Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera – IMPORTANT TALK!!! It’s all about the Narrative
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laid off nine Rahim hamdulillah
Al Hamdulillah. Hamden, Kathy on the given Mubarak and fie Mubarak
and it can be your head bombana We have
John Leger who are Manawatu or Salatu was Salam WADA so we say
you did have even more stuff Salalah Matera rd you are either
the evil soft, we will recover seldom at the Sleeman cathedral
and below Mateen. Another art, my dear respected brothers and
sisters, oh, dear friends.
It's honored to be in your midst today to gather together like
this.
In these days, when you can actually hear many, many talks
online,
there's everything available on YouTube, and other places.
And
when you're listening to something online, you can actually
if you miss something, you can actually make them repeat it.
You can stop them and rewind them. You can make them go double the
speed if they're speaking too slowly.
You can make them go faster.
But we still gather together because that's a human thing to
do.
Human beings are social creatures. There's certain benefit and
experience that you can't have online.
So
it's always beneficial for believers to come together
especially in their house of Allah subhanaw taala.
Because as believers, we believe in a spiritual dimension.
That not only are you just listening to a talk,
a speech but rather when we enter the masjid we say Allah hum if
daddy above rock medic, oh Allah open up the doors of your mercy
for me.
So essentially, if you haven't made that door, then I make that
door on behalf of everybody in you can say I mean, so when we sit
here the doors of mercy should be opened and thus we sit and we bask
in this mercy that is descending and in sha Allah then we take it
back home with us,
unless we lose it on the way somewhere.
So, today, the discussion is about the halal of Allah. Helene in
Arabic is a very intense term for friendship comes from the root of
Hilda which means friendship. You have a number of words in Arabic
that expresses relationships. So Sadiq
Sadiq is a friend, somebody who you're true to come from siddik So
in Arabic Sadiq is a friend. But if that friendship gets even
stronger,
then it becomes Helene.
So you can tell that Ibrahim Ali Salam had a much stronger
relationship with Allah subhanaw taala than just the normal
friendship. That's why he's Holly Lulu. That is his title Hollywood
Allah, the Hollywood of Allah.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam ala Rasulillah said Allah
Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
He then there is another term for him, which is the Habib of Allah,
the Beloved of Allah that shows the most intense form of
relationship. So you have Sadiq
you have Helene, and then you have Habib.
But Holly Lulu was
quite an intense relationship. And the reason for it is you can only
show truthfulness to somebody else. You can only show
a full, honest relationship and faithfulness to somebody else. If
you've been tested,
if people have just gone through normal times, you know,
nothing out of the ordinary.
That is very easy to work with someone.
Like if you've got a co worker, somebody you work with, and things
are just going normal, it's very easy to get along as long as
you're a half decent person and they're a half decent person and
he's fine. half decent people get along so many people with extreme
ideologies or temperaments or Outlook reactions that generally
get in trouble.
However,
we are normally challenged when things become upset the stabilized
imbalanced that's when we're not used to those situations. Most of
us are very good at just normal form of relationships. When things
become the destabilize something confusing happens complicated
takes place some trouble Europe's you're confronted with a
challenge, then we're because we're not you
used to that, we will then react in different ways.
And that's really what matters.
That part is what really matters because that's when you know
whether you have a friend or somebody that will desert you.
And Ibrahim Ali salaam, was tested numerous times with some
with tests that were
intense.
They were tested
with some intense forms of trials and tests by Allah subhanaw taala.
Directly. The story of Ibrahim Ali Salam aside from the tests, which
are generally spoken about once we in two months time, just over two
months time, it will not hurt everybody is going to be speaking
about Ibrahim Ali salaam Hiji is going to be around.
It's going to be hedge time and everybody's going to be speaking
to my Brahim Ali Salam, in fact we're going to be doing for those
who go for Hajj, they're going to be doing something that Ibrahim
Ali salaam, you can say started from him. So the stories of the
test of Ibrahim and Islam is quite well known. We may allude to some
parts of it. But I find that one of the biggest stories, narratives
one of the biggest lessons to draw from Ibrahim and Islam story is
how a person is able to change his perspective, a narrative.
Now, I don't want this to sound too complicated. But narrative is
something that we all relate to. Every one of us has a narrative
that we follow. These are deep seated assumptions,
deeply held profound beliefs, that color the way that we look at the
world.
They are things that are unquestionable to us.
When we look at something we will analyze and judge those things
based on our deep seated
biases.
The results that I come up with the
the judgment that I may have will be very different from somebody
else,
based on how we've been brought up,
what we have learned, what we have assimilated.
And thus what is our worldview?
People have cultural narratives. People have selfish narratives.
People have religious narratives. People have liberal narratives.
You can have as many narratives, you know, there are so many
narratives. Narrative is the way you look at something, the way you
judge something, give you an example.
It's so important to have the correct narrative. What is the
correct narrative? The correct narrative is that which goes in
accordance to what's the reality?
What is the reality? How do you know the way you're looking at
something? Your belief in something is the reality.
You're going to say something different, I'm going to say
something different, we can argue about it. So which is the reality?
What is the truth?
How do you determine that truth? The truth, as we know, for us the
source is Allah subhanaw taala.
Our sources Allah subhanaw taala.
You've got two sisters, both brought up in the same house. Same
kind of upbringing.
One just had some friends at school that convinced her that she
should act religiously, and thus she should cover up.
The other one hasn't had that exposure, the family was more
liberal. In that sense. The mother doesn't wear a hijab, for example.
You've got two sisters brought up in the same house.
One finds it so easy to go out and represent her faith. The other one
has to hide it. She can't do it.
What's the difference?
Why is one able to do it and not the other? What makes that
difference? What gives one?
The conviction to do something and the other one doesn't have that
conviction?
Where does all of that come from?
Give you an example.
In the time of the Prophet sallallahu sallam, there was a
deep seated narrative that God was not close.
You have to go through the idols. You couldn't go to Allah directly.
Allah subhanaw taala had to break that down through Rasulullah
sallallahu Sallam
numerous verses in the Quran
what you're looking at what you're looking at Allah Who were the who
is it who will leadin Allah you don't want to be you know what
either to Kerala Xena mean duty he loved me a step she rune
when the
When Allah is mentioned the loan, the faces undergo change. They
don't like it. But when those besides Allah mentioned the idols
and the gods, then they get very excited even though they believed
in God they believed in the Supreme Being but they just felt
that everything else was a intermediary in between.
Allah subhanaw taala says in the Lavina, Mystic moon and anybody
saying Hola, Johanna Delphine, those who consider themselves to
be too arrogant, too big to call Unto Allah directly. Then they're
going to enter into hellfire.
Allah then says what are the rumen do Nila Himalayan Farooq Avila to
rock? Why do you call on to that all those things, those idols that
cannot benefit you, nor harm you.
Now, what's very important to understand here is idols not being
able to benefit you, and not being able to harm you
is something that they all deep down knew about and believed in.
How could you not?
You know, for the whole life, you've been worshipping them
putting food in front of them, there still is ever
the main with your own hands. I mean, nowadays, you could probably
use digital printers. Right? But in those days, there were no
digital printers. So you had to make them with stolen or wood or
even though, like pakora.
Right? I mean, essentially, that's what it was sometimes, you know,
the, the ones you could take on a journey, which
essentially served the dual purpose. When you got hungry, you
could actually eat them as well because they were edible.
Right? Now, Allah is saying, Why do you call on to these things?
Like, you know, sometimes we see. You read in the news, you read a
an article about a particular group of people that follow a
certain perspective, you think how can you do that? I give you an
example.
A friend of mine is from Syria. Originally,
his family had moved to this is over 20 years ago, his father, his
father and his family had moved to Saudi Arabia.
Good 20 years ago. And he then was in America and I was an imam in
America at the time. Right over about 1012 13 years ago. He was a
bit a bit of an Exaggerator right, he had about a 40% exaggeration
rate. So when you got to know him, you knew that whenever he said
anything, then you had to decrease it by 40%. Because that was his
exaggeration, right? This will be will, this can't help
exaggerating, right? Wonderful person. So he told me that in
Saudi there is a tribal group, particular area where husband and
wife could be married for as long as they want. But the husband is
not allowed to see the wife's face.
They were a nickel.
I couldn't believe him. I thought this was the exaggeration. 100% In
this case, right? So I just said okay, whatever.
Several years ago, I'm reading an article about an incident that
took place. And remember, this is not everywhere. This is just a
small group of people.
A husband, his wife was sleeping. They've got children together.
He pulled her niqab or lifted the veil to see who he is married to
while she was asleep.
And then the interview with her says, I completely understand. I
completely understand that.
He would like to see me.
But our culture is I had to report he reported.
That's when I realized, wow, something unbelievable.
It's an extreme. You see, this is an extreme narrative, but they all
go by it.
They will accept it. They all work according to it. See how powerful
narratives
even though deep down she believes that he should have the right to
see her.
But the narrative that they have the cultural narrative, Trump's
the Islamic narrative.
I don't think even the ISIS to that.
Those crazy guys
this is what you call the power of narrative.
That's an extreme case, which shows the power of even an extreme
narrative.
So the people of Makkah, deep down they knew these idols couldn't do
anything thing for them, but they believed it. They went
According to it, which thing you did, it's what you did. And
because they were at a time when tribalism was very strong, no
individualism, you couldn't differ from your tribe. There's some
benefits to that. There's a lot of harm to that as well. One of the
benefits is that when the leader of one of the tribes of Madina,
Munawwara became a Muslim, his whole tribe followed and became
Muslim, how to just convert on mass like that, to a new belief, a
new ideology.
Unless you're in that narrative mindset of just following your
leader, today, parents find it difficult to have their children
believe the same thing as them. Very difficult. I mean, I'm sure
many of you know that. So if you look at it from an analytical
perspective,
our first generation here, who came here,
they've got a much more difficult,
they've got a much more difficult task at their hands, compared to
those who are born here.
Those who are born here, they primarily have two narratives that
they need to juggle between the Western paradigm
and the Islamic paradigm.
In between all of that, if the parents are very cultural, they
have to also deal with the cultural aspects.
Those people who came as adults from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Egypt, Somalia, whatever they've got
Indian culture, Pakistani culture, whatever,
but Western culture and Islamic ideology.
Every all three of them are very strong, but the strongest one will
trump everything else. So if the Pakistani culture is very strong,
or the Somali culture is very strong, then even the Islamic
cultural following will be very low on the scale. And of course
the West.
For our children generally for the people who are born here my
generation that are born here.
The western culture is very strong. You go to school in the
culture you this is what you're surrounded with.
So you can see you can see how these things work. Now, it will
take a few generations for
Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Somalians to start marrying each
other much more easily. Because
it's a natural thing that if you have a certain culture that you
follow, you will want to keep it within that culture. There's
nothing wrong with that. As long as it doesn't lead to abuse,
that's the main thing. It's completely fine for you to want
your children to marry up the same culture. So at least you can
relate to the language if you go over for food. It's the same kind
of food, right? I mean, if you like Pakistani biryani and they're
cooking some other kinds of biryani, you might not like it, I
can understand that. Not everybody wants to be patient, not everybody
wants to do sober. Not everybody so accommodating, I can understand
that.
The problem is when you impose culture in a way that harms the
other person. So I'll give you another example the narrative.
Just before Ramadan is a couple that came to me, the husband is
Bangladeshi. The wife is Punjabi Pakistani.
They've been married for over 10 years. They've got three children.
And they are crying today. And the reason they're crying is because
they understand that what they did was wrong culturally, socially
wrong. Islamically completely right. Right.
The Bangladeshi husband, his family has accepted, eventually
accepted the Union.
The wife site, it's another story. She cannot even go to her parents
home.
Her mother is okay. But she goes to a parent's home and the father
isn't there. And he comes back and finds out she was there he will
cause a massive problem. She's had three children, he refuses to see
any of them.
Extreme strong narrative.
Now, both of these are crying, they understand what they did at
that time in the usefulness of just just doing it. Right. It was
wrong. But now
from the father's perspective, it's a very strong culture that
she married outside that culture. She may have been promised to his
brothers or sisters son, because everybody This happens in in some
cultures from a young age or you promise to anybody.
Right? Because that happens. Now. That's fine. There's nothing wrong
with promising somebody to whatever as long as when they grow
up, they have a choice, and they're both decent people and
that's fine. Because believe me, I have
heard the horror stories is one sister. Again, same similar kind
of background. She was forced to marry a cousin. She knew it wasn't
going to work. But everybody was blackmailing her crying, becoming
sick, that if she'd been married, I will never eat again. And you
know, the mother's saying this and emotional blackmail she married,
within six months is broken.
At least in this case, the parents allowed it to break. Otherwise,
they won't even allow it to break. Now you must tell death, you must
not depart, like the Catholic say.
Whereas in Islam, we have a divorce, the divorce is valid,
it's bad. But in some cases, it's the best thing to do.
Right, it's the best thing to do in certain cases, rather than to
be miserable, and bring children up in that misery.
That's a different story. So now I can understand from the father's
perspective that he was upset with his daughter, fine, be upset.
Humans have the right to be upset when something goes wrong, you can
be upset. Nothing wrong with that.
The problem is that the narrative is so strong, he could have been
upset with her for one year, maybe two years, maybe even three years
for good measure. But 10 years, they've been married together 10
years, and he still is as upset as ever.
How can you humanly do that? What is the narrative that you follow?
It's understandable that if she had married some Shalabi Cabomba
but he she hasn't, he's a decent guy.
Right? Muslim, decent children. They're bringing them up. You've
observed Okay, well, as a haram insomnia, you know, it's fine now.
Okay? Don't you want to be forgiven by Allah? Is your
narrative so strong? Can you see the narrative now? Is that a hack
narrative or about narrative?
I think about it.
We in our own small ways of narratives,
this is one of the challenges that we're facing. Ibrahim Ali Salam
had a similar,
had a similar challenge. But he wrote against that narrative, very
strong narrative to such a degree his, his father or his uncle,
whoever it was, is making idols. He is the manufacturer of idols.
He is born into that family.
But he questions everything. He is looking for the truth. He has to
take some difficult decisions to maintain and follow the truth and
not to remain within that narrative. But look what Allah
gives him that after Rasulullah sallallahu sallam, he is the most
superior of all prophets. That's why today he is on the seventh
heaven. According to the Hadith in Sahih, Muslim were the prophets of
Allah, some went for his tour of the heavens in his ascension. On
the first heaven, he saw other Mali salaam use of it carried on
many Saudi Salam used to value and so on, on the seventh heaven,
leaning on the cover of the angels, which is called beta more
on the seventh heaven around with somebody 1000 angels go around
every single day. And once they've gone around, once they never get a
chance, again, you think it's tough hygiene stuff, they only get
one chance to do tawaf around their Kaaba, on the seventh
heaven. Never again, when they get a chance.
That's where he is, with all of these tests, challenging the
narrative, finding the truth, the work. That's why it's important.
How do you determine that? The truth of something? How do you
determine the truth of something?
These are the examples. There are so many examples like this of
narrative. Let's give another example.
One of the reasons why
a lot of our non Muslim neighbors here will never understand why our
women have to cover why you will pray five times a day, you will be
at work and then ask for 10 minutes break, and go and do
something in a corner. They just can't understand why. Who you
calling on to I can't see this Lord, I can't feel this Lord, I
can't experience God.
What kind of a god is if he wants you to pray five times a day to
him, he needs your prayer. He needs your worship, that means God
is in need. make any sense to me? That's what they say. How do you
respond to that?
They say
Why does your women cover up? Why do you cover up your women?
Now the poor women, they'll say it's my choice. Like, you know,
it's your choice. Why do you make that choice? See what I'm saying?
Why'd you make that choice?
They think the reason you make that choice is because you've been
subjugated. You've been you bought a narrative of subjugation that
you are inferior, you must cover up
This is what they think the way to challenges they're coming from
another narrative, a very deep seated assumptions.
My question to them generally is, can you tell me this recently in
our one of our local colleges, there was a woman, one of our
females because she started speaking first, as soon as she
finished her talk, it was kind of an interfaith panel. As soon as
she finished the talk, they just jumped on. With all these
questions. Why do you have to wait? Isn't that oppression? No,
it's my choice. It's my choice, like poor woman, when she's gonna
get really in trouble with this. Like, why did you make that
choice? You know?
Now, when it was my turn, that I decided to answer a question I
said to them, I said, Look, why are you so aggravated by this? Why
are you so restless? Why, what's your problem with this? Why is
wearing jeans and a T shirt any superior to wearing a flowing gown
and a scarf on the head? Why is it any different? Who makes that
judgment? Who makes that determination? Why is this more
valuable than this?
Is there consideration of heat? Is there a constraint? What are you
looking at? What makes you decide that? You see, narrative is a deep
seated assumption? That deep seated assumption is that you must
cover your hair because that's oppression?
Why is that any inferior to not covering?
On what parts of the body where's the line on the body after which
it's immoral to cover?
Who made that judgment? Who made that decision?
You know, who makes the decision? Custom. Saying it's custom.
customer is king. So the Western in Egypt today
85% of women cover their head, about 85% of women cover their
head.
About 15% Don't if Egypt was to make a law that all women should
cover their head, what's going to happen? It's gonna cause a massive
uproar.
Human Rights this time another whatever. 85 is only 15% that has
to do anything different.
In America, women are not allowed a man is allowed to jog, without a
t shirt.
bare chested no problem in England as well.
But if a woman tries to do that, in England, or in America, it's
not allowed.
But if you go to France, they can do this at the beach. It's not a
problem.
Why? Because in England, and in America, the majority of people
find that offensive. A minority don't.
But you can get away with the law here.
But in Egypt, because it would go against the general Western law,
it would be problematic.
These are the kind of arguments you need to have in your mind
about narrative. Otherwise, you will lose your arguments, because
you've already bought into that narrative. And then you're arguing
within that narrative and you don't have an argument. Do you
understand? Once you've already agreed to argue according to that,
yes, I understand, then you are already you've already lost. You
have to challenge basic assumptions. Why do you believe
that's the case? Why do you think that way? What makes okay you can
think whatever you want, but why does your thought
Why is your thought any superior to my thoughts?
It's not as they don't do a scientific debate. It's not based
on any kind of empirical evidence. It's purely based on what the
prevalent customers and that's why going back to our local community
level, if we are to bring our customers
our customers are good, but they must be able to work with others
these customers otherwise we will have where certain messages will
certain Gujarati Masjid may not allow Pakistani students to come
and study there because they can't be members. We may have certain
Pakistani Masjid that may not allow Somalis to come in. Because
the culture is too strong. You can have culture in terms of all food
that generally served is going to be Pakistani food or Hamdulillah.
I don't mind that. That's enjoyable.
But there has to be levels of these things. This is what you
call narrative. The one of the biggest lessons I learned from
Ibrahim Ali Salaam is that Ibrahim Ali Salam starts
remember Allah subhanho wa Taala says what is called a Ibrahim Ali
levy as our Duffie do us numb and in need of our government
tomography bodily moving in, remember when Abraham said to his
father as are how can you take these idols as God they just
doesn't make any sense to me. Probably didn't make sense to them
as well, but it was a business. You made money
was the culture
I see that your PII you and your people have clearly gone astray.
That's a challenge.
How do you say that to somebody?
In this way we showed Ibraheem Alehissalaam what can legally
Ebola he Ibrahima murukku. This word you want out? What are you
gonna mean and remove the mean? How did you find the truth and
Allah says, in this way we showed Abraham
Allah's mighty dominion over the heavens and the earth so that he
might be a firm believer.
We wanted to make him a firm believer, then the whole story for
them imagine it Hill lane or Coca Cola heard, be phelim.
Or hate bull feeling. He sees one of the prominent things in the
heavens in the skies.
He saw a star, when the night grew dark, he saw a sky. So this is my
Lord. Because when you coming from their perspective of the pupil of
the time that you worship these idols, and they say it's an object
to worship at the end of the day, the biggest object is this star
that shines at night. Now, it probably doesn't doesn't have to
be believing in this. It could be that he's just demonstrating this
to the people. Okay, if these things No, that's probably by God.
But said,
when it said he said, I don't like things that said, they can't be
godly.
Look at his discourse.
And then he saw the moon rising that a moon is much brighter. It's
a planet, but it's much brighter than any star, those stars are
greater than these planets. But those stars are further away.
So this is my Lord. But then when that two sets, he said, If my Lord
doesn't guide me, I shall be one who goes astray you see, that's
humility.
That's humility to ask. This proves that he had a load from
before.
Can you see that? This in itself proves that he's not relying on
the stars. This is a demonstration he seems to be giving. Because
he's saying, if my Lord doesn't guide me believes in the Lord, he
says, I go, where's my Lord? Then I'm just trying to tell you people
where this Lord is. So then he says, Then he sees the sunrising
and he cries, this is my Lord, this is greater.
See, he's taking everybody with him in that narrative. This must
be the Lord then.
But then when the son said, he said, My people, I've just
demonstrated to you he didn't say that, but it's I'm using those
words. He said, I this own all that you worship besides God, they
all said, they can't be good.
They all they all said they cannot be God. And then he says, I have
turned my face as a true believer in the word jet to wedgie.
I have turned my face.
Lovey Fatah summer where it will aren't warmer and aminal
Mushrikeen. I've turned my face as a true believer towards Him Who
created the heavens and earth. And I am not one of the polytheists I
don't believe in anything besides him.
His people argued with him or her Jehovah God to her Junie Fila, he
worked harder now look at this illumination. So are you debating
with me?
about God when He has guided me?
The Gnosis he had the recognition the knowledge that he had suddenly
developed about Allah was so strong, nothing could shake.
No, nothing could shake him anymore.
That's what you call when the truth
prevails on someone. Nothing is shaky. The sad fact is when
culture is so strong, that nothing can shake you because that is what
you call compound ignorance. What is you know you're wrong in this
case, you're wrong and you don't even know you're wrong. So you
can't even correct yourself
how can you argue me when Allah has guided me, I do not fear
anything you associate with him. Unless my Lord wills nothing can
happen. My lord, wasabi cola che he encompasses everything it is
knowledge how can you not take heat
give you another example
we have a famous a hobby I'm originally asked for the Allah who
say do not armory tenacity Allah one. What are the most intelligent
men
in the Arabian
insulin before Islam. They're here tomorrow very intelligent, very
shrewd, very diplomatic. And he was connected to the world
leaders. That's why, you know, the first migration to Abyssinia to
Habesha Ethiopia. Right. Who did the people of Makkah sent to bring
the people back.
They sent Amerind loss for the Allah one, he wasn't a Sahaba at
the time. But they sent him because he had contacts with these
people. So he took huge gifts and so on as a delegation went to
Abyssinia, to the Najafi and he said to him, Negus, that, you
know, these people have escaped and so on. The first story is well
known as you know, that then they the king, he invited the Muslims,
among whom was Jaffa or the Allah one, if not be taught him. And he
gave.
He gave us he gave his hotbar number to NASA, the alone was in
that gathering, and he heard it.
And he says afterwards,
that the effect of this came into my heart,
I wasn't really much of a believer in the idols.
I wasn't really into it. Just my culture, I was just going with it.
He had a he had a political
there's a lot of people who don't care about labor or conservative,
they just want a political career. So they just shake their way
through.
It just, it's just really sad.
So
it says, it crept into my heart, but it takes a while for it to
jump because when you got deep, super deep seated beliefs and
culture, they don't change overnight. So
it was only later many years later, before the conquest of
Makkah that suddenly he appears in Madina Munawwara and it becomes a
Muslim.
Took a while.
So sometimes to change narratives can take a while unless you want
to like your brain when you want to change them straightaway.
Because these huge narratives like this, which is plaguing our own
man, that is what causes us problems.
If everybody can understand that, yes, my culture is important. My
certain beliefs are important, but Islam should be above all, then we
can learn to live with each other. And we're going to have to do that
in these countries where we have been brought together by Allah
subhanaw taala. Now the question that arises is
how does one determine narrative let me give you an ultimate
example. shaytans example,
right
shaytaan says when he was commanded by Allah to prostrate in
front of Ibrahim in front of other mothers Salaam.
Now you've got one creative being of Allah who is created from fire.
You got another beam that's created from soil. They both
slaves of Allah, both Maha Luke and created beings of Allah. So
Allah is above them.
He's telling one of them to prostrate in front of the other.
shaytaan has already had his share of Ebola. He's been doing worship
of Allah throughout
major worship before
either Maria Salam hasn't had that experience is just new. Right?
So wouldn't it have been very easy for shaytaan a bliss to have just
said, Okay, that's just another way of worship. Let me do that.
Now, this relationship, this challenge this tension, how many
ways of looking at this is the
one way is what shaytaan look at us.
I am made from fire. That's what God created me from my origin is
fire.
He is made from soil.
Soil is lonely people tread on soil. Fire rises. Why should I
prostrate in front of them? That's one narrative.
I think personally, we can judge which is the best narrative. But
this narrative is one narrative one way of looking at it.
Another way of looking at it, I think are irrationally. What are
other ways of looking at this another way of looking at this is
I made from fire. He's made from soil. Right? Up to they were the
same same narrative.
But fire ruins, consumes incinerates and flames, destroys
and leaves ashes in its weak soil.
I'll
refresh one's revives, gives life
gives growth gives nourishment. Isn't that another way to look at
it? Don't you think the second narrative is at least equal to the
first narrative Rationally speaking, if not better?
Right. The first one is based on negativity. Second one is based on
fairness. But it's still a narrative. And probably the second
one is better in at least equal.
You got a third possibility. I mean, there's could be many
possible these are just the three I've thought about. Third
possibility is, forget where I'm made of, or what I'm made of, and
forget what he's made of. We're both created by Allah. God wants
me to prostrate to him. I've already been doing worship all
over the place. That's what I shouldn't be doing. I'm gonna do
it, I don't care.
Now, isn't that another narrative logically, isn't as equal as the
other. It's a spiritual narrative. It's a more divine narrative.
So you got three ways of looking at something which one these
issues choose, he chooses the worst one, which gets him into
trouble. The second one wouldn't have got him into trouble. Third,
one would not have gotten him into trouble.
The first one gets him into trouble. And now he has to do all
of his hard work of misleading us. It sad for us, but that's the
reality, a bad narrative messed up, messed it all up.
Now, the question is, why did he think that way? Why did he take
the most negative narrative over the most positive narrative?
Despite the fact that they are at least equal, all of them could
have easily gone for the second one? Is he gone for the third one,
think of something like that in your life, something we have,
based on a certain narrative, we made a mistake. And we're paying
dearly for that mistake.
I'm not saying this to curse shaper, though he is that cursed.
I'm saying this, to teach us a lesson that we don't want to do
shape ons narrative as well, when we get into this world and do
things.
So now, what you have is
he could have so easily had that. But at the bottom of all of this
is what you call there are two concepts in Islam one is called.
One is called tow feet, and the other one is called Kill the law.
Most of you have heard of Tofik. Have you heard of Kaitlan? Who's
heard of a villain the opposite of Tofik?
Tofik the definition of tofi by the Roma is that when Allah makes
your deeds in accordance to what He is pleased with,
you know, when you got two ways of doing something, like shaytaan had
these three options, he chose the worst option, did he get tofield?
No, because Tofik is when Allah makes you allows you to do
something, guides you to do something, divinely, to that which
He is pleased with and satisfied. The opposite of that is when Allah
doesn't guide you, leaves you alone. He doesn't have to force
you. He doesn't have to force anybody into misguidance
Allah says, you know we know from this is Allah Yeah. De Manisha you
will the lumen Yeshua, He guides whom He wills and he
What is your dilemma? Yeah, Sharmeen
a lot of people they miss translate this as misguides which
means it takes you Infosys do wrong, then the whole question
that arises on that is, if he does that, then why should you be
punished for it? is forcing taking you throwing you into the wrong
then why should you be punished for it? Then where's your choice
gone? That's why according to the matterI the theologians say that.
It's a matter of Islam. The Arabic word is called Learn, can learn
needs to forsake job, we live you. You do what you want. Now. You
don't want to listen to us. You do what you want, then the heart the
knifes is so strong, very inclined to the dunya. It's only Tofik of
Allah keeps us away from it because the loves loves things to
have enjoyment in loves to have enjoyment. The dunya is very
attractive. When Allah forsakes somebody abandons somebody. It's
very easy for this connection to happen. And thus the person
becomes a dunya ething completely and then he loses. So you'll
dilute my inertia. He allows to stray leaves to stray whom He
wills. How is the difference between Tofik and Hitler?
is based on deeds that we do do ours that we make.
For example, let's take a simple example if you respect the deen
and anything related to the deen which means the masjid, the Quran,
the books, respect of the Prophet, his sunnah respect of the ruler,
ma the carriers of the deen
you will be given Baraka in your life in the form of Tofik
where you will start making better decisions that will be less
harmful, and that would be beneficial. And if there are
certain things that you that will not happen to you, they will
happen to your children, though feek will benefit your progeny
until the day of judgment. And the benefit of this is I give you an
example we've got
from
the Hora sun from the Hora sun and the trans oxiana area, which is
today Uzbekistan. In that area. You had a big scholar from the
area called shamsudeen Shamsul in a whole learning Rahmatullah era,
one major jurist of the Hanafi madhhab, big scholar.
He was not from a family of orlimar.
His father used to sell me Thai sweets,
right, that's why it's called haldwani Hold one means the person
who sells sweets Hello, right.
Whenever he would, whenever a scholar would come to buy from
him, he would give them a gift or discount or whatever. I mean, the
order here haven't told me to tell you this, by the way. So this is
not a conspiracy here, right.
But just out of respect for knowledge, he would give them a
discount and give them a special bonus, whatever the case is.
His child becomes one of the greatest scholars of his time. And
this is I'm giving you one example from history. Today, I know
somebody who is in one of the northern cities. His father was a
shopkeeper. Again, very respectful to Dean. His son
became such a big scholar that he was teaching sahih al Bukhari in
India, though he's British.
He studied at a mother or son has chosen to teach the hill Buhari,
and today he's a big scholar. He is not from a family of scholars.
Where does this come from? Matter of Tofik remember, you may not be
a Hatfield of the Quran, you may not be an island, you may be 50
years old now and think where am I going to become an artist
or a harvest? But you give respect and do all to Allah and Allah will
show it to you from your children, not just from your children on the
Day of Judgment. You will rise up and see somebody and say he's a
big island big half is Big Willie of Allah. He is your
seventh great grandchild.
That's why the DUA in the Quran Robina habla and I mean as Virgina
with Olivia Tina Kurata Aria,
oh our Lord, give us from our spouses and our children, both
husbands and wives can make this dua because it's a give us from
our children and our spouses. So in a way it makes it difficult for
the husband when the husband makes a choice for the wife
give us from our children and our spouses, those which are the
gladness of our eyes.
That when you see them, they satisfy you for the right reason.
And not just satisfy that affection in this world. You see
my thing. I want my child to be a big businessman. I don't care
about whether he prays for pleasure or not. Whether he
remembers me after I'm dead and give some Esau truth or not. I'm
just worried that he is set let's go set command.
But set crew upon COVID set them in both worlds man don't set him
for this this world. The other day Eternal Kingdom relates in his
masterpiece on Paradise it says there's a man in Jannah suddenly
gets an upgrade in paradise.
Have you ever felt an upgrade when you're in coach class and you've
got a seven boys or 10 hour flight on PA to Pakistan and you say
you're gonna get an upgrade anything like wow man so am I got
to live you know, I can lie down I'll get better food feels very
good.
You're getting the agenda where there's no option you can't even
buy an upgrade you either work for in a world.
Where did I get this from? He will say because one of your children
just made the stick fall for you.
Of course this is all retrospective but what have your
children sought forgiveness for you? Do you expect our children to
seek forgiveness for us which is a really
Just spiritual thing, if we've just made them dunya we and set
them up in the world and they don't care about the D.
You expect some mistake far from them.
So this door, our Lord give us from our spouses and our
children, those which are the gladness of our eyes.
And he says, Robin, I have learned I mean, as well as Gina, was the
reality now not what hola Dina. There's a difference in the real
world. In this in this the way I look at
not just my children that I can see.
Not it not just my grandchildren that I can see. But the rear is a
term for descendants. Oh Allah make from our spouses, my
descendants until the Day of Judgment.
Those that will gladden my eyes, I may never see them in this world
because they will come after me. I'll be long forgotten, maybe on
the Day of Judgment, I will see and I'll be told this is your
great great great granddaughter. Who's a warrior of Allah. Now what
happiness on that?
What a satisfaction there.
And today, it's possible
that you can have dunya and demes completely fine. I know somebody
who is half of the Quran is doing RM class. He's also doing physics
at UCL
possibility. It's not impossible.
Today, 100 Allah has given us but you need narrative perspective to
decide. I want that. When you don't have that. And you're just
in a losing cultural narrative or bus. I said banana. I just need to
make money. I just need to share to Kanye or something like
whatever the terms are. You have to think out of the box. I want
more than that. I've got greater ambition. I want this and I want
that as well. And I want that as all possibility. Possibly. Then
the DUA says Robben Island ominous words. You know, the regional
Kurata Aryan what you're only limited Tina imamo. Make us
leaders. For those who are righteous. You are asking Allah
for leadership. Don't we have people who are high aspirants they
want to be they want to be mosque committee, they want to be local
politicians, counselors, things like that. hamdulillah these
people who are people who have aspiration, they have him, they
have high,
they have high resolution, that's good. Just make sure that
resolution is used in the right way.
That's what it is leave behind the legacy.
What are you going to leave behind you might think I'm not a big
Automate, you know, what am I going to leave behind? ask Allah
for Tofik first, Allah Allah,
we want to stay away from him alone. We don't want Allah to
forsake us so that we fall into their own narrative. We want Allah
to
guide us to hold our hands and take us essentially, that's what
it is. That's why I would want to Allah is Oh ALLAH.
We've seen in this world with children who are learning to work,
and then they start stumbling. They get tired. What does the
father do? What is the mother do picks that child up? We are like
that we are stumbling around in our ignorance. We want Allah to
pick us up and take us
that's what I call the story of Ibrahim Ali salaam Ibrahim Ali
Salam is then loved by Allah so much numerous tests. I mean, I
don't there's no time to go through listing tests.
But Allah mentions the stories in the Quran to give us lessons. He
goes through the test of having to desert his wife Hotjar
Archer or Herschel that's the name it's not hajima by the way, right?
It's urgent, urgent in luck where there was nothing at the time just
desert no water even and what comes from that you get something
that comes from the feet of his marine at a salon the efforts and
the sacrifice of herget Alia salaam
she runs between the two mountains of suffer and Marwan
looking for water today for a lot of people to do that.
For I think it's about four miles in total, maybe about 10
kilometres going seven times and people get tired right?
Now you have to remember in those days, those were mountains. They
weren't what it is today have nice marble flat ground and a little
mountain that you can just about kind of see. They were actually
mountains. That's why you know the part in the green light, you know
where you have to run the green lighted area. That was the valley
floor.
That's why we run there.
The other part was a mountain. Both sides but maca has a lot
of floods. So most of this was eaten away or the ground became
higher, some you know, it's become more balanced otherwise these were
mountains suffer. And moreover, there's no mountain in Monroe,
there's nothing There's supplies a bit, right. But they will mountain
bedtime, she ran from one place to the next. Allah loves that action
of a woman so much that today sorry, every man and woman does
and will do until they have judgment who wants to perform the
hajj or perform the perform their umbra. This is the one religion in
the world among the main religions of the world, where they have an
act and a deed that comes from a woman's doing, go to Christianity,
go to Judaism, they don't have a single deeds, right, a single rite
of worship, which comes from a woman.
Whereas we have this that this was a beloved action of harsh Maria
salaam, and thus, it becomes something now where's the feminism
gone? Where's the, you know? Now, it's feminists today have
discovered hijo, the single mother, you know, this brave woman
who has deserted left and abandoned in their opinion, right?
And she managed to do this. And thus she becomes memorable and
memorialized in this deed of sight that we do.
numerous stories, then Ibrahim Hassan is my son's grows up. A
local population develops, because there's people from Yemen who have
just come there looking for a place with water, they suddenly
find this place. They ask casually, some can we stay here?
She said, Yes, you can stay here, but you have, I control the water.
But feel free to inhabit this area is Marilla. Islam then gets
married within that Ibrahim Madison comes on occasions to
visit. Then he's about 12 years old or something.
And he smiled i said I'm a boy Melissa only had him when he was
about 70 years old, at a very old age.
And now he's about 12 years old, his child. And Allah tells him in
a dream, you must sacrifice this child. The story of that is the
Eat story. It's a popular story. He fulfills that, that becomes
memorialized in the Hajj procedure. And thus we have the
sacrifice on Eid.
We have the stoning of the Shavon at the places where she don't try
to distract him passing every test test that was thrown at him until
Allah makes him his colleagues. We want also some kind of
relationship with Allah subhanaw taala. Our tests are not as great
as the tests of Ibrahim and we couldn't stand them. That requires
a certain level of Eman. Allah only test us based on our imagine.
Otherwise the punishment.
Allah test us based on our level of iman, and the closer we want to
be with Allah, we're going to have to learn to deal with tests. But
we ask Allah for our fear, we ask Allah for wellbeing.
This is the story of Ibrahim Alayhi Salam.
And the story of his minor Islam as mentioned in the Quran, we ask
Allah subhanho wa Taala to correct her narrative, we ask Allah
subhana wa Taala to give us the field and to allow us to choose
the best regardless of whatever we've held. If we have narratives
that are not favorable in the sight of Allah subhanaw taala We
ask Allah to make us balanced in our approach, we ask Allah to
grant us success, because the ultimate success is of the world
hereafter working with that one Anil hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen
Allah and the Sunnah will mean Castillon about the little journey
with the Quran. Lo Mia Yatta Yun Vaticanus studies a lot of my
anatomy and learn the Subhanak could nominal body mean Allahumma
salli wa salam ala Sayidina Muhammad word earliest a year
dinar Mohammed or vertical Salam. O Allah we ask You for Your Mercy
today or Allah we ask you for your blessings of Allah we ask you for
your attention of Allah we ask you for your help and assistance. Oh
Allah without your help and assistance. We are nothing. Oh
Allah, we have sinned greatly. We have many problems with our life
of Allah We asked you forgiveness from all of those sins we have
committed, that has brought misery in our lives of Allah that has
turned people against each other that has taken the baraka away
from our homes of Allah that have turned children against their
parents of Allah we ask you for forgiveness from these things. We
asked you to remove and eliminate them from our life of Allah. We
especially asked you to forgive those sins of ours that have now
become part and parcel of our life. And no longer do we even can
consider them to be wrong. Oh Allah we've assimilated them into
our lives and we've justified their presence of Allah grant us
understanding grant us discernment of Allah grant us though feet of
Allah, whatever incorrect opinions we may have incorrect perspectives
we may have. Whatever battles that are going on in our mind and our
heart of Allah allow us to win them in your favor. Oh Allah allow
us to win them in your favor. Allow your Tofik Oh Allah allow
the correct narrative to dominate. Oh Allah Allah allow the correct
perspective to dominate. Allow the man to infuse us. allow our hearts
to be illuminated. Allow the darkness remove the darkness from
our heart. Oh Allah, whatever. Whatever darkness they may be, we
ask that you remove it and replace it with your light. Make your
opinions beloved in our heart, make your disobedience hated in
our heart. But Allah Ramadan has just passed. We don't want it that
by the time the next Ramadan comes that we lose everything we gained
in Ramadan, allow the Burkert and blessings of this month of Ramadan
that have just passed to continue with us and to shine shine their
lights for us to keep us infused and immune to many sins that we
may feel like committing. Oh Allah, we ask You for assistance.
We ask you to carry us we ask you to take us by the four locks of
interest into paradise. Oh Allah, we ask that you bless all of those
who have made. We've worked hard to establish our faith in this
country and to establish these massages, and these modalities and
all of these other Institute's and we ask that you allow us to now
continue and to rise to the challenges in dealing with the
challenges of Allah. There are many fitna and challenges out
there, day by day our children and us we are faced with these
challenges and fitna, Oh Allah, grant us the result of the
determination of Ibrahim Ali salaam, grant us the Iman and the
insight of Ibrahim alayhis salam, O Allah grant us in the special
relationship that he enjoyed with you the special guidance that he
received, oh Allah against all odds of his own culture of his own
family of Allah of his own area of Allah he still succeeded and today
he is remembered of Allah allow us to also do something by which we
will be positively remembered. That will make be a source of our
elevation in genital feathers and our Allah We also ask that you
give us some Tofik to assist and to be accepted for the service of
your deep Oh ALLAH many of us won't even know how we can help
the deen but Allah you know how you can employ us in your you
don't need anybody we asking you to accept us, Allah accept us for
Oh Allah bless all of those who are set here and do not allow any
one of us to return from here without being forgiven. Oh Allah,
Guide us, Oh Allah bless us, oh Allah have mercy on us. We ask you
finally that you send your abundant blessings on our
messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and that you
grant us his company in the hereafter Subhan Allah because
Allah is at your mercy food was a Domino's
where I am in London, in hacking,
I have my local machine. I have another machine two miles down the
road where I was a monk for about over five years. And there's
another machine about three miles away on the other side. We got
three different timetables and two different IDs. MashAllah a lot of
choice. We in the world and game of choice.
Now,
what's very interesting is that all three of these messages, the
people who run them, they're all from the same background, which
are these. Again, it is not a majority problem, but this is what
it happens to be here. They're all good draftees, many of them
actually related as well. Some of them are related as well.
I don't follow the timetable of my machine it's, they follow,
although I think it's a valid time to because it took me from a big
scholar
from Pakistan. My uncle was the Imam and he's the one who made the
time to write though I don't follow it but I still think it's
about it. But it's only one Masjid in the whole country. I think
follow that timetable. So one of the oldest is not very
knowledgeable is just Masha Allah Allah use them to make the masjid
he says to me another a look at those guys in the other masjid
they stopped their fasting two hours afterwards. Because these
guys go in 15 degrees they go with some 12 degrees.
So I was very amused that what he was saying what he is saying. I
have heard similar things said by the people in the other Masjid
about this Masjid but look at those guys they stopped
while he waited to make it so difficult, both of these people
are speaking on ignorance. They have no research. They just normal
people. The reason why he's so confident about his position is
because he's doing it for the last 35 years. And the person they're
same thing. So he is very strong on that even though they could be
related. Right, same manage, same the blinky background, everything.
So it's not we're not even talking about, you know, big differences
here, very similar going to be brothers.
In some cases, I think there are some brothers on the cyber side,
right? But he is so confident about his way and he's so
confident about his way. And I'm sure that everyone's the same. Do
you understand? So?
How do you deal with them?
I tell them when I was human, and this question is to come up, I
say, Look, you follow your local master, that's your job. If you've
got the ability to do research, then go and research speak to the
right amount, read both sides of the story, or three sides of the
story or the many sides and ask for guidance and then see what
Allah gives you then you follow that, but
you don't have a right to speak if you have no research, just because
you follow something doesn't give you the right to argue about it.
Because you're disappointing it because it's the culture of that
Masjid.
So this was another example which I didn't bring up Allah made me
forget it for some reason but mashallah, you may remember it
the wait that a good point, the way to the steps to take first and
foremost want to Allah, Oh Allah give me understanding of the
reality one some some there's some very nice to us in that regard.
A lot of money in ill health to help calm waters Oakland de Burgh
what additional bout till about you know what I'm gonna share
all my show me the truth as the truth. So whatever is the truth
show it to me as the truth and allow me to follow it and show me
the wrong as the wrong in its true colors and allow me to abstain
from it. Very powerful. Number one is a lot of meat in the air or the
weaker.
mean a shopkeeper will help the better your team of Allah is
Teacher refuge from
doubt after having conviction.
Robbing Allah to zero Kulu Bella, Bertha it her Daytona habla Nabila
Nicaragua is another one. Don't close our hearts, our North Dakota
has. So first indoors, number two, knowledge.
Anything that confuses you go and find out from the weatherman go
and find out. If an ally tells you, not only you shouldn't get
into this, ignore him go to another island. No longer can we
say if some if you ask about evolution, normal you shouldn't be
reading or people are reading about it. People need to know go
to somebody else. Right and go and learn from the right sources. What
it is you don't want to end up in a bigger mess. So
DUA and hammer and it's lost sincerity for Allah that oh Allah
I want to do best please help me. Inshallah Allah will help