Imam Suhaib Webb at GPU

Thus young brothers and sisters, chachas and chachis, uncles and aunties, you have been blessed and chosen by Allah (swt) to belong to an ummah that prophets wanted to be in and prophets are part of the ummah of Muhammad (saws).

And this ummah has certain characteristics, certain qualities, that distinguish it, that make it unique. Number one, that this is the moderate ummah, the ummah of balance. Allah (swt) says

Wakathalika jaAAalnakum ommatan wasatan litakoonoo shuhadaa AAala alnnasi wayakoona alrrasoolu AAalaykum shaheedan

That thus we have made you a balanced ummah, a moderate nation. Moderate between materialism and spirituality. Moderate between work and home. Moderate between my commitment to my community and my commitment to my family. I’m moderate, as the Prophet said, to give everything it’s haqq, everything it’s right. And this verse appears as number 143 in surat al Baqara. Verse 143 describing us as a moderate ummah and surat al Baqara has 286 verses. Thus this verse is smack dab in the middle of the surah.