today are far fewer than the number of people who made the overall effort, whether among the ones I know or the ones I do not. Let us start the honouring procedure, which we learnt from our Prophet (SAWS) who used to thank companions who did a good deed. Here are some examples: the Prophet (SAWS) called Abu-Obaidah ‘The Treasurer of the Ummah,’ he called Khaled Ibnul-Walid one of Allah’s swords, and he gave many others titles that would please them and motivate their wills. The Prophet (SAWS) also taught us to give presents such as the incident when he handed Abdullah a wooden stick and told him, “Take this and meet me with it on the Day of Judgment (so that he might enter paradise).” Here are our guests:

1. We start with some youth from Jordan who started a club called Nadi Sunaa’ al-Hayah (The Life Makers’ Club) and worked on all the campaigns, like the five narcotics, and on many of the products: the stickers, the clothes etc. They are four people: Osama, Muhammad, Arwa, and Asmaa. We present them with a certificate of honour and a present from Sunaa’ al-Hayah consisting of a palm holding the planet Earth, with the phrase ‘Together, we make life’ written on it.

2. The winner of the best design for ‘Say No to Smoking,’ which the International Health Organization has requested to use, and which we ask you to find on the website and distribute it everywhere in the Arab World, is our brother Walid, may Allah (SWT) reward him greatly.

3. A group of youth established ‘The Dar-al Tarjama Team,’ literally ‘The House of Translation’ (The Organization for Translation). They consist of 170 translators, both men and women, from 25 countries. They met on the website and agreed to establish a translation team to translate all the Islamic material of Muslim Scholars into all the European Languages. They have started with articles by Dr. Zaghlool al-Najjar and my lectures, may Allah (SWT) reward them greatly. With us today, our brother Khaled Farag, a German-Egyptian, who has come especially from Germany. He explained that their motive was this ayah from the Qur’an in which Allah says what can be translated as “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other).” (TMQ, 49:13). “Because of this ayah,” Khaled explained, “we wanted to translate the knowledge of the East to the West and vice-versa.”

4. Hadeer Group: a group of Lebanese young men and women who started to make projects and songs and have sent them to the satellite channels, all financed by them. With us today is Marwan Fer’oun, the Principal Director of Hadeer Group. They used to gather after work or university in order to do good deeds and to help people love their religion more. This was not difficult, and they have now found a sponsor who is prepared to finance their products, thanks to Allah (SWT).

5. From Algeria, we have a young man named Kidaar Sami and some youth. Among them, a girl named Asya, who established, on the website www.amrkhaled.net, a group called Sunaa’ al-Hayah, and formed a mobile exhibition to visit all the universities in Algeria to spread the ideas of the program. Kidaar explained, “We got to know one another through Mr. Amr Khaled’s website, and we are planning to continue with our projects.”

6. In The Cultural Centre, in Ukraine, Muslims watch Sunaa’ al-Hayah and follow it with discussions after every Juma’a Prayer (Friday prayer) in order to agree on tasks to do until they meet the following week. With us today, a representative of the whole group from Ukraine, our brother Thiran who explained, “I am overjoyed with the welcome I have received here, and we, in Ukraine, have been very involved with this program, including in the last project of ‘clothes collection.’

7. From Egypt, we have Abdul-Rahman who, with a group of youth, heard the episode on ‘positiveness’ and collected enough money to buy a kidney-dialysis machine, which they presented to Alexandria University. Abdul-Rahman explained, “On behalf of 100,000 students and on behalf of our professors and staff at Alexandria University, we collected the money because we found that the number of patients suffering from kidney failure was huge. Hence, we decided to establish this unit. At the beginning, we were faced with discouraging phrases such like, ‘there is no hope in the youth’ and ‘our youth is a burden’ but we managed to change this false idea.”

8. From Canada, we have Jawad who alone managed to collect 10,000 bags for the ‘clothes collection’ project. He explained, “I would like to say that you, in the entire Arab world, have an opportunity, which is that there are poor people around you who are easy to reach. It is very difficult for us to collect and then ship the clothes to other countries, like Sudan. I would like to mention one situation that happened to me. I was running across the beach in the morning and I found a person who approached me and asked for a dollar. I said to myself, “Glory be to Allah who sends me a person looking for money so I can help him and enter paradise.” Therefore, try to take advantage of these opportunities.

9. We have an eleven-year old girl from Alexandria who called the Governor of Alexandria herself, to ask him to fix her street. Her name is Aya. She explains, “The Governor listened to me, helped me and did not treat me as if I was a child. The following day, on my way back from school, I found that the street had been repaired.”

10. Ayman Nour, who designed the graphics of this program and those representing the inventions of al-Hassan Ibnul-Haytham. He explained, “I joined the work team to design the graphics for the beginning and the end of this program and its special logo. Then we animated the inventions of Ibnul-Haytham who founded the Experimental Procedure, without which it would have been impossible to identify the successful results and theories. To him we owe the origin of, lenses, photography and cameras. Therefore, I say, ‘If any one wants to be a life maker, he has to follow the footsteps of life makers.’”

11. An individual representing Syria, whose people have been very keen to help with us, may Allah (SWT) reward them greatly. His name is Abdul-Fattah al-Samman. He helps me with every small and big detail related to this program through his wonderful interaction. He explained, “This type of program can really produce youth who are Life Makers.”

12. Our brother Hilal Fattal from the ‘Sunaa’ al-Hayah Association’ in Tripoli.

13. Our brother Fahd Abdul-Wahed from ‘The Perfection Association’ on the website.

14. Ahmed Imam who initiated the idea of the Clothes Collection Project. On the Day of Judgment his scale will carry the reward for the 1.5 million bags that have been collected.

These individuals represent a small proportion of the actual number of individuals who deserve to be honoured with us in Sunaa’ al-Hayah. I thank them all, may Allah (SWT) reward them greatly.

The International Health Organization has recently honoured Sunaa’ al-Hayah. This organization cares for the health of the entire human race, and selects approximately twenty people a year to be honoured for their effective achievements in the field of health around the world. This year they selected my poor self, Amr Khaled, on behalf of the Middle Eastern region. When I received the trophy and the ‘Certificate of Honour,’ I was embarrassed because I knew that they were not mine. They are yours. By Allah (SWT), these are not just empty words.

We will put this certificate on the website, and whoever shared with us in the campaign against the five narcotics, since this certificate is for the campaign against smoking and drugs, should take it, erase my name, and put his/her own name on it and hang on in his/her wall. If I had been talking for one hundred years without you making these efforts, no one would have given us a prize.

Do you see know how our voice reached the United Nations? The International Health Organization asked to use Walid’s design in their campaigns. You youth are effective and your efforts deserve prizes. May the peace and blessings of Allah (SWT) be upon you all.

Do you know the school souvenir, in which all the people take a picture together and then, 20 years later, look at it any say, “O, good old days!” This is our new idea.

We are planning to make a ‘Life Makers’ book to commemorate the first stage. This book will have no author because every one who sends us his or her story will be an author. The book will be distributed to the shops under the title Sunaa’ al-Hayah. I ask every one of you to share with us, even if you sent one bag of clothes, contacted us by phone or fax or surfed the website. Send your picture, name and story to www.amrkhaled.net to enter. We shall share it together, me, my family and everyone who contacts us.

· To be a pleasant memory of this project. We have 15 days with a deadline of 25^th June 2004 to receive what you send on the Internet.

· To be a reminder, so that whenever you face hardships in life, you remember this book in your library.

· To enable you, when you meet Allah (SWT) on the Day of Judgment, to say, “I was with these people.”

· To achieve brotherhood and sisterhood in Allah (SWT). The Prophet (SAWS) says, “Every one will be resurrected with those he loves.”

· The Prophet (SAWS) says, “My love is a must for those who support one another for my sake” and we are making this book to support one another and make Allah’s religion victorious. In this book, there will be the picture of a 50-year-old mother, the picture of a 12-year-old girl and her mother, as well as pictures of you and me.

· In the Arab countries where there are needy people, please make exhibitions to distribute these clothes. You will find out information of how to establish these exhibitions on the website www.amrkhale.net and their specifications which have been set by specialists. You will be informed of whom to contact in your country to help you establish these exhibitions such as governors and non-profit associations in each country.

· In Europe, the United States, Canada and the Gulf countries, some people thought of shipping the clothes to Iraq or Palestine. I know they suffer immensely but their need is not for clothes. We found another country that suffers so much of internal unrest that we worry about our brothers there; that country is Sudan. Therefore, we have decided to send these clothes to Darfur in the North and Goba in the south.

We have agreed with the government of Sudan that we will ship the clothes from Europe, the United States and Canada to port Pour Sudan starting this week. In order to facilitate the shipping, we will ship everything under the name of the ‘Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan’ and all they requested is that we divide the clothes between new and used.

Go to the website www.amrkhaled.net and you will find the shipping company that has agreed to ship and all the details of the shipping dates and how to solve any problem through the Embassy of Sudan in the country where you reside. Starting now and for one full month, all the clothes should be gathered and delivered to port Pour Sudan. At that time, we will be there to help with the distribution if Allah (SWT) wills, and we will bring you the tape to see. We would like to thank the government of Sudan for their co-operation and thank all the people who will be sending the clothes. We will make no distinction in the distribution between a Muslim and a Christian from either the north or the south of Sudan.

Everyone is moving so move with them too and we will start the new stage after we finish shipping the clothes to Sudan and receive your names and pictures for the book. Thank you and may Allah’s peace, blessings and mercy be with you.

[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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