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Work for the Deen of Allah

DR. IBRAHIM DREMALI
ISAT Mini-conference, Arlington, TX
9 Muharram 1431 / December 26, 2009
Transcribed and edited by Ayeen Lin

After praising Allah _''- -'=-- and sending the salat and salam upon our Prophet Mohammed _'- '- ,'= - , his family
and Companions until the Day of Judgment, the Sheikh - =-= said:
Introduction
My dear brothers and sisters, to work for the Deen of Allah (religion of Allah) _''- -'=-- it is
everybodys responsibility, men and women. And this issue we should not get tired of speaking about it,
until this issue becomes a fact, in our past, in our present time, and in our future as well. The number of
the Muslims my dear brothers and sisters are one fourth of the world population. The number of the
Muslims became recently one fourth of the world population. But compared to the number of the
Muslims, how many people work for the Deen of Allah (religion of Allah) _''- -'=--? Those who work
for the Deen (religion) are a very small number. When the people took their pledge of allegiance with
the Prophet '- ,'= - _'-, on the spot they became a soldier for the Dawah (inviting to Islam), for the
Deen of Allah (religion of Allah) _''- -'=--. With this lecture we will take examples, and nothing else
but that my dear brothers and sisters, to comprehend and understand what exactly it means to work for
the Deen of Allah (religion of Allah) _''- -'=--.
The Story of At-Thufayl ibn Amr Ad-Dawsi
Lets take one example, At-Thufayl ibn Amr Ad-Dawsi -= - -. At-Thufayl -= _''- - - was a
very famous poet ( -' , ='-' ). He used to come to Makkah every year for the competition between the
poetries (,- --'--). When he came to Makkah Mukarramah, the people of Quraysh welcomed him
and told him, Ya Thufayl, be careful from Bani Hashim, from the kid of Bani Hashim. They meant the
Prophet '- ,'= - _'-. He speaks and he makes separation between husband and wife and families
together with his talk. You be careful, do not listen to him. At-Thufayl said to himself, They were
speaking about it and speaking about it until I stuffed the cotton inside my ears because I did not want to
listen to what he was saying. But InshaAllah by the will of Allah _''- -'=-- I went to the Kaba and saw
the Prophet '- ,'= - _'- sitting there. He told himself, I am a smart man, I understand the Arabic
language very well; I understand what is good and what is bad. Let me go and speak with him. If I like it
I will take it and if I dont like it I will leave it. He took the cotton out of his ears and went to the Prophet
'- ,'= - _'- and said, Ya Mohammed, your people told me about you so and so. What do you have?
The Prophet '- ,'= - _'- recited:


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; J- -= -- , --~- -- , --;- ;- --- ;- , -= ;- - Q-- ;-
"Say! He is Allah, the One! The Eternal, The Absolute! He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And there is nothing comparable to Him." [Surat al-Ikhlas 112:1-4]
At-Thufayl became a Muslim on the spot. On the spot he became a Muslim - - _''- -= . What did
he learn? Only Qul huwa Allahu ahad (Say He is Allah the only One). But in that moment he told the
Prophet, Ya Rasoolullah, my people obey me. The tribe of Daws obeys me. Order me Ya Rasoolullah to
go and spread the message to those people. And the Prophet '- ,'= - _'- gave his permission to go
and give his people the Dawah (invitation to Islam). At-Thufayl was so aggressive with his people. He
told his wife, You are not my wife. Your father is not a father. Son is not a son or a daughter. He started
to explain Islam to his family and everybody in his family became a Muslim. And then he went to his
tribe and his tribe refused this message. Why, because he was so aggressive. The people they need
someone gentle when talking to them about the Dawah (invitation to Islam), about a new religion. He
got angry with his people. Only one person became Muslim with his tribe, and that was Abu Huraira
-= _''- - -; only Abu Huraira -= _''- - -. He went with Abu Huraira back to Makkah
Mukarramah and told the Prophet '- ,'= - _'- to make du'aa (invocation) against Daws, for Allah to
destroy them. The Prophet '- ,'= - _'- raised his hands and said, Oh Allah guide the tribe of Daws
and bring them to me as Muslims three times. And he told him, Ya Thufayl, be gentle and easy with
them and go and fight for the Deen of Allah (religion of Allah) _''- -'=--; they will become Muslim. And
he was a gentle man and very nice and very gentle with his people, and all the tribe of Daws became
Muslim. The etiquette of the dawah (inviting to Islam) my dear brothers and sisters, is this kind of
gentleness.
Points Regarding Working for the Deen
1- Working for the Deen (religion) is a lifelong job, not a temporary job. The moment you are born
until you die it is your life. Prophet Nuh `-' ,'= spent 950 years in the matter of dawah (inviting
to Islam). 950 years in the matter of dawah (inviting to Islam); and not only that, in secret, in
public, day and night, working very hard for the sake of Allah _''- -'=--. Even Yaqub `-' ,'=
in the last moment in his life, he gathered all his kids to give them the last advice in his life.
What he said was one question:

-- Q- --- '- ---- '-
What will you worship after me? [Surat al-Baqarah 2:133]

This was the main concern for Yaqub regarding his kids. They said:

~- - Q=- -= ')- '=~ J--'-~ ;- ,- 4-'-' - 4)- --- ;-'- ;--
"We shall worship your Ilah, the Ilah of your fathers, Ibrahim, Ismaeel, Ishaaq, One Ilah,
and to Him we submit (in Islam)." [Surat al-Baqarah 2:133]


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And they said, We are Muslims.

2- The dawah (inviting to Islam) my dear brothers and sisters is until the last moment in your life, as
it was in our Prophet Mohammed '- ,'= - _'- on Monday, and he knew he was dying _'-
'- ,'= -, and he '- ,'= - _'- was sitting, praying next to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq _''- - -
-= and looked at his companion -= _''- - -, to see if they were performing the Salah
(prayer) the way the Prophet taught them. And he '= - _'- '- , started to give more advice
and then all the Sahaba scattered because they saw the Prophet '- ,'= - _'- praying in the
Masjid and they thought he was in good health. The Prophet '- ,'= - _'- died on that day.
My point, my dear brothers and sisters is that the prophets last action in their life was working
for the sake of Allah _''- -'=--.

3- Working for the Deen (religion) is not assigned for certain people. It is not a condition for a
person to work for the Deen (religion) of Allah _''- -'=-- to have graduated from an Islamic
university, or under a Sheikh (scholar) and so on. Everybody can work for the Deen of Allah
(religion of Allah) _''- -'=--, its everybodys responsibility as we mentioned in all these
examples. As we mentioned in all these examples, you just learn the Aqeedah (creed) and Tawheed
(monotheism) from the Prophet '- ,'= - _'- and then become soldiers for the Deen of Allah
(religion of Allah) _''- -'=--. We should not add sins over our sins and say, You know what, I
cannot work for the Deen of Allah (religion of Allah) _''- -'=--. In reality yes you can; with your
family, with your friends, with your colleagues, and so on, with internet, with emails.
The Story of Abu Mahjan Al-Thaqafi
My dear brothers and sisters Abu Mahjan Al-Thaqafi -= _''- - -, he was a Sahabi (companion),
and at the same time he was an alcoholic. He went with Saad ibn Abi Waqqas -= _''- - - in
the battle of Qadisiya. They brought him drunk, so Saad ibn Abi Waqqas prevented him from
fighting for the sake of Allah _''- -'=--. The battle of Qadisiya started and he started to hear the
voices and the gates open. Saad -= _''- - - locked him up not to fight for the sake of Allah.
The wife of Saad, she saw him in the prison and he told the wife of Saad -= _''- - -, (her
name was Salma), give me the horse of Saad (Saad was sick at that time) and his sword, and let me
go. If I die it will be a relief for everyone and if I live I will come and be chained. Salma felt sorry for
him and gave him the sword of Saad and the horse of Saad. And he went to fight like someone
who was prevented to work for Allah _''- -'=--. Saad was watching and he said, This horse looks
like my horse, Al Balqa, and the fighter looks like Abu Mahjan. But I know that Al Balqa was in the
stable and I know Abu Mahjan was in prison. After the battle was over he told the Sahaba what was
going on and then his wife Salma came and told him that he was Abu Mahjan and it was Al Balqa.
4- My dear brothers and sisters working for the Deen (religion) is supposed to be assigned for the
people and everybody is able to find a job. No one can say I cannot find a job. Who is better,
you or the bird of Prophet Suliman, Hudhud? Of course you. That bird, he flew all the way to
Yemen and he saw people worshipping the sun rather than worshipping Allah _''- -'=--. The


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bird came flying back to Prophet Suliman `-' ,'= very angry, very upset. He said to Prophet
Suliman, I saw people worshipping the sun rather than worshipping Allah _''- -'=--, and they
should worship Allah _''- -'=--. That bird found his job, his mission. Can you find your job
and mission in the Muslim community or not?
Conclusion
Everybody has to work for the sake of Allah _''- -'=-- my dear brothers and sisters. Everybody knows
Surat Yaseen:
- Q- '= Q--~,-- ;-- ;- '- '- _~- J= -- --- _~
And there came a man running from the farthest part of the town.
He said: "O my people! Obey the Messengers. [Surat Yaseen 36:20]
There were 3 messengers in Madina, and those 3 messengers were working for the Deen of Allah -'=--
_''-. Who heard about those three messengers? Habeeb Al Najar. All the way from the end of
Jerusalem, he came to help those three messengers. He knew his people, and his people killed him. But
he must work for the sake of Allah _''- -'=--. So my dear brothers and sisters there is an opportunity
for everyone to work for the sake of Allah _''- -'=--. Dont lose the opportunity. If you know one
Ayah, spread this Ayah. Learn and have Sabr (patience). Have Sabr (patience), and suffer to learn
InshaAllahir Rabbil Alameen (by the will of Allah, the Lord of all that exists).

Jazakum ALLAH Khayran wa Baraka ALLAH Feekum
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahamtu ALLAH wa Barakatuh

May ALLAH reward you and may ALLAH bless you
May the peace, mercy and blessings of ALLAH be upon you