Bismillah walhamdulillah
wassolatu wassalam 'ala Rasulillah

Some nasihah from the grad dinner (most are from Imam Djafer, some from the students):

* he started off by saying that the room where we had our grad dinner (Union 3202) always brings good memories because it was the second room where they used to have Jummah a long time ago before it didn't fit :) but at that time things were very different. Most of the participants were older, graduate students. But today most are undergraduate

* MSA started in 1963 in Urbana Champagne, IL. This organization is the cradle of the Muslim community in America. Should not belittle this university 'driven' organization. From MSA many leaders move on to create bigger things, inshaAllah. I know because I was there before (said Imam Djafer).

* the fact that many young people are getting involved in MSA is good because it shows that Alhamdulillah, we still have a lot of hope for the future of the ummah, inshaAllah

* the youth are very important to our society, everyone is waiting (1.3 billion Muslims ke Imam Djafer kata?) for that special youth to be born and help lead the ummah

* some people come, and leave, and nobody remembers much about us, and that is the loss of that individual. Others come, and when they leave everyone cries, everyone remembers them because of the many good things they sowed while they were around. Sometimes, the things are very small - but make a big difference,
- like exchanging gifts
- like making a short phone call to ask another brother/sister out for dinner
- like going to the masjid together
- like visiting each other when someone is sick (and healthy too! :))
main point is that all we need to do is get rid of our selfishness, add a little time, and effort for other people...

* some points regarding youth:
- ashabul kahfi : this group of youth that are so firm in their belief of Allah, shows that when the youth really try hard to love and obey Allah, He will not make our work go in vain, never ever. Surah al Kahf and the story of these young people are read by so many Muslims every Friday, to remind us of the importance of youth
- hadith: taubah is always good/beautiful, but when it is from the youth, it is even more beautiful (au kama qaal :))
- hadith: seven who will be under the shade of Allah when there will be no other shade, one of them is a youth who lived his life in the way of Allah (au kama qaal), and a youth whose heart is tied to the masjid.

(may Allah make us of the worthy and beautiful youth that He loves, and His Rasul saw loves too! amin!)

* graduation, the real graduation. Just like during the graduation ceremony, graduates will receive the paper certificate, during akhirah, our real graduation, we will be receiving a sijil too. Will it be shining or will it be dark? Will it be from our right hand or left hand? Just like in this dunya, the successful graduates will turn to their friends and family in rejoice, in the final graduation, the successful graduates will turn to their people and rejoice too "wa yan qalibu ilaa ahlihi masruura" Will we stay up and study for this real graduation too?

* sense of 'time' - the first ten years are the longest, the next ten (11-20) are faster, next ten faster, and faster.. but really in the end our life in this world, when we stand in front of Allah will be just like a day or less than a day.

* 27 years ago, there were only 2/3 masajid in NYC, but today there are more than 160. Imagine how much more Islam we could see in US if we are good representatives of this religion.