Ambition #4 The Dark & Light of The Human Mind
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Channel: Ali Hammuda
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AI Generated Summary ©
The importance of history and learning from Prophet's teachings is emphasized in a series of segments, including the return of woman named Joem, the return of woman named Adam, and the return of man named Subhan buster. The speakers emphasize the importance of promoting reading and learning, finding a mentor, and avoiding limiting success in achieving personal growth. They also emphasize the need for measurable and personal goals, including promoting reading and learning, finding a mentor, and avoiding limiting success.AI Generated Transcript ©
Allah subhanaw taala takes three consecutive olts in Surah to lay chapter of the night. This is enough to capture attention if somebody says to you Allah he will Allah he will Allah He I swear I swear I swear, you know that he she is about to say something profound.
Allah Almighty He takes three consecutive oats when Layli either Yaksha one hurry either to Jaga one masala cause Dhaka well, by the night by the day and by the creation of male and female What do you want to tell us? Oh Allah subhanho wa Taala What's the idea
in saya comb, the shutter, indeed your endeavors are very different.
Your say, your aspirations, your doings, they are so different to one another. It is a reality. If you were to look at a bus, a moving bus 30 or so, people sat on that vehicle, all moving in the same direction, all seated on seats, they all look identical to one another. What is it that separates them?
What is it that makes them different to one another, it is one thing, it is their humor, it is their ambition? It is their intention. Some of them are going out for a business transaction. Some of them are going to meet a friend. Some of them are going to the masjid to pray. Some of them is going to a halacha one of them is perhaps pursuing a sin
on that bus journey.
In saya comme le shatter your endeavors, they are so different to one another. We're speaking today about a concept that our scholars referred to as El Hema. And Hema you can translate as a result, or ambition or aspiration.
And we're speaking specifically about the high levels of him the high levels of aspiration that defined every one of the effective Muslim men and women in our Ummah
a definition for him, the scholars have said it is and this is one of many definitions. They say he has this loud rumor dune and the higher team in Ireland are more him lofty aspirations is about belittling every obstacle that stands between you and your high aspiration.
Hema
is the idea where you belittle every obstacle that stands between you and the attainment of your lofty aspiration.
And Allah Almighty has created as such that every one of us is born with a certain level of Himba some people are gifted with high levels of humor, the wisdom of Allah, and some people are tested with low levels of him that they need to bring it back up by the permission of Allah Subhana Allah.
And that is why the Hadith which I Buddha would raise on the authority of Abu Dhabi to show me that our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said to some mo be a smell, eel and BIA, give your children the names of Prophets. He said what a horrible smell in Allah He Abdullah he or Abdul Rahman and the most beloved of names to Allah Almighty Allah Abdullah. Abdul Rahman, the slave of Allah, the slave of Allah Rama and these are the dearest names to Allah. He said What else that will Harrison were hanged man. And the most truthful of names is Harris. Do we have a hadith here? Put your hand up?
Do we have a hammam
you have neither do we have Abdullah Abdul Rahman. But JJ, the most truthful of names he said is Hadith.
And her mom. He said what Aloha, Aloha harpoon wa Maura and the most detestable names to Allah is hard meaning war, and Maura, which means bitterness, negative names.
So he said the most truthful of all names is Hadith and Hominem and both of those names are about the idea of being in a constant state of movement. Did we not introduce the lecture by saying your endeavors are different?
Had her ma'am meaning that man by his nature is constantly on a mission to do something. He constantly wants to say something he constantly wants to plow something, had it on hand man, whether that's in a virtuous noble metric, like while you are here today in the masjid, seeking knowledge and useful information and growth, or whether he has had it and her mom in that which is evil, and impermissible, or at least something that is petty.
So there shouldn't be a human being
who dislikes mediocrity being average than the believing Muslim
because
When you open the Quran you can't help but see the adjectives that Allah uses when speaking about a bad worship Islam, your relationship with Him what type of adjectives is Allah Almighty use it's so noticeable it screams out at you. He said Saudi on in Alma Fiat in Arabic rush to the forgiveness of your note rush hurry. He said first step vehicle al hierachy race with one another in achieving good deeds.
Sir Bihu Ilana ferati Mira become raised with one another towards the forgiveness of your Lord. There's no talk of walk is always about rushing and hurrying and racing and competing. Allah said, we can use our young NFL hayati while hula has said goon they are the ones who are racing towards good deeds and they are the ones who shall attain it.
So clearly,
you see that Allah subhanaw taala has drawn a distinct finish line. And each and every one of us is expected to race towards that finish line with their actions and more importantly with their him with their ambition with their aspirations, because the countdown has begun.
So we are speaking of this concept of him, high aspirations, we have mentioned that the most truthful of names is hardly an imam.
And no one was a greater example.
When it came to raising the morale of the Sahaba and being defined by lofty aspirations, then our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we learned it from him.
He would say Alayhi Salatu was Phenom II they sell to Mala salute your dose the hadith of Bukhari and Muslim your authority.
If you ask Allah Almighty for something in your DUA, then ask him for a higher dose. What is it for yourselves he said for inner who Allah Jana alpha delta is the name to the highest part of gender. What I was taught will gender and it is the middle part of gender at the very top.
We'll throw a who our short run and above it is the Throne of Allah subhana died. Imagine the ceiling of alpha dos is the bottom of the Throne of Allah Jin Lagenaria. He said, Well, I mean Jota Giroux and her will Jana and from El DOS, the springs of Jannah descend into the other levels of paradise.
So they talked about aiming high aiming for the sky, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam reframes that you as a muslim you are to aim for something that is on top of the skies, that is Paradise, and you are to aim at the top of paradise, above which there is nothing but the Throne of Allah subhanaw taala and Phil dos What is this but an encouragement to rid yourself and myself of the scrapey parents mentality, a C grade mentality, a small shelter in Jannah will be sufficient for me mentality that's not the aspirations of the prophets that I serve them. And that's not the him that he had for you.
Yes, I agree with you being saved from the hellfire and making it into Jannah even if you have to crawl there, that is ultimate success. From an Zazie high dinar whoever is moved away from hell, what would kill Jana ends up entering paradise but first this person has succeeded.
But when it comes to ambition, when it comes to you searching for something, working towards something that goal has to be unfair, though Ceylon at the very top part of paradise, where the prophets and the messengers and the city Hakuna Matata shall live. That's where we want to be.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said, In Nusselt Allah He Hylia Allah in sha Allah Allah He agenda. He said the commodity of Allah Almighty is precious, the commodity of Allah is none other than agenda
and encouragement. And he would say as it did me the interrupts
on the authority of Al Hussein in Allah Jota Allah your head boom Eilean UMO, Raja Raja Quran who's of Safa Allah Almighty loves the lofty ambitions and the noble ones and he hates the petty ones. Allah Almighty loves the high affairs, the important affairs, the profound lofty affairs, and Allah Almighty hates the petty lowly ones subhanho wa taala.
Our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in every one of his statements, in every one of his actions, was an embodiment for high ambitions and he expected nothing less from the Muslims.
And this these were statements that he irrigated with his fine example allihies Salatu was Salam. The Companions saw a man who was defined by very high aspirations, never allowing himself to succumb to second place, always wanting to be a mover
And shaker
and that's why ignore high band rates in his lair
on your authority of our mother Aisha when she became an elder woman, and some men came to her home after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had passed away inquiring about his life. Abdullah, he said a vulnerable kappa was one of them. And he asks our mother had defini big banner or at mean Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said, Oh, our mother.
Tell me about the most amazing thing you ever saw from your husband, the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the narration Senator bucket Buka. And she didn't. She broke down into heavy crying. And she said, Who knew angry he can Agia everything about him was amazing.
How can your wife say that about you, my brother?
And my sister? Can your husband say the same thing about you? Right, the truest testimony to your righteousness, or the lack thereof comes from the closest person.
She went. She said,
What wasn't amazing about him? Kulu Emery he kind of have you ever. And then she began to explain. Look at these aspirations that would wake him up from his sleep. And he set out to us.
She said on one night, he came home.
And I was already in bed. And he came into the covers next to me. And he got very close to me till I felt his skin making contact with mine.
And then he whispered something to his wife. You said to her? Ya Isha to Oh, hi Isha Jenny Lee and Tabitha, do you give me permission to worship my note? Subhana light? Yeah, today if a man did this today, you'd be called the simp. Right? Do you give me permission
to worship my lord. It's been a long day. He's been away from her. And he has other wives. So it's every opportunity to be close to the messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam your husband? And he says to her, do you give me permission to glorify my Lord? And she said to him, Well Allah, He rasool Allah, He in me or him, quarterback, Allah or Hibou Huwag. O Messenger of Allah, I swear that I love being near to you.
But I also love what you love. So the Permission was given. She said he got up and he made his way to a nearby vessel in the house, and he carried out his will do his pre prayer washing.
And then he began to recite Quran she said Rebecca had gone to Anna Dubois who Bella got her water, he began to cry as he recited Quran until I was sure that his tears had reached his clothes.
And then he began to make dua, calling upon Allah subhanaw taala and Mother Aisha, she's just observing this spectacle of a human being. She said Rebecca had held on to another moi, who by law, he began to cry until I was sure that his tears had now reached his waist. Then he put himself to the right side of his body and he placed his right hand under his right cheek. This was his way when he would lay down. She said for DACA and he worked hard to have on and to under do more who could Bella got in, till I will show that his tears
had so the soil beneath him.
Then Bilal came, so this continued all throughout the night until the break of dawn, and beloved and then he arrived, knocked on the door, he sought permission from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gave him salah, and he saw the state of the beloved and he salatu salam, he'd been crying all night.
He said to him, yeah rasool Allah He took key word for Allah Who let him out or cut them in them be Kalamata Messenger of Allah, you cry, when Allah Almighty has forgiven all of your past and your future sins? This was the understanding of the Sahaba what is deserving of crying? What is deserving of Tears is to carry sins that you haven't repented from. This is what deserves weeping.
And in your case, a messenger of Allah, you have no sins, Why do you cry?
The cause of crying is not with you, you cry and Allah has you raised all of your sins.
He said, beloved, Allah Subhana Allah Allah has revealed the verse upon me, what do you make of it? Why shouldn't I cry? When Allah has just revealed to me the verses from Surah two Agha and Ron were Allah Almighty said in a few hulky seminar it will not indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth, of the Delphi Layli when the heart and in the alternation of night and day the it Odin and Bob are signs for people of intelligence.
And let the you know you have the Quran Allah have the Yama and Wakanda they are those who remember Allah standing and sitting down while God him and upon their sides. Why are different Karuna feel helpless tomorrow? It will not and they think about that.
creation of the heavens in the earth. Robin Mr. Collector heard about wind and Subhanak fopr and they say our Lord, You have not created all of this in vain glory be to you. So save us from the hellfire.
He said when you don't Lehmann, Cara Hi Avila and Malanga, coffee have OB la woe to those who recited these verses and they don't contemplate them.
OB la
Should I not be a grateful servant of Allah SubhanAllah.
So this was our Prophet alayhi salaatu wa Salaam. And these were his aspirations that defined his speech defined his words, they defined his behavior, they defined his daylight hours, and they defined in sleeping hours, always aiming for the top alayhi salatu salam, and that is a message to us.
And on one occasion, he is speaking to his companions and he lets them know that Paradise has more than one door and imagine a severe Abu Bakr Radi Allahu Anhu is sitting and he is listening.
And a seasoned scholar by the way, is able to garner so much information about a person's personality just by way of his or her questions. Yeah, true knowledge, the true sign of knowledge is not in the way that you answer a question is the way that you pose a question. That is a sign of intelligence and true knowledge.
So he's speaking to his companions, this is in Bukhari and Muslim and he said to them, man and for Kazuo Jain, if he cebelia He do I mean a word with gender to ya Abdullah, he has a high you. He said, Whoever gives in charity, two kinds of any item.
Whoever gives in charity to items of any kind, this person will be called from the gates of Jana. Each corner from each gate will be saying, Oh slave of Allah come to paradise through me. This is the best of all doors. So they'll be competing over you.
Jana has eight gates. And each gate has a
name.
And you will be called to enter paradise through the gate that defined you most in your life. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam elaborated
and he said for mankind, I mean at least Salah it knew the I mean by the Salah, whoever was a person of Salah prayer, he will be called to enter Paradise from the door of prayer. Woman Can I mean holy jihadi do I am inveigled Jihad and whoever was a person of jihad. He will be cold from the gate of jihad. Woman Can I mean that is so yummy. Do I mean Barbie or a yawn and whoever is from the people of fasting Allah make us amongst them as well. He will be cold she will be cold from the gate of Orion Orion which means the quenched the quenched to thank you for your thirst Subhanallah during the fasting hours of Ramadan
he said woman cannot mean any solder cut you do I mean that is sadaqa and whoever is a person of charity he will be entered will be called to enter paradise through the gate of charity.
And then we're back here on the Allahu Dalian who, who saw the Titanic, ambitions of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and learn from his example and never to settle for second place and to always be a record breaking Muslim. In every one of your endeavors. Abubakar he asks the question on Messenger of Allah
be me and tell me May my mum and dad be sacrifice for you a polite way of introducing the question.
Ma lamb and do I am in telechelic Abu Dhabi, Ben barwara. Any person who is invited to enter paradise through these gates will experience surely no harm in his life for her new da hadn't been killed killed Abu Dhabi equally. So will they be a person invited to enter paradise through every one of the eight Golden Age gates agenda? And he said to him, yes, now what are you gonna mean home and I'm hopeful that you will be one of them.
And in another narration, I read in these Hey Javi, no headband, he said to him now we're into Amin home Yes. And you will be one of them. You are one of them.
We ask Allah subhanaw taala to make us one of them. See?
eight gates, how do I enter paradise through every one of those eight gates. So give yourself a portion of worship and very you're a badass
and spread out your investments in the hope that one of them will hit gold.
And that is all cash up no medicine. When he heard that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said there will be 70,000 people who will enter paradise without any prior suffering or accountability mandore entrance into paradise. All of the suffering you read about the Day of Judgment they are spared of it. They enter paradise before everyone else. Oh gosh it stands up. No hesitation make dua or messenger of Allah that I am one of them. He said you are one of them.
So another companion so this is an opportunity. He said on me on Messenger of Allah. He said no Okasha beat you to it. Allahu Akbar. Why not?
Abu Bakr Radi Allahu Taala and who embraces Islam by the way, we talk about lofty aspirations and coming first place he is the first adult free male to embrace Islam initially.
Everyone buckled hesitated, thought twice or thrice, except a rollback of the Prophet said Lim Yetta. Latham, he didn't stutter, he didn't hesitate.
And then he leaves his home. On the very day he has embraced Islam. And he comes back the next day with five men ready to take their shahada and these are no five average men. These were five of the 10, whom the Prophet sallallahu Sallam promised paradise, the elite of this ummah, of Medina fan became Muslim through Abu Bakar Earth Maribou are fun and everything he achieved. He is just a good deed in the scales of Abu Bakr
of Merriman often debatable are one of the Ramallah mouth Saudi Nabi walk us, Paul had to obey the law. And on the second day, he came back with another few ready to become Muslim, including an Archon even though Bill Arkin, who gave his home for the teaching of Islam in Makkah, we're back here Robbie, Allah Jota Allah I know.
And then you have Abu Huraira or the Allah who died and who am usually more meaningful Hadith leader of the believers in Hadith, the number one most prolific Narrator 5374 Hadith or so he narrated.
When Bucha was being distributed between the men the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam looked at Abu Huraira he said to him, Allah is a loony mean is a loony as Harboe can mean how the hell are you going to ask me for some booty? Which all of your friends are fighting over?
Abu Huraira look at his aspirations, he said as Luca and to allinone be Malema kala by only request, is that you teach me from some of the knowledge that Allah subhanaw taala gave you. That's my request. Can you teach me
people's him that I told you is different people's aspirations they vary.
And the same thing happened to Robbia ImmunoCAP al Eslami in Sahih Muslim Robbia is the name of a man who would serve the prophets Allah sent a young man who dedicated his life just to bring water to the Prophet side Selim to help him with will do and to assist him during his deeds during the day and during the night. Robbie, I was full time servant of the Prophet sallallahu sallam
said I would spend time outside of his home, waiting for him to read need anything. And I would hear him from the other side of his house saying Subhan Allah Subhan Allah, Allah Allah so until I would get bored and I would fall asleep, quicker the Prophet alayhi salat wa salam, remembering Allah, and on one occasion gonna be I was helping the Prophet salicylate with his will. And our Prophet felt for him. He wants to reward him. Such a righteous young man. He said to him, send me make a request.
Can I help you with anything? Can I help you fulfill anything anything you need? If that person was you, this is your time the head of the state who was connected to the heavens by way of whacking you revelation ask what you wish. What do you need a halala mortgage house here in that what have you you need a car is there a health issue? You're going through it? What do you require? He said to Robbia suddenly make a request. I'm gonna be on he said I will come more Africa takaful agenda.
My request is that I am your companion agenda. This is not enough for me to be like this with you in dunya. I want this to continue in January. I asked to be your companion in paradise as well.
He said to him our Hydra Dalek anything else that you need? He said whoever that is just that. Nothing else. I don't need anything from dunya Thank you. I just need gender with you. He said for I Niada. Enough seeker because Rottie sujood helped me fulfill this for you by prostrating a lot to Allah helped me fulfill this for you by prostrating a lot to Allah. It's going to require hard work from yourself as well.
This was the ambition of the Sahaba may Allah be pleased with them.
And the Sahaba they started to learn Islam later on in life. For those of you who are in their late 20s 30s Even 40s Don't think that this is too late, by the way. Right? There is this misconception that if I don't start at seven or eight years old memorizing the Quran, then I've missed the train. Imam Al Bukhari he said Mata Allah ma Sahaba to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Illa Kibera
the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam only learned the knowledge of Islam in the latter years of their lives. That's what he said, When did they take their shahada most of the companions
later on in life, late 20s 30s, some in their 40s That was the majority of their companions. It's the average is about 30 years old. And they became the scholars and we stand on their shoulders today.
And then you had Jabil, the companion of the prophets I send them who traveled from Medina. Oh,
All the way to a Sharm greater Syria to hear one Hadith
from Abdullah him Nunez really allow that to simmer in your mind for a moment. What does it mean to travel for a month
to hear one Hadith you've traveled 510 minutes to come to this message today 15 If you are like in st Mellons, I was a career. Most of us are within the vicinity. And you hear a plethora Allah said messengers that Allah sent messengers at free of charge.
These giants before us who brought this our religion traveled a month
on Camelback
in the deserts of Arabia
to hear one Hadith. And then he went back to Medina.
From Saudi to Syria and those regions
a month of travel. Think about the nights of that travel and the days of the travel and the sleeping patterns and food arrangements, drink thirst, highway robbers, bandits, scorpions, snakes,
showering salah, also, how a month for one hottie.
That wasn't just once by the way that happened
to you, but I'm sorry. About Are you the very first host of the prophets. Allah sent him in Medina he traveled from Medina, to Egypt,
from Saudi to Egypt, on Camelback to hear one Hadith from Akbar, son of Nafa, don't they Allah No. And he got off the camel veneration said he heard the narration, he said I just wanted to hear it from your mouth. I wanted to hear it from you.
And he didn't even untie any of the luggage of the camel.
And he got back onto it. And he made his way back from Egypt. All the way to Medina. These are our men. We're not talking about some foreign or some alien, some outer galactic creature. These are these are our fathers and our mothers. This is our heritage and we are expected to be an extension to that heritage because the paradise they wanted the same paradise we want the Lord they were worshipping the same Lord we worship and so the aspirations they had, we want to emulate the same aspiration so that you know, let us continue taking some roses or a tour from this fragrant God and have high aspirations.
Abdullah him namaste How old was he when he saw the death of the Prophet Muhammad? Salah Holly Hussein was anyone know?
He was
take a guess.
11 years old. How Ernie? Yeah, he was around 13 years old.
When the Prophet sallallahu Sallam passed away. This is who have a Luma to do manual Quran, the scholar of the OMA the interpreter of the Quran.
That remunerates in his sunnah in
the beginning of the journey of knowledge for Abdullah he Abraham does. He said when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam passed away. I went to one of my friends from the Tsar.
And I said to him, yeah, fool and so and so huduma finesse us harder. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam for him no homoeopathic here, why don't we begin a journey for knowledge you and I?
Because the companions of the Prophet sir I sent him there all over the place. Let's go in here Hadith and Quran from them let's learn
what did the man say?
His words were very demotivating unfortunately, and he said to him Wow, you have been lucky you haven't had that. I'm amazed that you are webinar bass at NASA Jr. In a Murphy him in so hard that he Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Antara? He said, I'm amazed that you? Do you think that time will come when people will need you and your knowledge when all of these senior companions exist.
Abdullah if not best, wasn't fazed by this. He was a young man but he wasn't fazed. I mean if a young man today, unfortunately was to hear this type of negative talk, it's going to be all sorts of mental health issues and trauma and anxiety, diagnosis and ADHD and tablets. He upset me he demotivated me he didn't support me and counseling. No, in my best I started to I just left him.
That's his aspirations. I have different aspirations. He said I left him
and now he begins to describe his journey of knowledge now as a 13 year old man, right.
He said I would go to the doors of companions. What was said would either he I will take off my shell or my cloak or my upper garment. And I will put it onto the ground and I would sit into it and cover my face and he said the hot desert sad would be blowing in my face as I wait for the shake the scallop the companion to come out. He doesn't want to knock on the door because of manners, Adam
and then
The door would open. And he would see the cousin of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam sleeping on the floor.
Above time, noon time,
blistering heat of Arabia. He said, Oh, cousin of the Prophet alayhi salatu salam, what brings you here, you should have told me I would have come to you. He said, No, you are the scholar, we come to the scholars, scholars don't come to us.
And he would learn, and he would acquire knowledge until he became Abdullah. He's not best Subhanallah as he became a young man now in his 20s, and his 30s. And the streets were heaving with 1000s of people crowding to get into the home of Abdullah Abbas, the students of the Arabic language would come in, and he would answer their questions, and he would educate them, then they would leave. And then the students of Hadith would come in. And they would he would answer their questions and leave. And then the students of poetry would come in, answer their questions and leave and students of Tafseer would come in, educate them answer the question and leave people crowding all
around Abdullah, he does now to open any book of Tafseer. Every area or every other area, there is an opinion from the live now best, or at least one of his students.
Then the Saudi man saw him one day, which on Saudi man,
the young man all those years ago who said to him, people will never need you. Don't waste your time. And he said that Abdullah, we're not bad. It's not like a king, with students around him learning.
And he looks at even our bass and he said, Tana, Daddy can fit that article. I mean, that young man over there was far wiser than I was, was far wiser than I was. So where are your aspirations? Got it?
Well, the Allahu Allah, Allah and who spent his whole life in Jihad before Islam and after Islam, and he did not lose a single battle in his life. This is the profile of a warrior.
Never lost the battle, whether against the Muslims before Islam or with the Muslims when he took his Shahada. He's looking for martyrdom. That was That is the aspiration of Pilate.
Yet as he passed away, he was dying an average death Subhanallah Khadir of Allah spent his whole life looking for martyrdom, and he dies on his band. And some of his last words to those around him as he was reading his last he said to them
Laqad Shaheed to me
I have led 100 battles all around that number
When fee just said the molding on our ship brewing in our feet he thought about on visa I mean our from year to year okay now toilet will be safe, and there isn't a single part of my body except that it is covered with a scar because of injury incurred by a sword or a spear or an arrow. Were able to hatch the Envy ILF urushi Can I move to the air yet? Despite this all here I am dying on my bed against my wish, like the old camel like an old camel passes. Oh a fella anamod Are you know Juba nah. So say the eyes of the cowards never sleep.
We hope that Allah Almighty has given Khalid the station of shahada martyrdom, because of his knee because of his intention in sha Allah, Allah. I am certain that Allah Almighty would not let him down but will be allowed to.
Hide is rolled in likewise jihad. That's his interest. He was not told to become a scholar. By the way, beware of limiting this discussion to men, our women Alhamdulillah our women have lofty aspirations and high ambitions.
Who was the one who molded and made Malia interview Sophia and there'll be Allahu Anhu them while we know today.
Why we are a master strategist admire Leah the Mujahid muawiya The scribe of the prophets, Allah send them my way or the eloquent sermon giver, Maya
the warrior
when he was still a young boy in the arms of his mother,
people saw in him the signs of intelligence leadership. Even as a young child as a toddler, he was different. So one woman, one woman said to Hynde been taught by the mother of Maya. They said to her inertia, moi, we are too sad Acoma who, if Mahalia lives to become a man. He's going to be the leader of his people.
That would make you happy, right? As a parent, if someone said that about your child, I would be very happy. She wasn't happy about that. His mother hand she said that killed two who in them yesterday in a coma, how may he die? May he die if he will only lead his people?
No, no, he's going to leave the entire mass. You said that's the man I am raising Heinola motherhood they belittle it as a secondary tertiary job today. What greater job can there be done to be a righteous mother, fostering and cultivating the next generation of revivalist and leaders who will shape the thrones of tyrants across the world? She said
May my son die if he will only be the leader of his tribe or his community this this man will lead the OMA who became the Khalifa of the Muslims.
To smile you have an abuse of Iago the Allahu Allah No.
And when why we would want to identify himself for those who are unsure about whom he is. He is the son of Abu Abu Sufyan, leader already leader before Islam and leader after Islam. You wouldn't say I am the son of Malia, I am the son of Abu Sofia. While you would say I never knew him, I am the son of Hynde. His mother I am the son of him. Winter Allah may Allah be pleased with her.
And Sophia no salary it was his mother that made him Sophia no salary, we refer to him as Ameerul Momineen. The scholars refer to him as a meuble most meaningful Hadith the leader of the believers in Hadith.
Who was the one who made him after Allah was his mother, who as a young boy would say to her son, yeah, boo, son, uploaded Hadith. Applicable hey, what can we make ezeli go on, pursue knowledge. And I will spend upon you through my weaving. I will spend upon you I will finance your pursuit through my weaving.
What about if we speak about Abu Zakaria Yahia, son of Sheriff, otherwise known as Imam Lunella. We are a modern law
scholar who is revered across all of the schools for schooling the Sunni schools of thought, Imam will never be Rahim Allah who left a legacy that is difficult to grasp in a single lecture, authored no less than 50 books in his life, references core texts in their field and authority or AHIMA, hula.
And when he passed away, they looked at the number of pages that he'd authored all throughout his life and they divided it by the number of days that he lived. And they found that on average Imam will never He was authoring about four small booklets every single day for books every single day.
How is that possible? You will say to me, I say to you don't ask me ask another way, Rahim. Allah Himself who said, Well Bucky to send a tiny lamb Alba Jambi, an Arab, there were two particular years in my life where I did not put my side to the ground and sleep.
Meaning he sat on a table like this with his books stacked up and he is reading, writing, authoring, memorizing, producing, and then when he feels overwhelmed by fatigue, he blows out his candlelight and he puts his head on a book and he sleeps. And then he wakes up again and he continues, he said two years I didn't sleep on my side.
That is another way. And when one of his friends came to visit him by the name of Dr. Regina Bucha, Ma, he said, I found no place to sit in his home. There was books everywhere. So when I would come to his house, and he lived in a minaret, by the way, in Syria, he lived in a minaret, very humble life. It must have been like a circular room of some sort. He said I'd come into the room and he'd make space from the books just to give me a place to sit and talk to him. Rahim Allah. These are the aspirations of our men and women.
And then imam or poverty, Rama, hula, even Algeria robbery, the author of the famous tafseer that we have a copy of in this masjid, and you probably have a copy of it on your phone.
And when we say tafsir interpretation of the Quran, that is the go to text.
They looked at the his life Alpha table, Baghdadi. He said, for the last 40 years of his life, he was authoring 40 pages a day,
every single day, 40 pages a day and do the maths that brings you 584,000 pages of knowledge that he'd authored.
And that I've seen that you have now was supposed to be 10 times bigger. But it was the low aspirations of his students that caused him to change his mind.
He said to his students, potential tuner fee unlimited see, do you have energy for us to study Tafseer of the whole Quran together? They said Yeah. How long would it be? He said it will be about 30,000 pages.
They said how there may may definitely be in our popular new team now that we will die before this is completed.
So he summarized his tafseer that we have today into 3000 pages only supposed to be 10 times bigger. And then he said to them attend Chateau Nephi elementary it's me Adam, Isla ADINA, how do you have the energy for us to study history from the time of Adam the first man till our time today? They said how many pages he said about the same 30,000 Inshallah, they said we will die before this is completed. He said in early Lahemaa Tatil Hema
he said aspirations have died. Where are your aspirations? Where are your ambitions? He said your aspirations have died. And so to make it easier for his students, he summarized it into again 3000 pages. And that's the history book of tallyho poverty that we have today as well.
And even though Josie I would Farah Do you hear of him
he's
said with my two fingers I have written no less than 2000 volumes worth of work.
And he said Alhamdulillah 100,000 Muslims have found their way back to their religion through me. He said Alhamdulillah 20,000 Jews and Christians have taken their shahada through me. And he said, If I was to say that I have read 20,000 volumes of work, I wouldn't be exaggerating. And I am still reading till this day.
And when he passed away, he had a will, which is to gather all of the pencil sharpenings that he'd used to write. And he said, please use those pencil sharpenings to heat up the water that you will use to wash microbes after I've passed away.
Pencil sharpening
and they gathered all of the pencil sharpenings into a huge heap. And that became the fuel to heat up the water. After he passed away. His body was washed and shrouded and buried and there was still pencil sharpenings remaining.
This is our history. This is not a dream. The biggest book in history was authored by our scholars ignore appeal handily. He authored a book called Alpha loon. In 800 volumes, I think there's maybe one or two copies of it in the world, because which printing press is going to print 800 volumes of one book,
phenomenal book. And he wasn't a full time genius. By the way, he had a wife. He was a copy a judge, he was a dad. It was Subhan Allah husband.
Allah placed Baraka in his time, and he made the right decisions because of his aspirations, two pairs of shoes, he said, one at the front of the door, and one at the back of the house, so that I never have to waste time looking for shoes.
And he said he chose to drink his food as opposed to eat it because the eating food takes more time than drinking it. Several of our scholars did this, by the way, some scholars, they would eat very dry bread, because that's all they had next to the river, to dip it into the river and eat it that would apply he would drink his food as opposed to chewing bread.
So he would break it up and put it into a drink of some sort and drink it. He said because the time needed, or the time difference between drinking my food as opposed to chewing bread is the time that I could use for the recitation of 50 verses of the Quran.
I'm not saying to you,
do the exact things that they did. That's not necessarily required. But take from the essence of what they did the high aspirations. Ask yourself, why am I different to them? Why don't I feel the same level of urgency that they felt what's different?
Sure about him or her judge, the scholar of Hadith. He says the only two types of people who we would see running in the streets were the insane people, or the students of Hadith.
Running around unnecessarily in the streets was not a sign of intellect. So he said the only people who would run around in the streets, one of two people either he was a madman image, no one
lost his mind. Or he is a student of Hadith because the students of Hadith did not want to even waste time walking from place to place they would run.
Even though Tamia Rahim Allah speaks of his grandfather, who said that when he my grandfather would go into the bathroom to call to respond to the call of nature. He will give me a book. And he will say to him, read, please, and raise your voice so that I can hear what you say.
So that even those moments he spends in the bathroom, he is learning something Subhanallah nothing. Razi who would have 10 pencils sharpened for him at a time and he would write and write and write and write until one of them would go blunt, and then he would write and write and write and his family would be sharpening the other pencils for him does not want to waste time sharpening. And if he needs to sharpen a pencil, they would see him sharpening and he's moving his lips.
Why to make us every second is in the glorification of Allah subhanho wa Taala urgency
and high aspirations
and that's what Imam Malik you said nobody will attain true knowledge until you taste the meaning of poverty.
And Imam Malik himself spent all of his money in pursuit of knowledge when he was a young man till he needed to sell the roof of his house.
Normal roof why? Because I need to finance my pursuit of knowledge.
Imam Al Buhari they came into his house one day and he'd been missing.
They attended the Halaqaat of Hadith with one another and Buhari was not there. Two or three days very simply, we don't know. This was narrated by a peer of his or even perhaps Alaska his name was
so we went to the house of Imam Bukhari, we knocked on the door and he is completely nude. Naked. He'd sold his very last item of cloth
so that he can finance his pursuit for Hadith.
So he said we gathered some Durham's for him some money and we bought him some clothes
yeah you have no money in the friend of Imam Muhammad Muhammad and his father passed down 101 million Durham's. 1 million dirhams the Arabs, they call it 1000 1000 because they don't have the concept of million we don't have million in Arabic, back then. The biggest number to the Arab was 1000. And so if they wanted to say a million they'd say 1000 1000s
So he said, Yeah, have no mines father passed down to him 1 million Durham's he was a rich man, and he spent every one of those Durham's in the pursuit for knowledge, till he needed to sell his sandals and he would walk around without shoes.
Now, Allah so where are your aspirations? My dear brother, my dear sister from the likes of these examples, Imam Al Bukhari Rahim, Allah who would wake up on numerous occasions throughout the night, because of an idea that came to his mind affect you to benefit in knowledge, and he would write it down, and he would sleep again. And then he would wake up again with a thought. So he would light his lanten. And he would write it, and then blow out the light and go back to sleep. And he will do that on average 20 times a night.
Their aspirations did not give them the opportunity to rest what either candidate enough also keep out on time at Peabody 100, Saturday, moving on.
There was a shootout here maybe a doubt that somebody may pose and say,
It's all well, good and well, that you speak of these examples of high aspirations, Brother Ali.
But I'm quite far removed from what you're describing. My reality is a little bit different to that.
I am still contending with some basic sins.
I have certain habits till this day isn't the month of Ramadan, with only five or so days left? And I'm struggling to rid myself of these habits? How can I be this individual have high aspirations? When I know behind closed doors about me what nobody else knows.
And then the answer to this is very simple. Our predecessors never allowed their sinful nature, which is every human being to be a justification for low ambitions in life.
Never.
And that's why when they came to Al Hassan bursary and an answer to him, I don't want to enjoin what is good. And I don't want to forbid what is evil, or half an Akula Malla file. I fear that I will say something that I'm not doing myself. Have you heard this before? I can't. I don't want to judge people. Who am I to judge him? I know that I'm probably doing the same thing.
And hasn't he said to him what the shaytaan montcada For Robbie Harada this is exactly what shaitan wants to convince people. You are a sinner so you have no right to be advising other people. He said this is what Satan wants to convince people who don't matter will narrow fala Yoon Ha in mancha so that nobody enjoys good and nobody forbids what is evil. The poet's who says they're in them. Yeah, hi, Lila, honestly, you know, well, who I'm with an evil and then yeah, I don't know how so you never either Mohammed who, if you're not going to advise people because you are a sinner, then who's going to advise them after Muhammad Sallallahu
who is sinless, but him Alayhi Salatu was Salam but he
and here I share with you a very emotional story belonging to a man called Double Majan as a coffee.
From his name, you know, he's from the thief my life.
And I would imagine was a noble Companion of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. But he had a particular downfall, a sin that he kept falling weak to, and that is the consumption of alcohol. So it's not even a minor one Subhanallah
and this narration was mentioned by society to inventory in his sunnah and even ABI Shaybah in his Musonda with an authentic chain of transmission insha Allah as the scholars of Hadith have said,
I will manage and will drink alcohol,
and then they would bring him to the Khalifa, Omar, probably Allahu Anhu. And he would be lashed for it.
And then he would drink alcohol again and he would be brought you will be punished for it. This happened again and again and it was no use.
And this continued to happen until the Battle of Ardisia. The Battle of qadisiya at the time of Omar led by the Muslim general side of nebula us against the Persians and this was the decisive battle that caused the collapse of the entire Persian Empire, never to stand up again.
And Abu Mazen was part of the army.
And guess what happens just before the battle erupts. A Romanian is bought to Salvador cause he has been caught drinking alcohol again.
In fact, he loved alcohol so much that he has poetry. This is earlier on in his life, of course.
Telling people who bury him eventually when he passes away that makes sure you bury me next to a vine great tree so that I can drink from its wine even when I have died on the ground. He said either made to fit Finlay Elijah nikkormat into rawia amoeba demo to Kohala 13
An even further defect in the near half will either allow me to under imagine, when I die bury me next to something that I can drink wine from, that can nourish he said my bones and nourish my skin. So there was a serious problem there.
So sadly, maybe what class detains Abu Mahajan before the battle as a punishment, and he is shackled in a cell.
And now Subhanallah, the battle erupts between the Muslims and the Persians. And it was a ferocious battle that lasted for days that caused the opening of the medallion of Persia. And sad can now hear from the other side of the wall,
the throwing of spears and the neighing of horses, the launching of arrows, and the hitting with swords and the piercing of bodies and he knows that that kind of Allah has just descended upon the Muslims, he knows that the suit, the markets of gender have now opened up and the gates of gender are opened up, and that's where he wanted to be, he was upset to be in that situation.
So he looks to the wife of Syed and ABI Waqqas. And he says to her, I asked you in the Name of Allah, that you release my shackles, please allow me to join the battlefield. And I give you a promise that if we are victorious on this day, I will personally come back to the cell and I will put the shackles on my feet myself. He said what either me too is that I have too many and if I die, then good riddance to me, I am bothering you all.
And then he began to utter words of poetry to encourage her and they are beautiful words he says to her
Kapha housing and Tierra del hydro bill
otaku Massoud and Alejo izakaya. When in there he used to be the healer in foodie jet and as rural how Ania Hello Mozilla hayleigh Lucky in any way to the harbor that his dad who in that idea. So she hears these words of poetry and his sincerity in wanting to join the Mujahideen fighters.
And so she unshackled him
and then he takes the horse of saddle Nabi Waqas, the Muslim general who was ill at the time, so he was unable to participate in the battle, but he was supervising from a distance, but he was ill.
So he jumped on the horse of saddened me walk past the horse of the Muslim general called Albula. And he runs into the battlefield and he begins to fight and he's covering his face. And the Muslims are saying, Hi there, Malik. This must be an angel. What type of fighting is this? Allahu Akbar saya there'll be Allahu Anhu he is watching the battle and now the course of the battle is beginning to change.
And he says, Who is this? He said I'm nabru Yanni or Raghu Babu Roy Belka what Barbu Darboux Abbey imagine what
he said the running of that animal resembles the running of Alka, my horse.
And the method of attack the style of combat here is the style of Obamacare. But imagine is in prison.
And then his wife says to him, that is not your horse. She told him the story.
The battle Alhamdulillah subsided, the Muslims were victorious. The whole of the Persian Empire collapsed the hands of the Muslims. And it's gold and silver was transferred from Persia to the city of Medina to be spent and distributed in the path of Allah subhana Medina, and that will make a Gen sticks to his promise. And he makes his way from the battlefield into the cell. And he shackled his feet
and said when we walk past comes into the cell and he sees Abu Mahajan.
And then he lowers himself to the ground and sad personally opens the shackles and he says to him, I swear by Allah, I will never flog you for the drinking of alcohol ever again. And I will mention he said and I swear by Allah, I will never drink alcohol ever again. Allahu Akbar. Notice how have we met again, did not use his weakness in front of a major soon to justify his low ambitions. No why. And in fact, having high aspirations and working towards an Islamic vision is one of the key ways
of ensuring that you stay steadfast as a Muslim. So don't wait to become righteous in order to find your highest aspirations. Be a Muslim, have high aspirations and watch how these things will be washed away naturally as a consequence of that because you will not want to be slowed down by your sin now that you've defined yourself by something that is bigger than yourself and bigger than life, and there are three paybacks
three treasures at least that come when you live with high aspirations as a Muslim, the third The first of them is a third act, steadfastness. If you are struggling to be a practicing Muslim, be a Muslim have high aspirations and as a byproduct, you become inshallah a practicing Muslim.
See how a bird is able to fly high in the sky.
And the higher the bird is able to fly in the sky, the higher it will be from harm's way
And similarly, your ambition, those are your wings. And the higher your ambition flies into the sky, the further you are away from shaitan and his whisperings.
And that's why you notice some of the most practicing and dedicated people you know in your life. They are men and women who are defined by lofty aspirations, they have a project, they have something they need to attend to, they have a strategy they want to put forward for the sake of Allah.
So that is your first payback when you have high aspirations. Number two, mental health, happiness well being. There was a study from the University of Pennsylvania that found evidence to suggest that concepts like perseverance, mastery of a skill,
progression towards a goal, were all associated with, with with positive well being,
and happiness
when you are working towards a goal. So real happiness is about working towards something that is bigger than yourself. It's not about reclining on a beach, and drinking alcohol, and sipping wine, and being with women, and the rest of it, the real meaning of happiness is accomplishment. Success is working towards success because not every goal is intended to be reached, some goals will not be reached. But the process of working towards that goal, even if you never attain it, is the most enduring and durable and profound form of happiness, the greatest forms of happiness or those happiness are found in grit and grind and work and effort.
So we said number one, it gives you that steadfastness higher aspirations also gives you happiness, it has a dunya with a worldly payback. And number three, it brings Jana
Allah said was sabe, hakuna Sadie home. Those who are foremost today will be the foremost in the hereafter. Those who are first today in doing good deeds and dunya, they will be the first in the hereafter.
We ask the question now, as we move towards the end of this lecture.
What are the ways of fostering high aspirations? How do we go about cultivating high ambitions? If you feel it is lacking in your life? I'm going to suggest
five quick steps taken out of them, please. The first of them is by creating a sense of urgency in your life.
Create a sense of urgency for it.
How do I create a sense of urgency so that I can be a Muslim of higher aspirations? I say to you by knowing Allah,
one who knows Allah Almighty will know that he deserves to be glorified and worshipped and thanked and time is not to be wasted when you are under his watchful eye.
And also I have no case here he mentioned in his Tafseer, he said is now to who Lavazza be He, there's no fault in his chain of transmission, that the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, that there are certain angels of Allah Almighty, who have been in a state of frustration since the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. And they will remain in the state of frustration, till the Day of Judgment. And there are other angels who are in the state of bowing, they have been bowing since the day Allah created the heavens in the earth, and they will not stop bowing until the day of judgment. And when they raise their faces on the day of judgment, and they look into the face
of Allah they will say to him, Subhanak mahabubnagar haka, you better take glory beat you, Oh Allah, we have not worshipped you as you deserve.
Create a sense of urgency by knowing Allah Almighty law obviously Farah and Alec the prophet would say Allah His Otto salaam, I can't thank you enough, I cannot praise you enough.
Create a sense of urgency by knowing Allah create a sense of urgency by knowing the reality of dunya that many people are living and dying for? What is the reality of life.
If there is any aspect of the life of this world that impresses you, and has enchanted you, then all you need to do in order to see its real worth is looking at its life, or look at its appearance towards the end of its lifespan.
Whether it's a woman or a man, a human being,
who has absolutely enchanted you with their time and their beauty.
Look at their appearance just one week after they've passed away.
And there you will see the real value of flash
or whether it's a building that you wish you could own or build or visit. You want to see its real worth not the market worth the real value of that building. Look at it. Five minutes after it's been demolished and has become a huge pile of
rubble. And now people are calling contractors and waste removal and waste management companies to come and remove the the the wastage in order to make space for a new bill.
Buildings that is the outcome of every building. And that is true if
or clothes, Montclair or whatever it is that you wish you could wear one day, look at its value, if it's ripped, if it's torn, what happens, it's thrown in the nearest bin. That's the true value of clothes, or a plate of food you wish you could eat, you could afford to eat fine dining.
Just think about the amount of waste that needed to be removed from that food before it was palatable on a plate. And then think about the appearance and the smell of that food a week after it's left out in room temperature, then you will see the true value of food, the true value of dunya. And that's why Allah He said, One mile higher to dunya ilimitado Road, what is the enjoyment of the life of this world but the enjoyment of delusion? It's not real. So create a sense of urgency by knowing who Allah creates a sense of urgency by realizing the reality of dunya that people are centering their ambitions on, create a sense of urgency by thinking about the regret of the people
of paradise.
Not the regrets of people of hell, the regret of the people of Ghana.
And that's why Mahajan the rights of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, laissez Yatta hasaranga Hello Jannetty Allah che Illa Allah says, in law Allah say it in Marathi him live yet guru, Allah Allah, the people of Paradise will experience no regret,
with the exception to a moment that they had spent in the life of this world without remembering Allah.
That regret will stay with you even agenda if we make it Inshallah, I spent a moment in my life, not building for these pavilions and these estates and these treasures.
And that's why you have brawny where, who is the name of the
brawny were the name of that Australia nurse
who worked in palliative care, where she would attend to dying cancer patients for the last 12 weeks or so of their lives. And she recorded their epiphanies, their dying wishes, in a book that she called the Five Regrets of Dying people. What is interesting Subhanallah is what she says. Dying people
are gifted with a huge sense of clarity of vision just before they die.
They're able to see everything for its true worth. And regret begins to set in for opportunities that they had missed out on or choosing to live the wrong type of life. She says nobody regretted not having more sex. Nobody regretted not carrying out more bungee jumping. The number one regret she wrote in the book of dying people, especially men, was, I wish that I had not spent my whole life working.
And I wish that I lived a life that was true to myself, not constantly trying to live a life as expected of me by others. In other words, I wish I had a life of high aspirations, high ambitions.
So how do we foster high aspirations create a sense of urgency? How do you create a sense of urgency by knowing Allah, by knowing the life of this world, by knowing the regrets of people, when they enter Jannah and the regrets of people when they are passing away? And think about gender? Think about paradise. Robbie, I know who I am, he would exhaust himself in a bar to the worship of Allah. They say to him, limit it to him knapsack. Why do you tire yourself like this? He said, are hard to read, because I want you to rest.
Why are you fatiguing yourself like this? He said, Because I don't want you to fatigue anymore. I want you to rest in Jannah.
That's number one, create a sense of urgency. Number two, identify your areas of interest in your life.
What interests you,
where's your passion?
And not saying to you identify what you're good at? That's really not that important.
Because we know people who are very good at certain things, but because they were not passionate about it, it became their weakness. They didn't do anything with it.
We know brothers here in Wales, Cardiff and Newtown were amazing footballers. They could have made it there was a future for them. But they did have no passion and no interest in it. And so it left them. So what is more important than skill?
Things that you're good at? No, it's what you're passionate about what you enjoy. Not every Muslim is required to shake the pulpit on a Friday in Nicaragua. Not every Muslim is required to author books. Not every Muslim is required to memorize Hadith. Not every Muslim is required to dedicate his life or her life to charitable causes. That's that's not everyone's vision in life as a believer. You have to identify what interests you what you want to specialize in and
and directed in the course of religion
or they even look up
his mastery was Quran. And when the Prophet SAW I said I would make a mistake with leading the Muslims, he would say, Where's God? Why didn't you correct me?
Abu Huraira his field, this hadith, the number one prolific narrator of Hadith, that was his interest, if not Abbas, Tafseer of the Quran, the exegesis of the Ummah, carotenoid, none of that it was jihad in the path of Allah subhanaw taala. Identify your area of interest. That's number one.
Number two, number three,
Article articulate a vision in your life.
This will help you also with your aspirations. In fact, this is key for your lofty aspirations, to have a vision in your life. Think about it, articulated, write it down, test it against your friends, and print it and put it in a place where you can see it. This is my vision in life.
This will define the next 50 years of my life. One statement, can you do that?
There is so much talk about vision setting for businesses, commercial enterprises
and making money.
But I don't think there is nowhere near enough the same amount of attention and talk on setting visions on an individual level, personal capacity. What is your vision?
There was a woman by the name of Helen Keller, who died in 1968.
She's American author. She's a political activist, and she was a disability rights advocate.
And she lost her sight and her hearing during her infancy because of about the illness that she had.
And she said something profound.
She said the only thing that is worse than being blind is having sight without vision.
The only thing that is worse than being blind is having sight you can see but there's no vision.
That is the calamity that disaster. What is your vision?
And Allah subhanho wa Taala has given us an example in the Quran between a Muslim who has a vision and another who has no vision. Allah said FMA yam Shem or Kim Ben Allah wa Ji
ammonium Shisa we Yun Allah Serato mustard team is the one who walks flat on his face fall on his face, Is he better guided is he like the one who walks upright upon a clear path, in other words, is the one who has a vision like the one who has no vision.
Every successful business entrepreneur, Dyer scholar, whatever it may be, was defined by a powerful sense of purpose, and who has a more powerful purpose than you almost live who reads in the Quran, or an illogical moonta.
To your node lies the final end with your Lord lies the final end, who has a greater vision than you?
So what is your vision that's going to take you to that. And the benefits of having a vision benefits you as an individual and then benefit society as you pursue gender, because you're now producing projects in the service of humanity so that you enter the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa taala.
Identify a vision.
Then after that, you need to have some goals to help you get to that vision.
So if you imagine it's like a pyramid, it's a vision statement at the top.
And then you have goals in the middle that take you to the vision. And then you have daily action plans that take you to the goals which takes you to the vision, those goals that you will identify for yourself, let them be SMART goals. Have you heard of SMART goals?
SMART is an acronym for five words. So your goal has to be
specific. It has to be measurable. It has to be attainable, it has to be relevant, and it has to be time bound, smart, smart goal.
And these smart goals are essentially like your GPS towards your vision.
How are you going to achieve your vision by setting some smart goals? What was the first letter of the acronym S which is specific. Your goal has to be specific after you've identified your vision, give you an example of all of these things in a moment.
So you can't say my goal is to be healthy, or my goal is to be happy. My goal is to be successful. Be specific.
It's good to start with a vague goal, that's fine, but sooner or later you will need to choose which aspect of life you want to specialize in
your aspect of your dunya that you want to excel in to serve the religion specific qualities number two,
it has to be measurable. So there has to be a way to quantify the success of your goal whether you achieve
Do not.
So you will ask yourself questions like how many?
How much you need a number, if you can.
So it has to be measurable. And then what was the third
has to be to be attainable? It's good to aim high. As you saw, this is what defines us as Muslims, but not to a level where it's actually impossible or it's unrealistic to be attainable, because if you put for yourself an unattainable goal, it becomes more demotivating than it is motivating.
And then what was the fourth?
Has to be relevant to you?
Right, so for example, a young man or who has parents who are say disabled, and they need his care.
And then he says, My goal in life is to be a pilot, I'm going to be a globetrotter. Right, I'm gonna go around the world and spend weeks and months away from my family. That's not relevant. Right? It's may be specific. I mean, it's smart. It's a SMART goal. But it's, it's not relevant to you. Because he's going to take care of your parents.
It's going to be relevant to your values, your principles, as well as a Muslim. So all of those lives that you're seeing on YouTube being promoted.
Mansions, cribs, palaces, fame, you say my goal in life is to be famous. Yeah, we say, Okay, that's a goal. But is it relevant to your principles as a Muslim, your values? Does that help you enter Jannah? Not really,
gonna be relevant. And what was the last one? T which is timeout? When are you in achieving, when even achieve it, give yourself a target.
So vision, and then a SMART goal to get you to the vision and then daily action plans to get to that goal. I'll give you an example. Just one demonstration.
One of our contemporaries he said I spoke to Sheikh Abdullah was for do you know, Sheikh Abdullah was for
the famous reciter mashallah, his son is also just as famous now and Hamdulillah.
And this brother he said to Sheikh Abdullah was for what is your vision in life?
Yeah, he said, my vision, my goal is to create 1 million half of the Quran
I want 1 million students to memorize the Quran through me.
So put that into the pyramid, plug it in the vision would be something like to see the creation of a generation of how far people have memorized the Quran.
The SMART goal will be to bring about a million people who memorize the Quran, it's a SMART goal. It's specific, it's measurable, it's it's attainable, it's relevant, it's time bound within his lifetime.
So that's your vision. And that's your SMART goal to the vision. And then you need daily action plans to bring you to that goal. Like for example, I've got to give three hours of my time each evening in the masjid and I have to promote my services, maybe once a week, and, and so on and so forth.
So you need a vision. And you need a set of SMART goals.
Because if you have a wonderful vision, but you've got no SMART goal, then you've got this amazing idea. But you've got no way of getting there.
And similarly, you may have goals, but no vision. What are you doing with no vision? It just means that you're wandering in life, sleepwalking, achieving one checklist, fulfilling another checklist, but you're not actually progressing towards a grand vision.
So we said how do we foster ambition by creating a sense of urgency, by finding your areas of interest by finding a vision number number four very quickly by finding a mentor,
a human being a person, a friend, a family member, who you associate with who gives you a sense of possibility it can be done, and that is the purpose of the stories of the prophets in the Quran, to remind the prophets that I send them that what you've been tasked to do is possible there's others who've achieved it in sha Allah.
And number five, to ask Allah subhanaw taala for high aspirations. Hima that we defined in the beginning of this talk, sits in the heart, him It doesn't sit in your head, doesn't sit in the limbs, it all starts from here. If the heart is infused with him the high aspirations then the limbs will follow. So ask Allah subhanaw taala to give it to you, is it not that he would say well as a local Azim atta Allah rushed Oh Allah I asked you to give me determination to do what is good. asking Allah for him. And he would ask Allah to protect him from laziness. I will be coming i Haji Wilkerson.
Oh Allah protect me from incapacity and laziness.
Brothers and sisters
one last caveat before I leave you
as Muslims
our markers of success are different to the non Muslims
What defines achievement accomplishment in our lives is different to anybody else's.
For them, success is when an ambition materializes, it happens that success. Success for us as Muslims is different. It's about two things. If you achieve them you successful, whether your project materializes or doesn't. The first of them isn't any the intention that you are truly sincere in wanting to glorify Allah, you're doing it for him. And the second is the effort you put in the fulfilling of that intention.
If you meet Allah Almighty with these two components, that it doesn't matter if nothing happens, it doesn't matter if your well is not dug. Doesn't matter if your school is not built, it doesn't matter, because the intention was there.
And the effort was there.
And that's why men said Allah Dinah Shahadat episode, the love of hula hoop and as you know, Shuhada are in March if you Rashi Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, whoever asks Allah Almighty for martyrdom, shahada with sincerity, Allah will give him martyrdom, even if he dies on his bed.
He'll be given the status of Shaheed even if he dies on his bed, why did he die as a martyr? No, the intention then here, the idea is what meet Allah Almighty with these markers of success, NIA intention
and the effort that you put towards it. And like I said to you earlier, not every goal is intended to be reached. Sometimes you put a goal in your life, to work towards it, or you die trying to achieve it, that in the eyes of Allah is success. Why is this empowering? Because you may have an unfortunate circumstance in your life, there may be a limiting factor, maybe you're born with a certain disability and you will never be able to achieve something that you always wanted to do. That's when you meet Allah with Nia with a class sincerity and you show Allah and effort and you meet Allah with the same reward as if you had built that project. And people had benefited from it
all throughout the years, although nothing happened because the intention was true.
Your journey to Allah Almighty is with your Nia and your aspirations not with your body and your limbs. That's your primary vehicle of God.
Lastly, in the last minute I have with you
there is a concept called shut off who neffs Have you heard of shut off enough's
meaning
dignity of the self
as a Muslim,
no, no your self worth.
Please realize your value in the eyes of Allah. But I want you to see your value as a believer in your eyes as well. In a non arrogant, non prideful, non delusional way, you have a worth. So you should not allow yourself to be dragged through the mud of sin, not just because it's haram impermissible, but because you see yourself in a highlight.
Not in a hottie arrogant way, but I will not allow myself to live in petty matters, meaning meaningless matters. Because I have shut off who nerves have dignity of the soul. I can't be seen doing these. Nobody matters. I don't allow it for myself.
Do you see what I'm trying to share with you here is not always just about what is allowed what is not allowed? What light do you see yourself in?
And that is why when a man came to another man, he said to him, Andy, like a wager. I've got a small fee that I need from you. I've got a little fever I need from you. He said auto blah ha Rouge England. Go and ask a little man.
You're asking a little favor for me. Don't ask a little man. You come to me with your big challenges with your big problems. That's how I see myself come to me with the tough matches in life. That's how we should see ourselves as Muslims, we rise above that which is petty and we rise above sin. Because It's haram because you see yourself in a different light. You look in the mirror, you see an honorable human being with your religion.
And that's why Abdullah he son of Jaffa son of Abu Talib, who is a very generous man from the family of the prophesy centum when a woman came to him asking for some money, a simple unknown woman, he gave her so much money. So his friend they said to him, why are you giving her so much?
How come? Can I use the honey I see what he allowed to add if she would have been content with just a little bit of money. Plus, he doesn't know who you are. So you don't have to worry about your name.
Listen to the response. This is the point I'm making. He said in Canada, you will be an ESC year for Anila your DD il Cattier will incarnate Lazzarini for under RT for FC. He said even if she is only content with a small amount of money, I am only content with a huge amount of money to give to her. And if she does not know me then I know myself. Allah
Hello everybody, if she doesn't know who I am, I know who I am.
So, you want to be that Muslim who rises above sin who rises above petty matters, not just because it is prohibited, but because you look into the mirror and you see honor that Allah Almighty has given you. And that is why when someone comes to you with a petty suggestion, you say you've come to me with your petty suggestion. When someone comes to you with a sinful suggestion come out with this this weekend. Let's go out let's do something tonight. You come to me with your sin. Out of all people you chose me what light Do you see me in?
And that's why you utter the words of use of Rob decisional I have bought in I mean, my I don't own any my lord prison is dearer to me than the sin that they invite me to. Because you see yourself in an honorable light.
So you want to be the Muslim who is not just asking about the news you you want to be making the headlines you want to be creating the news. And you don't want to be the one who is talking about records that have been broken you will be the Muslim who will break the records brothers and sisters. Always realize as Stephen Covey who said your most important work is the work that is ahead of you. It's never the work that's behind you. There is always something to be done. Work on IG Ma, O Allah, whoo hoo, you own nothing. And the NEMA language record nine acknowledging he said
the intelligent people from every nation are unanimously agreed that joy cannot be attained with joy within them. And artha Raha third Hora and whoever opts for comfort has missed out on comfort.
And B has to be recruited outwardly YT Marlene Masha kita Kuhlman, for how to another, and depending on your willingness to live in difficulty and strain will determine the pleasure that you will experience in the hereafter after death.
We ask Allah subhanaw taala to enable us to live with higher aspirations. We ask Allah subhanaw taala to evict from our hearts petty aspirations. Well, so Milan and Amina Mohammed Al Hamdulillah.