Hosai Mojaddidi – An Agenda to Change Our Condition (Session 6)
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The segment discusses the importance of understanding one's condition and finding one's way to worship. The speaker emphasizes the need for people to be aware of their natural
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As long it's about seven pages long. And the three main areas
that he covers is our current state. And then he and this was,
you know, published in 2013. So keep that in mind that this text
was, you know, seven years, seven years old. But, but still, when we
talk about our current state, a lot of the things that he
discusses is still very much relevant, then the inner and outer
transformations, and the importance of family. So we'll
likely not get to all three of these points, because there's so
much content to cover. So inshallah we'll continue wherever
we left off for the next session. But let's go ahead and begin this
matter. So, first, the very first page here, I'm going to read
along, and then we'll stop for some commentary here in there. So
he says, Islam a submission to what is real with a capital R, it
is a recognition and an acceptance of the way things really are, and
not as they appear. Everything is in submission to Allah subhanaw
taala, who is the real unhappy, you know, just yet, Friday, I did
another program where we talked about the dunya. And the verses
from sort of the calf, verses seven and eight, we're almost
pocket a says that he has, you know, adorned to the world. And we
looked at, you know, the meaning of those verses and the receipt of
those verses. And what it indicates is that the, as we know,
the word for the earth, dunya is actually translated to mean a
below place, right? At an hour done yet, right? It's a low place.
And so what we what we can extrapolate from, from the verses
that in its essence, the dunya is low, but there's embellishments,
there's beauty, there's adornments in the dunya, right? And so when
we talk about what is real, we're not talking about what what those
adornments embellishments are, we're talking about the reality of
the dunya, right? Or the reality of things, and the fact that
everything in this dunya, including us, we will all perish,
everything will be will perish and be removed and destroyed. Except
for the face of ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada. Right. This is what we're
informed of, in the Quran. So, here this is, again, speaking to
the same truths, right, that when we submit as Muslims, when we
acknowledge that there's reality and falsehood, and we have that
recognition, that that what we see in the illusory world around us,
is not reality. It's it is illusory, it's deceptive. It's
enticing. It's temptation, it's attempting. And it's by design
that way, because also had that created all of those adornments to
test us to test who is true in their faith and detest who will
fulfill you know, be virtuous in their deeds and who isn't. So,
it's all part of the design elements. So, here again, this is
the reminder that we are the to be a believer is to submit and to
accept this as truth right. And then he goes on to say, Only human
beings and willful spirits, which are the jinn can rebel against our
Creator. Right? So all other creation is in submission,
animals, right? They can't, all living things. They can't be
anything in any other state but in submission, whereas we humans and
jinn can, we have free will we can choose right? over 1400 years ago,
this path of Islam was renewed to mark the entry into the last phase
of human experience on Earth. It was renewed by the best of
creation, the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, as
the final prophet and the seal of all of Allah's prophets upon them.
obps He was its greatest wayfare and he never deviated from its
course. His blessed footprints remain clear and unchanged for
anyone desiring to set out on that ancient prophetic path. So then
the next paragraph he now talks about what the this this text is,
right? So he says before you is a concise treaties on the path to
Taqwa. So now we're being introduced to this concept of
Taqwa which is conscious awareness of our Lord. devotion to God,
through Taqwa is the primary reason for our existence. And the
means by which we are ensured continued support from our
Creator. So this is a really powerful reminder because, you
know, it's very easy to get caught up in the delusions and the
illusions of the dunya. And get so preoccupied with all of our
responsibilities, right. Some of us are, are, you know, we, our
parents are still alive, so we're still dutiful to them. We have
spouses, maybe we have children, we work we have dependents that we
take care of. We have responsibilities at work or
community members. So we have all these different roles and wear
different hats, and all those things can sometimes you know,
take over our our frame
of mind our thinking, and we become so obsessed with all of
those things that we can sometimes forget that even though those
things are important, certainly they're important. The main
purpose for our existence isn't necessarily those things or our
career paths, or our dreams and goals. Those are not the reason
why we were created, we were created solely to worship Allah
subhanaw taala. And so that's what tapah is. And so then he says,
Allah says in the first command and the entire Quran, right, he
says, oh, humanity, or O mankind, worship your Lord, Who created you
and those before you in order for you to realize Taqwa. So again,
this is the whole purpose of our creation. And he's reminding us
that this is the first command Allah subhanaw taala gives us and
it's right in the very beginning of the Quran, the second chapter,
sort of the vichara, verse 21. And then in the very next page, he
says, He reminds us of the first proposition. So right after this
verse, you know, where he's giving us the first command. Now we have
our first prohibition where Allah has passed that reminds us do not
set up false deities besides Allah, you are aware of what
you're doing. So what we should be doing and what we should not be
doing right. And then this next
verse, which comes later, right, he says, while there are many
faults, this is James's commentary. While there are many
false deities besides Allah, the self is the greatest and most
subtle. So this concept of a false deity, you know, sometimes when we
think of a deity or an idol, we think of a little statue or a big
statue, something that people prostrate to, and it's symbolic,
and there's, you know, there's something real before a person and
they, you know, they have this, they worship that idol, right. But
here, he's making it clear that, you know, there's many idols in
the world, there are many people who still ascribe to those
beliefs. But the one that is the most subtle and the greatest is
the worship of the knifes the sort that I mean, the the the ego,
right? Then that's, and so the translation of that, versus Have
you not seen the one who took his desire SSDT. So Allah somehow that
is reminding us that there are people who literally worship their
own desires and whims, they, they just live to fulfill their whims
and desires. And if we are being honest, right now, looking around
the world,
it is clear that this is true, because we have never likely I
mean, again, I can't, I'm just making a general observation. But
the amount of indulgence and extravagance and access to things
that we have now is unprecedented. We don't, you know, have to really
do much in order to get what we want. It's, it's so easy now with
everything. Now moving to digital and online formats. You can
request services, you can order food, you can order gifts, you can
order, whatever necessities you have, your medication can come to
you, you can do so much you can even have online, doctor visits,
you know, there's so many things that we can do in a click of a
button. So it's clear that, you know, this access to indulge in
our whims and desires and this ease of access or ease in doing
that can definitely create a dependency. And then, you know,
some form of addiction, preoccupation, which is all in
line with the same sort of thought, right? That this is a
form of worship, if that's what you live to do if you can, if you
eat and your whole day is centered around food and what you're going
to eat, and you can't wait to wake up and have this meal or that
meal, or you have a craving and you can just, you know, order it
and that's how you live then you become naturally because of that.
I mean it's human nature you'll become entitled right? And once
you become entitled to your end beholden to your enough's, you be
you know, you become a slave of your enough's.
And then it's very difficult to, to do anything else besides that.
So when it's time to pray, for example, well, you're not just
like, Oh, I'm too tired, you know, I'm exhausted I love I'm too
comfortable to get up and move right now. So all of those
challenges become or just the natural, you know, nature of the
of the nerves, which is to be lazy and to procrastinate, they are
exacerbated because you've habituated yourself to doing these
things to giving into yourself all the time. So therefore, that is
how you live you live to serve yourself. You're not living to
serve Allah subhanaw taala. And this is the reality of most people
now, especially in the West. You know, of course there's there's a
lot of poverty and a lot of people who are certainly not doing this,
because they're in impoverished states, but I'm talking about our
reality. So in our real
ality This is very true, right? That many people, they take their
desire as their deity. So then he, he goes on to say that struggle
with the self is is the means by which we purify our hearts of
false deities. So fighting those urges, fighting those desires,
suppressing those desires is how we can overcome these things,
right? It is the ancient way of the prophets. It is to walk the
path toward a Realized state of submission to the will of Allah.
Our God is mighty and transcendent, exalted above and
beyond the pettiness of this lower world, right. But he is also an
imminent Lord, who sustains and nourishes His creation, at every
level of existence. So then, he says, Here, I'm not sure actually,
if I have this now, I don't have this verse in a slide, but I'll
read it. Oh, humanity, what has caused you to be deluded about
your Generous Lord, Who has created you and made you so
perfectly proportioned and fashion you in whatever form he chose?
Right? Subhan Allah, may Allah forgive us for our delusions. So
now that he's introduced these ideas, right, that the believer is
in submission to what is to the real to Unhak to Allah subhana wa
Tada. And that we have a clear understanding of what Taqwa is.
And we also understand the first command and first prohibition that
Allah subhanaw taala gave us and, you know, and to end the idea that
you can actually worship, your own desire, you know, that's something
maybe people never thought of before. But that's, again, these
are verses from the Quran to get us to think about our own
behavior. How are you proving your, your Buddha, your, you know,
your, your understanding of your relationship with the last part
that as a servant, and he's your rub, right? How are you proving
that if you're indulging in your nuts all the time, so getting that
across that it's very possible that you may we may fall into this
behavior, all the biller, and willingly because we're not, you
know, we don't know how to or we're not aware of the signs and
symptoms of this. But clearly, as we as we said, many of us are very
indulgent. And we do give in to our enough's a lot and we will
prioritize our knifes over the worship of Allah, it's just this
is what the what the agenda is, right? And so acknowledging all of
that, and then that we can be diluted. So Well, now that he's
done that we enter the first section of this introduction,
which is the titled our current state. Okay, so
let me go ahead and read this. And we're gonna get to these to this
slide in a moment, but in this section, he starts off and he
says, Now, the current state of the people of this ancient path is
deplorable. Okay, SubhanAllah. Generally speaking, we are
powerless, bereft, morally bankrupt objects of history,
rather than subjects of history, as were our pious predecessors who
engage the world with the power of truth, and dispel darkness with
their spiritual light. Our condition is far from that of our
noble forebears. It is as if we never recited or even heard the
prayer of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam which he recited
every morning
Oh Allah I seek refuge in You from grief and anxiety by Aloma in the
hours of becoming and him me one hasn't. Wow, what agency Well,
caisson, while Gibney will Bohan what was the sigh? Well Delisle
Dini Well, collaborative region, right. So this is Oh Allah, I seek
refuge in You from grief and anxiety, impotence and indolence,
cowardice and miserliness and from being overcome by debt and
overpowered by men.
So this is our reality, right? He's comparing our state to, to
our noble forebears as he says, and saying that we're nowhere near
them. Right. So the question arises, will how did we reach the
state? There's two questions that when we examine our condition,
this is what where we are, how did we reach the state? Right? And
then how do we get out of this state? And he goes on to say that
the answers to both of these questions are quite painful and
complex, but SubhanAllah. Again, from the Quran, we get an answer
that summarizes both or gives the answer to both of these questions
in this verse, and this is verse 30, or chapter 13, verse 11, where
Allah Subhana Allah says, Allah does not change a people until
they change what is in themselves. So he then continues to give
commentary.
On this particular verse, and shares the commentary of Imam of
authority about a monkey, who in the nourishment of the heart, he
goes on to say that the beauty of this verse is that it comprises a
twofold meaning. First, it means that Allah does not remove
blessings that He has bestowed upon a people until they
transgress from obedience to disobedience. So it works both
ways. When we talk about change, right? It can work for the good or
for for the bad, right? So here, he's giving that perspective. And
so this is the response to our first question, right? That we're
in this state because of our disobedience. And then the second
meaning of this verse is that Allah does not change a people's
outward state of a basement humiliation and objection, until
they change what is in themselves. So this then answers our second
question, right? So again, when we ask these questions, how do we
reach this state? While we're in the state that we're in because of
our disobedience? How do we get out of the state, we must
consciously move from a state of disobedience to a state of
obedience. So Subhanallah, again, so much to think about there,
that, you know, instead of just,
you know, some people when when things get tough or difficult, or
just seem so hard to move forward?
They want to give up, right? They don't have the will the
motivation? So it's like, what's the point I'm, you know, damaged
goods, it's, it's done, it's a done deal. And that's, you know,
what, so So from shape on, because, of course, he doesn't
want us to be motivated, he doesn't want us to have hope. He
doesn't want us to think that change is possible, or, you know,
that there's potential, so he may, and there's certainly people who
do that they look to the past, and they see the glory of the past.
And then they go out, what's the point, we're just a ruined people
were ruined species, this is in human nature, and they get very
cynical and just negative. But this verse is to remind us that,
you know, doing that, if it just if that's your end, you know, the
end of the result of, of contemplating the history and
where we are, and, you know, kind of assessing why we are, where we
are that you just want to give up, you're not, you're not putting
your trust in Allah subhanaw taala this verses is empowering. And it
gives us hope, right, that if we find ourselves in any situation,
we can change it, you know, I, I received an email yesterday from a
sister who, it's just it's hard because you see shaitan how he
weighs on people, how he strips them of hope, and he, you know, he
really makes them feel worthless, because, you know, they they
falter, they, they do things that they have shame about and then he
fills their heart with all of this hopelessness, you know, and so
we're reminded constantly our teachers remind us and of course,
the Quran that we were not a people that should fall into
despair, right, this is, Islam is not a faith of despair, it's of
faith of hope. And so when we look to this first we should, we
should, you know, remember this, because, you know, this sister
when she messaged me, the entire first few lines of her email,
where you could just see the she was guilt ridden. She had done
some things that she was very, very ashamed about. But she had
very little hope in herself and just riddled with with guilt and
sometimes, you know, this is a little footnote but shame is when
it's shame between us and Allah subhanaw taala that's healthy you
know, it's healthy to have that but we should also not fall into a
sense of again despair, where we just think we were there's no hope
those that's a when you reach those types of thoughts, you
should know that those are for me bliss, right? There's there's a
line a fine line. So if you've done something you shouldn't do,
and you have remorse and you really feel bad and you sit sits
with you for a while and it weighs heavy, that's good. Because
inshallah there's purification in that remorse is a good sign.
Right? Because hopefully, you won't fall back into that sin. So
you shouldn't rush through that process either. Which is like, Oh,
well, I did it. And now you're just back to being carefree. No,
sit with those feelings of remorse and regret and really just, you
know, the CEO, beseech Allah subhanaw taala. Ask and plead to
him, beg Him for forgiveness make Toba a process that you don't rush
because of your discomfort with it. Right. Some people, they have
a hard time taking blame and criticism. And so when even when
things are clear, you know, it's undeniable that they've done
something wrong. Maybe because they don't, they don't. They're
just not comfortable with that sense of shame and guilt. They
just zip right through that process altogether. And those
people are likely the ones that returned to say
Since right because they didn't really do the proper process of of
Toba. So Toba is something that we should, you know, let let just
sort of play out naturally in the natural processes to feel that
guilt remorse, maybe kind of, you know, not not want to see people
for a little bit. And just be really preoccupied with centering
yourself back with Allah subhanaw taala trying to reconnect with
him, that might take a few days, maybe it takes a couple of weeks,
maybe it takes a month, maybe it takes longer for each situation
and personal will be different. But the point is, is knowing that
there's a healthy way of doing that. But when you get to the
point where your sins and you're wrong deeds make you doubt that
you have any hope, or that you're damned, and you're condemned, and
there's nothing you can do about it. Those are clearly from Bliss,
because he wants you to not think of yourself as being redeemable,
right? He wants you to feel a fall into despair fall into depression,
and then God forbid, do something to harm yourself or just lose
faith because that's what a lot of some people do. They lose faith
out of out of total guilt sometimes, right? It's really sad,
but we should just know that there's a balance to that. Right.
So the point again, here is that you when you when you take a verse
like this, it's not just to, you know, look back and think, Well,
you know, get cynical, like I said about where we are, or the state
and condition that we're in, like, oh, we had this glorious history,
and now we're all doomed and look at our the Muslim ummah, and we're
all this way. And that way, you can get really negative, and
that's not a good place, either, you know, every period of time.
And every people have tests, every person has tests. So instead of,
you know, getting to that place, just look at it, like it is what
it is, you know, these, this is pretty clear, we are in this
state, because we disobeyed and we can reverse course, you know,
that's what the verse is telling us reverse course, you got here,
because you strayed. Now, if you want to, you know, go back, and,
you know, we connected to ask that again, get back on course, and you
know what to do, right? So hamdulillah
and then he goes on to say so we're back on, if you're if you
have the text, I'm still on page three. So as I said, there's a lot
of text here. So we're, we're going to pace ourselves. But he
says here that um,
let me see actually, so this question How right how do we
change our condition? Right? So then he answers this question. And
he says, Sorry, the slideshows a little slow.
Nope, went too far. Okay, so here, the first thing he says is that we
must recognize that Allah subhanaw taala gave us guidance through
messengers, okay, in our case, the final Prophet salallahu Salam, and
that as long as we adhered to that guidance in large numbers, we were
under the protection of Allah. So when you look at the, you know,
history, you know, the Islamic history, and you see that, you
know, all of the different stages of, of our history and you see the
TOEFL that we had, and all the scholarship that came out are just
so many incredible things that scholars were able to do. You want
to attribute that to obedience to Allah, right, because we were in
obedience to Allah, some happen he gave us to FIP. And we saw all the
success or the golden age of Islam and all of the, you know,
accomplishments that we had as an ummah right? Came out of because
of the obedience to Allah. Then he says, as those numbers right the
numbers of people in obedience to Allah diminished, throughout
Muslim history, the outward enemies of Islam began to make
inroads into the heartland of the Muslims, until they actually
conquered the Muslim lands. So he's giving us some, you know,
summary of the history or historical facts like this is what
happened, there was a period where we had, we were flourishing and we
were successful, we were in obedience to our spider. Then, you
know, as we started straying, the enemies came in and they found a
way to, to further you know, water us down and further take us away
from from our, our fate. So he then goes on to say, today, both
the Muslim heartland and Muslim hearts are oppressed by inward and
outward forces that oppose the purpose of Islam, which is to free
people from submission to created things by helping them achieve
submission to the creator of things Subhan Allah, and he goes
on and says, a culture of vise usury and consumption that
enslaved people to the lowest aspects of their nature cannot
survive amid large numbers of
people committed to freeing themselves from those aspects of
their nature. So when we see, you know, everything that I talked
about before, all of the indulgence and the extravagance,
and all of the things that we have all fallen into these into these
bad habits of doing, because it's easy to do, or it's access, it's
there, right? People are doing it. So we do it to those things only
can exist, because there aren't enough people resisting, right.
And so if we want to, you know, remove those, those things from
our society or culture, we need to start working on restraint, we
need to start working on disciplining the knifes and
really, you know, fighting against our own selves, because that's the
only reason why they're thriving. There's, you know, it's as, as we
learn in, in, you know, economy one on one, right, scarcity, and
now I'm forgetting my words, right, a supply and demand, excuse
me supply and demand, right? So you see these things, because
there's a demand for it. But if we don't ascribe to those things, and
then things will change, so we have to go back to ourselves and
hold ourselves accountable.
He goes on now on page four, and says that the earlier
manifestations of such dark forces that succeeded in penetrating the
Muslim lands, also set up schools, to inculcate their ideas and ways
into the hearts of the young, impressionable Muslims of the last
two centuries, you know, subhanAllah, this is actually
really important, because I mean, he's, you know, mentioning the
history, but even now, when we see what's going on in our world, you
know, a lot of the things that are happening to the young, younger
generation of Muslims do happen in the schools, right, indoctrination
is a real thing. You have, I mean, I've worked with teens, and I've
worked with teens for several years. And I can tell the
difference between teenagers who are, you know, in Muslim schools,
or maybe homeschooled because they haven't been exposed to certain
ideas, or beliefs, or they don't have, you know, relationships and
connections with people who are so different than them, they, you can
totally tell the difference, because, you know, it starts
early. And unfortunately, in some places, it's starting earlier and
earlier, you know, and here in California, we have had a lot of
issues, over the past few years of things being introduced, you know,
early to even elementary school children or preschool children
ideas that are just completely antithetical to our faith. And
we've had, you know, people are trying to petition their school
boards, and there's a lot of, you know, just legal issues going on
with things like that, because it's, it's, you know, for us as
people of faith, there's certain ideas and concepts that are just
not part of our faith. So to have a school decide for families, and
communities that Nope, we are going to teach us no matter what,
it's really, it's really tragic. And it you know, it's it, what
it's done, unfortunately, is it has affected the way that some of
our Muslim youth see the world they have adopted the lens of the
you know, the larger society, because that's what they've been
exposed to, you start them off, I mean, you're thinking about, and
we'll just be practical, I mean, just be logical here, you put your
child in an environment for eight, maybe 10 hours a day, if you if
you consider after school programming, or tutoring or
something else that's beyond, you know, the school day, they're out
of your home, and they are being with people who may have ideas
that, again, differ from yours. So if that's their predominant
culture, like that's what they see most of the time, every single
day, and the only time they get to spend time with you and your
family or your community, you know, is one day a week if that,
because some kids don't necessarily, you know, because
they're always over scheduled with sports and instruments that they
play and all these clubs that they're a part of, especially as
we get to the old, you know, older group of teenagers, they don't
have time and sometimes have no interest in attending the best
shit or on a Friday night youth program. I've worked with many
families where that's the case, the parents are, you know, just
really frustrated because they don't know how to get their child
to want to be a part of the Muslim community because they're so over
spread thin and other ways that are not part of their community.
Right. So all those personal things that they are into with
people, again, that don't necessarily share the same faith
that is the most of their social experience or their experience
outside of the home. So it's a big challenge and a lot of, you know,
Muslim families are struggling with this fact. Right? I mean, I
mean now with COVID and quarantine and shell I'm hoping and praying
that more families are coming
together and there's more connection with with the family.
But it's absolutely a reality for a lot of our, our community
members, that this is an issue. So going back to this point that
Subhanallah, even historically, you know, schooling, was one of
the ways with which they were able to get to the Muslim youth is not
surprising, right all of Allah. So then he goes on to say, they
undermined the spiritual authority of the scholars of Islam. I mean,
again, this is this was written, you know, seven years ago, or even
maybe before that, because it was published seven years ago, but it
was, it was written, I'm certain before that, but the undermining
spiritual authority of scholars of the sun, that's what's been
happening, you know, in our community, unfortunately, for a
while now, with social media, and you see, canceled culture, there's
been a lot of rhetoric that's just alien to our faith tradition to
many of our cultures, that have has been, you know, injected into
the discourse amongst Muslims, especially the younger generation,
you know, just this idea of not really seeing religious authority
as authoritative. And, and, or, or, you know,
or blurring the lines with, with what is an authoritative figure
and what isn't, is it's happening a lot. Yeah, unfortunately. So
again, you know, this is history repeating itself, right? They
undermine the spiritual authorities of scholars of Islam,
making them appear backward and foolish. I mean, that's also the
other thing, you know, there's, there, it's, we live in a meme
culture, and then a lot of, you know, mockery, and you see people
in authority, whether they're law enforcement, or politicians, and
I'm not defending those groups, but I'm just saying that generally
speaking, the idea, that authority, whether it's religious
or otherwise, parents parental authority, it's undermined very
much in this society. You can look at cartoons, films, they start
them very early, right. I mean, I was raised in the era of Bart
Simpson, I know, it's still going on. I mean, it's the longest
running cartoon, right? But you've learned so much about, you know,
mocking and undermining authority from those types of shows. And so
it's just part of the culture to do that, right. So again, history
repeating itself, that that's what they did. And they do that by
making them into buffoons, and you know, they're old, they're, they
don't know what they're talking about their thick accents. And so
there's this culture of mockery, that unfortunately, has taken over
the youth culture and a lot of it sometimes is directed to, to, to
religious authority. So then,
he goes on to say that, again, they make them appear backward and
foolish by promoting the idea that the scholars religious cosmology,
cosmology is paled before the impressive pillars of modern
science and industry. This is another tactic right? To the war
between science ism and, and, and faith in general, right, any type
of religion. There's, it's an intellectual war, and that they
that people of science are atheists, you know, they, they
posit themselves as being superior, because they're more
they have more advanced understanding of things, you know,
they they have science on their side, which is verifiable and
testable. And then faith is, you know, based on faith, it's so
there's definitely that these realities is still even today,
right? Then they then began to remove the powerful cultural
distinctions of Muslims that had flourished for centuries, and
replace them with the coma. That's a French word right of Western
experimental cultural norms and mores. Subhanallah so the, you
know, appropriation of Muslim culture, Muslim foods, and just
the again, watering down of our cultures of our traditions of our
norms, and giving them that flair that Western, you know, American
us or just Western flair, right, that's still again Subhanallah
very valid. Slowly, the dress of Muslims changed.
The scarves fell from the heads of our women, and the beards from the
faces of our men, robes and modest dresses were replaced first by
ridiculous brimmed hats, starched suits and ties and finally, by
jeans and T shirts, causing Muslims to appear not as Caleb's
of Allah, but as wage slaves of the Western styled factories that
sprouted up all over the world. Sandals so beloved to the Prophet
sallallahu Sallam were replaced with tennis shoes made in
sweatshops by people so poor, that they could not afford the very
shoes they produced. So Ha, you know that? I have so much to say
on that. But I remember when I was younger, and
you know, looking at albums of some of the photos that my parents
were able to bring back with them. We came as refugees from
Afghanistan, but they had
They had some pictures. It always shocked me when I saw how European
the fashion sense was in Afghanistan, because I just I
assumed that it was a culture where people dressed in
traditional clothing, you know, and that they had, that that was
the predominant way that people lived. And they identified very
much with their Afghan heritage. So it was really shocking to see
my mom, for example, and my aunts and some of my other relatives,
wearing very European style clothing, even my dad, you know,
that the haircuts, the suits, the the dresses, the music they
listened to, they were very familiar with Western culture. So
you know, this was something that always shocked me. And then when
I, the first time I ever traveled outside of the US into a Muslim
land, it also troubled me deeply, because I, you know, was, I knew
that I would have a cultural shock, but I think I was expecting
to be pleasantly shocked, you know, going into a Muslim land for
the first time as a practicing Muslim, who, you know, not in that
time, there weren't very many visibly, Muslim women, like there
are now when I first started wearing hijab, even in my own
family, and amongst my friends and community, there weren't that
many. So I just couldn't wait to go to a land where I didn't, you
know, have to hide or not that I did, but you know, just feel a
little awkward and out of place, I was just so excited to do that.
But actually, the opposite happened, where, of course, I saw
him to them ahead, your bath and people who were dressed, you know,
as Muslims, and he spoke, you know, Santa Monica, they had the
same, you know, customs and all of that, which is great, and I loved
it. But there was definitely an obsession with American culture,
there was just this love, you know, and I went to Jordan, for
the first that was the first country that I ever went to.
outside of the US, I met Jordan, and I just remember thinking, wow,
I, you know, I just I expected a such a different scene than what I
had. And even some of the people that I encountered, they were very
interesting, and very sweet, and very kind and hospitable. But some
of the conversations we had just left me, you know, scratching my
head, like, How is this even happening? You know, they would be
shocked when I would be when I was introduced to some of them. And
they find out that I wear hijab in California or in the West, they
were shocked. Like, how, why? And they would question me, like, why
are you wearing hijab, you're in America, you don't need to. So
some of the things even I remember having discussions with some of
them, who were so surprised that I prayed five times a day. So that
was really a little difficult to be honest to absorb. But you know,
I understood it was because, and I figured it out quickly, actually,
when I was driving through the city, and I realized the ads and
the stores, so many of the similar things that we have in the US,
they had, you know, set up shop in the Muslim countries, you know, a
lot of big retail chains and other things. But also, what really, you
know, made it clear for me was that, you know, I went to some of
the poorest areas of a man and there are a lot of, you know,
really poor areas, but I was struck by the amount of satellite
dishes upon every single rooftop. It's like unbelievable, you know,
people no matter what their you know, socio economic level is
there were even I went to tend to cities, you know, there's there's
a lot of tent cities and a man as well were areas there as well for
for people who are refugees from Palestine and other places, but oh
my gosh, subhanAllah, I was shocked, because even there we saw
satellite dishes. So I just realized, like Western culture,
they were so exposed to those things. And, you know, we can go
and talk about that as a whole issue in a separate program, but
the point is, is they were exposed and once they got a taste of that
life and the Hollywood, you know, way that life is depicted here in
America. That's what they aspire to. So it was really, really sad.
But it was obvious to in this styles in the clothing and like I
said, the shops and the stores and what people were really into, you
know, the way that they gained status, and there was also had to
do with adopting very Western styles. So not surprising, right?
Subhan Allah, one need only to look at the photographs taken by
the first Europeans in the land of Islam 100 years ago, to see the
nobility of Muslim dress. So now we're, you know, being shown the
other side that before all of this happened before these colonial
powers, or imperial powers went into different lands in the Muslim
world, where How did Muslims dress
Right, let's let's look at that. And he says,
The American poet Ezra Pound remarked that he had no idea of
the force that was unleashed from the Arabian Peninsula in the
seventh century, that led to 1000 mosques in Cordoba, Spain, until
he caught a glimpse of it in the way a Muslim walked in 10th. Year
in 1913, Subhan Allah, I mean, that's pretty powerful, right? The
way that Muslims carried themselves, were being, you know,
reminded that there was this just natural is this way of walking of
being of dressing that we were, that was very accustomed to, you
know, customer in many Muslim lands, that even non Muslims
observe these things about us, right? Compare that image to the
current Muslim cities teeming with desolate youth, looking for a
ticket out of there empty lives to anywhere, but home, somehow,
right? Again, these are really powerful images. It's very, you
know, descriptive language, but it is intended to really make us
reflect right, when you go to a doctor, that, you know, I just
this past week went to get treatment for some things after a
long time of not having seen a provider. And you know, the first
appointment took a really long time, because it's an intake
appointment, and they make you go through your history. And so
there's a lot of questions and back and forth. But that's part of
the analysis process, you go over the symptoms, and how did things
happen? And why did you know when did you notice this. And so doing
that reflection is important in order to get the right diagnosis,
and then eventually to get Shahla the right treatment. So in many
ways, that's what we're doing here. We're looking, visiting the
past, really trying to look at what went wrong, like how did we
go from this place of nobility where even as in this example, non
Muslims were so struck by an in awe of just seen a Muslim walking
and the way that they dress, to a place where we've lost that
completely, we don't have any appreciation for those things
anymore. We, we were taught or in some places, we look down on those
things, you know, all the villa like it's, it's embarrassing for,
you know, someone to wear traditional clothing out in
public, they should wear European style clothing, because why would
you do that? You know, it's okay in the home or in private places,
but what how did we get go from that to this, right? So we're
looking at the history for that reason to really, you know, let it
sink in, like there was somewhere we went wrong. And in order to
again, know how to get back on course, we have to analyze things
right? Then he moves into Muslim cuisine, right? Once the envy of
the world, produced in the homes of the believers with love and
remembrance of Allah's blessings, subhanAllah you know, people, I
mean, I don't know if you've ever had some, I mean, I've had two
very, like memorable meals in my life where I just felt like, the
food was completely blessed once was in the city of Medina, we were
invited to a large gathering, but you could just everybody said the
same, it was just so there was just something incredible about
that meal. And it wasn't anything that we hadn't had before. But
there was definitely something there that we couldn't explain.
And another time a friend, who I just felt a lot of love from, may
Allah bless her and her family, I felt that her food was very
melodic, and it was like, I remember those meals, you know,
100 on my mother's a wonderful cook my sisters, I have many
people in my life, mashallah, who are amazing cooks. So, not to take
anything away from them, because everybody's food is delicious. But
there's something about people of, you know, who are close to Allah
subhanaw taala. When they cook, they do it from a place of, you
know, it's, they're remembering all this power that even as
they're chopping the onions, and, you know, kind of cleaning the
meat or doing all those little tasks. It's a labor of love, and
that reflects in the flavors of the food. So he's reminding us
that this is, this was the envy of the world because people loved to
have these meals and there's a reason for it, right? They were
remembering all of that. And now it's replaced right by techno food
which is not produce or livestock, but a prepackaged product bereft
of Baraka Muslims have forgotten that food is the foundation of
behavior according to our scholars understanding allows words right
that oh you messengers eat a pure things and do righteous deeds
Subhanallah you can see it too and a Muslim lands when you go to any
Muslim country Subhan Allah so many people, right. What do they
look to to do when they get into a Muslim
country I mean, I've been guilty of it. I think it's because we're
so deprived of certain things in the West that it's exciting to
say, Hey, I'm gonna go and have a, you know, a halal Big Mac or have
you know, this Kentucky Fried Chicken or whatever your, you
know, special or your favorite food is, but you know that we, we
leave this land these lands and we go to the Muslim was to to have
that type of food. We've lost appreciation right for our own,
the baraka that our own food had and so and in the fact that we are
commanded to eat of the pure foods,
so I'm just gonna do a quick check of time.
Let's see here.
Okay, so let me
uh, yeah, I have about 10 minutes and I want to make sure I don't go
over and I can answer some of these questions. I received a
question here from brother so long. So there's a sister who's
asking, Where are these two passages from? Sister I don't know
if which passages you're referring to, but everything I'm reading is
from this book called the agenda to change our condition. So this
is the introduction Believe it or not, there's still a lot more
mashallah gems throughout this book, but this is the introduction
and we covered just a bit so page four. So, you know, Inshallah,
we'll we'll try to get through this. But I think we'll stop here.
And then yeah, because let me actually see.
See, you know, let me read one more paragraph and then we'll
stop. So this paragraph that comes after this reflection about eating
from the pure food shelves, it goes on to say, pure food is being
replaced with fast food made with haste and waste two attributes of
the of the devil right I did a ministry I bought right abandon
him and Allah I do the ministry on consideration is from God. Haste
is from the devil. So headache, right. sugared sodas replace
natural milk, water and juice. Corporate fast food chains, with
their mass produced disease ridden pathogenic food, now appear
everywhere, even in the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina.
Meanwhile, Muslims who for centuries ate food filled with
Baraka, made by people with loving hearts, who found joy in feeding
others, now line up to consume products with less nutritional
value than dog or cat food. Although bIllahi min ash shaytani
R rajim. I think that's I know, it's heavy on the heart to hear
words like this, but we have to be accountable for our own behavior.
And we've all likely fallen into into this before but it's not to
do anything but to remind us of where we were and why we are here.
Now how did this happen? How can we go back to to being where we
once were, we can't like I said do that if we don't have this
uncomfortable, really are these uncomfortable realizations about
our own, you know, behavior and hold ourselves to account and
that's really what this is right? So mashallah so many gems and so
much more to reflect on. If you don't have this book, again, I'm
going to urge you to get it in the meantime, until our next session,
you can certainly read up ahead. And if you do get the book, I
ended at the top of page five, so likely for next session, I will
finish you know, I'll try to finish this introduction for the
next session. And then we'll get into chapter one and proceed from
there in sha Allah. So I hope you found this of benefit. If you did,
please don't forget to make the offer for our beloved scholarship
Hamza Yusuf mumsie check in for giving us access to these texts
and to infer, translating these, you know, many of the texts that
they have worked on and have provided for us it's their efforts
that were able to benefit from this from this knowledge and
hamdulillah so please remember them in your do I remember the
people at MCC, all of the staff and all the donors and the board
members and everybody who gives us these spaces, these virtual spaces
to convene and to talk and to remember all those problems we
could all be doing anything for this one hour but inshallah Our
hearts are pure and we have the intention, the right intention to
come together in the remembrance of Allah PATA with with the
intention that he draws closer to us in sha Allah by seeing our
efforts. So me on this planet that bless all of you, I hope you have
a wonderful evening unless actually forgive me. Let me get
off of the I forgot to stop screenshare so I apologize for
that. But yes, I will quickly check to see if brother Salman has
any other comments for me. And also, I know sometimes on the
YouTube page, there are some questions so I'll quickly survey
that before I go so that I don't miss anything.
Excuse me, just
Just give me one moment
Sharla but yes, in the meantime, again malice panda bless all of
you
and make it easy for you and keep you safe in sha Allah as any other
comments sorry.
I need to do that okay Alhamdulillah
I don't see any other questions on YouTube brother so man, so if
there's nothing else on the Facebook page then inshallah we
can go ahead and we can wrap it up for this evening. And just for
those of you again who are maybe tuning in for the first time these
helicopters are
you know, they're called virtual it's a sisterhood sorority and
sisterhood but I want to make sure that you know I don't personally
mind if brothers are tuning in I know some people might have
different views on that but I don't mind inshallah. So you know,
if you if your family wants to watch I'm honored that you'd want
to watch so please feel free to share this with with others but we
will be meeting from now on Sunday evenings eight to nine Inshallah,
no longer Thursdays, inshallah until unless things change but for
now we'll keep it Sunday evening. And we'll continue with the rest
of the text in sha Allah. The next time we see which will be in two
weeks so these are not weekly there every other week, so not
next Sunday, but the following inshallah so I look forward to
seeing you all there have a wonderful evening, and I'm always
proud that again, keep all of you safe well and in the off
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim will answer in an incentive if you
hustle 11am No, I'm in Saudi Haiti with Alyssa will happy with the
rest of the summer. Subhana Colombo behind the crescendo Allah
Allah in Anthroposophical wanted to bleed ache along with sort of a
sudden robotic I'll say that I will No no, no. Have you been I'm
from Southern Allahu Allah. He was sent him while he was such we will
send them to Sleeman Kathira just like all market and again was
Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh