Part of What an Excellent Place of Prayer (series completed)
· Lesson 28 of 30
Yes, the prayer hall | Episode (28) | Is Palestine the issue of Palestinians alone?
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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What an excellent place of prayer.
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Is Palestine the cause of the Palestinians alone?
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The answer to this question is almost
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one of the greatest fruits of these pauses and reflections on the excellence of this place of prayer.
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Due to the weakening of religious allegiance
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and the bond of faith and creed to that cause,
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and the misleading, directed media machine
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designed to reduce that cause and strip it of its true content,
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we must first establish a very important truth:
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that speaking about the Al-Aqsa Mosque
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is speaking about the city of Jerusalem,
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and speaking about Palestine—all of Palestine—
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which is the heart of the Levant (Bilad al-Sham),
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that blessed and sanctified land.
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It is impossible to separate all these parts
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through artificial labels and geography.
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At the beginning of the conflict,
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the cause in the hearts of most Muslims
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was an Islamic cause.
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Then, after the spreading of rumors, lies, and fabrications,
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and the weakening of religious motivation,
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the culture of nationalism prevailed,
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until it became an exclusively Arab cause
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for a period of time.
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Then, little by little,
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the circle narrowed,
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and the cause was reduced more and more,
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until it became the cause of the frontline states,
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then a Palestinian cause
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concerning only the Palestinians themselves.
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The great truth and the supreme cause
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that should be firmly rooted in the minds, hearts,
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and even the thinking of Muslims,
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and which should not be taken lightly,
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or neglected and forgotten under any circumstances—
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and every Muslim must review their own self, behavior, approach,
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creed, and actions toward it—
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is that the cause of this good, sanctified, and blessed land
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is the cause of an entire Ummah,
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from the time Allah created humanity on the face of the earth
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until the Day of Judgment,
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because it is closely linked
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to revelation and the message of monotheism (Tawhid)
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at the beginning, middle, and end of time.
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If we say that the cause of Palestine is Arab
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and not Islamic,
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then we exclude from the circle of responsibility and conflict
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more than 1.3 billion non-Arab Muslims.
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And if it is reduced to being only the cause of the Palestinians,
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as is rumored in some media institutions,
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whether intentionally or unintentionally,
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it will be limited to a number not exceeding fifteen million,
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and thus we slaughter the cause with our own hands.
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This is what the enemies strive for,
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and they exert strenuous efforts to achieve it.
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Hence, the enemies worked to spread rumors, lies, and fabrications regarding that cause
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to shake confidence in the hearts.
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One such lie is that the Palestinians sold their land to the Jews,
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and this is a great slander, unfortunately,
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which most nations believed,
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and it reflected negatively on people's concern and responsibility toward Al-Aqsa.
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For if someone sold their land, would they live in camps of misery and diaspora,
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in a wretched state and hardship of life?
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Would someone who sold their land demand it back after the sale, even now?
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Would someone who sold their land insist on returning to it no matter the cost?
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Furthermore, have you ever heard that the Jews produced an official document in any international forum
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and said, "This proves we bought the land, so do not claim it"?
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That has not happened and never will.
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Why should this cause not be the cause of an Ummah?
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We have mentioned throughout our past reflections many truths, virtues, and great events on the soil of this land.
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It is the first Qibla and the second mosque established,
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and the third of the mosques to which journeys are undertaken.
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It is one of four mosques that the Dajjal (Antichrist) will not enter.
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It is the place of migration for the Prophets, their abode, and the site of their graves,
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among many other qualities.
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If this land had no other merit
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than being the place of the Night Journey (Isra') of our beloved, peace be upon him,
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and his Ascension (Mi'raj) to the heavens,
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it would suffice for it to be the cause of every Muslim man and woman,
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regardless of their colors, races, nationalities, or languages.
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Otherwise, why did the wife of 'Imran vow what was in her womb to be dedicated to the service of the Holy House (Jerusalem)?
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Because it is the cause of an Ummah.
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And why did Musa, peace be upon him, pray to be buried at the edges of the Holy Land
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when he was not able to enter it?
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Because it is the cause of an Ummah.
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Why did 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, come himself to receive the keys to Jerusalem,
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even though he ruled from Egypt to the Indus?
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It is said that more than a thousand provinces, villages, and cities were conquered during his reign,
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yet he did not personally receive the keys to any of them except Jerusalem,
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in a sign of the importance and sanctity of that spot,
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and that it is the property of the Muslims.
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Then 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, made it an endowment (waqf),
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so no one has the right to concede even an inch of it.
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And if the cause of Palestine were not the cause of an Ummah,
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then who drove the commander Nur al-Din Mahmud Zengi, from the Turkish Seljuks,
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after the great slaughter and violation of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa occurred,
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to the point that people thought Jerusalem would never return to the Muslims?
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He rolled up his sleeves, spread monotheism and the Sunnah,
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suppressed innovation, brought scholars close, united the small states,
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spread justice, and gave the oppressed their rights.
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He increased endowments and took upon himself the liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
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Abu Shamah al-Maqdisi mentioned in his book *Al-Rawdatayn fi Akhbar al-Dawlatayn*
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that a group of scholars came to Nur al-Din one day
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and said, "We have come to narrate to you, with a continuous chain of transmission to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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a hadith that is sequential (musalsal),
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which the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said while smiling,
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so we smile as we narrate it to you."
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Nur al-Din turned to them, with grief crushing his heart, and said,
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"How can I smile while the Al-Aqsa Mosque is shackled in the chains of humiliation and disgrace,
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under the hooves of the enemies' horses?"
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Then he was followed by his student, Salah al-Din,
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who was the fruit of Nur al-Din Zengi—may Allah have mercy on them both.
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Salah al-Din was of Kurdish origin from Armenia,
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and he liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders in the year 583 AH.
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Thus, this cause remains the cause of an entire Ummah,
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and the struggle over its land is a struggle between truth and falsehood until the Day of Judgment.
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He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, says:
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"A group of my Ummah will continue to fight for the truth,
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prevailing over those who oppose them,
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until the last of them fights the Dajjal."
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And what made the Emir Mawdud from the Turkish Seljuks,
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the Emir of Mosul after its usurpation,
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begin by leading the army,
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recapturing some cities in the Levant,
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and forming an alliance with the Emir of Damascus, Toghtekin?
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He was among the first to wage jihad against the Crusaders
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before the emergence of 'Imad al-Din Zengi
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and his son Nur al-Din—may Allah have mercy on them.
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When he returned with the Emir of Damascus
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to rest in the year 507 AH,
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and after performing the Friday prayer in the Umayyad Mosque,
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one of the Batiniyyah (sectarians) came and stabbed him four times.
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He was fasting and did not break his fast,
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saying, "I will not meet Allah except while fasting."
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The Frankish king sent a message to the Emir of Damascus saying,
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"A nation that killed its leader on the day of its festival,
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in the house of its object of worship,
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deserves for Allah to annihilate it."
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Then you know the stance of the Ottoman Sultan,
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'Abd al-Hamid II—may Allah have mercy on him—
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when they pressured him to hand over part of Palestine to the Jews,
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and he lost his empire and the Ottoman State
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because of his heroic stance to preserve Palestine.
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Then what made the commander 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam—may Allah have mercy on him—
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from the Syrian coast,
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defend Palestine and fight for its sake,
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except that it is the cause of an Ummah?
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The enemies of Islam
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and the enemies of this cause, from the Jews and those who allied with them, have realized
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that when Muslims feel the reality of this cause,
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and that it is the cause of an Ummah,
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then they will be defeated,
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and the Muslims will overcome them.
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Golda Meir,
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the Prime Minister of the Zionist entity, says:
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"We do not fear the Muslims
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except when they pray the Fajr prayer in the mosque
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as they pray the Friday prayer."
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Our enemies know that the struggle over the land of Palestine
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is the struggle of an entire Ummah,
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not nationalism, nor regionalism,
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nor factionalism, nor partisanship.
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At a time when we have denied and turned away
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from the simplest means of support and honor,
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in an age of development, technology, and innovation,
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whenever we achieve that,
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and plant in our souls the reality of the struggle,
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we will disturb the sleep of the occupiers.
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For just as the usurpers have strategies,
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the liberators also have strategies.
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The first of them is the reality of feeling responsibility,
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carrying the burden,
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and awakening the resolve in all situations and circumstances,
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because the soundness of the end comes from the soundness of the beginning.
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What an excellent place of prayer,
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for the Muslims,
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the place of the conquerors,
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in it is the best of creation, peace be upon him.
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It is an excellent place of prayer.