Abu Taymiyyah – Ways To Rectify The Heart This Ramadhan
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
My dear respective
beloved brothers and sisters,
who have attended this class today,
has announced what we hope to Insha'Allah
accomplish in this
short setting
is
how one
can really go about
rectifying
and softening his heart.
Why do we give a lot of concern
to this topic or to this kind of
this kind of discussion?
As everybody is aware, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
he created us for one sole purpose.
We've probably heard this verse a 1000000 times,
and for a million and one time,
when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said,
I did not create the jinn
and also the human being, the ins,
except
to worship me alone.
So we take from this verse that our
sole reason of existence
is none other than the
fact that we need to worship Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala
in the best possible manner.
We weren't created for education,
we weren't created to work,
we weren't created for anything other than to
worship Allah
Having said that, does that mean one doesn't
pursue an education?
He doesn't
search for that which will give him a
livelihood?
The point that I'm trying to drive home
is, our sole reason of existence is none
other
than to worship Allah
That is the main point as to why
we breathe,
or the main reason as to why one
breathes.
Anything other than that is secondary.
It is not the primary
reason of our existence,
And that's why it becomes a problem. If
any of these things are affecting our sole
reason of existence,
then we really need to think twice as
to how we are living our lives.
So the prophet
said,
This whole dunya is cursed and everything in
it is cursed.
And there were few things that were exempted.
The remembrance of Allah
the one who studies,
one who learns his religion,
and the one who goes and teaches it.
This is not our discussion today.
So we now established
that our sole reason of existence is to
worship Allah
The question that I would like to pose,
is it possible for 1
to worship Allah
accordingly without knowledge?
Is that something that's a possibility brothers?
It's not.
Otherwise we will become like who?
Christians, right?
The Christians
who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refer to in
the Quran
as Right? Those who are misguided.
They decided to worship Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
however they willed.
So we have to what? Worship Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala upon basira,
upon
insight.
Now,
second point is
the importance of knowledge. Why it is essential
for an individual
to learn
the deen of Allah because you cannot fulfill
your sole
reason of existence except by studying.
Cannot fulfill it accordingly.
Moving on now to the discussion at hand.
Is it possible now for
1 to really attain beneficial knowledge
and his heart is stained
with with sins, and that which is displeasing
to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Look what Ibn Taym Rahmatullahi
he mentions,
And this clearly shows us why
Why we give a lot of concern to
rectifying
the heart that Allah has
blessed us with.
He says,
If an individual's heart is soft and tender,
their
will find it extremely easy entering into his
heart.
And then he says,
The will
solidify
itself in this individual's heart.
It will influence it, it will have a
huge positive effect on that individual's heart,
that's when his heart is pure.
Common question that people tend to ask from
time to time is,
even in the month of Ramadan, I'm really
really struggling to recite the book of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
I'm really really struggling to taste
the sweetness of the Quran.
We'll speak about it in a moment. And
then Ibn Taymah goes on to say,
But if his heart now is
rigid,
it's become hard,
the ilim will find it extremely difficult
entering into this individual's heart.
The statement that is similar to this is
the statement of Abdullah ibn Abbas
When
he said, 1,
In accordance to how sincere
he is,
in accordance to how the state of his
heart is, this is how much of memorization
he will be able to accomplish.
So now when this individual now has
purified his heart,
what is it that happens?
He said,
Whoever purifies his heart
from sins,
this person
will have a better understanding than others
when it comes to the Quran.
Say that again.
Whoever purifies his heart from sins,
it will be that individual
who will have a better understanding than others
when it comes to the Quran.
And then he says,
Quran.
And whoever's
heart now become stained,
comes in purified
of sins.
This is an individual
who will be more distant
than others when it comes to understanding the
book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And I'm sure every single one of us,
can wish
or wishes
to open the book of Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala and he can sit there for hours
on end.
When we hear
The stories of the salif,
and how they used to finish the Quran
every 3 days.
Or maybe in the month of Ramadan, they
would finish it once or twice every single
day.
Is it really rocket science to understand how
they were able to do that?
And then putting that in
and then putting that into
perspective with
situations that we find ourselves in.
These were the most righteous of people
who really gave a lot of time to
safeguarding their hearts
from the different sins that they may have
been exposed to.
Just look at how the tables have turned.
Today an individual,
is he giving more time
in rectifying his outer appearance?
Or is he working more on his heart?
Ask yourself the question,
how many hours does one spend in the
gym?
8 hours? 9 hours?
He's so strong that he can even bend
the bar.
By the way I don't have anything against
brothers who go to the gym.
If anything, being healthy is good.
However, your soul focus now becomes
rectifying the outer appearance
and then you forget about that which is
most important,
and surely
you are at a loss,
Right? And then you have our sisters likewise,
who might spend 4 5 hours in front
of the mirror a day.
Rectifying the outer appearance.
Automaticiah.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not look at
your outer appearance
and what color you are and how your
body looks.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not look at
that.
Rather that which he does look at is
your heart and also
your actions.
These are the two things that matter to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So no matter how many hours you spend
in the gym or in front of the
mirror, perfecting the way you look, at the
end of the day,
if you don't use that which Allah has
blessed you with, that strong body that you've
now acquired,
for that which is pleasing to Allah
and in reality you're at loss.
Maybe able to pick up 180 kilos, 190
kilos.
There are some of us strong enough to
pick up that blanket that weighs 500 grams
or 1 kilo.
Can see now,
the priorities
are maybe what?
In the wrong place.
So the point I was trying to make,
my beloved brothers and sisters,
the heart is hola
that we give more consent to. It's foremost
that we give more consent to, none other
in the heart, because it is that which
is in one's heart and likewise that which
portrays on one's limbs that will enter you
eventually into a jannah as Allah says in
the Quran.
The day
when one
when one's kids and also his wealth will
not be a benefit for him, except the
one who
meets Allah
with a sound heart.
Is
the
that is not tainted with innovation
and shirk.
Rather he works hard in purifying his heart
from what? Innovation, shirk, and sins.
Another powerful statement
that I came across pertaining to rectifying the
heart is a statement of Al Hafid ibn
Rajib when he said,
He says,
prioritizing,
pure purifying your heart
is more virtuous
than one having a lot of fasting,
and a lot of prayers,
while at the same time his heart is
tainted.
His heart is stained.
And then look what he says,
He says if you look at the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam, the companions,
what was the majority of that which they
used to engage in?
Was it having a lot of voluntary prayers
and so on? Ibn al Rajib says that
was not the case.
But rather
But rather he was having a pious heart.
Purifying it and making sure that it is
free from that which displeases Allah
And their hearts being so connected to none
other than Allah
If our hearts were pure,
we would not have become bored of the
speech of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Quran.
He says the heart that is pure,
because of it now being so illuminated
and enlightened,
and due to the fact that it has
cleaned
itself from all types of filth and evil,
this person can never become bored of the
Quran.
He will never be full.
Also,
and I'll just suffice with this one statement
before I go into
10, 11, 12 things that one can engage
in in order to purify his heart.
Because we all want to purify our hearts.
This is the month if we're going to
introduce
a good habit into our lives, the scene
has been set.
The doors of jannah have been
swung open, the doors of hellfire have been
sams shut,
and the shayateen have been locked up.
If there is a time where we can
now introduce new habits into our lives, it's
this month.
There really really is.
He
says,
It says from that which
causes you to be deprived
of understanding the Quran,
and tasting the sweetness of it,
This is three things.
It's more of course but he points out
three things.
Or lie, we really think about it.
A lot of the sins that people fall
into,
it
stems back to these 3.
Number 1 he says,
He persists
in the sins that he carries out. Remember,
he never said that
this person who sins because everybody sins,
Right? Everybody sins.
And it may well be that you're somebody
who airs all the time.
And the messenger
he said,
Every son of Adam is not just someone
who makes a mistake or two, but rather
he con continuously keeps on making mistakes.
That's something that's universal, everyone falls into that,
no matter who you think you are.
But then what did he say? What makes
you distinct now from everyone else?
The best of those who excessively sin are
those who are always going back to Allah
So it's one thing sinning once or twice,
it's another thing now persisting on that sin,
but at the same time running back to
Allah
all the time, and it's another
a systantly sinning without
repenting to Allah
And this is what Ibn Qadam
is referring to, when he said, He
persists on that sin.
Sometimes people think
that there is no hope for them,
after having
come
After having
maybe drowned in the sins that they have
been committing.
A door of repentance is always open,
no matter what you have fallen into, whether
it is drug dealing, whether it is prostitution,
whatever it might be, and I'm mentioning these
examples as extreme examples,
the door even for that kind of woman
is open
for her to
knock on to seek repentance.
As Allah told us in the Quran, and
some of the scholars they say, if there
was 1 verse in the Quran
that shows
the vast mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is this one,
Say to those who have transgressed against themselves,
do not lose hope in the mercy of
Allah
Indeed Allah
forgives all sins.
Don't feel like Allah is too late, I've
done too much,
I've oppressed so many people, that door is
still open.
That door is still open.
And this Ramadan
is a lifeline that Allah
throws our way.
For us to really rid ourselves of some
of the things that
we have been getting ourselves involved in throughout
the year, all the baggage that we are
carrying.
So the first thing that he said is,
That he's someone who persists on the sins
that he carries out.
He doesn't repent from it, he falls into
it,
he doesn't.
Repent.
He doesn't do what Allah has told him
to do.
So then he continues, he continues.
And sometimes, and I'll point this out, right?
One may feel hypocritical, and this is a
trap from the shaitan.
You've committed a sin and you repented, and
then you've done it again.
And then you repented and then you've done
it again. It's by maybe the third time,
the shaytan is now whispering.
This is extremely hypocritical.
He keep doing the exact same thing because
he does not want you to run back
to Allah
You know what Imam Ngo Muhammadu alayhi mentions?
Even if you
fall back into a sin a 1000 times,
don't stop repenting every single time.
I'm praying the salatul Tawba, that which they
call salatul Tawba, as the prophet said,
There's not a person who falls into sin
and then he goes and purifies himself and
then prays 2
units
of salah,
except that Allah will forgive him.
That is
For
you to go and do that, it's only
a matter of time before the shaytaan leaves
you alone, because he hates the salah.
If one done that, even if you're addicted
to a particular sin, whatever it may be,
and addictions are on a rise as time
goes on.
SubhanAllah, just the other day,
I was looking at statistics that were sent
to me
of which of the European countries are most
addicted to adult content?
It was America first and then the UK.
It's on the rise. It's not just the
non Muslims.
It's creeping into the Muslims as well.
So, no matter how many times you fall
back into this addiction,
sit down, cry your eyes out, pray to
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You have to come as Allah says.
No matter what that sin maybe.
How long do I have?
No. We don't wanna torture the brothers here
and the sisters.
20.
I'll try
I've never completed a 10 in any lecture.
I've done it maybe twice or 3 times,
I tend to sometimes get carried away, but
inshallah,
in today's class, in the next 35 minutes
or so, I will try go through all
of them.
Even if I don't expand on some of
them,
at least you know
which way or which direction to go in
and how to go about rectifying the heart.
The first point,
it might be a good idea to have
a pen and paper
unless you're like Imam Bukhari who's able to
memorize everything that you hear.
Number 1.
Prioritizing Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in all cases
and doing righteous deeds.
Whoever
wants a pure,
clean,
soft heart,
then let him always put Allah
before his whims and desires.
Brothers and sisters,
at times you find your family members,
your friends
inviting you to that which is extremely extremely
tempting.
And you know that this is what
is pleasing to Allah
And sometimes the shaitan whispers and says, it's
only once.
You enjoy yourself a little bit and then
you always have what? Another opportunity to run
back to Allah
It's times like that
when you put Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala first
and you prioritize him
and
Allah
grants you that softness in your heart.
Especially when it's extremely extremely tempting.
And one of my favorite hadith, which I
believe changed my life,
The first time I heard it was over,
what, 12, 13 years ago,
and I still can't remember who told me
this hadith.
And I asked Allah to reward him because
he had such a huge impact in my
life on my life.
When the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said,
You don't leave something for the sake of
Allah,
except
that Allah
will give you that which is better.
I know at the beginning or the first
time it might be very very hard to
leave that haram job,
or to leave that haram relationship.
But,
see what happens
when you let go, and yes you will
be tested.
But it is only a matter of time
that Allah Azar replaces that
with far better.
How many brothers that I told this hadith
to, when they came to seek advice about
the haram jobs,
or some of the haram elements in that
wish they were engaging in,
Couple of weeks, month or 2 later they
would come back and they would kiss me
on the forehead,
saying I left my job and Allah gave
me that which is far better.
And if I open this door now discussing,
or going through all of the different incidents,
I think we'll be here till tomorrow.
The amount of stories of brothers and sisters.
So placing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala first.
And also that which is extremely extremely important
to mention is, that which Hypnotemia said when
he said,
He says no, have knowledge of.
Anyone
who loves something besides Allah Meaning,
he prioritizes the love that he has for
over the Almighty,
then it is only a matter of time
that He is hurt
and harmed by that.
Give you guys an example that everybody can
relate to.
Brothers and sisters who have these haram relationships,
what happens to a lot of them?
What happens to a lot of them?
And they have these haram relationships after some
time.
They break up
and then she's left
heartbroken.
Sahay?
And then she messages, Abutaima, please how do
I get over this heartbreak?
And then we have to advise,
Likewise, we find
in workplaces,
you know you just have to ask
so that you are given a place to
pray.
Do you think to yourself, if I do
that,
I might find myself in the bad books
of the mudir, of the manager.
Or you don't want to rock the boat.
Thinking that with this you are pleasing the
creation,
and that they will treat you better.
How often have I seen,
right,
that one prioritizes
his job, his dunya, whatever it might be
over that which
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is instructing him with.
And it's only a matter of time that
he is what?
He's left heartbroken as well.
Either that dunya that he kept on chasing
stabs him in the back, which the dunya
does,
and leaves you disappointed, that is the nature
of the dunya.
Or it's only a matter of time before
him and his boss, they clash with one
another,
and he's given his marching orders.
And you'll notice as well
those who
prioritize their deen,
and they have that sit down with the
manager, or a supervisor,
they are more respected in their workplaces. This
is what we've noticed.
This is because he
prioritize Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And that hadith subhanahu wa'ala that always pops
to mind when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said,
and it's extremely extremely powerful.
Whoever
tries to please the people,
and by that
he
angers Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala will become angry and he
will make the people angry with him as
well. There are living examples for this, and
I'm sure most of us can relate to
it.
We've come across scenarios like that.
Any relationship, my beloved brothers and sisters,
that is based on Ma'alsi,
just pleasing the people, right?
It is only a matter of time before
they clash with one another.
You keep quiet because you don't want to
upset him, when you know he's clearly doing
something wrong.
I take this as a principle, statement of
when he said,
When the people, they start cooperating in sin
and evil, it's only a matter of time
before they begin to really, really hate and
despise one another.
So next time you see your friend
doing something that is wrong, maybe you're oppressing
another, wronging another,
right?
And you don't say anything about it simply
because you just want him to be pleased
with you,
it's a tic and time bomb.
Before,
this relationship now
comes to an end.
That's with any relationship
and with anything that you do involving sin.
It's time
is very limited.
He says,
the heart will not experience
that ultimate happiness
and sweetness
except by
loving Allah
and drawing close to him with that which
he loves.
And he says,
it is not possible
to really love
Allah You cannot truly love Allah
until
you turn away from everything else that you
love.
And when I say that, my brothers and
my sisters, right? What I mean by it
is and what the Sheikh means here as
always,
prioritizing Allah. No one is saying that you
can't love your family and your wife and
your
relatives.
No.
That type of love becomes a problem
when it's now conflicting with
that which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants from
you.
Now, a lot of people they
message in from time to time,
saying how they're depressed, how they feel sad.
They're suffering from an extreme type of agony.
They feel so so down.
We've even heard some of these huge personalities,
these YouTubers.
Right?
I remember this brother
called
has a channel called
Think everyone or most probably have come across
that. Right? He one time compiled a a
video
where
he connected small little clips of a lot
of these very well known
personalities, these YouTubers
that many youngsters
are taking as role models.
And I remember sending this video to my
little brother,
it really touched him, because he used to
watch them as well.
The likes of KSI,
Logan Paul,
Justin Bieber, I think these are household names,
right? Very well known names.
And some of our elders, they may remember
the Beatles.
These youngsters don't know.
Yeah, they were very very well known
male music band, for those who remember.
They weren't there on my time but just
heard about them.
Right?
All of them saying that which is almost
as identical to one another.
Saying how they're depressed, how how they thought
that money and fame would bring them happiness.
And it's very well known and not hidden
that they are living a life of sin.
So here.
And they're all saying that they aren't antidepressants
and even that guy called FouseyTube,
he thought that the money and the fame
would really bring them happiness.
It is Allah
who's showing them that you will not be
able
to attain that ultimate happiness,
and experience that sweetness in your heart until
you make Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala first.
The way your heart has been created, my
brothers and my sisters, it craves for its
creator. It
craves for its creator.
Reason why one may feel spiritually empty is
simply because that connection is not there.
There is a void.
I remember in the lockdown,
I worked for a short space of time.
At the workplace,
brothers
will always come up to me and say,
I feel
empty.
I really feel empty, I don't feel anything.
I would see him walking around after work,
just walking around all day.
Blah, just walking around.
You can see his mind is not there.
And it's not rocket science to really understand
why he's feeling like that.
The time when the salah kicks in
at work, barely anybody prays.
If you don't have the basic
essentials,
then how do you expect to really feel
good?
Again, it's a reminder Allah is sending to
you that you really need to have that
connection with none other than your creator.
And it's very very simple.
Right?
Even a lot of these billionaires Just look
at Bill Gates,
who's currently
extremely sad, I suppose. Right?
Him and his wife both came out
on social media saying that they are going
to be separating with one another. I'll ask
you guys a question.
You think Bill Gates didn't have the money?
I think everyone knows Bill Gates by the
way, right?
Bill Gates is the one who created Microsoft,
who for a very long time was the
richest man on the face of this earth,
but then he was overtaken by Jeff Bezos
and also Elon Musk.
Are you telling me that he was not
able to
hire,
the most well qualified
or the most qualified marriage counselor, doesn't have
the money for that,
Couldn't have done that brothers,
and sisters.
But he's going through a separation. It's one
thing going through a separation, it's another, people
gossiping about you? That hurts.
And this is all over the world now,
it's being discussed on social media.
Can imagine the pain that he's going through.
And I heard that she was the love
of his life, they got to know one
another
very early on in his life or something
along the lines of that.
And the longer you are with your spouse,
the more hurtful he would be
to separate.
Right?
There's an attachment that comes with it and
so on and so forth.
My point is, are you telling me that
he was not able to hire out the
most well qualified marriage counselor?
Again, it's a message to him that no
matter how much money you have, you will
not be able to,
attain that ultimate happiness until you go back
to Allah
It's why you find a poor person
who doesn't have much,
but he has what?
A spiritual contentment
which money can't buy.
But he's so satisfied, he's so content because
he has Allah
That void in his heart is filled with
the remembrance of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It's why you find those who are more
obedient to Allah, who are so much more
happier than those who might be engaging in
sin.
Would you guys agree to that?
Likewise, my brothers and sisters, when you think
about it, right,
why do you think the sports industry is
a $1,000,000,000 industry?
The music industry is a $1,000,000,000 industry.
The adult content
industry is a $1,000,000,000 industry.
Likewise, the drugs business.
They call
cocaine Britain's open secret.
Oh, I read up on these kind of
things. It's very important.
Britain's open secret,
that's what cocaine is called.
Who do you think is consuming it?
The local junkie that you see rolling around
at the bus stop at fajr
time, only him?
Akhya professionals consuming it.
Just yesterday, I read an article
by an
MP,
right?
They took a picture of him and he
had strips of cocaine next to him.
Now he's in, I think, a mental hospital
or something,
rehab or whatever.
How rich is he? How much is he
on on a year to year basis? He's
an MP.
You have professionals who are earning a lot
of money, they are what? On cocaine.
Likewise, the games industry, why is it such
a
lucrative
industry?
Alcohol, likewise.
Especially the sports one.
When someone
doesn't find purpose in life,
he looks to that which is going to
distract his mind.
And all of these are distractions
that keeps your mind busy and occupied.
I have a non Muslim sister-in-law.
Remember when we was in Egypt
around the
COVID period, she came over.
It's an opportunity to really stimulate her mind
and give her dawah.
Right?
I asked her a question,
just to really make her think. In your
free time, what do you do?
She says, I have to watch
Netflix.
So I said, okay, you finished with 1,
what do you do then? I'll have to
watch another one.
Why? Because if I don't watch it continuously,
I will lose my mind.
This is the state of many of those
who have distanced themselves from Allah.
Free time
can be very very dangerous.
It's where a lot of these rich people,
they're going through depression, and eventually they commit
suicide,
right?
That void needs to be filled with something.
And your only solution is your lord.
Free time can be extremely extremely dangerous.
And if you don't occupy your mind with
something,
that's why you have all of these different
industries that are making money out of the
sadness that people are going through.
Do you guys agree with that, Sahe?
Or am I waffling here?
I know you probably came for
a Islamic based lecture
and we're going into all of these things.
Sins and corruption.
It brings about distress,
agony,
pain,
fear,
sadness
and having a tightness in your chest.
And also sicknesses of the heart.
Says there is no cure for it except
repenting to Allah
When somebody becomes sick,
it is normally because of him not looking
after his health.
Maybe going outside after having taken a cold
shower,
right, and is extremely hot or vice versa,
Or maybe not eating properly and then he
becomes sick.
Having these oily foods in the month of
Ramadan on an empty stomach
can be detrimental,
and it really caused my health to deteriorate
as well.
I was actually on my deathbed one time
in Egypt because of that.
So the point is, because of a nakz
not doing that which is going to what?
Preserve your health.
And look what he says,
likewise the heart is similar to that.
It doesn't become sick except after your iman
goes down.
Second thing, very very quickly.
Treating the people nicely and softly and gently.
Right?
Ibn al Taymiy says,
From that which causes your heart now to
feel at peace
is benefiting the creation
and being good to them.
Whether it is with your wealth, or whether
it is because you have such a high
lofty position in society,
and you're able to intercede to help them
out of something.
You might be someone who's extremely strong, that
is able to do some do things that
maybe others can't do.
And then he says,
The one who is generous.
This person he
is at most peace
or at the most peace, should I say.
Because of how generous he is, and it's
not necessarily just generous with your wealth.
A lot of time when you mention generous,
the first thing that pops to mind is
the wealth.
Sahay? Doesn't necessarily just have to be that.
Could be with the skills that Allah gave
you, the position that Allah gave you.
And to conclude this point, he says,
There's nothing more beneficial for the heart than
treating the people nicely
and loving good for them.
Let me quickly just expand on this one
point here. Loving good for the people. I'm
sure most of us have heard of the
hadith when the prophet said, one will not
be a true believer until
he loves for his brother the way he
loves
himself.
You may be a businessman who's successful,
Sahih.
But then subhanAllah,
someone else
wants to take that exact same path.
But when you reach success,
you went through many many
hurdles,
there's a lot of problems that you faced,
you may have made many losses on the
way to your success,
and you're probably thinking to yourself, you know
what? He should basically go through letters all.
And then he can reach whatever I reached.
Loving good for that person, what does that
entail?
Give him the shortcut,
and stop thinking that he's going to come
and take from your provision.
Because your provision and his provision is all
written down.
No matter what he does, he still will
not be able to,
take from the provision that was always meant
for you.
See how you feel after that.
The way society is,
very very hostile, Sahih, toxic.
Forget about not helping him, they start backbiting
him, ripping into him, looking down on him
and spreading things about him, just so he
his
reputation can be ruined.
We don't wanna go into how the mess
salami used to help the people,
but
time. Number 3,
ghadulbasar,
lowering your gaze,
is the third thing that will really soften
up your heart.
Lowering your gaze.
In Rotimi he said,
lowering gaze from that which is haram
brings about the love of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
You know, my brothers and my sisters, and
I'll quickly mention this,
the month of Ramadan
is the whole purpose behind us fasting in
the month of Ramadan to just stay away
from food, drink and sexual * and then
after Ramadan we go back
to our ways.
Right? Is that what Ramadan is all about?
And I'm not saying it has to be
your bad ways that you go back to
life, you just go back to your
normal ways. You may not necessarily have been
engaging in haram, but you just go back
to just normal jolly day that you used
to have.
Is that what Ramadan and fasting is all
about?
When you look at the term siyam,
means linguistically to withhold. And then technically,
it means to
stay away from 2 types of things.
Number 1, that which is going to nullify
your fast, which most people are aware of,
food, drinks, sexual *, and all the other
thing that breaks your fast. The second thing
is, brothers,
and this is the real type of fasting.
To stay away
from that which
is going to destroy your reward.
Jabril Abdi'lai said
When you do fast, then make sure your
ears are fasting, eyes are fasting, your tongue
is fasting. From what?
From lying and also what?
Sins.
Ramadan is an institution, it's a madrasa.
We take our kids to madrasa, right? 5
to 7.
From 5 PM to 7 PM.
Ramadan,
is a training period for an individual
how to better himself for after the month
of Ramadan.
We mentioned 3 body parts, the ears, the
eyes and also the tongue. Let me ask
you all a question, and I really want
you all to reflect on this. Right?
If you as a Muslim now safeguarded these
three body parts,
what kind of Muslim would you be?
You would be a beloved saint of Allah
Because most of the sins that we see
ourselves falling into,
it originates from where?
These three body parts.
And this
will help us attain that taqwa that we
need to,
which is our objective from Asiyam,
so So that you may attain a taqwa
to be conscious of Allah
And my brothers and my sisters,
right?
That you place a shield between yourself and
also that which you fear.
On the battlefield, is anyone in his right
mind going to walk around with his chest
open like that?
Come shoot
me? Yeah, he's going to what? To try
and save his life.
Kill the enemy and save himself.
So this shield that we have is between
that which
we fear on ourselves, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's
anger.
And this showed my brothers, it's
To
do what Allah told you to do and
to stay away from what Allah told you
to stay away from.
And when you're fasting, it helps you do
that.
Sometimes you see people saying, I'm fasting, I
don't wanna say anything about
him. After Ramadan, is that okay?
No.
But you can see he's trying in the
month of Ramadan, but it's not just for
the month of Ramadan,
or when you're fasting.
It's an institution now to train you to
become a better person. Likewise, when we fast,
should we only be fasting Ramadan or does
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala want us to become
from the awriyah? The saints, his beloved servants,
to continue fasting after the month of Ramadan.
Likewise, the tarawiyah. What does the tarawiyah train
us now to become?
From their characteristics, the oliya that is mentioned
right at the end of Surat Al Furhan,
from their characteristics they stand up in the
night. Likewise we give a lot of charity,
we read a lot of Quran.
Take all of that which I mentioned and
you've now
made this a pivotal part of your life
after the month of Ramadan.
And then you continues all the way till
you die. You have become a very beloved
servant of Allah.
That's what Ramadan is all about.
So now going back to the point that
I was making,
safeguarding your eyes from haram.
Especially in today's day and age,
it's one of the or should I say
maybe even, and it won't be farfetched to
say this, it is the root cause
that one now is becoming corrupted.
So hey?
Especially with
the easy access of these gadgets,
where a child might be inside of the
house and outside at the same time.
The whole world has become like a small
little village,
exposed to all types of doubts that he
reads, that his eyes come in contact with,
or evil
filthy people that one keeps on looking at,
which then destroys his heart. And then all
of a sudden he sees himself
behaving like those who he has been watching
that he has become so desensitized to.
Do you guys agree with that?
Before there was a time, right,
when we thought that the only way the
only way
our children will become corrupted is them hanging
around with the wrong crowd, So, hey. We
thought that was the only way.
Them days are long gone,
because of social media.
A young child
keeps looking at
this YouTuber or this influencer
who is behaving
and dressing inappropriately.
And she keeps looking at it, keeps looking
at it, keeps looking at it,
till she normalizes it. She becomes desensitized to
it.
And all of a sudden she's you see
her now dressing like that. When her mother
always ever
dressed her with
the correct Islamic clothing.
Kaif, how did that happen? All of a
sudden,
looking I'll try some of the scholars, they
mentioned in the book, don't even look at
someone who's lazy.
Because how that will
subconsciously
creep
within you and all of a sudden you'll
see yourself becoming affected just because you kept
on looking at it, let alone anything else.
Ibn Josi, he says,
how often has he seen?
Those who were devout worshipers of Allah
They lost their faith.
They lost the Iman, their faith, the Iman
went down the drain,
and that is because of what? What did
it
originate from?
Looking at things, not lowering the gaze.
So you want to really preserve and clean
your heart?
Right? Sorry,
lowering the gaze
There's so many other points as well.
Number 3 is done.
I will go on for another 7 minutes
and I will stop.
Yeah?
Number 4 now,
I
normally mention this,
at point number 11,
I mention it now.
Pardoning one another,
removing any grudges that you have in your
heart
towards your Muslim brother.
Allah, my beloved brothers and sisters, I know
it's not easy
to forgive and pardon another for having wronged
and oppressed you. Allah is not.
And it makes sense as to why
Al Afoor, pardoning others, is one of the
3
righteous deeds
in our sharia,
in which the reward hasn't been limited to
anything.
The other one is patience,
fasting,
and the third is what Allah for.
Hassan
al Basri,
great
would wake up in the last 3rd of
the night, and we know how difficult it
is to wake up in the last 3rd.
And if we did end up waking up,
we would be what?
Stingy with our time, and rightfully so.
Rightfully so. We've only got 20 minutes and
there's so many things I need to ask
Allah, and utilize our time. Great. No problem.
That's your right.
You know what Hassan Abbasi would do?
Raise his hands up to Allah
He would utilize these few minutes that he
has that are extremely precious.
Oh Allah,
forgive those who oppressed me.
Look at the level of piety.
O Allah, look at that.
And one day, a man walks past and
he heard him saying that.
And he was in shock.
Next morning goes up to him and he
says,
I began to wish that I oppressed you.
Because of you making so many du'a for
them, why are you doing this? Why? I
wanna know the sir.
He
said, haven't you heard a statement of Allah?
With a pardons
rectifies indeed his reward with Allah.
You know we're going to be begging Allah
especially in the last 10 nights.
Reading that dua.
Everyone here has memorized it. What does it
mean? Oh Allah, you are.
You love to pardon, so pardon me.
You know even Nurrajib Rahmatullahi mentions,
I
always follow the names of Allah.
O
Allah loves to pardon.
And He loves to pardon His servants.
And He loves for His servants to pardon
and forgive one another.
Look what He says then,
and here comes the catch.
If they pardon one another,
only then Allah will pardon them.
And this falls in line with when the
messian sallallahu alaihi wasallam said,
Have mercy on the people and only then
Allah will have mercy upon you.
Forgive and pardon the people, only then Allah
will pardon you.
When I think Ramadan, my beloved brothers and
sisters, I think
pardoning and forgiving one another.
And it's not easy, but the prophet said,
The best of the 2 is the one
who starts with
the
salam. Allah is not worth going to your
grave with a crutch in your heart,
and you're carrying all of these sicknesses inside
of your heart,
that heaviness on your shoulders,
and then see how you feel the moment
you pick up that phone,
and you call that person who may have
wronged you,
say, You know what? Let's forgive forget,
you feel that he's wronged you,
and you will only increase in honor
in His eyes.
Never does an individual
pardon another except that he will increase in
izda.
Honor and might,
and you'll be respected even more. And perhaps
that individual will become one of the most
compassionate friends as Allah mentioned
This fat here is called that, the unexpected
fat.
When you repel evil with good,
unexpectedly you will
see, suddenly this person now become an compassionate
friend.
Even he'll feel extremely embarrassed for what he
may have done for you, And you just
act like nothing happened.
Pardoning is one thing, erasing it completely as
if nothing happened, that's called
which means to treat that individual as if
nothing happened.
My brothers, the moment you put that
phone down after having made that phone call,
see how you feel.
And it's not easy, but I can the
reward is great, and we want to be
forgiven and pardon in this month.
So,
let's start with that.
Number 5,
sitting with the righteous.
One of my favorite statements when I speak
about this topic is a statement of Ahmed
Al Naharab when he said,
I worship Allah for 50 years.
I did not taste the sweetness of worship
until,
I left those 3 things. Common question. Right?
People ask, I don't feel. I don't feel
that sweetness in the salah.
Very very quickly.
First one was,
I left off trying to please the people,
and I was able to speak the truth.
When you're with your
crowd and they do things that are wrong
and you speak out, what do people normally
say to you? Why are you killing the
vibe for?
Why are you ruining the mood?
Sahe?
He said, Wallahi, exactly.
No.
That's exactly what happens.
Right?
But you're being told you would taste the
sweetness
of worship.
You speak out. And And what happens when
you speak out? It's only a matter of
time before they say, this guy, you know
what? Don't even call him anymore.
And what was the second point?
Second thing is, I left off hanging around
with a bad crowd and Allah replaced them
with a good one.
When you speak the truth, you speak out,
and you're enjoying the good and forbid the
evil, it's only a matter of time before
they leave you, and you'll be alone.
Right? And you might find it difficult for
a short space of time, but then Allah
replaces them bad friends with what? With good
ones.
How did it all start by speaking out?
There was a third thing.
I left off chasing after a dunya and
I found the sweetness of the hereafter.
When you're hanging around with good people, do
they remind you of what c class and
s class they get?
Or do they remind you of Allah
I know some of you guys have c
classes, no offense,
sir. Or somebody hits me with his car
with a c class as soon as I
walk outside,
You're hanging on the right crowd. They remind
you of Allah. They're not going to be
reminding you of the dunya.
And it all originated from what?
Speaking out.
But of course you have to do it
in a nice way.
Uzz Ibn Ukaimi says, when you sit with
the righteous, 6 6 things change for you.
Number 1,
from having doubts to certainty.
Number 2, from being someone who shows up
to being sincere. Number 3,
being someone who's heedless to remembering Allah. Number
4, being someone who chases a dunya to
chasing the hereafter.
Number 5,
from arrogance to being humble.
Number 6, from someone who has bad intentions
to being someone who's sincere,
and wanting good for the people.
Likewise when you see with the people of
innovation, it sickens your heart. Just hearing doubts
all the time, or when you're sickening with
enemies of Islam,
right?
It sickens your heart. That's why you need
to go and sit with somebody who
is able to remove them doubts then.
And we have to stop.
Number 6 is
reciting the book of Allah
and pondering and reflecting on it.
Number 7
is beneficial knowledge.
And 7 is,
Number 8,
remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala much.
Number 9, having good thoughts with the people,
really really does.
Says
Whoever makes it a habit to give the
people the benefit of the doubt,
and he has good thoughts of them.
This person will have pure intentions,
he will be at peace,
and his heart will be treated,
and Allah will give him all types of
good, just having good thoughts with people.
Right? And a lot of
disputes, when you think about it,
a lot of it stems off from what?
Having bad evil thoughts of others.
Scholars they say,
if it wasn't just for this point,
right,
that you benefit
from having good thoughts to the people, then
you would have been sufficient. What is this
point?
The fact that you're able to go to
sleep at peace.
That is because your mind is void of
these bad thoughts that you have of others.
If that was the only thing you took
away from just having good thoughts for the
people,
because when you're having bad thoughts on the
people, you're constantly, oh this, what do you
do?
Thinking about it.
And it makes you sick.
As opposed if you call him up, look,
I have these bad thoughts of you,
let's let's sit down about it. I feel
like you've done this and you've done and
he'll explain.
The poet says,
Take it easy.
Do not be hasty in placing blame on
your brother.
Perhaps you might have an excuse while you
are placing blame on him.
Right? Sometimes one phone call can change everything.
Right?
Number 10, loving to be alone with Allah
One should really have times in his day
where
he's just disconnected from everyone, and I know
I said everyone but also your phone
because that's become a someone now as well,
or maybe more than a someone,
or maybe even more than everybody.
So hey? Because he gives you everybody and
he gives you others as well. It's not
just people that you're meeting on your phone,
so many other distractions.
It's being alone, just you and your Lord.
1 of those is going to be under
the shade of Allah the day when there's
no shade except His is.
A man who is alone and then his
eyes began to shed tears.
Right? And this brings about the love of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, away from everyone, sit
in your car for 5 minutes just contemplate
and reflect on your own shortcomings.
How many is that?
Scholars are different than taking 2 views.
9 or 10? 10. 10. 10.
5.
Number 11,
reading the sierra.
Ibn Josi said it's just not enough for
you to learn hadith and fiqh.
It's just not enough. You have to mix
it with reading up the lives of the
righteous of the past.
11, sahih.
Number 12,
being humble in front of the creation, lowering
your wing for them.
Number 13,
spending time with the eitam,
the orphans,
wiping their heads like that. As the prophet
said,
if you want your heart to become soft,
feed the
and also wipe the head of an orphan.
Number 14,
be sending salutations upon the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa
sallam.
Number 2, number 15.
Being sincere.
One of the active worship that you do,
always checking your intentions before, at the time
when you're doing that active worship, and then
after you finish as well.
Questioning it was I really sincere or was
I not.
That's 15. I've never mentioned a 15 in
one sitting.
I know we rushed it,
managed to get through it.
At least now you kind of have an
idea, if I'm feeling,
if my heart is feeling very heavy,
what is it maybe that I could do
to really soften it up?
Right?
Truth has become apparent.
It's always a pleasure.
Coming to Luton Islamic Center, seeing all of
these
and
good glowing faces.
May Allah honor every single one of you.
May Allah reward the sisters as well.
Normally it's more sisters than brothers that attend.
Masha'Allah, there's a lot here.
I'm assuming there's more sisters as well.
I think
everyone's tired,
so we won't do a q and a.
I think I went well over the time.
Brothers for attending again.