Ahmad Arshad – Discourse At Khanqah #21
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AI: Transcript ©
Yesterday,
Zenhub Center, we had
a a big event, which was the of
the Dorei Quran
that had been ongoing for a while now.
And one of the
problems that we had to solve
was the ability to stream
from this masjid where the event was taking
place
to the rest of the world.
And so
we got a gadget first time.
We got a gadget
gadget and it was supposed to be, you
know, it was supposed to work in a
specific way.
But know, the the doubt was there, the
risk was there that it would fail.
And so
what really helped us was the manual that
There were specific settings you had to do
with.
And, it
worked because we followed the manual the way
it was supposed to work.
And so it turned to be a great
blessing.
Something that we had struggled within the past.
Now
it became a blessing for Allah
Now if you look
at this kind of problem solving,
there is an even bigger problem that we
have to solve,
that we have been sent into this world
for a very limited amount of time.
And that we have to live on iman,
we have die on iman, and we have
to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Now, Allah ta'ala has given each and every
one of us various various gadgets
that we have limited control over.
And we are supposed
to use these gadgets, we're supposed to use
these tools
in order to achieve, in order to solve
this problem of
how do we actually please Allah
and how do we actually make it to,
to our graves,
in the state of iman
and in the state that
we are
and Allah is with us.
So for example,
has given all of us
eyes to see.
Has given us tongues to speak with, communicate
with, Allah has given us ears to listen
with,
so on and so forth.
Now if we
don't look at
the manual that came with all of these
tools, it becomes very easy to misuse them.
Just like with other gadget,
you know, in our mind, you're supposed to
do this and that, turn the batteries on
and off, and
But it turned out to be exactly the
opposite. It was supposed to draw the energy
from the phone and
and only the manual told us that.
Similarly,
we become deluded that we own these tools
that Allah has given us and that we
can use them however we want to use
them. And so for example, we will
use our eyes to gaze upon anything that
gives us pleasure.
And it doesn't matter if it is halal.
It doesn't matter if it is halal.
We will look at people.
We will look at things.
We will look at this dunya.
Anything that gives us pleasure, we will do
it. This is what we call a misuse
of this tool.
Now the manual that Allah has given us
and
the actualization of this manual, even the Quran
and the sunnah,
tell us that the proper use, the real
way that we use this so we can
solve the problem
is that we lower our gaze, we control
our gaze,
and we only look at things that we
are supposed to. Otherwise,
it is going to
become detrimental to our
own physical and spiritual existence.
And so this is where
the manual is necessary because if you don't
have that,
what what should stop us? Why should I
not look at anything that I want to
look at?
Why should I not derive pleasure
of this dunya that I find myself in?
Why can't I look at any person that
I want to?
Why can't I look at anything on the
Internet and phones and TV that I want
to?
So this is a person without guidance, without
the manual. Same thing with, for example, our
tongues.
This ability to communicate is really what this
differentiates
us from the
that we have the ability to
acquire
language and express ourselves in those languages.
Now this tongue is there, the ability to
speak is there.
And if the manual is not there,
what stops us
from lying, not speaking the truth? What stops
us from
saying words and saying it in a tone
that hurts other people?
What stops us from slandering, just making things
up about others?
What stops us from doing backbiting? Right?
Attacking other people's honors. I mean, it's the
same thing.
So again, the problem is that this is
a misuse.
And if the guidance, if the manual is
there,
now we realize, no, this is not how
you're supposed to
solve the issue. Otherwise,
it is going to increase our risk of
annihilating ourselves and risk of
failing the test that we have been sent
to
do. So we use the same tongue to
speak the truth,
to read the Quran,
to speak in a way that is, you
know,
proper, you know, proper manners and then etiquettes,
not scream, not use words that hurt others.
Right? So this is the proper use, so
on and so forth.
This is also true when it comes to
our inner faculties.
So Allah has given each and every one
of us the spiritual call of the heart,
which is part of Babur.
That is the place that is the of
this meaning the heart actually opens up and
accepts certain truths.
If it doesn't open up, if it remains
closed, then
it does not go beneath the superficial.
It only looks at the and it makes
certain assumptions about the world
that we live
in. Now the heart,
we can
say without any issue that it is a
maqam
of. It is a maqam of emotion.
It is a maqam of attachment.
It is a maqam of faith, iman,
in certain things. Right?
And so
now the improper use would be that
we fill this vessel that Allah has given
us
with the attachment with the dunya,
the attachment
with other people,
with the attachment
with, you know, our own desires. Right?
Of people that, you know, we knows we
know that we're not supposed to love,
and things we know we don't have, you
know, we're not supposed to love.
Right? The love of attachment with the duniya.
So the vessel is there, and this is
a great misuse of that. And again, the
problem will not be solved
if the heart
does
or is not taken under control.
Because Allah
looks at this heart.
And on the
it will be opened up
for everybody to witness.
Looks at this because this is the primary
faculty
that is
there.
The heart that has been properly used.
And so if you're putting some effort,
iman, the nur of iman can be enlightened
in it.
Little bit of effort is required.
If we put some effort, we can feel
the fire of of ish
of Allah
because we can't how do you love someone
that you can't see, you can't hear,
you cannot feel
feel in terms of our 5 senses?
How do you love someone?
So this is something that we have ignored
that it is with our with our inner
intuition.
What is known
as
that
that
is
realized, is actualized.
And so you don't need to see Allah
to love him. You don't need to hear
Allah
to love him. You don't need to use
any of your 5 senses to be able
to love
him. If the
if the spiritual heart is properly used,
it's it's up to us. The guide is
there.
The practical way of using the guide, I
actually have
to go and look at YouTube video of
how to use the gadget yesterday.
So that's the practical because somebody showed this
is what you do. And so it's so
amazing
that sometimes,
if it is not clear to us, you
know, what the Quran demands from us, very
easy.
Look at the beautiful life of Rasoolullah
He has made
it
so easy.
He had made it so
easy
to understand
and to realize,
you know, how to use this.
Now it's up to us because the name
will be taken away from us. Eventually,
a time will come that one after another,
they will weaken.
And when all the name are taken away,
this is what we call.
And so we are we are we are
walking towards that. We
are moving towards that specific,
and nothing can stop
Nothing can stop.
So it is important that we utilize these
times just like Ramadan
and
and ask ourselves that, okay. So these gadgets,
these tools are here. How am I using
them?
Am I using them to solve the problem
that I find myself in?
Or am I just using them frivolously and
just wasting my time and wasting all my
energies and
and and just using them in a way
that they will become witnesses against.
So, inshallah, we ask Allah
that in this blessed month of Ramadan and
now
that we are entering the last,
the last 10 days of Ramadan.
A chance of getting ourselves
emancipated
from from the fire, whether it is the
fire of our own desires,
whether it is the fire of our own
sins, whether it is the fire of punishment
in dunya, in Tabar, on Hashem,
or whether it is the fire of Jahannam.
It could be not. Allah
has just
put this incredible
sail
on.
This incredible sail just started.
You know, the nights are very valuable, you
know, especially the dark or what we call
the odd nights. Any one of them can
be
the night of Leilatul Qadr.
And so it is up to us.
It is up to us how we realize
them and what we do with them.
And I can guarantee you this, that if
you tire yourself
within a day, all that
all that, you know, fatigue will be gone
within one day.
Actually, on the day of Eid, you will
forget that, you know, you were tired in
the last 10 days.
But the reward,
the of whatever you do will remain.
And who knows, maybe one of these nights
is what we actually needed
to solve the issue
of going into a with
and make it easy.