Ali Ataie – Putting Allah First Advice For The Prophetic Community
AI: Summary ©
The Christian community uses the language Isa A.s. to describe the sin and its root, while the Islam language uses Utahna and Matthew Matthew and Luke quote Isa A.s. to describe the sin and its root. The community uses the language of Islam to describe the sin and its root, and it is important to be mindful of others' actions and not causing harm. The importance of positive actions is emphasized, and the importance of being mindful of others' opinions and not causing harm is also emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
Inna alhamdulillahi ahmaduhu, nasta'eenuhu, nastaghfiruhu, natubu ilayh.
Wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina, wa
min sayyiati amalina, man yahdihi allahu falamu billalahu,
wa man yudhikuhu falahadhi allahu, wa ash'aruhu
allaha illa allahu wahdahu, la sharika lahi.
Wa ash'aruhu anna sayyidina wa munana muhammadan
abduhu al-mustafa, wa nabiyuhu al-mujtaba, wa
rasuluhu al-murtada, wa khatibu al-anbiya, wa
imamu al-adqiya, wa sayyidu al-mursalin, wa
habibu rabbil alamin.
Sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma
'in.
Allahumma salli wa sallamu ala Sayyidina Muhammadin.
Iftahi babi rahmatillah.
Wasil al-asralu, nurul anwar, al-mujtaba, wa
al-mukhtar, wa ala alihi wa ashabihi al
-akhiyar, al-muhajirin wa al-ansar.
Wa sallamu tasliman kathira.
A'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim.
Bismillahir rahmanir rahim.
Ya ayyuhal ladheena aamanu, ittaqullaha haqqa tuqatih, wa
la tamutunna illa wa antumuslimun.
Sadaqallah, sadaqallahun aliyyul adheem.
Wa qada rasulullahi, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa
sallam.
Innama ba'ithtu li utammima makariman akhlaqa, wa
kuma qala alayhi salatu wasalam.
Amma ba'an.
Ya ibadallah, inni usi nafsi wa iyakum bi
taqwa Allah.
Sattaqullaha haythuma kuntum.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala says, Wama yatawakkal
ala Allah fahuwa hasbuh.
Whoever places their trust in Allah subhana wa
ta'ala, Allah subhana wa ta'ala suffices
him.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala is all we
need.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala is all we
need because Allah is God.
And God is all-powerful and all-knowing,
the most compassionate, the knower of all secrets.
He's the king of the universe.
According to a tradition attributed to Ibn Abbas
radiallahu anhuma, when the Prophet Ibrahim alayhi salam
was being bound in order to be cast
into a huge inferno by Nimrud, Ibrahim alayhi
salam said, Hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma alwakeel.
Allah suffices us.
What an excellent guardian.
After the battle of Uhud, the Prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the companions were
told, Inna an-nasa qad jamu'ulakum fakhshawhum.
Indeed the people are gathering against you, so
fear them.
And this was after suffering massive casualties at
Ghazwat Uhud and some of the bodies of
the Shuhada were mutilated.
How did the Sahaba react to this statement?
What does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say?
Fazadahum imana.
This only increased their faith.
Wa qalu hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma alwakeel.
And they said, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
suffices us.
What an excellent guardian.
They knew the nature of this world.
One of my teachers said that whenever we
go through some sort of trial or tribulation,
there are indications as to what Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala is doing with us.
If during or after a tribulation, we feel
our iman decrease, we fall into despair, and
we begin having or harboring inappropriate thoughts about
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his messenger
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the believers, then
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is punishing us.
He's punishing us for our sins.
So we need to stop, think clearly, be
honest about our behavior, make tawbah, correct ourselves,
and continue to improve.
If during or after a tribulation, our iman
remains the same, it is a purification.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is purifying us.
And if our iman increases, fazadahum imana, then
he's raising our degrees in his sight.
allatheena idha asabatuhum musibatun qalu inna lillahi wa
inna ilahi raji'un ulayika alayhim salawatun mirabbihim
murahmah wa ulayika humul muhtadoon Those who say,
when struck by a musibah, surely to Allah
we belong, and to him we shall return.
They are the ones who will receive Allah's
blessing and mercy.
It is they who are rightly guided.
It is related by Imam Ali al-Ridha.
So Imam Ali al-Ridha was the son
of Musa al-Qadim, was the son of
Jafar al-Sadiq, the son of Muhammad al
-Baqir, the son of Zayn al-Abideen, the
son of Imam al-Hussain, the son of
Sayyidina Ali, the husband of Sayyidah Fatima, who
is bint Rasulillahi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
It is related that Imam Ali al-Ridha,
he said that, Your Lord says, la ilaha
illallah hissni waman qala la ilaha illallah bisidqin
dakhala hissni waman dakhala hissni faqad amina min
azabi la ilaha illallah is my fortress.
Whoever says la ilaha illallah with sincerity has
entered my fortress.
And whoever has entered my fortress is secure
from my punishment.
This is the a'zab of the next
life.
The a'zab of entering Jahannam and eternally
abiding therein.
The Ummah of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam will achieve salvation.
This is the promise of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
The Ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam will achieve salvation in the form of
paradise and spiritual proximity to their Lord.
But we have to cross the finish line
of this dunya in a good state.
And there are many speed bumps and detours
and unforeseen obstacles that we have to successfully
negotiate.
Therefore being in Allah's fortress of Tawheed does
not mean that we will not experience hardships.
أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا جَنَّةً وَلَّمَّا يَعْلِمِ اللَّهُ
الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا مِنْكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ I just heard
a brother recite this ayah when I was
coming into the Musalla.
Do you think you will enter paradise without
Allah proving which of you truly struggled for
His cause and patiently persevered?
يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَيُّ النَّاسَ أَشَدُّ بَلَاءً قَالَ
الْأَنْبِيَاءُ O Messenger of God, who experiences the
most severe tribulations among humanity?
He said the prophets and those closest to
them.
He said ﷺ لَقَدْ أُذِيتُ فِي اللَّهِ وَمَا
يُؤْذَ أَحَدٌ وَلَقَدْ أُخِفْتُ فِي اللَّهِ وَمَا يَخَافُ
أَحَدٌ وَمَا يَخَافُ أَحَدٌ وَكَمَا قَالَ عَلَيْهِ صَلَاتُ
وَسَّلَامُ I have been harmed for the sake
of Allah as no one else has.
I have suffered fear for the sake of
Allah as no one else has.
And he is a beloved of Allah ﷺ.
He is Habibullah.
This was not punishment.
Allah ﷻ was raising his degrees ﷺ.
He is a great teacher.
إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ مُعَلِّمًا He teaches us how to
deal with adversity.
And we should know that as believers living
in the dunya that we are a bit
unique among humanity.
At least we should be.
And this has nothing to do with race
or ethnicity.
We are not ethnic or tribal supremacists.
It's based on taqwa.
Allah ﷻ says وَجَاهِلُ فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ
هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلْ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ
حَرَجٍ مِلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمُ هُوَ السَّمَكُ مُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ
قَبْلُ وَفِي هَذَا لِيَكُنَّ الرَّسُولُ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا
شُهَدًا عَلَى النَّاسِ And strive for Allah's sake
as you ought to strive.
He has chosen you and has imposed no
difficulties upon you in the religion.
It is the millah of your father Abraham.
He called you Muslims in the past and
in the scripture so that the messenger may
be a witness over you and that you,
plural, may be witnesses over humanity.
Allah ﷻ says إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ كَانَ أُمَّةً Ibrahim
ﷺ was an ummah, a nation unto himself.
One of the meanings of ummah is imam,
leader, we are his millah.
We're supposed to be the spiritual and moral
leaders of humanity.
Not followers, not sheep, but shepherds.
We should not be falling into the same
traps as everyone else.
The wolves should not be able to pick
us off.
As shepherds, we fight the wolves off.
We're a bit different.
The reason is because we have clear guidance.
The Qur'an and sunnah.
We're supposed to be different.
We're supposed to be prophetic.
We're supposed to be Ibrahimiyya and Musawiyya and
Isawiyya and Muhammadiyya.
We live in this world and we take
from the asbab, but our priority is always
the next world.
Be in the world, but not of the
world.
كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَ كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ وَعَبِرُ السَّبِيلُ He
said, ﷺ, الْكَيِّسُ مَنْ دَانَ نَفْسَهُ وَعَمِلَ لِمَا
بَعْدَ الْمُوتِ The intelligent one is the one
who suppresses his lower self and works for
that which comes after death.
Our lifespans are about drops in the ocean
of time.
We live 60-70 years, maybe.
The reaping of the ummah between 60 and
70.
The other day I was watching a lecture
I gave when I was an undergraduate, 25
years ago.
The late 90s.
Feels like yesterday.
I noticed that several people in the video
are no longer with us.
Dead, buried.
Amazing.
This is the dunya.
وَلَعَاجِزُ مَنْ أَتْبَعَ نَفْسَهُ هَوَاهَا وَتَمَنَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ
And the unintelligent one is the one who
puts his lower self in the pursuance of
his base desires and has hopes, vain hopes
in Allah ﷻ.
تَمَنِّي نَرَجَى This is like somebody who says,
I hope to go to Jannah, yet his
food is haram.
His clothing is haram.
He looks at the haram.
He listens to haram.
He has bad opinions of people.
He spreads lies and slanders.
He spreads gossip and creates fitnah.
He belittles scholars.
These are major tribulations.
Love of fame, love of status.
Welcome to the internet.
Imam Ghazali said 900 years ago that there's
a certain type of man who seeks knowledge,
but استحوذ عليه الشيطان فاتخذ علمه ذريعة إلى
التكافر بالمال والتفاخر والتفاخر بالجاه وتعزز بكثرة الأتباع
A man who has been overcome by Satan
he uses his knowledge only to increase in
wealth, boast of his rank and take pride
in his many followers.
عجيب Life in this dunya requires patience, perseverance,
discipline.
If we want to be successful at the
end of the day يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا
إِسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ The
exegetes say that there are three kinds of
patience.
Number one being resolute in avoiding sins i
.e. to have self-discipline.
Dr. Leonard Sacks he said the greatest indicator
of later life success in children is self
-control.
Self-control nowadays among grown men is a
rare occurrence.
Nothing is more unattractive nothing is more unmasculine,
nothing is more pathetic than a man who
cannot control himself, a man who lacks discipline.
It's a new phenomenon, 6 feet tall 25
year old children.
عجيب Three eyes will not see hellfire عَيْنٌ
عَيْنٌ حَرَسَتْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ An eye standing
guard in the way of Allah وَعَيْنٌ بَكَتْ
مِنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ An eye weeping for the
fear of Allah وَعَيْنٌ غَضَّتْ عَنْ مِحَارَمِ اللَّهِ
And an eye lowering its gaze from what
Allah has forbidden In the Christian tradition Mark,
Matthew and Luke quote Isa a.s. saying
If your eye offends you, pluck it out
and cast it from you.
The language is hyperbolic.
It means to rip out the source of
the sin from its root.
If your eye phone is causing you to
sin throw it away You may have to
I didn't have a smart phone until I
was 35 years old Life is possible without
these things Compare maslaha, mafsada, make a choice
It's your soul, it's your heart It's your
grave There are huge Jewish communities on the
east coast who all use flip phones Just
something to think about We're supposed to be
the shepherds Three kinds of patience.
Number one being resolute and avoiding sins Number
two, constancy and virtuous actions being devoutly consistent
consistent good actions even if they're small are
beloved to Allah according to the hadith Number
three, contentment in the face of affliction If
Allah is punishing us we make tawbah and
rectify our behavior.
Alhamdulillah Our punishment was in this world If
Allah is purifying us Alhamdulillah We're being purified.
If Allah is raising our degrees Alhamdulillah Win,
win, win Alhamdulillah Ajaban lil amr al mu'min
inna amrahu kullahu khair wala nabluwannakum bishayin minal
khawfi wal ju'i wal naqsin minal amwalu
wal anfusi wal thamarat wal anfusi wal thamarat
wa bashir al sabirin You will surely be
tested with fear and hunger.
Hunger refers to the fast of Ramadan or
hunger due to deprivation.
Loss of wealth refers to zakat or the
tribulation of poverty.
Loss of cells refers to the death of
friends and family.
Loss of fruits refers to the death of
children The Prophet ﷺ experienced all of these
consistently Yet he taught us to say Alhamdulillah
ala kulli hal laqad kana lakum fee rasoolillahi
uswatun hasana So know the nature of the
life of this world Be patient.
Settle yourself firmly in the fortress of Allah
subhana wa ta'ala Then place your hope
and trust in Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
Allah is the best of protectors.
There is a hadith called hadithul bitaqah.
The hadith of the card.
This hadith vividly exemplifies the power of Allah's
fortress.
He said Sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam
A man will come on the day of
judgment and 99 scrolls will be unfurled that
stretch as far as the eye can see
all containing his deeds tis'atun wa tis
'un sijillan And these scrolls will be placed
on one side of a mizan and the
man will be filled with fear.
And then Allah subhana wa ta'ala wa
sayyidahim inna laka'indana hasana fa innahu la
dhulma alayka alyawm You have something good with
us You will not be wrong today And
then a bitaqah, a card is produced.
A card written on the card la ilaha
illallah muhammadur rasulullah And this card is put
on the other side of the mizan.
And the card falls.
And the scrolls rise And he said sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam falayafqulu falayafqulu ma'asmallahi shay
'un.
There is nothing heavier There is nothing weightier
than the name of Allah subhana wa ta
'ala Our punishment is in this world.
But we have to remain devoted to Allah.
He said sallallahu alayhi wa sallam The
first people called, the first ones called to
jannah on the yawm al qiyamah are those
who praised Allah subhana wa ta'ala in
prosperity and adversity Why did they praise Allah
in adversity?
Because they had tawakkul They trusted Allah wa
ala Allahi fatawakkalu in kuntum mu'mineen So trust
in Allah if you are believers said Ahmad
ibn ajeeba the great Moroccan scholar and mystic
atawakkul thiqatul qalbi Allahi hatta la ya'tamida ala
shay'in siwahu ata'alluqu bi Allahi wa
ta'awilu alayhi fi kulli shay'in ilman
bi annahu alimun bi kulli shay wa an
takuna bima fi yadi Allah wa an takuna
awthaqu minka bima fi yadik Trust in God
atawakkul is when your heart has such assurance
in God that it ceases to rely on
anything else It is to be attached to
God and reliant upon Him for all things
based on the knowledge that He is the
knower of all things and that what is
in God's hand is more certain than what
is in your own And he says there's
three degrees of tawakkul fa'adnaahu an takuna
ma'allahi kalmawakkili ma'alwakeeli alshafiqi almulatith wa
wasatuhu kattifli ma'ummihi la yarji'u fi
jamee'i umurihi illa ilayha wa a'laahu
an takuna kalmayyit ma'alghasil Its lowest degree
is that you be with Allah like someone
who has entrusted his affairs to a kind
and caring confidant Its middle degree is that
you be with God like a child with
his mother who turns only to her for
his every need Its highest degree that you
be like a corpse in the hands of
the one who washes it for burial.
The first is for the amma, the second
is for the khassa, the third is for
the khassatul khassa, the elite of the elite
Someone at the third degree is a face
from himself, fanin an nafsihi, yanzuru kulla sa
'atin ma yaf'alulahu bihi He sees at
every moment what Allah is doing with him
A Muslim relies upon Allah at all times
and we should be especially cognizant of our
tawakkul at specific times according to our sacred
texts Number one, when we leave our homes
the Prophet ﷺ said idha kharaja rajulan min
baytihi fa qala bismillah, tawakkultu a'la Allah
wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah
He will be protected and the shaytan moves
away from him Number two, when people reject
us, despise us, turn away from us despite
us seeking their guidance laqad ja'akum rasulun
min anfusikum, azizun alayhim ha'anittum, harisun alaykum
bil mu'minin ra'ufun rahim fa in tawallau
fa qul hasbi Allah la ilaha illa hu
alayhi tawakkaltu wa hu rabbul arsh al-'azim Number
three, when people turn away, when we turn
away from people people who have negative influences
on us, people who are toxic and may
infect our states with their poison we have
to protect our hearts fa a'ridh anhum
wa tawakkal ala Allah wa kafa billahi wakila
When making peace with enemies if our enemies
declare peace, we must declare peace wa in
janahu lissilmi fajnahlaha wa tawakkal ala Allah innahu
huwa ssimi'u al-'aleem When calling to Allah
and His Messenger, as Shu'ayb alayhi salam
said, wa ma tawfeeqi illa billah, alayhi tawakkaltu
wa ilayhi uneeb And when we've made a
firm decision fa bima rahmatin mina Allahi linta
lahum walaw kunta fadlan ghaleeda alqalbi lan faddu
min hawlik fa'afu anhum wa istaghfir lahum
wa shawilhum fil amr, fa idha a'zamta
fa tawakkal ala Allah inna Allaha yuhibbu almutawakilin
Abdullah al-Ansari, he said in his Bab
al-Tawakkul, fa inna min dhururat al-'ubudiyati an
ya'lam al-'abdu, anna al-haqqahu wa malik
al-ashya wahda The servant of God has
to know that from the essential aspect of
servitude is that the true one alone is
the possessor of all things.
The essence of urbudiyah is to have good,
etiquette, adab with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
a good attitude with God.
The way to good urbudiyah is to purify
the nafs taskiyatun nafs, by forcing it by
habituating it, to appropriate the theological virtues such
as tawakkul, this takes mujahada, strong tawakkul leads
to rida, contentment with the qadr of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and the perfection of
our iman.
Imam al-Haddad, he said in a beautiful
line of poetry, ala ya sah ya sah,
la tajza' wa tajjar wa salim lil maqadir
kay tuhmad wa tu'jar wa kun radi
bi maqadaril mawla wa dabbar, wa la taskad
ghadallahi rabbil arshil akbar Oh my friend, my
friend don't become anxious and annoyed.
Submit to the divine decree so that you're
praised and rewarded, and be pleased with what
was ordained and planned by your mawla and
do not be angry with the decree of
Allah the lord of the great throne.
To conclude I want to share with you
one of the greatest manifestations of beautiful urbudiyah
in the life of our master Muhammad sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam We know this story It's
a reminder to myself and by extension all
of you In the year of sadness the
prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam went to Ta
'if Mecca and Ta'if were sister cities
He walked 60 kilometers over four days with
Zayd ibn Harithah He gets a meeting with
Abu Mas'ud al-Thaqafi and his advisors
and the prophet is rejected in five minutes
and they mocked him First he went to
the leaders, then he went to the masses
After a couple of days, certain people began
to gravitate towards him sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
because he is da'iyan ilallah bi'ibnihi
wa sirajan munira The quintessential caller to Allah
and a beacon of light This angered the
leaders, they turned loose on him, the slaves,
the children, the riffraff thugs standing on the
corner They formed two lines and made the
prophet walk between the two lines to exit
the city and they were kicking and punching
him and they'd stand him back up by
the shoulders and kick and punch him He
finally left the city bruised and battered They
pursued him, every time he lifted his foot
stones were hurled at him Zayd tried to
shield him and was struck on the head,
the prophet pushed him away They followed him
for three miles pelting him with stones He
said, I don't know where I was until
I reached Qawna Fa'alib Three miles from
Ta'if His sandals were soaked in his
blood In Bukhari, the Malik al-Jibal came
to him Ya Muhammad, give me the order
and we'll collapse the mountains over these people
and crush them Fa qala nabi sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam bal arju an yukhrijallahu min aslabihin
man ya'budallaha wahda wa la yushriku bihi
shay'a So he said No, I have
hope I have hope that from their descendants
there will come people of Tawheed, subhanallah Look
at the heart of this man Look at
the discipline of this man Then he sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam made an excellent, exquisite supplication
demonstrating his beautiful Ubudiyah He begins Allahuma ilayka
ashkul da'fa quwati wa qilla tahilati wa
hawwani ala al-nas Oh Allah, I complain
to you of my lack of strength and
my lack of resources and my lonely state
before the people He complained to Allah about
himself He was self-reproaching You know the
dua And then he said in lam yakun
bika ghadabun alaya fala ubali If you're not
angry with me I don't mind His only
concern was Allah's opinion of him His only
concern was Allah's opinion of him Did I
breach adab with my Lord?
This is his concern He perfected ibadah and
Ubudiyah Action and attitude with Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
improve our ibadah in Ubudiyah Arabic
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