Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #122 Contentment With What Allah Has Apportioned The Real Enemy Seeking and Relying Only on
AI: Summary ©
The importance of guidance for students to pursue knowledge and knowledge to avoid backlash is emphasized, along with the negative impact of envy on one's behavior and the importance of seeking out one's own blessings. The speaker emphasizes the importance of trusting oneself and not relying on others, as well as striving for material well-being and honor. The speaker provides detailed insight on the eight insights of the Surah Talaq, including the importance of trusting oneself and not just a pleasing figure.
AI: Summary ©
You're listening to the Roha, daily guidance for
seekers with Sheikh Farazrabani,
who will be covering Imam Yusuf and Abiheni's
beautiful collection of 40 sets of 40 hadith
of the prophet, peace and blessings be upon
him, as well as Imam Zarnouji's guidance for
seekers of knowledge regarding the ways of seeking
knowledge.
In our RoHa sessions, we are
completing our look at Imam Al Ghazali's
masterly counsel
to one of his
close students,
and this is advice
for the way of knowledge
and guidance.
Advice for not only students of knowledge on
on the imperative
of living
the knowledge that one learns, but also
advice for every sincere believer.
Because what is
what
is guidance
but knowledge
that is meant to guide 1, that is
meant to be lived
seeking
the here seeking Allah
and the hereafter
thereby.
So
we have been looking
at
a lengthy discussion
in which
one of the great
Imams of the of Islamic Spirituality,
Hatim Al Asam,
was asked by his teacher, Shatiq Al Belkhi.
After 30
over 30 years of companionship, what did you
benefit from my company?
So he mentioned that he benefited 8 points
8
insights
of guidance.
And we've looked at the first few and
we reached number
5.
He said the 5th insight is that I
have seen that people
each criticizes
the other.
And they backbite
one another.
Why?
Because the human being is weak
and one way
of
preserving
their own sense
of security
is to put
others down.
Right?
Their own sense of self, strength,
etcetera. The one way of self affirmation
is to negate
others'
worth, others'
other's circumstance, and
people
imagine that they'll find comfort in it.
So he explains,
for wajaddu,
He said, and I found
that the basis of this, the basis of
why people
criticize one another and backbite one another is
envy
with respect
to Hasid,
in wealth,
in status,
jah,
and in knowledge.
These are 3 of the things
that people
most
envy about. People's wealth
and even more intense than wealth is status.
Some men some people would rather be famous
than wealthy.
And
the most dangerous
attachment is to knowledge.
Why? Because
knowledge can now make you feel
more superior than others and make you feel
as if you you're more deserving to affirm
superiority from others.
Even though
knowledge should
should cause you to be humbled.
He said
so he said I reflected on the words
of Allah most high
Allah's words that
it is we who have
apportioned
between them
their livelihood
in this worldly life. That's
from Surat Zukhruf
verse 32.
Right? That anything people are that people criticize
one another and envious
they they're critical,
they backbite, they slander, and the other
sins of speech
such
as tail bearing, etcetera, goes back to envy.
Conscious or unconscious.
And he said that I reflected on the
words of Allah that we have it is
we, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, who has divided
between them,
their livelihood
in this worldly life.
So it says so I I realized
I came to know, meaning I realized
that
this division
right, isma is to divide something up.
This division,
this meaning this apportionment,
right, to make something into portions,
was from Allah most high
in eternity.
That it's it is exactly as it
must be because that's how Allah
decreed for it to be.
So I
never envied anyone.
And I was content
with
Allah's
apportionment.
That that's why they say
that from the many harms of Hassad,
of envy,
is that envy goes against
Tawhid
because against divine oneness. Because the reality
is
that
that
what you're envying in another
was granted to them by Allah. Do you
object
to the decision of to the to the
divine
decree?
No.
You shouldn't.
Right? So it is either
it's heedlessness or ignorance of a basic reality.
That everything is
that everything is by Allah's decree and it
is his destiny.
So what the person got was what Allah
decreed.
So
the envy goes against acceptance
of divine decree.
It goes against
the implications of divine attributes
of Allah's power, will, and knowledge.
It goes against
you are in a state of opposition
to Allah's act because that act of giving
is
it's an act of the acts of Allah.
So envy is a is a state of
objection to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Unconscious objection
to Allah is objection to Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
It also goes against Tawhid
because
that envy
does not recognize the reality that Allah is
the giver.
And it's unconscious it's an it's a heedlessness.
It's an ignorance of as well because it
is Allah who's revealed the Quran
and Allah has told us
call upon me and I will answer you.
So if you want that blessing,
right, if you envy because you want the
blessing,
then
know that it's from Allah.
It is Allah who gave it to that
person and if you wanted to ask Allah
for it.
And there's nothing wrong with one thing a
blessing another has.
And it's an ignorance of tawhid at many
other levels as well.
Then Allah answers du'a. So all you have
to do to seek that blessing is to
ask for it for yourself.
If you don't want it for yourself but
you you want the other person to to
lose it, it's an ignorance
of Tawhid because
Tawhid is not perfected in a believer.
Faith
in divine oneness is not perfected in a
believer unless they have
unless they have
concern for the good of others. None of
you believes until
none of you believes until they wish for
others
what they wish for themselves.
So so there's many many harms,
you know, so to you know, that's why
Hassad, the prophet burns good deed burns away
good deeds like a raging fire burns away
wood.
Right? Beware
of envy
because envy
because envy
consumes,
eats up good deeds as a raging fire
consumes
firewood.
That's why he says, so I never envied
anyone and I was content with Allah's apportionment.
And the simple thing, if you feel a
pang of envy, make dua for the person
you felt envy for and immediately ask for
the for that good thing for yourself
or the like of it.
And sometimes you feel envious and you don't
want the thing. So they say immediately
make dua for the person that they that
Allah protect that blessing, preserve it, increase it,
make dua for them. And then immediately because
sometimes, you know, like sometimes people are envious
of something that they don't want.
Right? If someone's driving a Lamborghini,
you don't even drive.
But you just feel bad how come they
get everything.
So you don't want the Lamborghini
because it won't fit in your parking spot
in your in in the garage in your
condominium.
It'll be too expensive
and you have miserly tendencies.
So you don't want that. You just want
something big So ask Allah for what you
want.
Ask Allah from his bounty.
Right? But anytime you feel envy, this is
one of the qualities that if you feel
the envy, means that you need to nurture
The
6th point of benefit
that Hatem al Assam learned from his teacher,
he said
realized from the teachings of his teacher,
He said that I saw people
at enmity with one another.
Because of some
aim or some cause.
That Allah most high says,
truly
the devil
is for you an enemy,
so take him as an enemy.
This is from Surat Fafir, the 35th Surah
verse 6.
So I
I realized
that he's not permitted to have enmity to
anyone other than the shaytan.
Meaning because our enmity is not the people.
We are at enmity
to
actions.
Right?
To qualities.
To states.
So we don't
you know, we don't hate
our enemy.
We hate
their wrongdoing.
We hate their enmity.
Right?
So like so we we have no enemy
in that sense,
in the absolute sense, but the chepan.
No external enemy.
Anyone we're at enmity with should be because
of some action
or some quality or some state.
So you hate the action, not the actor.
The quality, not the one who has it.
The state, not the one who possesses it.
So we hate
oppression, not the oppressor.
Right?
We hate injustice, not the unjust,
etcetera.
We hate imperialism, but not the imperialist.
Right?
And that would apply
to
leaders and everyone.
The 7th point of benefit,
that I have seen
all in everyone
strive with resolve
and exert their utmost effort
with the utmost
striving.
Right? They go they go to all kinds
of
extremes.
In seeking
their provision and their livelihood.
So much so
such that it causes them to fall into
doubtful matters and to the impermissible.
Gotta provide for myself.
We need to seek you know, all these
worldly fears.
So people,
you know, they strive
with high resolve,
with the utmost of exertion of effort, and
they go to all kinds of lengths, all
of this,
and fall into the into in the wrong.
And they humiliate themselves. They'll accept
odd jobs if they have to
just to get a little more.
And they
lower from their
status.
In our time, for example, someone has a
secure job, they're fine, but just to make
that extra little more,
they they work night shifts on Uber and
they do this and did all kinds of
things,
which affects your your own self esteem perhaps,
like, you know, that you're doing all these
extra things.
They're going to food delivery,
all these things, not because they have to,
just because
they want to do that little extra.
So it says,
I reflected on Allah's words in the Quran
from Surat Hud
verse 6.
There is no creature.
Right? And a daba
is any living
is any living creature.
Anything that stops on earth.
Right?
On earth
except that it is upon Allah to provide
for it.
Accidents happen and tragedies happen, but have you
seen
and of course in the in the normal
state of things, oh, that cat died of
starvation
out
in nature. No. Typically it doesn't happen.
Right? How many people are dying of starvation
in in a normal state of affairs?
Yes. They are hung even the hungry and
the homeless must be getting some food somehow,
otherwise they wouldn't be alive.
What's the worst case scenario? You'll survive.
Right? And and, yes, we we I mean,
we ourselves feel
it's a communal obligation to take care of
the the homeless and some of the very
fact that they're still alive means that somehow
food's getting to them
even
so I realized
so I realized that my provision is upon
Allah most high.
And he has guaranteed it.
So I busied myself
with his worship,
with his obedience.
And I cut off my hopes for other
than him.
And here busying myself, meaning, what is your
priority?
People make their dunya their priority and they
fit in deen here and there.
And to quote
a friend of mine, that's not deen, that's
decoration.
Right?
Whereas if you consider why were you created,
and this is why what does Ibn Said?
You're striving for what was guaranteed for you,
your provision.
And you're falling short in what was sought
from you,
which is
that you submit to him.
They have not been commanded except
that they submit to Allah.
Making their life transaction
totally
for his sake alone.
Verse 5 98 to 5.
Right. You're striving for what was guaranteed for
you and you're falling short in what is
sought from you is a sure sign
that the light of spiritual insight
has been extinguished
within you.
This does not mean that you don't take
the means.
Right? But what what is our approach to
life? Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
seek with all that Allah has
given you
the next abode.
Yet do not forget your share of this
life.
Right? You put
put the eternal
before the the fleeting,
the lasting over the perishing.
The 8th point of benefit.
There is I've seen all people
relying on something created.
Some on their money, on dinars and dirhams,
on their on their on money.
And some rely
on their wealth
and their
power.
And some rely
on their
profession
and trade.
Well, I'm an I'm an engineer. I'm a
lawyer. I, you know,
I can figure it out. I I I
I right?
And some on another creak, created being
like them.
Well, my dad.
Like, you know, like some Imam Al Haddad
says here in India and said don't be
like those who say
My father was
such and such. Right?
Right?
Or
whoever else.
And whoever
places their trust upon Allah,
then he
is their sufficiency.
What's understood from that too is that if
you place your trust on any other than
Allah, they will not be sufficient for you,
they will fall short.
Because
reliance
is a meaning.
Right?
If you consider what does it mean to
rely.
Right?
And who is the one being relied upon?
What are the qualities? What is reliance? And
who is the one being relied upon?
Anyone
besides you is needy as well.
Right? Any created being is needy,
is dependent,
does not have ability nor power.
So you're relying
on 1 needy.
You're which is kinda silly.
You're relying on 1
who cannot benefit you. That's also silly. You're
relying on one who does not even have
ability nor power.
It cannot fulfill its own needs, let alone
yours,
which is why
Allah
says, and whoever places their trust upon Allah,
then he is their sufficiency.
No one else
can fulfill your need.
Indeed Allah
makes his
command, his affair come to pass.
And
Allah has made for everything
a destiny.
And this is from Surah Talaq, the 6
65th Surah verse number 3.
So I placed my trust upon Allah most
high.
So he is my sufficiency.
And what a great guardian
he is.
So these were the 8 insights of that
Khatim al Assam gleamed from Shakikh al Balqi,
his teacher.
So
Shakikh al Balqi said,
may Allah grant you true success.
Said
I have
looked in,
meaning read,
the Torah
the the Torah and the Injeel, the gospels,
and the zabur and the Psalms
and the Furkan and the criterion meaning the
Quran.
And I've seen that these these four revealed
books revolve around these 8 meanings.
Whoever acts upon them is acting on these
4
books. And just quickly to to recap what
were the 8 points.
Right.
The first
was
that everyone has a beloved
that they that they
choose.
So you make
righteous actions, your beloved, and that's what you
choose.
2nd,
that all
people follow their their
desire.
Right?
And
so so
and they follow it.
He said, but I realized that the Quran
is true.
So he
and it tells us that whoever opposes their
desires
will have paradise. So I opposed my desires
until
my my lower self became disciplined. The third
that he said, I saw all people
are busy in gathering the duniya.
But
but what what that this it's all perishing
and what remains is what is what with
Allah.
So he he
gave his dunya to benefit the poor and
the needy.
Right? To prefer the lasting over the perishing.
The 4th
is that people imagine their honor and rank
is
isn't something worldly.
But he realized that the only
true criterion
for
rank and honor, status and success
is taqwa. So I chose taqwa as my
badge of honor.
The 5th, we we just took that
all people are envious
and that's why they criticize and think ill
and backbite people.
And this is from a type of objection
to Allah. So he left envy
and was content with Allah.
The 6th
that people are at enmity because of some
aim or some reason,
but the only one worthy of your unconditional
enmity is the shaytaan.
Be at enmity to no one else,
oppose
the wrong whether of actions or states.
And the 7th
that everyone strives their utmost
in their worldly lives. People exhaust themselves.
Right? In their worldly
gathering.
Alright?
But
what they are gathering is guaranteed by Allah.
So
have trust in Allah
regarding that
and seek him as well. And this is
one of the mistakes that parents make.
That your parents have a child then now
they're worried about
the child, but the child doesn't need your
wealth.
The child
the good of the child is not in
your money.
The good of the child is in your
heart.
The good of the child is in your
deen.
Right?
The good of the child,
the the the the the above all the
well-being of the child,
there's a spiritual well-being of the child, there's
a social well-being of a child and there's
a material well-being of the child. And the
material well-being of the child is the least
important of the 3.
If you can only give them 1 of
the 3,
which do you give them? Give them spiritual
well-being.
You can give them 2 of the 3,
give them spiritual well-being and social well-being. That
you treat them well
and you're kind and caring
to them,
etcetera.
And then if you can give them material
well-being, that's that's a supplement, but it's not
required. Of course, it's a basic minimum,
but who doesn't fulfill that minimum?
Right?
When they're able. Right? Which is why the
the sunnah of
of worldly striving, the prophet
so
that everything you know, that everyone's provision is
guaranteed
so pursue
with dignified restraint, with beautiful
restraint.
And finally,
that everyone relies on something created
rely only on Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So these are the 8 insights of
shakikh al belki.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he
benefit us
from these.
And
the
then Imam
Al Ghazali
says
that
and we'll just read this because it's an
important insight. He says,
He said, you know from these two stories
that you don't need
to keep increasing your knowledge.
Right? This is talking to someone who already
gained a lot of knowledge.
Right?
And, of course, he's not saying don't learn
more,
but prioritize acting on what you know. What
does Ibn Raslan say in
the Zubed?
Act even if it be with 1 tenth
of what you know.
Act even if it's 1 with 1 tenth
of what you know, you
will come out by the light
of knowledge
from many fold darknesses.
But what's the light of knowledge? The light
of knowledge is acting upon it.
Right?
And then he says,
and he says, and now I'll tell you
what is required for someone who wants to
pursue
the path
of the true.
Right? And this is either the truth or
Al Haqq is the path of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
Right?
And he,
describes what is required,
for 1, seeking a spiritual guide. So we
look at that
on on Wednesday
and what is
what is spiritual training.
Right? A lot of people
work really hard on their deen and they
say now have a sheikh.
So imagine some kind of spiritual cruise control.
Now I don't have to work hard
and they suffer.
That's a a type of it's like I
say, well, before I was taking care of
my health, but now I'm in the hospital.
But you don't go to the doctor.
Right?
You actually might get more sick because there's
more sick people in the hospital than outside
it.
Right?
So he Imam Ghazaliq shares some excellent
guidance
regarding that,
and cautions
against the wrong kind of company.
So we ask Allah to benefit us from
this guidance.
Thank you for listening to the daily guidance
for seekers with Sheikh Farazrabani.
Help SeekersHub
give light to millions around the world by
supporting us through monthly donations by going to
seekershub.org/
donate. Your donations are tax deductible in the
US and Canada.