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As you're all aware, I've been under the weather for a few days. I've been told that the it's not, there's no problems inshaallah for interacting with other people. It's been a week, so this is just recovering inshaallah with the sore throat. But because of this, the khathar will be shorter than usual. But the topic is one that inshaallah, I just wanted to introduce you to so that you can, as usual, pique your curiosity and find out more about what I think to be a very interesting and incident and anecdote in Islamic history. One of the most iconic historic incidents that every human being is aware of. It's one of those historic realities that even if you're not a historian, you know something about this and that is the Mongol invasion. And I've spoken about the Mongol invasion. You know, a lot of times Genghis Khan invades the whole globe and the world. Today's anecdote is not about that invasion. It is about a footnote, about something that happened two generation afterward. That inshaallahu ta'ala. It gives us hope. It gives us hope that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala utilizes ways and mechanisms beyond what we can imagine. And just to set up the stage, a lot of people don't realize that actually Genghis Khan was very familiar with Islam. He actually, in his own personal life, believe it or not, seems to have had an element of respect with Islam and the Muslims. And in fact, if you know your history, when Genghis Khan first consolidated his tribes of Mongolia, actually he was very respectful of the Muslim dynasty, of the khawarisms, of the dynasty in Uzbekistan, of the Samarkand rulers. And he sent them a delegation of merchants as a token of respect. Unfortunately, the merchants weren't treated very nicely. They were embezzled from funds. So he sent an emissary, he sent a dignitary, an ambassador to negotiate that. Hey Sultan, you better take care of what happened here. And unfortunately, the governor, the Muslim governor did something very cruel. He actually executed the ambassador and that is what triggered Genghis Khan to invade the Muslim lands. All of this occurred because fact of the matter is our side did not live up to international treaties and protocols. Actually, Genghis Khan interacted with Muslims and he was respectful of Islam. Even later on in life, he didn't have a grudge against Muslims per se. And I say this because the story actually deals with this incident or reality. And that is that after the death of Genghis Khan, Genghis Khan had consolidated the largest empire known to mankind. It literally the entire Eurasia, the entire, you know, Russian empire, along with much of Europe, along with much of even, you know, aspects of the Muslim lands he had consolidated into one. Before he died, he had four sons and he said each one is going to take one of these provinces, one of these areas, so that I don't want you to fight amongst yourselves. And the westernmost was called the Golden Hoard. He gave that to his eldest son. The westernmost meaning the one that is now Russia, Poland, Lithuania, he gave it to his eldest son and that is the Golden Horde. And the others he gave to other sons. And each one of them continue the empire. The goal was don't fight amongst yourselves, fight outward. And subhanallah, as you're aware, Genghaza's grandson Hulaqu, what did he do? He took the command of his grandfather and he went towards the Muslim lands and he invaded Baghdad. He laid siege to Baghdad. He raped and pillaged Baghdad. He destroyed the Abbasid empire. And Hula Kouan continued onwards all the way. His forces continued because that was the province that was for the Muslims. He continued onwards until he had decimated the entire lands of Islam until he reached all the way to Egypt. Can you imagine from Mongolia making all the way to Egypt until the Mamluk stood up and in the battle of Ain Jalut delivered the first blow against the against the Mongol Empire. Now a lot of people stop their history here. I'm gonna begin from here about an incident that Allah Azzawajal utilizes ways Allah works in mysterious ways. We cannot fully understand because in the end of the day we think Ain Jaloots stop the Mongols. Think about it. How can one small battle in Egypt stop the Mongols? How can one battle all the way in the periphery land stop an entire empire? Multiple factors were at play. And today we're gonna mention one seminal factor that Allah used to save the Muslim lands. Because if Allah had willed, this would have been the end of Darul Islam. But Allah will protect the Ummah. And Allah will never allow the the Ummah of the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam to be completely decimated. What happened Subhanallah, as Allah says in the Quran, Allah will give you sustenance and help from places you never expected. One of the most bizarre realities, historical realities took place right now. And that is one of the leaders of these four provinces. We said there are four provinces, right? The one that was the westernmost is called the Golden Horde. So Each one had a name to it. You had the Blue Horde, the Golden Horde, the Ilkhanids. You had. Each one had a name to it. The Golden Horde, which is actually the furthest from Darul Islam. It's the Russian, the Ukrainian, the Lithuanian, the Polish one. The leader of the Golden Horde, his name was Berkay Khan. Berkay Khan unbelievably embraced Islam as the grandson of Genghis Khan. The grandson of Genghis Khan, the actual biological grandson of Genghis Khan. He interacted with his grandfather. He was a part of the Grand Council of Khans. Pause here. Genghis Khan had established a council, an Al Khanate of his entire family members, such that there would not be civil war. So everybody of his clan, the senior members, would be a part of a tribal council that would resolve the things so that there's no civil war. Birki Khan was a member of that elite guard. He was higher than a politician. He was the royal family. Berki Khan, the biological grandson of Genghis Khan, the one in charge of the Golden Horde. This is a well known fact, but unfortunately, most Muslims don't know their history for reasons that we're not fully certain. Because the problem is again, we don't have chroniclers from inside that much. Right? We're talking about people that visit, people that interacted. We don't have the amount of stories that we need, but we do know without a doubt that Birki Khan embraced Islam. Not only did he embrace Islam, but from all accounts he was a pious, practicing, God fearing Muslim. The biological grandson of Changiz Khan and the cousin of Hulaku Khan, the first cousin. This is again, Hula Ku Khan is the grandson, right? And Berki Khan is the grandson. So the first cousin of Hulaku Khan embraces Islam. And how did he embrace Islam? There's a number of theories. One of the theories is that he was interacting with the traders. Again, the standard theory that most, you know, converts of that time frame, the honesty, the integrity, the akhlaq of the traders of the Muslims that would come impressed Berkehar. But there's also a very well attested reality which is that Berkey Khan also was very much influenced by some of the Sufi tariqas that he interacted with, that he saw in them piety and honesty and taqwa and zuhd that really impressed him. And he began questioning them and their answers about Tawhid, their answers about Allah, their answers about the meaning of life. It resonated with him and he decided to Embrace Islam. And so as the governor, sorry, as the emperor of the Golden Horde. He's not a governor, he is the emperor. As the emperor, he embraces Islam, but his people are not Muslim. Right. So he didn't force Islam on his people, which is why to this day all of those lands are majority non Muslim. Really interesting, right? He didn't force Islam on his people, but what did he do? He began importing scholars. He began creating or building masajid. He began financing madrasas. Where? In the heart of the Golden Horde which is now, you know, Biladr Rus, which is now Russia and Poland and these places. He began building madrasas in the middle of nowhere. But because you're the ruler, what's going to happen? People began to convert. Some of his wives converted, some of his children converted. He began to bring in ulama and scholars that are now going to be teaching the people. Now the majority of his people did not embrace Islam because he was an open minded ruler. He didn't. Obviously he's not going to force his people to do that. Right. But what happened as a result? The Golden Horde became the first of all of the kingdoms of the Mongolian empire to convert to Islam. And then after that the second and the third followed suit. Out of the four, four kingdoms, out of the four called Ilkhanets, out of the four provinces, eventually three of them became Muslim. And this is how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala literally saved the Ummah. It wasn't just the battle of Ain Jaloot. No, the very invaders, the very people who ransacked, the very people who pillaged their children, their grandchildren, literally embraced Islam and began. So Birki. One of the things that he did when he embraced Islam, of course they used to follow a system of laws called the Yasa. There's an interesting point here. The Mongols had a system of sharia called the Yasa. Right. When Birki embraced Islam, he abolished the Yassa. And he said, we're going to establish the sharia in these lands. So he started establishing the sharia. When Bekka embraced Islam, he, he said from now on no more temples are going to be built here because they used to be pagans. He said, no, we're not going to finance any temples. So he began building masjids. Some of the masjids that were built in that time frame, maybe not the original structures, but some of the remnants of those structures are still present to this day. More than 1,200 years ago, the ones that he founded, obviously the exact same structures been modified, but the Same location, the same. The ones that he founded are still over there to this day. And when he converted as well, one of the things that he did was that he established ties with multiple Muslim provinces, principalities of his time frame. Subhanallah. What an irony here that when his cousin invaded Baghdad, he had already embraced Islam. But his journey to Islam took a while. You can imagine it's not going to be one day. He was already a Muslim and his cousin Hulaku has surrounded Baghdad. When he hears that Hulaku is attacking Baghdad, it actually increases his iman. He becomes enraged as a Muslim. Can you believe? You know, it reminded me of Hamza. If you remember the story of Hamza, that all of the antagonism made him a better Muslim, right? He became angry. How dare my cousin is attacking Muslims and killing them for no reason. I will have to answer to Allah for what he is doing. Like he felt a responsibility that my family member is doing this. And so unbelievably, while Hulaku is surrounding Baghdad, do you know what Birki Khan did? Birk e Khan sent ambassadors and emissaries to the Muslim rulers, establishing ties with them. He was one of the people who sent emissaries to the Mamluks. And is even said we're not 100% certain. It is even said he sent them military equipment and training such that the battle of Ain Jalut that took place. Perhaps Bark E Khan played a role. Again, I'm being academic here because we're not 100% certain how much happened because we don't have eyewitnesses. But without a doubt he sent emissaries. He apologized on behalf of his family. Look, I have nothing to do with him. That's another cousin of mine. And then listen to this. Went to war against Hula Ku Khan because of his ransacking of Baghdad. Did you know this? There is an internal civil war amongst the grandsons of Genghis Khan. Why? One of them is a Muslim and the other is a pagan. And the Muslim is saying, I'm going to have vengeance about what you've done against my Muslim brothers. And the first time the family of Genghis Khan, the first time the four kingdoms went to war together. The first time. First time was over this issue. Otherwise Genghis Khan, when he died, one of his biggest fears was, I don't want my sons and grandsons to go to war. So he had a very intricate design which worked until one thing. Genghis Khan couldn't predict Islam. Genghis Khan didn't have Islam in the equation that when a person converts to Islam, then he doesn't follow the laws of jahiliyya. He's not going to follow just because he's my cousin, I'm going to not touch him. No. Now that Berki converted to Islam, can you believe Berki took an army to fight against Hulaku? At least five wars took place between Berki Khan and Hulaku Khan. So much so that Berki actually passed away in one of these wars. And berki died in 1267 in what is now Uzbekistan. Because of the battles that took place. He fell ill in a very cold environment. He didn't die because of the wound, but he just fell ill. It was just a cold or something. And so he is buried outside of the Golden Horde. Why? Because he was busy fighting his own cousin Hulaq. Because of the one had invaded Baghdad and the other one has to avenge that death. So of course with Barqi's death and obviously the Islamic nature of the Golden Horde diminished, but it didn't eliminate. Once you opened up the door, Islam remained. And that is why. Listen to this, brothers and sisters. Many of you are familiar with the fact that there are pockets of Muslims in those areas. Have you ever wondered where they came from? Why are there Tatars, you know, in Russia, in Poland, where do you know? In Poland, which is a Catholic Christian country, there is the second largest group of faith is Muslims. What are they doing in Poland? Did you know this? I've been to Poland. Poland has. I don't know how many percentage think I don't quote me. I think 15, 20%. I mean a good percent. Don't quote me, I could be wrong here. But a good percentage of Muslims, how did they end up in Poland? It is from the descendants of the Golden Horde. The descendants of some of them are the biological descendants and others because the safe space was created, the Muslims came there. And so those people because of Berki Khan, they were the ones who remained up until now in Russia. Over five and a half million Tatars, they're called. The Russians call them Tatars. Right? So there's Polish Tatars, there's Russian Tatars. Those Tatars, where are they from? What is the origin? They go back to the Golden Horde. This time frame of Berki Khan. Perhaps some of you are even familiar with the famous Volga, the Bulgarian Muslims. Right now the Bulgarian Muslims is a bit more interesting story. The, the Bulgarian, the Volga in Arabic they were called the Sajaliqa. They were a Race of the Slavs. The Bulgarian Muslims converted before Berki. But when Barki ruled over the Golden Horde, these Muslims came under his rule. And so he was the one who allowed them to flourish, brought them teachers, made mosques for them. So again, to be accurate here, the vulgar Bulgarian Muslims, they were Muslims before Berkhi Khan, but their Islam had diminished. They had almost forgotten their Islam. Berki comes along and because he's a Muslim, he revitalizes their Islam and he allows them the flourishing. To this day, there is a community, believe it or not, in Bulgaria, out of all the places, there is a community of Muslims. Now, again, this is predating Barki, but Barki was the one who fortified, built masjids for them. You will find masjids that Barki basically financed and helped because of the fact that he had embraced Islam. And so the point being that Subhanallah, how bizarre. But this is how Allah's Qadr works, is that how could the Mongolian invasion be stopped from within their own ranks, they went to war from within their own ranks. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created one of his own grandsons who stood up and said, no, you cannot do this. You are hurting and harming innocent people. And so instead of fighting outward, Barkir turned his army inward. He went back into Mongolia fighting towards the very people where he came from. And civil war took place amongst the. The descendants of Genghis Khan. Why? Because one of them, as a Muslim, said, I cannot allow you to do this. Now, in that battle, in that series of battles, lot of damage was inflicted. However, nobody came out the victor. But what it did do, it stopped the onslaught of the Mongols because now they're battling amongst themselves. So now they're no longer fighting outside. And then with the death of Barki, and then even Hulaqua died after this. So then it kind of impeded the progress, but it opened the door for Islam. And as I said, after a while, eventually the other two, the other two, the Ilkhanates and the Chatgais, So you have the Golden Horde, the Ilkhans and the Chatgays, three of them, Chatgay, you know, there's the common last name in Indian and Pakistan, Chagtai, Chagatai, Chatgai. So the third of them also embraced Islam and then their descendants began to influence many other dynasties. You're all aware, Timur Lane and the, the rise of the Timurids, obviously the Mongol, the Mughals of India as well. Right. These are all dynasties that are. Some of them are biological and others are taking the spirit of that, you know, golden Horde and that the Islamic identity coming straight from them and then resurrecting it. Much of the architecture, much of the language, much of the culture that we associate with Timur Layn and his dynasty with the Mughals. And of course, the word Mughal itself comes from Mongol, literally, the people. Babur was a biological descendant, you know, of Genghis Khan as well. And he's taking from the golden horde, he's taking from the Muslim identity of Bark E Khan. So, subhanallah, how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala works in mysterious ways that we don't know what is going to happen. Why say this? Because so much is going on right now. Just open your eyes and see the reality of the world. We don't know. There doesn't seem to be an external political force. There doesn't seem to be a superpower that's gonna come. But Allah will always protect his religion and Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala will. And I have no doubt that something will happen. Perhaps, perhaps one of the superpowers, one of the leaders, one of the influential people, will convert to Islam. We already have so many converts in the social sphere. Maybe it's only a matter of time. In the political sphere, somebody will convert. And when that conversion happens, just like with Bar Ki Khan, it might not change the entire dynasty. It didn't do that. But it left a mark. It left an indelible mark that influenced history and it still influences history to this day. So do not lose hope in the promise of Allah. Always put your trust in Allah. Always do what you can. And realize I, Allah, will protect his Ummah either this way or that way. But somehow Allah will protect his Ummah. Your job is to do the best. Learn from history. This Ummah has never been wiped out. It will never be wiped out. This is the promise of Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allow us to see the return of izzah and glory and inshaallah. We'll continue next Wednesday. Katahuyosalan abi. Yeah, a ladina.