Hosai Mojaddidi – Purification of the Heart for Muslimahs (Monthly Sisterhood Halaqa Part 9)
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Smart modern humans have the level so that was salam ala i should be
able to look silly and say that our Molano Have you been on
hematol Allahu Allahu wa salam while he was actually sort of the
Sleeman Kathira against Allah Monica and Rahmatullahi Wa
Barakatuh. Everyone hamdulillah thank you for being here. How many
are here for the first time? I've never been here before? Okay,
awesome. Well, welcome, very happy to have you all here, mashallah,
you'll find that because we do these monthly, it's kind of like a
revolving door. But I'm perfectly fine with that, because that's the
reason why I do it monthly. I know, as women, we are usually
juggling and all over the place. And there is the live stream
option when you're not here. So feel free to come as you are,
whenever you can. But I'm happy to have you here tonight, we are
reading from a text together called purification of the heart.
So how many people have this book at home? Okay, awesome. How many
people have actually read it?
Sometimes I know, I love books. So I collect them. And unfortunately,
I don't read all of them. I haven't read all of them yet, I
pray that that's my retirement plan that I was gonna finally
read, all the awesome books that I've been gifted are given. So
Alhamdulillah this is a book that if you've read it before, then you
know, it's something that you can keep revisiting to be honest. And
you should, because the process of the scheme is something that we
have to be tending to just the same way like you would a garden,
right, you're always you don't just you know, put the soil and
water the plants and then just leave them to themselves, you have
to go back and check on them and make sure they're okay and is a
sunlight good is kind of adjustments right here and there.
Similarly, we have to attend to our spiritual hearts in the same
way, in that there's too many things in this dunya that can
corrode the heart. So we have to constantly make sure it's okay.
Right? If you look at just the intensity of this dunya, the, you
know, all of the things that's going on globally, with everything
that's happened in the past two and a half years that aside,
you know, just with our, the trajectory of many of our lives,
right, we enter different phases. So once you're out of the, you
know, that like the Garden of Eden of childhood, and you suddenly
emerge in this world, and you realize that it's a place that's
heavy, right, there's, there's a lot of responsibility, there's a
lot of stress. And I was just speaking to, with with the
therapist the other day, and she was saying that stress is now one
of the morbidities of amongst youth that it's you know, that
they could have a lot of things going on for their in their life,
you know, in terms of like having, you know, parents involved and
financially stable home schooling, all of that could be fine, but
they still have this immense problem of stress. And you think,
you know, what could they be stressing about, but it's such an
intense time, and also by the nature of the dunya is a place
that it's actually designed to do that, to us, it's designed to make
us very uncomfortable. And because almost all of that it does not
want us to be comfortable here because this is not our final
abode. So that's why we have problems. And that's why we have
problematic people in our lives. And, you know, disruptions
routines are hard to sometimes maintain because life happens. But
when you have something that kind of anchors you which is why Al
Hamdulillah we have to be so grateful for the blessing of
Islam, you know, when you really think about how chaotic things
are, and then you see all these people who don't have faith. To
me, I'm just like, in a constant state of Thank you, Allah, thank
you, thank you. Because I feel like we have life jackets on like,
right, we not only have life jackets, we have, we have like
ropes, we have like a tether, we have like a line that you know, is
still, you know, tethering us to something stable. And even if
we're floating into the, you know, waters of dunya, that feeling of
being safe, right is really just such a gift. Because there are a
lot of people who just simply don't have that they don't have a
family foundation, they don't have either a culture or tradition or a
faith that helps them make sense of all this craziness. So we
really have to just take immense pause to say Alhamdulillah, Allah
NetMundial Islam, thank you Allah for the gift of being Muslim. And
just keep repeating that even not necessarily verbalizing it, but
internally, because that awareness of your state of gratitude will
help you to keep priorities straight. And also, when things
get overwhelming, know what to do, which is of course, turn to Allah
Subhanallah we go to prayer, when we're in those states, we turn to
the book of Allah, and then in our time where we can really have time
for self reflection. This is a book that we should have. So if
you don't have it, I highly recommend getting it. Because it's
kind of like holding up a mirror to yourself, you know, when you
are
looking at your own reflection, you can suddenly start to see
things that you might not have noticed before because you were
too distracted. All the fine lines and wrinkles, which we love to see
the spots. Like yesterday, was it Yeah, you know, it's amazing. Like
I have this little spot on my hand and I have no idea how I got it.
So it was troubling me all day yesterday, because I was like,
hey, you know what it does come from this little circular round
spot and I
I'm pressing it going, I don't really feel like it's tender
today. Excellent. bruise it. So I was like trying to figure out
what, what happened to my hand that this happened. But in many
ways, it's just, you know, it's just another sign of this life,
life happens, you might, I might never know. But similarly, we
experienced these changes, even externally, internally. So this is
giving us a mirror to our internal states. And so we're going to read
today on the disease of the heart of hatred. And I want you to, as
we read these pages, this is exercise that I have always done,
I am very self reflective, so I try to read with each word or
each, you know, point with, you know, that that's, you know, just
personalizing it and trying to, you know, see where I am with
respect to what it's being said. So try to do that don't think of
other people because it's natural to want to think like, Oh, I know
someone who's got this disease, you know, this is a time for us to
think about ourselves. And so part of the healing process of Ischia
is that you really are open to the idea that you're potentially full
of diseases, and you're seeking to self diagnose so that you can
cleanse yourself. So don't let the ego distract you by thinking of
other people, which is a very common tendency when we read books
like this. So the way that the format is, is you know, it's a
book that's translation of an Arabic classical poem. So there's
verses that you Holmes's translated for us, there's just a
couple of verses, and then he gets into the commentary. So we'll read
this and then we'll pause it if you feel at any point that you
have, like, you know, something to contribute or a question, please
feel free to jump in. I want this to be, you know, a dialogue
between us inshallah. So, hatred.
Another disease is hatred for other than the sake of God, the
Exalted its cure is to pray for the one despised this is with the
understanding that you have not done wrong if you are repulsed by
the hatred you harbor and do not act in accordance with it, which
would be to harm the other person. So these are again, translations
of the verses and now the definition and further commentary
on the treatment. So the next disease is hatred or an Arabic
bullet. In itself. Hatred is not necessarily negative. It is
commendable to hate corruption, evil, disbelief, murder, lewdness,
and anything else that God has exposed as despicable. The Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam never disliked the essence of anything,
but only what something manifested. So, hold a thought
right now think of the things that you could categorize as something
that you hate. Okay, not the people.
But the things that you hate. And I want you to pay attention to
your thoughts and what's the first thing that comes to mind? Anybody
want to share
injustice, okay, so you hate injustice like it fills you
in Palestinian Mashallah.
All right. Injustice that's an excellent answer. hating it
injustice, hating everyone else. Yes.
I see you mean Satanic Verses? Yes. Satanic Verses. So we're
making it clear. We don't wish harm on the author of that text.
But we hate the text. Very good. So yes, any disparaging of the
Prophet sallallaahu sudden we should hate. Right with our full
being. Yes.
The smell of pork.
Wow, I'm surprised I'm amazed that you can distinguish like you mean
bacon, like because that's the only pork that I would even you
know, Subhan Allah. So the smell of pork? Yeah, it will it.
Yeah. So you'll leave it to know
how diligent you have your hand. Okay, sorry that you hadn't anyone
else? Yes.
You hate some of the political movements that are taking over our
world at the moment and we all know how divisive These movements
are. Yes, are very strong.
Fighting and argumentation like when you see it between people and
individuals. So just the idea of Jevon Okay, Michelle. Yes.
dishonesty. So when someone betrays your trust, you hate that.
Very good. Yes.
Basically, acting righteous, but actually
not good intentions. Sure. It's very good. I think we can all
collectively agree we
Hate Nephi great hypocrisy when someone presents one way, but then
is entirely a different two faced kind of an individual. I think
everybody's on board with that. So when I think of this word, the
first thing, and it's always been the case, I feel like that comes
to my mind is anything to do with the harming of children. I hate
it. And I think if I were ever to lose complete sanity and do
something violent, it would be upon someone who aggresses upon
the child, especially
in a really heinous way, any type of abuse at all. So that's just
something that fills me up. So it's good to know, right? What's
your what does your mind or heart speak or think of, as soon as you
heard hear certain words in terms right? So it's good to know that
about ourselves. Hatred or strong dislike of a person for no
legitimate reason is the disease of BOD. So now we're getting more
specific because as was mentioned, right, the process and didn't
dislike the essence of anything, but only what something when
something manifested, especially if it was hateful or hate, you
know, that it was something that God almost either also hated or
condemned, right? In that case, we should anything that Allah hates,
we should hate, right? Anything the process of hates, we should
hate when it comes to individuals, there's a very clear distinction
here that it has to be for no legitimate reason. So think about
again, have you ever harbored negative animus, rancor hatred
towards someone unprovoked, just because they rubbed you the wrong
way you didn't like the way they looked? Right? Because some people
can get very petty, when they let their, you know, ego, get the best
of them, they can be very petty and start to think just these
awful things about individuals, unbeknownst to them completely
innocent. That's where suspicion and a lot of other diseases
emerge. But think how I ever had feelings like that, like hatred,
where I could really say like, oh, I can't stand that individual. And
it could be someone that not necessarily, you know, right.
Think of celebrities, right? How many of us are like, Oh, I don't
want to see that person ever again. I know. There's a lot of
celebrities that trigger people to have that or politicians, right?
That have certain lifestyle choices? Yes, that we don't agree
with and you see them parading pun intended their lifestyle, right?
Then it makes you feel, you know, certain feelings towards them. And
you know, that we can talk actually about that. Because, you
know, on an individual level, we have to think about is that is
that okay to hate an individual? We can you know, as I say, Hate
the sin, not the sinner, right? So, the promise I sent him once
said to his companions, do you want to see a man of paradise, a
man then passed by and the process of them said, That man is one of
the people of paradise, one of the companions of the prophets, I
said, and wanted to find out what it was about this man that has
earned him such a commendation from the messenger of God,
salallahu Alaihe Salam. So he decided to spend some time with
this man and observe him closely. He noticed that this man did not
perform the night prayer vigil hedges, or do anything
extraordinary. He appeared to be an average man of Medina, the
companion finally told the man what the prophesy Saddam had said
about him and asked him, if he did anything special, the man then
replied, The only thing that I can think of other than what everybody
else does, is that I make sure that I never sleep with any rancor
in my heart towards another person.
That was his secret.
So rancor, again is deep hatred. So he had the ability to,
you know, process and, and purge those negative feelings, and made
sure that when he would retire to sleep, his heart was free of all
of those feelings. So that I want you to again, take it back to your
own practical sort of application of this, when you're angry at
someone when you're upset with someone, whether it's a co worker
or someone in the family or maybe in you know, immediately in your
family, right, your spouse, sometimes we can be very angry
with the ones that are closest to us. Do you allow for yourself to
go to sleep with all of those feelings in your heart? Or do you
have a way of making sure that those things are you know dealt
with and if they're out and you're you've processed them, you've
spoken about them? You've tried to reconcile what is your process?
Because I think it's important to think about why did the process
some of all the people point this man out What is he trying to
communicate to us, right? He's He's telling us, this is a virtue,
to deal with your anger and not let it corrupt your heart. And
specifically the fact that he talks about letting get you know,
I mean, reading
The his heart, you know, before he, you know, every every night,
right, the fact that he does that, I think that's also another really
important thing and before he goes to sleep, because what's the risk
of not doing that?
Exactly. That could be your last transaction with another creation
of God. That, you know, in some people, I mean, they have full on,
you know, like, it gets really ugly. So if you're cursing, and
really foul, and you're just so angry. And that's not to say that
the QA, the source of why you're angry isn't legitimate, you could
very well have a very legitimate grievance, and a real serious
problem that you're trying to communicate. But it's the fact
that you let the anger consume you to such a degree, that the very
last words that you spoke were full of hatred, and maybe even
wishing harm, right? Because when people get loose comportment
completely, they can actually curse. And I'm not talking about
cursing, as in curse words, I'm talking about condemning people to
*, or even worse, you know, wishing ill for them. And so that
being your last transaction, that's, that's a huge risk that
none of us should take, right? How many of you have ever known
someone who lost I mean, their life and, you know, during sleep,
like didn't wake up? Right? Right. And I have one of my closest
friends in her 30s. That's how she went. So it's very real, and he
has nothing to do with it. If Allah wishes to take someone he
can take someone at any age. So these are the realities that we
have to deal with that we don't want these feelings to consume us
to that point, that it's our last again, record the angels or, you
know, the pens have lifted because we're now asleep.
Yes.
To holding a grudge as well, that's something
Yeah, not being able to forgive is a little different, right? Because
rancor is when you really just have this hatred that isn't
there's no real
like resolution to it, it's just sitting, it's a kind of like
you're wallowing in these this negative or stewing in this
negative emotion. Whereas when you have a grudge, like I said, it
could be just that, you know, there's lingering feelings, maybe
you haven't had closure, there could be a lot of different, you
know, factors that don't necessarily mean that you're just
this person who refuses to let go of negative feelings, right?
Because sometimes it's just like the opportunity, maybe you're
waiting for the other person to own up to their mistake, and then
you'll be able to forgive them. And until they do that you hold a
grudge. But obviously, if you have, you know, negative feelings
that that lead you to think really badly of someone and wish ill for
them, then yes, you're kind of playing with fire there. So I
think it depends on on the situation. But this would be, you
know, a deep, deep feeling of hatred that's not really resolved.
And maybe you don't even have any plans to do anything with it. But
just feel those feelings. Something similar, was lingering
feelings. That overtime, turned into deep hatred for a family
member.
They were separated for a while, and she was waiting for things to
get better. Forgiveness and then there's just things happening back
and forth. last conversation I had with her was, I wish she would
just die.
Long Behold, died. Now Allah literally less than I would say
less than a month from the time she made that call. Oh, the
biller? Is she she's very religious, very pious will not
miss a prayer like very
are rituals. And now she's She's living with that regret. Wow. She
says all I can remember is good things from Wow.
person that was the biggest problem of the life that she made
her worst enemy
now that he's passed away she got what she wants now she's in
complete regret and
and how much she can only think about.
I mean, that's that's a real cautionary tale for all of us to
really think about how the biller May Allah protect us from ever
falling into something like that, where, where you can be so blinded
by your anger and hatred that you would make a statement like that
wishing someone to die, and then it actually happening because
that's a vision. I mean, that's, you know, how can you overcome
that the level of guilt and responsibility for something like
that, I think would consume any person, right? And then, you know,
this is reminds me of the verse in the Quran where Allah says,
perhaps you love a thing and it's, you know, bad for you or you hate
anything and it's actually good for you. And so the fact that now
her only memories of this person are all positive. It's almost like
another, you know, part of her tribulation that she has to deal
with the guilt of what she'd
Did and on top of that, be reminded of every reason that she
should not have ever made a statement like that. So may Allah
forgive us and I actually no similar situation of something
like that happening where we're such deep, deep anger and hatred
for towards someone led someone to wish death upon another person and
that person died. So it's not something that I mean it happens
all the biller
Yes.
If you're not wishing anything bad, I
just have like a series on result. Right? So happy hate type of
feelings
is that considered by this definition?
So again, it really depends on as we remember the first line we
read, there's no legitimate reason. So that means that there
are legitimate reasons right? To hate someone like abusers, people
who oppress you. So there are legitimate reasons where we would
have these negative feelings towards a person. And if you've
tried to deal with those feelings, and they're still lingering, and
you're still kind of working on them, then you know that that
bothers you, right as the poem versus said, then that's a sign
that it's not a disease of the heart, right? Yeah, if you possess
these feelings, but you don't want to, like you have, maybe someone
again, hurt you, and you want to be able to forgive, but you just
aren't there yet, then you have to be gentle with yourself. Because,
you know, some people simply don't deserve that. And maybe that's why
we have a day of judgment, because all the records, you know, are
going to come out and everybody's going to have an opportunity to
get the justice that they want or that they saw it. And maybe it's
Allah is the one who's you know, waiting or, or not, you know, he's
he's going to give you that that sense of justice that you seek on
that day instead of in this life. So you're kind of still dealing
with those emotions. But I think the point is here, two things,
right, that we don't have hatred for people without just reason are
legitimate, legitimate reason, and even if we harbor certain
feelings, that we are uncomfortable with it. And I think
if you're on a spiritual path, your goal ultimately should be to
try to work towards forgiveness and moving past it. And I say this
not because it's not about the other person, right? Sometimes
when we think of forgiveness, we think like, we have to do it for
the other person, it's actually not it has nothing to do with
them. It has to do with you. It's like you want to rise above and
not, you know, have these feelings that consume you distract you,
preoccupy you, and it's almost like dead weight that you're ready
to just cut. And that's how you want to look at, you know, like
lingering hatred, or just, you know, whatever those mixed
feelings are. And they could be, again, for a number of reasons,
but it's like, I want to just let it all go because I don't want to
be bogged down by those feelings. So I'm doing this as a
purification for myself as a release for myself. And those
words don't even have to ever be communicated with that other
person. Because as we mentioned, the cure for hatred is to make dua
for the other person, right? That if you want to get rid of these
types of feelings, whether it's for, again, someone who's who's
harmed you or is on continuing to harm you, it's to be empowered,
right with dua, that Allah subhanaw taala can remove those
ill feelings by you taking the higher road, and again, not for
their benefit for your own benefit, right.
20 years ago that always resonated with
hate and grudge is a poison that you're creating inside your body
as your enemy. Exactly. That's a powerful quote, right, that
hatred, rancor, all these feelings are kind of like consuming a
poison, and you're harming yourself, but you are thinking
that it's somehow going to affect the other person. And it's it's
human. I think we just we were, you know, it's something that
makes you feel like you're empowered when you have those
feelings, but ultimately, you're the one being consumed by them,
right? Yeah, sure. Not
before that. Because when you were like, hey, think of a situation
where you harbored hatred, and I was like, Oh, well, first to start
off as a feeling like you have any evidence to, and then there was
actual, like, harm and stuff. But like, the way I think of, I mean,
I don't think of myself as an angry person, but I think of
myself as an orphan.
That was unfair to me. So I think the human side of me and spiritual
sciences if I if I let that go completely, I know I can like the
spiritual side we can. I'm opening myself up to that potentially
harming me again. And so I think as I this fear of in the dunya
being hurt by them again, right? Is what
makes me hold on to things that otherwise maybe I can very easily
like, go. Sure. That's a very good point. Because I think that leads
us to think about boundaries, right? You know, when we've been
hurt by people before, in order, again, to protect ourselves from
them ever impacting us again, what are the boundaries that we can
create, you know, whether that means limited communication, and
just no or no access whatsoever? You know, we have to kind of think
about how can I take the measures in my own hands so that this
person never does whatever they did to me, you know, before, and
that's where we also can find some impairment, but I, I think it's,
that's, that's a, you know, that self preservation kind of, you
know, instinct is very natural for a lot of people, right? It's like,
I need to hold on to this, because then, what if they try to worm
their way back into my life somehow, and I have a blind spot,
and all of a sudden, I'm back to square one. So I think that's,
that's a very understandable position. But I think we're weird,
Lee, or where we are, where we want to turn to is really, kind of
you know, that, as I say, letting go and letting God right, like
Allah, exactly, that Allah subhanaw taala is going to purge
these feelings from my heart, and he's also going to protect us from
this person's harm. And, you know, being vigilant and taking all
those precautions to make sure that they don't have access, all
of that combined. And also, with experience, we grow, right? When
we're young, we're an experience, that's where a lot of we're
vulnerable. But as we age and grow older, we get wiser, we start
reading people better, and we're our you know, our ability to kind
of see harm coming is I think, a little bit more acute. And then
we're able to protect ourselves. And all of that is from you know,
a lot. So it's grace from him. So I think, you know, finding the
balance, each person is going to have to really explore their
feelings. But ultimately, as I was saying, the reason why we look at
this as a disease of the heart is because when it's without
legitimate cause, and we're just sitting there feeling these
negative feelings for someone, we have to see that as a reflection
of our own diseases, that that person is not doing anything that
you know, warrants this this repulsion, but it's you, your ego,
and it's really rooted in the ego, because when the ego starts to
think of itself as better than other people, right?
That's when this sense of superior superiority will allow it to start
to look at other people in this way, where it's like, I just look
down on them. I don't like them. Why do they do things like that? I
can't stand like I've heard, you know, over my lifetime, oh, I
can't stand her voice. And it's like, that's, like, how can you
blame someone for the way Allah created them or their look, these
are very petty, Neff see things and this is what we're talking
about, but like legitimate abuse, legitimate forms of oppression,
harm that's come your way, you are permitted to work on your heart to
get to a place of release and forgiveness at your own pace. And
we turn to the Prophet lessons example, as you know, when he, as
we know from the Sierra, you know, his uncle, beloved uncle Hamza,
during a hood was mutilated, and killed and slaughtered, and it was
a full on terrible, you know, death that he, I mean, of course,
he's a shahid but in terms of what happened to his body, you know,
hand who was not a muscle at that time, she later became Muslim and
her slave was she who she sent it to do this, you know, to me back
then they used to mutilate the body so that he actually took out
his liver and then she bit into it's a pretty gruesome scene. But
the prophets I sent them even after they both converted to Islam
had a difficult time with them, you know, all everyone else, you
know, it's like Sahaba. But with them, there was a little bit of a
distance, you know, because he was reminded every time he looked at
them, although he knew that Allah forgave them, they were joking.
You know, they were in ignorance, it was not something that you
know, so he's a human being. So we can take permission from that and
say, I need time to process and I also shouldn't force myself, you
know, when it's real serious cases. Yes. You mentioned
superiority, right? I think a lot of hatred comes from inferiority
complex.
Absolutely, whatever it goes to, and she, she would hate certain
types of people without any any reason. I think what I asked her
sometimes, like, you know why she's like, Well, it's because
they're prettier than me, and they're gonna look down on me
first.
So I'm gonna hate them. Wow, somehow see, the way the way the
human mind works? Right? And you're absolutely right. Hatred
can absolutely come from, I think all forms of superiority. You are
actually rooted in ignorance, but also tend to be rooted rooted in
inferiority when you get to the core, right? So that's a prime
example. disliking people for being more beautiful and this is
also where
Are, we get envy. So it's like a combination of different diseases
of the heart. And it's unfortunate, but, you know, you
have to look at, like, these are all symptoms of, you know,
societal diseases, right, that then in effect affect us and
infect us, spiritually speaking, because we live in a time where
these things are so rampant, you know, we are pitted against one
another, especially as women, right? And then you're seeing,
obviously, all these other forms of oppression that just, you know,
work to cause this type of these types of negative feelings towards
one another. So we are, in a way victims of circumstance, but then
that's why looking in front of you know, in the mirror and forcing
yourself to see your own pathology and like, what is the root of
this? Why do I really feel these things? Is how we uproot these
diseases, right? But if we just kind of go along with them,
because they're what's normal, or nobody has ever pointed it out to
us, right? So I'm glad that you're in communication with her, because
you can then point it out to her, maybe it never occurred to her,
that it's actually, you know, really an inferiority of hers, and
she needs to work on that, right. And maybe inshallah she'll come
out of that, if not, if she hasn't already. But these are, you know,
again, the ways that we overcome these things is by paying
attention to them. And that's why, you know, going back to this text,
it just, it allows us to think about ourselves in a very
introspective way. So the cure for hatred is straightforward, right?
One should pray for the person toward whom he feels hatred,
making specific supplications that mentioned this person by name,
asking God to give this person good things in this life and the
next. When one does this with sincerity hearts meant If one
truly wants to purify his or her heart and root out disease, there
must be total sincerity in carrying out the treatments and
conviction that these cures are effective. Arguably, the disease
of hatred is one of the most devastating forces in the world.
But the force that is infinitely more powerful is love. Love is an
attribute of God hate is not a name of God mentioned in the Quran
is awarded. The loving one. Hate is the absence of love, and only
through love can hatred be removed from the heart. In a beautiful
Hadith the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, none of you
has achieved faith until he loves for his brother when he loves for
himself. The 13th century scholar Imam an nawawi comments on this
hadith. And he says, When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam says brother, we should interpret this as Universal
Brotherhood, which includes Muslims and non Muslims, for one
should desire for his brother non Muslim, that he entered into the
state of submission with his Lord, and for his brother Muslim, he
should love him for the continuation of guidance and that
he remained in submission. Because of this, it is considered highly
recommended and divinely rewarding to pray for a good for a non
Muslims guidance. The word love here refers to a desire for good
and for the benefit to come to others. This love is celestial or
spiritual love, and not earthly or human love. For human nature
causes people to desire harm to befall their enemies, and to
discriminate against those who are unlike them in creed, color or
character. However, men must oppose their nature, pray for
their brothers and desire for others, what they desire for
themselves. More over whenever a man does not desire good for his
brother, envy is the root cause. Envy is a rejection of God's
apportionment in this world. This one is opposing how God meted out
sustenance in accordance with His wisdom. Therefore, one must oppose
his own egos, desires, and seek treatment for this disease with
the healing force of acceptance of the Divine decree and pray on
behalf of one's enemies in a way that suppresses the ego, the
neffs. So it really comes down to back to this point that
when we feel these deep feelings towards other people, there could
be a myriad of reasons. But at the root of it, if it's, you know,
there might be other diseases as well, like it could be that
there's envy, their jealousy, it could be also that we are, you
know, unable to, again, get past superficial things that should not
really be so meaningful to us. And, you know, as was mentioned,
that we're dealing with our own inferiority and insecurities. And
we're just projecting that onto other people. So all of these
reasons go back to the root, which is the ego and so I just want to
make sure that it's clear because this disease is specific to like,
having feelings without adjust reason, right, which is very
different than everything we've been talking about, like when
you've been harmed
by people. So that's where you want to look inside and say, Do I,
is there? Maybe not an individual? But maybe Is there a group because
we live in a time again, where of identity politics, right? So your
group, your, that you affiliate yourself with? If you, you know,
are have a group that you think is a threat to your group, maybe you
feel something towards those people, right? And you have to
kind of think back like, is it fair to collectivise demonize,
right, all people like nowadays, one of the things that we're
seeing, which is really
difficult is to navigate, because there's so many, you know,
so many pilots, or it's such a political issue is what's
happening between men and women? Right? aren't we seeing that in
our culture, I feel like there's so much now, aggression between
men and women, you know, whether it's talking about relationships,
or, you know, abilities and skills and like, you know, just equality,
whatever the conversation is, there's this,
you know, resentment that's coming from both, right, that's why we
have the in cells on one side, you know, a red pill, as they call
them from the men's side. And then we have the super like, you know,
really strong feminist leaning, you know, what are the radical
feminist? Yeah, exactly. radical feminists who really just despise
men and speak about men as if they are the, you know, core of every
evil in the world. And so, you have these these two ideologies in
a way,
you know, just emerging, and a lot of our youth are picking up on
these, right? These, they're talking points, and they're
sometimes parroting them on social media, you see a lot of this
stuff, but it's also coming out, unfortunately, in our community
spaces, right? Where, when we talk about marriage, for example, I've
now heard from many people, that people are losing interest, right
on both sides, like men don't want to get married to women, women
don't not want to get married to men, we now have so much distrust,
it's like, let's be suspicious of each other. Where did all this
come from? Right? This is all a bliss. And bliss knows that if he
exploits our insecurities, right? That he can just cause these
divisions this divide and conquer classic example. Right? So let's
just destroy what should be a complementary relationship where
we're uplifting each other, we're we're upholding each other, and
just look at everybody with this lens of distrust. And so that's
between the genders and you have between certain racial groups,
right, that's, we're on this rise. Now, there's a lot of race baiting
happening, right, where everybody's kind of looking at
different people with different, you know, prejudices. It's like,
we were going back in time, who worked so hard to get away from
all of these prejudices and discrimination and all this stuff.
And now we're, we're going back and people are becoming more and
more separated, you know, and you're seeing that. So how does
this happen? It's because our human our natures are being
exploited, right? And it's goes down to the root cause, which is
the neffs. You know, we saw it even in the past two and a half
years with the vaccine debate, right? Did you see the amount of
anger, like people were ready to just, you know, cancel everybody,
let them lose their jobs? I don't care the radii. You know, put
people in internment camps, if they weren't getting it was just
insane. The level of anger and hatred that all these things, you
know, brought up.
Yeah, the rest of the world. It's like, oh, there's, there's magnets
and other things are putting Yeah,
exactly. A lot of there were a lot of word conversations. But I think
if you're on social media, like it was just so intense at times, I'm
like, wow, how did we all start turning against each other? Is
because our fears are being exploited. Right? And so that's
where, you know, again, looking at our society and the current
zeitgeist, everything that's going on, it's important to kind of pay
attention to how, you know, these things are being used as tools
almost right? Like what social engineering is, is basically
getting immediate is very good at this, Paulette politicians, they
know what they're doing. It's election season. So they want all
these crazy emotions to emerge, and they want to kind of play us
we're like pawns in their game. But we have to be better about
knowing what does our Lord call us to and that's where, you know,
addressing our biases, really paying attention to why we think
certain things about people, whether again, it's groups, or
individuals, and always being more critical of our own selves, right?
Like, that's the way that the believer is thinking. They're not
laying fault on other people, you know, so even for example, let's
say because I know now unfortunately, these things are
real. But let's say there is someone in your family who is
known to be violent, maybe they have a anger management problem,
or maybe they are an alcoholic. I know. I can think of right now
several examples of this, you know, people that I know
And when they speak about these people, they actually hate their
hate them, because all they feel is that this person has destroyed
so much, you know, addicts tend to, you know, addiction spread,
right. They're not they usually take over the entire family
system, right? We have certain social workers here and other
people in the field that know that it's not just something that
affects the individual who's addicted, right? It's systemic.
Everybody that's that is in that person's life tends to be touched
by their addiction. So there are people who just can't deal with
it. And they end up having such resentment and such animosity, and
they are the ever I know, people who have literally wish death upon
family members, because they're like, all they have done is ruined
our lives, and they just do nothing good. There's no positive
contribution. So they allow,
you know, these feelings to kind of take over. And we have to be
reminded, again, from a spiritual perspective, as we said, In the
beginning, that we're called to separate, you know, the sins of
the individual, and to see the disease for whatever it is, you
know, a lot of these things are learned, right, violence is
learned, often, children who grow up, I mean, it's cyclical,
sometimes not in every case, but in many cases, you know, violence
can be cyclical. So if a person is raised in an environment, where
that's all they knew, then they likely unless they have
intervention, or you know, come out of that, they may repeat those
cycles. So it's like, if you can
find it within yourself to practice that empathy to see that
that person, you know, may have had a complicated, you know, life
that I don't know about. And I saw, like, a really cool video
earlier today, which I thought was sometimes martial art, people come
up with these really great ideas, but it was this young man. And he
had, there's no, like, there's no dialogue, he's just had,
you know, like, script, but on the video, he's, he holds up two
lighters, right. And he's like, person one, person two, and
they're both like, you know, they have a flame. And then he takes
one of the lighters, and he puts it in a cup, and then he pours
water, and each time he pours water, like a little blurb comes
on the screen that's like, you know, abuse, you know, some other
like, problem, you know, social problem, or problem that that
person suffered. And, you know, when he takes the lighter out, it
doesn't work, you know, And his point was, like, you just don't
know what in life has happened to people trauma, that has put out
that spark, that, you know, that zest or that zeal, that that flame
in that individual that makes them now whatever they are, whether
they're harmful, or whether they're just not really fun to be
around, you know, we just don't know. And sometimes, you know,
that's, I think, where our Dean reminds us, like, Allah is the
ultimate judge. And you have to suspend judgment. So when you see
yourself suddenly starting to feel these feelings towards other
people, you have to talk to yourself and say, Wait a second, I
really don't know what that person's context is, I don't know
why they are the way they are, I can sit here and be reactive to an
incident I had with them, exchange I had with them, and isolate them
to that one moment in their time, or I can be more empathic and say,
you know, maybe they've, they just have a lot going on, that I am not
aware of. And it's not on me, to judge them, I leave them to ALLAH
SubhanA data. And that's how I think we can protect ourselves
right from falling into these types of traps, where Shakedown
will just, again, make us fixate on one thing and we then let our
our senses go, right, which goes back to you know, what we talked
about in previous sessions, like mmm was Ali's real awesome
breakdown of the human being when you understand the human being as
a, as a triune. Right,
possessing three innate qualities, which is the intellect, the aka,
the emotions, and then the appetites, what he does, and using
that framework is to say, what is leading you? You know, are you an
intellectual? Or you, you know, someone who's trying to always
rationalize things, right? And understand it in this way of like,
the grand picture the, you know, the bigger idea, or do you let
your emotions your, your, what he has symbols or or, you know, yeah,
he has these analogies for each one, the emotions, he uses a
hunting dog, right, because he's like your emotions. You have to
look at them like they have to serve you. Right? And so a hunting
dog has to be trained and it serves you. But if you don't train
that hunting dog, just like if you don't control your emotions, it's
like, letting it loose, running amok. How is that helping you and
that's what we are in right now. We're in a world of emotions,
right? We're in a world
Other people just feeling a lot of things and everything's about
feelings. It's like constantly people are triggered and angered.
And it's like, at what point do you say, Why am I so easily?
Triggered? You know, why am I like allowing people to constantly push
my buttons? You know, how do they get access to my buttons? You
know? And that's when you you think back on, like, what can I do
to prevent myself from being so reactive or activated all the
time. So the emotions, you know, are leading a lot of people and or
the appetites. So we're, you know, as our teachers referred, we're in
a world of a lot of dog people. And then the analogy he has for
appetites is a pig, right? So it's like, the world is rampant with
dog people and pig people. So everybody's serving their
appetites eating, consuming, just constantly gluttonous. And every
which way, you know, that's where we're seeing a lot, or they're
just angry, and reacting to everything without any rational
thought, without any consideration of like, the bigger picture or,
you know, consequences or anything like that. And we, as Muslims are
called to rise to be the people of Auckland. Right? Our dean is the
dean of literacy where the that reads, intelligence is important.
But if we also forego our intellects and start to be just as
angry, or just as consumed with our appetites, we are no different
than everything else. Everyone else. And how do we stand out
then? Right? We're supposed to be leading the way. But
unfortunately, we've adopted the same habits of just foregoing
intellect, not factoring, like, you know, how is this impacting
me, as we were told, right? When you hold resentment in your heart,
you are the one that's bothered, that person is likely not even
giving you another thought, here you are just forming. Every time
you think about them, you're driving, you're just like, Ah, how
was that serving you? Right? So that's why we're or attention is
drawn to, these are not productive feelings. Let them go and know
that there's a day of judgment, that God will give you justice, if
you feel someone slighted you, someone's harmed, you someone's
hurt, you then have to work on that none of that. I mean, that's
why we have the Hadith that say even the horned animal will be
called right to, to speak about what it did to the animal that
didn't have horns. Allah is constantly letting us know that
nothing will be lost. Not an atom's weight of good or evil is
lost. But we're not using our intellect when we want to take
matters into our own hands, or when we're sitting with those
feelings and not realizing that they're actually destructive to
our soul. Right. So that's what we're called to do is right, yes.
Because when someone does something wrong, you want to see
the revenge. Now yep, yep.
Exactly. In front of me. You don't have you don't have it's not in
your head. So what's driving that impulse when you want justice?
Now? What is driving that impulse? The ego, but what is it is which
part of us, right? It's the innocent, it says emotions, right?
Or the appetites like I am entitled to justice. I want this
right now. So it's not the awkward right?
Of course, exactly. And it's all in its own Allah's time, right?
That's the thing, Allah will distribute justice, however he
sees fit. And some people will get it in this life, partially, but
there's more to come. Some people may look like they've come out
unscathed. And I've you know, I've talked to people who've been
really wronged and when they look at the person who's wronged them,
they have a very difficult time reconciling, how did that person
they seem to have gotten away with it. And this is a real flaw in our
thinking. And we should never entertain that idea. It's from a
bliss because if you believe in justice, and that almost father,
nothing escapes his knowledge, then you should not think that an
individual just because Outwardly they look like they've they're you
know unscathed, or nothing is happening to them, that they are
not going to be held accountable. Sometimes it's delayed. And in
fact, that's actually much worse for them. So if you're really want
your justice, you know you're gonna get it because when all of
us want to, you know, tries a person in this life or or gives
them justice in this life, it's also an opportunity for mercy for
them right? Because any justice that we have in this life is far
better than even a moment in the next life. Like if your justice is
delayed there, you're in trouble. That's why we have to count
recalibrate the way we look at problems, right because when we
have problems in this world, you can sit there and again wallow and
have a very what we call like the a worldly lens, right which is
like all this decision and convenience why me why me and you
just you're very
myopic you only see the problem. But if you have an other worldly
lens, a metaphysical lens, and you understand that, wait a second, so
in the justice of God sometimes, you know, he'll test us in this
role to purify us from past sins and past deeds. Okay, so now I
have a total redefinition of the tribulations that I'm going
through, right, I can start to see things with a clear lens and not
react in a way that makes you know that that may call into question
whether or not I'm truly a believer, because we have to
believe, like, you know, when we're always clamoring for
justice, and we're willing to even, you know, push the
boundaries, right. And we saw that, like, you know, during, I
mean, just this past couple of years, when people were rioting,
and they do things, they're willing to push for justice to the
point where they're themselves now the aggressors and causing harm.
That's like, you've just lost the plot, like, you've you're not even
thinking at this point, because there's no justification for
causing harm. You can't say, I want revenge, or I want justice so
much, and I'm gonna go and hold the will blow up these people or
do this or do that we don't believe in that that's taking
matters into your own hands. And that comes from a place of
insecurity, right? When you want to exact justice, it's because you
likely think that there isn't going to be any other justice. But
when you believe in a day of judgment, and then you're like,
Okay,
I'll just wait. You know, Allah is the best of planners. And to be
honest, compared to your justice, what would be a better form of
justice? Like, right? Just think about, you could cook up the best
plot against whoever. But would it even compare to, you know, a
fraction of what almost part of justice would be? No, so just
doesn't make sense to go down that path? Yes.
Forgive two people, but then part of me, I guess that's my next
week. Yep. When I have other people come and talk to me about
like,
the heat rises up. Yeah. So I decided just to distance myself
from good, just to be like, I was like, God, you know, you're gonna
get my right on those people. And I was like, I hope for them that
the next time because I don't want to face God, to deal with that. I
mean, and that's also speaking volumes about your faith and the
goodness of your, because when you have a reason to want justice, but
then you're also willing to be lenient with that it's even raises
your MACOM even more with a law. So it's a very beautiful position
to be in and that's a sign of Inshallah, you know, guidance for
you that you are able to have that awareness that people who are
trying to, you know, stir the pot and bring all those feelings in my
heart are not good for me because I want to move beyond this, and I
want to let go, right? And just let all this power to take care of
it. So this is where again, you're using your intellect, mashallah
you're reading and if we just start to pay attention to all the
themes that we have in the Quran, for example, I mean, how many
stories Okay, said that, you know, Yaqoob and his, you know,
certainly Youssef and his brothers, I mean, the betrayal of
your own brothers plotting to kill you, and then dump you in a well
and let you go on, you know, and have this. I mean, he had so many
trials along the way, but Subhan, Allah, he realized that this is
all because he had faith that it's all from God, and he was able to
forgive them. And they themselves were shocked, right when he
forgave them. But we have these stories to teach us lessons that
even dysfunctional families were things I mean, none of us I think
I've ever had our siblings, or people in our lives, plot our
death, right. So if we can see that it's possible to overcome,
you know, something like that, and extend forgiveness, and maybe we
can let go of, you know, the rumors that someone started or the
lie that was told about you, or maybe they took some of your
money, or whatever it is, that causes these types of conflicts
within family systems are within our relationships. So it really is
about, again, you know, addressing you know, these feelings in your
own heart and wanting to be like this man, who can honestly say
that, you know, whatever, whoever has done wrong to me, I just
forgive them. And it's interesting, because you see,
people you know, I'm sure we've all received, like, those emails
or text messages when loved ones are on their way to ombre or
hydrate. It's like, please forgive me if I've ever done any wrong to
you. And we tend to like, think of ourselves and realize when those
opportunities arise the importance of purging these types of
feelings, and and addressing these things, but on a day to day, we're
fine with holding these feelings. And that's, I think, also
something something to think about. Why what's the difference?
Like, in either case, you know, I mean, it doesn't make a
difference, right? If your heart is full of those emotions, it
shouldn't matter whether or not you're traveling, or whether or
not you're home, because Allah is with you at all points of your
day.
Yeah, right? Yes.
I just also want to add this perspective of sometimes like
where we want justice but trying to forgive them because we don't
know their ranking.
So it only family member that they live their life where they
did something not going I think throughout their life, like
talking about their sins, and they ended up dying in Hajj in a
purified state. Right. So here I have all the long list of bad
deeds they did. And within my eyes, I saw Allah forgives who he
wants to. So yeah.
No, it's an excellent reminder. And I think something for all of
us to think about is at the end of the day, we really like you said,
do not know who is who with a law. And for us to,
you know, wish harm for people who may have done their Toba, who may
be every night waking up, you know, asking God to forgive them
for what they did to you, you know, you never know, like, tears
are real. People could be giving sadaqa they could be like pleading
and begging God every single day, but you're still holding on to
these feelings, right? So you just have to be like, You know what,
God ultimately will deal with it, I just gotta get myself, right.
Because we have very little time on this planet. And it's such a
waste of time. I've seen people consumed with these kinds of
emotions, they don't grow spiritually, they actually end up
because it's toxin, right, it's a toxin in your heart. But it
actually starts to toxify other relationships, right. So when you
let these kinds of feelings take over your heart, then you just
shut down emotionally, you become a very negative person, people
don't want to really be around you. So you start losing people in
your life, why it's all bliss. This is how he wants to destroy
us. So, you know, it's just important to again, assess where
we are with respect to these diseases, and make that decision,
because this hadith is one of the most powerful Hadith, that this
man was not exceptional in other ways. Because sometimes we think
that the standard is so high, you know, for me to be close to Allah
or be a person of Jannah, I have to be doing so much in order to
get there, which is good. It's a humbling thought. But this gives
us all hope, right? That I may not be extraordinary, in my practice,
I may be kind of an average Muslim. But if I work on really
reading my heart of these types of negative feelings for people, and
seeing people with compassion, and forgiveness and empathy, and
letting go of biases, and not being judgmental, not being, you
know, quick to like, say things about people's choices like I, you
know, over the years, again, I've just seen where people were very
quick to judge other people for their choices, all of these things
are indicative of disease, your ego needs a check a reality check,
like you are not any better than other people. And stop, you know,
that's why one of the, again, you know, foundational hadith is to
mind your own business, you know, and when you start to grow
spiritually, you'll find that that becomes quite apparent to you that
I just don't have the time to deal with other people. I don't want to
hear about their drama. I don't want to know anything about them.
I don't want to think about them. I have to think about myself, like
my soul, rectifying my soul, and making sure I'm not a hypocrite,
like we talked about, right? And the fact that such a day that
should consume us, to be honest, that one singular fear, am I a
hypocrite should consume us enough to not even give it another person
a second thought? Because we don't know. We simply don't know. We
could be doing all these things. And then we come up on the day of
judgment and all was like, Well, you know, your your heart was
actually, you know, trying to impress so and so or you're trying
to get this or you're trying to get that or there are all these
ulterior motives, because we weren't paying attention. Right.
So that's why people of God are always consumed with themselves.
Because it's like, I mean, we have Hadith from said Naga Bucha said
Ayesha's, the people who were promised Jana, who were literally
speaking about themselves, as though they were nothing. They had
that humility. Well, this this way of looking at themselves, they saw
no relevance to their own existence. And they always
questioned their own sincerity. I mean, you see a hadith after
Hadith, the Sahaba would come and they would question their own
sincerity to the prophets. I said, I'm so we 2022 What business do we
have judging other people, right? So like, what wake up, you should
be worried about yourself, and that's, um, you know, all of us.
So that's why, again, you know, giving time to explore these
diseases one by one set sitting with it, and really coming to the
conclusion that I don't want to be afflicted with these things. Just
like, I love free me from these things that, you know, prevent me
from growing and just teach me how and you know, this, this hadith I
think, is one we can all learn from so I
Something I was gonna say. I think self reflection really, really
works. Just sit down, get really in tune with yourself and have
conversation with.
Absolutely.
Tell me how you do it. Like, what's your process, if you're
comfortable sharing,
I just take a few minutes, when kids are all sleeping at
nighttime. I normally read the Quran, or this is either early in
the morning. Very good. I only read one page or two page.
That's amazing. It's beautiful. I just do self reflection. Just
think about everything. Even the people that wish me harm.
Forgive them. Good for you. And that's when I feel really at
peace.
And I feel like I'm touchable.
It's a superpower. Yes. Yeah. So and then I just
That's beautiful. You're doing exactly what we all need to be
doing. Right? The Buddha is like reflecting right? On the verses.
And then we'll have a bit is self reflection right where you're
sitting. Think about like your day to day or whatever thoughts. So
these are all spiritual practices we all have to do every day.
Really, really?
Excellent. So how many people do something like that, like some
form of that?
At night or in the morning? It's good to pay attention like Are you
a night person? Does all your inner philosopher come out at
night? Or are you philosophizing early in the morning when the
birds are chirping? Right? It's good. This is process of self
awareness. Right? How many people are nighttime people? Like, right,
you can't go to sleep, your mind is reeling with a lot of thoughts.
That's actually good. I mean, the night is meant for, you know, this
type of work. You know, I'd be bad that and worship and really
reflection, the early morning too. But you know, and how many of you
are morning. So you wake up on your drive to work? You're
thinking about everything.
A lot. It's good.
graces, like, you think about your daily things.
You just have it's best to have a little corner for yourself like
meditate. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, that's my meditation. I mean, this
is prophetic, right? The prophetess Halliwell, he went to
the, to the cave, and he was sitting there doing what he was
doing exactly this thinking about all these things deeply, and
trying to, you know, call on God, because there was madness
everywhere around him. And so we can find that halwa in our homes,
right? You know, Michelle, Dr. Rania does a really great job
about talking about that, right, you know, like it to calf in the
home, which is not just for Ramadan, you can have a place of
it the calf, or it's your corner, your place of spiritual rest, and
wherever you find it, but it's your little nook that you create
for that. And it's also very possible because we're running
around all the time to do that internally, too. Right. So if
you're ever for example, I was speaking to someone earlier, who,
you know, was having marriage issues. And she was saying that
it's hard for her to always visit her in laws, because it's a
difficult environment for her, which is understandable if there's
hostile emotions, right? And so if you ever have to be in an
environment like that with around people that you're just really
uncomfortable, even could be at your job, or wherever. You can
retreat inwardly, right? Which is what, you know, the ODN people of
our tradition have always taught, like, just start thinking about
Allah. And you can be sitting there smiling.
Right. But you're like, I'm in a different dimension. You know, and
there's a great story. Yeah, there's a great story about a
scholar, I don't know where what his name was, but he had a great
reputation that he was, you know, what he, so another student of
knowledge, wanted to go meet him. So we looked all over the city for
him. And he finds him in the marketplace. He's actually like a
merchant. And he's selling produce. So he comes like, what
this is the guy everybody's been talking about. And lighting is
like this great spiritual master. And he's in a marketplace, you
know, because it's not always a good place. So he's kind of
shocked so he goes up to him, he's like, I've been looking for you.
You're here in the marketplace. I thought you were gonna be this and
so the man just took him and he brought his head to his chest. So
the story goes that he heard with his own ear that he was doing they
could have a law so he's you know, in this marketplace, but you know,
there's a cut them out some of our great scholars had miracles like
that. So he actually heard him his internal state was in full
remembrance of a lot. And you have the talks about that like with his
teachers, he said, you know, what, he would always be in the cave no
matter what, and there were times where he would fall asleep and you
know, the students around him would be memorizing their
or text or reading from the Quran. And he looked like he was asleep,
you know, because he was an older man, but he said he would answer
them, you know, correcting their mistakes. But he said he was his
tongue was always doing the kind of Allah. So there are people who
outwardly may be doing one thing, but their internal state is with
Allah. So we have to, you know, we can we can take on those
practices, but it does take some initiation to just start really
like longing for that time, you know, when you have alone time,
and that's where our scholars also say that a good sign of who you
are is what you do when you're alone? Like, what are you doing
when nobody else on the planet is around you? There's no human being
watching you. That's, you know, you're just alone. What are you
doing? That is an indication of your state, you know, because
we're pretentious when other people around, but your true state
emerges in those spaces.
Feel like
we have been taught from the get go right to
be grateful.
These are all habits that we were told to adopt. Years ago when the
West is now catching on. Absolutely. There's more and more
like apps on your phone. And headspace and all these things
like that just seems to me like this is you know, modern times
like meditation. But I feel like Islam has been something that is
not 200%
I mean, even know you're on a completely, you know, spot on
because even concepts like mindfulness, right, which is a
buzzword. Now, everybody thinks that through the Western, they're
a new age, you know, spirituality is so advanced. But we know from
our tradition, like, again, look at all the great traditions have a
practice of meditation for the prophesy set up, which by the way,
they just kind of have a plug. But as they tune out this month, it'll
be an hour is doing an entire series on the mindfulness,
messenger, the process of it because he was the embodiment of
mindfulness. And so, you know, his every moment he was mindful of
God, and that's really what mindfulness is, right? When you're
mindful person, you are very aware of everything that's happening
around you. So when he would speak to people, but he was just in a
constant state of that hyper vigilance, that is mindfulness.
And so you're right. But all these other concepts too, like
intermittent fasting, we're seeing everybody's now adopting it. I was
just saying, because I was doing a class earlier about even like the
Miss wack the big day, right, all of our sunnah practices, I saw I'm
just shocked in for the Afghans and maybe even the Turks. You
know, we have the Kisa, which is the, you know, the, I don't even
know what kind of a fabric it is. But it basically exfoliates I saw
a commercial I was cracking up, it's like, it was like, well, it's
called something glove. And I was like, Are you serious, you're
gonna take archy sunao, and suddenly turn it into a new cool,
you know, find, but we've been ahead of the game with these
respects. That's partly why, if you have ever, like followed some
of my social media stuff, I try to highlight these similarities, not
to, you know, you know, center these these types of things, but
rather to say that we've all actually been ahead of it, like
even emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence, is a new
framework that everybody loves to hear about. But the entire five
point list is all Islam every point, self awareness, self
regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills, that's, that's
Islam, it's tarbiyah that's from the beginning of you, you become a
self aware person, you study Arcada, you study, you know, all
those things that massage the top tell you about yourself. Then you
go into self regulation, which is the Skia, which is what we're
doing. This is how to control yourself, motivation, we have the
example of the province of sudden we are constantly being motivated
to follow him empathy. I mean, hello, was there a more empathic
human on a planet? He empathized with everybody animals, children,
a tree he's called the first tree hugger, you know, and then social
skills. He had all of these skills that nobody I mean, now they're
waking up to it, you know, his ability to, to just again know how
to deal with different groups, according to their customs and
culture, speak to people according to their, you know, accents or
different, you know,
you know, language, but all of these things are now emerging. So
I think we just have to have confidence in our tradition. It
has helped. So thank you for mentioning that.
Feels like a bit of an odd energy question. We just talked about,
you mentioned meditation, or
I've been told by Muslims, like, why are you always on about
meditation?
We don't need to meditate. Yeah.
He meditated, so you don't have to. So I That's odd. Yeah, I don't
I don't know how to respond to that.
I
I could very easily go through life not responding to that
problem is that this shows up at times when I'm really feeling
connected with Allah or like, I'm a scuba diver. So like, when we
were on the boat and i Wow, everyone else was amazed at the
the underwater life that we're seeing at the surface, we were
going into a dating site. And my eyes were closed, I was feeling it
at a different level. So to describe like a spiritual
experience, a spiritual experience, I felt so connected
with the creation and people saw I didn't feel whales or dolphins,
but they were really on and on about it. Like she was sleeping.
Like I wasn't.
It was there was a lot of kind of, I felt like I was being jarred and
brought out of my experience. Listen to people's sense
experience. And that's one of the times many, many times it's
happened, like, forever. I feel like
I'm having a connected moment that someone tries to get you out. This
is not we're supposed to do you're supposed to.
Yeah, no, you have to listen to that, you know, because we're all
different. So unfortunately, yeah. I mean, human beings are always
trying to force people to do things, but at the end of the day,
you know, right, what connects you to the divine. So just let your
heart you know