Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #130 Closing Counsels to Imam Ghazalis Letter to a Disciple
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The speakers discuss the importance of acting on actions and striving for excellence in life, emphasizing the need for well-being and satisfaction. They stress the importance of acting on guidance and being prepared for difficult times, as well as a series of work on Islam including a reminder of prophetic guidance and a roadmap for learning. The speakers ask for regular schedules and monthly donations for students.
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You're listening to the Roja daily guidance for
seekers with Sheikh Rasra Benny.
In our sessions
of the Roha,
we have been looking
at the
the work of
Imam
Al Ghazali, which is his counsel
to
a a dear student of his
and
we've reached right at the end.
Imam Al Ghazali advises his student at the
end after giving him
4 keys
to 4 things to avoid
and 4 things
to do.
He closes
by saying,
my dear child.
I have written in this section
what
you have sought.
Right? In this fossil
fossil can refer to section, but also in
this,
you know, in this,
like, in this tome.
Right? In this
group of things that I mentioned.
So it is incumbent upon you to act
upon these.
Right? Because
knowledge
bears
knowledge is a trust and it bears responsibility.
So now that you know,
you must act accordingly.
As the prophet
reported to have said
to
to Al Haritha,
right, whom he asked
you know, how are you this morning, oh
oh Haritha? And he mentioned
the the the state of certitude that he
was in,
the prophet reported have said to him,
that you have you you you you you
have come to know
so hold fast to that.
And he says,
he said, don't forget me
when it comes to mentioning me in your
righteous dua.
Because
one of the the rights
of
a parent
over a child
is that they pray for 1.
That that that that child pray for their
parents.
Likewise,
as we see in the Quran.
And anyone who does good for you,
you
you must
acknowledge
that good
with gratitude.
And the gratitude is not just by saying
thanks,
but the gratitude must have they have benefited
you
in the next life.
So how do you benefit them in the
next life?
By one of the ways is by Dua.
Right?
So don't forget me in your Dua.
And
the his the student had asked
for a closing Dua
as well.
As for the dua that you have sought
from me,
As for the dua that you sought from
me, seek it in the
authentically established duas,
meaning of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Right?
Reminding always
that
you need that there's a basic principle
which is
that one always give precedence over
the
the the
the the the the first principle
over derivative
matters.
Right? So the person asked for dua. The
first thing is if you want if you
want dua, the first thing is hold fast
to the dua of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
But number 2, the dua the the teachings
of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam with
respect to dua also teach us
to make du'a for others and to seek
du'a from others.
So much so that the prophet said
to
Sayyidina,
Umar
my dear brother,
don't forget me in your dua when Sayyidina
Umar was going to go on a journey.
And he said nothing made me more happy
since I became Muslim than that request of
the prophet
But he
said
recite this dua in all your in your
times, meaning in the special times.
Particularly
after
your
prayers,
after the obligatory prayers. And
is the end of something, which is what
is the in the of the foot?
The heel. This is the end of it.
Right?
And the Dua,
right,
that Imam Al Ghazali closes with
He
says,
Allah Oh Allah, I ask you of blessing
its entirety.
And of protection,
it's it's continual.
Meaning, and of put in and of protection,
I seek from you continual
protection.
And isma
refers to 2 things.
Isma, it means to
means to protect.
And there is protection which is to be
shielded
from sin.
Right, which is what,
it's,
you know,
there's duas of the prophet
and of the salaf that ask Allah
for isma,
for protection.
Meaning, to be shielded
from sin.
With the possibility
still existing of sinning because you are
a potentially sinful
person.
But ISMA
is also used
with respect to the prophets
in an at a higher level, which is
to be shielded
from sin
such that it is not possible
for sin to occur
for you.
Right?
So that that ishmmah, the the
the the the the the
protectedness
of sin from the prophets
is to be shielded from sin
with the removal of the possibility of sinning
from them.
So it's a higher degree of protection.
Right?
Right? It's an HDP.
Right?
And this is discussed by ma'am Zaruk, for
example, because one of the critiques
that certain certain
scholars made of the
of
Imam
that he asked for
We ask you for protection.
But it's just meant to be shielded
from sin
and from harm. Being shielded
is not just from sin but also from
harm, from all that
is not good for us with the possibility
remaining of our human weakness, which is why
we're asking to be shielded.
And of mercy,
enveloping mercy,
and of well-being,
which is to be free of harm,
it's attainment.
And the prophet
said
ask Allah for well-being. And he said
in words that are pertinent for us to
reflect upon
ask Allah for certitude
and well-being.
Right?
And of course, they're they're taking the means
for their attainment.
And
from
from livelihood,
it's most
pleasing and pleasant.
And of life
and of lifetime,
it's most felicitous.
Right?
And from excellence,
it's most complete.
Right?
From excellence, it's most complete.
Because we're not responsible
for perfection,
for Itan.
Right?
We're not responsible for for camel. We're not
responsible for perfection itself.
What is is
to strive
to make something good.
It is the act of striving
for
taking something,
the the the meaning of good, virtue, and
beauty
with respect
to another.
They strived
for excellence in their worship. The worship could
could have the resultant worship could still be
mediocre.
But is
the striving
for
for true good.
Right?
And of
you know, for of excellence, meaning of the
sincere and genuine striving for good, it's most
complete.
And of
the bestowal of blessings, it's most encompassing.
And of
bounty
or virtue,
it's
purest.
And of subtle graces,
the closest of them. I'm meaning for them
to
to for the subtle divine graces
to touch 1
directly.
Oh, Allah be for us and do not
be against us.
Allah seal
with felicity
our,
lifespans.
And realize
with increase
our
hopes and aspirations.
And connect
with well-being
are
mornings and nights.
And make
to your mercy
our journeying.
And our ends.
And pour forth
from
the from the
treasures
of your,
pardon
upon
our sins.
And reward us
by rectifying
our faults.
And make
mindfulness of you our provision
because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes it as
being
the
k. The the best of provisions.
And zed is the provision on a journey.
And in your religion,
make our striving.
And upon you,
our reliance
and our trust.
Oh, Allah make us firm
on the way
of uprightness.
And
and protect
us, grant us
protection
from
the things that cause remorse.
On the day of resurrection.
Enlighten for us the burdens
of transgression.
And
grant us
the living
or the way of life
of
the most virtuous.
Of
the bar.
Right? The bar who is a virtuous person,
a person of.
Right?
And be
be our sufficiency
from and turn away from us
the evil
of evildoers.
And free our necks and the necks of
our parents.
And our mothers
and our teachers
from the fire.
By your mercy,
oh tremendous,
oh most forgiving.
Oh most generous,
oh most concealing.
Oh, most forbearance,
oh,
overwhelming.
Oh, compassionate. Oh, compassionate. Oh, compassionate. Oh, most
merciful of those who show
mercy. Or first
or absolutely first.
Or absolutely last.
Oh oh you who possess
perfect power.
Oh one who deeply cares
for
those in
in distress.
And o you who are the most merciful
of the merciful.
There is no god but you.
Glory be to you.
Truly I have been of those who have
wronged
myself.
Muhammad
and all blessings be upon our master Muhammad
and his folk and
his companions.
All of them.
And all praises due to Allah.
Lord of the worlds. So that is Imam
Al Ghazali's,
Ayuh Al Waled.
That completes
what we you know, what we had begun
of this amazing work in which is a
reminder
of the importance of
acting on guidance.
For the guidance for the knowledge that one
acquires
to be guidance and to be
steps on the straight path
rather than for it to be a case
against us.
And to be aware
of the need
to act not just outwardly with one's knowledge,
but for that knowledge
to
permeate
into
our hearts,
our motives,
our intentions,
our states,
our attitude,
our character, and our conduct.
And
this is an important reminder
and much can much could be said in
summary of this reminder, but wanted to show
one of the really notable scholars of North
America.
I took a few students
to him to ask
him to give them advice.
And he said, whenever
I whenever
I
feel that my heart is hard or I
feel that I need
to remind myself of my relationship with Allah,
I
reread and ref I read and reflect upon
the treatise of
imam Al Ghazali, letter to a disciple because
it contains
such deep and comprehensive
yet brief
counsel
for anyone who's serious about rectifying
their relationship with Allah
So this is a beautiful treatise. We ask
Allah
for steadfastness
on this path.
As of next Monday, on Mondays Wednesdays, we'll
be beginning
one of the great
works of Islam.
Imam Anawi's
brilliant
compendium of prophetic guidance,
the gardens of the righteous,
and we will share
a road map of how we'll be covering
it. We'll be covering it
for
twice a week for 45 minutes,
and it's an important
it's it's one of the great works of
Islam. And it's one of the greatest works
in Islam, one of the greatest compendiums of
Islamic spirituality.
So when I asked that
what is
what is,
what is a manual
for for Adab on this on the spiritual
path said,
the garden of the righteous.
Right?
Just as when he was asked and then
he said and the and the lived example
of that is
is the lives of the companions. That's how
they lived. You know, on the living models
of how to live prophetic guidance, it's
But we're going to be looking at that
exclusively
twice a week.
And we'll we'll share details about that
We ask
Allah that he make what we have covered
in this
series of the of the
to be of benefit and to benefit us
from what we have gained and shared
and to grant us a to review the
lessons of what we have looked at. And
over
the over
the the last year or so, we have
looked in the sessions
at several 100 hadith of the prophet we've
covered several sets of 40 hadiths,
and we also looked at Talim al Muta'alim
of, the
the instruction of the student on the ways
of learning by Imam Azar Nuzzi and we
completed it. And we also completed
Imam Al Ghazali's
Ayuhal Waled,
2 of the great
guiding works for students of knowledge.
We ask Allah that he realize this in
their realities and make what we have gained
of prophetic guidance
and counsels for
seekers of knowledge to be approved for us
and not approved against us.
Thank you for listening to the daily
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