Haifaa Younis – The change starts from you! I My Journey to Allah Part 1
AI: Summary ©
The speaker advises the audience to focus on themselves and not allow others to grab their attention. They stress the importance of praise and understanding oneself, as well as avoiding feeling like they are just getting along. The speaker also emphasizes the need for personal development and a focus on one's actions to avoid damaging others, and to not denying oneself and not denying oneself until they have made their own decision.
AI: Summary ©
For coming. May Allah bless this place. It's
a beautiful place, but I am gonna make
a
disclaimer.
I thought it is way much bigger than
this.
It looks very big from the outside. So
when they told me the mussala of the
man are bigger, I guess I'm coming from
California and everything is big there.
So
may Allah reward you. I'm gonna
try to make every woman here in this
room,
by Allah grace, is to look into your
heart yourself.
And beef before I start or anything I'm
gonna share, I don't want you to think
of anybody except you.
Because if you're gonna say, if it is
good, don't even think about somebody else. Say,
is it you? And if it is not
you,
insha Allah it is all you. Why not?
And if it is negative,
don't you ever think of someone else. Then
you didn't learn.
All tasliyah, all purification,
all getting better, getting closer to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala is all about me with Allah.
It has nothing to do with other people
including my children, including my spouse, including my
friend. It's not not about people. And all
of you I want you to remember as
we are starting
that on the day of judgment
I'm gonna go to Allah alone.
No one will help me.
No one will come to my rescue.
And if anyone is worse than me,
it's not gonna change my status with Allah.
And if anyone is better than me, it
is not gonna change my status with Allah.
You need to know this, and that's why
all tazkiyah,
all purification of the heart
is all about me and my relationship with
Allah.
Is that clear for everybody?
So from now don't think of anyone.
Anything is ask yourself, is it me?
When we come to the negative and I
don't know how much time we will have
for the negative,
the answer is always yes.
Don't say it is not me.
Never ever
and this may be very
different than what we are used to, especially
living in this country, especially for the 2nd
generation,
people who were born raised here,
Because we love to praise ourselves,
and we don't normally praise ourselves directly.
You know how we praise ourselves?
Indirectly.
You want for mothers in this room. You
want people to praise your children. Why?
You're praising yourself.
You want somebody to praise your the school
you are going to.
Oh, she got accepted to to whatever, Georgetown.
You're basically not praising Georgetown.
You're praising yourself,
and we by nature love that,
seek it,
and we get upset when we don't get
it.
This needs to change.
Allah said this in the stars, do not,
and
is don't. There's no possibility.
Do not praise yourself
or claim you're purified.
He, Allah,
knows
who is the real Muttaqir. The real person
of Taqwa.
So don't praise yourself
and the sign
and memorize this all of you. The sign
you do not like to be praised
is not you don't wanna hear it.
What happens if they don't?
And what happens and I'm not talking about
externally, internally. This all task here is about
inside, feelings.
What happens
if you have done the best work
and someone did not say Jazakih Yakhira
or did not praise and says this is
beautiful. If you get upset,
then you really need to work on yourself,
including it's from your spouse or your children
or your anyone. The only one you want
you
want,
him with capital h to praise you is
Allah,
and he's not gonna praise you here.
And if he if he he is not
because if people praise me doesn't mean anything
in the sight of Allah.
I want when I go to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala, I am the one he's waiting
for.
And I want him when he looks at
me and says when he looks at my
salah, for example,
and he will say, what a salah you
did.
That's what I want.
If you praise me, all of you, all
of you I think we are more than
a 1000 tier, I was told. If we
all of you praised me and it weighed
0 in the eye of Allah,
What is gonna benefit me at the day
of judgment?
Nothing. Exactly.
0.
So don't focus on people, and I'm saying
this because this is our problem,
women especially.
We always work from morning to evening
to please people,
to impress people. Am I correct?
Please people impress people.
Right? Get upset because she said, he said,
didn't say, he didn't say.
And what about you with Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala?
The Qalbu Saleem, the true heart,
that's
her focus.
That's her focus.
It's not what you think of me.
It's what he thinks of me.
And I don't know, so I'm gonna keep
trying, and I'm gonna keep doing my best,
and I'm gonna ask him for forgiveness, and
I'm gonna say, I'm trying.
I'm not gonna
say
I live all my life with this. You're
all forgiving.
You're all merciful. I know that. There's no
question about it, but I'm not gonna rely
on this
because then I'm gonna come to him,
and I'm taking
maybe
B minus.
I don't wanna go to Allah with B
minus.
Who wants to go to any place with
B minus?
Do
you? If you cook something, you wanna say,
grade it, and I'll say B minus. Are
you gonna be happy? No.
We all want A, A plus,
gifted.
Why not with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala?
Have we ever thought of that?
When you are invited in a gathering,
a wedding, a graduation, a big gathering, Don't
you
spend how much time
in the way that pleases Allah in front
of the mirror, and you say, I want
to go in, and I wanna feel
I am
I look the best. Don't you wanna do
that? All of us, in the way pleases
Allah, pay attention to this word.
Then as you are doing this,
you need to ask yourself,
how I'm gonna go to Allah?
How I'm gonna go? We are all going.
You wanna forget it, you wanna you don't
wanna live, you don't wanna think about it,
do whatever you want. We're going.
Allah said this in Surat Maryam. Each one
of them
will will come to Allah
It's in the future.
They will come to him single.
Just like when Allah brought us out, the
baby is alone.
Are you
ready?
And are you ready not for that meeting
which is very scary? That's why I always
tell myself and anybody else when they have
an interview.
Right? And everybody get anxiety
the day before
and I say you want to get over
your anxiety?
Think of the moment you are meeting Allah.
You who you're gonna meet tomorrow?
People like you and me. Right?
They cannot benefit me and they cannot harm
me unless Allah allows
it. True or false?
If the whole jinn and ins get together
to bring like this Quran, they will not.
And what did he say
to say? The famous hadith that most of
you know the meaning. When he was a
boy, a young boy behind him. Right? I'm
gonna teach you words.
The scholar said he was about maybe 11.
Look at our 11 year old.
And long hadith at the end he was
telling him,
no.
If this whole nation
got together
to benefit you with something, they will not
benefit you but with something Allah has already
decreed.
Why do we worry about people?
Why do we worry about people? What they
say about me? She looked at me. She
backbited me. Who cares? Let her gift me
my hasa her hasanat. Thank you. Keep it
coming.
That's how I say. Wallahi, that's how I
say. Great. You just gifted me all your
tarawihah from Ramadan.
How lucky I am.
But we don't think about it this way
because we are
focused on us, and please forgive me,
or our ego.
Our ego, how dare she say this?
Don't she know? Doesn't she know who I
am?
This all needs to be I'm giving you
an introduction because you need all as I
am talking, I want you to all think,
is this is me?
Do I really get upset when someone doesn't
praise me?
Do I really get upset when someone doesn't
invite me?
Do I really get upset because they said
this or that?
Then
the heart
is not true.
They call it. As Sayyidina, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala said it. As Allah
He's talking to Allah,
and this is Sayyidina Ibrahim.
And he's saying to him,
Do not
disgrace me
the day of resurrection.
It's not Allah Allah will not do this
to me and you. It's my actions.
Meaning, don't expose me.
Don't let me disobey you.
Don't let me not be what you want.
And then he continue,
and this the next two verses,
honestly, I want every woman in this room
to memorize it.
Memorize the meaning.
The day which is the day of resurrection,
nothing will come to my benefit.
Nothing will come to my veil.
Nothing will help me.
That's what he's saying.
And then he specified 2 things,
and I'm gonna say it and I want
you to tell me why these 2.
The day where no wealth
or children
will be of benefit to me. Why these
2?
Why didn't he say husband?
Why didn't he say parents?
Man,
wealth
and Banu
because
we disobey Allah
because of those 2.
We love Duniya. What is Duniya?
Almalu
walbanoon
zina tul Hayatid Duniya. You all know it's
in Surat Al Kahr.
Wealth and children
is the glory of this life,
and Sayyidina Ibrahim knew that and he said,
when someone say this, he or she Now
why I'm sharing this with you?
Because I need to prepare my life.
You know, that this is just a side
note, and I don't want you to feel
bad. But when some people celebrate their birthday,
and people look at me and say, do
you celebrate birthday? You know, the usual question
was haram, all these 9 yards.
I I ask one question.
I'm not gonna say haram and halal. Everything
is haram and halal. Leave haram and halal
on the side. Why? I want you to
use your drink.
I'm not talking about the 3 or 4
year old because there is a cake and
there's gifts. I'm talking about us.
What are we celebrating?
No, really.
I want you to think of it seriously,
deeply.
When I somebody brings this big cake,
put it in front of me, and after
certain age, they don't put number off.
Right? At all. It's only 1.
Reality, I'm very happy or some people sings
or blow the candle. Hey, you are. Okay.
What are you celebrating?
You know, when people ask me, I say
about myself,
do I really wanna celebrate 1 year closer
to my death?
Is that a moment I wanna celebrate?
So forget halal and harangry.
I'm talking why? Because when we get there
or the same thing when we get to
the new year, whether it is the the
new our new year, meaning the 2024 or
it is the Islamic new year. These moments
should be moments of
reflections.
25, you become 26.
What did you do on this 25 years?
Let's say you are a baby. You have
a okay. From age 15, what did you
do in this 10 years? Not in dunya
because we all talk about dunya. Remember,
money
and children
will not come to my grave. I don't
care how much money you have in your
bank account. It will be 0 when I'm
in front of Allah.
So this is the extremely important for us
as we are Muslims living in the strat
race very quick, all this.
Don't forget where are you heading.
Where are you heading?
Sooner or later?
Say the dust that you are running away
from,
he,
it
will meet you.
Nobody lived.
No one lived. And if anybody
should have not died, it would be who?
Imagine
recite this verse to the sahaba.
Like Sayyidina Jibreel
revealed this to him.
Imagine every time I read it, I was
like, you Allah,
someone comes to you and say, you're dying.
Sayyidina Jibri said,
it's an emphasis.
You're made it and made it when you
read it. It's like with an emphasis.
Nobody will be here.
All of us are going. This is temporary.
So here,
what I am supposed to do is everything
Allah wants me to do. I am the
stewards on this earth, but then as I
am in this journey, we have a lot
of detours I call it. Distractions.
All of us.
But as I am distracted, am I in
a constant
revision
looking at where I am?
What happened, what did I achieve.
I guess I think this is the most
important question every Muslim should ask.
What did you do
yet up till now in your life
for your journey
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala?