Inspiration and Spirituality

Repentance: A Means For Purification – Farhan Abdul Azeez

Published

September 18, 2009

SaqibSaab

More often than not, speeches given to “the youth” are problematic. Our younger Muslim brothers and sisters complain about speakers being way too technical and their talks going over their head or being so negative and encouraging of self-loathing that the audience begins to become disenfranchised with Islam altogether.

This speech by Farhan Abdul Azeez of Canton, MI, however, was hailed as the best speech of the 2009 MMYC (Michigan Muslim Youth Council) Spring Conference.

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Right after it ended, every attendee I came across was raving not only about how good it was, but even saying it was the best speech of the conference, only halfway through the entire program.

So what made this speech so good for such a critical crowd?

Firstly, it contained solid and sound subject matter primarily focused on the Qur’an. The book of Allah is generously filled with wisdom we fail to grab, and even more so for the youth who are disconnected with it. This speech on repentance constantly referred back to the timeless events told in the Qur’an. When you keep it simple and go that route, you can’t lose.

Second, the speaker and his words carried social relevance, a huge tactic needed to connect with such a specific audience. Farhan would, for example, connect the topic of gaining mad amounts of taqwa with ascending to the level of a Super Sayian in DragonBall Z, a concept which you may know nothing about but totally hit home for some in the MMYC crowd.

Lastly, the speech was a lot of fun and made easy for the kids while maintaining seriousness and respect for the subject matter presented. There were jokes, but there were also moments of pin drop silence. There was crowd participation. There was even a break in between where Farhan had everyone massage their neighbors and hug them (AlMaghrib style!). Having small tricks like that really went a long way.

So if you’re involved with high schoolers or younger, or are looking for a good example of how to cater a lecture towards them, check out this video. It’s a great example of the style needed for our younger brothers and sisters growing up with Islam today.

Oh, and the speech is super beneficial, too. It’s not just “for kids.” :)

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SaqibSaab

SaqibSaab is an average Desi Muslim guy living in Chicago. He enjoys videography and design as side hobbies, and helps out with AlMaghrib Institute in Chicago, Wasat Studios, and other projects here and there. His go-around vehicle is a 2007 Volkswagen Jetta 5-speed Wolfburg Edition. Originally born in Michigan, he and his wife reside in Chicagoland with his parents who come from Bangalore, India. He blogs personally at SaqibSaab.com.

27 Comments

Verbage

September 18, 2009 at 3:59 AM

congrats to br. farhan abdel-azeez! he just won the national qur’an competition in irvine, ca (judged by `afasy). you can watch it here: http://icoi.net/multimedias/view/icoi_1st_national_qur_an_competition_finals

Reply
- MW_M
  
  September 18, 2009 at 9:27 AM
  
  Subhan Allah!
  
  Reply
Ali

September 18, 2009 at 9:23 AM

Mashallah, well worth watching…

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nilo

September 18, 2009 at 9:57 AM

Br Farhan, MASHALLAH. YOU HAVE CAPTURED EVERYTHING JUST RIGHT. YOUR TONE, YOUR MANNERIZM, YOUR QURAN RECITATION, YOUR SPEECH CONTENT. MASHALLAH.
MAY ALLAH GIVE YOUR MORE BLESSING IN THIS LIFE AND THE NEXT. MAY ALLAH OPEN THE DOORS OF JANNET-TUL-FERDOUSE FOR YOU. MAY HE LET YOU DIE AS A SHAHEED AND MAY HE PROTECT YOU FROM ALL THE EVILS OF THIS WORLD AND FROM THE EVILS OF SHATAN.AMEEN

BROTHER NO OTHER SPEEKER TOUCHED MY HEART THE WAY YOU DID. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS TO LONG TO LISTEN TO, BUT I PUT IT ON AND DID ALL OF MY OTHER THINGS I HAD TO DO ON THE PC,.
AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT MY TEARS WERE ROLLING DOWN MY FACE.
THANK YOU BROTHER AND CONGRATS FOR WINNING THE AWARD FOR THE RECITATION YOUR DESERVE IT.

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Amatullah

September 18, 2009 at 10:46 AM

mashaAllah he did a great job. jazahuAllahu khayran.

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Man

September 18, 2009 at 11:11 AM

hahahaha MashAAllah
Super Saiyan, hahahah, classic

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Nahyan

September 18, 2009 at 11:35 AM

MashaAllah, good stuff bro.

Jazakallahukhair for the post SaqibSaab

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ilmseeker

September 18, 2009 at 1:43 PM

Ma sha Allah very well done! May Allah (swt) bless the brother, ameen.

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Abu Sauleh

September 18, 2009 at 2:59 PM

mashaaAllaah… br. Farhan is a treasure of this ummah :) May Allaah guide him and preserve him.

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sister in deen

September 18, 2009 at 8:20 PM

Subahanallah..Mashaallah.Jazakumallahu khairaa

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Amatullah

September 18, 2009 at 9:38 PM

MashAllah, the brother has a really nice qira’ah..BarakAllahu feek

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Faraz Omar

September 18, 2009 at 10:30 PM

WoW! MAsha Allah. beautiful recitation and excellent speech…may Allah accept it from him and increase his ilm and amal.
who is he btw? his profile?

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Sadaf Farooqi

September 19, 2009 at 7:47 AM

What a wonderful reciter he is, masha’Allah! No superficial undertones or artificial “tasannu“. How lucky his parents are to have him for a son. Throughout his lecture I kept thinking, “O Allah, make my son like him…”
And may Allah guide our youth to repent. The fact is that the da’wah of a person who is himself young, has much more effect on the youth than that of an elderly person.
And Allah knows best.

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amatul-Rahmaan

September 19, 2009 at 8:01 AM

subhaanAllah, I am speechless.

once you start you can’t pause it. may Allah (swt) reward him profusely, Allahumma ameen…

Reply
Fish

September 19, 2009 at 11:17 PM

YOUSFUUUUUUUUUUULLL SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!

Reply
Pingback: Repentance:A Means For Purification (For Muslims) « Islamic rapidshare links
DI

September 20, 2009 at 12:41 AM

Masha Allah la quwatta illah billah !

The future is looking bright… :D

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Osman

September 21, 2009 at 1:49 AM

SubhanAllah! May Allah bless this brother.

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Farhan

September 21, 2009 at 9:23 AM

He described Ibrahim (AS) as “straight chillin” in the fire. hahaha, ma sha Allah

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Imani

October 9, 2009 at 11:25 PM

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah,

Mashallah this was an EXCELLENT lecture, May Allah increase this brother in his knowledge. It’s true, once the lecture started you just can’t put it off. Mashallah.
I was wondering if anybody had Brother Farhan’s contact information. We have a relatively new MSA and are looking for a speaker to come and have an event, and Mashallah Brother Farhan seems to really be able to connect with the youth. If anyone can direct me, just reply to this message.

Jazak Allahu Khair

Reply
Faraz Omar

October 11, 2009 at 1:48 AM

There was one thing I was not sure about in the lecture. Farhan says explaining the verse “wa in ta’uddoo ni’mat Allahi laa tahsoohaa (surah ibrahim)… that Allah mentions Ni’mah, which is singular. Allah didn’t use ni’am (plural), showing that we cannot even count the blessings of one favor of Allah upon us. I checked if that was the tafseer of the verse. I spoke to a student of knowledge and he said that it means Allah’s favors and it is not in singular, even though the word used is singular. He said its being used as a “Jins”… meaning the word is used collectively for all of Allah’s favors. Just as the word “Insaan” is used as a collective word for all human beings.

Though the meaning of what he said, that we can’t count the blessings of just one favor, is fine, but i was unsure if that is the meaning of the verse.

It’ll be great if MM can reach him and let him know. If he has evidence of what he’s saying from the classical tafaseer…. I would love to know.

I wonder if the question can be put up to YQ also to check it up?

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- Eman
  
  October 3, 2010 at 12:47 AM
  
  I asked Br Nouman Ali Khan about this and he said that yes the word ni’mah used here is Ism Jins, from a Balaghi perspective in analyzing the Quran, what was mentioned in the lecture is correct and that Allah SWTA chose the word Ni’mah here and not Ni’am or An’um which are Jami’ Kathra and Jami’ Qilla respectively to give the meaning that we are unable to even count the value of one blessing of Allah SWTA upon us, let alone thank Him for it.
  
  He mentioned the verse about Ibrahim (AS), being such a great Nabi, when Allah SWTA described that he was thankful for some of His blessings upon him (the Jami’ Qilla version An’um — “Shaakiran Li An’umuhi” — this is in fact very high praise, when for the rest of us we dont even come close to that as is mentioned in the ayah referred to in the speech.
  
  Wa Allahu A’lam.
  
  Reply
abdullah

October 20, 2009 at 10:34 AM

can someone please post the information/profile about this brother.

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umm haya

November 14, 2009 at 1:09 PM

Barakallahu feek….excellent…….

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Niha Athar

December 11, 2009 at 7:26 PM

Asalam u Alikum wa rehmatullahi wa barakatahu!!

Jazak’Allah!! :) It was great!!

May Allah guide him & make it eaiser to remain steadfast on the right path. Ameen!

Reply
Ahmad

September 30, 2010 at 9:34 PM

Farhan Abdul Azeez,
Location: Canton, Michigan, USA.
Born: 1986
Current age at 2010: 24

Did this khutbah at april 2009. 2nd year med school.

Was a biology major at michigan state university. By that time he was also MSA president there. (2006)
Then went to med school there.
(data based on http://www.ghazali.net/archives2006/html/professor_s_hate_e_mail.html)

He also tis active not only in da’wah but also for volunteer and charity efforts.
on august, 2009 “Dr. Farhan Abdul Azeez conducted a fundraiser, where about $28,000 were received. Everyone promised to introduce HHRD to others in the community and some administrators from the community organizations pledged further support for HHRD(Helping Hand For Relief & Development) in years to come.”

Won the Quran competition
http://icoi.net/multimedias/view/icoi_1st_national_qur_an_competition_finals
september 2009

02/13/2010
MIA graduate.
3rd year medical student in MSU as of the feb. 2010.
http://podcasts.doubletwist.com/MCWS-Podcast/OPWbyxDv3G#q=a&id=OPWbyxDv3G
His talk “Rasulullah(SAWS) and his relationship with Khadijah RA” at MCWS Masjid at his hometown.

Talk at Same Masjid @ Dec 2008 talk:
Hajj, a spiritual journey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipG3dHc4gxU

other talks:

https://www.msu.edu/~azeezfar/Articles.htm <– articles that he wrote.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62oWBa9huFo <– another talk, MMYC conf. 2008.. Prophet SalAllahua'laihiwasalam and humbleness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EehEe2-M0Wc <– Meaning of Allahuakbar, importance of salah, and some divine link marketing.
ALMAGHRIB Qabeelat Ittihad, fiqh of salah class.
giving salah rug gifts, sh. yaser birjas is there too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa95pax5lA8 <– sharing prayer rugs gift. jokes about marriage. funny story about hajj with Sh. Yaser QAdhi.

RECITATIONS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FfOniTNgsw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9RHE5N4Wyk

Good to hear young youth who are balanced, active, and mashAllahs. I did this research mostly for my own curiosity of seeking role models, but thought I'd share so others might benefit from it too :)

May Allah keep him firm, make us all repentant slaves, and guide us all to success in Jannah.

Reply
Sabina Moid

April 4, 2012 at 4:16 PM

MashaAllah he did a great job. JazahuAllahu Khayran.

Reply