AbdelRahman Murphy – Heartwork Guided Steps To The Path Of Allah #27
AI: Summary ©
The importance of forgiveness in Islam is highlighted, as it is a promise of forgiveness that takes time to fully happen. The speaker advises the community to be honest and fulfill their obligations, even if they may not be keyed. They also discuss the importance of forgiveness to maintain one's values and avoid mistakes, and mention a person who died and replaced their clothing with a different one. The community is encouraged to fulfill their obligations and not pretend to be non-keyed, and to not pretend they are not keyed.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum.
As-salamu alaykum.
Bismillah.
Bismillah wa alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala
Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa as'habihi ajma
'een.
Let me just turn the mic up a
little bit.
There we go.
Alright, better.
Alhamdulillah.
How is everybody?
Alhamdulillah.
Good to see you.
Good to see everybody, masha'Allah.
Happy that people were able to make it
out despite the Dallas monsoon.
Starts drizzling and everyone's like, are we still
having a session?
Go to Walmart, all the bread is gone,
all the milk is gone.
So tonight, insha'Allah, we're going to be
going over the conclusion of this text, insha
'Allah.
You know, the scholars, when they would write
texts, they would actually name their concluding points,
or they would gather the conclusion or the
concluding nasiha, and they would actually even title
it a wasiyah, like a will.
And if you think about it, when we
write your wasiyah, when you write your will,
the goal of it is to basically cut
through everything else, and to get straight to
the point, and to really focus on the
things that matter.
You know, when a person puts their will
together, they're not addressing all the extraneous conversations
about random things.
You know, you are addressing things that are
critical, things that matter.
You want to make sure that in this
document, it's everything that you need to make
sure that people know.
And so you're putting, for example, who gets
what, and who should do what, and this
is basically what is supposed to be read
after you pass away.
And so when the scholars wrote their wasiyah,
their knowledge document, their will for their knowledge,
if you think about it, it's basically them
saying, look, we know that the Islamic tradition
has a lot of things, a lot of
advices.
You know, some of them can focus on
this, some can focus on that, but the
reality is, here's what I want you to
focus on.
And so at the end of the text,
actually, Imam al-Hasibi, he actually puts together
his will, his wasiyah for the end of
this book.
And we've gone through a little bit of
it, we covered half of it last week,
we're going to finish it this week, and
he covers the topic of, basically what he
says is the conclusion or the peak, the
pinnacle of success in this life, which is
attaining certainty in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And I'll explain why he picked that one.
There could be so many other traits.
He said certainty, yaqeen, is what every single
person needs to work towards.
But I'll begin with what he said, and
we're going to, inshallah, go kind of quickly
tonight.
By the way, the Q&A is open,
so if you go to slido.com, you
can type in heartwork, and you can send
your questions, inshallah.
But he asked the question about knowing Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He says, where is the person who knows
their Lord?
And he's not asking for geographical identification, like
where is this person?
He's asking a metaphorical question, right?
ayn a'alimun bi rabbihi?
Like where is the person who truly knows
their Lord subhanahu wa ta'ala?
And especially in Arabic, but also in English,
when we ask questions like this in this
tone, it's meant to denote the rarity of
this type of person.
This person is not common.
How many of you, when you walk around
the world as a Muslim, with Muslim beliefs
and Muslim practices, no matter how devoted you
think you are, but you know alhamdulillah that
you're Muslim, say alhamdulillah.
How many of you, you feel unique?
Raise your hand if in a given setting
you feel unique.
All right.
You're special.
How many of you feel unique now?
No?
Okay, not working.
Think about when you are the only person
in a room wearing the hijab, for example.
Or when they're doing a roll call.
Anyone here have a name that always got,
always tripped up the person calling roll?
None worse than Abdurrahman.
None.
Everyone else is like Adam.
You know.
Ahmed.
Then they're like, I always knew it was
my name because they just stopped.
And then they would go to my last
name.
Murphy, right?
Abdurrahman, right?
In those moments, it's interesting in how it
like shapes us.
I'm not going to lie.
Part of the reason why both of my
kids have four-letter names is because of
my trauma.
Musa Iman, okay?
My daughter is so funny, wallahi.
Her name is Iman, and I think that
we put like a special skill in her
because she's able to detect Iman in people.
And she has a funny trick.
Basically, she says if they say Iman, then
they're Muslim.
But if they say Iman, they're not Muslim.
So we were getting on the plane one
time.
We got on the plane, and there was
a lady who said her name Iman.
And because my wife was like, oh, Iman,
move.
Like, oh, Iman, move so that the lady
can go.
And there was no way to tell that
this woman was particularly Muslim.
And she goes, oh, hi, Iman.
And then Iman looks back at me, and
she goes, she's Muslim.
And then the crazy part is, subhanallah, the
crazy part is, this is weird to say
out loud, but the crazy part is that
lady basically looked at my daughter looking at
me, saw me, and was like, oh, I
listen to heart work.
And we're on a plane, and my daughter
was like, that's my dad.
But when a person has a distinctive, distinguishable
trait that makes you stick out, there are
things that you do that other people don't
do.
And there are things that you don't do
that everyone else does.
And the world will try to pressure you
into feeling as if because that is your
situation that you're wrong.
But we believe as Muslims, we've been taught
this.
The Quran says this, the Hadith literature filled
with references to those people who are unique,
those people who are special.
And not everyone will get it.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, he talked
about that good news, glad tidings, فَتُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَى
glad tidings to the strangers.
Islam came as something strange, and it will
return to be something strange.
So glad tidings to the strangers.
If you feel like something about you is
different, that you have to explain when you're
out at dinner, and you have to ask
the waiter, is there any alcohol in this?
Or is there bacon in this?
Or was this cooked on the same?
Those things that internally you're like, it's so
much extra, like I have to do extra.
The reality is that's what the Prophet, peace
be upon him, was describing you as.
And because you're somebody who's willing to go
extra, the Prophet, peace be upon him, says
what?
فَتُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَى You've now been given a congratulations.
It's like being added to the list that
the Prophet, peace be upon him, has of
people that are special to him, peace be
upon him.
So that person is what Imam Al-Muhasibi
calls a person who knows Allah.
They know Allah like intimately, they deeply know
Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And he says one of the traits that
a person knows Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala,
one of the things that proves that they
know Allah is that he says that they
are afraid of committing sins.
They're afraid.
Now this is an interesting description because we
normally think about committing sins and we think
to ourselves like none of us want to
admit that we have sins.
That's first.
So if I said like raise your hand
if you've committed sins, like half the room
would raise their hand as if the other
half are like angels, you know, malaika.
All of us have committed sins and Islam
does the hard part for us.
Because Islam tells us what?
Every human being commits sins.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, says that.
So it's not even like you have to
admit something that is so embarrassing.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, he said
that.
Every son and daughter of Adam commits sins.
And the best of those who commit sins,
he said, are those who repent.
It's a hadith of the Prophet, peace be
upon him.
So he says, but the person, the relationship,
your relationship with your sins is how you
are defined.
Basically like do you hate them or do
you love them?
The sin is always going to be there.
That's something that you're never going to escape.
And the sin can change by the way.
Like, you know, Isa here, mashaAllah, is one
of our younger guys.
And then we got me who I play
in the 35 and up league and my
basketball league, right?
So between us is like probably 20 years.
And the sins that people like him or
his age struggle with, for me, like we
laugh at those sins, right?
We joke like, oh man, that's what you
care about?
And then he looks at me and I'm
like, oh man, that investment bears interest.
And he's like, what does that even mean?
You know, based on the generation or the
time of your life that you're in, the
sin will change.
And you have to be very aware of
what those temptations are for you.
And how you can manage them.
And what he says is you cannot get
comfortable with them ever.
You have to treat the sin that is
affecting you like a person who has, for
example, like high blood pressure would treat like
salt.
Or a person with cholesterol would treat, you
know, the saturated fats.
Or a person with diabetes would treat sugar.
You have to think about it that way.
I have to be very careful, very selective,
very thoughtful about what I'm putting in because
I know it's going to affect me.
I know that those are all maybe like
conditions that people here are a little bit
distant from.
So let me share one that might be
a little bit more age relevant.
You have to be like the people who
are sensitive to milk at a coffee shop.
Do you guys have oat milk?
All right.
How do you milk an oat?
Have you ever thought about that?
Where's the other?
Okay.
Anyway, so.
But the point being is that has to
be the mindset.
So he says where is the one who
is truly fearful, truly fearful of their sins?
Like the idea of engaging in this, the
idea of coming near it is something that
puts them in a very, very anxious state.
Why?
Because he says you should know that sinning
is the beginning of heedlessness.
If remembering Allah is like a cure for
the heart, forgetting Allah is like when the
heart has become terminal.
Forgetting Allah is when all the bad decisions
happen.
That's when all the bad things start to
happen in a person, when they forget Allah.
When you remember Allah, it's interesting because you
can still make a mistake, but when you
remember Allah, you come back to him.
When you forget Allah, you make the mistake
and you end up going further and further
away.
So the mistake is not the distinction, it's
the remembrance.
So he says sinning, the effect of it,
just like when a person who can't have
dairy has dairy, right?
All of you, shout out, may Allah give
you shifa.
I refuse to test myself, by the way.
I'm just living life as if whatever happens
is normal.
People are like, you should really see if
your lactose intolerant.
I'm like, no, I like cheese too much
and my milk and yogurt and all those
things, right?
So say, mashallah, Allahumma barak, and we'll keep
moving with the dairy train, inshallah.
But you have to think about the sin
in that way.
And he says that that sin can affect
your heart by making you forget Allah Ta
'ala, even if you want to remember Allah.
And there will come a point where, and
we talked about this, the sin itself becomes
exhausting and tiresome.
Like, I'm no longer interested in that.
I no longer want to be a part
of this behavior.
But because it's become so habituated and the
heart is so used to it, every day
will feel like a struggle.
Like when a person wakes up and the
first thing that they reach for is what?
Their phone.
You know, I've recently tried, for the past
three weeks, I've tried.
So my habit when I wake up is
I wake up, I pray, and then I
have to get my kids ready for school.
Whoever thought that the school day should start
at 8, the day of judgment will be
there, inshallah.
And I have a special case against them.
I don't know who it is, but I
got some issues.
Okay, so, I get my kids ready for
school.
And before, just like many of you, like
raise your hand if you're somebody who wakes
up and reaches for your phone.
As if like between the hours of midnight
and 7 a.m., like you're the most
popular person in the world.
You wake up to like notifications and emails
from Amazon, right?
You left this in your car, right?
Just put that phone away.
So I had this issue, just like everybody
who raised their hand, we all have this
issue.
And I realized, subhanallah, that this is what
spiritual servitude or slavery feels like.
It's almost like something you can't stop doing.
So I put myself to the test.
I said, you know, Abdurrahman, what I'm going
to do is, I'm basically going to go
through my entire morning routine.
Fudge your kids, get them off for school.
Sometimes I drive them, and then my wife,
she works at the school a couple days
a week, so she'll take them.
And I said, I'm not going to check
my phone until the kids are gone, right?
And when you have kids, I know some
of you don't have kids yet, but when
you have kids, they become like the most
honest truth tellers.
Painful, painful.
But you need it.
If I have my phone, literally Musa will
say, Baba, put down your phone.
Look at me, Baba, right?
And I'm like, oh my god, right?
This kid, I'm already paying his therapist right
now when he's older.
So these moments, they motivated me to try
to do this.
And what I realized, subhanallah, is that when
something becomes normal to you, you don't even
realize how abnormal it is.
Like when it becomes normal to you, you're
like, oh, this is normal.
But in reality, it's so strange.
Try, next time, you're with a group of
people, and everyone's on their phone.
Try putting your phone down and just looking
around.
They'll think you're a weirdo.
Like, did it die?
Do you need a battery pack?
And try then engaging in conversation, and you'll
realize that you're disturbing the vibes.
You're disturbing the vibes.
But you as a person who's trying to
have in-person conversation is going to be
the one that's looked at as kind of
strange.
Ajeeb, why are you doing that?
Pick up your phone.
Let me show you this funny meme.
Let me show you this video, etc.
So don't ever think that because something has
been normalized and habituated that it is the
right way.
This is the chance now to break from
that, to go away from that.
And that's what sins do.
Sins will convince you that sinning is normal
and is easy.
And then eventually what happens, he says, is
you develop a hardness of the heart.
And the heart becomes completely and totally, like,
basically calcified, rusted over.
It can't feel the things that people feel
normally.
You see things that should evoke emotions within
you, can't feel them.
You feel things or you experience things that
should make you feel a certain way, you
don't experience those things.
Because the heart has been hardened over.
And eventually that brings a person far away
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And he says that those people drift so
far that they eventually drift into the hellfire.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us.
He said rather, the ones who are alive,
the ones whose hearts have life, he said
they are the ones who have restricted their
love of this world and have instead focused
on loving Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Now, he mentions one of the tricks that
he has for stopping this doom cycle.
And he says basically something interesting.
He says, I have found nothing stronger in
negating these bad habits than getting rid of
things that are excess in my life.
I have too much.
Can you imagine a person a thousand years
ago who lives in a small home in
the middle of the Levant who has nothing
in comparison to what we have.
Imagine for a moment like you took everything
that you owned in your life.
Every single thing.
Does anyone have a drawer just full of
random things?
They call it the Kachra drawer, right?
That's what the Desis call it.
And my friend came over once.
He's like, hey, do you have like a,
he's like tape.
And I was like, ah.
He's like, you know, where's your drawer?
I said, which drawer?
He's like, the drawer.
I said, with what?
He goes, the thing that has everything in
it.
And then I said, oh yeah, I have
that.
It's in the corner.
And he goes, yeah, your Kachra drawer.
And he went over and opened it and
there was tape right there.
He knew.
Subhanallah.
He had Fahim, right?
But that drawer alone is such an indication
of who we are.
We have so much.
We have so much that they have made
retail stores called the container store.
The job is to sell you something that
can reorganize and categorize how much you have
in your life.
And this is, subhanallah, what Imam al-Hasibi
is kind of alluding to.
He's saying a lot of your problems come
from the fact that you live a life
of excess, abundance.
And you don't have any moment in your
life where you have to experience a humble
means, a humble experience.
That kind of brings you back down to
earth.
And so, for example, when we think about
Ramadan is coming.
May Allah give us Ramadan.
A person fasts all day long and they
haven't had anything to eat or drink.
And then the time comes for Asr time.
And then eventually it's getting closer and closer
to Maghrib.
The reality is like it doesn't matter what's
on the menu.
People show up and they're just happy to
eat something.
Why?
Because there is a lack of excess.
There's the opposite.
There's actually not enough food throughout the day.
Meaning you haven't had anything, so whatever's in
front of you, alhamdulillah.
But when a person has had food, when
you had breakfast, you had your coffee, you
had your snacks, your lunch, whatever.
How hard is it to figure out a
place to go to eat with somebody?
Let's go out to eat.
Where do you want to go?
Anywhere.
You want to go to Dave's?
No.
How about Noodle Wave?
No.
How about this?
No.
The reality is why?
Why is it so difficult?
Why is it so frustrating?
Well, because we've had too much.
Versus the person who fasted.
Where do you want to eat?
Anywhere.
Anything.
Alright, let's just sit.
What do you have in your car?
That banana is half.
Can I have that?
Because you're hungry.
And that metaphor carries on, subhanAllah, to the
spirit.
When a person has too much, they're unable
to settle for what actually matters.
My dad always used to say that, subhanAllah.
We used to make trouble.
You know, I'm one of five, by the
way.
What do you guys think I am?
The oldest or the youngest?
What do I give?
Middle?
That's so weird.
Raise your hand if you think I'm the
oldest.
Raise your hand if you think I'm the
youngest.
Raise your hand if you think I'm the
middle.
Interesting.
I'm second youngest.
So out of five, I'm the fourth.
Okay?
I'm going to go do some psychological analysis
and cry later about what you all feel
about me.
Okay?
The point being, it's because I have a
good sense of humor.
The point being is we had a lot
of kids.
And so my dad, whenever it was time
to go out to eat somewhere, he would
ask.
And if we spent more than three minutes
fighting or debating, you know what he would
say?
None of you are really hungry.
We're staying home.
That's what he would say.
Because he's like, if you were hungry, if
the first person said Taco Bell, we'd all
be like, bismillah.
Right?
We don't care.
Excess is the thing that causes this sense
of what?
This sense of not feeling this neediness towards
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So he said, I have found nothing.
He's saying this personally.
Stronger in my life than cutting out those
temptations, those whispers of shaitan.
Better than getting rid of the things in
my life.
Getting rid of them.
It could mean like not buying them in
the first place.
Or if you're in a position where you
have them.
The scholars say if something distracts you, you
should give it away.
You know the Prophet peace be upon him,
one time he received a gift.
And during his salah, the gift was a
garment that he was wearing.
And during his salah, he looked at the
garment.
And it caused him basically to focus on
the design of the garment.
And after the prayer, he gave it away.
Not out of, he wasn't angry.
He just said, look, this is not gonna
work.
Like, I want someone else to have this.
Right?
And you meet people subhanallah that are like
that.
Where they have, or if somebody complimented him,
peace be upon him.
If they complimented him for something he had,
he would give it to them.
He would give it to them.
And this is a trait that is so
noble.
Because why?
Because the person has decided that I actually
don't care about myself more than you.
I care about you more than anything.
And that can only be achieved by a
person who decides, you know what, I already
have enough.
I have enough.
Right?
May Allah ta'ala give us that strength.
He says, nothing gives your heart more light
than being generous.
Nothing.
Right?
How many of you love giving gifts?
Wow, we have a lot of stingy people
in here.
Right?
I love giving gifts subhanallah.
I actually, my love languages, you guys ever
done that quiz?
My love languages, my last language is gifts.
Like, I don't like receiving gifts.
It makes me feel very awkward.
No offense if you give me a gift,
I loved it.
Wallahi, I loved it.
Don't check my office if it's just sitting
there.
But I love it, right?
I have other languages that I prefer.
And part of it is that like I
have a very specific taste for myself.
And so I like to buy things for
myself.
And you know, okay, I'm getting way too
therapeutic right now.
But the point being is how strange is
it that the thing that I least like
is the thing that I love to do
the most.
I love giving gifts to people.
Because to me, it's one of not only
the signs of communicating love, but it's also
one of the signs that what?
More so than money or materials, my focus
is actually the relationship that I have with
you.
It means more to me that you feel
this connection than I have the money in
my bank account.
I'd rather spend it so that you feel
special.
And so Imam Muhasabi is saying if you
want to become a person that doesn't fall
to the whims of Shaytan, then see if
you can be generous.
See if you can give your money away.
And charity is good, sadaqa of course.
But see if you can be generous in
like other things with your time.
See if you can be generous with giving
favors to people.
Hey, can I get a ride?
You're like, ah, it's kind of out of
the way.
I always felt it was so ajeeb when
I would watch two people talking.
One's like, can I get a ride?
And they're like, yeah.
Do you have anything to do?
No, I'm free.
But it's just kind of out of the
way, right?
It's kind of as if you're an Uber
driver deciding your route.
No offense if you drive Uber, but you
understand, right?
The point being is like part of being
generous is doing the thing that actually you
don't want to do.
It's inconvenient.
That's actually what makes you generous.
Doing something that's already on your way is
not generous.
That's just efficient.
That's just like, okay, yeah, I can hop
in.
I'm already on the way.
The truly generous person is actually going the
other direction.
And they're like, yeah, come with.
I got time.
I'll take you.
And then they drive back.
And someone's like, why did you go there?
Because the person needed a ride.
Right?
May Allah give us that.
It says nothing illuminates the heart more than
generosity.
Now, subhanallah, what he says here is he
says that a person, in order to be
noble, we're getting to a place, by the
way.
He's getting to a conclusion, which we're going
to arrive at, inshallah, very soon.
He says, I have found that the nobility
of any believer is found in their piety,
their closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And he says that their piety is in
their ability to overlook and pardon people, to
forgive people, which is another language of generosity,
by the way.
When you're generous with somebody, it means that
you're able to forgive them.
You're able to move past.
You're generous with your emotions as well.
Right?
And we remember the story of Abu Bakr
as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu, where he was able
to forgive people.
And it was something that was very notable
about him, is that he would forgive those
that had wronged him.
And Allah ta'ala in the Qur'an
actually tells us one of the stories where
he commanded Abu Bakr as-Siddiq to forgive
the person who actually perpetuated a rumor about
his daughter, Sayyida Aisha radiyallahu anhu.
And even though that rumor was so hurtful
and was so painful, the Qur'an tells
Abu Bakr that in this scenario, forgiveness is
best.
Forgiveness is best.
So part of one way to measure yourself
in life is to ask yourself one question.
How forgiving am I?
How forgiving am I?
If somebody comes to you and says sorry,
what's the process like for them?
First of all, do we even make it
easy?
Secondly, when they do that, do we acknowledge,
do we allow it, do we appreciate it?
Think about when your family wrongs you or
somebody in your life hurts your feelings.
What do you do?
Or do you hold on to it and
try to keep it as leverage?
And you say okay, yeah, we'll see next
time.
I'll remember that.
I'll remember this.
Imam al-Hasibi says if you want to
know truly how close you are to Allah
and you want to be forgiven by Allah,
then you have to be a person that's
ready to forgive as quickly as you were
offended.
And then he says the next layer of
getting to know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is ultimately deferring all of your choices to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So that's part of the forgiveness track, right?
You forgive because Allah wants you to forgive.
I don't want to forgive.
If it were up to me, I would
not forgive.
But Allah tells me forgiveness is better, so
I forgive.
And that's part of that.
Now it gets even more subhanallah intense, okay?
How many of you, raise your hand, if
you looked at your life, your situation, your
status, your income, whatever it might be, right?
Your relationship status, your health, your family situation,
and you've ever thought to yourself, why is
this happening?
Anybody?
Yeah.
It's normal, right?
And everyone here, we all have our own
unique narrative, our own unique stories.
Some of us, it's out of our control.
Maybe your parents don't have a good marriage.
And you're kind of sitting there and you're
saying, man, subhanallah, I kind of wish that
as I was growing up, I could have
seen something that was more harmonious.
Something that I could model my own relationship
after.
Or maybe some of us had struggles with
wealth.
Maybe the person whose parents didn't have a
good marriage, but they were very financially well
off.
And the person who, maybe their parents did
have, mashallah, a good marriage, but finances were
always an issue.
Always a challenge.
Maybe the person who had both, but health
was a problem.
Chronic illness, struggles, in and out of the
hospital, on medication, etc.
And Allah ta'ala gives shifa.
All of these are, like, your state, your
had.
And Imam Muhasibi gives a very interesting, extremely
interesting insight.
When he tells us that part of our
job and journey is to be content with
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Be content with what Allah ta'ala gives
you.
And he says this in both ways, by
the way.
The first one makes more sense to us.
He says, if Allah ta'ala puts you
in a test, and that test is happening,
like, maybe it's financial constriction.
It's not easy.
He says, don't sit there and hold your
head and hands up to the sky and
start saying, why, why, why.
Or if you're sick, and you're struggling with
your health.
Don't point to Allah and say, why, why,
why.
Or, you know, one of the really challenging
ones.
If you're single and you want to get
married, and every night you look up to
Allah and say, why, why, why.
Everyone's laughing now.
I'm being serious, right?
Just based on the Slido questions alone, I'm
being serious.
Okay?
So, why does he say that?
Subhanallah, listen to his logic.
It's so powerful.
He says, know that your job.
God, this is so hard to say because
I'm so not good at this.
Know that loving wealth when Allah has not
given it to you might incur the divine
wrath of Allah.
And loving poverty when Allah has blessed you
might incur the wrath of Allah Ta'ala.
What does he mean by that?
He means that a good Muslim, a person
of strong faith, should be able to find
faith no matter what situation they're in.
Now, I know all of us are thinking
the same thing.
Which is, easy for you to say, if
you're rich, or if you're healthy, or if
you have this and this, the people that
are in positions of prosperity, yeah, of course
their faith is going to be strong.
Because they have it.
But listen to what he says.
He says, the faith of a wealthy person
might not make it in the face of
poverty.
Maybe Allah Ta'ala gave you something because
had He removed it, you would not have
believed in Him.
And then he says, the faith of a
poor person may not have existed if He
had given them wealth.
The faith of a sick person may not
have existed had He given them health.
And the faith of a healthy person may
not have existed had He given them sickness.
You know, Lupe Fiasco, may Allah have mercy
on him, he's not passed away.
May Allah Ta'ala continue to guide him.
He has a line in one of his
songs that I love, and he says, God
will never put you in places you don't
belong.
And when I was reading this, I thought
to myself, wow, subhanAllah.
Allah knows us better than ourselves.
If we find ourselves in a situation in
life, and we become upset, we are actually
focusing on the wrong thing.
Don't ask yourself how you can change your
situation.
Ask, how can I be a good Muslim
in my situation?
How can I still find Allah despite what
He has put me in?
Right?
A lot of people say, they're like, oh,
it's so hard to be practicing and this
and that because my job is so busy.
Or people who are like, you know, it's
so hard to be practicing and focused because
I'm single, I want to get married.
It's so hard to practice when I have
a kid, I'm waking up every hour of
the night, the kid is crying.
And everybody is wishing for a stage of
their life where things become easier.
Once I have this, then I'll be good.
Once I have this, then I'll practice.
Once I get married, then I'll pray Fajr.
And then they're like, we'll pray Fajr together.
Are you done making wudu?
You know, the bowl, this and that.
Once my kid sleeps through the night, then
I'll pray.
Everything is always about what?
This forecasting.
If Allah gives me this, then I'll be
this.
But you know what's amazing?
SubhanAllah, He says no.
He says Allah Ta'ala puts you in
that situation because your job is to find
Allah wherever you are.
And not to make anything conditional.
Don't say that, oh Allah, I will only
start worshipping you when you give me this.
Or I will only be better when I
get this.
That's not how this relationship works.
And SubhanAllah, you think that by getting that,
that you will become free and ready to
worship Allah.
But that thing might actually introduce some unique
challenges that might take you further away.
I always tell people who are single.
Raise your hand if you're single in this
room.
This is not what you, I'm not doing
what you think I'm doing.
Okay.
I always tell people who are single.
Okay, now listen, seriously, I'm being 100%
serious.
Raise your hand, I'm being, this is a,
this is a, I'm an anthropologist right now.
Okay, I'm a sociologist.
Raise your hand if you're single.
Raise your hand.
I'm being serious.
Okay.
Keep your hands up.
Keep your hands up.
Don't look across the aisle.
Raise your hands if you're single.
Now, keep your hands up if you have
gone for Umrah.
Put your hands down if you have not.
Okay.
Raise your hands again if you're single.
Keep your hands up only if you have,
during the last 10 nights of Ramadan, spent
some nights in a masjid and worship.
Good, good, mashallah.
Because I always tell people that come and
complain about being single two things.
They're like, I'm single and I hate it.
I say, you should go for Umrah.
They say, why?
I say, because you can.
Because you have, you don't have anything that's
holding you down right now.
Go.
Go.
Get on a plane and go.
They're like, right now?
I said, yes, right now.
Book your tickets and go.
Why?
Because Allah has put you in a state
in your life where you can go and
experience that.
Or Ramadan.
A lot of people have complaints.
Ah, this and this.
Oh man, tahajjud would be so much fun
if I was not lonely.
No.
Part of the condition of tahajjud is being
lonely.
That's what opens up door.
I'm being, I know that I'm naturally very
funny.
But I'm being so serious right now.
Okay.
So Imam Muhasibi, he says, instead of being
a person that says that your state, your
life, your situation is not ideal, not perfect.
And because of that, I need it to
be this way.
He says, no.
Look at where you are with all of
it.
There's good and there's tough.
There's tough times.
There's sweet and there's sour.
There's some moments, some days where things go
well.
And there's some things where everything is going
wrong.
Allah ta'ala wants you to be able
to locate and find your relationship with Him
amidst no matter what condition you are in.
No matter what condition you're in.
Alright.
And he says, this is the reality of
the divine hadith, the hadith Qudsi, in which
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Verily, amongst
My servants is the one whose faith is
only found in poverty.
And were I to enrich that person, it
would actually ruin him.
While among them is one whose faith is
found by wealth.
And were I to impoverish them, it would
actually ruin them.
There are some people that Allah ta'ala
tells us, they have distractions in the other
side of what they have not been given.
They have delusion in the other side of
what they have not been given.
The same is true for health and for
wellness.
Now we'll conclude.
I started by saying that he focuses on
one trait, and that is Yaqeen.
Yaqeen in Arabic means certainty.
There's an ayah in the Quran that I've
always found so amazing.
Allah ta'ala gives a command, وَعَبُدْ رَبَّكَ
حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ Worship your Lord until you
arrive at certainty.
Now, when you read the verse and the
translation, worship your Lord until you arrive at
certainty, you think to yourself, okay, what do
I do?
Am I supposed to pray until I reach
this emotional state known as certainty?
What is it?
But subhanAllah, when you look at the tafsir,
the explanation, from the people who knew the
Prophet ﷺ, the sahaba and so on, they
all said, الْيَقِينُ, that word at the end,
certainty, is death.
Death.
الموت.
And we, in our American context, we know
the famous, you know that the only thing
that is certain in life is death and
taxes, right?
So we also believe that death is from
the category of things that are certain.
Think about how many hopes and dreams you
have.
Think about how many aspirations you have.
We have so many things that we're looking
forward to.
Like I'm going for Umrah on Saturday, inshaAllah.
I'm so excited.
So excited, inshaAllah.
Leading a group, inshaAllah.
And before then, before Saturday, Allah is testing
me.
Wallahi, I'm being punished.
I'm going to Canada on Friday.
And it's one, one degree.
Not Celsius.
Fahrenheit.
One.
That, you know, science should declare that as
uninhabitable.
It should just be understood that you can't
live in a place that reaches one degree.
Okay?
Everyone's like, oh, you're from Chicago.
I left Chicago for a reason, right?
The Chicago that I love.
I can only be there from May until
October.
After that, ma'a salama.
Okay?
So I am looking forward to my travel.
But there's a very real chance that before
then, my life ends.
And I'm not saying that to be funny.
I'm saying that as a reality, which is
what?
Everything that we hope for is a maybe.
But the one thing we know is going
to happen is death.
That's what we know.
I don't know if I'm ever going to
do this or that.
I hope so.
I want to.
I don't know if I'm ever going to
be able to achieve this or do that.
I don't know for a fact.
I hope so.
The one thing that everybody in this room
can agree on, that they know is going
to happen to them at some point is
that they will die.
Isn't that interesting that Allah calls yaqeen death?
And al-yaqeen in Arabic, when you put
al-iflam, it means like the most certain
version of that word.
So the lesson that Imam al-Muhasabi then
transitions to for the end is he says,
the smart person, the intelligent one, they will
do what they know will absolutely happen.
They will do what they know will absolutely
happen.
They don't plan their life based on hopes
and dreams and aspirations.
You don't make plans based on maybes.
You make plans based on definitely.
And you live your life in accordance to
the things that you know will definitely happen.
No one here goes shopping and spends the
amount of money and then says, maybe I'll
meet a millionaire tomorrow who will pay for
all this.
Nobody does that.
Despite that girl on TikTok who says, what
is your matter?
Nobody does that.
Okay.
There are some people that their mind gets
so broken that they actually live like that.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
But the Muslim has been given this secret.
That your job for a happy life, I
know death is a heavy topic, but in
Islam, death is the topic that makes our
life more productive.
Right?
You remember death because it makes your life
better.
Why?
Because you know that I have to make
sure that in my life that I've been
given, I accomplish what I know I have
to do before my life ends.
I have to make sure that I do
these things.
So he says that certainty is the trait
that you need to chase because the more
certain you are that your life will end,
the better choices you'll make.
The more certain you are.
You know, this year alone, we've had in
Dallas, under the age of 40, janazahs that
I've been to, probably seven.
Maybe, maybe more actually.
Under the age of 40.
I'm turning 37 in February.
Inshallah.
Thank you.
Right?
I'm turning 37 in February.
So when I think about people under the
age of 40 that have passed away, it's
one of the hard things about getting older,
by the way, is that when you get
older, it's no longer like the uncles and
aunties that pass away, but it's some of
your friends that start to pass away.
It's a weird shift.
When you go in your teens and 20s,
you're attending your messages that you get saying,
It's usually your friend's parents or your friend's
uncles and aunties or their grandparents.
Something happens when you hit 34, 35, 36,
where those messages actually, there's a real chance
that it's somebody that you're friends with.
And when you think about, subhanAllah, what happens
to the hearts of the people who are
affected, like the ripple effect of that.
Somebody passes away, if it's a child, may
Allah protect us.
Everyone with children, it's a different kind of
week.
It's a different kind of week or two.
Everyone goes home and no one yells at
their kids.
No one gets upset that their kids spilled
something.
No one gets upset that their kids drew
on the wall.
Nobody.
Because all they're thinking about is like, What
if that was my kid?
Would I really care so much that they
painted on the wall?
If it's somebody who was married, every spouse
goes home with tears saying, I'm sorry.
It's not worth fighting.
Because imagine fighting and then I lose you.
If it was somebody's sibling, every sibling goes
home and they try to reconcile.
You see how death has this interesting effect
on us.
It's the only thing that we know is
certainly going to happen.
And we believe so much in it that
when it does happen, it actually shifts who
we are.
Changes our behavior.
So Imam Muhasabi says the smart person is
the one who changes their behavior before they
reach it.
They don't have to wait for the reminders.
Those will come and that's the nature of
community is that you will be there.
You'll see this but you don't have to
wait for the reminders.
And most certainly you don't have to wait
for your reminder in order to change.
So then he gives his final advice.
He says if you want to be in
a place where when you are passing away,
you have the least amount of regrets.
Because we're all going to reach there.
May Allah Ta'ala take us in a
good way.
This is why one of the du'as
that we should make.
I'm serious about this guys.
You should make this du'a every night.
Say, O Allah, give me what's called khusnul
khatima.
Give me a good ending.
It's interesting.
You don't say, O Allah, don't take me.
O Allah, give me everlasting life.
Who's the only person who asks for a
longer life?
Shaytan.
Shaytan is the one who in his idea,
his success was what?
O Allah, give me life until the day
of judgment.
So we don't follow that path and say,
O Allah, make my life longer.
We say, O Allah, when my time comes,
give me a good ending.
Allow the last thing that I say to
be la ilaha illallah.
What a dream.
What a dream.
I'm sure all of you have seen the
video or the pictures of Khalid Nabhan.
May Allah Ta'ala accept him as a
shaheed.
The famous grandfather that became like the grandfather
of the entire ummah.
And the bombing that took his life yesterday
or today, right?
And subhanallah, I'm sure you saw in the
picture when they had wrapped him and when
they had prepared him for his burial that
there was a smile on his face.
You can see it.
If you're not somebody who can look at
that stuff, then don't force yourself.
But there was a subtle smile on his
face.
And this is the promise of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala for the people that live
their life in a good way and they
end their life in a good way.
That when they meet Allah, it's like a
reunion.
It's not something that they're not looking forward
to.
When it happens, it happens in a way
that is pleasing to them.
Now imagine like when it's time for you
to go.
We all think of death as being so
scary because it is scary.
Even Aisha radiallahu anha, she told the Prophet
peace be upon him, Ya Rasulullah, none of
us wish to die.
None of us wish to pass away.
But the Prophet peace be upon him said,
while that's true, that it's human, he says,
whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to
meet that person.
Aisha said, Ya Rasulullah, we don't like the
idea of death though, it's scary.
The Prophet peace be upon him said, if
you want to meet Allah, if you love
to meet Him, He will love to meet
you.
When that time comes, when that time comes.
So Imam Muhasibi says, in his life, let
me give you the tip, he says, that
I found to be the thing that hopefully
will give me a good ending.
And that is Ar-Ridaa billahi ta'ala.
Being content, being pleased with Allah ta'ala.
And he says there's three things that a
person can do to achieve contentment.
Number one is he says, be a person
that doesn't need a lot, that you're satisfied
with enough.
Just be a person who does not need
a lot, you're satisfied with enough.
Despite the fact that there is contentment.
I'm sorry, that there is excess.
Despite the fact that there is excess, be
content with whatever you need.
And don't take more.
Think of like a buffet.
You go to a buffet, there's delicious food.
But how do you eat?
Do you need to challenge like the parameters
of your stomach?
Or can you just take what you need?
Earlier today we were discussing the iftar menu
for our iftars this year for the community.
And we were talking about like what to
serve.
And we were saying, subhanallah, think about this
guys.
And I'm being vulnerable because we're community members.
So we have to talk about these things.
One of the concerns that we have is
the amount of wasted food in the month
of Ramadan.
I'm going to repeat that.
In the month of Ramadan, there is a
concern amongst Muslims in masajid in America and
the world that there is wasted food.
Not wasted like, oh, it wasn't eaten.
Wasted as if it was people took too
much.
And you can't then return what someone put
on their plate.
You know how many times I've picked up
plates at iftars?
Or anytime.
One or two bites of pizza and then
it's done.
An entire plate full of rice, chicken, whatnot.
It's done.
That's not contentment.
That's a person who's thinking about how much
can I have?
They're thinking first with their eyes more than
they're thinking with their heart.
I'm going to load my plate up and
I'm going to take whatever I want and
then I'm going to dump it.
Why?
Because I'll always have enough.
Subhanallah.
That's not contentment.
Contentment is a person saying what do I
actually need and being satisfied with that.
That's number one he said.
He said when it comes to that stage,
the minute you get there, the next stage
that you can then get is when you
are satisfied when you don't get the thing
that you want.
So number one is you're satisfied when you
have enough.
The second stage of contentment is when you're
working hard for something and it doesn't happen.
What's your relationship with Allah like when your
dua is not answered the way you want?
Like you've been praying, praying, praying, praying and
it doesn't happen.
And it's not a maybe.
You know there's dua's where the answer is
maybe.
Then there's dua's where the answer is like
no.
You know, the door is closed.
What is your state in those moments?
Are you still content with Allah Ta'ala?
Are you still pleased that Allah is your
Lord?
I'm not asking in a way that's like
trying to be condescending.
I'm seriously asking.
Think about that.
When I expect and pray for Allah to
give me something and the answer is definitively
a no.
Am I still pleased with Allah?
That's the second stage.
The first is you take a little bit,
you feel good.
The second is man, I didn't get what
I wanted but I still love that Allah
Ta'ala is my Lord.
And I know that there's something at work
here.
I know that there's something at play.
And I trust Allah more than I trust
myself.
And then he says the third layer of
contentment is the one who is pleased with
Allah even when Allah Ta'ala places obstacles
in their path.
So now you don't have, it's not that
you even have any and it's not that
you have zero.
But it's actually that there's some challenges.
And despite the fact that you have challenges,
you're still pleased that Allah Ta'ala is
the one giving you challenges.
Ibn Ata'illah, he actually said that part
of the mercy of Allah Ta'ala is
that he tells you that he's the one
who sends you these challenges.
Because if Shaytan were the one to be
in control of your obstacles in life, think
about how difficult it would be knowing that
Shaytan hates you so much and he's the
one that can put challenges in front of
you.
But Allah Ta'ala is the one who
places challenges in front of you.
And despite the fact that those challenges are
there, you know that he is the one
that loves you more than even your parents
love you.
He says if you can reach this state
of contentment, then you will find that your
relationship with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will
be successful.
A man came and asked for advice from
a very knowledgeable person named Tawus.
And he said to him, give me some
advice about my relationship with Allah and we'll
finish here.
He says, I advise you to love Allah
so deeply that nothing is more beloved to
you than Him.
There's a statement of Sufyan al-Thawri where
he says that dhikr al-ni'mah, that reminding
yourself of your blessings is a pathway to
mahabbah, is a pathway to loving Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Those days where you feel distant from Allah
Ta'ala, remind yourself of all the blessings
that you have.
Just focus on what Allah Ta'ala has
given you.
Think about the undeservingness, the undeservedness that we
all are steeped in, but Allah Ta'ala
still is so kind.
He still gives us more than we deserve.
Then he says, fear Allah until there is
nothing more feared by you than Him.
Fear Allah until you don't fear anything else
more than Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
You know, you have a meeting with HR
on a Monday morning.
You're like, you're not God.
Don't say that in the meeting, but say
that in your heart.
Okay, it's not HR that controls your risk.
You know this whole TikTok trend where they're
like, watch me getting fired.
You know, it's like, what are you doing?
Can we just live offline for a second?
Okay.
But you're not Allah.
Allah is the one who controls my risk.
I'm fine.
I'll be okay.
I'll be just fine.
Then he says, long for the mercy of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala so intensely that
the fear that you have of Allah is
always measured against that mercy.
You never feel overwhelmed by the fear of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And then he says, once you've accomplished these
three things, make sure that you love people
in a way that you would like yourself
to be loved.
If this is what you can live by,
then you will have what we call a
good ending.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala give us
all a good ending.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us
those people that reach certainty and that when
we remember our certainty, which is the end
of our life, we live our lives better.
When we remember death, we live our lives
better.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
make us those that are anchored to Him.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
make us those that are constantly connected to
Him.
And that even if the connection is weaker
because of the things that we do or
say, that we return back to Him and
we find Him again waiting for us as
He always does.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
purify our hearts and to protect us from
the shortcomings of our sins.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
make it so that when we do make
mistakes, when we do sin, that we come
back to Him in repentance.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
give us the strength to be able to
transcend any of the difficulties that are in
our lives.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
make it so that when we are in
a state, we don't use that state as
an excuse away from Him, but rather we
use that state as an excuse to get
closer to Him.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that
He gives us this realization and that He
never lets it leave us.
Ameen.
Ameen.
Ya Rabbal Alameen.
Wa Sallillahu Ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi
wa sahbihi wa sallam.
Tasliman kathira.
BarakAllahu Fiqh.
Everybody, let's go ahead and go through some
questions inshaAllah.
Okay.
We'll do the questions for about 5-6
minutes, then we'll come inshaAllah for isha prayer.
What to do if I get a bad
or haram thought but don't act?
How do I get that thought out of
my head?
Good.
Very good.
This is actually one of the unique blessings
that the Muslims have.
Muslims have a unique blessing.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, he taught
us that one of the rewards of a
believer is that when a believer gets a
negative thought to act on something in a
bad way and they don't do it, that
that person, Allah Ta'ala rewards that person.
Okay.
So if you don't act, the thought itself
is not an incriminating thing.
Okay.
If you don't act, then Allah Ta'ala
actually rewards you.
And part of the way that you can
mute and stifle those thoughts from coming back
is by not acting on them.
But when you act on them, you typically
open the door for those thoughts to start
to come back in more and more.
Okay.
So when you get a bad or haram
thought, that's not an indication that you're a
bad person or that you're a haram person.
You don't have to wear that haram baseball
hat that people are wearing, right?
The haram halal hat.
You are good as long as you stay
away from that.
How do you get that thought out of
your head?
Then you seek refuge in Allah Ta'ala
and you say, and you keep going, right?
You keep it moving, Inshallah.
Allahu A'ala.
Okay.
How to handle someone letting you go and
not caring about you anymore but you care
for them still.
I guess you make dua for them and
it hurts.
Time heals, Inshallah.
The process of being able to let go,
time heals.
But you also need to put yourself in
a situation where you are not torturing yourself.
A lot of people are like waiting for
time to heal, but their background screen on
their phone is this person's face.
You have to also be smart and be
strategic about not testing yourself, okay?
So if it is a person that is
the thought of them brings you pain or
discomfort because of something, right?
Maybe it was an old friendship, maybe it
was a romantic thing that didn't work out.
Then of course Allah Ta'ala will give
time the ability to heal but you also
need to be smart, Inshallah.
Keep yourself busy with good company.
Keep yourself in the remembrance of Allah Ta
'ala.
Keep yourself around good people, Inshallah.
Keep yourself active and do not think constantly
about what if, what could have been.
Remember the hadith says that shaytan is the
one who loves to use the phrase what
if, what if, what if, what if, right?
Speaking of what if, the next question.
What if I ruined my blessings in this
life by trading it for a sin?
I regret my sins and repent for them
every day but I can't help but feel
like I traded my blessings because I acted
impatiently.
If a person makes repentant, the Prophet peace
be upon him, he said in the hadith,
التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب له that
whoever makes tawbah for a sin that here
means exactly man like لا ذنب له exactly
the person that has no sin.
So if a person sincerely repented to Allah
Ta'ala they don't have to worry that
there's some kind of like mark on their
record.
That's not how Allah forgives.
That's how we forgive.
So the problem, we try to oftentimes project
human experiences onto Allah.
His forgiveness is unique to him.
Just like he's unique.
There's nothing like him.
So you can't think of Allah forgiving you
like how we forgive each other.
We forgive each other but we remember, right?
Forgive but don't forget, right?
You know, that's how we do it.
And we think it's like a sign of
like maturity or whatever.
Allah's forgiveness is absolute.
Allah's forgiveness is perfect.
There's no shortcoming even in his forgiveness, subhanAllah.
We have shortcomings in forgiveness.
He doesn't.
So when Allah forgives you, realize that his
forgiveness, his promised forgiveness is complete.
The person comes back to Allah, he has
promised forgiveness.
And that forgiveness means that the effect of
the sin, generally speaking, will be removed.
However, the reality is this, which is every
action has real life consequences.
Like that is the case.
So if I steal money from a bank
and then I make tawbah, I still have
to give the money back, right?
If I steal from someone, I can't just
say, Hey bro, forgive me.
Allah, you know, I made repentance.
Let me keep the thing I stole.
That's not how that works.
And there's also the effect of the human
being can hold on to memories and to
the experiences and the feelings.
And those take time.
Those take time.
They don't disappear.
Allah forgives you faster than sometimes you can
even process your own growth, right?
And you sometimes don't even forgive yourself.
So Allah has forgiven, but it takes time
for the heart to heal.
Respectfully, I'm going to ask this.
Why isn't there a barrier between brothers and
sisters?
We have two sections here that are the
sister side and the brother side.
And then we have the family section here
in the middle.
InshaAllah.
So JazakAllah khairan for asking so respectfully.
Anonymous, What was the significance in the Prophet
s.a.w. saying take care of women
as one of his last words?
What exactly did he mean by this?
I mean, I don't think it's possible to
like exactly tell us what he meant by
that in a Q&A session.
But the understanding generally is that the Prophet
s.a.w. in his khutbah al-wada
'ah, his farewell khutbah that he gave to
the ummah in Arafah when he was speaking,
he was saying to, you know, giving responsibilities,
make sure you maintain your prayer, take care
of women, etc.
The understanding is that the Prophet s.a
.w. was encouraging and advising the community, particularly
the men of the community, to make sure
that they took care of all of the
women in their lives as was not the
custom in their pre-Islamic cultural days, right?
Women were seen before Islam came as property.
They were seen as insignificant members of society.
They were seen as people that were not
of any value.
The Prophet s.a.w. himself had wives.
The Prophet s.a.w. himself had daughters.
And so he is correcting this incorrect understanding
of how to treat women.
And his advice in summary was, take care
of them.
Because before Islam came, they simply would not
take care of them.
وَإِذَا الْمَوْؤُدَةُ سُئِلَتْ بِأَيِّذَ مِّنْ قُتِلَتْ Like the
Quran says, the baby girl will be asked,
why were you killed?
Because they used to bury baby girls alive
because they didn't see them as valuable in
society.
So the Prophet s.a.w. as he
knows that his life is approaching its end,
he's giving them in his wasiyya, in his
last advice, he's telling them the things that
they need to remember.
The things that they need to focus on
and that was one of them.
Wallahu Anhu.
Okay, one more and then we'll leave inshaAllah.
Man, subhanAllah.
This one is a really serious one.
But I think it's important.
That was the least serious ringtone.
Okay, so, I know that the hijab is
fard.
I've tried wearing it twice.
But I've always struggled keeping it on.
I felt some kind of resentment towards it.
If I end up passing away as a
non-hijabi, will that still mean that I'm
not going to Jannah?
SubhanAllah.
So first of all, hijab is an obligation.
And that is something that is clear in
our religion.
However, a person not wearing the hijab is
not tantamount to disbelief that would put them
in the hellfire instantaneously.
We need to make sure that we understand
that.
At the same time that hijab is an
obligation, a person who doesn't wear hijab is
not instantly doomed to Jahannam.
We need to be careful.
And the reason why we need to make
sure we represent these things correctly is because
when we represent them incorrectly, we create constructs
around things that are of religious nature and
we make them like a zero-sum game.
It's ones or zeros.
That's not how it works.
So, number one, the fact that this person
says, I know it's fard, is actually a
huge step.
MashaAllah.
Number two, the fact that this person tried
and continued, tried again, right, two times, and
struggles and eventually, right, maybe didn't end up
keeping it on, that shows that there's a
level of sincerity there.
Okay?
The feeling of resentment, I think we can
explore and look at, is that a resentment
towards the hijab or is that a feeling
of guilt of not being able to do
what you know should be done?
Okay?
And that's, everyone has guilt, by the way.
Everyone has guilt.
If I end up passing away as a
non-hijabi, okay, this is where I'll pause
the questioner and say, don't think about the
ifs, just try your best and let Allah
Ta'ala carry you to that line.
Try your best.
With everybody.
Replace non-hijabi with something else.
If I pass away and I haven't prayed
Fajr, if I, replace with anything else that's
an obligation.
Don't worry about that because now you're kind
of creating like a very, very interesting, like
obstacle course for yourself.
What you should worry about is seeing how
you can carry on fulfilling your obligation.
How can you do it?
And there's stages, by the way.
Okay?
So maybe there's a person who's not praying
five times a day and they say, if
I die and I don't pray, do I
go to *?
Start praying.
Pray once.
Pray once a day.
Pray twice a day.
If you don't wear the hijab, wear it
on Fridays.
Wear it to Jummah.
There was a girl that I knew, she
started by only wearing it to Jummah and
then she would keep it on after Jummah.
And then eventually she's like, I'm just gonna
keep it on.
And now she's been hijabi for like years.
That was her process.
Some people may have looked at her and
been like, what are you doing?
It's Fajr, you have to wear it every
day.
Yeah, we know that.
We understand.
We all know that.
But human beings need their gradual process.
So if you're not fulfilling any obligation in
Islam, don't treat it as an all or
nothing.
Start working on it.
Don't forget all of the ayat and hadith
about Allah Ta'ala being patient and having
mercy.
Those are all applicable to everybody.
Don't worry about the end result as long
as you are sincerely trying.
There is a companion who the Prophet, peace
be upon him, he described to me, he
said that he entered Paradise and he didn't
even pray a single Sajdah.
And the reason why was because he accepted
Islam and then immediately went out to go
and participate in the battle and he died
in the battle.
The reality is Allah Ta'ala weighed the
sincerity of his intention not the weight of
his actions.
Okay?
Had he been able to pray, he would
have prayed.
So don't worry about necessarily the fulfillment of
the action only.
Worry about the intensity of your sincerity.
And try inshaAllah to whatever degree you can.
Whatever degree you can and you'll see inshaAllah.
And also talk to some sisters who have
put it on.
They know best, right?
But generally speaking, I'm trying to make the
question more applicable to everybody.
If you do something with sincerity, Allah Ta
'ala will note that and He will appreciate
that.
And nothing we do is perfect and Allah
Ta'ala's forgiveness is perfect.
Ameen.
Jazakumullah khairan everybody.
BarakAllahu feekum.
We're gonna head to prayer now inshaAllah.
So if you don't mind inshaAllah the backjacks
lining up in the front.
If you sat on a folding chair, what's
that?
After.
We're gonna load the chairs after prayer inshaAllah.
So if you wanna come back and help
stack them, that'd be appreciated.
But we're gonna head to salah right now
including myself inshaAllah.
So I'll see everybody in the masalah.
Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Oh, yes.
And we are also on break next week.
So this is the conclusion of this book.
We don't have hard work next week inshaAllah.
Enjoy your Monday evening inshaAllah.
And then I'll see you guys when I
get back from Umrah inshaAllah.
Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.