Ebrahim Bham – Positivity
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss various challenges faced by Muslims in their countries, including the ongoing killing of children and the loss of hope. They stress the importance of finding joy and happiness in difficult situations and the need for individuals to see what is going on in their life. The speakers also emphasize the importance of Appraisal and finding positive names in life. The importance of being aware of the situation and finding a way to achieve a fruitful life is emphasized. The speakers also emphasize the need for a perspective on the situation and the importance of adoptions of means for achieve a fruitful life.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillahi wahda wa salatu wa salamu ala
man la nabiyya ba'dah ala man la nabiyya
ba'dahu wa la ummata ba'da ummatihi wa la
kitaba ba'da kitabihi wa la shariata ba'da shariatihi
wa ma ba'du khawdu billahi minash shaytanir rajim
bismillahir rahmanir rahim innahu la yi'asumir rauhillahi
illal qawmul kafiroon sadaqallahul azeem Respected elders and
brothers, we are all aware we are living
in a time in which there is great
amount of challenges that faces us, both on
a collective and an individual level.
Perhaps there is no need for us to
elaborate with regard to the challenges that are
facing us.
We know that on a global level, on
a macro level, we have different type of
challenges in our countries, and more specifically in
Palestine, Gaza, where we are seeing the ongoing
killing of civilians and children.
And I come from a country which has
made a petition to the International Court of
Justice with regard to genocide, which is well
known and it is well established.
Then of course, this is not the only
type of oppression and injustice that is taking
place in the world.
There is various type of injustice and there
is various type of difficulties that Muslims and
other people also face, whether it be in
Rohingya, whether it be in Syria, whether it
be in Central African Republic, whether it be
in Sudan, whether it be in Somalia.
And there are so many hotspots in this
world where collectively people are finding great amount
of challenges and they are facing difficulty.
Individually, we are also aware with regard to
the challenges facing us.
We have a crisis, an identity crisis.
Then we also have a crisis with regard
to our relationships.
Everyone would be aware that perhaps the type
of secure relationships we had previously, we no
more have all of that type of, you
know, security in our relationships.
So it is so easy when we look
at all of these things that we become
distraught.
We lose hope.
And I think today my talk is a
message of hope in the midst of gloom,
in the midst of crisis.
How do we maintain, you know, how do
we maintain that aspect of hope and the
positivity when things look so bleak?
And let me just give you examples with
regard to how our Sharia looks at things.
Firstly, we are aware of the ayat which
I recited in Surah Yusuf in which Allah
Ta'ala says, Innahu laa yi'asoo min
rawhi Allahi illa alqawmu alkaafiroon It is only
a person who does not believe in Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala who loses hope.
A Muslim and a believer can never ever
lose hope in a mercy and can never
become despondent.
Whether it be that despondency be with regard
to his sins or whether it be with
regard to the situation that he finds himself
in.
We are never allowed to become despondent.
I read somewhere that one of the root
words and the word with regard to Iblis
comes from the word balas and balas means
despondency and nothing gives shaitan greater joy than
to see people becoming despondent.
Nothing gives shaitan greater joy.
Ali r.a one day saw a person
who was sitting and he was feeling despondent
over something that he had done.
Some sin that he had committed.
So Ali r.a told him that your
despondency is even worse than the sin that
you committed.
Your despondency is even more worse than the
sin that you have committed.
So we don't become despondent because despondency is
a trait of kufr and disbelief.
The second thing, you and I we believe
in a futuristic vision.
We don't believe that everything only happens with
regard to this world.
Today we have unfortunately become accustomed to looking
at success and failure only in terms of
this material world without looking at what is
going to happen to us in the year
after.
So we define success by material success.
Allah in the Quran gives us another definition.
فَمَنْ زُحْزِهَا عَنِ النَّارِ وَهُوَ دَخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ
فَازْ Today by and large people will never
have such a definition of success.
He who makes himself worthy of gaining entry
into Jannah and saving himself from the fire
of Jahannam فَقَدْ فَازْ He is successful.
So we look at it from that perspective.
We are people who look at something from
a vision of the year after.
Nabi Kareem Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is telling a
hadith and Nabi Sosman gave this hypothetical example.
He said if for example a person leads
a life in this world where he only
saw difficulty.
Now that doesn't happen.
Many a times even in a difficult situation
you will find people who will have some
form of happiness, some form of joy, some
form of positivity.
But if for example it happens like that.
Nabi Kareem Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said if Allah
Ta'ala were to put him in Jannah,
dump him in Jannah and take him out.
So a person who never ever saw difficulty
hypothetically.
Nabi Sosm said Allah Ta'ala will take
him out of Jannah.
Allah Ta'ala will take him out of
Jannah and Allah will ask him did you
ever see any difficulty O my bondsman?
And he will say O Allah I never
ever saw any difficulty.
And if a person leads a life only
of good, only of ease and he want
to be dumped into Jannah, not even put
in Jannah.
Allah Ta'ala will ask him did you
ever see difficulty?
He will say no Allah I never ever
saw difficulty because I've been for a moment
in Jannah and a moment in Jannah.
So that's how you and I we look
at things.
So therefore Nabi Kareem Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said
ajabal li amril mu'min very wondrous is the
affair of the believer for him there is
only good.
If any good comes upon him he makes
shukr to Allah Ta'ala he gains reward.
And if any difficulty and challenges come upon
him he makes sabar.
Sabar we normally because of our Gujarati and
Urdu background we translate it as patience.
And patience according to us is a very
you know passive type of attitude.
In the Quranic language, in the Quranic terminology
sabar is much more a positive.
It means even if there is challenges you
still persevere with the commands of Allah.
You never lose hope, you still persevere.
So if there is challenges you persevere.
So a believer always wins whether there is
good for him he wins.
Whether there is challenge although I must say
that even if there is great amount of
rewards for a person facing challenges a believer
never asks for difficulty.
Nabiya Karim s.a.w. told his uncle
Ali ibn Abbas r.a O Abbas, always
ask Allah for aafiyah.
There is no better dua and there is
no greater dua to ask Allah Ta'ala
than to ask Allah Ta'ala for aafiyah.
Aafiyah means well-being and ease.
So we are people ajab al-li amr
al-mu'min every time there is always positive
with regard to the challenges we are facing.
Nabiya Karim s.a.w. therefore always told
us tafaa alal khayr tajidhu Look for things
to be positive about you will find it.
Look for things to be positive about you
will find it.
There is always, you know a silver lining
in every cloud.
So always look for that particular type of
things.
And Nabiya Karim s.a.w. gave us
examples with regard to it.
The famous example which I'm sure you must
have heard from many ulema why Nabiya Karim
s.a.w. and the sahaba were digging
a trench to save themselves because they didn't
have enough resources in the battle of the
trench.
And they found a boulder they could not
remove it.
They called Nabi s.a.w. who took
up a chopper and hit it three times
and sparks flew.
And afterwards he told the sahaba, Do you
know?
What were those sparks?
Sahaba said, Allah is rasul al-alam Allah
and his rasul knows best.
And Nabiya Karim s.a.w. said, Allah
Ta'ala showed me the treasures of the
Persian, Roman and the White palaces of the
Yemen empire.
And the munafiq were making a joke about
it.
They say he cannot have enough resources to
protect himself.
He's digging a trench to protect himself and
he's seeing grandiose and he's seeing things with
regard to going to conquer the Roman and
Persian empire.
But it happened.
In a short period of time it happened.
Nabiya Karim s.a.w. always used to
take good omens.
He always used to look for good omens.
Every time Nabi s.a.w. used to
look for good omens.
So in the battle of, in the treaty
of Udebia, Muslims were all very worried.
They were very perished.
They were 12, 15, 20 kilometers away from
Makkah.
The Quraysh had blocked them.
You can't come to Umrah.
And the Quraysh never ever used to stop
people from coming to Makkah because they prided
themselves on being the custodians and the guardians
of the Kaaba and Baitullah.
And here because of hostility they prevented the
Muslims from coming.
And Nabi s.a.w. then told the
Sahaba, you know, make sabar.
You know, keep the things well.
And then while they were sitting there the
Quraysh sent a negotiating team to discuss the
matter and discuss the issue.
And when Nabi s.a.w. heard that
the leader of the negotiating team from the
Quraysh was named Suhail bin Amal.
He said, and Suhail means easy.
Suhail means easy.
Nabi s.a.w. immediately took a good
omen.
And what did Nabi s.a.w. said?
Allah will make things easy for us from
now on.
Even in that parashat, even in that type
of situation, he took a good omen.
Nabi s.a.w. used to, so many
times used to take even names, he used
to give names that was good omen, positive.
Sayyid Ibn Musayyib s.a.w. said his
father or his grandfather came to Nabi s
.a.w. who asked him and said, what
is your name?
He said, my name is Hazal.
Hazal means sorrow and regret.
So Nabi s.a.w. changed his name.
I think he changed it to Yusuf.
Or something like that.
Something that had a better meaning.
He said, I'm not going to change the
name my fathers and my grandfather gave me.
So Sayyid Ibn Musayyib s.a.w. said
from that day onwards there was only difficulty
in our life.
So always look at positivity, even in the
names Nabi s.a.w. look for positive
names.
So we are supposed to look for positive
names.
So sometimes it can be different circumstances.
So a person one day went to a
person's house and he was a very elderly
person and you know, so while they were
sitting he's calling his wife to bring the
tea and the biscuits of hospitality and he's
calling her darling, bring the tea.
You know, oh my love, why don't you
bring the biscuits, you can't have.
Why don't you bring the biscuits?
To bring the biscuits and everything.
So after a while, he's calling her with
romantic names and everything.
So he asked the person, you know, after
so many years, 50-60 years, you still
got the romantic spark in you.
You know, you're calling your names with such
beautiful names.
He said, let me tell you the reality
and the secret.
I forgot her name.
So anyway, Nabi s.a.w. always looked
at things with regard to finding good names.
I mean one day a person came Nabi
s.a.w. wanted to have the camel
milked.
So Nabi s.a.w. asked, who's going
to milk the camel?
One person came, what is your name?
Murrah.
Murrah means bitterness.
Nabi s.a.w. said, go away.
I look for someone else to milk.
Second person, who's going to milk the camel?
Another person came, what is your name?
Murrah.
So Nabi s.a.w. said, no, you
go away from here.
Third person came, what is your name?
Jamrah, burning coal.
Nabi s.a.w. said, no, you don't
milk the camel.
The third person came, what is your name?
Ya'ish.
Ya'ish means he who loves happily.
Nabi s.a.w. said, you milk the
camel.
So what I'm trying to say is that
how, look at how Nabi s.a.w.'s
positivity.
And we can go on making mention with
regard to, in such a way with regard
to all the Nabi s.a.w. Allah
Ta'ala always looked at their positivity.
Hazrat Musa s.a.w. came in front
of the Red Sea, in front of the
Red Sea, a whole tribe within the Bani
Israel, back the tribe and the army of
their own, and they said, O Musa, we
have been found out.
We are going to be killed either way.
In front we are going to be killed.
In the back we are going to be
killed.
Don't worry, my Allah is with me.
He will guide me.
So Allah Ta'ala said, Take your stuff
and hit it on the ocean.
Allah Ta'ala will create a way for
you.
Sometimes you think Islam is not logical.
Islam is Wahi.
Sometimes you think you had a stick.
You have the sea in front of you.
You have the army at the back of
you.
What are you going to do with the
stick?
At least use the stick to hit the
enemy.
What are you going to hit this, you
know, the stick with the ocean?
What difference is it going to make?
Musa s.a.w. obeyed Wahi.
He would put, you know, stick and he
hit the stick on the water.
Allah Ta'ala opened up 12 ways, 12
highways, 12 motorways for the Bani Israel to
cross.
Hazrat Yusuf s.a.w. was in the
in the stomach of the fish.
Allah Ta'ala created a way for him.
Hazrat Yusuf s.a.w. was in a
prison.
Allah Ta'ala created a way for him
with regard to the whole situation.
The knife did not cut when Ibrahim s
.a.w. tried his utmost to cut Hazrat
Ismail s.a.w. and the fire became
a bed of roses for Ibrahim s.a
.w. in difficult circumstances.
So this is how we always look at
ways.
Even the Sahaba Ikram always looked at ways
with regard to taking a positive aspect.
So Hazrat Umar s.a.w. one day
went to an expedition and he found out
who was the name of the army commander.
So he was told that the name of
the army commander was Quraib bin Zuffar.
Quraib bin Zuffar.
That was his name.
The leader of the army.
Umar s.a.w. took a good omen.
He said Zuffar Karim.
Huh?
Success is very close.
Can you imagine how the Sahaba and how
the Nabiya Karim s.a.w. and there
are many examples.
I mean the Quran is full of examples.
You know.
I look at this example Surah Talaq.
Talaq is never easy.
It's not something that we take lightly, right?
We all know that.
But it is permitted in situations where people
cannot accommodate themselves and they are not compatible.
After making mention of all the aspects of
Talaq Allah says Perhaps after the difficulty of
Talaq Allah will give you ease.
This is a misaj of Sharia.
Can always look at ease.
Always look at the positivity.
Many a time people will say you know,
what is the positivity with regard to what
is happening in Palestine, in Gaza.
I always tell people, you know Allah s
.w.t says in the holy Quran وَلَا
تَعْسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ غَافِلًا عَمَّا يَعْمَلُوا الظَّالِمُونَ Don't ever
think that Allah is unaware what the Zalimeen
are doing.
Don't ever think that Allah is unaware with
regard to what the Zalimeen are doing.
Allah knows very well with regard to what
the Zalimeen are doing.
Allah knows them.
You know, I teach in a Jamia, so
I was doing the Tafsir of Surah Maryam
and I came upon this ayat and I
said, Ya Allah, we always read this ayat
but it's so appropriate.
Allah says, فَلَا تَعْجَلْ عَلَيْهُمْ Don't be hasty.
إِنَّمَا نَعُدُّ لَهُمْ عَدَّةً We are counting the
wrongs that they are doing.
We are counting the wrongs that they are
doing.
We are counting the wrongs that they are
doing.
We will take them to task when the
time is right.
It will not happen by our worms and
fences.
It will not happen by our time frame.
It will happen by the time frame Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala chooses.
We, if you want, we will think everyone
must be, even a person, you know, cuts
in front of us, in front of the
traffic, we will make dua, Ya Allah, destroy
him also.
This is how Jalbaz, you know.
We are, خُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ عَجُولًا Allah has made
human being prone to haste.
He wants things immediately.
He doesn't want things yesterday.
كَاللَّهَ بَذْتُ حِبُّونَ الْعَاجِلَةِ You like agila.
You like things in haste.
We want to become millennials yesterday.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't work
according to our time frame.
He has a time frame.
And to give an example from the Quran,
when Fir'aun was doing such great oppression
against the people of Bani Israel.
يُقَطِّرُونَ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْمِلَ نِسَاءَكُمْ Can you imagine that
type of oppression?
He was killing the children, the moment the
children were born, he was killing the male
children.
And he was enslaving the females.
So at that particular time, Hazrat Musa alayhi
salatu was salam made dua to Allah ta
'ala.
And that particular dua is recorded in the
holy Quran.
رَبَّنَا تُمِسْعَ عَلَىٰ عَمْوَالِهِمْ وَاجْجُلْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَلَا
يُؤْمِنُهُ حَتَّىٰ يَرَهُوا الْعَذَابَ الْعَلِيمُ O Allah destroy
his wealth.
That wealth which he is using against and
using it to corrupt and to commit oppression.
O Allah destroy his wealth.
وَاجْجُلْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ Put a seal on his
heart.
فَلَا يُؤْمِنُهُ حَتَّىٰ يَرَهُوا الْعَذَابَ الْعَلِيمُ He must
not bring iman until he sees your azab
and your signs.
Sometimes I just look at the wonder of
the du'a.
What an amazing du'a.
And then look at how the manifestation of
it takes place.
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَدْرَكَهُ الْغَرَبُ When Firaun was about
to drown and about to lose his life
قَالَ آمَنْتُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الَّذِي آمَنَتْ
بِهِ بَنِ إِسْرَائِيلٍ He said I've been Now
he saw he was about to lose his
life.
You know after he went to go after
the Bani Israel the water submerged him.
And when he saw death in front of
him death is a very great leveler.
Death is a very great...
And I always tell people, don't wait for
death to become humble.
Don't wait for death to become humble.
Be humble before that.
Because your pride is going to dissipate when
you see death in front of you.
Don't wait for that time.
As such a proud person like Firaun who
said He at the time of his death
What did he say?
قَالَ آمَنْتُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الَّذِي آمَنَتْ
بِهِ بَنِ إِسْرَائِيلٍ I bring Iman on the
Lord of Bani Israel.
Allah Ta'ala rejected his Iman at that
particular time.
But look at the point that I'm making.
The point is Musa Alayhi Salaatu Was Salaam
made dua to Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala that I will not destroy him.
But according to the one riwayat said 40
years one riwayat said 70 years.
It took 40 years for the dua of
Musa Alayhi Salaatu Was Salaam to become effective.
He made dua.
Allah Ta'ala says قَدْ وُجِبَ الدَّعْوَةُكُمَا We
have accepted your dua and it took 40
years according to the more popular riwayat.
40 years for the dua to be accepted.
اِنَّمَا نَعُدُّ لَهُمْ عَدَّةً Allah is counting what
the wrong doers are doing, what the oppressors
are doing.
وَلَا تَحْسَبُنَّ اللَّهَ غَافِرًا أَمَّا يَعْمَذُ الظَّالِمُونَ Allah
is not unaware what they are doing.
Allah is aware with regard to what they
are doing.
It's going to happen.
We firmly believe the people who are killing,
who are the children.
The way they are doing.
If Allah Ta'ala is just which we
believe in, Allah is going to leave it
alone.
Never leave it alone.
It will happen, but don't happen by our
time frame.
It will happen by the wisdom and time
frame of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So this is something that you and I,
we must firmly believe in it.
Don't ever become despondent.
Many times people tell me, more than one
year, we're making Qumut An-Nasr, we're making
this.
I say, continue making.
Don't ever feel despondent.
Don't ever feel things will happen.
As long as we're on the path, it's
good enough.
As long as we're on the path of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
For us, you know, we all, as long
as we are making effort, that is good
enough for us.
And then sometimes you and I, we are
human beings, we tend to become, you know,
hurt, you know, we sympathize, we look at
things, we become so emotional.
And sometimes it becomes difficult to see what
is happening.
You know, it's so difficult to see what
is happening today in the world.
It is almost as if the lights have
become blurred with regard to reality and drama.
And I'm not saying that it is permitted
for you to watch movies and that, but
maybe some people might have seen and they
see, you know, scenes of violence and scenes
of people being killed.
And now they see these scenes, you know,
in the news.
One, you see it in a movie or
in a drama.
And now you see it in the news.
It is almost as if the lines are
blurred.
But that is a movie which is not
reality.
This is real.
This is what is happening.
It's not a drama.
It is real.
You are seeing people with flesh and blood
being killed almost mercilessly in front of the
entire world.
And the world seems to be helpless with
regard to it.
And then of course we feel it, you
know, we feel hurt.
We are human beings.
We have emotions.
How can we see such things?
So then, we have to have a perspective.
You know, in every country, in every civilization,
in every way, there's always been, you know,
countries will always celebrate people who die for
a noble cause.
Every country.
I believe that there was something here in
UK also a few days, there was something
in a way the people who sacrificed their
life were being celebrated.
Our anthem in South Africa which might be
an anthem in many other countries.
We will live and die for the country.
So to die for a noble cause has
always been celebrated and none more so than
in our religion.
When a person dies for a higher cause,
obviously there are limitations and there are conditions
and I'm not going to go into that.
It's not the time for us.
But I'm just giving you the example of
a person who dies for a noble cause.
What does our sharia say?
What does our deen say?
What does our teaching say?
It is recorded in our books of tradition
and one of the things that we feel
when we see people who have been killed,
small women and children, we see them killed
and we say, how they must have been
feeling.
Abu Dawood Sharif hadith, Nabiya Kareem sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam said that the pain a person
who sacrificed his cause for the sake of
Allah, the pain that person receives is less
than the pain you and I get when
an ant bites us.
The person who sacrifices his life in the
path of Allah, the pain he gets is
less than the pain that you and I
get when an ant bites us.
And one hadith, Nabiya Kareem sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said, in Jannah, no one will want
to come out of Jannah.
Who will want to come out of Jannah?
Who will want to come out of Jannah?
He said one group of people will ask
Allah ta'ala that they want to come
out of Jannah and that will be the
group of people who sacrifice their life in
the path of Allah ta'ala.
They will say, O Allah, send us in
this world and the joy and the pleasure
we got in sacrificing our life for your
sake.
O Allah, send us back in the world
that we can get the same joy repeatedly.
We must get the same joy repeatedly.
Send us back in the world that we
must get the same joy.
So brothers, this is the situation.
I've just given you some aspects with regard
to how we are supposed to take a
positive interpretation with regard to what things are
happening.
But of course, it doesn't mean that you
must sit.
You know, someone very beautifully said that don't
ask Allah ta'ala to guide you if
you're not willing to move your feet.
Don't ask Allah ta'ala to guide you
if you're not willing to move your feet.
Because our Sharia teaches us that whatever you
want, you have to adopt the means.
The means are the way Allah ta'ala
grants you His decision.
The means are the way.
And I give this big example of time
is up, so I'll just conclude with this.
That you know, we have to use the
means.
And therefore Nabiye Karim Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam gave
this example, even if the trumpet of Qiyamah
is blowing and you are planting a seed,
don't say what is the use.
Go and plant that seed.
Just go and do positive things.
So in conclusion, I just like to use
that despite all the challenges which I've elaborated,
we always, we never lose hope in the
mercy of Allah because the trait of, you
know, disbelief.
Then I gave you examples with regard to
we have a futuristic vision.
We believe in the year after.
I gave you examples of how Nabiye Karim
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam always look at positivity.
And I looked at Sahaba, how the Sahaba
look.
How Nabiye Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam took positive omen
from every situation.
Then I gave you an example with regard
to some of the aspects that gives us
some sort of perspective with regard to what
is happening in the Palestinian situation.
May Allah give you a tawfiq of understanding.