Ali Albarghouthi – The Disease and the Cure (40) Save Yourself From the Greatest Disease Shirk
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the division of payments into major and minor payments, the importance of worship, and the need for personalized worship. They stress the importance of fulfilling worship to achieve success and avoiding confusion surrounding Islam. They also emphasize the importance of protecting oneself from sh Yoqah and avoiding mistakes, and emphasize the need for people to remember and repeat actions to erase bad deeds. They stress the importance of not abandoning and allowing things happen without causing harm.
AI: Summary ©
Good?
Inshallah.
Bismillah walhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala rasoolillah
wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam Allahumma
a'allimna ma yanfa'una wa anfa'na
bima a'allamtana wa zidna ilman wa rabbal
aalameen Allahumma a'a'inna ala dhikrika wa
shukrika wa husni ibadatik amma ba'd So last
we met Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah.
He was talking about the division of sins
into major and minor.
Remember?
And we said that there are those who
will divide them into major and minor and
those who refuse to do so based on
the fact that every sin is an affront
to Allah Azza wa Jal, is a rebellion
against Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So in that regard every sin becomes what?
Major.
So you don't look at the sin itself,
but you look at the fact that you
have rebelled against Allah Azza wa Jal, defied
Allah Azza wa Jal and in that way
every sin becomes major.
So we talked about the classifications of sin
and I mean major and what is the
definition of major versus minor.
Now Ibn al-Qayyim is going to pick
up from where he's left and he's going
to try to clarify the basis of the
dividing sins into major and minor.
Okay?
And in the process he's going to establish
a couple of important facts.
So he says clarifying this matter is by
saying Allah Azza wa Jal, he wants to
explain to you why is the major major?
Okay?
And why is the minor minor?
So he says that Allah Azza wa Jal
sent his messengers, revealed his books, created the
heavens and the earth so that he'd be
known and worshipped and be made one.
And that all of religion is to Allah
Azza wa Jal, not to anybody else.
It's Allah Azza wa Jal.
So you derive it from Allah and you
give it to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta
-A'la.
Worship is only to Allah Azza wa Jal.
And all of obedience belongs to him.
And you invoke only him.
Okay?
As Allah Azza wa Jal said, I did
not create jinn and ends except to worship
me.
And Allah Azza wa Jal also said, what
created the heavens and the earth and what
is in between within truth.
And also said in another ayah, Allah who
created seven skies and from this earth like
them.
Allah's command descends amongst them.
He did this, so that you would know
that Allah Azza wa Jal is able to
do all and that Allah Azza wa Jal
knows all.
So he said, he did this so that
you would know.
You know what?
You know Allah.
You would know him as the one who
knows all and is able to do all.
Right?
And also in another ayah, Allah Azza
wa Jal had made the Kaaba, the sacred
house, and then the sacred month.
And the animal sacrifice and gifts that you
give to be sacrificed over there.
He made all of this to benefit people
in the dunya and in the akhirah.
Right?
Because people find benefit in the sacred month,
in the sacred land, in the dunya and
in the akhirah.
So Allah made it so.
Meaning he made this or he revealed the
shari'ah, so that you would know that
Allah knows what's in the heavens and on
earth and that Allah knows everything.
Now, backtrack a little bit so that we
understand what Ibn Qayyim is trying to say.
So that actually we understand what Allah is
saying when he is saying, I only created
jinn and inns for my worship.
This is the essence of why we were
created.
Right?
That's the reason.
And if you don't understand the reason why
you were created, you're lost.
And if you're not fulfilling the reason of
your creation, then you are useless and redundant.
Right?
Because everything is judged by its function.
Right?
So if I give you a pen as
a gift, but I tell you that pen
cannot write, what would you do with it?
Throw it away.
You're not going to use it.
It's just going to sit idle, performing nothing.
Eventually, it will be in the garbage.
If I give you a chair, but I
say you cannot sit on it, maybe you'll
use it as a door stopper.
But without its function, it's useless, has no
mission, has no value.
So if a human being has no idea
why he was created and does not fulfill
the reason of his creation, he becomes of
no value, of no use.
Right?
That's what I said, redundant.
If we say that you and I have
been created for the worship of Allah عز
و جل, what does that mean?
That's the question I really want to ask.
What does that mean?
So does that mean that we pray five
times a day?
Well, that's part of it.
We fast Ramadan, that's part of it.
Go to hajj, that's part of it.
Give zakah, that's part of it.
But what percentage of your life does this
occupy?
Is it a lot?
Very little.
It's less than 10 percent, less than 20
percent of your life, of your day.
So if Allah created you for one thing,
how can it be that that thing that
Allah wants from you occupies a minimal amount
of your time and effort?
And yet that's the reason why you were
created.
So that cannot just simply be it.
It's part of it, but just not it.
So what is the reason why you were
created?
What does it mean to worship Allah عز
و جل?
Because I want you to understand it.
What does it mean to worship Allah عز
و جل?
Put this on hold for a second.
Okay?
Now, let's ask ourselves.
Why are we living?
What's the purpose of my life?
And here you could give me an abstract,
theoretical, philosophical, ideal reply.
I've been created, you know, to worship Allah
عز و جل in this and that.
I'm not interested in that.
I'm interested in the real answer.
The answer that comes from your own life.
Why do you wake up in the morning?
Other than the fact that you can't sleep
anymore.
But what moves you out of bed?
What do you say I have to do
today?
What's the thing that motivates you, keeps you
going, gives you energy?
So you may say, I'm waking up so
I could work, so I could provide for
my family.
That's the reason.
Because I need money to feed myself, to
feed my kids.
I need to feed my husband, my children,
my wife.
Yeah, take care of my parents.
Yeah, pay rent.
Yes.
Well, I'm waking up because I want to
be rich.
So I want to make a lot of
money.
I want to be famous.
I want to buy a big house.
I want power.
So these things, these answers are the reason
why you're alive.
Right?
Because these are things that motivate you.
These are the things that get you out
of bed.
Things that occupy your mind.
And the things that demand your greatest attention
and energy.
So a lot of us are satisfied with
this answer, right?
Until we get older, until we're about to
die, but a lot of us are satisfied
with that answer.
That's why we live.
Okay, the question is, what if you cannot
get these things?
What if your answer, which you said, well,
I'm pursuing money, and I'm pursuing food, I'm
pursuing travel, and I'm pursuing fashion, and I'm
pursuing *, and I'm pursuing all of these
things.
Yeah, the pleasures of this life.
What if you are a person who finds
himself unable to get any of them?
Which is possible, right?
Any of them.
So what do you say to that person?
What's the purpose of their existence?
Or if you become that person, what's the
purpose of your life then?
And some people say, I see no reason
to live anymore, right?
I'd rather die.
If I cannot get this in life, this
life, I'd rather die.
So you've lost the reason for your life.
Well, what if you have them, but you
lose them?
Not that you never got them.
There are people actually who never get them.
People who are born sick from a very
young age.
He's not gonna get married.
He's not gonna be rich.
He may never be educated, right?
He'll die young.
Right?
Not young enough not to understand that he
was created for something, but young enough not
to get many of the things that you
are thinking about as the reason of life.
But what if you got them, and you
lost one of them, two of them, three
of them, all of them?
What's the reason for your existence?
And what if you really didn't lose them?
It's a possibility.
But you discover or you realize that at
the end of your life, you are going
to lose all of them.
All these things will leave you, and you
will leave them.
And it dawns on you that the thing
that I lived for is not going to
stay with me.
So if we strip all of these things
away from you, what's the reason for your
life?
What is the thing that is going to
give you meaning that will never leave you?
What is the thing that is going to
say to you, you are on this earth
for this, and as long as you hold
on to this, you have meaning, you have
purpose, you have comfort, you have clarity, you
have guidance.
No one can take this away from you.
What is that thing?
So if you find yourself alone, anxious, anxious,
deprived of meaning, who is the only one
that can give you meaning?
It's Allah azza wa jal, really.
Like if you find yourself, I lost my
children, I don't have a home, I lost
my wealth, there's no one to help me,
and you're just alone in this world.
There's no one to turn now to, except
whom?
Naturally.
No one is going to tell you, naturally,
who are you going to turn to?
Even the polytheists know this.
No one to turn to now, except Allah
azza wa jal.
So when you go back to Allah, you
discover meaning.
That why did he put you on this
earth?
It's not just simply to pray five times
a day, though this is an essential part
of it, but as Ibn al-Qayyim said,
and this is what I want you to
remember when we say to worship Allah azza
wa jal, he says, so that you would
know him.
You didn't know him.
Now through observing the universe around you, observing
yourself, receiving Allah's revelation, worshipping Allah azza wa
jal, you get to know him.
Who is he?
He is the most merciful, all-knowing, all
-seeing, all-hearing, the one who will come
to your aid when you ask him, the
one that you can trust, the all-powerful,
the one who is closer to you than
yourself.
The one who wants you to know him
so that you could love him, and he
loves you.
So you would know, he said, and then
you would worship him.
So when you know Allah azza wa jal,
then you would worship.
You will turn to him.
You will acknowledge and recognize that he is
one and only, will not associate anyone with
him subhanahu wa ta'ala, not only in
your worship, but also in love and in
fear and in reliance.
And then ad-dinu kulluhu lillah, how you
worship Allah can be only taken from him.
You're not going to listen to anyone else.
And when you want to worship, you worship
only him, but nobody else.
And when you want to listen to, meaning
in terms of obedience, you're not going to
listen to anyone else except Allah azza wa
jal.
So your ta'a will be given to
Allah.
I'm going to only listen to him, not
to this human being and not to that
human being unless Allah tells me to listen
to them.
Then my obedience for them is part of
obedience to Allah azza wa jal, but not
independent.
He says when you submit like that, when
you realize all of this and you worship
Allah alone, that's why Allah created you.
So that you inwardly and outwardly is a
slave of Allah azza wa jal and no
other.
That is liyabudun.
Okay, that's liyabudun.
You did not know him, now you know
him.
You didn't love him before, now you love
him.
And now you would give up your life
for him.
And there's nothing that you want more than
to meet him.
And if he is with you, everything else
is fine.
And if he's not with you, everything else
is deficient, ugly.
He is beauty and he is light.
He is comfort and he is joy.
Without him, you're like a child without his
mother.
No one can comfort you.
That is liyabudun.
You understand the essence?
So when you hear Allah azza wa jal,
I created you to worship me, that's what
it means.
When you want to convey this to someone,
that's what you convey.
The means, the actions are to elevate you
to that feeling and you will always need
those actions.
Right?
But now without the feelings, you need the
feelings as well.
You need the submission, internal submission as well.
So when he's saying here, rahimahullah, to worship
Allah, he's also coupling with that, that you
would know Allah.
And know Allah azza wa jal as the
perfect ilah that he is.
So faakhbara subhana, he says, so Allah said
that the intent of creation and command, al
khalq wal amr, that Allah would be known
with his names and attributes and he would
be worshipped alone without any partners and that
people would uphold justice, al qist, which is
the thing that the earth, the heavens and
the earth were established for.
Right?
The heavens and the earth were established for
justice by justice.
So Allah wants for you to do what?
Worship him alone and establish justice.
We have sent our messengers with the proofs.
And we revealed with them al kitab, the
book, wal mizan, the scale or the balance.
So that people would establish justice.
So he's saying, subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah
sent down al kitab, the book.
Al mizan, the balance.
He says, what is the balance?
That's the sharia.
That's the sunnah.
That's the wisdom that is embodied in the
Quran and in the sunnah, the balance of
what is right and what is wrong.
Who's to be punished?
Who's to be forgiven?
Who's righteous?
Who's sinful?
Balance.
So he says that was sent down too
with the book.
Embedded in it.
So that what?
To do what with it?
So that you would take it and you
establish justice based on what Allah taught you.
So he says, so Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala said that he sent the messengers and
revealed the books so that people would establish
justice, al qist.
And the greatest justice is tawheed.
It is the pinnacle, the top of justice
and its root.
And shirk is the greatest zulm, injustice.
So see where he's going.
He says you have to establish justice.
What is the greatest justice?
Tawheed.
That you believe about Allah azza wa jal
what he told you and you worship Allah
azza wa jal alone.
That's the greatest virtue and greatest justice.
Why?
Because Allah's right upon you is the greatest
right.
And the greatest truth is his presence and
existence and that he deserves to be worshipped.
That's the greatest truth, the greatest realization and
the greatest right that you need to fulfill.
If you fail in that, then of course
you're going to fail in many other things.
If you fulfill that, you're likely to be
able to fulfill other things as well.
Right?
So, فَشْشِرْكُ أَظْظَمُ الظُّلْمِينَ He says shirk is
the greatest injustice.
And if we can just simply internalize this,
then we will have that balance that Allah
azza wa jal is talking about.
Because some people, they will see if they
want to judge a person, they'll overlook the
shirk that he has if he's good with
people.
If he's nice.
If he's doing something that seems righteous, but
it's just limited to creation.
Something good, something moral, but it's limited to
creation.
He's nice to the poor, nice to the
oppressed, speaks the truth and all of this.
And all of these things are wonderful by
the way.
No one will reject or deny them.
But when it comes to the creator, he
rejects him.
So they will give this person a pass
just because he's good to other people.
And ignore that he is terrible with Allah
azza wa jal.
So if you were to ask them or
ask yourself, is this person just?
Is he adil?
What's the answer?
No, he's not.
He's not.
Because he had committed the greatest injustice.
What is the greatest injustice shirk?
He doesn't believe in Allah azza wa jal.
Or he worships Allah and some other people.
Or some other things.
That's the greatest injustice.
So the way that you evaluate a person
should be with the scale that Allah azza
wa jal revealed.
Not your own scale.
Not your own balance.
Not your own judgment.
How does Allah look at this person?
So he says, shirk is the greatest injustice
and tawheed is the greatest justice.
So he says, whatever action violates that, which
is the greatest justice, which is tawheed, which
is the intent of all of this shariah,
whatever thing violates that, it becomes the greater
of the greater sins.
And the severity of the sin depends on
how much of an opposition to tawheed that
thing is.
So he's talking about now a scale of
sins.
He says, a sin becomes greater and greater
and greater when it contradicts tawheed more and
more and more.
And it becomes smaller and smaller when its
contradiction to tawheed is not as significant.
Or you could use the image of justice
or the word of justice.
So the greater the sin is, the greater
that it goes against the justice that Allah
has revealed.
And the smaller a sin is when it's
not as significantly oppositional to Allah's justice or
the justice that He revealed, right?
He says, ponder this.
Then you'll understand the wisdom of Allah Azza
wa Jalla in what He had obligated and
what He had forbidden.
He says, and so or therefore, because shirk
is in complete contradiction to whatever Allah Azza
wa Jalla has revealed, which is the establishment
of tawheed, it became the greatest of the
greater sins.
All right.
And Allah Azza wa Jalla has forbidden Jannah
upon every polytheist.
And Allah Azza wa Jalla allowed them, you
know, the Muslims to fight them, et cetera,
et cetera.
And Allah will not accept their deed, will
not accept intercession on their behalf, will not
accept their supplication in the next life.
He says all of this, why is it
happening?
Because this person created a rival with Allah
Azza wa Jalla and he had committed the
greatest of the greatest crimes.
And that's the thing that doomed him, right?
Even though he may not kill a person,
even though he may not have stolen throughout
his life, even though.
But he committed that greatest crime and Allah
does not forgive this.
So He wants you to understand why shirk
is such a grave sin.
And He will talk about shirk.
But before He's going to talk about shirk,
He's going to ask two questions, all right?
And these two questions, He wants to kind
of prepare you for the discussion.
So He says, He says, I want to
talk, He's going to talk about shirk now
and why shirk is such a serious issue
and the biggest of the biggest sins.
And by the way, so that you don't
think that we are digressing from the topic.
If something is the greatest sin, it's the
greatest disease.
We're talking about the disease and the cure,
right?
So something is the greatest sin, it's the
greatest disease.
And if it's the greatest disease, fighting it
is the greatest cure, right?
And if you have the greatest medicine, then
it's likely that that greatest medicine will cure
other illnesses that a person has.
And if that person finds himself afflicted disease,
it's also based on the fact that the
medicine that he has, which is tawheed, is
deficient, is weak.
Were you to strengthen it in all of
its totality, then it will cure you.
But something is missing.
Yani, you don't have enough tawqul on Allah
Azzawajal, right?
You don't have enough trust.
The iman is not strong enough to carry
you, to fight the shaitan and his whispers.
All these are possibilities.
But if you magnify, increase, strengthen tawheed, then
you could fight all other illnesses, right?
Qala wawaqat mis'ala.
So he wants to ask a couple of
questions for you to think about.
And I will give you a brief answer
to them, wallahu a'lam.
It says, what if a person says, you
know, I mean, the mushrik or some mushriks,
he says, they don't intend to insult Allah
Azzawajal by taking partners.
But rather they say to themselves, God is
so great and I am so flawed that
I cannot reach Him.
Like, I'm so contaminated, dirty with sin.
Allah is so pure and so distant and
so high, I can't reach Him.
He won't listen to me.
So rather I read, I need intercessors, intermediaries,
so that I can talk to them and
they talk to God.
Just like you have a king.
No one can talk to the king, right?
He doesn't have time for you.
So what do you do?
You talk to the ministers, talk to the
soldiers, to the commanders.
And because they're close to the king, you
talk to them, they talk to him.
But the king is inaccessible.
He's so high and so busy and so
this and so that.
Who are you, right?
A commoner.
So you have no access.
So he says, so why is if that's
the case, he says, why do they deserve
such punishment?
And their intent is only to honor Allah
Azzawajal or honor God by saying these things.
Let's answer that question but just only very
briefly.
Because I want to let Ibn al-Qayyim
kind of introduce his topic.
The answer to this is that the comparison
is flawed.
The comparison is very flawed.
Allah Azzawajal is not like an earthly king
who doesn't have time.
And Allah Azzawajal no matter how sinful a
person is wants to hear from them directly.
And Allah Azzawajal did not appoint anyone on
his behalf to listen to his creation.
In fact, part of the majesty, the uniqueness
of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is that
he could listen to all at the same
time.
If you ever thought about it.
Like how many millions of people are making
dua at the same time.
And he listens to all of them at
the same time.
That's part of the uniqueness, the supremacy of
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So when the polytheists creates another that he
calls on and talks to, his ibadah goes
to this person or to that thing, not
to Allah.
His love goes to that person, his attention
goes to that thing, not to Allah Azzawajal.
And that's why shirk is so problematic.
Because your love, your fear, your trust, your
attention, your association, your allegiance, your wala goes
to that, not to Allah Azzawajal.
And he becomes a competitor.
Not someone who takes you to Allah Azzawajal,
but someone who distracts you and takes you
away from him.
Not to, but away.
That's why it's unforgivable sin.
Now the second question he asked, he says,
is it possible that Allah Azzawajal could legislate
these intercessors, intermediaries in some sharia so that
this is only prohibited because Allah said it's
prohibited?
No, it's not prohibited because in itself it's
ugly.
But that Allah said that it is ugly,
right?
So is it, he's saying, is it both
religiously and intellectually, rationally contemptible, wrong?
Or is it only religiously contemptible and wrong?
Now that question may not be really very
relevant to people, right?
I'm gonna try to introduce it to you
so that you'll understand it, but I'm not
gonna maybe spend a lot of time with
it.
Let's take another example.
Alcohol.
Alkhamr.
Is it only religiously contemptible and wrong, but
religiously and intellectually as well?
So that even if a person is not
religious, has not heard anything about Islam or
any other religion, but rationally with sound intellect
looks at alcohol, can he reach the judgment
that it's wrong and it is harmful and
it should be banned?
Would they?
Yeah.
So that tells you that the intellect can
guide, the sound intellect can guide to the
discovery of beauty and ugly in things.
There's beauty in it, there's ugliness in it,
the intellect can discover that, right?
That's what he's talking about.
So we know that alcohol is wrong intellectually
and religiously.
Allah told us and the mind affirms it.
Same thing with gambling.
Same thing with killing people.
So there are sins just like that.
So he's saying here, this particular sin, is
it only religiously wrong or religiously and intellectually?
The answer of Allah is both.
Both.
Religiously and intellectually.
Even if people reach with their own reasoning
that I should worship something else, they are
mistaken and they're following their desire.
If a person soundly thinks about the Creator,
he knows that he only should worship Allah.
And not turn his devotion to anybody else.
But this question, by the way, this question
goes back to an issue that Al-Mu'tazila
present.
And if you're interested, let me know, I'll
explain it.
Otherwise, it's not really necessary.
But suffice to say, it is both ugly
intellectually and religiously.
Meaning there's no other shari'a.
And if I'm wrong, let me know.
There's no other shari'a where you could,
Allah that had revealed, you could pray to
somebody else.
To a prophet or to an angel, right?
Pray to them and then through them you
could reach me.
You don't find it in any other shari
'a.
To tell you that this is consistent in
all the shari'a from Adam alayhis salaam
or from Nuh alayhis salaam all the way
to Muhammad alayhis salaam.
And because of that consistency, you know that
the intellect also should reject such a claim
and such a proposal.
No one should be worshipped besides or with
Allah Azza wa Jal.
So he says, فَنَقُلُوا بِاللَّهِ التَّوْفِيقِ He says,
so I'm gonna answer it.
But he's gonna answer it by explaining what
shirk is.
And again, remember the frameworks we talked about
when it came to the major and minor
sins.
He's gonna present a framework, categories of shirk
so that you will understand it.
And there's more than one way for you
to categorize shirk.
Here's one of them.
He says, الشرك شركان Shirk is gonna be
divided into two.
He says, shirk that is related to Allah
Azza wa Jal Himself, His names and attributes
and His actions.
And a shirk that is related to how
you worship Allah Azza wa Jal.
So two.
One, about what you believe about the Creator.
There's a flaw in it.
Okay.
Another one is how you worship the Creator.
There's a flaw in that.
This is one type of shirk.
That's one type of shirk.
So you're with me so far?
One is about what?
Belief.
Your belief is wrong.
The other one is not.
Your belief is right, but your actions are
wrong.
And when you see the examples, you'll understand
it.
But I just wanna summarize it in this
way so that you'll remember it.
Belief, action.
Belief, action.
So the first one is what?
Belief.
He says, that's divided into two.
And by the way, if you don't follow,
can't follow the divisions, don't worry about it.
As long as you understand.
This is wrong?
Okay, I understand why it's wrong.
That's fine.
You don't have to trace it back to
one, two.
Don't let it confuse you.
Alright?
So, which is about belief, he says, it's
two types.
The first, he calls which is a shirk
that you could, let's translate it as denial
or rejection.
Or you, in your mind, dispossess the creator
of his qualities to make him ineffectual.
Not a god anymore.
Not a complete god.
Doesn't work as a god.
Doesn't function as a god.
So if something is mu'attal, it's not
working.
If something is mu'attal, it's not functioning.
A car that doesn't move, mu'attala.
So how does this happen?
You dispossess the car of wheels, of an
engine or this.
It's not really a car anymore.
So when you dispossess the creator of certain
things, he's not a creator anymore.
That's what is shirk al-tahti.
Easy?
He says, this is the ugliest types of
shirk.
And this is like the shirk of pharaoh.
When he said, وَمَا رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ When he
said, what is Rabbul Aal?
Who's Allah?
When Musa came to him and he said,
invited him to believe in Allah, who's Allah?
Alright?
And then he said also to Haman, his
minister, يَهَا مَانُ ابْنِ لِي صَرْحَة Ya Haman,
build me a tower.
So that I could reach the heavens, أَسْبَعْبَ
السَّمَوَاتِ The heavens, the paths of heaven.
So that I could look and see and
search for the God of Musa.
And I think he's lying.
So what was the aim of pharaoh here
when he said all of this?
To deny the existence of God up there.
So there is no God except me.
Like I'm God.
So he denied the existence that's Ta'til.
He dispossessed God of existence.
He says, I'm God.
So there's no one up there.
So build me something so I could look
at, take a look at what Musa claims
is a God up there.
I think he's lying.
So build me something.
So that's what his pharaoh had said.
So he said here, رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ وَالشِّرْكُ وَالطَّعْطِيلُ
مُتَلَازِمًا He says, that type of shirk, which
is dispossessing Allah Azza wa Jal of his
qualities, of who he is.
And shirk, he says, they are related and
connected.
If you ever dispossess the creator of his
names and qualities and his actions, you're going
to fall into shirk.
You have to.
And you only fall into shirk because you've
dispossessed Allah Azza wa Jal of some qualities.
Otherwise, if Allah was complete, you wouldn't do
this.
If in your mind, if Allah was complete,
you wouldn't commit any shirk.
But because he's incomplete in your head, you
worship somebody else, you seek somebody else.
قَالَ فَهُمَا مُتَلَازِمًا So every mushrik is a
mu'attil, every mu'attil is a mushrik.
I don't really want to confuse you.
As long as you understand what I said,
I'm happy with that.
So he says that ta'teer, dispossessing Allah of
his qualities, is essential to every shirk.
So if you investigate, dig deep, this mushrik,
why is he doing this?
Allah doesn't hear me.
Allah doesn't respond to me.
I have to talk to somebody else so
that Allah would hear me.
Allah cannot protect me.
Allah is busy.
It has to be something.
And only because of it, do they commit
shirk, right?
Why do you need an object to protect
you if Allah Azza wa Jal is the
all protector?
Why do you need a stone?
Why do you need sand?
Why do you need incense?
Because you believe Allah does not.
So you need something else to intervene.
That's ta'teer.
So every type of shirk is because you
think less of Allah Azza wa Jal, okay?
Qala wa asghul shirki And that ta'teer, that
kind of depriving Allah in your head of
what is his, of his qualities.
He says it's of three kinds.
Again, you don't need to remember them.
You'll understand them.
He says that you separate the creator from
his creation.
Meaning this creation is what?
Eternal.
No one made it.
There's no creator.
It's always here.
So you separate Allah from what he created.
And you say, it was always here.
We don't need a creator.
Or you dispossess Allah Azza wa Jal of
his perfection.
By saying that, he doesn't have these perfect
names.
He doesn't have these perfect attributes.
He doesn't have perfect actions.
Allah doesn't hear.
Or doesn't hear everything.
Doesn't know.
Doesn't know everything.
Doesn't speak.
Doesn't act.
Doesn't punish.
You take these away, and Allah is less
in your head.
And it was said, ta'teeru mu'amalatihi amma
yajibu ala al-abdi min haqiqati al-tawhid
And also that you dispossess Allah Azza wa
Jal of the rights that he has upon
you.
So he doesn't demand or should have your
complete devotion, your complete attention, your complete ibadah.
You can give it to somebody else.
Now he's going to give you examples.
And through examples, it becomes easy to understand.
He says, from that is the polytheism or
the shirk of those who confess pantheism.
Who say that there is no creator and
created.
Everything that you see is God.
Now, it may not take this explicit form
today.
But if you consider some non-Muslims who
look at all this universe and they say
all of this is sacred.
Like they don't believe of a personal creator.
But all the things that you see are
sacred.
The earth is sacred.
The air is sacred.
Rain is sacred.
The sun side is sacred.
And they don't simply just mean by it's
sacred that it's just beautiful.
No, it's sacred.
It's sacred.
So there were some people in Islamic history,
and probably till today, here or there, who
believe that there is no separate creator from
his creation.
Everything is Allah.
Like that table is Allah.
This water is Allah.
You're Allah.
So he says that's part of it.
Right?
Part of it also, shirk al-malahida, the
atheists who say that the world is eternal.
There is no creator.
And it was never non-existent.
The world always existed.
And also the shirk of those who dispossess
Allah Azza wa Jalla of his names and
attributes.
He says like al-jahmiyya wal-qaramita.
Those are sects.
I don't even say in Islam.
Because they exited from Islam.
But they started somewhere in.
Who said that Allah Azza wa Jalla doesn't
have any attribute on anything.
He doesn't...
You could tell him, does he speak?
He says, no.
Does he love?
No.
Does he get angry?
No.
Does he do this?
No.
Does he do that?
No.
He says, why?
He says, we can only talk about Allah
Azza wa Jalla in the negative, never in
the positive.
He's not this, not this, not this, not
this, not that.
That all comes from a philosophy by the
way.
And he said, because why?
Because he says, if there's anything positive about
Allah Azza wa Jalla, he spoke, that means
that he did something new.
And if he did something new, he resembles
a created being.
And so he has to be kind of
not accept or not do anything that he
didn't do before.
So it's kind of like, God is no,
no, no, no, no.
Nothing, yes.
And because of that, he said, rahimahullah.
He said, they, because of that belief, they
made humans better than Allah Azza wa Jalla.
Because humans can talk, they can do, they
can act.
Allah Azza wa Jalla cannot.
And they made Allah Azza wa Jalla, what?
A complete negative.
And when God is a complete negative, he
becomes what?
Absent.
And when he's absent is relevant.
Because he cannot hear you, he cannot act,
he cannot intervene.
And that's a wrong belief about Allah Azza
wa Jalla.
And he says, from that is Al-Qaramita.
Al-Qaramita, the successors of Al-Qaramita today,
right, wallahu alam, are the Ismailis.
Even though they may not know all of
these things, but that's where they derive all
of it.
The Duroos also.
They are the successors and the recipients of
that belief.
So part of this Taqeel, right, there's another
shirk in it, which is that if you
have another Ilah with Allah Azza wa Jalla.
So you still believe that he's there, you
still believe that he has names and attributes,
but he just worships somebody with him.
Like whom, he said?
Like the Christians, right, who have the trinity.
And the trinity is the one and they
made the Masih, Isa as an Ilah, and
his mother as an Ilah, right.
Now the word Ilah here, it doesn't necessarily
mean God, right.
Ilah means one you worship, right.
Because some Christians will come and say, come
on, wait a minute, we've never made Mary
God.
Maybe some sects in the past did, but
they said, we don't make Mary God, right.
She's not part of the divine, not part
of the trinity.
You say, okay, do you pray to her?
Yeah.
You ask her for intercede, to help, to
cure.
Yeah, that's an Ilah.
You understand?
So when you translate the word Ilah in
your head, it's not always God.
So when you say, La ilaha illallah, it
doesn't mean no God, but Allah Azza wa
Jalla.
Because a person could, you know, they could
have, if that's your interpretation of La ilaha
illallah, no God but Allah Azza wa Jalla,
the polytheist in Mecca would agree with you.
Of course, no God but Allah.
What are you talking about?
We don't believe in any other God.
When you say no Ilah, he says, wait,
that means that I have to stop praying
to those idols and to the angels.
Those are Ilah, right.
So that's the difference between God as a
Rabb, or Ilah as the object of worship.
So Mary, Maryam, is an Ilah, at least
to the Catholics or anybody who prays like
that, right.
Ka shirki nasara.
Qala wa min hatha shirkul majus.
And from that also, it's the shirk of
the Zoroastrians.
By the way, if this kind of sounds
boring or redundant, I want you to kind
of remember there was people, there were people
and there are still people who believe this.
That you have to know this, right.
You have to know this.
Yeah, and this is not something in the
past.
Oh my God, so boring.
It's history.
No, no, no.
There are people who are alive who do
this.
People who will go to Jahannam because of
this.
So you have to understand it.
Like why did they say this?
Why are they so drawn to it?
So this one, the Zoroastrians who said that,
good is the creation of or the influence
of light, and evil is the creation of
darkness.
They believe in a duality.
Why do they believe in a duality?
They believe in a duality because they did
not understand how to solve the problem of
evil.
So you have evil in this world.
Okay, what does it come from?
So they think, okay, first there was light.
Light is all good.
The god of light.
Light is all good.
How can you trace evil to him and
if he's all good?
Okay, which is a problem that, you know,
still exists till today.
How do you trace evil to god, to
a god, to light that is all good?
So how did they think that they could
solve this?
They say, aha.
So god created darkness and darkness created evil.
So we have two creators, not one, right?
And that's how you keep god clean.
And you give evil, all that darkness, all
that ugliness to the night or to darkness.
That's how you solve it.
Except that, except that, if the light is
the creator of darkness, isn't it by extension
the creator of all the evil that comes
from that darkness as well?
Then what did you solve?
But anyway, you understand what they were trying
to do?
Why there was a duality?
There's no one creator.
There are two creators.
That's the Zoroastrians.
قَالَ وَمِنْ هَذَا شِرْكُ الْقَدَرِيَّةِ And similar to
it is the shirk of the Qadariyya, the
Mu'tazila.
They're called Qadariyya because when it came to
the Qadar, they face the same dilemma in
Islam.
But they did not really go back to
the Quran and Sunnah.
They said, okay, you're a human being.
Allah Azza wa Jalla can create your actions
that are virtuous, that are righteous.
But what about the sin?
Do you want to tell me that god
creates sin?
No.
So what?
We create our actions.
We create our actions.
So he says that's why they became like
the Zoroastrians because now they had two creators.
You see the connection?
They have two creators, Allah Azza wa Jalla
and they themselves create their actions.
So he says the Qadariyya who say that,
the human being, he's the one who creates
his own actions.
That they happen without Allah's will, and without
his destiny, and without him wanting it.
So that's why they are like the Zoroastrians.
These were Muslims.
But they deviated because they did not anchor
their problem in the Quran and Sunnah trying
to find a solution to it.
And he said also, مِنْ هَذَا شِرْكُ الَّذِي
حَجَّ إِبْرَهِيمَ فِي رَبِّهِ And he says from
that also the shirk of the person who
also opposed Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam when it came
to his Lord, when he is to a
Rabb.
اِذْ قَالَ اِبْرَهِيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيَ وَيُمِيْتُ When
Ibrahim said, my Rabb is the one who
gives life and death.
So he says, I can give life and
death.
Then Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam قَالَ فَأَلْزَمَهُ Ibrahim Alayhi
Salaam told him that Allah Azza wa Jalla
brings the sun out of the east and
sets in the west, reverse it.
So Allah Azza wa Jalla invalidated the argument.
And he frustrated the disbeliever.
So Ibn Al-Qayyim is saying, he says,
Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam did not move from one
argument to the other, he gave him the
logical extension of that argument.
Meaning you create that your God, okay, the
quality of God is that he can bring
life and death.
He says, I can.
So he extended it.
He didn't like change the argument, switch it,
he extended it.
So if you can, God can also do
this.
Can you?
He says that's the extension of it.
قَالَ وَمِنْ هَذَا He says also part of
that shirk is the shirk of a lot
of people who worship the planets and the
stars.
And they made them gods that govern the
affairs of this life.
Like the Sabians.
So that's what they believe.
You worship the stars, you worship the planets,
because they influence what's happening here on earth.
And from that, those who worship the sun,
worship the fire, etc.
Among them are those who say that whatever
I'm worshiping, whether it's the sun, the moon,
the stars, the angels, whatever, that's the real
God.
And some of them who claims, no, I'm
worshiping a God among many.
But mine is the biggest God.
Or mine is the God that pays attention
to me.
Or mine is a God that will bring
me closer to the higher God.
So it's kind of like a council.
Like the Greeks, a pantheon.
You have hierarchy.
You have Zeus on top and you have
others.
So okay, why do you worship Zeus?
He says, Zeus is the greatest.
Why do you worship the God of the
sea?
Because I'm a sailor.
I need him.
The God of farming?
Because I'm a farmer.
Or why do you worship this God?
Because if I worship this God, he will
kind of climb me up to the biggest
God.
He says, that's also part, that type of
shirk.
Qala wa amma shirku filibada.
So everything that he talked about is a
shirk that involves a flaw in belief about
Allah Azza wa Jalla, everything.
Got it?
So lump all of it together.
What's common about it?
What you believe about God is flawed, missing.
Incomplete.
The second biggest category, he says, shirk in
one's ibadah.
And how you approach Allah Azza wa Jalla.
He says, that this type of shirk, that's
easier than the other one.
And that can come from a person who
believes that la ilaha illallah.
And that only he benefits and harms.
And only he gives and denies.
There's no other ilah but him.
There's no other Rabb but him.
But when he worships Allah Azza wa Jalla,
he doesn't worship Allah alone.
But rather sometimes he does things for his
own benefit.
His worship, he does it for his own
desires.
To seeking the dunya or acquiring elevation or
status in it or admiration among creation.
So he works for Allah Azza wa Jalla.
He works for himself.
He works for his desire.
He works for the shaitan.
And he works for his creation.
And he says, that's most people.
So he's talking about what?
Riya and what follows.
So he says, if you were to ask
this person, what do you believe about Allah
Azza wa Jalla?
He believes all the right things.
He doesn't think that there's another creator, another
one who's worthy of worship.
None of these things.
But when it comes to worshipping Allah Azza
wa Jalla here, what is missing?
He says, sometimes it's for Allah.
Hajj, umrah, fasting.
Sometimes it's for Allah Azza wa Jalla.
Sometimes it's for his own self.
Because he admires himself.
Ujb.
Like someone who fights in battle.
I'm fighting in battle, why?
Sometimes it's for Allah Azza wa Jalla, right?
Sometimes it's, I'm brave.
And I should fight because I'm brave.
Not for Allah.
I'm this knight.
I'm this brave person.
I will sacrifice my life for this.
Sometimes he fights for people to see him.
Sometimes he fights for money.
For praise.
For, for, for, for anything.
But not Allah Azza wa Jalla.
So he said, and this is the shirk
that Allah, that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam said, الشرك في هذه الأمة أخفى من
دبيب النمل He says, shirk in this ummah
is more hidden than the footsteps of an
ant.
They said, oh Prophet of Allah, how can
we be saved from it?
So again, he said shirk in this ummah
is more hidden than the footsteps of an
ant.
They said, oh Messenger of Allah, then how
would we be saved from it?
He says, قل, he says say, اللهم إني
أعوذ بك أن أشرك بك وأنا أعلم وأستغفرك
لما لا أعلم He says, ya Allah, I
seek your protection that I would commit shirk
in you while I know it and I
seek your forgiveness for what I do not
know.
That is, ya Allah, if I know that
I'm doing it, I seek your protection from
doing that.
And if I do not know, but I
still do it anyway, forgive me that.
He says, this is how you save yourself
from it.
And he explained it sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
in another hadith, الشرك الخفي, the hidden shirk,
that a person would stand up and he
would beautify his salah because he knows that
people are watching him.
So he explained it sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
as what?
As riyaa.
As riyaa.
Now some people extend a الشرك الخفي beyond
that as well.
They say, anything that is hidden, shirk that
is hidden.
He said, we can also include that as
shirk as well.
So if a person, and he will talk
about this, but not in terms of a
شرك الخفي.
But if a person loves another, a love
that competes with the love of Allah عز
و جل, that could be a hidden shirk.
Fears someone else to an extent that it
interferes with his fear for Allah عز و
جل, it's a hidden shirk.
If someone craves the dunya so much, it's
a hidden shirk.
Because he said, عليه الصلاة والسلام تعيس عبد
الدينار تعيس عبد الدرهم Misery to the slave
of دينار, misery to the slave of درهم.
قال فجعله عبده He made him a slave
to money, to gold and silver.
So a person's heart is enslaved to gold
and silver.
And the hadith explains it.
Meaning if he's given this, he's happy.
If he's deprived, he's sad.
Meaning he lives for it.
We're not talking about kind of the normal
average happiness that a person experiences.
Here's a bonus, you're happy.
You lose your job, you're sad.
We're not talking about this.
Because he lives...
No, this is a person whose happiness and
his sadness is only about the dunya, mostly
about the dunya, right?
Is that could be part of a shirk
khafi.
Which is why?
Because his attention, his love, right?
His devotion has turned away from Allah عز
و جل to the dunya.
So it's kind of a shirk.
He associates with Allah, but it's hidden, right?
Anyway, let's go back to this.
And then we'll stop to take your questions.
So this shirk that the Prophet ﷺ had
talked about.
Imagine the footsteps of an ant, right?
Are you ever aware of the footsteps of
an ant?
No, never.
You never really know, right?
And you don't really notice.
So the Prophet ﷺ, he wants to alert
you to the fact that this is something
that is so hidden.
Try to pay attention to.
Some of it will escape you, no question.
No question.
And that is why no one should be
so full of themselves that they would say,
I am sincere.
My salah, my zakah, my this, my sadaqah.
What are you talking about?
He says there are things that you're not
gonna be aware of.
And things in what, by the way?
And I'm not gonna step on what Ibn
Qayyim is gonna say later.
I'm just gonna let him say it next
week, inshaAllah.
But what are you talking about?
Like in your salah, in your fasting, in
your sadaqah, you know that it may be
flawed, it may be contaminated, you don't even
know.
So you're never really proud of the ibadah
that you give.
And you're always apprehensive, afraid that, will it
be accepted?
Ya Allah, accept that from me.
Ya Allah, accept that from me.
And you enhance it.
And you enhance ikhlas that is in it.
And you keep working on it, working on
it, right?
So you say, how do I protect myself
from it?
He says, there's nothing better than what the
Prophet ﷺ said.
He didn't direct them to anything else.
Because I could recommend and I can say,
pay more attention to your good deeds.
Pay more attention to ikhlas.
Try to grow ikhlas in your heart by
doing A, B, C, and D.
All these things are possibilities.
But the Prophet ﷺ here said what?
He says, hold on to this du'a
and keep saying it.
Allahumma inni a'udhu bika an ushrika bika
wa ana a'alam.
Ya Allah, I seek your protection that I
would commit a shirk while I know it.
And forgive me for what I do not
know.
So the more that you know about shirk,
the less likely that you are gonna commit
it.
Right?
And the more that you remember it, remind
yourself of it, and others remind you of
it, the less likely that you'll fall into
it.
So knowledge is essential.
Right?
Otherwise, how are you gonna know that this
is shirk or this is not?
And knowing the consequence of shirk is essential.
Otherwise, how is this gonna scare you?
And then eventually to realize that with all
the work that you're gonna do, you're gonna
still remain wanting.
Incomplete.
Until Allah Azzawajal completes you.
So he says, and forgive me what I
do not know.
Forgive me the many times I stood up
in salah and I prayed well because somebody's
watching me.
Recited the Qur'an well because people are
listening to me.
Spoke well because I wanted people to admire
me.
Was doing something expecting their praise.
And we explained the difference between receiving their
praise without expectation and working for it.
There's a difference between the two.
You do something for Allah's sake, and then
people praise you.
Alhamdulillah.
But you work for it or you expect
it, you've corrupted your intention.
So forgive me for what I do not
know.
And there's evidence also in this hadith in
the last part that that type of shirk
can be forgiven.
If you ask Allah Azzawajal for forgiveness.
Because this part of shirk is part of
the minor shirk.
And some of the ulama have said that
the minor shirk cannot be forgiven unless someone
repents from it.
That's one opinion.
The other opinion is that, no, Allah can
forgive it.
If you ask Allah to forgive you, this
is evidence that minor shirk can be forgiven.
If you ask Allah Azzawajal for forgiveness.
Right?
Wallahu alam.
So I want to stop here and give
you inshallah, probably not enough time to ask
questions, but inshallah, whatever we could do today
and then the rest we could do next
week.
Bi hurmati Muhammad al-Mustafa wa bi siri
Surat al-Fatiha.
So the first one is, how long should
we commit to tawbah or repeat tawbah or
do tawbah for a sin?
Just sin in general, right?
No.
So the very question is this, how often
or much do I need to repeat my
tawbah to get an assurance that I've been
forgiven?
Now, of course, you know, unless Allah reveals
it or the Prophet shallallahu alayhi wa sallam
conveys it to you, you're never going to
get an assurance.
Maybe some people will see in a dream,
possibly, that Allah Azza wa Jalla had forgiven
them, especially if they are sincere.
But for most people, you're not going to
really receive that assurance.
And that actually is something positive, that not
negative.
Because the more that you are worried about
a sin, the more that you will do
things to erase it.
And even if it, in Allah's knowledge, it
already is erased, all the other good things
that you are doing in order to compensate
for the bad, they just add to your
stature with Allah Azza wa Jalla.
So you're never at loss.
Never at loss.
So what we say is that as long
as that sin is bothering you and you're
thinking about it and every time you remember
it, do something and renew your tawbah and
renew for your istighfar and keep asking Allah
for forgiveness.
And that's why it's also beneficial for a
person to get his tongue used to astaghfirullah,
a lot.
Because there are things that you remember and
things that you won't.
So things that you repented from, but the
repentance wasn't strong enough.
So the more istighfar that you say and
the more good deeds that you do, especially
with the intent of forgiving those sins, the
more that these sins will go away.
When?
We don't know.
The other question that he had was about
does a person witness angels just before his
death?
Yes, he does.
He will see them because they will descend
whether it's the angels of punishment or the
angels of mercy.
He will see them and he will be
aware of where he's going.
And then the angel of death will come
and take his soul.
But he will witness it.
I mean
like just think about the dunya or be
engaged in the dunya or sin.
Which one?
Oh, no, no, of course not.
I mean, so you cite the hadith of
the Prophet ﷺ, when Hamdallah came to him
and he said Hamdallah had committed hypocrisy.
When we are with you, O Prophet of
Allah, it's as if we could see heaven
and * with our own eyes and what
Iman is so high.
So, but when we withdraw and we go
back to our families, we think about our
family life, kids, and we forget.
So he said he considered that hypocrisy.
And the Prophet ﷺ did not consider that
to be hypocrisy.
وَلَكِن سَاعَةٌ وَسَاعَةٌ He says an hour where
your Iman will be up and will be
strong and an hour with your family.
You're saying that Ibn al-Qayyim as if
he wants to create this perfect human being.
I don't think Ibn al-Qayyim is unaware
of that hadith.
No, not at all.
What Ibn al-Qayyim is trying to say
is that in your moments of devotion, in
your essence, in your belief, who is your
creator?
Who is your joy?
Who is your happiness?
Who are you living for?
That doesn't exclude children, does not exclude wives,
does not exclude businesses.
That also could take part of your attention
away.
But then you ask yourself, are they in
competition with Allah عز و جل to the
degree that they distract from Him entirely or
partially?
Can I believe in Allah عز و جل
and them in a way to subsume them
into what pleases Allah عز و جل?
So when I look at these children, I
praise Allah.
When I look at this wife, I praise
Allah عز و جل.
I do what Allah wants when it comes
to them.
Like I honor them for the sake of
Allah, protect them for the sake of Allah.
So when I can subsume everything and make
it for the sake of Allah, that's a
more perfect type of living.
So he wants a person to be a
slave of Allah عز و جل without renouncing
the life, without becoming a hermit, without leaving
wives and children.
And no, you engage in this dunya.
At the same time, you don't let it
kind of overcome the akhirah.
You don't let it become the thing that
you live for.
But Allah عز و جل is.
And the reason being is that the thing
that we talked about, which is what?
What if you lose them all?
And you keep in mind, I could lose
them all and none of these things will
last.
The only thing that lasts is Allah عز
و جل.
You keep that in mind, Allah becomes and
will always stay more important than they are.
And iman goes up and iman goes down.
But he's not in a sense of creating
this super Muslim that only thinks about Allah
عز و جل.
He's well aware that we cannot live like
that.
But at least he's pointing to a level.
Push yourself to it, but don't abandon the
dunya.
Let me just quickly read this and answer
before we leave.
If a person doesn't learn the names of
Allah عز و جل, his attributes, is this
a flaw or has have a distorted understanding
about Allah, will be forgiven for this flaw?
If you don't learn it, we're not going
to say it's a sin.
It's not a sin, but your knowledge of
Allah عز و جل is weaker.
And so if you want to enhance your
relationship with Allah عز و جل, really there's
nothing better than learning the names and attributes
of Allah.
Who is He?
What do these names mean?
Because you'll be relating to Allah عز و
جل on a personal level.
When you know He is Al-Ghafoor, and
then you explore what that means.
Al-Raheem, explore what that means.
Al-Shakoor, explain what...
You will love Allah because of it.
So the more that you learn about Allah
عز و جل, the more that you will
love Him.
But I'm not going to say that it
is a flaw.
No.
I heard the statement that minor shirk is
greater than major sins.
So can a person be easily be forgiven
for minor shirk?
Any steps or advice that we do not
commit wrong?
So in general, shirk is greater than the
minor sins in general.
So we've talked about the forgiveness for it.
A person, if you repent for a minor
shirk, Allah عز و جل forgives it, just
like a major sin.
If you commit a lot of good deeds,
and these good deeds are sincere, and Allah
عز و جل loves them, that also could
take some or a lot of those minor
sins.
So how to avoid it?
You learn what is a minor sin.
You know it in detail, both outwardly and
inwardly.
You make dua'a that Allah will protect
you from it, and you make dua'a
that Allah will forgive that for you, which
is the dua'a that we've mentioned.
اللهم إني أعوذ بك أن أشرك بك وأنا
أعلم وأستغفرك لما أعلم Find it, write it
down, memorize it, and make it part of
your dua'a.
Because you understand how much we need it.
So make it part of your dua'a
as well.
And I think I still have one more.
How does one battle the feeling of showing
off in regards to salah when one is
reciting it, beautifying the voice?
How?
You keep fighting it.
You ask Allah عز و جل for ikhlas,
for sincerity, and you try to do things
privately to strengthen the ikhlas, your connection to
Allah عز و جل.
And you say to yourself repeatedly, these people
cannot harm me and they cannot benefit me.
Their praise doesn't elevate me and their criticism
does not demote me.
They have no power at all and the
power is with Allah عز و جل.
And you keep saying this and you keep
making dua'a and eventually Allah عز و
جل will grant you that.
It's not going to be easy.
Sometimes you'll win, many times you will fail,
but keep doing it.
And then eventually Allah عز و جل will
give you greater control over yourself.
You're never going to be perfect, by the
way.
Never going to be perfect, but you'll have
greater control by Allah عز و جل.
So inshallah, let me stop here.
So we'll give everybody time, chance for isha.
And if you have questions that we did
not get to answer inshallah, next week by
Allah عز و جل.