Aqeel Mahmood – 6 Benefits of Trials & Tribulations
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
We look around the world, brothers and sisters,
and we see the state of the Muslims
all over the world,
not just
in the Middle East,
not just in Asia,
but wherever they
are Muslims,
they are going through some type of trial
and some type of tribulation.
And we see the Muslims
being oppressed.
We see the Muslims
being harmed. We see the Muslims being slaughtered
and killed
in certain parts of the world.
And when we see this,
it hurts us.
We feel their pain. And we hear stories
of of children
who leave their homes in the morning,
leaving their homes in the morning to go
to school,
and they say goodbye to their families and
they go to school.
When they come back from school,
they don't have a home to go back
to. Their homes have been bombed.
Their family is dead.
And you hear stories about
orphans living in orphanages
because their whole family has been killed.
The whole family has been killed and they've
been slaughtered.
And when they go to sleep at night,
they take some chalk
they take some chalk chalk and they draw
an outline of an adult
on the ground,
and they sleep next to it
because they're looking for some type of support,
some type of comfort
in their lonely lives.
We hear about other
children
who are killed
and just before they die,
just before their souls are taken, they tell
those who are holding them in their arms.
They say I'm going to tell Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala everything.
I'm going to tell Allah everything that happened,
and we hear countless stories like
this of our own Muslim brothers and sisters
who are being killed, who are being slaughtered.
You know, we see videos and images
on Facebook, on television
about their state and what they're going through.
And it tugs at the heartstrings of every
single one of us and we feel their
pain.
And some of us when we hear about
these stories, when we hear and we see
what the Muslims are going through, some of
us start to have certain doubts.
Some of us start to question things.
Some of us start to say,
if we are upon the haqq,
if we are upon the truth,
if we are those who are rightly guided,
then why is this happening to us?
Why is this happening
to those whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
chosen?
Why is this happening to us?
If we are upon the truth, why are
we being humiliated today?
If we are upon the hack and we
are upon the truth and we are great
in number, there's so many of us living
today, so many Muslims today,
why is this happening? We start to question
ourselves. We start to question our own faith.
We start to question
whether we are upon the truth, and sometimes
this happens to some people.
And I want to mention today, brothers and
sisters,
some of the benefits
and some of the wisdoms
of
trials and tribulations
that before the Muslims.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, You
might dislike something.
You might despise something. You might hate something.
But Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, will put in
that thing lots of good. There'll be lots
of benefit in that thing, in that thing
that you despise, in that thing that you
hate. There'll be lots lots of good in
it whether we see that or not.
And I wanna mention, brothers and sisters,
6 benefits
of trials and tribulations
that Muslims face.
Six things that we can take.
Six things that we can be optimistic about
when we see what's happening to our Muslim
brothers and sisters all over the world.
1st and foremost,
the fact that we feel pain.
The fact
that when we see these things happening
on the television screens, on our laptops, on
our computers,
the fact that we become upset,
the fact that when we go to bed
at night, we can't sleep because we're thinking
about what's happening to our brothers and sisters
all over the world.
The fact that we have these feelings, when
we see our Muslim brothers and sisters being
persecuted,
being slow to left, right, and center, the
fact that we have this feeling
is itself a sign that you yourself possess
some iman
and some faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And that you have a love for your
Muslim brothers and sisters because you've never seen
them before. You don't know who they are.
You don't know their families. You don't know
where they're from. You don't know their language.
You've never been to those countries before,
but you see them on the television screens
crying and you start to cry. You become
upset.
And this is one of the signs of
a believer. As the messenger of Allah alaihi
wasratu wasalam said,
that the that the example of the believer
with regards to his mutual love and with
regards to his mercy, and the compassion that
he possesses, is like the example of a
human body. When one part of that body
feels pain, when there's pain in one single
part, a small part of that body,
the whole body feels pain.
The whole body feels pain and the whole
body stays awake at night and he has
a fever. He can't sleep.
Even though that pain is just affecting one
part of the of the body, one limb
of the body. And this is the example
of the believer.
When he sees someone who he's never seen
before, he doesn't know who they are, but
he knows that they're being afflicted.
They're being oppressed.
They're going through trials and tribulations, it affects
him. And know brothers and sisters that if
this is happening to you, then you possess
some iman. And you should be grateful to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he has made
you from the believers and from those who
possess faith and possess iman.
The second benefit of these trials and tribulations
that are happening today in this world
is that it shows the greatness
and the power of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And it makes us realize that we have
no power to do anything
if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wills, he will
do whatever he wants.
If he wants something to happen, it's going
to happen. Whether we want it to happen
or not, whether we like it or not.
And this is the qadr of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
And this is what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has chose and decreed is going to take
place to us and to our Muslim brothers
and sisters all over the world.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
Those people,
those Muslims,
when they realize that this is in the
hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that
everything on the face of this earth belongs
to Allah and everything will return to him,
what do they say?
Those
who when a trial or a disaster strikes,
they say
They say to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala we
belong and to him we will return. They
realize
when they see these things happening, that is
something which is out out of their control.
It's in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. And they say,
To Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala we belong. He
is the one who created us. He is
the one who gave us what we have.
And he the one we are going to
go back to eventually.
Everything on the face of this earth belongs
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The third benefit of trials and tribulations
which take place
is that person when he sees these trials
or when he goes through these trials and
tribulations that affect him and affect those who
are around him, he turns back to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He turns back to Allah aza wa jal
because he knows that there is no nation,
there is no leader, there's no group of
people that can help him more than Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
If the whole world was to get together
and try to harm someone,
they won't be able to harm him if
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protects him. And if
the whole world got together and try to
help an individual, they won't be able to
help him before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't
want to help him. And an individual realizes
this and he knows that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala
individual realizes this. And he knows that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala can help him. At a
time and at a moment when no one
else will be able to help him. He
puts his trust in Allah He asks Allah
instead
of asking and depending on other people, on
other individuals.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
And when harm touches him, when harm touches
an individual,
he calls on us. He remembers us.
When a calamity afflicts him, when a trial
befalls him, when he goes to some some
form of tribulation,
he remembers Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah
says,
When
harm touches you
while you're at sea
while you're at sea,
everything that you used to call upon vanishes.
Every body that you used to ask for
help, they can't help you anymore.
Accept him. Accept Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He knows in that state where
he's in a moment of weakness. He knows
nobody can help him. At this moment in
time, he remembers Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And
he knows that people may forsake him.
People may not help him.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always there.
You know, they say you know your friends
not during times of ease but during times
of hardship. You know who your friends are.
When you're going through a trial, when you're
going through a calamity,
you know who those people are that when
you're going through those trials, they're by your
side.
They're with you. They're helping you. They're supporting
you. They don't abandon you.
And you only find that during times of
calamity and during times of
trial. The 4th benefit brothers and sisters
of trials and tribulations that before the Muslims
is that it's an expiation
for our sins and for our own shortcomings.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
that any disaster
that strikes
you,
then it's because of what your own hands
have earned.
And he forgives a lot of them.
Any trials, any tribulation that an individual goes
through, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive most
of them.
So as a result of trials and tribulations,
a person
will have his sins being expiated by Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. The messenger of Allah
salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said,
that no tiredness
or exhaustion
or worry or grief or distress
or harm befalls a believer.
Even the pricking of a thorn.
Even something as small and as tiny as
a thorn pricking him.
He walks past a thorny bush
and it pricks him.
Even something as small as this, even
something as small as this, it doesn't happen
to the believer, it doesn't happen to the
Muslim except that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala expiate
some of his sin some of his sins
as a result of this. SubhanAllah.
Any type of
discomfort that a believer goes through, it's a
it's a it's a way for Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala to forgive him of his sins.
And a person should think about this. Anytime
we go through trials and tribulations,
we should realize that it's a way of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala showing his mercy. A
way of Allah azza wa jal forgiving some
of our sins that we may have done.
The 5th benefit brothers and sisters
of these trials and tribulations
that are happening around the world
is that we show mercy
to those in need when we see them
suffering.
And we offer any type of aid that
we can give them.
And it reminds us to be grateful
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for the fact that we're living in safety
and insecurity.
The fact that we here living comfortably,
we remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's blessings upon
us
and that he saved us from these trials
and these tribulations
and that he's given us wealth
that we can spend
on those people who are suffering.
We can give them this type of aid.
We're in a situation.
We're in a position where we can help
those people.
And a person
lives here
in comfort, in total comfort. He doesn't
have to worry about coming back from coming
back from work and seeing his house demolished
and destroyed.
He doesn't have to worry about these things.
He doesn't
have to worry about money and about income.
He doesn't have to worry about food. Where
is he going to get the food from?
How is my child? How is my family
going to eat today? He doesn't have to
worry about those things.
Yet there are people around the world who
are thinking about these things every single day.
They're worried they're going to leave their homes
and their homes are going to be destroyed.
They wake up in the morning and they're
thinking, how am I going to feed my
children? Where am I going to get the
food from?
And us living here, we can't even imagine
this.
We can't even begin to imagine what those
people are going through.
And so a person
living here
with the blessing that he's been given by
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and he sees those people suffering, he helps
them. He offers them aid. He gives them
wealth. The messenger of Allah ahi wa sallam,
he said that wealth doesn't decrease
through charity.
When you give in charity,
when you give money to those who need
it,
your wealth won't decrease. It won't decrease as
a result of you helping others.
So my brothers and sisters, it's an opportune
time. It's an ideal moment for you to
be rewarded from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by
giving your wealth to those who need it
the most. By aiding those people who
are in
need and those people who are looking for
people to help them. Those people who are
looking around and they're asking others and they're
saying, When
is the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?
When is the help of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala going to come?
The 6th
benefit
of trials and tribulations that afflict the Muslims
in this
world is that this
is something
which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and the messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wa
sallam have decreed is going to happen.
And if anything, it should increase our iman
and not decrease it.
It should make us stronger as believers and
not make us weaker.
The fact that they foretold that these things
are going to happen to the Muslim Ummah.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
Do the people think that they will be
left alone
just because they say we believe
and that they won't be tested as a
result of this?
Rather we tested those who came before.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will know
who are those people who are truthful.
And he will know those individuals who are
the liars.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has told us
that these things are going to happen to
the Muslim Umma.
These things are going to take place
and is to distinguish
between those who have iman and those who
don't have iman.
Those who are the believers
and those who are the hypocrites.
Those who have faith in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala and have trust in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. And those who forsake
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and don't have trust
in Allah Azza wa Jal.
So that we can distinguish
between the 2.
The fact that these trials happen
so that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can differentiate
between the chabith and between the tayib, between
the impure,
between those people who are contaminated.
The iman isn't there. They're hypocrites.
They don't they don't have any love or
any sympathy for their Muslim brothers and sisters.
And so that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can
see the can
see the good, can see those people who
have some element of iman,
can see those people who have some mercy
and compassion.
Those people who are the true believers of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
These things happen so that Allah a zawajal
can distinguish between the 2. And so that
we as believers can tell who are the
true believers and who aren't the true believers.
Who are helping the Muslim brothers and who
aren't helping the Muslim brothers and sisters.
The messenger of Allah alaihi wa sallam,
when he went out to the battle of
Uhud
when he went out to the battle of
Uhud, he was around a 1,000 strong.
On the way there,
before they went to the battleground,
around 300 of them
left. Around 300 of them left.
And many of us would think this was
a problem.
This is something which harmed the Muslims.
This is something which was, you know, a
negative,
but rather it was a positive
because they saw
who were the true believers and who went.
And so you learn lessons from these types
of situations.
When you're at these critical moments, you see
who are the true believers and who aren't.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he says in
the Quran
that you are going to be tested
in your wealth.
And in your own selves.
And you for sure are going to hear
from the people of the book.
1, from those who come at
Sheikh,
lots of abuse,
lots of harm,
lots of insults.
And if this isn't relevant and pertinent to
what's happening today,
then I don't know what it's relevant to.
The fact that this is happening today,
people are insulting us. People are harming us.
People are mocking us. People are humiliating us.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has already told
us in the Quran that this is going
to happen, that you're going to hear from
those people and they're going to be insulting
you and they're going to be harming you.
But those people who are going to be
victorious
are those who will be
patient and those who will stick to the
Quran and the sunnah. And those who remember
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and his help,
Allah
verily his help is close.
It's going to happen.
The messenger of Allah alaihi wa sallam also
mentioned
that this situation will occur and that the
Muslims will be in a state of weakness.
He said that there will be a time
when the nations are going to call each
other.
They're going to call
each other just like they do when there's
food around.
They're going to call each other and they're
going to set upon you. They're going to
attack you. And so it was said by
the companions,
will it be because we are few in
number, oh Messenger of Allah? And the Messenger
of Allah salallahu alaihi wa sallam he said
rather you're going to be many on that
day. There's going to be loads of you.
You won't be weak with regards to your
number. You're going to be great in number,
but rather you're going to be like the
foam on the river. Meaning, you're not going
to be worth anything.
Even though you're huge in number, the quantity
is there, but there's no quality with regards
to the Muslims who are living today.
And he said Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will
also remove the
fear of you from the hearts of your
enemies.
They won't fear you anymore. And he'll throw
in your hearts.
He'll throw in your hearts. And the companions,
they said, oh, messenger of Allah, what
is wahann? And the messenger of Allah salallahu
alaihi wa sallam, he said, love of this
world and hatred for
death. And this is exactly what's happening today.
We have a love of this world.
We wanna accumulate
and make lots
of money. You love wealth and excessive wealth,
an extreme form of an extreme love an
extreme form of love.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he
rectifies our affairs and the affairs of the
Muslims all over the world.
Many of us when we see these incidents
happening all over the world and we see
these images and we see these videos,
it tugs at our heart strings.
And we feel upset and we become emotional.
And we want to do something.
We want to go out and help those
people.
And I want to mention something
that all of us can do.
Something that will help our Muslim brothers and
sisters wherever they may be in any part
of the world, in any country where the
Muslims are being persecuted and slaughtered.
Something that we can do here.
Something
that every single one of us can do
sitting here today.
Whether we're old or whether we're young, whether
we're male or female, whether we're strong or
whether we're weak, whether we have lots of
money or whether we don't have any money
at all to give in charity.
Every single one of us has this weapon.
This weapon that he can use. That if
every single one of us use this weapon,
effectively,
it could change the whole face of the
Ummah. It could change the entire state of
the
Muslim world today. And this weapon that every
single one of us possesses brothers and sisters
is dua,
is supplication.
The scholars they said,
Du'a is the weapon of the believer.
There was once an oppressive Muslim ruler
who used to oppress the Muslims. He used
to harm the Muslims. Nobody liked him. He
was unjust.
And once he was walking down the street
from the many towns and cities that he
had command over and authority over, and he
was wearing the best of clothes, and he
had guards around him, and he was walking
with pride and with arrogance, and there were
around him despising him because of the harm
that he had caused them.
But they they couldn't do anything,
and he's walking down the street knowing that
they can't harm him, knowing that they can't
do anything. He himself has guards around him,
and he's walking with pride and with arrogance,
And nobody dares to say anything
except an old frail woman.
She comes out of the crowd
and stands in front of him
and she says looking at him, pointing at
him, she says I'm going to make dua
against you.
I'm going to supplicate to Allah.
And this man in his pride and in
his arrogance, he laughs at her and he
walks away.
And he turns around
and he says to this woman, he says,
don't forget to make dua in the last
part of the night. And he walks off
because dua in the last part of the
night is accepted by Allah azzawajal.
Sometime later,
this very same leader, this very same oppressive
leader is going down the same streets in
chains and in handcuffs.
And the people are humiliating him. And the
guards are now taking him not as an
oppressive leader but as a prisoner.
And he is being
humiliated.
And the same old woman comes out in
front of him. And she says to him,
I took your advice.
So we can see see from this story
brothers and sisters the power of dua.
How many of us really supplicate to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala every single day for our
Muslim brothers and sisters all over the world?
How many of us when we pray and
when we when we're in Sajdah and we're
the closest we are to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala while we're in Sajdah, while we're prostrating,
how many of us supplicate to Allah azza
wa Jal to ease the suffering of our
Muslim brothers and sisters all over the world?
How many of us really do this? And
I question myself before I question anybody else.
How many of us wake up in the
middle of the night, in the last part
of the night, and supplicate to Allah azza
wa ta'ala to ease their suffering? It's easy
for us to say things.
It's easy for us to share a quote
or a message
online.
But how many of us actually do something?
How many of us are actually acting
and making a difference
through our supplications,
through our dua.
How many of us are doing this? Really
sincerely think about this and ask yourselves brothers
and sisters,
how many of us are doing this on
a consistent basis?
It's one thing
doing it in one day of the week.
For Jumaa when the khatib makes the dua
at the end of his khutbah, but it's
another thing doing it yourself
regularly and consistently
making dua for those people around you.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that ease the suffering of our Muslim brothers
and sisters all over the world.
So is straighten your rose.
Straightening the roses from the perfection of the
A long walkabout.
I
Assalamu alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakato.
A few announcements.
Course for sisters in a range of subjects
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