ot wherever he was sitting or he would have her sit right exactly next to him. And she would do the same for him. They clearly had a deep, deep bond. There's so many narrations of like, and then someone came in and the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was taking a shower and say the Fatima radiallahu anhu was the one that was holding the cover for him so he could shower, just normal day-to-day life. She was just there for him every single time, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And she would have a disagreement with Sayyidina Ali radiallahu anhu. They're a young couple. We have this idea of like, the perfect marriage doesn't have challenges. You argue about stuff. The best couple in the world fights over the thermostat. Every couple fights over the thermostat. Subhanallah. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, like they had this discussion once and she was frustrated with him and he went to pray and went and fell asleep in the masjid and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam woke him up.  The one who covered the dirt, come on, get up. What's going on? I'm with you and Fatima radiallahu anhu. And he goes and he reconciles between them. Subhanallah. One of the days, things got really difficult because they didn't have wealth. Sayyidina Fatima radiallahu anhu asked her husband, told her, ask your father if he can get support, if we can get someone to come help us at home. And she went to her father and then she lost her nerve and came back. She's like, I couldn't ask him. So he's like, I'll go ask. So then he goes back and they ask him and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, I can't give you, when there are people that are hungry, when Ahl al-Sufah don't have to eat. So Ahl al-Sufah was essentially a homeless shelter in the Masjid of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, where anyone that didn't have anywhere else to go went to the Masjid. This is what our Masjid should be. It should be the place where people are in need, they should know to just come to the Masjid. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam told them, I can't give you wealth when Ahl al-Sufah don't have to eat. And then it hurt his heart. He said, I can't. He just turned down to his daughter, it hurt him. So he went back to them and he told them, let me give you something that's better. After every Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, say Subhanallah al-Hamdulillah, sorry, Subhanallah al-Hamdulillah, Allahu Akbar 10 times each.  And Sayyidina Ali, all the way around 30 years later, he said, we never, like we never missed a night, every single time, every single time. Subhanallah. In the fourth, Subhanallah over time, she ended up started having her own children. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was so excited having children because she had children. Subhanallah, he lost his sons when they were young. And she was there to witness her parents losing their child. And the Meccans, like celebrating the death of her brother, Wa-l-Aiyyad-e-Binda, they're horrible people. Celebrate the death of a child, Subhanallah. So finally she has her own children. She has Sayyidina Al-Hassan in the third year of the Hijrah. Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is ecstatic. He loved her kids. Sayyidina Al-Hassan was in the fourth year of the Hijrah. And there's so many stories, like the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is in Sujood and one day they're in Salah and then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam just never comes up from Sujood and they're just sitting there, they're waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. He's been in Sujood for a long time. Till finally he gets up and they ask me, how does Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam happen?  I was waiting till they were done. And he mentioned that doesn't have children. Be worried about the next generation. Any Masjid that doesn't have women really be worried about the next generation. Well, actually, no, be worried about this generation because if the women aren't there, you're really screwing up. SubhanAllah. Then she had her daughter Zainab in the fifth year of the Hijrah and Umku Thum. She named her children after her sisters. SubhanAllah, so much beauty. Like you could feel the love emanating from this family, SubhanAllah. SubhanAllah. So as she also had her children, they also had dreams about their children. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam as each of her children were born because she out of all of the lineage of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam came through Fatima R.A., came through the children of Sayyidina Ali R.A. and Fatima. The only one exception was Sayyidina Zainab R.A., one of her daughters actually ended up marrying Sayyidina Ali R.A. after the passing of Sayyidina Fatima R.A. So again, all of the lineage came from there. And her children, we talked about Ahl al-Suffah how she would go and she would feed them. So much so, there is a narration actually in Surah, I don't know how much time do I have. Let me keep going until you tell me to stop. I love you too. Okay, sounds good. SubhanAllah, in Surah Al-Insan, which in and of itself is the Surah of the human. What is the state of human being, SubhanAllah? What does it mean to be a human being? All of philosophy is based on what is man, except I'm not going to go down there. That I have seven minutes, I won't go down that road. SubhanAllah, in that Surah, ayah number eight through ten actually describes a situation that happened to Sayyidina Ali and Fatima R.A. So they were fasting. And the ayah says, وَيَطْعَيْمُونَ قَعْمَا لَهُ بِهِ مِسْكِيْنَنْ وَيَتِيمَنْ وَأَسِيرَةَ And they feed the food, despite their love for it, someone who is impoverished, an orphan and a prisoner of war. So the first day they're fasting and they have food and they're about to eat and someone comes and knocks on the door and he says يَا أَهْلَ بَيْتِ رَسُوْدِ اللَّهِ وَفَيْمِيَا the Prophet ﷺ I'm one of the poor of the Muslims. So they give him the food and the only thing they have water left is water. So the Prophet ﷺ, sorry Sayyidina Ali R.A. and Hassan Hussein only drink water. And then the next day again they have food and they're excited. They didn't eat the day before and they have food and someone knocks on the door and he says, I'm an orphan and they give him food and they just drink water and they bring their fast on water and then the third day a prisoner of war and after the third day, SubhanAllah the Prophet ﷺ comes and realizes they're his neighbors and they're hungry. They haven't eaten in three days. SubhanAllah he sees the children crying, they're hungry and the Prophet ﷺ it hurts his heart that his family is hungry and SubhanAllah Sayyidina Hassan was known for his eloquence. Sayyidina Hussein Ali R.A. and SubhanAllah, I'm gonna talk about him in a second. SubhanAllah they go to the Prophet ﷺ and he realizes that they're in pain and he finds them food. But it's so beautiful. The next ayah says, We feed you for the face of Allah ﷻ. We don't want from you any reward or any gratitude. We're seeking it from Allah ﷻ. That we fear from our Lord a day where like Aba says like that, you know how you're frowning? This really difficult day, SubhanAllah. We fear from Allah a very difficult day. This is why we're feeding. This was the household of the Prophet ﷺ. Before she passed away similar to the narration about her mother, Husaydina Jibril alayhi salam came and gave the Prophet ﷺ a good tidings about his wife Khadija al-Ralil al-Anha again. Abu Hurayda narrates that an angel, instead of Allah, so the Prophet ﷺ is saying that an angel came and asked to enter to be able to visit me. And he gave me the glad tidings that Fatima would be the leader of the women of my ummah. And that Hassan and Husayn would be the leaders of the young men of the ummah in Jannah. SubhanAllah, what a beautiful glad tidings, SubhanAllah. SubhanAllah. The Prophet ﷺ towards the end, like in the eighth year of SubhanAllah, we kind of talked about all these things that were happening. In the eighth year of the Hijra was the conquest of Mecca. That was also the year that Sayda Zaynabur Al-Dulan, her sister passed away. Her sister Ruqya passed away in the second year of the Hijra. So after this victory of Badr, the Prophet ﷺ lost his daughter. And everyone in Mecca is celebrating and they feel his pain, but the only person that really, truly felt it with him was Sayda Fatima Al-Dulan. The conquest of Mecca happens and she loses her sister Zaynabur Al-Dulan. SubhanAllah. In the ninth year, SubhanAllah, they end up losing Muqtum Al-Dulan. Just so much sorrow happening in the life of the Prophet ﷺ. And she is the one that is there helping him pick up the pieces every single time.  And he whispers something else and she smiles. And Sayda A.S. is describing this. She said, I've never seen someone smile through sadness like that. And she asked her, what did he say? She said, I can't expose the secret of the Prophet ﷺ. But after the Prophet ﷺ passed, she asked her again, she said, what did he say? She said the first time he told her that Jibril A.S. used to come every year and he used to read the Qura'an with the Prophet ﷺ and this year he did it twice. This is my end. I'm gonna pass from this illness. She cried. I just wanna note that out of all of the children of the Prophet ﷺ, the worst thing that happened in the history of the month is the passing of the Prophet ﷺ. The only one that could live through it was actually Fatima al-Dil-Lahana. It was part of the mercy of Allah ﷺ for his other children that they didn't have to live through that. And the only one that had the fortitude to actually live through it and survive it that had the spiritual resilience to be able to live through that was Fatima al-Dil-Lahana. And he told her this and she cried. And then he told her, you will be the first of my family to join me. And she smiled. She knew her time was near. SubhanAllah. Six months after the passing of the Prophet ﷺ, she passed away on the third day of Ramadan. Her mother passed away when? The 27th of Ramadan. So many similarities to the other women, al-Dil-Lahana. I wanted to point out because her children, Sayyidina al-Hassan al-Dil-Lahana, when turmoil started, upheaval started to happen in the ummah. Sayyidina al-Hassan al-Dil-Lahana was known for his eloquence and he's the one that brought the ummah together. He healed this rift after the death of his father, Ali al-Dil-Lahana. And afterwards Sayyidina al-Hassan al-Dil-Lahana, who was SubhanAllah, he was known for his stutter. There was a moment where he comes to speak to the Prophet ﷺ in the masjid. And you know how everyone all of a sudden goes quiet? And this little boy is talking to his grandfather and he starts to stutter and he's struggling to get it out. And the Prophet ﷺ saw how everyone looked at him. And he said, there's a stutter that he inherited from his uncle Musa, Ali ﷺ. Few people spoke truth to power like her children. Sayyidina al-Hassan al-Dil-Lahana spoke truth to power. I know this is a dark place in Islamic history but SubhanAllah, the moment where Sayyidina al-Hassan al-Dil-Lahana and the men of the family of the Prophet ﷺ are killed is because they said spiritual authority will never be subservient to the political authority of the time. What they preserved for the ummah till the end of time, she was an educator, she was a stateswoman that raised educators and states people that were willing to give their lives for the message of the Prophet ﷺ. And after he is killed, her daughter Sayyidina al-Radiullahana becomes the matriarch of the family of the Prophet ﷺ. And they bring her into the court of the person that killed her family. When Sayyidina al-Hassan al-Dil-Lahana when they told him like there's so much of this happening. And he says, my sanity, like my calm is knowing that this is all happening unto the merciful eye of Allah ﷺ. It wasn't, hey, I'm in this fight and I'm angry. They sacrificed for Islam and they did it so willingly. And after she witnessed her brothers, her sons, all of the men in her family except for one, be massacred. She walked, they bring her into the court and they tell her, what did you see today? She said, I've never seen anything from my Lord that wasn't beautiful. The family of the Prophet ﷺ being part of the family of the Prophet ﷺ meant that you carried a heavier burden than everyone else. Fikr-wise, they can't receive zakah so that no one till the day of judgment can come and say that his family benefited from it. They're actually disadvantaged by being part of the family of the Prophet ﷺ economically. Not disadvantaged in any other way, SubhanAllah, it is an honor to be from the lineage of the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ, there's so many hadith where he says, I'm reminding you of my family, the family of the Prophet ﷺ. There's this unfortunate idea that the Shia love the family of the Prophet ﷺ and the Sunnis love the friends of the Prophet ﷺ. It's a Muslim thing to love everyone the Prophet ﷺ loved. Family, friends, may Allah bring us all with them on the day of judgment and agenda with all of them. They all love the Prophet ﷺ. That's what bound them all together. Do not ever let anyone tell you that someone else says, oh, it's part of them to love so and so more. No, if the Prophet ﷺ loved them, we love them.  If someone says, I love Allah and his Prophet, I love them because they love Allah and his Prophet. We should never let anyone divide us, the family of the Prophet ﷺ is honored. Until the day of judgment, a lot of them, I'm from Egypt, so say it as I love Allah and one of the narrations is that she's buried in Egypt, which the Syrians might fight me over it. But it's an Egyptian, I just want to say it's Egypt just because the legacy of Sayyid al-Fatima, is the emotional labor of carrying people including her father, and I just wanted to end with this because I know that part of the legacy of these women, we had a session with Dr. Donald Austin, who's a professor at Rutgers University. She was talking about the women in Malcolm X's life. Did you know it was his sister that converted to Sunni Islam before him? Do you know it was his sister that had him transferred to a prison that had a library so he could read? Subhanallah, the labor that women do. Dr. Bedi Shabaaz is the one who actually carried on his legacy. The youngest daughter recently passed away, I think within the last week, Allah al-Rahman, women do emotional labor to love someone that society says is not valuable and should be unlovable is an act of resistance. When we talk about building community, consistent kindness is how we build community. Our love for each other is not, oh, a fun added thing. This is the foundation of what our relationship is in hopes of one day meeting Allah's Panathala and when on the day of judgment of like, oh, I loved your people because they're your people. Subhanallah. May Allah continue to fill our hearts with love for each other and allow us to enter into Jannah with ease together. Salam alaikum, rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Salam alaikum, sisters. Salam alaikum. Yeah, don't you ever forget this. I noticed the four speaker, actually the five speakers. He did not respond well. Who knows? Where is Maryam? Where is Maryam? When you are, and this is the words of your creator and mind, it's not mind, it's not someone's opinion. When you are greeted, wa idha huyitum, when you are greeted with a greeting. As-salamu alaikum is a greeting. And what a greeting? As-salamu alaikum, is the greeting of the people of Jannah. And there is two orders here. One is an order, the other one is a recommendation. Fahiyu bi-ahsani minha. Respond, it's an order. It's not my choice. Respond better. I say, as-salam alaikum, peace be upon you. Don't say wa alaikum, wa alaikum as-salam, wa rahmatullahi wa barakat. Don't forget this. Our duha, minimum is to respond. So there is, I don't know, maybe we are close to 100 in this room. Maybe I heard 10 voices. Don't do that. You miss the focus. The best thing I heard today, may Allah reward you outside the Sousa, which we miss all as women, is the focus. The focus, we are distracted. You're shattered. We go right and left. Anyone say something, we go. Stay focused. And after I listened to all the speakers, I said to myself, what I'm gonna say? Subhanallah, but I need to bring you to reality. We lived in since the morning, since 11 o'clock. We've been living in the past. And I always say, and Allah is my witness, I wish I was at that time. I wonder how these people didn't believe. Can you imagine?  Sayyid al-Khalija, Sayyid al-Fatima, Sayyid al-Aisha. What struggles they had. But we are his beloved. They are his companions. You know the hadith. Ashabi, we are the people who are loved to him, provided we deserve that title. So let's come to reality. We live in 2021, almost at the end. So how many of you are out of town other than me? And I know, okay, so some of you are out of town. Majority are California. So Sunday, we are in November 28, 2021. I'm not living with Sayyid al-Fatima. I'm not living with Sayyid al-Khalija. I wish I am. No, I'm either a student and I'm going tomorrow to the college and Allah knows what I'm gonna see without going to the details, right? Dr. Amina can share with you what she sees every day at Stanford. Or if you are like me and Dr. Aranya, tomorrow we're going to work and we're going to reality. Or if you're going to home, you're going to reality with your children and all the struggles of raising children in this day and age. Am I correct? So what do we do? Have you ever asked yourself this question? He put me here. He did, he chose, and he is who? Capital age. He chose me or he chose for me to be in 2021. He could have easily made me with the Rasulah of As-Salaam and breeze. Even the difficulties I'll breeze because he's going through it, alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam. But that's not his choice. And everything Allah choose, this is the first thing if you're gonna write anything as a woman. It should be every human being, specifically woman. Anything Allah choose for me is the best. There's no other answer. I like it, I don't like it. It's hard, it's difficult. It's may Allah forgive me for this word that we all say it's unfair. Why me? It's khair. Then next question is gonna come. What does he expect from me as a woman? That's why the title, the Muslim woman.  I want an answer clear. Are you the Muslim, are you a Muslim woman? Absolutely.  The like of Fatima of 20, may Allah be pleased with her, of 2021. The like of Sayyidah Khadija of 2021. The like of Sayyidah Asya 2021. And like the Sayyidah Maryam of 2021. Yes or no? I didn't hear an answer. You're all right. We're not. Why? Have you ever asked yourself? Why? What is the difference? You need to ask yourself, that's how we change. Unless we know reality, we will never change.  Why I am not?  They had all the challenges we had. What is the difference? Can anyone say any word? What is the difference? And what is Allah said in the Quran about this? Qalu shagalatna, who can finish it? Hiya Maryam, amualuna wa ahluna. They say we are busy with our children and with our wealth, homes, career, how much we have in the bank account. She has bigger home, I need to do the same. She just bought this, the purse competition, I call it. So sad, but it's reality. Purse competition, shoes competition, home competition, children competition, we're busy with this. They had all this, but they did not allow it to move them away from Allah. Refocus, exactly the words that Sheikh Hassan just said. I keep reminding myself every morning, number one, who are you? And I'm gonna give you one by one. Number one, I and you and every creation of Allah from al-jinna wa al-insa, on this earth, we are here for one reason, and what is that reason? Wama khalaqtu al-jinna wa al-insa illa liya'budun. I did not create ins and jinn, Allah said this in Surat al-Dariyat. But to worship me, worship me is a loose translation. It's a very loose translation, because when I tell you what is Ibadah, what is worship, what are you gonna tell me? What are you gonna tell me? Fast, praying, go to Hajj, Alhamdulillah, I work hijab, what's wrong with me? That's not it. That's superficial. Al-Ibadah, act of worship, it's everything. This is the whole amount of scholars that defined it differently. The one I'm gonna share with you is the definition of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah. And it's very practical. We don't have to be scholar to be Ibadah for Allah. In fact, most of the real Ibadah for Allah, majority were not scholars. They know Allah. Al-Ibadah, act of worship, everything, everything. Allah loves, loves, and like. I'm sorry, he loves and he's pleased with. He loves and he's pleased with. Look at this. Internally and externally. So I'm not with people something and when I'm alone I'm something else. Internally and externally, from words and action. Words and action, one more time. Everything Allah loves and pleased. Internally, externally, saying and actions. Then you are the servant of Allah. Then I am the Faltima of 2021. And I am the Khadija of 2021. May Allah be pleased with them. And a Sayyida Asya and a Sayyida Maryam. If I follow this, if I follow this from the moment I open my eyes to the moment I close my eyes to the last breath he's gonna give me. If I live with these six, then that I am who he wants me to be wherever he will put me. As a mother or a motherless. As a child or a childless. As a professional or taking home or staying home. As a student or not. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. This is who you are.  Are you? That's the question you have to ask yourself. Every moment. Since morning we are here. Were you a Ibadullah? Inshallah, yes, ya Rabbi Amin. But have I shown him and I've said and did and act and prayed in every way he loves and pleased and pleased with? How many times let me ask you this question. When you want to do something, the question inside you, what people will say about you? Will this person will be happy? Will that person will not be? True or false? True or false? How many times you ask this question? Are you happy with me? Are you happy with the way I am? With the way I dress? With the way I speak? With the way I respond? Do we ask ourselves this? Do we? Honestly, do we? You want to be the Ibadullah? You want to be the Sayyid of Fatima of 2021? Work on your relationship with Allah, SubhanAllah. That's number one. And let me take you through what he said about the Muslim woman in the Quran. Do you know that? Do you know Allah described us in the Quran? Not by name. But what does he want from me? Yes or no? Absolutely. Unfortunately, we read the Quran. Ramadan is coming. And some of us have memorized. Some of us understand that where is the practice? Number one, you look at yourself as a woman. You are two parts. You are external. The way I look, the way you look. And there is internal. Only he knows. Let's take the external first. I'll leave the best for the last. What does he want me to look like? Not the way he created me. I have no choice in this. How does he want me to look like? What did he tell me? Qullil mu'minateen.  The light. And he's saying, first he said it to the man. This is one of the times where Allah swt separated the order. One for man, one for woman. And came to the woman, say to the believing woman, you and me, do what? External. I'm gonna tell you what he wants from me. You say to yourself, check it. I do it. I don't. And if you don't do it, say why? Number one, lower your gaze. How many of you lower their gaze when they are talking to the opposite gender? Muslim or non-Muslim? Don't show me hands. It's not about you. It's in general. Whether with Muslims or non-Muslims, lower your gaze. Lower your gaze. That's who he wants me. That's what he wants me to do. That's what he's pleased with me. Then I am abduffa'Allah. Then I am Sayyidna Fatima at work. And I am Sayyidna Fatima in college. What do you think Sayyidna Fatima when she was talking to Sayyidna Abu Bakr? Or to Sayyidna Omar? Or Sayyidna Muad? She would be joking. And you know how we speak these days? Lower your gaze. That's the first thing he said. Number two, please forgive me. I don't mean anybody here. What do you wear? What do you wear? What is this focus on beauty external and no focus on beauty internal? And he said it. Well, yadribna bi-khomorihina ala jiyyubin. The ayah that everybody want to translate and explain the way they want to tell me hijab. And I don't want to use the word hijab. I'm going to use proper Islamic attire is not an obligation. Let them say whatever they want to say. Let's meet on the sira'ata. And let's answer Allah that question. Don't show your beauty, period. And always women when they ask me this, I'm sure all of you have heard this question. Can I put, what about the Muslim nail polish? You all hear this question. I don't go through that. I say one thing. He said, don't show your beauty. What does nail polish does? What does makeup does? And then you answer your beauty, ladies. And that's the hardest thing for the woman. One of the hardest things of the woman.  This remember this and say this to him. Is this is how you want me to go out? Is this is pleasing you? Does this makes you happy? If you hear the answer, yes, go out. If you start justifying it, then you are not Sada Faltima at this time. Or Sada Aisha, or Sada Asya, or Sada Khadija. The way we look, I have no idea why pleasing people and pleasing ourselves is more important than Allah. It's astonishing fact to me. Everybody else is doing it. That's how I hear it. Young and old, everyone is doing it. And I say, what about Allah? No answer.  What do you hear? What do you listen to? What do you listen to? These days with social media and TikTok and everything else, the poison around us. When you turn it on, again ask yourself this question. Is this is pleasing to Allah? Is this is something he wants me to do? Wallah illa illa illahu, and I said his name. Each one of us internally knows the answer. But you justify. You know he's not happy with what you are hearing. What you are listening to, regardless. Three, what do you say? The tongue, what did he say? Thakalatka umka ya mu'ad, is famous hadith about speech. Sayyidna Mu'ad, the Sahabi, the companion, who arrasu alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam said, ya mu'ad imni, I love you. Mu'ad, I love you. Imagine who's that mu'ad. May Allah be pleased with him. Imagine if the Rasul alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam, look at you, or me, and says, ya haifa imni, I love you. Ya Allah, I'll be dead right away. Ya Rabbi, I mean. But doesn't come from vain. Do you see my point? It doesn't come because I am who I am or you are who you are. I have to earn it. And Sayyidna Mu'ad, and he said, ya Rasulallah, are we gonna be taking accountable about what we say? And he asked very simple question.  What else will put people into narration on their faces or on their noses, in the hellfire, but the harvest of their tongue? What do we say, women? And I specifically say here, women, because we are more in that aspect. Hammaazin mashayin, Hammaazin lammaazin mashayin binameen. We don't like her, we don't say anything, but our face say a lot. In masajid, I'm not saying outside. In masjid, she comes in and everybody looks at her. And maybe this is the first time she ever comes to a masjid. And we start judging and looking at each other and then start talking. Watch your tongue, ladies. Watch your tongue. Sayedna Abu Bakr held his tongue. Sayedna Abu Bakr, who I and you, he held his tongue and Sayedna Omar saw him. And he said, what is this? He said, hada uradani mawarid. This took me through the path, meaning the wrong path. Jail it, as one of these scholars said. The thing that needs long jail is my tongue.  And you are the servant of Allah. Nothing comes out of this, but what pleases Allah. And sometimes I say this to myself. I wish I can have selfie 24 seven, because there is selfie, by the way. Raqib and Ateed. They are taking selfies of everything we do and say and not do and not say. And just let me hear and listen to what I say. To what I say. La khaira fi kathirin min najwaam. Allah said this on Surat An-Nisa. There's no good in what, in most of what they say. Listen to this. Most of what they say has no goodness. La khaira, illa three. Amara bi sadaqah. You say something to promote charity? Any charity, not necessarily money. Illa min amara bi sadaqah or ma'roof. Goodness. Our Islam has been announced. Or you bring people together, rectify relationship. See what we say. Someone comes to you and said, she did this to me. Most of us do what? Most of us do what? How many of us will respond and say, maybe she didn't mean it. Maybe you misunderstood it. Maybe it came the wrong way. What do we say? Really? And what did you answer?  Don't do that.  The way you look.   The way you conduct yourself. Please forgive me. We live in a society. I'm a working woman. And I know how difficult it is to practice what I'm saying. But wallah lathia illahum. The only one who can help you is him. And you can do it. Absolutely you can do it. If you focus on it and you want to please him and you turn to him every morning, make me do what pleases you. But make me say what pleases you. And don't let me go to myself. La taqlil niya nafs yatorfa ta'i. Don't let me alone with me. How do we conduct ourselves with each other and with the other gender? Masjid outside Masjid. Hayaa. You know this word? Bashfulness, humbleness. The way you speak. The way you walk. Allah said it in surat al qasas. And it's about a woman. Fajaa atu ihdahuma tamshi'a ala stihyaa. And there's a reading they say ala stihyaa in qalat. When she speaks, and this is in surat qasas, the stories, when Allah swt mentioned Sayyidina Musa. Just before he married one of the daughters of Sayyidina Shuaib. She came to him. Woman, you have an opinion. Say it, you're right. Don't be shy. But be shy in the way you say it. She came to him, this is a woman. This is a daughter of a prophet. She came to him, Sayyidina Musa. And she said, come on in. My father is inviting you to thank you for what you did for us. But how did she say it? Ala stihyaa. Allah said this, go back to your Quran.  She was not shouting. She was not walking in the Masjidu. Hi, how are you? How is everybody? And everybody has to hear what I am saying. That's not the Muslim woman. The Muslim woman, you know how I describe her? Very strong, very pious. Is the combination of the four you heard this morning. From each one, lower your gaze. Dress properly. Walk and talk with Hayat. Don't worry about with other people. I walk in my work, you know what I say? Allahumma khffalli qawmi fennahum lay'alamu. Ya Allah, forgive these people. They just don't know. That's what the Rasul of Islam used to say. When he walks between his people and they don't believe. They just don't know. And part of it is my fault because I'm not showing it. I'm not practicing it. Don't be like everybody else. Be who you are.   And the last but not the least is who are you internally? Will you be described as a Sada Maria? How was she described in the Qur'an? There's no other description. Subhanallah, twice. Wa-lati ahsanat farja wa-kanat min al-qaniti. The one who protected and guarded her private part. And she was of those of al-qaniti. Al-qanat is the person who is in a complete submission to Allah. Complete, not wishy-washy. Complete and always in a state of worship of Allah. Connection and submission. That's the Sada Maria. That's who she was. Are you when you're driving your car? I'm not saying when you are in the Masjid or in Ramadan. I'm saying 24-7.  Are you Qanita? Can you be? Have you ever thought of this? Of course you can. If you are alone, do you contemplate on especially living in this beautiful state? When you're driving, do you contemplate on the things around you and look at the beauty of Allah? You're Qanita versus traffic? When I'm talking to my friend and Allah knows what I am saying, then you missed it. Then you missed it. Spiritually, spiritually is what we need internally. This connection of Allah, friend of mine just asked me the other day. And she said, how can I always remember Allah? I said, he's around you. He's around you 24-7. We are distracted. He's there. Look at this, look at this, look at this. What did Allah say about this in the Qur'an? Anybody can answer him? What did he say about that? Anyone, say it. Don't be scared, say it. But what did he say specifically about the drinking water I gave you a hint now? Do you see the water that you drink? How many bottles of water do you see a day? How many times do you drink water a day? Do you think of this verse? So what do you know it? Do you see the water that you drink? Do you see the water that you drink? Allah is asking a rhetorical question. No answer. Did you send it down? That's what he said. I'm not a Muslim. Or we, him, subhanah, and then he gives you a statement that by itself is enough. If we will, we have made it ujaja. Better. Felaulatashkuru. Why you are not grateful? If you live this way in your life, in case you wonder, how do I get there? How do I become that woman? We are all talking about since morning.  Everything is not going well in your day. What do you need to do? Be that Qanita, be that Sayyidina Maryam, go to your room alone. In your Sujood, cry to him and say, I can't take it anymore. You are the one who's going to make it easy. Then you are Sayyidina Maryam in that moment. And the last, and I'm going to end up with this because I want time for questions and answers. And Allah swt said this, as Sheikha Sousan said this, that Allah swt, when it comes to ibadah, the real act of worship, he did not differentiate at all. He actually specified and separated. And I want you to memorize this ayah. It's a long ayah. Memorize it, it's worth it. It's in Suratul Inna al-Muslimina wal-Muslimat. It's in Suratul Ahzab. Alhamdulillah, you know it. I'm going to say one by one and I'll translate. So you learned it. I don't know the number. Inna al-Muslimina wal-Muslimat. Verily, the Muslim man, the Muslim woman. Separate, this was the answer to the question of Sayyid al-Muslamah. There's different opinion about it but this is one of them. Now look at all these descriptions. He put descriptions and see where do you score. Inna al-Muslimina wal-Muslimat. The Muslim woman, the Muslim man, the Muslim woman. Quick question, what is a Muslim? The five pillars we all have. Really, the Muslim, you and I, when we submit to Allah, submit to Allah and everything. You came late, you planned it very well and you had the car and you looked at the GPS and everything was perfect. Guess what? You came in and you took the wrong exit. Muslim, you submit to the will of Allah. You don't say why I planned it, you're not a Muslim. The real word of Muslim I'm speaking. Inna al-Muslimina wal-Muslimat. One, and he separated here. Wal-Mu'minina wal-Mu'minat. The believing man and the believing woman. You believe in the six pillars but you believe that what before you will never miss you. And what miss you will never befall you. You're a believer when you wish for your sisters, what you wish for yourself.  Look at the real picture of Iman. Don't, I always say this to myself. Don't narrow this deen, don't make it too shallow. It's way deeper. Inna al-Muslimina wal-Muslimat. Wal-Mu'minina wal-Mu'minat. Now, Wal-Qanitina wal-Qanitat. Sayyidah Maria. The one who is spiritually connected to Allah, submitting to Allah, asking to Allah. Three and four. Inna al-Muslimina wal-Muslimat. Wal-Mu'minina wal-Mu'minat. Wal-Qanitina wal-Qanitat. Wa s-sadiqina wa s-sadiqat. Those who are truthful, man and woman. Truthful in two things. Look at your tongue again. It's truthful in what you say and truthful what you do. You say, ya Allah, I love you. We all say that. You know what he says to me? Show me. Show me the love. And the moment the choice comes in between what pleases him and what I like or what pleases him and what people like, what happens? Which choice we choose? Of course the other one. Sadiqin, those who are truthful and then wa s-sadiqina wa s-sadiqat. Those who are patient. And not patient only because you're going through difficult marriage or because you didn't get what you want. Sometimes we have everything, but we are bored. I need to be patient. Sometimes I'm sick. I need to be patient. Sometimes I don't get what I want. I need to be patient. As-sadiqina wa s-sadiqat. And then wa l-khashi'ina wa l-khashi'a. Allah divided in this verse. Every act of foreshad. Khashi'a is different than Qanat. Khashi'a, when you are in your salah, like that Sahabi, if there is a fire in the Masjid, he didn't move. You're with Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then he comes to the acts of worship. As-sai'ina wa s-sai'mat. Those who are fasting. They fast, not from Ramadan to Ramadan. These days, take opportunity. Fast, short day. And then wa l-khashi'ina wa l-khashi'a. Those who protect their private part. Hayat.  I'm not saying complete separation. This is not reality. They did not say the Haisha thoughts of the Sahaba. How do you conduct yourself? And then wa l-dhah kireen Allah kathiran wa l-dhah kirat. Those who remember Allah a lot. This is one of the few things in the Quran. Allah said a lot. Where are you from this description? That's the Muslim woman. That's what Allah wants from you and me. Where are we? And why we are not? Don't let amwaluna wa ahluna distract you. Don't let your children. Don't let your wealth. Don't let your beauty.  At one point, you will take nothing with you. I just witnessed last week, as I was driving today, I remember the drive. Very dear friend who passed away. And I share this story with everybody because I literally asked Allah, whatever you have given her, when I am dining, give me. Three hours, she is dining. We are all around her. Three hours, nothing was in that home in the ICU, in the hospital. But the dhikr of Allah. None stop. You know, talqeen, when you keep reminding the dying person of La ilahe illallah, this didn't stop. And in between, there was Yasin.  Went to her ear, read all Yasin. Are you ready? Tumma ilayhi turja'um. And she passed. What did she had with Allah? I know, I can't say, but I know this woman very well. This is what you need to be. The Muslim woman, and if you think this woman would live a smooth life, you're absolutely not right. All the challenges in the deen, in the dunya, in everything, in marriage, in children, you name it. Before they intubated her, I was there. This is not somebody told me, I was there. She looked at me and says, I didn't pray fajr. I said, do taimum. In the E.R., she did taimum. She prayed fajr, they intubated her, didn't wake up after. And we are fine, and we have no problem, and we just sleep for fajr. And I want to be a Seyda Maria. And I claim I'm Seyda Faltima. I can claim whatever I claim, but the moment when it comes, Allah will show me who I am and who are you. May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, and I am gonna tell you what all my teachers used to pray for us. They always used to say, pray for yourself. Koni mubaraka inama kunti. May Allah make you blessed wherever you are. I love this dua. It's actually the dua of Sayyidina Anisa. Jaalani mubaraka inama kunti. You know what it means?  Jazakum Allah khayr. May Allah reward Rahmah Foundation. This is beautiful. May Allah accept from all of us. It's a beautiful day.  Remembering these blessed women. May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala give us little bit of what he gave them. Ya Rabbi, I mean, just he looks at everybody, everyone in a minute and he say, all of you are Maryam.  Ya Rabbi, I mean, ask him. He is the generous, he's Al-Kareem and he will never ever let us down. SubhanakAllahumma wa bi hamdik. Ashad wa la ilaha illa anat. Astaghfiru kawatubu da'ik. Salallahu ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahabih tasliman kathiru. Allahu akbar. JazakAllah, Sayyidina. What I was going to say before Dr. Haifa started was that she's an obi-juayan and the sheikh, which is so important. And not just Mashallah because of what she did in terms of her studies, but in the benefit that she can bring us as a community and I myself have sent her questions. There's times where you need some questions answered and you need to know, is this, do I pray? Do I not pray? Is this bleeding? What is it? I don't know. And Mashallah, just to have her as a resource in our community is such a blessing. So she founded the Jannah Institute. You can take more classes with her. We look forward as the Rachma Foundation to do, inshallah, more programs. This is your third time here? Third time. We're getting, we pull slowly. We slowly bring them to California, show off our sunshine and then the rest is with Allah, inshallah. So alhamdulillah, I wanna invite all of our speakers up inshallah because we have questions. All right, so alhamdulillah, the online team who's been working to help our online viewers sent me questions, so I'm gonna start there because they have patiently endured our breaks and such. Their first question, which is a very common question, do you have book recommendations to learn more about these beautiful women who we spoke of today? And I'm assuming they want English book recommendations if you can. Just simply, I'm answering, may Allah forgive me, just because we finished last year a whole class. It was a whole year class at Jannah Institute where we covered first is the, we call it the pearls around the Rasulullah, so we covered the women around the Rasulullah, including his wives and his daughters. There's more than one book. For those of you who read Arabic, one of the most beautiful, and I'm sure you know it, is Bint Shata, Dr. Aisha. It's called Sayyidah to Baitin Nubuwa. It's in Arabic, Sayyidah to Baitin Nubuwa. It's not translated, right? However, there's a very common, very good books, actually. Woman in Islam, it's written by Dr. Tarkh Swaydan. Very easy read. This is, for those of you who don't know much yet, just you wanna read, very easy, nicely written. I think it's written originally in English because you can tell. So it's called Woman in Islam. That's one. Sayyidah to Baitin Nubuwa is the second one. There was a woman around the Rasul, alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam. I didn't find it as a book, but you can, hopefully you can find it, meaning PDF, but not a real book. There's a lot of resources about that. I recommend for all of you to start with. Start with The Woman in Islam by Dr. Tarkh Swaydan. It's very easy read and will give you a lot of the idea and please forgive me if I'm gonna add a little bit. It's not to read a lot. Read with depth. Read as you really wanna know who's this woman.  Go in depth, spend hour or two with every page and feel it and then Allah SWT will open it for you. The next question is specifically about who to study with. And I think one of the amazing things that we have before you, we have many organizations present today and all women.  So maybe if you, I'm just gonna pass the mic. We'll start with, we'll start from my right because you're on my right. And then we're just gonna, where you teach and how people can best contact you if they want to see what you're doing in terms of teaching. Assalamu alaikum. I have literally nothing to add. I mean, these are literally teachers. I'm so embarrassed to be here. I have a class on Swiss, which is looking at the Ahadith and Ayat that women have frequently asked about relating to women. And then there is also projects I'm working on. Inshallah, they're gonna be released next year, but that's the only one that you can access online. I'm gonna source that now. Assalamu alaikum. Alhamdulillah, I just moved here in August. So our halafa on Stanford campus, so if you're on in the area, it's every Thursday at 6.30, as long as the quarter is in session, inshallah. We're actually covering the CEDA, which is really exciting. I'm really excited that you're there. Alhamdulillah. Sorry, there's some Cal Berkley and Stanford rivalry going on up here, inshallah. Okay, alhamdulillah. Mashallah, the Rahmah Foundation welcomes everybody, inshallah, for you all to join us. The halakas are on Friday nights. They start at 8 p.m. They have been for the last couple of years virtual. Inshallah, there's a possibility if it works out, inshallah, that we might have a hybrid model starting in January. For those of you who've been part of the halakas, we meet in that conference room right there, inshallah, every Friday night. So we hope you'll come back and join us in person again. And for those who aren't able to, we'll continue to do them virtually as well, inshallah ta'ala. That means also the girls' programs, please make du'a because for about, I don't know, 10 years nonstop, we've had girls' halakas as well, parallel with the women. So we hope, inshallah, those will resume. Be'at minna, with your du'as. And then Rahmah Foundation recently also started their halakas on Clubhouse for those of you who are on that app, too. So make sure, inshallah, that you're following either on the Zoom or on the Clubhouse, inshallah, for our halakas. We also have a lot of classes on the website. If you are looking to take like a full series or something very focused, you can go to the website, all of it's free, and you can take a whole course that way as well, and I wanna forget the website. And then, where do you teach? Who are you? She's everywhere now, inshallah. Alhamdulillah, As-salamu alaykum everyone. So, Jazaki Rahman, thank you, mashallah. You understood the assignment, you got, alhamdulillah. So I teach here at MCC, the last Thursday of every month, alhamdulillah, we have a sister's halakah open to all. It's a total open-door policy. I actually do it only monthly because I know we have so many time constraints. It's hard to do something consistent. You're free to come and go as you like. Marhaba. I also have Clubhouse that I'll be starting new sessions actually this coming week. I'm doing two classes, alhamdulillah, by the permission of Sheikh Hamza, which are the purification of the heart, the diseases of the heart, as well as agenda to change our condition. Both of these, he's translated and written, both of those books. So those are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's on Clubhouse, so it's very simple. If you don't have the app, I personally, I know I actually saw some social media related questions. Social media, as we know, is a very dark and toxic place, generally speaking, but there are some, what I call like light or lamp posts, some places where there's some light. Clubhouse can certainly be one of those. I know Mashallah Sheikh Al-Mariam does TikTok and Instagram. She's amazing. She's everywhere. Give her tawfiq and bless her. Olahi, I am so comforted when I see her in these spaces because she is a huge lamp post. But on Clubhouse, it is a space, it's a safe space. So I welcome all of you to look into that. It'll be starting this Tuesday and Thursday. Pacific Standard Time, one o'clock on Tuesday and on Thursday, four o'clock, inshallah. That's all. Assalamu alaikum. We have Juna Institute. Some of you, I know, are taking classes with us. There is two ways you take classes with us. There is the Quran, we call it the Quran Department, where you can memorize or learn Tajweed, Arabic or in English. And we have one Tajweed in Urdu. Then we have the Islamic Studies, where we have been running classes for years now. Alhamdulillah, just this year, we started in September, Year of Knowledge, which is a one-year program that every Muslim woman should learn. And we covered five topics, which is science of the Quran, fiqh, hadith, taskia and aqida. We are about to finish our first semester, starting inshallah afterwards. If you wanna join, email me. The team will kill me, but that's okay. But you have to, all our classes are online, subhanallah, because we know women, it's not very easy for them. So everything is online, and then they are also recorded. All the books are online, and we teach traditional way. You read the book. We read the book in the class, and we explain it. And also we have our free Tuesday program. Some of you, you probably know this. It's on YouTube every Tuesday. We have Tuesday program. Most of the speakers here were actually guests. We tried to have once a week or once a month or twice a month guest to speak to a woman, and the others, I do it. We tackle different topics. This is what I will say at the end. You want to learn, Allah will open it for you. And this is exactly how I was advised 20 years ago. Ask Allah sincerely. You wanna learn, but put this next to it. It's not an easy journey. He will test you in every step, and you have to keep going. Be consistent, be sincere, and He will open to you without you knowing where to start. Salamu alaikum. I've been away for 30 years, and I'm here on a short visit only. But I do wanna say that Subhanallah, it is something that really gives me, I mean, it's a coolness to my eyes and a pleasure to my heart to see after 30 years so many Muslim scholars and knowledgeable women doing all this Dawa work. Alhamdulillah. JazakAllah. JazakAllah. Couple of questions about dealing with oppressive family where they're not allowing women to be treated as they should be treated as Muslim women. So they've heard, you know, you say wonderful things about the rank and status of Muslim women. What about when the experience at home with family or at work or with friends is not that way. What should be the response? JazakAllah, very well said. I'm gonna ask, add one thing, I was praying to say it, but now Allah made me remember. This is saying to, they say it's to Imam Ibn Hatal, secondary. Your place is where He put you in. You know what that means? So if He put you as a wife, that means He wants you to be serving Him, Him, not your husband, as a wife. No, I really mean this. If He put you as a single mother or a single woman, that means you are His servant in that status. So abusive, and a woman come to me a lot about this. I have only one line. I said, where are you more pleasing to Allah? Inside this marriage or outside this marriage? If you are more pleasing to Allah inside this marriage, meaning you can take it, you are absolutely patient and you look at your Akhirah then you stay. If you are not, even if there is not really a lot of abuse, she just can't stay, then absolutely leave. Exactly what Sheikh Hassan said. Put Allah number one in your formula. Difficult parents, that's the toughest one. Because this is, there is no plus and minus, mafiha, it's in the Quran. Wa qadarabu ka'Allah ta'budu illa ya wa bil walidani ihsanah. He made, He put it together. Allah had decreed, you worship not but Him and treat your parents with excellence, ihsanah. And then He specified, because you know when it's gonna get tough. In my ablughanna indaka al-kibar, ahaduhma al-kirahumma, when one of them or both, get to the old age. And you know how difficult it is with an old age parents, especially these days. Falata kullahumma uff, don't say uff. So what do I do? It's very difficult, sister Haifa. I say, turn to Allah. Say, yam yassir yassir. Ya Allah, you are the one who makes things easy. Make it easy. Do you think He will not listen to you? He will. Have this relationship. Cry to Him, run to Him. So there is choice and there is no choice and Allah will make things easy. The microphone has to go here. I have a happy question. Okay, good, alhamdulillah. This one? Yeah, this one. Because this is an online question. Sister Julie and sister Lisa are asking, how do I become a Muslim woman? How am I to dress to come to the Masjid for the first time? How do I convert? So if you are in the East Bay, we welcome you to come and see Stada Hussai, who's here, who will meet you anytime, day or night. If you are, yeah, so just let us know, message us and we can connect you to somebody where you are. We can virtually meet you now.  We are happy to welcome you into our community. There's no special uniform to come to Islam. Exactly. Just the heart, right? It's ready, if you're ready, we are welcome. We are welcoming you to join our community. Isn't that a happy question? Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Yeah, keep the questions coming. Let's see, I'm trying to find another happy question. So we gave each of you a stack. If you can look at your stack and do an overall answer kind of with your questions, we'll go all the way down. Yeah, we'll start with you. We'll go all the way down because we're hitting up on Madab. Okay, so I had a few questions that were related to rebuilding a connection with Allah. This kind of summarizes the themes of those questions. What are realistic baby steps we can take to getting closer to God when you feel terrible about your spirituality, effort, and your relationship to God? One of the important things that I think many of us underplay is how much individuals can impact how we feel about ourselves and our relationship with Allah, so if you are as a child, we're constantly hit to read the Quran. Or maybe you had a teacher who spiritually abused you in some way and Dr. Rania is the expert on this, may Allah bless her. When you have a relationship with Islam that started with parents who used hellfire to threaten you to get you to go to bed on time. Like when Islam has been used in these ways, which is not from the revelation, it's not from the sunnah, to teach Islam in these very literally painful ways, a lot of times as an adult, you can have an aversion, may Allah protect us, to prayer, to da'a, to Quran. And I've encountered so many people who ask me this, like how do they process wanting a relationship when the beginning of the relationship started with a very painful experience? And the first thing to recognize is the fact that you want a relationship speaks to how strong your love is for Allah, that despite what you've gone through, you haven't said Islam, that Allah protect us all. I've met many people who have made this statement that they don't want to associate. I mean, the fact that you want to is a sign of the strength that you want your e-man to be, you want it to go in that direction. The second thing is realize that sometimes we project the way that we feel about ourselves onto Allah's panawata'ala. So if I don't like myself, if I loathe myself, if I can't get over a sin, I committed five, six, seven years ago, months ago, weeks ago, and I'm constantly making toba and I can't even imagine Allah's panawata'ala for giving me. And so I assume that because I hate myself so much, that's how Allah's panawata'ala sees me. So then I've met people who say that they feel embarrassed to pray because they don't think Allah's panawata'ala would want them to pray because they're not righteous enough for prayer. For every type of worship, someone has said this, whether it's Salah or Hijab or walking into a masjid space, versus Allah's panawata'ala keeps telling us that anytime we go back to him, we are sincere in our repentance, he accepts and he forgives and that we do good deeds to wipe out the bad. So realistically look at yourself and think about where does this feeling stem from? Some of us are really just caught up in life. We're caught up in life, we're impacted by social media, we're just caught up in the dunya, that's very human. But for others, there's some reason why. Examine what that is for you and work on healing yourself from a spiritual place with the help of Allah's panawata'ala. So what that looks like is A, for example, working with a Muslim therapist if you've actually gone through trauma. The second thing is creating new experiences with worship. You don't let someone who raised you or who, not raised you like a parent, but like maybe they were your Islamic school teacher, someone who when you were 13 who did something so horrific you never told anyone, they don't get to say whether or not you're gonna pray when you're 27. Don't give them that power. You have the power by Allah's panawata'ala's will to choose to pray today. Don't give anyone that level of importance in your head when Allah's panawata'ala is the one who can help you overcome everything. So you choose it's gonna be your relationship with Allah's panawata'ala and you build new experiences with that relationship. So let's say when you used to read Quran, it was in a very particular room. Choose to read Quran on the beach. Read Quran at a cafe. Read Quran taking a hike. Re-establish new experiences with the Quran so that your brain makes new neuronic experiences with that worship and make sure you have very consistent worship. Obviously we have Salah and we have the Fura'il. But beyond that, number one, read the Quran every single day. I didn't know Arabic. I read it in English. The Quran changed my life. Changed my life in English until I learned Arabic. So every single day, take a certain amount in whatever language you can understand. If you can read Arabic, do it. Even if you're super slow, do it every day. One verse, five verses, one page, consistently. That's the first thing. The second thing, there's a very beautiful book on Seerah. It's called Muhammad Man in Prophet. Peace be upon him. It's by Adil Salahi, A-D-I-L-S-A-L-H-I. It's like over 800 pages. But it's so beautiful about the Seerah. I really recommend going to that book for the Seerah. And for a Quran translation, I recommend Mustafa Khattab. Dr. Mustafa Khattab has a beautiful new translation, masha'Allah. And the third thing is work with mentors. Find sisters, mentors, sheikhat that you can study with. Because a lot of times you're gonna go to a random Islamic website to ask about a woman's question. And you're gonna walk away from there going, how do I process that answer? Instead, seek mentorship with real people who have institutes. You can study with Dr. Hifat. Like, how honorable is that, masha'Allah? With Asada Hussai, with Ansi Sosen, with Dr. Rania, with Asada Amina. These are women who are really here if you're here to support your process, insha'Allah. So make sure that you know that you don't have to go through this journey alone.  So now, what do you do? You reevaluate yourself. I'm here, what can I do to get to a higher place until you reach that place? What can I do to get higher and higher and higher and shall listen to the physical? Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, it's really hard to talk after people that are your heroes. I don't know. I literally know who you did. Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, it could be fine. I don't know. Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, I don't know. Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, but following up on that, one of the questions, unfortunately, says, what do you do when you feel unworthy of God's love?  These aren't my words. This is the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, telling us this. When we talk about the angels, it's scary. You know what, if you're an important person, there's people that write everything you do? Allah created angels to write what you do. You are so worthy. Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, I remember going to a session and I remember the scholar saying, Allah loves everyone. Some people realize it and some people don't. The question isn't if Allah loves us. The only question is if we are able to realize Allah's Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala's love.  How can I now come and say Allah doesn't love me? Even those who disobey Allah, Allah feeds and closes them too. Allah loves you, that is the default. Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, I think we also make it so difficult of like, oh, I need to do this. And one day I'm gonna learn Arabic and I'm gonna memorize the Quran and then I'm gonna get it. You know what you should do? Make dua'a, just ask. You're asking the creator of the universe. There's nothing that he can't do. Just ask. And that dua'a, we can dua'a Mughal-e Ibad, that it's the essence of all of our worship, everything you're doing, the essence of it. Ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, there is no barrier.  There isn't one.  I come to you running, just go. Just ask Allah. And every step you take for the sake of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, it's not a matter of like, oh, I need to do more. No, it's a matter of quality, of focusing. Someone was saying with all the distractions of 2021, what can I do? This isn't, they're always been distractions. Like the Muslims, they became Muslim under literally threat against their lives. Alhamdulillah, it's so easy for us. All we have to do is ask. Just ask Allah. Ask with sincerity of like, yeah, Allah bring me closer to you. What's the path? Which way? Yeah, Allah pointing in the direction that pleases you. And be honest, follow that path Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. There was, sorry, there was another question just about Sayyid al-Faltima al-Rabbi'in Ummi Abiha. We talked a little about motherhood and the reason we talk about this is this is the most obvious example of love that we witness as human beings.  I don't wanna discredit that. But as a general rule, when you see a mother like her baby is throwing up in her and she's like, oh, isn't this the cutest thing in the world? Like motherhood is mind boggling. SubhanAllah. It's that depth of love that she gave to her father, Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and she gave to everyone around her. It doesn't necessarily have to be a blood relation. I have like, there's so many, alhamdulillah, there's so many both men and women in my community where I'm like, I think you should do this with your life. I think you're great at this. And I'm so grateful that they take it from me. Like who's this crazy lady that's telling me what to do with my life? Alhamdulillah. But part of that love, I'm gonna, sorry, I'm gonna end with this because it's one of my favorite stories from this year. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam during the Hijrah, there's a moment where they're trying to pass their guides telling them like, mind you, like they're during the Hijrah.  And the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, they're trying to go around a place and their guide tells them, we can't go through the crevice of the mountains. There's two thieves that are right here. This is their spot. So the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, oh, that's people I can talk to. So he goes between the crevice of the two mountains and he starts calling out to them, saying salams. You can imagine the two thieves are confused. Like, you know we're here and you're, what is happening? And they come out and they talk to the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and he asks them, what are your names? And they say, nahanu almohanan, where are the two lowlifes? I thought they were calling themselves lowlifes. That was the name their tribe gave them. That's how bad this was. And the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, bal'antumaan mukraman. No, in fact, you are dignified. And he speaks with them and he tells them, I'm going to Medina. Join me in Medina. They stopped thieving and became sahaba. This is what this love does. It sees your potential and says, how can I help you get there? You are in fact an incredible creation of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.  Both in the community and out of the community. I want you to know, I got kicked out of my fair share of Masajid because if you come and tell me, women can't pray here. They're like, I'm like, oh, here? Allahu Akbar. Yell at me when I'm done. Because my Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, you're not allowed to ban me from the Masjid. Also, there's this a lot of time and I can't miss it. So yell at me when you're done. When we look at these women, you wouldn't push them for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and they'd be like, oh, I'm gonna give up this space. If it's for Allah, they're gonna do it no matter what. Subhanallah. May Allah accept from all of us. Sorry for taking so long. Allahu Akbar. Mashallah. Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. The number of questions that are here are mostly related to mental health and things related to, not surprisingly, Mashallah, but things related that are very important related to either depression or anxiety or feeling disconnected or feeling like we don't know how to reconnect, feeling like Eman is low, just summarizing the various things we have here in this pile. And one thing that I wanted to share, and I said this during the talk, and I said, I'm so excited that one of my own teachers, Anas Asosan, is here, Subhanallah, because there are so many lessons that I personally have learned on this topic here and I'll answer, I'll come to this in just a moment. But one thing that I shared, and I just wanna remind us, I mentioned in the talk that when you feel that there's something really heavy and it's really difficult, the question often when you go to the teachers of spirituality or teachers of Dean, they often will ask, what have you done about this so far? And the answer isn't necessarily step one, two, and three, those are there in practical and important, but it's also, have you made dua?  The people close to Allah would say, if it really is that big of a deal for you, then it's something you get up in the middle of the night and pray about and you make your tahajjud and you call out to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, otherwise is it really all that big of a deal, right? And we talked about how the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, would go little by little by little, increasing, increasing, increasing until it became large amounts of time, closer to the prophecy, before he got in Nubuwa, to Ghad Hira, to do what? To contemplate, to do that, to fakkur, a contemplation. People like to use the word meditation, we have our own word, which is called contemplative meditation, right? Kind of connecting with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And all of us have that. All day, we spent here today, Masha'Allah, together, all of us together, we happen to be in the masjid, often we're in these conference rooms or other rooms as women, and we recommend the concept of ertikaf, the concept of that spiritual seclusion, having that time alone with Allah, what I learned from Ansai Salsan, was so beautiful, this concept of the pressure cooker, which is that we all, for anybody who's used the pressure cooker, Ansai would tell us, that there is that valve that allows the steam to go out. And if you don't have the valve opened, what happens to the pressure cooker? It explodes. And I remember in my own grandmother's kitchen, there was this huge thing on the ceiling, because once she had a pressure cooker that exploded, one of the old time ones, and she was terrified of it, would never use it again. And every time I would hear Ansai say the story, everything to myself, yes, if you don't have the valve to let the steam out, you too will explode regardless of how good or not good things have been. Even good things cause you to be tired and fatigued. And that pressure cooker valve is the Atikaf. It's the time you spend in isolation when we'll also panel to Allah that you spend alone, that you beseech Him and call to Him and connect with Him. We don't have that many people who do this because I know in every time we've been in that conference hall and we've talked about Atikaf, and I've asked the room full of women just as much as this room and more, how many of you have made Atikaf in your life? Let's see. Yes, a little look, a little look, a little look. The hands are more because Wallahi in years past, it would be one hand, two hand, three hand out of 100 women. Now we're seeing Mashallah more hands because this concept has become more well known that a woman, not just a man, should also be doing this Atikaf, this kind of spiritual connectedness with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Wallahi, these are some of the roots of how do you pick up your Eman again? One of the questions was how do I pick up Eman again? Talk to Allah. Anything that's important for you, you make time for it. Right?  You make time for it if it's important to you. Is this connection important to us? That's the real question because from there then we can build. And the rest of the question, this is where I'll wrap up, insha'Allah. The rest of the answer to the question is about what do I do if I'm feeling depressed? What do I feel affect, feeling anxious? What do I do if I fill in the blank? Connecting with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is where we start the conversation. But do you remember the second thing I said about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? That he had that connectedness with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when it was heavy, he went and isolated and had that time to really rejuvenate. But then what else did he do? He asked for help. He confided and sit in a Khadija. He went to her and said, I think I'm going crazy. He went to her and said, I'm scared. He went to her and said, I don't know what to do next. And as somebody who was able to have the wisdom and guidance, she helped guide him in that. But so many of us, we keep it in, we keep it in, we keep it in, we keep it in. And then like the pressure cooker, we explode. And then that affects us and our children and our children's children. And it's a cycle, a vicious cycle that just doesn't end. So insha'Allah ta'ala, those are the beginnings of the steps, insha'Allah. There's many more from there. But those two will get us very far and they're a direct example of the sunnah of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Takbir. Welcome, how are you? I'm doing that. Tuzakum lau firan. I have just a few questions here that were related to topics that are similar to what I cover in the classes I was mentioning, the purification of the heart and agenda, which are any tips on seeking validation only in Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. Very difficult to do this age, day and age, unfortunately. How do we embody beauty inwardly and outwardly without becoming prideful, vain or arrogant, so relating to spiritual diseases? And then other questions as well, relating to not caring about what other people think, like really prioritizing Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. And I think as I would have answered this in one of the classes, I would have said we have to focus on really self-purification because the day and age that we live in is so focused on the external. And as I mentioned in the talk, this is a really toxic message that deduces women to just an object. It's objectification, it's exploitation, it's devaluing, it's taking away everything that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala has raised us with and just focusing on the part of us that is going to go into the ground and literally be worm food. So we have to know better that the soul that resides within this case, the shell of a body that we all have is far more important to beautify. And that requires mujahed and nafs, it requires the tasquia process to actually cleanse yourself and struggle against yourself. We mentioned this, even Dr. Haifa mentioned the dua, that تكلي إلى نفسي ترفى التعين. Don't leave me to myself even for the blink of an eye because we have to know that self works against us. Understanding that the external pressures are actually not as, don't focus on those. If you focus on those, it's very hard to manage. But if you look inwardly and say, I have to reconcile myself, right? My nafs is working against me. My nafs is riddled with disease, I have to start cleansing. And you don't, as our martial law physicians on the stage know best, you have to diagnose which is why as Dr. Haifa mentioned, you have to ask those questions, like why am I not doing certain things? What is the barrier? What's preventing me? So if we're worried about whether it's prayer or again being vain and having pride and arrogance, you have to get to the heart of, what is it that, where's the root of those? How did that start? And then also know how to identify those diseases, right? This is why learning the topic of tasquia is a big part of our tradition. We have to go back to that. Learning what the spiritual diseases are, applying the remedies that are offered to us by our great scholars of the past and present. And just being in the practice of those things. And then as well, being in spaces like this, masha'Allah, with other women, so you don't feel alone. Shaitaan, this is one of his tricks, which is also another part of this, understanding that Iblis is the other major threat, enemy. We have the nafs, that's the greatest enemy. Then Iblis, then Dunya and Halaf. You know this as, I shall not call it the access of evil. It's the four evils that we are all, they're always orbiting us and they're always either around us, we have to recognize them, but working with those two especially, the nafs and Iblis, knowing how he works, what's his playbook? How does he get into it? So when you read, if you don't have the book agenda, the Sheramzah and Imam Zed have outlined what they refer to as the eight inroads of the spiritual, of the heart, right? What are the access points that Iblis gets us to? The first one is prayer. Because if we're not vigilant about our prayer, then obviously he's gonna come in. He's gonna have full reign. He's gonna fill you up with a lot of thoughts and a lot of ideas and just destroy, plant those weeds to destroy that spiritual garden of your heart. So you have to be very mindful of the prayer. And then what is it? Your eyes, your ears, your tongue, as was mentioned, insha'Allah. All of the beautiful reminders we heard today. Your hands, your feet, your private areas, your stomach, all of these are inroads. That's how Iblis gets to us. So if you don't know how to be vigilant, how to guard those, you don't understand spiritual diseases, then yes, we're gonna unfortunately accumulate disease the same way a person who doesn't watch their diet, who doesn't exercise, who isn't mindful of their time, starts to accumulate physical diseases. So it's all very, very similar, but those are the general answers I would give to all of these. And once you shift your focus as mashallah and say, Sosan reminded us beautifully, focus is so key. If you don't have your focus on Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala and you're worried about people and numbers and followers and friends and trends and being popular and being accepted, then you're gonna have a very difficult time. But if you shift that focus to Allah and start working on really healing yourself from within, insha'Allah Allah will give you tofeeq bedanillah. And just briefly, because I forgot to mention this in the talk and it relates to something that Dr. Aminem answered in her question regarding, does Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala love me? We were reminded many times that there are so many people in our history that are nameless, right? We don't know their names. Like the woman who swept the masjid, right? In the time of the prophecy, I said, I mean the prophecy was almost very upset that she had passed and they didn't tell him that she passed, he wanted to pray over her. But we just know her as the woman who swept the masjid or the hairdresser, right? And asya's story, this hadid just, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala when the prophecy, I said him, was experiencing the Isra'ul Meraj, okay? He's on the greatest ascent, right? I mean, he's literally, this is the highlight, the peak of his experience, right? I mean, in that moment, he said, a smell came to me, he didn't know the smell and he asked it, he said, did you believe, like, what is that smell? Where did that come from? And he said, that is the fragrance of the hairdresser, of this story of Asya. Her fragrance is in Jannah, it's throughout Jannah, he smelled it. She is significant, so a lot of times shaitan makes us feel small and invisible, but we have to remember, it doesn't matter if people know you and I am sure I can speak on behalf of everyone here, just because, you know, you have a public name or a public persona, this is insignificant. Does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, am I prioritizing him? That's all that matters, that's it.  Insignificant, it's all about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and as I said, you know, there may be many of us who, you know, in the future no one will know us, but insha'Allah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he of course knows us, he made us, so insha'Allah Jazakum Allahu khayr and I'll pass the mic back a little bit. Jazakum Allahu khayr, salam alaikum. There is questions different, but I'm gonna cover the woman prayer because that's something, it's very surprising that we're still in the United States where Masajid are open to the woman, we don't live in a country where it is not and still some women don't know that the woman can pray in Jama'at and I'm not saying about you, I hear this all the time, there's two opinion about that, there is one opinion that says the woman does not pray in Jama'at and that's absolutely respectable opinion, I say this all the time, who are we to judge these scholars? And there is the other opinion that says, yes, the woman absolutely and the woman lead them and say that she used to lead the woman, so if you are of that school or that other schools, you're absolutely fine and the other one which is really, I'm glad it was us, can we pick up the child during Salah when he's crying? My answer, please do, because you are annoying the Muslim and this is harming the Muslim is a sin. Absolutely pick up the child and I think you mentioned it in the story of Sayyidna, Sayyidna Faltima, he picked up Al-Hassan al-Husayn, he prolonged, al-Isra'at was said and prolonged his Sajda because they were on his shoulder, so absolutely you can do that. There was a question came in like Sheikh Maryam spoke about Sayyidna Maryam, is she a prophet? There's a different opinion about that, the strongest opinion she is not. Remember, Ibn Huzam is a Zahiri school, again without going into the technicality of it, it's a school where it goes exactly what the Qur'an say, just the external meaning. That's what it's called, al-Zahiri. But the stronger opinion that she is not, prophets were only men. And there is the answer, why? You know why? Because Allah said so. Done. Learn this answer, ladies. When people ask me why you wear your hijab, my answer is Allah said so. I don't have to explain it. Of course I will later on for other reasons, but number one, why do you fast? Allah said so. Why do you lower your gaze? Learn this, teaches you submission, teaches you to be al-Qanitin, Sayyidna Maryam. So that's one, there's two very strange questions where I have to say it. Someone told me, and I don't know who told you that. When children do ibadah, or any good or bad deed, listen to this one. As-Sawab with S, which means thawab, reward, goes to the father, not to the mother. La ilaha illa Allah, la hawla wa la quwwata illa Allah. Why is that? The reward will go to whoever taught that child. A mother, a father, both, an aunt, a neighbor. Whoever, ad-Dahl al-Khayr, kafa'ilah. You lead, teach people to do good, they will get it.  Lower the style, I don't know how this even, now. Look at the next one. Ad-Al-Ata'ah, when we sacrifice animal, do we use mother name or father name? Who are you sacrificing for? You put them, yeah, but are you sacrificing it if you're doing Qurbani, not in Hajj? Are you doing it for somebody else? Then you put that name. There's no need of a mother or a father. I think I answered everything. The last one, am I okay? We talked about status of woman in Islam, how Allah subhan-ta'ala elevated the woman as equal. This is a very important question. Why there have been such disparity between the status of man and woman in history and even today? Who said so? Always ask this question. And you mentioned it beautifully in your talk. Karamna bani Adam, number one. Allah elevated the status of a human being. That's why I get so offended, I have a cat. When somebody look at me and says, oh the mother of the cat, I was like, I want to be like that. No, I really mean it because that's very common culture. And I was like, no, Karamna bani Adam. Human being are elevated.  You're honored, that's number one. The status of man and woman, it depends what you are looking. Culture, that's not deen. Learn to separate. There is things that man does, woman doesn't do in deen. Yes, the hikmah, there is wisdom, there needs another whole program about that. But as Allah elevated your status as a mother, I say this all the time.  Why do we feel inferior if we don't do things the man does? Did you get my point? Don't let this go into you. You have been elevated status by Allah swt. Number one as a human being. Number two as a woman. Mother or not a mother, but in general, in his own way subhanah. And we are equal in the reward and what we are going to be asked about. Happy news update. Sister Edelund who is in charge, I believe of Convert Care here at MCC has contacted Sister Liz and Sister Julie. Sister Liz is in Oakland, Sister Julie is in Sacramento and I think they've taken their shahadas by now because it's been some minutes. Oh, wow. So, so, alhamdulillah, it's always nice to end a program that way. I wish they were here. Yes, I wish they were here so that we can hug and kiss them and give them all our love and ask for their du'a as if we're still listening. Subhanallah, remind me of the hadith of the Rasul, alayhi s-salatu wa s-salam. La yahdi, la hubika, rajoulan wahida. Khairun, lakam, alhumur, al-niyam. To Allah guide through you one person. He said this to Sayyidina Ali, way better than all the herd of a red camel which is very expensive these days. May Allah reward everyone who put any effort in this. This is not because of the speakers on ya'udubillah. No. This is because of the idea. Number one, Allah's tawfiq. Number two, the place, the board member, the Rahma Foundation, Jemna Institute, the speakers, but most importantly, you and I will end this. La'u Zakiqum Allah is the sattq fi talabillah when you are sincere and pleasing Allah see what He gives you. Did we expect this? Did we came to plan this? Ya'ftaah lakiq. He opens to you from where you don't know. Have this faith and see what one does. If He guides through one day these people, He will guide your children and He will guide many other people. Rabbi lakal hamd. We need to do sajda shukr at the end for Allah's tawfiq. I have one more piece of happy news, masha'Allah. One of our dear local teachers, Anseni Hadz, some of you may know her, masha'Allah, is currently in Medina Munawwara, currently visiting the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, and was messaging with Sister Sabine earlier and knew that we were gathered here and so she relayed salam to the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam directly to, on behalf of us directly to him, sallallahu alaihi wasallam. May Allah bless and increase in Allah us all to be joined there, inshallah, next time gathered there visiting him and visiting, inshallah, that baka, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, ala Sayyidina Muhammad. Alhamdulillah.  This is your long-awaited prayer. Marima, you are good in dua.  In the name of Allah. I asked, yes. This is your teacher. Yes. In the name of Allah. This is for you. I am not good, I don't do this in public. Thank you. Alhamdulillah, Lord of the worlds. Alhamdulillah, Lord of the worlds. Alhamdulillah, Lord of the worlds. Alhamdulillah. blessings upon your beloved and our beloved. Allahumma salli wa sallim ala nabiyyina wa habibina Muhammad. Oh Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And to the kidding, you're the most generous. Wa antal-mujib, you are the answerer. Ya Allah, antal-latif, you are so subtly aware of every single one of us. Ya Allah, you know why every single person came here today. You know why any person is watching this day. Ya Allah, you know the needs of the hearts of every single one of us. Allahumma, answer our needs with more than we've ever thought to ask for and in better ways than we know for us. Ya Rabb-ul Alameen, for our dunya and our Akhir-a-ameen. Oh Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Ya Allah, Allahumma, ya Allah. Please do not let a single one of us stand up from this spot, except every single one of our sins have been completely wiped away.  Oh Allah, please let every single one of us and everyone we love say the Shahada and the Moutia Rabb-ul Alameen. Allahumma, any of us who has lost a loved one have mercy on them, enter them into the highest paradise by Ghair-i-Hissab and honor us with meeting them at the hold of our beloved, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Oh Allah, make us of the Ahlul Quran. Make us of the people who love it, who live it, who cherish it, who nurture it, who teach it, Ya Rabb-ul Alameen. Oh Allah, any woman here, any person who is dealing with abuse in their families, whether spouses or children or parents, whatever it is, ya Allah, facilitate the way for them. Oh Allah, open the way for them. Allahumma, ya Allah, you know what they're going through more than anyone else. Ya Allah, facilitate the best way for them and open the way for them, ya Rabb-ul Alameen. Allahumma, those of us here who are sick, anyone of our loved ones who are sick, ya Allah, in this moment cure them miraculously, ya Rabb-ul Alameen. Oh Allah, please honor us with visiting your beloved house, ya Rabb-ul Alameen, and let us accept the da'wah there, ya Rabb-ul Alameen, to Mecca, to Medina, and to Mashal Aqsa over and over and over in our lives. Oh Allah, insur ikhwanana fi kulli makin, help our umma everywhere and the vulnerable everywhere. Oh Allah, make us of the people who are sincere to you and any da'ah, ya Allah, that we forgot to make in this moment, please answer it for us anyway as you know what is best for us, make us of the people who are written to be of Ahlul Firdaus Al-A'la, bi ghayri hisab, wala sabiq al-A'lab, ya Rabb-ul Alameen.   If you turn us away, where will we go? If you turn us away, where are we going to go?  Be pleased with us and be pleased with everyone we love, ya Rabb-ul Alameen. Subahana rabbika, Rabb-ul Azizat, ya amma yasifoon, wa salamun a'lam mursameen, wa l-hamdulillahi Rabb-ul Alameen. Wa salli allahumma ala nabina, wa habibina Muhammad, wala alihi, wa sahbihi, wa salim, amin. Allahu Akbar, al-hamdulillahi Rabb-ul Alameen, wa-hamanir-waheem, malik yawm-iddin, iyakana abudu wa iyakana sta'een. Ehdina s-siratu al-mustaqeem, s-siratu al-lathina an'amta a-layhim, g-eirin wa ja'la fiha s-irajaw, wa huwa al-lathiyy ja'la wada shukura, wa-ibadu r-uya yamshuna ala al-aumi hauna, wa-eza khatabahum wa-l-yama, wa-l-lathina yakuluna rabbana s-sirabajahannabajahannam, in mustaqahu l-iman hamidah. Allahu Akbar, al-hamdulillahi Rabb-ul Alameen, ar-wahmanir-waheem, malik yawm-iddin, iyakana abudu wa iyakana sta'een. Ehdina s-siratu al-mustaqeem, s-siratu al-lathina an'amta a-layhim, g-eirin ma-g-dubi a-layhim, wal-ad-daa, s-subahana al-lathin, as-raa bi-abdihi l-aylam min al-masjin al-haram, il-al-masjid al-aqsa al-lathika, wa-kna hawlahu l-inuriahu min aayatina, innahu hu wa-l-samee'u al-basir. Wa-ateina mousal kitab wa-j'alnaahu hudal i-bani isra'ila alla, alla tattakhidu min wa-kina, zuriya ta-man hamalna ma-anuha, innahu kana abadan shakura. Allahu akbar. Sami Allahu niman hamida. Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar. Sami Allahu niman hamida. Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar. As-salamu alaikum wa-rahmatullah. As-salamu alaikum wa-rahmatullah. All right, as-salamu alaikum everybody. As-salamu alaikum.  Really blessed day. We're so happy to have you with us, Lisa. Mashallah, I'm going to just talk a little bit, kind of shock, kind of talk our way through, and shout a lot a little bit. So we're going to say, inshallah, the declaration of faith. But before we do that, just a couple of things, because I always like to make sure that if there's any questions we can answer or anything we can kind of help clarify, because it's usually after a person says the shahada, you'll see, which is the declaration of faith, you'll see that there's just a lot of hugs, a lot of excitement. And sometimes things get lost, Mashallah, and all of those hugs. Two things? Two things, okay. Excellent. Is this going somewhere? It's like standing. Oh. That's why it should have been you. And so I did want to ask if there's any specific questions that I can help answer first, but really any of our two teachers. I want to acknowledge, Mashallah, that it can very well be overwhelming. And this is a marathon. It's a long, long journey. This is just the start of an amazing, amazing, amazing chapter. Thank you, celebrating too. To celebrate, Mashallah. And so I'd like to just make sure that we kind of remind ourselves, actually everyone here. And in fact, what I'm going to ask everybody here, it's not just Lisa who's taking shahada. What we ask for everybody who's here is that we actually all renew our faith together. Every single time there's an opportunity to, it's a beautiful thing for everybody to actually renew faith, Mashallah, and to kind of renew that commitment. So this, what we're going to be basically saying is, as you probably know, Lisa just kind of explained through what we're going to say together. It's the declaration that there is no God but Allah. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, is his final messenger. And from there, that simply enters a person into the faith. It is a simple declaration and subhanallah person immediately comes into the faith. Well, follow is can feel, of course, overwhelming because there may be different steps and rules and things, but my suggestion for you, my humble suggestion, inshallah, is to take things one day at a time and to build. To allow the building blocks to happen, layer upon layer upon layer, and that might take a little bit of time. Hopefully, inshallah, with the group that we have here at the MCC, there's a new converts kind of welcome group, which is really wonderful. And there, I think, kind of figuring out what are the priorities from there, inshallah. So I guess I'm saying all of this just because it can feel very overwhelming and it can feel like a lot of rules all at once and I don't think that's the point. The point is actually to have that deep connection with God and know that He loves you and always has loved you and this is kind of a, in many ways, coming back to a declaration that was already said many, many, we believe as Muslims in a different stage of life where we all already had submitted our will to God and in many ways, we're refinding that at this moment. So with that, I would no further ado. Where's Bessam? Do you want to come closer to? Yes, you're sure? We're so happy to have you with us too. All right. So I'm going to go ahead and say the Arabic slowly. I'll have you repeat, inshallah, and then we'll say it in English as well. Okay. And everybody please, as we say it, we'll ask all of you to say it as well. What we basically said is that I declare that there is no God but Allah. Would you like to say that with me as well? I declare that there is no God that there is no God but the one God Allah and that Muhammad and that Muhammad peace be upon him peace be upon him is his final messenger is his final messenger inshallah My dear sisters, please give Distur-Liza your love and du'az. Thank you. You know why I'm jealous? You all have to be jealous of Lisa, right? Why explain it to her? Because the person who comes to Islam anything and everything before is gone. So you're coming like a newborn baby. We all have a lot of baggage. A lot of things we have to explain. So that's why we are jealous. And I'm going to make a du'a for you. May Allah keep you strong. Ya Rabbi Amin Sayyami. Keep you strong. And teach you and make you a leader for everyone including Sayyaf Biyami. Give her a big hug everybody.  There is a box here. The microphone still doesn't like me. Called Being a Muslim and I hope inshallah that helps and of course the flowers for you and may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala allow this clean slate in this new beginning to be one of a beautiful journey and hopefully in sisterhood with all of us. Amin, my turn for haqqah. Thank you. And thank you to my husband. I've been thinking about this for a really long time and I actually grew up in Oman and then I moved to America when I was 18. And so the religion has always been with me not necessarily in a practicing way but I feel as though the time has come and it's been a while. I think my husband actually told me about it. Did you expect that? See Allah used you. Yeah, that's since 11. What was the point that hit you? I have to know this point. I really mean it. It's a mix of stronger. You know, it hits granted. What was the moment they said?