Recovering from Spiritual Disconnect

All right, are the bIllahi min ash shaytani R rajim Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem in Al hamdu, lillahi, namah, Davao and a stallion who wanna steal Pharaoh. When are all the bIllahi min Cerulean fusina Huaming se e tr Marlena Mejia de la who Fela medulla when are you little fella head yella? Eyeshadow Allah Allah in Lola who the hula Cherie Keller wash Hello Anna Mohammed Abdullah whom are solo and my god, verily all praises due to Allah we praise Him, we seek His help and we seek his forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil within ourselves and the evil consequences of our evil actions. Whoever Allah subhanaw taala guides, none can misguide. And whoever is led astray, none can

guide I bet witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah. He is alone and has no partner and I bear witness that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is his slave and messenger. Salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. My dear sisters, teenagers and even young six year olds who we've got tuning in mashallah on Zoom, amazing dedication, it's lovely to see all your beautiful faces insha Allah hopeful, aspiring, repentant, wanting to increase in knowledge wanting to reawaken something within your heart and soul.

You know, Allah subhanaw taala chose each and every one of us to be able to be here today. 1,000,001 Things could have gotten in the way of us attending. Number one, our own motivation, alright, it's cold, it's rainy, it's could have a cozy Saturday afternoon. This time of the day, I personally get a little bit sleepy. By three o'clock I have this like three o'clock kind of Lebanon think I need to sit down after a you know, a hectic day.

So it takes something in the first place in that first instance to just get yourself out and striving and seeking knowledge. And we know the beautiful Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, where he said that when the person embarks on the path of seeking knowledge, they embark on the path to paradise. Because the only way to get to Paradise, the only path to Paradise is a path that is based on sound knowledge, you cannot make up the path, you cannot imagine and guess the path. You cannot grab a path that somebody else in the world

might

demonstrate or or claim to be some kind of truthful path. You have to follow the path to paradise that is the path that is the truth, the ultimate truth, so has to be based on truth, and the truest of all truth that we Muslims believe in is the word of Allah subhanaw taala the Quran and the living example of the Quran was the prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So we're here today and we're blessed by Allah. So we take that moment to show gratitude to him, that he chose us to be here, at any given moment, whatever we are participating in any gathering that we put ourselves in, in any environment in any action. Last month, Allah decreed that for us, so it means he either

decreed for us a higher status or lofty status, or he decreed for us something lowly. Yes, we had the choice. And yes, we know that cada is something which was decreed by Allah subhanaw taala, 50,000 years before the creation of the heavens and the earth. But we also know that we have free will. So when we find ourselves in a bad situation, allotments Allah has permitted and decreed we have to know that we got there from our own hands. And if we're in a good situation, we're in a good environment, we know we can feel something different that we put ourselves in a good environment amongst good people, again, amongst NGL and angelic atmosphere, angels who are now piling on top of

each other, reaching up to the heavens to listen in to the remembrance of Allah subhanaw taala and angelic environment in the mosque, the cleanest place to be, this was decreed by Allah subhanaw taala and we thank him for that, that he chose us. Okay, the topic today that we selected that we discussed in brainstorming, I thought, you know, I was supposed to come last year and things were canceled are supposed to come the Saturday and things were canceled. But you know, things don't happen sometimes because of Allah's permission, we are withheld from goodness and gatherings of benefit from from Allah subhanaw taala for whatever reason, as a test, he wanted us not to be

connected for a longer span of time coming out of COVID and the isolation of that, and then not being able to gather at our usual ladies gatherings or our must be and it was delayed, delayed delayed, for whatever reason in Allah's wisdom. And so we've come now together and we're choosing the topic of recovering from spiritual disconnect. Why did we choose that topic because we've done it and selected it based on the assumption that there might be a

and experience amongst our sisters have some kind of spiritual disconnect. So I'm going to start with asking you to ask yourself, because we're not here to think about who outside of us is spiritually disconnected who from our family? Or who from our enemies, who from our competitors is spiritually disconnected. We are here to check in with ourselves. Am I spiritually disconnected? Some of you saw the title and the title made you come? Because you said yeah, uh huh. I feel kind of disconnected. I don't feel as high as I usually do. Feeling a bit of a sluggish low start to the year, or you're like Ramadan is coming and I need to prepare. I need to get connected early this

time. Whatever reason, there must be so many reasons. But you need to ask yourself, are you in any way spiritually disconnected?

Who would say yes.

In what way

He wants to give an example.

You might say I feel like my prayers aren't what they could be or what they used to be. You might say, I feel spiritually disconnected in my dua. Like I used to make heaps of DUA and I don't make as much dua. Yeah. Anyone? Just motivation to get up and pray I guess. Yeah.

Yeah, the motivation feeling Yeah, the spiritual motivation has changed. Yeah. Yes. Auntie found myself like, thinking about dunya more or more focused on dunya things. Yeah. And things that happen. Anyone else? Other times? Yes. Having less time to lectures or attending.

Yeah, less time in lessons and lectures, who noticed that once upon a time, I remember back in the Facebook days, there would be like 20 minute 40 minute lectures, one hour lectures, I would watch them and I'd see them a lot in my feed. Now very rarely see an actual people sharing lectures. Now we see 15, eight second, tick tock videos for someone going.

And a little reminder there. God loves those who are kind Be patient. And you're like, wow, my soul is invigorated. Right? That's the depth and the extent of our spiritual connection. Like, oh, you know, we watch a video someone's reciting Quran beautifully. And it's some waves crashing, like alone. And then we slide and that someone dancing in their underwear or, Pamela look at that contrast. We have to realize that never before especially with digital content, have we do we engage in so much transitionary states we've never had so many states of fast changing know talked about movies and cartoons back in the old days, the cartoon would have one scene. And then there's another

scene and that goes for a few seconds. Sometimes like a minute almost. Or someone talking. I think when you're younger, my mom is still you know, resort, Bolden the beautiful, the scene would stay on the people's face for so long talking. I've got I loved you. I thought you loved me and I'll just stay there. Now, they have tell us that they have videos saying that Coco melon, the kid thing is like cocaine because of how fast the image changes. Then Then they go one, two, before it hits three seconds, it changes that impact on the eyes. And the brain. Crazy for children. It's setting them up to be drug addicts from toddlerhood. Likewise, this change of state of the content that we expose

ourselves to if you scroll and you look at your feed, you go from Allah Allahu Akbar. It's Dora it's Quran, and then someone's dancing. And then there's an advertisement for clothes, and then there's something about shoes. And then there's someone crying suicidal mental health issue then, and your brain goes within a minute, through 10 videos, and 10 different states.

We are already told in Islamic tradition, that the heart is like a column. It's like a taco loop something that's always changing. It's been described as being like a pot of boiling water. It's being described as being like a feather that blows in the wind as it is as a false if that's the state before this type of spiritual, mental intellectual emotional stimulation, imagine now

the nature of the heart is always changing. So now imagine how quickly when we say these examples of what we're exposed to in the state of heart that places is in how can we ever say that your collection?

How can we ever settle in connection

when we're in this ever changing state?

So we talking about this topic recovering from spiritual disconnect.

The stimulation creates a disconnect, cut, cut cut, you just heard an eye of Quran you started to settle and contemplate and we're told Allah Samantha Allah says FMLA affiliated Barone Al Quran

Am I allowed to Lubin aka fellow had? Do they not contemplate and ponder upon the Quran? Or are their hearts hardened?

We don't even get to soften into hearing something and it's like anyway. Anyway, you know when someone's talking to me about something really deep with someone and you're like, yes. Oh my gosh, and then one of the people ruin it and they go, anyway. Have you guys seen that new show? You're like, oh, we were just settling into that. The soul needs this groundedness the soul needs to settle.

The soul needs to settle. The world that we're in now the type of world we live in. It thrives on this distressed soul, this irritated, unsettled and satiated.

Disturbed soul, okay, the economic systems of the world thrive on it you need to buy, you need to consume you need to watch you need to numb, numb and numb and numb your yearning soul. We know in the Quran, Allah Subhana Allah says that Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest. So when people choose, we choose to disconnect from digital things. We choose to disconnect from materialism, which is a disconnect from all types of media, which is a disconnect from socialization and all the different poisons and toxins of the heart. When we do that, you're left with your own state. What is that state, if it's connected, you feel fine, you feel whole, if it's not connected,

you feel agitated, and disturbed and unsettled, and sad, and lonely. And there's an ache there. Because there's disconnect.

What screams from us right now, each and every day is disconnect.

There's a yearning in us that never gets satiated, except by the remembrance of Allah subhanaw taala, except through connecting with him through spiritual means, through reading and reflecting upon the Quran, through gatherings of remembrance through engaging in vicar through making your prayers through doing acts of worship, you know, obligatory optional, by doing kind deeds for his sake in helping and contributing to building the faith and the goodness in the lives of others. Those are the cures for that agitation, and that source of that sense of missingness. So I asked you that question, are you disconnected? And many in the room admitted, yeah, I feel disconnected. And I

asked you, how can you tell and I've alluded to some of them just now. Yeah. It's a feeling. This is agitation. There's a lack of motivation. There's different emotions tied to it. hopelessness, helplessness.

Because when you're connected, you have all hope. When you connected, you feel the help of God behind you. You feel strong, you feel satiated, you feel encouraged, you feel hopeful, motivated.

Okay.

So if we can tell when we are in a weakened condition, and when we have some

lack of connection? How do we know when we're in a good spiritual condition? So let's flip to the other side. We've described and you guys, I can see you're engaging with your own like, yeah, I felt like that. And that's how I feel. And oh, my gosh, that's why I feel like that. How do we know when we're in a good spirit? spiritual condition? What does it feel like? Yes.

Calm, positive, strong. Good. Anyone else? Yeah.

You have Baraka in your time. Yeah, you feel like you fit a lot in the day. Yeah. What else?

Who's never felt it before?

So we all know we felt it. Yeah. We all know what it feels like. And what you want to tie it to is why did you feel like that? And no doubt, it's tied to what spirituality, spiritual connection and spiritual effort to be connected, it takes effort, mothers in the room to be connected to your children, it takes effort. Yes, we have connected by the womb for nine months and then by the breast for two years, and then by them needing your help to survive for a few years. But what maintains the connection, effort?

Yeah. And likewise, spirituality, to be connected to Allah. It takes effort.

And Pamela not a lot. You just turn to Him and He gives you more. You step towards him. He runs to you reach for him, he lifts you.

You repent to Him, He forgives you. Always ever waiting, a fountain of blessing and mercy waiting but we turned to elsewhere. We turned to the louder noises in the material physical existence, we tend to all the distractions, we tend to false sources of soothing we turned to food we tend to socialize in return to gossip, we tend to entertainment we tend

into electronic stimulation.

We tend to indulgence we tend to time wasting returned to sleeping and giving up and depression.

We're looking in the wrong places.

Why do we have to have urgency about this state of spiritual connection?

I try to engage with and within myself always live in a state of semi healthy panic and anxiety. Researchers say every person we shouldn't aim to be stress free and have a stress free life we actually need stress stress is the motivator. You know that right? Little bit of cortisol when you wake up, gets you out of bed, gets you to schoolwork gets you to brush your teeth. Right? You need it. So the goal is not to be I want to be stressed carry on you're really relaxed and do meditation or but that's not the goal. The goal is to engage with the realities of life and there is pressure and stress and commitment and discipline required in being fully aware and engaged with those

realities of life. So we have to hold ourselves accountable as O'Meara de la Juan said hold yourself to account before you are held to account when will we be held to account on the day of judgment all we have you now on today every moment to moment every second to second to decide what we will answer for in the long run majority good deeds majority bad deeds these all equate to a certain destination.

So accountability, I want to remind you

that there are seven witnesses to all of our deeds. Who can guess some of them there are seven different things that witness our deeds that will stand on the day of judgment and say you did this and you did that until a lot on you because seven DB dobbers right that you're living with each day are you conscious of those seven witnesses? Yes.

The senses you said the tongue

hands limbs anything else? Your legs

sorry your skin

okay

is a part of one of the seven what you're mentioning because gone Oh physical

time she says time there's one thing

the angels good angels are witnessing

the Quran sorry, the earth good Mashallah. All right. I'll read them out to you one by one. Okay. Number one, well done to those of you taking notes.

Number one, the noble Angels

are last ones Allah says Allah bIllahi min ash shaytani R Rajim Lachie, Neale Lakhiani Allah who your shadow Bhima Angela ELA and Allah who will be our enemy, while mela Iike tuya schoon worker Fabula he Shahida but Allah bears witness to that which He has revealed to you. He has sent it down with his knowledge referring to the Quran. And the angels bear witness as well. And sufficient is Allah as witness that witness number one, Allah and the angels, okay, they sit down, they've given us the message they've given us the rest of people bake this amazing masterpiece out of your life. Right? We make a mess out of our life, and we leave all these ingredients everywhere and we never

put anything together. We have a responsibility to put life together. We have the instruction book, it's right there. And then we say I don't read the Quran and I don't feel connected. I don't have time. Make 1,000,001 excuses. How about we say to ourselves, there are no excuses. I don't pick up my Quran because I'm lazy. I don't pick up my Quran because I don't manage my time. I don't pick up my Quran because I feel tired because I don't manage my time my spare time well I don't sleep enough

How about we talk to ourselves like that? Instead of like I just didn't get around to it like it I'm sure motivated pick up the Quran

instead of the remote instead of your phone should be so frustrated what this robs you of you want to throw it at the wall sometimes. Right Just call us don't read Quran offer either please be traditional go to books. Don't do digital analysis you know that time of the month. When you can't touch you must have stay physical. Write Allah Subhana Allah mentions known

sorry, well Paula mu m is to run right column the pen, write about books about writing it Grace reading, go to the traditional means is baraka in the second witness is the ground you walk on this ground here which is why when we make Salah we do to here to Masjid and as Sunnah prayers, we change spots with our units of prayer when we finished each unit, so we've got more parts of the ground that will testify. Isn't that so sweet? I love that. I love that. I love it when people are finishing making Salah and then they tap each other and they're like, let's switch. I want to pray on your sweat. You pray my sports we have more ground to testify. So beautiful. I love our

traditions Pantalon

Who knows Surah Zilla.

In Surah Al Zaza we are reminded that the ground is going to stand witness. We want to engage with the Quran when we pray and recite these very small sorrows and try to know enough Arabic that we know few little words that were like. This is talking about the ground standing witness against us. Last month Allah says Smilla Rahmanir Rahim it as Zilla till oral doses Allah wa kraja till Arado if Allah wa Paul in San Omar Lucha yo man eating to have the throw up bear or the N Rebecca Oh Hala her.

No judgment, massive earthquake.

The Earth throws out all of its contents. Everything is flipped up on its head flipped up. Humanity goes What's wrong with it? What's happening? The earth that day will recount everything. Everything done wrong on it every every drop of bloodshed unjustly every abuse, oppression, everything. That's why believers when the whole world is upside down and so much wrong is happening. Our hearts are like the earth will witness. No one gets away with anything. No criminal will be scot free from being held to account. Allah is Most just so as many atrocities that happen and horror stories of people going through the most horrible things and innocent children and all sorts of horrific things

that happened in the darkest corners of the darkest places of the darkest homes in secrecy that no one knows about any injustice, allotments Allah will bring it forward, the Earth will testify against these individuals, that on that day, the Earth will recount everything having been inspired by your Lord to do so. So this stands witness against us. Where were we? What did we do? How did we use our time? Where did we sit? What places did we sit in? We spend two three hours talking in a coffee shop. And then when a lecture comes and it's a 45 minute lecture on can't be bothered.

We spent three hours gossiping in the coffee shop 45 lattes later, right? It's panela this feeling of Our Time goes so quick when you're mixing social and electric.

So tired, who's winning? Shaitan is just saying don't work on your soul. And we just got Acacia Islam. Why bother? We give up so easy. We don't put up a fight. But if I shake long We don't fight I'm not gonna fight our laziness. We don't fire egos. We let it rain and Comcast.

The third witness as the sister said in the back the time you spend

time will stand as witness. What does that mean? A clock is going to come the dead what is it? What is time? Time is a creation of Allah subhanaw taala Allah swears by it. Well Lafleur in in Santa Fe Hosur, what's the promise? By time God swears by time every human being in an instant verily every human being is in a state of loss. We are all losers losing all the time. It Allah except for who? Now we have to put ourselves in this category or be in the loser category.

Again, choices accountability, Ill Alladhina amanu except for those who believe what AMILO Solly had and do good deeds what our soul Bill healthy and encouraged to truth what our soul be sober and encourage the patients believe good deeds, truth patients.

People who live by that, so we have to look at it Do I believe? Yeah, and shall I do that? I do good deeds. Yep, I could do more during call to truth and I never talk about Islam Dharwad and stand up to anyone when they do wrong. It's the whole wave everyone else's everyone's doing wrong. It's too hard to or to also be stubborn, to be patient upon that truth to be patient. I've been doing good deeds, to be patient on believing in Allah subhanaw taala and hold on and hold fast and everyone's throwing it behind their backs.

So time will be witness number four, the words you utter. Allah Subhana Allah says, Yo matters. How do I lay him

elsina? To whom? Where ad him what? Do you know homie? McCann? Oh, yeah, man on and on the day, their tongues hands and feet, will testify against them for what they used to do.

You think you're looking out for yourself, your body is going to turn on you. And then don't judgment on all of us. For all the wrong we did. For what we said that was wrong and unjust. A toddler said I'll let him make me to say the wrong things. You used me for the wrong things.

Your body will say Allah created these hands to do hire and to worship and make dua and you use me to steal and to hit and to cause harm. Our own bodies will turn against us panela and we

Live thinking, this is my body, what do we have in my body, my rights myself, my love, love myself all of this. Don't even own your own self. We can't even control our own selves are so weak, or so feeble. We don't even realize it's panela What else will stand witness number five, all the organs of your body.

Allah says, On this day, we will seal the mouths, shush, enough excuses, their hands will speak to us and their feet will testify to what they used to commit. Our organs will say,

this person filled my body with sugar and processed foods and I suffered I couldn't function to give them a long life to worship you. Oh, Allah.

saying don't have sugar and treats have them at times, shouldn't be to your detriment. It shouldn't be that you die from a cause that was caused by you and what you put in your body.

That's irresponsible of believers. Food should be one of the last things on our minds throughout the day. Although sometimes it's the first thing on our minds and then coffee. Morning Coffee, right? Well, I'm hungry. We don't really know what hunger is when we use the word starving. We don't even know what starving is as disrespect to the word. We don't know starvation.

We struggle fasting for

six 6am To what 5pm 11 hours

a week. Yeah, true. We are so weak, can't even handle the body can actually last 200 to 300 days without food.

Three or four days without water we need water. But without food for a long time. We can live off what we have stored in us and water. We feed ourselves three meals a day plus two snacks

and an ice cream before bed.

Sometimes a whole packet of potato chips and sometimes half of every block right?

We are spoiling look at the word spoil.

Spoil can mean like indulgent like treat nice so nicely but spoil also means to ruin.

We can end up ruining ourselves, our organs will can testify against us. The noble recording angels number six there are noble recording angels that are assigned to you personally. I lost my Subhana Allah says we're in gnarly Comilla haffi lOn. Ki Rahman ketamine yeah Allah Munna tougher loan, and indeed appointed over you are keepers, they are honorable angels recording everything they know, whatever you do, you're recording angels. So you have Allah and the angels of revelation witnessing, that you're given the message and then you have your personal recording angels, okay. They know whatever you do, number seven, the last one, the record of your deeds is a witness against you. You

have a book that has been written every moment of every day. It's also writing your intentions down the good that you want to do the changes that you want to make the goodness you carry in your heart, about yourself Allah, your religion, your goals, your intentions. Allah Subhana Allah says, say or prophet or people of the book, Why do you deny the revelations of Allah when Allah is a witness to what you do?

Okay, the record of your deeds. So what are the causes of this spiritual disconnection?

There are always causes, you always have to go to the why before you try to remedy you can't fix something if you don't know what's wrong, and why it's gone wrong. If something's not working, if this lid wasn't closing, I'd be like, Why isn't the lid closing? And I want to look at the lid and go what's wrong here? That's not making it close. If this wasn't switching on what why isn't it switching on? The same thing with our spirituality and our spiritual connection? Why isn't it switching on? Something's gone on, you have to look at the causes. You can't just go and pray and worship and be good, be good, be good, but the causes that are making you weak is still there. It's

like you have a cup of water and it's dirty. And you're like I want to drink clean water. See, keep pouring water in it, but it's still dirty, you have to get the dirt out. You have to filter it first. You can't think that it's going to purify without getting the dirty the corruption the problem causing issues out of it first.

So there are going to tell you about 10 bad qualities that may invoke or evoke this spiritual disconnect. Anakin Welcome to everyone online. I totally forgot. There's people there. Feel free to put questions and whatnot in the question box.

So shopping of Belk tells us a story about a man who was a very spiritual person who was originally a ruler in hurrah sandwiches in Persia, you probably heard of him. Abraham had been at home has anyone heard of him before?

So he was king or Prince had a beautiful kingdom and gave it all up and chose spirituality instead. Because you could see it was corrupting him. That's a big decision to make in life when you have everything. And you say, I'm going to step away from that we know that many of the Sahaba had everything. And when they chose Islam, they lost everything. It's a decision. Yes, spiritual decision sacrifice. So sometime after he had forsaken his kingship, and become a Sultan of the heart, he happened to be going about the city of Basra when the people of that town gathered around him complaining, Oh father of his have, although Allah says in the Quran call upon me and I'll

answer your prayers. We've prayed and many times, and yet our prayers have not been accepted. If you ever felt like you want to do better, you want to become better, you want to feel better, and you're making money like I stopped them. It's not changing situation isn't changing. Ibrahim Adham. May Allah have mercy on him, he gave them advice. Because he was wise, who spiritually connected he said, Because of 10 things, your hearts are dead. If a person has these 10 bad qualities in him, how should God accept his prayers? So remember what I said we want something to be cleaned out and improved and we want to fix but we haven't cleaned out what's making us go wrong in the first place.

He numerated one by 110 Bad habits of the people of Basra. When we look at righteous and pious people and the prophets, they are like mirrors. And just as the mirror shows us the dirt on our faces. So did this most worthy being demonstrate the faults to the people of Basra. It is said to clean your face instead of casting aspersions on the mirror.

Okay, so you know, when you look in the mirror and you're like, This mirror is dirty, what are these marks, it's not the mirror, honey, it's your face. Right? It's what blemishes you have on yourself. Whenever you see, you're pointing out negative things in other people and outside of you and around you. It's a reflection of you. It's something here that needs to be polished and cleaned before you point out the faults and the

imperfections externally.

And so he began to count these are the shortcomings number one,

you might have to watch the recording Zig.

We probably won't have time for you to write them word for word unless you're really good bullet point writer but otherwise, just listen. Sharla number one, you acknowledge Allah.

You pretend to acknowledge him and yet you do not give him his do. God's do is help for the needy.

We say Allah, we say we need Allah where would we be without Allah, Allah is my everything. We say La ilaha illallah nothing is worthy of my worship devotion, my time my allegiance but Allah, that many things, get all of that but Allah, we pretend that we are devoted, but in reality, we don't give Allah His do. You might say but I pray five times a day Alhamdulillah I pray and I pray on time and I have mobile what to do so Allah your prayer that you're giving what do you know that he deserves far better than this prayer that you're giving far better? He's sure he deserves your Sunnah prayers. He deserves better will do. He deserves more punctuality. Right? He deserves you

don't know the meaning of everything that you're reciting. He deserves so much more than what we offer. But we tell ourselves I am devoted and we aren't really, we haven't really gone deep in that regard. Number two, you read the Quran. Yet you do not observe its commands and prohibitions. You do not practice what you read. We read the Quran just because I want rewards good deeds. Yeah, I read Quran every day just to pat ourselves on the back. We're not reading it to be corrected. So what is Allah telling me man, I'm so bad. I'm so corrupt. I've been disobeying a lot. This verse I read it every day and I don't obey it.

We're not harsh enough on ourselves spiritually.

softness that we have, it becomes our weakness. Number three.

Although you say Satan is your enemy, you follow Him and obey Him. Every Muslim? I don't know one Muslim. This is really really really corrupt.

Every Muslim says Satan is our enemy and we all believe it. Oh, the bill, I'm gonna shed light around you, right? We're scared of the dark.

The shape on jeans, whatnot, right? But we FOLLOW and OBEY Him. We say he's our enemy. But we do what he says more than what Allah Allah and the prophets commands. panela really worshipping Allah was it like we're living in obedience to the devil? May Allah protect us and may Allah curse him. We have to ask ourselves these questions number four, you call us

cells members of Mohammed communities from Allahu alayhi wa sallam, yet you do not follow the example set by the messenger. What trends do we follow? What ways of thinking do we follow what type of speech Do we follow what type of habits do we follow? Are they prophetic we say oh Muhammad Rasool Allah, I love him. I love his way his ways the best way do we live looking into his sunnah every day? How can I live more like him today? Are we busy exposing ourselves and emulating and copying and indulging in the ways of other than himself alone while he was alone? Number five you claim that you will go to Paradise yet you do none of the deeds that you must perform to gain access

the most Muslims by default shall I'm gonna go to Paradise whether they pray fast commitment just since they still say inshallah go to Paradise, of course we should believe in the Mercy of Allah.

Why do we think paradise is so cheap?

How dare we think we are worthy of Paradise? A place devoted for profits and pure beings and angels?

What do we do? And what do we actually sacrifice to be of those who get to dwell in paradise? Not for a week or a month for eternity? You have to say who am I?

Who am I to deserve such a request and our hope and an expectation

number six, you wish to achieve salvation from the fire you throw yourself into it by the bad deeds you do? No one says I want to go to hell we all say May Allah protect us I never want to go Jahannam but then every day we're doing majority of the things we do are going to take us there. Hello doesn't make sense, right? All these points look at them. We're claiming something and we're not actually living.

We claim it at the surface level on the outside but hasn't permeated our being it's not our running story. It's not the fuel in our engine. It's the surface stuff I want I wish I hope anyway, and we distract ourselves.

I really want to you know we say these things and I'm gonna read read some crap, I pray we're not there. We're not tuned in really. And then afterwards like anyway, distract myself again.

Then we go to sleep unhappy, unsatisfied, we wake up demotivated and then we say why there these are the causes. Number seven, you know that death is the truth and you say so yet you make no preparation for it.

Number eight, you pay a lot of attention to the faults of your brothers in the religion that you do not see your own faults. Like the mirror analogy. Number nine you consume the bounty of your Lord without giving thanks to him. The way to show gratitude for this is to feed others in return. give to others what you are receiving from Allah subhanaw taala Did you ask today for Allah to bless you with breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Did you ask Allah today to bless you the ability to go to the bathroom?

Some people will say bowel obstruction worst feeling ever. Urinary tract infections. People say What a horrible feeling. We didn't ask for our digestive system to work and ask for the moisture in my eyes and ask for my heart to be able to be asked to take the breath I just took a loss what I like gives them gives them gives them gives them we don't even ask, let alone give thanks. Yet we expect I have tomorrow. I have today. Where is mine? Why don't I have we demand we demand? Who are we to demand?

Who are we suppose we saw ungrateful.

Number 10. Last one, you Bury Your Dead without taking warning as if the same end will not before you also bury the dead. Feel sad for a moment walk away. Anyway.

You get in the car to leave the graveyard you pull this out to nominee spirituality and the reality of what you just saw and experienced. Distract, distract, distract.

So we have 10 causes that are mentioned by Abraham even at home.

We could summarize in ways some parts disconnect from self. We don't know who we are. Why do so much about identity that people take for granted and think it's not that important. It's only for our youth? No, we all have identity crises at all the different stages of our lives because we go through different stages. Disconnect from ourselves. Who am I? What do I want? Why do I live how I live? Why do I feel how I feel? Why have I done what I do? Why am I getting to where I want to go to these big important questions every day. And urgency to it. Why? Because we have the seven things standing witness against us. We're running out of time. Death is waiting for us.

We have this

Disconnect from Allah subhanaw taala clear? Clearly, from all those examples of those 10 mistakes that we are making and falling into this surface level, this shallow existence, we have disconnect from the Quran as far as we get is reciting it may be quickly looking over the translation, we're not actually engaging with it.

The Companions may Allah be pleased with them. They would reach a verse in their prayer, and they would just start crying. These and these were men who are warriors, and they'd be stuck on a verse they couldn't move from and kept reciting and crying and crying and crying to the floor is wet.

We stand it and we're like, come on, cry, cry. We can't even bring ourselves to tears. Why? Our hearts are hard. Our hearts are dirty. We're not connected. The Scholars say if you don't cry when you recite Quran, cry about the fact that you cannot cry.

That should make you cry.

When you say why don't I cry about my religious affairs and my religious matters? Why don't I cry you should cry that you're not crying about

cry asked us of what's wrong with me. Why am I a spiritual being unable to connect with my own spirit?

If we are disconnected from our own selves, our own souls are we truly living?

We know that without Islam, we are not living we are the living dead. We are zombies. Living a mechanical life coming to and fro sleep wake work, eat bathroom, shower, procreate, play, entertain, pursue, engage, achieve money, all this that cycle a cycle like a rat in those spinners, running, running, running, running. What does it all mean? If when you die, you have nothing.

Imagine dying and then the reality hits you the reality you are running from hits you that mouse running in that wheel is so busy running on the wheel doesn't realize he's in a cage.

And he doesn't realize mice have a very short lifespan, how long they live. I don't have pet mice. They smell. But they don't live long. Apparently I remember what we're learning. They don't live very long. We think we have long to run, run run in that wheel. What does it mean?

We are disconnected from our faith and we are riddling our lives are riddled with distraction. And you need to look at what distracts me every day. What takes my time. These things you can use trackers are amazing apps. I keep telling people do it. So you can see how many times you unlock your phone throughout the day. Do it so you can see that you're on facebook, whatsapp, Instagram for 345 hours of your day of your spare time. Imagine how much could and could memorize three, four or five hours of study. Mashallah, we have a lot in a year, I'm telling you.

Why aren't we

we don't have it as a goal number one, and we're busy wasting time. And then we complain that we sent. And then we complain, we don't have time, or we're wasting our time. But it's our fault. We don't have time, or we're blaming time.

So there's the mouse running again. It's a circle until we face the reality. How can you recover? Now how do you recover from the spiritual disconnect to close?

You have to make a conscious choice to disconnect from all poisons, all time wasters. All distractions, all delusions. One by one you have to map out your life get a piece of paper, I'm such a big fan. Get the piece of paper, what's good in your life, what's working what you do. Well, what are you stuffing up in? Let that list be the bigger list. Hey, stop patting yourself on the back. I'm good. I'm good. I still didn't mean No, no, no, no, we know isn't enough. Minimum is not enough. What is the law of gravity? When you shoot an arrow? What's the nature of the arrow, you have to aim a little bit higher because gravity is going to make that error drop as you aim for your target. If

you're aiming to do the bare minimum, as a Muslim, the bare minimum will just get you into paradise at the bottom. What's the nature of gravity, your sins will weigh you down? And if you miss that bottom level of paradise, what's below that?

How far is below that? We can't afford to fail. We can't afford to say as long as I do the bare minimum. It's not acceptable. What kind of people are we to say where people have SN and excellence and we are the believers were upon the truth. Like Lola we beat our chests like King Kong. And they were like I can't get up in the morning.

I can't not eat that piece of cake.

I didn't read my Quran for three months.

What? What do you mean? The religion is our honor?

Does it all matter? Now hottub said you know Allah honored us through Islam and if we

returned to anything else for honor he will humiliate us again. What state are you now? My sister's? Look at us man.

We are so humiliated on Earth. We are embarrassing.

We are embarrassing. I saw a video of this lady hijabi everything her husband is a student of knowledge. She's supposed to be super mind talking about intimate things in her video with music playing and little words coming up about into how to do intimacy the right way for the whole world to see.

Is that honor or is that humiliation? That we think that that's how we represent our religion, tell intimacy and sexual matters, broadcast it to the world.

That's our priority. We don't even we don't even know our Alif better most born Muslims can't read the Quran. We don't know the meaning of the Fatiha. We don't know when we put our head on the ground. I pray five times where we don't know what to do by hand Robbie Allah Allah means we can't even cry when our heads on the ground saying Subhana Rapi Allah Allah, Glory be to Allah the Most High, my head is on the ground, and I'm a piece of rubbish. I'm nothing

compared to the reality of Allah.

We are humiliated because we have humiliated ourselves because we have turned to things that do not bring honor.

We have dishonored ourselves individually and collectively. Your dishonor is my dishonor my dishonor is your dishonor.

We either lift each other up and lift up the name in the face of this religion, or we debase it, by being sheepish, weak, lazy, demoted, demotivated followers.

We are called Khalifa on the earth, fill out the leaders of the vise Jones, the caretakers, everyone goes good as Muslims when they've got your back.

We don't have our each other's backs, let alone our own backs. We are the victims of our own wrongdoings and our own shortcomings that alone the victims of our enemies and our presses.

So we have to disconnect from everything and anything that weakens us, that distracts us that poisons us and that dilutes us we have to stay tied to the reality around people who talk about and focus on and pursue reality. And the Quran is the ultimate message and reminder of the reality.

The Day of Judgment is the reality. Death is the reality. The grave is the reality. Your book of deeds is the reality. Standing on the Day of Judgment. drowning in sweat is the reality.

Your family turning on you, your children, your husband your parents saying you didn't do this or that for me. That's the reality.

Your Muslim sister your best friend who said man you didn't tell me to pray you didn't remind me to pray you didn't stop me from doing this sin that's the reality on the Day of Judgment

even a greeting

he didn't smile at me you frown at me

we have to reconnect with what is important what's important there Farah, the compulsory things, your daily prayers on time dedicated. You'd be staunch on those prayers because your life depends on it. Your eternal life depends on your prayers. Thank you so

there is no hope for paradise without your Salah.

That's your passport until about a vaccine possible just you can leave the country and go on a holiday. I have my family in Western Australia. I can't go and see them. They can't come here. Cliff.

The most important passport is the one in the ACULA if I don't have my slot I have no chance ticket to be able to be see my other deeds to be able to have a chance at going to Jana.

Okay, where's your prayer ticket? I have it. You want me to see all your other good deeds the most important did Allah subhanaw taala wants to seize your Salah

Salah no matter what. Because we owe it to Allah and we need to remind ourselves that we are His servants and slaves we are not the slaves to any living being we are not the slaves to ourselves and our knifes and our bed and our food and our our ventures and our pursuits. We are slaves to Allah put the head your head on the ground

and feel how close you are to him when you do that.

That's the closest you can be to Allah

when your hands on the ground

Why? Because it's a position of humility and we're not allowed about to anyone like that.

When you put your head on the ground and you feel the sensation of the floor and your nose in sujood

remember who you are. So Hannah Rapi Alana, Glory be to Allah the Most High

we are lowly creatures we are human beings are so weak. We're given the responsibility in this life on Earth as the highest of creation, but we're so weak look at our bodies, one car crash and your whole body's lacerated

one head injury one trip COVID hit your head on the wall, how lost your life is over. Someone covers your mouth for two minutes you did.

You can't swim pedal more than 30 seconds of water treading the water and you drown.

We are the highest of Christian, the most honored the most intelligent and we have free will. While we are so vulnerable. You can't even control the breath that enters your lungs and what your body does with that oxygen. Don't forget what you are and who you are. At the same time. There's this weird dichotomy.

You're the leader on earth you have a responsibility you have honor, you have strength, but you're also so weak and so vulnerable. And you have to fight the devil and you have to fight your ego and you have to fight your desires and you have to fight temptation and you have to fight worldly pursuits. Life is a battle

a battleground between your higher self and your light and the NOR of Allah subhanaw taala that he calls you to and you have everything you need for that the toolbox Quran sunnah, them almost behind you, the angels armies of angels are with you and you stand for something. But you also a battling the dark forces, which are pervading this earth preparing the earth for the coming of digest the Antichrist and the end of times we're only darkness will be all over the earth.

We're in the battle now doesn't feel like it because we're kind of being maybe slaughtered. Although wool is being pulled over our eyes. We don't realize we're actually looking at the frog in the boiling water. To put the frog in the cold water he just says if you threw in boiling water probably jumped out you know what's coming. You turn it ON slowly let it warm up the frogs in an ice bath and then before you know it's cooked, before we know it cooked. If we're heedless, or cooked a life and death comes in we're like wait, I didn't even start life. Wait, what happened? You don't get that choice. Allah warns us in the Quran. People will say send me back send me back. One more chance.

The most devoted believers they will say the best thing I want to go back to the world for is to just fast on the hottest day.

They miss the thirst and suffering. We should want suffering because the suffering that we choose elevates us

that's where our own allies suffering by choice waking up and praying to rock stars in the night. Fasting optional prayers, choosing to read Quran when you could be binge watching something choosing to fast when everyone else is eating and going to cafes and car guys and fasting today like I can't sorry.

Choosing not to go to gatherings because you're choosing a bit of gathering snot easy. So your federal aid your compulsory things look after them your hijab, your prayers the way you worship Allah subhanaw taala your five pillars seeking knowledge so important. Now you I can see just being in this reminder even myself, I do these things because I want to remind myself

I'm not here to teach you anything I have nothing to teach you. I don't have knowledge, the way our shift some scholars have here read you some points, reflections pieces I put together to remind myself because I need it. This is good for me.

Before any of you, but I know

through seeking knowledge. That's life that's it's better than a cup of coffee. It's better than an energy drink is better than a girls night out. It's better than your dopamine from your exercise. What not right? It's nothing beats a spiritual connection and awakening and fresh intentions and repentant hearts. Knowledge gives that it's food for the soul.

daily discipline so important. I've touched on it already just discipline we have to get strict on ourselves. What are you doing every day, you measuring your time and how you use your time, quality relationships, very important. These are the people who will take for you from you on the Day of Judgment, the relationships what you're doing with them, fulfilling the Amanar of your children, your parents, your siblings,

healthy lifestyle and habits because your organs are gonna stand witness your limbs are gonna stand witness have to be healthy to be an effective believer. You have to be

healthy and vibrant you have to have energy to give it always often feel well I get migraines or stomach pain and I've indigestion and my diabetes and all these things. We have to fix it and we can cure inshallah we can.

Repentance, essential all the time, all the time. Don't be soft on yourself, be hard on yourself. So that when the true accounting comes, you've already been so hard on yourself and your soul in life, that inshallah Allah will have mercy upon.

Becoming hateful again, if you're heedless. Choose to be someone who takes heed or talked about the realities Yeah. be connected to the realities be connected to what stands witness against you.

Good luck, humility, generosity, compassion, sincerity. Fill your your heart with these qualities. That takes a lot of work, a lot of work. The scholars used to train people in o'clock before they gave them Sharia. Before they taught them the field, and the theta and all of that one year, two years on a clock. At the AP Quran teacher, she wouldn't let us teach with any lowly qualities, any bad lifestyle habits.

We wouldn't be allowed to teach. She wouldn't send us into into the community to just pass on a lift better, until we had proper qualities.

And for complete sincerity, your life your mode of operation is the state of heart that's unique that's between you and Allah, between you and yourself. No one needs to know. You don't need to prove anything to anyone. People won't judge you and think you listen think you that they don't know you.

Your heart and Allah is a unique relationship and we have no intermediaries in Islam.

You should consider the hereafter superior to this life. The Astra is much better than anything that we could aspire to in this life.

The ultimate goal is the eternity to come not this short existence here. But make this life be the be all and end all.

I'm

not sure if I'm going to read this final point or if we'll close there, I'll just have a quick look

I think we've touched on these things inshallah should be fine. We'll open up for questions and answers including the sisters, and anyone who's tuning in online. Feel free to share any comments or feedback as well and you take away points and we'll open up for questions and answers from the sisters just upload Claire's panicle locomobi Hamdi Subhanak Allahumma will be handy get a shadow Allah Illa Illa emptiness of Furukawa to be like