Suleiman Hani – Overcoming Fear & Anxiety
AI: Summary ©
The importance of being mindful of Allah's actions and not dying is emphasized, along with the need for people to be mindful of their actions and interests. The worship of Islam as a way to avoid injuries and avoid negative consequences is also discussed, along with the importance of building a strong foundation for one's life and community. The speakers stress the need for unity among cultures and finding happiness and happiness for everyone, as well as leadership and forgiveness for one's actions.
AI: Summary ©
For our own salvation and success, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala commands us, O believers, be
mindful of Allah as He deserves.
Worship Him on His terms, as is His
right.
And do not die, do not leave this
world except in that state.
And if we wish to do so, then
we must sincerely live upon it.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us
a life upon Islam and death upon Iman.
Allahumma ameen.
If you were living at the time of
Prophet Nuh alayhi salam, seeing the majority of
people reject the message, would you have decided
to board the ark?
This question is easy to answer in hindsight.
It's an easy question to answer in terms
of having an upbringing in Islam.
It's easy to answer in the sense that
you know what's right and wrong.
It's easy to answer when guidance is clear,
alhamdulillah.
But the reality is that there are many
other factors at play.
For the time of Nuh alayhi salam, something
very interesting took place before the messenger himself.
And he is considered, alayhi salam, the first
of five ulul azmi min ar-rusul, the
messengers of the greatest resolve, some of the
greatest tests for the prophets and messengers throughout
history.
Nuh alayhi salam, Noah, is the first of
these five.
And before he was given a message to
deliver to his people, with clear signs that
this is not an imposter, this is a
prophet.
For every prophet came with a clear evidence,
a clear rational proof as well, bil bayinat.
But before Nuh alayhi salam was given the
message, what happened to humanity, to that particular
part of the world, for people to stray
from the message that Adam alayhi salam taught?
And the scholars say, pay attention to the
traps of shaitan and how they manifest in
different generations, and how they manifest with different
philosophies, and how they manifest in one's own
life.
For eventually, between the time of Adam alayhi
salam and Nuh alayhi salam, there were ten
qurun, which could mean ten generations or ten
centuries.
And the scholars say throughout these ten, from
what we find in a number of evidences,
there were some righteous people.
And these righteous people were considered so righteous
that people would mention them often.
And if the devil desired for people to
stop benefiting from the righteous in their communities,
or from scholars and teachers whose works, whose
writings or teachings were helping people to get
closer to Allah, rather than obeying the shaitan,
then shaitan does not want that anymore.
So what does the devil do with a
lot of patience and planning?
Generation after generation, he works on people who
eventually innovate the idea of creating some kind
of image or idol in the faces or
appearances of these five great men, the righteous
men.
And every time you see this image, the
point was not to worship it at first.
The point was that this reminded you of
righteousness.
And you're inspired by them, because you know
who they are.
They're pious, they're scholars, they're righteous.
So what do you do when you hear
of their names you worship?
You get closer to Allah.
And eventually became images.
And eventually became visiting the graves.
And eventually became asking Allah through them, through
these five individual statuses.
And eventually became idols that would remind us
in our own homes rather than the graves
to remember Allah like these people did.
And then eventually became idol worship.
Seeking Allah's help through these idols.
And this is how idol worship was introduced
to mankind.
But what you see here is a long
-term strategy.
The devil is very patient.
May Allah protect us all.
The devil is very wise.
With our own traps, our vulnerabilities on an
individual level, but also societal changes.
Issues affecting the entire ummah.
And that's something we have to be very,
very, very wise about.
Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he
warns us, the warning is very explicit.
But it's also repetitive throughout the Qur'an.
إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًا The devil
is an enemy to you, so take him
as an enemy.
عَدُوٌ مُّبِين A clear enemy.
Mentioned throughout the Qur'an should cause us
to ask, how could people fall for such
tricks and traps?
To go from monotheism and the worship of
God to worshiping idols?
It seems silly to the one who's upon
truth.
But it affects all of us in other
ways.
May Allah protect us all.
And so when you think of the reality
of the shaitan and his patience, you start
to wonder and ask, what did the people
who received Nuh عليه السلام and his message,
with all the clarity that it came with,
again, بالبينات, so clear that this is a
prophet of God, how could some people reject
that?
He gave dawah in the daytime and at
night, different audiences, some were in public and
some were private, perhaps one on one.
He was very wise in his dawah strategy.
He brought people simply to the message of
worshiping one God, seeking forgiveness from Allah, doing
righteous actions, pondering the creation of Allah, and
eventually entering paradise, meaning passing the test of
this temporary world.
What did they react with?
Arrogance and mockery, calling him a liar, calling
him insane.
Insulting his followers.
These are the lowliest people amongst us.
That's a very common trope that we find
in the sayings of people who don't like
the righteous.
And then eventually they started to threaten him,
that they would stone him, they would kick
him out, they would hurt him.
Their entire worldview, as they plugged their ears
at times and ignored the message like people
do today, their entire worldview was, our forefathers
did this.
You're going to come and change what we
do?
You wanna change what we've been practicing?
You wanna change what our tradition is, our
culture?
So this is an insult for them.
But in reality, those who saw without any
worldly biases or arrogance, the message for what
it was, accepted it.
And many of them, yes, were poor.
Many of them did not have a great
political status that they might lose in this
world.
Eventually Nuh عليه السلام was told, nobody else
from your people is going to believe after
this point.
Don't be affected by the remaining people who
attack you and insult you.
And that's when you see in the Quran
Nuh عليه السلام finally made dua against his
people.
That's not a common thing that you see.
Because he was already informed, no one else
is going to believe.
What happens?
He waits for the sign.
When that sign comes, you have to board
the ark.
You have to basically board the ark of
salvation, and bring with you the few believers
that you have.
And when that sign started, the water started
to come out and emerge.
Can you imagine the mockery of the people
who rejected Nuh عليه السلام?
Okay, there's a little bit of water.
You think that proves you're a prophet?
Can you imagine their mockery towards the Muslims?
Okay, you're gonna get on an ark in
the middle of a place that has no
water?
You really think that's your salvation?
So they mocked.
Nuh عليه السلام calls out to the people.
Again, they were waiting for the final sign,
the green light.
وَقَالَ اَرْكَبُوا فِيهَا بِسْمِ اللَّهِ مَجْرِيهَا وَمُرْسَاهَا Call
these people.
Let's go board in the name of Allah
سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى sailing and casting anchor.
إِنَّ رَبِّي لَغَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ My Lord is all
-forgiving, most merciful.
But there's something really powerful that took place
in this story that if we were just
to give it a little more attention in
the khutbah today, could be applied to all
of our lives and our Muslim community here
and around the world in many different ways.
And Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى gives us this powerful
human story, this detail that maybe we would
think like, why would we need to know
this?
So that we could relate.
And in these passages, just two verses in
particular.
وَهِيَ تَجْرِي بِهِمْ فِي مَوْجٍ كَالْجِبَالِ As the
water starts to rise and as the arch
starts to sail through these waves like mountains.
وَنَادَ نُوحٌ إِبْنَهُ وَكَانَ فِي مَعْزِلٍ يَا بُنَيِّرْ
كَمْ مَعْنَا وَلَا تَكُمْ مَعَ الْكَافِرِينَ Nuh عليه
السلام is calling to his son.
Nuh عليه السلام, the messenger of Allah.
Nuh عليه السلام, the first of five أُلُو
الْعَزْمِ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ has to convince his son
that this is the arc of safety, this
is where you will be saved.
And as he's calling out to his son
who stood apart, he says to him, my
dear son, come join us, board with us
and do not be amongst the disbelievers.
What was his response?
With all of these signs that were very
evident and clear, قَالَ سَآوِي إِلَى جَبَنِي يَعْصِمُنِي
مِنَ الْمَاءِ He said, I'm going to take
refuge, I'm going to find safety on a
mountain.
I'm going to be high enough where the
flood will not affect me.
And Nuh عليه السلام responded with the words
that are the theme of our khutbah.
قَالَ لَا عَاصِمَ الْيَوْمَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا
مَنْ رَحِيمٍ He said, there is no safety
from the decree of Allah, meaning this particular
decree and any decree, except for those upon
whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has mercy.
And the sad reality in this situation and
many others like it, is that he tried
to convince his son, his son rejected the
message, rejected also the messenger.
وَحَالَ بَيْنَهُمَ الْمَوْجُ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْمُغْرَقِينَ And eventually
the waves came between them and his son
drowned.
When you think of the story of Nuh
عليه السلام, there are analogies and parallels we
can take for our lives today and amongst
them is the arc of safety.
What is the arc of safety in today's
society or in your personal life?
Because the followers of Nuh عليه السلام remember
this, if someone embraced the message and there's
still a lot of peer pressure and societal
pressure, it's possible for example, for someone who's
extremely weak to then give up.
It's possible if there's too long of a
duration where you're waiting for some kind of
victory or help, something that will prove that
you are upon the truth in a worldly
sense, that some people might fail that test.
So they had to weather the storm of
societal pressure, holding on to their faith, being
mocked and persecuted and harassed.
But also they had to eventually weather the
actual storm.
And in that case, they knew all they
had was that clear sign from Allah سُبْحَانَهُ
وَ تَعَالَى Board the ark with the messenger
and you are safe.
So what do people do in times like
this?
In today's world, many people find their refuge
in materialism, in hedonism, in political status, in
social connections.
A lot of people look for their refuge
in their desires, their whims, not realizing that
ultimately all of these worldly things do not
provide for you an actual refuge when it
comes to ibadah, when it comes to the
truth with a capital T.
When we talk about refuge, just as the
mountain could not save the son of Nuh
عليه السلام from the decree of Allah, the
worldly things that people chase after, thinking that
these are safety places and anchors in their
lives and a place of refuge.
You can't escape the decree of Allah.
You can't escape the plans of Allah, whether
here or in the afterlife.
And of course, as we know for our
ummah, it's different than the previous nations that
were punished in this world as well.
So when you think about this reality, you
start to wonder what are some examples of
things that people fall into.
I know Muslim could fall into these traps
as well when it comes to worldly refuge.
The first is materialism.
For many people, chasing after endless wealth gives
them a sense of happiness, that this is
the thing that will make me happy.
But as we all know and we've repeated
millions of times in our personal lives and
everyone knows this, money itself, if you have
a million, five million, a billion, does not
guarantee happiness.
It doesn't guarantee tranquility and contentment.
And so if that's not what it does,
then what is its vehicle, what is its
use, what is its purpose for the Muslim?
Rather than falling into the trap that the
Prophet ﷺ warned about, that the son of
Adam might have an entire valley of gold
and still wishes for a second.
Why would someone wish for a second valley
of gold?
You're not satisfied with a billion dollars, then
why would you think two billion is the
next pursuit in your life?
Unless again, the intention.
It's a vehicle, it's for society, it's for
charity, it's for investments, it's for long-term
sadaqah jariyah, it's to help people, it's to
empower.
And with this, of course, there are people
who also think their wealth is an actual
safety in the sense that they can get
away with things that other people can't.
So they'll use their wealth to commit crimes.
They'll use their wealth for certain types of
connections.
They'll use their wealth for something evil in
terms of influence.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala warns the
people of Quraysh who had so much money
that they thought they could buy their way
into Jannah.
يَحْسَبُ أَنَّ مَالَهُ أَخْلَدَ They think their wealth
will be eternal.
What happens when we bury the dead and
their wealth stays behind and transfer to other
people?
You're not taking anything with you of this
world.
All you're taking are your deeds.
And the second type of refuge some people
fall into is a social status.
So for many people, they think especially today,
social media following, influence.
Lose your dignity, do whatever you have to
do but gain some influence and views and
go viral.
And they think this makes them happy.
And we know once again, as has been
proven and as people will testify, fame does
not make you happy.
It's not a guarantee.
These things do not provide real refuge.
They're superficial.
But with social status, there's another type of
protection people seek.
And it's the status, the connections that they
have that they hope will allow them once
again to get away with things that other
people cannot.
So they will abuse.
They will insult.
They'll commit crimes.
They'll hurt even their own families.
They'll hurt their own communities.
They'll hurt people in the name of religion.
They'll hurt people in the name of morality.
They'll hurt people while hiding under a number
of disguises.
And because they know they have social connections,
they assume, I'm invincible.
I'll get away with this.
And we see this play out in politics.
We see this play out with different forms
of spiritual abuse.
We see these things play on families where
people come to the community, put on a
certain face.
And behind closed doors, they are the most
abusive of people to their parents, to their
spouses, to their children, to their relatives, to
their neighbors.
May Allah protect us all and guide us
and forgive us.
Allahumma ameen.
And it's not just a certain type of
abuse lest our minds go to one limited
scope or definition.
It's not just mental and emotional abuse that
sometimes is prevalent behind closed doors.
It's not just sexual abuse that sometimes is
ignored and swept under the rug under the
guise of what?
Ethics.
We don't want to create bigger issues in
this family, in this community.
It's taboo.
It's sensitive.
And yes, it is sensitive because it's so
disgusting as an injustice.
Of course, it's sensitive.
But we don't sweep things under the rug.
That's not how we manage things from Islamic
lens.
But there's also financial abuse where people are
hurting others through their money or stealing or
fraud.
And when we think of all these different
types of abuse and physical as well when
people are physically hurting their own family members,
we find that the warnings of the Quran
and Sunnah are so explicit about the consequence
of dhulm.
Of dhulm, oppression in any form is dhulumat
on the day of judgment.
Multiple types of darkness.
And the people who think they are invincible
in this world and they commit these kinds
of crimes and they justify them in any
way whatsoever, they will be held accountable.
And if they think they're getting away with
the courts of people or the court of
public opinion, Allah is aware.
وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ غَافِلًا عَمَّا يَعْمَلُ الظَّالِمُ Do
not assume that Allah is unaware of what
the oppressors do.
And so some people think they're safe on
the mountain.
The same mountain the son of Nuh a
.s. fled to.
But you cannot challenge Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala's decree.
In addition to this, there is a type
of philosophical refuge that some people seek.
And they start to justify their stances by
following whatever is trending today.
And so a lot of times, youth who
are not given a very strong Islamic foundation,
and adults as well, can fall for this.
Because when a new movement starts to take
hold and everyone's talking about it, and it's
sweeping campuses, and it's part of social justice,
and it's part of media, and it's trending
on social media, it starts to seem like
this is where the truth lies because the
majority are talking about it, or the loudest
voices are there.
But one of the most dangerous things we
could do is to think that the majority
is equivalent to the truth.
When you see, for example, that the majority
rejected Nuh a.s. Does that mean they
were upon the truth?
What's trending is not necessarily what's good.
What's trending in society is not a guarantee
that it's truth.
So when we look at these different philosophies
and movements, and some may have some good
principles, some may claim some good principles.
Yes, we take these matters in terms of
philosophy, but we filter them through the Islamic
worldview.
We assess them properly.
So that as Muslims, we're not falling for
whatever's trending at the time.
We assess and we analyze.
And of course, the reminder is general.
But for many of the young Muslims who
are here, for many of the college students
as well, think a little more analytically when
you see these movements and you hear the
same talking points, that you assess, what does
Islam say about this?
How do I understand this concept?
Regardless of what the campaign claims.
The fourth is that of political connections.
When politicians or leaders of any kind of
authority think that their refuge is in their
political status.
Some people love power.
And we know this.
We see this historically and today.
And it's not something that's new to anyone
who's listening.
The reality is that power can corrupt some
people who are inclining towards a type of
pride in that power.
Some people want to hold on to power
and they're not qualifying.
Some people have power in different forms, politically
or otherwise.
And they assume this is something fulfilling for
them.
So the loss of that position is the
loss of their status.
And the Prophet ﷺ warned the companions about
this.
Any form of accountability you have in this
world is accountability on the day of judgment.
Any responsibility you have in a dunya, whether
it's just with your family and your children,
or it's with your local MSA on campus,
or it's at your workplace, or you're volunteering
for a non-profit, or it's an Islamic
organization, or da'wah, or a masjid, Allah
ﷻ will absolutely hold you accountable for every
single thing you do with that position.
Because you have the potential to impact thousands
or millions of people in some capacities, and
you have the ability to hurt many people
as well.
We ask Allah ﷻ to make us from
amongst those who fulfill our responsibilities as is
pleasing to Him.
With politics as well, of course, there are
people who think because of their political connections
and their ability to get away with getting
held accountable in this world, that there's no
court in the afterlife.
And we know this is not the reality.
And finally, another of the types of refuge
that people seek is that of technological and
scientific advancements.
As Muslims who have propelled the fields of
science, and medicine, and psychology, and mental health,
and math, amongst many other things, we know
that these are simply tools of discovery that
Allah ﷻ has given us the faculties for.
And are these good things that we encourage?
Yes, discovery, scientifically, technologically, is great.
And we should be always at the forefront
of this in our civilizations.
But the trap of shaitan, for those who
fell for the traps of atheism and naturalism,
is to conflate and think that just because
you discovered how things work, or how to
make new things work, that that means you
have less reliance on God, or that you're
not held accountable for morality.
Science, no matter how much of it we
have, science, no matter how much we discover,
and technology, is never going to give you
objective morality, is never going to tell you
the actual purpose of life, is never going
to assess for you the Qur'an, and
its miraculous nature, and the sunnah of the
Prophet ﷺ.
So all of these examples of refuge that
people chase after, not 40 hours a week,
but sometimes with all the time that they
have, ultimately, they are like the mountain that
the son of Nuh ﷺ fled to.
So what does the believer do?
Embrace the ark that you have access to.
Embrace the ark of truth wherever you are.
And that means first and foremost belief in
Allah, tawheed.
That means knowing who Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala is.
That means knowing that Islam is the truth.
ذلك بأن الله هو الحق Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is the truth.
Revelation is the truth.
And if you say, how do I explain
this to someone else, that's a different matter.
You move on and you say another of
the forms of safety that you have as
a Muslim is ibadah, spiritual fulfillment through acts
of worship, on Allah's terms and not ours.
That we worship Allah as He commanded, and
we do not fall for the traps of
shaitan.
May Allah protect us all.
The third is for us to recognize the
ihsan towards one another, and towards society, and
the fulfillment of justice is only given ihsan
in return.
هَلْ جَزَاءُ الْإِحْسَانِ إِلَّا الْإِحْسَانِ The reward for
you doing what Allah defined as good here,
temporarily means you have an eternal reward of
ihsan.
Number four, amongst the arcs that you can
find safety in, is fulfillment in ibadah.
And that means, أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبِ
Finding your tranquility and your peace in your
heart before you start looking for immaterial things.
Before you chase after what everyone is chasing
after.
And prioritizing the things that matter most.
Amongst the things that gives us refuge is
to reflect every single day on what you
prepared for tomorrow.
وَالْتَنظُرُ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ We can sit
and talk about politics all day.
We can talk about the results of an
election all day.
We can talk about strategy all day.
But also, in addition to everything happening in
this world, we can't ignore the reality that
any one of us may depart tonight.
So we can't ignore the preparation that we
are in need of for tomorrow, for our
meeting with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Amongst the arcs of refuge is unity in
our communities.
Is unity at the ummatic level.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes it
so clear in the Qur'an.
We have no excuses.
وَعَتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا Stand together,
stand with the oppressed.
And of course this means recognizing what is
true, recognizing what is right.
And when you are dealing and mediating between
people, that you verify information.
When you are trying to help in a
situation at your family level, in a community
setting, at a global level, that you verify,
you learn, you understand, you hear multiple perspectives
on what's happening and the principles that you
are applying.
Rather than just rushing to some kind of
judgment or conclusion without knowing what's happening.
May Allah protect us all.
And finally, the arc of refuge is found
as well through effective leadership.
And that means developing who we are as
team players rather than thinking of ourselves as
some kind of dictator.
Team players who work really well with each
other.
So you're able to say, I thought that's
what I was going to pursue, but I'm
going to go with what this majority has
decided in this discussion.
The ability to compromise, the ability to have
amanah in everything that you carry responsibility.
That you are trustworthy, you have trust in
Allah, you have iman in Allah.
And that everything at the end of the
day is to please Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
And finally, the refuge that we find by
asking Allah for protection against the traps of
the shaytan.
For just like the people of Nuh a
.s. The majority rejected the message.
And he gave da'wah for 950 years.
70 to 80 families or individuals accepted the
message.
950 years of da'wah.
How can we give up when we strive
for a couple months on a strategy?
Or a year on a new habit?
Or for 10 years in da'wah?
How can we give up on our families?
How can we give up on community?
And lose the optimism that the believer should
always have.
But remember the traps of shaytan.
How they manifest in different ways.
And ask yourself where you're finding refuge.
Are you running to Allah?
Or are you running to something worldly to
fulfill you?
When you find pain in your life or
in the world around you.
And you find that fitna, trials increase.
Are you finding refuge in your du'a
and your salah, in your community that you've
built and you're a part of?
Or are you seeking it in worldly things?
May Allah protect us all.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us
from those who are constantly seeking His help
and His aid.
And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive
us for all of our sins.
Ask Allah for forgiveness.
He's the All-Forgiving, the Ever-Merciful.
أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم فاستغفروه
إنه هو الغفور الرحيم