Table of Contents

My Favorite Speeches

My Favorities Speeches

I just realized that I have a ton of webspace that I'm paying for that is going unused. I'm going to use this space to upload some of my favorite all time speeches (or maybe just speeches in general). Feel free to click the link below and download away.

Kazim's Favorite Speeches

Jazakallahu Khairun

Kazim

Too Short

I remember the first time that a young person who was remotely close to me had passed away. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know the guy, but he was a friend of a friend. It was freshmen year in high school and an asian kid by the name of Daniel Yum was gunned down about a half a mile away from the school in a strip mall. That was April 1994. Daniel was 16. Its actually remarkable that I still remember the guy's name, since I had never actually met him. He just turned out to be the first young person that I was semi-affiliated with (he went to my school) that died. I guess that's why his name stuck with me for all these years. I remember later that year, another girl passed away from a gunshot. I don't remember the exact story, but needless to say, she was 16 and while her classmates were finishing off their junior year, she wouldn't get that same opportunity. Her life was over. Her soul taken. Forever.

A few years later, it was a friend from my Sunday School class. We used to call him the cookie monster. I don't remember if he graduated Sunday school with me or if he moved away before I graduated, but I do remember that I lost touch with him and then out of the blue, I saw him at a Muslim Youth Of North America (MYNA) leadership training program in Michigan in 1996. I was shocked to see him. Apparently, his family had left Chicago and moved to Ohio. The conference was to be the last time that I was see Sarmad. He died a couple of months later. Car accident. He was 17. I remember that his passing really hit me. After all, I knew him from Sunday School. I was taking classes with him since I was 3. And now he had passed on from this world into the next life.

The list continues on and on. There was a girl that I went to junior high with. From what I heard, she had committed suicide. There was a Muslim kid who I went to high school with for a year. While in college at Northern Illinois University (NIU), he contracted Meningitis. He died a couple of days later. He was maybe 18 or 19. His name was Mabrook. Its Arabic for Congratulations. I know one of his roommates who he was living with when he died still has his cell phone number under that title (Congrats). There was a Hammoudi whom I met in college who I've written about before who was diagnosed with cancer and passed away after fight it for a few years. After that, the arab kid who I used to see at Taraweeh at MCC. Shot 11 times in a gang style execution. He was 22. Then there was Rizwan Khan, who fell off of his motorcycle on I-90 and slammed into the wall. He was 25.

I know that there's more. But that's all I can remember right now. I'm sure that they all wanted to grow up, get married, have kids, and live their lives like everyone else. But they didn't get that opportunity. And you know what, we may not get that opportunity either. Life is short. I've lived for 28 years and I look back like it was a dream. If people that I went to sunday school, grade school, high school, and college with, can die young, then why can't it happen to you or me. They've all met their creator already and we know that one day, we'll have to do the same. And when we meet our creator, its not going to be fun and games any more. Its going to be heaven or hell. Its going to be good deeds vs bad deeds. Its going to be us standing trial in front of our Creator. Answering for what we did. That's a heavy thought.

Probably heavy enough to cause change in our lives.

The Ultimate Suspense - Part 4

I remember in college how I would take exams and afterwards, I knew I screwed up. I would think that the only way that I could possibly pass the exam is if somehow, by some miracle, someone extremely lenient graded it. And if someone who was very strict graded the exam, I was sure to be doomed. There was no doubt about it. When you're standing at the trial of trials, where the judge is Allah (SWT) Himself, where the witnesses are the Kiraman Katibeen (The Angels who write the biography of your life) and the evidence is undisputable, you better pray that the judge is going to show some Mercy to you.

Most people will have to go through their book, their biography, line by line, trying to justify or explain everything that's there. Where'd your money come from man? What did you spend it on? Did you spend your time worshipping God or did you spend it worshipping gods? Did you use the blessings which were bestowed upon you in the cause of God or did you use them for another purpose? How did you use the time that you were given? Did you pray your prayers? Didn't you see the signs of God above you and below you and even within your own body/self? The questions are going to be asked, about your words, your deeds, about your blessings, about your beliefs. All of them, one by one, under the hot sun, until you're done, being questioned by the One. The exam is done, the grading has begun, and for these folks, there is no place to run. If we are to receive this type of reckoning, if we are taken to account for everything, then there is no chance, for we will be doomed by our actions, may Allah (SWT) protect us from this type of accountability. Ameen.

But you know what, we have a Most Merciful Lord, who has blessed us with a most noble book, and sent upon us a most noble messenger, to guide us, so that we can avoid this type of reckoning. It says in the Qur'an:

Then as for him who will be given his Record in his right hand, he surely, will receive an easy reckoning (84:7-8).

Our beloved Messenger(S) was asked about the easy reckoning and he(S) taught us that when we are given an easy reckoning, we won't be taken to an account for all of our deeds. We'll go through the book, the biography, the evidence quickly and not stop for every sentence. We won't be investigated for everything that we did. The pages will be turned swiftly and the accounting will be done with lenience, just like the lenient grader of an exam. This is what we should strive for. We know that we will be given our book of deeds in either our right hand or our left hand, behind our backs (because we're going to try to hide the left hand so as not to receive the book).

The key is getting that book in your right hand. The following description is given in the Qur'an about these people:

Then as for him who will be given his Record in his right hand will say: "Here! read my Record!' Surely, I did believe that I shall meet my account!'(69:19-20)

The scholars comment about these ayahs and say that these people will run around asking people to read their book, celebrating the fact that they received it in their right hand. Imagine that, celebrating on the Day of Accountability, on the day when the eyes will be cast down, the day when people will be running as if they were going mad or were drunk, but they aren't drunk. They're just scared, cause they know that they will be taken to account, yet some people will be running, but not out of fear, but out of joy. Their book in their right hand, shouting, "Come read my book!!!" Imagine that. And why? Because they believed that one day they would be accountable for their deeds, and they prepared accordingly.

And then there are those people who are the cream of the crop, the most special of Allah(SWT)'s servants. They are soooo special to Allah (SWT), that they won't even be taken to account, at all. They'll just be told to enter into paradise. They won't have to go through the biography with their Grader. They automatically get a passing grade, cause they are the special ones. Amongst these people are the martyrs and those who are considered amongst the martyrs. They are the most beloved of Allah(SWT) and as a result, they won't even be questioned. How awesome is that?

May Allah (SWT) bless us to be amongst those who fall into the latter 2 categories of people. And may He(SWT) protect us from being amongst the first category of people who are given a full reckoning. Ameen.

Note 1: I apologize for not writing in such a long time. Its been kind of tough to get myself to sit down and force myself to write out the thoughts that are in my head. I haven't stopped writing for this site and I don't really plan on it, although I might reconsider after I finish my hundreth post. This is the 87th one.

Note 2: Alhumdulillah, I recently got engaged. The wedding is scheduled for May 18th. Unfortunately, not all of you will be invited to the wedding. Sorry.

The Ultimate Suspense - Part 3

One of the scariest things about life (which is often never thought about) is that there are 2 angels which are watching us constantly throughout the day, writing, just observing and writing. They're writing the most detailed biography of you that anyone could ever put together. They write your thoughts, your deeds, your words, what you heard, what you said, who you were with, and every other action, big or small, that you did in your life. And they will continue to write this biography till you leave this world at which point they will stop writing and the book will be closed.

Well, that's not entirely true. The Prophet (S) taught us that our deeds will end when we pass except for 3: Sadaqah Jariyah (continuous charity), knowledge that we've passed on to others (good and bad), and righteous children who will continue to pray for you after you have passed away. The continuous charity (Sadaqah Jariyah) are basically the things that you helped with that people continue to benefit from (even something as small as a tree that you may have planted that people use to take shade from the sun). Because of that shade (or other benefit that people derive), some deeds will be written down in your book, Insha'Allah. The other interesting point of note is the knowledge which is passed down to others. What we often overlook is that this knowledge refers to both good and bad knowledge. If we pass down knowledge that is beneficial to people  (such as how to read Qur'an), then we will have good deeds recorded in our favor after we pass. On the flip side, if we pass down knowledge which is not good (such as teaching people curse words and insults), then we will have some bad deeds recorded against us after we pass. Even after we pass away, our books of deeds (which I like to call the biography of our life) will continue to be written in until these 3 things are of no benefit to anyone anymore.

Normally, one would be honored if someone thought that you were so special of a person, that a biography deserved to be written about you. But I don't know if that's the case with this biography, cause this biography is evidence. Evidence in a trial. A trial that is the report of how you performed in the test of life. And the outcome of this trial determines whether you will feel the ultimate pleasure or the ultimate suffering. On that day of suspense that's been mentioned earlier, this book will be presented to us and questions will be asked against it.

The Prophet (S) has taught us that everyone of us will remain standing on the Day of resurrection until he is questioned about 5 things:

1. His life and how he spent it.
2. His youth and how he grew old.
3. His wealth and how he acquired it.
4. His wealth and how he spent it.
5. His knowledge and how he used it.

And all of this will be cross referenced against that biography that the Angels wrote about you. The way that we will be questioned has been clarified a little in another Hadith of our beloved Messenger (S) when he taught us:

"The first of his actions for which a servant of Allah will be held accountable on The Day Resurrection will be his prayers. If they are in order, then he will have prospered and succeeded; and if they are wanting, then he will have failed and lost. If there is something defective in his obligatory prayers, the Lord (S.W.T) will say: see if my servant has any voluntarily prayers with which may complete that which was defective in his obligatory prayers. Then the rest of his religious duties will be judged in like fashion."

Imagine that, standing and being questioned about whether or not you prayed your prayers. The evidence (your biography) right there to reference. And after you account for each one of your prayers, you will continue to be asked about the different aspects of your life, every word, every action, every deed. Even where you received your money from and and how you spent it. How you spent your youth. How you implemented the knowledge that you were blessed with. What did you do? And if you try to lie, if you try to smooth talk your way out of it, you won't be able to, because the biography is right there. Imagine going through your biography, reading it line by line and trying to justify everything that you did and every word that you said.  After all, this is the day of accountability.

But you know what, you may not have to do so....there may be a way out.

To be continued.....

The Ultimate Suspense - Part 2

I can't imagine preferring to be thrown into the hell fire over the uncertainty of the Day of Judgment. I just can't. The idea boggles my mind. But I guess, to some extent, I can understand the insanity. It is the day that has been described as the day when the debts are due, the day when every action that you did in the world will be judged, the day when all of the wrong will be made right. TO exemplify this, our beloved Messenger (S) taught us that on that day, we will see a sheep which will be given horns and that sheep will use those horns to strike a ram that struck it in this world. For even if a sheep was wronged, it will receive its recompense. It will get its payback. It will have its justice. Even a sheep ... Subhan'Allah.

And what about us? We often forget and think that the sins that we commit in this world are only against God and all we need to do is ask for God's forgiveness from Him (SWT). Once we do that, we're straight. We won't have any more worries. And yes its true that God has the power to forgive all of our sins, even if they reached from the earth to the heavens, He (SWT) can wipe them out with just a word, just a thought. But if He (SWT) wiped out everything, that wouldn't be just or right, because not all of the sins that we commit are against only Allah (SWT). A whole lot of them are committed against people. And just like the sheep who's going to get horns to get payback on the ram, those people that we've wronged, that we've hit, that we've insulted, assaulted, backbited about, slandered, cheated, lied to, or wronged in any another way will get their payback. They will get their justice.

The Prophet (S) highlighted this in a beautiful but scary Hadith in which he (S) asked his companions who the poor man was. The companions replied that Allah (SWT) and His messenger know best, but the poor man amongst them was the one who doesn't have any money. He (the Prophet) replied: "The poor of my Ummah would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with prayers and fasts and Zakat but (he would find himself bankrupt on that day as he would have exhausted his funds of virtues) since he hurled abuses upon others, brought calumny against others and unlawfully consumed the wealth of others and shed the blood of others and beat others, and his virtues would be credited to the account of one (who suffered at his hand). And if his good deeds fall short to clear the account, then his sins would be entered in (his account) and he would be thrown in the Hell-Fire."

Imagine that, on the Day of Judgement, with all of your good deeds, piles of them, standing next to you. Imagine yourself sitting pretty, thinking "I got this. This is not a problem. Look at my pile of good deeds." Imagine, walking on your way to paradise, strolling on your way in cause you think you got it. And all of a sudden, someone calls out, "Hold up! You wronged me in the world, I want some of your good deeds." And when that person is done, you turn around and continue to stroll, and someone else calls out, "Hold up! You wronged me in the world. I want some of your good deeds." And another person. And Another. And Another. And you watch as your pile of good deeds just starts to shrink. And another person comes to you and tells you that you wronged them in the world and that they want some of your good deeds. You look at them and look at what used to be your pile of good deeds and you don't see any left. You turn back to them and tell them, "I don't have any, what do you want me to do," to which they reply, "OK fine. Then take some of my bad deeds." And you watch as your pile of bad deeds increases causing you to be thrown into the fire.

Imagine that. There will definitely be justice on that day. Those who tortured others, who raped and pillaged, who murdered under different pretenses, those who exploited others, who unjustly imprisoned people, their victims will get their justice. There's no doubt about it. That's not what we should worry about. We should worry about those that we've wronged. Cause they too will get their justice. Scary thought, isn't it?

To be continued.....