Aqeel Mahmood – Words of Encouragement
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AI: Transcript ©
Brothers and sisters,
I wanted to talk to you today
about the power of words
and how
the slightest comment,
the smallest word
can have a very power powerful effect,
and
sometimes it just takes one word
for
a relationship between
the spouses to become destroyed.
Or
2 friends
who've been friends since childhood,
their friendship could be destroyed
just because of one gathering, one sitting,
where one small statement was said. As a
result of that statement, they never spoke again.
Or a person who goes to work
and has had this job for many many
years,
and
one day he says something, he utters something
a result of which he loses that job.
Brothers and sisters,
words can have a powerful effect on an
individual.
And sometimes
words can be harmful
but also
when a person says good words,
it can have a powerful effect
on whoever it's said to.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran,
he talks about good words. He talks about
powerful words
when a person recites Quran or
does other types of things with his tongue
which he's rewarded for.
And Allah
gives an example
of the one who says good things.
Allah
says
Do you not see how Allah has given
an example
of a good
word?
Like a good like a good tree.
Its roots are firm
and its branches are all the way into
the sky.
Allah
gives this example brothers and sisters of good
words
being like a tree.
When a person says good things to his
fellow Muslim brother or sister,
This individual,
he's known to have good character partly because
of the things he says.
We look at, for example, the things a
person does, but we also look at the
things he says.
The things that come out of his tongue,
his mouth.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says an individual
who says good things
is like a tree which has firm roots,
solid roots.
We can vouch for a person
by the things that he says.
And its branches are all the way into
the sky.
Meaning the effects of good words
can last a very long time
and they can take a person very very
far.
Brothers and sisters,
I wanted to talk to you today specifically
about words of encouragement,
and how sometimes
we can say a small thing on our
part.
It might be a few words,
but
because of the positive effects of those words
and whoever we say them to,
whoever we say them to, they'll never forget
the things that we say to them.
And even in your own experiences,
you you may remember a time for example
when somebody said something to you.
He congratulated you. He praised you. He said
something good about you.
He encouraged you to
do something.
And you remember that even many years later.
In fact maybe you pursue a career in
something
because of someone's praise to you about something
specific.
And maybe you remember that individual
not because of anything else but except
only because of what he said on a
specific day, and only because of a few
statements, a few sentences, or maybe even one
sentence that he said to you.
That praised you, encouraged you, motivate you to
do something that maybe you weren't comfortable in
doing.
And brothers and sisters,
if we look at the best of examples
and we look at the messenger of Allah
we'll see
that
there were many instances in his life
when
he would praise the companions.
And the companions would be motivated
by the praise of the messenger of Allah
alaihis salatu wa salam.
In fact we'll see companions themselves praising one
another.
And we'll see even the scholars who came
after.
Some of whom
they started to pursue knowledge
because of what other scholars said about them
when they were younger.
The messenger of Allah alaihis salatu wasalam
was once on the mibar with his grandson,
al Hassan radhiallahu an.
And he was very young at the time.
And he said while the other companions were
there, he said
He said this son of mine is going
to be a leader. He's a leader.
And I hope that one day he's going
to reconcile
between 2 great
groups or great armies of the muslim.
And al Hassan
no doubt remembered this praise of the messenger
of Allah many
many years later
when the fitna took place between the Muslims
and there was civil war between the Muslims.
The first time there had been civil war
in Islamic history.
And you had companions on both sides, and
you had Ali and Mu'ab
fighting one another.
Until Ali
himself was assassinated.
And then the leadership went to Al Hasan
And then when they came to Al Hasan
he himself narrated this hadith.
And he remembers the statements of the messenger
of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
calling him a leader.
And you can only imagine brothers and sisters,
the powerful effects that can have on a
child.
And maybe this is something we ourselves lack
when it comes to advising, when it comes
to encouraging.
Imagine someone telling you when you were younger,
you're going to be a rich man.
A person would in his mind, he start
to think that for sure he's going to
become someone wealthy. This man believes I can
do it.
Now imagine telling somebody
or imagine you yourself were told when you
were younger that you're going to become a
scholar. You're going to become a Hafiz of
the Quran.
You're gonna be a great important person when
you become older.
Imagine
how much encouragement that would give us if
we were younger. How much motivation it would
give us.
And then we have to think brothers and
sisters, those we're responsible for, how many times
do we encourage our old children for example?
Those who those of us who are teachers
maybe. How many times do we encourage
our students?
Those who are younger than us, what kind
of inspirational words do we give them to
encourage them? To encourage them, to motivate them.
Instilling these types of words in children when
their young brothers and sisters
inspires them. And they don't they don't forget
these types of words,
this type of encouragement.
They'll remember it until they're older.
And as I said maybe there were instances
in our lives where we remember when people
said things, positive things, good things about us.
A man once said that I can live
on a good compliment for 2 months
because it motivates a person. A person wants
to do more.
Al Hasan
he remembered this statement
and he told the companions and those who
were there at the time about this narration
of the messenger of Allah so
he abdicated.
He left his leadership and he he gave
up his leadership and he gave it to
Muawiyah radia radia radia radia so that there
wouldn't be no fighting between the Muslims.
Many other instances
between
the messenger of Allah alaihis salatu wa salam
and the companions exist where
because of his statements
their love for the messenger of Allah alaihis
salaam would grow.
The famous hadith of one of the companions
coming to the messenger of Allah salaam.
And because of how the messenger of Allah
salaam was with the people,
anybody he spoke to, anybody who interacted with
him, it would feel like as if he
was the only person on earth.
He was given
the complete attention of the messenger of Allah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
To the extent that that person would think
that I am the most beloved person to
him.
So a companion came and he asked,
who's the most beloved person to you?
And so he said,
Aisha, his wife
And so the man said
from the men.
And the messenger of Allah he said,
her father.
And then the man asked then who?
And he said Umrad
And eventually the companion he said
I was afraid to ask more because I
thought maybe he might leave me at the
end.
But it shows us brothers and sisters that
the way we behave towards others
and it doesn't take much.
It takes a few positive words,
a few words of encouragement.
The way we interact and behave with others
can leave them feeling different,
can change their whole perspective,
can motivate them to do more than they
wanted to.
Sometimes a person may be insecure,
He may not be confident. He may not
have the courage to do something that he
wants to partake in, that he wants to
do. And all it takes is a slight
push, a little push for a person to
encourage him, to say good words to him,
to inspire him,
for that person to pent up the courage
to do whatever he wants to do.
Another instance brothers and sisters
of the encouragement
and the praise of the messenger of Allah
alaihi wasalam
was
when there was a disagreement and an argument
between Abu Bakr and Umar and Humber.
And Abu Bakr came
holding his garments
rushing to the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam. And the messenger of Allah he
said,
when he saw Abu Bakr radiaahu an coming,
that this individual
that's coming has gone through something, something has
happened.
Because he was his closest friend. You know
you can tell sometimes those who are close
to you
when they don't look right.
Something isn't right, something's happened. Something in their
face, something in the way they behave.
And when he came
he said, you Rasool Allah,
I had a dis I had a dispute
with Umar radhiallahu and we had a disagreement
as people do, as best friends even do.
And he asked me to forgive him because
he said some words
and I refused to forgive him.
And so the messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi
wa sallam, he said to Abu Bakr radhiallahu
anha, may Allah forgive you. And he repeated
this statement.
When Umar radhiallahu anha came after searching for
Abu Bakr radiaallahu an in his house and
in other places, he found him by the
messenger of Allah salaam.
And as soon as the messenger of Allah
salaam saw him, he became angry.
He said, verily, Abu Bakr radiaallahu an believed
in me when nobody else believed in me.
Imagine brothers and sisters,
somebody you admire, somebody you respect,
praising you in your presence.
Imagine for example brothers and sisters, those who
are young, our children for example,
those who inspire maybe to be like us
even though we're not individuals who are
of any value.
Maybe we have our own shortcomings.
Maybe we don't intend for other individuals to
follow us.
But people inspire
to be like other individuals who are older
than them.
Praising them sometimes gives them that encouragement.
It develops a kind of trust,
a
kind
of
bond.
Other narrations are mentioned
from the scholars
about how the companions would behave
when it came to their students.
One of the greatest Tabireen who ever lived
by the name of Al Hasan al Basri,
he grew up
around the household of the messenger of Allah
And the wife of the messenger of Allah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
she would take care of him when he
was younger.
And she would take him out and send
him to the companions.
And he lived a couple of years in
the life of Umar
He was born in the last 2 years
of the leadership of Umar
When she would take him out
and the companions would see him, and Umar
would see him,
Umar himself would supplicate for him. Remember he's
only 2 years old.
You don't notice any specific talent from a
child who's 2 years old.
Yet Umar radiAllahu ansimplicates
for al Hashem al Basri.
Oh Allah give him understanding of the religion,
and make him loved by the people.
And this supplication was responded to.
When Al Hajjaj,
the tyrant ruler
who was known to execute scholars, when he
brought Imam al Hassan al Basri forward,
he said to him,
Hassan. What's kept you alive so long o
Hassan?
How come you how come I haven't killed
you yet? How come you're still alive and
other scholars have died?
And Imam al Hassan al Basri he said,
2 years from the leadership of Omar.
The supplication of Omar.
The blessed time I spent
in the time when Omar
was the leader of the Muslims.
Another scholar by the name of Sa'id ibn
Jubair,
a famous tabi,
when he was younger,
he used to have a rooster.
And this rooster used to crow in the
middle of the night every single night.
And instead
of Sayed ibn Jubair maybe sacrificing this rooster
or giving this rooster away, he would look
at the silver lining.
And so every night when the rooster would
crow he would wake up and he would
perform,
and he will start to offer the Hajjood
prayer.
And this shows us brothers and sisters the
importance of always looking on the bright side,
always looking at the silver lining,
always taking advantage of things even though it
may seem like things which are hindering us,
things which may be obstacles in our path.
One day,
in the middle of the night, the rooster
never crowed.
And Sayyid ibn Jabay Rahimahullah,
he woke up at fajr time, and he
became angry.
So he said,
what's wrong with this rooster? And may Allah
cut his throat.
And after he made this supplication,
the rooster never ever made a sound ever
again.
His mother when she noticed what had happened,
she she said to
she said,
oh,
yeah,
Bani, oh my son,
don't ever make dua against anybody again
because she recognized the power and the effect
of the dua of Sa'ed ibn Jubail.
Many years later,
Sa'id ibn Jabir was also in the presence
of Al Hajjaj.
And
Al Hajjaj
happened to execute Sa'id ibn Jabir
as he executed many other scholars
of the time.
But before he executed him, Sa'id ibn Jubailrah
made a supplication.
He made a dua
and he said, oh Allah,
don't make Al Hajjaj execute
anybody else after me.
When Al Hajjaj executed Saeed Rahmahullah,
it said that
Al Hajjaj felt remorse.
He felt guilty.
He became overcome with grief because of what
he did to Saeed.
And he would
say,
Where am I with Saeed? What have I
done in regards to this situation? Why did
I why did I execute him? Why did
I kill him?
And the rations mentioned he only killed and
executed one more individual and then he himself
died, he himself passed away.
Brothers and sisters,
words themselves,
words of encouragement
can have a powerful effect
on an individual.
And maybe we are where we are today
because of some statements of some individuals,
people we know,
relatives,
friends of ours
that motivated us to do what we're doing
today.
Whether that's a specific career,
whether that's seeking knowledge,
whatever it may be. There are people who
direct us in our life,
and they take us on a specific path.
All by the and the will of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And they they may be different people.
They may be people who are neighbors to
us. They may be family members. They may
be even our teachers, or maybe people we
hardly ever meet.
But we only remember them because of the
statements, because of the things that they said
regarding us. Words of encouragement,
words of praise,
which motivated us to do whatever it is
that we did.
So likewise brothers and sisters,
we need to ponder and we need to
reflect that just like those people who praised
us,
we remember them
and it had an effect on our lives
and what we're doing
and on our motivation.
Likewise brothers and sisters, there are individuals who
need that motivation.
There are those who are younger than us.
Not only younger than us, not only children,
but even adults need inspiration.
Even adults need words of encouragement.
There are those around us who only need
some words of encouragement
so that they can
take that one extra step that they that
they need, that they're looking for.
It's just it just takes a few words
for a person to reach his true potential.
Brothers and sisters, we were talking
about the power of words
and about how influential and how powerful words
can be, and specifically words of encouragement.
It may be that
people
encouraged us, said things to us when we
were younger that we still remember today
even though
we don't really know much about those people
except for that one specific statement. And because
of what they said, we decided to pursue
a certain career. We decided to maybe even
end up memorizing Quran
or following a specific path in search of
knowledge.
1 1 specific individual,
one scholar in fact from the past
who happened to
be in a similar situation
was the great
scholar and faqih, imam Abu Hanifa
when he was young, he wasn't someone who
was a student of knowledge. He was just
your normal him normal Muslim. He never really
pursued
knowledge and used to attend the the gatherings
of of the scholars
and the circles of the scholars.
He used to help in fact his father
with his business and his father was a
cloth merchant. And imam Abu Hanifa later also
was somebody who was involved in this business
as well because of his father.
Once Imam Abu Hanifa was passing by the
great scholar, Imam al Sha'abi.
And Imam al Sha'abi said to him, where
are you going?
Who are you going to? So he said
I'm going to so and so, such and
such person. So Imam al Sha'abi, he said
to him, why don't you go and mix
with the scholars?
Why don't you go to the scholars instead?
And so imam al Hanifa said, I'm not
really someone who goes to the scholars in
terms of mixing with them or sitting with
them and learning from them. I'm not really
a student of knowledge.
And so imam al Shabi,
he said, you need to go and learn
with the scholars because I see in you.
I see in you enlightenment,
awakening,
activeness,
you're proactive.
And so it was this specific encounter
that made Imam Abu Hanifa Rahimahullah pursue knowledge.
And he became the scholar who he became.
One of the greatest scholars of history.
The messenger of Allah alaihis salatu wa sallam,
he mentioned in the hadith
that
two things
will cause a person to enter into the
hellfire.
Whatever is between his legs and whatever is
between his lips.
Because statements, brothers and sisters,
they can either
be statements of good
where we are rewarded as a result of
those statements,
or they can be a result of evil
and sin.
The messenger of Allah
he mentioned in the hadith
that whomsoever believes in the final day
Let him speak good or remain silent.
And brothers and sisters, if you really ponder
over this hadith, there's so much benefit, there's
so much value in the statement of the
messenger of Allah
Because many times
we want to put people down.
Maybe just for the fun of it.
Somebody trips up, somebody makes a mistake,
somebody literally trips up, we want to say
something.
We wanna make fun of them.
Make a smart comment so that other people
will laugh.
But the messenger of Allah
told us about the value of remaining silent
if there isn't anything beneficial to say.
And most importantly to say good things, encouraging
things instead.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that Allah
gives us the ability to be able to
inspire others and to be able to encourage
others to do
good deeds and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
as a result of this will cause us
to enter into paradise.