Abdul Rahman Chao – Optimism
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the importance of optimism in driving behavior and avoiding harm in Islam, as well as the need to be mindful of one's behavior in the face of negative events. They emphasize the importance of learning from past experiences and past stories to avoid future mistakes. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of optimism in improving one's life, citing studies that show it improves the quality of life for cancer patients.
AI: Summary ©
When the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
was immigrating from Mecca to Medina.
He didn't do so in a state of
ease. He did it in a state
of fear.
Relying on Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. But knowing
that there was a huge risk.
The Quraysh had put a bounty on the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Dead or alive, 100 camels. Abu Bakr with
him, 100 camels, dead or alive.
And so when Abu Bakr and Mohammed sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam were
leaving Medina they, took, excuse me. When they
were leaving Mecca, they took the necessary steps
and precautions.
And Abu Bakr radiAllahu an, he narrates about
himself and he says,
knowing that the danger that could come to
us
Sometimes I would shift and I would go
on the right side of the prophet as
salallam. Fearing that some danger would come to
him from the right side.
And sometimes, I would shift to
his left side, fearing that some danger would
befall him from the left side. From assassins
and bounty hunters.
And sometimes I would go in front of
him and behind him trying to protect the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
And we know
that the journey was not easy.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam Abuquir,
they encountered
Suraq ibn Malik
who was not yet Muslim at that time.
And yet as he approached the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam,
his horse would sink into the sand.
And then he started realizing that this was
a miracle.
That this There's divine protection.
And later when Abuquhar and the prophet salallahu
alaihi wa sallam were inside the cave hiding.
And
the bounty hunters
were standing
right outside the cave. Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu
he says,
messenger of Allah,
if any of them were to look at
their feet. And another narration,
to just lift their foot up.
They would see our heads at their feet.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam what
did he say?
With complete
calmness,
equanimity,
And in full with full reliance in Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
He said,
What do you think of
worker? The
the the 2 of us here but Allah
is the 3rd with us.
Do not be sad for verily Allah is
with us.
But most people don't know that there is
another story that occurred after this.
And that was the Prophet SAW Alaihi Wasallam
and Abu Qar. As they got closer and
closer to Madinah,
they met a name. They met and they
met a man by the name of
Bureidah.
Bureidah bin
Bureid bin Husayb was was with 70 people
of his tribe.
And they were looking for this man called
Muhammad. And they were looking for this man
called called Abuqir. And they were armed to
the teeth.
If we were in that situation, we would
probably be saying we are doomed. We are
done. This is where the end this is
where the road ends.
But look at the prophet He
sees him and he takes control of the
discussion of the conversation.
And he first asks
Mananta Masmukha, who are you? What are your
name? What is your name?
And so this man said my name is
Bureyida.
And this name Bureyida
comes from the Arabic root
of bard. Something that is cold and calm
and cool.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
then looked at Abu Bakr and he says,
Baroodah
amrunah was saluh. Our
situation
has
There's a calmness to our situation. Our situation
is now cool. And our situation
is good.
Then the prophet as salam,
he says,
from where?
He doesn't give this person a chance to
ask him who are you? He says from
where?
So Buhaida
says, min as min bani aslam
from the tribe of Islam.
And this word
'Islam' is from the root of being saved
and feeling secure.
So the prophet
he used that same root word a play
on the word and he said,
Selamna
You Abu Bakr.
We're safe Abu Bakr. We are safe.
And then later the prophet said then that
man asks him, and who are you? The
prophet says I am Mohammed the messenger of
Allah.
But because Mohammed
started the conversation
with him
and because he was so optimistic. This person
actually
became interested in Islam.
And he in fact embraced Islam.
And he went back to his tribe folk
who were standing off to the side
and he called them all to Islam and
they embrace the Islam.
Brothers and sisters,
what do all of these stories from the
story of the Hijra? What do they teach
us?
They teach us
that not only did the prophet have an
abukul they have intense
strong feelings of reliance in Allah Subha Nt'ala.
But specifically here for today
it is a lesson for us on optimism.
So what is the root for optimism?
Optimism
is not
just simply thinking good and being positive.
It is thinking
that the outcome
and that the events that are going to
happen in the future are generally positive. They
don't deny that there could be some risk.
And optimism,
is something that should propel you to action.
And it starts by having a good
assumption and thought
and perspective
on Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Brothers and sisters, in pre Islam Arabia, the
society was
controlled and paralyzed by superstition.
So people would go on trips based on
how a bird flew. So if a bird
flew to the right, they would say, yeah.
We're going on the trip. And if the
bird flew to the left, they would say,
we're not going on this business trip. In
fact, they even had this cup that they
would have these sticks inside. One would say
ifal
and one would say latafal.
And the third one would be blank. It's
basically they would draw lots and they would
throw it out. And whichever
whatever
stick comes out, they would use that
to determine if they should take a decision
or not.
And Islam came to liberate
people from superstition.
And instead embrace optimism by having tawakul in
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. The prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam he says, laadwaalatuyara
walahama,
walasafar.
And these were things that they used to
think of. They used to believe that they
were negative. So they used to think that
diseases
was a bad omen. So the prophet said,
just because you encounter
someone with an illness, it doesn't mean that
you will automatically get sick and that you
will die. And we know from medical research,
not every disease is
contagious. The
prophet
he says, in another nation that augury, basically
looking at birds and determining
the future and seeking omens from it. And
that is shirk. That is associating partners with
Allah.
And no And he also forbade the way
how they used to look at owls. And
they should think that, oh, if the owl
was doing this, then this is a bad
sign.
The Quraysian, the the pre Islamic Arabi, they
used to think that the month of Safar
was a horrible month.
It was a month of sadness
and
misfortune. But what did the prophet of salam
instead what did he like instead?
Kana, you are jibuhu al fa'l.
He used to love optimism.
A good omen.
Not that he would look at something and
think that that is what's going to determine
the future. But he would hear something good.
Let's say for example, he would hear someone
in the suk, in the marketplace saying, Yafa
is
You Rabbi.
Oh so and so you're going to win.
Or so and so you're going to make
money today. He would think in a positive
way and it would propel him forward.
Brothers and sisters,
pessimism
is what paralyzes you.
Because you think of the worst situation.
And how many parents today
see their kids slip up once,
twice, 3 times. And they have already pre
condemned them for the rest of their life.
So pessimistic thinking that their kids are on
the way to *.
Be optimistic.
Know that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is is
in charge. That he will guide.
Look at the prophet when he faced the
people of 5
And many people they confuse the story of
5.
And they think that after the prophet was
stoned
and that the angel Jibril came down and
he said, oh, Muhammad, here's the angel of
the mountains. If you wish,
he will take this mountain these 2 mountains
and he will smash the people. Many people
falsely
have heard that this is about smashing the
people of Ta'if.
No. No. No. No. No.
This is about smashing the people of Mecca.
La'utbif Alayhim Al Akshabein Yaani Al Makkah.
Why is it about the people of Mecca?
The context is when the prophet was
rejected from 5 and right before he was
entering Mecca,
the angels came to him because the prophet
knew that the people of Mecca would jeer
at him. That Not only did we reject
you but the people of
Ba'ath also rejected you.
So the angel came down by the permission
of Allah to ask Muhammad,
if you wish I could smash these 2
mountains together. Yeah. I need to punish the
people of Mecca and completely obliterate them. Why?
Because they are the cause
of why you were evicted from your land.
But look at the optimism of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. He didn't say yes.
They deserve what they get. They should all
be destroyed.
No. The prophet shalallahu alaihi wa sallam he
says, no. But I hope that from their
progeny
that there will be those who worship Allah
alone
without any partners.
The The prophetess of allahu alaihi wa sallam
one time visited
an old man who was very sick.
And he had a raging fever.
The prophet as salam visited him. Of course
the prophet as salam cared about him. He
was empathetic.
And the prophet as salam said As he
entered he says,
It
is okay. Insha'Allah,
it is a means
for expiation of sin. Purifying your situation.
And any person would be able to think,
wow the Prophet SAW Salam is visiting me
and making a Dua for me.
Once in a lifetime opportunity. No. But this
man was so pessimistic
that he
said
He said
absolutely not. Look how rude he was subhanahu
wa sallam. He says absolutely not.
It is indeed a boiling
fever
that is boiling
inside this super old man that's gonna send
him to his grave.
The prophet said
and if that is so then yes. Fana'am
Idan.
If that is how you see your situation
that you feel so pessimistic that you're just
going to die off, then yes. The prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam started leaving.
And not far from when he had just
stepped outside the door
of this man.
He passed away.
Medical research has proven that optimism
has a positive impact on cancer
patients.
It improves the quality of life.
We mentioned that as a supporting evidence to
the story of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam. Not because we believe it now because
the scientists say so.
But because the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
teaches us that he should have been,
optimistic at that time.
Brothers and sisters,
many people mistakenly
think that to be optimistic
is to be like this happy go lucky
person. To think everything is rosy. That is
not true. At Tafa'ul
being optimistic
is not about ignoring the risks.
It is about
thinking
and not forgetting
the silver lining and the positive things that
could come from your situation.
When the Munafiqun
in Madinah spread the rumor that Aisha was
an adulteress, walayadubillah.
See, they fumbled so badly because they
could have just said, we have some questions
about her moral character. No. But they went
straight to the worst situation. And they said
she committed adultery which is completely false.
So when that when that rumor started circling
around Medina. And people and the prophet was
in pain and sadness from all of this.
What did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say?
Those people
who brought this slander
Right?
Those believers, they think that this is bad.
But what does Allah say to them?
But indeed there is goodness in it.
And a lot of people misunderstand this verse
and they think that we as Muslims we
when we say we need to be positive
that means we just simply deny the pain
that has happened. No.
It's not denying the pain that happens.
It's simply saying and don't forget
that there could be good that comes from
it.
That there could be good that comes from
it. See the positive light within it.
Finally brothers and sisters.
When the prophet
was,
preparing for the Battle of the Trench. When
10,000
Meccans and the Confederates
were coming to exterminate all the Muslims and
destroy all of them at once.
They were digging the trench and they came
upon this rock that could not be broken.
The prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, took his
pick pickaxe
and he smashed it. And what did he
say? He said Allahu Akbar.
Allah is greater. I have been given the
keys
of the Levant in Syria and Lebanon Palestine.
Such a distant dream for the passerby. The
one who think What are we talking about?
Mecca is still not liberated.
And then he struck the rock again. And
he said, Allahu Akbar. I have been given
the keys
to Iraq and to Faris and to Persia.
And I can see the red walls and
the red pillars
of Persia. And the 3rd strike, Allahu Akbar.
I have been given the keys of Yemen.
And I can see its doors from here.
What do the believers
say?
They say that we believe.
SadaqAllahuwara'asool
Allah has fulfilled his promise.
But what do the hypocrites say?
They say Allah and his messenger have given
us nothing but delusion.
To be optimistic
you have to be prepared to be tested.
Because it is easy to be optimistic
when things are nice and rosy and they're
going your way.
The test is when they are not going
your way that you think of the best
outcome
and you accept the predestination of Allah.