Hamzah Wald Maqbul – Riyd alSlihn Dont Stay Behind Lest You Be Left Behind Ribt 01062018
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So we, began the the chapter last week
with regards to the virtues
of the first row,
for salat
and completing the first rows first
and, straightening the rows
and,
locking them,
by by
leaving no gap and no space,
between them.
So we,
continue with a a a a hadith.
And so this is a hadith which indicates
the the seriousness and the gravity of
straightening the sufuf,
straightening the the the rose in salat.
Something that we,
oftentimes
take for granted or don't think about as,
being important.
But the hadith is
the hadith indicates that maybe it's a bit
more important than we thought it was.
It's narrated from him that the messenger of
Allah
he once saw some of his companions
further back in the Masjid than they should
have been.
Further back in the Masjid than they should
have been.
And so
he said to them
he said to them, come forward
and follow me.
Literally means to follow me in the prayer,
meaning pray behind me.
And it also means that take me as
your imam.
Take me as your leader and follow the
things that I say.
Says he said he said, follow me and
let those after you, follow you.
And this is the cornerstone.
It's in a hadith with regards to what?
It's a hadith regards with regards to
the virtues of the the first rows of
the salat.
And this hadith, the in it there's an
isharah and indication toward the cornerstone of
our
our our entire creed with regards to the
deen,
which is what
that the
are those people who worship Allah alone and
without any partner.
And that say that the Rasul
is the canonical and official representative of Allah.
What he says about Allah's authority and what
other people say about Allah doesn't.
And that's what the sunnah part means and
the jama'ah is what? It's that the Sahaba
whom are the official and canonical representatives of
the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Meaning you're going to only receive the sunnah
of the prophet through the jama'ah just like
you're only going to receive Allah ta'ala through
the sunnah, that's the way the sunnah works.
And in every generation, the people who hold
fast to that methodology,
those are the only ones on guidance everybody
else will,
beyond misguidance.
From those who claim Islam
and,
and as far as those who don't claim
Islam,
those people, from the get go, they they
they're they're they're DOA. There's no there's there's
no even a discussion with regards to them.
So,
he says what? He says that,
he saw certain
companions of his who were further back in
the Masjid than they should have been.
So he said, come forward
and,
take me as your imam, and let those
people who come after you take you as
their imams.
That that there will be
such people
in this that
they will
keep being in the back
and that will be their condition.
They'll keep being in the back. Now, this
is obviously has to do literally with the
back
sufuf. Right? But there's also,
figuratively, there's a
a a
an
there's a a
a a a some
some
some words that point to something deeper than
that. That there are some people are gonna
keep lagging behind
until Allah leaves them behind.
And so the what's the the
the commentary,
That, that in one narration, this hadith actually
ends,
not that Allah and and not just that
that that there's a group of people who
keep lagging behind until Allah leaves them behind.
But
there's a group of people who lag behind
until Allah leaves them behind and their destination
is the hellfire.
Meaning meaning what?
Meaning, it's your responsibility
to what be in the front row, not
just for the salat.
Rather, the salat, if you look at all
the hadith that we've been going through with
regards to the and the virtue of the
salat, that the salat is the cornerstone of
the entire deen. It is the first step
in the entire deen. The person whose salat
is good, their deen can be good. And
the person who,
they have no salat or whatever else they
think is good. It's it's just a it's
a hocus pocus fantasy that they made in
their mind.
And they'll find they have nothing.
And,
just like that, the person who lags behind
in their salat and in their deen
Look. The way a person
screws up, it's not it's not by just,
like, you know, oh, today I didn't go
to the prayer.
Shaitan wants you to think about that. Like,
oh, I missed today,
and I may as well miss tomorrow. I
may as well miss the next day. I
may as well miss the next day. This
is the the the the condition of every
human
being. That you have good days, you have
bad days, you do some, you know, some
some sometimes it's a home run, sometimes you
strike out.
That's how that's how life is.
The the the the sunnah is what? Is
that a person who does something bad should
follow it with a good deed in order
to efface it or erase it? And the
person who is doing something good, that person
should try something better next time.
And the person who's,
you know, one step back, he should try
to
try to go 2 steps forward next time.
Why? Because,
all matters will be judged how by how
they end. It's not a issue of, like,
today or tomorrow. This is why some of
the,
Sufia, Kiram,
they mention,
like the,
Sahibul,
Haikam,
who many people don't know this, by the
way. He wasn't just like, you know, when
you say, people think about someone smoking weed
and dancing and whatever. This he was he's
actually a,
one of the canonical narrators and authorities,
of the Maliki School.
His opinions, you'll read them in the books
of as well. So he mentions this that
that that in your journey to Allah your
saluk to Allah
your trust is on who?
Who do you lean on? Who's who's your
trust? Who's the only one who can take
you down that path?
It's Allah ta'ala.
Your trust isn't in yourself.
The thing you the thing you bring to
that to that to that process is your
desire.
The actual movement happens through him.
So you could try something, khalas, I tried
going to the masjid and the people in
the masjid were like racist to me. I
tried going to the masjid, the people in
the masjid were sexist to me. Right? This
happens to a lot of our sisters, unfortunately.
Right?
I tried to go to the Masjid and
the people in the Masjid were classist with
me. Right? There are Masjid in the south.
Right? Half of the people look like some
they live in some sort of,
weird,
mansion from, like, the set of the Patriot,
and the other half of them literally live
in, like, houses that are so small. You
don't see houses that small over here. It's
like a house that's literally as small as
a trailer. They live in houses that small.
I remember there's a a masjid in the
south. When I first came back to came
back from America,
I asked, I asked for,
I asked that,
that
I I interviewed there for a job, and
I asked that,
during the job interview that I not stay
in a hotel, that I just stay with
somebody, you know. And if nobody wants to
my actually first request is always to stay
in the masjid or was always to stay
in the masjid. Then after that, if the
if the masjid has a policy, like, after
911, they don't let you stay in the
masjid anymore in a lot of places. I
say if you don't if you don't if
you don't want that, then let me stay
with somebody. So they found the the the
request very,
off putting.
And, what happened was, they said, well, there's
no place for nobody has any place for
you to keep you, you know.
So I'm like, okay. Then I'm not coming.
I figured if this is like this, like,
basic, like, amount of work you cannot do
with people, how are you gonna have employment
with them? So what ends up happening is
finally, there's
some, like, grad student in in the in
the college that's near the masjid,
from Pakistan.
He was like, okay. He can stay with
us. And he literally lived in one of
those small houses. I don't know if you've
seen these houses in the south. They're really
small. And so he has his wife, kids,
everything, and the rooms are extremely small. And
so I just stayed in the in the
in the front room, and I didn't think
anything of it until what? Until, like, Friday
night, all the board members, they had parties
at their houses,
and, there's, like, several different layers of dysfunctionality
in these communities. So what ended up happening
is there's one party that the Desis had
and one party that the Arabs had. Okay?
The
like, there's like a barrier between them that
neither transgressed, unfortunately. Right? So I the their
plan was you eat dinner with the Desis
and you have dessert and tea with the
Arabs. So I had dinner with Desi. I
see these guys all have these, like, huge
ridiculously huge houses.
Because the cost of living in those places
is very little. Property is almost worthless over
there. So and and what happens is a
lot of these
people are, like, doctors who get their, residencies
in, like, the, you know, whatever,
Armpit, South Carolina. And, it wasn't in South
Carolina, but, but, you know, they get in
these places and they actually get get paid
more for working there. And the cost of
living is even less kind of adding to
the squalor of, like, the contrast between rich
and poor.
So I see these huge houses,
and then I see,
I see,
and then when the dinner's over, then they
drop me off to the Arab's houses. Their
houses are huge as well. And then that
night when I went back to sleep, I
said to this, brother who I went back
to Pakistan, by the way. He did, like,
his PhD in engineering. He went back.
He he I don't wanna name his name
because then it will show to some will
then know what the,
you know, where all this went down. So,
I when I went to sleep, you know,
went home to sleep, I said, so, like,
what's wrong? Like, this is, like, really fresh
from from Madrasa. Right?
I go, what's wrong with these people? Like,
the
what's wrong with these people? They have these
huge houses. Like, they
I wonder how they even clean them. Like,
they're they're so big. And then nobody you
know? And they're like, we don't have any
place to to keep you. He says, oh,
man. Don't worry about it. You know, the
space that you make for people, it's,
it's it's inside of your heart. It's not
it's not it's not a physical,
it's it's it's not a physical issue.
So,
at any rate, the the the the hadith
is toward what?
That, a a person a person should stay
back not just from
from the salat, but from everything.
Those these things don't happen overnight that a
person will,
you know, miss one time, and then they're
automatically going to * even though Shaitan wants
you to believe that. Rather, like, he
he mentioned
and others also mentioned
that you the the the only one who
can take you down this path is Allah.
And it's a sign that you didn't trust
in him, that when your deeds don't work
out the way you want them to, they
freak out.
Why? Because then your trust is in yourself.
Rather, all you bring to the process is
what your desire
that you desire Allah
and you extinguish every other desire inside of
your heart. And so you keep trying. And
so, you know, the the how did we
get to this point? Could people get frustrated?
The mustard is racist. The mustard is classist.
The mustard is sexist. The mustard is sometimes
just dumb, like, just dumb people in the
mustard. You know? Like, why you know, the
mustard is the house of Allah, but the
people there are, you know, it's a refuge.
It's like a it's it's a refuge. The
it's like a like a like
a a a shelter for, like, just odds
and ends types of people.
The people who,
nobody likes them at work, nobody likes them
at school, their wife won't talk to them,
their husband won't talk to them, their kids
won't talk to those type of people, the
only place where they can go and and
keep some dignity is the masjid.
And what happens is that they they set
up shop over there and,
they themselves don't know how to run their
own life. How are they gonna be welcoming
to another person?
So people have these types of experiences.
And the more pious I'm sorry. I didn't
appear. We so when you say the Arabic
is I'm not very good in there. So
when you say the word, is that the
same?
Yeah.
Isn't there
a
isn't that one of the
isn't that, a surah in the Quran? No.
That's in Shira.
Oh. Yeah. This is Ishara without a n
in the middle. That one has a n
in the middle. Yeah. I apologize if there's
a word that that that that I use
and I don't translate, just let me know
and I'll translate it for you. I apologize
if I dropped the Arabic too much.
But, yeah.
So, you know, don't don't get don't let
those things get.
Don't let those things frustrate you. Obviously, obviously
easier said than done, but
in
The the most,
tried and tested of people are the prophets,
and and and the the the the the
narration that people
So we know people, you know, we know
people who have studied in different places. I'm
sure your brother has, like, all sorts of
weird
stories about
and as Hara Sharif and
weird types of things he had to go
through. Right?
Being put in the putting being being put,
you know,
being put in all sorts of weird, scenarios.
I myself have weird stories landing in the
airport in countries, being put in a holding
cell in the back, being questioned like a
criminal, getting interrogated by police. For nothing.
Absolutely
nothing. Absolutely nothing.
You know, and why name countries? Because then
people will be like, oh, you're picking on
my country,
you know. But, you know, you know you
get treated like garbage, you get treated like
a criminal, you get treated like all sorts
of things, even though you're the one who
sacrificed so much just to get to that
just to get to that point.
So what happens is that after some point,
you know, a person becomes so accustomed to
these things. They know it's like it's like
par for the course.
So the connection of
of of of that with this is what?
That when you slip
up, it's not a big deal. Just get
back on as soon as you can. If
you need a 15 minute break, take your
15 minute break. If you're, you know, upset,
you're worked up, you're upset, you're, you know,
you're angry,
and, you know, you're incensed and you're outraged,
you know, it's easy to be, like, suck
it up and take it. You're a human
being. Someone says something bad to you, you're
obviously gonna get affected by it.
Right? You get affected by it. To pretend
that you're not gonna get affected by it,
it's like, oh, look. I'm a celibate priest
and, you know, it doesn't affect me. And
then, like, you know, whatever. A 1000 victims
later, then we're like, okay. Well, maybe it
does affect you. Right? Obviously, everything affects
you. And, not all of us are as,
like,
spiritual superman,
holy man flying in the air and shooting
super soakers of Nur at everybody, like, level
of piety. Right? There are people who are
like that, but they get there after a
long process that we
don't find,
we don't find, glamorous.
And if we were to, go through that
process,
and submit ourselves to that process, you know,
we would yell at the saying that this
is not the,
this is not the sunnah of the prophet,
this is not the akhlaq of the prophet,
how dare you say this to me, how
dare you say that to me. So we
kinda clocked out on that one, so leave
it to the side. But we're not at
that point.
So you're gonna get upset. You're gonna get
hurt. You're gonna get tired. You're gonna get
worn out, you're gonna get all of those
things. So take your 15 minute break.
Alright? You that you need to. Right?
If this messaged the people that bother you
go to the next one. Do what you
need to, and then once you're once you're
over it,
then
try again.
What does what does the the hadith say
that hadith doesn't say that, like, the person,
you know, misses the first off one time
and then they're, like, going to *.
But it says what?
That the the sign of the people who
the their
their last their their their final abode and
their end is in the fire is what?
The ones who consistently keep missing again and
again.
The the people will not be caught in
the back until
until,
until Allah leaves them behind. And in an
in an in a in a narration, what,
in a narration that that those people there
last
abode will be the hellfire.
So he says that this this, hadith
is
a very emphatic,
encouragement
to compete with one another
in doing high and lofty things.
Doing something good with your life.
Like, don't just be don't just be the,
you know, you're the guru who became a
doctor in order to help people. Right? Like,
everybody else is helping people right now. So
you have people who, like, break their arm
and cast, or they go to the emergency
room for, like, half an hour and they
end up with, like, a $50,000
bill and they can't pay it and this
and that. Right? And you're like, well, what
can I do about it? I don't own
the hospital or whatever. Get together with your
buddies and open a free clinic. You know
what I mean? Like, well,
the time you're gonna spend at that free
clinic, you could be making, you know,
like, mid mid level 6 figures with that
money with that time.
And And instead, you're gonna be paying money
out of your pocket.
Right? And you're gonna live poor, and you're
gonna drive the same Honda Accord and Toyota
Camry that every other, you know, that the
whatever the guy who works at the liquor
store drives.
Right? You're gonna,
which is obviously problematic in and of itself,
which adds to the humiliation.
You're gonna live that life. Right? My,
Okay? He's a colonel in the in the
Pakistani army,
and he he was a doctor. Usually, the
doctors because they start out with, I think,
with the major rank of captain or major,
they they like, this at some point or
another, like, half the generals in in in
in in the Pakistani army are doctors. Why?
Because they start out with such a high
rank, and they go through an entire career.
He quit his career and and and joined
Madras.
The classmates, his classmates, who also were my
teachers, they're like at least a good 15,
20 years younger than him.
And to this day, he has 3 jobs.
Right?
Like the living color sketch about, you know,
you only got 3 job. I got the
7 job. I worked for the CIA, the
FBI, this is ABC, the whatever. Right? Like
that, he works 3 jobs. Okay? That we
know about.
Aside from seeing him in the all the
time. One is that he teaches iftar in
the mornings,
because he's one of the top top Muftis
in Lahore,
And 2, he, he he taught us the
back half of Tirmazir on the weekends,
while being Mufti of the Madras so that
any official queries come, he's the one who
gives the legal edict.
That's that's that's the final word in the
with regards to any, like, issue.
And the third is what? He's still a
doctor. He still works as a doctor. And
where does he work? He works in a
government hospital.
He works in the hospital.
It's a government public free hospital,
and he couldn't be making more than, like,
10,000 rupees maximum,
a month from that job.
He doesn't own a car. I see him
biking around in Lahore, like, on a bicycle,
like, biking around.
He's one of the top he's one of
the top and he's actually a medical doctor.
And he sits, he sits in that hospital
and, like, the jobs in Pakistan are are,
6 days a week.
So he he he sits,
in that in that hospital and he sees
and treats patients.
10,000 rupees is nowadays, it's like a $100.
In those days, it was a little bit
more. It was like a 160, but it's
nothing.
Right? To the point where he, you know,
the the madrasa has has to get him
a car to bring him bring him for
the darsh, otherwise, he can't come and teach.
And the man is like as old as
my father is.
So,
he's he's still working the hustle. If you
wanna be a doctor like that, Charlie, you
go to Jannah.
And if you can't, you know, whoever can't
do it the whole
way, then,
let them let them try as much as
they can. But what is he saying? He's
saying that,
that that this is, the
the most emphatic of encouragement
to compete with one another, to hide lofty
affairs,
to do to do to do something better
than just ingratiate yourself,
to your time off. You don't have any
time off. You know? I mean, we know
people. The thing is, one of this is
one of the reasons people find me disagreeable
and don't like my company
is because it's difficult to respect people who
go on vacation.
It's difficult to when when you've seen your
people,
you know, the idea of them going in,
like,
staying in a hotel and go jet skiing
and this and that. It's not haram. You
know what I mean? But, like, you see
people like that, you're like, these are the
people I respect.
Other people spend their time like children. This
is one of the reasons I don't say
things like this in the in the in
the masjid because I understand. Okay? Not everyone's
there. You don't wanna kick someone when they're
down,
or, you know, you wanna encourage people to
be positive, this, that, and the other thing.
I'm just sharing with you my my own
personal personal feelings. I we've seen people who
taken these things to heart to the point
that it makes us feel that feel ashamed
of ourselves.
And,
because of that, then we live differently than
other people, and other people, we freak out
when they see that. And they're like, oh,
this is it's not extreme. Islam was built
by people like this.
That's why the dean is is is there
with us. It's built by people like this
that that what that this is the Aked,
the most emphatic of encouragements to a person
that they should vie and compete with one
another to the highest of affairs. That they
should do something that what's best with with
their lives,
and what's noble with their lives. They should
read and study the books of of of
Hadith and study the Quran and study the
books of the the law to know which
is the greatest of deeds I can do.
And to, you
you know, Yolo doesn't mean, you know,
gorge yourself in this.
Rather, it means what? You only live once,
so you may as well make it count.
Pick the best for yourself.
Choose the best for yourself that you
don't show up,
with any sort of regret
or or that that so much was given
to you, and you put so much back
in return.
So this is
the most emphatic of encouragements
to compete with one another,
to the highest of affairs
and doing the highest of
of of of of of affairs and to
the highest
of,
of of of of of character. That a
person should suck it up, swallow their anger,
and say sorry to people.
Not because of who the people are. If
you think of who the people are,
then,
you're never gonna wanna say sorry to them
because they're slobs like us.
But if you think of who Allah is,
you'll want to forgive everyone.
Because you need his forgiveness and I need
his forgiveness, and you know his happiness with
with one of us when we forgive.
So then, you know, the more
disgusting the person is and the more disgusting
of what they did to you,
the more
happy he will be with you when you
forgive.
And the more worthy of reward and recognition
that forgiveness will be. And the more pride
will have in front of his angels when
you forgive that person.
Look at this person,
how how how he is forgiven for my
sake.
Look at this person, how he
has stepped on his anger for my sake.
Look at this person, how he's been gen
generous for my sake. And you see that
also, I, you know, I unfortunately
part of my, activities are fortunately are spent
in fundraising.
So you see some people are really baller
people, and they'll give the same amount of,
money that a a a very,
poor person, will give or a very middle
class person will give. So you'll see that
a person will buy through their akhlaq,
a rank with Allah
that cost another man a $1,000,000
a person will do it, you know, with
$50,000.
The 2 of them when the masjid is
time to build the masjid or to feed
the orphans or whatever, both of them will
stand and say, I gave give $10,000.
And, you know, one person is,
you know, it's a pittance from what they
have, and the other person, it's a lot.
But through their, they purchased with Allah a
rank that that wealth couldn't purchase.
Through their, they purchased with Allah a rank
that wealth could not purchase.
And,
And the, you
know,
and then there are people like that who
also Allah gave them money and they give
on top of that as well.
But this is what the person who has
that shulked and that desire, that love,
they're going to they're going to
seek
the the the lofty,
affairs to occupy themselves in lofty character.
And this is the
this is the most
the most
deep and and complete
deterrent
from a person
to
stay away from
succumbing to
something less than what they have in their
deed.
That the person who's eating,
haram shouldn't
or eating eating halal should not leave it.
Why?
Because a person who who was supposed to
be in the front, the Rasool Salam is
saying, come the come come forth, come in
the front. You people are the ones you
people are the ones you're going to be
the Imams are the people of guidance.
The nations of the earth will
be saved from the hellfire because of you
people. This is not your place to dally
in the back row.
Much as we absent from the Masjid.
This this is the the the destiny, the
fate Allah has meted out for you. It's
not befitting for you to waste your time
in the back row playing around.
You people are the ones through whom Allah
will give other people a high rank, so
what what will your rank be? Don't settle
don't settle for less. Right? The sister who
is struggling with, you know, whether she should,
whatever, wear her hijab or niqab or, or
whether she should use her body as a
a a a a a a a billboard
in order to attract attention from people
or the brother who for the, you know,
for the same for the same, matter, the
brother who does the same thing or for
for the person who was, you know, praying
their sunnahs and they're no longer praying their
sunnahs. The person who was,
you know,
giving a certain amount in charity, and now
they they they're thinking about stopping giving that
amount in charity. The person who
has show up to visit the Haramain and
Sharif, and this year they're going to,
save their save their money and do something
else that's that's more fun or whatever.
That person who has that that, thing inside
of them,
this is a a a very emphatic,
deterrent
for them,
from accepting that that that discount in their
deen.
And this is very difficult. It's very difficult.
Right? A person's
their their journey on the path to Allah
is kind of like romance, like falling in
love.
Okay? When a husband and wife first fall
in love, and when they first,
meet each other, then,
their romance with one another is very hot.
Their romance with one another, they cannot keep
their hands off of one another. They cannot
stop from thinking about one another. They cannot
hold themselves back from one another, etcetera.
We have some,
young young people in this
crowd that are not
yet at that point yet.
Give them,
and we have some people who know exactly
what what we're talking about.
But the the idea is that that's in
the beginning.
Then afterward, imagine, husband and wife have been
married for 30 years. They have,
children that have grown up together. They paid
their house off. They've, you know, whatever who's
which which which which and, obviously, they're not
gonna be like that.
I mean, some people may be like that
but generally that's the exception of the rule.
So which of the 2 is loves each
other more?
Is it the people in the beginning who
their romance is still very,
like burning, or is it the people who've
been together for their whole lives?
They don't have much to look forward to
except for to meeting Allah
anymore. Which which of the 2 have,
have more love for one another?
If they're petty people, then it's it's the
it's the the the the the beginning of
the the matter.
If it's a marriage of convenience, the convenience
is done.
Bill already became president. Hillary already tried. She
at least she could send it to her
state department. There's no more use anyone has
for one another.
Go you, you know, spend time at your
library,
you know, and I'm gonna, like, whatever, go
for a jog in the woods or whatever
you do after
losing an election to Trump.
But,
you know,
if it's a marriage of convenience, then, yeah,
there's really nothing left anymore. But if they
actually love one another,
the the husband and wife who live their
life with one another, their love is deeper
and it's more more strong than
the love of,
of,
of the the the the people who are
just in love right now. They may actually
dislike each other. You people know you see
you see, like, your old people, like, when
they become older suburb, you know, ends up,
like, wearing thin.
And they argue with each other, you know,
by day and night and they, you know,
weird stuff, but they still love each other
more than when they first when they first
were together. Why? You can tell, like, they
if they get separated from one another, they're
agitated.
They decided that whatever agitates me about this
person or angers me about this person is
better to stay together than to have separated.
Right? They've accepted one another. No longer does
the thought of leaving occur to them.
So your saluk is like that as well.
Your saluk is like that as well, that
in the beginning, you may cry about this
and cry about that and you may feel
moved to do something that
that,
you know, that is hard for you and
you have the strength to
to to,
deal with the difficulties that come with it.
Struggle to wake up in the morning, to
fast, and love yourself over to the masjid
and this, that, and the other thing.
And so as time goes on, the the
the heat of that
of that that that fervor, it dies.
It doesn't die, but it cools down quite
a bit.
Right?
And so that's the time then you know
that is your, love of allata true or
not.
The first fire that you saw, it's just
burning the lighter fluid. It's not acting the
coals aren't burning yet.
Afterward, you'll see is the is the is
the are the coals burning? Have you actually
the thing that you're trying to light, has
it lit or not?
And that's when a person has to,
guard themselves away from,
guard themselves away from making compromises and cheapening
their deen and lessening their deen when it's
no longer when it's no longer hot like
that burning hot like that, like it was
in the in the first, in the first
days of love.
That's when a person,
you know,
they've set into a pattern of living, they've
set into a set of habits, they've set
into a set of things. That's a time
when it's it's easy to let things go.
So he's saying that this is a deterrent.
It's a it's a emphatic deterrent from that.
That a person should start dropping things from
their deen later on,
or
that a person should become accustomed to comfort.
Being accustomed to comfort is a great evil
as well.
And this is something I don't know how
to explain this to people.
Because our culture is one that worships comfort
and it worships,
it worships material enjoyment.
That a person needs to have time in
their life.
A day of the week, an hour of
the day, sometime in their life where they,
they struggle,
with themselves and struggle against themselves. Why?
Because the din and dunya are like cow
wives. If you make one of them happy,
the other one is going to be upset
with you.
So if your body is
agitation. If you become a sell out, right,
any of you, especially the sisters. Right? If
you become a sellout, Masha, sky's the limit.
Write a book about how, you know, someone
forced you to wear hijab. Write a book
about how your, you know, your parents forced
you to fast as a kid. Write a
book about, you know, how how, you know,
you were in a close knit religious community
and needs to do horrible things like this,
that, and the other thing. You become a
sellout. What's gonna end up happening?
Your books will sell. You'll become an expert
on this. You'll get interviewed. Forget about Fox
News. You'll get interviewed on, like, the, quote,
unquote, respectable, news outlets. You'll get a bunch
of followers. You'll get all of these things.
All of these things will happen for
you. But what happens with
the comfort the the the comfort of the
body, the material comfort, because it's an extreme
example, obviously. Not everything is, you know, being
complete.
There's some in the middle,
like, small things that a person can compromise
on. But as the body and the material
existence of a human being becomes comfort comfort
comfortable, what ends up happening is that the
spirit goes into, discomfort.
And the spirit, you start to harm it,
and you start to
weaken it, and you start to make it
sick, and you will kill it one day.
And so
what is it that a person has to
revive the spirit and give the spirit a
break from the difficulties it goes through in
comfort?
By what? By having spending some part of
the day in silence, spending some part of
the day in hunger, spending
some part of the day,
sleepless.
Spending some part of the day not just
in silence from
from from,
speaking,
but also from hearing things,
Also from
seeing things.
Right?
He
said
he
said
He says that that that that close your
eyes
and close your ears.
And
close
your,
your your lips.
Be quiet. Close your eyes and close your
ears and be quiet.
At that point, if you if you don't
see the light
of
Right? Because when we say Allah is light,
we're not talking about a flashlight.
Something else. It's not the light that the
eyes can see.
We were
listening to, you know, the
for the blind in in in Sidara, in
in South Africa, in KZN. I've had a
chance to visit it. The kids used to
listen to their nasheeds when they were, when
they're a bit younger. So we they actually
gave me a when I told them, they
became very happy. So they gave me, like,
a pack of the CDs with the m
p threes of their their. Those kids can
sing really well.
And so they call it,
but it's for what? It's for for for
the blind. Why did they call it that?
Is it like someone has, like, some sick
joke on the disabled that someone is playing?
No.
It's what? It's a affirmation that the actual
of the and the art is not something
that that that that's seen
by the eyes of the the movement in
the kafir equally.
Rather,
That it's not the the thing is this.
This is not the the the the eyesights
that are blind,
but it's the hearts that are in the
the the the chest of people that those
that become blind sometimes.
This is the call of Allah himself.
That that that Nur is something else. You're
not gonna see it in comfort.
There's a certain type of there's a certain
type of self discipline that certain people have
that they don't allow to affect them. That's
a we haven't reached yet. If you feel
like you've reached it, then you're you it's
a sign you haven't reached it.
But that's the exception, it's not the rule.
You don't know anything about the rule by
the exception.
And so he's saying that what? The the
the this hadith is also a an emphatic
deterrent
from a person to chase after luxury.
Don't buy the most expensive bed.
Don't buy the most expensive car.
Don't don't don't seek the most money and
go for the job that has the most
pay. Don't do those things unless and tell
them unless you need them. If they're a
means to some other end that you're gonna
spend them for the sake of Allah ta'ala
later on in something else, then you're not
doing it for for comfort or yourself. You're
doing it for what? For the sake of
Allah, and you have to be honest with
yourselves,
and we have to be honest with ourselves,
I should say, that,
that,
you know, whether that's really for the sake
of Allah, you're just telling yourself that in
order to, you know,
drive a nice car or whatever. But, the
fact of the matter is is that, yes,
there there is use for those things, but
it's not for a person's own comfort. Right?
The if you read about them,
they lived an extremely,
austere life.
Part part of it was because was a
long time ago and there wasn't technology and
manufacturing and all of that, but not all
of it was like that. They even lived
in austere life for the the standards of
the
the the their
contemporaries, and they continue to do so even
after they conquered empire.
That said,
he had no guards.
That's why he was so easily assassinated.
Who he he he had no he he
had guards,
standing guards voluntarily at his house when it
was under siege. And the day he was
assassinated, he ordered them home himself.
In fact, he made an announcement that this
day, whoever doesn't bear arms against another believer,
from the slaves of the household that you're
free for the sake of Allah.
So he dismissed his guards himself. He said,
he had no guards with him. He was
himself assassinated. These people used to sit over
empire.
We get we get impressed if we get,
like, $1,000,000.
What is a $1,000,000?
It's like 5 houses.
These are people who who used
to make decisions. This is Persia. This is
Iraq. This is Syria. This is Egypt.
This is Yemen. These are these are
the ancient centers of civilization
in the world,
and they used to they used to not
they used to live like villagers
essentially.
After seeing
assassinated
assassinated
assassinated, he's the first one who who started,
having guards.
And in rank, out of all the 4
even all of them even though all of
them have the rank of Sahaba and we,
we revere all of them. But in rank,
out of the out of those 4, who's
the the lowest in rank?
Right? That's that's part of our and there's
no we're not saying meaning disrespect through it,
but it's something that's part of our as
well to accept.
So the idea is this is that that
they live like that, you know, they live
like that. Said, Omar used to take in
the in the in the masjid.
And, that same woven straw mat that,
used to leave an imprint in the side
of the prophet
and said, the Umar once saw the you
have a woven straw mat and he used
to sleep on it, suddenly he'd wake up
and the imprint of the mat was all
through his side. Those of you who've been
to madrasa before, you've all had that imprint
on your side at some point or another.
At least you went to, like, I don't
wanna say this because it sound it's gonna
sound mean. I'm not trying to hit on,
like, any of the dars or nothing, but,
like, you know, those of you who went
to real madrasa at any rate,
you all you all gone through that before.
So he saw that imprint on this entire
side in the face of
the and
he said,
why is it that
that Caesar and and
the the Shah of Persia,
and the the the Caesar of of of
Byzantium,
they live in such,
opulence,
whereas you're the messenger of Allah. And he's
not saying that to question the the claim,
rather he sees the beauty in the messenger
of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and he sees
the ugliness in the way those people live.
And he's wondering how can the divine
distribution,
be such that someone who is so ugly
gets so much,
reward in this world, and how can someone
who's so beautiful have to struggle so in
this world?
And,
very calmly and very lightly answered him. He
said he said, isn't it enough for you
that that that they may have the dunya
but the akhirah belongs to us?
And so that's not extremism.
That's the deen of Allah
As a legal matter, we don't walk around
telling people, oh, look, you have a nice
car. You you've turned your back on the
dun. You guys know those things are not
haram. Everyone is, like, kind of their own,
drill sergeant as far as that boot camp
is concerned.
You know, another man can't tell you come
and tell you. Another woman can't come and
tell you, you know, what's up with regards
to that. If a person, for example, takes
a shaykh or an Ustad, you know, for
their own rectification, then maybe you can listen
to that that advice from them. But in
general, you know, no one else even in
those cases because you allow them to tell
you those things. Otherwise, in general, nobody,
nobody, you know, can tell you what's up
with regards to those things. But you should
you should understand, you should realize that the
Sayyidina Umar, when he was Khalifa, then he
used to also take Le Lula on that
same map. People ambassadors would come from different
different, like, parts of the world
from empire, and they're like, where's the where's
the imperial palace? They literally look in Madinah
and see where's the palace. We don't see
any house that's bigger than any other house.
And when he read the,
guns, germs, and steel Yeah.
Yeah. So he talks about he he talks
about Jared Diamond talks about the like, this
kinda, like, rough scheme of different, like, levels
of of organization
that you have, like, a a band,
which is, like, whatever, like,
like, between, like,
40 and, like, 70 people.
And what the interaction between people is that
everyone's essentially equal,
and they just work out their problems with
one another through talking and this and that.
They're usually family members. Then you have, like,
a tribe, which is, like, whatever roughly from
70 to, like, a 140 people or whatever,
in which there may be a chief
amongst
them, but the chief is, like wears the
same clothes that everyone else wears.
And,
his house looks like everybody else's house.
And when they sit in a meeting, you
can't tell the difference between the chief and
between the other people. But he's a respected
person just for administrative purposes or whatever. He's
the one who just make sure that everybody's
happy and that procedure works because there's a
need for leadership.
And then you have, like, a, like, a,
like, a chiefdom, what he calls, which is,
like, whatever up to, like, 10,000 people from,
like, 100 a 100 and 40 to 10000
people, which is what that he
that that that that, like, what a paramount
chief is somebody who, you know,
is in charge of several different tribes and
clans coming together. And so you see that
person dresses differently, their house is different, That
person gets tribute from everybody.
That person,
you know,
is
in a position of authority and prestige over
other people that's much more clear.
However, he still relies on family connections in
order to get things done. So for example,
if he needs, you know, if there's a
criminal from a particular tribe, he'll go to
the people of that tribe and have them,
have them sort the issue out. Things are
still done through family at that point.
Right? And then he then the last level
is a state that you have more than
10,000 people. Now,
the the the the taxation and tribute that
comes in effectively makes the state into a
kleptocracy
ruled by thieves.
Basically, people use,
the they use they gather a large amount
of money. They pay a standing army,
doesn't matter what police, etcetera. It doesn't matter
what,
what family a person is from. The king
doesn't need to rely on on on a
specific tribe to enforce anything.
He has his own he has his own
police, he has his own army, enforce whatever
he wants by force,
and the state itself is it becomes authority
to itself. And,
the citizens now, their tribal affiliations with one
another no longer mean anything. So family breaks
up. This is more individualistic
than than than the other the other, lower
levels of state. And in most civilizations, that's
where religion comes into play.
Until then, religion is a curiosity. At that
level, religion is a
soft power, like the hard powers of police
in the army. The soft powers you have
set of priests that do rituals and tell
people that listen to the king. Otherwise, you
know, whatever. And, the religion is a soft
arm of kleptocracy.
So what does it say about the din
that such an empire was run
such an empire was run and the leadership
bears all the trappings of, like,
family.
Like just just just like a small clan,
you can't tell the difference. It was just
Rasu Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, people who didn't know
who's the messenger of Allah, who's
the Sahaba radiAllahu Anhu.
The Ansar radiAllahu Anhu didn't know who is
Abu Bakr and who is the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam when they came in the hijrah.
When they saw the Muhajirun gathering around the
messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and
said, Abu Bakr siddiq holding open his his
his shawl to shade the Rasul sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam,
then they knew who's who.
Otherwise, they couldn't tell. They couldn't tell who's
who.
The Anwar from both of them, they couldn't
they couldn't tell. Even the people spiritual inside
were blinded by both of them. They couldn't
tell who's who.
And,
what does it say about what does it
say about that that that that dean that
if you can run an empire like family?
Because that's the point, like, the the the
idea of state and empire and all the,
you know, the modern nation state, which is
even like a chimeric freak, like, order of,
like,
impersonality
more than the old states,
used to be. What is it? Nobody cares
for one another. Nobody has any concern for
one another. Nobody,
you know,
is
is worth anything then more than the amount
of taxation they can bring in and the
money they can bring in and things like
that. What does it say about about a
set of people that they turn their back
on the dunya to the point where they
were able to
through through the mechanism of essentially family,
and it it's so bizarre how, like, Islam
is is shaped by this because
and one of the things,
you know, Facebook has a 100, 1,000,000, debates
that that rot the brain, and I really
wish I never opened a Facebook account.
But, like, why is it that Islam is
so inextricably,
like,
linked to being Arab?
Why?
Literally, when people used to become Muslim in
the early generations,
they would literally become part of the family.
Abu Hanifa is a Persian. Bukhari is a
Persian. They actually have tribal affiliations. Why? Because
they would become part of the family.
There is no way of becoming Muslim without
becoming part of the family.
They would change their names. They would, like,
all of these things, they it it was
what? It was so much like that. That's
not possible except for except for through, a
people who are not,
grubbing with the dunya.
And if you're if you're the person who's
like, yeah, everyone in America is gonna become
Muslim one day and, like, okay. See you
later. I gotta go to my job now.
And,
you know, oh my god. Like, if I
have to sleep on on the floor or
if I have to,
you know, drive a certain car, then my
social class and my relatives are not gonna
like me. And, oh my god, like, you
know, the sky is gonna fall and break
on my head and, like, all these types
of things. You're not well, then go you
know, you have Islam as your personal religion,
and, you go and join,
someone else's system, and you live your life
like that.
And,
you know, if you think I'm talking about
us as a minority in America and their
system is a quote, unquote, kafar system, This
is the decision people in the Ummah made
centuries before the colonizer came to our lands.
This is the same decision that the the
Muslims made in Spain before the Reconquista
hit them.
This is the same decision that all of
these,
that that that that the empire is not
of not of colonization, but precolonial empires, the
Mughal empire and the,
the different empires that that that rule over
the Muslim lands. Not everybody,
But there are people in law by and
large, you know what the the the the
community made these decisions, that living in a
certain way is what what I have to
do. That if my wedding is not a
certain way, then, it's gonna be a shame,
and that way has nothing to do with
the sunnah. It has to do with how
much money I'm gonna use to show off,
etcetera, etcetera. If I don't have this type
of things in my house, if I don't
have this, type of standard of living, if
I don't, you know,
marry into such and such, all of these
decisions that were not the decisions that Sahaba
used to used to make, they bought into
that system.
Imagine this. Right? People say, what if so
so like hippies, they say stuff like that.
They say, what if someone threw a war
and nobody showed up?
What if someone threw a caliphate? There's a
some of the, you know, the Umrah has
been throwing a caliphate. No one's been showing
up.
Like, nah, bro. I got I got something
else to do. I got something else to
do that day.
Nobody nobody wants to go to it. You
know what I mean? These are these are
these are things that through which the kuffar
have the upper hand, through which Shaitan has
the upper hand on this. Has nothing to
do with weapons and money, none none of
that stuff. Those things are all very secondary
considerations just like the Sahaba,
you know, they, were able to, conquer the
empire of the Persians and the the the
the the Romans
despite being technologically
backwards
people.
Just like that, if these things are taken
care of, you know, the entire empire what
is American empire? The Chinese that are,
have have put put our brothers and sisters
in concentration camps.
What is their state power through? Is it
through the military? Absolutely not. It's economic power.
Stop buying their goods, their entire,
you know, thing their entire, nations collapse.
Their entire everything will start to collapse.
Stop buying their goods, everything will collapse. These
are all kleptocrats. They don't care about Democrats,
Republicans, any of these things. Whoever makes the
money, they'll put them on the throne. And,
if people imagine people just stop buying their
stuff, but who's gonna stop buying iPhone made
in China
by,
by by whatever,
by whatever, by, like, a a
capitalist
shrine,
company. Who's gonna stop buying those things?
No one's gonna stop buying those things. So
as long as those are your obsession, then,
you know, like, have fun. And you're like,
oh, look at you. You have, like, Samsung
Note with, you know, and you're taking potshots
at Apple or whatever. Right? Fine.
Don't shoot the messenger.
It's just the messages and Amana. That's why
we're delivering it. Otherwise, some of these things
are it's really interesting. Right? It's really interesting
some of these things. It's come to a
point where you can't, you know, where where
if you want to do any work of
dawah, you have to maintain a standard with
people just so that they listen to you.
I've I personally feel that's a cop out,
but it's something that I I've heard from
a lot of people myself.
Otherwise, I really don't care.
I really don't care that my smartphone, the
first one I got, my father forced me
to get it.
He said that if you're gonna walk around
with a dumb phone and a crappy car,
then nobody's gonna listen to you. I was
like, good for them. Who cares?
Literally, like, took me to Costco and, like,
he's like, I'm gonna buy 1, so you
may as well choose which one you like.
I'm like, I never liked Apple in the
1st place. So, you know, that's the day
I became Android. Who cares about any of
these things?
Are they really gonna change anything?
The
hadith is is is what the this is
what the the commentators took from it, that
the standing in the back row is from
all of these things. Once you get obsessed
with the once you have else better to
do, you don't come to Darce, you don't
come to majlis, you don't come to the
Masjid, you don't come to Salat, you don't
go to Madrasa, you don't okay. Fine. You're
not cut out for those things. Right? Go
volunteer. You don't go volunteer. Go feed people
in the hood. Okay? You're not cut out
for that. You know, go teach someone how
to read, volunteer at a local school. You
know, take a career that, you know,
you know, to be a teacher. Right? That's
itself a great sacrifice, and it's a worst
sacrifice in volunteering because you don't get paid
anything near what you're you're putting into,
into what you're doing. Do those things.
You know, do those things. Or if you're
going to if you're gonna go the the
high money route,
then then do it right.
Do it like
the did. The 3 dynasties of the Persian
Empire gathered wealth
and hoarded it while their people starved to
death. The
broke their army armies into pieces and broke
their, palaces
stone by stone
and took all of them to the market
and sold them
and amassed
treasure and wealth,
unimaginable,
unimaginable to to people. Sovereign wealth,
that took 1,000 of years to amass, and
he spent all of it in one generation
in order to propagate Islam in every direction.
Imagine, like, it's hard. How how hard is
it for a person to get to India
right now? See, it's not easy. It's like
a several days flight. You have to make
and plan. They used to send armies to
India back in those days when they had
to go on foot when there's no,
medicine for malaria and there's no, you know,
they'd go into weird parts of Africa and
weird parts of Asia and weird parts of
Europe. How did they make it to all
of those places? They amassed
unimaginable amounts of wealth.
That wealth that the the the the great
emperors,
of of Persia and Rome wouldn't spend on
their own people.
And they they with a in a heartbeat,
they spent all this. Oh, go. You wanna
beat the high money route? You know? You're
gonna be a big doctor.
Every,
whatever,
every time you,
prescribe someone antibiotic for their, hemorrhoid or whatever,
you get, you know, cash in, like, $10,000
or whatever type of doctor. You go ahead
and do it. And then when it comes
into your hand, spend it all for the
sake of Allah.
Liquidate
liquidate storehouses of money
that another man would find unimaginable
and spend it all in the path of
Allah. That's also a type of that's also
a type of turning your back on the
dunya. And if you're not able to do
that, then don't don't, don't don't kid yourself.
But, all of these things,
and and he said,
And this is, and the most emphatic of
indications to a person
that that these things will,
that if you don't give these things up
and you don't struggle against these things, that
they are going to
distance you from Allah to Allah and put
you,
under the,
under the rule of his anger. May Allah
to Allah be our protection from that because
of his,
his grace and mercy.
So if you mess up, if you're not
if you're not, you know, on your game
right now, if you're not on your on
your, thing that you need to be,
right now like you need to be, that's
fine.
Then then make tomorrow better. Get back on
get back on the horse tomorrow. If you
miss something this week, then don't miss it
next week. If If you miss something this
year, don't miss it next year. If you,
you know, got lost your temper with someone,
go say sorry. If you're,
you know, if you
wasted your money this time, don't waste it
the next time. If you wasted your time
this time, don't waste it the next time.
But if you find yourself doing all of
those things again and again and again, that's
the thing that should make you uncomfortable. That's
a sign that something's going very wrong.
That's the that's the that's that's that's where
a person should freak out. If it happens
once, happens twice, that's normal.
Once it becomes a way of life and
you remember I used to be like this,
and now I'm I'm I'm like that. Don't
be the one caught in the back. Right?
Like
I
said,
and
then
he's the one who took the sword from
the messenger of Allah, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
on the day of battle. And
followed him
and and and said that he he he
just kept repeating these verses again and again.
They had not not just
not
not not just,
and and
but they had style as well.
That he he kept
repeating these verses again and again that I'm
the one who my my
my beloved took an oath from me
when we were,
under
the under the shade by the palm tree,
which is
a
reference to the.
There's a place called Aqaba, not the one
in not the one on the Red Sea,
but there's a place called Aqaba in the
last
part of Mina
before you cross out of Mina into into,
into Makkah Mukarama.
And so the Sahaba the the Ansar of
the Allah in particular, they took the oath
of allegiance from the messenger, allah, salallahu alayhi
wa sallam, in that place, and there's a
small masjid there. And by Allah's father, he
protected
protected it from our,
our overzealous,
brothers in the Arabian Peninsula who like to
destroy things,
of, historical significance. That that place is still
there. At some point, it was actually locked
up, but now it's open. You can go
inside of it as well.
And you pray pray to Raqaz that was
built in the Abbasid period. It was literally
excavated at when they were redeveloping that place.
They found it buried underneath just the the
the earth from time.
The he said that I'm the one that
my Khaleel
took
and also allegiance from me,
when we were under the shade,
by the palm tree,
that I would never,
as long as time exists, be caught in
the back row.
And so and and that when I that
when I strike, I'll strike with the sword
of Allah and his, Rasul
Meaning
meaning what? What does the back row mean?
I mean, obviously, in the context of the
the the occasion, it means the battle that
you're not gonna be a coward and be
in the back.
But what's the what's the first?
That's the apex that's a if you read
the hadith of the prophet,
that's the apex of a person's expression of
their iman when they jump into danger and
they put their life and their property at
risk in order for the word of Allah
to be supreme.
What's the foundation of that's the apex, that's
the top, that's like the the penthouse. What's
the foundation of that building?
It's the salat, and it's equally these are
the people who are equally,
cognizant of the of the the dishonor of
being caught in the back row there as
well.
I know we've gone over a little bit,
but, like, you know, you go to the
Masjid.
When the starts, how many people are there?
Yes. It's a dishonor to be to to
the the the the a man should be
called and you're not there.
It's a dishonor it's a dishonor not only
to Allah if your relationship with Allah to
dishonor to the prophet
who said to the the to the the
the Sahaba
that take me as your imam and afterward
the people will make let them take you
as their imams afterward.
And and,
there's a group of people that they will
keep
hanging out in the back and tell Allah
to leave them behind.
It's a dishonor to every one of those
generations that they if we don't heed this,
they there are people who heeded this. We've
seen them with our own eyes. They're still
alive, many of them.
That that their lives have passed them by,
and they don't have a Twitter account and
a Facebook account or YouTube, and they don't
speak at conventions and conferences.
But they spent their life and they held
this ad of the prophet and this covenant
of the prophet not to be left behind.
And, you know, it happens once or twice.
It happens once or twice. But if you're
the one that this is your ada, this
is your habit, that you feel like you're
doing a lot of favor by showing up,
in the worst of ways possible and justifying
it by saying, well, at least I'm going
to Jummah. Everyone else at work is a
kafir, or everybody else in the Ummah is,
like, even more lazy than me or what.
That's not that's not like that's not like
a you can understand how it's not a
winning attitude for anything that a person should
at least out of shame not
not be from those who are left behind
because of their staying staying back.
And if nobody else wants to claim
that honor, then that's their problem.
But, those people who who, know better,
they should they should practice what they know.
Allah give all of us so much. Allah
forgive us
for what's passed and,
for what's passed from from our not respecting
this, hukam of Allah and
his and Allah give us in the future
to to change for the better and Allah
to
Allah,
you know,
not use this
as a,
an evidence against me for saying it and
against you for hearing it.
But,
ignorance isn't bliss, it's better to know.
If you know you can do something about
it, if you never bring it up and
you never mention it to one another, then
there's absolutely zero chance of of of getting
better. At least the door is open. Once
the understanding happens and once a forgetful person
remembers, then there's a chance to do something.
Whereas if we stop reminding each other, then
then there's there's there's nothing except for destruction
after that.