Can (such people be equal to) the one who worships during the hours of the night, prostrating

and standing fearing the Hereafter and having hopes in his Lord's mercy? Say, ''Can those who know and those who do not know become equal?" It is only the people of understanding who are receptive of the advice. [az Zumar 39:9]
- One of the greatest legacies of the Muslims is when it came to 'Ilm (knowledge). The Salaf excelled in seeking knowledge. They made sacrifices for the Deen of Alalh to such an extent, that until Qiyamah, people will continue to benefit from their works.

WHEN it came to seeking knowledge where will the Ummah find the likes of Aby Ayub al Ansari r.a.- He traveled all the way from Medina, 100s of miles to Egypt, just for the sake of 1 hadith of Rasul Allah . He gets to Egypt, he meets Uqba. Uqba seeing the Sahabi embraces him and asks, "what brings you all the way from Medina?" He responds, "1 hadith of Rasul Allah . Out of all the people that directly heard it from Rasul Allah , only you and I remain alive. --- The hadith was in regards to concealing the faults of the believer. Uqba related the hadith to him. Aby Ayub responds with "Sadaqt" (you have spoken the truth). The man does not even get off his horse, after hearing the hadith, he returns back to Medina. - You had the likes of Ibnul Qaasim, who stayed at the feet of Malik for 17 years aquiring hadith. Ibnul Qasim is sitting with the great Imam Malik, a young man who has his face covered and asks Imam Malik, is Ibnul Qasim amongst you. Imam Malik points to him and this young man kisses the forehead of Ibnul Qasim. Ibnul Qasim didn't even know that this was his flesh and blood. This young man was none other then the son of Ibnul Qasim. WHY? Ibnul Qasim had left his wife 17 years ago whilst she was expecting! - There were the likes of Baqee ibn Maqht al Makhlad who remained absent from his house twice. The first time he was absent for 14 years and the second time was 20 years! IN TOTAL, HE SPENT 34 YEARS, traveling from Spain, ON FOOT. He walked from Spain all the way to Hijaz and Iraq to acquire hadith. Upon many occasions, he would have to sell his trousers, just so that he could buy some paper. He lived upon cabbage and leaves which people would throw away just to sustain himself. - Hafiz ibn Mandah left his home for the sake of learning hadith. He left at the age

of 20. When do you think he returned home? 30? 40? 50? NAY! HE RETURNED HOME AT THE AGE OF 65!!! ALLAHU AKBAR, ALLAHU AKBAR! - Imam Shafi'ee would eat only as much dates as he needed for 16 years. He couldn't afford paper so he would write on leather and on bone. - the great Yahya ibn Ma'een inherited 1 million dirhams. Every single dirham he spent acquiring hadith of Rasul Allah !!! So much so, that upon occasion he had to sell his own slippers just to buy papers. - Imam Yusuf did not attend the burial of his own son. He offered the janazah, but did not attend the burial out of fear that he would miss the lecture of Imam Abu Hanifa. - 30,000 people would attend the lecture of Imam Firyabi when he came to Baghdad. Sometimes there were 70,000 people! Even Jinn would come attend the duroos. - One may ask, where did these people get their desire to learn Deen from? It was due to the piety of their parents, the guidance of their parents. Today, we pressure our children to get degrees and get good grades in school. However, what have we taught them regarding the Deen of Allah?! - During the month of Dhil Hijjah 95th or 97th hijri, Sulaiman ibn Abdul Malik the king of the time came for Hajj. With him are his two young sons. They complete the Tawaf and afterwards he looks around him and asks where is the Sheikh, we would like to meet him. *Let these be the memory of our kids."I remember as a child, my father used to take me to the Sheikh." "I remember as a child, my father used to bring me to the masjid." INSTEAD, our children's memory is "My father took me to this film" "My father took me to this mall" - Father and son are walking to Sa'ee and an anouncment is made 'Nobody has the authority to pronounce a verdict in Islamic Jurisprudence in the sancitity of the Ka'ba except 'Ata bin Abi Raba'h. The boys asked who is this man. Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik said "You know my son, that man sitting there, the one who has no beauty, everybody sitting around him that is 'Ata bin Abi Rab'ah. He is the official successor of Abdullah ibn Abbas r.a. He is the mufti of the Haram. Learn my children learn. It is knowledge that will elevate you. Acquire knowledge and Allah will give you a kingdom, an empire without a throne. You will go beyond what your father has." - Umar r.a. goes to visit his son, Abdullah bin Umar. He found that there was meat there. Umar r.a. asks, "Ma Hadha [what is this]." Abdullah bin Umar replies "Ishtahaytuhu [I was feeling to it]" . Umar r.a. rebuked his son and said, "Awa kulama isthahayta shayan akaltahu, kafa bil mari sarafan anya kula kullah

mashtahaau [Since when is this the norm that eveytime you feel for something you consume it, if that is your attitude it's sufficient to consider you extravagant]. THIS WAS NOT SOMETHING HARAM, MY BROTHERS, IT WAS HALAL! OUR KIDS EAT HARAM AND WE DON'T KNOW IT NOR CARE!!! - Somone may raise the objection that, "These were scholars. We have jobs and families to provide for." To them I say, "If Allah has not given you the tawfeeq to become a scholar, at least learn the basics of your Deen!" - There was a simple person who had a hair salon, he used to cut hair and attend the gatherings of 'Ata bin Abi Rab'ah. Imam Abu Hanifa, the giant, said "I learned five things at the hands of an ordinary man shaving hair in Mecca. I was in the state of Ihram and wanted to shave my head to exit the state of Ihram. So I came to a barber and said "How much will you charge me to shave my head." The man said, "Sit down, you don't discuss matters of finance. Whatever is available you give it to me." Abu Hanifa said "I felt embarassed and sat down. In the excitement and nervousness, I sat contrary to the direction of Qibla." He nudged me and said "Face Qibla". Abu Hanifa said "I didn't know where to my head out of embarassment. I said "You can start shaving my hair and in my excitement I pointed to the left side of my head." So the man said, "Give me the right side of your head." Abu Hanifa said "I'm not going to say anything." He said " Why you keeping quite, you must say Allahu Akbar." I stood up and said let me go. He said, "Where are you off to?" I said "I am off to meet my family and caravan." He said "Perform 2 rak'ats salah and then you can go." I prayed two rak'at salah and tought to myself "A barber, but this man is profound." Abu Hanifa asked "how did this happen". He said "I attend the gatherings of 'Ata bin Abi Raba'h" ALLAHU AKBAR! A normal man empowers and motivates the giant Abu Hanifa in the field of Fiqh! My brothers if we do not learn our Deen, then the future generation will be lost. - Mention video of girl leading salah...... - Now, the question is, what are we going to do to change our condition? Bi'idhnillah we are starting classes daily at our masjid. Monday through Friday [asr to isha] is for the kids. On Saturdays after asr is for Brothers and Sisters. This is the oppurtunity, avail it. Otherwise I warn you of what the Quran says....

So, worship what you wish other than Him." Say, "Indeed, the losers are those who (will) lose their selves and their people on the Day of Judgment. Beware, that is really the obvious loss." [az Zumar 39:15]

For them there are canopies of fire on top of them and canopies (of fire) underneath them. That is the thing against which Allah frightens His servants. 'So, 0 servants of Mine, fear Me.' [az Zumar 39:16]