Strangers (DVD)

Muhammad ﷺ said that this religion began as something strange and will return as something strange — so give glad tidings to the strangers.

We see many cases of Muslims reforming themselves to become better Muslims, and in most cases they are seen as extreme, strict and sometimes even considered crazy. Strangers is what they have become.

In this lecture, Brother Khalid Yasin explains the importance of being patient in difficult times like these.

Why the Hadith Reframes the Problem

Because it turns the experience upside down. A young Muslim who starts praying properly, or a woman who starts covering, is very often treated as a problem — not by non-Muslims, but by Muslim family and friends who find the change uncomfortable.

The narration says that is what the religion looked like at the beginning, and what it will look like at the end. That does not make it easier, but it does make it comprehensible — and the glad tidings are attached to the strangers rather than to the majority.

About Shaykh Khalid Yasin

Shaykh Khalid Yasin, a former Christian, is the Executive Director of the Islamic Teaching Institute (ITI), an organization dedicated to the work of da'wah. He studied Arabic in Madinah and in Cairo, and had many mentors and teachers who tutored him in Fiqh us-Sunnah, Fiqh us-Seerah and Islamic history, as well as in the memorization and recitation of the Quran.

He is what is known as a da'ee — someone who speaks publicly about the Islamic faith in order to invigorate the spiritual and moral conscience of his listeners, and to educate and inform people about Islam. He has spent most of his working life doing exactly that, and he is among the most widely heard English-speaking speakers in the field.