Ali Albarghouthi – Are we Helpless
AI: Summary ©
The transcript describes a series of stories and references to the shaytan and hesitation of Islam's followers to adopt new religion. It touches on the importance of protecting one's health and ability to accomplish tasks, protecting one's religion and finding one's way out of difficult situations. The shaytan is seen as a obstacle to achieving goals and settingbacks, and is used as a way to prevent future struggles and setbacks. The segment also touches on the shaytan's history and potential impact on people's behavior, as well as the importance of learning from the experience and finding one's way out of difficult situations.
AI: Summary ©
Inna alhamdulillahi nahmaduhu wa nasta'eenuhu wa nastaghfiruhu
wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina wa
sayyi'ati a'malina may yahdihi allahu fala mudhilla
lah waman yudhlil fala hadiya lah wa ashhadu
alla ilaha illa allahu wahdahu la sharika lah
wa anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh sallallahu alayhi
wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam amma
ba'du fa inna khair al hadith kitabullah ta
'ala wa khair al hadi hadi muhammadin sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam wa sharra al umuri muhdathatuha
wa kulla muhdathatin bid'ah wa kulla bid
'atin dhalalah wa kulla dhalalatin fin naar amma
ba'd I met someone recently who had said
I don't like watching the news because of
all the horrors that it contains one day
seems worse than the other and the most
difficult part about watching all of this is
how helpless you feel that there is nothing
that you can do and that prompted a
series of questions about what it means to
be actually helpless and are we actually helpless
and the difference between helplessness that is out
of our hands forced on us that is
I cannot go physically today and stop the
bombs raining down difference between helplessness imposed on
us and helplessness that is out of choice
that's optional that is voluntary and how we
confuse the two where if I cannot do
one thing which is stopping these bombs today
it means I cannot do anything and the
importance of distinguishing between the two types of
helplessness and how we should move beyond saying
that we are helpless to begin with Rasulullah
alayhi wa sallam sought Allah's protection and refuge
from helplessness from his dua I seek your
protection from inability helplessness and laziness and these
two are tied because you may have the
desire to do something but be unable physically
to do it or pursue it it's really
really beyond you and that is tragic and
heartbreaking when you want to do something but
you really cannot you want to help but
you cannot and similar to it in result
not in condition but in result is laziness
where you can but you don't have the
desire and the outcome is the same because
both of them result in ineffective person one
does not want so he does not do
and another wants but he cannot do so
the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam wanted Allah
to protect him and by extension us from
that but also you get another hadith that
adds another layer to it where he said
alayhi salatu wa salam وَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ وَلَا تَعَجَزْ
seek Allah's assistance and don't be helpless so
here the direction from Rasulullah alayhi salatu wa
salam when he says don't be helpless he's
not referring here to what to what is
beyond your control but don't be like a
helpless person don't think like a helpless person
don't act like a helpless person don't put
yourself in a helpless condition by the choices
that you make but instead seek Allah's assistance
and Allah azza wa jal will make what
seems like impossible, improbable possible and probable the
tragic thing is that we think that if
we cannot do one thing we cannot do
anything and that's why when something bad happens
to the ummah or really happens to you
individually and someone gives the ummah collectively or
the individual the advice of be right with
Allah azza wa jal so Allah could alleviate
a person thinks that this advice is irrelevant
how is this gonna save that?
how is this gonna improve that?
not understanding the connection between how we are
and how helpless we are and that if
we improve our helplessness will diminish as well
our inability will diminish as well now you
can consider stories in the Quran one story
among them in surat al-baqarah and that
story is really relevant to us what Allah
azza wa jal said consider the Israelites after
Musa when they've asked a prophet living among
them he said send us a king so
that we could fight in the cause of
Allah so their prophet tells them perhaps when
fighting is prescribed on you you're allowed, you're
given your wish maybe you'll turn away and
you will not fight he says why would
we not fight for the sake of Allah
while we were driven out of our lands
and driven out of our children they were
taken away from us yet Allah azza wa
jal said but when fighting was prescribed, was
given to them they turned away except for
few among them where does that inability come
from?
it does not come from Allah azza wa
jal who imposed this on them it comes
from choices that they make and it really
comes from a lack of iman that they
had which made the options in front of
them very limited so when Allah continues in
this story after the king was given to
them and he said Allah is going to
test you with a river if you're going
to drink from this river this is the
army that he had with him that's the
difference between strength and weakness between helplessness and
power and it all goes back to this
power of iman and power of belief and
the ability to sacrifice so he says if
you're going to drink from this river you're
not one of us you're going to leave
us but if you're not going to take
a sip from it except few sips then
you will be with us so most of
them drank from it except for few so
when he marched with the remaining few those
who have iman they said we have no
power to fight Goliath and his soldiers we
have no power but
those who believed they knew that they're going
to meet Allah azza wa jal they said
how many times did a small group defeat
a large group with the help of Allah
azza wa jal and Allah is with those
who are patient and Allah azza wa jal
said that when they met Goliath and his
soldiers قالوا ربنا أفرغ علينا صبرا وثبت أقدامنا
وانصرنا على القوم الكافرين فهزموهم بإذن الله so
when they met Goliath and his soldiers he
said ya Allah pour patience upon us like
rain and make our footing strong and give
us victory against the disbelievers Allah said they
defeated them with the help of Allah azza
wa jal for those who turned away they
were helpless for those who were steadfast they
had power the helplessness that the first party
had to endure is their own making and
another story also in the Quran but this
time before that incident and this time with
a greater prophet which is Musa alayhis salam
still with the Israelites and they were supposed
to enter the holy land قَالَ يَا قَوْمُ
ادْخُلُوا الْأَرْضَ الْمُقَدَّسَةِ he says oh my people
enter the holy land that Allah had written
for you don't turn away otherwise you will
be losers قَالُوا يَا مُوسَىٰ here is this
inability I want you to think about it
you have Allah on your side and this
is his command you have Musa and Harun
alayhis salam in your army what do they
say قَالُوا يَا مُوسَىٰ إِنَّ فِيهَا قَوْمًا جَبَّارٍ
وَإِنَّا لَنَّ ادْخُلَهَا حَتَّى يَخْرُجُوا مِنْهَا فَإِيَّا خُرُجُوا
مِنَهَا فَإِنَّا دَاخِلُونَ it says Moses there are
very strong people inhabiting the land we will
not enter until they leave if they leave
we will go in we don't want to
fight the reply then comes from قَالَ رُجُلَانِ
مِنَ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمَا ادْخُلُوا عَلَيْهِمُ
الْبَابِ it says two Allah fearing men they
said to them rather enter the gate as
Allah had commanded you just do what Allah
wants from you what Allah wants who you
are going to win and rely on Allah
if you have Iman not on your numbers
not on what you see not on the
physical might rely on Allah if you have
Iman what is their reply to Musa Alayhi
Salam they said ya Musa لَنَّ ادْخُلَهَا أَبَدًا
مَا دَامُوا فِيهَا it says we will never
step a foot inside as long as they
are in but you and your Lord go
and fight if you wanna fight we're gonna
be sitting right here what is the consequence
of this not only that they were deprived
that land Allah said قَالَ فَإِنَّهَا مُحَرَّمَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ
أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً يَتِهُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ Allah said they
will be forbidden entry into this land for
40 years they will wander lost lost for
40 years they don't know where to go
that is the ibitim the ultimate form of
helplessness lost what created that did Allah impose
that on them or did they bring this
on themselves if you wanna think about it
more individually where a lot of times we
say that's too much that's too hard that's
this and that's that you don't understand that
the shaytan actively tries to dissuade you to
discourage you from following Allah's commands by magnifying
the obstacles and they're not as big as
you think the messenger of Allah peace be
upon him said that the shaytan set up
for the son of Adam his ways and
he set up for him the way of
Islam and he said do you submit and
leave your religion and the religion of your
fathers and he set up for him the
way of emigration and he said do you
emigrate and leave your land and your sky
and he set up for him the way
of jihad and he said do you ignore
and be killed and divide the wealth and
marry the wife and he disobeyed him and
he submitted and emigrated and struggled he said
that the shaytan sits in as an obstacle
in every path for the child of Adam
whatever he wants to do he sits there
if he wants to accept Islam he will
say are you going to leave the religion
of your fathers and forefathers and accept a
new religion he disobeys him and he accepts
Islam he wants to migrate he says are
you going to leave your land your people
that you know the sky that you know
and go to a new land he disobeys
him and he migrates he wants to go
for jihad and he says are you going
to go for jihad and be killed what
will happen to your money your children, your
wife he disobeys him and he goes for
jihad and the prophet said that if he
dies like that Allah will surely put him
in Jannah whenever you want to do something
the shaytan is going to stop you and
say that's too difficult and if you listen
to the whispers of shaytan you will be
helpless you won't be able to do a
thing but if you disobey him and listen
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then you
will have power then the roads will open
there will be no closed doors anymore because
Allah azza wa jal is with you that's
the whisper of shaytan and that is temptation
and when we commit a sin that sin
diminishes all the options that we have so
if you look at the ummah of Muhammad
collectively or we look at us as a
community or you look at yourself and I
look at myself and you say why am
I helpless here and here and here is
it that Allah azza wa jal made it
so or do I make choices every day
and every year that take away the path
of Allah azza wa jal the relief that
Allah could bring and restrict me to very
bad options in front of me so if
you want a relief from that helplessness from
that inability from that ajz that the prophet
alayhi salatu wasalam wanted Allah to protect us
all from do not disobey Allah and do
and follow his commands and Allah azza wa
jal will give you ample opportunities on this
earth collectively as an ummah and also individually
so you are not helpless anymore so distinguish
between artificial helplessness and real helplessness and let
us not confuse the two I say this
and I ask Allah forgiveness for me and
you so ask forgiveness The
key is inability to make dua and continuity
with that dua He said alayhi salatu was
salam a'ajazun nasi man a'ajaza aani
duaa He says the most helpless of people
is the one who is unable to make
dua and there are people and maybe we
are all guilty of it to some degree
who actually don't make dua don't make enough
of it forget Allah azza wa jal when
we find any difficulty or we encounter and
hear about the difficulty that the ummah is
facing here and there consistent dua even that
so when you hear the only thing that
we can do is dua that's untrue in
a sense but even that we are not
really fulfilling so we say what else can
we do beside dua dua should be a
given everyday but what else can we do
again even with your own problems even if
you are drowning in your own problems now
you cannot even think about the ummah that's
fine even with your own problems what is
it that you can also do beside dua
He said this a'ajaz is not just
a'ajaz about dua but also a'ajaz
when it comes to obeying Allah azza wa
jal with simple matters He said alayhi salatu
was salam in a hadith a'ajazu ahadukum
man yaqra'a thuluthu alqur'ani fee layla
He says are you unable to read one
third of the Qur'an a night they
said oh Prophet of Allah who could read
one third of the Qur'an each night
He said if you read qul huwa allahu
ahad it's equivalent to that so think about
how many people actually do this with that
intention you may say well I do it
here another hadith He said alayhi salatu was
salam a'ajazu ahadukum ayyaksiba fee kulli yawmin
alfa hasana He says are you unable to
earn one thousand hasana each day He said
oh Prophet of Allah how could we earn
one thousand hasana each day He said you
say subhanallah hundred times and Allah will give
you one thousand hasana and remove one thousand
sayyi'ah now think about how many of
us do this how many of us do
subhanallah just hundred times how many minutes will
it take from you and why are we
so unable to do this to at least
earn one thousand hasana because if you're unable
to do this you're unable to do something
greater than that right that's training this is
building up your iman building up your tolerance
building up your ability to sacrifice to give
for Allah so if you say I cannot
sit for two three minutes for five minutes
to say subhanallah how can you do anything
greater than that so we all can engage
in wishful thinking oh I will do this
and I will do that reality is different
wal ajizu man atba'a nafsahu hawaha watamanna
alallahi alamani kamaqee it says the one who
is helpless who is unable is follows his
own desire whatever he wants he will do
it and then wishes that Allah will do
this and that for him that's fantasy reality
is very different for you to not be
helpless is for you to love Allah azawajal
and desire what he has more than the
dunya and favor him more than the dunya
so that when there is ever a choice
between Allah and the dunya as an opposite
what do you choose and if you're unable
to make the right choice that's helplessness and
that will diminish and tighten the possibilities in
front of you in your life once some
of the ansar well let's begin with the
other story actually once a prophet alayhi salatu
wasalam was passing by a bedouin he hosted
him so he said when you come to
Medina let us know so that we can
honor you in return so when that arabi
came to Medina rasulallah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said
what do you want he said I want
a camel and few goats he said are
you unable to be a ajustum an takoonu
mithla ajuzi bani israeel are you unable are
you helpless to be like the elderly women
the elderly israelite women he said what is
the story of prophet of Allah he said
when Musa alayhi salam and it's interesting that
all of these stories relate to the israelites
and they come from them for you to
learn something from it he says when Musa
was leading the israelites out of Egypt just
he wants to leave he couldn't find the
way out imagine you trying to leave the
masjid you can't find your way out lost
so he turns to the people and he
says what is this how can we not
find our way out of the city he
says this is because Yusuf alayhi salam before
his death he made us a promise if
you're going to leave Egypt you take my
body with you and you bury it in
ash-sham so we cannot leave until we
fulfill that promise he says where is his
body he says no one knows it except
an elderly israelite woman he goes to Musa
alayhi salam he says where is he buried
he says I know where he is buried
I won't tell you until you give me
what I want he says what is it
that you want he says that I will
be your companion in Jannah that's power that's
determination this is Himmah, resolve I want you
to be companion in Jannah so Musa did
not want to give her that just for
this information you want to receive that Allah
azza wa jal said give her that give
her that so he said you got it
he said he's buried here they brought his
body up and once they did that the
road was lit like day they knew their
way out there is this ajz that the
Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam painted this nomad Arabi
with the only thing that you want from
the Prophet is goats and a camel that's
helplessness that's inability you have the Prophet in
front of you you could ask for anything
what is it that you want so if
your mind is drowning in the dunya you're
ajz, you're helpless but if your mind is
attached to Allah and the next life then
you're not helpless anymore and the possibilities all
in front of you are open and Allah
above all of this is with you the
next story that I wanted to mention is
unlike that one the Ansar may Allah be
pleased with them the Ansar in Medina they
got tired of transporting water from the wells
to their farms and back and forth and
back and forth carrying water on their camels
so they said why not we come to
the Messenger of Allah azzawjal and ask him
that Allah azzawjal would make the city of
Medina flow with rivers so that it be
easy for us to water our farms so
he said let us do this so they
came as a group to the Messenger alayhi
salatu wassalam and when the Prophet saw them
he said something you want from me brought
you here and they said oh yes oh
Prophet of Allah and he said in reply
alayhi salatu wassalam whatever you ask me I
will give you and whatever I ask Allah
he will give me before asking what is
it that you want from me he said
what whatever you ask me you got it
this is to honor them whatever you ask
me you got it and whatever I ask
Allah he'll give it ask what did you
think they asked for they looked at each
other and they said it says you want
the dunya you have this opportunity you want
the dunya then they turned to the Prophet
alayhi salatu wassalam and they said he said
oh Messenger of Allah ask Allah to forgive
us ya Allah forgive the
Ansar and their children and the children of
the children of the Ansar consider what they
got versus what they wanted consider what power
and resolve means versus helplessness consider if they
just simply said ya Allah just give us
rivers how long will you enjoy this versus
they will be forgiven and their children and
their grandchildren will be forgiven see how Allah
azza wa jal when you think the way
that Allah wants you to think opens doors
for you consider the helplessness of the Ummah
of Muhammad alayhi salatu wassalam today how much
of it is self-imposed self-inflicted rather
than divine by Allah azza wa jal in
the sense of cannot be changed and consider
that we can change a lot of this
but not just simply adopting dua but when
you are a better Muslim and he is
and she is and she is and all
of us are then the path will open
for us to do more you'll have the
intention you'll have Allah's aid you'll have Allah's
light and guidance to be able to do
more but if we just sit back and
say nothing can be done let's live as
usual then we'll continue to languish in the
same limited existence that we enjoy so may
Allah azza wa jal arham arrahimeen not make
us of those who are helpless on this
land ya Allah we seek your protection from
al ajz wal kasal wal ham wal hasan
wal jubn wal bukhl wal ghalabat al dayni
wal qahri al rijal ya Allah give us
power over and against the whispers of shaytan
over and against our own weaknesses ya rabbal
alameen ya Allah make us of those who
have resolve and wisdom in our life make
us ya rabbal alameen of those who make
the best of choices and avoid the worst
of choices we ask you to forgive us
all of our sins those that are public
and those that are private we ask you
that you grow iman in our hearts we
ask you that you would give us your
love and love for your prophet alayhis salatu
was salam and love for the believers Allahumma
atina fid dunya hasanatan wafil aakhirati hasana waqina
azaba alnaar Allahumma ya muqalliba alqulubi thabbit qulubana
ala deenik Allahumma ya musarrif alqulubi sarrif qulubana
ala taatik Allahumma imna ala dhikrika wa shukrika
wa husni ibadatik ya hayyu ya qayyumu birahmatika
nastaghith aslih lana sha'nana kulla wala takilna
ila anfusina tarfata ayn