Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #157 Happiness and Rejoicing for the Merely Worldly
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You're listening to the RoHa, daily guidance for
seekers with Sheikh Rasra Behni.
We're continuing to look at the blameworthy traits
of the self and their and their treatment,
and we've reached the 33rd
of the blameworthy traits.
And its seeking
comfort.
And that is from the
consequences of heedlessness.
So
here
the
it's
happiness
there's different types of happiness,
and
the all of the human
emotions
can arise
as a result
of the different inclinations
of the human self.
You can have
a happiness
that is the most
there's a happiness that is
of your lower desires. You are happy
when you
eat. You're happy
when you fulfill
some other
physical desire.
You your happiness can be whimsical.
I'm happy when I clap
Right?
I'm happy when I jump up and down.
Right?
Or whatever other, you know,
and many of our types of happiness are
no less capricious
than
clapping or jumping up and down. Right there,
that's
whimsical
happiness.
But there's a happiness
that is an intellectual happiness or a rational
happiness.
You're happy at
good things,
at beneficial things.
Right?
You made a choice
and
it has advantage
and as a result you are
happy.
You solve the problem, you are happy. But
there's it's it there's a reason for your
happiness, and that's the happiness of the mind
or and that's a higher happiness than the
happiness of desire or whim. But then there's
the happiness of the heart,
which is one is pleased
when
something is pleasing to Allah
Right.
Said the prophet
Whoever
is pleased
or
is happy
with
their good deeds.
They're not satisfied with them but they're happy.
It makes them happy
out of
gratitude to Allah
in their good deeds
and saddened by their bad deeds, that is
a believer. Right?
Because it's one of the fruits of loving
for Allah and hating for Allah.
But here there is a
happiness and rejoicing
of the nafs.
That what makes you happy?
Your desires and whims.
What makes you sad? Conversely,
your desires and whims.
That is
foolishness
and pure harm.
And likewise seeking rest,
you can have this whimsical rest.
Right? Right. I don't wanna do anything. Why?
Just because. That's.
Right. Procrastination.
Right. Why aren't you doing what you're supposed
to do? Well, you know,
that's putting things off because of being busy
by one's desires, that's
or other ulterior motives.
Right. I'm gonna show them. Right.
And then there
is a seeking rest, that is rational.
That is rational.
That there's a time for this and a
time for that.
Right?
Just
as you have worldly responsibilities that you give
them give their due, you have religious responsibilities
that you give them their due. You know,
there's
there's rights of servants.
You know?
The first of whom is yourself,
your family, and others. So you give them
their rights, so you work
at fulfilling those rights.
And there are rights of
Allah
and you fulfill those rights.
And then part of the rights of your
of your own self is to have rest.
And that's that chosen rest, that that considered
rest is a rational rest.
And that's praiseworthy.
And there's a spiritual rest.
Truly in the remembrance of Allah. Do hearts
find rest. And that is a blessed
rest.
That is a rest beloved to Allah.
But the rest that is mentioned here, it's
seeking rest
is
whimsical
rest.
Right? The resting of the ego.
Right? I don't feel like it.
It's procrastination
which is manifest in
tasweef,
in putting things off.
That rest
is a result of ghafla,
of heedlessness
from Allah. And what is the consequence of
heedlessness from Allah?
Lack of
3 things. Right? Lack of
sense of your responsibility of.
And what is what am I responsible for?
In religious terms,
in worldly terms,
in social terms, What am I responsible for?
What is my responsibility before Allah?
And your your hem, where do you direct
your concern?
Because your responsibility
defines your concern.
Your sense of muhimma
describe defines your concern, your ham.
And if you know that this is what
I this is what I need to do,
then that's translated in having him,
having resolve.
Remembrance of Allah, consciousness of Allah
drives
this sense of purpose.
Whereas being heedless of Allah
drives the opposite,
drives laziness,
procrastination,
seeking
meaningless
comfort.
Or not even comfort because there's one
explicit
heedlessness
from purpose. But there's also an implicit heedlessness
of purpose where you know what you have
to do, but just don't do it.
You have things due. You don't do it.
Why? Well, you know,
yeah, it. Right?
Anyone just makes excuses
and that,
you know, is from
clear lack of,
you know, clear lack of purpose because because
as the ulema say, beware of limiting Allah
to
your your prayer carpet or your prayer beads.
Right. That consciousness of Allah is
is fueled
by prayer, fueled by remembrance, but consciousness of
Allah is manifest in the choices you make.
And those choices have to be driven by
purpose.
And
its cure
is to be awake,
to have wakefulness
with respect to what is before it.
And one's knowledge of having shortcomings in what
was in what one was
commanded.
And one's knowledge of having shortcomings
in what one was commanded.
Right?
In one's with respect to the rights of
Allah and with the respect of the of
the rights of Allah's
creation.
And because that is
a a servant is one
who is
governed by
responsibility.
Right?
And this is because of its falling into
that which it was prohibited.
Right. So being awake, what
what am I what is in front of
me? Right. What is in front of me?
The believer is one who prior prioritizes.
Right.
Be avid for all that would benefit you.
This would entail
be avid for all that would benefit you.
It entails
having
conscious awareness. What am I responsible for?
And then how do I fulfill what I
am responsible
for to the best of my ability?
With hirs,
with avid concern.
Right? With avid concern.
Right? Which is why, you know,
one of I'm a give various
definitions for gratitude. One of them, he said,
gratitude is to give one's utmost.
Right?
Right?
That's why Allah said few indeed of my
servants
are
truly grateful.
Right? Because most people do not have that
consideration.
Right? The avid for what
For what is before 1. Right?
And to know
and to know that this world is a
prison for 1.
And this prison
has no pleasures,
right,
insofar as it's prison.
Right. That one has some comforts and so
on but that's not where the joy is
sought.
And there's no there's no rest in prison.
This world is a prison
for the believer
and
a paradise
for the disbeliever.
It is proper that one's life in this
world be the living of someone in prison.
An intelligent prisoner
would ready themselves
for
the day of their freedom.
And when is the day of your freedom?
The
day you die. The the day you die.
You're just preparing for freedom.
Not the living of those resting.
That's delusion.
Right? Like, you're you're gonna get out of
prison. So
establishing
a big successful company in prison,
like, where you're not a lifer. Right? Like
right?
Someone established, I started a very successful business
in the prison.
Oh, but I was gonna make money 10
years from now.
But now you're out. Right?
And you can't go back.
That's madness.
But our at least in the in this
dunya, if you got out of prison, you
could say maybe you could smuggle the money
out, etcetera. But you can't smuggle dunya into.
There's no route.
Right?
The
one of the great early imams
of the spiritual path,
He he died in the year 162 after
the hijrah. So he's from the Salih.
He said that
all the
all the
aspirations and attitude
of those who know Allah
were
chopped and humbled
by
by remembering
the 2
eternal
abodes.
1 1 party in paradise and 1 party
in *. Right.
A man said to bishop Al Hafi,
why is it that I see you full
of concern?
Because I am sought.
Okay. I am sought.
I'm being I'm sought by Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
So this is the this is the sense
of awe of the believer. Right? This is
the sense of awe of the believer.
And nothing
in
it.
Nothing
that will get one out of one's waywardness
without
a an urgent self reminder.
1 of the
2 of the great poets of Islamic history
were good friends.
Abu Al Ahtahiya,
who was
a pious poet. He wrote
frankly very depressing poetry on
renunciation
and abstinence and the terrible nature of this
world. Beautiful poetry.
Poetry for the penitent.
His
childhood friend
was
Abu Nawaz. And Abu Nawaz
was a drunkard poet.
He was not he was a corrupt man,
not practicing.
He celebrated
wine and revelry and
lechery and debauchery and every
kind of
sin and was quite mocking of things religious
and spiritual.
He questioned
vice virtue and celebrated vice.
His friend was a sincere friend, so
he kept reminding him.
And one day, the drunken
poet got fed up and he said,
listen up.
That that
look.
The self
will never leave its wayward ways
unless it finds for itself
from itself
an urgent
warner,
an urgent
reminder,
Unless it takes
heed
from itself for itself.
That heed could be
the sense of fear and urgency
on death.
That warner could be gratitude.
That warner could be love.
On what basis can I say that I
love?
Right.
There are many things.
The the quickest way is to is to
nurture
all of Allah.
Ask
for the one who's in awe of the
station of their lord
and forbids them their self from its wayward
ways.
For for paradise for them is their resting
place.
So to have that sense of urgency that
is delineated in Surah Al Asr.
So beware like if you find laziness, procrastination,
or also
lack of prioritization,
that is also a type of
of
Finding comfort because many people find comfort in
their routines.
That's one of the types of talaburraha.
It's talaburraha.
One has some habits and this is the
way I am.
That's not the way you're called to be.
Right?
And that's why,
Imam Junaid was asked what is what is
spirituality?
He said,
for you to be as you were
before
you became.
Right?
Which is intriguing, but that spirituality
is to be
your true
Adamic potential, which is that honored
servant of God
who knows
God, who loves God,
who is grateful to God,
who embodies and upholds virtue
and not to be
your
the sum of your
sad habits.
And we ask Allah
that he raise our resolves.
The prophet has a beautiful dua that we'll
close with.
He said,
There's nothing
easy
except what you make easy.
You make
the difficult,
if you wish, easy.
Thank you for listening to
the daily guidance for seekers with Sheikh Farozra
Benny.
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