Hosai Mojaddidi – An Agenda to Change Our Condition (Session 15)

Hosai Mojaddidi
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of committing to prayer, watching missed prayer, and following regularity. They thank everyone for tuning in and expect to see everyone in two weeks. The speaker also mentions the importance of late night prayers for missed prayer and thanks everyone for tuning in.
AI: Transcript ©
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03

Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim Al hamdu lillah wa salatu salam O

00:00:03 --> 00:00:07

Allah adjectival MBE will mursaleen say that our Mowlana

00:00:07 --> 00:00:10

Where have you been on Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam while

00:00:10 --> 00:00:14

he was Sofia salam to Sleeman Kathira Salam aleikum, everyone Al

00:00:14 --> 00:00:20

Hamdulillah. It's good to be back here. With all of you, on this

00:00:20 --> 00:00:24

blessed day, the second today official day of Rajab

00:00:24 --> 00:00:27

Alhamdulillah. That blas advanta project has entered, I pray to

00:00:27 --> 00:00:31

Allah subhanaw taala, that all of you are doing well and are keeping

00:00:31 --> 00:00:36

safe in sha Allah. So we're going to just pick up from where we left

00:00:36 --> 00:00:39

off. For those of you who are joining us, we are reading from

00:00:39 --> 00:00:44

agenda to change our condition, it is a text of the law. And last

00:00:44 --> 00:00:48

time we met, which was two weeks before we finally finished chapter

00:00:48 --> 00:00:51

three. So today, we get to start on chapter four. I'm gonna go

00:00:51 --> 00:00:54

ahead and screenshare Inshallah, so that we can have some slides to

00:00:54 --> 00:00:59

look at. And we'll go from there. So Bismillah to give me one

00:00:59 --> 00:01:01

moment, I will do that.

00:01:11 --> 00:01:15

hamdulillah All right, there we go. So here we are chapter four.

00:01:15 --> 00:01:20

Now this is the chapter four as it stated exercises for attaining

00:01:20 --> 00:01:25

kappa. So we covered that earlier in the book, just defining it and

00:01:25 --> 00:01:29

that was in, I believe it was chapter one, it was shut up of

00:01:29 --> 00:01:33

what its definition and benefits. But now we're going to talk more

00:01:33 --> 00:01:38

about the practical application how what we can do to attain. So

00:01:38 --> 00:01:42

let's go ahead and get started with the slides here. So this is

00:01:42 --> 00:01:46

just a summary of what the chap what this chapter is going to

00:01:46 --> 00:01:50

cover. And actually, I'm gonna read more from the text today, I

00:01:50 --> 00:01:54

don't the slides are going to complement what I'm reading, but

00:01:54 --> 00:01:59

there's a lot of text in this chapter. So I'll be reading quite

00:01:59 --> 00:02:02

a bit. But here right away in the beginning, it says what follows,

00:02:02 --> 00:02:07

which is this chapter is an agenda, which is Latin for a set

00:02:07 --> 00:02:11

of things to do. So they're going to introduce a series of exercises

00:02:11 --> 00:02:16

designed to help achieve the club practically, through protective

00:02:16 --> 00:02:20

vigilance of the eight red inroads thorough of darkness to the heart.

00:02:20 --> 00:02:26

And this, this is includes prayer, a tongue, eyes, ears, the stomach,

00:02:26 --> 00:02:30

private parts, hands and feet. And so there are sections throughout

00:02:30 --> 00:02:34

this chapter where we're going to Inshallah, as we read along, we'll

00:02:34 --> 00:02:38

get to but for the first part, before we even talk about those

00:02:38 --> 00:02:42

inroads, we, there's just a lot of commentary here. So I'm gonna go

00:02:42 --> 00:02:47

ahead and read from the book. After they mentioned these eight

00:02:47 --> 00:02:50

inroads, they say that the duration of each exercise is 40

00:02:50 --> 00:02:55

days. So basically practical exercises to do but you have to

00:02:55 --> 00:02:59

commit to doing them every day consistently for this period of 40

00:02:59 --> 00:03:03

days. And this is based on the verse of the Quran, in which Allah

00:03:03 --> 00:03:07

subhanaw taala promised to meet Musab, they said I'm after 40

00:03:07 --> 00:03:11

days, this respite of 40 days enabled, Musa lays that out to

00:03:11 --> 00:03:16

prepare for that August meeting, in his commentary, Mm hmm. So we

00:03:16 --> 00:03:20

states that the complete service of the servant toward his Lord and

00:03:20 --> 00:03:25

the gifts that results from his Lord are completed in 40 days. The

00:03:25 --> 00:03:29

meaning of this comes from the following Hadith, the prophesy Sam

00:03:29 --> 00:03:32

said that the completion of vigilance on the borders or Tibet

00:03:32 --> 00:03:38

is 40 days. So these inroads are at the borders of the heart. And

00:03:38 --> 00:03:42

this technique has proven effective for many people. If done

00:03:42 --> 00:03:45

for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala it will benefit the one who

00:03:45 --> 00:03:48

uses it to achieve Taqwa. So we know there's a lot of you know,

00:03:48 --> 00:03:54

self help, books and programs that also emphasize the importance of

00:03:54 --> 00:03:59

committing to a practice for some say a month, some say 40 days,

00:03:59 --> 00:04:02

some say longer than that. So there's definitely an idea that if

00:04:02 --> 00:04:07

you want to create new habits, you want to change bad habits or get

00:04:07 --> 00:04:11

rid of bad habits, that you have to commit to doing something for a

00:04:11 --> 00:04:14

long period of time. And this is also one of the great benefits of

00:04:14 --> 00:04:18

Ramadan, of course, we know hamdulillah whether it's 29 or 30

00:04:18 --> 00:04:22

days, just having a consistent practice. Every single day of

00:04:22 --> 00:04:25

fasting and shallow we're doing all of our prayers, we're extra

00:04:25 --> 00:04:30

reading extra Quran and doing the wicked and maybe, inshallah we're

00:04:30 --> 00:04:34

doing other charitable good deeds throughout that month. What we

00:04:34 --> 00:04:37

arrive at by the end of the month is that it's quite possible to do

00:04:38 --> 00:04:42

because we've done it and so that will help you Inshallah, whenever

00:04:42 --> 00:04:45

you get those thoughts and ideas from your knifes or shaitan that,

00:04:45 --> 00:04:49

you know, you can't commit to something or it's too much of an

00:04:49 --> 00:04:53

effort. I don't have time. These are a lot of common things that

00:04:53 --> 00:04:57

people will say to excuse themselves, but once you actually

00:04:57 --> 00:04:59

do something for a consistent amount of time, it

00:05:00 --> 00:05:05

It helps to, to overcome those weak points. And and and inshallah

00:05:05 --> 00:05:09

take on really good practices. So they go on to say, read through

00:05:09 --> 00:05:13

the eight exercises and look deep within your heart of hearts to

00:05:13 --> 00:05:17

determine your areas of weakness. All of us, of course, are on

00:05:17 --> 00:05:20

different paths. So everybody's going to have different things

00:05:20 --> 00:05:23

that they need to focus on. For instance, you may not be

00:05:23 --> 00:05:27

disobeying Allah with your feet, or your private parts. If that is

00:05:27 --> 00:05:31

the case, and there's no need to do the exercises corresponding to

00:05:31 --> 00:05:36

those areas. However, you should maintain vigilance and continuing

00:05:36 --> 00:05:40

to guard them. So inshallah if you if that's just let's say, you're

00:05:40 --> 00:05:43

married, you're in Shaolin, and a good relationship, you don't have

00:05:43 --> 00:05:48

that fitna of, you know, the many people are tested with, and you're

00:05:48 --> 00:05:51

in a committed relationship. So in that case, inshallah you're safe

00:05:51 --> 00:05:56

from from that from, from that fitnah. You don't have to do those

00:05:56 --> 00:05:59

exercises, however, continue to, of course, do whatever you've been

00:05:59 --> 00:06:03

doing to guard yourself, right? If you find that you have weakness in

00:06:03 --> 00:06:08

the other five inroads, then determine which is the worst, for

00:06:08 --> 00:06:12

most it will be the tongue. And that's really important. For most

00:06:12 --> 00:06:15

of us, you know, again, if you look at the slides here, you know,

00:06:15 --> 00:06:20

it includes the eyes, the ears, the hands, the feet, the stomach,

00:06:20 --> 00:06:25

but here, they're emphasizing that for most of us, likely the one

00:06:25 --> 00:06:29

that we have, the biggest problem with is the tongue. And of course,

00:06:29 --> 00:06:33

there's many Hadith that also confirmed that what gets most

00:06:33 --> 00:06:39

people in trouble and actually takes them to the Hellfire is what

00:06:39 --> 00:06:43

is between the private parts and the the tongue essentially that

00:06:43 --> 00:06:47

the Mouth Lips, right. So these two areas are what gets most

00:06:47 --> 00:06:51

people in trouble, and many other Hadith that also confirm the same.

00:06:52 --> 00:06:56

So then they go on to say, make the commitment to guard all of

00:06:56 --> 00:07:00

these inroads, but take the tongue as your first exercise and commit

00:07:00 --> 00:07:05

to mastering it every day for 40 consecutive days. The reason for

00:07:05 --> 00:07:09

practicing only one exercise at a time is the tradition of the

00:07:09 --> 00:07:12

Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who said this religion is

00:07:12 --> 00:07:17

accommodating, and no one attempts excessive strictness in it without

00:07:17 --> 00:07:23

it overwhelming him. And again, it's such a beautiful, and have

00:07:23 --> 00:07:27

you thought really, we have to internalize and understand the

00:07:27 --> 00:07:31

wisdom in it shaytaan some, some people, for example, they assume

00:07:32 --> 00:07:36

that he believes only inclines us to evil, which of course is true.

00:07:36 --> 00:07:41

But he also knows our nature, and he's aware that we burn out

00:07:42 --> 00:07:46

quickly. So sometimes he may overwhelm us with wanting to do

00:07:46 --> 00:07:50

too much. So having too many goals all at once, can also be something

00:07:50 --> 00:07:53

that he inspires us to because he knows it's like the pendulum

00:07:53 --> 00:07:57

right, you're gonna swing one way really fast, you'll you'll you'll

00:07:57 --> 00:08:01

go back the other way. And so, we have to take heed of this advice

00:08:01 --> 00:08:07

to not overwhelm yourself to take your practice easy and rather than

00:08:07 --> 00:08:11

trying to do all of the exercises simultaneously, to really thinking

00:08:11 --> 00:08:15

of it more like incrementally like once I once I you know master this

00:08:15 --> 00:08:19

part and I can be consistent then I go to the next and the next just

00:08:19 --> 00:08:24

for again ease inshallah and to be motivated and to prevent that

00:08:24 --> 00:08:28

burnout from happening. They are going to say that announce to your

00:08:28 --> 00:08:31

friends that you are committing to this path and that you need their

00:08:31 --> 00:08:35

help. Allah subhanaw taala says, he says we help one another with

00:08:35 --> 00:08:40

righteousness and Taqwa and do not help one another in wrongdoing and

00:08:40 --> 00:08:44

aggression. And this is chapter five, verse two. So again, a

00:08:44 --> 00:08:49

really important reminder here that if you want to be serious

00:08:49 --> 00:08:53

about your commitment to your spiritual ritual, your spiritual

00:08:53 --> 00:08:57

path, your ritual practice, that sometimes you do need to send

00:08:57 --> 00:09:01

those little memos out to friends and family, like listen, I am

00:09:01 --> 00:09:04

going to be doing this and I really need support,

00:09:05 --> 00:09:09

encouragement, please don't when you're around me, for example, you

00:09:09 --> 00:09:12

know, don't do this and you can get into specifics depending on

00:09:12 --> 00:09:14

your relationship or you can just keep it pretty general and just

00:09:14 --> 00:09:19

say, I will be working on some really intense spiritual, you

00:09:19 --> 00:09:19

know,

00:09:20 --> 00:09:25

endeavors or efforts and I need support and help and then you

00:09:25 --> 00:09:27

know, at that point, inshallah they should hopefully respond with

00:09:27 --> 00:09:30

encouragement and be there for you so that you don't feel like you're

00:09:30 --> 00:09:32

doing it all by yourself.

00:09:33 --> 00:09:37

They go on to say, we must take this verse seriously express a

00:09:37 --> 00:09:41

deep desire to better ourselves and true friends will support us.

00:09:41 --> 00:09:44

Initially, we are shocked to find out that it is very difficult to

00:09:44 --> 00:09:49

break bad habits of many years. But rest assured, it is possible.

00:09:49 --> 00:09:53

Allah does not ask us more than we are able to bear. We can conquer

00:09:53 --> 00:09:57

these bad habits and destructive tendencies. Many great men and

00:09:57 --> 00:09:59

women of the past and present have gone down this

00:10:00 --> 00:10:04

rode and arrived at its destination ematic entitled his

00:10:04 --> 00:10:08

book on water, the well trodden path. If others can overcome their

00:10:08 --> 00:10:13

bad habits, we can as well and should derive from their examples

00:10:13 --> 00:10:18

strength and courage. Once we've mastered the first exercise, we

00:10:18 --> 00:10:22

must be vigilant in maintaining it, and move on to the next most

00:10:22 --> 00:10:27

troublesome trait. It may be, for instance, the eyes or the ears, we

00:10:27 --> 00:10:31

should practice each exercise until until we are ready to commit

00:10:31 --> 00:10:35

to the next. And again, the advice here is that start with the

00:10:35 --> 00:10:39

tongue, but then go and look at the list and figure out what is

00:10:39 --> 00:10:42

next. And if, you know, we're being honest with ourselves,

00:10:42 --> 00:10:46

especially now in quarantine, most of us are likely not going to

00:10:46 --> 00:10:50

places where there were inshallah we're engaging in Haram, because

00:10:50 --> 00:10:52

we really can't go very far.

00:10:53 --> 00:10:56

But so that might not be something you're being tested with right

00:10:56 --> 00:11:00

now. But remember, we have these devices, what we're using right

00:11:00 --> 00:11:03

now all of us to be tuned into each other, to connect with one

00:11:03 --> 00:11:08

another, that is a portal to the entire world. So even though our

00:11:08 --> 00:11:13

feet are not walking to different places, we are still able to

00:11:13 --> 00:11:18

navigate this thing called the internet and access a lot of

00:11:18 --> 00:11:23

things that obviously go through our eyes and our ears. So paying

00:11:23 --> 00:11:29

attention to what we're consuming via those inroads, right. And then

00:11:29 --> 00:11:32

also extending that to other media that you're listening to or

00:11:32 --> 00:11:36

watching if you're on your televisions a lot that flexing or

00:11:36 --> 00:11:41

watching, you know, different shows and programs or films or

00:11:41 --> 00:11:45

YouTube accounts or, you know, tick tock I know is very popular.

00:11:46 --> 00:11:49

And a lot of people spend hours and hours on there or Instagram.

00:11:49 --> 00:11:52

If you're just consuming all of those things, you have to take

00:11:52 --> 00:11:55

inventory of what are you consuming? Is it beneficial

00:11:55 --> 00:11:59

knowledge? Are you looking at images of people in inappropriate

00:11:59 --> 00:12:04

clothing? And I think if again, in our society, some of us have

00:12:04 --> 00:12:12

become so desensitized to, to just seeing skin that we may not think

00:12:12 --> 00:12:15

of that as being harmful. But if you're watching, for example,

00:12:15 --> 00:12:21

programs and shows where they are dressed, you know, inappropriately

00:12:21 --> 00:12:25

or revealingly and you're consuming that it is affecting

00:12:25 --> 00:12:29

you. Or if you're listening to anything that has foul language or

00:12:29 --> 00:12:34

just ideas that are also problematic, then that's also

00:12:34 --> 00:12:39

affecting you. So taking inventory of those inroads is probably more

00:12:39 --> 00:12:44

relevant right now as we're in quarantine, then then again, the

00:12:44 --> 00:12:49

feet, hands of course, we can also talk about what are we doing with

00:12:49 --> 00:12:54

our hands that may be problematic, you know, if there's any

00:12:55 --> 00:12:57

violence, I mean, we'd be the first thing that comes to my mind,

00:12:57 --> 00:13:02

may Allah protect us in our homes and our families. But if you have

00:13:02 --> 00:13:08

a habit or a problem of striking anyone in your home, this would

00:13:08 --> 00:13:12

certainly apply because our hands are not meant to harm like I don't

00:13:12 --> 00:13:16

know what I did, or we don't harm people. So we have to really fear

00:13:16 --> 00:13:21

Allah subhanaw taala. And if you have a habit and many people,

00:13:21 --> 00:13:25

because these things are usually cyclical, they find that you know,

00:13:26 --> 00:13:31

homes were this type of abuse or just physical, you know, abuse

00:13:31 --> 00:13:36

occurs is usually because individuals were also victims of

00:13:36 --> 00:13:39

abuse. So they just repeat those cycles, but you can break the

00:13:39 --> 00:13:42

cycle in sha Allah, and with Allah subhanaw Without his help by just

00:13:42 --> 00:13:48

realizing this is not there's immense accountability and

00:13:48 --> 00:13:52

punishment for harming innocent anything, anyone innocent. And we

00:13:52 --> 00:13:56

can go into more detail about that maybe another time. But just the

00:13:56 --> 00:13:59

point, I hope it's clear that if you really are paying attention to

00:13:59 --> 00:14:02

yourself and taking that inventory, you can determine what

00:14:03 --> 00:14:06

are you doing with these limbs that Allah subhanaw taala has

00:14:06 --> 00:14:09

given you these gifts that Allah's Prophet has given you that you

00:14:09 --> 00:14:12

shouldn't be doing? And for everyone that's going to look

00:14:12 --> 00:14:14

differently, right? So

00:14:15 --> 00:14:17

then they go on to say,

00:14:20 --> 00:14:22

Excuse me, I lost my space here.

00:14:23 --> 00:14:27

In no way should we completely ignore the others while focusing

00:14:27 --> 00:14:31

on one. Allah commands us to guard all of our limbs at all times. But

00:14:31 --> 00:14:35

in order for us to keep from being overwhelmed, we should focus on

00:14:35 --> 00:14:39

one exercise at a time. If we focus on one at a time it enables

00:14:39 --> 00:14:43

us to be more vigilant about the others. Obviously our bad habits

00:14:43 --> 00:14:47

stem from our own heedlessness. Therefore as we become more

00:14:47 --> 00:14:51

conscious of our behavior in one area, we will do so in others as a

00:14:51 --> 00:14:54

result, if all of us had that a wills we will see the results

00:14:54 --> 00:14:58

immediately but we should take heed ashray thought increases his

00:14:58 --> 00:14:59

efforts in proportion to ours.

00:15:00 --> 00:15:04

is also a really good point to be mindful of, the more we make a

00:15:04 --> 00:15:08

concerted effort to correct ourselves to get closer to Allah

00:15:08 --> 00:15:14

subhanho wa taala, the more Shavon will try to attack us and bring us

00:15:14 --> 00:15:18

further back. Because obviously he doesn't. That's his ultimate

00:15:18 --> 00:15:22

objective, right? So he's not going to sit back and just watch,

00:15:22 --> 00:15:27

he will try to persuade you to go back and default to your bad

00:15:27 --> 00:15:32

habits to give up, it's too much, or possibly even push you into

00:15:32 --> 00:15:35

something worse, just because he overwhelms you. So you want to be

00:15:35 --> 00:15:38

very careful not to overwhelm yourself. And that's really the

00:15:38 --> 00:15:40

gist of that advice.

00:15:41 --> 00:15:45

If we focus on one at a time, it enables us to be more vigilant

00:15:45 --> 00:15:49

about the others, obviously, I'm sorry, I already read that. If

00:15:49 --> 00:15:52

Allah wills, we will see the results immediately. But we should

00:15:52 --> 00:15:55

take heed a shape that increases his efforts in proportion to ours.

00:15:55 --> 00:16:00

He will work on our hearts and try to instill pride in us for our

00:16:00 --> 00:16:03

efforts, he will attempt to make us think we are better than others

00:16:03 --> 00:16:07

for struggling with ourselves. We must not succumb to these whispers

00:16:07 --> 00:16:11

and we will hear them. That's also another important point. So

00:16:11 --> 00:16:15

there's two directions this could go he could try to dissuade you

00:16:15 --> 00:16:20

from continuing your path. By just making things seem way too harder

00:16:20 --> 00:16:24

than they are. Or he could fill you with this pride and arrogance.

00:16:24 --> 00:16:27

Because now that you're taking on the spiritual practices more

00:16:27 --> 00:16:34

regularly, you suddenly start to feel more superior over others. So

00:16:34 --> 00:16:37

to be very mindful of our thoughts.

00:16:38 --> 00:16:42

The path of self effacement for the sake of Allah demands that we

00:16:42 --> 00:16:46

view everyone is better than us. The Muslim should never elevate

00:16:46 --> 00:16:50

himself over anyone in creation. Even if we maintain humility, we

00:16:50 --> 00:16:54

must remain vigilant because shaitan will endeavor to make us

00:16:54 --> 00:16:58

feel pleased with being humble. The path to Taqwa has many

00:16:58 --> 00:17:03

pitfalls. According to the Quranic narrative, shaytaan swore an oath

00:17:03 --> 00:17:08

regarding this path. And he says, I shall lurk in ambush for them on

00:17:08 --> 00:17:13

your straight path, then I shall come upon them from before them

00:17:13 --> 00:17:17

and from behind them and from their right sides and from the

00:17:17 --> 00:17:21

left sides. And you will not find and you will not find most of them

00:17:21 --> 00:17:25

grateful. And this is in chapter seven verse 16, to 17 Subhan

00:17:25 --> 00:17:28

Allah. So you know, this is he's laying it out, he's laying out his

00:17:28 --> 00:17:34

plan on how he'll attack us. And then that last point, he you know,

00:17:34 --> 00:17:39

he's very firm in his opinion that we are ungrateful, which is what

00:17:39 --> 00:17:40

he says here

00:17:44 --> 00:17:47

which is, excuse me, let me just read that again. I don't want to

00:17:47 --> 00:17:52

misspeak here, either. And you will not find most of them

00:17:52 --> 00:17:57

grateful. Yeah, I'm not sure if that's actually the words of of a

00:17:57 --> 00:18:01

bliss speaking or if Allah subhanaw taala is just making that

00:18:01 --> 00:18:05

comment clear that we because in other verses, this is also

00:18:05 --> 00:18:10

repeated that most of us are ungrateful. So just, yeah, I'm not

00:18:10 --> 00:18:13

sure about that. I can look into that for next time. But for now,

00:18:14 --> 00:18:17

it's a pretty clear I mean, he's, he's laying the plan out right?

00:18:18 --> 00:18:22

Then notice that he says that he will lurk in ambush on the

00:18:22 --> 00:18:25

straight path, and he's unconcerned with the Wayfarers on

00:18:25 --> 00:18:29

a crooked path. Moreover, he does not say that he will come from

00:18:29 --> 00:18:33

above or from below. The secret in this is that revelation and

00:18:33 --> 00:18:37

guidance come from above and by maintaining a state of humility,

00:18:37 --> 00:18:40

and keeping our foreheads to the ground. We open our hearts to the

00:18:40 --> 00:18:45

guidance from above. Allah has not given shade on authority over the

00:18:45 --> 00:18:48

guidance of the Prophet salallahu Salam or his humbled servants who

00:18:48 --> 00:18:52

follow that guidance. So somehow he's he's quite weak, he cannot

00:18:52 --> 00:18:56

overcome if you're truly committed to the path and following the

00:18:56 --> 00:19:00

process and and he cannot overcome. He has no authority over

00:19:00 --> 00:19:04

that guidance. Right, Pamela? This is the ancient hero's journey. And

00:19:04 --> 00:19:09

success is by Allah, not by deeds, but by grace alone is this

00:19:09 --> 00:19:14

achieved, we must see our progress as Tofik providence from Allah,

00:19:14 --> 00:19:17

which means our gratitude must increase the spiritual growth

00:19:17 --> 00:19:22

occurs. It cannot be done without effort. But it is not effort

00:19:22 --> 00:19:25

through which it is done. Subhan Allah, that's really important. We

00:19:25 --> 00:19:30

can't arrive at these destination, spiritual destinations without

00:19:30 --> 00:19:33

putting in the effort, but it's not our effort that takes us

00:19:33 --> 00:19:38

there. It's really is from again, the providence of Allah. That's

00:19:38 --> 00:19:42

Tofik Allah's giving us success. He's facilitating he's drawing us

00:19:42 --> 00:19:48

closer. Use bifocal vision to see paradoxical truth and submit to

00:19:48 --> 00:19:52

let us keep our eye on the goal ahead. Let us constantly remember

00:19:52 --> 00:19:56

our mortality and know that we will be considered among those who

00:19:56 --> 00:19:59

reached the goal before us. Even if

00:20:00 --> 00:20:04

We die before reaching them. This is why we pray, we're unhappy, I

00:20:04 --> 00:20:09

need the slot machine cause me to reach the righteous. And this is

00:20:09 --> 00:20:14

chapter 12 Verse one to one. So that was the commentary before we

00:20:14 --> 00:20:20

even get into the next section on attaining Taqwa. So there's a lot

00:20:20 --> 00:20:23

to digest there. But a lot of great advice about basically

00:20:23 --> 00:20:27

pacing ourselves, being aware of our thoughts, making sure that we

00:20:27 --> 00:20:32

don't let ourselves get too carried away, where we start to

00:20:32 --> 00:20:35

get prideful of any progress we make and that we attribute our

00:20:35 --> 00:20:41

progress to Allah subhanho data as success only comes from him on how

00:20:41 --> 00:20:42

did he learn.

00:20:43 --> 00:20:48

So now I'm going to change the slides here, inshallah to the next

00:20:48 --> 00:20:52

section, which is exercise one, when this is on guarding the

00:20:52 --> 00:20:56

prayer, and likely because the section is quite long.

00:20:57 --> 00:21:01

We're going to stay on this until for the rest of the evening,

00:21:01 --> 00:21:05

because it's a pretty long section before we get to exercise two

00:21:05 --> 00:21:09

which is guarding the heart, the tongue, excuse me, so on guarding

00:21:09 --> 00:21:13

the prayer, of all the actions that a Muslim will do in his or

00:21:13 --> 00:21:18

her life, none is more important than the five prescribed daily

00:21:18 --> 00:21:23

prayers. It is the central pillar that supports the entire edifice

00:21:23 --> 00:21:28

of Islam. The Quran defines the believers as follows Alladhina

00:21:28 --> 00:21:32

Umino and I believe you were up Mona saw that there were me merasa

00:21:32 --> 00:21:36

Panera whom you and your cone. Those who believe in the unseen

00:21:36 --> 00:21:40

and established prayer, and from what we provide for them they give

00:21:40 --> 00:21:46

out. Thus prayer is mentioned immediately after belief. It is a

00:21:46 --> 00:21:50

believers expression of gratitude to his Lord for consciousness

00:21:50 --> 00:21:55

itself, the gift of life and awareness, a divine tradition

00:21:55 --> 00:22:00

which is heavy pudsey, related by Imam and Hakim, on the authority

00:22:00 --> 00:22:04

of the shadow the Aloha and has states there are five prayers that

00:22:04 --> 00:22:08

Allah has ordained for His servants, whoever dutifully

00:22:08 --> 00:22:13

undertakes them without belittling the right. They embody in any way,

00:22:13 --> 00:22:17

he has a covenant with Allah that He will enter him into paradise.

00:22:18 --> 00:22:23

Commenting on this hadith Imam Al Munna always states the use of the

00:22:23 --> 00:22:27

definite article in the in the prayer indicates that what is

00:22:27 --> 00:22:32

meant is the complete prayer, which fulfills the pillars near

00:22:32 --> 00:22:37

integrals confirmed Sunday, recommended matters and all the

00:22:37 --> 00:22:40

other conditions of the prayer. There is no doubt that the one who

00:22:40 --> 00:22:44

fulfills this will be a true believer. He is someone who would

00:22:44 --> 00:22:48

avoid the prohibited matters and fulfill his obligations. He would

00:22:48 --> 00:22:52

engage his soul in the obedience of his Lord. Indeed, Allah says in

00:22:52 --> 00:22:56

his book that was revealed to His ennobled servant. Surely prayer

00:22:56 --> 00:23:01

prevents anything foul or indecent. That's chapter 29 Verse

00:23:01 --> 00:23:06

45. Anyone who possesses this state is worthy of being spared

00:23:06 --> 00:23:10

from the punishment of Allah and of being given the garden without

00:23:10 --> 00:23:13

any accounting and Allah knows best. So that was the commentary

00:23:13 --> 00:23:17

from from emammal Minelli, on this hadith, pudsey about this covenant

00:23:17 --> 00:23:21

that Allah Subhan Allah has made with those who pray and take

00:23:21 --> 00:23:25

seriously their prayer and our dutiful to their prayer, that he

00:23:25 --> 00:23:29

that they will enter paradise Subhan Allah, may Allah accept all

00:23:29 --> 00:23:34

of us in that, amongst that group in sha Allah, Allah also says in

00:23:34 --> 00:23:39

the Quran, surely prayer has been prescribed for the believers at

00:23:39 --> 00:23:45

specific times. This is chapter four verse one or three. He also

00:23:45 --> 00:23:50

says, seek assistance with patience and prayer. And surely it

00:23:50 --> 00:23:53

is a difficult matter except for the believers. That's in chapter

00:23:53 --> 00:23:57

two verse 45. So all of this I mean, it's pretty clear, right?

00:23:57 --> 00:24:01

We're talking about guarding the prayer, and how do we guard the

00:24:01 --> 00:24:05

prayer, we have to first and foremost prioritize the prayer. I

00:24:05 --> 00:24:10

was just in another event prior to this halacha. And I just shared

00:24:10 --> 00:24:14

some words and reflections. I also shared a quote that I'll read a

00:24:14 --> 00:24:18

moment from this text. But I spoke just about the importance of

00:24:18 --> 00:24:25

really having the mindset that I was we were all created for one

00:24:25 --> 00:24:28

purpose and one purpose only, which is to worship Allah subhanaw

00:24:28 --> 00:24:33

taala. So nothing else should precede the prayer. The prayer has

00:24:33 --> 00:24:37

to be our top obligation or our top objective every single day.

00:24:38 --> 00:24:41

When you wake up, or when you're planning your day. If you're not

00:24:41 --> 00:24:45

factoring in your prayer, you're not setting alarms, for example,

00:24:45 --> 00:24:49

for budget and then you wonder, Oh, I'm struggling with budget.

00:24:49 --> 00:24:52

Well, if you're not setting an alarm or doing your due diligence,

00:24:52 --> 00:24:56

if alarms aren't working, let's say you know, you have a phone

00:24:56 --> 00:24:59

alarm and it's not working you still you know

00:25:00 --> 00:25:03

Did snooze and then it's then you need to get creative and figure

00:25:03 --> 00:25:07

out something else. Maybe it doesn't need to be right by your

00:25:07 --> 00:25:10

phone about by your bed. There's many people who that's been

00:25:10 --> 00:25:15

effective just moving the phone and keeping the alarm super loud,

00:25:15 --> 00:25:19

but away from the bed which forces you to get up, right? If it's

00:25:19 --> 00:25:23

right next to you. It's very tempting, you know, to just hit

00:25:23 --> 00:25:26

snooze and go, Okay, five more minutes. And then how many times

00:25:26 --> 00:25:30

this has happened to all of us, right? You do that to trigger

00:25:30 --> 00:25:33

shade on and all of a sudden, it's two hours later, and it's bright,

00:25:33 --> 00:25:37

bright and broad daylight outside. And you're like, what just

00:25:37 --> 00:25:40

happened? I just woke you know, I swear it was the alarm was is

00:25:40 --> 00:25:45

ringing. know, when you're in that state, you're, you're not of your

00:25:45 --> 00:25:50

mind. So you have to think before and plan ahead. And that's why

00:25:51 --> 00:25:54

just a simple adjustment with you know, getting a new alarm system

00:25:54 --> 00:25:59

or having some sort of a plan with your family member who maybe they

00:25:59 --> 00:26:03

have an easier time waking up for a budget, or they can help you or

00:26:03 --> 00:26:07

a friend if you live by yourself, but you gotta just show your

00:26:07 --> 00:26:10

sincerity to Allah subhanho data, I've talked to many people who

00:26:11 --> 00:26:15

they just kind of act like, you know, it's Fudger is really hard

00:26:15 --> 00:26:19

for me and they'll say, comments where it's like, they've given up

00:26:19 --> 00:26:23

already, and they've just accepted that. That is the prayer that is

00:26:23 --> 00:26:27

just too difficult for them. They cannot do it. But that's not

00:26:27 --> 00:26:31

showing real real sincerity, you're not guarding your prayer,

00:26:31 --> 00:26:34

if you're gonna give up like that. You got to really go to the

00:26:34 --> 00:26:39

whatever lengths you have to to fix the situation. And of course,

00:26:39 --> 00:26:43

ask ALLAH SubhanA wa furtopia throughout. So that's the most

00:26:43 --> 00:26:46

important thing prioritizing your prayers making sure that before

00:26:46 --> 00:26:47

you schedule something,

00:26:48 --> 00:26:51

you know, there's times people want to meet you. There's times

00:26:51 --> 00:26:54

you have appointments for like, the dentist or the doctor, I have

00:26:54 --> 00:26:57

to go pick up this medication I have to go do this run this

00:26:57 --> 00:27:01

errand. You have to factor in the prayer first before you make those

00:27:01 --> 00:27:06

plans. Otherwise you how many again times have people fallen

00:27:06 --> 00:27:11

into this trap of letting life like living their life? And then

00:27:11 --> 00:27:15

the day of when they're out the door? Oh, no, I don't have will do

00:27:15 --> 00:27:18

Oh, no, I don't know where to pray, Oh, it's okay. I'll just

00:27:18 --> 00:27:21

pray it when I get home. That's what is that doing? That's not

00:27:21 --> 00:27:27

showing any responsibility. And I used an analogy recently to just

00:27:27 --> 00:27:32

talking about if any of us got wanted to get a job and we applied

00:27:32 --> 00:27:35

for a job or we got hired, let's just say we got hired for a job.

00:27:36 --> 00:27:40

And the job description was very clear. Like this is your task, you

00:27:40 --> 00:27:44

have one task, you know, let's just say you know, you're an

00:27:44 --> 00:27:47

accountant, okay, and you have to, you know, just do the run the

00:27:47 --> 00:27:50

books, right? Every single day, sit at your computer from this

00:27:50 --> 00:27:52

time to this time, but this is your job, you have no other job.

00:27:52 --> 00:27:55

Nobody wants you to do anything else. Don't fax, don't print,

00:27:55 --> 00:28:00

don't email, people just sit and do this, right? If that was a

00:28:00 --> 00:28:05

clear description of your job, but then you're not doing that job and

00:28:05 --> 00:28:10

you're doing everything else, right? How long would we last in

00:28:10 --> 00:28:15

that position, we likely wouldn't last at all. We'd like to be fired

00:28:15 --> 00:28:18

pretty quickly. But the last part that I have is generosity is

00:28:18 --> 00:28:22

giving us time and time and opportunity opportunity to keep

00:28:22 --> 00:28:26

fixing ourselves. So waking up to not getting distracted by life,

00:28:26 --> 00:28:30

and forgetting what we were created to do. And so you gotta

00:28:30 --> 00:28:34

have to look at that here. We are created to worship Allah but how

00:28:34 --> 00:28:40

many of us fail in fulfilling the most basic obligation and not

00:28:40 --> 00:28:44

basic as in I mean, basic as in this is the most important

00:28:44 --> 00:28:49

fundamental thing that we have to do. We're not fulfilling it, but

00:28:49 --> 00:28:52

then we're doing everything else and we make excuses. Well, I had

00:28:52 --> 00:28:54

to take this, you know, had this appointment, I had to do this for

00:28:54 --> 00:28:57

work, I did this for school, my child needed me I need to talk to

00:28:57 --> 00:29:01

my kids teacher and we make a lot of excuses, not realizing those

00:29:01 --> 00:29:07

are not part of your job description. Right, your job. as

00:29:07 --> 00:29:11

insane as a human being is to worship Allah subhana wa Tada, and

00:29:11 --> 00:29:14

nothing should get in the way of that. So really having that

00:29:14 --> 00:29:19

paradigm shift where prayer really is my my priority in life. And if

00:29:19 --> 00:29:21

I don't, I'm not going to worry about hurting other people's

00:29:21 --> 00:29:25

feelings or being, you know, or anything else. I'm going to

00:29:25 --> 00:29:29

schedule my prayers and then everything else can fall in into

00:29:29 --> 00:29:34

the schedule afterwards, but I don't put everything else in and

00:29:34 --> 00:29:37

then go Oh, yeah. What about prayers, that's not the right

00:29:37 --> 00:29:40

priority. Right. So that's, you know, the the most important

00:29:40 --> 00:29:44

message from this first section and then, you know, emphasizing

00:29:44 --> 00:29:48

the importance of time of understanding that prayers have

00:29:48 --> 00:29:52

times that are set out and spread out through the day. When there's

00:29:52 --> 00:29:56

incredible wisdom in that. We are very forgetful, and I mean

00:29:57 --> 00:30:00

Subhanallah we forget a lot of important things.

00:30:00 --> 00:30:04

It's just human nature to be forgetful. And so ALLAH SubhanA,

00:30:04 --> 00:30:10

knowing us, he knows that we need reminders to remember our job, our

00:30:10 --> 00:30:15

purpose, our function. And that's what prayer is set to do. And it's

00:30:15 --> 00:30:20

also an opportunity to remember to call on him that this life is

00:30:20 --> 00:30:23

difficult, we're going to be challenged, we're going to have

00:30:23 --> 00:30:26

health problems, we're going to lose people we love, we're going

00:30:26 --> 00:30:31

to have tribulations that come maybe from places we just wouldn't

00:30:31 --> 00:30:35

expect them. People are betrayed all the time in this life, from

00:30:35 --> 00:30:38

the closest people to them, and it's very painful, and it hurts.

00:30:39 --> 00:30:44

But if you know that you have this consistent, something consistent

00:30:44 --> 00:30:48

for you that your heart is attached to, and it's never failed

00:30:48 --> 00:30:51

you and it's always been there. And it's always been a refuge for

00:30:51 --> 00:30:55

you the prayer, it makes life easier because people will fail

00:30:55 --> 00:30:58

you people will disappoint you point you people will hurt you,

00:30:58 --> 00:31:02

but also happen to doesn't ever do any of that. And so that's one of

00:31:02 --> 00:31:06

the most important reasons to also understand the wisdom of him,

00:31:07 --> 00:31:11

giving us these prayers throughout our day so that we're reminded

00:31:11 --> 00:31:16

you're not alone. You have a refuge, ask right almost panda

00:31:16 --> 00:31:22

wants us to ask him. And so they mentioned again, the importance of

00:31:22 --> 00:31:27

respecting the prescribed times right of the prayer. Now on the

00:31:27 --> 00:31:31

next page, for those who have the book, I'm on page 44. At the top.

00:31:32 --> 00:31:35

We have a some more commentary here in Charlotte still on the

00:31:35 --> 00:31:39

prayer. It is one of the extraordinary insights of Imam

00:31:39 --> 00:31:44

Malik that the first section of his mawatha, which precedes even

00:31:44 --> 00:31:50

the section on ritual purity is on the times of the prayer. So before

00:31:50 --> 00:31:53

he even talks about will do, he's talking about the times of prayer.

00:31:53 --> 00:31:58

Now let's see why. It is the times of prayer that obligate purity.

00:31:58 --> 00:32:03

Observing the times of prayer is the first thing we do when we wake

00:32:03 --> 00:32:07

and the last thing we do before retiring to bed. It is done in the

00:32:07 --> 00:32:12

middle of the day and it is and in its decline. It is an unrelenting

00:32:12 --> 00:32:18

reminder of to whom we belong, why we are here. And where we are

00:32:18 --> 00:32:23

going Subhan Allah so beautiful. I mean that's it think about you

00:32:23 --> 00:32:25

know, when we wake up in sha Allah, we're thinking about fajr

00:32:25 --> 00:32:28

prayer, when we go to sleep, we've just prayed Isha and more,

00:32:28 --> 00:32:33

hopefully setting our alliance our alarms for Fajr prayer. So we're

00:32:33 --> 00:32:36

constantly mindful of times, Inshallah, we're praying all of

00:32:36 --> 00:32:41

our prayers on time. But I love the beautiful, eloquent way with

00:32:41 --> 00:32:46

which, you know, he described why it's this unrelenting reminder,

00:32:46 --> 00:32:50

right of to whom we belong, Subhan Allah, we belong to Allah. And

00:32:50 --> 00:32:54

that is why we are placed on this planet. And this earth, we are

00:32:54 --> 00:33:00

placed here to worship Him, in my medical continued, and he wrote, I

00:33:00 --> 00:33:03

heard from Nafi, who heard from him, and that might have been a

00:33:03 --> 00:33:10

lot, Deborah de la and wrote to all of his governors, saying, The

00:33:10 --> 00:33:15

most important of your affairs, in my view, is the prayer, whoever

00:33:15 --> 00:33:18

protects it and observes it carefully is protecting his

00:33:18 --> 00:33:23

religion, while whoever is negligent about it will be even

00:33:23 --> 00:33:28

more negligent about other things. Subhanallah I mean, that's just

00:33:28 --> 00:33:33

such a perfect advice, that if you don't prioritize your prayers,

00:33:34 --> 00:33:38

everything else will just, you know, it'll, you'll fall through,

00:33:38 --> 00:33:42

you'll fail, because you're not even prioritizing the most

00:33:42 --> 00:33:46

important thing you were meant to do. So how would you be

00:33:46 --> 00:33:49

responsible in other areas, right, you'll just kind of start becoming

00:33:49 --> 00:33:54

negligent about a lot of things about paying your cat or just, you

00:33:54 --> 00:33:58

know, eating the Hella and or your fast making up prayers that you

00:33:58 --> 00:34:02

missed. Just other responsibilities that we all have

00:34:02 --> 00:34:05

in our homes, to our parents, to our children, to our loved ones,

00:34:05 --> 00:34:09

to our teachers, we just start getting really, it was slack off,

00:34:09 --> 00:34:13

right. And this is the nature of the human being, you get into bad

00:34:13 --> 00:34:17

habits, and it just kind of starts to have this ripple effect. And

00:34:17 --> 00:34:22

unfortunately, that just becomes you know, who we are. So we want

00:34:22 --> 00:34:26

to seek refuge in Allah from that. And so he's giving you this advice

00:34:26 --> 00:34:30

that get the prayer, right, and he's writing to his governors. And

00:34:30 --> 00:34:33

to me, that's really also a really important point. Because, you

00:34:33 --> 00:34:38

know, most of us, we have our, you know, our families that we, we

00:34:38 --> 00:34:43

pretend we were in charge of and we protect and we take care of and

00:34:43 --> 00:34:46

then we have our work and maybe some extended family members. So

00:34:46 --> 00:34:53

it's like, you know, small into it in, in, in contrast to someone

00:34:53 --> 00:34:56

who's in a public office position, right, a governor. I mean,

00:34:56 --> 00:34:59

consider how many people are under their care

00:35:00 --> 00:35:03

Not just their own families, but you have entire cities or states

00:35:03 --> 00:35:08

or what have you. So for him to give this advice that, you know,

00:35:08 --> 00:35:12

he's saying very clearly the most important of your affairs, in my

00:35:12 --> 00:35:15

view is the prayer. He's telling them that, you know, don't

00:35:15 --> 00:35:19

prioritize your work. And this is a good message for workaholics out

00:35:19 --> 00:35:24

there, or mama holics, or data holics or whoever brother holics,

00:35:24 --> 00:35:29

whoever it is that you are prioritizing, you know, and we do

00:35:29 --> 00:35:33

this subconsciously, sometimes, you know, you're up at night

00:35:33 --> 00:35:37

working on your project for work, and you're so stressed out, and

00:35:37 --> 00:35:40

you issues and but you're too tired, you're just like, it's

00:35:40 --> 00:35:44

okay. You know, no, you can't prioritize your work projects

00:35:44 --> 00:35:50

above worshiping Allah subhanho data. And so, again, this advice

00:35:50 --> 00:35:55

is for, for all of us to remember that nothing precedes our worship.

00:35:55 --> 00:35:59

So don't make excuses. I have deadlines. I'm, I'm worried about

00:35:59 --> 00:36:04

this XY and Z pray and inshallah watch, how Allah subhanaw taala

00:36:04 --> 00:36:08

will facilitate your affairs for you. But if you don't, then be

00:36:08 --> 00:36:12

prepared for a lot of failures, may God protect us.

00:36:13 --> 00:36:18

So we're still on page 44. They go on to say this is advice from the

00:36:18 --> 00:36:23

man who they're talking about and said, I'm, for the law home, home.

00:36:24 --> 00:36:29

So this is advice from the man whom Satan completely avoided. So

00:36:29 --> 00:36:33

if our mother went down a path shaytaan would take another route.

00:36:33 --> 00:36:37

And we know that right, he was afraid of him, surely remaining in

00:36:37 --> 00:36:40

a state of purity, and being regular in prayer will keep

00:36:40 --> 00:36:45

shaytaan away from us. And this is also, you know, the advice that we

00:36:45 --> 00:36:48

have about keeping your will do, being consistent in your will do

00:36:48 --> 00:36:53

does attract the angels and repel the shouting. So that's just

00:36:53 --> 00:36:57

another, you know, little side note there. But it's important to

00:36:57 --> 00:37:01

keep in mind because in order to facilitate your prayer, you also

00:37:01 --> 00:37:06

have to, you know, think smart, not hard, you know, you sometimes

00:37:06 --> 00:37:10

people think of, they don't plan in advance, they don't really

00:37:10 --> 00:37:14

think about how to make the prayer easier. For example, keeping your

00:37:14 --> 00:37:19

will do as a rule or trying to always maintain although no matter

00:37:19 --> 00:37:22

what, and especially before you leave your house like that should

00:37:22 --> 00:37:26

be a written rule somewhere in your mind's eye at least, that you

00:37:26 --> 00:37:31

know, I don't leave the house without Luke. Because then if you

00:37:31 --> 00:37:34

happen to find yourself in a situation where you forgot to

00:37:34 --> 00:37:37

pray, and Hendra, you don't have to worry about scrambling around

00:37:37 --> 00:37:41

trying to find a bathroom to make your will do and, or, you know,

00:37:41 --> 00:37:44

thinking about oh, no, it's so dirty in public bathrooms, we know

00:37:44 --> 00:37:47

are just not clean most of the time. So you're removing that

00:37:47 --> 00:37:51

burden by keeping this rule that I don't ever leave the house without

00:37:51 --> 00:37:54

will do. And also be mindful of how much you're drinking. If you

00:37:54 --> 00:37:58

do leave the house. That's also a personal rule of mine. I tried to

00:37:58 --> 00:38:02

be very vigilant about how much I'm drinking because if I'm going,

00:38:02 --> 00:38:06

for example, my family and I would like to sometimes go two day trips

00:38:06 --> 00:38:11

to San Francisco and other local, beautiful sites. And when we get

00:38:11 --> 00:38:14

in the car, sure the kids will have little snacks and we'll you

00:38:14 --> 00:38:18

know, I'll have our drinks. But I always am mindful to remind myself

00:38:18 --> 00:38:21

and them to slow down. Don't drink too much because we need to keep

00:38:21 --> 00:38:25

our will do. We don't want to be out and about and oh, I have to

00:38:25 --> 00:38:28

again use the restroom. And now Now I have to worry about well

00:38:28 --> 00:38:30

though for the next pair because likely we're not going to be home.

00:38:31 --> 00:38:34

It just gets too complicated. But if you make these little practical

00:38:34 --> 00:38:38

adjustments and rules for yourself, you're making it easy

00:38:38 --> 00:38:41

and inshallah you won't have problems you'll be able to pray,

00:38:41 --> 00:38:45

and everybody everything will be fine in sha Allah but it takes

00:38:45 --> 00:38:49

that type of effort and mindfulness and practice to get

00:38:49 --> 00:38:50

there. So

00:38:51 --> 00:38:55

the ritual prayer is the believers protection and connection with his

00:38:55 --> 00:39:00

Lord. The prayer is a science and an art that takes many years of

00:39:00 --> 00:39:04

serious and vigilant practice. In order to arrive at its true

00:39:04 --> 00:39:07

reality. The first and most important matter is to learn its

00:39:07 --> 00:39:11

form. This involves studying a valid text from one of the

00:39:11 --> 00:39:16

canonical schools of Islam with a teacher who is licensed to teach

00:39:16 --> 00:39:20

the section of the rules of fiqh jurisprudence. So when seeking a

00:39:20 --> 00:39:24

teacher keep in mind the Hadith related by Imam authority, and

00:39:24 --> 00:39:27

others that the great scholar have been sitting said sacred knowledge

00:39:27 --> 00:39:33

is the essence of religion. So let each of you examine Well, whom he

00:39:33 --> 00:39:37

takes his knowledge from. So finding a teacher, that's the see

00:39:37 --> 00:39:41

how there you need to learn how to do the prayer correctly. So

00:39:41 --> 00:39:44

studying the fifth of prayer, and of course, we know there's four

00:39:44 --> 00:39:49

schools of thought in this Sunni orthodox Islam. And so we have,

00:39:49 --> 00:39:53

you want to find a qualified teacher who studied the fifth the

00:39:53 --> 00:39:57

jurisprudence of one of the four schools and ask them to teach you.

00:39:58 --> 00:40:00

The next stage is to be vich

00:40:00 --> 00:40:03

To learn about ritual purity and will do and hustle, and about the

00:40:03 --> 00:40:09

avoidance of urine and any other impurities, now Jassa Be sure to

00:40:09 --> 00:40:12

study both the section on impurities and the section on

00:40:12 --> 00:40:16

purification, according to the great scholar and Reviver of the

00:40:16 --> 00:40:20

last century, and I'm Hamid mo luda, Jacobi. The rules of prayer

00:40:20 --> 00:40:24

should be reviewed every six months in order to keep them

00:40:24 --> 00:40:29

fresh. Somehow, that's advice for all of us to take. Some of us may

00:40:29 --> 00:40:33

have learned these rules, when we were younger, when we were

00:40:33 --> 00:40:38

children, or maybe later in our adolescence or young adult stages.

00:40:38 --> 00:40:42

But as we grow the mind, of course, we know can be for you

00:40:42 --> 00:40:45

know, we can forget. And so it's important to renew our whatever

00:40:45 --> 00:40:49

we've learned, and to, to go over those rules just to make sure that

00:40:49 --> 00:40:51

we're not forgetting.

00:40:52 --> 00:40:55

Finally, let us all heed the advice of the great Moroccan

00:40:55 --> 00:40:59

scholar, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al after he who says in his text on

00:40:59 --> 00:41:04

the prayer, and so now this is going to be a quote from him I

00:41:04 --> 00:41:08

went after the, the prayer contains a vast spiritual light

00:41:08 --> 00:41:13

that radiates in the hearts of those who truly pray, but it is

00:41:13 --> 00:41:18

only obtainable by one who has humbly submitted Himself. Thus

00:41:18 --> 00:41:23

should you come to the prayer. Empty your heart of the ephemeral

00:41:23 --> 00:41:27

world and what it contains, and occupy yourself with vigilant

00:41:27 --> 00:41:33

awareness of your master, for whose sake you are praying. firmly

00:41:33 --> 00:41:36

believe that your prayer is humility and a basement for the

00:41:36 --> 00:41:41

sake of Allah. exalted above attribution is he by means of

00:41:41 --> 00:41:47

standing, bowing and prostrating more over it is a form of

00:41:47 --> 00:41:52

reverence and magnification of him by means of saying Allahu Akbar,

00:41:52 --> 00:41:57

Subhana Allah and other general remembrances. This guard your

00:41:57 --> 00:42:01

prayer, as it is the greatest of all acts of worship, do not allow

00:42:01 --> 00:42:05

shape onto Play with your heart and preoccupy you during your

00:42:05 --> 00:42:10

prayers to such an extent that he blinds your hearts eye and

00:42:10 --> 00:42:13

deprives you of the pleasure of the spiritual lights of the

00:42:13 --> 00:42:16

prayer, therefore have constant humility in it for surely it

00:42:16 --> 00:42:20

prevents you from committing foulness and misdeeds because of

00:42:20 --> 00:42:25

that very humility in it, seek help from Allah for surely he is

00:42:25 --> 00:42:29

the best of those whose help is sought. So that was the quote of

00:42:29 --> 00:42:35

even from the villa, so many gems and beautiful points there. But

00:42:35 --> 00:42:39

really, just to remember, what is the point of the prayer, the point

00:42:39 --> 00:42:42

of the prayers to connect us to Allah subhanaw taala, to show our

00:42:42 --> 00:42:47

humility to Him, and to really rid ourselves of the filth of this

00:42:47 --> 00:42:52

dunya to stand before Him in abject humility and to ask His

00:42:52 --> 00:42:57

forgiveness for our, you know, our misdeeds and our sins and all of

00:42:57 --> 00:42:57

our

00:42:59 --> 00:43:02

transgressions and to ask for guidance. So there's so it's a

00:43:02 --> 00:43:07

process, it's not just a robotic event that takes place five times

00:43:07 --> 00:43:10

a day where we get up and speak in a language we may not be fluent in

00:43:10 --> 00:43:14

or know. And we're thinking about, you know, our day to day

00:43:14 --> 00:43:18

activities. And that if that's your experience, that's normal

00:43:18 --> 00:43:22

people we all struggle with, with intrusive thoughts during prayers.

00:43:23 --> 00:43:25

This is very normal. So it's not you know, we're just speaking

00:43:25 --> 00:43:29

about the ideal the ideals that we want to pursue in prayer, the

00:43:29 --> 00:43:33

perfection of prayer, is to stand before Allah's paddock totally

00:43:33 --> 00:43:39

focused, aware of him, and really in that impoverished state,

00:43:39 --> 00:43:46

because that is the point it's to show our reverence our need of Him

00:43:46 --> 00:43:48

our just complete.

00:43:49 --> 00:43:52

You know, we're lost without all of us have had that. And that's

00:43:52 --> 00:43:55

what the prayer should reflect is that you're aware of that you need

00:43:55 --> 00:43:57

him. And so,

00:43:58 --> 00:44:01

Marshall a beautiful description there. The duration of the

00:44:01 --> 00:44:05

exercise for the prayers, 40 days, we should stipulate with ourselves

00:44:05 --> 00:44:11

that for 40 consecutive days, we will pray all five prayers at

00:44:11 --> 00:44:16

their respective times without missing one, while fulfilling each

00:44:16 --> 00:44:20

prayers, conditions, pillars near integrals, and recommended acts.

00:44:20 --> 00:44:25

If any of the prayers is not prayed on time, then we must start

00:44:25 --> 00:44:29

the 40 day period over SubhanAllah. That's, that's

00:44:29 --> 00:44:33

intense, but this is again, this is the purpose of this whole text.

00:44:34 --> 00:44:37

It's changing ourselves. It's transformation. And so you want to

00:44:37 --> 00:44:42

look at it like that's, that's a pretty big, you know, goal, but

00:44:42 --> 00:44:47

it's definitely attainable. And there's people who've done this

00:44:47 --> 00:44:50

and so how should you do it? You know, do you have a journal? Do

00:44:50 --> 00:44:54

you have a record? Do you have some way of keeping score so that

00:44:54 --> 00:44:58

you can see Did I do my prayer on time? Did I fulfill all of the

00:44:58 --> 00:44:59

requirements

00:45:00 --> 00:45:05

have this 40 Day Challenge. And if not, then you're you reset, you go

00:45:05 --> 00:45:10

back to day one. So I think it's really great. You know, because

00:45:10 --> 00:45:14

human nature we are forgetful. But at the same time, when the

00:45:14 --> 00:45:19

consequences are so severe, we tend to be more mindful. So the

00:45:19 --> 00:45:23

fact that you're aware of having to go all the way back to the

00:45:23 --> 00:45:28

starting point by one misstep, one missed prayer should be Inshallah,

00:45:28 --> 00:45:32

the reason why you have so much more presence and are so much more

00:45:32 --> 00:45:36

aware, and inshallah will succeed. So I think it's a really brilliant

00:45:36 --> 00:45:40

way of doing this, the exercise may take,

00:45:41 --> 00:45:44

the exercise may take a long time to complete, but this is the

00:45:44 --> 00:45:48

struggle of the believers, so we should never despair. For a man

00:45:48 --> 00:45:52

This exercise is preferably performed in congregation and

00:45:52 --> 00:45:55

preferably in the mosque. But due to the fact that many people in

00:45:55 --> 00:45:59

Western countries do not live near a mosque, that is not always an

00:45:59 --> 00:46:03

option. If one can pray at least the dawn prayer and then I pray in

00:46:03 --> 00:46:07

a mosque, then the reward is greater. A family is counted as a

00:46:07 --> 00:46:10

congregation. Therefore, it is important for a husband wife and

00:46:10 --> 00:46:14

children who are seven years of age and older to pray together in

00:46:14 --> 00:46:17

the house if congregational prayers are not held in your area.

00:46:18 --> 00:46:21

So I think that's really great general advice, but also really

00:46:21 --> 00:46:25

does apply to all of us now, we most of us are still not able to

00:46:25 --> 00:46:29

go back to our local masajid. And so or if we are the times are,

00:46:29 --> 00:46:32

there's a lot of restrictions there. So this is a really good

00:46:32 --> 00:46:37

advice about just starting to do these congregational prayers in

00:46:37 --> 00:46:42

your home, with those conditions of children being seven or older,

00:46:42 --> 00:46:45

and making that the habit and this, you know, it's really,

00:46:46 --> 00:46:49

again, it's just it's relevant because so many of us this could

00:46:49 --> 00:46:52

apply to and it's easy for us to ensure that people are working

00:46:52 --> 00:46:55

from home. I know with my family and from dinner for the most part,

00:46:55 --> 00:46:57

we tried to do our prayers always together.

00:46:58 --> 00:47:02

Because it's we're all here and it's just makes sense that way so

00:47:02 --> 00:47:02

from to do that.

00:47:04 --> 00:47:08

The Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu sallam said, if people knew what

00:47:08 --> 00:47:12

was in the congregational prayer, they would attend it, even if it

00:47:12 --> 00:47:14

meant they crawled Subhanallah

00:47:15 --> 00:47:18

let's just visualize that for a moment. You know, people crawling

00:47:18 --> 00:47:22

to the masjid just because they want the reward, because they're

00:47:22 --> 00:47:27

aware of the reward. Right? But we were, we're not told that that

00:47:27 --> 00:47:31

specific reward, but in many ways, we are told the reward just by

00:47:31 --> 00:47:35

virtue of these words, we can understand that there is immense

00:47:35 --> 00:47:40

reward in going to prayers, Inshallah, that our congregational

00:47:40 --> 00:47:44

in the masjid, and this is, you know, more so forth. For men, it's

00:47:44 --> 00:47:44

certainly

00:47:46 --> 00:47:51

required more than for women. The early companions also said that if

00:47:51 --> 00:47:55

someone did not attend prayers in the mosque regularly without a

00:47:55 --> 00:48:00

valid excuse, they considered him to be a hypocrite of Allah. A sure

00:48:00 --> 00:48:03

sign of hypocrites is that when the prayer time comes in, they are

00:48:03 --> 00:48:08

lazy and procrastinate until the time is almost out.

00:48:09 --> 00:48:12

Oh, the villa, may Allah forgive us, right? And you know, when we

00:48:12 --> 00:48:16

hear these words, I know they can sometimes you know, be jarring,

00:48:16 --> 00:48:19

because you don't ever want to think of yourself as a hypocrite,

00:48:19 --> 00:48:23

you know, and many people are really trying their best. And so

00:48:23 --> 00:48:27

sometimes we fall short. And these words, we shouldn't take them to

00:48:27 --> 00:48:31

shame to shame to you know, to make us feel bad and socially

00:48:31 --> 00:48:35

shamed of ourselves that we don't even think there's any point. No,

00:48:35 --> 00:48:40

that's from che fine. It's just a matter of, we expect we, you know,

00:48:40 --> 00:48:44

we should do better, we can do better. So it's really a matter of

00:48:44 --> 00:48:47

trying to encourage all of us to do better, right?

00:48:52 --> 00:48:56

So this is chapter four, verse 142. If they get up to pray they

00:48:56 --> 00:49:01

do though, they do so sloppily. Right? So that's stuff little

00:49:01 --> 00:49:07

again, the sign of someone who has any fat boys. They don't pray with

00:49:07 --> 00:49:11

that, you know, this is I have to do this or I live that resolve

00:49:11 --> 00:49:14

isn't there, they kind of dragged their feet to the prayer. So we

00:49:14 --> 00:49:17

should be mindful. Is that how we approach the prayer where it's

00:49:17 --> 00:49:21

like, as if we're being tortured out of the lab? This is a meeting

00:49:21 --> 00:49:25

with ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada. And yes, maybe physically, we're tired

00:49:25 --> 00:49:31

or exhausted where we just want to sit around and do nothing. But

00:49:32 --> 00:49:35

the prayer is not that you shouldn't target the prayer with

00:49:35 --> 00:49:39

those feelings, right? That's the it's not the fault of prayer

00:49:39 --> 00:49:43

coming in that you should feel that way towards the prayer. It's

00:49:43 --> 00:49:47

that you are maybe need to readjust your schedule. Maybe

00:49:47 --> 00:49:50

you're not sleeping enough. Maybe you don't have the time management

00:49:50 --> 00:49:54

so that when a prayer comes in, you feel burdened by it, but if

00:49:54 --> 00:49:58

you were more organized, you would just see it as something you have

00:49:58 --> 00:49:59

to do and that you want to do.

00:50:00 --> 00:50:02

You and inshallah you don't have that attitude towards it.

00:50:04 --> 00:50:09

Let me see the time here. And last we have a 50 Okay, so I'll read.

00:50:09 --> 00:50:13

Okay, I'll read the last section, just one page, and then we'll stop

00:50:13 --> 00:50:18

for questions and, and inshallah we'll be ready next time for

00:50:18 --> 00:50:22

exercise to guarding the tongue. So, this is the remainder of this

00:50:22 --> 00:50:25

section, the three prayers that require special vigilance or the

00:50:25 --> 00:50:30

dawn. So the mid day ASA and sunset, so the dawn is also a

00:50:30 --> 00:50:34

budget right? Some people miss the dawn prayer out of laziness or too

00:50:34 --> 00:50:38

much activity into the early hours of the morning. It is similar to

00:50:38 --> 00:50:42

retire at night after the night prayer is performed. And there is

00:50:42 --> 00:50:45

great wisdom in that practice, as in all of the prophetic

00:50:45 --> 00:50:49

traditions, the midday prayer is probably the middle prayer that

00:50:49 --> 00:50:54

the Quran warns us of when Allah subhanaw taala says, Be vigilant

00:50:54 --> 00:50:57

about your prayers, and particularly of the middle prayer.

00:50:57 --> 00:51:03

And that's in sort of Bacara for chapter two verse 238. So Mr.

00:51:03 --> 00:51:06

Malik, following the opinions of ideas of the law on inhibit

00:51:06 --> 00:51:10

investment, you're considered the middle prayer to be the dawn

00:51:10 --> 00:51:13

prayer. So the Fajr the Hadith, and I've already mentioned the

00:51:13 --> 00:51:17

midday prayer as the middle as the middle prayer, and in some ways,

00:51:17 --> 00:51:21

the middle prayer is like the Night of Power, it is hidden

00:51:21 --> 00:51:25

within the prayers. So we should be vigilant about all of them.

00:51:25 --> 00:51:28

Subhanallah so you can see the all the scholars on it, I had

00:51:28 --> 00:51:32

different opinions about which prayer does this verse apply to

00:51:32 --> 00:51:36

right? Be vigilant about your prayers, and particularly of the

00:51:36 --> 00:51:40

middle prayer, it's like a little credit as its as the text

00:51:40 --> 00:51:43

mentions, we don't quite know which night of Ramadan is like a

00:51:43 --> 00:51:48

little harder, we have an idea. Some people assert certain things,

00:51:48 --> 00:51:53

but we really don't know. So in the same way, this verse about the

00:51:53 --> 00:51:56

secret or you know, the superiority of the middle prayer

00:51:56 --> 00:51:59

is also unknown to us. But mashallah, there's great wisdom in

00:51:59 --> 00:52:04

that because, and to me, it makes perfect sense. Perhaps it was, if

00:52:04 --> 00:52:09

it was revealed, we would, we would only focus on that prayer

00:52:09 --> 00:52:15

and then not do well and the other prayers, right, somehow a lot or

00:52:15 --> 00:52:18

not, or kind of slack off on the other prayer. So I think there's

00:52:18 --> 00:52:22

just immense wisdom and it being a secret, that's something we should

00:52:22 --> 00:52:27

pursue inshallah. So sorry, I'm just checking my messages here. I

00:52:27 --> 00:52:30

have a message from Brother son man who want to make sure I'm not

00:52:31 --> 00:52:34

missing anything. One moment please. Okay.

00:52:36 --> 00:52:41

So, then, we have the next section the sense that prayer has a very

00:52:41 --> 00:52:45

short time in which it must be performed. Whereas the post

00:52:45 --> 00:52:48

Meridian prayer and the night prayer have longer valid

00:52:48 --> 00:52:52

timeframes and are more flexible for people schedules should people

00:52:52 --> 00:52:56

need to delay them, which is also another mashallah such great mercy

00:52:56 --> 00:53:00

from almost Pathan knowing that the daylight times when people

00:53:00 --> 00:53:04

work and so he's given us these longer windows right. Upon

00:53:04 --> 00:53:09

faltering in an exercise we need to levy a self imposed penalty to

00:53:09 --> 00:53:13

discipline the knifes such as spending and charity or fasting it

00:53:13 --> 00:53:16

is also better to do this with others as a way of enjoying each

00:53:16 --> 00:53:20

other to righteousness and Taqwa. So if you are doing this practice

00:53:20 --> 00:53:23

of trying to commit to your prayers for 40 days, and let's say

00:53:23 --> 00:53:26

you miss a prayer, in addition to having to go all the way back to

00:53:26 --> 00:53:32

step one, they're suggesting that you set up another system of, you

00:53:32 --> 00:53:36

know, sort of a penalty for yourself so that, you know, not

00:53:37 --> 00:53:41

let your enough's get the best of you again, you can do that by

00:53:41 --> 00:53:44

yourself or with a friend. Once we're performing the five

00:53:44 --> 00:53:48

obligatory prayers with regularity, then it is certainly

00:53:48 --> 00:53:53

worthy. It is certainly worthy, worth our efforts, excuse me, to

00:53:53 --> 00:53:57

begin increasing extra prayers, especially the late night prayers,

00:53:57 --> 00:54:01

the 100 late night prayer is one of the defining qualities of Asana

00:54:01 --> 00:54:05

have a righteous person, also called a woody, a friend of Allah.

00:54:05 --> 00:54:08

Regarding the late night prayers, for there'll be an IED said that

00:54:08 --> 00:54:13

if a man was unable to do them, it was due to his wrong actions

00:54:13 --> 00:54:18

during the day. May Allah make us befitting to stand before him here

00:54:18 --> 00:54:21

and in the hereafter. I mean, I mean, I mean, so somebody

00:54:21 --> 00:54:26

wonderful, just like I said, gems throughout this portion, and of

00:54:26 --> 00:54:29

course, throughout the book, but that last point about you know,

00:54:29 --> 00:54:33

really trying to perfect our prayers because again, people who

00:54:33 --> 00:54:36

are tuning in maybe a different level. So if you've arrived at

00:54:36 --> 00:54:39

that place of really taking your five daily prayer seriously, then

00:54:39 --> 00:54:44

this is the next level, which is committing to the 100 prayers. And

00:54:44 --> 00:54:48

also, if you're consistent with your tahajjud prayers, and you

00:54:48 --> 00:54:52

miss them, then you should certainly take yourself into

00:54:52 --> 00:54:57

account what did you do during the day that Allah subhanaw taala

00:54:57 --> 00:54:59

withheld that the hedges prayer from you? I

00:55:00 --> 00:55:06

As in some way a you know a bit of a punishment right or a penalty

00:55:06 --> 00:55:11

What did you do during the day so, everybody is at different levels

00:55:11 --> 00:55:14

but I think this really speaks to all of us that when shall we have

00:55:14 --> 00:55:16

to find a where we are in this

00:55:17 --> 00:55:22

you know, in trying to fulfill this this exercise and in trying

00:55:22 --> 00:55:26

to perfect and garner prayers inshallah and and do what we have

00:55:26 --> 00:55:29

to do so may Allah is probably gonna give us also FIP and

00:55:29 --> 00:55:33

Hamdulillah that was the end of section one or exercise one on

00:55:33 --> 00:55:38

guarding the prayers in two weeks time we will go over exercise to

00:55:38 --> 00:55:42

which will be guarding the tongue and the other sections that

00:55:42 --> 00:55:45

follow. So just like more when I'm going to see a brother, someone

00:55:45 --> 00:55:48

told me a couple of minutes ago there were no questions, but maybe

00:55:48 --> 00:55:52

now that I've opened it up or I'm opening it up, I should say there

00:55:52 --> 00:55:57

will be so I'll just wait for him or let me actually stop the

00:55:57 --> 00:56:00

screenshare and I can also check comm to do that.

00:56:01 --> 00:56:07

So let's see we have a few minutes so inshallah we can hopefully

00:56:07 --> 00:56:12

address anything that needs to be addressed. I'm on Facebook. I

00:56:12 --> 00:56:15

don't know where you are brother, son, man, if you are on YouTube on

00:56:15 --> 00:56:20

Facebook, I don't see I just see my awesome Salaam. Thank you. Ben

00:56:20 --> 00:56:25

Jetta Harrison, emotional Samaniego, icumsa them and

00:56:25 --> 00:56:27

actually I want to say are a key I don't forgive me if I'm

00:56:27 --> 00:56:31

pronouncing it wrong, but thank you for your setups of Hamdulillah

00:56:31 --> 00:56:34

I don't see any questions there and but it's not the man is also

00:56:34 --> 00:56:40

telling me no on YouTube as well. So it's a quiet night. Maybe?

00:56:41 --> 00:56:45

Did I thank you for tuning in everyone. It's always a pleasure

00:56:45 --> 00:56:48

and an honor to to do these gatherings with all of you and 100

00:56:48 --> 00:56:52

we're getting we're making way through this text or inshallah

00:56:52 --> 00:56:56

we'll hopefully be getting through it or to the end of it soon. But

00:56:56 --> 00:56:59

thank you for your patience and just I can walk in and thank you

00:56:59 --> 00:57:05

thank you so much. LaTonya Thank you aneko Salam Aviagen I see some

00:57:05 --> 00:57:10

lovely comments Thank you. Shana has just like a Lafayette and

00:57:10 --> 00:57:15

mashallah You guys are so kind to leave comments and doors and mean

00:57:16 --> 00:57:19

to all of your thoughts. Thank you so much. We'll go ahead and end

00:57:20 --> 00:57:25

into our inshallah and we'll see you in two weeks Subhanallah

00:57:25 --> 00:57:27

humble Be humble hamburger Chateau and ala l Anthony software

00:57:27 --> 00:57:31

according to what you make. Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim when

00:57:31 --> 00:57:34

asked to enter in Santa Fe hawser Illallah Nina Amendola, Amina

00:57:34 --> 00:57:39

Swati hottie with US Open happy whatever. So this summer, I mean,

00:57:39 --> 00:57:42

I mean, which ranges that come a little hit and again, everyone

00:57:42 --> 00:57:46

have a wonderful remainder of your evening inshallah and we will see

00:57:46 --> 00:57:47

you in two weeks.

Share Page