A speech by Ali Khushan on the virtue of Sham.

Ali Khushan: Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The students: And upon you be peace.
Ali Khushan: All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide, and whomsoever He leaves astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger. As for what follows, the most truthful of words is the word of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). Therefore, I praise Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, for having prepared for me this blessed gathering on the occasion of the marriage of my daughter to the honorable young man, Asim ibn Muhammad Ibrahim Shuqara. I ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to bless them both, to join them in goodness, and to make this marriage a noble occasion. This marriage in itself, and the meeting with the brothers and the meeting with the loved ones, is a noble occasion. It is in the land of Sham, this blessed land, as Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said about it, and as it was also said that it is the Holy Land. This Holy Land has a right over us that we protect its sanctity and that we be worthy of life in it, a noble life upon the methodology of the Prophethood. And we see the signs of dawn, and praise be to Allah, despite the pervasive darkness. The signs of morning have begun, its light has started, and the threads of dawn are appearing on the horizon, if Allah wills. What a blessing, and what a blessing is this knowledge, and the blessing of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions), and that its banner is carried by the hadith scholar of the era, and that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, decreed for him to come from his homeland in Albania to live in the land of Sham, to drink from the knowledge of the scholars of Sham, and then to be in the al-Zahiriyyah Library, which contains from the rare treasures of knowledge and the rare gems of the Sunnah what is not found in other lands of the world. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, granted our Shaykh great perseverance and patience; he would immerse himself in research and scientific verification. And from the fruit of that are these many writings, and then these successive generations that carry the banner of Islam and explain it to people clearly, as Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, revealed it in His Book and on the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions). The truth is that the discussion of these meanings is long, but our brother Abu Malik, may Allah reward him with good, has spoken about some of it, and I think this indication is sufficient for us to know our duty, to know our mission, and to know that the Muslim community is in need of the efforts of the people of the land of Sham. This makes the responsibility upon us great, especially if we understand his saying (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions): That means the responsibility on our necks is greater than the responsibility on others. So we must carry this knowledge with truth, and give it of our time and our efforts what we can, so that we can establish the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions) on earth, and establish the methodology of the Caliphate of the Prophethood which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions) promised. And we must not despair, and know that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, only sent Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions) with guidance and the religion of truth, as He said: So Allah must manifest this religion until it enters every house of mud or wool, with the honor of one whom Allah honors with Islam, or the humiliation of one whom Allah humiliates with disbelief. And for a wisdom of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, when Jesus descends, he descends to judge by the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions), and he descends in Sham. And likewise, the Mahdi will be from before him, who will fill the earth with justice and equity as it was filled with tyranny and injustice; he will be in Sham. And likewise, the gathering of people will be in Sham. So all of this shows you the responsibility on our shoulders. And even though the community is passing through a stage similar to the stages of the nations before it, because Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, when He commanded the Children of Israel through Moses, He said to them: Do you know what they said, what they did, and what their response was? We do not want to lengthen this, but two men from those upon whom Allah bestowed favor said, "O my people..."
The students: .
Ali Khushan: O my people, enter the land which Allah has prescribed for you.
The students: .
Ali Khushan: The point is that two men, despite the presence of Moses (peace be upon him), two men with Moses (peace be upon him) among them, and Moses (peace be upon him) being the one who spoke to Allah and the Prophet of Allah among them, when they did not act upon his command which Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, revealed to him, Allah forbade them the Holy Land, and they were unable to enter it. And Moses (peace be upon him) and Aaron (peace be upon them both) died, and they did not enter the Holy Land. They wandered, and Allah decreed upon them the wandering, because they deviated from the guidance of Allah despite the presence of prophethood among them. So if we say that there is no life for the community except by the methodology of the Prophethood, and the methodology of the Prophethood is before us, and the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions) is before us, and the Book of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, is before us, then the responsibility is on our shoulders and on our backs, and the signs of that are apparent, and praise be to Allah. The intention is that we do not despair and that we continue upon the methodology of the Prophethood and the methodology of the Rightly Guided Caliphs until Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, grants relief...