Ahmad Arshad – Discourse At Khanqah #26
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AI: Transcript ©
If somebody wants to
make a good pizza,
they have to make sure that
they have all the right ingredients,
and then they combine them in the right
way, and then they
cook them for the right amount of time.
And before you know it, alhamdulillah, this
magnificent
pizza is in front of you.
Everybody understands that if they're missing, for example,
cheese, the pizza is not going to be
what we want, or the sauce is not
there,
or the dough is not there.
We understand that these things are essential.
Now, same is the case when we talk
about
the
spirituality of a person,
the development of a person, development of a
character, our personality,
development
of traits that we want,
to
see within ourselves, that Allah
wants to see within us.
It is
made from certain ingredients,
and they're very simple. They're all from
Quran and sunnah, from the sharia.
And
if any of those ingredients are missing, then
there will be a defect, there will be
nooks
in whatever is formed from
it. So for example,
we all know this, that
what we need to do is to have
the kir qasim,
is to have remembrance of Allah, subhanahu wa
ta'ala, that
a remembrance that has abundance in it.
That is the first ingredient.
Then we need
of
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
I
mean, people who have traversed the path.
Right? Nobody can claim that they are this,
but people
who have traversed the path themselves,
they can help others on the path.
And people who may not have traversed the
path,
is like a blind person
leading a blind person.
So that is the second ingredient of sama.
The third ingredient is what we call
and is
going against the
demands and desires and whims of tanevs
and putting a burden on it. And again,
this is something that is required.
A pizza cannot be formed without you putting
it in fire.
So you have that
break oven pizza that is very famous, I
think.
Because, you know, it has the requisite amount
of fire and from all sides. So think
of think of
mujahid al nafs
as as putting the burden of fire
on the nafs.
And the 4th thing that is required
is
really this, like, deep
connection with
And we have described and discussed this before
that when we say,
of course, it means
But more than that,
the right?
The
means that
was free from from
and from
and from Hasid and Ujib and Takabur and
Shahan and
and all of these diseases and ailments.
So we have to
make sure that our
baton is like that. And was an embodiment
of really, you know, like, some and
and ultimately, we want
a taste of those akhwal and kefiyat within
ourselves.
And the third thing within that is the
Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam brought a certain
way of being,
right,
of mannerism,
of, you know, acting, of
of, you know, the way he spoke, the
way he conducted himself. Right? Etiquette, mannerism. Right?
This adab of zindagi, adab I hayat.
And so we have to inculcate
those
within ourselves. That is probably one of the
most difficult things to do.
And so when you have these four things
together,
these 4 ingredients together, then it becomes very
easy, fairly easy
to achieve what is what we call or
tazkiyah or tazfiya,
develop ourselves,
you know, change ourselves, transform ourselves, mold ourselves,
whatever you want to call
it. And if any of these ingredients are
missing, then it's just like that pizza that's
missing the cheese or the sauce and
and then there will be there will be
problems. Right? So for example, let's say,
you're not doing enough zikr of Allah.
This is something that
Allah again and again and again
orders in the Quran.
Literally, a page goes by where
Allah does not speak about zikr for.
Zikr, you know, obviously one meaning of zikr
is Quran itself, but
when we say zikr, it is that remembrance.
Deeply embedded embedded remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Right?
And we all know
of different kinds whether you are used to
out light, out loud,
If you want to do that, that's fine.
With your tongue, meaning whisper.
Right?
If
you want, you know, if you have an
aspect with that, go for it.
And the third one, and which is called
or
or
within
ourselves.
Within your being,
within your being, within your inner faculties that
Allah
has given and some people have. Whatever
zikr that you're used to,
a, you have to do it with a
sense of presence, mindfulness.
B, you know, to make it effective.
Right? To make it effective, you have to
do it.
You have to do it abundance.
Ezekiel
is the
is what is required.
If you're sick and you take medicine,
if you take medicine
and you take it after every week rather
than daily, it's not going to take effect.
And if you're supposed to take, like, 20
milligrams and you're like, no. No. No. I'm
just gonna take 1 milligram. It's not gonna
affect you. You're not going to see the
cure that you're looking for. Exactly like that,
there's a certain amount of zikr
and certain consistency in zikr that
is required.
Abundance.
You know, you need to become people who
are able to
remember Allah
standing, sitting, and lying down.
So it's really it encompasses every state that
we're in. Sajid.
Right?
And
so we we need to we need to
kind of think about this and especially those,
you know, who suffer from stress and depression
and
are always unhappy, are always complaining,
you know, this is such a great remedy
for them. Such a great remedy.
People
who suffer from,
you know, like,
these violent attacks
of thoughts all the time. This is such
a great remedy for that.
It's Suji. Allah has given us a free
remedy. You don't have to go and spend
100 of dollars and 1,000 of dollars in
getting this remedy. This is
free. That you're looking for that serenity, you're
looking for that peace, you're looking for that
solace, you're looking for that, you know,
that, you know, that that in the heart,
it is in the zikmafah.
But again, you have to do a certain
amount of it.
Right? You cannot just,
you know, just just
touch it every now and then,
and
and then ask for the effect. You know,
you all like him, I just did 1
minute or 2 minutes of zikr, and, you
know, how come,
you know, I'm
not the next It
doesn't work that way.
So we have to
you have to put in the effort when
it comes to that. But I will tell
you this,
that surely
surely the zikr will will thus cleanse a
person from inside.
Very cleansing effect.
You know, people feel that hardness. You can
feel it sometimes.
You can feel that there's something wrong with
my heart. What is this? You know, I've
been praying for, like, 30, 40 years of
my life,
and, you know,
I just don't feel anything inside.
Is something wrong with my heart that I'm
supposed to be loving Allah
I don't feel that.
Iman comes with the.
Iman comes with that.
Iman comes with certain states and,
you know, there are certain rec you know,
certain things that that come with and I
don't see any of that.
The the biggest thing is that the heart
is not in the right place. The, you
know, there's a model there,
and, you know, you have to
you have to cure it. At the zakkal
of Allah, it's the cure of heart.
But again,
zakkur see
zakkur see. So we have to learn this.
We have to go to our.
This is why we go, and this is
why we engage in it.
And
and again, you know, the the adkar that
are present in Hadith of Rasoolullah SAWSALAM, of
course, the whole Ummat has ijazah for that.
And they are recommended and they should be
done.
Nobody should, you know,
shy away from that. Right?
Shying away
from is actually.
Why is this a? Because Allah says that
those who shy away from
Allah will impose this shaitan.
Shaitan on this person for
This Qur'in is what is this?
Is this cham? Is the close friend?
Hugs you all the time. And what does
shaitan do? Shaitan is the source of wasabi,
one of the greatest sources of wasabi that
we suffer from.
Now if the shaitan or this jinn, you
know, jinn shaitan is a jinn, this jinn
is like hugging you 24 hours a day,
7 days a week,
then no chuff chuff fear is going to
get rid of this this.
You need you need the liquor to get
rid of people who shy away from it.
Of course, you have to suffer from, oh,
I can't control my thoughts here, and I
have bad thoughts, and I have these thoughts,
and I have that those And thoughts as
we know, they they they lead to actions.
Actions lead to behavioral habits. Right?
So why then, like, why even
why even complain? Right? It's like you go
to a doctor. It's like, you know, doctor,
you know, I'm still sick, and I've been
seeing you for, what, you know, like, 10
years. I was like, did you take the
medicine? No. No. No. I didn't take the
medicine, but I've been coming to you.
Take the medicine. You need to take that
chemotherapy.
That chemotherapy has to be done to get
rid of the cancer.
With that sense of presence, with that abundance.
As a matter of fact, the Quran tells
us I mean, the Quran is filled with
this. I mean, I'm I'm shocked and I'm
baffled that we don't read this.
It's filled with
with this not only encouragement, this insistence that
we have to become, you know,
that we have to become people who do
And
the sign of
is people who do
but little.
That's a that's a big thing. That's one
of the signs of how do I know
that I'm a? Okay. What is the Quran
telling us?
That you sit in in zikr and or
you do whatever zikr and you just can't
do it.
If you look at kaleel and kasid, kasid
is more than half and kaleel is less
than half. So
so little little.
Now it doesn't mean you have to just
all the time,
but, you know, you have to be in
that state of remembrance and cognizance and awareness.
Right? At least to the extent that it
saves us from a life of sin.
Staying away from sin is zikr in itself.
That you're able to pull yourself back.
Such a person,
you know, makes themselves deserving of jinnah. I'm
not saying this, Quran is saying this.
Those who have this
to stand in front of Allah
and they pull their nafs back. And how
do you pull yourself? By remembering Allah.
If you're doing something wrong and all of
a sudden you remember your Abu standing there
with his danda,
right, you're going to pull yourself back.
That is the remembrance. That is the remembrance,
you know, that pulls you back from a
life of sin. And if your zikr is
not preventing if our zikr is not preventing
us from that,
then it's just silly. Like, it's it's,
you know
then it's not the medicine that we think
that those are, like, the gummy vitamins that
we're enjoying eating,
but not really having any effect on on
ourselves.
That's not what we want.
This zikr is there, so to cure
us to cure us
to cure
So
you
know, we have to
we have to give it to you. We
have to give it to other,
and we have to make sure that it
is transforming us, changing us,
changing our. You know, we can you know,
as I said, You know? Am I still
suffering from
and
and my my heart getting pulled towards you
know? Do I have?
Do I feel towards my brothers and sisters
and
Do I feel this? Do I feel this
Do
I feel that I always have this negativity
towards other and that I always look down
upon others?
Right?
And, you know, the zikr is not having
the effect that we want it to have.
The one of the that was
recited
today.
Don't let your
basically, your
is your worthy possessions.
Your status, your wealth, your cars, your houses,
your
jobs, your careers, your degrees, don't let any
of this.
And
is very dear and near to a person.
You know your relationships.
It was they don't don't let them distract
you from zikr of
Allah Whoever does this, whoever does this, you
know, it's not just it's it's a recommendation.
Whoever does this,
that these are people of, you know,
great and, you know, great and grave loss.
Grave loss.
It's not
a good person.
Oh. Care scared. No. No.
Grave loss is being gifted to us.
You cannot
you can't you can't you know, you're distracted
from from the zikr remembrance of Allah
You're distracted from the mindfulness, awareness, and consciousness
of Allah deeply.
Grave loss in this dunya nakhra.
Nobody wants law. No. Everybody wants success. You
know,
why do we work so hard from, you
know, in the morning till till evening?
We want to be successful. Like, whatever we
do.
Allah is saying that, okay, if you're not
mindful,
There's no way you can be successful, you
know.
And
loss
grave losses. You know? Doesn't matter how hard
you were. Were.
Sometimes your families, it becomes your Sometimes your
children become your Sometimes
your job becomes your Sometimes your career, you
know.
If nothing else, you know, will stop you
and give you a $150
ticket.
Right? For red lights.
Right, Mahdi?
So what is that?
The least expected,
you're driving
and all of a sudden, you know, click
click click.
It's It's just like happening. 1 after another
after
How does it benefit
Allah even in the slightest? Of course, it
doesn't. It's it's for us.
It's for us.
Take this tonic, and you will become you
know, just like we eat.
And just like we eat to be healthy
and strong and, you know, we are very
careful about, you know, eating protein and carbohydrates
and this and this, you know, so we
are strong
physically.
We do have this ruk within us, don't
we? And we need to nourish it with
this sikhat.
Otherwise, it's just going to wither down.
You see that plant outside, I got this,
like, with so much muhabba and, like, it's
all withered down now. It's just not getting
its nourishment.
Not getting the sunlight, not getting its food,
and
the root becomes like that. Completely withered down.
And remember, it's a, you know, what they
call it lazimazum.
If your Ruq withers down,
the natural result is that the nafs is
going to
mhmm. It's going to expand and pull down.
And when the withers down, the natural result
is that the ruh
will will be in the state of of
ecstasy.
Okay. So all of it goes like this.
It's not like, okay. Both of them are
down. You know? Mote maybe will do it.
They can
anything that strengthens the nuffs, it is going
to weaken the.
And anything that strengthens the is going to
definitely weaken the nafs. So when we do
again, properly,
with,
the effect of that is that it weakens
the nafs. The zur, the the, you know,
the strength of nafs is weak.
Okay? They are connected, and those who are
into, like, this metaphysics of the and whatnot,
your
and
your they're actually connected.
They are connected.
Okay? So they have an effect.
So the more
your call, the stronger the, you know, weaker
your nafs becomes.
Right? The the stronger your nafs is, the
the weaker your qalb become. But it's a
you know, it's, like, very easy to to
know anyone.
Inshallah,
these last few days of weakening the nafs,
inshallah, we're able to carry this with us
for the rest of the year in our
lives.
We should focus on this. Like, how do
I
control my nafs?
How do I not let it control me?
If it is an excessive control,
Right? It's like, okay. If if if a
person is too sick, what do you do?
You go to the urgent care and it's
like, please, doctor, please, you know. So, you
know, we return to
Allah I've tried everything, Allah, but only you
can,
you
know. Health
care. Help me.
Like, I put in all the effort
that I could
as a human being.
Allah, I'm still
and, you know, jahullah.
You know, I'm I'm still the same person.
So Allah, you Allah, you Allah, please help.
Allah
loves to help these servants.
And so
but, you know, we have to ask sincerely.
We have to ask we have to mean
it.
Going to make dua,
or I'm gonna go back and do bunah,
then that's not sincere. Allah knows this.
Allah knows what's in our hearts.
That's not sincere. If the intention, you know,
even if it's like deep within yourself,
No. No. No.
So you have to have that,
that real
intentionality.
So we make dua
helps
us in our lives, helps us to change,
helps us to transform,
makes us somebody
for his sake who can become true out
of his
and become true.