Aqeel Mahmood – Being Positive

Aqeel Mahmood
AI: Summary ©
The importance of positive speech in Islam is discussed, including the use of bird language as a sign of positivity and the importance of holding onto the glimpse of light in one's consciousness. The speaker emphasizes the benefits of showing faith and patience in difficult circumstances and the importance of positive reinforcement in the illness of the person involved. The speaker also discusses struggles of the Arab world, including loss of success and the use of rock and weapons to remove people from buildings and cities, and the importance of positive actions and positive thoughts in building one's life.
AI: Transcript ©
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Yeah.

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Today, brothers and sisters, in this Khutba, I

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want to talk to wanted to talk to

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you

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about

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how we

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perceive things

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that happen in our lives

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and how we react

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to

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things that

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happen in our lives which we never expected,

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things

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when they turn out

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not how we wanted them to turn out,

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and our mindset,

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how we behave,

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how we think, how we react,

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what we do

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when negative things happen in our lives,

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and

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the consequences

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of

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our reactions

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and our behavior.

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When we

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reflect on

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this religion of ours,

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this religion of ours is

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a religion

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which encourages

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and promotes

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positivity,

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Being positive

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regardless

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of an individual's

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circumstances.

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We as an umma know

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that the light of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

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will never be extinguished.

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And Islam will always be here.

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And so

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as an ummah, we should be thankful that

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Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed us with

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Islam and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

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will continue this light of Islam.

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And it's something that we should be proud

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of.

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But on an individual level,

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in many cases,

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things happen to us,

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and

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we start to question why those things happened

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and why Allah

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decreed certain things to happen to us.

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And sometimes a person can be negative to

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such an extent

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that without anything

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having happened to him, without any bad experience,

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he's thinking about the future in a negative

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manner.

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He may be thinking about his financial state,

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and he's worried about what the future holds.

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Where am I gonna make the money to

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support my family?

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How am I gonna make enough money?

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Even though

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up until this point, Allah

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has blessed him with the wealth which he

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had.

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A person may be questioning

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why he's going through trials

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related to

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his business, his work, his health, his family,

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many things.

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And that

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doubt, those questions

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may

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have him

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question

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even the existence of Allah.

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Why am I in this state? If there

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was a god,

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why isn't that god helping me? Why isn't

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Allah assisting me and helping me in my

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situation?

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So a person starts to have negative thoughts.

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He starts to think about what might happen

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in the future.

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What's going to happen to me? What's going

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to happen regards regarding my health? What's going

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to happen to me regarding my wealth?

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And we said that Islam is a religion

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which encourages

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positivity.

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It's a religion which tells us that we

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have to be positive regardless of the circumstances.

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And this is why

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in a hadith in which Allah

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himself states a hadith Qudsi,

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He tells us,

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I am

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however

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my slave perceives me or thinks of me.

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When a person thinks badly of Allah,

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when a person has bad thoughts of Allah,

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when a person isn't hopeful that Allah

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will help him, will aid him, will take

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care of him, will take care of his

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affairs,

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when a person has this negative

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attitude towards Allah,

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then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will have a

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negative attitude towards him.

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And so because he's negative

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about Allah

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and he has bad thoughts about Allah and

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he's not optimistic about the future,

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there's more chance of this individual going through

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more trials and tribulations,

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more problems occurring in his life.

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Because he's not dependent on Allah. He doesn't

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have this trust in Allah subhanahu wa

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I am however my slave perceives me or

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thinks of me.

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When you're

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hopeful of Allah's aid, when you know Allah

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subhanahu wa ta'ala will help you, protect you,

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take care of you, deal with all of

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your affairs,

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Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will reciprocate.

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He'll respond likewise

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because the slave

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has shown optimism.

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The slave is being positive about his relationship

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with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so Allah

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Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will aid that slave of

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his.

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If we look

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at some of the narrations of the messenger

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of Allah,

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we see that

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even positive

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speech was something which the messenger of Allah

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sallallahu alaihi wasallam would encourage

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the slaves of Allah to do.

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He would encourage them encourage them to speak

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positively.

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Not just

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to have positive thoughts, but to express that

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in one speech.

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And in fact, research shows that when a

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person speaks positive

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speech, when he thinks positively and that is

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shown through his speech,

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that makes that person more optimistic about the

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future. It makes him more positive.

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And you may have heard about people who

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always repeat things to themselves,

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saying positive words, words of affirmation,

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saying good things

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in order for themselves to feel better.

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There is some truth to this because the

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messenger of Allah

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told us in a hadith,

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There is no and there is no

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There are no infectious diseases except by the

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permission of Allah. A person shouldn't be worried

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about catching an infectious disease because that's in

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the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

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And there's no bad omens.

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And it's called

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because in the past, they would use birds

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as a sign of whether something was good

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or bad, or whether they should do something.

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If a bird went a certain direction,

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they would say because the bird has gone

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this direction, we shouldn't travel today.

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If a bird goes the other way, they

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would say this is a good sign, this

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means we can travel, nothing bad is going

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to happen. This was what they used to

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do, superstitions.

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So the messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi wa

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sallam, he tells us

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There is no

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There is no infectious disease except by the

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permission of Allah. There is no

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There are no bad omens based on the

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directions of a bird.

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But I'm amazed by

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And so the companions asked what is messenger

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of Allah? He said

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a good word, saying good things,

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saying positive speech, speaking good as opposed to

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speaking bad.

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Because this has an effect

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on the way you even behave. It has

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an effect on if you're talking to others,

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on them.

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And how they'll perceive things.

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When you're remembering Allah, you're thankful to Allah.

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You're saying good things about your situation regardless

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of how bad it may be.

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This is a sign

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of your positivity,

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of you being optimistic.

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And

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when we reflect on some of those situations,

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some of those incidents in the time of

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the messenger of Allah alayhi wasalam,

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which are too many for us to mention

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today,

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but some of these give us an idea

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of how powerful this

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mindset is,

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being positive.

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Once the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa

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sallam,

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he visited a man who was sick, a

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Bedouin man.

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And

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when he visited this man, the man was

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sick. He was lying down.

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He was very ill. The messenger of Allah

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sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said to him, as

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we say when we visit a sick person,

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never mind.

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May it be a means of purification if

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Allah wills.

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Even in a state when a person is

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suffering from an illness, we are positive. We

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look at the positives, not at the negatives.

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Even in that situation where he may even

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end up dying.

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Never mind. May that illness, may that disease,

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may that problem that you're afflicted with

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be a way for Allah to remove your

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sins.

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Because we know any situation, any trial a

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person goes through, Allah removes a person's sins

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depending on how severe that trial and tribulation

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is.

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So he said

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being positive,

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positive speech,

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positive reinforcement.

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And so the sick Bedouin,

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he said to him he replied and he

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said, Tahuur,

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purification.

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No.

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Rather it's an infectious disease.

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It's a boiling fever that's harassing this old

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man so much that it's going to lead

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me to the grave.

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So he rejected this idea of this illness

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that he had being something which was good,

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being something which was positive. And so the

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messenger of Allah

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he said in response,

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Then yes, if that's the case.

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Meaning if that's the way that you want

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to perceive this illness that you have, then

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that's how it'll be.

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I am however my slave perceives me. And

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narrations mention that this man he passed away

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from this disease a number of days later.

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Because of the mindset that he had, Studies

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actually show

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that women who have a more optimistic outlook

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on life, they are 30%

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less likely

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of suffering from heart diseases.

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Other studies also show that people who are

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optimistic

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have lower

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risks of suffering from strokes,

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and it's also said from research

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that those individuals who are more optimistic

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are less likely to suffer from disabilities.

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And as they get older,

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they end up living longer in certain cases.

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This is what research shows us.

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And based on this hadith we can understand.

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When a person is optimistic,

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when a person is positive,

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then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will reciprocate. Allah

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subhanahu wa ta'ala will accommodate for that individual.

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One of the things we should do as

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Muslims,

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whenever calamity is

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before us

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is to always hold on to that glimpse

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of light in that darkness that we're experiencing.

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When there's complete darkness, there's always that limp

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that glimpse of light. Something we can hold

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on to. Something positive we can take from

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that circumstance, from that situation.

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If we look at

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how

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the messenger of Allah

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told us,

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how amazing is the affair of the

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believer. How amazing is the affair of the

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believer. The one who believes in Allah. The

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one who has iman.

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All of his affairs are good.

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Regardless of what happens to him, it's good

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for him.

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And that's only for the believer. That's only

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the case with the believer. When something pleasant

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happens to him, he's thankful to Allah.

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When he comes across a trial or tribulation,

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he's patient and that's also good for him.

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He's being rewarded for his patience in times

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of trials and tribulations.

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Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us

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There are 2 eases after a person goes

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through a hardship.

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We lose lots of money. We're suffering from

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an illness.

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There's a death in the family.

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Something like this happens

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and we become sad, and that's a natural

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thing to experience. We become upset.

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It's a difficult thing. It's a trial we're

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going through. When you're patient, you're being rewarded.

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After you show that patience and after you

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go through that hardship that you're going through,

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Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives you even more

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strength, makes you even stronger.

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Because the next time somebody passes away from

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your family, the next time you suffer from

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a from a lock a loss of wealth,

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the next time you're having issues with family

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members,

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you're more experienced,

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you're stronger than you were before because you've

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already been through it.

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And you know what to expect to a

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certain extent, and you're able to handle it

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a lot better than you did before.

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So on top of the patience that you

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were showing

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in face

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in the face of this hardship you were

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also

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becoming stronger as a result of showing that

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patience

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in times of hardships

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which every single one of us will go

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through.

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We look at

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how in the past the righteous

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and those who are from the believers would

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have

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and trust in Allah in the most dire

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circumstances.

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Hajar

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was left behind in the middle of the

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desert with her newborn son Ismail

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with no food, except for a small amount

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of food and a small amount of water,

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with no one around to help them,

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no one traveling in that direction,

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no one leaving where she was being left

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by Ibrahim alaihis salam, and Ibrahim alaihis salam

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is walking away under the command of Allah

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to leave her.

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This is a trial that Hadid went through.

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It's something that she has to go through.

00:15:22 --> 00:15:24

It's a test for her. How did she

00:15:24 --> 00:15:27

respond? When she's looking around, she has a

00:15:27 --> 00:15:28

small amount of food,

00:15:29 --> 00:15:32

Ibrahim is leaving her and their newborn child

00:15:32 --> 00:15:33

in the middle of the desert.

00:15:33 --> 00:15:35

Something many of us couldn't even imagine.

00:15:36 --> 00:15:38

These were the trials of those who had

00:15:38 --> 00:15:38

iman.

00:15:39 --> 00:15:42

Hajar alaihi salam, she tells Ibrahim

00:15:42 --> 00:15:44

why where are you leaving us? Why are

00:15:44 --> 00:15:46

you leaving us here? There's nothing here. How

00:15:46 --> 00:15:47

are we gonna survive?

00:15:48 --> 00:15:50

And Ibrahim alaihis salam

00:15:50 --> 00:15:52

can say nothing because this was an order

00:15:52 --> 00:15:56

from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Hajar then asks,

00:15:58 --> 00:16:00

did Allah order you to do this?

00:16:01 --> 00:16:03

Ibrahim alaihis salam simply responds, nam.

00:16:04 --> 00:16:05

And Hajar responds,

00:16:08 --> 00:16:11

In this case, he will never abandon us.

00:16:12 --> 00:16:14

He will never forget us.

00:16:14 --> 00:16:15

In a situation

00:16:15 --> 00:16:18

where we will think that person will surely

00:16:18 --> 00:16:18

perish,

00:16:19 --> 00:16:21

they're not gonna survive in the desert with

00:16:21 --> 00:16:23

small amount of food. There's nobody around. And

00:16:23 --> 00:16:26

we know that's the story of how Zamzam

00:16:26 --> 00:16:27

was discovered.

00:16:27 --> 00:16:30

That's the story of the birthplace of the

00:16:30 --> 00:16:30

greatest

00:16:31 --> 00:16:33

land on the face of the earth, the

00:16:33 --> 00:16:34

city of Makkah.

00:16:35 --> 00:16:36

And the birthplace

00:16:37 --> 00:16:39

of the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

00:16:39 --> 00:16:39

the Kaaba.

00:16:40 --> 00:16:41

Look at the reward

00:16:41 --> 00:16:44

attached to Hajar alaihi salam's trust and and

00:16:45 --> 00:16:48

positivity in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Look at

00:16:48 --> 00:16:50

what came about as a result of how

00:16:50 --> 00:16:53

she was so positive about her circumstances. We

00:16:53 --> 00:16:55

look at the story of Yaqub alaihi salam.

00:16:56 --> 00:16:57

When he thought

00:16:57 --> 00:16:58

or he felt

00:16:59 --> 00:17:01

that his sons had done something

00:17:02 --> 00:17:05

to his most beloved son, Yusuf alayhis salam.

00:17:05 --> 00:17:07

And so when they went with

00:17:07 --> 00:17:08

his other son Binyamin

00:17:09 --> 00:17:10

and he was also

00:17:11 --> 00:17:13

being tested with his other son Binyamin,

00:17:14 --> 00:17:16

who was left with Yusuf alaihi salaam because

00:17:16 --> 00:17:17

Yusuf had made a plan,

00:17:18 --> 00:17:21

they went back not knowing that it was

00:17:21 --> 00:17:23

Yusuf who had kept Binyamin behind.

00:17:23 --> 00:17:25

The one who was in charge of the

00:17:25 --> 00:17:27

finances when they went to ask for food

00:17:27 --> 00:17:29

and they went to ask for help from

00:17:29 --> 00:17:31

Youssef, unbeknownst to them that it was Youssef

00:17:31 --> 00:17:34

alaihis salam. Now they're worried. They go back

00:17:34 --> 00:17:36

to Ayyaaqoub alaihis salam knowing that they had

00:17:36 --> 00:17:39

already got rid of his other son, Yusuf,

00:17:39 --> 00:17:41

their other brother. And now they're going back

00:17:41 --> 00:17:42

with that binyamin.

00:17:43 --> 00:17:46

So Yaqob alaihis salam, if we think about

00:17:46 --> 00:17:49

his state of mind, imagine losing a son.

00:17:49 --> 00:17:52

Imagine the trials and tribulations of losing a

00:17:52 --> 00:17:53

son. And then imagine

00:17:54 --> 00:17:56

later on losing another son,

00:17:57 --> 00:17:58

losing 2 sons.

00:18:00 --> 00:18:02

This would rattle anybody's faith in Allah subhanahu

00:18:02 --> 00:18:05

wa ta'ala. This is something which could question

00:18:05 --> 00:18:07

a person as a result of this test,

00:18:07 --> 00:18:09

he could question his own faith.

00:18:09 --> 00:18:12

Why is this happening to me? Why 2

00:18:12 --> 00:18:12

sons?

00:18:13 --> 00:18:15

Yaqub alaihis salaam,

00:18:15 --> 00:18:16

he realizes

00:18:17 --> 00:18:18

that the believer

00:18:19 --> 00:18:21

isn't stung from the same hole twice. There's

00:18:21 --> 00:18:22

something going on.

00:18:22 --> 00:18:25

There's something more to this. Even though the

00:18:25 --> 00:18:27

news he's received that is that has

00:18:28 --> 00:18:29

been left behind.

00:18:30 --> 00:18:32

So he says to them,

00:18:36 --> 00:18:39

Oh my sons, go and investigate

00:18:39 --> 00:18:42

about the situation of Yousef and his brother.

00:18:44 --> 00:18:45

And don't despair

00:18:45 --> 00:18:46

from the

00:18:47 --> 00:18:49

hope of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Being hopeful

00:18:49 --> 00:18:50

of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.

00:18:51 --> 00:18:52

Don't despair

00:18:52 --> 00:18:54

from being hopeful of Allah Azzawajal.

00:18:55 --> 00:18:56

And sure enough,

00:18:57 --> 00:18:58

when they went,

00:18:58 --> 00:18:59

they found Binyamin,

00:19:00 --> 00:19:02

and on top of that they found Yusuf

00:19:02 --> 00:19:03

alaihis salam,

00:19:03 --> 00:19:05

who was the one they were talking to,

00:19:05 --> 00:19:08

the finance minister of the land of Egypt,

00:19:09 --> 00:19:10

and they both came back

00:19:11 --> 00:19:11

safely

00:19:11 --> 00:19:14

and soundly to their father. This was

00:19:15 --> 00:19:16

the optimism

00:19:16 --> 00:19:19

of Yaqub alaihis salam. He was being positive

00:19:19 --> 00:19:21

about his situation

00:19:21 --> 00:19:23

and he never thought badly. He was holding

00:19:23 --> 00:19:26

on to those positive things that he could

00:19:26 --> 00:19:27

think about,

00:19:27 --> 00:19:30

that he could hold on to in those

00:19:30 --> 00:19:32

cases where many of us would think there

00:19:32 --> 00:19:33

is no positive

00:19:34 --> 00:19:36

to gain from this situation. There is nothing

00:19:36 --> 00:19:37

good about my situation.

00:19:38 --> 00:19:39

We look at the stories from the life

00:19:39 --> 00:19:41

of the messenger of Allah alaihi wasallam.

00:19:42 --> 00:19:44

The battle of the trench.

00:19:44 --> 00:19:45

This was the 3rd battle

00:19:46 --> 00:19:47

of the Muslims.

00:19:48 --> 00:19:52

The Arab world had come together. Every single

00:19:52 --> 00:19:53

tribe

00:19:53 --> 00:19:55

of the Arab world had come together

00:19:55 --> 00:19:58

to unite, to extinguish, and wipe out the

00:19:58 --> 00:19:58

Muslims.

00:19:59 --> 00:20:01

And they were on their way to Madinah

00:20:01 --> 00:20:03

to wipe out the Muslims, to destroy the

00:20:03 --> 00:20:05

Muslims. And the Muslims were outnumbered,

00:20:05 --> 00:20:08

so they dug a trench around the city.

00:20:09 --> 00:20:10

When they dug this trench

00:20:11 --> 00:20:12

there was an area of the trench which

00:20:12 --> 00:20:14

they weren't able to destroy.

00:20:15 --> 00:20:15

A huge

00:20:16 --> 00:20:17

rock in this trench

00:20:18 --> 00:20:20

which they wanted to break down into pieces

00:20:21 --> 00:20:22

and they weren't able to break this huge

00:20:22 --> 00:20:24

rock. So they called the messenger of Allah

00:20:24 --> 00:20:26

alaihis salatu wa sallam.

00:20:26 --> 00:20:28

And the enemy is on their way. And

00:20:28 --> 00:20:30

this rock needs to be destroyed, needs to

00:20:30 --> 00:20:32

be removed. And they're trying with their axes

00:20:32 --> 00:20:33

and their weapons and they can't remove this

00:20:33 --> 00:20:34

rock.

00:20:34 --> 00:20:37

If the rock isn't removed, they'll use this

00:20:37 --> 00:20:40

rock to step on and remove themselves

00:20:40 --> 00:20:42

out of the trench onto the other side,

00:20:42 --> 00:20:43

onto the side of the Muslims.

00:20:44 --> 00:20:46

And so they called the messenger of Allah

00:20:48 --> 00:20:49

and the messenger of Allah he

00:20:51 --> 00:20:53

raised the axe that he had,

00:20:53 --> 00:20:54

and

00:20:54 --> 00:20:55

he said Bismillah.

00:20:56 --> 00:20:58

And he struck the rock, and as soon

00:20:58 --> 00:21:00

as he struck the rock, the companions, they

00:21:00 --> 00:21:01

said, we saw a flash of light.

00:21:02 --> 00:21:04

The strongest, most white kind of light that

00:21:04 --> 00:21:05

we've seen.

00:21:05 --> 00:21:06

And the messenger of

00:21:07 --> 00:21:08

he said, Allahu Akbar,

00:21:09 --> 00:21:10

I have

00:21:10 --> 00:21:11

seen the keys

00:21:11 --> 00:21:14

of ancient Syria being granted to me. And

00:21:14 --> 00:21:16

I can see by Allah

00:21:17 --> 00:21:19

the palaces of Syria in front of me.

00:21:20 --> 00:21:22

Here they are about to be

00:21:22 --> 00:21:23

faced with the greatest

00:21:24 --> 00:21:25

trial

00:21:25 --> 00:21:27

and fight of their lives

00:21:27 --> 00:21:29

facing the rest of the Arab world,

00:21:30 --> 00:21:33

afraid that maybe Islam will be wiped away,

00:21:34 --> 00:21:36

afraid that there won't be any Islam,

00:21:37 --> 00:21:39

Afraid that all these people have come together

00:21:39 --> 00:21:40

to fight them.

00:21:40 --> 00:21:43

And here the messenger of Allah is showing

00:21:44 --> 00:21:46

them and telling them where Islam is going

00:21:46 --> 00:21:47

to be in the future.

00:21:48 --> 00:21:50

What's going to be the fate of the

00:21:50 --> 00:21:51

Muslims?

00:21:52 --> 00:21:54

Sham, Syria is going to be yours.

00:21:55 --> 00:21:56

Forget Arabia itself.

00:21:56 --> 00:21:58

The messenger of Allah raised

00:21:59 --> 00:22:00

the axe and hit the rock a second

00:22:00 --> 00:22:03

time and he said Allahu Akbar, Persia is

00:22:03 --> 00:22:05

granted to me. I swear by Allah I

00:22:05 --> 00:22:07

can now see the palace of Madain.

00:22:09 --> 00:22:10

And then he struck the rock a third

00:22:10 --> 00:22:13

time and he said Allahu Akbar I have

00:22:13 --> 00:22:15

been given the keys of Yemen. I swear

00:22:15 --> 00:22:17

by Allah I can see the gates of

00:22:17 --> 00:22:17

San'a

00:22:18 --> 00:22:20

right from where I'm standing right now.

00:22:22 --> 00:22:25

And so in this situation, the messenger of

00:22:25 --> 00:22:26

Allah showed

00:22:27 --> 00:22:28

positivity,

00:22:28 --> 00:22:29

optimism to those

00:22:30 --> 00:22:33

who were worried about their fate.

00:22:34 --> 00:22:36

They were struggling to see any positives about

00:22:36 --> 00:22:37

their situation.

00:22:38 --> 00:22:39

On top of this,

00:22:39 --> 00:22:40

there were individuals

00:22:41 --> 00:22:43

in Madinah itself after they had dug the

00:22:43 --> 00:22:45

trench from the Munafiqun,

00:22:46 --> 00:22:48

from the people of the book who decided

00:22:48 --> 00:22:49

to rebel

00:22:49 --> 00:22:52

and harm the Muslims instead of supporting the

00:22:52 --> 00:22:54

Muslims in the city of Madinah.

00:22:55 --> 00:22:56

And so Allah

00:22:57 --> 00:22:59

caused the Muslims to become successful.

00:22:59 --> 00:23:00

They became victorious

00:23:01 --> 00:23:02

even though the situation

00:23:03 --> 00:23:04

was such a difficult situation.

00:23:05 --> 00:23:06

Being positive

00:23:06 --> 00:23:08

breeds positive actions,

00:23:09 --> 00:23:12

doing positive things. When you say positive things

00:23:13 --> 00:23:15

you do positive things. There was once a

00:23:15 --> 00:23:16

leader by the name of Al Hajjib al

00:23:16 --> 00:23:17

Mansur.

00:23:18 --> 00:23:19

Al Hajjib al Mansur,

00:23:20 --> 00:23:21

he was somebody

00:23:21 --> 00:23:23

in the early days of his life who

00:23:23 --> 00:23:25

used to be a delivery person. He would

00:23:25 --> 00:23:26

use his donkey to

00:23:27 --> 00:23:30

take people's goods from the market to their

00:23:30 --> 00:23:30

homes.

00:23:30 --> 00:23:32

And so he was sitting with 2 of

00:23:32 --> 00:23:33

his friends and they were talking about the

00:23:33 --> 00:23:35

future, what their hopes are for the future.

00:23:35 --> 00:23:37

And when they asked him what his hopes

00:23:37 --> 00:23:38

were, he said I hope to be the

00:23:38 --> 00:23:39

leader

00:23:39 --> 00:23:41

of Andalus of Andalusia.

00:23:42 --> 00:23:42

And they laughed.

00:23:43 --> 00:23:45

And he said to them if I become

00:23:45 --> 00:23:45

the leader,

00:23:46 --> 00:23:47

what do you ask of me?

00:23:47 --> 00:23:50

One of them said I'd like for you

00:23:50 --> 00:23:51

to give me a huge house and a

00:23:51 --> 00:23:52

beautiful horse

00:23:53 --> 00:23:55

and lots of wealth. And he mentioned many

00:23:55 --> 00:23:55

things.

00:23:56 --> 00:23:57

The other he said to him, if you

00:23:57 --> 00:23:59

become the leader of Andalusia,

00:23:59 --> 00:24:02

put me on the donkey facing the other

00:24:02 --> 00:24:04

way, train me around the city, and tell

00:24:04 --> 00:24:06

the soldiers to whip me. Because it's never

00:24:06 --> 00:24:08

gonna happen. You're never gonna be the leader

00:24:08 --> 00:24:09

of Andalusia.

00:24:10 --> 00:24:11

Years later,

00:24:11 --> 00:24:12

Al Hajjib

00:24:12 --> 00:24:13

Al Mansur,

00:24:13 --> 00:24:16

this individual became the leader and the Hakim

00:24:16 --> 00:24:17

of Andalusia.

00:24:18 --> 00:24:20

He became the leader, and he called the

00:24:20 --> 00:24:21

both of them forward.

00:24:21 --> 00:24:22

And he gave the man

00:24:23 --> 00:24:25

what he promised to give him from the

00:24:25 --> 00:24:28

goods and the wealth and the treasures that

00:24:28 --> 00:24:29

he now had in his possession.

00:24:31 --> 00:24:34

And he also gave the other man what

00:24:34 --> 00:24:35

he promised him.

00:24:36 --> 00:24:38

Traveling through the city on a donkey

00:24:38 --> 00:24:40

being ripped by those soldiers.

00:24:41 --> 00:24:43

The point being brothers and sisters, when a

00:24:43 --> 00:24:46

person is positive about what may happen in

00:24:46 --> 00:24:49

the future, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the

00:24:49 --> 00:24:50

one who can make it happen. When you're

00:24:50 --> 00:24:51

positive,

00:24:52 --> 00:24:55

then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will have positive

00:24:55 --> 00:24:58

thoughts about you and he'll respond positively towards

00:24:58 --> 00:25:00

you. We look at the story of how

00:25:01 --> 00:25:04

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz told us

00:25:05 --> 00:25:07

how he was somebody who had

00:25:07 --> 00:25:09

ambition. He was somebody who was ambitious.

00:25:10 --> 00:25:11

And he said that

00:25:15 --> 00:25:17

I have an ambitious soul.

00:25:17 --> 00:25:19

Whenever I have a goal, I try to

00:25:19 --> 00:25:21

reach that goal, and I always try

00:25:22 --> 00:25:24

to go higher than the goal that I

00:25:24 --> 00:25:24

set.

00:25:24 --> 00:25:26

I always try to aim for the stars.

00:25:27 --> 00:25:30

So he said that I had this ambition

00:25:30 --> 00:25:31

to marry

00:25:32 --> 00:25:35

the daughter of the leader Fatima, and I

00:25:35 --> 00:25:35

married her.

00:25:36 --> 00:25:38

Then I had this goal. I had this

00:25:38 --> 00:25:40

lofty goal, this ambition

00:25:40 --> 00:25:41

to be the governor.

00:25:42 --> 00:25:45

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala granted me this.

00:25:45 --> 00:25:47

I became the governor of a land. And

00:25:47 --> 00:25:49

then I had this ambition

00:25:49 --> 00:25:51

that I wanted to be the khalifa of

00:25:51 --> 00:25:52

the muslims.

00:25:52 --> 00:25:55

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave me this.

00:25:56 --> 00:25:56

And now

00:25:57 --> 00:25:58

I hope

00:25:58 --> 00:25:59

that

00:26:00 --> 00:26:04

I can have this last final lofty ambition

00:26:04 --> 00:26:06

and goal of having the highest stations of

00:26:06 --> 00:26:07

paradise.

00:26:07 --> 00:26:08

And

00:26:08 --> 00:26:10

he will have because he was somebody who

00:26:10 --> 00:26:13

was positive. He was somebody who had an

00:26:13 --> 00:26:15

idea about what he wanted, and he was

00:26:15 --> 00:26:17

negative about what he could achieve,

00:26:17 --> 00:26:18

his potential.

00:26:19 --> 00:26:21

When Allah is on your side, brothers and

00:26:21 --> 00:26:22

sisters,

00:26:22 --> 00:26:24

anything is possible.

00:26:24 --> 00:26:27

When Allah is on your side nothing is

00:26:27 --> 00:26:27

impossible.

00:26:27 --> 00:26:30

So us being believers here in the masjid

00:26:30 --> 00:26:32

today is a blessing from Allah.

00:26:32 --> 00:26:34

We know that we are in this masjid

00:26:34 --> 00:26:35

about to pray

00:26:36 --> 00:26:38

and we're worshiping Allah.

00:26:39 --> 00:26:41

Regardless of our circumstances

00:26:41 --> 00:26:43

and our situation outside of the masjid,

00:26:43 --> 00:26:45

at work, with family,

00:26:46 --> 00:26:48

with our health, whatever the case may be,

00:26:48 --> 00:26:51

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will always be with

00:26:51 --> 00:26:53

us. He'll always be helping us. So long

00:26:53 --> 00:26:56

as we're having good thoughts of Allah.

00:26:58 --> 00:27:00

I am however my slave perceives me and

00:27:00 --> 00:27:01

thinks of me.

00:27:23 --> 00:27:25

Brothers and sisters, we were talking about being

00:27:25 --> 00:27:26

positive

00:27:27 --> 00:27:28

and having positive

00:27:28 --> 00:27:29

thoughts

00:27:29 --> 00:27:31

and how positive thoughts can be something which

00:27:31 --> 00:27:33

will bring about success in a person's life.

00:27:33 --> 00:27:36

And in fact, being positive about Allah Subhanahu

00:27:36 --> 00:27:36

Wa Ta'ala,

00:27:37 --> 00:27:39

having good thoughts of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,

00:27:40 --> 00:27:40

will

00:27:41 --> 00:27:44

be a cause for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

00:27:44 --> 00:27:46

to help you and to aid you.

00:27:46 --> 00:27:48

So when you're positive about your own future,

00:27:49 --> 00:27:52

wealth will come to me if Allah wills.

00:27:52 --> 00:27:55

Allah will provide for me. Allah will take

00:27:55 --> 00:27:57

care of my health. Allah will take care

00:27:57 --> 00:27:59

of all my circumstances as long as I'm

00:27:59 --> 00:28:01

patient and have faith in Allah. Allah will

00:28:01 --> 00:28:02

reciprocate.

00:28:03 --> 00:28:04

Finally, brothers and sisters,

00:28:05 --> 00:28:07

a way in which we can show positivity

00:28:07 --> 00:28:08

in our lives.

00:28:10 --> 00:28:12

According to a hadith of the messenger of

00:28:12 --> 00:28:13

Allah,

00:28:14 --> 00:28:15

when he told us,

00:28:16 --> 00:28:18

whoever makes lots of istighfar,

00:28:19 --> 00:28:20

whoever says astaghfirullah

00:28:21 --> 00:28:23

many times in the day, Allah subhanahu wa

00:28:23 --> 00:28:26

ta'ala will provide for him a way out

00:28:26 --> 00:28:29

of each concern that he has, and he'll

00:28:29 --> 00:28:31

solve all of his problems, and he'll provide

00:28:32 --> 00:28:34

for him from ways he never even imagined.

00:28:34 --> 00:28:36

Simply by saying astaghfirullah.

00:28:37 --> 00:28:38

Simply by increasing our istighfar

00:28:39 --> 00:28:41

and asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive

00:28:41 --> 00:28:43

us. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that

00:28:43 --> 00:28:46

he does forgive us of our sins and

00:28:46 --> 00:28:48

that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us the

00:28:48 --> 00:28:50

ability and the mental capacity

00:28:50 --> 00:28:53

to be positive about all and any of

00:28:53 --> 00:28:53

the situations

00:28:54 --> 00:28:55

which occur in our lives.

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