Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera – Curing Sloth and Spiritual Idleness
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insha Allah today the second point we discuss is something
unfortunately many of us.
Many of us are victims of this is sloth and spiritual idleness.
In Arabic, it's called Castle, laziness. In other words,
spiritual laziness. A person is very active.
A person is making huge amounts of money. A person is able to help
and assist so many other people in doing a lot of worldly things.
When it comes to spiritual
accomplishment.
All the excuses are found. That's essentially what Castle is. And
batalla in Arabic, there's another word called Baba, which is
spiritual idleness. So sloth and spiritualize. sloth is actually
one of the the major sins in the Bible in the other religions as
well. He was called sloth. Sloth just doesn't mean somebody who's
slow, but it's essentially somebody who is not doing their
best not doing their best to do something for their Deen.
What the way he defines it is it means lacking motivation to do
good.
lacking motivation to do good and being aloof in achieving levels of
perfection. You don't care about perfection. You don't want to
enhance yourself, you are satisfied with the status quo.
This is one of the biggest problems that you can deal with
what their oedema mentioned. And this is from experience you can
know this. There are people today who,
for example, they only pray Juma in the masjid.
Right. But their intention
is that while the masjid is far from my house, and it's very akin
inconvenient, takes me half an hour to go and do one salats I
mean, what's new? That's mean for a person who's closer Listen,
maybe 1520 minutes, takes them double the time.
But their intention is that I would love to go closer to a
masjid and I would love one day to start praying in a masjid
that person is better off than no one says the budget is too far
from my house. I'm too busy. I don't have time the Imam takes too
long. That's another complaint not saying you do. But that's a
complaint.
Because there is one Masjid that I go to quite frequently the door
prayer is between 12 to 15 minutes.
But people have gotten used to it in the local area. Where's the
next question? Only seven minutes.
So it's a big difference. But these are all excuses. If the
excuses that No, no, this is not for me, I'm too busy,
then the person will never improve and never change
if a person is constantly going out with the wrong people, and he
thinks he must do this for his job. If a person is constantly
drinking, drinking, because he goes out with certain clients and
he thinks he has to fit in, in corporate in the corporate world.
And the person thinks is justified because I have to earn a living
and I have to feed my family and I have a lifestyle that I must
maintain, then that person is never going to increase. If a
person is at work and he's forced to shake hands with women he
doesn't want to do so.
He does it out of you know he doesn't know how else to deal with
the situation and he feels guilty inside and he feels that one day
inshallah I will not do this. And I will find myself a different job
and so on and so forth. Then that person is going to get somewhere.
If a person today cannot make his salad in the masjid, but he feels
no I want to and I would love to his heart is in the masjid that
inshallah one day Allah will make sure that that happens.
It's about it's about not being satisfied with your status quo
because we can never be perfect. The journey to Allah is endless.
It's Allah is infinite, the journey to His infinite and thus
we can always be better. And one of the greatest examples of give
you is just think about this Ramadan How many days have passed
have this Ramadan. Nine days have passed? How many of you think that
you are doing a better Ramadan this year than you did last year?
Or is it the same package that you're using? You know, in the
world we talked about packages?
We talk about many different things like this you buy a suit, I
mean you know the first time you need to go to an interview, you
just graduated. Any suit will do you borrow or maybe you go to
George Azzedine you buy suits Primark, but once you start
climbing up that ladder, you won't want to be caught dead in a suit
from some of these places than it needs to be and stitch stuff
afterwards eventually.
So we upgrade
Eat when it comes to food. We're consumers of good food we know
which restaurants to go to. We have we have a critical
understanding of these things. When it comes to our ABA and
worship we're in Slough the same Ramadan package that we've been
doing for the last 10 years we're doing the same package that no
frills off the shelf generic brand shop brand package.
When are we going to get upgrades in our theme?
I mean, if you've got a phone that's a bit old you want to
upgrade don't you?
You would like an upgrade you may not want to do it right now but
you are you have an intention for an upgrade. When is our D when is
our Ramadan gonna get upgraded?
I stopped making dua from before Ramadan Oh Allah make this Ramadan
better than any Ramadan before it. Because otherwise, how else am I
going to get it better? I always hope that it's better than last
year. I don't know if I accomplish that or not. But I always hope so.
At least hope gets you somewhere in sha Allah, of course you need
to do work with that. But if I think look, this is my Ramadan
schedule. This is all I'm going to do. That's what I've been doing
every and that's what I'm going to do come on 10 years, you haven't
made a difference. Come on, you haven't adjusted your work. You
haven't adjusted your routine, your sleeping time, your Quran,
reading time, and so on and so forth.
So
this is an extremely blameworthy attitude. This is not natural, by
the way. You know, the foolishness, there's an element of
natural, there's the there's a natural element there. But in this
case, it is it is just shaping. It is shaytaan and lassitude and
sloth as they call it. That's why Allah subhanaw taala says, The man
has nothing except what he strives for
what at least a little insert the Illuma. Sarah, for the InSign is
only that what you're going to strive for, it's not going to come
for free.
handout I mean, maybe we're spoiled in this country, you don't
work, you still give you money. If you work a bit, they're still
giving people have completely measured, I'm only going to work
for this many hours. Otherwise, it's not worth me working for that
much more because then it's I'm working on getting the same money
that we're getting benefits. We've kind of spoiled. The dean doesn't
work that way. In the end, you only get for what you really want,
what you do and what you really want your intentions and your
actions in the mail. Merge. orbignya actions are according to
intentions.
A lot of people say I've got good heart, I've got good intention.
But the Hadith doesn't say have a good heart a good intention. He
says in the Malama lubing actions, our intentions, you do the action,
then Allah will give you based on your intention. So even if your
action was a bit weak, it was a bit floppy here and there but you
have a good intention. That's going to matter. You tried your
best, that's what it means. It doesn't mean you don't do
anything, just have a good intention.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam actually has a dua Allah who
mainly are also becoming a castle.
Allahumma inni are also becoming ill because it's a dua not for
himself. Far be it that the prophets Allah lorrison Be pray to
Slav. But this is to teach the ummah. Oh Allah is seek your
refuge from sloth and laziness, from idleness. Okay,
it's leading to it leads to the ruination of one soul and body. It
causes one to resemble the lifeless, the lifeless, because
you're not getting anywhere spiritually in the Hereafter.
And
it's without any wisdom.
Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad, he says, from a spiritual perspective,
one can be slothful in Deen, despite a very, very busy life.
Now, this is very important this token in the modern context, that
in the very busy life that a lot of us lead, especially living in
London, and the high rents and so on and so forth, right. One can be
slothful, despite being so busy, saying I got no time
to avoid obeying his creator, a person will find 1000 tasks to
perform.
We will find 1000s of things to do I must do this. I must do this.
And yes, we must do all of those things. Right?
So that we don't do Salat or you don't go to the masjid or you
don't do Quran reading or you don't do anything extra.
Now, the problem is that all of these 1000s of tasks these may
take the form of business or pleasure he may take he may work
12 hours a day and neglect his prayers. He may work a taxi
was 14 hours of 16 hours. Because every hour counts as money. It's
your own. You're you're in it's your own business there.
And the worst, the people who are the worst in this case are people
who own their own business asked me, it's the biggest challenge
because you can't, you have to bring your business home
when he worked for somebody else was calm German, and you come
home.
When it's your own business, you're sleeping your business,
you're you're dreaming your business, very difficult to make
that distinction, though it is baraka in business, but one has to
be careful because in everything there's Baraka, there could be
fitna as well.
If you misuse it, this is the way nature of the dunya is
so he says
he may work 12 hours a day and neglect his prayers the pressure
of work
anesthetizes he said sense of spiritual duty
it's like it's a numbed the spiritual duty is not because
you're so busy you feel that's important. And this is not
important. So you get numb you can't feel the pain. You can't
feel the spiritual pain competing in world in world in the world in
in worldly increase has distracted you hola como taka Thor? This
essentially what is hola como taka for complete a competing in
worldly possession, an increase has distracted you. The person may
take a hiking holiday in Tibet, even risking his life. People do
this, I must do this. It's part of my career.
For the same reassuring and this a nest of this, I don't like the
single I don't like the way the English
pronounce this word.
And this theologist is the American way and he has a nice
sophist. Just a very complicated way of saying, in our time, most
highly active people are slothful. In fact,
ours is an age of sloth. The slothful person is a manic
depressive.
But the devil promises them only beguilement
are my era The Homer Shavonne are in LA hoorah. I think about where
we are in this. They move energetically from act to act,
filling life with busyness.
Filling our lives with busyness. But at depth they are stagnant
because you're not getting anywhere.
The material possession material accomplishments the material
position and right may be increasing. You may be making more
contacts, but spiritually there is no contact with Allah subhanaw
taala and the person will feel empty and devoid inside it's clear
because without that there's no need in the hearts.
The believer may be outwardly calm. The believer on the other
hand, maybe outwardly calm indifferent to worldly increase
but his heart is a wellspring of Allah's remembrance. May Allah
give us the toufic abou early adult Cox's Verily the slothful
are those whom the supreme the real ol Huck has fast them to
their feet weights of spiritual failure.
Those people who are slothful they're basically tied down with
weights of slothfulness,
Cleveland spiritual failure, forsaken from Allah subhanaw
taala. So he chooses for them remoteness from the Divine, he
chooses for them to be far from Allah, far from him, and distances
them from the station of closeness to him. And that is the reason
they like behind. If you are slothful, if we are slothful is
because
it's because we are far from Allah.
Don't ask why you don't get off with the 100
that I can't get up for daju
Is it because Allah doesn't want me to get up with Agile? I'm
talking about the 100 Some people are challenged with prayer
that they can't pray five times a day outside Ramadan.
Is it because Allah doesn't want you to pray? Because I'm so sloth
he's just he's just forsaken me? That's a very bad it's a very bad
feeling to have.
Allah preserve us and protect us from distance.
Imams tsunami
highlights the basis of spiritual idleness.
He released that one of his ancestors said that contempt for
the mandate stems from the dearth of one's realisation of he who
mandates can we put that in simple English?
You know, when you don't feel like doing good deeds, it's because you
haven't recognized the one who's told you to do the good deed
So when you start learning about Allah subhanaw taala, through the
tough series of the Quran, and through the Hadith, and through
the sayings of those who recognize him, and you understand who he is
that he's looking after you, your Tawakkol will increase, your love
will increase. And when your love increases, then you will be
praying, because you're not frightened of his punishment, but
because you want his satisfaction.
And any employee that does that, who works for a highly multi who's
highly motivated for the company they work for, they do a better
job than the one who's just going there to make money.
Both are going to make money, but one is going to do much better.
And that company is just going to work much better than others. And
that's why in the business world, they moved from the controller,
the controller environment, in businesses to the therapeutic
environment, they call it where the word is the therapeutic, you
have a few different you have the controller, you know, the
therapeutic you have the misete messianic messianic is that you
have like an icon, somebody who just drives everybody until he's
there, it's all great. If he's gone, then he breaks, the
controller is everybody's control. But in that then people don't feel
connected. What they do is they just work for their time, and then
they leave that they work, you know, they try to work at that
time. The therapeutic was like Google and so on, where they give
you lots of food, they let you do exercise, they give you all of
these other perks and so on, they make you feel part of the culture,
you feel like Google, right, and thus you do more.
It's different. Now each one of them have their pros and cons.
That's why the most effective is a mixture of all of them. It's
called the ecocentric.
That's just from a management perspective. But it's the same
thing in this case that if we don't understand Allah, then how
are you going to worship? That's why you don't feel like we should
read the Quran with meaning. Ponder, see what Allah is read
those stuffs yours read those Hadith about Allah subhana wa Tada
see what Allah wants and how he loves us. Then we understand that
when Allah loves somebody, and the way he addresses us, then things
may will make a big difference. Then we will start wishing
worshiping because we want to worship Him, not because we fear
of hellfire.
Fear of Hellfire
is only the starting point for people
and these things because even I thought Allah Rahim Allah he says
that, see the knifes it has to become used to something before it
starts doing it willingly. So if you want to introduce for example,
if you feel that I can't make one Salah today in the masjid because
I'm very busy. Right? Then you will always remain like that in
the beginning enough to force yourself to put that into your
timetable and come to the masjid. Well, let's just say that, like,
if you feel that I cannot outside of Ramadan, sit and read Quran for
20 minutes. I just don't have the time. This is the biggest excuse
everybody has I don't have the time. Right? Is there any other
excuse? Right? Most people want to read Quran, they want to sit down
for 10 minutes of vicar extra. But the excuse I don't have time. And
genuinely what happens is that we just Rashomon, I guarantee you
that if you do for 30 to 40, days 14 is generally a maturing period.
If for about 40 days, you force yourself somehow or the other with
some discipline, to sit and do vicar for 10 minutes a day extra.
Or to read Quran for 20 minutes. After that, it will become easy
for you to do it. You've just made it part of your life.
But until then it's going to be difficult.
But once you forced yourself to do it, then the nurse will say, okay,
that's part of my package. Now. I'm going to do it.
That's the benefit of Ramadan to carry on outside with what we do.
And not to think that once it comes, it's holiday. No, it's
finished. We go back to wherever this was just 30 days of
inconvenience.
Couldn't get proper sleep. It okay, I can understand the food
but prophecy but couldn't get proper sleep, work was effected
and so on and so forth. It's a sad way to look at it. It's supposed
to be seen as a way to build up. May Allah give us a trophy.
Indeed, one of the sages said Whoever keeps hungry
based on sound knowledge is not accessible to the devil. Actually
no before that tsunami also actually these are practical
issues. Salami also attributes much of sloth to one's belly being
full. Your belly is constantly full. You're constantly the
shaytaan has more effect because we have less calories
psychological.
I was just discussing recently somebody who's got a lot of sexual
urges, the way to curb them, especially for young people, the
way to curb them, you know, to remove themselves from *
and other things is to cut out on them.
Little Things is number one is to fast and the price of awesome
suggest that already. But then in addition to that, to cut out red
meat, and to cut out sugar
from a practical perspective, cutting out sugars and red meats
will assist you and help you in curbing the knifes of desire these
things feed the nuts and desire.
That's why one of the sages said Whoever keeps hungry based on
sound knowledge, not hungry for any other reason, but in a
measured and in a proper way, then that person is not accessible to
the devil.
It's the practical treatment for sloth, as our lamina. Hello, he
says is to keep company with people a vigor and motivation,
then you will get motivated. If all of your friends are all slough
full people, then where are you going to break out of that?
They're going to make fun of you. And we then bend to peer pressure.
Even adults do that. Look at culture. Look what culture does to
people. Every day I get exaggeration. We get so many from
you know certain communities specifically.
My father wants me to marry this cousin
in Pakistan or wherever. And I don't want to marry him because
he's like this. He's like,
but it's because of culture. It's his brothers
or sisters daughter.
Powerful peer pressure. Culture is very powerful.
You have to break out of that. And you have to do something for
yourself. You have to understand why should I sell my dunya? Sorry,
why should I sell my Asahara for somebody else's dunya?
Why should I sell my hero for somebody else's duniya
Unfortunately, most people are followers. Practical treatment is
to keep company with people with vigor and motivation and you will
become motivated and to avoid company of the slothful and idle
slothfulness, and idleness leads to being barred in the next life.
Along with regret and sorrow, as one will see the spiritual work of
others while having none of your own. May Allah subhanaw taala
grant us the Tofik to
to be motivated. Let's make a short dua Allahumma and the Santa
Monica set up about the Attorney General every crown la mayor
hydrea Oklahoma Medical History la mayor Hannah
subharmonic no good no Milady mean just Allah who I know Mohamed
Amma. Oh Allah we ask You for Your Mercy of Allah. This is a month in
which your mercy showers down. Oh Allah, it's a storm of Your mercy
and blessing of Allah. We want to be fully drenched in this. Oh
Allah fully drenched us in this. Oh Allah allow us to take
advantage of every moment of the concentrated bounties that are
being showered at every moment of this month of Allah do not make us
of the slothful our law remove our slothfulness of Allah make us
motivated. Oh Allah accept us all for the service of your deen of
Allah awful. We ask that you forgive us all of our misdeeds our
transgressions, our wrongdoings, our sins of Allah, the open ones
and the silent ones, those that we remember those that we have
forgotten, and are Allah above all we ask that you removed from us
those sins that have become part and parcel of our life, and no
longer are we even now considering them to be sins of Allah What is
this ignorant where is this ignorance is going to get us to
our Allah we ask that You grant us awareness that you grant us
insight. You grant us divine enablement and tofield. And our
Allah we ask that you make us yours. You grant us your love and
the love of those who love you. You make your obedience, beloved,
in our heart, your disobedience hated in our heart. And Allah we
ask that you bless all of those here with forgiveness that nobody
be returned without being forgiven. Oh Allah, we ask that
you abundantly send your blessings on our messenger Muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and that you granted his company in
the hereafter. Subhan Allah big urbanized city and my Aussie
foreigner Salaam and Alamo city