Hamzah Wald Maqbul – Riyad Al Salihin Decisions Mashwarah And Istikharah
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
We continue with the
regarding
giving someone
giving someone wasiyah,
when seeing them off and making gua for
them and asking for gua from them.
Said that I once wanted to take permission
from the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam
to make umrah
and he gave me permission.
He gave me permission and he said, do
not forget me, oh my brother, and your
duas.
And Sa'id Nama remarks that,
he said to me such a thing that,
it wouldn't I wouldn't
be happy if someone traded that one
statement to me for the entire world,
which is what? What what what was what
was it that made him happy? Make dua
for me. No.
Even nobody made du'a for the prophet, sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam, it wouldn't harm him in
the least.
What made him happy about that statement?
He
said he said
that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam called
him, Yahi, O my brother.
It was an indication the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam was pleased with him.
He said that that he called me his
brother that day. I wouldn't trade that for
the entire world.
I would if someone said I'll give you
the entire duniya in exchange for that and
said I wouldn't be happy to make that
trade.
And in another in another in another, narration
instead of saying don't forget me in your
dua, he said,
he
said
meaning what,
you know, make us a partner also in
your dua, give us a share in your
dua as well. That's a narration of Uda'ud
and tinnitus.
And this also shows the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam's humility
that obviously doesn't need Sayidna Umar's duas but
he asked for them anyways. Teaching them a,
what to do, teaching the people a little
more to do, that we should ask one
another for duas because we definitely need one
another's duas.
And it also shows the lack of formality
and the the amount of closeness that he
had with them
that that they were close. It wasn't like
this kind of imperial protocol like, you know,
state your business, you can go now type
of thing. They were that, you know, he
showed affection for his companions
said, the son of Abdullah bin Umar Radiallahu
Ta'ala Anhuma
said that his father, Abdullah ibn Umar
used to say to
a person when they wish to travel,
come close to me, come close to me
so that I can
see you off and bid you farewell
just like the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam used to bid us farewell when
we would go on a trip. And then
he would say,
I
give to Allah Ta'ala
for safe keeping your deen
and your your amanat
and
the the the
the seal of all of your actions. The
deen meaning what? That I I entrust in
Allah's safekeeping as long as I'm here, I'm
able to help you with your deen when
you're gone. I can't help you. So I
ask Allah to Allah to protect you protect
you in regards to your deen. And in
regards to your Amana, what is your Amana?
All of those things you're responsible to do.
Right? The father is responsible to take care
of his family and children.
If you need help with it, I'm here
to help you. But when you're gone, I
can't help you anymore because you're not physically
present anymore. So I entrusted to Allah to
Allah that taking care of your family, paying
your bills, paying your debts, praying your prayers,
whatever
you have to Allah or to anyone else
that I entrust Allah to Allah and ask
him to aid you in it because I'm
not able to aid you now that you're
gone.
And that I entrust to Allah to Allah
the way all of your actions end. Right?
Like we said in the Khutba before,
that every action is to be judged by
the way it ends. So if it ends
well, then it's good. Even if
first half of it or first three quarters
of it or 4th first 99% of it
was bad. If it ends well, then Alhamdulillah.
So, you know, I can't help you with
regards to that either.
So I entrust that with Allah
And this is this is the this is
it's a it's a Masoon Du'a. It comes
in a number of
it comes in a a a number of
different forms and a number of different and
this is a a of it. So maybe
you repeat it a couple of times.
It's a Dua you say to people when
they're leaving to offer protection with your loved
ones when they go on a trip or
something like that. It's a good
So this is
another Sahabi.
Abdullah bin Yazid Al Khatmi,
narrates Khatmi of the Ba'ah.
He narrates that, the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam when he would
see off an army,
that was going out of jihadfi Sabilillah.
The parting du'a that he would give to
that army is what? Is that astodia
Allah So here the word amal is in
there, siratul jamaah. And the word amana is
amanat and siratul jama'ah. Right? That I
I I deposit for safe keeping your deen
and your amanat and the
the kawateem, the ends of all of your
actions with Allah Sub
said that a man once came to the
Nabi salallahu alaihi wa sallam and he said,
oh Messenger of Allah,
I I intend to travel
so give me something to take with me.
And so he says, may Allah ta'ala give
you in provisions
his fear. May Allah give you his provisions,
taqwa.
He says give me more.
He says may Allah ta'ala
forgive your sins whatever they be. He says
give me more. He says may Allah ta'ala
make it easy for you to do good
wherever you are. It's a hadith of timmihi.
And it shows that the Sahaba radiAllahu ta'ala
who appreciated the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam's
du'as. It wasn't just something that you know
nowadays in jazakalahu fayran. First
1st of all, don't don't ever say jazaqala
to anybody. Say jazaqala.
Right? Because jaza jaza means recompense.
And getting what you deserve is not a
good thing. Getting what you deserve is a
bad thing. If anyone got what they deserved,
then they would end up in jahannam literally.
So don't say jazaq a lot of people.
If you actually even in Urdu, in literary
Urdu,
jaza is used more often
as punishment in in the meaning of punishment
than it's used
in in the meaning of, in the meaning
of of of reward.
Although it can be used for all. Right?
But we know this from the sunnah of
the prophet
that nobody enters Jannah through their amla. Everybody
will enter through their mercy. So if Allah
ta'ala were to actually, like,
make full a 100% justice on the day
of judgment,
then then then, you know, we'd all be
up the creek without a paddle. You know
which creek I'm talking about? Don't make me
say we're in the Masjid.
It's a bad creek. Okay?
So,
yeah. So yeah. But, you know, don't just
okay. So now it seems all terrible.
It's a duay you make for somebody. You
have an expectation Allah to Allah make it
come true. There should be some happiness in
the person who's
who's giving it, some happiness in the person
that receives it. And so you see that
he said, yeah. He was so excited. He
said, give me more give me more. And
so the prophet
gave him more duas, and it it it
pleased him. Yes? Should we say something else
besides that? Is
fine. There's nothing wrong. You'd say it with
Barak Allahu fee. You'd say something in English
if you want to. You say, Allahu tie
will keep you happy. Allahu tie will do
this for you. Allahu tie will do that
for you. Allahu tie will make your troubles
light. There's so many duas from the sunnah
of the parts of the sun. Is Appalize
the best?
No.
I forgot.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. If someone says,
which I get many emails and text messages
like that, I mean,
the nahul is deficient, but the heart's in
the right place, I guess.
No. That's not true.
It's not true. I am the negative person.
That that's true. That's so maybe maybe maybe
maybe
maybe maybe in your in your dialect, it's
true. Okay? But in linguistical debates, bring you
have to bring,
proof from from literature. So bring proof from.
This is this is literally the way the
entire the entire Arabic language, the lexicography of
the Arabic language is constructed based on. I've
heard plenty of in
which is used in a negative context.
Perhaps on the street or whatever, that's fine.
Like for example, khareem in like street Urdu
means what?
But that's not what khareem means in
No. But that's not what khare means even
in a'Sharif. You go and talk to somebody
who's like a literary person, they'll tell you
that it means different something different in the
classical language than it means in the street
language.
So that's that's what I'm talking about. As
far as what people say on the street,
you know, they say weird things like people
say, Oh,
or you know, the but batans have they
go even further. You know how people are
like in English are like, oh wicked. That's
wicked.
That's sick. You know? So, like, so, like,
batons go even further. Right? Because they they
they they they they say, you know, because,
like, if bad means good, then logically the
worst thing will mean the best. Right? So
you don't like the way you say this
thing is really good, that's really kafir, man.
That's the literally, it's a usage of the
If they can't say the fa, so they
say, so
some like for example, like, you'll you'll hear
that some like, imam gives a really awesome
khutba, you know?
This is like a kafir movie, man. This
guy's awesome. You know? It's like wicked. You
know?
You know, I mean, as far as that's
considered the street usage of people, that's that's
something that we can't
we can't regulate or do we need to
discuss right now.
Babun filistikharati
wal
mashwara
or wal mushawara.
Right? So the mashwara means something different. Mushawara
means something they mean functionally they mean the
same, but mashwara is the is Isam Maqan
and the Mushawara is a, is the Maslar
for Shawara and Shawaruru.
So why is it that
Istikhara and Mushawarah are being mentioned in the
same
in the same, what you call
chapter. Right? Istikhara is to make du'a to
Allah Ta'a to show you what's best in
a situation
and
Mushawala is what? To consult with one another.
The reason that they're being mentioned in the
same Bab, in the same
chapter
is because both of these things are
the sunnahs for making a decision.
It's not just 1 or the other, but
it's both of them. And in a sense,
they're both the same thing
that when you make mashwara, you're asking somebody
for what their opinion is And istikhara is
mashwara is general and istikhara is a specific
type of mashwara that you're asking Allah ta'ala.
And if he chooses to be as fable
on you, he'll reveal that to you. Not
reveal in the wahi sense, but he'll make
it he'll make it clear to you what
that thing is.
And so
that's why they're both being mentioned together because
they're they're connected with one another.
The Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was
commanded by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to do
what?
To
consult the his companions before making
before making decisions. Obviously, something that comes down
from Allah ta'ala is a matter of wahi.
Okay? There's no mashwara about that. There's no
consultation about that. You just we hear, samayana
wa ta'ala.
Okay?
And then, you know, but there's a lot
of things that are not. There's no wahi
that comes down upon upon the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam about it,
and and there's no Allah Ta'ala will have
a fixed, you know,
fixed commandment of how to do this thing.
Right? So for example, how to read salat,
there's a fixed commandment about it. There's not
really a whole lot of here or there.
You know? So you're gonna say, I mean,
out loud or not. But there's no one
who's saying, like, are we gonna read 5
or 7 or 4 or 3 or what?
There's not there's not, like, a whole lot
of decision making going on there. Okay?
But there are other things like, you know,
Allah
commands people to, for example,
you know, take care of orphans.
Okay? So what does that mean? Does it
mean that it's better for the orphan that
you the money they have you
spend on tuition that they attend the ICRA
school? Or do they need medical treatment, you
know, and so we'll just send them to,
like,
a regular school that may have better services
for disabled or for ill children or whatever
or, you know, those things you have a
choice. You can do however you like. You
understand what I mean? And so those things
that that there's choices in them, then
it's a a a sunnah to make what?
To make mashrah in those in those matters.
And even the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam despite being the most intelligent person
in this
ummah and despite being a person who genuinely
didn't need to make the mashra of his
companions. Whatever decisions he made, he would have
made them well. But still Allah,
commanded him to to do that, to make
mashraw with the companions. And one of the
benefits of it is what? Is that
if we're all supposed to be united, when
we make mushra on the decision and we've
all said our peace and we've all been
heard, then when a decision is made afterward,
it's easier for everybody to own that decision
and it's easier for everybody to own that
decision. They feel like they're part of that
decision and at least their their concerns have
been heard even if their,
opinion isn't accepted. This happens. Sometimes somebody voices
an opinion and that opinion is not accepted.
We the the that opinion is not acted
on. But there's reasons behind that opinion and
if you get a chance to explain them,
like, I wanna do it this way because
I'm afraid such and such will happen. At
least the people will know what your fear
is and they'll try to avoid it even
if they don't do the things the way
that you
specifically recommended that they be done. But, Allah,
if he commanded the messenger of Allah
to make mashra with people
in regards to,
in regards to,
you know,
how things are done,
then what about us?
You know? We also should make mashrah. You
know, things that are important with our families,
with our,
you know, children, with our coworkers,
with our people in the Masjid that are
with us.
And, you know, obviously, you can't and and
democracy are not the same. There's some overlap
between them in the sense that means that
that, you know, people's voices heard and democracy
means that everyone has a voice. Also through
a vote, at least theoretically speaking, it's a
very naive
type of view of democracy. But okay, fine.
Even in that sense, we'll we'll accept that
that everyone at least gets a chance to
vote.
But, you know, Mishra is not democracy in
the sense that it's not majority rule.
It recognizes
the the benefit, specific benefit of legitimate voices
needing to be heard but it's not it's
not it doesn't mean the majority rule because
many a time, oftentimes the majority will make
the wrong decision.
Right? This is something anybody who's been to
like high school before
and middle school, okay,
knows that there's a difference between what's right
and what a majority of people
say.
Unless you went to some very special high
school or very special middle school okay. If
you've been to middle school or high school
before,
okay, you know there's a difference between that
that opinion which is popular and that opinion
which is correct.
And so, you know, in that sense, I
would respectfully
I would respectfully disagree with someone who's who
holds up democracy as an ideal system.
I would definitely respect somebody who says that
it's better than the alternatives.
I think that's an argument that can be
made. But in and of itself, to say
that everybody with the majority of people are
saying,
you know, is is the best thing, that's
that's utter chaos. You know, the haqq is
known the haqq is known because of its
because of its quality of being the truth,
not because of many people saying it. And
we observe we live in a time and
a place, and we'll observe
progressively more and more that, Baathir will become
much more powerful and much more popular,
than the Haqq will. And,
you know, that doesn't make it right. It
doesn't make it right just because the majority
of people will vote for it. So what
is Mashra? It's just an ability for everybody
to voice their concerns and to be heard.
It doesn't literally mean everybody either. Right? So
for example, if it's a small group of
people, 2 or 3 people, it doesn't mean,
you know, it will probably mean everybody.
But if you have like a huge group
like the Masjid, like, you know, how many
people come for Salaf al Jawaan? 700 people,
okay? 500 people, something like that. It's impossible
to have everybody sit everybody in the same
room and have everybody give their opinion and
it's not really not really even desirable for
everybody to give their opinion. But it's understood
that every society has what they refer to
as ahlul haluwal aqad,
the people who,
tighten and and loosen, meaning the people of
the people whose opinion
matters because of some reason or another, because
of their intelligence, their seniority, their piety, their
righteousness,
their hard work that they give to the
community, the respect other people give them,
you know, and other more mundane and practical
considerations, meaning the economic impact it will have.
If someone is, like, donating half the budget
of the masjid. You know, it doesn't mean
necessarily everything they do or say needs to
be right
or wrong because of that but, it does
mean you probably should ask their opinion.
That's practical.
I think that's practical.
So the Ahlul Halal Aqad, you know, when
it comes to when it comes to a
bigger group of people, then the mashra is
made with those people. And then the idea
is that those people that make mashra with
whoever the constituents are, you know, whoever the
people that they have access to, and it
goes through that process. But there should be
some attempt to get opinions that
are somewhat representative
of
of a majority of people before making decisions
rather than making brash decisions because a person
makes a decision without considering
different points of view,
that person's decision then is often,
prone to to have very bad repercussions and
bad consequences.
Allah Ta'ala says in Suratul
That their affair whatever affair comes to them,
it is
decided through Shura between them.
This
small piece of the ayah is so important
that the entire Surah was named after it,
Surah al Shura. There's an entire Surah of
the Quran named Surah al Shura.
It's important. It's really important. This is one
of the reasons that the Islam actually survived
the death of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam is because the Sahaba radiata'ala anhu amongst
themselves
were able to, you know, for for at
least the first three caliphates, they were able
to,
resolve all of their differences and work out
all of their problems
without separating from one another.
And afterward,
they do separate from one another but only
in political matters, not in matters of deen.
And so it's it's one of those things
that the prophet
trained them well and taught them well.
And, so what happens
that this is something that Allah Ta'ala says
is a trait of the believers
that they make sure that their amrul and
before they decide something they consult with one
another not just with their group or with
their click but they consult with one another.
Sayyidina Jabir ibn Abdillahi radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu said
that the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
used to teach us Istikhara,
in every affairs in every one of our
affairs. And he used to teach it to
us as if it was a Surah of
the Quran. It's obviously not a surah of
the Quran. What he means by as if
it was a surah of the Quran, meaning
that he used to teach it to us
and repeat it to us and have us
memorize it and have us use it, you
know, as a ritual practice. Okay?
And so this is this this
this hadith,
describes
istikhara in its complete, it's akhman, it's most
perfect form,
in its optimal form. Okay? What does istikhara
mean? Right? Does anyone Istikhara means what? Right?
Whenever you have the you have a you
know, Arabic has like a root
pattern system. Right? And so Istikhara is a
complex pattern.
And,
the the root of Istikhara is what?
Not sure.
Not sure.
It's.
Right? So Istif'al,
Istif'alal, Istif'alal,
Istif'alal,
Istif'alal, this,
this wazen, this pattern is what?
It's to seek something.
Right? So for example,
right, what does mean?
It means to use something. We use this
word in Urdu as well.
Right? So what is amal is the root.
Amal means to do something. Is to seek
work from someone. We need to use some
someone or to use something. Right?
So just like that, istighara is to seek
the khair from something. And khair means good
in the most general meaning,
but it specifically means the thing that you
would choose if you had a choice.
Right?
And so other words that have that root
like Muftab. Right? The Nabi salazar says, Nabi
al Muftab, the chosen one. Okay?
Right?
The one he chose. Right. So he needs
to choose. So khair is the thing that
you would choose.
And so it's not a moral judgment rather
it's something that you would be comfortable with.
Right? So what's khair? What what's more khair
there? What is more khair in?
Being rich or being poor?
Being rich, everyone would choose being rich or
being poor unless they had mental issues.
Right?
But the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam taught
this umna that, Look, even though you would
love to have the money but maybe you
have like $1,000,000,000
you would, you know, you would just morph
into this horrible person because everyone around you
would then become a sycophant and a yes
man. No one would give you good advice
anymore. Your entire mind would warp and you
would you would become so arrogant that you
would leave the deen. So then when you
put it that way, I would rather choose
being poor.
Right? But so the prophet taught
us that, like, you know, at first glance,
whatever thing you would choose may not be
the best for you. Allah knows and you
don't know. So what is istisikhara? It's suspending
the choice from yourself
and then putting the choice in front of
Allah Ta'ala
and understanding Allah will always choose as long
as you're a person of faith, as long
as you're a person of La ilaha illallah,
Allah will choose what's best for you.
It's a hadith of Sahih Muslim that how
wonders is the affair of the believer because
his affair, all of it is good.
And so Allah will always choose good for
you if you always if you if you
believe in him
and and the way he's pleased with and
you put the choice to him, he'll always
choose what's good for you. So istikhara is
the mechanism by which you,
ask ask Allah ta'ala what's best. Ask Allah
Ta'ala what's
best. So this is the optimal, this is
the optimal way of doing istikhara, of seeking,
seeking help with a decision, you know. Like,
you know, should I marry this girl or
not?
That's a beautiful example
sometimes literally metaphorically
and literally
of something that you may really want is
not good for you
or something that you want and it is
good for you. You know what I mean?
So that's these types of choices that then
a person should make istikhara in these choices.
Obviously, he says that, you know, Jabir radiAllahu
ta'alaam who says that the Messenger of Allah
used to teach us Istikhara
in in in all of our affairs,
you know. So the the the the people
of presence and the people of remembrance of
Allah, they make istikhara for like things big
and small, you know? Things that you and
I would think think are are a no
brainer
or whatever, they would make istikhara for those
things also. And the result of istikhara is
what? Is that that if you make the
right decision it's not even a guarantee that
you'll make the right decision. If you make
the right decision, Allata will put Barakah in
it for you. If you make the wrong
decision, it will mitigate like
the the harm you'll you'll face from making
having made the wrong decision.
So how did he say to do it?
He said he taught us this istikhara process
just like he used to teach us the
Quran. And he told us
if one of you wants to do something
or is really thinking about, you know, making
some choice in an affair, let him pray
2 rak'ahs
other than the Fardh
other than the Fardh. Okay. So any 2
rakas that are not farther
from the Fardh prayer. Okay. And let him
say,
Oh Allah, I
seek from You,
that You choose for me
from your knowledge.
And I seek your
your your your calculation from your
ability to assess things, which is which is
complete.
And I ask
you and I ask you from your
magnificent grace
because you're the one who knows the calculations
and exact measures of all things and I
don't have that ability.
And you know absolute with absolute certainty everything
and I don't have the absolute knowledge of
certainty with everything.
You're the one who indeed knows,
everything that's hidden, not just that scene that's
hidden as well, that's unseen as well.
Oh Allah,
if
you know,
tell me, if you know that in this
matter, there is good for me in my
deen and in my living
and in
the the the the way that my affair
will end, meaning that in the end, this
will come out come out for me good,
not that it will be good for a
couple of years then it will destroy me.
Or he said,
that which is that which is immediate in
my affair and that which will come later.
Then Fakadur huli, then make it happen or
measure it out for blessings
for
me in it. Blessings for me in it.
And
if your knowledge
knows that this
affair
is evil
for me or bad for me in my
deen,
and in my living and in the end
of my affair. Or he said, and that
which comes
immediately in my affair and that which will
come after some delay in my affair.
Then if that's the case,
then make this thing miss me and make
me miss it,
you know. Ward it away from me and
ward me away from it.
And then
then make
the whatever is better for me happen wherever
it may be or meet out for me
for that meet out for me and measure
out for me the good wherever it is.
Uh-uh and make me happy with it, You
know, like, make
me make me understand why this wasn't meant
to be and why the other thing was
better for me so that I don't live
my whole life and I have the good
thing and but I always feel regret or
sorrow that I didn't have the thing I
wanted in the first place. This happens a
lot. This happens a lot. You know? This
happens to people. So and so person, you
know, you fall in love with so and
so. He wants to marry her, and he's,
like, gonna go Romeo and Juliet, like, stab
himself in the face if it doesn't happen,
and he's just going nuts.
And, you know, it's like, look, man. She
said no. It's not gonna happen. Just get
over it. And then what happens? The person
will get married, like, 6 months later to
somebody else, and they'll have a beautiful family
and be so happy.
And they'll, you know, like, they'll they'll,
they'll they'll think, like, what was I thinking?
Like, now it makes sense to me, like,
in hindsight why, you know, that marriage wouldn't
have worked and why this one was a
good one or, you know, why you know,
some people, it happens with their careers that
they wanna be something really bad and then
it doesn't happen for them. And then,
you know, but, like, they do this other
career and they go on to be like,
Masha'a, like, a super brilliant person in that
career, you know.
It happens it happens to so many things
so many things. We choose things and that's
why it's important not to have your heart
your heart should be fixed on, like,
your heart should be fixed on big like,
on on on,
universals, not on particulars. You understand what I'm
saying? So your heart should be fixed on
what? Okay? Instead of instead of, you know,
your heart being fixed on,
you know,
being a specific career, your heart should be
fixed on like, okay, I wanna have like,
you know, I wanna be able to provide
for my family. Instead of your heart being
fixed on I want to be like, you
know, do a specific act of piety, say
I want have your heart fixed on I
want to do some service for Allah ta'ala,
you know. Maybe you want to be a
half of the Quran and it's just not
happening. There's some people that didn't happen for
them. You know? It wasn't farthest. If it
was farthest for everybody, then everyone would have
to do it. Not everyone is gonna happen.
Some people wanna be ulama. It just doesn't
happen for them. You know? Some people want
to,
you know, fast and they have some physical
conditions. It's very difficult for them to to
fast. Right? Some people can't even fast the
month of Ramadan because of their physical condition.
Don't fix your heart on things. Rather ask
Allah ta'ala for whatever the good is and
let him, you know, look for it, keep
trying but like whatever ends up happening, know
that it's his decision, you know.
Don't fixate on specific things because when you
fixate on specific things, sometimes Allah will give
you something better or sometimes Allah will save
you from a bad situation
and then you'll show him the ingratitude of
like always moping with the rest of your
life. Oh, I wish I had this. I
never had this. I made dua for it
so many times. I come
and answer my dua blah blah blah, you
know, etcetera, ad nauseam. And people there some
people, they they fixate on these things. It's
just not it's not healthy. It's not good.
Whatever happened happened. It's for this is like
the aalasunno of jama'a,
our our fundamental aqeedah and our fundamental outlook
to things is positive.
Even if negative things happen, our fundamental outlook
on things is positive.
We don't we don't like, you know, we
don't have this like,
you know, this thing that the, you know,
the yahood have and the nasa have and
even other
heterodox groups within Islam, you know, people who
are who are not under on the understanding
of.
There's always this, like, regret about what happened,
something that happened in the past or some
pain or suffering that they like to fixate
on. You understand what I mean? It's some
sort of, like, holy suffering that they're trying
to fixate on all the time.
And, we say that, no, suffering is not
something that we celebrate or fixate on or
have, like, some sort of, you know, this
just obsession with it. Rather, suffering is something
happens for for a person's betterment, but it's
not something that you wanna do ever.
And but whatever happened in the past, if
it was difficult, it was for the best.
And if it was easy, it was also
for the best. And so we have like
a kind of a positive outlook.
And that positive outlook is what? Is that
whatever happened in the past, it was good.
Whatever happened in the future, you plan your
best. Right? You don't embrace like pain and
suffering for your future. You always try your
best to, you know, live as good of
a life as you can. Right? But for
the past, whatever happens, happens best. You don't
cry and lament and weep over it. Someone
dies. We're forbidden from mourning excessively over the
death of of the people who died. We're
forbidden from mourning excessively over failures that we
have. We say we to give each other,
glad tidings. Nothing that you did that that's
a that's a failure is really a failure
because
whatever you did with a good intention, all
of it will be accepted for from you.
All of it will be accepted from you.
If you wanted to, like, you know, whatever.
You know, you have you've been you know,
you single handedly raised money to build a
mustard in your city and you raised a
$100,000,
$1 at a time over, like, 20 years.
And, you know, you're going with the cash
in the bag, you know, to go close
the deal and someone, you know, not even
someone jacks you, you know, like you you,
get into a car accident and, like, the
cash burns, you know, in front of your
eyes.
It's okay, you know. Allah Ta'ala already built
for you the house in Jannah. You don't
need to trip about it. Your job was
to do what's best and whatever Allah chose
for you, in this world is fine.
Nobody's gonna get stented and then no one's
gonna get into a car accident and they're
like, ticket to Jannah will burn. He'll take
care of you on that day.
So just don't don't don't trip out about
it. Oh, so and so died. Oh, so
and woe is me and beat yourself like
this. This is not ahlul sunnah jama'ah. This
is not our this is not like, you
know, the passion of the Christ you have
like every year reenacting like this. You know,
these poor guys, they have they put like
a real crown of thorn on their head
and they're like really, like, whipping him and
they're bleeding. And some people are there's some
people they actually like nail the the nails
under their hand which is a, first of
all, historically inaccurate if, you know, the hand
can't the palm of your hand can't support
your body weight. It'll just rip out if
you actually crucify someone like that. But they'll
actually do that and they consider it to
be an act of piety which,
you know,
I respect your
right to have your own religion according to
the First Amendment and like you know, it
doesn't mean we can't. I guess like on
other days of the week when your hand
isn't bleeding, you can't be friends and like,
you know, like have lunch together and like,
you know, be good neighbors to each other
and things.
But,
that's at the bare minimum, you know, in
order to be polite, at least we'll say
like that's not our way. That's not the
way we we don't we don't have that
negativity about stuff. Whatever Allah chose for you
is bad. Someone might say, well, how can
well, the situation I am in be best.
I have no job. I have no this.
My wife loves me. My this, my dad,
my dad, my dad, my other thing. Right?
Well, you have your iman, don't you?
There's so many people who like they're they
had all the success in the world and
their iman was stolen from them by by
Shaitan.
That's that's a failure. That's a Husman Mubin.
If you have if you have La ilaha
illallah inside your heart, you have nothing to
complain about to anybody. You have nothing to
complain about to anybody. Allah Ta'ala promised you
everlasting life in Jannah. You have nothing to
complain about to anybody.
It's easy to say it's hard to whatever
for people who are in difficulty. And it's
not to say, like, stop moping around, man.
Okay. Fine. Okay. My house burned down and
I lost all my money. Okay. You're
obviously a human being. You're gonna be a
little bit depressed about it. Right? But just
don't dwell on it. Right? There's one thing
is the natural sadness you have for something
you wanted to happen, it doesn't happen. That's
a natural human thing. Just work it out
of your system as long as it takes
to get through it. Some people it's longer.
Some people it's less.
Don't dwell on it. Don't ritualize it. Don't,
like, wake up in the morning and, like,
look at the picture of the girl who
said no to you, like, every day and,
like, like, you know, cut your wrists every
day or like, you know, like, dwell on
it. Like, I'm never gonna get married ever
to anyone. I'm gonna die happy or die
alone and die sad because that's what I
feel like, you know. That's that's completely haram.
That's a sin. You can't do that. Okay?
Or if she dumped you, you're probably gonna
feel pretty bad for
quite some time, right? But like, you know,
don't dwell on it artificially. Don't artificially prolong
it. That's something I
completely completely reject that. Completely think it's it's
evil, it's immoral, and it's also very pointless
and, it's just not something it's not something
you do. So this is tikharah process as
part of understanding and part
linking up with it. Okay. So the long
Yeah.
No. I'm I'm I'm continuing. So this long
dua
You know, this it's relatively long duaab.
A lot of people in the Masjid who
come to, you know, Jum'ah and things like
that, you know, They
don't even know like much beyond like, you
know.
I think everyone should memorize the the long
dua.
You
should. Right?
But at the same time, there are some
people who like, you know, the father they're
having a hard time praying their father prayers.
So how are they gonna pray 2 extra
rakas or something, you know.
And, like, this du'a is very long and
it's in a foreign language that they don't
understand and whatever. Right? So those things are
not excuses.
You should get over those things. You should
read your father's prayers. You should make up
your missed prayers. You should read, you know,
Nawafil and things like that. You should memorize
the du'a.
But even,
you know, if nothing else, sometimes you have
to make decisions so quickly you don't have
time to do all of this stuff, you
know. Like a deal comes up in the
store and you don't have wudu and you
have to get back to, you know, work
and whatever. You know? You say, should I
buy this or should I not buy this?
Right?
The
the is
all of it is a sunnah. Okay? The
complete is the complete form. The perfect form
is what? You you pray 2 rak'ahs and
then you read this long dua and you
name whatever,
you know, thing that you're making decision about
in it. But reading 2 rakaas is a
sunnah. If you don't read 2 rakaas and
you just read the dua, you're still the
sunnah bistikharah is there. You just didn't do
it in its complete form.
Right?
If a person
wants to make istikhara even if they don't
make this dua, there are other duas of
that come in the sunnah. There's one that's
very short, very quick, very easy to remember.
Right? You guys will repeat it with me.
Do do khair by us and choose for
us.
Okay?
That's it. And that's also that's also misnun
to offer istikhara as well. The long one
is good. A person should read it all
you know, also. The British read both of
them, right, if they have the time and
whatever. But you could just say, you're
passing by like whatever, you know. Like your
your wife has been like, you know,
politely but persistently
reminding you
that you need like a certain something. Like,
we need another sofa in the house or
whatever. Right? And you've been resisting it but
you know inside she's right.
Okay? So you pass by somewhere in the
store and there's, like, a sofa and it's,
like, the last one that's on sale and,
like, you know, you don't know, you know,
she may not be pleased with your choice,
but, you know, you have to make a
decision. The point is you have to make
a decision. Right? So okay. You don't have.
You have to go back to you're not
gonna be, like, you know, ask this manager,
can I go in the back to the
bathroom? Like, so sorry. That's against our policy.
Or you can walk across, you know, and
read 2 rakas and stuff like that. You
know? There are some don't laugh about it,
man. There's some people who do it and
some those are like the most amazing people
in the world. There's one brother there's one
brother. He used to wear like a turban
and like a traditional clothes and things like
that. There's someone someone and like he used
to do that. He just stop and like
read as soon as wherever. Just someone who
just doesn't care, wants to practice the dean,
doesn't care about anybody. Right? So one of
these brothers, someone after 911 told him, brother,
you know, you can't dress like that. It's
very dangerous. People are gonna kill you. You're
being irresponsible. He laid into them really hard,
like, you know, and told him you gotta
change this. And and he said he he
said that he said that I just patiently
listened to everything he had to say and
then I just let it one ear in
one ear and out the other and I
moved on. He said that brother, someone murdered
him the next week. Oh, wow. Yeah.
That's not to say yeah. Don't laugh. That's
not to say that's not to say obviously
that we, you know, wish people who disagree
with us to be murdered or whatever. But
that guy with pants and shirts and whatever.
It just shows Allah's in control of stuff.
Right? And he laid into the guy for
wearing whatever and it have Allah is in
control. Anyway, so there are some people who
don't care and they're just gonna do the
sunnah anyway. Allah will protect them and give
them their prayer in this world and hereafter.
If you wish to be like that, I
caution you, you know, that if there's even
a small amount of fakeness in you, you're
just gonna all of you is gonna burn
up and crash. So don't don't try that
unless you're really
sincere,
in which case you should make dua for
me. But,
the
you know, okay. Fine. So what do you
do? You just
and then you make your decision. You're gonna
buy it or not? Or you're gonna do
it you know, you're gonna do make your
decision or not make your decision.
So this this is this is that. I'll
make an addendum to this. This is mostly,
I think, for the Desi public, although maybe
there's some misunderstanding,
amongst other people as well. I don't know
for some reason or another,
many people think like if you read the
Istikhara Dua,
you have to see some dream about something.
Okay?
You won't some people might. You might you
might see a dream about salin. You might
not see a dream about salin. You might
see a sign. You might not see a
sign. You might make the correct decision. You
may even make the wrong decision.
There's no guarantee that istikhara is going to
result in you making the correct decision. What
it will do is what? It will push
you towards the correct decision
and,
and then if you make the wrong decision,
the fact that you just bothered to make
du'a means Allah Ta'ala will lighten the impact
of the the crash of the You know,
it will be one of those crashes that
you kind of like break a leg in
rather than the one that like they, you
know they don't find the body in type
of crashes. You know? Allah Ta'ala will lessen
the impact of
of that decision. And so many people, you
know, brother, how how's your family? Well, you
know, brother, I got a divorce.
Make it give a better future for both
of you. Yeah. Yeah. It was not good.
It was ugly. You know, the thing is
I made this before and I just
I got the feeling I shouldn't get married,
but I wanted to do anyway so I
did, okay. That's that's your problem, buddy.
Both me and my wife both got the
same feeling but we said let's do it
anyway.
Okay. Khalaf,
man. But no dream or nothing. Just to
you just Allah will put the, you know,
the hope is the prayer is that if
that istikhara dua is accepted, Allah will put
some some sort of shout or some sort
of sign in your heart as to what's
best and what's not and even sometimes that
doesn't happen.
Again, making things happen is Allah's job. Your
job is to be a good slave. You're
a good slave. You ask him in sincerity.
Even if you made the wrong decision, Allah,
hopefully, will light the impact of it because
you, you were trying. Yes.
Okay. So that's a good that's a good
that's a good question. The thing that there's
a choice in, you should make istikhara'il.
Right? So go in Umrah and not go
in Umrah. Right? So like, you know, mashallah,
you know, go go going to Umrah is
a good thing. So one would say, well,
what's the choice in there? Well, maybe you
could, you know, save the Umrah money or
whatever and then, like, let's say I'm gonna
just donate this year to the build finish
the ICRA school expansion or whatever, you know.
And like and like, instead of going to
Umrah. So there's a choice there. So it's
those things you should make istikharah.
Should I read salatul dhuhr or not?
That's not something you make a sticharra. Okay?
I'm thinking about going drinking with my friends.
That's not there's no sticharra about that. That's
that's like a mockery. Like, some of these
things is really serious. It's like like you
know like
the
someone who says bismillah before like drinking wine.
It's like kufr because you like make it's
like you're making a joke out of the
deen. You know? It's not just a sin.
It's like it's like you've like mocked the
deen which is which is kufr. Right?
And so, you know yeah. If it's and
this is something it's good that you brought
this up. There are people who have done
this on mash both mashra and istikhara. Okay?
Mashra is like a very abused term amongst
many people.
There have been masjid boards before. There are
certain things that are like the commandment of
Allah and Rasool that are not being fulfilled
and they say, well, we'll make mashhura about
it. And then I'm like, what are you
talking about? You can't make mashhura. It's like
fard. You can't. Like, you can't do that.
No. No. We're we're gonna make muchhura about
it. We do everything by muchhura. Okay. Then
they'll call you weekly. We made muchhura. We
decided not to do it. You can't do
that. That's not muchhura. There's no sunnah. That's
like a mockery of Mashra. You can't do
that. Right? You can't do that. There's no
Mashra about, okay, we're fine. Are we gonna
have salatuljumma
at like, you know, like
105
or are we gonna have it at 1:35?
That's something you make mushroah about. Are we
gonna have salatul Jum'ah on Friday or on
Saturday? That's something we don't make much more
about. Sunday.
We laugh about it. There are places in
America that
us. And you think whatever whoever did those
things, you know, if they had some good
intention, Allah forgive them, give all of those
guidance. We all do certain things also. Easy
to laugh at another person's mistakes, but then
when your own mistakes
come head to head with them, it comes
very kinda hits close to home. So all
of that protect us, give us guidance, forgive
us for our mistakes in the past, and
open our eyes to whatever wrong things we're
doing that that other people laugh at us
on the day of judgment. Allah
give us the tawfiq to rectify all of
them and forgive us for them before we
pass through this world.