Advice from the Shaykh to the committed: Do not despair if you find yourselves strangers among your people, and the virtue of being a stranger.

The Shaykh : The second point to remember is that you should be among the strangers of the highest rank, which is to revive what people have let die of the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This is because the reward for this revival is immense, beyond calculation, even by today's computers. Why? Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So when a man revives a Sunnah, ten people follow him, and each of those ten calls to this Sunnah, and ten follow each of them, and so the circle expands until no computer can calculate it. Its calculation is with Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Therefore, our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most rewarded of the prophets and messengers on the Day of Resurrection. Why? Because he was the most followed of the prophets on the Day of Resurrection, as stated in the authentic hadith. So, for every Muslim who follows him, whether before or after, his reward is recorded in the Prophet's (peace be upon him) book of deeds. Thus, his good deeds are in the billions, billions, and so on. The righteous Muslim who calls people to follow the Sunnah is written a reward according to how many follow him. But following the Sunnah requires knowledge; therefore, we encourage you to study the Sunnah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) linked the guidance of Muslims and their stability in life, upon the guidance of their Lord, to two things: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He said in the authentic hadith: . Holding fast to the Sunnah is like holding fast to tawhid (the oneness of Allah). Each has opposites and conflicts. The opposite of tawhid is shirk (associating partners with Allah) and idolatry, and the opposite of the Sunnah is innovations in matters. Therefore, a Muslim is not truly following the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) unless he is far from holding to bid'ah (religious innovation) and innovations in acts of worship. That is why the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he ordered his Companions to follow the Sunnah, did not limit himself to this command alone, but coupled it with warning them against following innovations in matters. This is because, as I told you, following the Sunnah is like tawhid; tawhid does not remain safe for its owner unless he is far from what contradicts tawhid, such as shirk and idolatry. Likewise, a Muslim's following of the Sunnah does not remain safe for him unless he is far from bid'ah. This is what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) combined in many of his hadiths and sermons. There is a sermon known among scholars as the "Sermon of Need," with which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would open his sermons, lessons, and admonitions: . He did not suffice with ordering the best guidance, the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), but he also warned against following innovations in matters. He did the same in the hadith of al-'Arba' ibn Sari'ah, in which he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . After ordering the following of the Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, he said: . The way to know these innovations in matters, which prepares the Muslim to avoid them and stay far from them, is to know the Sunnah. As it is said, "Things are made clear by their opposites." If you know the Sunnah, you know bid'ah. If you are ignorant of the Sunnah, you fall into bid'ah. It is inevitable, for guidance is contradicted by misguidance. If you know guidance, you are saved from misguidance; otherwise, you will be misguided without knowing or feeling it, may Allah forbid it. For this reason, we encourage our brothers to follow the Sunnah and avoid bid'ah. This is not possible for every individual among the general Muslims, but only for the people of knowledge, indeed for the select among the people of knowledge. As for the general people, their obligation is to follow one verse, which is His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): , . O Muslims, ask the people of knowledge if you do not know. Islam does not impose on every Muslim to be a scholar, but to be one of three things: be a scholar, or a student, or a listener. Do not be the fourth, and you will perish. You must attend the gatherings of knowledge, for the gatherings of knowledge are the gatherings of dhikr (remembrance of Allah). When "dhikr" is used in a general sense, it refers to the Noble Qur'an. When it said in the previous verse: , it does not mean the people of dhikr in the sense of verbal dhikr. In another sense, "people of dhikr" means the circles of dhikr and those who remember Allah in a way that contradicts the method of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in dhikr, swaying to the right and left, standing and sitting. First, this is not prescribed dhikr, and second, this is not the dhikr intended in the previous verse: . What does he want to say? By Allah, I have feared Allah...