Ahmad Arshad – Discourse At Khanqah #18
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The speakers discuss the various types of or's a seeker might have, including a polar opposite of a gay fear and a desire to achieve small small steps to change behavior. They stress the importance of realistic and authentic expectations in achieving success, rejecting the duniya, and bringing change to people's lives. The hope of Islam is a real thing but requires small small steps to achieve success.
AI: Summary ©
So as we traverse and discuss
a little bit of
the the
states and conditions that a seeker goes through.
Different
that a person might
come across. There is one
that usually stays with the person from the
start to the end,
and that is called the or.
If you remember,
we did discuss a little bit about fear
of Allah
So this could be considered as the the
polar opposite of that gay fear.
And some musha'id have written that
when a person is young
and when a person is healthy,
they should have
because it helps them stay away from a
life of sin and disobedience.
But as a person gets older,
as a person gets maybe sicker or they
get suffer from any ailment then
this
of raja or hope in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala should prevail.
This guy fit his energy because it is
something that
brings us joy,
brings us pleasure, and
it gives us
towards Allah
However,
it is a thing that some
had considered this to be an interference of
sort.
And the reason might be because
at certain
the tafees with Allah
and what we call the razabir qazab is
so solid for a person
that they consider
hoping for certain things to be
hoping, you know, to to be a little
bit of,
complaining.
Think of it as like a
that they're complaining with Allah.
However,
for us, this is a a good kafir
to have because if a person does not
have hope,
it is extremely easy to fall into despair,
especially nowadays.
It is very easy to become hopeless
and fall in despair. And as we know
that Allah mentioned
in the Quran
that They do not despair
from the rahmet, from the mercy of Allah
So, a nuance there could be where does
the hope lie? Is the hope in us,
in ourselves,
or is the hope in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala?
Or is the hope
with effort, or is the hope without effort?
Right? So, I mean, those
can result in
very different outcomes. For example, if the hope
is, yes, I can do this and I
can do that,
then maybe, you know, this person is readying
himself or herself for
tests and from Allah
because,
you know,
this
this hope should really be with Allah
and his nusrah, his help,
his and his tophi is what makes things
happen.
Now it does not mean and some people
get confused by this. It does not mean
that you
don't put in the effort.
Yes. That's just like Allah is raziq
and
there's no doubt about that.
That, you know, your risk is,
comes from the skies.
There's absolutely no doubt. Now does it mean
that you don't make any effort? Of course
not.
You make the effort, but
the tawfiq to making the effort and the
asr, the taseer in the effort is from
Allah Ta'ala. Some people make a lot of
effort and
maybe they don't get anything, or they get
something and it comes
with without.
Some people make very little effort,
you know, subhanAllah.
The asr is there, daseer is there,
and it comes without without any kind of
test associated.
So our fear is that, you know, we
put our trust and we put our hope
in Allah
but it has to be realistic too.
It has to be realistic. For example,
if a person is
engaged in,
this person does not control their gaze, does
not control their tongue, does not control what
goes in their ears, cannot control their thoughts.
This person has become a for himself and
for others.
And then the hope is, you know, that
I become a wale of Allah.
You know?
On some level, it's kind of doing like
a joke with Allah.
Because, I mean, then the question becomes how
serious are you in that intentionality
and that hope that you have with them.
So, I mean, it's it's not a zero
sum game
because some people will say this, and and
all of my written against this.
They will live a life of their own,
you know, nafsparasti.
They will do whatever they want
and then, you know, when you give them
and
they'll be like, oh, I love it for
you.
So this is, like, misplaced hope.
Right? Because
you do the effort, you ask
for, you know, you you do you ask
for istighfar and then the hope is to
O Allah
that I've put in everything that I possibly
could, and then I leave
that acceptance of
we have been taught over and over and
even today we
you know heard the Dua
I
mean you know it's that acceptance yes I
made this mistake and
I'm going to correct myself.
So that's the hope that Allah will
accept
that Tawbah and help us change and the
Tawfee.
Okay? So we have to be a little
careful that, you know, this hope
does not put in a black state, and
this is why some some
have considered it to be like an interference
with the with Allah
like as it can
sometimes put a person in in, you know,
you know, put their guards down. Everything is
fine, you know, nothing to worry about. You
know, why do we have to worry?
So,
you know, some of those have to be
kept in check.
But, you know, it's
for a, it's it's a good thing it's
a good thing to have hope because it
helps them
perhaps put in the effort,
have energy about it, you know, like, oh,
yes. I have to do this. Yes. I
can do this. You know? Yes. I can
attitude.
So it's good to have that.
But, you know, for people who are spiritually
mature and who have,
you know, this hope changes because now they're
already doing all of that. Yes. I can,
and they have done it. And now the
hope is really about,
you know, making sure that purity of intentions
come in.
Right? That the comes in,
that that
emptiness of heart comes in, meaning you empty
your hearts from all other intentions, but Allah,
so, you know, they,
you know, it's necessarily you know, the result
is that they they will reject the duniya.
They will,
you know, they will learn how to
exercise self restraint.
They will
conform to the sharia
more easily. Right? So so the the hope
is the same thing, but depends on where
you are in your journey.
You know, some of the
some of what what the person might be
focusing on changes
but what about the Ikahullah?
I mean they have hope as well their
hope is that, you know,
their hope is to really get the mushaida
of Allah
Their hope is for Allah
So
that really
that really just kinda disconnects them from the
duniya.
They disconnect you know, they like, they don't
have any hope with the insanid not
anymore.
Right? Because all of that just returns back
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And
they're, you know here, like, in the second
state, maybe if you're rejecting the dunya,
here you have rejected the dunya.
Right? So there you you're kind of put
putting the effort, yes. I have to do
this to reject it,
But, you know,
will will will have rejected the dunya, and,
you know, we understood understand it that from
their heart, that it does not have any
place in their heart anymore.
So, you know, this is, again, this is
a a use useful case field to have,
but it should not
be used in a way that
weakens our,
that weakens our resolve,
and that,
you know, on some level puts, like,
in a sense of everything is going to
work out for me no matter what. Right?
That's now because Allah
is a Adil as well.
And Allah
you know, I mean, if we are focusing
on the rahmah, which we really should in
general,
but, I mean, the other aspect of jilagah
for Allah,
is just
as much present there as well. So maybe
we have to be you know, we have
to use it very carefully.
Okay?
So we make dua to Allah
and we hope to
Allah that Allah allows this time of Ramadan
to be a source of redemption,
a source of our change and transformation,
A true a true in our words Allah
and we hope that Allah gives us the
for
that will
please him, for that
will rectify us
and really change our direction completely from inside.
You know? So
becomes our
only true in
our lives.