Bilal Assad – 3 Levels of Believers
AI: Summary ©
The National Security Council discusses the shaping of Islam, including the importance of forgiveness and forgiveness of small acts. They stress the importance of not criticizing people for their actions and not criticizing them for their actions. The segment also touches on the shaping of one's life and the importance of avoiding negative things and protecting one's property, reputation, wealth, and bills. Believers in worship and protecting their property, reputation, wealth, and bills are essential for everyone.
AI: Summary ©
Assalamu Alaikum,
Birmingham.
It's a pleasure to be here. May Allah
reward you and bless you. Brothers and sisters,
Alhamdulillahi
rabbilalamin.
You know brothers and sisters,
with the ongoing atrocities that we are seeing
in Gaza and Palestine
Our hearts bleed.
We're seeing the atrocities on social media and
we feel helpless. It's very hard to see
it all the time when we don't know
what we can do more than that.
But we are trying our best.
And one of the things that we are
seeing
is a phenomena.
A change and a shift in the world.
I think you'll agree with me.
A change and a shift in the world
where for the first time in 75 years
of the history of Palestine,
people around the world Muslim and non Muslim
in the billions
are seeing a very different narrative and the
strategy in the future
is going to be different Insha'Allah
a new generation
with new justice Insha'Allah Allah
is planning everything.
At the same time
another new phenomena
has showed up.
I think you'll agree with me
that so many people we've seen on social
media
are now
either converting or reverting to Islam
and they are looking at the Quran.
TikTok analytics
show that there are over 30,000,000,000
views
with the hashtag Islam and Quran now.
Never seen before.
All because they are inspired
by the strong faith
and the strength
of our brothers and sisters
who are showing
what reliance on Allah really means and they
think to themselves what is it about their
faith in this Quran
that makes them stand in the face of
such atrocities
while seeing their children being pulled out of
the rubbles right before their eyes dead? What
is it we wanna know?
And you know what, brothers and sisters?
The sentiment is changing.
For the first time
since the beginning of 21st century,
contrasting the anti sentiment against Islam.
We, you and I, have to continue to
be steadfast.
And we have to attach ourselves to the
Quran.
The words of Allah never change.
And alhamdulillah, they are still with us. Allah
talks to us every day.
Brothers and sisters,
the theme of this event is called the
Quran.
The Quran.
And we don't wanna be among those whom
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talked about in the
story of one of the prophets who was
Muhammad salaam and the other prophets when they
said about when it talks about the day
of judgment.
And the prophets will stand up and Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
The messenger will say on the day of
judgment, oh my lord,
my people, these ones, they abandoned the Quran
and didn't live with it in their life.
He'll complain.
We don't wanna be among them.
We have to be proud of the Quran.
And today, insha Allah, I want to present
a very short talk about a specific verse
in the Quran which talks about 3 levels
of believers.
3 levels
of believers.
Let us look at those verses Insha'Allah.
In Surah
35,
verse 32, Allah
says,
Allah says,
then we bequeathed,
meaning
we gave over
like an inheritance,
the book, the Quran,
to those of our servants
that we chose.
Now
some of them wrong themselves,
and some follow the medium course,
and some by Allah's leave
compete with each other in acts of goodness.
That is the great bounty.
They shall enter the everlasting gardens,
shall be adorned with bracelets of gold and
with pearls and their apparel, therein shall be
silk. They will say, 'All praise be to
Allah who has taken away all our sorrows
from us. Surely our Lord is most forgiving,
most appreciative.'
Let's analyse these verses.
It starts
with Allah saying, and so we bequeathed the
Quran to those whom we chose.
Who does Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala choose to
hold the Quran?
Every Muslim.
The Muslims are the inheritors of the Quran.
Who are the Muslims?
There are 2 types.
They are the ones who were born into
a Muslim family.
And as they grew up, they maintained being
Muslims.
And they kept it going. They are the
1st inheritors of the Quran,
and the 2nd inheritors of the Quran are
the ones who were not born into a
Muslim family and they were non Muslim.
Then they studied the Quran
and they believed in the Quran
and said the Shahadah
and died upon it. These are the 2
people Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is talking about
who inherit the book of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
So rejoice brothers and sisters that you are
all heirs
of the Quran whom Allah chose.
You might be thinking, how does Allah choose
me?
Do I have no choice?
Yes, you do. The Hidayah of Allah, The
way Allah
guides you is coupled with you wanting it.
It's like a person
who is lost and trying to find their
way in a land which they've never been
in. So they find someone who is a
local
and they give them a map.
If you follow this map, you will reach
the destination.
If you don't follow this map, you will
be gone astray.
But if you do follow the map and
you reach the destination,
then we say, who is the one that
helped you be guided?
The person who gave you the map.
Who is the one that reciprocated and responded
to it?
You. So that means you chose the map
and the map chose you. Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala gave you the guidance, you reciprocated.
Therefore, through Allah's guidance, you have been chosen.
Brothers and
sisters, being the heirs of the Quran however,
there are 3 types of these believers.
The first type of the believers,
level number 1,
those
who are unjust to themselves.
The level 2,
those who choose the medium course.
And number 3,
those who excel
and race towards goodness. These there's 2 levels
of believers. No 4th.
All of them are inheritors of the Quran
and all of them are promised paradise, Insha'Allah.
And all of them will finally say, who
has given us this
and taken away our sorrows.
And Allah says, finally,
your lord is forgiving, most appreciative.
Forgiving means Allah will not look at the
tiny little details of your sins. He'll forgive
your sins without you even asking. Allah is
not like a person who looks at every
single mistake
that their employee does for example, or their
child does, or their student does, or whoever,
and then
punish them for every little thing. No. Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala forgives. And he looks past
a lot of our sins and he is
appreciative.
Meaning that for the little work that you
and I do, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives
you tremendous rewards in the 1,000 of multiples
over each other.
Brothers and sisters, let's look at the 3
levels.
Level number 1, those who wrong themselves, those
who were unjust to themselves. And this is
the majority of Muslims in the world.
Who are they?
The ones who wrong themselves
or the ones who are unjust to themselves?
They are Muslims
who sincerely believe in Allah and the Quran
and his messenger.
If you ask them they say, I believe
in Allah and everything Allah brought in the
Quran. I believe in Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
everything he said. Asha do Allah illa illa
Allah wa Asha do Anna Muhammad Rasulullah. However,
they wrong themselves.
They live a life
filled with sins.
They live a life with major sins
on and off. They repent sometimes but they
procrastinate
a lot.
They don't fulfill all their obligations, all the
farat.
They pray on and they pray off. When
they fast Ramadan, they do it kind of
with annoyance, for example. And sometimes they might
miss a day or 2. They are people
who have neglected the obligations,
done a few major sins and they live
a life of sin. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says they are unjust to themselves.
But
they believe
but sinful.
Culprits
but not rebellious.
Weak of faith, but not hypocritical
and unbelieving in their hearts.
These people are called
Those who are wronging themselves.
SubhanAllah how beautiful Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala states
it. Allah is not the one who wrongs
us.
Allah says, we are not the ones who
wronged them, but they are the ones who
wrong themselves.
We choose to wrong ourselves.
Why should we wrong ourselves?
Why should we hurt ourselves? Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala doesn't want that. But he doesn't
make a person become
religious.
It is good to say, O Allah, Uhudini.
O Allah, give me guidance. It's good to
ask someone who is going to Umrah say,
make dua for me for Allah to guide
me. It's good.
We always ask Allah's guidance. But if you
think
that guidance comes without your efforts,
just by dua,
then the shaitan has played and manipulated your
mind.
Du'a
with your work.
Allah doesn't change you. You have to change
yourself.
This first group brothers and sisters,
they are
what is their fate?
Their fate is that if they die like
that,
they will be judged.
And on the day of judgment, their judgment
will be back and forth,
meaning that they will argue about their sins.
There'll be a discussion.
Why did you do this? What explanation have
you got? And this person who was wrong
themselves will say, but, my lord, you know,
so and so, it was their fault. It
was my parents. It was my friends. It
was my shaitan. It was my they keep
going back and forth. Some of them deny.
These people are Muslims,
but they will be scared on that day
so there'll be a bit of a discussion
happening.
Also, their fate will be the following. They
will be detained
throughout the day of judgement.
Allahu Alham how long that will be.
But after a long time
they will either suffer some punishment on the
day of judgement,
or they'll just be waiting and don't know
their fate.
And some of them will go to hellfire
for a little bit, but eventually saved.
And some of them won't go to hellfire
at all and eventually saved.
And some of them will be waiting not
knowing what their fate is. But then finally,
Allah's mercy reaches them and they enter paradise.
Aisha radhiallahu anha,
when she heard the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
say,
Whoever on the day of judgment
is judged
is most likely going to be punished.
She said, You Rasulullah,
what about the verse in the Quran which
says,
What does it mean You Rasulullah? And she
said to him, Fidaqa You Rasulullah.
I would ransom myself for you, O Messenger
of Allah. This is his wife saying that
to him. And out of respect for Rasulullah
sallam, what about the verse that says, and
those who receive their book in their right
will be judged an easy and light judgment?
He said,
Those are the people whom Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala will just show their sins in front
of them
but no discussion back and forth will happen.
As for those where a discussion back and
forth will happen,
most of
them will receive a consequence because they're gonna
be deniers.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala not make us
among them.
Among them are Muslims
and sincere but they wrong themselves.
These types of people brothers and sisters,
I want to advise. There are people among
us who look at themselves as religious.
They're the best.
Because they go to the masjid,
they pray their prayers,
they join charity organizations,
they work in amazing events,
they give dawah,
they wear hijab, they've got beards, masha'Allah, they
dress in a certain way. There are people
who are like that.
And it's amazing
but unfortunately
some of us, the shaitan gets to us
and makes us think that we are superior
and better than everyone else because we've prayed
a little bit more than them, for example.
No.
A true believer who is practicing never praises
himself or herself and never thinks they are
more pious than others no matter what they
see in other people.
Allah says,
He is the one who knows true beauty
lies. Never praise yourselves in piety.
They have a duty.
Never look at people who are sinners
as inferior
but look at them as people whom Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala may be
has put in your lives to help them,
teach them, guide them, and treat them with
goodness.
We do not put down people.
We don't ridicule people for their shortcomings in
Islam. That's for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
deal with, not you and me.
I see some practicing Muslims on the outside
among my friends and among the people that
I know sometimes fall into this problem.
Instead of bringing people closer,
they make them hate Islam. They make them
run away from Islam because they're quick to
play
a kind of judge. And some of them
may
even fall into the problem of shirk. I'll
give you an example. The hadith is in
Sahih Muslim. Rasool Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that
there were these 2 men. 1 of them
was
on the outside more religious than the other
one so he kept on giving him advice.
And his friend would not listen. In the
end, the first friend was harsh to him
and then he said to him, wallahi Allah
will never forgive you. You don't deserve it.
Look at you.
You don't deserve Allah's forgiveness the way you're
going.
5 years I've been telling you, 6 years
or whatever it was. Rasool SAW ASSALEAM says
Allah will raise them on the day of
judgment and he will say
Where is this person who is making himself
a judger on my behalf?
Who told you that I will not forgive
him?
I have forgiven his friend and take his
other one to the fire. Why? Because the
one who made the judgment played god.
We have to be very careful of that
brothers and sisters.
So Rasool SAW A SAWA said,
A believer
gives good news and brings positivity
and glad tidings to people. Even if they
speak about something negative, they bring it in
a positive way.
Make things easy, don't make them difficult.
Rasool sallahu alaihi wa sallam told us command
good and prohibit evil. Command good
with goodness
and wisdom.
Prohibit evil
without the evil.
Otherwise,
avoid it if you know it's gonna get
worse.
Our character
is the best dawah
for most people,
and people
love to see a person walk the talk.
Next, my dear brothers and sisters, is the
level of the medium
course. Allah says,
Some of these who inherit the Quran among
the Muslims are on the middle ground in
their life. Who are they? They are the
Muslims
Who do all the minimum Islamic
obligations,
all the farut.
The 5 daily prayers, fasting Ramadan,
their hajj, their zakat, they never miss it.
And they don't do major sins. And if
they do a major sin, they repent
somewhat quickly and sometimes procrastinate.
But at the same time, they neglect
or they take the minor sins for granted.
They say, they're just minor sins. It doesn't
matter. And you'll find them, they will
do the makru things, the dislike things. They'll
say, Oh, it's just disliked. Who cares? Oh,
it's just a sunnah.
These people are the middle ground. They do
fear Allah. They do the obligation but they
do the minimum and they never go below
the obligation.
Sometimes they do nafil, sometimes they do sunnahs,
sometimes they read the Quran and sometimes they
don't. They've got long sometimes they have long,
you know, weeks
on a high,
and some weeks on a low, Some weeks
they they free themselves
and do sins, and sometimes they get stronger.
Sometimes they're only very strong in Ramadan. And
after Ramadan, they go back to the bare
minimum. Sometimes these are types of build that
shaitan says to them, you did you did
amazing in Ramadan, and you've got all these
good deeds, you can let your hair down
for a couple of days on Eid, and
do a couple of sins. Man, they're not
gonna affect you because you got big bags
of good rewards. They're just gonna be a
drop in the ocean for you. And so
they find excuses for themselves. These types of
people are the middle ground.
The first ones I mentioned are the majority.
The fate. What is the fate of the
middle ground people?
They are the ones who on a day
of judgement will have a light accountability.
Because they repented from their major sins,
they had they still did their obligations,
they didn't fall beyond their obligations,
and they didn't do major sins.
The light hissab mean that Allah will show
them their sins and there will not be
a discussion between them. And Allah looks at
their good deeds as a whole, and he
looks at their bad deeds as a whole.
Meaning he won't look at every single good
deed and reward you for every single good
deed, and won't look at every single sin
and reward you for every single sin, but
as a whole.
It's like when you go to the market
and you wanna buy tomatoes
and you say, how much for the whole
box?
Instead of every tomato. An example.
Bad example, but it's an example.
So that's the middle ground. And now we
come to the last one. The ones who
excel.
The ones who excel are the ones whom
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loves the most. And
they're the ones we need to reach.
And they're the minority.
Allah says,
And some of them who inherit the Quran,
they race each other for goodness. They race
each other.
They are fast. They compete
for the hereafter.
They see a good deed, you find them
racing. They won't let him or her do
it, they wanna do it. They wanna help.
They wanna donate. They wanna be there before
them. They wanna go for the cause. They
wanna advise,
but advise of course with goodness. They're the
ones who want to pray, they wanna be
in the first row, they wanna be to
compete and Allah
says,
It is in this that those who wanna
compete should be competing
for Jannah.
These are the people who love each other
for the sake of Allah.
These are the people who never abandon or
hate each other
for the sake of Allah.
These are the meaning that for worldly reasons,
they don't abandon each other. It's very hard
to get them upset. And if they do
get upset, they'll get upset from one angle,
but they'll still love you from another. You
akhir, my brothers and sisters, these types of
people that we are talking about, they are
unique
and there's not many of them.
Wallahi, you see them sometimes. And if Allah
blesses you with these types of believers,
night and day. Let's describe them very quickly.
They
have a different heart.
They truly find love in worship. When they
worship
and when they pray,
they love it.
They like to stay longer.
After their salat, they love to do their
sunnas.
If they're too busy, they'll do it later.
They sit after salat
a little bit because they want the angels
to make dua for them.
They turn and they are ready to help
and never make other people feel uncomfortable
or feel that they're not wanted.
The moment you sit with them, you feel
like you are the most important person in
the world because they are humble
and they live below their reality.
They're not people of ego trying to show
something that they're not.
They are humble because they know the prophet
said,
Whoever humbles themselves for the sake of Allah,
Allah will lift them.
They are the believers who what?
They are the believers
who on the day of judgement will be
in the front row near to Allah
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will reward them
for their fore frontedness in this world by
being forefront in the hereafter.
Rasool salaahu alaihi wa sallam said this in
the Hadith
which is in Ibn Umasah and Sunan Ahmad
about these three levels
of believers and how they'll be treated.
A true believer is always repentant.
As soon as they do a sin, they
don't wait till the next day. They don't
procrastinate.
He is frequent in zikr, this true believer.
What does zikr mean? Meaning they remember Allah
not only in here but on their tongues
and in their actions.
Before sunrise and after sunset,
he repeats the words
100 times because you read about the prophet
who said, who would like to make
dhikr 1000 times by saying these at sunrise
and sunset
100 times. Allah will count it for you
1,000.
True believers, they make 500 tasbih,
Takbir and Tahleel. SubhanAllah, hamdulillahu aqbar everyday. How?
After every salah. 5 daily prayers. After the
salah, they say subhanAllah 33 times, hamdulillah 33
times, Allahu Akbar 33 times and finish it
with la ilaha illallah count them all and
that's 500 times each. They make 500
words of zikr everyday.
These people brothers and sisters, they are strange
and different
to the common person. When someone interacts with
this believer,
that person always receives benefit. Whenever you meet
them, you either walk away with new knowledge,
with a new character, with a new feeling
that is good, or you learn something from
them.
You always benefit from them in some way
or another. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
Do you know who the true Mu'min is?
They said, Allahu wa Rasoolhu know. He said,
The true Mu'min
A true believer
Sorry. Al Mu'minu
A true Mu'min is the one that when
people are around him or her they feel
that their property,
their blood, and their honor is safe.
You don't get afraid of him. You feel
that you can trust him. That's what a
believer makes you feel.
A Muslim or a believer
covers the faults of his brother or sister.
They don't go out of their way to
expose their faults. They don't like
gossiping or talking about them even if it's
true. And if there is anything that they
need to talk to them about, they think
over and over again with sensitivity.
What is the best way that I can
help this brother and sister from their erring?
Should I do it in public on social
media?
Should I cancel them?
Should I get up and make myself be
known?
Because, you know, in Arabic, we have this
statement the scholars used to say,
If you wanna be known
just oppose someone famous.
No. A believer does not want fame. A
believer does not want attention. And to correct
his brother or sister, they will find the
way that best
helps them. Listen to Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu
and Rabi'a radiAllahu anhu. Rabiya and Abu Bakr
radhiallahu anhu. Rabiya and Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu.
Rabiya and Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu. Rabiya and
Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu. Rabiya and Abu Bakr
radhiallahu anhu. Rabiya and Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu.
Rabiya and Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu gave them
each a gift, a little land. And in
the middle there was a palm tree. And
the palm tree was in the way. And
then Abu Bakr
they kind of disputed in a friendly way
that the palm tree belongs to my land.
And Abu Bakr said, the palm tree belongs
to my land. The prophet gave it to
me. Suddenly Abu Bakr said a word, Rabi'a
says, it hurt me a little bit. So
then he realized and Abu Bakr said, please
say it back to me. Please say it
back to me. He said, no, wallahi, I
will not say it back to you. So
Abu Bakr alaihi said, I'm gonna complain to
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam about you. So
he went over there and some of the
people who had converted to Islam knew. They
said,
how can he complain when he's the one
who hurt you with the word? He said,
don't you dare talk about Abu Bakr radiAllahu
anhu. He is the friend of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And if he's angry
with me, rasool salallahu alaihi wa sallam may
be angry with me and Allah will be
angry with me. Get away. So he followed
him to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
and the prophet shalallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
is it true You Rabbi'ah what Abu Bakr
is saying? He said, Yes, You Rasool Allah.
He said this to me, and I wouldn't
reply it back to him. He said, good.
Don't say it. But
instead
say,
May Allah forgive you, you Abu Bakr. May
Allah forgive you Abu Bakr. May Allah forgive
you Abu Bakr then got up and walked
away while he was crying and weeping.
Allah forgive me.
This is how the brotherhood and sisterhood is,
brothers and sisters. We want the best for
each other and we'll give up what we
need for our brothers and sisters, their reputation,
their property, their wealth, their dignity, everything.
And lastly, brothers and sisters, there's so much
to say about what a believer is, but
very importantly,
we monitor our tongue, our ears, our hearts,
and our eyes. A true believer keeps them
all protected and repents when they do the
wrong.
Brothers and sisters, finally, a true believer
is someone
whose family, his wife, his husband, his children,
his parents,
they all testify
to their goodness.
A believing husband
treats his wife with goodness and respect and
values her.
He sees her as a gem.
Especially in public, he never puts her down.
And if he ever advises her, it's in
private.
He makes her feel that she is secure
and loved.
He doesn't ridicule her with words.
He doesn't ridicule his children with words so
that they're afraid of their father every time
he enters.
A true believing woman is the one who
makes her husband feel that truly he is
an amazing man who provides his family even
if she sees some faults in him. And
every
now and then she tells him what she
appreciates about him. Sisters wallahi, if you wanna
help your husband to be feel amazing and
to be more energetic and better in his
life, your words will make a huge difference
to his heart. Tell him what you appreciate
about him. Brothers, you want your wife to
love you and to treat you the way
you would love, then you treat her in
the way that she wants to feel secure
and loved. That's how the prophet was. She
said, Aisha radiAllahu anha used to help us
at home. He used to speak to us
beautiful words, and whenever he entered the home,
he was delightful and cheerful.
Even though people wanted to assassinate him and
all the problems outside, Rasool Sazam entered his
house by sermon. Cheerful.
And when the children see you, they imitate
you because our children don't often obey us
but they always imitate us. They'll say, how
is mom and dad treating each other? This
is the way I should be. That's how
believers should be. So if the child sees
his father ridiculing and abusing his mother, he'll
grow up to abuse his wife. If a
daughter sees her mother abusing her husband, she'll
say this is the way I'm gonna treat
my husband because that's how my parents were.
Yes.
We are role models and Allah will ask
us about that. Brothers and sisters, as Allah
is my witness, I love to help my
brothers and sisters as much as I can,
And I ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
bless you and to make you benefit for
others for the best. Rasool alaihi wa sallam
said, the best of people is the one
most beneficial to to others. Finally, may Allah
bless our brothers and sisters in Palestine. May
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
have mercy on their martyrs, and make their
children awaiting for them at the doors of
paradise, and in the fountain at the fountain
of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam. Oh, Allah
change their fear into security and change their
hardship into ease. Oh Allah, return the Muslims
back to your deen. Oh Allah,
unite the world to justice
and assist us, help us, forgive us for
our shortcomings.