Ammar Alshukry – Actions are By Intentions- Nawawi Hadith Collection
AI: Summary ©
The importance of intentions and actions in Islam is emphasized, with personal success being a transactional and transactional experience. protecting one's intentions is emphasized, including finding one's own success in pursuing Islam and finding one's own success in pursuing Islam. The use of "has been" to describe a situation or person is discussed, along with the importance of renewing intentions to achieve goals and personal experiences such as personal challenges such as stroke and loss of a wedding.
AI: Summary ©
As-salāmu alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh.
Wa ala ʿalī ṣ-ṣalātu wa s-salām
wa ala Rasūlu Llāh wa ʿalā ʾāli ṣ
-ṣaḥbihi wa s-salīmu wa s-salīmu wa
-l-kasīmu wa-l-kathīru.
Ash-hadu an-nā ilāha illā Llāh wa
ahdahu wa-lā sharīka lah.
Wa ash-hadu an-nā Muḥammadin ābduhu wa
Rasūluhu.
As-salātu wa rabbihi wa-salāmu ʿalaykum.
So, we're starting the 40 ḥadīth.
Our last session was last month.
and alhamdulillah I'm grateful for this series that
we've been inspired to initiate and we've been
rotating different masajid.
Our last month session our first session was
at Masjid al-Tawheed and now our second
session is here at Mercy Masjid and this
is a masjid that I've always loved to
come to and I love to dip in
and pray in whenever I'm in the area.
You know a beautiful masjid can raise a
person's iman.
Beauty can raise a person's iman and so
I always felt like when you walk into
this masjid it's always spotless it's always just
beautiful and that in and of itself just
creates tranquility and serenity in the heart and
so I'm thankful to Imam Wazir and to
the community here at Mercy Masjid for allowing
us to have this session here.
That being said today what the goal is
we spoke the last session our first session
about Imam al-Nawawi himself and how unique
a personality he is in Islamic history because
of the universal appeal that he enjoys and
with that being said Imam al-Nawawi mentions
in his introduction to this 40 hadith which
is one of the most popular collections in
all of Islam.
He begins in his introduction saying that there
is a hadith that is weak upon it's
weak it's weak but there is agreement from
the scholars that a weak hadith can be
acted upon for the purpose of virtue and
that hadith is that the Prophet ﷺ says
whoever memorizes 40 hadith from this ummah will
be resurrected amongst the scholars will be resurrected
amongst the scholars and so from the offset
that I would challenge all of you who
have the ability the inspiration the motivation to
memorize these 40 hadith to memorize them to
memorize them and so these 40 he says
in that spirit a number of people created
40 hadith on different chapters 40 hadith in
commanding good and forbidding evil for example 40
hadith in different things he said I was
inspired to write something greater than all of
that which is 40 hadith that encompass Islam
all of Islam and so he says the
hadith that I've chosen are a hadith that
the scholars have said this hadith encompasses half
of Islam this hadith encompasses one quarter of
Islam so pillars in every subject and so
we're going to be going over those pillars
inshallah ta'ala so the first hadith that
he begins with is and inshallah the goal
hopefully is that every time we meet we'll
cover two hadith that's the goal inshallah maybe
some days we'll do less some days we'll
do more we'll figure it out inshallah but
that's the goal 40 hadith which would mean
that we'd be done in 20 months which
is two years okay that's the plan so
let's begin the first hadith is the hadith
of Omar ibn al-khattab and it is
the hadith that's reported by al-bukhari and
Omar ibn al-khattab radiyallahu anhu he says
that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said innama
al-a'malu bin niyat all actions are by
intentions wa innama li kulli mri'in ma
nawa and everyone shall have what they intended
fa man kaanat hijratuhu ila Allahi wa rasulih
fa hijratuhu ila Allahi wa rasulih so whoever's
migration is for Allah and his messenger then
his migration is for Allah and his messenger
wa man kaanat hijratuhu li dunya yaseebuha fa
hijratuhu ila mahajira ilayhi and whoever's migration is
for some portion of this world that they
want to acquire or for a woman that
they want to marry then they shall have
what they immigrated for fa hijratuhu ila mahajira
ilayhi their hijrah will be for whatever they
and so this hadith is reported by al
-bukhari and Muslim and Imam al-Nawawi says
that it is reported by al-bukhari and
Muslim in their two authentic works which are
the most authentic works of hadith in Islam
interestingly enough Imam al-Bukhari does not even
have an introduction for his sahih.
Imam al-Bukhari whose collection of authentic hadith
is considered to be the most authentic collection
of hadith he doesn't have an introduction to
his book he has no hey salam alaikum
this is my goal of collecting this is
he doesn't have anything you know he has
he simply has this hadith this is his
introduction to his work as if he is
saying that you get what you've intended in
life your reward is going to be based
on what you intended and so if I
intended Allah subhana wa ta'ala then that's
all that matters and so this hadith inspires
from the beginning half of Islam it's called
half of Islam why because all of your
actions are dependent on two things all of
your religious actions are dependent on two things
number one that is be done sincerely for
Allah subhana wa ta'ala and number two
that it be in conformity with the religion
and so this hadith takes care of that
first half which is is it being done
for Allah Allah does not accept anything that
is done religiously of a religious nature for
an audience other than him he rejects it
if you do something like prayer and you
do it for other than Allah Allah rejects
that prayer he says I am the one
who is the least in need of partners
and so whoever does anything that is for
me with the intention of pleasing other than
me I reject them and I reject the
one who it is being done for I
reject the action Allah doesn't do it and
so we have to always be very very
cautious of what is the reason that I
do these good things so if you had
a 30 he says my I let you
shape I never dealt with anything that is
more severe than my intention it's always changing
and this teaches us that this hadith is
one that we actually need to engage all
the time it's not like I need to
worry about my intention when I'm 19 but
then when I'm 39 I don't need to
worry about it anymore when I'm 59 no
Sufyan authority says I always need to worry
about why am I doing things so the
question that becomes when I'm seeking knowledge why
am I here when I'm going to the
masjid why do I go to the message
do I go to the message for Allah
subhana or do I go to the message
because everybody expects me to be there or
I'm the president of the message or I
am the Imam of the message or I'm
you know I have some sort of social
cachet this is where I feel like people
know me this is what's your intention why
do you go and that is something that
always needs to be monitored it's something that
people always need to worry about and so
this hadith also what the intention does is
it differentiates between two things it differentiates between
customary actions and can make them righteous it
can make them religious can make them worship
that's number one it differentiates between customary actions
and religious actions and then number two it
differentiates between religious actions themselves by the intention
so for example when you walked into the
masjid you pray two rakats your two rakats
that you prayed those were they voluntary or
the obligatory what made them voluntary your intention
could one person pray two rakats and then
another gentleman after the salah was over he
got up and he prayed two rakats right
and he said are there any travelers and
he prayed two rakats and then everybody else
got up and they all pray two rakats
what was his two rakats they were obligatory
and everybody else prayed the same two rakats
the same exact action but it was voluntary
what was the difference between your actions and
his action the intention the intention differentiates between
religious actions whether one becomes obligatory one becomes
voluntary and intentions differentiate between customary actions and
turns them into religious ones what does that
mean it turns it into worship so a
question I have for you actually I don't
know if it's a question or not but
what is the definition of worship in Islam
or what is a definition of worship in
Islam when a person says because when you
tell people and you say we believe that
we were created to worship God that's our
purpose of worship that's our purpose of existence
what does that person imagine in their mind
that you're saying that you do 24-7
pray fast pray some more fast some more
and they're like oh my god like is
that the only reason you're here like you
you guys basically have to just be praying
all day is that is that why you're
here but then you say to them what
no worship for us means what give me
some examples why are you giving me Arabic
all of a sudden you turn Arab as
soon as you start talking just okay so
righteous actions for the sake of Allah so
feeding the poor becomes worship but that's still
very that's still very ritual yes okay so
doing what's been to a lot give me
some real-world examples yes okay so working
to make money to provide for your family
is that that can that be worship yes
okay so with my intention going to work
eight hours of mundane working on an Excel
sheet could be worship that could be worship
what what differentiates that person making it worship
and another person just a miserable experience every
day it's the intention it's as simple as
the intention if I if I intend through
my studying that I am studying for the
purpose of being able to provide for my
family then that study becomes worship because I
know that's pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala
then me studying for two hours becomes worship
whereas another person their goal is simply to
pass an exam and so a person who's
who's aware spiritually aware this is a very
spiritual hadith a person who's spiritually aware is
able to constantly enter into transactions with Allah
with God because they're constantly turning the routine
into ritual they're constantly turning that which is
just basic the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
said even the morsel that you put in
the mouth of your spouse become sadaqa like
what is a more romantic gesture than feeding
your spouse it's it's very natural and yet
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he says
he says that becomes a charity that you
give when when a person is mindful and
they recognize that me doing so is something
that is pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala
and so I'm feeding her even though I
don't feel like doing it but I'm doing
it for Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala it's okay
you guys all look like you don't want
to acknowledge that that was funny okay so
so that was the idea so the idea
is is that you're able to turn the
routine to mu'adh ibn jabal the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said about mu'adh
ibn jabal that on the day of judgment
he's going to be resurrected in front of
the scholars of this ummah by a footstep
mu'adh ibn jabal is the one who
knows the most about the halal and the
haram interestingly enough mu'adh ibn jabal when
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam sent him
to be a judge in Yemen he said
إني لأحتسب نومتي كما أحتسب قومتي he said
I seek reward for my sleep like I
seek reward for my qiyam al-layt I
seek reward for my sleep I go to
sleep and you have two people you have
one person who just collapses on the bed
when they get home they're exhausted they're fatigued
there's no intention tied to that sleep and
so it's it's whatever it is it's just
sleep and then you have another person who
just takes a moment to think about what
this sleep means for them and so that
sleep becomes an act of worship why because
I need this sleep I need to rest
I need to wake up mu'adh is
a judge and so you can't be a
judge and judge fairly amongst the people when
you're fatigued and you're sleepy and what have
you so I need my rest I need
my rest to be able to serve my
patients better tomorrow morning I need my rest
to be able to teach my students better
tomorrow morning I need my rest to be
able to whatever it is and so because
of that person's intention they become rewardable for
an amazing six hours of sleep seven hours
and that's a solid block too that's a
solid block of pure worship simply because you
became aware and you became mindful and so
the idea of being mindful with your intentions
this is a constant endeavor and you can
see that it manifests in every aspect of
your life it can manifest in every minute
of your day it can cover literally every
interaction that you do that's why this hadith
is so important the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam says everyone shall have what they intend
and guess what the Imam Ahmed told his
son he said my son and we'll clear
them a spot he said intend good as
much as you can intend good as much
as you can there's another hadith we're going
to come to in this collection but I'll
say it now Ibn Abbas says the hadith
is in Bukhari he says that Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala divided up good deeds and bad
deeds and then he clarified it he said
if you intend a good deed and you
do it it gets multiplied by ten to
seven hundred to more than that if you
intend to do a good deed and then
you do it and if you simply intend
a good deed and you don't do it
you get one reward if you intend to
do a good deed and then you do
if you intend to do a bad deed
and then you don't do it you get
one reward and if you intend to do
a good deed sorry and if you intend
to do a bad deed that's the fourth
quadrant and then you do it you get
one sin you see the four quadrants so
number one is a person intends to do
a good deed and does it multiply by
ten times 700 times more than that intends
to do a good deed and doesn't do
it plus one they intend to do a
good deed sorry they intend to do a
bad deed and they do it it's negative
one they intend to do a bad deed
and they don't do it it is plus
one that being said every time you intend
good you get rewarded just intending just by
intending good you get rewarded I'm sure a
lot I would love to take you mom
tomorrow I intended good and so a person
can intend things I mean with some like
you're not just wishful thinking but you're intending
you're intending and if you do that inshallah
you'll get rewarded for actions that you never
actually do but it is something that is
from Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala's generosity the last
thing that I'll mention about this hadith is
the dangers of a corrupt intention the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he tells us that
of the a man came to Rasulullah sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam and he said ya Rasulullah
you'll have one person who's fighting for just
Hamia he's just defied out of loyalty to
his tribe and another person who's fighting out
of bravery this is want to be they
want to be known and another person is
fighting like who's fighting for the path of
Allah and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
says whoever is fighting for the word of
Allah to be supreme and he says whoever
is fighting for the word of Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala to be supreme that's the one
who's in the path of Allah meaning the
other two but the other three are not
in the path of Allah that person who's
fighting just out of loyalty to their tribe
they're not being rewarded by Allah subhanahu wa'ta
'ala that person who's fighting just to show
off or just to be known as a
hero or just for the stripes that person
is not for the path of Allah it's
only the person who is fighting for the
banner of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to be
raised that's it and in fact in another
hadith the famous hadith of Abu Huraira the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gives us a
great warning asked to the three people who
the fire will be kindled with on the
Day of Judgment he says that on the
Day of Judgment the fire will be kindled
with a scholar and a philanthropist and a
shaheed a martyr now the scholar will be
brought forth and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala will
recount to him his blessings that he won't
deny any of them you taught you the
Quran I taught you the Sunnah I taught
you this and the man won't deny any
of them and then Allah will say to
him what did you do with them the
man will say I taught the people your
book I taught people the Quran and Allah
subhanahu wa'ta'ala will say to him you
lied and the angels will say you lied
you did it so that the people could
say that you are a scholar sheikh so
-and-so you got it you got the
followers you got the you got the clout
you got the love you got the respect
you got the significance you got the ego
you got all of those things you got
it what you wanted and then that person
will be dragged on their face into the
hellfire another person will be a philanthropist Jowat
and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala will mention his
blessings and he won't deny any of them
and what did you do with those blessings
I spent in your path oh Allah the
community needed an Islamic school I sponsored it
the community needed a masjid I built it
the community needed Quran programs I did it
wells I dug it everything I spent in
your path and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala will
say you lied and the angels will say
you lied you did it so that the
people could say that you're generous you got
all of that clout all of that respect
you got to park your car all over
the place because everybody knew that you were
a big-time donor I told you that
story I must have yes I but I
don't know where I tell stories and where
I don't because it's just different crowds but
there is a brother there's a an Imam
of a president of a message who was
telling me recently he said that he had
a donor who had donated $50,000 to
the masjid and then he started parking like
all over the place handicap places that were
reserved just all over so then he called
him and he said listen if you made
this donation because of that then we'll just
give you your donation back we don't need
your money like you don't do it for
the perks that you're gonna get from the
community you should do it for Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala and then number three the third
person is a person who gives up the
best and the greatest and the most valuable
thing that a person has is their life
and so Allah will recount his blessings to
him and he won't deny any of them
what did you do with them you'll say
I fought in your path until I was
killed and Allah will say to him you
lied you did it so that people could
say you're brave hero and yet and it
was said you got that and then they'll
be so these people you can imagine I
want you to appreciate this is that these
people normally would be the absolute best in
society like their actions their outward actions are
the best the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
says in the hadith of Uthman ibn Affan
that's reported by Bukhari he says that the
best of you is the one who teaches
the Quran and learns it learns the Quran
and teaches it like there's nobody who's better
than the one who learns the Quran and
teaches it and there's no one who's better
Uthman ibn Affan radiyallahu anhu he literally because
of his sadaqah the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam said Uthman will never be harmed by
what he does after today Uthman he's good
to go for the rest of his life
after he gave sadaqah on the the difficult
conquest of or the campaign against the Byzantine
Empire and then the Shaheed we all know
the Shaheed and yet these people the fire
is kindled with them on the Day of
Judgment and that's because of not their actions
not their outward actions but their internal intentions
and so a person always has to be
very very intentional very quizzical very very critical
of their intentions why am I doing this
why am I teaching this why do I
care now a couple of things when a
person is challenging Riyadh which is this emotion
this idea of wanting to please other people
one of the ways that a person challenges
it is by trying your best to unlearn
people-pleasing to unlearn people-pleasing you learn
to say no just like you learn to
say yes and I always mentioned that story
of Sheikh Mohammed Sharif rahim Allah one time
a sister was asking him and she said
you know what I'm overwhelmed by my community
I feel like I don't have boundaries I
feel like they're always pulling me to do
all sorts of projects in the community and
I don't have time how do I how
do I like what do I do I'm
teaching here I'm organizing this program I'm doing
this I'm doing that I'm being run ragged
and then he said something that I don't
think she expected I definitely didn't expect that
he said if a person finds themselves always
saying yes to all of these different projects
and programs then maybe they should work on
their Ikhlas because they have to ask themselves
the question who are they trying to please
why can't I say no because if my
goal is to please Allah subhana wa ta
'ala then I shouldn't care whether Ahmad is
upset with me that I can't do this
program I shouldn't care whether this is like
I mean I care in the sense that
I don't want to hurt their feelings or
what have you and I don't want to
let them down but I'm prioritizing Allah subhana
wa ta'ala pleasure over mine and when
you study the actions of the sincere you
know when a person is sincere to Allah
they will try as best as they can
always to prioritize what Allah subhana wa ta
'ala is pleased with over what they're excited
about so I want you to imagine the
biggest event Islamic event in the world is
happening in Houston Texas everybody's going your mom
however needs you at home the FOMO is
gonna be off the charts how do you
feel in that moment but mom I need
to go for my spiritual enrichment and see
so-and-so and attend so-and-so's
lecture is that really what's most pleasing to
Allah then you know the greatest event in
human history the greatest event can anybody take
a what was the greatest event in human
history what do you think it was but
they're okay but it is a good one
the birth of the prophet that's another good
one hijra and hajj okay that's a good
one too thank you sir two of them
Mashallah any other any other takers gosh if
you look like you're thinking okay so the
conquest of Mecca it's a good one too
huh Karbala okay the greatest is the 23
-year the sad of Mohammed sallallahu alayhi wasallam
the whole thing whether you were there at
the beginning or the middle or the end
either way you become a sahabi it's the
greatest and yet there was a person who
missed it all missed it all all 23
years he missed it and he was alive
and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam told us
about him and he said that there was
a man in Yemen whose name was Uwais
and Uwais had leprosy as a boy and
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala healed him except
for a patch that's still on his skin
and he is dutiful to his mother and
if you ever see him then ask him
to make da'a for you cool Uwais
misses out on being a companion because of
his mom and then the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam passes away and Abu Bakr passes away
and Umar ibn al-Khattab every time a
contingent would come from Yemen Umar would wait
and say afeekum Uwais is Uwais amongst you
no no no we don't have anybody like
that we don't have any of that finally
one group says yes we have somebody named
Uwais has speaks to him you had leprosy
as a boy yes Umar says can you
make da'a for me Uwais makes da
'a for him because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam told Umar to ask to make da
'a I want you to think about the
status that Uwais has with Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala that special acceptance that he has
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that the
Prophet is telling his companions to ask this
person to make da'a for him now
Uwais is coming from Yemen because he's joining
the armies and he's going out into the
frontiers he's going out to a Sham or
he's going out to Iraq or wherever they're
going and Uwais is becoming famous people Uwais
Uwais make da'a for us make da
'a for us make da'a for us
we don't know what happened to Uwais Uwais
al-Qarni disappears from the books he disappears
from we don't have a date of death
we don't have a date of anything Uwais
al-Qarni had a moment where he became
known and he turned off the light he
disappears all he cares about is not being
known by the people but he cares about
being known by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and so sincerity at the end and at
the beginning and in the middle is to
simply make your audience Allah if you can
and I if we can make it that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is our constant
audience that is who we're seeking to please
through all of our actions then that is
sincerity and sincerity is everything Imam Malik Ibn
Anas he says he says I learned knowledge
for myself that's why I learned knowledge from
I learned it for myself and that's the
way the people were he's like that's the
way the people in Medina were people didn't
learn knowledge because they wanted to go teach
it to other people he said we learn
knowledge because I wanted to know how to
worship Allah properly I wanted it for myself
a lot is the one who I was
seeking through learning this knowledge not fame not
fortune not people not anything like that we
live in a time where it's the opposite
you know a person says I want to
learn knowledge so I can be like so
-and-so well what is it about so
-and-so that you love so much is
it that he's that he worships Allah with
incredible rigor is it that he he has
a closeness to Allah that you aspire to
have or is it that he has a
lot of followers a lot of attention from
people that you want to have yeah he
just benefits a lot of people well he
might benefit a lot of people and not
have any benefit with Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala so your goal should be that which
brings you closer to Allah anyway there's a
lot that can be said about this hadith
any reflections that you want to share about
this hadith I don't want it to be
one way this whole time yes sir what's
your name Mubarak masha'Allah yeah yeah how
does that relate to your intention so you
made the intention to sit and stay and
benefit yeah absolutely yeah great question Mubarak yes
so that's a good question
so I might can my in my intention
be conflated at the same time I have
the primary intention of going to the message
to pray for idea but at the same
time I kind of like that you know
what auntie so-and-so gives me a
big hug every time and this person does
this and that right so that would be
considered a secondary intention would I still go
to the message if all of that didn't
happen yes if that's the case then I'm
okay then you know a man came to
the soul of us a lot of cinema
says Oh messenger of Allah a person does
something and then people come and they praise
him for it and the Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam that is the hastening of the
reward of the believer meaning the reward of
the believer that is waiting for them in
the hereafter that's some of it that seeped
in early which is the love that you
get from people the appreciation that you get
from people but you're not you shouldn't be
motivated motivated by these things you know what
if I'm in a different city and there's
I moved to a new community I'll still
go and pray if I did in the
message even though those those people changed right
whether I go to another community where they
they don't show me that love and it's
not the same I'll still go because I'm
going to the masjid to meet Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala before going to the message to
meet anybody else and Allah knows best yes
yes
as long as they knew what they were
saying no meaning like do they know what
they're saying in the sense that they know
that they're accepting Islam and they're saying I
there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah
and that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is
his messenger like if I'm speaking in a
language I don't understand then I don't know
what I'm saying la ilaha illallah Muhammad Rasool
Allah I have no idea what I'm saying
if I if I say to a friend
of mine right we're eating Doritos and then
I say to him bro I dare you
to say something it's like what la ilaha
illallah Muhammad Rasool Allah okay and then he
says it that that knowledge knowledge is a
prerequisite for the Shahada to be accepted he
doesn't know what he's saying but if I'm
saying he comes to the masjid and I
say to him are you willing to accept
Islam and he says yes and you say
well he doesn't have detailed knowledge of Islam
he doesn't know like the that's not a
prerequisite that's not a prerequisite Hamza ibn Abdul
Muttalib was the cousin of the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam rather he's the uncle of
the Prophet he accepted Islam just on pure
defense of his of his nephew it was
purely purely emotional it wasn't rational at all
it wasn't intellectual it was who dared hit
my cousin I am on his religion now
say something that was it but nobody came
to Hamza okay now that you've settled down
you need to study what Islam actually means
and no no Allah's he accepted Islam for
that reason and so people can accept Islam
for many different reasons but then when faith
settles in their heart they don't need to
re-enter into Islam or anything like that
yeah
no
I don't think that's a problem I mean
you're creating some sort of secondary goal is
no problem inshallah but then they they're coming
to the message for a loss panel at
that yeah and you can let them grow
into that intention as well yes so
if you start something with an intention and
then it becomes a habit over time how
do you renew your intention so the good
news is is that if you start something
with a good intention and then it becomes
habitual after you get rewarded every single time
because what started you on that cruise control
was a good intention so for example I'll
give you an example of mine my one
of my goals years ago was to smile
more because it's the Sunnah of the Prophet
SAW as you can see I've been smashingly
successful it's been incredible so I didn't actually
used to smile as much as I do
now I used to smile less now I
smile a lot more you see that right
I'm telling you before it was it was
even worse I'm this is me much better
now so then eventually it becomes a habit
right where you see where you learn to
smile when you greet somebody and all that
type of stuff it just becomes natural you're
not consciously thinking of it every single time
but because it was inspired by that then
shall let's add you get rewarded so it's
not like you have to it's like for
example you grow the beard do I have
to sit there and constantly remember that my
beard is for the sake of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala no I don't I lost
like you grew it and that's it wore
hijab you wore hijab for Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala every time I gotta remember that
this hijab is for Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala you don't have to after that just
becomes routine and that's okay if you're able
to remember then I mean that's helpful in
grounding a person but you get rewarded simply
for doing it after that yes so
keeping your intentions pure one of the greatest
ways is to seek knowledge like this where
we're being reminded of our intentions studying hadith
like this where we're being reminded of our
intentions I think that's number one number two
is the more a person studies the hereafter
and is aware of it their intention just
becomes rectified I believe because all of this
that we're chasing is so fleeting it's so
fleeting like imagine I spend my entire life
chasing the opinion of people and you see
it yourself when you're burying somebody at the
graveyard that person is being buried and people
are having side conversations like these are the
people who that person was closest to in
life they came to his his burial and
he might have spent his entire life or
she spent her entire life seeking their validation
seeking their seeking their approval seeking their acceptance
and as this person is now journeying into
the next life by themselves those people are
you know having a side conversation talking about
where they're gonna have lunch and all that
type of stuff if you saw how quickly
people let go of you you wouldn't spend
your entire life trying to hold on to
them like that so I think that's very
important the hereafter is is very jarring and
it brings a lot of life to a
person's heart and a lot of perspective to
the reality of how small this life is
how small this thing is excellent
question so if I enjoy an act of
worship I just happen to enjoy it does
that mean that I don't have a good
intention no that doesn't mean it it doesn't
mean that it some people a lot made
fasting enjoyable for them some people a lot
makes a lot enjoyable for them some people
a lot made it made kindness to their
parents just really easy they've got wonderful parents
it's so easy to and they have a
great relationship and personality and all that type
of stuff but then the test doesn't become
that the test for a good intention becomes
do I then still do the things that
I don't enjoy when Allah subhana that obligates
it on me and do I stay away
from the things that I do enjoy if
they're sinful those become my my metrics those
become my battlegrounds that I'm working on my
sincerity with is that when I because for
example to give that example of the the
large Islamic event that's coming to my city
and at the same time my mom needs
me the large Islamic event is something that's
very enjoyable to me all of my friends
are going to be there there's going to
be a lot of energy there's going to
be a lot of excitement my favorite so
-and-so is coming and all that type
of stuff and then at the same time
at the same time you have something that's
not as enjoyable being with my mom as
she hosts her guests and just sitting in
the living room as they talk about politics
and what have you right in a language
that I'm not very fluent in but which
one is more pleasing to Allah subhana wa
ta'ala and so even when I don't
enjoy something that I still do it because
it's pleasing to Allah even if it's not
pleasing to me Salim Abdullah to study a
famous scholar and ascetic or mystic he says
okay jazakallah thank you he says I'm a
little bitty I'm a little barrow and fadger
well I a spirit on in my house
he lost a vehicle he says actions of
righteousness are done by the righteous and by
the wicked everybody does good deeds everybody you
take the most vile person on earth and
they'll have an orphanage somewhere they'll have a
they'll have a they'll have a trust a
foundation rather where they you know give out
meals to the homeless and they'll do all
these types of things that the righteous and
the wicked all do good deeds but the
only people who refrain from their desires are
the truthful and Allah knows best yes I
mean
that's not that's not eroding their good deed
the fact that people say masha'Allah look
at the stuff that you're doing that's not
I mean that's what exactly what the man
said to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
he said people who might praise you for
actions that you do and he said that
is from I do the bush or a
moment that is from the hastening of the
good news of the believer so that's that's
fine number two that I just want to
go on a quick tangent off of this
and then we'll go to the second hadith
because we need to move forward I don't
know does anybody know what time is here
okay nobody knows okay good it's on the
door yeah just so we know so this
the this is another what you've pointed to
is another issue which is should I if
somebody does something well should I let them
know should I share or am I eroding
their good deed and do I protect their
intention which one do I do someone has
a talent or a skill or something like
that I pray behind a brother who has
a beautiful recitation do I tell him masha
'Allah I really enjoyed your recitation or do
I protect his intention my sister has been
we just heard that this hadaka this class
has been happening for 20 years on Wednesday
nights here in this masjid so if you
meet Imam was here do you say to
him masha'Allah I was so happy to
hear that I was amazed to hear that
you have a hadaka for 20 years happening
continuously in the masjid or do I protect
his intention when you have a sister who's
doing something amazing in the community like I
don't know a million things teaching Quran in
the community or teaching the organizing food drives
and all of these things do I tell
her jazakallah khair for the incredible work that
you're doing it's so inspiring or do I
protect her intention which one okay
but what if that messes with their intention
what if that messes with their intention I
don't know their intention yeah but I'm fearful
for their intention that's why I'm not telling
them I don't know their intention maybe they're
doing it for the wrong reason or maybe
it'll go to their head as long as
I'm not excessive what is excessive mean what
if it's the best recitation I've ever heard
in my life can I say because you
said as long as it's not excessive what
if it's the best recitation I've ever heard
in my life can I tell them that
was the best recitation I've ever heard in
my life is that not excessive yes so
I can't complain how I can't control how
somebody else was that reacts yes the good
work will it will be continued if what
if I do compliment them on a scale
of one to ten how good are we
as a community at complimenting people to to
oh my god I wasn't expecting this type
of hold on a second what did you
say did you say Chicago's better I was
about to say so in any case I
actually think that no you absolutely do tell
them you do tell them and you're right
you're not responsible for their intention you're responsible
for showing gratitude that's what Allah commands you
to do Allah commands you to show gratitude
and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says
whoever doesn't show gratitude to people doesn't show
gratitude to Allah and so that beautiful recitation
might inspire them you know the story of
sheikh yassir ad-dawsiri right sheikh yassir ad
-dawsiri is one of the Imams of the
Haram in Mecca his recitation is captivating hundreds
of thousands millions of people enjoy his recitation
they love his recitation it is beautiful so
sheikh yassir ad-dawsiri his story is that
he was actually in a military academy he
was studying to be a soldier or he
was training to be a soldier he was
training to be in the army and a
sheikh shows up for a lecture that they're
hosting like an MSA type thing they're they're
they're doing that and then what time is
the salah when is the salah 8.10
yeah that is 8.10 okay so can
I just make this finish the story and
then you can call the adhan and then
what time is the salah oh nice okay
I like that so so sheikh yassir at
the time he wasn't sheikh yassir he was
you know cadet yassir or what have you
the sheikh shows up he's giving a lecture
but before he gives the lecture they have
one of the students do a recitation and
he does he recites he recites now what
does the sheikh say he tells him and
he says this is not the recitation of
a soldier this is a recitation of an
Imam of the Haram that's what he tells
them and just that simple word of acceptance
inspiration motivation he switches colleges he goes from
being in a military program to being in
a Sharia program and he graduates and he
does his master's in Sharia and his doctorate
and he becomes Imam of the Haram and
you imagine that sheikh is like I told
you I told you but look at that
look at the trajectory he put him on
just a word a word and so you
might inspire a person truly to the moon
just by a word that you say so
yes if our collective situation is at a
two then we need to figure out how
to make it a four by the end
of the year and then get up to
a six and appreciate people and support people
and encourage people we need to raise each
other's confidence not lower it so who's calling
the other I just if he's the more
I've been over the masjid you see them
I've been over the masjid there is no
my then okay okay just
the importance of struggling always with your intention
and seeking the floss always seeking Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala what are some quick manifestations of
sincerity like what is sincerity look like to
you I'm going to mention two and then
I'm going to give you an open forum
inshallah data for a couple of minutes and
then we'll move on to the next idea
the first the scholars mention is to the
love of the poor the love of the
poor why is that they say that in
your relationships the love of the poor is
the manifestation of the floss why because people
love the rich naturally the rich come with
all sorts of access and clout and significance
but when a person loves the poor that
is a relationship they say is less dunya
centric less junior centric it's it's more reasonable
that that be something that is done only
for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala
or someone who you don't have any any
any desire from that's number one number two
is to love for projects to succeed in
Islam that are not associated with you that
are not associated with you at all so
I remember when we launched the model in
Minnesota and we had no idea that there
were Muslims in Minnesota at the time like
it was the most random city and when
we got to Minnesota like our biggest promos
up until that point or like 400 people
in New York City and in LA and
we thought those were huge and then we're
like okay they keep asking us to go
to Minneapolis let's go to Minneapolis and see
what happens we go there and I remember
it was me she had a body and
and two local Sheikh dr.
Hattem at Hajin you sure Evans Jackie show
Evans was there at the time and so
we go and it's like 700 people there
it's like double New York and LA almost
and we're like what is this and so
I remember being backstage with dr.
Hattem and he was kind of just like
looking up into the and he said he
said something beautiful he said and he wasn't
he's not part of a mother about all
you know he has his own educational projects
and institutes that he runs and so he
said in my conversations with my lord I
invoked a lot that this project be successful
meaning a mother because I have no share
in it and I thought that was so
beautiful it's very even when you're working in
that what you want your message to be
successful and you're like I don't care about
that other street you want your projects to
be successful and you don't you know you
might wish them the best or what have
you but you're not sitting there making data
for them in the salon and not only
is he making the app but he's saying
I'm making the app for it because it
doesn't serve my ego in any way it
doesn't serve my enough sin anyway right and
that's that's beautiful sincerity what else do you
have as far as manifestations of sincerity yes
excellent so you're the intensity of your worship
in private matches or even supersedes the intensity
of your worship in public very good what
else okay then we'll move on this man
left our next hadith and we'll go over
this one briefly even though it's very long
is the hadith of jibri the famous hadith
of jibri this is also narrated by Umar
Ibn Khattab so the first two hadith that
are in Imam An-Nuwi's 40 are the
hadith that are reported by Umar and he
says بينما نحن جلوس عند رسول الله عمر
says while we were sitting with Rasulullah صلى
الله عليه وسلم ذات يوم one day اذ
طلع علينا رجل a man appeared to us
شديد بياض الثياب his clothes were very white
شديد سواد الشعر his hair was very black
لا يرى عليه اثر السفر you did not
see the trace of travel on him ولا
يعرفه منا احد and nobody knew him very
strange because if you're coming from outside you're
coming with dust and also you're traveling and
if you're local then somebody knows you so
if you're not traveling and you're not local
where did this guy come from basically says
ولا يعرفه منا احد حتى جلس عند رسول
الله until he came and he sat in
front of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم
فأسند ركبته الى ركبته he put his knees
against the knees of the Prophet ووضع كفه
على فقده and he placed his hands upon
the upon his thighs whose thighs are we
talking about we don't know was it the
thighs of Jibreel he placed his own hands
on his own or he placed his own
hands on the thighs of the Prophet صلى
الله عليه وسلم and then he asked him
three questions he says Oh Muhammad tell me
about Islam and the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم says Islam is that you testify that
there's nothing worthy worship except Allah alone having
no partners and that Muhammad صلى الله عليه
وسلم is his messenger and that you establish
the prayer and that you give the zakah
and you fast Ramadan and that you make
hajj if you have the ability to do
so if you have the ability to do
hajj he says صدقت you spoke in the
truth and Umar says فَعَجِبْنَا لَهُ يَسْأَلُهُ وَيَصَدِّقُهُ
he said we were amazed that he's asking
him and he's confirming the truthfulness of his
answer who says that he says let me
ask you a question you're right that's the
right answer nobody talks like that so he
said we were amazed by that and then
he says so tell me about Iman he
said Iman is that you believe in Allah
and his books and his believe in Allah
and his angels and his books and his
messengers and the day of judgment وَالْقَدْرِ خَيْرِهِ
وَشَرِّهِ and destiny the good and the bad
and in another narration حِلُوهِ وَمُرِّهِ the sweet
of it and the sour of it he
says you've spoken the truth he says tell
me about Ihsan excellence he says that you
worship Allah as if you see him and
if you don't see him that you know
that he sees you he said tell me
about Asa'a tell me about the day
of judgment he said مَنْ مَسْئُولُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمٍ
مِنَ السَّائِلِ he said the one who is
being asked doesn't know more than the one
who's asking I don't know any more than
you do he said then tell me about
its signs tell me about the signs of
the day of judgment that he said أنْ
تَرِدَ الْأَمَى رَبَّتْهَا that the slave girl gives
birth to her master وَانْ تَرَى الْحُفَاءَ that
you see the naked barefoot destitute shepherds in
the desert competing in building tall structures فَالطَلَقَ
and then he left Omar says so I
stayed for a little while I stayed behind
and the Prophet ﷺ said to him عُمَرَ
أَتَدْرِي مَنِ السَّائِلِ Omar did you know who
the asker was he said no he said
that was Jibri he came to teach you
your religion hadith is reported by a Muslim
he came to teach you your religion so
this hadith is a long hadith obviously this
hadith and the one before honestly you could
spend 10 hours explaining this hadith you could
look at every angle of it you could
spend 12 hours talking about it and you
can probably find a lot of explanations where
the shuukh have done just that but our
goal is to just do a brief overview
of these hadith otherwise it will take us
much longer than two years it would take
us a lot more a lot more than
two years so the first thing that you
want to notice just we'll look at a
couple of just major points number one is
the first part of the hadith the scholars
say show the etiquette of seeking knowledge the
etiquette of seeking knowledge Jibri shows up and
he's clean spotless even his hair is is
spotless his clothes are spotless the scholar said
this indicates that when a person comes to
a gathering of knowledge out of reverence for
knowledge that they dress their best knowledge for
us is a sacred endeavor it's sacred it
is a bad that seeking it is a
bad now you and I live in the
United States of America where knowledge is looked
at as very transactional we are used to
going to university and people are wearing flip
-flops and shorts and walking around with their
subway sandwiches and they're walking into the into
the lecture hall and they're not dressed up
well at all and that's because it's looked
at as being very transactional I'm paying for
these credits you're paid to teach me but
the relationship between the student and the knowledge
and by extension the carrier of the knowledge
which is the teacher all of this is
is is detailed so much and we spent
a number of weeks talking about that when
we did the etiquettes of seeking knowledge I
want you to appreciate this Imam Malik he
would he would ask his students when they
would arrive if they came to his door
he would ask them is it fiqh that
you're seeking to study Islamic law or are
you seeking to study the Sunnah of the
Prophet ﷺ narration of hadith and if they
said fiqh then he would come and he
would teach them and if they said hadith
then he would bathe dress well and then
he would come perfume come and sit down
out of reverence for the hadith of the
Prophet ﷺ so then about the recitation of
the word of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala the
Quran so when people move in a certain
way and carry themselves in a certain way
out of reverence for the Quran for the
Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ the brushing of
your teeth before salah the Prophet ﷺ says
if it wasn't for the fact that I
feared hardship for my ummah I would have
commanded them to brush their teeth before every
salah what are you about to do I'm
about to stand in front of Allah and
my mouth is about to pronounce his words
so let me floss let me get ready
all of that is reverence that the Imams
you know these great Imams you'll find incredible
reverence for Allah and his messenger it wasn't
just that they were super smart and it
wasn't just that they were very knowledgeable there
wasn't just the books knowledge that they had
but that relationship that they had that Allah
subhanahu wa'ta'ala gave them access okay so
number one my first part is the etiquettes
of seeking knowledge sitting close filling the space
as best as you can and then number
two he says tell me about Islam and
the Prophet ﷺ describes Islam to him I'm
gonna leave this entire section because the next
hadith which is the hadith of Ibn Umar
is literally about the five pillars of Islam
and then he says tell me about Iman
tell me about Iman and Iman these six
things we're literally going over weekly at River
Oaks so at plus one so but what
I want you to notice is that Iman
and Islam these are two terms that the
scholars say that when these two words
are separate they become synonymous meaning that when
you just say Islam I believe in Islam
it includes the articles of Iman or when
you say I practice Islam it includes the
articles of Iman because now it's just it's
the same it's like faqeer and miskeen they
both mean the same thing faqeer and miskeen
they mean poor person but when they're put
together now there's a difference right both of
them have a different shade a different element
so when they're mentioned together like in this
same hadith or when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa
Ta-A'la says وَقَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا قُلْ
لَمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِنْ قُلُوا أَسْلَمْنَا in Surah Al
-Hujurat Allah says the Bedouin Arabs said that
we have Iman don't say that but rather
say we have Islam so now there's a
difference between Iman and Islam so Islam is
the outward submission Islam in this hadith is
the outward actions it's fasting it's salah it's
zakah it's hajj it's the testimony of faith
these are the things that are outward I
see that Kashif prays I see that Dr.
Sohaib gives zakah like these are outward things
that are manifestations and then you have Iman
which is inward believing in Allah his angels
the books the revelation all of that okay
so that's inward and then he says then
tell me about Ihsan and he says Ihsan
is that you worship Allah as if you
see him and if you do not see
him that you know that he sees you
so that's a person just what motivates excellence
is that a person is always aware of
the presence of Allah even if there's nobody
in the house with me I know that
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is there yes so
what's the difference between Ihsan and Taqwa Taqwa
well let me just continue with Ihsan first
so that you know that Allah subhanahu wa'ta
'ala sees you there's one of the best
ways that I can illustrate this and then
we'll see how it's related to Taqwa Allah
subhanahu wa'ta'ala says okay so I was
I was in a car once I was
picking up one of our great scholars here
in Houston Dr. Salah Asabi I was taking
him from Med Center to Clear Lake he
gives a class there on Wednesday nights so
it's like a 35 40 minute drive and
so while we're in the car while we're
in the car he is talking to me
asking me questions and then every five minutes
he starts turning towards the windshield and making
passionate du'a oh Allah this this oh
Allah this this this is and then he
turns back and starts talking to me again
and then we're talking and then he's back
to the windshield and making du'a for
like another five minutes and then he goes
back to talking to me and it was
like honestly kind of awkward for me like
I felt like I was interrupting a conversation
but what that did was it crystallized the
concept for me it crystallized the concept because
whenever you have three people in a car
you have two people in the front and
then you have a third person in the
back what do the two people in the
front always do to the person in the
back what do they do they include them
they don't ignore them that's if their parents
they ignore them but if they're friends they
include them hey Ahmed what do you think
this this is right you include them and
so Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala says surah al
-mujadila ma yakunoo min najwa thalatatin illa huwa
rabiAAoon there's no gathering of three except that
he's their fourth and there's no gathering of
five except that he's their six and there's
no gathering of more than that or less
than that except that he's with them wherever
they are and so for the Shaykh right
the third amongst us he was aware of
who is Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala and so
when you talk about the difference between ihsan
and taqwa taqwa is to be aware of
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala in all times which
is prohibiting you from transgressing against him but
ihsan is to be aware of Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala all of the time not just
prohibiting you from transgressing against him but also
inspiring you to call upon him be close
to him seek him have hope in him
that's ihsan perfect your worship of him that's
ihsan and so ihsan is the highest of
states it's the highest spiritual state is that
you're always aware of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala
and if you worship him as if you
see him and ihsan by the way just
quick and then we'll end inshallah because we're
gonna talk about salah.
Ihsan does not require a lot necessarily you
can ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala for ihsan.
I've met a convert once I was talking
about mindfulness in salah and a convert came
up to me and we were talking about
all of the tricks of Shaitaan and how
he distracts you and all that type of
stuff and then a convert came up to
me after the event was over and he
said to me what's wrong with my prayer
I said what do you mean he said
you know you're talking about all of these
distractions and things like that he said I
don't have any of them he said in
fact when I pray everything in this world
disappears it's just me and Allah said I
feel most alive when I'm in the prayer
outside of the prayer I feel like a
shell of myself I don't even need an
adhan app or anything like that my body
responds to the time of the salah I
start to get goosebumps and I know that
it's time so what's wrong with my salah
I'm like dude there's nothing wrong with your
salah your salah is like what I'm but
he's describing a salah where he worships Allah
as if he sees him that's the highest
is that as if you see Allah but
if you don't see Allah that you at
least realize and recognize that he sees you
in that moment you're not heedless and then
he says tell me about the signs of
tell me about the Day of Judgment he
says the one who's asking doesn't know more
than the one who's being asked and this
is an important principle for us the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam does not know the
unseen he does not know the unseen only
Allah subhana ta'ala knows the unseen even
the angels don't know the unseen and we're
going to talk about that when we get
to hadith number four which is next month
inshallah ta'ala but even the angels don't
know the unseen and then