Tahir Wyatt – Exquisite Pearl #03
AI: Summary ©
The concept of waking up to the heart's response to panic is related to the re proportionation of the heart's response to panic. The speaker discusses various topics including the meaning of "willful" and "willful dis attached" in English, as well as the importance of avoiding the path of the doldrums and working towards Allah's pleasure. The importance of sincerity and devotion is also emphasized. The transcript discusses various aspects of Islam, including finding "ivigo" and working towards Allah's pleasure.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen, wa ash'hadu an la
ilaha illa Allah wa alihi wa saliheen, wa
ash'hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu, salallahu
alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallama
tasliman kathiran ila yawm al-deen.
Ima ba'd, today we are taking the third
class on al-durra al-fakhira, the exquisite
pearl, which is an explanation of the poem,
al-sayr ila Allah wa al-dara al
-akhira, the journey to Allah Azawajal, and the
hereafter.
And bi-idnillahi ta'ala, very quickly, we're
going to review the awakening, if you will,
al-yaqadah, which is the first station, okay?
So everybody who was asleep has to wake
up to take the journey.
And we said that wakefulness or the awakening
is three parts.
Can you read this again, bi-idnillahi ta
'ala, and then we'll cover with Ibn Qayyim
rahimahullah ta'ala, and then we'll move into
the first line of poetry, bi-idnillahi ta
'ala.
Alhamdulillahi rabbil'alamin, wa salatu wa salamu ala
rasulillah, wakefulness consists of three parts.
The first is the heart beholding of the
bounties of Allah, while despairing of ever being
able to count them or realize their magnitude.
Thereafter, beseeching the heart with the realization of
His graciousness, and bestowing them, and coming to
full recognition of one's failure, and showing the
necessary gratitude.
And you're going to find this concept, one
important point I want to mention about the
stations, and that is they do not resemble
physical stations in the sense that when you
get to a physical station to get to
go to your journey, you leave that station
behind, right?
And you, and you keep moving forward.
With these stations, it's like when you get
there, you take them with you to the
next one.
So you're never fully leaving any of this
off.
So what's happening now, as a person is
awakening, their heart begins to recognize the bounties
of Allah, and their inability to actually, properly
show gratitude to Allah, for those blessings, right?
And you're going to see this theme repeated,
and that's why I'm saying you don't want
to lose these.
Yeah, go ahead.
The second is observing one's transgression, and understanding
its danger.
Thereafter, rushing to control it, rid oneself of
its grasp, and seek salvation by cleansing oneself
of it.
And the total cleansing from a person's transgression
is through what?
Through Tawbah.
Through Tawbah.
The cleansing comes through Tawbah.
So a person, in any event, at this
particular part, is recognizing his own transgressions, and
then trying to do damage control, because you
don't want to meet Allah, Azza wa Jal,
with those transgressions or those effects.
Yes.
The third is paying attention to the passing
of the days, and the consequent gains and
losses one accrues through them.
Therefore, abstaining from wasting them, and instead being
proactive, protective of them, so that he or
she may make up for what he or
she missed of them, and make the most
of what remains.
And so this is the concept of really
valuing your time.
The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said that
they had two blessings, which many people are
cheated out of, health and free time.
Ibn Mas'ud, radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, he
said, He said, I really
hate when I see somebody is just doing
nothing.
It's Fariq, right?
He's doing nothing.
He's not doing anything that's benefiting his dunya.
He's not doing something that's going to benefit
his hereafter.
And so the third part of waking up,
is realizing that time is short.
That part is really important to recognize.
Even if you're young, and you think you
got your whole life ahead of you, there's
a lot of young people that have died.
There's a lot of healthy people that have
died, and a lot of people been chain
-smoking for 50 years.
They're still alive.
Those, that is already written with Allah, you
don't know when that is.
And so here, a part of a person's
waking up, is realizing that time is short.
That the time is short.
We did not read this last week, correct?
So as many of you know, the concept
of stations is very keen in manazil as
-sa'ileen, which is al-harawi, rahimahullahu ta
'ala.
And we've talked about that book a little
bit.
Ibn al-Qayyim, rahimahullahu ta'ala, did an
explanation in madadij as-sa'diqeen, which you can
see on the left side.
That's what it looks like in English, which
has the Arabic text as well.
It isn't translated in its totality, but so
far, approximately 1,500 pages of it have
been translated.
Well, translation is half of that, basically.
It's half Arabic, half English.
And there's still another third or fourth volume
that's necessary.
And in any event, we just want to
read very quickly what Ibn al-Qayyim says
about the awakening.
Yes.
The first of the stations of servanthood is
the awakening.
It is the stirring of the heart to
an awesome and sudden panic from the slumber
of heedlessness.
By God, how beneficial this panic is.
How invaluable and vital, how direly needed for
the journey ahead.
So when he talks about panic, a lot
of us, when we think panic, we think
there's something bad.
Like, you know, I'm panicking or you're having
a panic attack.
No, he's saying this is the type of
panicking that wakes you up.
And sometimes that's exactly what a person needs.
They need that wake-up call.
Now, I'm not heedless anymore.
Now, I'm paying attention.
I need that kind of energy for this
journey, right?
Yes.
Whosoever feels it by Allah, feels the breeze
of felicity, without which he stays in the
super of heedlessness.
Yani, if you never feel that panic, you
just stay heedless.
It's a blessing from Allah to be able
to wake you up, right?
Yes.
When he is alerted, he resolves to journey
to the first stations, starting for his land
from where, unbeknownst to him, he was once
captured.
Hurry to the gardens of Eden, for they
are your first destination, where you shall camp.
Once captured by the enemy, now we return
home and celebrate.
He now gathers his provisions and sets off
for the station of resolve, which is a
solemn pledge to undertake the journey.
Partake, departing from anything that obstructs and hinders
it, taking up everything that helps and brings
it closer.
So, I'm going to claim here, the way
that, the way that it's laid out in
Medar-e-Sadeqin, is that the first station
is awakening.
And then there is that resolve.
And resolve is that you have firm determination
that you travel the path, that you're not
going to look back, and as you're going
to keep going forward, no matter what happens,
no matter the difficulty, no matter the obstacles,
that you're going to move forward.
We're, of course, we're going to do it,
we're going to take a different approach to
the, to the stations.
But just so that you understand why he's
going where he's going.
Yeah.
His resolve is only as good as his
initial alertness and awakening.
And his preparation is only as good as
his resolve.
I want you to, I want you to
break this down.
He said, his resolve is only as good
as his initial alertness and awakening.
Why do you think that is?
Yes.
Diligence that he takes has to do with
what level his awakening is.
Correct.
So, the determination is, it lines up directly.
Okay.
So, there's a direct correlation or proportion between
how determined you are, will determine, will be
determined by how awake, how alert you are,
how much panic you actually, actually have.
And again, we're not talking about, we're going
to get to fear.
We're not talking about the fear that's debilitating,
that makes you despair from Allah's mercy.
Not that, but enough panic to recognize that
life is really short and that the hereafter
is really long.
And as you got to prepare here.
Let's keep it.
Well, and then the second part, your preparation
is only going to be, is only going
to be as good as your resolve is.
And that's because if you, if you're not
really that determined, if you don't really have
that kind of resolve, if it's just like,
ah, if this gets a little difficult, I
still got a plan B, right?
I'm going to be on the Sirat al
-Mustaqim and all of that.
But then, things get a little difficult, my
money gets tight.
I'm just go back and do some haram
stuff, right?
If that's because of a person's resolve isn't
that strong, then their preparation isn't that strong,
right?
And that's why from the art of war,
they say don't have a plan B.
Plan B is to make plan A work.
Right.
When he awakens, his awakening leads him to
thinking, which is the name for the focusing
of the heart on his thought after goal,
for which he is now prepared, but only
in a general way, not yet knowing its
specifics, nor the way that leads to it.
Right.
And that's where knowledge comes into play.
May Allah Azawajal increase us all in knowledge.
Right, so we are going to begin with
the first line of poetry.
The author, Rahimahullah Ta'ala says, سَاعِدَ الَّذِينَ
تَجَنَّبُوا سُبُلَ الرَّدَى وَتَيَمَّمُوا لِمَنَازِلِ الرِّضْوَانِ You can
read the left side because that's what comes
in the book, fortunate.
Fortunate are those who avoid the destructive past,
intending the stations of Allah's good pleasure.
There's another translation you'll see in the box
each time.
Go ahead.
Blessed.
Blessed are those who shun the paths of
demise and sought the stations where divine pleasures
lie.
Where divine pleasure lies.
Yes.
Demise lies.
Let's make sure.
Thank you.
All right.
Which translation do you prefer?
Honestly.
Second one?
First one?
Okay.
Second one.
Second one just rhymes.
So if you like, if you want to,
if you want to memorize it in English
too, then, then you will like the second
one.
Okay.
Okay.
So, before we actually read the, what the,
what the author says.
So now, again, what do we have here?
We actually have the author's explanation of his
own poetry.
Okay.
Sa'dah.
It means to be happy, to be successful.
Go ahead.
Correct.
Correct.
So, so Sa'dah, which means to be happy,
to be successful.
Okay.
It is the opposite.
You should write this down.
It's the opposite of shaqa, the opposite of
shaqa.
Allah azawajal when describing people in the hereafter,
He said, Some of them are going to
be wretched and some are going to be
happy and successful.
There is no third party.
May Allah make us the most happy.
Okay, so similarly Allah azawajal, In the Quran,
when he talks about how to be happy,
He says, Whoever follows my guidance,
The revelation that has been revealed, That person
will not go astray.
What's the opposite of going astray?
He will be guided.
That person will be guided.
And he will not be wretched, Meaning he
will be what?
Happy.
So whoever follows, Whoever follows Allah azawajal's revelation,
Then that person will be guided and happy.
They will have who that?
And they will have?
A Sa'ada, they will have who that?
And they will have Sa'ada.
And whoever turns away, This is important.
Allah azawajal, We usually say turn away.
Is a willful, Not willful disobedience, A will,
closer to willful ignorance.
It's a deliberate evasion.
Okay, deliberate evasion, This is the kind of
person who you're trying to tell what's right.
And they go like this, Turn away, they
don't want to hear it.
They don't want to hear anything.
That person, down the line, They'll say, I
didn't know.
You didn't want to know.
This person is evading, Evading the truth.
Whoever evades, deliberate evasion of the revelation, And
the remembrance, He will have a miserable life.
This person will have a miserable life and
they will not be sa'id.
They will not be sa'id.
Means to avoid, to shine.
It involves intentionality.
It doesn't just mean to leave something.
Okay, it's different than taraka.
Taraka means that you left something, But that
could just be because you forgot.
So I left it.
Oh, I forgot.
Okay, you forgot, you left.
Is different.
It is actively, actively avoiding something.
So there's that level of intentionality.
Subul is the plural of what?
Sabeel, Sabeel, Sabeel is a path.
Okay, right.
Comes in the Quran multiple times.
You almost destroyed me.
You almost brought me to destruction.
Halak.
Okay, so ar-radha is destruction.
All right.
Now, notice here what he's saying because and
then we're going to, We're going to read
what he says, But I just want us
to understand the words.
Because tajendub is important here.
And there's a, there's an element that we'll
miss if we don't understand tajendub.
Alhamdulillah.
Taya, paths of destruction.
People might not travel paths of destruction.
They left them because they didn't even know
they existed, for example, right?
And other people may travel them because they
didn't know they existed.
Taya, what do we say about tajendub?
It involves intentionality, right?
It's an intentional leaving, intentional abandonment.
Okay, and that's why you know to say
shun, to avoid.
Taya, that means that what?
You actually have to know some evil to
be able to avoid it.
Right?
I learned about evil, not for itself, but
so that I could what?
I could stay away from it, to be
cautious of it.
Whoever doesn't know, Whoever doesn't know good from
evil will fall into the evil.
Those people, they're the happy people.
They're the successful ones, the ones that avoid
those paths of evil.
And instead they turn to and intend the
stations that lead to Allah Azawajal's pleasure.
All right, and so what the author is
going to give us everything now that comes
next are those stations that bi-idhnillah will
lead to Allah's pleasure.
And therefore, and what happens if Allah Azawajal
is pleased with you, then you become what?
Sa'id, and you become happy.
سَعِدَ الَّذِينَ تَجَنَّبُوا سُبُلَ الرَّدَى وَتَيَمَّنُوا لِمَنَازِلِ
الرِّدْوَانِ Fathari, what he says?
This is the foundation of their path and
the principal course of their party.
In that they avoid the paths of spiritual
loss and anguish and intend the paths of
Allah's good pleasure.
They avoid the paths of Shaitan and intend
to be worshippers of the Most Merciful.
Tell you, the paths of Shaitan, the paths
of Shaitan.
What are the paths of Shaitan?
Ibn Abbas, rahmatullahi alayhi, in his tafsir of
Shaitan, Shaitan's statement to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, when he says, لَأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ سِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمُ
I'm going to sit on that straight path.
قُعُودًا I'm gonna be there.
Right?
I'm going to be on you.
لَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ سِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمُ I'm going to sit
on your straight path.
ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهَا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَلْ
إِيمَانِهِمْ وَعَلْ شَمَائِنِهِمْ That I'm going to come
to them from in front, from behind, from
the right, from the left.
وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْسَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ You will not find
that the majority of them are, are grateful.
Right?
If they're not grateful, then they are كَافِرِين
You're gonna find that the majority of them
are, are not grateful.
They're ungrateful.
طيب These are the paths of Shaytan.
Ibn Abbas said, come from in front of
you.
يعني الشيطان يقول وَشَكِكُهُمْ فِي آخِرَتِهِمْ I'm going
to make them doubt their hereafter.
All right?
Why do you think, what does that have
to do with what's in front of you?
Huh?
Because you're moving this way.
You're moving, you're moving towards the hereafter.
So that's what's in front of you.
What did, what did, what did Allah عز
و جل say to, to the Jews?
At the end of, when He says قُلْ
إِنَّ الْمُوْتَ الَّذِي تَفِرْغُونَ مِنْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ مُلَٰقِيكُمْ He
said, the death that you are running away
from, it's in front of you.
You, you run away from something as well.
بحاجة قُلْ إِنَّ الْمُوْتَ الَّذِي تَفِرْغُونَ مِنْهُمْ The
death that you are running away from is
it's in front of you.
Can't run from it.
فَإِنَّهُمْ مُلَّقِيكُمْ It's gonna meet you from in
front of you.
In front, وَشَكِكُهُمْ فِي آخِرَةِيَا We're gonna make
them doubt about the hereafter.
SubhanAllah, you know, the majority of people on
earth actually believe in Allah.
Not salvific Iman, not the type of Iman
that is going to save them in the
hereafter, but they believe He exists.
It's majority of people on planet Earth.
Only about half believe in the hereafter, even
though they believe in Allah, believe in God,
because that's the only explanation that they can
come up with for existence.
Like, even if you go down on the
scientific route and all that, it doesn't, there's
too many things that don't, that don't actually
work from a scientific perspective.
So, but they don't believe in the hereafter.
So, Shaytan is very successful in that area.
And then on top of that, the ones
that do believe in a hereafter, they believe
what they're supposed to believe about the hereafter.
That's a totally different story altogether.
وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ And I'm going to come to
them from behind them.
What do you think that means?
أُرَغِبُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا I'm gonna make them want
the dunya, but the dunya is back there.
Dunya is back there.
So, if he can't get you to totally
have doubt about the hereafter, then the next
best thing is to what?
Get you so attached to the dunya that
you're not really thinking about it.
You know it's coming, but you're preoccupied.
أُرَغِبُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا I'm just gonna make them
want it and be preoccupied with it.
Tell you, وَمِنْ أَيْمَنِهِمْ And then I'm going
to come to them from the right side.
يَعْنِي أُشَدْ بِهُ عَلَيْهِمْ لِنَا I'm gonna make
them have doubts about the religion.
Okay, so different from the way that يُشَدْ
When he makes you doubt the hereafter, it's
different than the kind of doubt that we're
talking about with Deen.
يُشَدْ بِهُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَمْ لَدِينِهِمْ Yeah, and he's
gonna cause you to wonder about certain things
in the Deen and should you do it
or should you not and how, right?
So, just to mess with your head.
شُبُهَات Okay?
And then come to them from the left
side, what?
شَهِّي لَيْهِمْ الْمَعَاصِي You know, I make them
want to do sins.
Make them want to disobey Allah, Azza wa
Jalla.
All right?
So in general, these are the ways.
This is how Shaytan comes.
This is how Shaytan comes to a people.
تَجَنَّبُ As he said, تُرُكَ الشَّيْطَان I mean
that they avoid the paths of Shaytan and
they intend and turn to the worship of
Ar-Rahman.
Keep going.
They avoid the paths of the blazing fire
and intend the paths of eternal bliss.
They abandon evil and do good.
They keep their hearts, tongues, and limbs away
from prohibited and repugnant actions and instead busy
themselves with obligatory and praiseworthy actions.
Notice that that in order to be سَعِيد
your heart and your tongue and your limbs
have to تَتَجَنَّبُ يعني they have to avoid
and shun the prohibited actions, يعني that which
is Haram and those things that are مَكْرُوحَة.
Don't just look at مَكْرُوحَة as something that,
Oh, it's better if I don't do it,
but it's okay.
No, in general, it's really not okay.
I mean, we shouldn't be doing those.
It's called مَكْرُوحَة for a reason.
It's not light.
It's repugnant, but it's not Haram.
So person should really try to avoid those
and then preoccupy themselves with doing what Allah
عز و جل commanded them to, what Allah
عز و جل commanded and those things that
Allah عز و جل loves.
He says praiseworthy.
مُسْتَحَبْ مُسْتَحَبْ Right?
طيب, what does that actually mean?
What word do you hear in there?
حُب اسْتَحَبْ اسْ means to, in general, to
to seek, seek حُب seeking love.
اسْتَحَبْ مُسْتَحَبْ يعني that it's something that Allah
عز و جل loves.
Right?
So it's praiseworthy for sure, but holding on
to that is, you know, that meaning is
important.
Yes.
They adorn themselves with beautiful character, and purge
themselves of all all reprehensive traits.
Yeah, so they stay away from that which
is reprehensible and they adorn themselves with beautiful
character.
Here, what we see is that the author
رحمة الله عليه is, when talking about happiness
and success, he mentions that in order to
achieve happiness and success, then two things have
to happen.
One is that the person avoids the destructive
paths, and the other is that they work
towards Allah's pleasure.
We saw that in the lines of poetry.
تَجَنَّبُوا سُبُلَ الرَّدَاءِ وَتَيَمَّمُوا لِمَنَازِلِ الرَّضُوَانِ Working
towards, intending Allah عز و جل's pleasure.
And this is the famous rule, if you
will, of تزكيه which is that purification precedes
beautification.
التَخْرِيَة قَبَلَ التَحْرِيَة Right?
I mean, this is basically, I mean, once
you hear, you say, oh, yeah, that's common
sense.
Right?
You don't go put, you don't go put
really good, nutritious, good tasting food on a
dirty plate.
Right?
التَخْرِيَة first, first you clean the plate and
then you put the, you put the good
food on it.
Right?
You, you empty out the impurities that's in
a vessel and then you fill it back
up with something that is good.
التَخْرِيَة قَبَلَ التَحْرِيَة Right?
So here, avoiding the destructive paths is the
purification part and you'll see at the bottom,
doubt, preoccupied, confused, enticed.
What do you think that refers to?
Yes.
Sorry?
Shall what?
Only?
Yes.
Yes, those are the, those are the ways
Shaytan comes.
Those are the destructive paths.
Right?
Shaytan, who wants you to doubt about the
hereafter or preoccupy you with the dunya or
make you confused about your deen or entice
you to disobey Allah.
And better yet, all of them together, all
of them together.
Right?
And working towards Allah's pleasure.
Right?
You'll see Ikhlas.
Right?
Ikhlas, sincerity, which we'll cover today inshallah ta
'ala.
Hope and fear, which we'll cover today.
Reliance upon Allah and those other acts of
acts of devotion that stem from the heart.
All right?
All right?
A few other things that I'd like to
cover before we close out this part on
happiness.
Ibn Qayyim rahim Allah ta'ala says something
that I think is profound.
He says, So
he says that I reflected on what all
of these sensible people want, what all sensible
people strive for and I found that all
of their efforts are directed towards one single
goal, all sensible people.
And that goal, even though their methods of
attaining that goal differ, the goal is one
and it is to strive to alleviate worry
and sorrow from their souls.
Yeah.
Everybody has really one goal and that is
to be happy.
All sensible people are striving, even though they're
taking different paths to be happy.
That is their, that's their aim.
He goes on to say and by the
way, this is actually Ibn Hazm's statement, but
Ibn Qayyim took it and explained.
All right?
He says, وَهَذَا بِسَمَعَ الْغِنَا وَالْأَصْوَاتِ الْمُطْرِبَةِ وَهَذَا
بِاللَّهِ وَالْلَعِبِ He says this one and he's
looking to be happy.
So he, you know, he's through eating and
drinking.
Let me ask you something.
You ever heard of that?
Somebody trying to be happy through eating and
drinking?
Yeah?
Like what?
Like drinking alcohol, for example.
Like we need to be clear on something.
So the Ulama, when they talk about سعادة
all of it goes back to one thing,
one thing, which is راحة القلب راحة القلب
That is that your heart is at ease
or like we might say in English, peace
of mind.
Your heart is at ease, is peace of
mind.
That is what happiness is.
All right?
طيب Like Ibn Hazm says here, Ibn Qayyim,
يعني to push away sorrow and worry from
themselves.
All right?
You got that?
طيب A person who gets high or inebriated
in any form, are they ever happy?
They think they are for a minute.
طيب You know what it actually is?
You know what it actually is?
It's numbing the pain.
The pain is still there because they're not
dealing with the root cause.
So it numbs it, right?
So you don't feel it, but it's still
there.
Right?
It's طيب A person who gets surgery, okay,
and goes under anesthesia.
Is there pain?
Absolutely.
They just don't feel it until the anesthesia
wears off and it's severe.
Because it never really wasn't there.
It just was what?
It was masked.
Right?
So the same thing has happened when a
person gets high.
It's not that they're happy.
It's that they've numbed their sorrow.
They haven't alleviated it.
They've numbed it.
That's it.
Once they're not high anymore, then they go
right back to where they were, which is
why they, which is why it creates an
addiction because you start getting addicted to the
numbness of the, of the pain.
والله عليه طيب So he says this one,
يعني, this one is looking for happiness through
eating and drinking and some through doing business
and making money.
Others through marriage.
هذا بالنكاح doesn't necessarily mean marriage.
It could mean, يعني, يعني, طيب And some
through listening to music and delightful sounds while
others engage in play and entertainment.
Ah, play and entertainment, not necessarily haram.
All of this, not necessarily haram.
But you know what it is?
It's a distraction.
And it can become haram depending on how
distracted a person becomes from the path of
Allah SWT.
So, فقلت هذا المطلوب مطلوب العقلاء ولكن الطرق
كلها غير موصلة إليه He says that yes,
this goal is indeed the pursuit of those
who are sensible.
But none of these paths lead to it.
None of these paths lead to that goal.
طيب Rather many of them, بل لعل أكثرها
إنما يوصلوا إلى ضده The many of them
may lead to its opposite.
Many of them may lead to its opposite.
That is that they increase a person in
sadness and sorrow.
What did Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam say?
تعيس عبد الدينار تعيس عبد الدرهم The one
who worships the dirham and the dinar and
the clothes and the this.
That person is miserable.
Miserable.
Right?
He calls him a عبد By the way,
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is talking about Muslims
here.
Talking about Muslims.
I mean, not the kind of عبد that
takes them outside of the fold of Islam.
But this is the Everything that preoccupies their
mind.
They're miserable.
He said the only path that is truly
effective.
None of these paths are affected.
The only one that actually brings a person
happiness is turning to Allah.
And that you deal with Allah Azawajal alone.
Not that you cut yourself off from the
creation, but he becomes the object of your
worship of your concern of all of that
prioritizing his pleasure over everything else.
That is how a person becomes happy.
يعني Through توحيد And this is why سعدي
رحمه الله تعالى and other places.
He says, ومن أعظم فضائره أنه يحرر العبد
من رق المخلوقين And from the greatest virtues
of توحيد is that it frees a slave
from bondage to the creation.
And that a person is attached to the
creation and that he puts his hopes in
them and that he fears them and that
he does what he does for their sake.
توحيد يعني making Allah Azawajal the sole object
of the one that you're trying to please
at the expense of anything else and that
you prioritize his pleasure.
That's what's going to bring you سعدي رحمه
الله تعالى He says, وذلك هو الشرف العلي
والعزل الحقيقي يعني that's that's true nobility, right?
This is real honor, right?
That you that you're liberated.
You're liberated from being a slave to what
people think and doing what you do for
their sake and you do what you do
for the sake of Allah Azawajal.
طيب A lot more, a lot more can
be said about this topic.
سبحان الله However, what we're going to do
is refer you to سعدي has a book
himself which you can see three different translations
here.
All right, how to achieve happiness الوسائل المفيدة
للحياة السعيدة beneficial means to a happy life,
how to achieve happiness, eight steps to happiness.
Oh boy.
طيب So those are three translations.
One second.
One second.
Here's two more.
I guess it's that important.
I guess it's that important.
Mashallah.
I actually left out one.
It's another one.
But طيب أبشر فضح فضح Yeah, and then
and then those are the other ones.
The one that Sheikh Martasim Al-Hamidi did,
the one on the left hand side.
It's it's not a direct translation.
That's the only one.
It's not a direct translation, but it's based
on it's based on وسائل المفيدة.
It's a very good book يعني and you
can read it quite quickly by the way.
It's not a it's not a long read.
You can sit down for an hour or
less or thereabout and you can read the
whole thing.
And one of the things that he highlights
سبحان الله which is يعني is الإيمان بالقدر
and he having true faith in Allah عز
و جل's decree.
الإيمان بالقدر and the only people who have
true إيمان بالقدر أهل السنة والجماعة يعني out
of all of the creation only أهل السنة
والجماعة have the correct belief in Allah عز
و جل's قدر and that will alleviate a
lot of people's mental anguish and Allah عز
و جل is not just the creator of
our bodies, but he's the creator of our
psychologies and he knows what we need and
he made obligatory what we need to be
happy in this life and the next from
that is الإيمان بالقدر طيب, you had a
question, فضلا.
I don't know.
I actually don't know.
No, no, no.
Yeah, I imagine and I'm not going to
take a guess.
Allah o A'la.
Allah o A'la.
خلي, read that one, read that one.
Honestly سبحان الله, some things are worth reading
multiple times like multiple times.
العقيدة الحموية by شيخ الإسلام تيمية Samar Mashayikh
told us to read that at least a
hundred times at least.
Shaykh ibn Badr رحمة الله عليه read النور
و شرح فساحة مسلم 60 times.
You know how long that book is?
Finish, start over, finish, start over.
I mean, sometimes I mean, there's a difference
between a researcher and a scholar.
Sometimes a scholar just knows what he knows
very, very, very well.
And it doesn't mean that he's researched everything,
but he relies on those who have researched
everything.
Like in نور رحمة الله عليه Right?
So, نعم You have a question?
Okay.
But second line of poetry يقول المؤلف رحمة
الله تعالى فهم الذين قد أخلصوا في مشيهم
متشجعين بشرعة الإيمان Those who journey with the
utmost sincerity following the legislation by which faith
is measured.
They are the ones who walk with sincerity
فهم الذين قد أخلصوا في مشيهم I like
that I like that literal translation.
Adhering to the path of Iman with clarity
طيب يعني في تجوز All right.
طيب فهم الذين قد أخلصوا في مشيهم So
here the author is going to talk about
الإخلاص And he's going to talk about متشجعين
بشرعة الإيمان Here he's talking about compliance يعني
متابعة متابعة or conformity All right.
So Read what he says and then we'll
go break this down.
Inshallah These two principles sincerity, ikhlas, and conformity
متابعة Are a prerequisite for every act of
worship Inward or outward to be valid.
All right.
Notice this here Every act of devotion Whether
it's an external act of devotion like what?
Like Salat Or an internal Heart-based Act
of devotion like what?
Like Tawakul Like Tawakul طيب Both have to
be what?
Sincere for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala And
they both have to comply With the Sunnah
of the Prophet ﷺ So if a person
If a person says He just sits in
a masjid all day He says brother, can
I get a dollar or two?
20 or whatever You need a job or
what's going on?
He said no, I need a job.
I put my trust in Allah.
Put my trust in Allah.
Stay in the masjid and worship Allah and
I'm being provided for.
طيب What's that called?
It's called Tawakul المتواكلون There's books written about
that.
All right.
Tawakul Is it actually time for Salat?
Ya Allah Ya Rabbi لا لا لا طيب
طيب Tawakul Means Pretentious Tawakul Fake Tawakul Fake?
Fake Yeah, like a person Like a person
that's not Really hurt, but then they start
acting like they're crying You say يتباكى يتباكى
I mean fake crying Okay التواكل يتواكى Is
fake Tawakul So because why?
Because it's not in accordance to The Sunnah
And so that Tawakul is not real Tawakul
and it's not valid.
It's not accepted.
Right?
So both External Acts of devotion to Allah
SWT and internal Both have to be sincere
For the sake of Allah SWT and Comply
To Sunnah of the Prophet SAW Either the
absence of either one of them Causes the
deed Can cause the deed to be invalid
If it lacks Ikhlas, then for sure the
deed is invalid If it lacks Mutaba'ah
It may be valid under certain circumstances Right?
Or the reward, because the reward may decrease
according to a person's lack of compliance But
if a person has full compliance In fact,
even if they prayed behind the Prophet SAW
Just like he prayed externally But they disbelieve
in their hearts Like the Munafiqeen Right?
They have no sincerity in their actions.
Is it valid?
No, it's not valid.
It's not accepted from them Because they lack
They lack sincerity.
They lack Ikhlas, which we're going to see
a perhaps a More accurate translation is Purity
Purity of intention, but and we can we
can work with either one inshallah.
Now Every act that is done, that is
not done Intending the face of Allah is
futile And every act that does not conform
to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah
It should say intend in the face of
Allah alone Because a person who intends Allah
Azawajal's pleasure and the pleasure of someone else
at the same time They've intended Allah Azawajal's
pleasure, right?
But not alone And Allah Azawajal says as
it comes in a Hadith Al-Qudsi عَمِنَ
عَمَنٍ أَشْفَقَ فِيهِ مَعَيَّ غَيْرِي تَرَكْتُهُ وَشِرْكَةٌ Whoever
does an act and takes a partner with
me in that act.
In other words, they did it for me
and something else.
Not that they just did it for something
else, but they did it for something else
along with me.
So they they want to get a reward
for me, but they also want people to
praise them.
تَرَكْتُهُ وَشِرْكَةٌ I mean, whatever else he wanted,
they can have all of that.
They can have it all.
He's not getting anything from Allah Azawajal.
And every act that does not conform to
the Sunnah of Allah's Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
is rejected.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said مَنْ عَمِلَ
عَمَلًا لَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْنُنَا فَهُوَ رَدٌ Whoever does
an act من عَمِلَ عَمَلًا لَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْنُنَا
that does not conform to our command, that
does not have precedence in our teachings.
It's not from this Deen.
فَهُوَ رَدٌ Then it's going to be rejected.
It is only when an action combines sincerity
for the one being worshipped, which means intending
to seek the face of Allah alone when
performing the action, and conformity with the Messenger
by doing those actions that have been prescribed
and legislated that an action becomes acceptable.
Now, so here, here, why do you think
he's beginning before we get into the stages
of what we have to do?
Like loving Allah, fearing Allah, hoping in Allah,
so on and so forth.
He's starting with what we need in order
for all of those acts of the heart
or acts of devotion to be accepted by
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Learning about love or fear or hope and
so on, but not having this as your
base, that is sincerity for the sake of
Allah عز و جل and that it complies
to the teaching of the Prophet صلى الله
عليه وسلم.
Then those other acts are not going to
be valid and not accepted by Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
So for that reason, we're going to talk
about Ikhlas and we're going to talk about
the Sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم.
I'm thinking, so Salat is going to be
what?
830?
Sorry?
28.
All right.
So what I want to do is I'll
stop three minutes before so that the adhan
can be called and then we'll and then
we'll pray, inshallah.
So the first thing
is the definition of Ikhlas, all right?
So we'll note, these are the things that
we're going to cover.
The reason why the author started with these
two is because they are prerequisites for the
journey, right?
They have to be with you at every
station.
That is what?
Ikhlas and Mutaba'a, Ikhlas and Mutaba'a.
We're going to define Ikhlas, we'll talk about
the difference between Ikhlas and Niyah and Siddiq
and then we'll talk about those things that
destroy Ikhlas.
We're not going to have an opportunity to
talk about the Sunnah of the Prophet صلى
الله عليه وسلم and innovation today just because
of the lack of time.
However, what we'll say is in terms of
Ikhlas from a linguistic perspective, it means At
-Tasfiyah, At-Tanqiyah, which means to purify something,
to remove anything that would blemish it.
Okay, so this is Ikhlas from a linguistic
perspective.
In the Quran, Allah عز و جل mentions
the word خالص, does anybody know where that
comes?
Yeah, نعم, نعم, نعم, النحل, نعم, النحل, Allah
عز و جل says وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ فِي الْأَنْعَامِ
لَعِبْرَةٍ Right?
He wants us to take a lesson, okay,
from cattle.
He says نُسْقِيكُمْ مِمَّا فِي بُطُونِهِ He said
we give you drink from what is in
their bellies.
Okay.
مِمْ بَيْنِ فَرْثٍ وَدَمْ He says between فَرْث,
which is digested food, and دَمْ, which is
blood, what comes out?
لَبَنًا خَالِصًا Pure milk, pure milk.
سَائِغَ لِلشَّارِبِينَ Pleasant to drink, right?
So why is it called خالص?
Because even though it's coming from in between
that blood and that digested food, it comes
out pure with not unblemished.
All right, without any, well, sometimes it does
have traces, but in general, it's coming out
even without a trace of where it had
come from.
So the act of purifying your motives and
purifying intention, so that they are done solely
for the sake of Allah, is what is
meant by إخلاص.
That is the act of what?
Purifying intentions and motives, so that they've done
for the sake of Allah.
And when you look at the definition of
sincerity, right?
Which is to be free from deceit or
hypocrisy, then we can see that that combination
of purity and sincerity is kind of what
brings about the word إخلاص.
So again, it is to strive to do
what you do for the sake of Allah
عز و جل alone.
What is the difference between إخلاص and نية
and إخلاص and صدق?
Okay, write this down.
إخلاص is توحيد المراد.
توحيد المراد, which is to single out the
objective, the object of your worship.
And صدق is توحيد الإرادة, توحيد الإرادة, to
have singular purpose.
Okay.
All right.
Singular will to bring all of your power
together, right?
So where does, how does this manifest?
Let me give you an example.
Like person stands up and they're praying and
they want people to praise them.
What's that called?
Riyadh, Riyadh.
Okay, the opposite of that is what?
They stand up to pray solely wanting the
reward from Allah سبحانه وتعالى, submitting to him
in obedience and hoping for his reward.
That's called what?
إخلاص.
Okay, they only want their reward from Allah
عز و جل, but their prayer is kind
of like, it's not the greatest, not really
focused.
They're thinking about other things.
Okay, does that take away from إخلاص?
Does that mean it's for somebody else?
لا.
Okay, but if they are firm in their
focus, they brought all of their mind, their
إرادة, right?
All of their will into focus here and
it's singular at this point.
They're not متشدد.
They're not scattered.
That's called صدق.
Okay, they perform the action with صدق.
Truthfulness.
Okay, so صدق is usually translated as truthfulness.
All right, the first one was مخلص.
Okay, and he has إخلاص, but he lacks
what?
صدق.
The element of truthfulness.
Okay, so usually truthful, we think of what?
The tongue, think of the tongue.
But صدق is with your heart and your
tongue and your limbs.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that
everyone will have their share of زنا.
Right, prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said everybody's going
to have their share of زنا.
He said the eye commits adultery.
And the foot commits adultery.
والفرج يصدق صدق.
صدق.
The private part is what يصدق, affirms or
negates.
From makes it true or not.
Right?
So this is bringing something into actualization.
صدق.
Like a نية, a نية is broader than
a خلاص.
So نية is talking about intention.
A person can have the intention to worship
Allah and other than Allah.
That's نية.
But that's not what?
خلاص.
خلاص is when a person makes their نية
one.
That is الله عز و جل.
Also نية is used to distinguish between acts
of worship.
Right?
So a person stands up.
The only difference externally between ذور and عصر
is what?
Is the نية.
That's not, it's not خلاص.
That's the, it's the نية.
So نية is broader, right?
What is the difference between two rak'ahs
you pray before Fajr, for example, and the
two rak'ahs of Fajr.
Right?
It's the نية.
It's what a person's نية is.
What is it that destroys إخلاص or diminishes
it?
This is what we'll cover now.
Inshallah Ta'ala.
Every worker faces three maladies, maladies in his
actions, his view of the act of worship
as being admirable, quest of his reward, and
satisfaction in pleasure as a result.
In this level, the seeker rids himself of
these three.
What we move to...
So here, there are three what they call
affect for إخلاص, three things that have a
negative impact on your إخلاص.
The first, the first is that you believe
that your worship is admirable, right?
So you think, you know, you actually feel
like you've done something great.
Okay.
Yeah, mashallah.
I built this masjid.
I did that.
That affects what?
إخلاص.
The second thing is looking for the reward.
That is, that is looking for some kind
of reward in this life to come to
you.
Okay.
And then the third thing that he mentioned
is that afterwards having satisfaction with the result
of the إبادة that you've done.
He's going to talk about each one of
these in a little bit more detail and
how to, how to cure that ailment.
Yes.
In this level, the seeker rids himself of
these three.
This level that is إخلاص, at this station,
the station of إخلاص or this level.
Yes, a person.
And what removes his view of his work
is his witnessing of the favor and the
grace and grace of Allah upon him and
granting of success and recognition that it is
from Allah and not from himself and that
it is Allah who causes good, who causes
good works.
It is Allah's will, not his, as Allah
the Exalted said, and you do not will
except if Allah wills.
Inshallah, right?
So in other words, to recognize that the
fact that you are worshiping Allah Azawajal is
a favor from Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala.
It's not your favor to Allah.
يمنون عليك أن أسلموا, right?
They come to you looking, making it like
it's a favor that they have accepted Islam.
Look at what I did.
Once I became a Muslim.
Obviously Allah Azawajal was talking to the prophet,
peace be upon him.
Some of these منافقين come to the prophet.
Peace be upon him.
يمنون عليك أن أسلموا, they look at it
as a favor to you that they've accepted
Islam.
قُلْ لا تَمُنُّوا عَلَيْيَا إِسْلَامَكُمْ Don't come to
me acting like it's a favor that you
accepted Islam.
بَلِ اللَّهُ يَمُنُّ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ هَدَاكُمْ لِلْإِيمَانِ But
it's Allah who favored you by guiding you
to Iman.
That's Allah Azawajal's favor to you.
So all of these acts of Ibadah that
Allah Azawajal blesses us to do are in
fact blessings from Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala.
Not something that we should be like proud
of in the sense that oh, it's from
me.
All right, so that's the first thing because
that will help with Ikhlas in a big
way to recognize that this is a favor
from Allah Azawajal.
Not next.
What purifies him from the quest for recompense
is his knowledge that he is merely a
slave and a slave does not deserve any
way to serving his master.
Subhanallah, let that sink in.
You are Abdullah.
You are not doing Allah a favor.
You are his slave.
You don't deserve anything.
You're not deserving of whatever it is that
Allah Azawajal is going to give you and
Allah Azawajal out of his grace and mercy
will reward the believers with Jannah, but that's
his grace and mercy.
It's not because you deserve it.
You are a slave and slaves don't get
paid wages.
For he serves him by the terms of
his servitude.
Whatever he receives from his master.
Also, this is going to come with us
next week inshallah ta'ala.
He serves him by the terms of his
servitude meaning you worship Allah the way he
told you to worship him, not the way
you feel like doing it.
Okay, now whatever he receives from his master
is not a recompense or wage, but only
the latter's favor and beneficence.
For only a free worker deserves wages or
the slave of another, but a master owes
nothing to his own slave.
Yes, last.
What purifies him from his satisfaction with his
works is two things.
First, a study of his defects and maladies
and what it contains of the share of
his own ego and the share of the
double in it.
Rare is a good work that does not
have some share of the double in it.
However, however small it may be and similarly,
that does not have a share of his
own ego.
Right.
So, so here, you know, take the example,
the prophet, alayhis salam, saw a man who
eyes wandered in the Salat.
He said, Like that's a type of thievery
that shaitan takes away from the Salat of
a abidin.
Imagine a person, mashallah, he's praying qiyamul laym,
tahajjud, whatever, or he's praying tarawih, you know,
two hours and he looks around a little
bit in Salat.
Shaitan got a piece of that.
And so this is what he's saying here.
Don't think that just because, mashallah, you're doing
great acts of worship, that there's no peace
for shaitan in it.
Or that it's just like you're doing perfect
worship.
No, nobody, nobody should be that foolish to
think that.
None.
So that should help you to get away
from al-ujub, which is which is when
you like have some self-conceit, like you
really, you know, like you're really doing something,
right?
Because that impacts your class.
Yes.
Second, one's knowledge, one's knowledge of what the
Lord subhanahu wa ta'ala deserves of worship
and its full extent, full external and internal
etiquette, full external and internal etiquette and conditions
that he is too weak, powerless, and insignificant
to fulfill them or be content with them.
Never thinking that he, that he has done
enough for his Lord.
Rather, he must not be pleased with his
works for his Lord, even for his Lord,
even for the wink of an eye and
must feel shy to stand before and present
his Lord, his works, present his works to
his Lord, to Allah.
So last, how do you stop yourself from
feeling satisfied with the acts of worship that
you've done?
The first is to recognize that shaitan most
likely got a piece of some of that
or your own nuffs and that there's some
some shortcomings in that.
And then the second thing is to know
that what Allah azawajal actually deserves from you
is far greater than what you've done.
And so no matter how great what you've
done is, it still falls short of meeting
the, the, the, what Allah azawajal actually deserves.
And we'll stop there inshallah ta'ala.