Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #093 The Best of Remembrance Acting on Ones Knowledge
AI: Summary ©
The importance of gratitude and the use of "lee moment" in achieving success is emphasized. The speaker emphasizes the need for gratitude and the importance of having a positive attitude towards life. The speaker also discusses the importance of reflecting on the meaning of having in-person seen the Prophet's statement and seeking forgiveness. The speaker provides advice on acting upon knowledge and not reacting upon it, and promotes a new podcast on searchersHub.
AI: Summary ©
You're listening to the Roha, daily guidance for
seekers with Sheikh Rasra Benny.
In our daily Roha,
we are continuing to look at some of
the guidance of our beloved Messenger
and some counsels for seekers.
In
the guidance of the prophet
we have been going through
sets of 40 hadiths
by one of the very distinguished
scholars
of the 20th century, Sheikh Yousef and Nabhani.
And we're looking at a collection of
40 hadiths now on the virtues of.
That great statement regarding which our beloved messenger
has said in a hadith that we'll be
looking at later
in this collection,
that the best of what I and the
prophets before me have come with is.
And in these had and the reason
they're here there's 40 hadiths on is
because
the prophet
so strongly emphasized
the importance of this statement.
And
the author, of course, summarized
these 40 hadiths
from a larger collection by distinguished
scholar
some centuries ago,
Sheikh Shamsuddin Muhammad Al Bekri
called
which had over a 100 hadith
on the virtues
of So hadith number 15
and zaydibmi arkam
The Messenger of Allah
said, Whoever says
there is no God but
God
sincerely
enters paradise.
So he was asked and what is
its sincerity?
What is
its sincerity? What is the sincerity befitting?
Because sincerity
is to strive to make something pure.
Right?
Is to be pure.
The verb
from which you have
is to strive
to bring purity to something else.
So this haba asked, so what is its
ikhlas? The prophet
said, what is its
striving for purity?
And he said, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
right, that
it keep one away, that it guard one
from Allah's prohibitions.
That is to be sincere
in it. And this is related by at
Tabarani and Abu Nuaim in the in the
hilya with a sound chain of transmission.
So has salvific value. If you
say it sincerely,
it
is
Allah has promised paradise for it but to
the extent that you that you do not
act in accordance with it, to that extent
you disadvantage
yourself
in your ultimate salivistic state
or threaten
your salvation
so that you may be liable for punishment.
And if
you endanger it enough you may actually lose
the blessing itself.
Right? Which is that one
not have a good ending and the most
dangerous thing with that respect and we'll see
hadiths that come after regarding this is is
wronging others.
And we'll see some hadiths on that.
The hadith number 16
He said, call out to people
whoever says
paradise becomes incumbent upon them.
So why would we why would he say
this? Right.
And this is related by Ibn Asekir with
a sound chain of transmission.
And ibn al Asekir was one of the
great imams of Hadith, who was also a
brilliant historian, wrote one of the most comprehensive
works on history,
and was also a great theologian,
was one of the great imams of hadith,
who was a great,
a shari theologian.
That call out to people that whoever says
la ilaha illa, paradise is incumbent upon them.
One is for you personally to have hope.
Right? To have hope.
Right?
But secondly,
the ulama state
is that one of the things that is
very important for us is to have tazeem
of the people of
Right.
To deeply respect all the people of La
ilaha illallah.
Of course the people of La ilaha illallah
are firstly the people who who've already stated
La ilaha illallah.
But secondarily
as the Ulema tell us every
human being has a possibility of being of
the people of.
So
that's
the the second reason. Call out to people.
Let them be aware of this. To have
hope oneself
and to have deep respect for people the
people of.
Hadith number 17.
Anjabi
So it's Sayyidina Jabi who relates that the
Messenger of Allah
said, The best of remembrance
is and
the best of supplication
is
Alhamdulillah
is all praise is Allah's.
So the best of remembrance is for
obvious reasons, right? Because you're affirming
the absolute divinity of Allah and the absolute
negation of any meaning of divinity from any
besides Allah.
So it's a best of dhikr. It's very
understandable.
The best of supplication is Alhamdulillah.
Why?
The ulama said one reason is because Alhamdulillah
expresses gratitude.
And gratitude is the key
to a divine guarantee for increase.
Right? That the best investment you can make
is to invest in gratitude.
Because Allah Subhana
says,
If you are grateful,
We will
surely
grant you great increase.
Right?
And
right? It's in the past tense. If you
give, if you give any gratitude, we will
surely
grant you
great increase.
Right? So it's a condition of the if
then.
But any expression of gratitude
there is.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala said,
We.
I shall surely grant you increase.
With the emphasis. Right? So is for emphasis
and the
is for increase.
So this is,
you know, this is one of the reasons
why the best of dua is Alhamdulillah.
It's to say Alhamdulillah but also because in
so far as that it expresses gratitude.
And that's why when we finish eating we
say Alhamdulillah.
Right? But we say it with the tongue
but
the heart should be grateful. Right? The heart
should be grateful.
Right? And we say alhamdulillah in all kinds
of things. Right? But often we give a
despondin alhamdulillah. You ask someone, how is this
alhamdulillah?
It's like I'm miserable, but I'm not gonna
say it. Right?
But
right? And it's a dua.
Right? Because you are content with Allah.
Right? And the principle of the here also
say that as you are with Allah, so
shall you find.
So if you are content
with your Lord,
right? Then you shall find all that will
grant you contentment from Him.
And also one of the lessons from it
is sometimes we don't know how to ask
Allah.
So
praise Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. One of the
things that Olam mentions practically with Alhamdulillah
is that often someone if you find someone
or you find yourself going through a hard
time, right, or you're finding hardship, you're feeling
down, one of the most effective things is
to say Alhamdulillah
repeatedly.
Right?
And very often you know one of the
advices the ulema say, and you see them
in their practice, is that rather than telling
people a lot, giving a lot of people,
you sometimes you have to give a certain
amount of human you know worldly consolation, but
they're still stuck at the end of it
where they were spiritually.
Right? If you tell them of course you
have to contextualize it in some
emotional
consolation. Say, someone I'm going through a hard
time. So well it's not so bad.
It's exactly as it was. They're still stuck
where they are. Is give them something positive
to do. There's social things to do. Like
someone's stuck at home. They're not leaving home.
They're down. There's a social changing of context.
But there's spiritual changing of context. One of
the things to do is to say Alhamdulillah
frequently, right.
It's one of the best of duas to
change one state and one of the practices
that is to remember specific blessings because that
facilitates
praise of Allah
with
reminding oneself of what you are grateful for.
Right? So
whether it's you know
like if you're
out and about and you're feeling kind of
down you know you also miss the bus
despite everything. It's okay. You may say 11
times. Remember 11
blessings
or say it 33 times or a 100
times. Right? And this is one way. This
is a this is a type of dua.
Right?
Hadith number 18.
The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said
that
when the scales are
placed,
are readied on the day of resurrection, a
man will come forth and they will be
placed on one side of the scale.
And on the other side,
all that
counts against him,
right, of their sins and their wrongs and
their wrongdoings and their injustice.
So that the scale
it
inclines
against them, right. Their bad deeds exceed all
the good that they had done.
So he's taken forth to go to the
fire.
So when the man turns away,
a caller calls out
from
the all merciful,
right, on meaning on behalf of the all
merciful
from the direction
of
the throne
saying
do not be hasty do not be hasty
because
something still remains for this man
And
they bring forth
a card,
a bitaka, a small card.
In it was written,
And it is placed with the man with
this person
on his side of the scale, the scale
of
his
good deeds,
until
the scale preponderates.
And this is related by Imam Ahmed
and Imam Atirmiddhi with a sound chain. And
the wisdom of this happening is to remind
the servant of the tremendousness of the gift
of faith.
The tremendousness of and it's the greatest of
gifts.
Hadith number 19
Right?
So
Abu Wa'il
relates
that Abu Bakr as Siddiq readhilahu met Talhaibin
Ubaidullah.
And he said, why is it that I
see
you concerned, thoughtful about something? He said, it's
I'm thinking it's some something that I've heard
from the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi salallam
that he said that it
that it leads
it makes incumbent, mean makes paradise incumbent. But
I didn't get to ask him what it
was.
So Abu Bakr
said, I know what it is.
It's la ilaha illallah.
Right.
But you also see
this is one example, the sahaba used to
reflect deeply about things. Right. They were not
Yeah I mean
say that Palha was one of the senior
companions
but you could just go and ask, okay
who could, who knows?
But
but you reflect before you ask,
right.
You reflect before you ask. You also
see the brotherhood of the companions,
right. That Sayyidina Abu Bakr noticed that there's
something concerning
Sayyidina Tal Hazawi asked him about it.
The last hadith we're going to look at
today, hadith number 20,
So Yala ibn Shaddad bin Aus who's the
son of Shaddad bin Aus
said he heard from his father, Sayna Shaddad
that we were with
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
This is something this is something we don't
get in person. This is what the companions
got
right. That's something we should be yearning for
but we can get it. This is what
we seek when
we
read the hadith of the Prophet or hear
about him right. That we want to be
with the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Right?
Because the poet said that if I cannot
be with the one I love
then let me
hear
their words
or mention of them.
Right?
Right. I remember one of my teachers in
Damascus one day before a gathering at the
Nuriya
at Jamia Nuruddin,
Zenji.
And he was sitting in the courtyard, very
beautiful, it's like
900 year old mosque.
Small not that big, mid mid sized.
At the Masjid itself in the courtyard. So
he's sitting there. So
he Sheikh Mohammed
shook his head and said, you know, all
week I've been thinking about a hadith of
the prophet and
he smiled. I said, what what is it,
Siddhi?
He said, it's a hadith of Sayedhi.
I saw the messenger, Sool Allah, alayhi salam.
He paused. I said, yeah. So what's the
Hadith? That that Sayidina Anasulullah said, oh, right.
And
he paused. And a very dramatic effect. I
said, Siri, so what's the hadith?
So he repeated it a third time with
a big smile.
I said, nam Siri, so what is it?
He said, that's what I've been reflecting on.
Can you imagine what it means
to have in person seen the messenger sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam. Right? But this is a
meaning that we should always reflect on because
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said
that
you know he he longed for those who
longed for him. Right?
He longed for those who longed for him.
Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Right? He said,
if only I could
see my brethren.
I said, aren't we your brethren, o Messenger
of Allah? He said,
no. You are my companions. My brethren are
those who will come after me who did
not see me, meaning in person.
But one of them would
give their
life and wealth and all they possess
to be able to see me.
And this is and there's great merit in
this yearning. And if you want to see
a number of other hadiths related to that
and the promise that this is something that
will be fulfilled
for the sincere believer is a final chapter
of Iam
Tirmidi's work on the Shemael.
Right?
And if it's not fulfilled through
a vision of the prophet in this life,
then it's a guarantee
that it'll be fulfilled in the next. Sayna
Nasser said
that, you know, this thing that concerned the
most was the fact that in this life
they were able to be with the prophet
but what if but in the next they
don't deserve the company of the prophet because
he's in the highest of ranks. So what
are the saba waztan asked?
That, oh messenger of Allah, a man may
love some people
but he doesn't reach their level.
Of course the people there, don't is actually
referring to one person
which is the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. This
is one of the ways of
concealing
one's love.
Right?
So prophet said,
a person will be
with those they love. And Sayyidina Anas said,
We did not rejoice after Islam with any
rejoicing as we rejoice the day when we
heard the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said, a person will be with those
they love. So let's say Anas didn't stop
at us. They said, so by Allah
I love Allah and I love the messenger
of Allah and I love Abu Bakr and
Umar and Uthman and Ali and I long
that I be resurrected with them. Right.
So some people say well you know focus
only on Allah, yes, but you focus on
Allah and all that is beloved to Allah.
Right? And nothing is more beloved to Allah
than his servants.
Right? Because he gave them the choice
to love him or not to love him.
And those who love him more intensely are
more intensely beloved by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So this hadith
said, we were with the Prophet
and he asked, are there any strangers amongst
us? Meaning of the people of the book.
And they said no. So he said, so
close the door.
And he said, raise your hands and say,
la ilaha illallah.
So
Shaddad bin O says So we raise our
hands
for some time
saying it
saying
Then he said
All praise Alhamdulillah.
All praise is to Allah.
Allah O Allah,
you have sent me with this statement.
You have commanded me with it.
And said, he have promised me
for for the statement paradise and you do
not
renege on your promise.
You truly fulfill your promise. Then he said,
Have be of glad tidings for Allah has
forgiven you.
For Allah has forgiven you, right? And this
is this tells us of course of the
the sadific
import of that
counts
if said sincerely
as a statement of seeking forgiveness,
as a statement of self purification,
of cleaning one's slate. Well, one also see
it from the merit of group.
And this is related by Imam Ahmed,
in his Musnad and by Atabarani.
So we'll continue
next
class from there.
We're also looking at Ayahu Alwaleed by Imam
Al Ghazali.
And
this is a council that Imam Al Ghazali
gave one of his close students
a practical count council on
the way of
guidance.
So he began by saying that all counsel
is taken from the mind of messengerhood.
So if you can't be benefiting from prophetic
guidance, what are you benefiting from? A reminder
that every believer
regardless of what whether they're busy as a
student of knowledge in seeking knowledge or busy
in life.
If you're not connecting with the base of
all benefits which is
the guidance of the beloved messenger
then whatever benefit you imagine you're attaining. Whether
it's religious or worldly,
there's a misalignment
in your priorities,
right.
Then
the second
counsel he gave
from prophetic teachings is the sign that Allah
has turned away from you is that you
busy yourself with the things that are not
of concern to you.
Okay. Which is that which is not is
not of eternal good for you or not
of considered worldly good for you. Right
and that's somewhere when one begins in fixing
one's priorities.
Because sometimes there's things that are difficult to
leave,
right.
But there's other things that they're not difficult
to leave, right, that are not of concern
to you. But we just
we often fill our times with a lot
of useless things to get get rid of
them. And
you find a lot of space for good.
But then he tells us today, it's a
brief counsel but worthy of deep reflection. He
says,
He says
Imam Al Ghazali says,
dear child,
counsel is easy.
What is difficult
is accepting
it. Why?
Because
counsel,
because advice
to the taste of those who follow their
own whims
is bitter.
Because
the prohibited matters, the interdicted matters
are beloved
to their hearts.
And this is particularly true for those who
are seeking
just
the appearances
of religious knowledge.
Because those who seek
just the appearances of religious knowledge,
seeking their busy thereby
to
self aggrandize
and to seek worldly recognition.
Right. I'm trying to
to increase my
personal branding.
You heard it's like students of knowledge.
You
know, talking about stuff like that. Like I'm
trying to,
you know, like build my profile and maybe
learn 1 or 2 things first. Right? Like,
Because such a person imagines that knowledge alone
will be
a means to them
of benefiting.
And that knowledge alone will be their salvation.
And their
you know their success and their salvation
will be through the knowledge.
And such a person imagines that they're not
they don't need to actually act on what
they learn.
And this is the
this was what the philosophers believed that that
mere knowledge is sufficient.
That knowledge is inherently
virtuous.
And that is not our belief. And he
will,
he he corrects this. He says, Subhan Allah.
Glory be to Allah. The most tremendous.
Such a person
doesn't know that when they acquired knowledge,
if they don't act upon it, then the
proof against them will be even greater.
The proof against them will be even greater
because if you if you know but don't
act on what you know,
you are more responsible
than the one who didn't know and failed
to act.
As is related from the messenger
he said of the people most intensely punished
on the day of resurrection
is a person of knowledge whom Allah did
not benefit
by their knowledge,
right.
And this is related by Imam al Behati,
insurable iman,
and also by Ibn Asekir,
in Tariq Dimashq
and others.
Right. That the person most intensely punished on
the day of judgment will be a person
of knowledge whom Allah did not benefit with
their knowledge. They conveyed it to others but
they had
they did not attempt
to act upon it themselves.
And it's related that one of the righteous
saw Imam Junaid, the imam of the spiritual
path.
May Allah sanctify his noble soul. He was
seen
in someone's dream after his death.
And he was asked.
What's the news?
Oh Abu al Qasim. Everyone wants the news,
but the righteous used to want spiritual news.
Right? Like what happened to you basically.
Right?
He said
all those expressions
have departed
And all those spiritual illusions
have
been extinguished.
And all that benefit
benefited us was some rakas
that we
prayed in the depths of the night.
Of course it's not saying that none of
his knowledge benefited.
Right.
You know he was
he he was
the role that imam al Junaid played in
Islamic Spirituality
is like the role played by the by
the the Imams
of the
great Sunni schools of law.
That he consolidated
and clarified
and laid down the fundamental principles
of the spiritual path for all that came
after him
But rather
that it's not the words that benefit, but
it it it was acting upon them. And
what is acting upon them?
Striving.
Right? Striving in the depths of the night.
Right? So so here his advice is that
advice isn't easy to take. What is his
advice?
You have knowledge, act upon it.
Only then will it be a case for
you. Right?
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to grant
us that opportunity
to act on what we know.
Ibam
Ibun Raslan
who wrote
a great poem in Shefa Ifiq.
He writes in it about the importance of
acting upon knowledge.
He says,
So he says, act on what you know.
Even if it be a 10th, like in
Zakat. Because the Zakat on crops
is 1 tenth.
Right?
Right? Act if even if it's on the
tenth of what you already know. And you'll
come out
by the light
of knowledge
from the from many darknesses.
Then but then he warns,
For personal knowledge
who does not act
upon what they know
will be punished
before the worshippers of idols.
And we know that's from the hadith of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Right? That
on the day of resurrection when all of
creation is gathered, 3 people will be judged
before anyone else.
Right. One was the person of knowledge
who conveyed knowledge insincerely.
Right for worldly gain and praise. The other
was someone
who
gave in charity
insincerely.
You know for to be praised.
And the third will be someone who engaged
in jihad.
To be to be praised.
Right?
And those will be made example of even
though they were believers.
Right. But also pointing to that if one
is not careful,
right.
Right. One's
very faith is under
it can be under threat. Right? Because the
greater the blessing, the greater the gratitude that
is due for it.
So we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
be truly grateful. Right? The greatest
safeguard
for good is gratitude.
The greatest safeguard for for any good is
gratitude. And the greatest
gift is faith.
So
we we must be faith grateful for that.
The greatest gift is guidance. To be grateful
for that. The messenger, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Right?
As Sheikha Abdul Ghani Nabi said,
Am I I'm but
nothing.
I am but
a
a moment of light
from
the chosen one.
Right? All our life is just a you
know, just one
ray of light from of
that
light
of guidance and good that is
the messenger of our license. We should so,
you know, it the quality one nurtures in
this is gratitude. It is gratitude.
Should I not be a truly grateful servant?
WassaAllahu
Alaihi Wa Salaam wa
Alhamdulillahi
rubilalamin.
So Imam Al Ghazali
has to be approached correctly as well because
sometimes
just read like he can be pretty,
you
know like one one one brother I didn't
know how he came up and said he
said reading Yamar Ghazali feels like kung fu
against my nafs. I said do you know
kung fu? He said no. Then how do
you know it's kung fu for your nafs?
He said it's devastating. I said, but there's
a there's a way to approach him. This
is a big reminder of
there's a warning. But one's grateful
because your one doesn't focus on the warning
itself. Oh my god, if I don't act,
I'll be destroyed. But rather
the message
is
act out of gratitude and you will be
safe.
Right?
So that you don't harm yourself. Right?
We we have just released our the new
podcast at SeekersHub,
by
doctor Ingrid Mattson.
So do check it out. If you go
to seekershub.org/podcast,
you'll see,
an a new podcast with doctor Ingrid Madsen.
Do subscribe. Do share it with friends and
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If you can review it on iTunes, that's
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