Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #062 Finding the Sweetness of Faith Virtues of the Testimony of Faith
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the importance of finding the light of faith in one's experiences and finding their values. They stress the importance of experiencing the reality of faith through their partner's values and finding their desire. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of learning from their partner's values and finding their desire. They stress the importance of gratitude, love, and appreciate the faith in achieving their goals. The importance of faith is also highlighted, and the speaker suggests sharing teachings of Islam with others and making a remorse of a statement.
AI: Summary ©
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You're listening to the daily
guidance for seekers with Sheikh Rasra Behni, who
will be covering Imam Yusuf al Nabhani's beautiful
collection of 40 sets of 40 hadith of
the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
as well as imam Zarnoji's guidance for seekers
of knowledge regarding the ways of seeking knowledge.
We are
in the final hadiths of
Sheikh Yousaf and Nabhani's collection on 40 hadiths
on
Islam and Iman, and this is a really
beautiful collection
reminding us
of
realities
related
to what
Iman and Islam are and
what they entail
and some of the fruits of
iman and Islam.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us
of its people.
There's a beautiful treatise that I just wanted
to point to before we look at tonight's
lesson
by
Habibali al Jifri
called the concept
of iman in Islam,
and you can find this on the Royal
Institute
website online, and we'll be sharing a link
to it
in
the lesson notes for this lesson.
Both the English of the PDF and the
Arabic, both which are available.
It's an easy read,
but it's a very clear exposition.
And as you know, on seekers, we have
a number of classes
on
Aqeedah
that explain mainstream
Islamic understanding
of beliefs.
So we reached hadith number 37.
So Sayidna Anas
who relates to the messenger of Allah
said,
there are 3 qualities.
Whoever has them,
they will find by them
they will find by them
the taste
of faith
the taste
of faith.
Right?
Sometimes translate as the sweetness of faith because
in
Arabic, taste is either
hulu
or. Right? And sweetness is not literally like
that which is sugary.
Right?
Is
is that which a person finds pleasing.
And bitterness
is not bitter in the sense that while
soya sauce is bitter, but in the sense
of
it is that which is
difficult.
It's it's
displeasing.
Right? So it's not related to
the
it's related to the pleasing and the displeasing.
Right? The praiseworthy and the blameworthy,
not to literal sweetness and unsweetness.
Right?
They'll find through it the
taste of faith, right, the
sweetness of faith.
And will find through it
that faith
is not merely an
affirmation,
but it is an experience.
Right?
And from this and many other such hadiths,
the master of the spiritual path talked about
the that experience of finding
Allah
as wajd,
as finding,
right, ecstasy.
Right?
And there's numerous hadiths
that talk about that idea of finding
the reality realities of faith and experiencing them.
Right? So when the masters of the spiritual
path talk about it, they're using
the vocabulary of the sunnah.
Right? It is not people, you know, people
say, oh,
they got it from the Buddhists.
Okay.
Thank you.
So or whoever they you know, people come
up with
name the influence.
So whoever has three qualities will find through
them
the sweetness of faith.
The first,
Whoever finds Allah and his Messenger
more beloved to them than all other.
Anyone for whom Allah and his Messenger are
more beloved to them than all other.
Secondly,
and whoever loves
another,
not loving them except
for Allah.
That there's no ulterior motive in that relationship.
And the third is
and whoever dislikes,
whoever hates here, whoever hates
to return to disbelief
after Allah
saved them from it as they would hate
to be thrown in the fire.
And this does not refer only to the
person who entered Islam.
It also refers
to the recognition of the gift of faith.
Right? That
that all praise is due to Allah who
guided us to this.
And we would not have been guided
had Allah not guided us. You say, well,
I'm Muslim because my parents were Muslim.
So how am I returning to Kufr? Well,
all those means that were facilitated,
What deservingness did you have
to be born in a Muslim family?
What deservingness did you have to stumble upon
that friend
who nudged you towards
taking the religion seriously?
Who facilitated
those teachers, those people you look at, all
these things.
It is all from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Were it not for all those means
that Allah facilitated,
we would
be in the state of non belief.
We would be in the state of non
belief.
So this is not specific to the one
who enters Islam, but it it applies to
them, but it applies to everyone who whom
Allah has gifted
with faith. Because either you you have faith
and it's a gift,
and if you don't,
which is the default state,
right,
then, yeah, the recognition that were not for
Allah's guiding, one would be in disbelief.
Right? And one who should hate that as
one would hate to be literally thrown into
a fire.
So three qualities
that whoever has them
experiences
the sweetness of faith.
And these are three qualities that one should
strive to nurture. Where am I with respect
to this? The first, whomever Allah and his
messenger are more beloved to them
than all else.
The the the sign of love is preference.
Right? The love sign of love is preference.
The sign of love isn't claims.
Right?
That when
Allah Subha when you know something is pleasing
to Allah
corresponding
to the way of His Messenger,
one loves that because it's His way.
And if something is displeasing to Allah, it's
prohibited or disliked
or contrary to the sunnah of the messenger,
one dislikes it because of that.
Right. There's
many hadith on, and it's one of the
collection of 40 hadiths of
of 40 hadiths in love and hate for
the sake of Allah.
The the true lover of Allah is the
one who loves what Allah loves and who
hates what Allah hates.
So this is one needs to nurture this.
It's not just, yeah, I do. Right? But
do you choose what love entails?
Right?
So that's the first sign, and these are
things that one should ask ourselves. I want
to experience
the reality of faith. Yeah. The the taste
of something.
Right? It's like you see there's honey there.
Right? So I have some honey. But until
you've tasted it, you don't know it. Similarly,
faith
is
dead until experienced.
It is just,
it's not dead, but it's not truly alive.
Right? And this is why the first connection
is
the primacy of Allah and his messenger. This
is why Allah answered the call of Allah
and His Messenger
when they call you
to that which gives you life.
To the extent that you don't answer the
call of Allah and his messenger, and that's
what the love lover says.
Right?
Surrender to Selma and turn
wherever she
turns. Right? That's the way of love.
Where is the lover? The lover is chasing
after the one they love.
Right?
So
this is the first quality,
and one should ask oneself. Right? And one
of the things to ask is when you
have a difficult choice to ask yourself,
what is more beloved to Allah
and to strive to find. And if you
don't find the answer,
then make yourself
embrace the answer because it's what love entails.
The second
is to love another
only for the sake of Allah. Why? Because
the relationships we make, a lot of relationships
are transactional
are transactional.
You like some you know, you even when
you say you like someone, you like them,
well but ultimately stripped away
off everything.
Why do you visit your parents? Well, because
they they feed you.
Right?
You missed
the,
you know, you didn't really
inherit
knowledge of cooking from them.
So you visit them, they cook for you.
And this keeps, you know, the social norms
are layers of transaction.
Right?
I love my parents, they provide for me.
That's transactional.
I
or it or it just social norms.
How can I not be nice to them?
They raised me. Yeah.
That's still
transactional.
Who do you spend time with? Most people
spend time
with circles of association
that are to that are for some advantage.
Whether it's professional advantage, doctors hang out with
doctors, engineers with engineers,
etcetera.
So it's either some professional advantage,
some social advantage. This is high status, like,
you know, people
mix in the in their circles of
or it's interests. You like golf, so you
hang out with others who like golf. You
like basketball, so you hang out with them.
And then you give it a religious decoration
that these are religious people who like
following hockey.
That's
that's all fine. But
to love another
only for the sake of Allah,
and we are social beings. It is natural
that we have these social inclinations.
We're needy beings.
Our worldly needs are not fulfilled except
through
associate
worldly associations and transactions.
Transactional
relationships.
And they're couched in manners and etiquette and
all these niceties, but stripped away, they're all
transactional.
But love
And that's why a lot of them are
dead when we go through the motions.
But
associating with someone
solely for the sake of Allah
is rare.
It's
rare.
And this is a quality,
right, this is a quality
that is very central to the sunnah
of
what is
And we explained one of the hadith one
of the many hadith on this which is
a hadith Qudsi,
related
regarding
Sayidna Mu'az in Damascus.
Sayidna the amazing hadith of love and the
qualities of those who love for the sake
of Allah.
But
and we'll share that in the notes for
this,
yeah, for this lesson. But one of the
signs mentioned
of loving for the sake of Allah
is to strive to have, firstly, have at
least some relationships in your life
in which you have no
worldly
benefit whatsoever.
So it's not because of the food, it's
not because they like coffee too, it's not
because they have the same interest,
it's only for the sake of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
One of the ways of that is that
you have people who are older than you
whom you associate with. You have nothing in
common.
You have nothing in common with them.
Because even sometimes some of the religious meanings,
they're still transactional.
You spend time with them because you're both
students of knowledge. Okay.
Right?
But so it's just and one of the
things one of the categories of people to
seek out, and there's a reason the prophet
mentioned them, is those servants of Allah who
are
is those god fearing servants of Allah who
are not known to people.
Very often, they're older people
who are not known.
You can find them sometimes in the Masajid.
They may not speak
as well as you would aspire to. They
do not
have anything in common with you. But to
nurture that kind of relationship,
is one of the means of
loving for the sake of only Allah. But
then
to nurture this meaning of loving others only
for the sake of Allah
is to renew one's intention
in every human relationship that we have.
Don't love your mother because she's your mother.
Love her purely for the sake of Allah.
Because who made her your mother? Allah.
So approach it with gratitude.
Don't love
your spouse because they're so nice to you.
Love them for the sake of Allah. So
you love them even though they're not nice
to you.
Right.
And this is a high meaning,
and its expression
are
the Adabu Suhba, the proper manners of keeping
company.
Right?
The proper manners of brotherhood,
the Adab
with a teacher,
the Adab
Imam al Ghazali summarizes
what it what this is what this entails
in the the final third of the the
beginning of guidance where he talks about adab,
the adab with the various categories
of people in your life.
If you nurture those qualities
of the proper manners with teachers, with parents,
with family, with friends,
with neighbors, with strangers,
etcetera.
Seeking
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala thereby.
This is a high quality, and it's rare.
It's rare.
Right?
Yeah. They say that.
Yeah. Trueness in a friend is rare.
Right?
But they're always around.
And then the 3rd quality, of course, which
we expounded on already is
to truly appreciate the gift of faith. Right?
That to hate
the possibility of returning to disbelief
either because one experience what it means not
to believe in Allah
or the consideration
that faith is only
is only it it's a gift from Allah.
Without it,
if you don't have,
without
the affirmation of faith,
one has non faith, which is.
I won't hate that more than being thrown
in the fire.
This is related by Baha'i al Muzaff. So
these are three things
to nurture within oneself.
Right?
To strive to make every choice and expression
of love of Allah and his messenger.
To strive to make every relationship,
the motive in it is
Every relationship.
And good to do some personal accounting. What
are my what are the relationships I have
in life? Why do I have these relationships?
K?
And and
and and part of loving another for the
sake of Allah is to have
is to be loyal.
Right? Meaning, it doesn't matter what hap because
it's for Allah.
So it doesn't matter. It's like a friend
of mine used to be attitudeally divergent. Met
him in Damascus.
He was still kind of wild,
to be honest.
But he mentioned, he was in one of
these groups. A brother came from
and said, brother,
my salvation and your salvation isn't following the
commands. So, you know, gave the whole spiel.
It's true. It's true. We just earned it
so much. We smiled. It's every word of
it's true.
He has come with me for 3 days,
and I don't know what this brother was
was taking,
but he spat on the the brother's face.
But the brother just wiped it off. He
says, brother,
I love you for the sake of Allah.
Please come with me. Right? Because he wasn't
calling him because he thought he'd be nice
company.
Calling him for the sake of he just
wiped away the spit.
And I got the extra detail. He'd cleared
his throat before spitting, right, to,
you know, make it impactful.
He just wiped it away and said, brother,
I don't
yeah. Yeah.
I don't mind that. Just come.
Right? And this is,
you know,
you know, because what is the reality
of things? They are Allah's.
This is Allah's creating. Right?
Alright.
As one of the poets said,
Says, I have
in ice
the greatest of reminder for one
who in
the ocean of meanings
is
well established.
Persons and forms
that come
and pass away,
all perish
and the mover remains.
So that's the reality.
This is the creating of Allah.
Right?
And gratitude for for faith. Always remember
the great gift of faith.
They say
things are known by their opposites.
To appreciate the gift of iman, to consider
what how would life be without faith?
How would eternity
be without faith?
And it's related
from
Abu Umama, may Allah be well pleased with
him. That the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam said whoever gives
for Allah, sorry whoever loves for Allah and
hates for Allah
and gives for Allah
and withholds
for Allah
has truly
completed
their faith.
My prayer and my devotion, my living and
my dying are all for the sake of
Allah.
Where is it manifest?
The trueness of that is manifest in in
your choices.
Why do you like something?
For Allah. Why do you dislike something? For
Allah. Why do you give? You give for
Allah. Why do you not give?
It is even diff more difficult
for Allah because there's something more pleasing to
Allah that you do. It's not just because
you don't feel like it.
There's something more pleasing to Allah
that you are directing it towards.
K. Such a person has completed their faith.
Hadith number 39,
appropriate beginning, but it's also
or a good way of ending. Right? Which
is an ending that
encapsulates
what you have just covered.
So he says whoever bears witness that there's
no God but Allah and that Muhammad is
the messenger of Allah, Allah
makes forbidden
for them the fire.
But they say that the the bearing witness
is with the tongue
and with your actions.
For your actions to confirm.
So say Namad ibn Jabal, may Allah be
pleased to them, relate to the messenger of
Allah said,
notice
the kana. The Khabar of kana is.
Right? Whoever's last words are
enters paradise.
And the Ullama say from that, this alone
would be sufficient on the virtues of saying
because
if you don't know when your ending is
and your whole life
is by how you die.
And you want to die well,
then you should say La ilaha illa as
much as you can
because you don't know when you'll die
because it increases your your chances
of dying on saying.
Right?
So
and there's many hadith that affirm that meaning
itself.
Right?
So
and we know that the prophet said the
best of what I and the prophets before
me have come with is.
Right?
So one should,
and from all we've seen in this chapter,
my counsel
to myself and you is to renew our
resolve to make
much remembrance
of this noble expression if one understands its
meanings.
That there's none worthy of worship,
but
that there's none free of need of any
other, whom all are in absolute need of
except Allah.
That there's no creator but Allah.
Right?
There's none who benefits but Allah. None who
harms, but Allah.
No guide, but Allah.
No giver, but Allah. No with holder, but
Allah.
None who raises, but Allah.
None who abases, but Allah.
Right.
One understands
that all the meanings of faith, guidance,
good, all realities are encompassed in this then
as Imam al Sanusi says
so it's incumbent upon
the person of intelligence
to make much mention of this noble statement.
Until it becomes mixed with their very flesh
and blood.
Right?
Right?
Then one will behold
marvels
because it changes
one's
whole consciousness. And they say, Muhammadun Rasulullah
is the shah of.
But what is your bearing witness to Muhammadun
Rasulullah
is how you
strive to uphold
the the sunnah
in your life.
The final hadith of the collection,
And in some narrations,
77
branches.
And also can be you know, they differ
on exactly how much is, but some said
it would be understood to mean 7
considering the narrations together. So faith is 60
60 something, you know, branches.
And
and modesty,
dividends
is a branch of faith, meaning is a
great branch of faith.
But what is and this is related by
Imam al Bukhari. What is Haya?
Imam al Junaid was asked, what is Haya?
So he said
Haya,
what is is to consider the tremendousness of
Allah's favor upon you
and the tremendousness
of your falling short in what Allah deserves.
That between these two considerations,
there arises a state
that is
that is
shyness before Allah
That if you consider
the greatness of God,
the you consider the tremendousness of Allah, what
Allah deserves,
and you consider
how you are
between those two things,
the state that arises
is shyness.
Right?
Diffidence, modesty.
Next lesson, we'll look at a discussion
that that what are the branches of faith?
Because the prophet told us that faith is
70 odd, 60 odd branches, some other nations,
70 odd branches.
So Ulema were very keen to know what
are these branches.
So they looked at the hadith
of the messenger saw Islam because he mentioned
such and such thing, min al iman.
That such and such thing is from faith
or that iman is such and such.
So they listed them.
Some of them tried to classify them.
Amongst them, some of the great imams of
hadith such as ibn Hiban,
particularly,
and others.
Imam Al Bayhati,
Al Halimi, one of the great Shafi'i Fuqaha
and theologians
who came before Imam Al Bayhati.
Right? They tried to arrange them that, okay,
some relate to faith, some relate to practice,
etcetera. So they classify them in different
ways.
Ibn Kathir has a beautiful treatise when he
looks at the ones that are explicitly mentioned
in hadith, such and such thing is from
faith. So he gathered those.
Other ulama, of course, said it's not.
Right? It's not just any of those.
So it's not necessarily the case that there's
only these branches. Every act of good is
a branch of faith.
Right? Because faith
entails directing yourself to all that will be
pleasing to Allah and keeping away from all
that will be displeasing to Allah of the
meanings of iman, Islam, and ihsan.
But
this is an area worthy of a little
more exposition, so we look at that in
in the next roha with the classification given
by,
ibn Hajjar.
Ibn Hajjar mentions from some of the great
scholars,
Insha'Allah.
So we look at that. We would recommend
very highly
the abridgment of Imam Behaqi's work, Shoaibul Iman
by Al Qazwini, just translated to English as
the 77 branches of faith. So it's a
so you want to share with someone what
what are the teachings of the prophet Muhammad,
peace and blessings be upon him, What do
Muslims believe?
A very practical way
is to to share that, well, this is
what Muslims believe. That if you believe
this is what it means to believe in
God, but then what does belief in God
entail?
This is what the branches of faith arts.
It's a beautiful work, and Sheikh Abdul Hakim
Murad is the translator, and it's one of
the best,
you know,
small
collections of hadith available in English.
So we'll do that tomorrow
along with looking at the adab of the
student.
And then the next collection of 40 hadith
is on the virtues
of
the remembrance of Allah.
The virtues
of the remembrance of Allah regarding which Allah
says,
remember me
and I will remember you.
And the the UHN said, if there's nothing
else mentioned by Allah and his messenger on
the virtues of zikr except this, it'll be
enough for the intelligent person.
You want
Allah to remember you
in all ways.
Remember him.
Thank you for listening to the RoHa, daily
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