27:40
Assalamu alaykum and welcome to another episode of your local Jama. Every Friday we travel to a different masjid across the UK, meeting the communities at the heart of our ummah and bringing their stories to you at home. This week we're at the center of West London and Islamic Center, a vibrant and growing community center that has become a cornerstone of the local community of Westing. Alhamdulillah. My name is Abdim Khal. I am the CEO of West London Islamic Center. It's for everybody and as also we encourage non-Muslims to come as well. Uh we hold like annual mosque open days for example and Ramadan celebration. We invite
non-Muslims to come and just enjoy the place uh look around, discover the uh you know the place. We also encourage the schools. We get schools almost weekly basis. They come here, they bring the children uh to visit the center here and we talked to them about Islam. Uh and uh you know it has been very good for everybody and that's the whole yeah our long-term uh vision is really to make the center relative to every household in the area and beyond. We want everyone you know in West London to feel connected with the center and to be to get benefit from the center. The Muslim community of course but also people of other faiths to come and enjoy and use the center.
Uh my name is Omar. I'm here for the second of um the JA today because I missed the first I was busy working at home. So this mosque in I feel like everyone talks about East London mosque but never about WLIC cuz like mosque is massive got so many different activities and um for everyone involved like no matter what age you are and I'm pretty sure they're opening a gym here soon. I want to cancel my gym membership so I can go and start here actually if possible. All excited about the gym. It will start on the 29th of this month inshallah which is next not this Monday the Monday after. And uh it will be open for all. There will be different sessions for men, for women, for young people, for you know
children, uh different activities and I hope that it will cater for all the requirements to keep everybody fit and healthy inshallah. Um the gym is well equipped and uh has got all the facilities uh all the right environment. So I hope that people will enjoy themselves there in benefit and you know get fit in. I'm always happy to go and buy like a drink or some sweets or even some books. I'm pretty sure I brought all my th here as well you know it's just so accessible for like a ground floor. Even some of my non-Muslim friends have just brought
them over here and they've they've noticed like Grandios and how like how nice and welcoming the mosque is in general, you know, because like they can buy so many different things on the ground floor that you know it sort of like lowers that barrier to entry to of Islam or that sort of daunting feeling about Islam to many people. My name is Juned D and I'm a graduate from Azar and I'm one of the imams here at West London Islamic Center. The prophet actually taught us that himself. that the believer that is strong is much better in the eyes of Allah than the believer that is weak. But in both there is goodness. So a Muslim and a Muslim by the way that's that's brothers and sisters must strive to become strong in
every sense of the word. Physically strong your iman must be strong. Your finance must be strong. You must be strong in every aspect. And it's only through that strength that we as Muslims can achieve things. For example, if you got no finance, how you going to go and give charity? How you going to give zakat? How you going to go for Hajj? You can't do your projects. You can't film what we're doing here. We need money. Likewise, we need to struggle and strive in all aspects. And to be honest, because all of us, we are not perfect, brother. And all of us we need to change actually because sometime just our shortfall we need just to look after uh what we've done and we
all every day when we go back home or before we sleep just you need to count yourself actually to be accounted to yourself and to see exactly and you change and the main change actually we need to be united with each other and we need to be heartly look after each other. This is the most important thing for us and now we miss this point actually honestly brother in this uh in this time. So alhamdulillah the fundamental message of Islam is strength and as Muslims we should not be looking at the bottom of the ladder but we should be looking at the top of the ladder. We should be in the top in every field be that education be that in work wherever it is Muslims always the best.
Over the years, the center has helped its community whenever and however they can, opening its doors to people of all ages and backgrounds while continuing to serve the spiritual, educational, and social needs of the community around it. Delivering this week's ish Janeed Da. Let's listen in and see what lessons we can learn. Yeah. for [snorts] respect the listeners. We have entered into the blessed month of muharam which is one of the haram one of the blessed months of the year and it is the beginning also of the Islamic new year we've entered into 1448 years the according to the hijra and this date the hij date is very important because the hij date is connected to the hijra of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam in which he left Mecca and he migrated and he went to Medina Yeah. And the hijra is an event that we really need to understand the importance and the significance of what exactly happened and why did it happen and what were the consequence or the results or the fruits of the hijra of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. In effect the tables completely turned from where the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was in Mecca for 13 years experiencing uh experiencing killing, boycott, death, destruction all kinds of problems that they were facing. Then the prophetam he left Mecca went to Medina and he became a statesman. He became a man who was responsible for the area where he was.
So the hijra kindled the light of hope in the hearts of the earlier Muslims and sh a signing example for the Muslims for those who to come later. And Allah subhana wa ta'ala he praised all those who made that hijra in which Allahh says Allah subhana wa ta'ala he says those who believe and have and those who made the and they did for the sake of Allah subhana wa ta'ala they are the ones who hold the highest place in the sight of Allah subhana tala so hijra sacrifice is part and parcel of a Muslim's character jihad struggling and striving for the sake of Allahh is part and parcel of a Muslim's character and Allahh praises all that do that and the hijra when this event took place this wasn't just a significant event for
the Arabs or for the Muslims but it was a significant event for the entire world that this small group of people who started off the prophet started off the dawa in Bum the house of where a few people secretly discussing what was coming down revelation to now eventually 13 years later the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is taking charge of a whole nation of a state of a nation of an area and he was becoming the head of state and this shows a very important lesson especially in our day and age today in which the in which Allah subhana wa tala he informs us how many a times have we seen a small group of people defeat a large group of people with the permission of Allah and
Allah is with those who are patient and one of the beautiful examples of that is the prophet sallallahu am himself who started in a house and eventually moved over into Medina where he became the head of state and he governed there. Respected listeners, what changed? What did the hijra actually teach us in the brief time that we have together? Some of the most important points. Number one, Islam, it began as a private matter. As we mentioned, discussed amongst few people, it wasn't openly proclaimed, but it was just kept private. And then we find with the hijra of the prophetam or even prior to the hijra of the prophetam, Islam started to come out. So we find that the hijra was a pivotal moment from which Islam where
it was a private entity now became an open call where there was a social element to it a political element to it an economical element to it became a whole state so the situation completely changed likewise respect to this in Mecca the dawa or the cord was primarily given to those in Mecca the pagans of Mecca were being called to Islam but now with the prophet wasallam moving over to Medina and becoming a real power. He sent out letters. He sent out ambassadors to all different parts of Persia to Rome and to Africa and various places inviting them to Islam showing that when you have strength then you can make your call much larger than just a local area but you can call the
entire world to Islam. And this was the impact of the hijra. In simple language, respected listeners, the hijra is about change. It is a process of transfer from a weaker situation to a better situation. The hijra is all about change and bringing better habits into your life, creating a better environment for yourself and those around you. When the prophet wasallam migrated from Mecca to Medina, he didn't just move from one place to another, but he taught us some valuable lessons. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was from Mecca. The people in Medina, the o the people of Medina. The people of Mecca were a different people, different tribe, different way of living. They were different. When they came over into
Medina using modern language, it was a migration. You had a people with a foreign culture, with a foreign way of living coming from Mecca and coming to Medina. Again, this is very relevant to our times today. Look at the way migrants are treated today. In the developed world, in the civilized world, look how migrants are treated in this country, not far from where we are today. In the States, look how migrants are treated. And look how Islam dealt with immigration back,448 years ago. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he ordered upon the entrance of the muaj coming into Medina meeting the Ansar the prophet established alsar he made a rule and the rule was that one muaj is paired up with onear and they
become brothers. They become brothers to the point that the person who's living in Medina the Ansari it was his responsibility to take the muhaj and to find him a job to find him a house and even if he needed a wife to find him a wife as well that is the extent so much so that subhan Allah we find in the early period that in the early period the prophet even allowed inheritance of the these two brothers there's no blood connection but if one of them was to die the other would inherit from him this is the this is the level of the integration that the prophet He promoted real brotherhood. I ask you today when we have migrants coming over Isaiah, how are they treated? I don't need to explain. You've all seen what has
happened in Belfast, what has happened up and down the country and how migrants are being treated and how they're being blamed for all the problems of the country when it's nothing to do with the migrants or nothing to do with immigration. But it is always Muslims or migrants who are always at the front of all of their so-called problems. But when we look at Islam, we find that Islam, it teaches us something unique and that is real brotherhood. putting aside color of skin, putting aside the languages that you speak, putting aside your social class, whatever it is, we find that Islam, it really came and taught us how to treat each other as human beings and put everything else aside. Allahh says
obey Allah and obey his messenger. That is it. That is the criteria. And then Allahh says and don't argue with one another. Don't bicker with one another because then you'll become weak. Stay strong and stay united. And that is where your strength is. So number one, these features that I'm discussing here, they're very important not just to know historically, but even in our own local community, we need the very same thing. We need real brotherhood amongst ourselves. We need people to be really united. We don't need to have, for example, we don't need to have a Pakistani mosque or a Somali mosque or a Bandali mosque. We need to have a mosque. When the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he came into
Medina the very first thing that the prophet built even before building his own house most people the first thing you're concerned about is my own residence but the prophet didn't concern himself with his res residence the first thing that the prophet built when he came into Medina was what was the masid he built the masid as a center point for people to come together and the masid it served very important features and roles and responsibilities from amongst them number one it was a place for people to together and they can come and worship Allah subhana wa tala. Number two, it was a place where people could come and seek knowledge. So what I'm saying here again is not just exclusive to the
masjid the prophet. This should be the duty and the function of every masjid across the globe. So the prophet being informed is a place of it was a place of worship. It was a place to seek knowledge for youngsters, for the elderly, for the women. They would come there and seek knowledge. It was a place of that your children can get their can understand their roles and their responsibilities in society what they're going to do. They get their from the masjid. It was a place of where people used to come and get their matters resolved. Divorce, marriage, disputes, mediation, counseling. People used to come there and get all their problems resolved. Likewise, it was a place where
Shura used to take place. Where did the prophet used to decide where he's going to do jihad, who's going to go on the jihad, where are we going to do things. It was inside the masjid where the major decisions of that community took place was inside the masjid of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. And that is the duty of the masjid. So we find that the prophet wasallam he made this very clear even before building his own house and we find Allah subhana wa tala when it comes to the issue of the masjid Allah he says Allahh says indeed those who attend those who govern and those who take care of the mass that those people number one
They truly believe in Allah subhana tala and they truly believe they're going to stand in front of Allah one day and give answers to everything. Number three and they are people who establish the salah. Number four and they are the ones who give their zakat. And the final quality that Allah mentions of those who are in the mass they fear no one but who Allah subhana tala. Number three, the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam as well as when he came into Medina, the third element that he did to create a society was that he made contracts with the non-Muslims and that included the Yehud.
There were three major Jewish tribes in Medina. And the prophet when he came into Medina, he allowed for them to live freely. He didn't put any conditions on them. Live, trade, marry, do what you like. Live freely. But just one condition that you have to follow. And that is what don't commit high treason. So those of you who came into this country and got your passports, turn your passport over. All of you will see you've made a vow. You've made an oath that if you want to live in this country, you're not going to commit treason. That's just common sense. Likewise, the prophetam when he made a contract with the yahood, he made the same agreement that he won't commit
treason. You're not going to rebel against the prophetam. And they agreed. So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, we find that he established relationship, good relationships with the non-Muslims, with all people. There is no hate that Muslims have towards non-Muslims. There's no hate toward Christians. There's no hate towards Jews. But if somebody misbehaves, then that has to be dealt with whether that is a Muslim or non-Muslim. So we find that the prophetam he established safety and security for all people. The fourth thing that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he did was that he established water systems in the city.
He dug up different parts of the city where he provided water. He found a wells and he provided people with access to water. taking care of the most weak and the most vulnerable making sure they have access to all the necessities that every community they need. It's not just the ruling elite unlike many of our Muslim countries. It is only the leaders or the rulers have access to all the facilities while the rest of the people are dying because they have no water, they have no food, they have no electricity. But the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam upon entering into the Medina, one of the first things he would make sure there was water wells everywhere so everybody gets free access
to water. Again we see the good work of the prophetam likewise number five that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam the fifth thing that he did was he eradicated poverty in Medina he removed poverty and how did he do that number one by charity and number two by zakat and number three that we find much of the ayat in the Quran they talk about what take care of the orphan take care of women give sodak give your zakat and this elevated people this removed poverty and removed crime from the society that they were living in. This is another great success of the process. And finally, the sixth point before we move over to the second half of the is that the prophetam he also eliminated
and removed crime and he brought in law, he brought in security, law and order and people were able to live, people were able to do business and people were able to trade that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam by bringing in the rules that came in the Quran. rules of capital punishment, rules relating to theft, rules relating to rape, rules relating to alcohol. All of these rules were came in and with those rules, we find the Medina state. We find that crime levels dropped and people lived in peace and people lived in prosperity. Respected listeners, before I do sit down, it is the duty of every single one of us that no matter where we live, no matter where we are, we are trying to make our society, our
community into a mini Medina. That is our job that we establish Islam no matter where we are. Be that eling, be that acting, be that wherever, wherever you live. Your duty is to establish Islam in your area to bring about the same impact that the prophet wasallam did in your own region. So we want to bring about that ideal uh society which the prophet brought about. And finally, one final thing before I do sit down is that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he also taught us two very important things through the hijra. Number one, the prophet highlighted to us the best of generations and that was the prophetam and the companions of the prophet.
The best of generations was the generation of the Sahabah and they are the ones who have taught us how to live. So we follow it in their footsteps. And likewise the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam when he made the hijra to Medina there was a third group of people that were exposed and they came into being and they were who? They were none other than the hypocrites. There was no hypocrites in Mecca but there was hypocrites in Medina. The people who pretended to be Muslim in internally they were not Muslim and externally they were pretending to be Muslim but they were bringing harm to the Muslim community. And I say this
because we need to be aware today in the world today. We need to be aware of those who may look like they're Islamic who may represent nations that they claim to be Islamic but their interests are not with the interests of the Muslims. Their interests are not with the Quran. Their interests are not with the Sunnah. interests of those who are committing genocide and committing crime. So we the prophet he informed us by the making of the hijra that there's a group of people known as hypocrites and hypocrites you will always find there's a rise in hypocrisy wherever there's an opportunity of wealth or opportunity of power because there was none of those in Mecca but when the prophet moved over to Medina we find
them all of a sudden appear and increase in number Now let's see what the local worshippers had to say. But actually this is actually about the immigration of sallallahu alaihi wasallam and this is a very great things and all of us we should learn actually from this actually because the sacrifice and the struggle our um ancient po people and uh and also this also like explain for us rasool because like he's the first man to be like u head of state you know and for a few people from in Mecca they struggle in Mecca and now when they move to Medina also like establish uh the Islamic state and that from there this is this actually that is the beginning of I can say that is the beginning of Islam at that time actually
this is one of the things actually and also like this uh also mentioned that we should be actually cooperated we should be united and should be like all of us we should be work like one unit like uh like a in one system actually so As we're entering into the blessed month of muharam which is one of the four blessed months uh this month is marked by the hijra by the migration of the prophetam from Mecca to Medadina and really and truly this is the pivotal moment in the life of the prophetam that changed everything and it's incumbent upon every Muslim to truly understand the nature of the hijra and the consequences what happened after because prior to the hijra we were a minority we
were persecuted and then after the hijra we find that we grew into a state into an independent state had its own politics, its own economy, its own social be everything was independent. And one of the most amazing things about the hij which really appealed to me is the beautiful way the prophet he united people. People of different skin color, people of different language, people of different you know backgrounds. He brought them together in a very short period of time and made them into brothers. And this is something which the modern world is lacking. We see how migrants are treated today around the world. We see how people of different colors are treated around the world today. But Islam going back,448
years ago, it solved all of that problem. The only difference between me and Jew is piety. And the beautiful thing about piety is I can't see it, you can't see it, but Allah can. Well, I mean, yeah, the our community is a really big mix of people from all different backgrounds, all different ethnicities. They all come together here and they, you know, share in prayers, in activities, in celebrations, in uh, you know, all sorts of engagements. Alhamdulillah. And u not only from like traditional backgrounds like you know Asian or North African or we get a lot of people from the you know sort of Eastern Europe uh European uh from the far east from Africa of course uh yeah
from all over the world. Alhamdulillah. Yeah. So we find with the hijra the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he forced the believers to interact with the community. One of the first pieces of advice that the prophet gave when he entered into Medina was to feed people. Now if you think about that at when the prophet first moved to Medina he the Muslims were a minority. The majority were Jews, majority were pagans. Yet the prophet the first instruction he gave the people was to feed the people. So who are we feeding? Not Muslims. But you're feeding non-Muslims. Why? So you win the hearts and minds. Not because we've got an alternative motive. Not because we're trying to pull a fast one.
Genuinely as a Muslim, we want to feed people, look after people, do charity to show our wider community that we are here in love. We are here in peace and we've got nothing but goodness for everyone. West London Islamic Center continues to inspire and support its local community, especially its young people through the dedication of its volunteers and the generosity of the people of Westing. As the mosque continues to grow, may it remain a place of faith, unity, and service for generations to come. Inshallah. Until next time.
