Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #158 Following Ones Whims
AI: Summary ©
The importance of following one's own path and not following whim is crucial to avoiding wasteful actions. The speaker also emphasizes pursuing one's own path and being a servant of Allah's, as well as pursuing good intentions and not seeking whim. The importance of good companies to support individuals and turn the world around is also emphasized. Monthly donations is encouraged for support.
AI: Summary ©
You're listening to the Roja, daily guidance for
seekers with Sheikh Ruzra Benny.
In our
daily reminders, the Roaha,
we
have been looking at Imam Soleimi's
work
on the blameworthy traits of the self and
their cure. And this
work
is
very insightful
because Imam al Salami
is a doctor of hearts.
So not only does he identify
the things that ail the human condition,
but he he identifies them like the expert
doctor.
There's a difference between
doctors in how effectively
they identify
the the illness.
And then
there's a distinction between doctors
in terms of how expertly they're able to
prescribe
the cure.
Right?
So
and both of these are manifest in imam.
As Salami, who's one of the great imams
of the Islamic spiritual tradition, one of the
great imams of the salaf, of of the
early Muslims.
So he says in the 34th
blameworthy trait of the self, he says,
from its blame worthy traits is its following
its whims.
And Allah asked who is more misguided
than the one
who
follows their whim
and whose affairs
are
just wasteful.
Right? Are just wasteful.
And following one's whims is so bad that
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, have you seen
the one
who takes their whim
as God?
And why? Because when someone is completely
in service to their whim, that whatever
whimsical
idea they have, they follow.
What is? What does it mean
to worship something?
Is that you surrender completely to it and
you submit completely to the object of your
worship.
So that's why
it is and what's the consequence of
of following one's whim? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says in the Quran,
Do not follow your whim.
Why? Lest it misguide you
from the path of Allah.
Right? So following whim
is very dangerous, especially because whim comes disguised.
Many of our whims
are just because.
It begins in the in the clearly permissible.
Nothing wrong with it,
but it
it takes one down a path
of whimsical action.
And this is from the tricks of the
shaitan.
Right?
That you know
that if you go out at night
on your own, you don't know what you're
gonna do.
Right?
So we get this whimsical thought. Why don't
I just go go grab a tonight?
So you go down
lane,
but then
there are many other lanes too.
Right? So
you slip and stumble. You know that if
you,
you know, surf the Internet,
uncontrollably
at night,
you
you end up
making
sinful choices.
So then
but that whimsical thing
that well, let's just go on
go to such and such website, CNN. Nothing
wrong with it.
But then let's go here. Let's go there.
And then why? There's no reason behind it.
You drift.
Right? And whim builds up momentum.
So one has to be very careful. So
he says, from the blame only traits of
it of the self is
following its whim.
And to correspond to its good wishes.
And to
ride
its wishes.
Right? Because then you are
at the behest of
this
unpredictable beast
that is your whim.
And what does the believer do? The believer
has a has principle. The prophet
said in the hadith in the 40
that
None of you believes.
Meaning none of you truly believes,
none of you has truly embraced
the implications
of belief, none of you
has
fully manifested
the potential and fruits of faith.
Until their whim
follows
what I have come with.
Until their inclinations
closely follow what I have come with.
Right. Because there are
there are 2 paths in life.
We have guided them to the two ways.
There's the there's the straight path and there's
the path of whim.
There's the path of principle
and the path of
the whimsical.
And one has to make a commitment
to follow the path of principle.
And the highest principle
is the principle of messengers,
our
prophet Muhammad
Because who is the intelligent person?
Imam Zaruk says.
Right? The intelligent person is is one
whose
conduct
returns to
established principles.
Whether in this order, they be religious principles.
Why do you do this? This is what
my religion calls me to in specific or
in general.
Or,
this is what reason
would call me to do.
This was clearly good. This is clearly beneficial.
This is clearly
fair, just,
merciful, true.
Choice based on the basis of thinking things
through.
Or customary.
There are sound customs and the sound custom
is one that passes the filter of religion
and reason.
There's nothing
against religious principles in this custom, there's nothing
against
common sense principles.
That even though you don't know what does
a religion say, like, can I participate in
tomato festival?
Where they
are? You know, everyone jumps into trucks full
of tomatoes and
basic religious understanding. No.
That's wastefulness.
Common sense says food is to be eaten,
not to be,
you know thrown around at a festival.
So
you they pass by folly,
they pass by
gracefully.
So
this is an important
aspect right?
The the intelligent person is a person of
principle
and then there's the fool
is the one
whose actions don't go back to established principles
and the call of religion
is from folly
to intelligence.
From
whim to principle.
And,
from
following one's
self to following
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
So how does one treat
the whimsical? He says,
Right?
So he calls part of a verse from
Surah
Al Naze'at
versus
40 and 41.
Ask for the one who fears the station
of their lord
and who is in awe
of the greatness of their lord.
So by if you wreck if you are
in awe of the station of your lord,
then you are conscious of the reality
of your slavehood
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Because life is
between
lord and servant.
As
put it,
that's
life.
And who prevents
their self from its whims from its whim.
That indeed paradise
is their resting place.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
tells us elsewhere in the Quran
that for the one who fears their lord,
is what?
There's 2 gardens. What are the 2 gardens?
Some of the early Muslims said the garden
of contentment in this life
because contentment is not found through whim.
Contentment is
found through
one's actions corresponding to the good pleasure of
Allah.
Truly the the self, the human self is
ever commanding to ill.
So therefore, what would you do? You wouldn't
just follow the inclinations of the self.
That your
if the self is ever commanding to
to harm
the the basis
of your relationship with your
whimsical inclinations is opposition.
Right. Is opposition.
Don't.
Even if it seems to make sense, be
wary
of your whimsical inclinations.
Now
if you consider,
can this be pursued seeking the pleasure of
Allah in a manner pleasing to Allah? Can
I turn it into something of good?
Right. So you are going to go get
on the highway and say, let's just go,
you know, do this and that. Okay. Does
this mean you just oppose it? No. You
said consider no. This will, you know, this
will if we get some stuff for the
kids, they'll be calm for the ride. If
we have a nice lunch they'll fall asleep.
So one says okay give them a happy
memory this that the other we'll stock up
for the trip. You think of good intentions
gratitude after a good few days in town.
So you think of good intentions and you
pursue it in a good way.
That's not whim, that is considered and principled.
And what's related from one of the early
Muslims who said,
Scratching away
at the mountains with one's with one's fingernails
is easier.
Scratching away the mountains with your fingernails.
Impossible. Like, very diff like, futile.
Is easier
than opposing one's whim.
Once it becomes set
in one's
self.
Right?
So
oppose your whim quickly.
When the foolish thought comes,
right, you have to treat it like.
Imam Al Sarakasi, one of the great Hanafi
imam said,
The way
with misgivings
and whimsical
ideas
are from misgivings
is to cut them off and pay to
pay no consideration to them.
Right?
So this is an important
of being a servant of Allah's
right? And
the believer
sees many lessons in the walk of the
prophet
Right? It's worthy of reflecting upon as we
approach the month of the birth of the
prophet
The prophet walked
with purpose.
He walked as if he was coming down
a mountain,
as if it was a spring gushing down
the hill.
He was his walk was described like a
that like a ship
tacking through the ocean.
He walked with majesty
but also with mercy
because he would greet
anyone he saw. He would turn fully to
people.
He walked with purpose. The young companions this
is in Madinah when he's already in in
his fifties, approaching
60. They describe we used to struggle to
keep up with him, yet he was calm
and dignified.
Right? And that's the metaphor of that is
the embodiment of the believer. And the believer
walks in this life with purpose.
As one who walks upright
on a path that is straight.
Right? Whereas the one who's walking, who's whimsical
is like one who is
walking
with their face bashing into the ground. It's
miserable.
Following whim is misery.
Following the prophet
is honour, its liberation, its contentment, and joy.
We ask Allah
to grant us
realization of this.
The the
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many of the warnings of the scholars with
respect to keeping bad company have to be
contextualized
as well
in that societies were based on human company.
And people would have too much human company
and it'd be harmful human company.
In our times, there's a flip. People are
too alone.
They need more company,
but they need more company
that is good.
And all warnings against not keeping
worldly company is keeping
company
that busies you away from Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. But to be able to turn to
Allah, one needs good company that supports. May
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala facilitate for us the
pathways of understanding
and of turning
and of principle.
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