Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #150 Acting for Other than Allah and Sincerity in Ones Works
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You're listening to the RoHa, daily guidance for
seekers with Sheikh Rasrabbani.
In
our daily reminders, the,
we
are
looking at
reminders
derived from
the guidance of the Quran
and the noble sunnah of our beloved messenger
by the great scholars of Islam,
and
we are looking at a work called.
The blameworthy traits of the self and their
treatment.
And the scholars have said,
as a matter of hyperbole,
that
that the human self
has
faults
like the extent
of
what the real has of perfections.
And the they put
just as a hyperbole,
not
just to emphasize the extent
of faults.
Because in reality,
Allah's perfections are
it are are absolute
and absolutely
without limit,
whereas
human
faults
are ultimately limited.
So
we reached the 23rd of the blameworthy traits
of the self. He says,
That from the blameworthy
traits of the self
is
it's manifesting
its acts of worship,
and it's love
of seeking for people to know
one's acts of worship
and for them to see them.
One of the important
manners
with one's
lower self, with one's ego,
is
not to associate with it.
You are not yourself.
Right? And you need to view
your faults
as being other than you.
Right? And that's an important matter. So when
you find the inclination
to show off, that's not you.
Right? That is
a tendency that is foreign
to your
potential
as
a
true servant of God.
Right? So you you need to associate
with
the karama.
Right?
And you need to associate with the divine
honoring
that has been placed
in this thing called the human being, in
in this thing that that is you.
That is your what Allah created you for.
Allah did not create you as a mere
animal. He created you with angelic capacity.
And to adorn yourself in front of people,
to look good in front of them.
So this is a blameworthy
quality. Right?
Basically,
showing off.
Right?
And
its
associated vices. There's many vices that go around
showing off.
Some showing off is sinful, which is showing
off in acts of
worship
is inherently sinful.
Showing off
in worldly matters
is blameworthy.
And it's dangerous
because it pollutes the heart
and it makes it susceptible to other sins
such as envy and greed
and malice
and thinking ill of people and many, many
blameworthy qualities.
So what is the treatment?
He says,
The treatment for this is
to know
that your benefit and harm is not with
people.
Rather, all benefit
and harm is with Allah.
Right?
Showing off is to act for other than
Allah,
but any person
would only do something if there's clear benefit
in it.
Sincerity is to act for the sake of
Allah, and it's sincerity is what's entailed by
intelligence. Because the only
possible benefit you can attain is from Allah.
So if you want benefit from your action,
there's only one door to knock on.
And one strives
in demanding from oneself
to have sincerity
in all one's actions.
To remove
from oneself this blame or the equality of
acting for other than Allah.
They have only been commanded.
They have been commanded
with nothing but
that they
serve
Allah
And how?
Making
their religion
purely
for his sake alone.
Sincerely
for his sake.
And
it's in this form indicating
that actively
striving
to make their religion
sincere for his sake.
And even the form and we won't go
into the grammatical breakdown of it, the form
indicates
striving
and effort.
Why? Because
sincerity
is
is required,
is a condition
in beginning an act of devotion.
But it is called upon during the action,
and it is called upon after the action
as well. How?
After the action, the sincerity is sincerely
asking Allah for acceptance.
Upright.
And the is
Al
right?
He's the one who inclines away from all
falsehood
to the true,
Right? To the truth and the and the
most true Allah
upright.
And the prophet
relates
from Allah most high. This is a hadith
which are
which are words
and meanings
divinely inspired
by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to the prophet
that he he related,
but that are not Quran.
But that are not Quran.
The Quran is mass transmitted.
And when the Quran was revealed, it was
revealed as Quran.
Right?
These are meanings because what the prophet
was what that which was revealed to the
prophet
Some of it is Quran. Some of it
is Hadith
Qudsi. Right? Sacred Hadith. Other things were meanings
that the prophet was in inspired to that
were the basis of his actions.
He does not speak.
Right? He does not express himself
of mere whim,
right, of mere inclination.
It
is nothing but revelation
that is inspired to him. This is his
inspired
thoughts, his inspired words, his inspired actions
are also divine revelation.
Some of which he conveyed and some of
which he did not. So revelation is a
in a simple way is at four levels.
That which the prophet was inspired,
that
that
was revealed as Quran. That which the prophet
was inspired
that was
Hadith Qudsi. That that were divine
words and meanings that he was to convey
to the people
that Allah most high says this, but it's
not Quran.
There's other things that the prophet inspired
of words and actions that
thoughts, words, and actions,
and responses.
That's his
that's his sunnah. The sunnah is
The sunnah is
non recited revelation.
And the 4th
are meanings
revealed to the prophet
that he was not commanded to convey.
That was between him and his lord.
Right? That was between him and his lord.
So Allah most high is
said
says
whoever performs an action in which they associate
any partner with me, then I am completely
free of them.
And the action
is for whoever they associated with me. Seek
your reward from them,
which is absurd.
Right?
So this is
showing off. Right? Showing off
and striving for sincerity.
A key to this
is to be realized in the reality is
of
There is no ability
nor power
except
by Allah.
You have no ability nor power
except by Allah, and nothing else
has any ability nor power,
which is why one of the great imams
of Islam,
he
says in one of his aphorisms, one of
his hikam,
If you seek
for Allah, the most real, to be well
pleased with you, then
completely desist,
then
shed yourself
of you of your own self,
of your lower self.
Have not disassociate
with yourself
from yourself
from your lower self.
And from your sense of ability
and your sense of power.
This applies to you, yourself. You you possess
you are not yourself
and you are not
you have no ability nor power except by
Allah. So
if you seek if you ask, ask Allah
and if you seek assistance, seek Allah's assistance.
Don't deem yourself to have any capacity and
a fortiori even more so anyone else.
Right? And which is why in any situation
where you're seeking
something,
one they say one of the adab of
action is to begin with that sense of
neediness to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And a
sense that of
you have no ability nor power nor anything
else.
When you go to any situation where you're
seeking from people,
seek from Allah first.
So this is his
reminder
in the 23rd
of
the,
any blame worthy traits to rid oneself of
any sense of showing off to people
just to act for other than Allah. This
is most incumbent in your acts of worship.
Before your acts of worship, pause.
Renew your intention.
Right? To make
actively
gather the highest possible intention
and then
begin.
Right?
And stir that meaning of
acting for Allah. Don't make it a token
thing
for Allah and move on. Really
bring to mind
your intention.
Right? And what is
the key to that is remembrance of Allah
with
with
magnification.
Right? With
gratitude,
with love,
with awe.
So that's what we're going to look at,
today.
Tomorrow,
we'll we'll be looking at
tama,
at avidness.
Right?
And it's so bad, he doesn't describe it.
He said one of the blame worthy traits
is tama
and how it's treated.
He he
does no description
of the vice.
Avidness, which is excessively wanting things,
it's so bad. It's obviously pathetic.
Right? You don't need to just
he feels no need to describe it. He
goes straight into
how to treat it, and he goes into
some length at treating it because it's so
obviously bad, but people are so obviously stuck
in it.
Thank you for listening to the raha, daily
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