Islam Blog

The following is a transcript of a lecture given by Tawfique Chowdhury on the topic ‘Once we were Men.’ The speaker talks about the importance of ‘true men’ and how valuable they are for any nation. Especially the Muslim Ummah. I’ve divided it in to 3 parts for ease in reading.

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Masha’Allah we have 1 billion people. 500 million men. Where are the true men amongst them? Show them to me, please! Because looking at them is ibadah. Speaking to them is ibadah. Being in their presence is ibadah.

Brothers and sisters in Islam, when Khalid bin Waleed (ra) was conquering the town of Hira and he had encircled it. And Hira was one of the most fortified towns of the time. He sent to Abu Bakr (ra) a messenger saying, ‘O Abu Bakr, I need help.’ Guess what Abu Bakr (ra) did. This wise man, he sent only one person. This person’s name was Ka’kah ibn Amar at-Tamimi. And there was difference among the ulema whether Ka’kah was a companion (of the Prophet ) or not. Allah knows best, the most correct opinion seems that he was a Taabaee. Anyhow, this individual was the only person Abu Bakr (ra) sent. Ladies and Gentlemen, if the greatest general on earth was sending a message to his leader saying I need help and the only help that was sent was one man, what would you say?

This guy has lost it. What are you doing? This is madness. You can’t win a war with one man!

But Abu Bakr (ra) said I am sending you the equivalent of a 1000 men. And he said the very voice of Ka’kah is better than a thousand men.

And another time, when Amr ibn Aas (ra) was conquering Egypt in the time of Umar (ra). He said, Umar I need madad, I need help. And so Umar (ra) wrote back to him, I am sending you 4000 men. How many did he actually send? He sent 4. He sent Miqdad, Maslamah, Az-Zubair, and Ubayd ibn Thabit. These are the only four men he sent. And in the letter he said, I am sending you the equivalent of 4000 men.

My Brothers and sisters, we’re not talking about war. We’re talking about manhood. We’re talking about how a single man can be worth a 1000 men. How is this ever possible? And all of the men here, if you aren’t feeling some shame in your heart and anger in your heart then truly there’s something wrong. Go to the doctor tomorrow! Let him check you out. Have an ECG to know if it’s working well.

Brothers and Sisters in Islam, true manhood is truly as salt in the food. You see how the salt in the food is so little. In the same way are true men. So very few. And that is why Prophet Muhammad in an authentic hadeeth in Bukhari said, True men are as scarce as the riding camel among the hundreds of camels. As you know the Arabs have camels and not all of them are suitable for riding. Most of them are suitable for milk and meat. But only some of them are suitable for riding as the others are so angry. So Prophet Muhammad gave this example.

Not only in the time of the companions, but in the times thereafter we find beautiful examples of manhood. For example, the people of Bosnia owe their Islam, after Allah and his Messenger to Tariq bin Ziad (rh). Do you know the story of this hero of Islam? He was a great general of Islam. He landed on the shores of Europe with 12,000 men and King Roderic, the king of Spain met Tariq bin Ziad with 100,000 Christian soldiers. When Tariq bin Ziad saw the enemy before him, he said ‘You Muslims, burn the boats!’ And so all the boats were burned while the enemy watched. The he told his men, there is either death by drowning, or death by fighting or victory before us, make your choice.’ Look at the manhood! By the grace of Allah , Tariq bin Ziad defeated them and conquered Spain and most of France and Sicily and went deep in to Europe until he took over all the areas we call Yugoslavia, Macedonia where we find so many Muslims these days.

We men have a lot of potential. Our potential is limitless. It is limited only by our minds, our weak eeman, our weak goals, our lack of understanding of the reason why Allah created us. Without doubt we can also achieve this. We can also be true men. Nowadays, when the brothers want to prove their manhood, they hit their women. They think it is a sign of manhood. People think fancy cars, muscular bodies, and good perfumes are a sign of manhood. People think age is a sign of manhood. But none of these constitute true manhood.

In the time of the Umayyad khilafah, an Arab came to the khaleefah of the time. The khaleefah said, ‘O so and so, let the oldest among you speak.’ The wise Arab visitor said. ‘O Khaleefah, truly if wisdom was to do with age then there would be others more worthy of being khaleefah than you.’ This is the strength of character we’re talking about.

Once Abdullah bin Zubayr, who was a small boy at the time of Umar (ra) was playing amongst the small children and Umar (ra) came to them and the boys got afraid and ran away but Abdullah bin Zubayr stayed in his spot. And so Umar (ra) went to him and asked him why he did not run away. The boy said, ‘Ya Ameerul Mu’mineen, I never did anything wrong. And the road is big enough for you and me. Just pass on.’ And this Abdullah bin Zubayr became the Khaleefah after the death of Yazid for 9 years.

What about the example of the children of the Muslims? In the areas where the bulldozers of the enemy come to destroy their homes. Little children with stones in their hands rush to fight these mighty machines made of metal. They wake up in the morning and their fathers are taken away and their mothers are raped and their sisters are killed. They wake up with only one goal. To free Philisteen. I am not saying that the children should be doing this. By the consensus of the Ulama, children should not be fighting. But my question to you is this. How shameful is it that our children have to do this? My second question is, Do you see the courage these little children have? This is the manhood that I’m talking about.

Allah describes to us those men who can truly be called men. And he says (translation of the meaning) These men are the following

- They are not distracted by buying and selling and commerce
- They establish prayer and pay zakat
- They fear a day when the heart and the eyesight will be turned away

These are the true men! And Allah also says, (translation of meaning)

And the true slaves of Allah , the true men are those that walk on this earth in tranquility and in composure. Not being frivolous, not with loud voices, calling names. And when the ignorant one speaks to them, they say ‘Salaam.’

This is manhood. Anger management is manhood. Directing your manhood in that which is right is truly manhood. How few are the people who do that! And Allah continues:

Prophet Muhammad is the messenger of Allah . Those who are with him (May Allah include us in them) they are severe and harsh with the disbelievers and loving and kind with the believers. This is also something we have forgotten.

If we were to summarize manhood in one phrase, it is strength of character and strength of eeman.

To be continued