Ammar Alshukry – The Meaning of Ihsan – Excellence – And the Worship of Allah
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the lossless culture of the past week's awards, including the importance of the Prophet's teachings in shaping the universe and the "we" concept. They emphasize the importance of clear understanding of one's actions and words to avoid negative consequences and show one's love and enthusiasm for the spiritual teachings of Islam. They also share personal experiences of blessings such as being content with their experiences and receiving gifts, and emphasize the need to show one's love for Islam as if they are the only people who can afford it. Finally, they share a personal experience of a man named Hassan who worked for a media company and created a book, and discuss the importance of recognizing one's financial status and not just knowing one's social status.
AI: Summary ©
Having the lossless salam ala Rasulillah ideas I'll be sending Sima cathedra should relay Leila had that will actually pick it up while shadowing them Hamedan Abdullah sudo salatu salam Hi. Okay, so
are you guys doing?
Man I got onto a flight from Chicago to Minneapolis this morning. And the entire flight was empty. I when I saw that it was 32 degrees. I understood why nobody is trying to come to Minneapolis right now.
Why is it so cold guys? And why don't we do this conference in the summertime?
I always get invited to Minneapolis like after October, October, November, December. That's when it's like, okay, everybody come to Minneapolis. But I guess it's because Minneapolis tries to only it only invites the sincere it doesn't want the people who will come and enjoy the summertime they want the people who suffer in the winter with them. So hamdulillah I'm glad to be here with you all.
Mentioned the Hadith, which is the great Hadith on this topic of Assad, the hadith of Gibreel as well as the hadith of Shuddha diagnose which is in Muslim where the Prophet sallallaahu Selim says in Allah Khattab si la Aquila shade, these two are Hadith are pillars in this in this topic. The Prophet sallallahu Sallam says Allah has written in Hassan on everything.
In a beautiful verse in Surah that Allah says, look in the land and sea Hello, I'm in photo from Marjorie Basara Carla Tanium telemedical bustle Rojas Allah says look in the land look at how Allah created this earth. Do you see any mistakes? Do you see any glitches? No if you play any video game when I was growing up, and we used to play video games, and I'm sure it's still the same there's still glitches with video games, right? You still glitch and random worlds and things like that you can't play a video game without there being glitches and yet Allah Subhana Allah Allah tells you to look and do you see any mistakes?
Has the laws of physics ever bet for you by accident of the laws of chemistry ever, ever broken for you by accident? You don't see that in the creation of Allah subhanaw taala. And so we see that Allah when it comes to himself, his creation, it is with that son, it is perfect. There's no cut corners. There's no mistakes. When Allah Subhana Allah Allah himself, his name is Al Merson.
The Prophet sallallahu Sallam says, either had come to him for I do what is called Tomb Fascino. For in Allah have mercy on you, Hepburn my sin. If you make judgment, then be just and if you speak, say that which is better, why? Because Allah is Mersin Allah is goodly. He is excellent, and he loves excellence. Allah loves godliness. He loves this. And so then what is your sun sign is to always do
the best
that you can. I had one teacher of mine and Sunday school back in the day, he gave us an example of Asana. It's it stayed with me forever. I'm the doula. And until now if I see him, I always tell him, do you remember this example you gave me in Sunday school? He's like, No, I haven't. I don't even remember you from Sunday school, to be honest. But it stayed with me. And he gave us a very simple example. He said, your parents asked you to go get water.
You can go and you can get them a cup of water.
But you could also go and put it on a tray.
And you can also go and put some ice in it because you know that they like cold water.
The more you add of beautification to the act, the more so on and so Allah Subhana Allah loves for us to do inside, in everything in Allaha Ketubot Yes, and I'll actually share the private solar light as Adam said, Allah prescribed aside over everything. And of the manifestations I want to mention four manifestations of this, briefly, the first manifestation of your son
is bestow on others.
Allah Subhana Allah Allah says, on the tongue of Yusuf in Surah Yusuf walk with us in a B is a huge anemia surgeon that Allah showed us and to me when he brought me out of prison. And so Allah is saying to us is in the bestow that he has the job that I have, the friends that I have, the opportunities that I have, the health that I have, all of these bestows are a manifestation of Allah subhanho data is
another manifestation of satin that we see in the Quran is the perfection of work the perfection of what you do. So Allah Subhana Allah says Allah the US an Akula che in Hulka, whereby the uncle incitement clean, the one who acts an Akula che he perfected everything in his creation,
and He began the creation
Should have human beings from clay.
And so how do we interact with this concept of SRT?
What do you and I do, to be of the Mercy mean that Allah Subhana Allah loves?
Before I actually say that, you know, the sign of Allah becomes manifest to us, even in our darkest moments, even when we experienced calamities, over them the hot topic of the alarm, he says, that no calamity ever befalls me, except that there are four blessings wrapped in it. No calamity ever befalls me, except that there are four blessings that come with it. Number one, the first blessing and this is a beautiful quote from him. And I want you to memorize this quote, I want you to share it with other people. This quote four things ready, and I'm going to ask you about these four things. Number one, he said that it wasn't in my Deen
if I get a calamity in my family, or in my health or my money, or when no matter how bad it is, if for it to not be in my Deen, that's a good day. So that's number one. Number two, the second blessing is that it wasn't bigger.
That calamity could always be bigger. And so I immediately thank Allah that it wasn't bigger than that. And number three, he says, that I was not stripped of being content with it. You know, these are incredibly powerful words, when we lose a loved one and we say in 1990 or in June, we belong to Allah and to Henry uttered, that is a statement of contentment. That is a statement of submission. And so no matter the Allahu Anhu says that I'm able to experience that I was not stripped I'm not sitting there shaking my fist why God Why are disbelieving in Allah subhanaw taala or being angry with Allah, he said that I am able to summon up the ability or I am gifted the ability to be patient
and to be pleased with Allah.
That's another blessing for that calamity. And number four, he says that I continue to expect reward for it,
that I expect reward.
There's not the printing of a thorn, the province of allied as Adam said, except that the believer is rewarded for it. And so when people ask that question, and they say, Why do bad things happen to good people? Have you ever heard that question before? Why do bad things happen to this to good people? You know the answer to that.
Bad things don't happen to good people.
They say to you, while bad things happen, just look up straight in the face and say bad things don't happen to good people. What do you mean?
The prophets of Allah de Selim says I job in the immediate movement in Amara who Kula who hire the prophets of Allah they said and said, amazing is the affair of the believer. Everything that happens to the believer is good. And that's only for the moment. Bad things happen to bad people. Yes, but the believer, nothing bad ever happens to them. Only the believer though. Why? Because if something good happens to them, they are grateful. And that's better for them. And if something bad happens to them or disliked happens to them, they are patient that that is better for them. The believer is able to transform everything that is pleasant and everything that isn't into something that is good
for them because of their gratitude or because of their patients. At the end of the day, they're being rewarded for it no matter what I'm going to talk about the Allah Allah says, As long as I'm able to expect reward for this calamity that Hamdulillah.
And so my question for you is what were the four things that I'm going to be alive who said
what do you got?
Number one, it wasn't in his deed Very good. Number two,
that it wasn't bigger than what it was absolutely. Number three. Yes, sir.
He's been given the ability to be content with it and the last one, the fourth
expecting the reward. So these four things are a manifestation of Allah is assigned to us and goodness to us even when we're going through our most difficult moments.
So how do we interact and try to showcase so number one our first is in our worship to Allah subhana wa Tada
when you pray, Lord today at the convention center tried to pray the best Lord of your life what would what would it sound look like? If you prayed look with so we know the normal way we pray. But what would it look like if I prayed with his son? What would my will do in that bathroom look like? What would my rock it look like? What would my sitting down in the soda look like? What would my sitting down after the Salah look like if I tried to do it with a son? I shall have the line when she was asked about the salam of the prophets of Allah. They send them his jambalaya, she said it was 11 o'clock eyes. But don't ask about this. And he never told him. Don't ask about their son how
Christian they were how perfect they were. And don't ask about their length. They were amazing. I sure herself learns exiled from the province of Elijah set it up. And so when she would give sadaqa What would she do with the coins? She would anoint them with perfume.
She wouldn't just give them to the person she would put
perfume, the coins. And she would say it's going to fall in the hands of Allah before it falls in the hands of that person.
And so thinking to yourself, how do I make whatever act of worship that I am offering? How do I make it more beautiful? How can my all of these beautiful volunteers, I'm assuming you're all our volunteers in the purple? You guys didn't all just decide to match, right? So how do I make my volunteering today? More beautiful, maybe it's a little bit more smiles. I'm not a natural smiler but I'm going to smile a little bit more today. Maybe I'm going to save my salaam a little bit loudly, more loudly today. Maybe I'm going to greet more people today. Maybe I'm going to figure out how to shake more people's hands or maybe I'm going to give people gifts or I don't know, but how do
I do it a little bit better. Who are the people who are and then
the beautiful thing is the more sun you show to Allah Subhana Allah you know, what did the Prophet sallallahu Sallam described at Sinai as he says untitled Alok and Nicola, if you're able to try to worship Allah as if you see him, you know, I had a brother one time we were, we were having a, I was giving a lecture about mindfulness in Salah.
And I'm coming back to
coming back to November in the cold to Minnesota in the cold that y'all died in November, we're gonna have an entire seminar for a moment about mindfulness and soda. That's the plan inshallah. But I remember I had given a lecture years ago about mindfulness and salah, and a convert came up to me, and he said,
What's wrong with my prayer? And I said to him, What do you mean? He was like, all of these things that you're talking about distractions and stuff like that. He's like, I don't have any of that. He said, When I stand in front of Allah, it's like, I see Allah.
Everything in this world disappears. Except for me and Allah.
I am most alive. During the day, when I'm in Salah and my body can't wait for it. You said I don't even need another an app or anything. I get goosebumps. My body responds to the time of Salah.
He's like so what's wrong with my salah? And I was like, Dude, there's nothing wrong with your Salah.
Your Salah is amazing. That's a law that we read about. But the prophet said
that you worship Allah as if you see him, that you worship Allah with his son. And Allah Subhana Allah data sets Lavina, Asana and personna was the other.
For those who show sad. They will have an persona, they will have Jana, and they will have more what's more than Jana?
You know, what is the other is in that verse? It is to see Allah.
And so the aroma said, How beautiful is this? When the Prophet said you worship Allah as if you see him that he defined that as their son, they worshipped Allah as if they saw him in the dunya. And so Allah who rewards them with seeing him in the Jana
Lavina acidosis nausea so the first manifestation the way that we interact with this concept of your son is in our worship of Allah subhanaw taala. Second is with our interactions with people who are the people who are most deserving of your SI your excellence, the people who are closest to you. Allah subhana wa says will be widely Dania Santa, there's nobody closer to your parents. So you try to show them every kindness you go above and beyond trying to make them comfortable trying to make them happy. They are the people who are most deserving I thought, even law he said, for me, too. And then of course, your relatives, I thought it said for me to spend one DNR on my relatives or my
family is more beloved to me than to spend 1000 dinars on a drought.
You for you to spend $1 on your family is more beloved to our thought than for you to spend $1,000 on a logical page somewhere.
They said, What if they're equal to you in your wealth, he said, even if they are wealthier than me.
It's amazing statement. But the idea is being aware many of us young people, many of us young people were completely cut off from our families.
We don't know our extended relatives. And so it's just easier to go on to a website somewhere and to donate money to someplace that's happening. Meanwhile, you might have a cousin who's an orphan, you might have a an extended relative who is a widow. And if you just asked your parents or ask your grandparents and said, Hey, who do I Who do we have in my family that I can take care of ALLAH SubhanA data says yeah, Tieman the merkabah in Surah Al Barrett, an orphan who is a relative if you can combine between these two things. I'm not saying that don't donate to these programs. I'm saying donate but also make sure that you also recognize the importance of looking after your family and
showing kindness and goodness to your family. Number three, the third
and this is a very beautiful and important point. Yes sign is independent of your social economic status. A person who is a murse it it's independent of your social economic status. It's not about when I get wealthy. It's not about what I
have this opportunity. It's not when use of Ideas set up in two verses and sort of use if people come up to them come up to him and they say the same thing they say, in an Iraq I mean and mercy, we see you to be of the people of Assad. One time was in prison. People came to him and they say, can you interpret this dream for us in America minute sending we see you to be able to people are gonna send us a visit in prison just like them. But his inside shows, even to the other prisoners. And the second time is when he was the minister of Egypt. When his brothers come. And his he's keeping his brother back because of what he had planned. And they came in, they said, we've got an elderly, our
father's an elderly man, take one of us instead, Inanna Raka, Minomycin, in the same exact phrase, indicating to us their use, son was the same whether he was a slave who was a prisoner, or whether he was the minister of the treasures of Egypt.
And so your essence, your show, whether you're an employee or an employer, whether you are the child, or whether you're the parent, no matter what you go through in life, your essence should be the same, it should be static. And number four, the last manifestation of Sn that I want to share with you, is Hassan in doing your work? Well.
If I were to ask you, what are the countries whose products you are most comfortable buying? If it's electronics, you'll say Japan, if it's cars, you might say German engineering, or British engineering, maybe American engineering, when it comes to clothes, we say, Italy, craftsmanship when it comes to. And so where are Muslim countries on these lists? And where are the Muslim communities with regards to these lists? Are we people who are known for a sign of the province of Elijah sitting on one side of the companions digging a grave? And he said to them, dig it well, and they said, O Messenger of Allah, the person who's being buried as Jewish, he said to them, are you not
Muslim?
Independent of what his religion is, are you not Muslim? If I am Muslim, then I will do my job. Well, no matter who I am serving,
no matter who is on the opposite end, I will do the work that Allah subhanaw taala loves for me to work. And I want to end with this two things very quickly.
A very recent example of this concept of isn't
it she definition of Muhammad the shady for him, Allah Tala.
Chef Muhammad was the founder of UN Millennium Institute. And he passed away this year, right, my wife passed away at the age of 46, or 47 years old, by Malala.
And this man, if you were to look through his life, you would find that he cared so much about Assad, it manifested in everything that he did.
And so as a young man, he founds a motive Institute. And his entire goal is to raise the facade of the way that Islam is presented in the West.
And so we're going to use PowerPoint presentations, and we're going to use we're going to use University venues, because 2015 years ago, most masajid did not have beautiful venues that we have now in many places.
And then he gives hope, like every other year,
but he's like, No, I don't, I'm not just going to give hope. But I'm going to raise the standards of hotspots in whatever capacity I can. And so he launches a website called football.com. And I remember myself when I was a teenager, we'd go to football.com, because he would write out all of his hook busts, and they would be written like articles, and you could go and then you could go and give that whole book, in your own, you know, community, you just had to make sure that you didn't use the exact same language. When I was a student at University of Medina, it's like calm down, hold on, you weren't even a student at the news media. You have to be careful. But the point is, he
didn't do things just to do things he would do. He founded something called a man rush back in the day when people used to distribute CDs. I know you guys have never heard of CDs. It's something that we used to use back in the day. But he used to make sure that the CDs weren't just you know, writing on a mark or something like that he would he would make the audio the best audio that he could, you'd record them in studios. He was recording audio lectures in a studio because he wanted the audio to be as crisp as possible. And then he would hire graphic designers to make the CD covers as beautiful as album covers.
Everything that he did, he tried to make it with Assad and his slogan that he always used to say is Islam deserves better.
Whatever you're doing, Islam deserves better. Allah deserves better. So doing things with your son, because when a person has been gifted and that mana we mentioned this, that when a person has been gifted knowledge by Allah, and then you cut corners.
If Allah has showed me how to do something, well, whatever your skill is, whatever your your talent is, whatever your craft is, if you then cut corners, you are showing, you are showing Cooper in gratitude to what Allah Subhana Allah has taught you. And so we want to be of those who are sitting We ask Allah azza wa jal to grant us
CSR in our actions and in our speech and in our worship of Him well Salah Allah doesn't know how I'm gonna do it so I'm students