((A man said to the Prophet, peace be upon him, once: "I will do it tomorrow", so the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Woe to you, is not the entire age is tomorrow, do it now, now".))

 There are causes of poverty, such as postponing, imperfection, negligence, unpunctuality, Tawaakul (putting trust in Allah without using any means) and pointing the fingers of blame, for errors, towards sh3er. Whoever is poor due to one of these factors, his poverty is not due to Allah's Qadar, but rather it is the result of his negligence and carelessness, and this poverty is called the poverty of laziness. On the other hand, the poverty which is predestinated by Allah comes from having a disability in the body, and so the poor man is excused unlike the lazy poor man who is dispraised. In addition to these two types of poor men, the one who is poor due to excessive spending on the poor and the needy is praised. These poor people are rare:

((One day, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, commanded his companions to give charity, so Abu Bakr brought all that he had with him. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, asked him, 'What have you left for your family?' He replied, 'I have left Allah and His Messenger for them.'))

 In another Hadith, the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((Never has the sun risen or set on a person, other than a Prophet, greater than Abu Bakr.))

[Mentioned in the relic]

 The Prophet, peace be upon him, also said about Abu Bakr:

((Close all the small doors in this Masjid except for that of Abu Bakr.))

 In another Hadith, he, peace be upon him:

((He has never wronged me, so keep this in mind.))

 No man has ever reached the level of As-Siddiq after the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Can you imagine how hard it was for Abu Bakr to say what he said after the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him, yet he said it because it was the truth despite the fact that he loved the Prophet, peace be upon him, beyond imagination. I do not think there are two persons on earth who love one another for the Sake of Allah more than the Prophet, peace be upon him, and Abu Bakr, but when the Prophet, peace be upon him, died, our master Abu Bakr AsSiddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "No doubt! Whoever worshipped Muhammad (peace be upon him), then Muhammad (peace be upon him) is dead, but whoever worshipped Allah, then Allah is Alive and shall never die"

[Agreed upon]

 He said what he said because he knew that the Islamic message would not come to an end because of the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him, but it would last till the end of days.

﴾ Truly! Ours it is (to give) guidance, ﴿

[Al-Lail, 12]

 Guidance might be sent from Allah to mankind through Prophets and Messengers, peace be upon them, and sometimes through Al Siddiqun (those followers of the Prophets, peace be upon them, who were first and foremost to believe in them, like Abu Bakr As-Siddiq), the martyrs, the righteous and sincere scholars and Du'aat (plural of Da'iyah). Hence, Abu Bakr did not say whoever worshiped the Messenger of Allah, then the Messenger of Allah is dead, yet he said, "Whoever worshiped Muhammad….", and had he said it the first way, he would have given the impression that the message of Islam is over by the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him, (the Messenger), but since the message will last till the end of days, he said what he said. The proof is in the following Ayah:

﴾And Allah would not punish them while you (Muhammad, peace be upon him) are amongst them ﴿

[Al-Anfal, 33]

  "And Allah would not punish them while you (Muhammad, peace be upon him) are amongst them":

Muslims today are one billion and 500 million, yet they do not have the last word, they do not have the upper hand and a third world war is declared against them all over the globe, and that is because they do not follow the Prophetic Sunnah and they do not apply it. Allah says:

﴾And Allah would not punish them while you (Muhammad) are amongst them ﴿

[Al-Anfal, 33]

 This means that as long as Muslims apply Muhammad's Sunnah, peace be upon him, in their lives, they are secured from Allah's Torment.

The reality of the youth:

  By Allah dear brother, I never have enough of the following Hadith:

((Narrated Mu'adh bin Jabal: "The Prophet said, "O Mu'adh! Do you know what Allah's Right upon His slaves is?" I said, "Allah and His Apostle know best." The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "To worship Him (Allah) Alone and to join none in worship with Him (Allah). Do you know what their right upon Him is?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know best." The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Not to punish them (if they do so)."))

[Agreed upon]

 As if the Almighty Allah has guaranteed us this right through the Prophet's Hadith:

((The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "O Mu'adh! Do you know what Allah's Right upon His slaves is?" I said, "Allah and His Apostle know best." The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "To worship Him (Allah) Alone and to join none in worship with Him (Allah). Do you know what their right upon Him is?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know best." The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Not to punish them (if they do so).))

 You will be secured. I am addressing the youth: do not be afraid, for as long as you are upright, you are included in this Divine Promise regardless of conditions. I know there are difficult conditions, and their difficulty is beyond one's scope, like the lack of job opportunities or the high prices of houses. However, let me assure you while having the full trust in Allah that as long as you are upright, Allah will keep you under His Protection. The proof is in the following Alay:

﴾Whoever works righteousness, whether male or female, while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islamic Monotheism) verily, to him We will give a good life (in this world with respect, contentment and lawful provision),﴿

[Al-Nahl, 97]

 Being young has nothing to do with age, for there is a senior Muslim who is in his nineties yet he is young, because the young man by definition is the one who has ambition. Thus, as long as you have a great goal to achieve, then you are young regardless of your age. On the other hand, you might sit with a 45 year old man, and you cannot bear him, because he has no ambition and all he does in life is eating, drinking, playing backgammon and watching movies all night long then burning day light.

 I heard once the following saying, and I like it, "People follow a Shaikh in their lives but Shaikh has multi-meanings: there is the senior person (old Shaikh) and this Shaikh is the Shaikh because of old age, there is the Shaikh of a tribe who is the one appointed by his tribe to be the leader, there is the Shaikh of devil who is the one involved in black magic and sorcery, who undoes the spell of magic, who asks his followers to bring him rubbish like a white rooster or a black sheep and who gives his followers papers with incomprehensible words written in them, there is the Shaikh of the Sultan who is appointed by the ruler, there is the Shaikh of media and there is the Shaikh of Rahman. Your success lies in following the Shaikh of Rahman among all these kinds of Shaikhs.

﴾"O my people! Obey the Messengers* Obey those who ask no wages of you (for themselves), and who are rightly guided.﴿

[Ya-Sin, 20-21]

 Do not befriend the one whose state does not exalt you to better levels and whose words do not lead you to Allah. In other words do not befriend the people of desires.

((This knowledge (i.e. Hadith) is the Religion, so be careful from whom you take your religion))

[Al-Hakim, by Abi Hurairah]

((O Ibn Umar, your religion, your religion is your flesh and blood. Take it from the pious ones, and do not take it from those who are deviated.))

[Ibn Adi in Al-Kamil, by Ibn Umar]

8- Put the money at the disposal of the Ummah is a contemporary act of worship:

  We are still talking about money and how money is the backbone of life and one of the means of power. We may say that money has become the means to offer the best act of worship in our era. We are living in the era when a third world war has been declared against Islam, and one of this war's goals is to transfer money from the Islamic countries. In the first Khaliji war 700 billion Dollars went to the west (to pay for weapons), and at present billions of dollars are transferred from the east to the west. In concise, this war aims at impoverishing Muslims and looting their treasures. In this situation, what is the best act of worship? What is the act of warship that brings us closer to Allah? It is to earn lawful money and solve Muslims' problems with it. This is the best act a Muslim can do, so pay heed to the importance of money which is the backbone of life. 

 In a festival of Al-Quran recitation and memorization, I noticed that they gave every Hafiz a sum of money close to 2 million Liras, and the father of the Hafiz most likely will use this money to buy a house or to pay his debts. I wish the organizers of this festival give the Hafiz a scholarship to acquire a PHD, so that he will become a scientist, and so the Ummah will become more powerful by having scientists. By Allah, I love all believers without any exception.

The one who does not move and try will never err:

  Some people share with you bearing the hardship of Ummah, whereas sh3er drop their burden over your shoulders and there is a big difference between the two. Disabled pilgrims used to perform Hajj in olden days by being carried on a wooden deck with small fence around it and it was held by four people. This scene was a heart breaking one, yet the idle Muslim is just like the disabled, for he sits back doing nothing but evaluating, labeling and judging people.

 I used to say that there is one person whom I love so much, because he is flawless and that person is the Prophet, peace be upon him, but there is another person, and excuse the word I use, whom I degrade though he is flawless. Such a person is the one who does nothing. Actually, the one who does nothing in life will never err. Such a person is passive, for he offers nothing to other people. Thus, ask yourself these questions: What did I do today? Did I serve someone? Did I offer a piece of advice? Did I help a human being? Did I feed a cat? Did I serve my mother? The idle person never errs, and such a person should be degraded. I appreciate the person who takes an action though he might err.

 A famous Da'iyah saw once a young man on a bicycle selling tea and he knew that person had a bachelor's degree, but since he did not find any job he started to sell tea in order to make a living and to get married, so this scholar said: "I stopped my car, I approached him and I shook his hands and praised what he was doing, for working is honorable". Our Master Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say, "When I see the man who has no job, I degrade him because of that.".

Making a living is honorable:

  Working is honorable, and the upper hand (that produces) is better than the lower hand (that consumes).

((Narrated Anas ibn Malik: A man of the Ansar came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and begged from him. He (the Prophet, peace be upon him) asked: "Have you nothing in your house?" He replied: "Yes, a piece of cloth, a part of which we wear and a part of which we spread (on the ground), and a wooden bowl from which we drink water." He said: "Bring them to me." He then brought these articles to him and he (the Prophet, peace be upon him) took them in his hands and asked: "Who will buy these?" A man said: "I shall buy them for one dirham." He said twice or thrice: "Who will offer more than one dirham?" A man said: "I shall buy them for two dirhams." He gave these to him and took the two dirhams and, giving them to the Ansari, he said: "Buy food with one of them and hand it to your family, and buy an axe and bring it to me." He then brought it to him. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, fixed a handle on it with his own hands and said: "Go, gather firewood and sell it, and do not let me see you for a fortnight." The man went away and gathered firewood and sold it. When he had earned ten dirhams, he came to him and bought a garment with some of them and food with the sh3er. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, then said: "This is better for you than that begging should come as a spot on your face on the Day of Judgment."))

[Abu Dawod and Ibn Majah]

 The Prophet, peace be upon him, got angry with this man who asked him for money and he said to him:

((He who opens a gate of begging, Allah opens a gate of poverty))

  Believe me dear brother, when you strive in your livelihood, Allah, Glorified and Sublime be He, will give you provision and will prepare a suitable job for you because the job, marriage, houses and good health are in the Hand of Allah. What I need you to do is to establish a connection with Allah, to ask Him and to talk to Him. Dialogue is every corner of our life, so why do we not have a dialogue with Allah? Why do we not say to Him, "O Lord, send me lawful income, guide me and make me someone who guides sh3er to Your Path. O Allah, guide us and help us guide sh3er, bestow upon us Halal livelihood and use us in offering good deeds"? Whenever I see a brother who has performed an honorable deed I say to him, "If you want to know your rank in the Sight of Allah, consider the way He use you, and in your case, Allah used you in goodness". 

Life is wonderful if we serve people:

   It is said that life is wonderful, but it is wonderful if it is spent in obeying Allah, bearing the hardship of believers and offering good deeds to people. I am inciting your enthusiasm, so do not settle for less, do not accept to be a zero before the number, but be a zero next to the number or even two zeros or three, and do not accept to be a common person since you can exalt in the Sight of Allah by having aspirations, faith and good deeds. 

 Yesterday I was in Meedan neighborhood (a neighborhood in Damascus city) where there is a very high Me'zanah (Minaret). This Masjid has a story which I mentioned a lot. The hero is a very poor man who worked as a doorkeeper in an elementary school. He had 8 children, and his income was about 4000 Liras, so he was below the poverty line. He lived in a one room rented house. One day he inherited a land, and he wanted to sell it. The man who bought it gave the land owner a check of the half of the amount, so he asked him, "Where is the rest of the price?" The wealthy man said, "I will pay you the rest when you officially transfer the ownership of this land at the Ministry of Awqaf (the Ministry of Religious Endowments), because a Masjid will be build in here." The owner of the land (the poor man) was surprised, so he asked, "A Masjid!" Immediately, he took the check, tore it into pieces and said, "What a shame before Allah to buy a land where a Masjid will be built! I should with greater reason than yours dedicate this land for the Sake of Allah" This deed will bring him everlasting happiness. You can offer a great deed, sacrifice something for Allah's Sake, or offer a service, and you can seek knowledge, help sh3er and be dutiful to your parents. The main point is performing a deed through which you will be exalted in the Sight of Allah, Glorified and Sublime be He.

Money is an important and crucial means:

  Money is a substantial means of having power in life, so are the influential position and knowledge. Rich Muslims are able to reach the highest ranks of Paradise with their money, and the proof is in the following Hadith:  The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((Envy is permitted only in two cases: A man whom Allah gives wealth, and he disposes of it rightfully, and a man to whom Allah gives knowledge which he applies and teaches it))

[Agreed upon]

 Allah increases the wealth of the charitable people, and He looks after their health, their children and their money. Besides, He keeps them safe from any calamities. Hence:

((Spend on charity, O son of Adam, and I shall spend on you.))

[Ibn Majah, by Abi Hurairah]

((Spend O Bilal, and do not fear from the Lord of the Throne any decrease))

[At-Tabarni, by Abi Hurairah]

 It is the era of the other party (the disbelievers) who has made the decision to impoverish us by looting our treasures, starting meaningless wars between Muslims and doing other things against us, so what will our foremost act of worship be under these conditions? The utmost act of worship is to earn Halal money and to create job opportunities.

 A brother who lives in Germany said to me that a man from Syria wanted to build a factory there, and he expected to be buried in paper work to get the license, and other monotonous procedures, such as presenting documents, papers that proved he was free of debts and licenses, but to his surprise all they asked for were two things: the first thing was giving a written promise that he would not pollute the environment, and the second one was to create job opportunities to Dutch people. Furthermore, they offered him the land for free, and he leased each acres of it for one Mark (now one Euro) a year. This is the instructive thinking, and success lies in encouraging every productive person.

 Another brother said to me once, "I want to shut down my factory", and upon asking him about the reason he complained that the factory was not profitable anymore, so I asked him, "How many workers do you have?" "80", he answered. To which I said, "Who said that you are in a loss? You are supporting 80 families and if we suppose that every family has five people (the husband, the wife and three children) in this case you are financially supporting 400 people, due to Allah's Grace upon you, by keeping that factory open, so keep it open and this is the real profit you will get". I look with respect to the industrialist who has 3000 workers, because he is supporting 3000 families:

((The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer))

[Sahih Muslim, by Abi Hurairah]

 Hence, if you are a rich person, you can use your money in many projects, but if you are not, then learn and get a scientific degree in a rare major. If you are a crafter, perform your craft perfectly and be creative, and your income will increase, so that you would be able to help sh3er. Money is the most crucial way to get close to Allah the Almighty.

The scientific topic: The penguin:

  Let us move to the scientific topic: 

1- The South Pole is the home of the penguin:

  Dear brother, there are Signs which indicate Allah's Greatness in His creations. In the South Pole, which is the coldest area on earth, the winter is 6 months and the environment is very tough, yet in this area you can find the penguin which is an amphibian that walks on two feet or crawl on its belly. 

2- The trip traveled by the penguin to the South Pole:

  The penguins take the trip towards the South Pole spending few weeks. They travel 100 kilometers either on their feet or crawling on their bellies in order to gather in thousands. This is how the penguins are Divinely designed, for they immigrate in crowds towards the South Pole, where temperature is 50 degrees below zero, and the speed of wind is 100 kilometers per hour. Not to mention, the unbearable chilly weather and snow. They gather in the South Pole, and they stay together. 

3- Exchanging places is the mechanism followed by the penguin to keep warm:

  Which penguin gets cold? It is the one standing in the outer side. Therefore, it switches places with a penguin in the middle in order to get warm. The one on the outside stays only one hour then it switches places and another penguin from the middle takes its place. 

4- How does the penguin breed?

  The male fertilizes the egg of the female, and then the female puts the egg in the sea. After that, the male penguin stays standing on its feet, bearing the cold weather due to the thick fur it has. 

5- The male looks after the egg:

  The male penguin puts the egg (laid by the female penguin) on its feet and covers it with fur, lest it breaks upon rolling on the ground and getting cold. Thus, it puts on its feel and covers it, but do you know how long it stays like this? Amazingly the male penguin stays like this for 4 months without eating or drinking. How tender it is! If the male penguin has to move, it crawls very slowly lest the egg falls, or it makes small slow jumps. This mercy is Divinely installed in the heart of this male penguin. 

6- The mission of the female penguin:

  Meanwhile, the female penguin is in the sea gathering food and preparing itself to go back to its family. By the time it goes back to the land, the egg will have been hatched and a baby penguin will have come out of it, so that the female will look after it. 

7- The first meal of the baby penguin:

 The male penguin by the way keeps a meal of milk in its craw for the entire 4 months, and it never uses it though it is in dire need of it. Instead, it brings back the stored food in its craw and puts it in the mouth of the baby after it hatches. Who taught it that? Who put mercy in its heart? Human msh3er, who fall short in raising their children, must learn an unforgettable lesson from this male penguin. It is reported in the relic: 

((A woman who stays at home to look after her children will be with me in Paradise.))

[Mentioned in the relic]

 Unfortunately, some msh3er are fine with having their children on the streets while they are paying a visit to the neighbors. The penguin precedes in its mercy such msh3er. The male penguin puts the egg on its feet, covers it with fur and stands for 4 whole months without eating or drinking in order to keep the egg warm. Moreover, when the egg hatches, the father penguin gives the only meal it has (which it needs desperately) in the mouth of its baby penguin.

8- The male and the female take turns in looking after the baby penguin:

  Learn from penguins how they share life. The female comes from the sea to take its baby and looks after it after it fills its craw with food from the sea, and the male in turn goes to the sea to fill its craw with food and drink. This is the creation of Allah. Allah says:

﴾ Truly, We did offer Al-Amanah (the trust or moral responsibility or honesty and all the duties which Allah has ordained) to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it (i.e. afraid of Allah's Torment). But man bore it. Verily, he was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results). ﴿

[Al-Ahzab, 72]

 When man relinquishes fulfilling his mission in life (the Divine Assignment) and refuses to bear the trust, he will become lower than an animal, but upon bearing the trust and conveying the Divine Message, he will sublime higher than angels. Our Master Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The angels have been created having reasoning, but not lust, the animals have been created having instincts but not reasoning, whereas man has been creating having both, so if his reasoning overcomes his desires, he will become more exalted than angels, but if his desires take over his reasoning, he will become lower than animals."

Looking after the children is one of the most honorable deeds:

 Dear brother, raising children is one of the most important missions. It is performed by looking after their health, study, manners and religion. In one of the countries that I visited I was told by a notable scholar that a child came to the Masjid to offer one of the day prayers where only eight people were in the first row, and upon joining that only row, one of the Muslims who mistakenly thought that there was a Hadith which ordered children to be in the second row, pushed that child to the second row where there was no one. That child was deeply hurt to such an extent that he never prayed in the Masjid for 55 years after that incident. 

 Another man said to me, "When I was a little child I came to Ahmadiyah Masjid, which is located in Hamidiyah Market, after the Eid. I was wearing my new shoes, and following the prayer I got out only to find that my shoes were stolen. I went nuts over that shoes and cried my eyes out, but a very kind man took me to a shoes store and bought me the best pair of shoes they had and said to me, "Do not cry". This man swore by Allah that because of that charitable offer and tender behavior he never missed Fard in his life:

((Indeed a man may utter a statement that he does not see any harm in, but for which he will fall seventy autumns in the Fire.))

[At-Tirmizi]

 However on the other hand:

((The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "A man utters a word pleasing to Allah without considering it of any significance for which Allah exalts his ranks (in Jannah).))

[Al-Bukhari and Ahmad]