Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #129 Preparing for Death and Not Having False Hopes
AI: Summary ©
The speaker advises the audience to avoid mixing with people in power, not to accept gifts and grants, and not to accept their own gifts and grant. They stress the importance of finding a balance between healthy and productive behavior, finding a way to be rewarded, and prioritizing one's actions. The importance of learning and reminding oneself about the benefits of faith and submitting to Allah's creation is emphasized. The speaker emphasizes the importance of prioritizing one's actions and not letting things happen to the best of one's own intention. The importance of knowing one's worth and finding the way to be rewarded is also emphasized. The speaker emphasizes the importance of not feeling like one is the greatest of one's concerns and not being a material distraction, and also discusses a beautiful model of deduction and deduction.
AI: Summary ©
You're listening to the RoHa, daily guidance for
seekers with Sheikh Rasro Beni.
Muhammad.
In our sessions on
Imam Al Ghazali's
Ayuhalwaled,
his advice to a dear student of his.
As part of our Roha sessions, we
have reached
Imam Al Ghazali's closing closing advice. And he
gave he advised to leave 4 things and
to hold fast to 4 things
to do 4 things.
So the 4 things that he took he
said to leave
at all costs, what were they?
The first was to leave
yeah. To leave debate and disputation.
Like, don't argue with people on of religious
matters.
As one of them Olamin put it, religion
is not up for discussion.
Right? Discussion and they say, you know, of
argument
and back and forth.
The second was
to avoid
becoming a mere preacher.
Right? And under preaching would be just avoid
the lecture circuit.
Sheikh Hamza memorably in the nineties,
I think in his sessions on
on purification of the heart, I believe,
he said that one of the greatest harms
to to to our communities
in the west
is
is the lecture circuit.
Like, the people
just go around giving talks, but people don't
learn what they need to know
and
nor nor is it calling to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. And so it's neither nor
So that's the second. Avoid being a mere
preacher.
And from that is just to give talks
for the sake of giving talks.
The third
To not mix with
Yeah. Not to
to avoid mixing with people
in power.
Right?
Be beware of mixing with people in power.
And number 4,
don't don't accept their gifts and grants.
Right? And in our time, beware of being
funded
by,
whether by be be by governments or other
others,
you know, beware of,
you know,
of
also in our times of corporations.
And because they have, you know, Apple sitting
right now on a cash reserve of over
$250,000,000,000.
That's their cash reserve.
Forget their assets, their net worth, which is
close to a trillion,
just their cash reserves, money in the bank,
quote, unquote,
is over 250,000,000,000.
Right? You could solve much of the world's
problems just by raiding Apple.
That's a separate matter.
Then he tells us today we're we're going
to look at today,
as for the 4 things that
you should hold fast to and do,
He says,
That you make
your
dealing with Allah
most high such that if you had a
servant
who works for you,
if they
acted in this in a similar way with
you, you would be well pleased with them.
Right?
That if you were to,
you know, if you had to serve it
or if you employed somebody, if they did
if they did their job for you the
way you work for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
in your worship, in your submission,
in what you're responsible for
in life, you'd not only accept it, but
you'd be pleased with it.
And you would not feel
bad
about them.
And you would not be upset with them.
And anything that you will not be well
pleased for yourself
from your metaphorical
servant,
because the person working for you is not
your actual servant even if they're in the
old days a slave,
then don't be content
with acting in that way with respect to
Allah when he is
your real master.
He's your
real master.
That is the first thing. Right?
Treat Allah,
deal with Allah better than you would want.
Serve Allah better than you would want people
to serve you.
Right?
Was there a question?
Okay.
The second advice is that,
anything that you do
with for people
anything that you do for people,
do it such that you would be pleased
for it for yourself
from them.
Right? That when you deal with people,
deal with them in a manner that you
would be pleased that they dealt with you
if they did it on your behalf. So
for example,
how would you
serve them? How would you want to be
served?
And if you don't have any expectations or
standards,
then think about the the common person. How
would they want to be served? Because I
don't like being served. So I'm just gonna
be sloppy with people. No.
And then, you know, referring to hadith because
a person's
faith is not completed
until
they love for all people
all that they love for themselves. And this
is referring to hadith and Bukhari and Muslim
that the prophet
said, none of you believes until they love
for for others
all that they love for themselves.
Right? And the prophet mentioned that this is
one of the three qualities
of those who who taste the sweetness of
faith.
Right?
That in the hadith also related by Bukhari
and Muslim.
There are 3 qualities
whoever has them will
find or will experience
the sweetness of faith.
That Allah and his messenger be more beloved
to them than all besides.
That's the first. The second
that one love another,
loving them only for the sake of Allah
or loving them purely
for the sake of Allah.
The third
and and the third is that one hate
returning to disbelief
and its ways as one would hate to
be thrown into the fire.
Right? So here that one love another only
for the sake of Allah. Right?
So that's the second. So first is deal
with Allah as you'd want a servant to
deal with you. Deal with people in the
way that you'd want them
to deal with you.
Now this advice was for a student of
knowledge
or a young scholar, really, someone who'd been
studying for many years.
A third,
The third and
third thing to hold fast to.
So make good you're dealing with Allah, make
good you're relating to people, and he gave
us the standard. The third is because dealing
with Allah and dealing with Allah's servants requires
knowledge.
So what is the focus of knowledge? He
says,
when you
when you study
knowledge
or read it yourself.
Because
in Arabic classically
has the sense
of reading, of studying
under a teacher.
So if you say
I read
doesn't mean, like, you opened it and read
it.
Means so
and so. I read it with so and
so.
When you just read something on your own,
this is called mutala.
It's your personal reading.
So
is studying
with a teacher.
Is when
you have your your personal reading
which is also important.
When you study knowledge or read it yourself,
It is incumbent that the knowledge that you
study or read be of the knowledge
that will rectify
your heart.
And that will
purify
yourself.
Purify
refine
you
in
your
uprightness,
in your submission to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Right?
Which of course requires
a a balance of different
things. You need to
learn about, you know, learn and remind yourself
about iman of of faith,
about submission,
you know, both worship
and how you better submit in all aspects
of your life.
Right?
Spirituality,
the state of your heart with Allah and
the state of your heart with Allah's
creation.
Right?
The knowledge that enables you to
act with excellence
in ways that nurture your heart. Right? This
is the knowledge that you need. Right? And
this is
has to be our hitab, our address to
people that this is what you should put
your focus on.
Right? Because it's it is only,
you know, that in a in a world
where there's much sickness,
it is only hearts
that have been healed
that can heal
the sickness
that is spreading
in this world.
Right?
Sick hearts cannot heal hearts.
Right? And, you know, the the crisis that
we have
not in ourselves and around us is
is a crisis of hearts. Right? Why does
oppression happen? Oppression happens due to sick hearts.
Why does injustice happen? Due to sick hearts.
Right? Why is there economic
deprivation?
Because there are hearts that are sick, they
don't care
for those
in harm. Why does abuse happen, etcetera? It,
you know, it begin it all begins with
the heart.
But if one wants to be a force
of change for the good in this world,
then one must
rectify one's heart because it is only
healthy hearts that that it is only hearts
that have
healed,
that can heal other hearts.
Right? There's only hearts that have been that
have light that can give light
truly.
We ask a lot to be of the
of those who heal and those who bring
light in our own lives
and around us.
Such that if you knew
that there's only 1 week left in your
life,
then necessarily you won't busy yourself
just
with
the knowledge of the details
of and
the difference of opinion.
And
the principles of and
scholastic theology,
you know, the nuances of the science of
of beliefs and the like of them.
Because you will know obviously that these that
these sciences will not be your sufficiency. This
is not what you need when you're standing
before Allah.
K.
Except in so far as
you manage to benefit some yourself or someone
else through them.
But rather you would busy yourself with being
watchful over your heart.
And to know
the
attributes
of yourself.
Right? And how to nurture the good qualities
and get rid of the bad qualities.
And how to turn away from your worldly
attachments.
And you would purify yourself
from the blame worthy
traits of character.
And you'd busy yourself with the love of
Allah most high.
And his worship.
And
acquiring
praiseworthy
traits.
Right. If you knew you die in a
week, this is what you'd busy yourself with.
You'd busy yourself with fixing
your relationship with Allah
and fixing
your state
as part of fixing your relationship with Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And then Imam Al Ghazali says, and no
day
or nor night passes by a person except
that it is possible
that their death could happen in it.
Right?
And this is one of the criteria for
determining what how you prioritize
what you're doing right now,
which is
to ask yourself the question,
what if I die
right now?
What should I be doing if I knew
I'm dying right now?
What what should I be doing right now?
Given all that I'm responsible for.
Right?
Given all
that I'm responsible for.
Right?
And basically,
if you consider that then you would not
want to do anything but remember Allah
And which is why they say
the realization that arises from that is
that
any action that you do, you should do
it in a state of remembrance of Allah
Subha'ala.
And it becomes
from the best of actions.
Right? Because sometimes you have responsibilities to do.
So they say the dhikr test
is that is this better than dhikr?
And if it's not, then why why are
you doing it?
But how does an action become
as good as or better than
when it's done with intention for Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
With consciousness
of Allah
With remembrance
of Allah
In a way that is pleasing to Allah
So if you think about it, if you're
a mother or a father,
why would you change a diaper?
Because if you sit down, your baby's crying.
Now ultimately,
will you be carrying your baby on the
day of resurrection?
No.
Everyone who who is carrying, like, who's pregnant
with a child will
leave their child,
let alone mothers.
Right?
So
if of Allah
is better for you
in that moment
than
changing the diaper, then why would you change
the diaper?
That's why a lot of a lot of
parents, especially mothers, struggle
with pregnancy
and struggle afterwards
when they have a kid.
Because they're doing a lot of things
that they don't understand why they're doing it.
Because they wish they were doing something else.
And even spiritually, if you don't get why
you're doing what you're doing,
doing it will be a burden and it
could make you feel down.
Why should you change your baby's diaper if
making zikr of Allah is better for you?
So if you're going to die in this
moment,
would you rather change the baby's diaper or
remember Allah?
And if you're leaving the remembrance of Allah
or the worship of Allah or doing some
righteous deed or studying or any obvious good
deed
for
changing a diaper.
And either you're a fool
that that you're leaving what's better for what
that's good. Or if you're intelligent,
then you'd say, okay. How do I make
my changing
the diaper
at least
as good
and actually better. Why?
Because your place is where Allah places you.
And the way you make changing the diaper,
the best thing you could be doing at
the moment where you have to change the
diaper
is
to do it with intention. You're doing this
for the sake of Allah because this is
what Allah seeks from you at this moment.
You do it
with consciousness of Allah through remembrance of Allah.
And you do it in a manner that's
pleasing to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala with gratitude,
with contentment,
out of love for Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala,
seeking good for your child.
Right? And then,
you know, every moment of the believer
is
right?
Because if you are doing what's right
with Allah
in the manner that is pleasing to Allah
and you are with Allah
then,
and as the poet said,
If those
who grant closeness,
right,
meaning
the ultimate beloved Allah If
those who grant
closeness
are content with me, then every moment
is beauty itself.
Right?
And
the poet, of course, continues beyond that.
And then,
Imam Al Ghazali says to his student,
and he says, here's something else for me
and reflect upon it so that you may
find in it your way out,
your salvation.
If you were told that
the ruler
is going to come in a week to
visit you,
So if you knew that the the ruler
is gonna come visit your house,
the president, the prime minister is coming to
your house in a week,
that says,
I know that during that time you'll only
busy yourself with fixing
all that you know,
the ruler's gaze is going to fall upon
of clothing
and body
and
and
and your
house,
your furnishings,
the
and the like and and other things. Anything
that they're going to see, you're gonna try
to fix up as best you can.
And then reflect on what I have pointed
to.
Because you are person of understanding.
Right?
That it it's not the case that Allah
will see you one day. He is seeing
you.
He is with you
wherever you may be.
Right? Right? He says
and
brief speech
is sufficient
for someone smart.
Is the the smart person.
The more famous narration
Truly Allah does not look at your forms
nor your bodies,
the more famous narration.
And in some narration
or your wealth.
Rather he looks at your hearts
and your intentions.
Right?
Another narration is rather he looks at your
hearts and your actions.
So he says Imam Al Ghazali says,
right?
So he's saying that if you knew someone
important was coming to visit you, you'd fix
up your house. You fix up every place
that that person's gonna see. Even though they're
seeing it makes no ultimate difference. So what
if Trudeau came to your messy house? What's
gonna do? Kill you?
Strip you of your citizenship?
Even if they did, Golovs you'll still live
somewhere else. Big deal.
But we get
all excited about that.
So what about
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who beholds you at
every moment
completely?
He says, if you want to know the
knowledge of the states of the heart, then
look at the
and and other them them of my works.
And this knowledge, the knowledge of the states
of the heart is personally obligatory.
Right?
And other knowledge
above the minimum that everyone must know
to be to be in a state of
obedience to Allah in the circumstances
of their life is a is a communal
obligation.
And the personally obligatory
is given precedence over the communally obligatory.
You save other people
from destruction but you destroy yourself,
that's a type of foolishness.
Except to the extent by which Allah's obligations
are fulfilled. That's what's personally obligatory for you.
Right? But you but being sincere with Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is personally obligatory.
Having being
rid of the blame worthy traits of the
heart is personally obligatory
and it is neglected.
And Allah will grant you success
until you attain it. Right? That meaning if
you sincerely seek this, then Allah will facilitate
it for you. It is a promise of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. That whoever strives for
the sake of Allah, Allah will
truly guide to his
to his ways as Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
tells us in
and those who strive for our sake.
We will surely guide them.
To the pathways to us.
And truly Allah is indeed
with the people of excellence.
So this is one of his advice. Take
care of the state of your heart. Right?
And give that priority over
other
concerns not and he's not saying this to
neglect other concerns. He's writing this out of
concern for someone else.
But but that is your first concern. Right?
Allah does not look at your body's or
front rather. He looks at your heart so
take care of your heart.
Don't gather of this world
more than what is enough for you for
a year.
As the messenger of Allah
used to do for some of his homes,
right, for some of his wives.
And the prophet used to make dua, oh,
Allah make the provision
of the family of Muhammad sufficiency.
And this is not an absolute rule. You
know, the prophet used to save up to
a year's worth for his family,
but,
you know, that
don't
don't make
don't make
gathering worldly matters
your priority. Yes.
We see in the sunnah that one
that it is praiseworthy to save
such that you have that you're able to
take care of yourself and your family
in the future.
Right? But a lot of what people gather
is not from saving for the future.
Buying the new phone, buying the new
whatever, you're actually not even saving.
Right? Most people, if they lost their job,
they don't have enough in their bank for
for a month or 2.
And they go into crisis or debt. It
goes on to their credit card and that
gets them into riba.
And even that, the prophet did not save
that much, a year's worth, for all his
houses.
Rather, you'd only gather that for those
whom he knew in their heart was some
degree of weakness when it came to being
attached to means.
And as for someone
as for any of his family
who had
full
certitude, he would not gather for them more
than the provision of a day and a
half. And this depends,
the say,
on circumstance.
Right?
Circumstance of different people is not an absolute
rule.
But this idea of, you know, the only
thing that one is trying to what's what
what do you how are things going? Your
biggest concern is your bank balance,
your how much you're saving, this, that, the
other, you you know, that falls under the
prophet do
not make
this world the greatest of our concerns.
Nor the limits of our knowledge.
You know,
a person's worth is what they do well.
And, you know, if the best you you
you know, the greatest the thing you're best
at is something merely worldly.
Then what if you were to present your
case on the day of judgment? You say,
well, I was a really good
analyst.
I was a really good financial analyst.
So therefore,
admit me to your paradise.
Right? You should ask yourself that simple question.
Right? That what if you were to make
your own argument of why you should enter
heaven, you should have something to say.
Right? And that should be your biggest concern.
Right?
That should be your biggest
concern.
Right?
So
then, Imam Al Ghazali has a beautiful dua
that he closes the work with
And
we will
we will
read that on Monday
because the dua itself
has,
because has many lessons in it. It's a
beautiful
dua
that is very comprehensive in its meanings.
So we'll close this lesson on Monday
with some
with some
of the key,
findings
for
key lessons
that Imam Al Ghazali shared in this amazing
work.
My my dear child.
So we ask Allah that he realize us
in these meanings, that he grant us consciousness
of the reality
of
death
and being ready for it.
You know, they they say one of the
the things that one of the causes
of a hard heart
mentioned in the Quran
is
is
having long hopes,
false hopes.
And what is false hope?
The scholars looked at it
and they said, in reality, the beginning of
false hope
is to have
the delusion
that you are going to live
into the next moment
without
having consciousness of the possibility of death.
That's the beginning
of tullul aml, a false hope. Yeah. I'll
take care of it later and that's
the beginning of all
laxity
in your
relationship with all begins with a sense, with
the delusion of
that you live on even for a moment.
There is no and it's delusion. There is
no guarantee that you live to the next
heartbeat.
So don't believe it.
So don't believe it.
And the righteous of this ummah lived according
to that standard.
Right? It's mentioned about
the the the main teacher of Imam Abu
Hanifa,
Then If Hamad were told that you're going
to die tomorrow, he could not increase in
his good works.
And they mentioned about many of the of
the salaf, of the early Muslims,
that their Ramadan
was no different from the rest of their
year.
Why?
Because they're going 100%
throughout their
life. So their Ramadan was pretty much exactly
the same.
And their like this.
One of the scholars that I met in
Damascus,
he stuck to exactly the same schedule
that he had
throughout the year in Ramadan. He taught every
day in Ramadan.
In fact, in Ramadan, he teach more.
So I asked him about that. Because even
night of 27th,
we prayed 8 rakas of Taraweeh congregation
and then he
he we went aside,
admittedly
complete nerd in the in the best sense
of nerdism,
and we read
for an hour.
And then I went for the night of
27th programming
at a masjid, he went somewhere else. I
hope not for more.
But but I asked him in private that,
say the
you know, most people take Ramadan off and
engage in worship, etcetera. He He said, you
know, if there's anything better that I could
be doing than what I am doing with
my life, I would do it.
But this
is the best thing that I could busy
myself with in my day.
Seeking and spreading beneficial religious guide. So this
is the best thing that I could be
doing in my circumstances, in my day and
night, then that's
that's the action that I want to present
to Allah
when it's greatest reward, which is in Ramadan.
So you would teach more in Ramadan than
any other time in the year.
Although
the scholars would take that time for, you
know, for nurturing one's heart in the way
Imam Al Ghazali mentions. And there's other hohlama
one sees who are very much in in
the same vein
as well. Right? That they,
right, who you have to have this
what they call
a complete
devotion,
a complete
turning to Allah
We ask Allah to grant us of
that trueness in turning to him and manifest
its fruits
for us in our lives
and in our deen and in our
We'll we'll have the class after
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