Hosai Mojaddidi – Prophetic Prescriptions For The Broken-Hearted
AI: Summary ©
The importance of understanding the physical and psychological weight of words and actions in relation to one's behavior and well-being is emphasized. The physical and psychological weight of words and actions is highlighted as crucial for achieving a balanced life and healing. The Prophet s.a.w. warns against religious extremism and advises against seeking perfection in life. The importance of spiritual fortification and patience in a difficult life is emphasized, and a strong campaign for a stronger life is ongoing.
AI: Summary ©
Are you a parent?
Are you struggling with your kids?
Do you constantly worry about their future?
Are you a student and feeling overwhelmed with
school and the pressure to excel?
Are you working every day but can't seem
to get out of debt?
Are you chronically tired and have a hard
time focusing?
If you answered yes to any of these
questions, know that you are not alone.
According to the American Psychological Association's Stress in
America 2022 survey, 66% of adults report
that money is a major source of stress,
with 57% stating that they stress the
most over expenses like food and rent.
The remaining 43% said they stress mostly
about money and the future.
Approximately 75% of US adults stressed over
violence and crime.
And around 34% of adults report feeling
completely overwhelmed by stress on most days and
they experience forgetfulness, lack of concentration, and difficulty
making decisions.
When hearing such alarming statistics, it should come
as no surprise that a common question perplexing
many of us today is, how can we
achieve well-being when life is so overwhelmingly
and increasingly stressful?
Everything about our modern lifestyles promotes chronic stress
and dis-ease in the body and soul,
which is the complete opposite of balance.
If we think about aspects of our daily
lives such as how we eat and drink,
work, socialize, spend money, waste precious time on
entertainment and social media, and neglect our overall
health, we have to conclude that we are
hardly living at all.
Additionally, when we consider our family and work
obligations, fulfilling community rights, and maintaining a spiritual
practice, we must think about how we can
bring it all into balance.
And in a practical sense, what does living
in balance even mean?
In Surah Ar-Rahman, Allah says وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَ
عَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانِ أَلَّا تَتَغَوْفِ الْمِيزَانِ وَأَقِيمُ الْوَزْنَ
بِالْقِسْتِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُ الْمِيزَانِ The Benevolent One has
raised the sky and set the balance, so
you would not overstep the balance.
So establish weight justly, not letting the balance
give short measure.
Just as our Creator has set a balance
in the natural world, God has also set
a balance in the human being.
When we become excessive or deficient in our
actions, words, and priorities, and thus create distance
between us and our Creator, we inevitably feel
an imbalance in our mind, body, and soul.
So what is this balance, and how do
we maintain it?
To answer these questions, we must first understand
the word balance, or mizan, in Arabic.
Interestingly, both the English word balance and the
Arabic word mizan share deep historical roots connected
with the concept of weighing and measuring, but
each term gradually came to symbolize broader concepts,
such as fairness, equality, and harmony.
In the Islamic tradition, mizan takes on profound
moral and spiritual significance, linked to the divine
order and judgment.
In English, balance has similarly expanded to include
the equilibrium in various realms, from the physical
to the psychological and ethical.
Both terms thus offer great insight into how
a balanced human being is defined from both
a metaphysical and practical or physical understanding.
And just as the verse from Surah Ar
-Rahman suggests, understanding the weight of our words
and actions, and how we distribute our time,
will directly impact how balanced we feel in
every aspect of our lives.
Like many great scholars, philosophers, and metaphysicians of
the past, Imam al-Ghazali studied these ideas
deeply, as he understood the potentially destructive power
of imbalanced individuals devoid of self-awareness and
self-control.
Not only are such people a threat to
themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but they can
often become irrational, volatile, and even violent against
others, oblivious to the impact of their negative
behavior.
A great tool Imam al-Ghazali often referenced
in many of his spiritual works, in order
to teach the necessity of living in balance,
is the idea of the triune human being,
who is made up of three distinct qualities,
the intellectual, emotional, and appetitive faculties.
According to this model, a human being should
work to bring these three faculties of intellect,
emotion, and appetite into proper alignment, where the
intellect is the driving force compelling the emotions
and appetites to remain in balance and within
the boundaries defined by God.
When such an alignment is achieved, then a
natural feeling of homeostasis will ensue.
In other words, when human beings remain rational,
calculating, and weighing their words and actions based
on what is the most virtuous and beneficial
behavior pleasing to God and His Messenger, in
accordance with the understanding of rightly guided interpreters
among the agreed upon scholars of Islam, they
will induce a physiological and spiritual state of
well-being.
Conversely, when they behave excessively or deficiently, abandoning
reasoning, morality, and virtue in disobedience to their
Creator, they become harmful to themselves and those
around them.
Observing the state of the world today, with
increasing global rates of crime, poverty, corruption, drug
use, sexual abuse, and human trafficking, depravity, and
other heinous acts of violence and indecency, it
is undeniable that humanity is in decline.
The widespread criminal networks masquerading as governments and
world leaders and the faithless postmodern agenda that
they heavily promote through media and secular education
have created hordes of imbalanced human beings who
are multiplying at rapid rates in every corner
of the world, and belong to every culture,
race, religious group, and socioeconomic class.
Without a strong spiritual force to combat the
torrential waves of widespread debauchery, moral decay, lawlessness,
and vice, the erosion of tradition, family, and
decency will continue to spread, plunging humanity into
another, yet far more dangerous, dark age.
More than ever before, our world and our
species need a global reset, a restoration of
reason, balance, and light in our homes, families,
communities, governments, and most importantly in ourselves.
To cleanse the spiritual stains of sinfulness and
heedlessness from our hearts, we need to dive
into the medicinal reservoir of light and healing,
and take from the best of creation the
most balanced human being to ever have existed.
The epitome of perfection, the exemplar of virtue
and refinement, he teaches us to be both
weighty and delicate, to remove darkness with light,
to repel evil with good, and to face
ugliness with beauty.
On the virtue of gentleness, which is a
manifestation of balance, our beloved mother, Sayyida Aisha
r.a, reported that the Messenger of Allah
s.a.w. said, إِنَّ اللَّهَ رَفِيقٌ يُحِبُّ
رِفْقٌ فِي أَمْرِ كُلِّ Verily, Allah is gentle,
and He loves gentleness in all matters.
In another hadith reported by Salman al-Farsi
r.a, our beloved Prophet s.a.w.
said to him, Your Lord has a right
over you, your soul has a right over
you, and your family has a right over
you, so give everyone their due right.
And in another narration, the Prophet s.a
.w. warns against religious extremism, Religion is easy,
and whoever makes it difficult will not be
able to continue in that way, so do
not be extremists, but try to be near
perfection, and receive good tidings.
Even in everyday actions such as how and
with whom we spend our time and how
we speak, the Prophet s.a.w. called
for a balanced approach.
Once when addressing Abdullah ibn Umar, the Prophet
s.a.w. said to him, Oh Abdullah,
have I not been informed that you fast
all day and pray all night?
And Abdullah replied, Yes, O Messenger of Allah.
And the Prophet s.a.w. said to
him, Do not do that, fast and break
your fast, pray and sleep, for your body
has a right over you, your eyes have
a right over you, and your wife has
a right over you.
In another narration, the Prophet s.a.w.
said, The best of you is the best
to his family, and I am the best
among you to my family.
He also warned s.a.w. against the
harms of the tongue and said, The believer
is not one who slanders, curses, speaks obscenely,
or behaves in a vulgar manner.
In every possible scenario, whether he was modeling
or instructing directly, the Prophet s.a.w.
was teaching excellence and perfect character.
He knew and warned us about the inherent
dangers of this worldly life and the need
for spiritual fortification to offset the harms.
He s.a.w. said, Verily every nation
has a trial, and the trial of my
nation is wealth.
In another narration reported by Ibn Umar, the
Prophet s.a.w. said, Two ferocious wolves
in a pen of sheep, devouring and destroying,
are not as harmful than the love of
high status and wealth are to the religion
of a Muslim.
Striking a balance in a time of immense
imbalance is no easy feat.
However, the timeless wisdom and exemplary life of
our beloved s.a.w. are more than
enough to give each of us a fighting
chance.
Indeed, it is only through holding on to
his sunnah, striving to perfect ourselves through modeling
his impeccable character, and remaining steadfast in our
faith that we can survive this difficult world
which our beloved s.a.w. reminds us
is a prison for the believer.
الدنيا سجن المؤمن وجنة الكافر Whenever the prison
walls of dunya feel like they're closing in,
I am reminded of something that my beloved
mother, Allah yarhamha, would say to me whenever
I complained about any aspect of my life.
Though she could have easily rebuked me for
my petty complaints, she didn't.
She would listen attentively, without interrupting me, and
as soon as I finished venting, she would
respond simply with the same balanced advice every
single time.
Say alhamdulillah, have shukr, and have sabr.
دير آيات درست آيات Which in Dari roughly
means, even if it is late, be content
that all will be sufficient in the end.
In other words, be patient because the best
things are worth the wait.
The prison walls will collapse before you even
know it.
May Allah s.w.t. guide us and
increase us in patience and balance.
May He give us the strength to endure
the confinement and uncertainty of this difficult life,
with the knowledge of our beloved Messenger s
.a.w. We have the greatest champion, guide,
and healer in our Messenger s.a.w.
May we remain firm on our path, walking
as best as we can, though we will
certainly stumble in His blessed footsteps, and remember
that the keys that will eventually unlock and
swing open the doors of this prison cell
directly into the guards of paradise remain firmly
fixed in His blessed hands s.a.w.
May we taste the sweetness of faith and
find solace in His praise, and may Allah
s.w.t. bless all of us and
our families with increased love for His beloved
s.a.w. in this blessed month of
Rabi' al-Awwal and every day forward.
Ameen.
Jazakumullahu khayran.
Insha'Allah you found this talk beneficial, dear
brothers and sisters.
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Jazakumullahu khayran.