With Shaikh Mamdouh Mahmoud
Hatem al-Haj – Discussion on Balance
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Tonight
to find our attentions, unite our efforts, fix our deeds, forgive our sins define our goal and make us among those who listen and follow the best of what they listen to a moment.
First, my vessel debris from Alaska was an English literature movie substance.
So I just wanted to make sure that
I was fortunate enough to meet with many of
the London is
tonight's topic is a very important topic and very intriguing as well. And we always think about things panela in black and white sometime.
And
always we want to measure things that not necessarily need to be measured. But we want to measure things that not necessarily be measured, it needs to be open.
And the other issue also, is sometimes we're not looking in the right direction, but not looking in the right direction. We're looking or trying to find something but nothing directives.
I won't make that clear.
So when we talk about the balance
between junior and
between living in this world that we live in,
and all that,
would this be the right forum to
say that there should be a balance? And how can we find the balance or we see how to
approach the demand. So when I read it, the end of
the ship already said that, but
at the end of the course of
the story of
Allah subhanho wa Taala
say that when he was so attached to this dunya,
Allah
told him
what to do.
Don't forget,
that means the assumption is that a good person will be forgiving,
because they focus on
so the I see no stick as well, but to serve you.
Right. So that's actually the balance. Because you know, the dunya here is a transit,
transition, transit in itself that it will fade away. But it is a pleasant transition as we go through to.
So I wanted to talk to you my view, this one way traffic.
We want to make it interesting. So me and Jeff happen. So well, we'll be discussing
a few points that will clarify what is
that? Are we looking in the right direction? When we think that to the rest of the balance? Are we really
measuring something that should not be measured? Oh, no. That's That's how a lot of discussion go.
I wanted to share with you some personal
experience first.
When you first started hearing about
it, I never wanted to be a shoe.
Actually, I was I was fighting all the way until I graduated from elazar. University. Not
that's the point. That's
what you're good at what you shouldn't do.
So
I didn't want to teach you.
The last thing I wanted to teach you.
Each
and everything you're a teacher, teacher, you're a good teacher. Just to say that
when you start looking on the right direction and looking for the perfect
So, your very existence in dystonia,
then, completely, the balance will come by itself. But this balance is a relative thing. It is not like I do this here, and I do this here. And then if I do one here, I have to do one here. If you're talking to the brothers, you have to be talking to the system. If there is brotherhood have to go system, you know, this, this kind of approach to things actually make us miss the bigger picture. The bigger picture,
I was talking to a lecture one time and the system
suddenly
went, you say, brotherhood.
It includes the brothers and the sisters.
And everything that you talk about applies to women, unless there is some, you know, some more elaboration on this one. But they're included. So why do I have to be politically correct, and that's how the balance will go.
So the same thing,
the balance is to live the way
you don't want to be to do certain things, and you end up doing
right or wrong. And then you will find that the balance comes from a lot in your life. And the vision becomes clearer and clearer every day. Not necessarily what you like, what you dislike, what you like, and what you dislike. So
I can talk to already, and I'm sure that we covered the aspects from the subject from all different aspects. And I think that I missed the lecture.
So
in bridging the gap, someone talking to him,
I always see that we as Muslims focus on the external aspects of the external aspects.
So everybody that wants to
study,
they go to the courtroom. And
they want to be the person knocking.
And all that. I said, if I use your terms, studying the guidelines to science, instead of studying the science. So
using that perspective, when we say, the balance of the duty and the D, how can we really want to balance with do this or do that, or it is beyond this?
When I began,
when I began my talk, I said that the title itself, you could critique the title,
paper is a bad thing.
That's one way of doing it. Because ultimately, there is no such thing like balancing out the dean in the journey.
Because you will be, like I said in the lecture will be utterly crazy. If you try to strike a balance between the transients, and the everlasting, the transient the whole year, adonia, never lost in one in the hereafter. But
the other way of looking at the title is to try to dissect, what do we what did the person that chose this like? And certainly the fact that we will know that, because it was emailed to me, and they did not comment on it, because it did not want to correct it when it may be correct. For some of its applications. Maybe
the person that suggested this type of must have never meant that the union equals we're trying to balance between two equals, he meant to say, how do you balance between
the different commitments, the different engagements? How do you divide your time between the necessary work for the donor because we all want to work and sustain ourselves and our families and work for the betterment of our communities, and work for the various for the collective obligations? To have the doctors have to have
social workers and to have the teachers and top engineers, and so on and so forth. How do you balance between it's a matter of balancing the time allocation. Now that it's not a balanced pursuit, because your entire pursuit should be directed to the hereafter. Here you're the you're mainly desire us
After logging for the year after intense on the year after senior attention, you focusing on your way,
on your way to take care of your zodiac, because you will need your dunya for the work of the Eros. So how can we change the title? If we might change the title? Is the word balance is the issue? Or the relationship between?
No, I think it is about it is about the no the word balance is fine. I'll tell you why.
In a minute, right? This is very important. You know, I'll tell you in a minute, what
is balancing your work,
the division of fine balance, fine allocation between the worker and the worker. But it is not balancing
your your desire or your pursuit for your seeking both?
Well, if I say I'm living a balanced life, but I work 14 hours or 16 hours a day, I sleep a little late, I do other things. Can I do this a balanced life?
balance, like
the word balance not necessarily mean equal.
So the balance is not that, like
the balance is if I use the dounia properly. I have a balanced life.
Because you're balancing between the work
you're doing your working hour, you're balancing between your desire for the desire for the, for the, for your pursuit, for your seeking of the doing and seeking. Because if it is about the pursuit, or the seeking of the Farah, then is malleable that I would worry about that. I am mainly I am all about the you know, how long would this video last? This is the quick passing short transients one and I'm working for the camera, I am walking towards my final destination, but then not journey on that journey. I do need to take care of my journey, for various reasons, personal reasons, common reasons, on Mount Mars reasons for various reasons. I don't need to take care of
organisms about the time division, allocation of time. And if I was talking about if you like a heart surgeon that is working 12 hours a day for a scientist in the lab, you know, that is working 12 hours a day in his lab. And this person is not forgiving about the fact
that
he's not overstepping.
He's not abandoning or deserving
of Allah subhanho wa Taala he does have enough knowledge to be sort of live his life as a good Muslim, and to practice his profession as a Muslim, and to go to Hajj and be able to perform it, when he goes to heart has to treat his wife like a Muslim woman, his wife, he's the list that he's taking care of his wife and taking care of his kids and giving them some time, because
alcohol, no alcohol, it has to happen. So every game everyone was doing right. And he's doing all of this, this person is a balanced person. And this person, I cannot say that he is pursuing the dunya this person may be pursuing the Hereafter, just as you and I are doing this in the middle of our activities and our teaching and traveling to get courses and seminars, he may be more desire something that brings us to the next point is that when we were talking about this
lecture, there was two aspects. One is how to become parents. And then the other aspect is our external you become that.
And what the shift said, is
exactly what everybody needs to hear. Because the problem is, we have certain image of who should be the practice.
And everybody start measuring themselves, according to him,
about equal, so does he look for heaven. That's the image
But that is not the only image.
They, I hope I don't like an image or the representation of
the property, you see this as an issue, that people see an image. And they think this is G only limited it you can be each one of you can be an image of the solo performer. If you
do Do
you know, I want to take it further to say that people, even when it comes to the
different works of the I feel, relief, work, teaching and listen that people also have a very contracted awareness about the works of the FM. So unless you are preaching, unless you are preaching from the pulpit, you have not reached the peak of the peak is to basically preach from the pulpit, it is to stand on the member and to give hope and drama, and everybody comes to you and asks you questions. And then people will start to say, is he he or he just barely had their eye.
And then you further contract constricted. So and
but, but that is completely wrong.
Because if you're doing the you know,
it was a weighty
doctor physician who graduated from a very prestigious university in Canada, and he dedicated his life to die in Africa, about 5 million people come up with very deep report different viral numbers. But about 5 million people were converted this then because of his work, he was number 14, he was not an ordinary guy, who's a physician, but he had a concern for them. And he's he felt that Africa, most of us, don't, we, you know, we go to Sweden, we go to the US, you know, to give us
a warm
and you may you may have good intentions you want to get, but you're also coming to the US to give an hour, and you're not going to the central republic of whatever.
Because, because that is you know, there are reasons there must be some reasons you choose this over that. But he felt the void, and the need is there. And he went there. And he started to do his work there and 5 million people and there probably will be in his skin.
So so.
So is he better or, you know, I'm not saying that he's better than he
was. But I'm saying that you cannot say that the key is no. So that the point you're trying to size here is finding that balance, you have to look within yourself and see what you are the best at and try to fit in the puzzle
that
you are from inside. Now, before I go to the next point, I told you that while we're focusing on the top, our poker head or or whenever they find something, they make it generally. And in general, later on January becomes inclusive of whatever they want to say and exclusive everything that they don't want people to misunderstand that both sides have topics, therefore the two sides. So we have fancy titles for seminars and conferences and everything. But we don't really have an idea what it's all about. That's why we're discussing what the topic, we spent some time at
this point and proving your
theory, you know, education.
They say that education in the United States, for example, went through three major errors.
Now, we have to understand that these people are not religious people will
see that I believe in that. Right. So they're saying that the first education could come from
Christmas, no question. You don't say
you have to accept it. student teacher, we all know that.
Sort of the purpose of education at that time was just to give you permission to be
and the second era was this era of citizenship. So they're saying that, you know, the vision was to make you a better citizen of the environment you are in the third era, which is now the thing that you can become successful when it is about doing
the sense of self is about doing when you do instead of talking, talking, talking, right? It's
about doing so those who do, actually the ones who who are the effective ones. So if we are talking about balances, and
we're on
which state
we have a lot of difficulties and challenges to be around people. First difficulty and like I said before in the lecture is the fact that
our certainty of terror is not at all at the level where we can be that we cannot be bad, because they're fairer to us. So abstract and non tangible, versus the idea that is like here and now,
that our source recognize that we cannot become bad as until we grow our certainty of the answer,
we there kind of becomes as visible as, as tangible as for us, it used to be like this, how do you see like this saw, you know, the thing and like, the
story of
disability of the
smell,
that
was really physically smelling, or he was just he was,
he, he was, he was believing in it to the extent that it became a physical experience, this, this is the expansion phase versus the intellectual
versus the basically theoretical things that we have this expansion, he believed it to the point that it became a physical experience. And this is quite, if you study psychology, and you will know that
people can sometimes move objects by you know, from from a distance,
trance transfer the belief into a physical force,
or a physical experience becomes so tangible that he actually sees it, he actually feels it yours, it smells, it tastes,
and it would be a real experience for him he was used here.
So actually, though, then, then I started seeing the problem with using the word balance.
In order for us to be balanced, we have to ask ourselves, ourselves that question, do you feel you know, do you have certainty?
Like the certainty that you have in the journey? Do you have as much certainty in the fly and the fella angiogenin dinar, and the day of judgment and the reckoning and the sort of the Scriptures and the Salah passed on?
Because the Hellfire Do you see, like you're seeing this bottle of water here? You see.
I don't
is that until we get to that point that your belief becomes at that level of certainty? You're not yet.
So you're working to become balanced. But then when your belief is at that level of certainty, it does not mean that you will abandon your work that if you are an architect, or if you are a surgeon, or if you are like a programmer, or whatever you are, that you're not going to take care of your work.
And this is where your accountant surgery, oh, my food is the very verse that you said what he meant
and seep through that which Allah had given. If you have gifted hands like Ben Carson thinks he has gifts
regardless of my opinion, I've been tossing but if you get have gifted hands,
then then
use use that as
serve though, through your gifted hands through if you are a good architect,
you know, serve don't help yourself ever be community.
Instead of looking for personal balance, we look for the ligaments and we need that
we need that very much.
And that is a very, very important
because sometimes looking for
The personal balance,
and everyone is looking for his own personal balance. But we forget what the community does, we're not moving in the same direction. That is why that is why
this is part of our platform, by the way, because we have collected obligations.
Officer, you know, for
some of the collective obligations like science and medicine, and math, it's a collective obligation.
There has to be mathematicians, there has to be physicians, and ask me everything, you know, and because of this, we will be all centers, if you don't have enough mathematicians, if you don't have enough physicians, if you don't have this, or that, and because of this, many of us need to be active and our, which is the one thing that I talked about, I'm talking about the ordinary people, but there must be a group of us that will sacrifice a lot of the dunya to do the work of dollar, because we have deficiency that can be hidden been in love, we have a great deficiency in our in relief work in you know, activism, in general, we have a great efficiency in those areas, in
teachers and in football up in
we have a great big boy, you. So, when someone says when someone says that I will be an average physician,
an average physician, and I will excel in those areas that I was relieved, I will leave a relief organization, I will you know, pursue he wants to be out he wants to be happy, because he cannot be acceptable.
Excellent and both, what I say you really cannot be excellent at both, you will have to give certain sort of it is extremely important that that you will be good at this, but you cannot be excellent. You cannot be a leading, you know, pediatric scholar in America, same time doers are aspiring to be you know, on tours, it is just not going to work. So, in this case, you have to be a good nutrition, because otherwise as a Muslim, that that you know who's like, you can't even be a mediocre pediatrician, you have to be a good
Yeah, you certainly should not be a bad one. Because you want her to the dean, you want her to the dean, you are there edition of the dean, you will help the ends of the Muslims, you will be doing so much harm and damage
that you claim to try to be sort of counter.
So you can be back for sure. But you also cannot be mediocre, because you're still an Muslim. And so you shouldn't you should be above average. But in order for you to be leading in both fields, you're not going to be able to do
scientifically speaking. So here we will not be stopping.
The madness is established regardless of your allocations. I am in you know focus on the hereafter desirous of the hereafter longing for the hereafter on my way to the
final destination, depending on the time, the place the needs of the own map, my personal capacities, my personal talents, my education, whatever my father chose for me, your father chose for you to teach you for and you begin to memorize each step.
And your father essentially told us
you know, because you're and then also has
a high, it has
reservations of the params and he's not just any memorizer but
in this case, it would be waste of resources that you become anything but
the five
because
because so much was already invested in this was already invested in this would be a great waste of resources. Likewise, if someone became a good heart surgeon, he should not go back and say
I want I want you to teach me
Romania
I want because I want to begin my career of big, I want to become a adores you.
If you are like a very competent heart surgeon, most likely, you will not be able,
you're already here, you have not started, you're coming now at age 45. And because everybody is so
sort of
that mindset.
Ultimately it is the person that people will go to, to ask questions. Because it's all about the exterior. It's all about, like, you know, we're like,
it's like an app, it's like a stage of actors.
So that is what what we're after, it's about your girl on the stage.
So you will never achieve balance, if you are focusing on the exterior.
But exterior is important.
But after you have determined your priorities, now you have to study your needs, your talents, your capacities, to find the place the needs of the unmet needs of your own community. And then you decide, should I devote myself to Dharma, and make my work a means of sustenance, but at the same time, I will not be a lousy worker, I will not be a lousy architect, I will not be a lousy position, I will not be a lousy janitor will not be a lousy anything, because I'm a Muslim. And I'm an ambassador of this religion in front of the people that would see my work. So I will not be lousy, I will not be mediocre, I will be good. I'll be above average. But I will focus on the our relief, you
know, seeking knowledge teaching that this or that. And I would be okay. with, you know, less
income, like smaller income. And I would be okay with just being above average. And I mean, reach the
pinnacle of my career, because I need to focus here because
that will be valid. But if someone does not have the talent to be
there,
for being a good surgeon or a good architect or this or that. And he perceives being that he actually asked himself, misplacement of resources, mismanagement of resources.
And you should check out your inventions. Why am I doing? Am I doing for the sake of Allah? Where am I doing it? Because I like celebrity, I like
to have a position in the community to have a status in the community. And if that is what we like, is, there's a hobbyist that
usually say that we actually handle the progress on some Don't be a candle.
The candle burns itself. Yeah. For people
across
the province of
Bharani, from
Ireland and London, the randomness of pipelines, and I
cannot tell
you the
opposite of what the people think, yeah, you should be a
libertarian, don't be a candidate. the likeness of the teacher, the scholar who teaches the people good and forgets himself is like a camera that provides life for the people, but it burns except the person. So the scholar who's teaching the people good and forgiving yourself is a candle that provides light, but it is very kind you should not be a candle. I mean, you should be that's
basically what is sustainable energy.
So you get your energy and
renewable whatever energies, punish, forget about the word, just balance words here, and as soon as we say, like, if we remember when building was started, since we're here we can use
the word Minnesota, the word we're different, and the thought of
a few other brothers that why we don't have an initiative that brings home
Mr. biller,
so instead of the work as the shipment is focused one, and abandoning other things, what somebody else is doing, why we don't have something that brings everyone together. That was the idea, actually the building blocks of this what's called building blocks. You know, everyone is blocking that building. And then it helps everybody. But no one can click.
Think so you think you said, our need for collective
work?
Thinking is
more than any other time. It's absolutely eminent I have a you know, it is in the history of this.
We we seldom
have this, they asked for that we have nowadays
in diverse an article by our own logo, in our own
heart, people think about these liberals.
He's a good brother, he has like good thoughts.
And this liberal guy that people call me, bro, he was he wrote an article recently about the maybe the only way to find thyself is to have a true caliphate.
So he was loved. That was basically his hypothesis,
that he examined that hypothesis. And then he constructed his conclusion for at the end of the article is that it is true that the only way to find
our hero the fake Caliphate is to have a true because the Muslims are live in a diaspora. And they don't have a collective mind. They don't have any form of structure, hierarchy organization.
But we have think, you know, part of the balance, also understand your science and your your position. And don't get overwhelmed by the cosmic things when you can take care of your own family. Some people get overwhelmed because
because of the cosmic tribulations Muslims are going through, he himself is not taking good care of his family, he's a lousy husband, or he is a lousy wife. Because it's not only
husband,
that we have noticed that the husband is always the lousy one. Sometimes it's not true. Sometimes it's the lousy husband, sometimes.
Sometimes
when the kids are like, but if you cannot, if you cannot fix your own appearance and the appearance of your own family, and you cannot be a good father, a good husband, or a good wife, your mother, most likely you're not going to be able to solve the problems, the cosmic problems Muslims are facing. So don't be overwhelmed by that, take care of this first, and then go on from here. So taking care of our community here in America, we don't have a collective mind, do we have a
we don't have a collective afraid to have one. So she comes to my organization used to be that you do this, you do this, oh, you're gonna run my business for me now.
And I'm not seeing it as a joke. And seeing it as a fact that you can reflect on that here in Minnesota. And I say the same in Houston. Unless we start this kind of conversation openly. We're not going to go anywhere.
So our community Somali community,
is a community, everybody's afraid that the other one is threatening my very existence, and you're going to come to take over my organization. And that's why the problem happens around and they didn't forget about the collective mind. So if we, if we can move now to see what would be practical steps to bring the balance to the community in Minnesota,
as well as as building blocks as the Muslims sitting in brothers and sisters. How can we bring that balance in the community? What what people should look for? Do I have to look for pleasure, like every day, starting with that now, the startup run class, take my kids to some school, attend more lectures and the magic volunteer building blocks?
What should we do to start creating that balanced community?
What in terms of short, you should do all the above but in terms of what you can do is we was talking
we talked about the general stuff about specific steps now.
You're
Personal Development is very important. Because if you aren't our weeks, then you cannot support this crap. rancor
does not like
the likeness of Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam and those who are with him is like a
parable or likeness in the genome, the gospel is like a plant that gave forth its blade or sprout, and supported it until it grew strong, and was able to stand on its own.
So
being a weak person,
that's why the Prophet said
he couldn't fight. Strong believers more beloved to a lot of the weak that deliver
both, but being weaker,
being weak, intellectual, being weak, spiritual, being even economic,
you're not you're you're not going to be able to support another person spiritually, if you're weak.
intellectually, if you're weak, intellectual, financially, if you're weak financially, you're not gonna be able to support.
So personal development is important.
Most importantly, the spiritual, that's our foundation, because the interior is the foundation of this theory. And if you have, like,
interior, you have a bad Foundation, the building will ultimately collapse. But if you have a good foundation will be a short building, if you don't build on it.
Personal Development is important for the community in Minnesota.
For the community in Minnesota, I think one of the good things that could be done is to not threaten one another as organizations, but have a roundtable for the organizations. Because that Roundtable, that meeting of the organizations will basically
resolve in the making of that collective mind. The final outcome, you know, will be the collective mind
together, and we see where the deficiencies are. And then we fill in the gaps. without setting.
You know, there's a few tips that
I want to share with you
use the word sprout.
That vary a little bit reason for me to start a small organization in Houston.
And you cannot see the
results.
But I'll share with you want more than I succeed to live. Maybe this is something so long can take. And
so, I have a class that I'm coaching
for advanced activists.
I'm about 3035 people from around the world. They attended class online. And I have about 767, seven in Houston.
The point that they come to this, but we talk like this all the time.
And with that talk, they take it back to their communities and apparently see things coming up.
I said for example, this one, the second thing I said, All right, for n, everybody loves it. Everybody wants an image.
Right? But the problem is, you just want the best for the occasion.
How about I change the standard of crime in the city of Houston.
Okay, so I said okay, I have an agenda
to come
around with me from nine months to 12 months and will make you a good performer in sufficient Island.
Now in Houston, before we move on, when people are looking for a site that
you have,
and this is this is true. The standard before was just somebody read Quran and get overwhelmed, then you know to do it or not
Now you have a chance now. Okay, maybe later the preference will be for the one who knows more than one camera. Okay, so what I'm trying to say here that this investment is very, very important what they have said that you cannot have good sprout or with a weakened.
Okay. So that's what I think we need to work on our own conclusion, the balance has to be collected.
The balance has to be the community wide, the balance can be achieved, when each one of us realize their attitudes, their strengths and their weaknesses. I want to start completing each other. When we're not threatened by each other. As organizations, we don't judge each other in membership hadn't said something. And I was sitting with him a few years back, and actually changed the way I perceived him. Somebody was criticizing a certain
certain school in Islam. And she said,
like that, maybe they do things wrong, maybe they have some issues, but we do not doubt that they love this lab as much as we do. See that? That's
right. They may be expressing it wrong, but they love it more than we do. That's the balance. We're brothers and sisters, that the building blocks we talked about tonight, 10 years.
Lot of shallow
as well, my remark is, the balance is a relative thing for you as an individual, you know, when you really take that money tire
word also, back, you know, classes, when you make this money hire for the sake of a positive way, assuming earlier
that when you stand in front of a larger agenda, that's when you fast you balance when you're really tired, physically, but you're achieving something for the sake of balance, when you get good at your job. That's balance. When you supporting your brother, it's something that he's weak or your sister to something seems weak, and you that's bad. So let's focus on balance, which we'll do here. Again, from that perspective, it's a lot of stuff to equal portions get there, but it is how you look at things. As you go, you become the best at what you do, not threatened by each other, let's work together collectively, let's have more efforts with organizations like building block somebody
Mashallah education, support them for money relief, we support them for money in, you know, civil rights, support them, this is do all of that. And we all move collectively in the same direction as
maybe someone driving so on the left will be someone back maybe someone from maybe someone faster than the other. But we all as a community moving forward. But if we start focusing on No, everybody has to be in that silo. Everybody has to be in that silo, you have to be slow because I'm slow to catch up with me.
Then we are not actually moving. So that's my closing statement about balance.
Balance and your loss of love. It
was a very
nothing could be better, except the loss a favor for a
year ago done with your occupation, labor, in the worship of your voters. So the shift
of supplemental light javita for those who live Dina, nobody can say anything.