Aarij Anwer – Coping with Confusing and Dark Times, In Light of the Sunnah

We are living in very interesting and very difficult times. This is something that if you are aware of the news, if you are following what's happening, you would feel a sense of uneasiness. And this is something that's it's okay to feel that because these are uneasy times, just right now I was looking at a message of

a journalist was posted on his Twitter account, that since the, since the funeral of the Shahada in New Zealand, just since that time, there have been seven attacks on mosques in Australia, three attacks on mosques and Muslims in the USA, and some number maybe four or five, I don't remember exactly the figure he quoted in the UK as well. And this is right after the tragedy has taken place, right after the funeral has happened right after the Prime Minister of New Zealand, may Allah bless her and guide her to goodness

had made all those wonderful statements short, all the solidarity that she showed, the event was broadcasted on live on national TV in New Zealand, after all that happened. This is the response of the people in different parts of the world. That's a very uneasy and very unsettling situation.

And this is not this is something that happens. Whenever there's a tragedy that is afflicted upon the Muslims, like we are suffering from this, and we are mourning, even it's difficult for us to mourn in peace.

Even in those circumstances, our loyalty is questioned, our existence is seen as a threat, in many parts, not commit. This is not the case in with the majority of the people here. And this is where this is why I want to speak to that how do we balance this an easiness that we feel that's legitimate,

and these legitimate threats that are there against us, while also living a life of hope and optimism, and, you know, taking the good and leaving the bad? How do we balance this? How do we walk this tightrope? Think about this woman sisters, we have this these situations, attacks that I just told you about. But at the same time here in our city, we've had numerous people who send emails to the mosque, say, you know, our thoughts and prayers are with you. We have a whole like table full of bouquets of flowers that people brought in. And people came in crying. These are, you're stuck in this situation, you see this bleak situation and you see this really nice situation. And it's very

difficult.

It's very difficult to be able to,

to reconcile between the two, because it seems like a dichotomy. But these are the times that we live in. And when we find ourselves in difficult times, things that we can explain sometimes things that we can make sense of return to the words of Allah, Allah and returns the sooner the Prophet alayhi salatu. Salam tried to make sense of everything. That is our that is our anchor. That is what we go back to, in good times and in bad times, and times when we're clear. And in times where we're confused. That's

the if you look at the last part law describes the Sahaba. They were in a very difficult situation. And the Battle of offered, I'm sorry, in the Battle of funded in which they were surrounded by a very large army, a coalition of armies, in fact, many of them were paid mercenaries, for example, the tribal local fund was paid to come and attack the Muslims and the outnumber the army outnumbered the residents of Medina. Okay, think about that. The resonance of Medina were around, you know, 9000 10,000 the army of Azov was more than 10,000 so this was you're up against impossible odds. This was a very

a threat to the existence the Muslims very difficult times and the Sahaba as a lot of them in their response to these that fear was for follow has won a lot when they hang on what

their response was, that alone will take care of us.

And specifically, when people try to instill fear in them, Allah Allah buenas in jurmala come from showhome pasado homie manner, specifically when they were

told that this is it for you.

It's all over for that email that situation of threat and difficulty increase their email, didn't decrease their email, the situation of the finding themselves

In an adverse situation didn't make them lose faith. It made them gain faith for that home.

And then that expression has gone a long way and everyone will keep Allah is going to take care of us is an expression of faith. It's an expression of somebody who says, I don't understand everything right now, but I know it was popular, if you brought us to it, you will bring us through it as well. So we look at that incident, as an as a, as a way to find solace. You look at for example,

what Allah says, the prophets of Allah, in the Quran, it says to him, that maou cuando, La ilaha illAllah, boo su de minicomic, nothing is said to you,

except that it was set to the messengers before you as well.

Meaning if you feel that life is hard, and what people are saying to you is unfair, and the pressures that are put on you are overbearing, that was exactly the same situation, every profit before you face this model.

This is what the law will tell the prophet and it's not some to give him hope, right to give him hope and give him

the, the, the soul food, the food for his soul. So he could withstand the pressures. And he's also withstood all the pressures, and came out the winner on the other side. So in these are tough circumstances that we find ourselves confusing times really, right, like I told you,

people who are seeing our existence as a threat, and others were very loving and caring, and they would exist in the same world and the same city. And it's just you're not sure what to make of this. We look to the Quran and Sunnah define our binary, right? Because it will help us chart our chart a path for our future, I want to share with you a little bit of what Allah tells the Prophet also an alumnus,

Shara, this is one of the last tours of the Quran. And it's a very beautiful surah because it's very short, Mashallah, that's why many people memorize it and read it in this a lot. But the meaning is far more beautiful. The meaning is very powerful. And if you look at the Surah Surah, is meant to be a constellation from Allah, Allah, to the prophets are seldom. The movers soon Don't talk about what exactly happened when the surah was revealed. There's many things in the Quran that are revealed, or something happened in a rough spot that will reveal and if to console, the prophet to guide the Prophet.

But sometimes there isn't any like incident. And in this case, a lot of the profits or something was just feeding the the the mounting pressure on him as he was in it. Let me set the stage for you. The Prophet alayhi salatu salam lived in Makkah, he was the most upstanding citizen of that city.

His father was a model citizen, his grandfather of the motala was effectively the mayor of that city. Okay. His whole family were loved and respected the provinces and was so loved and respected that if he went in, not if when he did go and

make a case or make put forward his opinion, people would accept that without any debate,

as in the case of, for example, who would fleece the Blackstone, in the building of the Kaaba, the prophet SAW Islam gave the his opinion before he was a prophet and everybody accepted his opinion. Nobody questioned his integrity. Nobody said, well, you are from Bengal Hashem. So you're gonna pick your own. Nobody said that. That's how much respect he had in Makkah. So much so that he was nicknamed of Sodom. Ameen.

The one who is truthful, the one who is trustworthy us integrity, okay, so he was loved and respected and revered by everybody in the city, the moment he starts to become a reality, the moment he receives the message, and the moment he starts preaching the message, that these idols are, are useless, these idols are not real. These are fabrications. And Alas, Papa is one and only one deserves to be worshipped alone. All these people became as animals

literally overnight. That's a very devastating thing for anybody to do. To be in a situation where you are always loved and accepted and everything is, is beautiful, to a point where everything is confrontational. Everybody sees you as a threat. Anyone who's talking about you, and none of those statements are based on on facts is this perceptions of people? Right? So

This just this situation, if you were to put it in its true historical context was a very difficult situation to deal with. I don't know how we would react. If one day all of a sudden, people that have known us for the rest for all of our lives, people who have cared for us for all of our lives, all of a sudden turn around and say to us, you are the enemy. You are, you know, the problem in this community. You, you you, I don't know how we would deal with that. Right? Imagine put yourself in those in that situation. Very tough, very, very difficult to do that. The prophets also was dealing with that overbearing pressure, on top of criticism of the Dharma, of what he's saying, of what he's

preaching, questioning of his motives, questioning of why is he a prophet men in this other rich people in the community who couldn't? Why? Why are the prophets all those things were said about him. And then on top of that, there is torture to his companions, there is character assassination. And you can go on and on the prophecy is in a very tough situation. What does the loss help tell them in this? He says, I'm not sure. Have you not lifted up your hearts? Have you not opened up your heart?

Ignore a superhero. He says that, you know, a shark is actually you know, to like, slice something, you know, we say a Sharia is called like a total Armand hammer, you know, if you cut a piece of meat, you know, all the hundreds would call it a Sharia because you've sliced it. So what last month was referring to this idea of slicing? Not literally, but specifically that Allah has? is Allah Murphy and nafcillin? mythemeshop? wahaca? Answer, he says, it's like a slice the way his pain. Like you slice away a piece of meat that's from this little larger meat and you carve it out. Just like that blessing, having not taken that pain away from you. And I'm not sure.

What are our

what we'll learn our wisdom and remove your burden, allele Uncle davara that weighed so heavily upon you.

Were a foreigner like a duck and happy not giving you a high renowned the higher remembrance? These are questions that are less popular is asking the Prophet rhetorical questions. The answer to all these is yes.

What Allah subhanaw taala is referring to here is old prophet of Allah. These are tough times. These are tough times. Look at the positives. Look at all the positives Do not remove pain from your heart, did we not remove the burden from your from your chest? Or have the burden from your back? Have you not raised your remembrance and renowned moments people? These are all things that Allah spotlights pointing to that are positives, even in a dark negative situation.

This is the first lesson for us, when we face these difficult circumstances, these confusing times is we have to really focus on the positive, it does not mean that we become

absent minded or ignorant of the negatives, right, we shouldn't ignore the threat that the threats that are there, you know, we handled the message, for example, we're ramping up security, we're doing this and that. That's because that's called tying the camel and then trusting a low, we take an approval as well. We take our our means good. But at the same time, we don't become paranoid.

We don't become drowned in misery because of the negatives that are there. We our attitude has to come from the positive things that are there in our lives. So lost muscle is firstly, highly, highly needed for the officer. Look, there's all these positive things, right. So don't lose hope. That's step one. That is remedy number one, don't lose hope. Look at all the positives that are there in your life.

This is something a lot smarter doesn't run frequently with the profit. So for example, when his son passed away, his second son passed away. The people are mockup who were his family, and neighbors and friends for for as long as he was alive.

Few of them actually celebrated the death of the Prophet son. Can you imagine the the absolute low person like how low you do have to be how disgusting of a person you have to be to celebrate the death of a child.

And these are the same people the Prophet Islam was expected to go and then make dua for and call them to his elbow. Okay. When this happened, of course the prophets heart would be as any person's heart absolutely shattered, but when it was revealed in our

Clinical coauthor for him at that time. And when he woke up after a nap, he said, Allah has revealed this word to me that is more beloved to me than the whole world. That's in our clinical culture. It's beloved to many of us because it's short. And we read that our Salah was beloved to the provinces and for the meaning for the meaning because what does Allah tell him in that very, very dark time of his life? In our culture, we have given you an COVID, which is the pond in general, which is an St. Augustine, lots and lots of good, even in the darkest time will profit look at all the good, you have still.

That attitude of gratitude, that's what is constantly reminding of reminding him of, so that we don't forget all the good, even in dark times. That is the first lesson we can extract from this and the first thing that we can apply in our lives today. We look at the positive, we thank Allah for the positive and we keep working to increase that positive because that is the the optimism that our faith gives us. That's how Allah consoled the Prophet alayhi salatu salam, and for us in that is guidance in this surah Allah Spano continues, and he says for in the Mariners to use on enamal are still useful I will talk about these two if inshallah, in the next book

Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah You are the MP wasabi Ola.

Also others for in America they used to run in nursery you sort of as you can imagine, as you can see, even without understanding that there is a repetition here are the words are repeating the meaning of this is for sure, absolutely no doubt that with every hardship there is ease, surely with every hardship there is there is ease.

Now, a lost Papa does not repeat itself redundantly. When there is a repetition, there is a very informed purpose for it.

Even when the Lord repeats a story in the Quran, you will not find in any part of the Quran redundancy, the story is repeated. And every time is repeated. There's some new wrinkle added some new layer is added some new benefit either linguistic or aqidah or hokku that you can extract every single time without fail. Because the words of a law are not redundant.

So why does the love repeat himself? This is a question then we'll first talk about this. I will put to you what Mr. Xu Rahim Allah says, He says something. He extracts five or six points of benefit from the wording here. And from the repetition. I'll share a few with you. Firstly, he says that,

look at the idea of difficulty and ease. He says difficulty in either opposites. They can't actually be together. It's like hot and cold. You can't be both at the same time. Okay, you cannot be you know, asleep and awake at the same time. These are opposites. So why does the last partner say that they are together? Okay, what's the reasoning behind that? So he says, the mana

mama and Mr. de la Dianna annamaria masala

Atiba University wahoo de Beauvoir very, very interesting, he says, It's impossible that both ease and difficulty are together. So the meaning of together here is something else. And that's something else is that ease is very close. It's very closely followed by difficulty, you will feel pain, you will feel this is tough, you feel that this is the world is about to collapse. But if you have any man in America,

in America user right away very shortly afterwards, he relief will come. He says something also very interesting. He says this particular

expression it is

it is

Li not duck theory loosely on the Armani another interpretation of understanding is that the fate that we have a lot smarter to because of our Eman will give us this ease in the moment of difficulty and that ease is going to reduce the pain.

It's going to reduce the pain and make it easy to bear that difficult.

Is Panama you think about this, the prophet Allah Subhan Allah lots of songs life and you look at the tragedies that he's suffered the moments of loss that he experienced.

You look at how he dealt with it, this is that, but his son Ibrahim passed away, well below one who he would say, in the line anathema where

the eyes are overflowing with tears, and the heart is grief stricken

when I look in the movie, but you only see what pieces are mastered that pain that he he's experiencing, like any father will experience of loss of their child.

It's eased by the faith. And the faith that Allah has good EMR is what helps him get through it, run a poodle in lava.

So, this is a very beautiful understanding that with difficulty there is ease meaning that our E man will make bearing that difficulty easy. The release will come very shortly very soon afterwards, we have to be patient. And then the idea of, of

repetition for in America. In America, the use of the scholars mentioned that there is beautiful benefits in repetition. The in Arabic, you have singular, dual and plural in English, we only have singular and plural. But in Arabic, you have something called Korea to appears. And the definition in Arabic is actually referring sometimes to something that's just to like two hands, or it can refer to something that is metaphorical. And that metaphorical is something that repeats often. For example, willsez so Magellan basara, karate de la conversa Rojas Ian has seen go look again twice, and you won't find any flaws in the creation of Allah, Allah. The twice here is a it's a metaphor to

say, Look again and again, again and again. And you will find a last question to be perfect. Likewise, when you go for Hajj, you say the bacon lahoma the bake.

This is again, the button the bake is twice right to lubs. Which is not to say that you have said I respond to learn twice, it's I respond to you a lot again and again and again. Good. So this twice here is to tell the province of Solomon all of us that this difficulty that we face, and the pain that we face, the relief will come again and again.

The pain will come and go, there's going to be relapse, but the ease and the relief and the support from a loss partner is also going to be more and more frequent

is going to repeat itself. Okay. And that gives us hope that in difficult times we can get through this together. And lastly to panela a very beautiful thing is the tone. It's like a constellation tone. If someone is not feeling well you say it's okay. It's okay. Right? You say twice sometimes. It's like a consoling tone from a loss partner to his prophet. It's gonna get better. Gotta get better. So Pinilla. So this is how Allah consoled His Prophet, to get through that very difficult time in his life, the pressures of society that he was facing the burden of the Dharma that he was carrying, the last prophet consoled him and said, be optimistic. Look at all the positive alumnus

ragosa luck. And number two difficulties there. But the ease is coming soon. And it's going to come again and again. And the man that you have is going to help you bear that pain and come out stronger. And that for us is a lesson in these confusing times. We have to be optimistic, we have to look at what is good. And also we have to understand that in this difficult time, ease will follow shortly We ask Allah to give us the man to bear the difficulties of our lives just about to put these difficulties in the middle of US alone and accept our Shahada anywhere in the world of the art. We aspire to protect us and our communities from all evil from all evil doers in Southern

Nevada. It was almost

a three

minute version of Islam that he was going on and how do you mean our agenda for today? filati Hassan Okinawa naraku