Today I want to cover with you the first word Allah revealed to our beloved Prophet Mohammad peace and blessing be upon him and the value of this word. The word was ( ﺇﻗﺮﺃ ) Iqra’ or Read. Why read? To acquire any knowledge about anything you need to read about it. That is how you become an expert in any subject. Unfortunately, with time many Muslims stopped reading or claim they do not like to read!!!…..How do you expect to improve in your deen and dunia if you do not read!! How do you expect to strengthen your Ummah if you do not read. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allaah” [Faatir 35:28] This verse indicates that the ones who have knowledge are the people who fear Allaah, and that whoever does not fear his Lord does not have knowledge. Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Those who fear Him as He should be feared are those who have knowledge of Him, because the more a person knows of the Almighty, All-Powerful, the more he will fear Him. Al-Hasan al-Basri said: The one who has knowledge is the one who fears the Most Merciful in private, and seeks that which Allaah wants for him and abstains from that which incurs the wrath of Allaah. It makes me sad when I ride the train in London and see almost everyone is reading a book or a newspaper but in our countries you see people in public transport staring at one another or just gazing through the window. Why waste this precious time in doing nothing……grab a book and read, expand your horizon and learn about different subjects. As for the subjects of deen, please give yourself time to read and understand, even if you are on social media like Facebook, you will come across so many Islamic educational posts, please do not scroll down and ignore. So many people spend hours on Facebook….doing what!!? Looking for attention, snooping around people’s business and wasting time on meaningless topics which won’t add anything to their knowledge or their iman. If you learn you will be able to share and teach and do you know the reward of that!!? The Prophet PBUH said: Allah and His angels, and even the ant in its stone, and the fish in the sea, pray for the one who teaches the people good.” In another variant, “A man of knowledge has those in the heavens and the earth, even the fish in the sea, ask for his forgiveness.” [Tabarani]……. So can you imagine!?……imagine if you can hear them praying for you…..I don’t think your heart and mind will be able to take that……….Subhana Allah…….how great and beautiful is that!? …..and how merciful and generous is our Allah…Alhamdulilah Please work hard on yourself and try to change this mentality; life is not just about fun. Learn at least one thing a day. Allah will ask you about your day, hours, minutes and seconds….what did you do with them. Remember they are also considered rizq