Hamzah Wald Maqbul – 21 Ramadan 1441 Late Night Majlis Ghazali And The Nafs Addison 05142020
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AI: Transcript ©
Oh, Allah, you're the one who loves the
one who forgives completely.
You're the one who forgives completely
and loves, the one who forgives completely
and loves for us to forgive completely.
So forgive us completely.
I mean,
to whoever whoever
listens and whoever,
inshallah, propagates a good word.
We continue with Mawan Asayd Abul Hasan Al
Ali and Naduis,
Saviours of the Islamic Spirit,
from his chapter with regards to Imam Ghazali,
his life and his work and his fiqhir,
his thought.
And tonight we come to,
his critique of the self, of the nafs.
Mawlana begins, says, the most effective part of
the ihiyah is where Ghazali expounds on the
significance of purifying one's own soul
and reforming the morals for achieving blessedness.
His exposition
covers the fleeting nature of the terrestrial world,
eternity of the world to come,
significance of the faith and righteous action, cleansing
of the spirit, and eradication of the vices
of the heart, which he deems to be
the inner basis of all grossness and human
conduct.
The graphic description of the vices and virtues
by Ghazali
and his exhortation
for
adoption of the course Leading to Salvation bear
the mark of an eloquent speaker,
a prudent mentor, and a philosopher with an
incisiveness of intellect and a penetrating insight into
the inner recesses of the human soul, mind,
and spirit.
He is fully aware of the different types
of human weakness and delineates each of these,
sets forth their causes and traces their origin,
and thereafter proceeds to suggest measures for subjugation
of the earthly appetites and impulses out of
which
these vices are born.
The treatment of the ethical issues by Ghazali
does not produce a mere religious discourse.
His essays are inspiring, employing a rich and
expressive language which has since cast its spell
over 100 of 1000 of people,
if not millions by the way,
reform and reform their lives.
The 4th section of the book deals explicitly
with the critique of the self and a
method of self examination.
He tells us how one should make an
assessment of one's own vices and inclinations toward
it,
and prepare oneself for the life to come.
Under the caption of self criticism, Ghazali writes,
and then he quotes
a lengthy excerpt.
Oh self, Is it the right course that
when a Jew tells you that a certain
thing is injurious for your health,
you avoid it and prefer to curb your
desire?
But you completely disregard the commands
of the divine revelation
and the directives, of the prophet salayam al
salam whose truthfulness is established by the miracles.
It is not surprising that you attach more
weight to the opinion of a Jew or
of any non Muslim, although he is liable
to form an erroneous opinion. He might be
right, he might be wrong on account of
his limited knowledge or wisdom.
You throw away your garment without the slightest
hesitation,
even if a child informs you that a
scorpion has gotten into your clothes.
Is it that the tidings of the prophets,
scholars,
and oliyah,
the saints and the mentors about the life
to come,
the * in its blazing fire, its torments,
its bitter thorn, its scorpions and reptiles do
not deserve even as much credence as the
information given by a child?
Or is it that the reptiles of the
hellfire shall cause you less pain than the
sting of an earthly scorpion which gives you
trouble for a day or even a shorter
period?
This is certainly not the way dictated by
prudence.
If the beasts were to know of your
foolishness, they would laugh at you.
Oh, nuffs.
You know,
what is to happen after death
and,
has to also a faith in the life
to come.
But you still do not want to act
rightly
and dearest to and and desire to ignore
the hereafter.
Death is marking time to come upon you
and impound your soul without any warning.
Even if a 100 years were given, one
shall never reach the destination if one discontinues
the journey to bask in the sunshine.
And what do you think of a man
who goes abroad for acquiring knowledge but continues
to postpone his studies in the hope that
he would learn everything within the last few
months of returning home?
You would undoubtedly laugh at this man since
he hopes to acquire all knowledge and wisdom
in such a short time
as also,
you would laugh upon a man who cherishes
the desire to be appointed as a faqih
with as a faqih without studying fip, a
person who
cherishes
the desire to be appointed as a jurist
without studying the law.
If you had presumed that the endeavors made
during the old age are more fruitful,
then how do you think that this is
not the last day of your life?
He says, if you, had presumed that the
endeavors made during old age are more fruitful,
then how do you how is it that
you're even able to think that today is
not the last day of your life?
Why do you not then even address yourself
to the task just now?
Has God told you that he would allow
you some more time to make preparations for
your salvation?
If, not,
then what is it that is preventing you
from making haste and prompting you to postpone
your decision indefinitely?
There's no other reason save that you are
finding it difficult to subjugate your impulses and
earthly desires,
for that would involve effort on your part.
Do you then wait for that day,
when it would be made easier for you
to conquer your desires?
Verily such a day will never come since
God had not created it at all.
That's like hard news. Is it verily ceases?
Are you then going to wait for such
a day when it would be made easier
for every man to conquer his desires?
Verily such a day shall never come since
god had not created it at all.
The paradise being surrounded by things unpleasant and
unwelcome shall never be agreeable to the indolent
self which always wants to postpone the day's
work to the next day. And by the
way, this is the paradise being surrounded by
things unpleasant. This is a reference to a
sahi hadith of the prophet
that
the hellfire is surrounded and the hijab of
the hellfire, the
the the guys in the clothing of the
hellfire is everything that a person desires
And the clothing and the garb of the
paradise, the surrounding things of the paradise are
everything that the nuffs dislikes. Hard work, waking
up early in the morning, giving up the
things that you want, etcetera.
Do you know how many tomorrows have been
turned into yesterdays?
Would it not be even harder to accomplish
tomorrow that which cannot be done today?
Take the instance of the passion, for sexual
*.
If it is not curbed today, it cannot
be rooted out tomorrow or else it is
like a tree which a man wants to
uproot but being unsuccessful in his attempts, postpones
the task for the future.
This man knows that with the passage of
time, the tree will take root more and
more firmly while he will become older and
grow weaker.
Obviously, this man will not be able to
accomplish in his old age that which he
was unable to do in the prime of
his youth. To put a bridle on the
passions is really as difficult and troublesome as
to train a wolf.
And a wolf is a wild animal, so
it's untrainable,
or very difficult to train at any rate.
Oh, nafs. You appear not to know that
these facts of common experience
are true but claim to be wise and
prudent.
Verily, there appears to be none more foolish
than you.
Your passions might plead. Do not allow you
to be steadfast in virtue while, the troubles
and afflictions make you abandon the path of
patience.
If this is correct, why do you not
seek the pleasure that is everlasting,
pure and sublime
and which can be had in the celestial
abode of bliss alone?
If you are a slave of your desires
and mad after pleasure, it is even more
desirable for you to curb your fleeting predilections.
For sometimes, one morsel taken by a man
prevents him from taking his food for days
altogether.
Suppose a patient has been directed by his
physician not to take a not to take
cold water for 3 days,
so that he, might recover from his illness.
Now tell me, what does your intellect dictate?
Should this man abstain from, cold drink for
3 days and regain his health? Or should
he disregard the result and satisfy his craving
for cold water?
Do you not know that the pitifully short
duration of life vouchsafe to you,
in this transient world is relatively
even more short lived when compared to the
eternal life of the hereafter
than the 3 days,
of the patient, as compared to the rest
of his life?
Meaning what? Your patience of 3 days, when
compared to the rest of your life, is
actually longer. It's actually harder
than the patience of your lifetime, your limited
lifetime in this world, when compared to eternity
of the hereafter.
This is a very astute, very astute observation.
I find that you're unable to restrain yourself
for two reasons.
The first is a sort of concealed infidelity.
A concealed kufr while the other is nothing
but stupidity.
Your concealed infidelity comprise comprises of a lack
of conviction about the day of judgment,
the recompense of your deeds and in the
world to come.
Your stupidity on the other hand makes you
oblivious to the designs of Allah Ta'ala and
ask you to depend on his mercy.
Disregardful of the fact that the benefits conferred
on the obstinate sinners are really snares to
trap them.
Still, you would not trust his beneficence for
a piece of bread or a handful of
grain nor follow even the express commands enjoyed
by him.
The prophet was, the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam has said, prudent is he who resorts
to self criticism and endeavors to prepare for
the life after death,
while the stupid one is the one who
allows
his self to take the ways of the
flesh and still remain hopeful for the divine
favor. This is a very well known hadith.
That prudent is he who resorts to self
criticism
and endeavors to prepare for the life after
death while stupid is he, who allows his
self to take after the ways of flesh
yet still remains hopeful for the divine favor.
Alas, you should have been aware of the
snare of your passions and should not have
allowed yourself to be duped by shaitan.
You have been asked to care for yourself,
and to be charitable to yourself. You should
not waste the travel of this life, the
journey of this life in this transient world.
If you lose a moment of this life,
you will lose a substantial portion of your
fortune in the hereafter which can never be
regained.
Therefore, take advantage of your health before you
fall ill.
Take advantage of the
recess before you are preoccupied.
Take advantage of your riches before you, before
you become indigent.
Take advantage of youthful zest
before old age saps your strength.
And,
take advantage of your life before death overtakes
you in order to make
preparations for the hereafter.
Your endeavor should be commensurate with the,
everlasting
life to come.
Do you not, oh nafs, make preparations for
the winter season?
Do you not collect necessary provisions for it
or remain unmindful of the vain hope of
tomorrow getting through the winter somehow?
Or in our context, do you not buy
like, you know,
half a ton of toilet paper because of
coronavirus?
Or do you think that the intense cold
of the hellfire would be less painful than
the wintry cold of this world?
Do you, hope to attain salvation without making
any effort for it?
You ought to know that you cannot save
yourself from the blazing fire of * without
the protection of faith and submission to the
commandments of Allah.
Exactly in the same way that you require
warm clothing and heat for protection against the
wintry cold.
It is simply a blessing and mercy from
your lord that he has informed you of
how to save yourself from the torments of
the hellfire and provided you with the means
for it. It is a divine dispensation
that if he creates winter, he also provides
heat for you and lets you know how
to produce it from flint,
so that you may be able to protect
yourself from the cold. The lord,
needs your prayers and supplications
as much as he stands in need of
your producing fire or weaving, woolen cloth.
Meaning like,
what what harm is it to to him
if you're cold in the winter? And the
same way, you know, like he he doesn't
need your prayers.
He doesn't need our prayers.
You need your prayers. We need our prayers.
Just like we're the ones who need the
our sweaters in the winter and need the
fires and the heaters in the winter.
The lord needs your prayers and supplications as
much as he stands in need of your
producing fire, weaving wool, and cloth.
It is really you who need these rather
than Allah,
the almighty.
For you have to submit to the will
of Allah for your own salvation.
The decision of Allah is manifest.
He says, who does right, it is for
his own soul, and whoever does wrong, it
is against it. And afterward unto your lord
will you be brought back.
Woe be to you, oh my nafs. Come
out of the shroud of your own ignorance
and know that your recompense shall be exactly
that which you earn in this world for
God Almighty has already ordained.
Your creation and your raising from the dead
are only,
as
a single soul, meaning it's
all of it will happen at once and
all of it
is easy for Allah Ta'ala with 1,
as it is for the other.
It says your creation and your raising from
the dead are only as the creation raising
creation and raising of a single soul.
Lo, Allah is the all hearing and all
knowing.
As we began the first creation, shall we
repeat it? He has brought you, into being
and so, return you unto him.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
you know, Allah Wa Ta'ala give us the
tawfiq of taking, this righteous exhortation.
This is like some heavy words from Ghazali,
and, oftentimes, you know, I think there's no
need to pile on too much, especially given
how heavy and intense, that was. If it
wasn't heavy or intense, maybe you weren't listening
properly. You can listen to it again, but
I don't I don't see a need to
prolong this,
more than this inshallah. If somebody has an
extra couple of minutes in this Mubarak night,
maybe,
this would be a good thing to make
dua for realization and for that we,
somehow,
you
know, implement,
this
advice that we all know is true, and
yet we struggle so pitifully,
through implementing,
so that Allah
should
enter into each one of our hearts,
that,
steel
and titanium resolve
that we're gonna do this thing, come what
may. And, that, then all we can do
when, you know, faced with
the gargantuan nature of the task is just
say, you Allah,
this is something that if you wanted to
happen, it's not difficult for you. So we
depend on him, in order to, vouch for
us.
Allah help us against our own, our own,
base desires and help us against our own
nafus, and,
give us that we should obey his commands
and make preparation for the journey in front
of us,
before our time runs out. And may he
forgive us for our shortcomings,
in in in in
in even trying to travel that path much
as our shortcomings
in traveling the path.
Allah
give us so much tawfiq,